Page 2 of Earning Tia’s Trust

TWO

“I’m going to marry Hank Walker,” Tia said defiantly and stubbornly.

“You can’t marry a man three times your age!” Robert exclaimed.

“I can, and I will,” Tia exclaimed stubbornly. “The statement in that asshole’s will states I have to be married by my twenty-first birthday. If I marry Hank, at least I can trust him. And, if he dies, I’ll be able to take over until Sammy is old enough to accept his share of the ranch! Your judge friend kept dragging out the trial when everyone with half a brain knows Raymond, Mercer, and Judge Thatcher were guilty!”

Robert opened his mouth and then snapped it closed, grinding his teeth. Talking to Tia Kingston was sometimes like talking to a tree stump. The difference was that a stump didn’t talk back and wasn’t the prettiest young woman in town. She was also the most stubborn and infuriating young woman he’d ever encountered, beyond his older sisters.

When that little chin jutted forward, and her eyes changed from a light blue to a darker, more formidable blue, he knew he was in for another argument.

“I can’t explain the nuances of the law any clearer than I already have,” Robert said. “Mercer is dead, and Raymond and Thatcher are both serving life sentences in prison, with no parole because they were stupid enough to brag about their guilt in front of witnesses, plus we had the evidence of the letter. Judge Bentley has bent over backward to ensure the law has been upheld. Unfortunately, he has no legal reason to overturn a man’s last will!”

“He could if he wanted to!” Tia shouted.

“Judge Bentley is looking into it,” Robert snapped.

“Well, while he’s taking his time, I will not let him make us lose the ranch!” Tia warned.

“That’s enough!” Robert growled. “William, Rainer, and I have done our best, but we are not above the law ourselves.”

“Men!” Tia sneered. “Go fuck yourself!”

Robert’s mouth dropped open at the vulgarity, and pure anger surged in his veins. Tia turned to storm from his office, but he closed the distance between them and took hold of her arms. He marched her back into his office, kicking and trying to scratch him.

“Let me go!” Tia screamed.

“Not this time!” Robert growled. “I have had enough!” He shoved stacks of paper out of his way and bent her face down on his desk. She wore trousers as she did every day but Sunday. He knew that because he admired her figure when she wasn’t looking.

“Let me go!” Tia screamed.

But, this time, Robert was in no mood to back down. With a tight grip on her hands behind her back, he raised his hand but was surprised when a wooden ruler was smacked into his palm. Still fighting to hold on to the screaming, kicking spitfire, he looked over his shoulder at Horace Skinner.

“Bare spanking ain’t proper unless you put a ring on her finger,” Horace said, and he scuffled back out of the office.

“Don’t you dare!” Tia screamed.

“I do dare,” Robert said firmly. “You’ve had this coming for the last couple of weeks. All I’ve done is try to help you, and what have I gotten for my efforts? Nothing but a hard time and a sassy mouth!”

“Let me go!”

“No,” Robert disagreed, smacking the ruler across her bottom cheeks.

Tia screamed and swore, but that just made Robert more determined. The ruler turned out to be a perfect instrument of discipline. He paddled her bottom until she stopped fighting him and was sobbing. When he’d worked off his anger and was satisfied, he set her back on her feet.

“Go home to the ranch!” he ordered as she backed away and ran outside.

Tia was mortified. She started to mount her horse but changed her mind. She grabbed the reins, ran behind the building, and out of sight.

Robert straightened his desk, smacked the wooden ruler against the palm of his hand, winced, and stuck it back in the pencil holder.

Old Horace Skinner scuffled back into Robert’s office, nodding his head. “I’m glad you finally set that little gal straight. She’s been running wild since she was a little girl, and she’s gotten worse since her Pa died.”

“I probably shouldn’t have done that, but it’s too late now,” Robert said. “If anyone needs me, I’ll be back in a little while. I need to talk to Judge Bentley.”

“Don’t you feel bad,” Horace grumbled. “That little gal has been asking for a walloping, and she finally got it.”

“Have you ever been married?” Robert asked.

“A long time ago,” Horace said. He closed his eyes, and what might have been a smile appeared on his face. “We were living in northern Texas, and I was a wrangler. I was one of the best back then.

“I married the prettiest gal in town, but boy ‘ol boy, she was a handful. If a week went by that I didn’t set her bottom on fire, she’d accuse me of not loving her. I did love her. I did! The good Lord knows, and I miss her to this day. I lost her to a fever in ’52, and there ain’t no woman ever been born who could fill her shoes.”

The old man gave a grunt. “That Kingston gal reminds me of my Alice. She’s got a mouth on her, but she needs to know who is in charge!”

