The Return of Laura Dayton Cartwright
by
Janice Sagraves

ONE

She had the hired sleigh stop just inside the clearing. The big roughhewn log house stood just as she remembered it, just as rugged as the country that surrounded it, and just as beautiful. Memories of her time spent here rolled into her mind as the dark-haired two-year-old squirmed in her lap. It had been a long, long trip, and he was restless but now she hardly noticed his fidgeting. She felt that finally she had come home again, and if she could pick up old acquaintances it would be even better. To be truthful, however, only one acquaintance concerned her, and she wondered if he would be glad to see her. After the way they had parted and what had come between them she couldn’t help but wonder. Still, it wouldn’t stop her trying to pick up the pieces that had been left hanging loose. A deep breath filled her as images of the tall, hazel-eyed man stood before her as a reminder of what she had so casually tossed aside. Comforting her son and making her ten-year-old daughter settle into the back seat, she told the driver to go on. With a snap of the reins the sleigh began to move and as they drew closer her heart rate increased. Soon she would know where she stood.

*******

Snow still held the ground in its embrace and it looked no more like spring than it did March. The gray sky hung heavy with threatening clouds and temperatures hovered right below freezing. Everyone knew that warmer weather would come – it was only a matter of when – but Mother Nature never got in a hurry in these parts.

Adam Cartwright had gone to town right after breakfast to pick up that day’s mail as he did or had someone else do every morning. Since Bantree was so close to his ranch it wasn’t a problem, though the snow did slow progress a bit. He didn’t want anything urgent to get past him so the sojourn was never missed except for some time back in January.

On the way back home he decided to swing by the Haymes’ property for a short visit. As the big chestnut came into the cleared off yard past the well the sound of someone working at the anvil grew clearer. “Lee!” he said in a loud clear voice as he reined in near the barn. “Lee Haymes!”

Lee Haymes stepped out, a small sledge hammer clutched in his right hand, and his amber eyes lit up. “Adam, what’re you doing still in the saddle? You don’t need to be told to get down when you’re here.”

“It’s a little cold for this kind of work, don’t you think?” Adam said as he brought one long leg over the horse’s back and stepped down.

“Just a might,” Lee said as he tossed the hammer into the barn and took his coat from a peg by the door. “But sometimes things come up that can’t wait.” He started toward his friend as he eased his arms into the sleeves. “So what brings you out this way on a day like this?”

“I’m on my way back from town and just decided to take a little detour and stop by. How’s the family?”

“Just fine. The boys are growing like weeds, and Becky’s keeping me on my toes. How’s Angelica?”

“Getting bigger every day,” Adam said with a skewed grin.

“I know how that is,” Lee said with a snicker. “Becky was big as a barn.”

“Angelica’s big as two barns and the house. I have visions of another Hoss.” The side of Adam’s finely sculpted mouth crooked on one side at the thought of his brother. “But I wouldn’t mind.”

“I tell you what, you go ahead and put your horse in the barn, and I’ll let Becky know you’re here. Kip’s gonna be sorry he missed you but schooling, you know.”

“I sure do. Pa was insistent that we went too when we finally got one. I won’t be long.”

Adam led Sport into the barn while his friend went to the house. He wouldn’t stay long; he had some news he had to give Angelica, though he dreaded it mightily. But putting it off would only hold it back and not make it go away.

*******

Angelica Cartwright had become cumbersome and unwieldy. She waddled like a duck, and she knew it no matter how many times Adam told her she didn’t. Her feet and ankles swelled and her back hurt incessantly and when she wore her white nightgown she looked like a giant snowball. No matter how many times her husband told her she was beautiful she knew better. She was fat and round, and she didn’t need a mirror to remind her of the fact.

Slowly, she lowered her vastly expanded self onto the settee before the fire that blazed in the hearth. She had wanted to crochet but her fingers had become so swollen that holding the hook had become impossible. She had even been forced to remove her rings.

Before Angelica became aware of her presence Maggie O’Shea was hovering over her. “There now,” she said in her hearty Irish brogue as she tucked a knitted afghan in around the young woman’s ample lap and legs. “That’ll keep ya good and warm.”

Angelica continued to sit motionless, her deep violet eyes riveted to the flickering flames. “Maggie, do you think I look like a lump?”

“Faith and begorra, why would ya ask a thing like that?” Maggie asked as she poked up the fire. “I think you’re beautiful.”

“That’s what Adam says but I don’t believe him anymore than I do you. I’m round as a ball.”

Maggie put the poker back and pushed away a gray-striped mahogany strand that had fallen over her forehead. She went to Angelica and got down on her knees before her. “Do ya feel that?” she said as she placed Angelica’s hands flat against her belly. “That’s your baby, yours and Adam’s and that can make ya nothin’ but beautiful. This is a gift that the Good Lord saw fit to bestow on ya, and ya need to see it for what it is, a miracle.” Her nutmeg eyes lit with love as she lightly touched her girl’s cheek with her fingertips. “Now, how about a nice cup of ginger tea? It’ll finish warmin’ ya up from the inside out.”

Angelica only nodded, her gaze staying locked on the fire. Maggie stood and stroked the back of the dark brown head then bustled into the kitchen.

The silence on this side of the big ell-shaped room lasted for only about ten or so minutes before Adam blustered in.

“Whew, but it’s cold out there,” he said as he pushed the sturdy oak door shut and rubbed his gloved hands together. “Spring may not be so far away but winter isn’t finished yet.”

Still so deep in her own thoughts she didn’t seem aware that he had come in.

“I saw your mother and sister and they’re doing fine,” he went on as he stuffed his gloves in his pocket then hung his coat on the rack by his hat and began unbuckling his gun belt. “And it was stressed again that I’m to let them know when your time comes.” He put it with them then started toward the settee. “We didn’t have any mail but I did have a wire from Pa that came this morning.” As he sat next to her he could see that her mind was a million miles away. “Angel…. Angelica.”

At the touch of his cool hand against hers she returned to this world and finally looked around at him. “Hello, sweetest,” she said softly and touched his chilled face. “You’re frozen to death.”

“Well, only half,” he said as he clasped her warm fingers in his and pressed them to his lips. Her far away look disturbed him. “Are you all right? You look so tired.”

“Maybe just a little. Maggie’s fixing me some tea.” Her mouth spread in a gentle smile. “Did you know that our baby makes me beautiful?”

“That’s what I’ve been telling you for weeks.”

“Well, Maggie has made it official.” Her eyes roved across that handsome face, and she knew she saw something that hadn’t been there when he left. “You said something about your father. What is it?”

“Oh, he’s all right and so are Joe and Hoss. Everything’s all right there.”

“But something’s wrong somewhere,” she said with a frown. “What is it?” She couldn’t miss his reluctance as he took a folded piece of paper from his shirt pocket. “Adam.”

He would just as soon shoot himself as do this. He feared how she would take it, especially now. Clearing his throat, he wanted to throw the telegram into the fire and forget the whole thing, but he knew this to be impossible. “Somebody I haven’t seen in a long time is back, and Pa thought I should know that she’s coming here to see me.”

“She?” she said as her eyes narrowed. “Who is she?”

He ducked his head and rubbed the back of his neck then looked up at her. “Laura Dayton.”

TWO

“Of all the nerve! Of all the brazen nerve!” Angelica ranted as she stalked awkwardly before the fireplace. “And even after your father told her that you’re married! Doesn’t she have any shame?”

“Angelica, settle down. This isn’t good for you or the baby. Here,” and he held out a cup and saucer to her, “drink Maggie’s tea. It’ll make you feel better.”

“For the last time, I don’t want it!” she said as she slapped it from his hand, and it shattered against the floor, spreading its tawny contents. Facing the fireplace she covered her face with her hands. “Why is she coming here? We don’t need her!”

Turning her to him, he put his arms around her and held her against his broad chest. “She’s back home and I’m sure she’s only looking up old acquaintances. But if it’s something else I’ll simply tell her that I I’m not interested. Problem solved.”

“She had you, and she threw you away,” she said as she looked up at him. “She wanted him more than she did you. And while we’re about it, why isn’t he with her?”

Adam’s face took on a sheepish cast. “According to Pa…, she left him.”

“Oh, now see, that’s what scares me. She can’t make up her simple mind. First her husband then you then your cousin now back to you.” She buried her face against him again. “Adam, you do love me, don’t you? You aren’t glad she’s back, are you?”

He raised her chin and wiped away a tear with his thumb. “If I never saw Laura again I’d be just as happy, and I never loved her like I do you. At first I had a few regrets that she walked away from me, but then I met you, and I’m glad she did. Looking back on it, I know that marrying her would have been the biggest mistake of my life.” He could feel her trembling in his arms. “Now you stop this. You have nothing to worry about, nothing at all.”

“Oh, I could just claw her eyes out. And if she comes here I just may.”

He began running his fingers through her silky hair and kissed her forehead. “And I bet you’d enjoy every minute of it too.”

“Of course I would. How dare her try to break up my marriage.”

“I don’t think that’s why she’s here.”

