Chapter Twenty-Three
Temperance saw Trevor and the men riding in and her heart began to pound violently against her ribs. Her gaze instantly sought out Tanner and she saw him stand up straight and wipe sweat from his brow as he watched Trevor approach.
"Come here, Temp," Tanner ordered and Temperance did not argue as she quickly closed the distance between them.
"He's early," she whispered fearfully. "Tanner, what are we going to do?"
"You're going to calm down," Tanner replied gently. "You're going to stay with me at all times. I won't let him touch you again."
"But I'm his wife..." Temperance reminded him. "And he paid a lot of money for me. Legally he..."
"That's enough." Tanner's jaw was tight and there was more anger in his blue/gray eyes than Temperance had ever seen in them before. "A woman bought with blood money and a marriage forced at gunpoint does not give him any rights to you. He has no right whatsoever to you."
Temperance took a deep breath and forced down her fear. Tanner was right and she knew that. Trevor had no rights to her and she had to stand up to him--she had to make him see that. If she didn't do it now--if she didn't help Tanner with what the man was trying to accomplish then things would never change and she would eventually die from the inside out.
Temperance saw most of the workers rush to their living quarters and knew they were hiding. Only a few men remained out to stand up to Trevor. Temperance wished they could be braver but she did not blame them for hiding. Trevor was not a man you wanted to anger. And anger him greatly was what Temperance was preparing to do.
"Tanner?" Trevor appeared confused as he hopped down from his horse. He pointed toward the improved servants quarters. "What have you been doing?"
"Working on fixing the things that needed fixed around here," Tanner replied, his gaze slowly taking in the four men that were standing behind Trevor.
Trevor nodded. "Temperance, I'll be expecting you to go in and get cleaned up now. I've missed you and would like to spend some time alone..."
"No," Tanner cut his brother off and Temperance could practically hear Trevor's jaw popping.
"Tanner, it's good to see you out of bed but I think you're still suffering a bit of heat stroke. Temperance is my wife...."
Tanner shook his head. "Tell him, Temperance."
Temperance felt her throat clog with fear when she met Trevor's icy blue eyes. He seemed so angry and yet somehow confident that what he wanted was what the end result of this stand off would be. It seemed that in his mind it didn't matter what either Temperance nor Tanner said. Trevor was sure of what the future held.
Temperance wished she could be as well.
She felt Tanner's hand on her low back and somehow that contact was enough to have her speaking though her voice was quiet and much more meek than she would have preferred. "I don't wish to be your wife any longer. I won't... fulfill those duties again."
Temperance saw the rage flash in Trevor's eyes. She saw the way his body tensed and when he stepped forward it took every ounce of Temperance's inner strength not to shrink away.
"You are my wife!" he screamed, his breath was hot against her face and droplets of moisture from his mouth blew against her cheeks.
Temperance was shaking so violently that she could feel her knees knocking together. "Not anymore," she vowed.
Temperance had expected him to grab her, shake her, hit her..... She had expected pain to follow her statement. What she hadn't expected was for Trevor to close his eyes, take several deep breaths and then step away with his clenched fists hanging down by his sides.
"Okay," he ground out between his tense jaw. "I wish you would change your mind but I see I have no choice but to respect that decision."
"This plantation isn't yours any longer either," Tanner spoke up and Temperance wondered if perhaps the man had lost his mind entirely. It was one thing to stand up to Trevor but another to go looking for a fight. Tanner seemed to be looking for a fight.
"And why is that?" Trevor asked calmly--Temperance mused that it was the variety of calm that settled over the land just before a storm ripped it to pieces.
"Because I fixed the mistake you made when you declared me dead, brother. Wishful thinking didn't quite get the job done for you, I'm afraid. Patrick Starr notarized all the paperwork. I am officially alive and this plantation is mine just like it should have been. There will be changes made. You are not to touch the ladies that work here. You or these men. I will allow these men to stay but they'll make what everyone else who works here makes and that's twenty dollars a month. They'll also have to work the fields and orchards. No one gets paid by my hand for standing around and looking threatening."
Temperance watched the four men for any sign of temper. She was certain that their posture and the look in their eyes spoke of being very unhappy with Tanner's announcement but they did not fight. Instead they nodded and seemed to be following Trevor's lead as he took a step back.
"Fine," Trevor spat.
"Fine?" Now it was Tanner's turn to sound surprised.
"Yes. Fine. I can see that I don't have much of a choice but to agree. If I fight you then you could have me made homeless and penniless and neither is a condition I want to have."
Tanner sighed. "I'm not the man I was before, Trevor, and I won't stand by and see people mistreated. We both know that you can't be in control. You don't handle it well..."
"This place has grown substantially with me in charge..." Trevor countered tightly.
"And you've done it by beating, murdering and abusing your workers. Slavery was abolished, Trevor, and even if it hadn't been, it isn't right to treat people worse than you would an animal. Not to mention the treatment you gave your wife."
"Well the slaves are yours now and thanks to you my wife will not be my wife much longer." Trevor's narrow blue eyes raked over Temperance and she shivered but didn't step back.
"I don't want trouble, Trevor," Tanner warned as Trevor's hand inched toward the gun on his hip.
Temperance had no idea how anything could end well if Trevor pulled that gun. She knew those four men behind him would follow his lead and Tanner couldn't handle the five of them at once...
"No, you just want to take everything that's mine away from me," Trevor hissed.
"The plantation was never yours, Trevor. Our father left it to me and you reported me dead to steal it away from me. Sorry, that didn't work out for you. And as far as Temperance goes, she belongs to no man. She isn't a possession, Trevor. Paying money and forcing a signature does not make a woman your wife. An annulment will be filed tomorrow and I'll pay to have it granted within the week."
Temperance stared at Tanner with shock. Never had she thought a man would say something like that. She had known he wanted to help her but to say that she was no possession and then to offer to pay more to have her annulment expedited so she could be free of Trevor that much sooner... Tanner was a better man than even she could have imagined.
"Well isn't that special," Trevor sneered. "I'm gonna go rest. I just got done doing business to help further our sales and gain contracts--for my plantation."
Without another word, Trevor turned and strode into the house with the four men following behind him. Temperance's entire body trembled violently as she realized she wasn't going to be killed--at least not yet.
"Are you okay?" Tanner's gentle voice washed over her and Temperance turned to look up at him.
"That was too easy," Temperance whispered skeptically. "He was too angry but let go too quickly.... That's not like him, Tanner... he doesn't just let things go.."
"I know," Tanner assured her. "I know this isn't over. You don't leave my sight, understand? The US Marshall is due to be here tomorrow and once he gets here he'll be taking Trevor away. Trevor has broken enough laws to be locked away a long time--possibly even hanged for the murder of the colored folks he's killed here and for his treatment of you."
"So we just have to make it until tomorrow..." Temperance let out a long breath. That shouldn't be so hard. "But what about those men, Tanner? If he tells them to kill you...."
"Don't you worry yourself about me, Temp," Tanner gently rested his hand against her cheek and for once Temperance did not feel herself stiffening. "I can take care of myself just fine."
"I trust you, Tanner," Temperance admitted and the surprise in his eyes told Temperance that he knew just how much those four words meant.