Braxton's Run: Cattle, Whiskey and Women

Chapter Twenty-Four

"It's like a storm, that cuts a path. It breaks your will, it feels like that. You think you're lost, but you're not lost on your own. You're not alone. I will stand by you, I will help you through. When you've done all you can do and you can't cope. I will dry your eyes. I will fight your fight. I will hold you tight and I won't let go. It hurts my heart to see you cry, I know it's dark, this part of life. Oh it finds us all and we're too small to stop the rain. But when it rains, I will stand by you, I will help you through. When you've done all you can do and you can't cope. I will dry your eyes, I will fight your fight. I will hold you tight and I won't let go." Rascall Flatts 'I won't let go'

Braxton stood there slack jawed and in shock. His gentle, loving, forgiving and warm woman had just smacked her own mother right across the face. Not that the woman hadn't deserved it but it still shocked the hell right out of Braxton.

"How dare you…" Claire gasped as she covered her red cheek with her hand. Laura snorted with derision, a thing that shocked Braxton even more. He had never known Laura to have a bitter bone in her body.

"No, how dare you." Laura hissed. "Of course I guess that since you abandoned me when I was just a little girl who needed her mother, walking away from me now that I'm a grown woman probably didn't seem that hard." Braxton kept his arm protectively around Laura's waist, doing all he could to offer her support and strength. He would rather face one hundred Indians than something like this… At least he could shoot the Indians.

"Is there a problem here?" the bartender asked as he walked over. Claire shook her head.

"Of course not." she replied. "Just a ghost from my past who is apparently bitter over mistakes I made more than twenty years ago." Laura let out an angry screech and lunged at Claire. Braxton caught Laura around her waist and held her tight even as she kicked and swung for all she was worth at her mother.

"Let me go." she exclaimed as the saloon fell silent and the hands that had been riding with Laura and Braxton the last few weeks rose to their feet, unsure with what they should do.

"Honey, this isn't the place for this… You don't want to beat up your own mother." Braxton whispered in her ear.

"Yes I do." she replied harshly.

"I suppose that now that you found me you're going to want to talk?" Claire asked, seeming unfazed by Laura's anger. "Can we at least go upstairs? I own this saloon and have an image to uphold. I would just as soon not air my dirty laundry for everyone to hear." With that Claire turned and walked away up the stairs with a swish of her satin skirts.

"What the hell….?" Trace asked and Brady leaned over and whispered to him causing Trace to nod and then look around at the other hands.

"Come on men. There's plenty of other saloons in this town. I don't see any reason to spend any more money here." he said. The hands nodded. They didn't understand what was going on but they could see how upset Laura and Braxton both were and they respected their bosses. Laura watched the hands walk out and Braxton could feel her trembling in his arms.

"What do you want to do, Laura? Do you want me to walk out of here with you or take you upstairs to speak to that woman?" Laura leaned into him for strength as she looked up the now empty steps. The brightly lit saloon began to grow noisy once again as the men lost interest in what had happened between Laura and Claire.

"I'll go talk to her, I have questions that I want answered." she replied, her voice shaking nearly as badly as she was. "You can wait for me down here."

"No." Braxton replied as he shook his head forcefully. "You will not face her alone. You didn't let me face my family alone. We're a team." he reminded her. She looked up at him and he could see her eyes fill with gratitude. He kissed her nose.