A Courageous Bride to Bring Him Hope: A Historical Western Romance Book

by Cassidy Hanton

  He smiled as though that was the answer he was hoping for. “The clock is ticking, Mrs. Jones. I am not known to be a patient man, so be warned. I want my money.”

  Something in Clementine snapped. She was not just going to stand there and listen to him insult, and threaten her. Everybody had its limits. Clementine was not different, there was just so much she could bear, and she just reached her limit.

  “And what if I cannot pay you at the end of that ridiculous deadline you set?” She challenged.

  He leaned into her face. “You know what,” he growled.

  Clementine took a step back and not because she was additionally intimidated by his action. The smell coming out of his mouth was so foul it made her sick. She was certain he didn’t even own a toothbrush.

  That was a rather strange thought to have in the middle of such confrontation, so she forced herself to focus. She needed to do something, find a way to make him prolong the payment date. The problem with that was she had no leverage over him, and he did not own a soul.

  “I have no problems getting my hands bloody, Mrs. Jones, never doubt that.”

  And she didn’t. Very slowly he pulled out a knife from its waist holder and from a nearby vendor grabbed an apple. The salesman did nothing to stop him. He started peeling it meticulously, slowly, never taking his eyes off of her. Clementine couldn’t help swallowing, as the images of her being peeled off her own skin in the same fashion invaded her mind. This man was seriously deranged.

  Even though her heart raced so hard and every part of her screamed for her to run away, Clementine stood her ground and decided to stand up to him. It wasn’t as though she had anything to lose up until that point.

  “I thought you were a better businessman than that,” Clementine commented with disdain.

  “How so?” He looked marginally intrigued by her words as he continued to work on that apple.

  “If you kill me, you won’t get a dime of the money you lent Steve,” she said victoriously, confident her logic was sound. He smiled. It was a rather disturbing image and Clementine wished he would never do that again in her presence.

  He abandoned the apple, throwing it over his shoulder, and putting the knife away before replying like he was satisfied he accomplished what he wanted and there was no point for the theatrics anymore. “The way I see it, it is the best strategy there is,” he started his little speech. “If you manage to collect my money, I am two hundred and fifty dollars richer. If you don’t, I kill you and the rest of my debtors are instantly, additionally motivated to collect my money so they wouldn’t have to share the same fate as you.”

  Clementine could not believe he just said that to her.

  “So it is a win-win situation for me.”

  He was not only deranged, dangerous, but utterly devoid of any kind of emotion, and mad. “I could still go to the sheriff and tell him about your threats,” Clementine grasped for straws.

  “You are not going to do that. You are not that silly,” he replied utterly unfazed by her small threat.

  “And why is that?” Clementine rebelled.

  He leaned again to whisper in her ear. “You are not the only person I can hurt, or kill,” he threatened. “Before killing you I can harm all the people you love, make you watch too,” he sounded almost cheerful delivering that.

  Clementine recoiled as though he just hit her. She took a step back, looking at this man in utter desperation. “You wouldn’t dare,” she snapped at him, in outrage, fully knowing how silly, naive she just sounded. He most certainly would dare, Clementine was sure of that.

  “Do not tempt me, Mrs. Jones, and don’t try to bargain or threaten me in any way, since you would not like the consequences. Just get me my money, or don’t. I am looking forward to the end of the month either way.” Delivering that he just left, leaving Clementine alone with the raging pulse and troubled mind.

  Clementine simply slumped to the ground, where she stood because her legs apparently decided to stop working. She was never this frightened in her entire life. Not even her late husband, on the utmost worst day, could match this interaction with Mr. Brewer. It was one thing to lose her own life because of something Steve did, but Clementine could not allow anybody else to get hurt because of her mistakes. She simply couldn’t.

  What am I to do?

  Chapter Twenty

  A few people approached Clementine immediately, asking her if she was all right. She was not all right by any parameters, Mr. Brewer made sure of that, and thoroughly. The notion of him harming anybody because of her made her want to throw up. Luckily, her stomach was empty.

  “I am quite all right, thank you kindly,” she managed to choke out. Clementine accepted the vendor’s hand to get up. She was rather surprised her legs decided to support her.

  “Oh no,” she moaned, looking at the ground beside her. Sadly, she discovered that the food she bought for Pauline, Alexander and herself was ruined. It was a rather nice touch, the perfect finish for the already ruined day.

  “I truly am all right, don’t know what came over me,” she reassured the salesman who lingered a bit more.

  Once she was fully in control of herself and made sure there would be no further incidents of any kind, she adjusted her facial expression and returned to the food carts and bought everything anew. Then she went back to the main tent to find her niece and Alexander. They were right where she left them. Clementine took a deep breath of relief. She wasn’t even aware of how tense and worried, up until that moment, she was, that Mr. Brewer would try to harm them here and now.

