Ch-Ch-Ch-Changes

by MaverickLover2

Bret Maverick and Mary Alice Tompkins tried everything they could to get married the summer he was fifteen, but Bret needed his father's permission and Beauregard wouldn't give it. Mary Alice was supposed to return the next year when Bret was old enough to marry on his own, but the wedding never happened. This is the story of what really took place the following year.

11. Dear Mary Alice

Chapter 10 – Dear Mary Alice

Dear Mary Alice – There's something I've been thinking about for quite a while, and this letter seems like the right time to tell you. A lot has changed since you left for Louisiana, and I'm sure that's true for you, too. I understand from your letters that someone new has entered your life; you spend a lot of time telling me about him – Zeke Holloway. This sounds like a good thing, and I'm happy for you.

I care about you, Mary Alice, and I always will, but I've come to the conclusion that Pappy was right when he stopped us from getting married. It seemed like the right idea at the time, but I don't think it's right anymore. You have a life in Louisiana with your aunt, and I have a life here in Little Bend with Pappy and Bart. I'm not ready for mine to change right now, and you probably aren't either.

I think it would be best if you canceled your plans to come back to Texas. I hope that you aren't disappointed with this change; I have the feeling you won't be. I hope we can remain friends, as you will always be a very important person in my life. With all my affection, Bret.

He'd written the letter four different times and torn up the first three copies. He still wasn't happy with what he'd said but couldn't think of any other way to say it, and finally decided he'd done the best he could. Bret wondered if he should let Pappy read it, but decided this was his problem to deal with. He folded the letter and slipped it into an envelope, then sealed it before he could change his mind. The next trip to Little Bend, he'd mail it.

Things had settled down since he and Beauregard returned from Houston. Bart sensed some kind of a change in him but couldn't put his finger on exactly what was different. No matter how much he teased or harassed his brother, Bret stayed calm and collected. It made Bart wonder exactly what happened while they were gone.

Bret wasn't quite sure himself. His whole attitude had changed, and he really didn't understand why. He'd always been protective of his little brother; at the same time, Bart could aggravate him like no one else. Now he seemed to see things in a new light, and accepted as fact that it was his job to look after the younger Maverick, no matter how challenging his brother was behaving.

He was different around girls and women, too. More at ease and sure of himself, he'd always been polite and deferential; now he was sweet and tender towards all of them, but especially Sawyer. He did everything in his power to make her laugh and smile, and spent a good portion of his time affecting small repairs at her mother's house and helping wherever he could. He was more willing to take care of chores at the Maverick Ranch without Pappy begging and pleading. Beauregard was pleased by the changes in his oldest son.

He was more serious when it came to poker, too. Somewhere along the way it stopped being a game and become a way of life, and Bret embraced it wholeheartedly. He was always a good poker player; a cut above the rest of the serious gamblers. He took the next step forward in his chosen profession and even began beating his father regularly.

He finally mailed the letter he'd worked so hard to write, and eventually got the briefest of notes back from Mary Alice. She didn't dispute his assumption that she was more than casually interested in Zeke Holloway, and told him she thought it best that they stop writing to each other. Bret breathed a small sigh of relief and rode into Little Bend that night to play poker.

When poker was finished he and Pappy went to eat breakfast at Willa's, and Bret flirted shamelessly and guilt-free with Sawyer Bedford. He stayed at the café until Sawyer was off for the night and walked her home, then gave her a tender kiss good-night and rode back to the ranch. He found himself humming as he unsaddled his horse and it finally dawned on him – he'd been much happier since he'd broken things off with Mary Alice. There was no doubt in his mind that he loved her; no doubt that the best thing for both of them was their break-up. And when he finally did fall in love with the one woman he couldn't live without, he'd remember Mary Alice Tompkins and smile.

The End