“Good grief, is all of your family that way?”
“Back then, you had to be strong or someone would take what you had.”
“What was the Kleburne Ranch?”
“Mother was a Kleburne before she married her first husband, Josh Bartlett. The Kleburnes own the biggest ranch in Texas. Ours is the second largest.”
“How big is it?”
“I think Bar S is about 500,000 acres.”
Charles was dumbstruck at the enormity of the holdings. “What do you do with all of that?”
“Most of it is grazing land for the cattle,” she said.
“I had better get going,” Charles said.
When Rebecca got back home, her dad was standing on the porch. He was holding the escapee in his arms. “Is this the little guy you were looking for?” he asked.
“That’s him,” she said. When Bandit heard her voice, he started squirming. Trace set him down and he ran to Rebecca, standing on his hind legs wanting to be picked up.”
“I’m going to try to catch Charles if he hasn’t left already,” she said. She went in and asked Central to connect her to Charles. There was no answer and she would have to wait until he returned to give him the good news.
“Pa, Charles told me he was afraid of you. I want you to apologize to him tonight when he comes over.”
“I’ll do no such thing. I didn’t do anything to apologize for. I just don’t want my little girl to get hurt.”
“Well,” she said. “I may have helped your cause. He asked if you were violent and I told him about your fight with the land grabbers.”
“You didn’t.”
“I did too and I told him about Ma threatening him with all of the cowboys.”
“You’re as bad as I am, Becky.”
“Well sometimes you have to stand up and fight for what you want. He didn’t do that with his ex girlfriend. He needs to learn.”
“And we’re just the pair to teach him, aren’t we little girl?”
“You got that right, Pa.” They convulsed into laughter, leading Sarah to come out and ask what all of the commotion was. They told her and she joined in on the laughter.
At quarter past four, Rebecca’s phone rang. It was a desolate Charles. He launched right into his problem, barely saying hello. “He’s still not here, Rebecca. I left some food and water out for him but it was untouched.”
“We have him, Charles. When I got back home Pa was holding him. He found him on our back porch sitting by the door. He had crawled under our fence. I tried to call you but you had left already. You can come get him, whenever you want.”
“What am I going to do with that mutt? I hate to tie him up and I have to let him out to do his business. I am at a loss.”
“If it really bothers you, I’ll take him off your hands,” laughed Rebecca.
* * *
Charles came right over. He picked Bandit up. Bandit promptly licked him right in the face. “You’ve really got it made don’t you boy? You’ve got two people that love you.” For that, he received another lick in the face.
Charles went to Rebecca, Bandit under his arms. He kissed her on the cheek. “Thanks for rescuing my dog.”
“Pa found him. You want to kiss him too?”
“I’ll pass on that one thank you very much.”
Trace walked into the room. “I see you’ve come to collect your escapee, Charles.”
“Yes sir. Thanks for your help.”
“It was my pleasure. He’s a really nice dog. You think maybe he’s lonely?”
“That’s a thought. I never even considered that.”
CHAPTER 8: DINNER AT THE WHITE HOUSE
The day of the event regarded by Rebecca as a once in a lifetime opportunity finally arrived. Her mother, Sarah was visiting at the time for the purpose of helping her to select a gown and to help with her hair and dress.
The two of them selected a flowing white gown worn off the shoulder. Rebecca’s long strawberry blond hair lent itself to the new fashion being worn down rather than the high updo’s that were beginning to lose favor in fashion circles round the world.
When Charles called for her, she made her entrance, down the stairway. Like her mother, she was a true vision of beauty. She floated down the stairs. Charles gaped at the stunning woman walking toward him. Her father was all smiles.
“Darlin,” he said, “You are the second most beautiful woman I have ever seen. The first being of course, your mother on our wedding day.”
Charles still in a state of semi-shock, said, “I am stunned by your beauty and I consider myself to be indeed fortunate to be your escort for the evening. Every other woman in the White House will be dimmed by the glow of your loveliness.”
“Well spoken, Charles,” said Trace.
“She is lovely isn’t she?” asked Sarah.
“You are all too kind and somewhat biased, but I thank you very much,” Rebecca said.
The carriage let them out at the East Entrance, where, after showing their invitations, they were allowed to proceed to the entrance itself. They passed through the receiving line and were presented to the President of The United States, Theodore Roosevelt and his wife Edith. Alice, the President’s daughter was on a mission to Japan.
The entire setting was elegant with white garbed waiters providing service. Music was provided by The President’s Own Band, The US Marine Corps Band directed by William H. Santelman.
