Chapter 10
Trey sat at the table in the old cabin with Adam and Jed. He needed to know what they thought of Wes.
“You what?” Adam gaped at him.
“I told him that if I ever saw him again I’d kill him,” Trey said.
“Why? Boss, are you stupid?” Adam exclaimed.
“Come again?” Trey cocked an eyebrow at Adam. The man knew better than to talk like that to him.
“Wes was just trying to protect himself,” Adam said.
“He would have ruined Miss William’s life, Adam,” Trey said.
“I think you had good reason to get rid of him” Jed put in.
“What’s wrong with both of you?” Adam stood. “We can’t to the jobs we used to without Wes.”
“That’s a price I’m willing to pay” Trey said.
Adam shook his head.
Trey knew that Adam didn’t like the situation, but hoped that he would come to accept it.
*****
Weeks passed and the Christmas season came with them. Trey didn’t know what to do with Millie. She was out of control with decorations. Garland lined the staircase rails, a big Christmas tree stood in the parlor, lined with popcorn on strings and a few ornaments here and there. A tin star sat on top of the tree, glistening when the firelight hit it just right. Millie was always humming one Christmas song or another. Quinn didn’t know what to think of the tree. He would sit at it and stare it, touching its branches when he gathered up the courage.
Trey was sitting with him in the parlor, keeping him warm by the fire. He was trying to coax him into saying something.
“Can you say daddy?” Trey asked, putting emphasis on the last word.
Quinn gurgled.
Trey kept repeating words until finally Quinn focused.
“Da” he said.
“That’s right. Da-Daddy” Trey knew he must have looked silly, but his kid was about to speak!
“Da…Dada” Quinn said.
“Aha! I knew you had it in you! Say it again. Dada” Trey coaxed.
“Dada” Quinn said.
Trey stood. “Hey, Millie!” He called.
Millie came downstairs and stopped just as Quinn said “Dada” again.
“I can’t believe it! Did he…?” pointed at Quinn.
“He sure did” Trey smiled.
Millie pinched Quinn’s cheek. “You’re such a big boy!”
Quinn giggled.
*****
Millie put Quinn to bed for the night, and went back downstairs with a book. She felt the need to read something tonight. As she walked into the parlor and sat on the sofa, she heard “Auld Lang Syne” being played on the piano in the formal parlor. She stilled.
Wondering who was playing, she stood and crept to the door of the formal parlor. It was barely cracked open, and she couldn’t see the piano. Leaning against the wall, Millie stayed there until the beautiful song was over and the last note had faded away. Slowly, she opened the door and was a little surprised to see Trey behind the piano. She had thought his wife had played.
“Trey? Was that you playing?” she asked.
“No. I have…I have an evil twin” Trey smiled.
“I’m serious. That was beautiful” Millie sat down in one of the chairs.
“It was Karen’s favorite song,” Trey said thoughtfully.
“Karen? Was that your wife?” Millie asked.
Trey nodded.
“How did she die?” Millie asked slowly.
Trey sighed. “I guess you should know.”
Millie waited while he thought up the words he wanted.
“In my line of work, things… they tend to get dangerous. We went on a job in a town down south where the payroll had just come in for some government workers. My men came along and were surveying the scene around town while I stayed out of sight and watched the bank. Little did I know that I had a follower. Karen had been complaining that I don’t spend enough time with her, and I should have listened, but I didn’t and she followed me. I was sorely tempted to chew her up one side and down the other, but instead I told her to go home. Of course, she didn’t. So I made sure she stayed back out of sight while we did what we had to do” Trey rubbed his forehead and sighed. “Why didn’t she stay back? She never did anything I told her to. While me and my men went inside, she stayed out back with the horses. I don’t know what happened after that. I don’t know if she tried to follow us or if she wasn’t hidden well enough and the sheriff found her or what happened. When we got back to the horses she was shot in the stomach. She bled to death before we could get her to a decent doctor” Trey’s eye’s hazed over and he blinked a few times. “So there you have it. I killed my own wife. If I’d made her go back home instead of giving in to her as I always did… she might be alive right now.”
Millie waited for him to continue. What on earth could he possibly do would cause Karen to get shot? His story was beginning to add up, and not in a favorable way.
Trey looked as her as if gauging her reaction. “I-I’m in a line of work where… the law isn’t exactly always compliant to what we have to do.”
“What are you saying, Trey? Are you an… outlaw?” Millie asked.
“That’s the least of it” Trey stood and walked to the window. “I don’t want to tell you this, but you have to know because someone could be after you now and you have to know the danger you’re in.”
