Chapter 25 - Repented

"I wasn't a bandit," Jeff said to the fireplace. "I was a con man. As a lawyer without training, I checked the area before the bandits arrived. I befriended the townspeople, especially the mayor, if he was suggestible enough. The mayor of Greendale was a perfect target."

Annie stared at him. He was a criminal? Not just a criminal, a bandits' accomplice. Her Jeff. The good man who protected her and married her in order to stop her abuse. For heaven's sake, he was the sheriff!

Troy said, "But you got rid of the bandits a decade ago! In the great raid!"

"I brought them here," Jeff said. Her heart pounded at the sound of his voice, emotionless, as if he weren't present when he said the words. And maybe that was his way of furthering himself from the man he was, a man who associated with bandits and... And befriended the mayor...

"Why," she said, wetting her lips, "why did you befriend the mayor?"

"To convince him not to call rangers who will hunt the bandits down. And afterwards, to convince him to sue the state to get the money back. The mayor would invest good money, from the best savings left after the raid, and pay the talented lawyer to return the money to the town. I put the payment in a suitcase, and then I would supposedly travel to Washington, to represent the people of the town."

"It didn't happen in Greendale, you didn't go to Washington," Annie said. Her voice, too, became indifferent. She couldn't respond, not yet, until she had the full picture, and then she could decide how to feel about it all.

"No. It didn't happen here, nor anywhere else. I would take the money in a suitcase and disappear, reconnect with the bandits and enjoy myself the furthest from the robbed town, until next time."

"But... you fought the bandits," Troy repeated. "Our sheriff died, and you led the fight against them."

"Well... something happened."

:::

"And this will be your room, mister..."

"Winger. Jeff Winger, Miss Bennett." He smiled at her, and she giggled, readjusting the baby she was holding on her waist.

"You're very nice, Mr. Winger, but I'm a married woman."

"But what a woman! You can't blame me for trying..." she laughed again and he knew she would never respond to his flirting, and it was strangely reassuring. One woman he didn't have to seduce.

...

"Is your husband not here?" He lived there for a week, and she was always alone. He had to wonder, after she had asked him to carry something heavy for her for the third time.

"He travels a lot. Don't worry about me, I'm not bored. And Elijah is such a comfortable baby. How long do you think you'll stay with us?"

"I don't know. Maybe a week, maybe a month. Depends on how agreeable I will find y'all."

"Ha! And what if we don't find you agreeable enough?"

"I'm not worried..."

…

The mayor thought Jeff was agreeable right away. Maybe too fast. Jeff saw in his eyes a look he had seen in the eyes of young ladies, more than bored married women. It wouldn't happen between them, but Jeff didn't mind the lanky man, in his easily maneuvered way. He will make Jeff a lot of money, eventually.

...

"Miss Shirley, what happened?!"

She cried, he could see it, cried over the vegetables she was cutting. "Are you injured, ma'am?"

"I'm fine, forget about it." She waved with the sharp knife she was holding. "Don't let it bother you."

He should have made himself scarce, but he liked the innkeeper from the start, and not just because her food reminded him of his mother. She wasn't a simple villager like the rest of the people in these small towns. She had a kind of basic cunning to her that he valued in other people, especially in a woman, especially in a person who didn't use their cunning to extort money from others.

"What happened?"

She sniffed. "I'm fine, really. It's nothing."

He walked to her, unable to leave the room until he received some form of answer. "Miss Shirley, I hope you know you can tell me."

"Mr. Winger, you don't have to concern yourself about your landlady's worries. You can go, I'm sure there's some woman in town who's eagerly awaiting your visit."

There must have been, if not one then two. But he was here, in Miss Bennett's kitchen, and he wanted to know what made her cry.

"Just tell me what happened, I promise not to try to comfort you or anything. I'll even laugh at you, if it helps."

She let out a snort of laughter through tears. "Oh yes? If so, I have no choice but to tell you. Andre..." She took a deep breath. "He writes that he isn't coming home this year. He is prolonging his trip. Business was bad. And I'm here alone..." At last she stopped cutting the vegetables. "I need him here. Right now I only have you as a tenant, and it isn't enough. Elijah needs clothes, blankets. And I think I'm pregnant again..." She blinked her tears. "How will I feed them? How will I feed myself?"

