by Cyndi Raye
With blurred vision, a shaky hand felt around for the top right desk drawer. He needed more, just a slug of whiskey to get him through the morning. He pulled back when the jingle of the bell above the door went off. Who would be at the land office so early? Dawson glanced at the clock, his heavy-lidded eyes trying to make out the numbers as he silently begged his foggy brain to wake up.
Who would be here at a quarter till eight in the morning? Whoever had the galls to grace his doorstep this early was lucky to find him here. On any other given day he’d still be at the saloon, sleeping off a long night of self-torture. Little did anyone know he wasn’t there to buy women, but to drink his nightmares away. Lily was the only other person on earth who knew of his sickness. She’d been a good friend, even though her job as a serving girl wasn’t the most acceptable or proper. But he liked Lily, like a sister. In fact, Lily spoke more and more of leaving her job after she made enough money to start over away from the saloon.
He tried to help her many times, offered her money to leave but she refused each time, saying she’d do it on her own. The old owner gave her a small broom-closet like room off the kitchen with a bed and dresser. Every night, the two of them would sit in her room, far removed from the night-life of the saloon and gulp down whiskey until Dawson was so drunk he’d pass out in order to get through the nightmares. She would talk him through his troubles.
They were friends, doing each other a favor. A new owner had taken over recently and wanted Lily to turn tricks to pay for the room that was given to her by the prior owner since her wages didn’t cover a room. So Dawson bought her every night, paying for her room and board so she wasn’t forced to do what most women had to. Someday she would leave there,she swore. Most people gossiped about the two of them but he didn’t care. Dawson had to do whatever it took to get through each horrible night.
He risked peeking at the front door. Five figures stood there, stoic, unsmiling. Dawson groaned. “What?” he croaked, his voice hoarse.
“We came here to help you, Dawson.” His good friend Marshall Montgomery stood in the front of the pack, his legs slightly apart, hands in his pockets, a serious look on his chiselled face. The brim of his cowboy hat covered part of his brow. Beside him stood a miniature cowboy, Billy, his eleven year old nephew, who was wearing the same type of cowboy boots and hat, even down to a look-a-like button down shirt. The kid’s hands were on his hips, staring along with the others.
Dawson flung his head back, running a shaky hand through his golden brown hair. “Help me? I’m not in need of help.”
Reverend Daniel Conners and his serious wife stood side by side, their eyes on him, disapproval written all over their faces. “Tsk, tsk, now, Mr. Sloan, we’ve come to help your wandering ways. Besides, your brother is on his way here. Should be arriving shortly.”
A moan slipped from Dawson’s lips. “How shortly?”
“A month. You know what you promised him. Right now, you don’t look like no married man, making this business respectable and becoming a rising citizen of Wichita Falls.”
“More like a man who fell from grace, depending on a bottle of whiskey to get him through his day,” Marshall told him straight out.
Dawson threw a fist in the air. “Get out, all of you. I don’t need any help. I’ll figure something out. Go on now, every single one of you, please, go.” He laid his head back down against his arms, closing his eyes in hopes when he opened them again, the others would be gone.
No such luck. Raising his head, when he opened his eyes there they were, a motley crew, brows raised and frowning. “We’re not going anywhere, Dawson. As your friends, we can’t let you ruin your life.”
Find Grace’s story on Amazon
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Meet Ruby & Marshall
Ruby: The first mail order bride to travel to Wichita Falls
“Mama,” Ruby whispered.
Her mother’s fragile hand reached out, stroking Ruby’s cheeks. She tried to speak, struggling to get the words out. “It’s urgent you leave here, today,” she gasped.
Ruby shook her head back and forth, scared for the first time in her life. She knew her mama was going to die, the sickness had been going on for some time now. Today was so real she could barely contain her fear. She leaned her face into the soft, warm hand. “I can’t leave you like this.”
“You must. I have something for you.” Ruby felt the instant loss when her mama’s hand left her face. She wanted to curl up along side of her and hold on to her so tight in hopes the only person who ever loved her would not leave yet. How cruel of God to do this to her now! How could He take her away and leave Ruby to face life alone? She wanted to stand up and shake a fist in the air, but it wouldn’t be proper to do so in front of her mother, whose staunch faith had kept her alive far longer than the doctor predicted.
A bout of coughing stirred Ruby from her awful thoughts. She grabbed a clean linen from the night stand and dabbed it across her mama’s mouth as a tiny pool of blood trickled from the corner. Her mother struggled to sit up in bed. Ruby cast a worried glance to Tillo, who had taken care of the two of them from the time they came to live at her uncle’s brownstone manor in New York City when Ruby was a small baby.
The older woman frowned before shaking her head sadly and helped to pull the dying woman up against the pillows. She tucked the blanket under her mama’s chin, muttering words so soft Ruby couldn’t make them out.
“I’m fine,” mama said, raising her beautiful blue eyes to her daughter. Ruby watched as life came back in to them and smiled. Her mother was so brave and strong. She had proven it so many times over the years. She opened her mouth to take a sip of the laudanum Tillo offered, then pulled back with a slight shake of her head. A frail hand pushed the bottle away. “Later, Till. I need to give my Ruby something. Hand me my bible.”