“What are you telling me? Does this have something to do with the man in my room?” Millie asked.
“Yeah, sorta. Wes worked for me. There’s two others that have been here a time or two, I don’t know if you remember them or not” Trey said.
Millie nodded.
“The one in your room was Wes. The money came up missing from our last job and I think he’s the one who took it. He always implied that I should get rid of you. I always refused, so I guess he was trying to do it himself. He might try to get rid of you again. If you want out of here then I don’t blame you one bit,” Trey said, not looking at her.
Millie knew he was still hiding something.
“You’re keeping something else from me. What is it?” she asked.
Trey looked at her now, a pain in his eyes she hadn’t seen before. He shook his head.
“Trey. You have to come clean to me. You’ve hidden this from me for too long. Tell me,” Millie demanded.
“Okay, fine.” The muscle in Trey’s jaw tensed as he sat down on the piano bench. “My men all have aliases. Wes you probably know as Chad Mason. Shane Anderson and Perry Elliot are the other two. I‘m the one they refer to as Boss. We---we robbed the bank in Casden all those months ago. Wes was the one who shot your father”
Millie felt her heart stop. This couldn’t be true. Not after she had fallen in love with him so much.
“Y-You killed my father?” She stood, tears welling in her eyes.
“No, Wes killed your father” Trey said.
“You stood by and let him. You let him draw his gun and shoot a defenseless old man!” Millie didn’t even try to control her tone or words. “You done went and made me car about you, too! You have no heart at all! You’re a cruel, evil man who cares for no one but himself. You used me!” Millie clenched her fists.
“Millie, calm down” Trey stood and took a few steps toward her.
“I won’t calm down! How can you expect me to calm down when I’m standing in front of my father’s murderer? You are a selfish, self-absorbed--” Millie commenced to calling him every name she could think of. “-egotistical, son of a b…bullfrog!” Millie whirled on her heel and stomped toward the door. Trey reached out and touched her arm.
“Do not touch me,” Millie snarled.
*****
Millie packed her bag the next morning before daybreak. She couldn’t stay another second in Trey Shannon’s house, not after all he’d done and all she’d called him. Sneaking into the nursery, Millie wanted to see Quinn one last time before she left. He lay so peacefully in his crib, not a care in the world. Millie stroked his hair with her fingers, realizing how much she loved the little fellow.
“We had some good times, didn’t we?” she smiled. She would never forget his musical giggle. Not ever.
“You be a good boy and mind your elders, okay? Don’t grow up and be like your papa” Millie sighed.
Placing her hand over the baby’s heart, Millie prayed a short prayer for him.
“Lord, help Quinn to grow up in the fear of You and on the right side of the law. Be with him as he grows up and becomes a man. Bless this little boy’s life.”
Turning toward the door, Millie gave him one more glance. He wouldn’t even remember her.
Downstairs, Millie was surprised to see that Clayton, Mariah, and Jess were all gathered around the door, waiting for her.
“What’re you guys doing up?” Millie asked.
“Wanted to see you off. Figured you’d be leaving” Jess said.
Millie looked around for Trey.
“He’s not here, Millie,” Mariah said.
Millie walked up to Jess and gave her a hug. “I still say it was a pleasure meeting you,” she said.
Jess smiled.
Millie then hugged Mariah. “You’re a good person, Mariah. Don’t let anyone tell you otherwise,” Millie told her.
Mariah nodded, tears coursing down her cheeks.
Next came Clayton, who wrapped Millie up in a bear hug. “I’ll never forget you, missy” he said.
Millie blinked back tears. “Nor will I you.”
She stood back and looked at the three of them. “You guys have made this whole debacle seem worthwhile. I’ll never be able to thank you enough.”
The three of them nodded.
Millie opened the front door and saw Hank saddled beside the front steps. She looked up at Clayton.
“You can’t walk. I’ll come to Casden and pick him up in a few days,” He said.
Millie smiled and gave him another hug. “Thank you.”
She straddled hank and hung her satchel on the saddle horn. With one last wave at the threesome in the doorway, Millie rode off and made herself not look back. It would be difficult to leave this life behind.
*****
Trey came out of the shadows as Millie rode off. His heart ached for her to return and his head was glad she had left. He was beginning to soften up, anyway, and that couldn’t happen in his job. Once you get soft, you might as well hang up your gun. He walked up to his study and closed the door behind him.
He told himself he didn’t care, that Millie didn’t matter. The deep wrenching in his gut told him differently.
Sitting behind his desk, he saw a book atop it that hadn’t been there last night. He picked it up and looked at the cover.
Millie’s copy of Pride and Prejudice.
