Page 10 of Earning Tia’s Trust

TEN

Tia stumbled backward, but Robert hadn’t let go of her. He pulled her closer and kissed her passionately, once, twice, and then again. When he released her, she turned and ran. He heard her running upstairs and closed his eyes when the door slammed shut.

Robert shook his hand as it was stinging. He’d give her time to think about his words and his warnings. Deciding to enter marriage with Tia had been a last-minute decision, one he’d thought was simply a matter of convenience. It wasn’t now, as she was sharing her bed with him. Texas laws weren’t fair to women. Only a few states had passed laws making it harder for men to take advantage of women, and those states were back east.

Sitting at the desk, Robert looked around at the office he’d been using. He would give Tia time to cry out her demons, but he’d asserted himself, and she should by now have learned that he wasn’t a pushover for her bad temper.

Pulling a pencil from a holder, he sharpened the lead and considered the drawings spread across the desktop. He preferred the Folk Victorian because his house in Austin was similar, but he wasn’t tied to that style. Queen Anne was pretentious for his taste, but he could live with it if that was what Tia wanted. He wrote several notes on room sizes and added a room and convenience room off the kitchen for the housekeeper’s use. Jim Hawthorn had already said he would have to contract a plumbing expert, as his men weren’t accustomed to installing plumbing.

There was a knock on the office door, and Robert shouted, “Come in!” It was Tia, but she only had time to open her mouth when Hank charged into the room.

“Jerry Miller has busted his leg,” Hank said from the doorway.

Following Hank, they ran to the second barn. Someone had cut Jerry’s trousers to thigh level, and it was apparent the leg was broken. The bone was pushing against the skin.

“Dave, bring one of the wagons over here and bust open a bale of hay to use as a cushion,” Robert ordered. “I’m taking him to the doctor.”

When the wagon arrived, the hay was scattered in it. Tia came running from the house with blankets and pillows they could spread over the hay. Robert and Hank carefully lifted the young man into the wagon. Jerry was gritting his teeth, and he passed out from the pain.

Hank strapped the leg between two boards. “This is the best we can do, and it will be a painful ride. He’s better off unconscious.”

Robert climbed into the wagon and was surprised when Tia jumped into the wagon as well. Mrs. Putney came running and handed a bottle to Tia.

“What’s that?” Robert asked.

“Whiskey,” Mrs. Putney answered. “He’ll feel less pain if he’s pie-eyed drunk!”

It was a long and rough road, and Jerry felt every bump. He was gulping down the whiskey, and eventually, he drifted into an intoxicated stupor.

Robert and Tia didn’t speak. She was in the wagon bed to keep the young man from thrashing around. Turning his head after driving over a rough stretch, Robert noticed that his wife had used one of the pillows to cushion her bottom from the bumps in the road.

It was ten miles to Stone Falls. It usually took close to two hours in a wagon to reach town. But Robert wasn’t pushing the horses for speed. He was slowing them down when the road was rough. Jerry was uncomfortable, and they heard drunken moans when the buggy bounced on rough terrain.

Pulling the buggy to a stop in front of Dr. Phillip’s office, two men standing outside the mercantile came running to help. They lifted Jerry and carried him into the doctor’s office. Tia ran ahead, opened the doors, and called for the doctor.

“Bring him into my office,” Dr. Phillip ordered as the roughly-made stretcher was carried into his office and stretched out on a patient cot.

“We tried to stabilize his leg,” Robert said.

“I can see that,” the doctor said as he uncovered the leg. He pulled out a bottle of whiskey from a drawer and poured some of it down his patient’s throat. “Normally, I’d use ether, but I don’t want to mix medicine and liquor. He’s not feeling much pain now, and that’s good because setting this bone will hurt like hell!”

“Do you need help?” Robert asked.

Doctor Phillip shook his head. “I’ll do the best I can, and I’ll keep him tied down and medicated after the liquor wears off. Go on home, but come back in about three days.”

Standing outside on the sidewalk, Robert looked down at Tia. “Is there any business in town that needs to be taken care of while we are here?”

Tia dived into her pocket and pulled out a piece of paper. “Mrs. Putney handed this to me when she brought out the whiskey.” Unfolding the paper, she showed it to him. “It’s a mercantile list, so we might as well fill the order since we’re here.”

“I wish I’d grabbed Jim’s drawings,” Robert said.

Tia ducked her head. “I apologize for flying off the handle again. I need to look over the drawings again.”