“I’m sorry for your loss,” Robert said, and he flipped a fifty-cent piece to the old man. It was enough to buy him supper and a couple beers.

Later that afternoon, Robert sat across from William Bentley in the same house that Judge Thatcher had occupied.

“I’m still researching,” William said, shaking his head. “But, I haven’t encountered another situation like this. I’d hate to set a precedent because some upstart always wants to challenge them to make a name for himself.

“Hayward Kingston must have had a reason to put that statement in his will. He probably thought he was protecting his children, but he’s caused a problem because we can’t allow Raymond Kingston to have any say in how the ranch is run. He’s trying to hire a lawyer to contest my verdict, but no one has been stupid enough to take his case.

“It’s not likely, but if that gal wants to protect her inheritance, she should find a husband and be quick about it. She’s only got three days left. Once she’s married, even if the murder verdict is reversed, she and her brother would still own the ranch, along with the husband, of course.”

“I’ve got to come up with something, and I’m running out of time,” Robert said.

Tia tied her horse to a post behind the schoolhouse, pumped a bucket of water, and went upstairs.

Francine Mason, the Stone Falls teacher, saw her friend Tia sneaking into the schoolhouse and going upstairs. She checked the time on her broach watch, and fifteen minutes later, she excused her students, reminding them of the homework that had to be turned in Monday morning and that no excuses would be allowed.

“Sammy, would you come to my desk, please?” Francine asked.

“Yes, ma’am,” the boy responded. “Did I do something wrong, ma’am?”

“No,” Francine said with a smile. “If you had, you would be standing in the corner. Could you just sit in the front row for a minute or two? I have a book I’d like you to take to Tia.”

“Yes, ma’am,” the boy said with a smile.

Francine quickly ran upstairs and gasped at her best friend’s swollen eyes. “Should I send Sammy home?”

“Yes,” Tia nodded.

Francine grabbed a book she hadn’t finished yet, ran down the stairs, and handed it to her student. “Sammy, you can leave now and be careful with that book.”

“Yes, ma’am,” the boy answered, and he ran out the back door to retrieve his horse.

Francine locked the schoolhouse doors and ran upstairs. “What happened?”

Tia was standing by the back window, looking outward. “Robert Grayson and I got into an argument.”

“Over what?” Francine asked. “He’s been helping you.”

“I know that,” Tia said. “But, he’s bossy, and he won’t make Judge Bentley invalidate what Hayward wrote in his will about me needing to be married to inherit.”

“Mr. Grayson is a lawyer, not a Judge,” Francine said. “Just because they are friends, Judge Bentley can’t change the laws,” Francine said. “At least I don’t think he can.”

“I don’t want to get married!” Tia wailed. “I don’t!”

“Most women look forward to being married,” Francine said. “I’m still hopeful that a good man will find me and take me away from this school! I love teaching, but I would like to have a family someday! I’ve tried to get Mr. Grayson’s attention, but he never looks my way. In fact, when you’re around, he doesn’t notice anyone else, and you ignore him! I think he’s handsome, and most of the single women in town agree.”

“You can have him!” Tia exclaimed. “He’s horrible!”

“After all he’s done for you, how can you say that?” Francine scolded.

“Because he is awful,” Tia said. “He’s a woman beater!”

“What?”

“You heard me,” Tia whispered. “We got into an argument, and he beat me!”

Francine looked at her friend from head to toe. “I don’t see any proof of that!”

“He didn’t hit me where it would show!” Tia admitted.

Francine raised her eyebrows, and then she pursed her lips and nodded. “You got sassy, and he took it out on your backside. Am I right? I’d lay a bet it was because you were swearing! True or not?”

“You’re supposed to be my friend,” Tia said.

“I am, honey,” Francine insisted. “But you have worked around men for too long. Your language is atrocious, and on top of that, you have a bad temper. What did you say that set him off?”

“I told him to go fuck himself!” Tia admitted.

Francine gasped. “You said that? Lord, a Mercy! I can’t believe you said those words aloud! You had that licking coming!”

“You’re supposed to be my friend,” Tia protested.

“I am,” Francine said, putting on her schoolmarm face. “If someone said that in my classroom, they would get a switch taken to their bottom! I can’t justify you saying that! Especially to a man working day and night trying to help you! You should be ashamed!”

“I’m more mad than ashamed,” Tia admitted. “Have you got any balm?”

“I do, but I should make you suffer,” Francine said. She went to the other room and returned with a small container of salve. “I keep this around for the children’s scrapes and bumps. Rub this in good, and don’t complain because it might sting a bit.”

“I’m going to have a hard time riding back to the ranch.”

