STILL FAMILY
Chapter 42
Adam moved quickly down the board sidewalk heading for his office. He walked along with a half-smile; his family was well, the organization of the new office was shaping up, and it just happened to be a beautiful spring day.
When he reached the building he turned down the side street and went up the short flight of stairs that led to the private entrance to his office. He unlocked the door and started to push it open when he sensed movement in the room. Quickly, he stepped to the side and flattened himself against the outside wall and drew his weapon.
Almost immediately he heard his father's voice saying his name from inside the room.
He sighed deeply and his brow furrowed in irritation as he stepped in, still holding his gun, but keeping his arm straight with the weapon pointing to the floor. Always a professional, he surveyed the room with just his eyes before turning his attention to the people.
Ben, Joe, and Hoss were standing in a group behind one of his leather wingback chairs, and all three were looking at him anxiously. Then he turned his gaze to a petite, blonde woman who gave him an uncertain smile. He smiled back as he nodded to her, leaned back to half sit on the front of his desk, and looked at his father for an explanation as he holstered his weapon.
The three men glanced at each other, looked at Adam who was still watching them expectantly, and then at each other again.
Joe figured it out. "He doesn't remember," he said low to Ben and Hoss so the woman in the chair couldn't hear. Adam's brows rose as he watched their expressions.
The other men glanced at each other again then Hoss came around the chair to take Adam's arm and lead him out into the hallway.
Those still in the office listened to Hoss speaking for a bit then heard Adam loudly say "What?"
Hoss must have been explaining because he spoke for a while. Then there was silence in the hallway for a moment that was eventually broken by Adam's deep laughter, which was quickly muffled.
Laura looked at Hoss nervously when he came back into the room alone, not sure what Adam's absence meant. The big man was quick to reassure her.
"Adam wants us to wait 'bout five minutes and then go to the meetin' room. He said Joe knows where it is."
The younger man nodded.
"He also said to give the keys to this office back to Marie and if you ever take 'em again he's gonna tan your hide. Pa, we aren't supposed to be in here. Adam said no one is without him."
"Joseph!" Ben said while glaring at his youngest son. "I don't care if you get yourself into trouble with Adam, but don't drag Hoss and I into it too."
"Come on, Pa. He knows we wouldn't mess with anything in here."
"That is NOT the point. This is a federal government office and no doubt what we've done is against the regulations. You could cause both Adam and Marie to receive a reprimand."
"I never thought of that," Joe turned red with embarrassment.
"Of course not, if you had actually thought at all you wouldn't have done something this stupid," Ben said in exasperation.
Joe just nodded and glanced at Laura out of the corner of his eye. The woman was sitting back in the chair now, looking very tired, confused, and worried.
"What does all this mean? Is Adam willing to help?" she said, looking at Hoss with a frown. The big man nodded.
"He's gettin' his deputies together."
"I think the five minutes is up," Ben said. "Joseph, go give the keys back to Marie and meet us in the hall."
Still embarrassed, Joe hurried from the room.
Ben offered Laura his hand to help her up saying, "Don't worry, if anyone can find Will, its Adam."
"He seems to have changed a great deal," she said softly, still uneasy about asking her former fiancé for help.
"Yes he has, and no he hasn't," Ben said cryptically and the three left the office, making sure the door was locked behind them.
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
All four of Adam's deputies had been right where he expected them to be, already in the meeting room. As usual, the four were going over paperwork and good naturedly arguing about something. But when Adam came in they sat up and gave him their full attention.
"We don't have much time, so I'll make a long story short. Seemingly, I was engaged to a woman named Laura who dumped me to marry my cousin, Will Cartwright. She showed up at my father's ranch earlier today looking for help because Will has disappeared." He resisted the urge to chuckle as his deputies looked at him as though he was demented.
"But here's the interesting part. I don't have a single memory of her and can barely remember my cousin."
The four men seated around the table glanced at each other and grinned, realizing Adam was highly amused by this situation.
"Now, my father and brothers are bringing her down and that should be in a few minutes. From what I understand the couple was on their way here by train for a surprise visit, but had a long stopover in Bentwood Junction. Then according to Laura, Will was arrested by a deputy sheriff and accused of trying to pass counterfeit bills. Does any of this sound familiar to you? I could swear I heard something similar to this before."
Three of his deputies shook their heads, but Mike nodded.
"I've been hearing some rumors about high quality counterfeit in connection with that area. Bentwood is about forty miles east of here, isn't it?"