Tillo picked up the worn book and laid it on her lap. Ruby watched with saddened and yet curious eyes as her mother opened the leather bound book. Long, slender fingers ran over the edge of the folded papers inside the pages. She looked up at Ruby and smiled. “This is your ticket out, child. Come here.” Her other hand patted the quilt as Ruby sat down on the edge of the bed.
“What do you mean, my ticket out, Mama?”
“Your uncle thinks I owe him for living here all these years, even though I’ve paid my way all along, thanks to these. I’ve cashed in my share of land certificates to save his struggling business every single time he needed help. His were gone the first year our lawyers gave them to us.” Her chest rose and fell before another coughing fit started. Ruby was used to seeing her like this and hated how much pain her mama was in.
“Maybe you should drink the laudanum, Mama.”
A hand touched her own. “Not yet. I rescued him many times but he’s in trouble again. These last certificates I’ve saved for you. I told him there are no more. Do not let him find these.”
Ruby glanced at the papers being handed to her. The edges shook as her mama tried to shove them in her hand. “What am I supposed to do with these?”
Her mother leaned back against the pillows and smiled as if a wonderful memory passed over her. She sighed as the papers hit the quilt. “You keep them for now. They are worth a fortune in the West. People are leaving the city in droves to find a new life where the air is pure and the city dust is far behind. You can sell these for cash or buy your own land. I was there once.”
“You were?” Ruby leaned closer. She had heard this story many times before and never tired of listening to her tales. “Tell me, Mama.”
“I met your father out West. I traveled the new rail road to visit Aunt Adeline, who was the first family member to use her land certificates. She purchased a piece of land along the rail road line, build a boarding house and made quite the life for herself.”
Ruby remembered the stories of her Aunt Adeline. A smile slipped across her face at the intensity of the way the woman paved a way for herself. She wanted to meet her so bad, but they never go
t the chance to travel as promised since mama got sick a few years back.
Her mother’s voice was becoming weak but Ruby didn’t have the heart to stop her. “Wesley worked for the rail road. We fell in love and I was completely smitten. We got married and planned on using my land certificates to build a ranch and farm the land. I remember a trickling waterfall, where he proposed to me one Saturday afternoon. He said we would buy the land surrounding the flowing water. He was ready to settle down, away from the rail road.” Her voice cracked as tears spilled down her cheeks.
“Mama, please. Don’t wear yourself out.”
Tillo picked up the bottle of opium for another try. “Come on, Misses, please take some medicine.”
Her mama, sweat pouring from her brow, finally nodded, allowing Tillo to tilt the rim of the bottle to her mouth. Ruby watched as her head fell back against the feather pillows, silent as the pain began to fade away. Her mother’s eyes began to droop, her breathing even now. “Finish the story, Till,” she whispered, saving her strength.
Ruby’s heart pounded inside. With eyes like her mothers, she raised them to the roof of the bedroom, silently berating God for giving her mother this affliction. She wanted to cry out, now more than ever and shame the very one whom her mother had trusted all these years.
A calloused hand covered her own. She looked into Tillo’s troubled dark eyes. “It won’t do any good to curse the man upstairs.”
“I hate that God did this to her.”
Tillo patted her hand. “Oh child, ain’t no God who did this, it just happened.”
When the door burst open, Ruby was glad her mother was drugged. She could hear Uncle Ross’s short bursts of breaths as he carted his overweight body in to the room, uninvited of course. “The sickness is her retribution for defying our parents years ago. Running off to that uncivilized, savage territory out west against their wishes comes with punishment. I knew it would come back to haunt her. I told her so, over and over.” He pointed a finger at Ruby. “Now you will have to pay for her punitive measures.”
Ruby wanted to spit in his eye but refrained. She bit her lip when Tillo grabbed her hand and squeezed to keep her calm. It also helped to keep her in her seat when Uncle Ross leaned his fat body over her mother and pressed an ear close to her nose, as if he wanted to see if she were still breathing.
“I’m. Not dead. yet.”
Ross jumped as if the very devil himself came out of her mama. It almost made Ruby laugh at the way his body fat jiggled when he jumped back. She also didn’t miss the fact Tillo shoved the land certificates under her mama’s quilt before Ross noticed them.
Uncle Ross glared at Ruby. “Mark my words, Ruby. You will find out your fate the moment my sister takes her last breath.”
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Cyndi’s page
Not only does Cyndi write historical western fiction but also some contemporary romance. They are about relationships that grow together. If you like a sweeter romance with a downhome feel, almost like small town romance, then the Tomorrow, Forever and Escape series may be something you want to take a look at.
Here’s the first book FREE in the Tomorrow Series: What Tomorrow Brings. I fell in love with the Florida Keys where romance, moonlit nights abound.
In What Tomorrow Brings, Maggie McCoy jets to the No Name Key to try and crack her terrible writer’s block. She is a best selling author and has a deadline to meet. Her mother sends her to this remote place in the hopes that Maggie will get a taste of romance, rejuvinate and get her book done on time. Little did Maggie know the man who owned the property was non other than Jake Hatfield.
Click here for the free book What Tomorrow Brings
Thanks for reading my books. Stay tuned for more!