After he had a long talk with Pedro and they decided how many cows they wanted to buy and where the repairs for the fence was needed, he headed into town that next day. He'd ordered the fencing supplies at Appleton's general store. He was his first customer and he looked surprised to see him in town. Appleton was a noisy creature that had little regard for Cord.
"So, you and Lilly huh?"
"That's right, me and Lilly, and Charlie…"
"He's your kid?" the old man scratched his chin. "He's really your kid?"
"Not that it needs clarifying, but yes. That's right, he is."
"But I thought Sam and Lilly…"
"You thought wrong. And don't ever let me hear you say that again." Cord threatened. "Ever. Charlie's mine, and we are going to be a family. And from now on, you better treat Lilly and Charlie right or you'll have me to answer to, is that understood."
The old man backed up and nodded, "Yes sir, never again."
"Charlie's my son, and he's a good kid, and if I ever hear you talking about it, you and me are gonna have a long talk. Is that understood. This town needs to get a few things straight, and I aim to see it does. Lilly is one of the nicest people I've ever known, and so is Charlie, and we're going to be a real family now. And the town better keep its wagging tongues shut, as I'm tired of the gossip. I'm home and I'm making things right, and that's the end of it."
"Yep, it is…can I get you anything else today, sir?"
"No, not today. Just remember what I said. Not one word."
"Yes sir." Appleton nodded, as he went behind the counter.
Satisfied he's set the old man straight, he decided he'd attend to something he felt was very important.
He saw Doc walking down the street and tipped his hat to him. The doc waved.
He headed straight for the Saloon.
When he went inside he found Lilly dealing with a rough customer. The man was obviously drunk, and making a nuisance of himself. He kept pawing Lilly and Cord's blood ran cold.
"Trouble, Lilly?" He asked and watched the man take his hands from Lilly quickly.
"No, this gentleman was just going to sit down and mind his own business." Lilly directed. "Weren't you Judd?"
The man sat down. "Sure…"
Lilly turned to Cord. "What are you doing in town?" She asked, her gaze taking him in with one swoop of her long lashes.
"Came to see my girl, and get my son. I got a fishing trip in mind. Is he here?" Cord asked looking about the saloon.
It was a beautiful saloon, with a long oak bar that stretched along one whole wall. Spittoons lined up and a couple of home-made stools. Along with tables and chairs and a small stage for musicians when Lilly could find some.
"Fishing. Don't you have work to do?" Lilly asked surprised to see him this early in the morning.
"Nope, not yet, I don't. Now, where's Charlie?"
"He's in the back room, studying his numbers." Lilly told him.
"Mind if I take him to the creek, down by the mill?" Cord asked.
Seeing that some of her customers were paying attention to their conversation she smiled, "Not at all, if he wants to go."
"Fair enough. See you in a minute." He said and leaned to kiss her on the cheek.
Everyone knew by his actions he was marking his territory. But not a soul spoke up.
One of her oldest customers called to her. "You and Cord got something going, Lilly."
"Haven't you heard? We're engaged." She showed him the ring.
The man took her hand and looked at the ring. "Land sakes…that's some ring. It's a garnet isn't it?"
"That's right." Lilly smiled.
"He like Charlie?" the old man asked.
"Don't tell anyone, Jasper, but he's Charlie's dad."
"You don't mean it. Well, I'm glad to hear that. Yes, sir, I’m glad. I told everyone that kid wasn't Sam's." the old man laughed. "Bring me a double, I want to celebrate, this is an occasion."
"Coming right up."
~*~
Cord didn't know what the kid thought about all of it, but today he'd find out as much as he could. After all, he wanted the kid to like him. He wanted a family, and he hoped the kid did too.
"Well now, pardner, thought I'd stop by and see if you wanted to go fishing."
"Ya mean it!" Charlie asked his eyes widening.
"Sure do." Cord smiled knowing he'd picked a good thing to do with the boy.
"You have to ask my mom, though." Charlie told him.
"Already took care of that. She said if you wanted to, we could go since it's Saturday."
"I got a pole," Charlie told him.
"Well, I guess I'll have to make me one." Cord told him.
"You can borrow mom's, she won't mind." Charlie offered.
"Well thanks. First we need to dig up some fat worms though." Cord told him.
"I know just where to find some, too." Charlie told him.
