A Marriage of Inconvenience

Chapter 29 – Oops

Bart and his horse were moving rather slowly but his mind was racing. He felt like the answers were within reach, but every time he came to a conclusion he shook his head and started over. If the whole purpose of the scheme was to get Caroline to dispose of the ranch, why had he been lured to Denver? What could Shafer and his co-conspirator gain with him gone? And what had 'worked' on Caroline when Sam returned? He had too many loose ends in his hands and they seemed to be slipping through his fingers.

Eventually the outer edges of the Double C came into view. He thought about that first desperate ride the morning after the wedding and laughed. "Bart, old boy, you've come a long way" he said out loud. He urged his horse forward; he was eager to get to the ranch. He'd had his fill of sitting in a saddle; he wanted to spend a long, glorious night sleeping in a bed. And he missed Caroline.

'Bret would double over with laughter,' he thought. And Pappy. Pappy would never speak to him again. Or maybe he would. Maybe Pappy would develop a soft spot for Caroline, as he had for every lady he ever met. Pappy always said "Women will lead you to ruin, unless you lead them there first." Pappy said a lot of things; Bart and Bret had quoted his lessons their whole life. Maybe there was a time and place to start learning new things for himself. Maybe this was it.

The horse came to a stop at the hitching post and Bart slowly dismounted. He saw Jess and Walter walking his way and he was glad to hand the bay gelding over to them.

"Howdy, Mr. Bart," Jess offered. It sure was good to see Bart back; Jess had worried constantly about 'the ladies' with him gone. Especially with that Tenley fellow around. "Glad you're home."

"Thanks, Jess. Do you know where Caroline is?"

"Yes sir, she went down to the south ridge to see about some lost cattle. I imagine she should be back anytime." Jess hesitated and handed the reins of the gelding over to Walter, who started for the barn. "Mr. Bart, there's somethin' I think you oughta know." His voice got very quiet and concerned. "That Tenley fella's been comin' round here every two or three days tryin' to get Miss Caroline to sell the ranch. Don't wanna take no for an answer. Last time he came he had her real upset. She and Miss Samantha got into it somethin' fierce after he left." He paused and his voice got very stern. "Don't nobody got no right to make them ladies fight like that and cry. I didn't see 'em or hear 'em cry, mind you, but I know he made 'em." A small smile appeared on his face as he started for the barn. "Anyways, like I said, me an' the boys are sure glad you're home. Night." He headed off after Walter.

Home. Twice Jess had said 'glad you're home.' Bart had never thought of anyplace as home except that ranch in Little Bend, Texas that he and Bret tried to go back to after the Civil War. But Jess had called the Double C 'home' and Bart realized he had begun to think that way, too. When had that happened?

Just then Samantha appeared on the front porch. "Bart - Thank God!" She came running down the steps and threw her arms around his neck. "I'm so glad you're back!"

He and Sam had greeted each other dozens of times before, but never like this. It almost seemed as if Sam was waiting to be saved from something awful and Bart had arrived to do just that.

"Well hello to you too." Bart gently reached up and untangled Sam's arms from around his neck. The welcoming embrace seemed to make him uncomfortable. He tried to downplay the importance of his question. "What's going on?"

"Too much. Caroline isn't here. She went after some cows." Sam's face twisted up in disgust. "Cows." Then she took his hand and led him inside. "You found Bret, didn't you?"

He sank into a chair, glad to have something underneath him that wasn't moving. "Yep. In Soggy Creek Mining Camp, embroiled in God knows what." Bart was sure that, whatever it was, it didn't involve Bret doing anything that even vaguely resembled work. He let out a long sigh. "Anything to eat around here?"

Sam glared at him. She hadn't seen him in weeks and all he was interested in was food. "How would I know?" she asked him. "I just eat, I don't cook!"

He almost laughed, Samantha was so serious. Even with Shafer and Tenley and all they entailed on his mind, she could make him smile. "Then how about coffee?"

"Tea?" she volunteered. He shook his head 'no.' "Anything stronger?"

"Whiskey," came her answer. To her surprise he got up and went into the pantry, returning with two small glasses. "Well?" he asked. "Whiskey?"

She followed his gaze to the bottle on the table and retrieved it. Carefully pouring two shots of the golden liquid, she set the bottle down and raised her glass to him. "Welcome home."

There was that sentiment again. This time it sounded less foreign than it had earlier. "Mmmmmm," he acknowledged as he drank. The liquor warmed him and he felt better.

"Now, tell me everything you know."

Samantha gathered herself and began relating all that had happened since she last saw him in Denver. She babbled on about the trip back to Dry Springs, the run in with Lon Tenley at the stage depot, and his insistent pursuit of the ranch. She hesitated to explain the fight that she and Caroline had participated in several days ago and then decided that he better know everything.

"I just don't know what got into Caroline; maybe it was that crude rancher and his insinuations." She looked over at Bart to make sure he was still listening to her. "She kept asking things about you and me. Where we met, how long we've been friends, how well we know each other. You know, personal things. I told her the truth – well, sort of." She stopped talking for a moment to let her last remark sink in. "I didn't see any reason to tell her about the game in New Orleans and the mess with that idiot cowhand."

He let the statement pass without any comment. "She just kept asking questions and not liking the answers. So I finally told her that our relationship was none of her business and I wasn't going to indulge her anymore."

Bart looked at her with a mixture of apprehension and dismay. He appreciated Sam's reluctance to try and explain their connection. He wasn't sure he understood it himself. But he also pondered what the effect of weeks of being separated and the constant haranguing by a man like Tenley would have on ones emotions. Add to that Sam's hesitation to provide a truthful answer to innocent questions and he worried about Caroline's state of mind.

Samantha was unaware of all the thoughts running through Bart's head as she unraveled her story. "She got angry. Accused me of lying to her, telling me that I lured you to Denver to steal you away. Totally ignored how concerned you were about Bret and just got as upset as I've ever seen her." She paused for a moment, lowered her head in embarrassment and got very quiet. "We got ugly. Called each other names that ladies don't use and stormed off to bed." Before Bart could interject anything, Sam brightened and looked up. "We fixed it the next morning. I told her that I had no interest in either of the Mavericks as anything other than friends and she seemed to accept that. Just can't imagine why she was so upset in the first place."

Sam might not have seen what was right in front of her but Bart did. Caroline had fallen in love with her husband.