Rebecca was enthralled by the trappings in the White House. Long interested in history, she was at the very center where history was made. She leaned over to Charles and whispered, “This is nothing short of magnificent. Thank you for asking me.”
He whispered back, “Thank you for finding my dog.”
She giggled and said, “Hardly subjects of the same magnitude.”
She was up most of the night relating the details to her parents, going on and on about shaking the President’s hand and what the First Lady was wearing. Finally her father stood, leaned over and kissed her good night and said, “I have enjoyed all of this I can stand. I’m old and I need my sleep.” With that, he strode from the room.
“Becky, what are your feelings for this young man?”
“I’m ambivalent about him. He let his ex-girlfriend walk all over him. He withdrew. I think when Bandit ran away, it actually helped him. He did call the police when she threw him out of his own home, but he still has pictures of her all over his house. It may not be fair but I compare men to Daddy and they just don’t measure up.”
That probably isn’t fair. At one time, your pa had his weak moments.”
Rebecca’s jaw dropped. “Daddy weak? No Way.”
Sarah told Rebecca about the time after he had proposed, Trace came to the ranch and told her he had no right asking her to marry, since he had nothing to bring to the marriage. “I set him straight pretty quick. He went away with his tail tucked between his legs and came back two days later and said we could make things work. I had no doubt but he did.”
“That was different Mother.”
“How so? He wanted to marry me but thought so little of himself it gave him doubts. I told him among other things, not to come back until he could stand on his two feet like the man did at Gettysburg and the man that shot the land grabbers.”
Rebecca smiled. “I told Charles about Pa shooting the land grabbers and it scared him to death. After Pa had taken Charles for the walk the other night, Charles asked me if Pa was a violent man. I asked him if he was scared of Pa. He said, “He scares me to death.” He hasn’t even kissed me since. I don’t think he’ll ever get serious about me again.”
“Then he doesn’t deserve you,” Sarah said.
“I’ll bet he changes after you and Pa go back home.”
“If he does, then I would continue to wonder about him.”
“It sure is nice to have you here so we can have these mother to daughter talks. I don’t really have anyone to talk to like this. I was working so many hours I didn’t ha
ve time to make any friends and I was the only female in the office except for the secretaries.”
“How would you feel about coming back home to practice law?”
“Like I was running away from something and I don’t like the thought.”
“What about just closer to home, like Houston, Dallas or San Antonio?”
“That would be a little bit different. I had been thinking about that and about going back to my old firm. Going back there would be running away of sorts again. I would still be working family law and bucking the male favoritism thing. I should have been born a man.”
“You sure would have been a funny looking man with a figure like yours.”
“Mother, that’s scandalous!”
They both began laughing so hard they had tears running from their eyes.
“Seriously, when are you thinking about going back?”
“I was expecting your pa to bring it up already.”
He did, two days later.
* * *
“Baby girl, I think we’d best be heading on back home. I hate to be away from the ranch so long. It’s been real nice. You reckon I should talk to that young man before we leave.”
“I don’t think so, Pa. You’ve already got him scared enough. Why don’t you just stay on here and help the President run things?” Rebecca asked.
“I don’t reckon that’d be a good idea, him being a Yankee and all.”
“The war’s over Pa.”
“It’s not over Darlin’. There’s just a lull in the fighting. It’ll start up again.”
“I’ll miss having you and Mother here. It has been really nice having someone to talk to.”
“Why don’t you come on back with us. We could just lease this house out till we need it again.”
“I might go that way, but not right yet,” said Rebecca.
At the end of the week, Rebecca went with them to Union Station and saw them off on their way back to the Bar S Ranch. There were tears in Rebecca’s and Sarah’s eyes as they said goodbye. There were probably some in Trace’s too but he would never admit it.
CHAPTER 9: MIXED FEELINGS
On Tuesday, after her father and mother had returned to Texas, the ringer on Rebecca’s door sounded. When she answered it, she found Charles and Bandit standing there.
Bandit’s tail was waving back and forth fast enough to stir up a breeze on the otherwise calm day. “Could we come in?” asked Charles.
“Yes of course, come on in. Would you like something to drink? I made some lemonade a little while ago and there’s still plenty left.”
“Lemonade would taste just about right, thank you.”
“Come on Bandit, I’ll put some water in your dish.”
He eagerly followed her into the kitchen, jumping up and down.
They returned to the living room with the lemonade and some cookies. Rebecca noticed Charles was looking sad and depressed. “What’s wrong Charles? Something go wrong with one of your cases?”
