Chapter 30

Four days later, Angus stood outside the house he had bought, amazed at how things had changed. First Barney and his wife Jenny returned and were handling the mercantile. Then, once people found out he and Lena were getting married, someone—he figured it was one of his brothers—arranged for a workday to repaint the inside of his house with colors he and Lena had chosen together, along with other minor repairs that were needed.

Warmth raced through him when Lena came up beside him and rested her hand on his arm.

“It’s going to be beautiful, Angus. I can see Chad and Archie climbing that big tree while we sit on the porch swing.”

He chuckled. “There’s no swing on the porch.”

“But there will be by nightfall. I heard Fergus talking to Art about making one.”

“Brothers can be handy some of the time.” He rubbed his fingers over her hand.

“So it’s true.” The words were harsh.

Angus tightened his hand over Lena’s as they turned to see Amelia standing a few feet away from them, staring at the house and all the people helping.

“Yes, and as soon as it’s finished. Lena and I are getting married.”

“Hmm, too bad. With my help, you would have ended up in Washington.”

“But the thing is, I didn’t want that. I wanted to stay in Ainsley, run my store, and have a family with Lena.” He glanced at Lena. “And all that’s happening.”

She shrugged, but in an elegant, ladylike way. “Well, then, it is settled. I’ll be leaving tomorrow. So I’ll say good-bye now. Please understand if I don’t offer you best wishes on your marriage.”

Without saying anything else, Amelia left.

Angus hoped for good.

Ainsley didn’t need her in town.

But he did hope that she would find happiness.

Just far away.

Maybe in Washington.

The next morning, Angus had barely opened his eyes, much less gotten out of the cot where he had been sleeping, when pounding rattled the windows at the front of the mercantile.

Jerking on his trousers, he rushed to the front doors. As he passed the stairs, he spotted Barney and Jenny start down them. He waved them back.

Had something happened to Lena or one of her boys? Had the outlaw’s brother shot Kerr? He could see Ma on the other side of the door’s window. Had something happened to Art? He twisted the lock in the door and faced his angry mother as she waved her parasol at him. “Who’s hurt?”

“I am, and you’ve done it to me.” Her eyes flashed, and her mouth pouted. “You have to stop her before she leaves. You are the only one to whom she will listen. You have to get dressed and go to her.”

He ticked off his sisters’ names in his head—Jean, Lara, Carrie, but Carrie had left with Jed. His head wasn’t thinking too well. Lena, no Ma had tried to bribe her to leave town. That only left…Amelia.

“Is this about Amelia?”

Ma waved her closed parasol even more. “Of course, it is. The girl you should marry is leaving town, broken-hearted. She’s paid one of your cousins to take her to Kansas City.”

He bit the inside of his cheek. “The same one you were going to pay to take Lena and her boys back to Missouri?”

Angus could almost see her mind working. She hadn’t gotten her way, and now she would try and force an ultimatum.

“I can’t bear to see you tie yourself to that woman, not after all the times I cared for you when you were such a little child and so sickly. You deserve so much more. You are destined to be mayor, then governor of our state, and after that a senator in Washington. You can’t do that with that woman.”

“Ma, I can be whatever I want to be if Lena MacPherson is by my side. Can’t you be happy for me and accept her as my wife?”

Her eyes narrowed. Her mouth tightened until the creases around it grew deeper and deeper. “Never. You have to choose—that woman or me.” She pounded her parasol on the wooden floor. “But know that if you choose her over me, I will leave this town and never return. You will know that you have sent your own mother away from her home and children.”

A verse from the Bible popped into his thoughts. Therefore shall a man leave his father and his mother, and shall cleave unto his wife: and they shall be one flesh. Lena would be his wife, and she came before his ma. “I’m sorry you feel this way, but this is your choice. I am marrying Lena.”

“Whatever happens now is your fault. Remember that.” She turned away and climbed on the small buggy Da had built for her before the war.

Angus watched her go.

And wondered what she meant by that last remark.

