Thanks for the responses!

Chapter Twenty-one

"John Wesley!" Marita asserted with shock, ceasing to move, standing just inside the doorway. "What are you doing here?" She asked as the young man and her pa stood.

"I was in town visiting family." He nervously explained. "And I thought I'd pay you a call." He said. "I hope it wasn't forward of me?"

"No. Of course not." Marita declared, forcing lightness in her voice, even as she thought what his visit meant, knowing that John Wesley didn't come all the way to Lexington just to visit his family. He came there for her. "I'm just really surprised." She confessed now walking further into the room. "I didn't know you had family in Lexington."

"Yes." He eagerly replied. "My great aunt Dicey lives here along with a few cousins."

"Oh yes, I believe I do recall you mentioning that once in the past." She stated, thinking of a conversation they'd had shortly after they first met, causing the young man to smile with relief. "Well, it's good to see you." She said, not knowing how else to respond to the unexpected call.

"You too." John Wesley reciprocated with a brighter smile, really wanting to grab her in a hug. It had been so long since he'd seen her, but needing to remain a gentleman.

"So how long will you be in town?" Marita asked, figuring she knew the answer to that question, but figuring it was only logical that she ask.

"I haven't decided." He revealed. "It's been ages since I've seen my aunt, cousins…and you." He stated as he gave her an intense stare, causing Marita to uncomfortably drop her eyes.

"Honey when you arrived I was suggesting to John Wesley that we could maybe go out to dinner." Isaac finally spoke, seeing his daughter's growing discomfort with the young man's fancy, hoping the subject change would stay her unease. "That's if you're up for it." He added as Marita lifted her eyes to him.

"I must admit it's been a long day." Marita stated, desperately wanting to tell them 'no, that maybe they could do dinner at another time,' but seeing the disappointment rising on John Wesley's face and realizing she would get no answers from her pa tonight about her past made her change her mind. "But a dinner out might be a great way to settle the evening."

"Good!" John Wesley asserted, obviously relieved. "But you have to let me treat." He posed.

"We can't let you do that you're a guest." Isaac rejected, liking the young man's spirit, but still not sure how he felt about him showing up in Lexington and surprising them with a call.

"Mr. Peters please." John Wesley insisted. "I know I'm your guest, but it would be my honor to treat you both for dinner."

"Alright." Isaac reluctantly conceded, knowing from the short time he'd known the young man that they'd end up going in circles about who'd pay for dinner if he didn't settle it now.

"So where should we go?" John Wesley queried, clearly excited about the prospect of having dinner with Marita and her father.

"Stella's has great food." Isaac suggested mentioning the Negro owned restaurant that was right off Main Street in downtown Lexington.

"Marita what do you think?" The young man asked, turning his attention to the young woman who was trying hard to be excited about this turn of events and forget about all of the things that were plaguing her right now: Ned's situation, Asia's story, her ever confusing past, trying not to think that John Wesley was the last thing she needed in her life right now.

"Stella's sounds great." She answered with a brief smile.

"Stella's it is then." John Wesley happily affirmed as he looked at Isaac, then returned his gaze to the man's daughter. "Marita." He uttered and stuck out his arm, politely asking if he could escort her. "May I?"

Marita didn't answer with words, but gave him a strained smile and looped her arm in his, drawing a tense breath as he gently caressed her arm before they led the way out the room with her pa closely following behind, now thinking that John Wesley's visit might be a good thing, that the young man might be able to get his daughter to forget her past and finally return to Toronto.

Asa waited at the bar, staring straight ahead sipping his drink, thinking. Everything was going as planned. Ned Logan was in jail and soon would be off the city council and out of his way for good. Clay Logan was unknowingly in debt to him, more than he knew and as a result would lose everything dear to him. There was just Jeb who was still a loose cannon. If anything else went wrong, and it was learned that Jeb was behind the mess with Ned and that he was involved it would undermine everything he was trying to accomplish, destroy him which was something he could not allow to happen. Before Jeb's plot was over he had to take care of him, make sure his brother went down and was in no way a threat to his own plan.

"Asa." Councilman Harris said as he walked up to the bar, drawing Asa's attention to him.

"Councilman Harris." Asa asserted, now shaking the man's hand. "Have a seat." He said. "I'll buy you a drink." The Councilman complied, taking the chair next to Asa's, then ordering a drink from the attendant.

"I finished reviewing the city's financial ledgers." The man declared, referring to the task the Mayor had directed to him, managing the city's finances, since Ned Logan had been arrested.

"And?" Asa stated, waiting for the man to declare what he already knew.

"And, I didn't want to believe it but you're right." The man admitted, recalling how he'd gone over the books several times. "There are discrepancies in the financial ledgers."

"I'm sorry to hear that I was right." Asa solemnly replied, lying knowing that the doctored books were his and Jeb's doing. "I always suspected something was off with this year's budget, but I wanted to believe that Ned Logan had integrity."

