Chapter 4
Millie survived the rest of that week, trying desperately to not make a mistake. She felt her job hung by a thread, and she could hardly sleep at night with worry. Where would she go if she lost this job? She had no money and no other options. Her questions would have answers exactly a week after she was hired.
“Mr. Shannon wants to see you in his study directly, Miss Millie” Clayton told her as she was downing the rest of her coffee.
“Me?” She gurgled quickly.
“Uh huh” Clayton smiled.
Millie placed her cup down and stood to go up the stairs. Clayton gave her a pitying look and went on reading his paper. Millie gathered her courage and went up the stairs to Trey’s study. The door sat open, and her employer sat behind his desk, bent over a large map. He buried his fingers in his black hair, obviously trying to concentrate. He blew out some air after a moment, and removed his hands. His hair stuck up straight, and Millie resisted the urge to laugh at him. Instead, she knocked on the doorframe. He looked up and smoothed his hair back down.
“Mornin’ Millie” He said.
Millie hesitantly entered the office and stood in front of his desk. A large area map covered the top of his desk, and a pencil trail traced a few places.
“Sleep well?” Trey asked.
Millie nodded.
“Okay” Trey leaned back in his chair and crossed his arms. His penetrating stare still intimidated her. “If you’re going to work for me now, you’re gonna have to talk”.
Millie smiled. “You--you’re keeping me?”
“I have decided that, yes” Trey said. “I’m just wondering. Do I scare you or something?”
Millie resisted the urge to tell the full truth. “I’ve never been a big talker, I’m afraid” she simply said.
Trey smiled. “Guess if you did talk a lot, I wouldn’t get to see you smiled as often”.
Millie felt her face heat as she tried not to widen her smile and look foolish.
“I’m…just not good with words, I guess” She found herself saying and resisted a huff. Number one rule to staying unattached was not to tell anyone anything personal. Even something as small as a habit.
“Well, I’ve never noticed. Now, I have to leave in the morning so you’ll have to take care of Quinn for a few days. It shouldn’t be but a few days this time around, but you never know” Trey explained.
Millie felt like panicking, and it confused her. She was scared to death of the man, yet his presence gave her a level of confidence when it came to his son. She had gotten used to seeing his handsome face every morning.
Now where had that thought come from?
*****
Trey threw his saddle bags over his horse early the next morning and rode out to meet his men. Adam, Wes, and Jed were all at the old cabin on the edge of his property where they normally met up. Wes met him as he rode up.
“Wes, what are you doin’ here?” Trey asked, swinging his leg over his horse to dismount.
“Just in case you changed yer mind” Wes grumbled, rubbing the back of his neck.
“Not a chance. Don’t worry, you’ll still get your share” Trey said.
“Yeah, but it’s not like bein’ in on the action” Wes opened the door to the cabin to head inside.
Adam and Jed sat at the table, playing cards.
“You sleep in?” Adam asked.
“No, I had to get that new girl I hired squared away on a few things. She seems scared of me for some reason” Trey sat down across from Jed.
“Scared?” Jed grinned, dealing Trey and Wes in on the game.
“Seems like it. She could just look that way. Never talks to me, hardly makes eye contact, and avoids me like the plague” Trey stared at his hand, not registering what cards were there.
“You’re not usually worried about what women think of you. Not that there’s ever any doubt of what they think. You’ve always had a way with ’em” Adam said, rubbing his handlebar mustache.
“I know. She seems… different than the rest of them women we know” Trey explained thoughtfully.
“Different?” Wes looked up over his hand of cards.
“I dunno. Give me three” Trey threw Adam three of his cards, who returned three from the deck.
“Well, you can’t allow her to distract you from this job, hear? We don’t need that bear you turned into last time we messed up” Adam said.
"We didn’t mess up, that was Wes’ fault” Trey sent a glance at Wes, who scowled and hid behind his cards.
*****
Millie finished changing Quinn and carried him downstairs. Clayton was nowhere to be found and Mariah was banging in the kitchen. Jess was sweeping the porch and it appeared that the stable boy was letting the horses out into the corral.