A white slip of paper slipped out of it and hit the floor. Trey bent to retrieve it.
Life isn’t supposed to be easy, and I know that. Sometimes you just have to grit your teeth and bear it.
Here’s my copy of Pride and Prejudice. Read it often as a reminder of a girl who will always be praying for and trying to forgive you.
Millie Williams.
Trey sighed and placed to note inside the book. He wouldn’t need a reminder of her. He would remember every word she said, every facial expression she made, and every emotion she stirred in him. It was no use even trying to forget.
*****
Millie stood in front of the orphanage, waiting for Texiss to answer her knock. The expression on her friend’s face when she saw her was one of shock.
“Millie. I thought we were supposed to be the ones visiting,” she said.
Millie stared at Texiss. “It’s all falling apart, Tex,” she said.
Texiss pulled her in out of the cold. “What’s wrong?”
Millie told her everything as they sat at the kitchen table. “The thing is, I’ve fallen in love with him, and surprisingly this whole revelation hasn’t made me feel less for him. I feel so rotten” Millie placed her head in her hands.
Texiss tsked. “I don’t know what to tell you, honey. He’s an evil man, and you’d better go to the sheriff and forget about him.”
Millie jerked her head up. “No! Don’t go to the sheriff. No one must know about this. I want Trey’s conscience to bring him to justice, not my want for revenge.”
Texiss stared her as if she weren’t speaking English. “That’s the stupidest thing I’ve ever heard.”
“Please promise me, Tex” Millie reached across the table. “Promise me you’ll keep this secret.”
Texiss thought a moment. “Fine, but don’t come running to me when this backfires.”
Millie sighed. There was just something in her that couldn’t turn Trey in, something that held her back.
The next morning, Millie headed for her father’s grave. She needed to be near him again, even if it was just his bones. Sinking to her knees beside the wooden cross, she heaved a heavy sigh.
When her father died, the last thing she had intended was to love his murderer. She felt like the worst daughter in the history of creation. How could she let her father down like this? He was probably looking down from heaven and shaking his head in dismay. Closing her eyes, she relived the nightmare she had often had the past few months:
Millie held her father’s hand, tears streaming down her cheeks.
“Quitting already?” he asked.
“There’s no way for me to find them, Papa,” Millie said.
“You’ve never let that stop you before” her father said.
“What can I do?”
Papa’s breath grew ragged. “Avenge me”.
With that, his last life-giving breath escaped his body, and his hand fell from Millie’s fingers
.
Millie jerked her eyes open as they filled with unwanted tears. She hated herself. She hated the person she had become since her father had died. She hated that she had yelled at Trey and called him all those names. She hated the fact that she was in this situation in the first place.
“God, why?” She asked, looking up into the clouds. “Why did you have to take him from me? I’d give everything I had in the world up just to talk to him for five minutes”.
Her chest hurt with the pain she felt inside, bringing more tears to her eyes and a sob from her throat. A hand gripped her shoulder and she looked up. Cameron stood there, his hat in his hands, and he knelt beside her. He didn’t say a word for several minutes, neither of them feeling the need. Finally, he spoke.
“When my father died, I tried to make a deal with God,” he said. “I told Him that if He gave me my Pa back for just one day, I’d dedicate my life to being a preacher”.
Millie cocked an eyebrow. Cameron a preacher?
“I know it sounds funny now, but I meant it. Once I got older, I decided that God had other plans. You can’t make deals with God, Millie. Everything that’s happening is happening for a reason. Some people find that hard to believe, but when all is said and done, you’ll be glad you went through this. Trust me”.
Millie sighed. “Did Tex tell you?” she asked.
“Yeah”.
Millie groaned and put her head in her hands. “Trey’s not even saved. I never brought God up to him. What if I could have led him to the Lord? What if he dies without Jesus and it’s my fault?”
“Don’t be thinking like that. Nothing good ever comes from sitting and bawlin’ like a calf” Cameron said.
Texiss is rubbing off on him.
“What else can I do?” Millie asked.
Crying was all she was good for anyway.
“Go back” Cameron said.
Millie stood straight up. “No!”
Cameron just stared at her.
“He’s Papa’s murderer, Cam. You can’t just ‘go back’ to someone like that,” Millie started pacing beside the grave.
“Well, I don’t know what else to tell you. Life is too short to spend it hating someone” Cameron stood and walked back down the hill towards the orphanage.
Millie stared after him, his words staying with her. She didn’t hate Trey, did she? That was such a scary thought.
*****
Two weeks passed, and Clayton never came to pick up Hank. Millie rode him every other day, but she still felt like he needed to be at home. She was getting too attached to him, and that was not good since he was leaving soon.