Councilman Harris remained quiet, now taking a deep gulp of the drink that the attendant had put before him, still wanting to believe in Ned Logan, but finding that the numbers didn't lie and then the man had been charged with murdering his future wife which also couldn't be ignored. "What do you suggest be done now?" He then asked, asking the question Asa had been pushing him towards.

"You have no choice but to go to the Mayor and tell him that Ned Logan has been stealing from the city's finances."

"Sean!" Alice and Lexy both exclaimed, then ran up to him accosting him with hugs and kisses, filling him with joy, while Clay stood back stunned, watching the scene, feeling as if the rug had been snatched from beneath him. He thought he'd have more time to manage the ranch, help their pa, show that one day he could be the leader of this family, but now he would never get the chance. "You don't know how happy we are to see you!" Lexy stated with relief, further wounding Clay's ego.

"What are you doing here?" Alice lightly asked as she pulled back from the hug, but her sister still held on to their brother. "How are you here?" She probed, wanting to understand how he could be in the states and on his way to Lexington and not have telegrammed the family.

"I'd like the answer to that question myself." Clay stiffly questioned, drawing attention to himself as he now walked towards Sean as Lexy finally pulled away from her brother.

"Clay." Sean stated, acknowledging his brother who he'd had little contact with over the past three years. His choice to be with Marita and the chaos that ensued after she was attacked put him and Clay at odds. Even during his time in Europe when he'd written the entire family, he always got response letters from his sisters and pa, but rarely anything from Clay.

"Sean." Clay responded, before he and his brother gave each other a strong, but awkward hug. Clay thinking how despite his issues with Sean some part of him was glad to see him. Glad that he looked well and seemed to be in a better state than he was when he'd left Lexington three years before.

"So what are you doing here?" Clay questioned once more, after pulling away from his brother.

"Are you really going to ask me that after the telegrams you sent?" Sean asked with bewilderment.

"Telegrams? What telegrams?" Clay questioned with just as much confusion.

"The telegrams I sent ." Lexy interjected before Sean could answer, shocking everyone.

"What are you talking about?" "You sent those telegrams?" Clay and Sean queried at once.

"Yes." Lexy answered Sean, standing up straighter, looking him directly in the eyes. "I telegrammed Grandpa Cab weeks ago." She said, then turned her eyes to Clay.

"You did what?" Clay angrily asserted. "I thought we agreed that we wouldn't telegram Sean until after pa's arraignment!" He nearly yelled.

"It doesn't matter what we agreed. He's here now." Alice strongly declared, attempting to calm Clay's temper.

"I'd appreciate it if you'd all stop talking about me like I'm not here." Sean seriously interjected. "Now I would like to know why you didn't think I should be telegrammed until after pa's arraignment?" He asked, again turning his attention to Clay.

"Why don't you answer our questions first?" Clay countered, irritation in his voice, still steamed about Lexy sending for Sean behind his back. "How did you get here so quickly?" He asked. "There's no way you got Lexy's telegrams and returned from Europe in three weeks unless you were already in the states."

"It doesn't matter how quickly I got here." Sean opposed, not really wanting to get into the fact that he'd been back in the states for a little more than a month and failed to tell the family. "I'm here." He said, walking further into the room. "And I want to know what's going on with pa." He stated in a near demanding tone. "Who was this MaryLynn? How did she and pa meet? And why do the authorities think he killed her?"

"Well first off 'MaryLynn' wasn't 'MaryLynn.' " Clay snarked, aggravated at his brother's for changing the subject knowing that even if he tried to push for answers to his questions Sean would never respond.

"What does that mean?" Sean asked with a frown, turning around to face his siblings.

"Maybe we should start at the beginning." Alice quickly suggested, hoping to steer Sean and Clay away from what she knew would be an argument if the tone of the conversation didn't change, before she then started the story off telling Sean the full story surrounding "MaryLynn." How their pa had met her when she'd had a wagon accident on a road nearby. Their pa had helped the unconscious woman, bringing her back to the house where she recovered. During that time their pa had become smitten with the woman, Lexy had chimed in, telling Sean how they began to court and in spite of their protests, he'd asked the woman to marry him.

"Right around that time is when I overheard 'MaryLynn' confessing to a servant how much she hated her hometown in Tennessee." Clay stated. "Which meant that she'd been lying to pa and us because she always told us she loved her hometown of Clarksville."

"So Clay decided to go check it out." Lexy said.

"You didn't tell pa what you overheard?" Sean questioned, now more calm than he'd been moments before.

"Well no." Clay defensively answered, despite Sean's accessible attitude. "Why would I if he wasn't listening to us before." He countered. "He probably would've said I misunderstood what I heard or I was eavesdropping, trying to cause more trouble." He explained. "So instead of telling him I went to Tennessee to check out her story."