"Good. Well then, let's get things together and get out there, they bite early of a morning you know." Cord offered the information.
Charlie went to get his gear and in minutes they were strolling through the saloon again, headed for their horses. Everyone seemed to notice how Charlie took to Cord and now that Cord announced it was his kid, they accepted it.
"We'll be back around noon, I expect." Cord told Lilly as he passed her.
"Be careful, and catch some for supper." Lilly told him.
"Only if you'll cook them." Cord turned to smile at her.
"It's a deal," she smiled and kissed Charlie on the cheek.
Cord grinned, "Don't I get one of those?"
"You already did, remember?" She smiled.
"I always did like seconds." He reached to pull her into his arms and kissed her solidly on the lips. Unprepared her arms went around him, but Cord turned her lose before it became too involved. It was enough to show his possession of her in the saloon.
"Later…" He whispered.
Lilly stood there breathless for a long moment.
~*~
"Well now, those are some good size worms." Cord told Charlie as they used an old can to put them in.
"I always find some around here." Charlie informed him. Cord noticed how confident Charlie acted. Fishing had to be important to him.
"Well you certainly know where to look." Cord responded with a smile.
Charlie looked up at him, squinting from the morning sun. "Ma says you are my real dad, is that true?"
Cord hesitated for only a moment. "Well…what do you think about it?"
Charlie set the can down and looked up at him again, his expression platonic. "I just got one question."
"Okay, pardner, what is it?" Cord asked picking up the can of worms and scouring the edge of trees that lined the banks of the creek.
"Where you been all this time?"
Cord couldn't stop the chuckle. Cord squatted so he could face Charlie head on. "That's a good question. Well, I tell ya, I went to war first off. Came back, saw your Ma and then I took off again."
"Why?"
"Why what?" Cord asked
"Why did you take off again?"
Cord stood up, chunked a rock into the pond and decided to tell Charlie a little about himself. "Well Charlie," He squatted once more, looking him right in the eye. "We're going to be a family soon, and I want you to know things about me. People around here will talk about it and I'd rather you knew right off. I killed a man, here once…"
"Killed a man?" Charlie came to stand closer, his young brown eyes searching Cord's. "Who?"
"His name was Dubs. He was a very rich and powerful man. But, he was also a mean man. He wanted my Ma to move off her place so he could have it. Took a gun to her…"
"Gosh…what did you do?" Charlie's eyes widened.
"I called him out. He drew and fired, he was faster, but…I was more accurate, I killed him son. I look back on that day, and how fast it all happened, and I still wonder how and why it happened that way. I only wanted him to leave my Ma alone. He wouldn't."
"Did you kill him on purpose, or was it an accident?"
"I'm afraid," Cord adjusted his hat and let his hands fall between his legs as he continued to squat, he pulled grass up between his fingers. "It was on purpose, but, I was just a kid when I did it, sixteen. Wet behind the ears. I challenged him to a gunfight. I wasn't gonna let him push my mother around like that. I wasn't even sure I could best him. But that day, I just didn't care. And he was a leading citizen of this town. So no one believed it was self defense. But he did draw first. My ma had yelled out at the time and caught him off guard because for a split second, he looked at her, his aim was too low. No one thought I could kill him in a fair fight. But your Ma believed me. Her and Doc were about the only ones and my Ma of course."
"How does it feel?" Charlie asked.
"What?"
"Killing someone."
"It doesn't feel too good son. You spend time wondering if it could have worked out different. You wonder what you should have done. You fret over doing it. It is never good to have to kill someone."
Charlie seemed to think on it a moment then he nodded. "Well, I reckon you did what you had to do."
"That's right, son, I did." Cord answered. "I'm not proud of it, but he pulled a gun on my mother. I couldn't stand by and do nothing."
Charlie nodded slowly firming his lips. "I'd do the same."
Cord glanced at him and smiled. "I believe you would."
"Nobody can mistreat my Ma and get away with it. Nobody!" Charlie stood his ground and stared up at Cord.
"That's the way I felt son. But you see, after I killed him, things got bad for me around here. People give me a hard time about it, all but my Ma, your Ma and Doc. But…I gotta admit, it caused a lot of problems. That's why after a time, I left and joined the army." Cord told him, looking off, into the forest that surround the small creek. Memories assailed him and he closed his eyes to blink them away. "I wasn't very welcome in the town after that."