“Reckon we should explore a little?” Millie smiled down at Quinn. She hadn’t explored most of the house in the past week and was curious to what the rest of the mansion-like house held. She walked into the parlor and noticed a door off to the right of the large fireplace. Normally, she wasn’t so curious, but something about this house needed finding out. She pushed the door open and entered what appeared to be a formal parlor. White sheets covered all of the furniture, but one shape in the corner caught her attention. It was covered in a white cloth, but it’s shape peaked her curiosity. Carefully, she lifted one corner and gasped. Yanking the cloth away, Millie stood back and took in the magnificent shiny Grand piano. In front of the keys sat a sheet of music. Adjusting Quinn on her hip, she leaned closer to see that it was an arrangement of Auld Lang Syne. She wondered if it Trey or his wife had played the piano, and why they didn’t anymore. Now that she thought about it, what had happened to Quinn’s mother? Did she die or was she gone away? She would have to remember to ask Clayton sometime…
*****
Trey was gone until the end of that week, and when he returned, it was not at a good time.
Quinn had been crying all morning, Millie hadn’t even had a chance to run a brush through her hair, Jess had chosen that day to wash the walls, Clayton was coming down with a cold, and Mariah was at her wit’s end dealing with the lot of them.
“Clayton?” Trey called from the foyer.
Millie was in the hall, and heard his voice.
Was it already time for him to return?
She got halfway down the staircase when she saw him. Boy, did he look good at a time like this. Someone to take control.
“Trey! Trey, am I glad to see you” She said, surprised that the words came out of her mouth.
“What’s going on?” He asked, that softening smile breaking through as he saw her.
“Chaos is going on in here, Trey. Clayton has the sniffles and is acting completely out of sorts, Quinn has been crying for you all morning and poor Mariah is about to have a breakdown from dealing with all of us” Millie hated it when she was frazzled. She always babbled on like a senseless person when she was frazzled.
Trey smiled and brushed away a few strands of hair from her face. “I’ll take care of it”.
He walked up the stairs and immediately Millie like everything was under control. She followed him shortly and stopped at the top of the stairs. Trey held silent Quinn in his arms, sending Mariah off to the kitchen with orders to have a cup of tea, telling Clayton to take the day off and preparing to help Jess clean the walls as soon as Quinn fell asleep. He didn’t even notice her awe-struck face as he slowly walked back down the hall with Quinn in tow. Meanwhile, Millie went to her room to gather a few minutes alone. Shutting the door behind her, she refrained from locking it and went to the window. Raising it up, the chilly breeze caught her by surprise and felt soothing to her flushed skin. Clambering out onto the balcony, she was encircled by the reviving air, sending chill bumps up her arms. The miles and miles of clear land gave a peaceful air to the place, in spite of the morning she’d had.
The sound of another window raising caught her attention, causing her to turn around. Trey poked his head out.
“Oh, it’s you. I didn’t know who would be out here” he smiled.
Millie smiled back, suddenly feeling self conscious.
“Need some company?” Trey asked.
Millie nodded.
Trey pulled the rest of his body out, like he had done it numerous times before, and Millie wondered how he fit his shoulders out of the narrow window.
“Are you alright?” She asked with a chuckle.
“What do you mean?”
“I’m surprised you fit out of the window” Millie resisted a groan. She was spouting off senseless things again. What is the use of thinking if you are just going to say anything that enters your brain?
Trey chuckled. “I’ve had a few years of experience”.
Millie smiled.
“What about you?” Trey asked.
Millie gave him a confused look.
“How was the past few days? Settling in okay?” He asked.
She smiled. “Quite well, thank you. I think I’ve finally learned how to walk across the floor properly”.
Trey laughed. “That’s good”.
They sat there in silence for a moment.
“What about Quinn? Has he warmed up to you yet?” Trey asked.
Millie narrowed her eyes and pressed her lips into a thin line. “Not really sure. He lets me hold him and change him without bawlin’, so I think we have an understanding”.