Clay then went on to tell his brother everything he'd told his sisters several weeks before, describing what had happened in Clarksville. How he'd learned that "MaryLynn's" family actually lived in Brentwood, 50 miles away from Clarksville. How the woman had an unsavory reputation with the residents and her family due to her unladylike behavior with the gentleman. How she was in fact not MaryLynn Grimes, that was her mother's name, but Patricia Grimes Nelson, and was in fact married to a Bryce Nelson and had a 12 year old daughter. She'd abandoned them both when the girl was 6 months old to move up north where it was rumored she continued her inappropriate behavior with many gentleman callers. Clay informed his brother.

"When I got back to Lexington I planned to tell pa, but he wasn't here. So I went to the boarding house looking for him and I ended up confronting 'MaryLynn." He continued. "Pa overheard the confrontation, and when I left he confronted her himself. After he left, someone, the murderer paid MaryLynn a call and now here we are." Clay somberly finished, as he now walked over to the side bar, needing a drink of water after his long account.

"That hardly sounds like enough evidence to accuse pa of murder." Sean stated. "What possible reason do the authorities have for arresting him?"

"A witness claimed they overheard Ned arguing with MaryLynn." Alice answered. "They found his broken pocket watch in her room and…" She then paused, thinking about the other "evidence" how bad it made their pa look.

"And what?" Sean pressed.

"They found some unexplained scars on his face and hands when he returned to town." Clay revealed, when he saw his sister struggling to answer. "The authorities think the scars are from…MaryLynn fighting back and pa hitting her with his hands and fist."

"That's absurd!" Sean asserted in frustration. "Pa would never hit anyone, especially a woman!" He heatedly contended, making his siblings uneasy before he quickly caught himself. Sighing, shaking his head as he walked over to the piano and stopped. Now staring at the array of family portraits that lined its top, thinking how none of this made any sense, the witness, his pa's scars, which he knew couldn't have been caused by a physical altercation with MaryLynn, the charge of murder. How could anyone think his pa would do something like that after knowing him all these years, knowing that he is a good man. "Who is this witness who overhead pa arguing with MaryLynn?" He then questioned, turning around.

"We don't know." Lexy quietly answered as she took a seat on the arm of the couch.

"Well I'd like to know who this witness is, what they heard and when did they hear it?" Sean voiced aloud. "I'd like to know if the authorities are even sure about the time of MaryLynn's murder? Did they investigate to see if she had other visitors that night? Did anyone else hear the quarrel between pa and MaryLynn besides this witness?" He continued. "How do the authorities know that this witness overheard a murder?"

"Sean these aren't questions that we haven't already asked." Alice replied, feeling Sean's frustration at all that was unanswered.

"Well have you followed up on those questions?" He queried, turning his eyes to his brother.

"Pa's lawyer has checked into a few things, but no I haven't." Clay tautly answered. "I've been busy running the ranch."

"Busy running the ranch?" Sean nearly retorted, holding his brother's fierce gaze, so close to reminding him that their pa's life was on the line and that more should've been done to help him, but not wanting to escalate the tension between them, especially with their sisters in the room. "And how has that been?" He then asked, changing his question. "I'm sure there's been some loss of business since pa's arrest."

"Nothing I can't handle." Clay countered, not missing the inference in his brother's voice, knowing that he wanted to scold him about not doing more to help their pa.

'Really?' Sean wanted to say, recalling what he'd heard moments earlier, his brother claiming that he'd finally got the ranch back on track, but Sean again left it alone, making a mental note to address it later. "So what's next for pa?" He sighed as he closed his eyes and gently rubbed his temple, feeling everything that he'd learned and the heaviness of exhaustion weighing down upon him.

"His arraignment was today." Alice answered, feeling the tension between her brother and Clay, for a moment abate due to Sean's question. "He was formally charged with murder. His trial is due to start in a week."

"A week?" Sean uttered with shock, opening his eyes to meet his sister's stare. "Why so soon? And why didn't they at least release him on bond."

"Mr. Pearson pushed for a speedy trial." She replied. "He said it'd be best this not linger over pa's head that it's resolved as quickly as possible." She explained. "And as far as bond, Mr. Pearson proposed it to the judge but he refused. Despite pa's ties to the community and established business, the judge felt that with his money he could easily flee. So he refused to grant him bond." Sean again turned away, now running his hand through his hair, finding this all so unbelievable, thinking how he needed more time to wrap his head around what was going on and figure out a way to help his pa.

"What are you thinking?" Clay asked, seeing the wheels turning in his brother's head.

"Nothing I want to discuss right now." Sean softly stated. "I need to think a bit." He said turning around. "I've been traveling for three days." He continued. "I want to clean up and get some rest."

