{Chapter 7

“Momma, he’s got a good job back in Texas, I can’t make him leave that,” Aubrey told her mother after the short ceremony.

Wade had gone down the street to make sure Jay got something to eat before the long ride home. Aubrey had just grabbed an apple and was munching on it when her mother had acted so shocked when she found out that they would be leaving.

“He can work here at the mercantile,” Momma offered.

“I’m not going to make a clerk out of a cowboy. Wade’s free-spirited. He needs to be out in the wide-open working with those big cattle. It would be cruel to take him away from that,” Aubrey said, taking another bite out of her apple.

“Have you asked him about it?”

“Momma, it’s not just for his sake, but for mine. I need some time away from -” Aubrey motioned to her surroundings, “- all this.”

“Who will run the store?” Daddy piped up.

Aubrey looked over at him. “So that’s it? You’re afraid of losing your free help?”

“Don’t speak to me like that, girl. I’m still your father” Daddy defended.

Aubrey sighed. “I’m sorry. You’ve got to understand that I’m under some pretty serious stress right now. If you’ll excuse me, I have to go talk to my husband.”

She took her half-eaten apple outside and walked down the street toward Cassie’s Café where most people went to eat when they were in town.

She walked inside to where Wade was watching awe as Jay ate. The boy could put away a plate faster than anyone she knew, that was for sure. She sat down in a chair at their table.

“We have to get out of here pronto,” she said.
“I agree. My boss’ll think I’m dead” Wade smiled.

“Well, the people in this town will start talking soon and I don’t want to be here to witness the outcome of it. I’ll go pack now,” Aubrey offered.

Wade looked at the clock on the wall. “I’ll get the three of us tickets for the two o’clock train.”

“I’ll be ready” Aubrey stood and walked out, tousling Jay’s hair as she went.

She was packing her things in the back room of the store when there was a knock on her door.

“Come in.”

It was Momma.

“I need to give you something,” Momma said, handing her an envelope.

“What is it?” Aubrey asked.

“A letter. From your grandmother” Momma explained.

Aubrey took the envelope. “I’ll have to read it later. I’ve got to finish packing and say good-bye to Brooke before two o’clock” Aubrey stuffed the envelope up her sleeve and went on about her packing.

“I suppose I’ll just say goodbye now, then” Tears welled up in Momma’s eyes.

Aubrey walked over and hugged her mother, trying to forgive her.

“Take care of yourself,” Momma said, her voice choking up.

“I will.”

**********

“Leaving? Aubbie! Why?” Brooke panicked.

“Look, Brooke. I’ll explain everything in a letter when I get to Texas. I know it’s mean for me to just leave you like this, but I have to be on the two o’clock train. The thing is, I got married,” Aubrey explained quickly.

“M-Married?” Brooke looked at her, shocked.

“Yes, he and I were victims of an exchanging of vows at the end of a shotgun barrel. I’ll explain in detail later, but I have to go now” Aubrey wrapped her arms around her childhood friend, tears clogging her throat.

Brooke said nothing as tears streamed down both of their cheeks.

“I’m sorry,” Aubrey sobbed before turning to run toward the train station before she missed her train.

**********

Wade sat beside Aubrey on the train seat, trying not to look at her. The grief stricken look on her face as she looked out of the window was nearly unbearable for him. At first, he got the impression that she would be glad to leave Lovelace, now he was thinking different.

“If you’ve changed your mind, we can turn around and go right back” Wade offered.

Aubrey gave him a weak smile. “No. I need to go, Wade. It’s for myself as much as it is for them.”

Wade wished he could comfort her, but nothing that went through his mind was good enough. He knew how hard it was to leave behind a family.

It felt like he was betraying them, but he was actually he was helping them

Diverting his thoughts from his past, he focused his thoughts on Jay.

The boy had perked up over the past few days, smiling and laughing with him, excited about going to live with him in Texas. Then, it hit him.

“Jay, where were you when the storm hit yesterday?” Wade asked.

Jay looked at him from his seat across from them all to himself. “I went under a house.”

“A house?”

“Yeah. I figured I was safe under one instead of in one. So maybe when it blowed away it wouldn’t take me too,” Jay explained.

Wade nodded. “I guess that makes sense.”

He resisted a smile, knowing full well that the house wouldn’t have protected him if the tornado had come through town. The thought of Jay being killed by that twister erased any trace of a smile from Wade’s mind.