Trey braced his arms on the balcony railing. “I want you to feel at home here, ya know? I don’t want you to feel like this it temporary”.
Millie nodded, finally feeling like her nerves were back to normal. “Thank you”.
Trey turned back to the window. “Reckon I’ll go help Jess now. Who’d have that that I’d be cleanin’ after I done hired someone for that purpose”.
Millie smiled. “It happens”.
*****
Trey could barely walk up the stairs that night to go to his room. He longed to just collapse on his bed and sleep until noon the next day. He hadn’t got much sleep on this last job he had went on. He decided to check on Quinn before retiring, even though the extra ten steps seemed draining. He would have never thought that cleaning the walls could have been such hard work. He now had a new respect for Jess and her job.
Stopping at the open doorway of the nursery, Trey was surprised to see Millie up so late at night. He’d have to get used to not checking on Quinn all the time. She sat with her back to him in the rocking chair that faced the window
The moonlight made a silhouette of them, and no one who knew otherwise would think that she wasn’t the child’s mother. The sudden thought of Quinn’s mother made his breath catch. The grief in his heart burned anew and he forced himself to his room, where he locked the door shut behind him. He leaned back against the heavy door and closed his eyes.
Why did he have to think of Karen right then? Unwanted tears stung behind his eyelids and he shut his eyes tighter to try and make them leave, but it just made one lone tear stroll down his cheek. He harshly wiped it away and pulled his boots off. He picked them up and threw them in a corner. The harsh movement caused the caked mud on them to loosen and fall off, but he didn’t really care at the moment.
A knot in his stomach prevented him from a sound sleep that night, and thought of the lost one he had loved-and killed-wouldn’t leave his mind. Why didn’t she just stay back home like he had asked her to do> Why didn’t he make her leave when he found her following him? It was all his fault, and the memory just wouldn’t go away.
“Trey, don’t let me die” His wife’s bloody hand clenched his in a hard grip. “I can’t leave you and Quinn”.
“You’re not gonna die, Karen. Just hang on ‘til we can get you to a doc, okay?” Trey squeezed her hand tight, as if that would save her life. Yet he knew in his heart that there was no chance. Abdominal gunshot wounds were hardly ever recovered from.
“If I die…” Karen started.
“Don’t talk like that, love” Trey pleaded.
“promise you’ll take care of him forever. Don’t let him out of your sight” Karen said anyway.
“I promise, Karen” Trey said softly.
His wife had died that night, and had taken half of his heart with her.
At around midnight, Trey sat up and leaned over to reach inside his bedside table drawer and pulled out a half-full bottle of whiskey. Throwing the cork across the room, he turned up the bottle.
*****
Millie woke up to a sound of someone on the balcony. A silhouette block the moonlight at her window, and her heart skipped a beat. She had nothing to fend of the potential burglar with, so she would simply have to invent something. Taking her boot in one hand and a pencil in the other, she figured she could at least put a hurting on him.
Slowly, she lifted the window and tried to be a silent as possible. The man swayed slightly and mumbled something under his breath, leaning awkwardly to the side. Acting on an impulse, she dove out and tackled the unsuspecting man in front of her. With a grunt, he seemed to be out cold.
Surely she hadn’t knocked him out that easy!
Rolling him onto his back, she covered her mouth. It was Trey. She smelled liquor on him, and it startled her. She had never suspected him to be a drinking man. One thing was sure, he was knocked out.
She knew she had to get him back to his room somehow. Down on the other end of the balcony, his window stood wide open. Grabbing him under the arms, she drug him over to the window and stood back. She stared at him a moment. He’d have a nasty bump on his head when he woke up, but it served him right for drinking himself drunk and scaring her half to death. She decided that it was best to go feet first. Taking up his left leg, she yanked it up until it rested on the window sill. She did the same with his right leg, all the time wishing he weren’t so muscle-bound. Walking back to his head she pushed on his shoulders, but he didn’t budge. Maybe she should try another technique. Clambering over his feet and through the window into his room, she tried pulling on his feet. Still no movement.