"He didn't send any money?" Jeff asked, focusing on the easy part.

"No, but that's not why I'm crying..." Shirley shook her head. "I want him here. I can't do it alone anymore, I can't..."

"Miss Shirley," he stood beside her, placing his hand on her shoulder. "You'll be fine. Do you need me to pay for the room for the next two months? I can pay in advance."

"It won't be enough," Shirley sniffed, "and then you will leave as well. I know, Mr. Winger. People like you don't stay long in such small towns. Small people make you uncomfortable. Don't play innocent. You think we're all stupid. That we've never seen the big city so we think of ourselves as civilized when we are not. And that's fine, you can think that way. But don't expect me to believe when you show me a slice of sympathy." And she shoved him away. "Go, please, leave me alone now. I'll be fine."

He went, because he didn't advance in life by arguing with women.

...

Jeff was in Pierce's saloon when Dirty Bob's bandits raced through the streets. He wasn't supposed to be part of the raid, as he pretended to be an innocent lawyer. In the saloon he heard that the sheriff was dead, one of the first to die. Shot to death while trying to defend himself. He had no chance.

Jeff fled to the inn. He didn't like being outside while they did their part. He never enjoyed the violence; he was only in it for the money.

"What are you doing?" Shirley accused. There were shouts from outside, shouts he ignored and intended to go up the stairs to his room, and relax with a glass of whiskey, ride it out. But Shirley caught him.

"Whatever do you mean?"

"You're just gonna walk away?" Shirley said in disbelief. "A strong man like you, a lawyer who defends the law, turns your back as if it has nothing to do with you?"

"I don't owe you people anything," Jeff said before thinking. "I'm sorry, I didn't mean that..."

"You definitely meant it," Shirley shot back. "You really don't care. You'll be fine. Our sheriff is dead and left us defenseless, but you, a man who can make a difference, don't care. As long as it doesn't hurt you, it doesn't matter."

"Look..."

She picked up a rifle and pulled the barrel until it clicked shut. "Goodbye, Mr. Winger."

And she walked out of the door.

She was crazy, and he was a fool, but he ran after her.

She walked down the street and aimed, fired, and aimed and fired again, but was unable to hit anyone. The bandits didn't see her, except for one who noticed the crazy lady shooting at them, and galloped in her direction.

Jeff ran like he never ran in his life, to grab her and drag her back to a shelter.

He didn't make it in time.

The bandit rushed at her, kicking her shotgun to the ground. Jeff barely saw what was happening, when visions of horses kicking a pregnant woman and bandits indiscriminately raping any woman obscured his line of sight. Anyone who got in their way was easy prey, and practically chose to be raped. And if there was one thing Jeff was unwilling to see, it was the hurting of one of his dear ones.

He didn't stop to think what it meant that he considered his landlady one of his dear ones.

The bandit halted before running into a wall, then turned his horse back to them. Miss Shirley didn't recover, standing frozen, her hands drawn helplessly to her chest, and Jeff bent down and snatched the rifle from the ground. He heard the bullets slipping inside the barrel, and was ready with the rifle when the bandit - a man who had sat with him around the fire once or twice - returned to claim his loot. Jeff didn't think twice.

He fired in his face.

The bandit fell from the back of the horse, and the horse continued to run down the street without its rider.

The face-covered man lay in the middle of the street, blood staining the dirt clods under his head.

Shirley said behind him in wonder, "You saved me."

And he realized he had made a mistake.

:::

"Shirley was in danger," Jeff murmured. "She went out and put herself in danger. I had to do something. Save her. And once I shot one bandit, there was no going back. They wouldn't forgive me for killing one of them. And anyway, the sheriff was dead, the Greendale people were desperate for someone to lead them... and Shirley already thought I was a hero. "

"The Great Raid," Troy whispered. "And you brought them here."

"Yes," Jeff sighed. "That's all. That's what I've always been. A crook and a scoundrel. I never got my lawyer's certificate. I practiced for a while since I was naturally good at it, but once I found out how easy it is to swindle money out of people, the road was short to cooperating with Dirty Bob. And now you see," he turned to Annie, "why I keep telling you that I'm not good enough for you."

"Troy," Annie said quietly, her thoughts elsewhere, her voice small. "I think I'll go up to my room. It's been a long day."