Francine shook her head. “I’m your best friend, Tia, but you can’t justify using that filthy word! You’d best be heading home.”

“I don’t have a choice,” Tia whispered. “I’ll see that the mercantile orders a new jar of the salve for you.”

“You should probably order two because if you talk like that in front of Mr. Grayson, you might need it more than my students!” Francine warned and gave her friend a hug.

Tia entered the ranch house, and Mrs. Putney, the housekeeper, frowned. “Sammy has been home for over an hour!”

“I had business to attend,” Tia lied. “Has he eaten?”

“Yes, do you want supper?”

“No, I’m not hungry,” Tia said. “I would like some heated water in my room if you would put a bucket of water on the stove. I’ll carry it upstairs.”

The housekeeper gave a curt nod and returned to the kitchen. Mrs. Putney had left the ranch the day after Tia had snuck out, taking Sammy with her. When Tia and Sammy returned to the ranch, so did the housekeeper.

Tia was upset but felt better physically after soaking her bottom with a wet towel. Mentally, she didn’t know what to do. Everything, including the ranch and her and Sammy’s lives, was being held hostage by one instruction in Hayward’s will.

If my daughter Tia Harriet Kingston is not married before her twenty-first birthday, Kingston Ranch will be under the guardianship of my brother Raymond Kingston until my son Samual reaches his majority at the age of eighteen.

Her last hope was that the new Judge would set aside that instruction. Hopefully, he would side with her, not with a dead man who had made her life miserable. The ranch couldn’t be turned over to Raymond. He was serving a life sentence in prison for murder.

With one lousy sentence, Hayward Kingston was trying to control Tia from the grave. He had been trying to marry Tia off since she was twelve. She wasn’t fond of the idea then and still wasn’t. She did not want to get married. She did not want to be the property of any man. She did not want to marry any man who would instantly own her and her property as soon as she said, “I do.”

Going upstairs, she checked on Sammy. He had finished his homework and was reading a book Francine had loaned him. Her little brother liked reading as much as she did and claimed he would be a horse doctor when he grew up.

She hoped he would achieve his goal and that the Kingston Ranch would still exist. She wanted to be able to send him away for specialized schooling. Giving her brother a hug, Tia told him to get some sleep.

Returning to her room, she peeled off her clothing for the second time. Standing in front of a mirror, she turned and inspected her still-reddened and tender bottom. She liked wearing men’s clothing. It was more comfortable than wearing a dress and the mass of undergarments women were supposed to wear. The women in town frowned on her choice of clothing, but they weren’t riding the range like she did. Most of her clothing was bought in the men’s section of the mercantile or ordered through a catalog.

It was very seldom that she saw herself fully naked. Preacher Niken seemed to think that if women weren’t covered from the top of their heads to the soles of their feet, they were ungodly. Tia had seen the looks of disgust Niken’s wife had given her, but she didn’t care. She’d rather be comfortable than walk around swallowed by yards of calico.

Sitting down gingerly on the bed, she sucked in her breath at the tenderness. She hadn’t had a licking since she was twelve, and she remembered that one had been because of swearing, too. It had been administered by her father because she’d cussed out one of the men he’d brought to the ranch as a potential husband. She’d pulled a gun on the would-be suitor and sent him running!

Robert Grayson wasn’t her parent or technically her lawyer because she had never hired him. He was a man who appeared suddenly and worked in tandem with Rainer Bishop, the Banker, and the new Judge, William Bentley, for justice. He had helped save her and Sammy from the murderous plans of her uncle, but he still hadn’t managed to override the problem that she wasn’t married and didn’t want to be a wife.

Now, the man had proven himself to be a brute. She rubbed the salve on her sore bottom gently and felt a funny flutter she felt occasionally. Sometimes when she was riding and sometimes when she was taking a full bath. She didn’t know if it was normal and reckoned it was okay if it didn’t hurt. Tia’s entire bottom was suffering tonight, and she wondered if she would be able to ride in the morning. Ranch chores didn’t stop for any reason, or in her case, because her backside was tender. Pulling on a long man’s nightshirt, she went to bed, lying on her stomach, knowing it would be an uncomfortable night, and it turned out to be true. She turned over and woke up several times from the lingering sting. Lying facedown in her pillow, she imagined multiple ways of getting even with Robert Grayson.

* * *

Robert reentered his office Saturday evening and sat at his desk. The books and journals were in stacks as he had searched every one of them, trying to find a solution to the Kingston problem. When the sun rose, he was exhausted from working all night. But he was no closer to finding a solution. He was a lawyer, not a miracle worker, and arguing with his good friend William Bentley wasn’t helping. If anything, William was inappropriately more impressed with Tia’s figure that she didn’t try to hide in the men’s clothing she wore. William’s response was one of advice. Do not get involved with the stubborn woman.

