by Merry Farmer
“Ha!” Vivian barked. Her peevish look morphed into a sour smile. “I knew Papa would win that fight.”
“Papa always wins,” Melinda added, equally as smug.
Vivian’s smile faded away, leaving her expression just plain bitter. “Don’t I know it,” she grumbled.
Bebe sent Vivian a wary, sidelong look. Melinda looked as though she’d eaten something spoiled. She and Vivian recovered fast enough for Melinda to say, “Well, I’m glad you’re back. I have two new dresses that need to be finished before the Founder’s Day ball, and Bebe here is a complete clod with a needle.”
Bebe wilted, looking like she might either cry or dissolve into a puddle.
Honoria sighed. “What work still needs to be done?”
Vivian and Melinda took her resignation as their own personal victory.
“The whole thing needs to be taken apart and sewn anew,” Melinda said.
“And when you’re done with that, this useless piece of nothing can’t even get the stains out of my boots, so you’ll have to.”
“And I’m not going to church again with my best bonnet looking the way it does.”
“And no one has tidied my room in ages. Rance is such a pig.”
Vivian and Melinda suddenly clammed up at Vivian’s final statement as if with some private and dire knowledge. Vivian climbed the porch stairs with the air of a woman going to the gallows, while Melinda darted sidelong glances of horror, mingled with relief that it wasn’t her, Vivian’s way. They likely thought they were as discreet as could be, but Honoria was certain the theatrics were just another part of Vivian’s unhappy marriage.
Before she could think more about it, the front door opened and their father stepped out onto the porch. “I thought I heard your voice,” he said without any particular show of emotion one way or another, narrowing his eyes at Honoria. “What are you doing here?”
Honoria took a deep breath—drawing strength from the fact that she could take a deep breath—and said, “I’ve come home, Papa. This is where I belong.” She’d planned to keep her explanation as short and simple as possible, but she hadn’t planned on the whole thing sounding like a colossal lie. You don’t belong here, that voice in her head whispered.
Her father took a half step back, crossed his arms, and looked her up and down. “What if I don’t want a despoiled trollop like you living under my roof?”
Bebe gasped. Even Vivian and Melinda looked shocked. Honoria would have loved nothing more than to be surprised by his reaction, but she wasn’t.
“I made a mistake,” she said. “I…I acted impulsively.” That was the truth no matter how you cut it.
Her father continued to stare at her with a sneer. No one on the porch moved. If he turned her away, disowned her entirely, she had no idea where she’d go.
At last, Rex hissed out a breath and uncrossed his arms. “If you stay here, you’re going to make yourself useful. There’s work to be done, and someone needs to do it.”
That much was nothing new. “Yes, Papa.”
“You’re an embarrassment to the name Bonneville,” he went on. “I won’t have you swanning around town to remind everyone of it. You don’t leave the ranch from here on, and you don’t talk to anyone who isn’t a family member.”
“Yes, Papa.” It was what she deserved for all the trouble she’d caused, she reminded herself. And reminded herself again. Something deep within her rejected the notion, screaming out that it was wrong even as she worked to keep her expression penitent and her head lowered.
“You are not to be trusted around men either,” Rex went on. “If I so much as see you looking at one, I’ll move you to the barracks and let the ranch hands teach you what you’re good for.”
She snapped her head up, eyes blazing with fury and defiance for a moment. The mere thought of being intimate with any man other than Solomon was sacrilege. That her father would suggest pimping her out to his employees was unconscionable. But she was in no position to argue.
“Yes, Papa,” she ground out, jaw clenched.
Rex twisted to look back into the house, his expression annoyed. “Where the devil is Rance anyhow?”
Honoria blinked. Rance? What did he have to do with anything.
“Coming, Uncle Rex!” Rance’s shout came from deeper in the house. A few seconds later, Rance stumbled through the front doorway, nearly spilling to his face as he did. Strong liquor fumes followed him. “Uh, what’re we doin’ again?”
Vivian grunted in disgust and marched down the porch to the arrangement of chairs and chaise. She plopped into the chaise with a dramatic sigh. Melinda followed her, murmuring words of comfort.