"Annie," Jeff tried to grab her hand, but she already got up from the couch, and turned to the stairs. "Wait a second."

"I need to change," she said absentmindedly. "Maybe one of my nightshirts is still in my room." She was in the middle of the stairs when he got up and followed her, and he had to jump two steps at a time to get to her - she was fast despite her seven-months-belly - and he reached her when she was almost by her room. "Annie!"

"What?" She asked distractedly, knocking on the door, and when it was clear that the room was empty, she went inside and lit the lantern on the table.

"Annie, talk to me."

She was rummaging inside the chest in the corner of the room.

"Please, Annie..."

"What? Oh," she took out a piece of white cloth from the chest and shook it open. "Do you want something, Jeffrey?"

"Yes," he walked over to her. "I want to know what you think. Please."

"I need to think..."

She placed her shawl on a chair, and began to open the knots of her amber dress, and he stared as she undressed in front of him without a second thought, pulling at her sleeves and letting the pretty dress fall around her legs. She then got out of the dress, pushed it aside with her foot and turned her back to him. "The corset, please?"

He stared at her white neck as she brushed her hair with one hand, until his eyes fell on the closing of the pregnancy corset. Right. He put his fingers between the ribbons, found the first knot and opened it, then began to pull on the ribbons until the whole corset loosened and the only thing which kept it from falling were her hands holding the garment to her chest.

"Tomorrow morning you mean to take part in a duel," Annie said, and her voice was still strange, too high. "With Stephen James. Whom you know."

"Yes..." he murmured. "He taught me some tricks about taking easy money from clients. And he was the one who introduced me to Dirty Bob. He was a connected person."

"I don't like it."

He exhaled at length as she removed her corset and petticoats, and was left with her simple shift. "Is that all? You don't like it?"

"Yes," she said. "Duels have been illegal for over a hundred years. I can't believe you even offered it. It's too dangerous."

"You don't actually- what?"

"Yes," Annie continued, pulling the nightshirt over her head. She turned to him and began to unbutton his shirt, and any other time it would have completely distracted him, but now there were too many things on the agenda. Annie said, "What were you thinking, Jeff Winger? He could shoot you in a heartbeat. There's a good reason it's outlawed. I won't let you go there."

"Annie, it's not a question," Jeff said. He told her the truth about his life, missed nothing, and this is what she wanted to discuss? "It was either this or let them raid the city. And they are not compassionate people, believe me. Their other offer was an immediate raid, or we would collect all the money in one place and let them leave peacefully - with the money. You see why I couldn't agree..."

"They gave you a choice?" Annie said. "Raid and banditry or they take the money without a raid?"

"Yes, but you surely see that both options are bad."

Now his jacket was open and so was the shirt underneath, and she put her hands under the shoulders of his coat and began to take it off. "Yes, but one of these allows us time to think of a ploy against them!"

"What ploy?" He asked, grabbing her wrists. "Annie, stop!"

She ceased her attempt to undress him, her eyes shocked, and stepped back. "I don't know! Any ploy! Anything! Not the only thing that forces you to sacrifice your life for the sake of the town!"

"I don't have to die. Did it occur to you that I might be able to shoot him first?"

"And what if both of you shoot each other? Then you saved us, but you're still hurt! It took so much for you to come back from the war, I'm not ready to lose you again..."

"What are you talking about? You just found out I'm not the man you thought I was all this time! You shouldn't care what happens to me. Whether I die or not, as long as you and the baby are alright, everything's fine."

"That's not true!" She blinked, and he recognized the gleam in her eyes. The beginning of tears, even though she tried to hold them. "I don't want you to die. I don't want... I... Jeff..." Damn, she cried, and worse, she turned and walked away from him. But she was still talking. "I don't know what to do with all this. You were a criminal. It's crazy. And you hid it for years, from everyone in town. From Troy, from Shirley, from me. You stole money and never looked back. I don't understand how it goes together with the man I know... Maybe you didn't have to fight a lot of crimes as a sheriff, but you were an honest man. You even enlisted in the army. How does it go together... how..."

"Annie," he approached her, tempted to touch her shoulders, but was unable to bring himself to touch her. "I'm sorry. I couldn't tell you, or anyone. But I tried to tell you. I told you a thousand times that I'm no good... that I'm not good for you..."