“Are you defending her?” she asked, her eyes suddenly grown sharp.

“No. If I’m defending anybody, it’s you. I’d hate to see my wife and the mother of my child charged with murder.”

This seemed to diffuse the situation somewhat, and she allowed herself a smile. “Am I being too silly?”

“Just a little, but it lets me know how much you love me and that you’re willing to fight to keep me.” His hold tightened around her. “And, if need be, I’d do the same thing. We survived Hazelton Greenwood, we survived January, and we’ll survive this.”

“All right, but if this little flibbertigibbet tries coming between us I’ll do what I have to protect the sanctity of my home.” The purple had overpowered the blue of her eyes as it often did when she grew angry or determined. “Whatever it takes.”

She rested the side of her face over his heart, and he hoped she could hear how it beat with undying love for her. Angelica was his life now – his whole life – and he wouldn’t allow Laura to destroy that. And if that was her reason for coming, she had a rude surprise awaiting her. And he wasn’t overly concerned with amenities.

*******

Three days had passed since the telegram from his father that had warned them to expect company. It had stated little other than the obvious and left the rest to supposition. Since then Angelica had stalked the house like a cougar in search of prey, and Adam and Maggie had been unable to do anything about it.

On this day, the one that the stage should make it to Bantree, Adam had decided to stay close to home. He didn’t want to ride in from somewhere to find Laura’s body parts strewn about the house. The barn had been chosen as the best place to intercept her when she arrived, and he had been there since right after breakfast. He figured that this way he could head off a possible scalping and give Angelica the chance to adjust to Laura’s being there.

As he picked up a small keg of horseshoe nails from where he had placed it an hour earlier he heard a sleigh shush into the yard. His heart thumped into his throat, and not so much from the prospect of seeing Laura again after all this time as learning what it felt like to get caught in cannon fire. He wanted to waylay her and hopefully soften things up a bit before Angelica began her assault.

Putting the little barrel back with a thud, he turned to where the large doors stood open and swallowed. He felt like a man about to be stood up against the wall and shot, and he wouldn’t even get a blindfold.

Laura Dayton Cartwright’s pulse raced when she first saw him step out of the barn, and her arms tightened around her son. Still as tall and dark and magnetically handsome as she remembered, he came toward her. “Adam.”

“Hello, Laura,” he said as he stepped to the sleigh and took her outstretched hand. “You haven’t changed, you’re just as beautiful.”

“You have, but I can’t say that it’s for the worst.”

“And who’s this?” he asked as he touched the boy’s dark head.

“This is my son, John. We named him after Will’s father.”

“I’m not surprised,” he said with a nod then helped her down with the boy. “Are you planning on staying long?”

“I haven’t decided yet. We’ll see.”

Her eyes followed his every line and movement as he went to help her daughter down.

“Peggy, my how you’ve grown.”

“I am almost eleven.”

“You’re a young lady now, and a very pretty one, just like your mother.”

“Oh, Adam, I’ll never be as pretty as Mother, but its nice of you to say that.”

“I only say the truth,” he said with a tilt of his head.

“Do you want me to wait for you, Mrs. Cartwright?”

Adam couldn’t miss the look she shot him. “No, Sam, you can go on back into town. When she gets ready to leave I’ll bring her. Have you been paid?”

“Not yet.”

Adam took a gold half eagle from his shirt pocket and gave to the man, and it remained quiet until he disappeared past the barn.

“It really is good to see you, Laura.” He reached out and touched Peggy’s cheek. “You both bring back some happy memories. Now why don’t we go into the house? I’m sure you’re well chilled after your trip, and you can warm by the fire. I’ll have Maggie make some tea, and I think she baked this morning.”

“That sounds nice, and I’m looking forward to meeting your wife.”

Adam knew that didn’t work both ways – though he couldn’t help wondering how much Laura meant it – and he knew even more when they turned to go inside. Angelica stood on the front porch, her woolen paisley shawl wrapped about her, and her face set like mortar. He could see glittering in those deep eyes what he dreaded. His wife had never liked Laura, though they had never met, and he could see now the threat of a confrontation that he hoped he could head off should it come and not get maimed like the proverbial innocent bystander.

*******

The house was warm and inviting after the cold trip by stage and then the drive from town. The children had been packed into the kitchen with Maggie – a consummate child spoiler – while the adults talked over tea and fresh baked vanilla crackers.

“Your father told me about what happened, and if we had known we would have come home,” Laura said and demurely sipped.

“Pa wasn’t up to it but Joe sent a letter. Didn’t you get it?”

“No, and it doesn’t surprise me that it missed us, the way we were always moving from place to place. I’m sure a lot of letters never caught up with us. It got so that weeks would go by before I would see Will again.” She huffed as she picked up another cracker. “While we were staying at a small hotel in Hong Kong he wasn’t even there when his son was born. Some business in an outer province I believe it was.”

“Is that why you left him?”

Adam’s head snapped around to Angelica, the light from the fire sparkling in her cutting eyes.

“I didn’t leave him as much as I came home.”

“Well, you’re here and he’s not, and if that isn’t leaving your husband I don’t know what is.”

Adam decided that he had better get between these two. “I can see Will very much in that boy.”

“Does he miss his father?” Angelica asked and took a sip.

“He’s too young to really understand,” Laura said and took a bite.

“Having raised a daughter I would have thought that you would have learned that children pick up on things very early. They are more astute than most adults give them credit for.”

Laura sat her cup into the saucer with a hard clink. “I think I know my own son better than anyone else. Don’t you?”

“I never said you didn’t,” Angelica said with snippy calm.

There was a cat fight brewing, and he knew he had better try to head it off now before someone got hurt. “Is Will going to come too?”

“I don’t know,” Laura said as she blatantly turned her back to Angelica. “I hadn’t seen him for a week when we left London. I wrote him a letter and left it with the innkeeper to give to him when he returned.”

“That’s a little cold, don’t you think?” Angelica said evenly without a hint of emotion in her face. “Just up and go and leave a letter for him with a stranger. What did you say? Honey, I’ve taken the children and gone back to your cousin.”

Laura’s sky blue eyes caught fire as she slammed the cup and saucer down on the table, and her searing glare turned on Angelica. Her mouth set, and without a word she jerked to her feet. “I think it’s time I went back to town. It’s obvious that I’m not welcome here.”

“Don’t be ridiculous, of course you are. Isn’t that right, Angelica?” But he knew the answer to his question when he looked around into those defiant purple eyes. “Well, it is getting on toward noon, now that I think about it, and you and the children I know are exhausted and want to get settled. I’ll go hitch up the sleigh and I’ll ...” He suddenly felt as if he had been perforated by grape shot as his wife’s gaze bore into him. “I’ll ask one of the men to drive you back.”

“I understand.” Laura said curtly. “I’ll go get Peggy and John.”

Laura scurried from the room as if fleeing a battlefield. As he looked around at Angelica she sipped her tea with smug satisfaction.

“Aren’t you a little bit ashamed?”

“No,” she said crisply and crunched into a cracker.

He gave her one of his stern frowns but she took no heed of it. The opening salvos had been fired in Angelica’s war against what she saw as a threat to her marriage, and he knew this was only the beginning. Before long blood would be spilled, if only figuratively, and judging by this, it wouldn’t be Angelica’s.

THREE

The night had settled down from the day with little spoken between husband and wife after Laura’s visit and hasty departure. Adam hadn’t been able to miss the sadistic delight Angelica reveled in at having vanquished her enemy, if only for the time being.

Adam stood by the chair and finished getting undressed while she sat on the edge of the bed, already in her gown, watching him. He could feel her intense stare on him, though he had his back to her, as he slipped his nightshirt on over his head.

“She’s very pretty, isn’t she?” came out of nowhere.

Adam was not about to fall into that trap. “Yes, but she’s not as beautiful as you,” he said as he turned to her, fastening the buttons. “And before you ask, I married the one I love, and I don’t regret a thing. If Will hadn’t come along I could’ve made a terrible mistake and wound up with the wrong woman.”

“And is she the wrong woman?”

He stepped to her and raised her face to him. “It’s not so much that she’s the wrong woman as you’re the right one. I don’t even like to think about being married to anybody but you. Now why don’t you lie back, and I’ll rub your feet and ankles.”

She did as he told her, and he lifted her legs onto the bed then sat down next to them and began gently massaging her right foot. “Feel good?”

She only nodded and continued to watch him. “Adam…, are you ever sorry that you got married? I don’t mean just to me, but to anyone.”

“No,” he said as he began working her toes. “All my life I’ve heard Pa and other men talk about how wonderful it is to love one woman so much that you want to spend the rest of your life with her.” He snorted. “If I’d known what I was missing I probably would’ve married before this, so then I’m glad I didn’t.” He kissed the arch of her foot, and she giggled. “That’s better.”

Then she went pensive, and the sides of her mouth drew down. “Are you very angry with me?”

“You mean for the way you behaved while Laura was here?” he asked as he worked on her ankle. “Are you mad at yourself?”