A day later, the sun had barely peeked above the horizon as Angus tugged on the reins of the horse pulling his buggy. Fergus and Kerr rode on either side of him. The day had come. And even though none of his brothers seemed sorry to see their mother go, he knew he couldn’t let her leave without saying his good-byes to her. She was manipulative and could be harsh, even hateful, at times, but she had tended to him through many long nights when he was sick as a child.

As he climbed down from his buggy, he spied a farm wagon nearby, loaded with trunks, satchels, and many boxes. It looked like Ma was taking everything she owned with her. Maybe she genuinely meant it when she said she would never come back to this house.

A couple of the younger cousins came out of the barn and took his buggy and his brothers’ horses.

Together, Angus and his brothers crossed to the farmhouse their father built. Angus jerked backward a step or two at the sights and sounds that met them in the kitchen. Jean had her arms wrapped around their little sister Lara. Only Lara wasn’t so little now with her babe not far from being born.

Tears ran down Lara’s cheeks. Jean had told him that Lara had wanted Ma to stay until her babe was born, but Ma said she couldn’t abide staying that long.

Across the kitchen, Ma stood in front of Art. Her fists rested at her waist, and her face burned red. Her voice spewed out harsh words at her youngest child. Art’s face was fixed, and his eyes narrowed. At that moment, he looked more like Da than he ever had.

“Ma, I’ve done what Da instructed me in his will. You have a home here on the farm for as long as you live. Also—like Da, I have paid all your bills in town without restricting you from purchasing anything.” He stood straight with his hands to his sides. “If you chose to leave, that is your decision. And I will not be paying for anything you purchase once you leave Ainsley.”

“But, I need funds with which to survive. It is only right that you give me the inheritance from my father.” Ma’s eyes narrowed. “And you owe that to me as your mother.”

Angus cringed. He knew that this had always been a part of the bitter dispute between his parents since his grandfather left his mother’s portion of his estate to Da and not Ma. She had fought with Da over that money until the day he died. But Angus knew that the last thing she said had guaranteed that she would get nothing.

Art’s face paled, then flushed red as he balled his hands into fists. “Good-bye, madam. If you ever decide to return, you can rest assured that you will have a home here on the farm, as Da’s will stated.”

Without another word, Art headed to the back door, his face stiff and set, his eyes blazing. Angus, Fergus, and Kerr moved back to allow their youngest brother to leave before more could be said.

Ma huffed as she stared after Art. “Well, I never—”

Angus could almost hear his brothers agreeing—You never gave Art love. You never gave Art a mother’s care. You never gave Art anything but hatred and anger. He agreed with them. Ma had treated Art terribly.

Maybe the best thing they could do now was to get Ma on her way. Fortunately, a couple of the cousins were willing to drive her to her sister’s place a couple of hours away—it gave the boys a day off from farm work, and Angus had given each of them some money for meals and a little something for spending.

A little while later, the last of Ma’s things were loaded on the wagon. She hugged her daughters, nodded to Kerr and Fergus—Art hadn’t come back, then stepped over to Angus.

“I’ll never forgive you for breaking Amelia’s heart by marrying that woman.” She touched his cheek with her gloved hand.

Knowing that Art wasn’t going to give her any money, Angus pulled an envelope from his pocket. “I hope this helps. It is all that I can afford.”

“Thank you.” She opened the envelope, checked how much was there, then tucked it into her reticule. “It is good to know that one of my children respects me and is concerned about my welfare.” She stood a little straighter. Her mouth drew into a firm line. “I will never return to this place again. Good-bye.”

Angus helped her onto the wagon and watched as she instructed his cousins to start.

She never said another word to anyone, no words of love, no looks of longing for the home she was leaving, the family she was abandoning. She just left.

Angus thought of the difference between the woman who raised him and the woman he was going to marry. One was a bitter, angry woman who had grown entirely self-centered. The other was an open, giving woman who loved her children with all that was in her, but had made room for him in her life and heart.

He bowed his head. God, make me worthy to be the husband Lena needs and deserves.

He swallowed hard, then added one more thing.

God, touch Ma’s heart if it’s not too hard already.