"But it wasn't true." She turned to him and he saw that the tears had stopped, and she moved, caught his face in her palms. "Maybe it was true once, but a lot has changed since you moved to Greendale. You learned to be different, didn't you? You liked Shirley, and you decided to protect her. Then you decided to defend the town. And when I arrived, at first you tried to protect me as part of the town, but then you did more than that: You married me, and insisted on not sleeping with me until it was proven beyond a shadow of a doubt that it wouldn't hurt me. Maybe at first you were only pretending to be a law keeper and the town's protector... but it's become part of you."

"I'm still the same cunning Jeff Winger," he murmured, unable to evade her blue eyes. "Only looking for a way to make life easier. Being a sheriff in Greendale - that was the easiest thing I ever did. I got paid for sitting in an office and drinking whiskey. And all the Greendale women made me food as much as I pleased, not just Shirley."

"And you think it was bad of you to stay in an easy job and receive the admiration and kindness of the townspeople?" Annie asked, and her fingertips pressed into his cheeks for a moment. "Answer me!"

"Of course," he moaned. "Selfish and greedy. I haven't changed."

"Ah ha!" She exclaimed triumphantly, and finally let go of his head, her hands falling on his shoulders. "And a liar! You forgot 'a liar'. But mostly you lied to yourself." She shook her head, smiling sadly. "A greedy man doesn't settle in a small town and receives a modest salary for a sheriff's job that involves doing nothing, Jeffrey. A greedy man goes on to other places, to bigger money."

He sighed, closing his eyes. "Well, maybe I realized I don't need so much money to live comfortably..."

"But who doesn't want to live comfortably?" Annie wondered. "Where is the sin? Are you going to tell me that since the great raid your most terrible sin has been hiding the truth about your past - and laziness?"

"There were also all these married women..."

"Pshhh," she scorned. "Almost everyone sins with lust, and many with adultery - all those women, for instance. And let me remind you that from the moment you married me you remained faithful, so in that you also repented."

He looked at her face, and couldn't help but say, "Just because the thought of any other woman, when you were in my bed, was painful..."

"Where did it pain you, Jeff?" She asked, moving her hand to his chest, to his heart. "Here? Or here," she raised her hand to his temple, "in your conscience?"

He closed his eyes. "What are you trying to say?"

She took three breaths and he heard each one coming out of her mouth. "I'm trying to say you've changed. You're right, you'll have to atone for the lies and tell your friends about the real reason that brought you to town, but for everything you've done since - you won't have to repent. You're a different man, with a conscience, with different values. You spend too much time admonishing yourself to be a bad man. Only a man with a conscience deplores his sin. And I... I forgive you."

She looked at him with those sapphire eyes and he remembered the words spoken in a drunken fog: Her eyes creates me out of the smoke.

He leaned with complete intent on kissing her until dawn, but she said, "Jeff, you can't go to this duel."

This stopped him in his tracks. He frowned. "Why?"

"Because it's too dangerous. You must cancel the duel."

"I must?" He asked, shaking his head. "Do you realize I found the perfect way to protect the town? All I have to do is shoot him, which I can do." He thought of Stephen, admitting to himself that he wasn't so sure of it. "I think."

"You think? And what if you miss? Then we'll still have to give all our money to these bandits, won't we?" She moved away from him, her hands leaving his body, and he would be sorry if he wasn't trying to figure out what the hell she was saying.

"Yes, but I won't miss." He couldn't afford it. Everything depended on it.

"You won't miss, and you'll shoot first. Two little things, upon which the fate of the whole town depends," Annie said, and he didn't like the tone she assumed - as if he was a boy who needed slow explanations.

"Yeah, but that's the only chance we have," Jeff said, irateted. "If I hadn't offered a duel, it would have been a voluntary surrender or a forced raid. I found a third way, which can force Rouge Bill to go away without taking anything from us."

"It's not bad," Annie said, stretching her lips. "But it's not great. Not only is our chance still not good, I don't like the fact that it puts you at the forefront. You just got back your walking, and now you want to die?"

"I won't die," Jeff rolled his eyes. "Have I not promised you this before?"

"Yeah, then you came back with bullet holes."

"But I didn't die!"

"And you think your fortune will smile upon you twice?"

"No! But for your information, my shooting ability is one of the best I know! Even Rick was impressed, and he can shoot an apple a 130 feet away!"