“No,” she said firmly, “I won’t apologize for that…. I know why she’s here no matter what anyone tells me. She’s not happy with her husband so she wants to pick up where she left off with you…. Well, I won’t have it…. Shameless little hussy.”

He tried to keep his amusement from showing and put her foot down then picked up the other one.

“You know, I still may claw her eyes out…, and I wouldn’t regret it either…. I’d love to get my fingers in all that blonde hair and pull just as hard as I could.”

This time he couldn’t help the laugh that bubbled up from inside him.

“Don’t laugh at me,” she said through a veil of tears.

“I’m sorry.” He put her foot down then scooted toward the head of the bed. “Has anyone ever told you how beautiful you are when you get protective?” He pushed a dark brown strand back from her face and kissed her sensuous lips. “Makes me feel like I’m worth fighting for?”

“Oh, you are,” she said as she held her arms out to him.

He leaned down, and she flung them around him and held him tightly. She felt him gather her up from the bed and squeeze her close against him and it sent a surge coursing through her. Laura Dayton couldn’t have him, and she wouldn’t, no matter what it took.

*******

Breakfast wasn’t all that appealing this morning. Adam could see that Angelica didn’t want to eat as much as she didn’t want to talk. He watched her as she chased her food around her plate with her fork, and it disturbed him to see her this way.

“This isn’t helping anything,” he said as he softly touched her wrist. “Silence is worse than talking about it, and not eating isn’t a better solution. You know, I think you’ve built this up to more of a threat than it really is. I don’t see Laura as a husband stealer, and we don’t even know that it’s finished between her and Will. Remember, I know her, and I know how she reacts to things. She’s fine when everything’s sunshine, but when the clouds come and the rain starts she doesn’t handle it so well.” He gave the back of her hand a pat. “Maybe if you two got together and talked about it you’d see that I’m right. Who knows, you might even become friends.”

Her head jerked up, and her eyes quickly darkened then returned to their normal color. “Is that what you want me to do?”

“That’s entirely up to you. I’m not gonna push you into something you aren’t entirely comfortable with. It’s your decision to make, and I won’t get behind you and shove…. Not even that much,” he said as he held his middle finger and thumb barely apart.

A subtle smile softened the harsh lines around her mouth. “If it’ll smooth this over and straighten things out I can pretend…, and maybe you are right…. I guess I have no objection to it…. I just want us to get on with our lives, and that we can’t do with this hanging over us like a sword that could drop at any time.”

“Do you want me to ride into town and tell Laura that you’d like to see her?”

This she had to think about, but she feared the longer she did the bigger the problem would become. From the first time she had heard about Laura Dayton Cartwright she had set herself up not to like her, not even a little. Now, here she was, and Angelica needed to know if she was on the prowl for Adam. She had been wrong before, and she had to know if she was this time too. “All right, but I can’t promise anything. How this turns out depends on her real reason for being here.

“Then that’s settled. As soon as I finish here I’ll go to Bantree and relay the invitation.”

“I wouldn’t call it as much an invitation as a showdown.”

“Well, I havta warn you against any promiscuous shooting.”

A snicker escaped her before she could stop it, and a bite went into her mouth.

*******

Laura had taken a double room at the Sinclair Hotel so that the children could have one to themselves. And it wasn’t so much because they needed their own private space as she did. She was sitting on the settee by the window reading when a knock came at the door. Her hand flew to her throat as she looked around, and she hoped she knew who had come to call.

Her heart beat madly as she rushed to the door and threw it open. “Adam. I felt you would come.”

“Good morning, Laura,” he said as he took his hat off. “I needed to talk to you about something.”

“I thought you might.”

But then a lean man with chocolate brown hair and intense charcoal eyes stepped around behind Adam, and her spirits dropped.

“Oh, Laura, this is Steve Balasco, a good friend of mine.”

“Ma’am.”

“I hope you don’t mind that I asked him to come along. We don’t want to give anybody something to talk about, what with our past and being married and not to each other.”

“Of course we don’t,” she said flatly. “Won’t you come in?”

“Only for a few minutes,” he said as they entered the room. “I need to get back to Angelica and Steve has to get back to work.”

“What is it you want?”

He glanced over at Steve. “I came to ask you out to the house. Angelica’s sorry about yesterday and, well, she’d like for you to come for another visit so the two of you can talk and get to know each other.”

Her eyes flashed briefly to Steve. “Was this your idea or hers?”

He ducked his head and scratched the side of his neck. “I havta admit it was mine, but she agreed with me. You havta excuse her, she’s not normally like this, but being expecting and so close to her time, she’s just a bit on edge. I’m sure you know how that can be, being a mother yourself.”

“How intelligent of you to know that,” she said acidly.

Steve grimaced and turned around.

At first Adam seemed at a loss for words. “Yeah,” he said as that eyebrow rose. “So do you want me to tell her that you’ll come?”

Laura’s mind seemed to wander, and Adam didn’t care for the look in those cool eyes.

“How does tomorrow afternoon sound?”

He glanced around and only got his friend’s back. “That’ll be fine. I’ll tell her…. Thank you, Laura.”

“Not at all. We are, after all, friends.”

The emphasis she put on ‘friends’ sent little alarms off inside his head, and his mouth went dry as paper. “I’m glad to hear that. Now I’ll let you get back to what you were doing, and we’ll be looking forward to seeing you tomorrow.”

She walked to the door with them, and he could see that any further exchange between them wouldn’t come. He thanked her again and they wished her a good day then went out into the hall. Their faces scrunched and they flinched when the door closed – actually bordered on a slam – behind them.

Adam pinched the bridge of his nose and shook his head. “Why do I have the sinking feeling that this maybe wasn’t such a good idea?”

“Because, my friend,” Steve said as he squeezed his shoulder, “you are wise beyond your years.”

Adam shot him a dark hazel glare. “Oh, thanks. I brought you along for moral support.”

“And here I thought it was my charm with the ladies,” Steve said with mock disappointment.

With a snigger, Adam slapped him on the back and they headed for the stairs, giving her room an unwary look as they went.

After Laura heard them walk away she leaned back against the door and a cunning smile turned her mouth. She had made a mistake with Adam Cartwright once before, she wouldn’t do it a second time. Her chance to make things right had come, and she wouldn’t squander it.

FOUR

“Maybe I should’t’ve talked you into this,” Adam said as he watched Angelica arranging the tea things on the table before the fireplace.

“I am capable of making my own decisions, and you didn’t talk me into anything. I behaved abysmally, and I was wrong to treat her that way without giving either of us a chance to know each other. And when I stood back and looked at it I could see that you’re probably right. She’s come home, and she just wants to see some of the people she knew. There.” She stood back and surveyed her handiwork then turned to him and put a hand against his cheek. “And denying that you had a relationship with her would be counterproductive and wouldn’t change the facts.” She pushed the black wisp back from his forehead. “But you’re with me now, and I know you always will be. I trust you, and I know you would never do anything to hurt me.”

“How so sure? You have to admit that there’s still a lot you don’t know about me. I don’t think anybody can ever truly know another person, even when they grow up together.”

She took his face in her hands, and her eyes roved over his handsome features. “Well, I could say the same thing about me. To start with, you didn’t know that I slept with a little yellow kitten when I was a child until it grew up and found that it liked Lucinda better.”

“Not a very smart cat if it left you.”

Their lips were about to meet when the sound of someone driving into the yard interrupted them. He looked around in that direction and couldn’t hide his disappointment.

“If that’s Laura I can’t say much for her timing.”

“Neither can I.” Angelica checked the clock on the mantle behind her. “But she did say afternoon, and it’s a quarter past twelve now.”

“Are you sure you wantta go through with this?” he asked as he turned back to her.

“Well, it’s a little late to ask me that now, I mean she is here. Now you go let her in. I’m sure she’s well chilled after her trip from town.”

“Maybe I should stay in here while she’s…”

“Adam Stoddard Cartwright, would you just go on?” she said and gave him a nudge forward. “What will she think if you keep her waiting on the cold porch for an hour? Now scat!”

He gave her a playful peck on the mouth then went to greet their guest. “Hello, Laura,” he said as he opened the sturdy oak front door. “We’re glad you could come. Here, let me take your wrap.”

She thanked him and gave her dark peach hooded cloak to him and fluffed her soft yellow hair and straightened her clothes over her voluptuous figure. “There. Now I feel almost human again.” She looked about at her surroundings. “What a lovely house you have, Adam. Did you design it too like you did the one on the Ponderosa?”

“As a matter of fact, I did.” His eyes went to Angelica. “And it had to be special.”

“How many rooms does it have?” she asked as she stepped around the room looking at everything except toward the fireplace. She seemed to purposefully keep her back to it.

“Eleven and Angelica helped me furnish them. I never could’ve done it without her help.”

Angelica was being snubbed, and she knew it but she held down the ire that roiled around inside her. “Would you like some tea,” she asked convivially. “I’m sure you could use some warming up after that icy drive.”

“Yes, I would,” Laura said brightly as she finally turned to her hostess. “With plenty of honey. Adam always liked lots of honey.”