“We’re riding out to inspect the herd,” Rex grumbled, his patience clearly hanging on by a thread.
“Oh, yeah, right.” Rance hiccupped.
Rex grabbed him by the lapel of his disheveled jacket and dragged him on, off of the porch and away in the direction of the stables.
It took Honoria a second to realize he’d dismissed her without even finishing the point he’d been making about the rules she should live under, as if, now that she was back where he thought she belonged, she was so unimportant to him that he couldn’t even be bothered to discipline her. While that sparked torrents of rage in her—something entirely new when it came to her feelings about her father—it was also an odd relief. He could bluster, but in all likelihood, he wouldn’t notice her if she was in front of his face.
“I’ll just put my things inside,” she said, not sure who she was talking to.
She headed into the house, Bebe lunging after her. “You can’t,” Bebe said.
“Can’t what?” Honoria stopped inside the front hall and turned to her.
“Can’t have your old room back, for one. Vivian made it into her parlor.” She leaned closer, eyes wide. “Actually, she’d been sleeping in there when she can get away from Cousin Rance.” She looked like she wanted to say more, like she wanted to gossip about Vivian and Cousin Rance.
Honoria didn’t have the heart for it. She set her carpetbag down in a corner of the hall. “I can sleep on a sofa if I have to.”
Bebe rushed to grab her arm. “You can sleep in my room with me.” The strength of her grip and distraught hope in her eyes made Honoria feel sorry for her as she never had before.
“Thank you.” She smiled and gave her sister a hug.
Vivian and Melinda were right about one thing. There were a mountain of things to be done around the house. Honoria set to work, surprised that Bebe actually deigned to help her. A lot had changed in just two weeks, though, and it looked like Bebe was one of those things. They cleaned Vivian and Melinda’s rooms together, fetched them lunch and made lemonade for them, then sat and worked on the sewing that Melinda wanted done.
Vivian and Melinda were in their element with two sisters to bully and push around. Part of Honoria expected Bebe to slip back into her old, obnoxious ways and was surprised when she didn’t. Honoria had forced herself to return home as punishment for her sins, but the environment she found was worlds away from the one she’d left. If Bebe had been so helpful years ago instead of aspiring to be as horrid as Vivian and Melinda, Honoria’s life at her father’s house might have been bearable.
Which would have meant she never would have begged Solomon to marry her.
“Honoria? What are you doing here?” It was late in the afternoon when Bonnie stepped regally up onto the porch where Vivian and Melinda were napping and Honoria and Bebe were sewing. Underneath Bonnie’s surprise was a light to her expression and a victorious spark to her eye. “Are you all right? Is something wrong?”
Honoria stood as Bonnie rushed across the porch to check on her. She glanced sideways at Bebe. Vivian and Melinda snoozed on, mouths open, a trickle of saliva running down Vivian’s chin. There didn’t seem to be any harm in letting slip to Bebe what was going on.
“I’m…I’m fine, Bonnie,” she admitted, taking Bonnie’s hands when they were offered. “Turns out Dr.
Abernathy was looking at the wrong file when he told me I was dying.”
Bebe gasped. “You’re dying?” She looked as though her world had just crashed around her feet after being turned upside down.
“No, I’m not dying,” Honoria told her. She turned back to Bonnie. “I’m not dying. There’s nothing wrong with me. Dr. Meyers says my cough was caused by stress. I…I married Solomon under false pretenses and ruined his life for nothing.”
“Ruined his life?” Bonnie frowned, then shook her head as though the notion were bizarre. “Honey, I think you made his life.”
Honoria pulled her hands out of Bonnie’s and turned away. “The only reason Papa went after Solomon is because he dared to marry me. Now the bank is ruined. Everything Solomon loves, I destroyed, and for something that turned out to be a lie.”
Bonnie stared at her, mouth half-open for so long that Honoria peeked sideways at her to see what was wrong. The look on Bonnie’s face could only be described as incredulous. She shook herself, shifted her weight to her other hip, and said, “Honey, Solomon’s bank is just fine.”