Robert checked his pocket watch. “It’s nearly three. Let’s go to Nell’s for a late lunch.”

The restaurant was nearly empty, and Robert deliberately chose a table in a corner where they wouldn’t be overheard. They sat silently until Nell took their orders for iced water and promised their food selections would be out in a few minutes.

“Are we going to discuss our issues?” Robert asked.

Tia seemed to shrink, and she shrugged. “I have a terrible temper.”

“I noticed,” Robert said. “I know you’ve had a rough upbringing. In fact, I’d call it a miserable upbringing, but I’m not going to be your punching bag every time you feel slighted. I don’t appreciate being blamed for the problems you had with your father. We’ve already said our I do’s , and there’s no turning back. What I find disturbing is one day, we are getting along, and the next day, you are blaming me for something I have no control over! Do you, or do you not want this marriage to go forward?”

Tia took a deep breath but didn’t speak as Nell approached their table with two plates in her hands.

“Enjoy!” Nell said with a smile. “I’ll be back in a second and refill your glasses.”

When the glasses were filled, and Nell had left the room to return to the kitchen, there was still silence. Tia cleared her throat. “I’ve spent the last ten years being treated like a ranch wrangler, and regardless of what I did, it was never good enough. I’ve birthed and trained horses but was never credited for keeping the ranch afloat. Hank was the only one who ever listened to me. He took my ideas and got Hayward to agree with them. If I voiced the same ideas to Hayward, I was ridiculed. I was a girl, and he didn’t have to listen to a stupid girl.”

“Hayward Kingston was a horrible parent,” Robert said. “It sounds like he blamed his failures on you, so he didn’t have to face his shortcomings.”

Tia sighed. “It was hard to live with a father who hated me because he didn’t get the boy he wanted. Sometimes, I doubted that he was my father. Even after bringing Sammy in, it wasn’t enough. He should have gone to an orphanage and adopted an older boy. He could have trained an older boy to take over.”

Robert took his wife’s hand. “You’ll never be able to forget or forgive how he treated you. I believe he wrote his will as he did because it was a last attempt to control you. The point is we’re past that part of your life. You are my wife, and I’ve grown to care and love you in a surprisingly short time. There’s no turning back.”

“I don’t know what you expect of me,” Tia whispered.

Nell came to their table frowning. “Is there something wrong with the food?”

“No,” Robert denied. “But, could you pack it in a basket, and we’ll take it with us. We’ll return the basket.”

“It’s no problem at all,” Nell said with a smile. “I occasionally get requests for picnic baskets.”

Robert escorted Tia out of the restaurant and drove the wagon back to the doctor's office. “I’ll be back in a few minutes,” he said, jumping down and going inside. Returning a few minutes later, Robert climbed back into the wagon, smiling. “Dr. Phillip says Jerry will recover. He will be off his feet for several months. We’ll have to house him for a few weeks before sending him to the bunkhouse.”

“You’re not going to fire him?” Tia asked.

Robert looked surprised. “Why would I fire a man who was hurt on the job?”

Tia shrugged, and then she smiled.

Robert gave a flick of the reins and drove the wagon to a bridge and onto a grassy area. He lifted Tia to the ground and picked up the picnic basket. “I’m not Hayward, and I don’t treat employees like they don’t matter when the reality is that ranches couldn’t survive without them.”

“I forget sometimes that you grew up on a ranch,” Tia said as they set out the sandwiches Nell had wrapped for them in a picnic basket. She’d even included a tablecloth.

“What did you want to be when you were ten years old?” Robert asked.

Puzzled by his question, Tia took a bite of her sandwich and considered her answer. “I wanted to be like my mother. She was ill and bedridden, but she still taught me every day. I would read to her. She had several women friends who supplied her with books. I still have most of them hidden away. She loved poetry.”

“What did you like to do at that age?” Robert asked again.

“I wanted to read and wear pretty dresses. Sometimes, I would dress in Momma’s pretty dresses, even though they were too big. She would braid my hair. I rarely left her bedroom except when Hayward yelled for me. One night, I was wakened, and he was swearing and waving a bottle of whiskey. He told me my mother was dead, and it was my fault. That I had killed her. I knew I wasn’t responsible for her dying, but I was only ten. She was buried in the church graveyard. Sometimes I go to visit her there. I take flowers and talk to her. I know that sounds silly...”

“No, it doesn’t,” Robert interrupted. “I lost my father at six, and I have very little memory of him. But, I still visit his grave and talk to him.”