Angelica could feel the slow burn starting at the base of her skull but she wouldn’t give this witch the pleasure of knowing about it. “He still does,” she said as she began to pour. “Adam, you promised that you would leave us to talk. I know how boring woman talk can be for a man.”

“And I’ve got some things to do in the barn so I’ll be right outside.” Uncertainty hid behind his eyes as he got his coat and hat then let himself out.

“Why don’t you take the chair closest to the fire?” Angelica said as she sat on the settee.

“Thank you, I think I will.” Laura sat primly in the overstuffed chair, arranging her full skirt around her.

Angelica handed her a cup of tea then held the plate of cookies out to her. “Shortbread? Maggie makes the best I’ve ever eaten. It melts in your mouth like snowflakes.”

Laura graciously took one and dipped it in her tea then took a dainty bite.

“So, how long do you plan to stay in Bantree?” Angelica asked as she added cream to her own tea.

“As long as it takes?”

Angelica froze, and her eyes shot right to Laura. “As long as what takes?”

“To get to know Adam again. It has been just over four years since we parted company, and I didn’t realize how much I had missed him until I saw him yesterday.”

Angelica felt the heat starting to close in around her. “Well, you were engaged to him.”

“Yes, I was,” Laura said wistfully and turned her attention to the fire flickering in the hearth. “And one of the biggest mistakes I ever made in my life was letting him go.”

Angelica watched her shrewdly as she took a sip. “What about your husband? You must love him or you wouldn’t have released Adam so that you could marry him.”

“I did…, once…. Or I thought I did…. But I see now that it may’ve all been a terrible mistake.” Then those distant eyes came around. “And that’s why I came back to see Adam.”

Angelica’s fingers tightened on the cup’s handle and a tingle crawled along her spine. “Adam isn’t a free man anymore. You let him go for his cousin, and now he’s mine.”

“Do you love him?”

“More than any words can express, and I would die for him if I had to. Would you do the same for Will?”

“I don’t know, but I do know I would for Adam…. He loved me, you know.”

That wasn’t how Angelica had heard it but she decided not to say anything.

“I couldn’t see the good thing I had until it was too late.” She put her cup back on its saucer with a clink and sat them on the table. “I had twice to get it right and got it wrong both times. Maybe with Adam it would have been different.”

“Maybe, and it’s too bad we can’t see our mistakes before we make them. If we could we wouldn’t make any.” Her eyes never left Laura. “I know my marriage wasn’t a mistake. With Adam it never could be.”

Then Laura’s gaze bore in on her. “Would you mind if I continued seeing him?”

Angelica’s throat tightened. “And if I say I will, what then?”

Laura’s pause seemed interminable. “I only want to see him as a friend.”

This broke Angelica. “You must think I’m terribly naïve. I know exactly why you came here, and I’m telling you right now that it won’t work, because I won’t let it and neither will Adam. You’re not the first threat we’ve had to our marriage, and I suspect you won’t be the last.

Laura’s face hardened, and she came to her feet. “Why don’t we let him decide that?”

“He already has,” Angelica said as she sat her cup and saucer hard on the table and it rattled. “We’ve been together for eight months now, and I think I know him better than you ever did regardless of how long you were together.” Ponderously, she pushed herself up from the settee. “I’ve heard about the relationship you had together, not from him but from his father and brothers, and I know it never would have worked. You were too critical of him, and you were never happy with anything he said or did. He wasn’t meant for you, and you should leave it that way.”

Laura’s face blanched, and she stomped around the table to this woman that stood in the way of her happiness. “I mean to go on seeing Adam, and if I’m the one he wants then that’s the way it should and will be.” A sadistic smirk spread her mouth. “Maybe we’ll find that you don’t know him as well as you think you do.”

Angelica’s slow burn turned into a raging wildfire but she held it in check. “Let me give you some advice,” she said menacingly. “Concentrate on satisfying your own husband and leave mine alone. All of us, well most, will be happier that way, and you’ll keep your hair.”

Angelica’s defiant attitude flew over Laura like a bucket of boiling water. Her eyes blackened, and without a hint of warning she slapped this impediment to her plan.

Angelica gasped and the purple returned, deeper and more threatening than it had ever been. If looks could kill, Laura Dayton Cartwright would have died a painful and violent death right there. Angelica’s right hand rolled into a round, hard ball and, with the suddenness of a lightning bolt, came around and struck Laura in the face.

As the two women stood there, transfixed by the events of the past few seconds, a thin trickle of blood ran from the corner of Laura’s mouth. Laura thought to strike her adversary again but from nowhere Maggie O’Shea loomed up behind her mistress, her nutmeg eyes snapping fire.

“I think ya’d better leave, mum,” Maggie said evenly, her brogue hard and seething. “You’re no longer welcome here.”

Laura looked first from this Irish woman that probably could and would wring out a wild cat to the smaller one whose hands continually clenched and unclenched.

“I won’t give up,” Laura said coolly.

“If you’re smarter ‘n you act, mum, ya will before ya find yourself unappealin’ to any man. Now I don’t think I havta show ya where the door is. And don’t let it hit ya in the bustle on the way out.”

With a huff, Laura flounced around them and stamped to the coat stand and jerked her cloak from it so hard that it toppled over and hit the floor. Then, with one fiery glance back, she jerked the door open and bolted out, slamming it hard behind her.

“It’s all right, love, she’s gone,” Maggie said as she placed her hands on Angelica’s back.

Angelica stood trembling like a leaf caught in a fierce summer gale. Her eyes were set on the spot where that horrid creature had been standing, and her heart beat like a frantic drum. Then, all at once, she couldn’t take it, and she covered her face with her hands and began to cry.

Gently, Maggie turned her girl to her and put her arms around her. “Don’t ya worry none, Miss Angelica – she won’t have her way with Mister Adam.” Then a grim mask covered her face. “And if she ever hurts ya again there’ll be one less woman in the world.”

Adam stepped out of the barn as Laura swung her cloak around her shoulders and bounded down the steps, and he didn’t need his college education to tell him she was upset. “Laura!” He rushed over to her and now he noticed the drying blood at the corner of her mouth. “What happened?” he asked as he ran his thumb over it.

“Why don’t you ask that woman you’re married to?” she said, her voice quivering with anger.

“I’m asking you. Now what happened?”

“She hit me.”

“She hit you? Ah, that doesn’t sound like Angelica.”

“Well, she did it nonetheless.” Her fingers squeezed against the heavy peach fabric of the cloak. “Adam, I want you to drive me back into town.”

He sighed, and his eyes went briefly to the house. Angelica would never do such a thing without some sort of provocation, and he only wanted to get in to her. “I’ll have one of the hands take you.”

“But, Adam,” she started and grasped his arm. “I want you to. We need to talk.”

“We can do that later. Juva!”

Juva Bailey came out of the barn and ran over to them. “Yeah, Boss.”

“I want you to hitch up the sleigh and take this lady into Bantree.” She started to protest but his biting eyes silenced her then he pulled loose from her grip and ran toward the porch.

FIVE

Maggie had just come out of the bedroom when Adam dashed inside and rushed straight to her.

“Maggie, what’s going on? Laura said Angelica hit her.”

“Ah, that she did,” Maggie said with an air of pride. “And it was the most beautiful haymaker I’ve ever seen me life.”

“She used her fist?” he asked as his eyebrows shot up in surprise.

“And a fine specimen of one it was too.”

“But why? I know she doesn’t like Laura, but I never would’ve thought…”

“That woman slapped her, and Miss Angelica was only defendin’ herself, and her home.”

His eyes flitted to the bedroom door. “Is she all right?”

“Cryin’ like a baby, she is, but she’s not hurt. That Laura woman is living proof of that.” Then her black scowl disappeared, and a radiant smile took its place. “Now why don’t ya go on in to her? If anything’ll make her feel better that’ll be it.”

“Thank you, Maggie. I’m glad you were here.”

“I helped raise her, and I love her as me own, and I’ll not stand by let that woman do this to her.”

“I know, and that’s why I’m glad you were here.”

Angelica lay on the bed sobbing dismally when he slipped in. Quietly, he padded over to the bed and sat down next to her but she was too enmeshed in anguish to notice. He bent over and kissed a wet cheek that still bore a reddened handprint, and her eyes flew open. At the sight of him her weeping gained momentum.

“I didn’t think I’m that hard to look at.” But his attempt at levity fell flat on its face.

“Oh, Adam, I hate her!” she said through gritted teeth, and her hands strangled wads of bedspread. “I wish she’d never come here!”

“So do I, but this isn’t doing any good so you can stop this.” He began tenderly drying away her tears with his fingers. “I hear you laid a good one on her,” he said through a snicker.

“I’m only sorry I didn’t hit her harder. Do you know what she says she’s going to do? She’s going to try to take you away from me.”

“Is that what she said?”

“Not in so many words, but she made it perfectly clear what her intentions are.”

“Well, if that’s the case then you can stop crying right now because I have no interest in her. And if that’s what she thinks then she’s sadly mistaken. Laura is my past but you are my present and my future, and any chance she may’ve had with me died a long time ago. Now I want you to stop this. It isn’t doing you or the baby any good. Promise me that you will.”