"And how's Stephen James? I assume he has the eyesight of a snail?"

"Rogue Bill said he's one of his best," Jeff admitted even before his mind had time to warn him it was the wrong thing to say.

"Ha! How reassuring! Jeff, you will not go out there, and that's final."

His ears thundered and his stomach was tight and something inside him shattered. He didn't know what it was, but he saw red. She told him what to do all the time. What to wear, where to go, whom to befriend; who to be. He did everything for her, and it still wasn't enough. Well, he's done.

"You don't get to decide my life, Annie!" It was a good thing she had moved away from him, for if she had been in his arms, chances were he would have hurt her with blind rage. "Going around and telling me how to feel, who to like! 'That's nice, Jeffrey! I think you're doing the right thing!' Dictating my life! Do you think I don't see what you're doing? I didn't mind as long as it was small, really, it's easier to let you decide, but enough is enough! So it would be nice if you stop trying to control me!"

"I'm not trying to control-"

"Giving me instructions! Upturning my life! You decided to get married - we got married! You wanted children, you got a baby!"

"Jeffrey, how dare you imply-!-!"

"So I'm tired of it! I'm a grown man and I'm able to make my own decisions, and they don't always go with what you think!"

"I never said-"

"And tomorrow I'm going to a duel, and I'll save Greendale, and after that you can say whatever you want! But I'm going!"

He stood in front of her, unable to be ashamed of the words he said and the way he held his fists as if to strike, and he could feel the veins protruding from his neck and forehead, arms and legs. He was frightening, and in the future he would regret the pathetic attempt to intimidate her with his size, but at the moment he didn't care.

"If that's how you feel, Jeff," Annie said coldly, her eyes burning glaciers, "maybe you better not sleep here tonight. I don't want to force you to do something you don't want, of course. But I prefer you not to be with me in the same bed right now."

"Fine, Mrs. Winger," he tried to say the name with venom, but it didn't have the same sting when it was his own name. "I'm leaving here, and I'm doing it of my own free will. Good night!"

He left without giving her a chance to answer, and slammed the door.

:::

She lay awake in bed for hours, waiting for him to come back.

He didn't come.

The rain fell hard, but there were no thunderstorms, only amok driven wind. Tomorrow the whole town will be muddy. At the moment the noise of the rain, and the tree branches whipping each other, penetrated through the walls of the inn to Annie's old room, and she lay alone in the cold bed.

With eyes wide open.

Did she forgive him too quickly?

No, it didn't feel like a mistake. He was a good man, and he didn't believe her all this time, and now she understood why. It made sense. He did good things but none of them felt like an atonement for what he was before. And she loved him too much, believed in the good in him too much, there was no other option but forgiveness. Damnation, why did she have to love him. It complicated everything.

Then he got mad at her for something so stupid... how dare he say she controlled him? When did she not give him a choice?

She told him "let's get married," but that was after he proposed first. She asked him for children, but he was the one who eventually came and told her "Let's make a baby." It's true that she had a say, it's true that she asked him to do things for her and sometimes even phrased them as a demand, but... it was never a demand. She simply expected him to make the right choice.

He was wrong. She was not domineering.

It was uncomfortable to sleep in an empty bed with that huge belly. She wanted him to hold her.

She missed him and was angry at him at the same time, and if it wasn't torture, she didn't know what was.

In the middle of the night there was a knock on the door that would have woken her - had she been sleeping, and for one silly moment she thought it was Jeff, who came back for her, who had come to apologize for everything and tell her she was right.

But when she opened the door, a pale faced woman stood there. "Mrs. Winger, I'm sorry to disturb you at this hour, but I heard your argument, and I had to wait until Kyle fell asleep. Did I wake you?"

"Honestly not," Annie said as Nicole James pushed past her into the room as if Annie invited her.

"Nicole, what do you want?"

"I heard the sheriff's plan," Nicole said, wringing her hands. "He's going to duel with Stephen. When will that be?"

"In the morning," Annie murmured, recalling the item of information Troy had said in passing, before Jeff poured out every ounce of the truth over her and poor Troy.

"Miss Winger..."

"Annie," she corrected without thinking. That was strange. Her brain stopped working some time ago, it seemed.