"You're not going to join us for dinner?" Lexy questioned with disappointment as she stood from the arm of the couch. "It should be ready soon." She pointed out.

"I want to, but Lexy I'm really, really tired." Sean confessed, now feeling his tiredness grow, wanting and needing to rest and take in all he'd learned about his pa.

"Sean come on, you just got here, and you can't skip dinner your first night back." Alice said, agreeing with Lexy.

"Please have dinner with us. We won't keep you long." Lexy pled as she walked towards him. "You don't even have to stay the whole time." She suggested.

"You can just join us for the first course – salad." Alice added. "And then you can go to bed." She promised.

"Alright." Sean sighed, unable to deny his sisters' request. "I will try to keep it together long enough to have salad." He said, pleasing Alice and Lexy.

"Thank you!" Lexy exclaimed, now close enough to give him another hug, reminding Sean that this trip wasn't going to be just dealing with the bad, that he was finally going to be with his siblings again, something that in spite of everything he'd been wanting for a while.

"You're welcome." Sean tiredly stated, rustling Lexy's hair causing her to laugh, then ended the hug. "But first I need to get cleaned up, and put my bags away."

"I can take care of that." Lexy quickly volunteered. "I can have Nancy prep the wash room so that you can clean up and George set your old room and take your bags up."

"I think I'll help with that." Alice stated with a light smile, knowing that her sister could sometimes be a bit slack when giving orders to the servants.

"Thanks." Sean smiled in spite of himself, seeing that Alice still liked being in total control of the household. When Lexy announced that she was going to take care of her promised tasks, prompting Alice to reluctantly follow, really not wanting to leave her brothers alone, fearful of what would happen without her and Lexy there to keep them civil.

"I'm glad you're here." Alice expressed to Sean, then walked over to him and hugged him once more.

"I'm glad to be here." Sean honestly stated, hugging her back, before Alice then followed Lexy from the room, giving her brother's a concerned glance before exiting the doorway.

There was a moment of quiet, both brothers thinking, not knowing what to say, feeling awkward and disconnected from one another when Sean finally spoke. "So how are they really doing?" He asked.

"Obviously better now that you're here." Clay evenly replied.

"You really think they feel better about pa going to trial for murder now that I'm here?" Sean scoffed.

"You've always been their favorite big brother." Clay dryly stated.

"I'm not going to do this right now." Sean tiredly conveyed. "Pa is in jail about to go to trial for murder. We have more important things to deal with than our sibling rivalry."

"I should've known. You already have a plan don't you?" Clay guessed, insecurity in his tone.

"What is your problem?" Sean challenged.

"Nothing's my problem."

"I think something is." Sean countered. "I think you're irritated that I'm here, that I showed up before you were ready for me." He declared, now thinking about the comments that had been made earlier that Clay had not wanted to send him a telegram until after their pa's arraignment.

"That's crazy."

"Or maybe this is about what happened three years ago. Maybe you're still angry with me about my choices that you always thought brought trouble to the family and the ranch." He continued, when his mind helplessly went to Marita, the memories of her, the intense feelings he'd had when he'd arrived in town, before he pushed them aside with frustration.

"You are way off." Clay firmly denied.

"Really?" Sean skeptically replied. "Well if that's not your problem with me, I'd sure like to know what it is so that we can clear it up right now, because I don't intend on putting up with this attitude you have the whole time I'm here."

"This attitude?" Clay retorted. "You're not even back an hour and already you're telling me what you will and won't put up with…"

"Clay!" Alice accusingly asserted, interrupting Clay drawing both brothers' eyes to her. "The washroom will be ready shortly." She continued, directing her words to Sean while Clay still seethed at his brother's nerve. "Lexy is helping George with your room. It should be ready by the time you finish cleaning up."

"Thanks." Sean flatly stated, still heated himself about his tiff with Clay, but trying to keep his tone respectful with Alice. "I'm going to head on up and get cleaned up." He said. "Clay." He stiffly uttered as he moved to exit the room, giving his brother a look that said they'd finish their conversation later.

"What are you doing?" Alice snapped at Clay before Sean was barely out the door. "Is your ego more important than our brother being here for us and our pa?"

Clay couldn't answer but could only roll his eyes and shake his head in vexation, feeling that his anger made no sense, despite understanding its source, but being unable to stop the feelings, unable to stop his frustration at what his brother was and what he was not to his sisters, to his pa, to everyone.

"He's here now Clay. He's our brother." Alice resumed, who held his angry gaze. "This family is going through one of the worst times we ever have and we NEED each other no matter our issues. So whatever problems you have with Sean you need to get over it! Otherwise you're going to do more harm to this family than any outsider ever could!" She scolded then stalked from the room, leaving her brother more emotional than angry about her choice of words, knowing that she was right, but still couldn't help but to be vexed at his brother's ability to get anyone and everyone to love him, defend him to think that he was the answer.