Her crying abated further, and she nodded.

“That’s my good girl.” He pushed her hair back from her face, and his hand lingered in it. “Would you like for me to just sit here with you?”

Her head bobbed as an unhappy child’s would.

“Why don’t you try to sleep a little? I’m sure your little boxing match tired you out. I didn’t know I was married to such a pugilist.”

She tittered nervously. “Stop it. You know what happens when I laugh.”

“I’ve just had one of my better ideas.” He moved to the headboard and eased her into his lap, enfolding her in his arms. “How’s that?”

“Paradise,” she said as she nestled back against his broad chest. “I could stay her for eternity.”

He rested the side of his face on the top of her head and began humming one of her favorite ballads. He could feel the tenseness leave her body, and her breathing become heavier and more even as she gradually drifted off.

This was the woman he loved, and nothing could ever change that, especially not Laura. And if she thought that would happen she had a rude awakening waiting for her, and that didn’t concern him in the slightest. Right now everything he needed slept in his arms, and if Laura had to get hurt to protect her then he could do nothing about it.

*******

Laura huddled down in the back seat of the sleigh, pulling her cloak close around her and adjusting the hood over her head. She had never been so furious in all her life, and her mouth ached. A part of her understood why this woman would fight, but the rest of her didn’t want to acknowledge it, and it didn’t matter anyway. Given the chance to realize it for himself she knew that Adam would see that he still loved her. They had meant so much to one another before, and she knew that they could again, if only she could get him alone and apart from his wife. He didn’t love this woman, how could he?

The sleigh jolted but it wasn’t enough to jar her from her thoughts.

Her mind reeled back the pages of her mind to the time when she had been engaged to this wonderful man. How good things had been. And how good they could be again if only she could make him see the mistake he had made in not waiting for her. Maybe it was only loneliness that had driven him to that dark-haired little harpy. That, however, didn’t concern her now, for she knew that in the end, he would be hers again. And she would stay right there for as long as it would take.

She settled back and wrapped herself in the warm glow of a promising future. Will had never understood, but she knew that Adam would.

*******

After nearly an hour, Adam pulled himself away from his sleeping wife, difficult though it was, and went out into the parlor. It had just about torn him in two to see her that way, and it would stay with him for the rest of his life. She could cry so pitifully, and it had the power to rend a grown man’s heart. But then she had fallen peacefully asleep as he held her, and that too he would always remember.

He had some correspondences that needed answering so he thought this would be the perfect opportunity to get it done. He had just started upstairs after what he would require from the study when someone began knocking at the front door. With an expression of disgruntlement he looked around then started back down. Company couldn’t have come at a worse time, and he didn’t care to be bothered but he wouldn’t vent his ire on this poor unsuspecting soul.

Grasping the hammered iron handle, he jerked the door open a little harder than intended, and his jaw instantly dropped.

“Hello, Adam.”

SIX

“I don’t havta ask why you’re here, and I shouldn’t be at all surprised to see you, though I must admit that I am. Come in where it’s a shade warmer.”

Will Cartwright stepped inside with his hat in hand, and the door closed behind him. “It has been a few years,” he said as his warm brown eyes covered the room.

“Yes, it has. Let me take your coat and hat.”

“Nice house,” Will said as he shucked the garment, and handed them back to him. “Did you design this one too?”

“I sure did,” Adam said as he hung up Will’s things. “But this one was a bit more of a challenge since I had to do it with Angelica in mind.”

“When do I get to meet that wife of yours?”

“It could be anytime. She’s had a hard day, and right now she’s asleep. Now how about a brandy to take away some of the chill?”

But doleful eyes turned on Adam and made him swallow hard.

“Has Laura been here yet?”

“When she first arrived in town yesterday, and then again this afternoon. That’s why Angelica’s had a hard day.”

“That I can believe.”

“You go ahead and sit down in front of the fire, and I’ll get the brandy.”

As Will took a seat on the end of the settee – stretching his long Cartwright legs out into the floor – Adam went to the liquor cabinet and took out a couple of fine crystal snifters.

“Did Laura tell you that she just packed up the children and left me? When I got back to the inn there was a very coolly worded letter waiting for me.”

“Yes, she told us,” Adam said as he unstopped an etched glass decanter and poured. “And she told us part of why, though I suspect she didn’t tell us all of it.”

“You mean about my not being there when our son was born?” He smoothed back his thick, wavy cocoa-colored hair then ran his fingers over his neatly trimmed mustache. “That’s always been a sticking point with her, and goodness knows that I’ve kicked myself often enough for it. Thank you,” he said as a delicate snifter filled with amber liquid was handed to him.

“Then why weren’t you?” Adam asked as he sat in the big overstuffed chair closer to the hearth. “I would’ve thought that would’ve been very important to you.”

“More than I can make her believe.” He took a slug from his glass. “I’d gone to a small village to check out some pottery that I’d heard was worth the look while Laura and Peggy stayed in Hong Kong, and I must say it was against my better judgment that I did. She assured me that she’d be all right, but I shouldn’t have listened. Now that I look back on it I know she wasn’t sincere. I guess deep down inside I wanted to go to be away from her for a while.” He snorted and took another jolt. “It took eight days just to get there, and then came a deluge that washed out the only bridge into the area.” With a deep breath, regret wrote itself over his face. “My son was almost two weeks old when I finally saw him.”

“Is that when things changed between you?” Adam asked and took a sip.

“No, it started before then, but that only seemed to make it worse. And her Aunt Lil couldn’t help, hard as she tried. She came to visit us in London six months before things completely fell apart on the last leg of her European tour, and she couldn’t seem to get through to Laura anymore than I could. Sometimes she would catch me alone and we’d just talk but we were never able to sort things out.” He shook his head. “I did so hate it when she finally left to start back to the States. I felt like I’d lost a valuable ally.” He finished emptying his glass. “Is it all right if I refill this?”

“Sure, go ahead. I thought it was Laura’s idea for her and Peggy to go with you on your buying trips for your friend’s company?”

“It was,” Will said as he filled his glass. “She thought it would be exciting and Peggy would learn and see so much, and everything was fine for the first nine or ten months, but that all changed when she found out she was expecting.” He came to stand in front of the fire and looked down into the flames. “Peggy was an absolute joy. She was having the time of her life, but Laura got so all she could talk about was coming back here, and having our own home, and not having to live out of suitcases, and so on. Then John came and it grew to be endless. I found myself finding reasons to be away.”

“When did I come into the picture?”

“Shortly before he was born. You would watch after her, and you would never put her in that position, and you this, and you that.” He snickered. “I got so I hated you. Some of our worst arguments were over you…. For the first time I saw Frank’s end of it, and guessed at why he started hitting the bottle so hard and seeking the company of other women. I’d always been led to believe that he was a monster, and for a time I had no reason not to.” He took a drink and looked around at Adam. “She’s not the Laura I married.” He looked back into the flames. “I don’t know that she ever was.”

“Yeah,” Adam glanced down into his brandy, “but she does sound like the Laura I got to know. I couldn’t see it so well until I got some space between us and took a good, hard look. Everything I said or did was wrong, nothing was ever good enough, and she never seemed to be happy unless things were going her way. Personally, I don’t think she could ever be happy with any man that wasn’t an obedient and willing servant. And now she’s here after me again…. I think time and distance has tinted our relationship in bright colors, and she remembers it better than it was.” Adam stood and put his half-filled glass on the mantle. “I’m going to tell you why Angelica’s had a hard day. Because Laura came here and made it clear that she’s going to take me if she can, and when my girl stood up to her…, Laura slapped her.”

Will’s head shot around and his eyes darkened.

“But not to worry,” Adam said with a wide grin, “it didn’t go unpunished. Angel slugged her good, and bloodied her mouth. Laura came out of here mad as a wet cat.”

“That sounds like Laura. She used to do the same to me,” he said as he began rubbing his cheek. “But I never hit her back, not that I didn’t want to, but I’ve never hit a woman in my life, and I wouldn’t even start with her.”

“Will, if you feel this way about her then why did you follow her? I’d think you’d be glad she’s gone.”

“She’s not why I’m here. I want my son. I won’t try to take Peggy, she’s Laura’s, but I want my boy. He’s all I have now, and I’ll fight her for him if I have to.”

“Do you think traveling around like you do would be good for him?”

“Before Laura left me I’d already been thinking about coming back to the States and settling down.” He puffed a sigh. “But she was gone before I got the chance to tell her about it.”

“And what if you can’t get him?”

“I’ll go back to her if that’s what it takes…. But I can’t give up my son.”

Adam put a reassuring hand on Will’s back. “Don’t worry. You’re with family now, and we’ll take care of this together. Now, I bet you’re hungry as a pack of wolves and since it won’t be long ‘til supper, you’ll stay.”

Well, I…”

“Of course he’ll stay.”

Adam and Will looked around to where Angelica stood framed by the bedroom doorway.