His boss nodded. "But the story gets a little strange after Will was arrested. They claim he was already released and have no idea where he went. She asked to see the sheriff, but was told he was out of town."
Adam watched their reactions carefully and saw what he expected. Dylan smiled wryly, John shook his head, Mike rolled his eyes, and Nate gave his boss a shrewd look.
"So you're all thinking the same thing I am, they're trying to pull a jailhouse shuffle."
All four men nodded and Adam was about to speak again when they heard a knock at the door. He hurried over to open it for Ben to escort the woman into the room. He met his father's eyes as the two passed and nodded toward the empty chair at the head of the table.
Ben led her over and held the chair for her to be seated. The deputies had all stood when she came in and now resumed their seats. Adam then motioned for his father and brothers to join the others then moved to stand at the foot of the table.
"Laura, these are my deputies; Nate, Mike, John, and Dylan." Each man made eye contact with her and each man nodded when his name was spoken.
"Now," he continued, "please tell us everything that happened from the moment you arrived in Bentwood. Don't leave out a single detail."
Laura looked down the table at this man who seemed so different from the man she had known then opened her mouth, but was at a loss as to what to say. "I don't know where to start," she said staring.
Smiling, Adam answered, "Usually the best place to start is at the beginning. What time did the train arrive?"
She blinked and gathered her scattered wits together. "About nine o'clock in the morning. We arrived on schedule and had a two-hour wait to board the next train."
Adam had slowly moved to stand to the side of the table, directly behind his father. "What did you do then?" he continued to prompt her as he moved slowly until he was standing behind her.
"We went to a restaurant."
Adam nodded at his second-in-command, indicating he should take over.
"And then?" Nate said. She turned her eyes to the tall, blonde man and seemed to relax somewhat.
"We had breakfast, Will paid, and we left to go back to the train station to wait." Nate just looked at her with his brows raised, so she continued.
"We had only been at the station for about fifteen minutes when the cashier from the restaurant and a deputy sheriff came in to arrest Will. When he asked on what charge the deputy said for passing counterfeit currency. Will didn't even get a chance to argue. Another deputy came in and they dragged him away. I started to follow, but Will told me to get on the train and come here for help - but I couldn't do it, not right then because the train was delayed about two hours. I went to the sheriff's office and they told me Will had already been released and they had no idea where he had gone."
She paused as her lower lip began to tremble and looked down at the table until she had herself under control again.
Nate looked at his boss who nodded again.
"I think you're leaving out some details," he said. "Were you near Will when he received his change at the restaurant?"
"Yes, I was standing right beside him."
"Did his manner or expression seem odd or different to you right then?"
Laura closed her eyes for a moment to think. "Well, I believe he did give the cashier an odd look right before we left."
Adam and Nate exchanged a quick glance before the deputy continued.
"After you left the restaurant did he do or say anything else that was different in any way from what you would usually expect?"
"Yes," she said promptly, "he handed the bills he received in change to me and said to hang on to them."
"Do you have them with you and may we see them?" Nate asked, his expression brightening. Counterfeit currency was one of his areas of expertise.
"Yes I do," she opened her reticule and handed him one five-dollar and four one-dollar bills.
Nate held the five-dollar bill up to the light first then rubbed it between his thumb and index finger before handing it to Adam, who had come silently to look over his shoulder.
Adam pulled a jeweler's loupe out of a vest pocket and went over the bank note thoroughly. Then he handed both to Nate.
The blonde man stood and laid the bill flat on the table. He bent down and put the loupe to his eye. When he had finished examining both sides he stood and whistled.
"Beautiful work, don't you think?" he said as he handed the loupe back to his boss.
"Some of the best I've ever seen. Does it look like Nick's work to you too?"
Nate nodded and sat down as he handed the one-dollar bills back to Laura. "These are genuine," he said then fell silent as Adam walked down to the end of the table. He had heard everything he needed to be reasonably sure about what had happened. Everyone looked at him expectantly.
"Well, I'm sorry to say it looks like Will just fell into this by accident. I think he recognized something was wrong with that bill because of the way it felt. That's the hardest thing for a counterfeiter to fake. The engraving is almost perfect, but the weight and the texture of the paper is off." He paused to laugh. "These people have a great set-up. Hundreds of people move through Bentwood Junction every week, and I believe many of them leave with at least one counterfeit bill mixed in with the genuine. And from what you have told me I think they panicked when Will gave the cashier that odd look so they arrested him. Not a particularly intelligent thing to do, they should have just let him go."
Joe spoke up, "But how could they just let him go?"