  “Auntie,” Pauline exclaimed happy to see her as though she had been gone for hours. Clementine felt the same way. A part of her wished she never left at all, yet she shushed that cowardly part of her. It was better to know your opponent than live in the dark.

  “Here you go, I bought all your favorites,” Clementine said distributing the snacks.

  Alexander looked at her questioningly, clearly wondering what took her so long and she mustered a smile while taking a deep, exaggerated breath. “The line was utterly long. What did I miss?”

  “Dogs and horses and you will never believe it Auntie, elephants,” Pauline recited between the bites.

  Clementine was glad at least some of them were having a great time. She tried to follow what was happening in front of her, once she returned, she truly did, however, she could not get Mr. Brewer’s words out of her mind.

  He was going to kill her, and relish in it while doing it. There were no doubts about that in her mind. The goal was to prevent him from harming anyone else. Looking at Pauline’s smiling face, Clementine shuddered.

  It was really hard not to start cursing Steve for what he did to her, but she could not waste time on such foolishness that could not solve anything. Clementine needed a concrete plan of how to beat Mr. Brewer in his own game, and she needed it now. She did not even notice when the performance ended, too wrapped up inside her head. Unexpectedly, people started clapping all around her, so she joined in.

  “Is it really over?” Pauline asked, making a sad face.

  “I’m afraid so, honey,” Clementine replied.

  “We can come again some other time if you wish,” Alexander offered.

  “Oh yes, please,” and just like that, she was happy again.

  They had to wait for a while but eventually, they managed to leave the tent with the rest of the crowd.

  “Did you have fun?” Alexander asked Clementine yet it was Pauline who answered.

  “Oh yes,” she said while nodding. “Thank you for bringing me and Auntie, Mr. Carson,” she added politely.

  “You are most welcome,” Alexander replied to her with a smile. It was clear to Clementine he liked pleasing her. She could just picture him with his own sister, showering her with affection and small gifts, and despite herself, it absolutely warmed her heart. Sadly, that same heart started to ache. The fear of losing them threatened to overwhelm her, paralyze her as before.

  Cle
mentine needed to find a way to keep that monster away from Pauline and Alexander, even if that was the last thing she did on this world; it was the only thing that mattered to her.

  “Would you like something else to eat or are we done with this adventure?” Alexander continued to have his little chat with Pauline. To that, Clementine’s niece yawned, and Alexander chuckled. “I guess I got my answer. Home it is.”

  Clementine preferred that as well.

  “You’re awfully quiet,” Alexander observed. “Is everything all right?” He asked in concern.

  Clementine truly debated with herself if she should tell him everything or not. All the words were on the tip of her tongue, alongside all the concerns and fears. At the last moment, she reconsidered. She could not do that to him.

  Clementine was certain he would want to help as she would if the circumstances were reversed and confront Mr. Brewer. And she did not doubt in his skills to defend himself or her from any harm, however, Mr. Brewer just proved to her how far he was willing to go to achieve his goals.

  More to the point, being devoid of any kind of human emotions made him utterly dangerous and unpredictable. She could not let Alexander get involved, Clementine needed to keep him as far away from Mr. Brewer as was possible. Otherwise, Alexander could very well get hurt and Clementine couldn’t bear if anything happened to him, especially because of her.

  Because of all that she smiled to the best of her abilities while looking at him in the eyes. “Everything is perfect. I had a lovely time.” Praying he could not detect any falseness in her words.

  And since he still looked at her as though not fully believing her she continued. “I suppose I am a little bit tired, that is all,” she lied flawlessly, hopping with all her might he would not press. As much as she wanted to keep him out of her problems, out of dangers way she detested lying to him as well.

  He simply nodded as though that made sense and Clementine sighed with relief. After Alexander walked them home, they said their goodbyes. Clementine did not invite him in to stay a little bit longer since she felt like she required some alone time, having a great deal on her mind that needed sorting.

  Once she drew Pauline a bath and then put her to bed, Clementine only pretended to sleep next to her. It took Pauline a while to settle for the night, even though she was tired she was excited as well, and couldn’t stop talking about all the things she saw or did.

  At some point, once Pauline fell asleep, Clementine stood up and went to the living room, leaving Pauline to have a well-deserved rest while she stressed about everything. Clementine’s mind was making all kinds of plans on how to raise the money while simultaneously worrying about Mr. Brewer’s new threats. Actually, those were the same old threats, just a tad embellished, she corrected herself without actual humor.