“How long’ve you been standing there?” Adam asked as he went to her.

“Long enough,” she said as her benevolent violet eyes locked with Will’s.

In his travels about the country and the world Will Cartwright had seen many women but, even heavily laden with child, he had never seen one more lovely than Adam’s wife. He had once thought the same thing about Laura until he had gotten to know her, really know her, and it had tainted her in his eyes.

*******

“That was the most delicious meal I’ve had in many a day,” Will said from where he sat at the other end of the dining table. “And this has been the most pleasant evening I’ve had a good long while. But enjoyable as it’s all been it’s getting late, and I need to start for town. Laura still doesn’t know I’m here. I wanted to see you and talk to you before I saw her.”

“Well, you can beard that lioness in her den tomorrow,” Angelica said as she placed her napkin on her plate, “for tonight you’re staying here.”

“Well, I don’t want to imposition you.”

“You’re not impositioning anyone.” Adam got up and pulled her chair out and helped her to her feet. “Maggie and I will go ready a room for you; goodness knows we’ve got plenty.” She walked to where Will stood and lightly placed a hand against his wrist. “You’re my family, and this house is yours for as long as you want and need it. You’re home now, and things will get better.”

Will watched her as she went into the kitchen and waited until the door closed behind her to speak. “She’s a fine woman, and you’re a very lucky man. Ben and the boys filled me in on how you met her and what led up to it. I’m sorry I didn’t get that letter.”

A gray shadow fell over Adam’s face. “She’s the best thing that came out of it, and I’d be willing to go through it all again for what I have now.”

*******

Adam couldn’t be sure of the time when something awakened him. He blinked into the darkness and tried clearing the haze of sleep from his brain. He strained to listen but didn’t hear anything out of the ordinary. “Angelica?” But he got no answer. “Angelica?” He reached out to her side but found it vacant though still warm then he noticed her silhouette sitting on the other side of the bed.

Throwing back the covers, he got up, his bare feet smacking the chilly floor, and went around and sat down next to her. “Is the baby restless again?” he asked as he took one of her hands in his and it was cool to the touch.

“Not too bad but I am having a little trouble breathing again. It’ll be all right though when he moves,” she said as she leaned her head over on his shoulder. “Adam, what is wrong with that woman? She should be grateful to have someone like Will and love him with all she has inside her.”

“I don’t think there’s a man alive that could please her. Like Will, I used to believe that her first husband was solely to blame but my eyes have since been opened wide. It takes two people to completely destroy a marriage, and one can often drive the other to desperation. It’s not that Frank wasn’t already a drinker but it got worse after he married Laura, and nobody ever knew why. The last time he was here he’d only come to get Peggy. If he hadn’t gotten killed I have no doubt he would have.”

“Like Will wants his son now.”

“The very same thing.”

“Adam, if I ever hurt you like that…”

“You couldn’t possibly. Now let’s not talk about it anymore.” His arm went around her, and he held her closer to him. “I’ll sit here with you until he’s ready to let his mother get some sleep.”

He could feel her snuggle against him, and he rested his head against hers. He felt badly for what his cousin was going through, but in a dark recess he couldn’t help being glad it wasn’t him. He didn’t feel guilty for that, but he nonetheless felt partly at fault for this mess. If he’d stayed away from Laura in the first place maybe none of this would be happening now. Gentle fingers unbuttoned the front of his nightshirt, and he felt her cool hand against his chest. A thought that he could now find himself married to Laura stuck him like a running iron, and a breath shuddered through him. Comforting arms squeezed around him and the sense vanished. He loved Angelica, and he knew that he could never have married Laura because that wasn’t what the fates had in store for him, and, besides that, Angelica wouldn’t allow it.

SEVEN

The clock in the parlor of Adam and Angelica’s house had just struck seven that morning when Will had started out for Bantree. Adam had wanted to come with him but Will knew he had to do this alone. He had to have it out once and for all with Laura for the sake of them all because until he did none of them could move on with their lives. Well, maybe not so much Peggy and even more with John. The resiliency of children turned the corners of his mouth, and he found himself wishing that growing up didn’t mean losing that.

Then his mind turned from that to Adam and what he had found in the love of a wonderful woman. He was happy for his cousin and couldn’t help – in some small way – envying him. He had a beautiful, loving wife that loved him desperately, and soon he would be a father. He had the beginnings of an empire like the Ponderosa, and someone to share it with, for good or ill. All he had gotten was someone to nag and harp and criticize whatever he did. Sure, there would always be the good times to remember that they had enjoyed for a short time until Laura’s true self had emerged and made his life miserable. But if he had to go back to that to be with his son then he would.

He could finally see the outskirts of the fair-sized lumber town ahead, and trepidation swelled within his chest. Soon he would find himself face-to-face with the woman he had once thought he loved, and the mother of his only child.

Bantree had well awakened when he rode in and went straight to the Sinclair Hotel where Adam had said Laura had gotten rooms. Tying up at a hitch rail out front of a small shop, he walked the short distance then went on in, and found out her room number from the desk clerk and started up.

Laura and the children had already eaten breakfast in the hotel dining room and were preparing for the rest of the day when a knock came at the door.

“Peggy, would you see who that it?” Laura asked as she found her hands full with her fussy son.

“Yes, Mother.” She bounced forward to do as told and jerked the door open. “Will!” she squealed.

Laura’s hands tightened, and her fingers dug into the boy’s arms, and he squirmed even more and pulled at them.

“Hello, Peggy,” Will said as he removed his hat and stepped into the room. He kissed the girl on the cheek and held her to him.

Laura scooped the boy up and turned around. Instantly, little John’s mouth spread, showing tiny white teeth, and he began leaning toward his father.

“Hello, Laura.” Will put his hat on the dresser then reached out to receive his son. “Can I hold him?”

By this time the boy had leaned so far forward that it made hanging onto him difficult, and when Will only got a curt nod he took the child from her. He kissed the top of the downy head as his son put small arms around his father’s neck and hugged.

“Peggy, take your brother to your room.”

“But, Mother, why can’t we stay with Will? We haven’t seen him in months.”

“Do as I say,” Laura snapped.

Peggy obediently complied and took her little brother into the adjoining room, the baby crying and reaching for his father. The adults waited until the door closed behind them then harsh blue eyes lit on her husband.

“I’m surprised you came after us.”

“You shouldn’t be. You know how much I care for John and Peggy.”

“But not me?” Laura asked snippily.

“I didn’t say that.”

“You didn’t have to. The morning stage hasn’t gone yet, how…?”

“I got into town yesterday…. I spent the night with Adam and his wife. I wanted to talk to him before you knew I was here.”

“And what did you talk about?”

“I think you already know the answer to that.” Will came forward and took her hands. “Laura, being mad at each other isn’t helping anything. We need to sit down and talk about this with clear heads, and we should do it where the children can’t hear.”

Laura’s eyes darted to the door to the other room. “I guess you’re right. We do always seem to wind up shouting at each other.”

“We could go down to the dining room and have a cup of coffee. Maybe if we’re surrounded by people we’ll be able to keep our tempers.”

“It’s never worked before.”

“Maybe this time’ll be different,” he said with a faint smile. “Whadaya say?”

Laura looked at him long and hard and the tenseness in her face lessened. “Just let me see to the children,” she said with a nod.

After giving Peggy instructions and calming the boy’s crying and making sure they were securely locked in, Laura and Will went down to the dining room. They were seated near the kitchen, a coveted spot in these cold, blustery days. Even after the coffee they ordered came, for several minutes they sat in silence while voices carried on around them, hardly looking at each other, and interest in the content of the cups gone.

“I know why you’re here,” Laura finally said. “You want John and Peggy.”

“Only John, Peggy’s yours, and I won’t take her from her mother. But John’s my son as much as he is yours and – like I told Adam – he’s all I have left…. Unless you take me back.”

“Would you come back?”

“If it meant I could be with him…, and maybe we could iron things out between us and find something we lost along the way if we tried, really tried. But just saying we want it wouldn’t be enough; we’d have to work at it. Maybe even…”

“It could never work, not after what you’ve done. You don’t respect me, you never have.”

“You know better than that, or at least you should. Don’t you remember how it was at first?” he said as he rested a hand over hers. “The sun never seemed to set then.”

“You’re talking like a lovesick boy.” Laura jerked her hand away from him. “That was ages ago, and that love is no longer there.”

“But you think it is with Adam? Laura, wanting something doesn’t always make it so. He doesn’t love you, and you can’t do this with him. ”

“Given a chance to see…”

“No, he has his own life now, and you’re no longer a part of it. I don’t know why you can’t understand that. You never can be, at least not the way you want to.”

“I can try.”

“And Angelica Cartwright will fight you with everything she has. I think you saw that yesterday. She won’t give up her husband, and you have no right to try to take him.”

“I’m not trying to take him, only make him see…”

“See what? See what isn’t there anymore, and maybe never was? Laura, he isn’t in love with you, and he never will be. Face it, it’s over between you, and has been since before you married me.”