"They didn't arrest you?" Charlie asked, curiously.
"No, they didn't. But the townsfolks gave me a hard time about it. They made it hard for me to live around here. The Sheriff, he had to turn in his badge because he wouldn't arrest me. He knew my Ma wouldn't lie about what happened. But before you ever do anything like that remember, it only made things harder. Not just for me, but for my mother, and even your mother, because she was my friend…"
"You didn't marry my Ma back then? How come?"
"No son, I didn't. We were pretty young back then. I had just come to town to see her, but I wasn't staying. Now that I think on it, I feel kind of cowardly for not facing the people here and living here. But your ma and I cared about each other all along. After the war, I hired my gun out to people to protect them. It wasn't the kind of life for a woman and I still didn't know about you. So it was best that she and you…were here."
Charlie thought about that a moment, then nodded. "I always knew you'd come and claim me."
Cord smiled and dusted Charlie's head with his hand.
"But now…I want to make us a family." Cord turned to him once more.
Charlie looked him in the eye for a full minute. "I reckon that would be a good thing. Only, you still planning on using your gun?"
"Not unless I have to. I can't put it away yet, son. Too many people have heard of me. I'd be a target. We all three would."
"Ma said she wished you'd put your guns away. Wait a minute, you killed a Dubs, were they kin to Dan and Butch and Jason?"
"It was their father."
"Oh man!"
"And they are partly why I can't put my guns up yet. Maybe someday I can."
Charlie stared at him seriously now, "Will you promise me that someday…you will?"
Cord stared into his young face. "I promise I'll try."
Charlie seemed to relax after that.
Cord let out a slow smile that spread across his face and lit his eyes. "I'm glad you feel that way. I wanted to talk to you about it first. Wanted to know if you had any objections to us being a family? A lot of people in this town don't like me Charlie. But, I care about you and your mother. I’m trying to set everyone straight on how it's gonna be, so we won't have any trouble. And after we are married, I'd like to officially adopt you as my son, so you'll have the same name."
Charlie shrugged. "It'd be nice to be a family…Ain't never been a real family before, just Ma and me. And…I think I'd like having your name."
"I think so too, son." Cord smiled and ran his hand over Charlie's head. "Now, let's get some serious fishing done here."
"Over yonder is pretty good. Caught me a good size catfish there once." Charlie motioned to the bend of the creek. There were shade trees to sit under and they made themselves comfortable.
After a while Charlie glanced over at him. "I don't look much like you. Do I?"
Cord cast him a quick glance, "No, maybe not, but you favor your Mama a lot…"
"Will you teach me about ranching?" He asked.
"All you want to know." Cord promised.
"And how to shoot a gun?" Charlie added.
Cord thought about that. "I think we should talk to your mother about that. Although, I have nothing against you shooting a rifle or shotgun, a handgun, well, maybe later. But it's not just teaching you to shoot, Charlie."
"What do you mean?"
"I mean, you gotta know what you are shooting at, if it's an animal, or a person. And you gotta know the rules of it."
"Rules? What rules?"
"Well, there are laws about shooting and safety things, and how to clean a gun and take care of it, how to put it up safely so it doesn't go off on it's own. There's a lot more to guns than you might think. You see wearing a gun carries a heavy responsibility, and there are those that will challenge you at times too, just because you wear it."
"Never thought about that…"
"There's an old saying, 'If you wear a gun, you better expect to use it'."
"Then maybe I'll just use a rifle or shotgun."
"That's wise. I'll teach you…as you get a little older." Cord promised.
"Ma can use a gun too!" Charlie told him.
"I know; we use to hunt together."
"You did?"
"Yeah, she was a cracker-jack shot." Cord smiled.
"You know ma pretty well, don't you?"
"About as good as any man around." Cord smiled.
"What do I call you?" Charlie asked.
"Well now, hadn't thought about that, but I think it should be up to you. You can call me Cord, or dad, or Pa, or whatever." Cord informed him.
"I think I like Pa best."
"Then Pa it is!" Cord said and tossed his line out again.
Directly Charlie got a nibble and Cord motioned to him. "Easy…let him take it under good before you jerk."
Charlie turned to look at him, "I know how to fish…"
Cord chuckled when Charlie brought the catfish in. "You sure do."