“No, I don’t know what it is. I can’t concentrate on them for very long and I’m not giving the clients value for what they are paying me. I’m going to try and put them off or something. I think I’d like to go back to Atlanta for a visit.”
“Can you do that? I mean just go off and leave them hanging?”
“No, I guess I can’t. I’ll try and catch up but I won’t take on any new work. Would you like to take them on? It would give you something to do.”
“Charles, you can’t just give your clients away like that. It wouldn’t be fair to them.”
“I could introduce you to them.”
“That won’t work, Charles. You have a responsibility to them. Did you take a retainer from them?”
“Some of them, I did.”
“Then, you have to follow up with them, after you do the work for which you’ve been retained, then you can hand them off.”
“I don’t need you to tell me how to run my law practice,” he flared suddenly.
“It seems someone does,” Rebecca said.
“I’m sorry, Rebecca. I’m still hung up about Cynthia. I can’t seem to get past it. Every time I look at Bandit, it reminds me of her. She’s the one that bought a dog, not me. I have to admit, he’s grown on me since I’ve had him, but the only reason I kept him was to spite her.”
“How long were you together?
“Almost a year. We met in college,” he said.
“Do you still have feelings for her?”
“I don’t know. Maybe. I guess so. I don’t know what I have,” he said.
“It sounds to me like you still care for her. What was she like?”
He said, “She was a spoiled rotten, demanding woman. It was her way, the only way. It didn’t matter what I wanted. It was all about her. She was an only child and was accustomed to having her way. You know how they are.”
“I’m an only child, Charles.”
“You told me you had brothers.”
“They were half brothers and way older than I was. I was my Pa’s only child. That’s why he’s so protective of me. He would do anything for me and heaven help anyone who harms me.”
“I know. He told me that. That’s why I’m afraid of him.
Anyway, let me get to the reason I came over today. I really do like Bandit, but he keeps running away. Would you like to have him stay here and you take care of him? I’d pay for his food.”
“Charles, I would love to have him stay with me. Don’t be silly about the food. Won’t his being away from you make you sadder, being alone in that big empty house?”
“I would want the same visitation privileges you asked for when you brought him back to me.”
“Of course, if you’re sure that’s what you want to do.”
“Thanks, Rebecca. I appreciate it and I know you’ll take care of him.” He moved toward her, half lifted his arms, and thought better of it and kissed her on the cheek. “Thanks again. I’m going to go try and catch up on the cases.”
Charles left. He was even more confused than he was when he came over. “I like Rebecca,” he thought. “I wonder why. She’s not even the type of woman I normally care for.” He trudged down the street, toward his house. There was no spring or bounce in his step at all.
At the same time, Rebecca was sitting on the sofa wondering what had just transpired. “There goes a man in bad shape,” she thought. “He’s absolutely not ready for another girl in his life. He has a real problem. I’m glad it’s not mine.”
Two days later, Rebecca took Bandit out for a walk. A light seen through the window of Charles’s home indicated he was home. She hadn’t heard anything from him since he dropped Bandit off so she decided to see if everything was all right. She gave the ringer a twist and waited. There was no indication it was heard, so she gave another twist. After waiting a couple of minutes, she turned to leave when Charles opened the door. “What do you want?” he asked in a voice with no feeling whatever.
“I hadn’t heard from you and didn’t know if you had gone to Atlanta, so I stopped to see if everything is all right.”
“Everything is fine,” he said. “I’m very busy right now,” he replied in a voice of dismissal.
Rebecca was surprised at this switch in attitude. His moods and attitude changed so often, she couldn’t keep up with which Charles was in front of her. “Well, let me know if I can help. You know where I live and you have my number.”
“Yes, I do and thank you,” came back the formal response. He closed the door.
“Come on Bandit, we’re not needed or wanted here.” She turned and went back down the steps, Bandit followed faithfully at her side.
* * *
Charles’s doorbell rang about 11:00AM. “Now what,” he said and got up from his desk and headed toward the door.
The door opened before he got there. It was Cynthia. She had unlocked the door with the key she had kept after her arrest.
“What do you want,” Charles asked in a surly voice.
“I care for you, Charles and I want to make things right with you,” Cynthia said. “I want to go back to the way we were.”
She tried to kiss him but he evaded her effort. “What’s the matter with you?” she demanded.”
“I don’t want you here. This is my house, not yours, and I don’t want you here.”
Rebecca Atkins: Attorney At Love (Lonely Cowboy Series) Page 4