  Overall, it was a rather fun evening and in the end, she didn’t catch a wink of sleep. She was utterly lifeless, sluggish, once the morning came. No words arrived from Viola so that was yet another thing she was concerned about, additional cause to worry not only about her but about Pa Shamus, as though Clementine needed anything else on her plate that was overflowing as is.

  Clementine had been trying to make some breakfast for Pauline for the last five minutes. Nevertheless, she continued to stand next to the stove as though she completely lost her wits. In a way she did. Not lost per se, more like all her brain energies were deployed to fight other battles so mundane work such as this suffered.

  It was luck and a true miracle she made breakfast in the first place considering her state of mind. Just as easily she could have burned the kitchen down. That would be a rather fun way of ending her misery.

  Oh, snap out of it, she chastised herself, feeling quite irritated on so many different levels. All the self-pity was coming from sleep deprivation, alas, having a nap at the moment was out of the question. She would simply have to soldier on and monitor, moderate, her feelings and actions.

  “Auntie?” Pauline called out for her.

  Right, she still had to serve Pauline some breakfast. Victory, she felt like cheering actually filling the plate this time.

  “Here you go, sugarplum,” Clementine replied, thinking a growling belly was the reason Pauline spoke up. She was wrong.

  “Is Mamma ever coming back?” The little girl asked, catching her completely off guard.

  “Why on Earth would you ever ask something like that?”

  Pauline shrugged. “I don’t know.”

  “Pauline,” Clementine prompted.

  “When Hannah’s Nanna died, they told her she went away to visit some distant cousin.”

  Clementine was horrified hearing this. She knelt in front of her niece. “Your mother is not dead, do you hear me?” Clementine insisted. “And she is coming back.”

  “When?” She asked in a small voice.

  “I do not know,” Clementine replied honestly. “For now, she has to spend some more time with Pa Shamus.”

  “Because he is sick?”

  “Yes. But she misses you terribly and can’t wait to see you again.”

  That cheered her up ever so slightly. “Really?”

  “Yes. And I am sure she ever bit as sad being away from you, as you are being away from her.”

  “I miss her very much,” Pauline agreed with a sigh.

  Clementine got an idea. “How about we paint her a picture and then mail it to her. I am certain that will cheer her up.”

  Pauline nodded instantly, obviously liking the idea. Clementine brought her some pens and paper to start right away after breakfast.

  “I will draw our house and us playing in front of it,” Pauline mused out loud.

  “Perfect,” Clementine replied, trying to match Pauline’s levels of enthusiasm. If she found a way to help Pauline deal with her sadness, Clementine simply needed to find a solution for her troubles as well.

  Like she told Pauline, Viola would be back to Courtfield. Clementine would pay her debt off. She would continue to see Alexander, enjoy her time with him and life would be perfect.

  That was her plan.

  Alexander felt something was bothering Clementine the other night at the circus, and later on, when they saw one another at the general store. He did not want to press the issue since she already told him everything was fine. Especially since he felt he was the cause of it.

  Perhaps he was pressing her too hard to spend most of their free time together and frightening her with the intensity of his emotions toward her.

  Although she did not strike him as someone who was the timid kind, she did have a rather bad experience with men. Alexander was trying to show her he was nothing like her late husband and perhaps he was too passionate in his endeavors. Mayhap she needed a little bit of space from him. The thought made his queasy.

  There was another thing he should consider. There was a possibility he misinterpreted everything. What if Clementine regarded him as a friend, and realized that only after his advances, and did not know how to tell him that?

  Once again, the scenario did not ring true. He only had to picture Clementine looking at him or how she reacted while in his embrace as he kissed her to know her feelings toward him were strong and not simply that toward a friend.

  Seeing how wrecking his brain led him nowhere he decided to simply let it be and let her come to him if needed. Clementine would tell him if anything was wrong, he was sure of that.

  Besides, there was always the strong possibility he simply imagined the whole thing. She was working rather hard, her claim of tiredness had merit. Eventually, he did settle on the notion he exaggerated everything and was stressing without actual cause, finding trouble where there was none.

  Maybe it was time for real employment since this idleness did not suit his character. The extra free time was apparently turning him into a paranoid lunatic.

  There was something else on his mind besides Clementine, only in a smaller part. John sent him a telegram from Clarkston. The dispute he was handling would take him
longer to resolve than he anticipated. Once again he implored Alexander to reconsider his offer. He practically begged Alexander to come and help him, since the case was driving John mad.

  Alexander was tempted, he would be lying if he said he wasn’t. At times, and especially since he met Clementine and started thinking about settling to Courtfield permanently, he missed his old job. However, he wished to stay close to Clementine and see her every day even more. Things progressed rather nicely between the two of them, if he could say so in all humility and did not want to jeopardize that in any way. Besides, he would miss her terribly and couldn’t focus on any task at hand without her near him.