"Umm… Annie," Nicole said, "I know you have no reason to listen to me. And I'm sorry. I was wicked, and I didn't care. I justified myself, I thought I was telling the truth, helping those who were harmed, when in actuality I told lies and harmed everyone. I understand if you want to throw me out in disgrace."

Annie stood wearily, making no moves to the door. "Did you come here... to apologize?"

"No, truthfully, no, I..." Nicole breathed, "I made a lot of mistakes in my life. Mistakes I regret to this day. But I never had a chance to fix them. When Stephen rejected me... it hurt so much, and I thought I could replace him with Kyle, who did want me. It was the biggest mistake of my life, and to this day I haven't been able to escape it. But what I did to you... I'm sorry. I'm truly sorry. I was a monster."

"Well, even if that's not why you came here," Annie said, "I forgive you."

"You do?"

It was a long day. She forgave Jeff for being a criminal, indirectly causing deaths, stealing so much money that there wasn't even room for the question of 'how much'. And since Annie persuaded the women to let her come back to the gathering, Nicole seemed different. As if all the poison that filled her had run out and she was left an empty puppet. She probably didn't know what to fill herself with, if not poison. It was sad, really. Besides, Nicole had apologized to her in the past, a fake apology that was immediately overturned. This apology, this time, felt different.

"I do. I forgive you. You'll still need to show that you changed your ways, but in the meantime I forgive you. Let bygones be bygones..."

"Oh! Miss Winger, thank you! Thank you!" The woman hugged her tightly, and Annie let her. It was strange with her big belly between them, Annie's hands limp besides her body. But she let Nicole embrace her until the woman felt she ran out of time, and stepped away.

"Why have you come?" Annie asked, caressing her belly. "If not to apologize, why?"

Nicole's eyes followed the movement of Annie's hands. "Don't hate me," she murmured.

"What do you mean?"

"I came to ask you for something."

Annie stopped her movements, and crossed her arms over her chest. "Yes? What?"

"Don't let your husband kill Stephen."

"Excuse me?"

Nicole looked away. "I'm stupid, I know. I still love him. After all these years. Even though he works with bandits. I could never stop loving him. All these years, what helped me deal with Kyle was the thought that Stephen was somewhere out there, doing things. Changing the world."

"Yeah, changing the world for the worse," Annie said, frowning. "You are aware that he's causing killing and theft, aren't you?"

"And I still love him," Nicole shook her head. "As much as you love your sheriff. Don't you?"

"Don't you dare compare them!" Annie said in disbelief. "Jeff is trying to defend this town, and your Stephen is trying to take all our money! Yes, yours too!"

"But he will send money to Kyle," Nicole murmured. "Like he always does."

"That's even worse!"

"I don't want him to win," Nicole pleaded. "Believe me. I'm not that terrible. I don't want anyone to die. I'm not on the bandits' side. But I can't stand the thought of Stephen dying..."

"Then what do you want me to do!?"

"Ask your husband to cancel the duel. Think of another plan to fight the bandits, one that won't involve Stephen's death."

"You have a lot of audacity, coming here and asking me for something like that," Annie shook her head. "Seriously, what were you thinking?"

"You love him. You understand me. You don't want him to die at the hands of Stephen, do you? All I want is the same thing: for Stephen to not die at the hands of your husband."

"You're crazy."

"I'm a woman in love," Nicole said simply. "You know how we think. Please, promise me you'll talk to him. I'll do anything..."

"Just change your ways," Annie said sharply. "Don't spread lies. Don't assume the worst about people you don't know. And for God's sake, be nice to your family."

"I will." Nicole nodded, pressing her palms together in front of her chest. "I promise I'll do everything, and if not, you can scold me and remind me of my promise. Please. Just talk to him."

Annie shook her head. "You don't understand. I already asked him - he said no."

"Ask again."

Annie sighed, her compassion overcoming her logic.

"Alright. I'll ask him again."

:::

She managed to sleep an hour, maybe two, before getting up. It was still dark outside, but the storm stopped. Annie put on her beautiful amber gown, dressing as slowly as the growing of a tree, wrapped her shawl around her and put on her shoes, and went down to the inn's kitchen, to find something to eat.

Shirley sat at the table, drinking tea, and Brita stood at the stove, stirring something with a large spoon. They were both in robes and nightgowns.

"Annie sweetie, you're awake!"