“No!” she said as her voice shot up, and she jerked to her feet, bumping the table, and causing the cups to rattle against their saucers. “You’re just saying that because you’re trying to hurt me again!”

Every eye in the room turned to her, and all conversation died.

“That’s not true. I’ve never tried or even wanted to hurt you,” Will said and held a hand out to her. “Now why don’t you sit down so we can talk some more?”

“I’m through talking! You never listened anyway!” Then she spun and ran out.

“Laura!” And he took off after her.

The only thing on Laura’s mind was escape as she dashed out into the lobby, and going back upstairs wasn’t far enough. With no thought other than to get away, she ran out the front double doors.

Will ran out after her, continually calling her name, though it did no good. Her skirt brushed the light dusting of snow from the boardwalk that had fallen the night before, and she kept to her flight. The attention of the few people that were outside centered on the drama unfolding before them as Will began gaining on her.

“Laura! Come back!”

Laura looked around behind her and saw that he would soon catch up to her, and she stepped off into the street. So intent on eluding him, she didn’t see the large wagon bearing down on her.

Will momentarily froze, and his blood went to ice. “Laura, look out!”

Her head yanked around, and she screamed, but before she could get out of the way or Will could reach her she was struck down. She fell to the frozen ground and the hooves of the large horses came down on her before the driver could get them stopped.

Instantly at her side, Will sank to his knees as someone backed the team off of her. “Laura…. Laura, can you hear me?” he said softly as he gently turned her onto her back and brushed the yellow blonde hair away from her face.

With a moan, her eyes came open, and she looked at him. “Will,” she rasped, blood shading her lips. She raised her left hand, and he took it in a firm, warm grip.

“I’ll go git Doc Robey,” a man’s voice said from the crowd that had gathered around them.

Will couldn’t hear anything for the thumping of his heart in his ears as he removed his coat and lovingly placed it over her. An ache rooted itself into his bones as he realized that a part of him still cared deeply for her, and to see her lying crushed in the street throbbed like an open wound. “It’s all right, Laura. Somebody’s gone for the doctor. Help’s on the way.” Her finger’s squeezed weakly against his hand, and a dawning thought that even the doctor couldn’t help now filled the back of his mind. “I’m right here, Laura. I’m right here.”

EIGHT

Adam and Angelica were just sitting down to their dinner when someone roared onto the front porch and began banging franticly at the heavy oak door. Without a word, Adam threw his napkin onto the table, and his long legs drove him into the parlor side of the large ell-shaped room.

Adam jerked the door open, and before him stood a disheveled and very agitated little man. “Howard, what’re you doing here?” A wad suddenly formed in the pit of Adam’s stomach. “What’s wrong? What’s happened?”

“Doc Robey sent me to fetch you. Your cousin’s wife got runned over by that big ol’ team Bram Dalby drives. Run right out in front of ‘em and ol’ Bram and they hit ‘er fair. Their hooves come down on ‘er before anybody could do anything.”

Adam tried swallowing the knot in his throat. “How badly is she hurt?”

“Don’t know. I run on to the livery to get my horse when they was takin’ ‘er in.”

Adam felt tender hands take his arm, and he looked around into consoling violet eyes. “All right, Howard. Come in here where it’s warmer, and I’ll be right with you.”

“We’ll be right with you,” Angelica said as she took her cloak from the coat rack.

Adam pulled her aside where they could speak in private and lowered his voice. “You don’t havta to do this, and I…”

“I’m not being hypocritical, I still don’t like her and what she’s tried to do, but she’s hurt, she could even die, and it isn’t the time to be vindictive. I’m sure Will and the children could use the presence of a woman’s comforting.”

He nodded and took her face in his hands. “And I need you.” With a quick jerk he turned from her. “Howard, I’m gonna need your help to hitch the sleigh. It’ll go faster with two.”

“Whatever you say, Mr. Cartwright.”

Adam got into his coat and hat then took down his gun belt and started buckling it on as he, and Howard went out.

*******

The snow had been a detriment to any kind of speed and it took them much longer than usual to finally make their destination. Adam and Angelica went straight to the doctor’s house, and Howard went on to the livery, his job done. They went up the steps and right inside without bothering to knock. Dr. Robey stood in one corner talking with Bram Dalby and Sheriff Dan Jillian. The first thing that caught Angelica’s eye, however, were the children sitting alone on the settee in front of the window.

“Hello, Adam, Angelica,” the doctor said as he shook Adam’s hand. “I’m glad you’re here.”

“She ran right out in front of me,” Dalby, a big, beefy man, said as he did the same. “But that doesn’t make me feel one bit better.”

“It wasn’t to be helped,” Dan said as he squeezed the man’s shoulder.

“Nobody’s blaming you, Bram. These unfortunate things happen. How is she?” Adam said as he took his wife’s arm.

Doctor Robey shook his head. “I wish I could’ve done more but she’s simply too badly injured?”

Adam’s grip tightened. “How bad?”

“Her right arm and several ribs are broken…, and so is her back in two places. There’s also serious internal injury and bleeding beyond my ability to repair, and I didn’t want to put her through unnecessary surgery. All I could do was give her something for the pain, though I doubt it’s helped much, and make her as comfortable as possible…. She hasn’t long? I’m sorry.”

“Where’s Will?”

“He’s in with her now. At this point it can’t hurt, and she seems to be more at peace when he’s there.”

Angelica glanced around behind her. “I’m going to go sit with the children.”

Peggy seemed so forlorn and small. She held her little brother in her lap, and he didn’t want to sit still.

“Hello,” Angelica said as she removed her cloak and sat next to them. “My name’s Angelica, I’m Adam’s wife. You must be Peggy and this is John.”

“Do you know my mother?”

“Yes, I do, but not very well. Now, why don’t you let me hold him?” Angelica couldn’t miss her reluctance. “It’s all right, sweetie.”

Peggy allowed Angelica to take the boy, and the moment she took him he settled right down and nestled close to her.

“They won’t tell me how bad my mother is…. Is she gonna die like my daddy did?”

Angelica felt her heart twist. “We’ll just have to wait and see. Now why don’t you try to nap a little bit? I’ll stay right here with you.”

“I don’t think I can.”

“Well, you can try.” She put her arm around the girl. “Isn’t that better?” she asked as she began playing in the long sandy blonde hair.

Peggy nodded and nuzzled even closer to this strange woman.

Angelica knew that these children were going to lose their mother, but she hadn’t had the heart to come right out and say it. She continued playing in the child’s soft tresses as the youngsters settled down in her care. If only things could have been different, if only their mother could have accepted things as they were, if only…

Will continued holding Laura’s hand as she drifted in and out of the effects of the pain killer the doctor had given her. Wan and frail, it pained him so to see this once vibrant woman this way. He didn’t like thinking of the word but how else could anyone put it. Laura was dying, and there wasn’t a thing anyone could do about it.

“Will.”

He leaned forward against the table and closer to her and stroked her hair. “I’m still here.”

She tried focusing on him. “Will…. Peggy…. John.”

“They’re right outside in the doctor’s parlor. They’re safe.”

“Will…, I’m sorry…. I didn’t mean… Do you… hate me?”

“I could never hate you. Yes, we’ve had our problems, but I know that they’ve mainly been my fault. I shouldn’t have taken you and Peggy…”

She managed to put her fingers against his lips to stifle the words. “Don’t.” With as much strength as she could summon she ruffled his thick hair. “I wanted to go… so don’t blame yourself.”

His head drooped and his shoulders quivered ever so slightly. She ran her hand over the soft, wavy hair that she had always loved. How had she lost sight of what she had? And why did one always see more clearly before they died? He let her pull him down against her, and she felt more than heard his quiet sobbing. She continued rubbing the back of his head, and wished she had seen before it was too late.

*******

Another hour passed slowly and Bram Dalby and the sheriff had long since left, leaving Adam and Angelica alone with Peggy and John. The girl, covered in the cloak, slept with her head in Angelica’s lap, and Adam had the sleeping boy as they sat together on the settee. The parlor felt like a silent vacuum that even the ticking of the clock went unnoticed in. Outside, the light had faded even more as the day continued its slow, methodical march toward dusk.

“Adam,” Dr. Robey said as he touched his friend’s arm. “She wants to see you and Angelica.” He understood the question Adam’s eyes were asking. “It won’t be long now, maybe only a few minutes.”

“What about the children?” Angelica asked.

“No, she’s adamant about that. Even Will couldn’t change her mind. She doesn’t want them seeing their mother this way and remembering her like this, and I can tell it’s a hard decision for her. It’s all right, I’ll stay with them.”

The children hardly stirred as the boy was transferred to the doctor’s arms, and Peggy snuggled against the soft fabric of the settee.

“Just go right in,” Dr. Robey said as he sat down in a chair.

Will sat as he had since he had been allowed into the examining room when they entered. Adam felt a sudden rush, and Angelica must have sensed it for her grasp tightened on his arm. They moved quietly to stand behind Will where Laura could see them with little effort.

“Adam…, I’m glad you came,” Laura said weakly.

“I couldn’t do any less.”