After passing him some water, Charlie asked. "Did you kill many men?"
Cord hung his head and nodded. "Yes, I did. But except for the war, they needed killing. They were bad men out to do harm to good people. I was hired to kind of settle the scores. You see sometimes bad men take advantage of good people."
"Was the war bad?"
"Yeah." Cord sighed heavily. "It was. All wars are bad. You face people you don't know, and people you do. And afterwards you wonder why you were part of it."
"Why did they have a war in the first place?"
Cord put his arms behind his head and stretched. "Lots of reasons. Some say it was over slavery. Others over state's rights. I kind of figured that maybe the northern people didn't understand the southern people."
"Why'd you go?"
"Because what I done here was making problems for the people I cared about. I thought with me gone, things would get better." Cord explained. "And the war took some time to fight."
"Did they get better?"
"Yeah, I guess so. In time. But it took a long time…" Cord admitted.
"How old was you when you went?"
"Seventeen, almost eighteen…"
Then things got quiet and they both took a little snooze. But Cord quickly decided he liked Charlie and he would be proud to call him his son.
Later as they gathered their gear and headed back to town, walking their horses, Charlie ran and grabbed Cord and hugged him. "Thanks." He said simply.
Cord was so touched he choked up for a moment. "What for?" He managed to ask.
"For being my Pa." Charlie told him and kept walking. "I ain't never had a Pa before."
When he took him back to the saloon, Charlie presented Lilly with their catch and she told him to go clean them so she could cook them for supper.
Charlie ran behind the counter and into the kitchen.
"Can he clean them, by himself?" Cord asked.
"Been doing it for a couple of years now. Barney, the bartender showed him how." Lilly chuckled.
Cord looked at her with a lump in his throat.
"What's wrong?" Lilly saw the confusion on Cord's face.
"He's an awfully good kid, Lilly…"
Lilly smiled and stared into Cord's eyes. "Yes, he is… Stay for supper, Cord?"
"I'd love to, I guess I'll make myself useful and help him clean those fish, it was quite a mess of them." Cord flashed her a smile and a wink.
At the supper table Liam, the black man who cleaned the saloon for Lilly joined them and Cord got to know a little about the man.
"You have family Liam?" Cord asked as Lilly buttered the biscuits.
"No sir, not any more."
Cord glanced at Lilly not knowing if he should ask any more questions.
"You see, I was auctioned off at Natchez, away from my birth family. I was ten then. Or thereabouts, Later, I had me a gal and we were gonna get hitched, but she got sick and died. So I never married." Liam said sadly.
"I'm sorry to hear that."
"Yes sir. I'm alone for the most part. Hadn't of been for Miss Lilly here, I wouldn't even have a job. Me bein' the only black man in these parts, no one wanted to hire me. But Miss Lilly gave me a job and a place to stay out back here and I'm content now."
Cord thought on that. "Well Liam, Lilly and I are going to get married. And she's going to sell the saloon…" He told him. He saw the distress on Liam's face as he tried to look happy for them. "But…we could use you on the ranch. That is if you are interested. What can you do?"
Liam looked at Cord with interest now and then glanced at Lilly. "Well sir, I learned early on to blacksmith some, I can do horse shoes and branding, things like that."
"Then you will be an asset to the ranch, if you'd come live there with us. I'm in the process now of building a bunk house. If you come out and help me, we could have it finished by the time we get married. What do you think?"
"I think I'd like to thank you. I really would. I never thought I'd find such good friends here." Liam offered him a handshake.
"Good."
They ate and Liam went to bed.
Charlie talked a lot at the table, but as Lilly did the dishes Charlie went outside to play with a friend. The were practicing rope tricks in the back yard.
"Hope you don't mind me offering Liam a job?" Cord asked her when they were finally alone.
"It was very kind of you. I was worried having to tell him I was closing the saloon." She said as she washed the last dish and dried her hands on her apron. "He didn't have any where to go, and he's getting on up there in years. I was worried about him."
"That's what I like about you most Lilly. You care about people." He said eyeing her. "You always have."
He looked at her from the table and smiled. "Then you are gonna marry me, aren't you?"
She broke into a smile, "You knew I would…"
The smile he gave her seemed to devour her. "I was hoping…."