"You're awake, too," Annie pointed at them, heavily sitting down next to Shirley.

"Yes, but we don't have to rest due to a baby."

Annie gave Shirley a look that was supposed to be irritated, but failed to muster enough strength into a frown. She gave up. "I can't sleep. Jeff is going to fight Stephen in a duel this morning."

"And he let you get out of bed? How peculiar."

Annie groaned, propped her elbows on the table and buried her face in her hands. "He left. We had a terrible fight..."

"There, there," Shirley stroked her back, though Annie didn't have in her a single tear to shed. "Please tell us what happened, in great detail."

"So that you could help me?"

Brita said from her place by the stove, "That, and to distract us from our situation: my lost wedding, the bandits. All that."

Shirley nodded guiltily when Annie raised her face slightly. "Yes, that too."

Annie sighed and told them everything she could. They mostly let her talk - Shirley stopped her when she recounted the part in which Shirley changed his mind for the better: "I knew he was hiding something! But I didn't suspect it was something like that..." And Britta just huffed, as if none of this surprised her about the man who insulted her on a regular basis, to her face or not.

"After some thought," Annie finished, "I told him I forgave him. And it's true. I forgive it all. Maybe it's a mistake, but I think he has atoned for all his crimes. Then I told him not to do the duel..."

"Wait," Shirley interjected. "You told him you forgave him? So why didn't he sleep in your bed?"

"That wasn't the cause of the fight," Annie murmured. "Jeff was upset with me... for trying to control his life." She didn't want to say the words. It was so insulting. "For deciding everything for him. He said he was done. He wouldn't listen to a word I said..."

"Hmm," Shirley said. "interesting."

Brita tasted what was in the pot - seemed to be porridge - and said, "Ha! Classic self-destruction. First time he is able to be completely true with you, and you tell him that you accept him as he is, he must somehow destroy his own happiness." She looked awfully pleased with herself. "Basic Winger."

"Yes, also true," Shirley agreed with Brita's analysis, "but not only. I believe it's not unfounded."

"Not unfounded?" Annie asked. "Shirley, please. Speak simply. I didn't sleep well..."

"You have domineering tendencies," Shirley clarified.

Annie was silent, looking between her and Brita, who covered the pot and came to stand at the table. Brita looked thoughtful.

Annie whispered, "Is that what both of you think?"

Brita tapped a finger on her chin. "Somewhat. It comes with being a teacher and with the tendency to lead. You can't be a good leader if you don't expect to be listened to."

Annie gave up and let her forehead fall to the table with a thud. "You're saying he's right."

Shirley said, "Of course not! He's a man. He's clearly wrong. He should kiss your feet and thank you for still wanting him. But..."

"But...?" Annie whispered to the table.

"Maybe... and take care that I don't say it lightly... it won't hurt to apologize. And next time you want something from him... give him the feeling that he can choose to not listen to you."

"I always ask," Annie murmured.

"Yes, but you ask knowing that in the end he will agree. It makes a man feel he has no choice but to agree, you know?"

"But... how do I do that?"

"You have to understand that the possibility that he won't agree is an acceptable possibility. That he has good reasons not to agree with you. After all, if he didn't have a good reason for what he's doing, he would just do what you want without you having to ask. Do you understand?"

Annie moved her head slightly so she could see the two women's faces, and said in a small voice, "Yes."

Brita looked at Shirley with adoring eyes. "Wow, Shirley. You're really good at this!"

Shirley grinned. "You don't become a mother of three without learning a thing or two along the way, Brita."

"Can I come to you with questions in the future?"

Shirley laid her hand on Brita's. "Sure, dear. Whenever you need to."

It was heartwarming to see Shirley accept Brita like that, but Annie didn't have time to dwell on it too much. She sat up, put a hand on her stomach to make sure everything was fine on the baby's part, and when she was sure there was no abnormal activity there, she got up from the table. "Can I take a few bowls of porridge?"

"Why?"

"First of all - because I'm hungry. And second of all - if I'm going to have the mister forgive me... I should bring a peace offering."

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AN: Everything is out in the open, and they're still not together… *Facepalm*

Thank you lovely reviewers! As always, a pleasure to read your thoughts! I try my best at comedy but it doesn't always work XP

Up next: a peace offering, a realization, and a dual.