“Can’t you wake up, Trey?” She whispered.
Climbing back out, she knelt by him.
“Trey, wake up” She lightly slapped his face a few times, but he didn’t wake up. She then slapped him as hard as she could, but he still didn’t budge. So she just sat there beside him, leaned up against the outside of the building. For the first time, she took time to really study him. His forehead had light lines across it, but they didn’t take away from his looks at all. His hair looked like it had been parted the same way his whole life, and a stubborn cowlick made it stick up in the front. A thin line of hair ran along his jaw line and on his upper lip, giving him the most masculine look. It was hard to believe that a man as rugged at this could possibly raise a baby on his own.
She again wondered at what had happened to his wife. Was Quinn even his? Did he adopt the child? She should have asked these questions when she was first interviewed. Yet something about Trey made her forget all about the rational things of life. His very presence made she shiver, yet her heart warmed at his gaze.
She wished she could ask her father about these feelings. She had always told him when she was the least bit confused. But she didn’t have a father now. She had no one. Then it dawned on her that she hadn’t had a long conversation with God in a while. Something about telling all of her feelings to Him made her feel better and heard somehow.
Soon, she found herself falling asleep and when she awoke again, Trey was stirring. The sun hadn’t peeked over the horizon yet, but the sky was turning a lighter blue and a few stars were returning to their invisible state. The morning was beautiful.
“Trey?” She crawled to his side.
He groaned and put his hand on his head. “Wh--” His eyes took in the scene, a scowl obscuring his handsome face. He looked up at her for an explanation before closing his eyes again. “Why are my feet in the window?”
“It’s a long story. Can you stand?” Millie stood.
“No” Trey reached up his hand for her to help him in spite of his answer.
Millie took his hand and pulled on it. His arm was nearly too heavy to hold up for her. Trey released her hand and laughed in spite of his pain.
“You’re so tiny” he smiled.
Millie sighed. How was this going to work?
Trey pulled himself into a sitting position and groaned.
“Bad idea” he said before laying back down, both hands clasped around his head.
“Guess we’re stuck out here until Clayton wakes up. I don’t want to wake him up after he was so sick yesterday” Millie said.
“Yeah. Care to explain how I got out here half in and half out while we’re waiting?” Trey asked.
Millie sighed and began. “I woke up last night when I heard you out here on the balcony. I didn’t know it was you at the time so I prepared to defend myself. I grabbed my boot and a sharpened pencil and slowly raised the window. After I tackled you…”
“You tackled me? Little you got me down?” Trey grinned.
“You were intoxicated somethin’ fierce, Trey. It was difficult, but doable. Anyway, after I tackled you I found out who you were. Just to be clear, I think you’re wearing a third of the bottle on your shirt. ‘Near singed my nose hair” Millie found herself laughing at the memory, and Trey followed suit. “So after a few visibly failed attempts to get you back through the window--”Millie motioned to his feet. “--I gave up and stayed out here with you”.
“You didn’t try waking me up?” Trey asked.
“Yes… even slapped you as hard as I could. Didn’t help though” Millie said.
For some reason it felt easier to talk to him now. Though he still gave her knots in her stomach, they weren’t as severe.
“What are you two doing out here?” Jess asked from down at Millie’s window.
“Jess! Is Clayton up yet?” Millie asked.
“Yup, let me go get him” Jess ducked back inside and in a few minutes Clayton appeared at Trey’s window.
“Clayton, help me up” Trey raised his hand.
Clayton clambered out and helped Trey stand. Trey stood, though his head ached and his knees were wobbly. After one step, he started to fall face first and his head went through the window, his whole body following. A loud splat and a grunt signaled Trey’s arrival at the floor.
Millie went through the window and resisted a laugh. Trey had landed back on his back.
"I could have helped myself do that, Clayton” he groaned.
“Sorry, sir” Clayton said.
Millie dismissed herself from the room and went back to her own, falling on her bed and entering back into sleep before she knew what had happened.