“Next time you come find me or another grown up, okay?” Wade told him.

Jay nodded.

Wade couldn’t figure out why he felt so protective of the boy. It was as if eh were his real father or anything, or even a father at all. He was simply taking care of him, like a big brother would.

Right?

     He had found Snowflake about a mile out of town earlier in the day with hardly a scratch on her. Now he was glad to be rid of the confusing town of Lovelace.

**********

The long days of the train ride stretched on for what seemed like years for Aubrey. Every tree that passed was another tree that separated her from all she had known her whole life. Wade appeared to hate the confines of the train car. His leg would bounce restlessly from time to time and his eyes would dart here and there. He would twine his fingers around each other and make his thumbs chase each other, and Aubrey had a hard time watching him twitch.

Jay was just as bad. Aubrey didn’t know how Wade stood the repeated times he had to tell the boy not to bother other passengers. Jay did as he was told most times, but there were only a few ways a six-year-old boy could occupy himself on a train car.

Finally, they pulled into a town known as Desperado. Wade leaned close to her before the train came to a complete stop.

“Stay real close to me,” he said. “Don’t get out of my sight in this town, okay?”

Aubrey nodded.

They got off the train and Aubrey understood why he said that. Shady characters with little beady eyes stared at her from every corner like a cat waiting to pounce on an unsuspecting mouse. Only this mouse was suspecting, and so was the mouse’s husband.

Wade got their luggage while trying to keep up with Jay at the same time.

“Hey Jay” he said. “You wanna do me a really big favor? Carry this.”

Wade put her small suitcase in Jay’s little arms.

Wade looked at her and shook his head. Jay had been rowdy ever since leaving Lovelace.

They walked side by side down the street until they came to the livestock car.

“I’ll get our horses. You two stand over there where I can see you from here,” Wade said, setting the two suitcases he held on the boardwalk.

Aubrey nodded and waited while Wade got his two horses.

“That’s Mr. Lawson,” Jay pointed out a man to her. “He’s the meanest man in town, and that’s sayin’ something”

Aubrey smiled.

“That there’s Mr. Wayne. He’s about the nicest man in this town. People say he killed his own wife, too,” Jay said.

Aubrey cringed. If that was the nicest man in town, then the rest of the town must be pretty bad.

**********

The hour ride from Desperado to Sundance was dusty and tiring. Aubrey wasn’t used to the dust in Texas, and went into a coughing fit several times. Other than that, Texas was beautiful. Though it looked like it was deserted except for thistle and chaparral, Aubrey knew that Wade was from this land, and that was enough for her.

Wade wasn’t like the other men she knew. He was kind, gentle, and considerate. He was patient with Jay yet demanding when it came to his horses.

She had to ride with Jay on Abe, while Wade rode Snowflake because he hadn’t “worked all of the kinks out of her” yet.

“How much longer until we get to Sundance?” Aubrey asked him.

Wade looked over at her, revealing a dimpled smile that made her heart lurch. “We’ve only been riding for twenty minutes.”

“Oh” Aubrey squinted against the dry, hot sun and smiled. “Guess I’m what you fellas call a greenhorn.”

Wade laughed. “Yeah, I guess you could say that.”

“Will you teach me?” Aubrey asked.

Wade looked over at her. “Teach you what?”

“What to do on a ranch. I don’t want to be dead weight, I want to learn the chores and such,” Aubrey explained.

Wade thought a moment. “Well, I suppose I can. There’s nothing to it really.”

Aubrey smiled. She wanted to help Wade out, not be a burden because he was forced into marrying her.

“You gonna teach me how to rope a horse?” Jay asked.

Wade smiled.

Those demon dimples.

“I reckon I can when I get time off. You’re gonna have to stay with Katie when I’m out riding herd” Wade explained to him.

“Who’s Katie?” Jay asked.

“She’s a friend of mine.”

“Is she old?” Jay asked.

Aubrey resisted a laugh, but it came out as a snort.

“No, she’s not old. She’s a year or so younger than me” Wade said.

Aubrey felt her stomach clench. Wade had a lady friend, at the ranch, who was near his age. That didn’t sound too innocent. What if Wade was sweet on a girl, maybe even engaged, and Aubrey had ruined his plans? She made a mental note to ask about that when Jay wasn’t with them.

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