“The morning after her burial, Hayward woke me up before dawn. He threw a pair of trousers and a shirt at me and told me to clean the barn stalls. He swore at me and told me I’d have to earn my keep.”

“It sounds like your father was a drunk in addition to having cancer and was using liquor to drown his pain. Eat,” Robert said, nudging her hand toward her mouth. They were silent for a few minutes while they ate. “My mother and sisters have been pestering me for several years to take a wife,” Robert said, unfolding the napkin around another sandwich. “I was never that interested in settling down because of my career. I loved my job when I was helping people, but somehow, my career took a turn that eventually shamed me. Most of what I did was to act as an agent to keep the very rich and powerful from ruining their reputations because of their stupidity. My breaking point was when I was asked to cover up a politician’s dirty secret. He’d impregnated a thirteen-year-old girl.”

“What did you do?” Tia asked.

“The idiot congressman paid the family fifty thousand dollars to bury his secret. I relocated the girl’s family so they could care for their daughter and covered their tracks so the congressman wouldn’t find them. The girl’s parents plan to keep and raise the child as their own. I may have been paid by that slimy idiot, but I made him forfeit a good chunk of his fortune to salvage his reputation. I hated what I’d done. That was not the kind of law I wanted to practice. That slimy idiot will run for the Presidency someday.

“I finished a few cases and closed my office. I didn’t study law to cover up for men with more money than brains. I studied law to right what is wrong. I honestly didn’t know what I would do until Rainer sent me a letter, giving me a run-down on what was happening here in Stone Falls. There was a damsel in distress that needed my help.”

“I’m not much of a damsel,” Tia denied.

“Well, I figure you haven’t had a fair chance,” Robert said. “Do you like mucking out stalls?”

A frown appeared on Tia’s face. “No, but I don’t mind helping when Hank needs it.”

“Then this is your time to decide what you want,” Robert said. “No one says you can’t have the best of both worlds. If you want to be treated like a lady, start behaving like one. Ask your friend, the school teacher, or Mrs. Putney for advice.

“By the way, I came across one of your short stories. It was in a box under the bed, and I was looking for a missing boot. You’re a good writer, and it was a good story. If that’s what you like doing, you should pursue it.”

“I only write for fun. What about the ranch?” Tia asked.

“The ranch will continue to thrive. We’re going to have a busy summer. We have a house to build and repairs to make in the main buildings. Luckily, they were built with the right kind of lumber.

“What’s more important is giving our relationship time to blossom. Setting all that aside, we have taken on the responsibility of raising orphaned children.”

“Are we keeping Billy and Jenny?” Tia asked.

Robert nodded. “Have I assumed wrong? Don’t you want to keep them?”

“I do,” Tia said. “I wasn’t sure you wanted to take on that responsibility. I don’t think most men would want to take on children that aren’t theirs.”

“You didn’t ask,” Robert said gently. “I haven’t had any responses to inquiries about the Brodays. We’ll have to file adoption papers on them. Neither of us are mind-readers.”

Tia nodded in agreement. “Can we really afford to build a fancy house that looks like those drawings?”

Robert took a deep breath. “Yes, but I want to build the house. The ranch property belongs to you and Sammy, but I was raised to believe a man supports his wife and family. I want you to keep your inheritance intact in case something catastrophic happens or there is a venture you want to invest in.

“The sale of my house in Austin will profit enough to build our new house. We will not be going into debt for it. I will probably have to return to Austin for the settlement and have some furniture shipped here. That might be a good time to introduce you to my family.”

“Can we postpone that for a while?” Tia asked.

Robert laughed. “I can claim I’m too busy, but that excuse won’t put them off for long. Are we okay?”

“We’re okay,” Tia agreed. “And I’m sorry for jumping to conclusions again.”

“It shouldn’t happen again, but if it does, I know how to stop it,” Robert said bluntly.

Tia blushed at his words. “Let’s stop at the doctor’s office and see if Jerry is awake. We need to reassure him that he still has his job and we’ll take care of him until he’s fit to work again. I can tell you for a fact that Hayward would have cussed him out and probably fired him.”

“That not the way to treat men who work for you,” Robert said.

“We should go by the mercantile and buy him some cigars. I know he smokes.”

“Let’s go,” Robert agreed.

Jerry Miller was awake but in a lot of pain. Robert explained that he would stay under the doctor’s care until he was released in a few days. Since Robert would be making the trip to town in a few days to speak with Jim Hawthorn, he would come in a well-padded buggy. If Doctor Phillip agreed, he would take Jerry back to the ranch, and he assured the injured young man that he would be helped during his recovery and would be paid while he was recuperating.