"Look Joe, if they HAD let him go Will might have gone to someone to see if the bill was counterfeit. On the other hand, he might not have. Either way, it would be impossible for anyone to prove he got the bill at that restaurant. All they would have had to do then is shut down operations for a while until it was reasonably safe again. Arresting him and holding him illegally has now opened up a whole can of worms they really don't want anyone taking a close look at. Bad mistake." His four deputies nodded in agreement.
"Who's this Nick you mentioned?" Dylan asked.
"Nicholas Teyssier," Adam and Nate said together then Nate went on to explain. "One of the best forgers and engravers in the business, but I don't see how it could be him since he died about five years ago."
"Doesn't matter," Adam answered, "who knows how many sets of plates he made."
Laura impatiently interrupted. "But where is Will?" she almost wailed.
Adam shook his head at her. "He's there, right in that jail in Bentwood Junction. Believe me, I've seen this before. The sheriff probably IS out of town and they don't know what to do with him so they're keeping him until the sheriff gets back. What a bunch of idiots!"
The four deputies chuckled and Laura went red in the face. "How can you laugh when Will's life is in danger like this?" she snapped then dropped her eyes when Adam gave her a chiding look.
"His life is not in danger, at least not yet. Besides, he'll be out of that jail by noon tomorrow."
Her head snapped up, "How?"
He laughed again, "Simple, we're going to go get him."
Her mouth fell open. "But how can you do that? He's under arrest, what if they refuse to turn him over to you?"
All of the men in the room, except Adam, laughed at that.
"Laura, I am a Federal Marshal of a special division of the Marshal's office. That means any state, territory, possession, or protectorate of the United States is my jurisdiction. They can't tell me 'no'."
"But what if they still do?" she persisted stubbornly.
Adam smiled a smile she had never seen on his face before - it made her turn cold.
"Then we'll go in and take him," he said quietly and she finally believed him.
"Hoss? Joe?" he said turning his attention away from her. "I'd appreciate it if you would come along tomorrow to help make a show of strength."
His brothers nodded eagerly.
"Good, consider yourselves sworn in," he said. "If you will all excuse me for a moment I need to discuss something with Marie." He quickly left the room.
The other deputies, Hoss, and Joe stood to come and cluster around Nate who was holding the counterfeit bill up to the light again. Ben came to sit down in the now empty chair to her right.
"Don't worry Laura, Adam knows what he's doing."
"What happened, Ben? Why is he so different now?" she asked.
"Are you thinking he became this way because of what happened between you two? No, that's not the reason." Ben chuckled then took a deep breath and tried to be brief. "About seven years ago Adam left to go to Chicago to help an old friend. This man's name was Allan but he was no friend at all. He was being threatened with death by some vicious criminals he owed a lot of money to, so he brought Adam back with him to take his place."
She gasped, but didn't speak as he continued.
"Allan hired someone to kill Adam and planned to put his identification on the body and dump it somewhere. Unfortunately for him the people he was trying to avoid caught up with him before they managed to kill my son. He was barely holding on to life when a doctor in the morgue examined him and realized he was alive. He died on the table right in front of her, but she managed to bring him back. The she spend the next six months helping him to heal. But he had no idea who he was; he couldn't remember anything about his past except his first name. We didn't see him again for six years until Joe happened to run across him in San Francisco. Adam's only been living in Virginia City for less than a year now."
Laura was openly staring at Ben now, a mixture of horror and fascination showing on her face. He was about to continue his explanation when his eldest son returned.
"Everything has been arranged for tomorrow so I think it's time to go home. You are still coming to dinner aren't you?"
The deputies nodded, but Ben, Hoss, and Joe hesitated.
Adam laughed at them. "Thea, Dora, Cassie and Barbara have been cooking all day. If you three don't show up I'm warning you now - don't come to me for protection."
Everyone except Laura laughed at that then Ben gave his son a questioning look. Adam just winked at him and went to hold the door open. "Let's move it on out, folks."
"We're not going back to the ranch?" Laura questioned Ben in surprise.
"No, we're going to Adam's home, it's very close to this office."
They paused in the front hall where Adam offered Marie his arm. She tucked her hand under his elbow and said good night to Walt, the large young man who had been hired to lock up and guard the offices overnight.
The group spilled out of the building and good-natured chatter flew back and forth as they made their way across and down the street to the cream- colored house.
They all hung back when they arrived to let Adam and Marie go in first. Laura looked up at the unusual house with her mouth hanging open. Ben noticed her staring and chuckled. "If you think this place is something, you should have seen the house he had in San Francisco," Ben said as they came through the door and into the hall.