Had Robert drawn up Hayward Kingston’s last will, he would have advised strongly against the forced marriage deadline to gain her inheritance. But he wasn’t, and without Bentley’s assistance, that instruction in the will could not be ignored. With Sammy underage, a guardian would be appointed until the boy was old enough to make his own decisions. If Tia didn’t marry, she would forfeit half of the property.

Exhausted from another all-night search, Robert slammed another law book down on the desktop, swallowed hard, and made a decision. It wasn’t a decision he took lightly, and it probably wasn’t wise, but he would do it. Filled with determination, Robert climbed the stairs, feeling like he thought a sentenced prisoner might feel facing a hangman’s noose.

As she did daily, Tia kicked off her work boots on the back porch and set them in a sunny spot to dry. When they were dry, she would come out later and brush the dried dung from them.

“You’ve got a visitor in the parlor,” Mrs. Putney said, frowning. “He’s dressed like a gentleman.”

“Then he must not be on the payroll,” Tia snorted. She wasn’t dressed to receive a dandy or a shyster, but she didn’t care either. Having heard the gossip about her problems, a couple of opportunists had approached her with their ideas of how to get around her father’s written demands. She’d scared off the last one with a horsewhip.

Tia closed the parlor door behind her, and the man standing at the window turned around to face her. It took a few seconds to recognize the spit-and-polished Robert Grayson.

“Did you come to apologize?” Tia demanded.

“No, I didn’t,” Robert said firmly. “You earned that paddling, and I won’t tolerate any more of your sass.”

“You’ve got a lot of nerve!” Tia exclaimed.

“I need it, dealing with you,” Robert admitted. “I’m here to make you an offer. I’ve worn out every law book I own trying to find a way around your father’s will. It’s solid, and it can’t be ignored or dismissed.”

Tia turned away from his words to hide the tears she was fighting. “There must be a way!”

“There isn’t, except for one,” Robert said.

She turned back to face him. “And, what would that be?”

Robert noticed the tears and the trembling lower lip. Tia Kingston wasn’t as tough as she pretended to be. “I’m offering to marry you!”

“What?” Tia exclaimed.

“It’s the only way,” Robert said. “By marrying me, you protect the ranch, yourself, and your brother. If I could change your father’s will, I would, but there’s no way to work around it. If you marry me, you will fulfill the requirement of the will.”

“I don’t want to be married,” Tia exclaimed.

“I’ve heard that from day one,” Robert said. “You don’t have a choice. Either you marry me or come up with another willing man. If you don’t marry, the courts will hire an overseer to take control of Kingston Ranch, and it will be controlled until Sammy is of age. I must warn you that proxy guardians generally don’t work out well. If you aren’t married, as per the instructions in the will, you will lose your part of the inheritance.”

“Judge Bentley...”

“William will not buck the law or deny a man’s last words,” Robert said. “Your father’s instructions must be followed. Since Raymond is in prison, you don’t have to worry about him. You know how to run this ranch, and with Hank Walker’s continued help, it will thrive. There is no doubt about that.

“Tia, I realize that you’ve had an unusual upbringing. You have been denied and not allowed to be yourself in some ways. You have also been spoiled and misled. You need a strong man to protect you from yourself, and I’m stepping up to take those reins. Your behavior, at best, is annoying. At its poorest, it is unacceptable. Sammy also needs a strong father figure, and you need to learn how to behave like a lady. I’ve been told that your behavior has gotten worse since your father died.”

Tia shook her head and sat down in a chair, only to jump up again. “I can’t marry a man who would beat me!”

“I didn’t beat you! I spanked you,” Robert countered. “There’s a big difference, and you deserved every whack of that ruler. I’m not here to steal your property. I’m here to protect it. If you choose to marry me, it probably won’t be your last spanking because I won’t tolerate disrespect, and I shouldn’t expect it from a wife!

“Why are you offering to do this?” Tia asked.

“Because I believe that under all that tough veneer, a decent young woman is trying to protect her little brother. Which is the worst? Marrying me or losing your and your brother’s inheritance to an unknown overseer appointed by a judge?”

“At the moment, I don’t know,” Tia admitted. “Would it be a marriage of convenience?”

“Meaning what?” Robert asked.

Tia blushed. “Separate bedrooms.”

“No,” Robert said firmly. “But, I will give you time to adjust to the idea.”

“Can you give me some time to think about it?” Tia asked.

“No. You are out of time,” Robert said firmly. “If you’re not married before midnight, everything you’ve worked for will be lost. We’ve got about six hours to get this done. After that, there is no turning back!”