Honoria blinked and turned fully to her once more. “What?”
“It is?” Bebe echoed, brow rising in hope.
“Yes, it is.” Bonnie did a terrible job of hiding the way her lips twitched into a smirk before saying, “Thanks to your father.”
“What?” Honoria and Bebe exclaimed at the same time. They were loud enough to rouse Vivian and Melinda from their naps.
“What’s going on?” Vivian demanded groggily, sitting up and wiping her chin. “What’s she doing here?”
“Can’t you stay in your cathouse where you belong?” Melinda added with a grumpy, post-nap scowl.
Bonnie ignored them. “The men from the WSGA and Rex tried to pull one last rotten trick on Solomon.”
“Papa?” Melinda mumbled, gazing at something past the group consisting of Bonnie, Honoria, and Bebe.
The three of them ignored her, and Bonnie went on. “Rex somehow bribed all of the honest businessmen in town. Told them he’d refuse to do business with them and encourage his buddies not to do business with them either.”
“Oh no.” Honoria clutched a hand to her chest. “Those were just the sort of people Solomon was counting on to support him.”
“Exactly.” Bonnie crossed her arms, expression pinched with anger. “It almost worked too. They were flying over to the bank in droves to withdraw their money.”
Honoria shrugged and shook her head. “So what happened? You said the bank was fine.”
A wide grin spread across Bonnie’s face. “Turns out my girls had a bit of a windfall today, and they all wanted to open bank accounts.”
“Windfall?” Bebe scratched her head. “What does that mean?”
“It means they came into some money,” Honoria told her, hardly believing it. “How?”
Bonnie shrugged. “I gave them all bonuses.”
Still confused, Honoria blinked rapidly and asked, “Where did you get the money.”
“Where do you think?” Bonnie drawled.
“Papa!” Vivian jumped to their feet behind them.
“More than that,” Bonnie went on, still ignoring Vivian and Melinda, “they decided that they wouldn’t entertain any man who doesn’t have a bank account. That was Pearl’s idea, and it was a good one. Half the men who had taken out their money earlier in the day rushed to put it back.” Bonnie’s smirk blossomed. “Smart girl, that Pearl. I’m glad I rescued her from—”
“How dare you?” Rex’s voice boomed behind Bonnie before she could finish her sentence.
“Papa!” Vivian and Melinda called in unison, then rushed across the porch, past Bonnie, Honoria, and Bebe, to stand by Rex’s side as he mounted the top porch step. He’d been approaching through Bonnie’s entire speech. Honoria winced. If they hadn’t ignored Vivian and Melinda, they would have seen as much.
“You conniving little witch,” Rex seethed, marching to stand towering over Bonnie.
Behind him Rance ambled onto the porch and pinched Vivian’s backside. It was a sign of just how absorbed in the scene unfolding in front of her both Vivian and Melinda were that Vivian didn’t even flinch.
“I told you she was a wicked woman,” Vivian barked. “I’ve told you all along.”
“Stay out of this!” Rex hollered loud enough to make Vivian and Melinda both jump. Rance was there to catch Vivian, and to Honoria’s surprise, Vivian cowered in his arms.
That was the least exciting thing going on.
“I treat you like a queen,” Rex went on, bellowing at Bonnie. “I shower you with gifts and take you on holidays, and this is how you repay me?”
For her part, Bonnie stood up to Rex with fire in her eyes. “My money is mine to do with as I please.”
“It is not your money, it is mine!”
“The moment you give it over to my hands, it’s mine. That’s always been the arrangement between us, Rex. I give, you give, and after that, it’s none of your business.”
Honoria swallowed the sick lump that formed in her throat. She didn’t want to think about what Bonnie gave to her father.
Rex’s face had gone red, but he clearly wasn’t about to back down. “And where has all this giving led us, woman? You waste my hard-earned money on tarts and trollops and n—s.”
Bebe gasped. Honoria flinched at the offensive word and looked away. Whatever shred of respect she’d had left for her father was withering fast.
“It is not a waste of money to buy young girls out of pitiful situations, to give them proper medical care and nutrition, and to educate them,” Bonnie argued.