Adam helped Marie out of her coat and hung it up for her as the black woman hurried down the hall to the kitchen. She was greeted by an outburst of female voices and laughter.
Ben helped Laura as the deputies, Hoss, and Joe stood around still talking, deeply engrossed in their own conversations. That's when she noticed Adam quietly making his way to an open door on the right of the hall that had a wooden gate blocking the lower half. The sound of children's laughter reached her ears even though they were still standing just inside the front entrance.
He stopped at the side of the door and quickly poked his head around the edge to take a look. When he turned around he was shaking his head and motioned for his father to come over. Laura still had her hand on Ben's arm so she came with him.
When they reached the door Adam nodded for her to look in. She saw a young, black-haired boy on the floor with three babies sitting in front of him. The boy was making hideous faces and the babies were laughing so hard at him they'd occasionally start to fall over backward. But a young, black- haired girl sat behind them and was busy keeping them upright.
Laura gave Ben a puzzled look after he had taken his peek into the room. He was chuckling, but was going to explain when Adam stepped into the doorway. All five children noticed him at once and the twins yelled, "Pa's home!" at the top of their voices. They quickly scrambled up and dashed over to the door while the babies called out in their own way as they came crawling at top speed.
Adam bent over and picked the twins up when they reached the gate. He gave each one a squeeze and a kiss on the forehead before setting them down in the hall. They immediately scurried over to latch onto their grandfather's legs while laughing up into his face. Ben went down on one knee to put his arms around them and looked up at Laura.
"Laura, this is my granddaughter Annalise and my grandson Alexander." The children turned to smile at her and she was shocked when she realized there was no doubt who their father was. Ben laughed and nodded when he saw her expression, then the twins shrieked with laughter when he stood with one under each arm and headed toward the kitchen.
She turned to see Adam still standing in front of the gate. The three babies had pulled themselves up and were standing clutching the wooden bars of the gate in their little hands. One just stared up at him with a sweet smile; another was babbling what sounded like "Pa!" over and over again, while the third was bouncing up and down on his little feet and grinning.
Adam laughed again, crouched down and unlatched the gate to carefully swing it open. The three babies quickly fell on him then laughed as he wrapped his arms around them and stood. They waved their arms and kicked their legs as he kissed each little face then Hoss and Joe came to carefully take their namesakes.
Turning to Laura, Adam held the remaining baby out to her saying, "This is Benjamin."
She quickly took the baby from him and cuddled him close while Adam watched her carefully. When she finally looked up again he caught a brief flash of yearning in her eyes.
"This one is yours too?" she said, looking a little dazed.
"Laura...all of them are mine," he answered and smiled at her expression. "Joe took Matthew, Hoss took Thomas, and you met Annalise and Alexander before my father carried them off."
She hesitated before speaking. "So you're married?"
He held up his left hand to show her his wedding ring. "More than six years now," he said and took the baby back. He nodded toward the kitchen as he shifted Benjamin to his shoulder and they started moving in that direction. Something hilarious must be happening, judging by the laughter they could hear spilling out the doorway.
Adam chuckled. "I have a feeling more than cooking has been going on in there today."
"What?" She said, completely overwhelmed at this point.
He shook his head with a grin. "You'll see," was all he said and motioned for her to go in first. Laura took three steps into the room and stopped to stare, trying to take everything in.
She spotted Hoss and a tall woman with wavy chestnut hair to her right. Hoss was holding the baby he had taken from Adam while the woman was making the child giggle by tickling him.
Joe was seated at the foot of the table with Matthew in his lap. The deputies where gathered around that end and the four men were having a lively discussion. Then she noticed a petite strawberry-blonde sitting in a chair at the side of the table, but her head was resting on her folded arms and she seemed to be asleep.
The twins went running past then and a huge black dog followed them as they headed for Hoss. She heard Adam laughing behind her and when she turned in his direction she saw Ben standing there too.
Adam was still laughing helplessly and couldn't answer his father immediately when he asked, "What is going on with these women?"
"Oh Pa," he finally managed to say. "Can't you see they're all a little...uh...under the influence?"
"Drunk?" Ben said shocked.
His eldest son nodded. "Considering they've been cooking Italian food today, I imagine you will find Chianti instead of tea in those cups."
Ben looked around the room and when he turned back to Adam he was smiling. "Well, I guess they do need a chance to let their hair down occasionally."
Adam nodded, still chuckling and held Benjamin out to him. "Would you mind? I think Cassie needs to go to her room."
