Chapter 20 – Florence
The Maverick men, excluding Benny, were out in Bret's backyard smoking cigars. Beauregard, Bentley, and Bret were sitting in chairs, Bart and Benny were leaning against the back porch rails. They'd talked about a variety of subjects that ranged from poker to the new crop of foals to the upcoming wedding. Beauregard had already agreed to be Ben's best man, and Bret was trying to get his uncle to explain just what had prompted him to go looking for a wife. "I really wasn't, you know, looking for a wife. I was looking for a companion, somebody to talk to, take to dinner, or to the theatre, and I asked Dani to introduce me to a widow lady from church. She was always tellin' me there were so many of 'em around just lookin' for a man, but Ellie was the finest lookin' lady of the bunch. We just seemed to hit it off. She was tall and athletic and was willing to do things without three weeks of planning. She wasn't stuck in the same old rut, and I figured I'd ask her out.
"We made each other laugh and had similar backgrounds. I really enjoyed her company. She was bright and well-educated and we seemed to be interested in most of the same things, and she didn't act like an old lady. She was fun, and the more we saw of each other, the more we enjoyed bein' around each other. Then I started thinkin' about comin' home to Little Bend, and I couldn't see comin' home without her. When I asked Bart to see if there might be a school position open, I knew I was gonna ask her to come with me."
"Seems like you made a fine choice, Uncle Ben," Bret remarked. "Sure happy to see you with somebody."
"That's what I told him in my letter," Bart followed up, "that I was happy he'd found somebody."
"Bout time," his grandson added. "Abby and me was always tryin' to get him to go out and meet a lady. He's too young to sit in the house all the time."
"She'll keep him busy. And if she doesn't, we will," Bart insisted.
Cigars finished, Bret and Bart headed towards the stream to talk over a business matter that just wouldn't wait. Benny made his way back into the house, and the original set of Maverick brothers found themselves sitting alone on the back porch. Beauregard grabbed Bentley's wrist and held on as tight as he could. Ben stared at Beau, surprised to feel such a grip. "Don't you ever leave here again, Ben."
"Beau . . ."
"I miss you too damn much. I almost got on the stage and went back to Baton Rouge with you. We spent so many years with each other, travelin' around the country, that I felt like my arm had been cut off. You are gonna stay here in Texas, aren't ya?"
"Yes, sir, I'm stayin' in Texas. Right here on this ranch." Ben was certain about that.
"Good. Good. I'm too old and too tired to be runnin' around this country anywhere. I'm happy to hear you say it."
"That makes two of us. I found me a good woman that makes me happy, and we ain't goin' nowhere."
"Are you sure your bride-to-be feels the same way?"
Ben didn't hesitate. "She's got a daughter that lives in Houston. I don't think she'll want to leave."
"Oh my God . . . I didn't know that. (yells) Bret! Come here, Bret!"
"What's that all about, Beauregard?"
Bret came running up the hill, and his father questioned him. "Do you still have that telegram you got last week? The one from Florence Hilliard?"
"Yeah, Pappy, right here," and he pulled it out of his coat pocket.
To Maverick Family: Will be arriving on Sunday, April 8, with two boys, Ellie Harris' grandsons. Please pick us up at Wells Fargo Stage Coach Depot. Florence Hilliard.
"Oh, dear. This has got to be Ellie's daughter and grandsons. And the eighth is tomorrow. Ellie never said a word to me," Ben told his brother and nephew.
"Ellie might not know," Bart interjected. "Uncle Ben, you better go find out."
Ben took the telegram and hurried through Bret's house, across the back yard, then through Bart's house. As soon as he got to the front door of Bart's place, he called Ellie aside and showed her the telegram. "Oh, dear. This must be from Florence. She just assumed everybody knew about the wedding. Florence! My darling girl! I'm so sorry, I had no idea! I'll get this straightened out as soon as she gets here. They'll just have to stay in Little Bend."
Ginny popped up and put an end to that. "They will not stay in Little Bend. We have more than enough room for them. How old are the boys?"
"Jimmy is fourteen and Lonnie is ten. They're good boys, this isn't their fault."
"Don't worry about it, Ellie. We've got a spare room at our house with bunk beds in it. They can stay with us."
"And Florence can stay with us. We've got an extra bed," Doralice explained.
"You all are so kind and considerate. I'm sorry to cause so much trouble."
Ben started laughing, and Ellie gave him a funny look. "So much trouble? After everything, Dani put us through? This is no trouble, this is a piece of cake!" he insisted.
"There's only two coaches that come in tomorrow," Bret had followed Ben to Bart's front porch, and he supplied the information. "The first ones at one o'clock in the afternoon. The second one arrives at three thirty. I don't know which one is the Houston coach, so we'll be there for the one o'clock stage. If it's the three thirty coach, we'll have an early supper in town and wait for the second coach. Me and Bart and Ellie and Ben can take the double buggy, that way we won't overwhelm her or the boys. We'll have our big dinner tomorrow night, and Florence won't ever know that we almost missed her."
Ben tried to put a bright light on the whole thing. "Look at it this way, honey, your daughter and grandsons will be there for the wedding. That's a good thing. And it'll give her a chance to get to know everybody, and for everybody to know her. And she can be your matron of honor. That will be wonderful."
Ellie shook her head. "This wedding's getting to be too big."
Ben grabbed her hand. "No, it isn't! We're only gonna do this once!"