Give Me A Texan

“Violet and I are safe enough. Her father will be checking on us soon. I thank ye for providing the ride and the fine company, sir.”

“Good evening then.”

“And to ye.”

Mina walked up to the porch then turned to see one last time what stirred the citizens of Amarillo before going in. The streets were alive with activity. People hustled to and fro. Model Ts and horse-drawn surreys trailed each other down the roadway, carrying colorful bundles and baskets full of items she couldn’t define from here. She’d lived plenty of mean places, but Amarillo wasn’t one of them. The golden city of the Texas panhandle might be drought-ridden at the moment but it was awash with a community of people who worked together to make it a happy one.

A sense of peace settled over Mina and she allowed herself a moment to savor the feeling that at last she was in a place she would like to make her home. She admired the town and its people, she adored the child she held in her arms, and she loved the man who was too obstinate to know his own heart.

Well, two could play at that game, she decided, opening the door and stepping inside. She’d shown him that he had come to mean something to her, and he brushed her away as if she were a pesky fly buzzing around his head. Pride was not new to her, and Mina refused to let him know how deeply it hurt that his feelings toward her, apparently, were not as strongly felt as hers were toward him. She didn’t need him. She didn’t need anyone. She’d proven herself quite capable all on her own.

But pride proved a lonely companion. She found little comfort in being adept and capable if she couldn’t share those abilities with someone. Do things for someone. Love and be loved by someone. That someone she had longed for had finally taken on a name-Briar Duncan.

And love him she did. She’d known it the minute she kissed him the second time. No, she first suspected it even before then…when their eyes met after she stepped off the train. It was as if whatever love she’d wanted had dared Mina to look beyond the glass surface that separated her from her future and the happiness she’d searched for all her life.

And now because Briar wouldn’t let go of his past, neither of them would have the future she knew felt right for all three of them.

Maybe if she left, Briar would realize what he lost and would come after her. But the thought of leaving him, leaving Violet, nearly ripped the heart from Mina’s chest. She held Violet tighter, unable to consider a life now without either of the Duncans in it.

How could her own mother have left a two-month-old and a man she loved? How could she endure the pain that weakened Mina’s knees and made her feet plant themselves like roots so they wouldn’t carry her away from where she belonged? How did a woman walk away and never come back?

She couldn’t have unless she’d never loved them.

The cold reality that Colleen McCoy had never loved this deeply brought the tears that, to Mina’s great surprise, allowed her to finally forgive the woman. How could she blame someone for what she did not know or couldn’t feel?

The anger and hurt of years calmed into a quiet resolve of pity. She vowed in the morning to tell Briar of her love for him. To let him know that she would wait until he was ready to accept that love, no matter how long it took. And to let Violet know that she would remain in Amarillo and would always be near if she needed her. She would be no Colleen McCoy and run away. She would stay and fight for what she wanted.

Mina elected not to turn on the light since she saw one shining from beneath the doorways of both bedrooms. Briar had obviously been here and gone, leaving the lights on to guide them in. When she opened the door to the child’s room, she discovered she was right in her assumptions. The covers had been turned down and Violet’s nightdress laid out. An aroma of something delicious-smelling emanated from the towel-wrapped plate sitting on the nightstand. He’d obviously left supper for the child. Mina knew, without doubt, there would be one in her room, too.

His room. She reminded herself of the dozen kindnesses Briar had offered her the past few days. He’d made sure she was comfortable, gave her employment. He’d cooked for her and helped her hunt for keepsakes. He’d even begun repairing some of them for her. He may not love her yet, but he cared for her. That was clear in his every deed, no matter what he said to her. She just needed to stay around and let love settle in for him. It had been clear from the first, and she was quicker at determining what was right between them.

That thought brought a smile to her lips.

As she placed Violet on the bed, she noticed a note propped against one of the pillows. READ IMMEDIATELY had been scrawled across the folded front.

Mina’s heart quickened and, despite her resistance to dreading anything before knowing why she should, she ignored the demand and set the note on the table. Violet’s clothes needed changing and change them she would, before doing anything else.

The simple act of settling the lass into bed relieved some of the tension growing inside Mina. Some of it, but not all. ’Tis silly ye are, Mina reprimanded herself silently and grabbed the note. She turned down the light and made her way through the dark to Briar’s room.

A quick glance told her that he’d been just as thoughtful to her, but her own meal could wait. Read immediately kept echoing in her mind and felt as if it were branding the skin against her pocket where the missive now rested. She took out the note and unfolded it.

Received a telegram from Nathaniel. He and his bride are arriving tomorrow. They’ll need to stay at the house until either they or I can make other arrangements. I thought you might want to clear your things out and put them in Violet’s room. You can bunk in with her once they return.

The mayor’s got the whole town in an uproar making glad-to-meet-you preparations for some film star that’s passing through on the eastbound, so I’ll be busy decorating the depot. Don’t know when I can check back again.

But I know I’ve left Violet in good hands.

Hope you were doing something you both enjoyed tonight. We’ll talk about all that’s gone on the past few days. I’ve been grouchy. I was just worried you’d take it on yourself to show Violet the graveyard. It’s the one thing I couldn’t forgive if you did.

– Briar

Mina’s legs felt as if they were stuck in quicksand. She sank onto the bed. “Saints and begorra,” she whispered aloud, “I’ve done it this time.”

If only she could turn back the clock a couple of hours. She stared at the note as if it were Briar and he could answer the question that exited from her lips as little more than a squeak, “Any graveyard?”

Chapter 12

Both of their duties that morning had kept them so busy, there’d been no time for Mina to find out the repercussions of the note. He’d asked her to listen to the wire all shift so that he could do the myriad of tasks required of preparing for the film star’s arrival. When he told Mina that Violet could help some of the other children pick flowers they wanted to offer Chaplin, she’d almost insisted that the lass remain with her. She didn’t want to take the chance of Violet telling her father where she’d spent the previous evening until Mina had time to explain it to him herself.

All day long the station filled with journalists, the mayor and city officials positioning themselves for front row view of the celebrity. Kaira Corbett, one of the women of the press, insisted that the station clock be set exactly with the one on the courthouse so all their clocks were synchronized and the band could start up a minute before the eastbound’s arrival.

Much to Mina’s surprise, wires started coming in from all points. Wires that had nothing to do with the constant chatter on the wire about Chaplin’s impending visits along the rail line.

Briar had apparently sent a message to every telegrapher in range asking them to find out her mother’s location, including visiting their local cemetery. One of them had found her.