Millie was cleaning up her little shack on the outskirts of town when she heard a horse ride up into the yard. She looked out of the window.
“Clayton!”
She opened the door and ran out. It was so good to see a face from Shannon’s Plantation again.
“Clayton! What are you doing here?” she asked.
“Came to pick up Hank. I was kind of hoping you’d come back with me” Clayton tied his horse up.
Millie put her head down. “I can’t”.
“Why not?”
“You know why” Millie looked up. “You know exactly why”.
“No, but he’s different now, Millie. Trey’s a completely different person,” Clayton said.
“He is? How do ya figure that?” Millie asked, arching an eyebrow.
“I don’t know. He just is. He isn’t angry anymore. He hasn’t left at all. He stopped drinking altogether and he’s got Quinn to saying full sentences now,” Clayton explained.
“Really?” Millie leaned against the doorframe.
Suddenly, she remembered her manners. “Goodness gracious, it’s freezing. Some in and warm up” She invited Clayton inside.
Clayton stepped in, having to duck a little to get through the narrow doorway. “Why don’t you just come for a visit? He really needs to see you and I have a hunch you need to see him too”.
“If he wants to see me he’ll have to come himself,” Millie said.
“That’s just it. He has” Clayton grinned.
“What?” Millie asked, nearly losing her voice. “Where is he then?”
“He’s down at the livery getting Hank,” Clayton said.
Millie grabbed her coat and shoved her arms into the sleeves. She didn’t even know what she was so exited.
She ran down the street and toward the livery. She had no idea what she was going to say to him, but she had to see him. Just one more time. He had taken a dangerous risk coming to town for her.
She opened the door to the livery, and saw Hank in the end stall. She heard the sound of leather squeaking and walked toward it.
“Trey?” She called.
The squeaking stopped and Trey appeared with Hank’s saddle in his hands. “Millie? What’re you doing here?”
“Clayton told me you were here”.
Trey nodded and shuffled his feet. There was an awkward moment of silence. Trey set the saddle down and shoved his hands in his pockets while Millie tugged her coat tighter around her.
“It was risky of you to come here” Millie said.
“I know” Trey said.
Then she remembered all he had done and all he had hid from her.
“It wasn’t worth a horse, was it?” she asked.
“No” Trey entered the stall and swung the saddle over Hank’s back.
Millie walked into the next stall, which was empty, and leaned against the low wall that separated the two.
“So then why take the risk? Clayton could have handled Hank, don’t you think?” she said.
“I came to see you, in all honesty,” Trey, said glancing at her over Hank’s back.
“Hmm” Millie said. She did not know what to do with that response.
“I came to ask you to come back with me,” Trey said as he cinched the saddle in place.
Millie groaned. Had he forgotten why she had left in the first place?
“I didn’t kill your father, Millie. Sure, Wes was my man, but he’s gone now and I’ll likely never see him again” Trey said.
“That’s not what you were saying the other night when you decided to show your true colors,” Millie snapped.
She hardly believed her own tone. She didn’t normally sound like such a hag.
“I wasn’t thinking straight. Wes is a coward,” Trey said.
“So you’re asking me to possibly put myself in danger to go back to your place and take care of your son?” Millie asked.
“Quinn isn’t the one that needs you,” Trey said.
“Really? Because I can’t picture him changing his own diaper and I’d pay money to see you do it” Millie folded her arms.
“I want you to come back for me. I need you. I can’t believe I’m saying it, but I think I’m going soft for you,” Trey said, his voice low.
Millie sighed. She tried to shove the image of her father’s bloodied stomach out of her mind, but the image only began to grow more vivid. The more she thought and the more she stared at the gun on Trey’s hip, the angrier she became.
Trey stared at Millie. She looked crazed as she stared at his gun, tears welling in her eyes. Her red hair was pulled tightly back in a braid, and the hem of her grey skirt was drenched in mud. She didn’t even look sane at the moment.
“Papa’s death will be avenged,” she said through clenched teeth.
She spun on her heel and walked out of the livery. Trey pursed his lips. This trip to town hadn’t went as he hoped.
*****
Millie stomped down the street, her fists clenched at her sides. She wouldn’t allow her father’s murder to be forgotten by the law. She knew who his murderer’s leader was, and where he lived. Now, Sheriff Avery would know.
She swung open the door and stood in front of the Sheriff’s desk. Sheriff Avery sat there, bent over a book. He looked up.
“Miss Millie? What can I do for you?” he asked.
“I have some information that might be of interest to you.”
**Author Note Alert!!!:***
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