Tia smiled proudly at her husband’s words. The Kingston reign was over, and she couldn’t be happier.

The following days were calm at the ranch. Tia and Robert spent hours reviewing the house drawings and penciling in changes. Robert spent most of his time talking to Hank and the wranglers. Tia spent a lot of time playing with the children, and when they were napping, she turned her attention to her mother’s bedroom. The room had become a shrine over the years. The chifferobe was full of Harriet Davenport’s clothing, as were the dressers. Very little had been changed since her death.

It was difficult to believe that her mother had chosen to live with Hayward Kingston outside the bonds of marriage. That made Tia illegitimate, although she knew her name was registered in the Kingston Bible. Still, she was glad to carry the Grayson name now. At least, it was legitimate. One of the many changes to be made at the ranch would be renaming it. The problem was they hadn’t come up with a name yet.

While the younger children napped, Tia searched her mother’s room, looking for clues of her heritage.

On the third day of her search, Tia found a leather box, not in the chifferobe but on top of it. The massive piece of furniture was beyond her reach, so she dragged a table over and set a chair on top of it to retrieve the box. Balancing the weight of the box was something she hadn’t expected, and she screamed when the chair tilted, and she almost lost her balance. The box fell to the floor, scattering the contents.

“What the...!” Robert demanded, bursting into the room. He lifted her down to the floor.

“Thanks!” Tia exclaimed. “The chair slipped!”

“Would you please ask for help?” Robert exclaimed. “We have one broken leg to deal with; we don’t need another! I will drop these drawings off with Jim Hawthorn and pick up our mail while I’m in town. Do you need anything?”

“Maybe you can ask Mr. Bishop to drive Francine to dinner tomorrow night?” Tia said.

“I can do that,” Robert agreed. “Behave while I’m gone, and Rainer is his first name.”

“All I’m doing is going through my mother’s things. I should have done this a long time ago, but the room was always locked.”

“Maybe he thought you were too young to handle it,” Robert suggested. “When you lose someone you love, adjusting to the reality takes a while. You’re dealing with the mess your parents left behind. Take your time.”

Tia heard his words, but she didn’t believe them. While she’d been hiding from Raymond, there had been a lot of time to think. She’d finally realized that Hayward had used Harriet Davenport’s illness against her and effectively kept her mother a prisoner.

Sitting on the floor surrounded by old letters, notes, lists, and other written memories, Tia began putting the correspondence in order by date. Then she stuffed them back into the leather box, carried it downstairs to the office, and went in search of Billy and Jenny. Sammy had ridden off with Hank to oversee repairs on a fence.

She played with the children for a while, then took them into the kitchen for a sweet, and after reading them a story, had put them down for naps in the office. When she was sure the children were asleep, Tia tackled the paperwork her mother had hidden and quickly realized why.

* * *

Robert handed over the horse reins to one of the men who had followed him as he had driven his buggy to the bunkhouse. Jerry Miller didn’t want to stay in the main house. The offer had been made but rejected. He wanted to recuperate in the bunkhouse, and Henry Morgan, the bunkhouse cook, agreed to watch over the young wrangler. Jerry had been carried into the bunkhouse and ordered to stay off his leg as much as possible.

Robert had been firm, with Henry as his witness. “The doctor has advised keeping you off that leg for three weeks. That means no getting up for any reason. You’ll be pissing and whatever in a bucket.

“He also said to take those pills he gave you for the pain and no liquor. You heard him, and I’m repeating what he said. You got hurt doing your job, and I’m willing to pay you for the weeks when you won’t be working, but only if you follow the doctor’s orders and mine. When the three weeks are over, I’ll take you back to town to see if everything is healing correctly. Do we have a deal?”

“Yes, sir,” the young wrangler agreed. “I ain’t never heard of a boss paying wages when a feller was hurt.”

“Those are my rules,” Robert said. “I broke a leg when I was a kid; not as bad as your break, but I know it’s gonna hurt. About the time you’re ready to rip that cast off, give it a few more days, and suddenly, the pain will be tolerable. It won’t be healed, but you can move around a bit. Maybe those pills will help. I didn’t get them when I was laid up.”

“Yes, sir,” Jerry agreed, and Henry Morgan, the cook, nodded. “I’ll keep him on the straight and narrow, Mr. Grayson.”

“I’ll be checking in on you,” Robert said. “And, there’s no need for formalities. The name is Robert.”