Her eyes, the life ebbing from them, turned to Angelica. “I’m glad… you came too. I need to… to apologize…. He’s yours now…. I have mine.” Her gaze went to Will, and a faint smile tipped her mouth.

Angelica blinked to hold back the tears. “I understand that sometimes we get mixed up and confused to what’s really important. It’s behind us and will stay there.”

“Thank you for that…. Please, see that they’re… taken care of…, will you, Adam?”

“I’ll make sure of it.” He reached out and squeezed Will’s shoulder.

“Will, would you kiss me… one last time? I don’t… think Adam and Angelica… will mind.”

“Of course I will.” Placing a hand on her cheek, Will leaned down, and their lips met in a final kiss that would have to last them for a while. Then he sat back, and his eyes traced her face, now in peace. “Laura…. Laura…. Ohhh, Laura.” He fell forward against her and held her as if to never let her go, the sobbing returning, and this time he kept nothing back.

Adam took his hand away and let his cousin grieve and put both arms around Angelica. He could feel her weeping more than hear it, and it finished tearing the great wound that had already been opened. A part of him still cared for Laura though not in the way she had wanted him to. In the end, however, she had come to realize that Will was and had always been the one. Adam’s eyelids fell to seal him into his dark world of pain and anguish, and salty tears ran down his face to drip from his chin.

NINE

“It’s been almost two weeks, and he just silently mopes around,” Angelica said as she looked out the window to the left of the front door. “The children are moving on but he just can’t seem to or want to, for that matter, and I’m worried about him.”

“I think what Will needs is a good man-to-man talk. The kind that Pa’s always been very good at.”

“I think that’s a wonderful idea,” she said and took the men’s coats from the rack by the door.

Giving her a peck on the cheek, he took them and went out.

Will stood at the edge of the porch looking out toward the barn but seeing beyond it, his arms crossed over his chest in typical Cartwright fashion.

“Here. Put this on before you make yourself sick.”

Will looked around to Adam standing next to him and holding his coat out to him. “I’m not cold.”

Adam shook it at him, forcing Will to take it.

“Now put it on or I’ll havta tell Angelica,” Adam said as he got into his own. “And I really don’t think you want me to do that.”

With obvious reluctance, Will slid his arms into the sleeves and let it fall over his shoulders. The attention of both men went out toward the gray horizon, and for several seconds neither spoke.

“I remember how Pa was when Marie died. Inconsolable is mild for what he went through. He’d already lost two women he loved beyond words and now life had come along and knocked his legs out from under him for a third time. He was so lost in his own grief that he didn’t have time for anybody or anything else. It got so bad that he just packed up his saddlebags and rode away with me begging him not to. The only thing that could bring him back was when I rode out in the dead of night like a maniac and nearly killed myself…. He learned then what you need to learn now. You’re not the only one hurt by this. The children have lost their mother and need their father now more than they ever have.” Adam rested a hand on his back. “She loved you. In the end, she realized that it you were the one and not me.”

“And I realized the same thing about her…. I didn’t mean to hurt her, and I don’t think she meant to hurt me, but we both wound up doing it just the same.” He inhaled deeply of the crisp morning air. “Why do we do that? Why do we always seem to hurt those we love the most the worst? And why do we always see things so clearly when it’s too late?”

“I don’t know, human nature, I suppose. People can be very shortsighted at times, too much really, and it takes something like this to open our eyes…. But you’ve still got Peggy and John, and families have a way of getting through a loss as devastating as this, and some better than others. But you’re a Cartwright, and John’s a Cartwright, and Peggy’s her mother’s daughter with enough of Frank sprinkled in to make things interesting. Whatever else he was, he did love his daughter and was willing to fight for her.”

“But I don’t think I can do it alone, not without Laura.”

“And that’s where an idea I’ve been playing around with comes in, if you want to hear it.”

“Sure, go ahead. I’m open to anything right now.”

“Why not go to San Francisco?”

Will finally looked around at him. “San Francisco? What’s in San Francisco other than that job that I don’t want to go back to?”

“Laura’s Aunt Lil. She’d love to have you and the children. There’s no substitute for a woman’s love and nurturing for a growing child, just ask me and my brothers. We were always grateful for our father, still are, but there were some things that a woman just does better, like kissing scraped knees to make the ouch go away and keeping secrets.”

“I doubt Lil wants anything more to do with me now, and, frankly, I can’t say I blame her.”

“I got a telegram from her yesterday in answer to the letter I sent her right after the funeral. She wants John and Peggy and you to come so badly. She says she has plenty of room just waiting to be filled with the brightness of children and the strength of a good man.”

“I didn’t know you wrote to her.”

“Somebody had to, and I knew you weren’t up to it…. Will, you aren’t in this alone, and you aren’t the only one affected by it. I think you’ll find that Lil needs you and the children as much as you need her…. You’ve just come through one of the many parts of your life, and now it’s time to move onto the next one.”

Will turned toward the barn but his gaze quickly dropped. “Tomorrow is the first day of spring…. Laura always loved the spring. She used to say that it was a time for life to begin fresh and new. She was right.” With a poignant smile that didn’t quite reach his eyes, he turned back to Adam. “Tomorrow I’ll go into town, and send a wire to let Lil know we’re coming.”

“That’s an excellent idea. Everything’s gonna get better, but you havta give it a chance, and you havta help it along, it can’t do it on its own.” He slapped an arm over Will’s shoulders. “Now let’s go back into the house before Angelica sends Maggie out after us. Believe me; you don’t want those two after you at the same time.”

Will’s smile broadened into a grin, and some of the old Will returned to his face, and he gave his cousin a hearty smack on the back. Adam flashed him a knowing wink, and his prefect teeth shone in the morning light and, with an understanding between them, they went back into the house.

*******

The big faded red Overland stagecoach sat in front of the depot just waiting to take on its passengers. Adam had driven Will and the children into town, and Angelica would have nothing with her being left at home. The luggage had already been loaded into the big conveyance’s boot, and the time had come for good-byes.

“You’ll wire us and let us know when you get there,” Adam said in more of a statement than a question.

“I’ll make a point of it,” Will said as he shifted his son in his arms then he extended his right hand. “Thank you, Adam. I don’t think we could’ve made it this far without you and Angelica.”

“And Maggie,” Peggy added.

“Of course, we can’t forget Maggie,” Will said as he gave her a glance. “She can really work magic with children.”

“That’s something my family has know for a long time,” Angelica said.

Adam grasped his cousin’s hand and pumped it. “If you can’t turn to your family at such a time then they aren’t worth much. I’m glad we were here and could help.”

“Peggy, why don’t you go ahead and get into the coach, and I’ll hand over your brother to you.”

“All right, Will,” she said and started climbing in then turned back around and a soft smile curled her petite mouth. “Daddy.” Then she finished boarding and settled down on the seat.

Will made sure her little brother was secure in her arms then he turned back to Angelica.

“I like to think that you and Laura could’ve become friends. In the last few months she just kinda got mixed up. I don’t believe she really meant any harm; she just lost sight of herself, of both of us, actually. I think we both did.”

“People do that sometimes. Maybe, if given the chance, I could’ve seen that like I do now.”

“It’s time to get aboard,” the driver said as he passed them then climbed up onto his seat.

Angelica came closer and, taking Will’s face in her hands, kissed him on the cheek. “I think she would be glad that you and her aunt Lil and the children are going to make a family. And anytime you want to come for a visit our house will always be open to you. And you tell Lil that she’ll always be welcome too”

“Thank you, Angelica.”

“Good luck, Will,” Adam said and shook his hand again. “Now you’d better get in. Met can get real testy when he gets impatient.”

The driver looked down at him and mischief danced in his eyes.

Will got in and gave the door a hard slam then sat next to his son and daughter. He stuck his head out the window, and he had the boy in his lap. “And I want you to let me know when that next generation of Cartwright gets here.”

“We will,” Adam said as he put his arm around his wife.

“Wave good-bye, son.”

The boy grinned and a small hand came out the window in an exaggerated wave, then his sister leaned across and started waving too and saying good-bye.

Met slapped the reins against the team’s backs and shouted to them, and the big coach gave a lurch. Adam and Angelica stood back and watched as it rumbled along the frozen, snowy street toward the end of town.

“They’ll be all right.”

“I know they will,” she said with a sniffle. “He is, after all, a Cartwright. And they don’t give up.”

“That’s a fact.”

“Adam, let’s don’t ever lose sight of each other, and what’s important. Life’s too short, and if it lasted a thousand years it wouldn’t be long enough to be with you.”

He looked down at her, at what he had, and his arm tightened around her. “Not in a million years.” Then he kissed the side of her head and didn’t care who saw. “Now let’s go home. Will isn’t the only one starting a new family.”

Together they walked to where the sleigh had been left parked not far from the depot, and Adam glanced back at the departing coach. Yes, Will and Peggy and John and Lil would be all right, and he liked to believe that Laura knew that, and it made her happy. His eyes darted toward the sky. “They’re fine, Laura,” he thought. “They’re just fine.”

THE END

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