“You run a cathouse,” Rex shouted in return. “You rescue those girls from one bed so they can land in another.”
“Papa, stop!” Melinda clapped her hands to her ears and scrunched her face.
Bonnie’s expression resolved into one of calm and power. “Those are only the ones you see, Rex. They’re the ones who choose to continue their profession. They make up a fraction of the girls I’ve rescued.”
An odd twist curled through Honoria’s stomach. Is that what Bonnie had been doing all these years? Was that why she had never been able to keep track of the girls who worked over at Bonnie’s place? How many young women had Bonnie saved…using her father’s money? All the respect for her father that Honoria had lost doubled and tripled as it found a new home in Bonnie.
“You’ll focus on rescuing yourself if you know what’s good for you,” Rex railed on, with no sense whatsoever of how much nobler than him Bonnie was.
“And I’m sure you’ll tell me how to do that,” Bonnie answered, crossing her arms.
“Oooh,” Melinda squealed. “Do we have to hear these sorts of things? They’re vile, disgusting, and putrid. I’m never, ever, ever going to do any of that with anybody!”
Honoria would have rolled her eyes as her sister’s newfound streak of prudishness if she wasn’t so alarmed by things her father could demand of Bonnie.
But to her surprise, he growled, “I want you to stop resisting and marry me.”
Honoria’s brow flew up. Bebe’s mouth dropped open. Vivian grunted in disgust, and Melinda dropped her hands from her ears long enough to say, “What?”
Bonnie kept her lips pressed firmly shut.
“I am through with you dragging your heels,” Rex went on as though his children weren’t standing there as witnesses. “No more excuses. You will marry me and you will produce a son within a year!”
Understanding dawned on Honoria, and she winced. Her father wanted a son. Bonnie was the closest, easiest, and most likely woman to give him that without him having to go out of his way to court. He never had cared to associate with women much. Honoria suspected he couldn’t stand most of them. His arrangement with Bonnie had always seemed more like business than pleasure, and now he wanted to take that business to another level.
“You will stop your vain protests and do what you should have done all along and marry me,” Rex
continued, glaring at Bonnie. “I want that son. I need that son to carry on the Bonneville name and inherit this ranch.”
“Hey! What about me?” Rance yelped in protest, shoving Vivian to the side. “Ain’t I supposed to do all that?”
Rex clenched his jaw, a vein throbbing in his temple. He whipped around to face Rance. “You have proven to be an even bigger disappointment than my useless daughters.”
Vivian and Melinda shrieked in hurt and offense. Bebe merely sagged. Honoria didn’t react at all. Her father’s pronouncement wasn’t a surprise to her.
“That’s not… I don’t… You can’t…” Rance huffed out a breath. “Well, shoot!”
Rex grimaced and snapped back to face Bonnie. “No more games from you! You will marry me and you will have a son, or you will never see another cent from me! How do you think your precious girls would fare then?”
After so much shouting, the silence that fell over the porch was disconcerting. Honoria’s back ached with the pain that she could see Bonnie was in. And here she’d thought her problems were bigger than anyone else’s. Compared to the situation facing Bonnie, the troubles Honoria had been through were insignificant.
That thought alone made her want to weep. Who was she to play the martyr? She was alive. Alive! Alive, healthy, and married to a wonderful, kind man who would never make the kind of vile demands on her that her own father was more than likely to make on Bonnie. She was a fool to have rushed to judgment, assuming Solomon would never forgive her for lying. Right in front of her was what a heartless man who could never forgive looked like. Solomon was not that man, not her father. Once again, she’d made a terrible, foolish mistake.
“I have to go home,” she whispered, taking a half step back. “I have to go back to my husband.”
“You will stay right there, you stupid wench!” Rex bellowed, pointing to the floor in front of Honoria’s feet. “I’ve endured enough humiliation for one day!”
Rather than being cowed by the force of his anger, Honoria bristled. He may have been her father, but he had no right to speak to her like that. Nothing he could say could make her stay in his house for a second longer than she wanted to.