The older man took his namesake and settled the baby on his shoulder. Laura tugged on his sleeve and he leaned down so he could hear her. "Which one is Adam's wife?"
"You can't see Thea, she's on the other side of the room by the stove with Marie."
Adam had helped Cassie up and was passing them on the way to the back stairs. He heard what Laura said and stopped to yell, "Theadora!" Only Laura jumped, everyone else was used to his unexpected bellowing.
People moved out of the way and soon Laura found herself watching a short, black-haired woman coming toward them. Her heart-shaped face was flushed a becoming pink and her almond-shaped hazel eyes sparkled as she looked up at her husband. She reached up with both hands and pulled Adam's head down to kiss him. Laura was shocked when she saw the scorching look he gave his wife.
"Hoss! Dora!" he called over his shoulder, "Give me that child and you two take Cassie up to her room - seemingly she's had too much 'tea'." The two quickly came and took charge of the young woman while Adam tucked the baby in the crook of one arm while putting the other around his wife.
"Thea, this is Laura my cousin Will's wife. Laura, this is my wife, Theadora."
Thea turned her beautiful, intelligent eyes to Laura and gave the other woman her usual wide smile. Taking her hand, Thea tugged her forward and said, "I'm so glad to meet you, but you look so tired. And it's no wonder, I know we can be a bit much for some people." She looked up at her husband expectantly then. Adam immediately whistled his loudest piercing whistle. All conversation stopped.
"All right people, let's keep it down to a dull roar, we're giving Laura a headache," he called out. Everyone laughed then continued their conversations, but in much softer tones. Thea smiled at the blonde woman again and pulled her by the hand over to the table to an empty chair. "Sit down, I'll get you some coffee. You look like you need it."
Laura thankfully sat down and closed her eyes, feeling as though her nerves had been stretched to the breaking point. Her hostess was back in a moment with the coffee and she murmured a faint, "Thank you." Thea patted her on the shoulder then turned to Joe, who was sitting in the chair at the foot of the table, with a pointed look. The young man instantly stood, handed over Matthew and went to find another place to sit.
When Thea was seated she smiled at the other woman, but Laura seemed to be avoiding making eye contact. "Relax," she said quietly, "I know you and Adam were engaged years ago. Joe told me the whole story."
"Does everyone always do what you tell them to do?" Laura blurted out without thinking.
Thea narrowed her eyes in a wicked look. "Only if they know what's good for them."
That startled a quick laugh out of Laura and her hostess smiled with satisfaction. Mission accomplished - making her guest feel more comfortable.
Matthew decided he had been ignored long enough and claimed his mother's attention by reaching up and pressing both of his small hands across her lips. She chuckled and lifted the child to hold him standing up in her lap. They both leaned forward until their foreheads met and Matthew chortled with glee.
"You don't like not being the center of attention do you?" she said and the baby burbled in response as he bobbed up and down in her lap.
"He's a beautiful child," the other woman said wistfully and Thea immediately held him out to the other woman. Laura instinctively took the child and sat him in her lap. The two stared at each other blankly as Thea stood, gently stroked the boy's hair back from his forehead and said, "This is Matthew. I'll be right back."
"Matthew," Laura said softly and he grinned at her showing two small white teeth with a gap in between in the front. She shifted her hold on the child to one arm and turned her head to the left to look for Thea. She spotted the black-haired woman on the other side of the room just walking up to Adam.
Thea put a hand on his shoulder and he leaned down so she could whisper in his ear. He straightened abruptly, thrust the child into her arms and turned away to dash up the back stairs. When she turned back Laura could see she was laughing and continued to laugh as she sat down again. She turned the baby in her lap to face the other woman. "And this is Thomas."
"How old is he?" Laura asked as she reached out to touch his cheek with the tips of her fingers.
"Six months."
"And Matthew?"
"Six months, and so is Benjamin - they're triplets and were just born on Halloween."
Laura blinked in surprise, but at the same time wondered why she was - it was obvious they were all the same age.
"The twins turned five on New Year's Day." Thea continued as she wrapped her arms around Thomas and leaned down to kiss him on top of his head.
"I've never seen eyes that color before," the blonde-haired woman said, staring at him intently.
"He has my grandmother's eyes," Thea responded then nodded toward Matthew. "Now Matthew has his father's eyes and Benjamin's are exactly like his grandfather's.
Laura nodded, she had noticed. "Why did Adam rush off like that?" she said, wanting to change the subject.
"Well, he sent Dora and Hoss to take Cassie up to her room, but it's been a while since they did." She grinned, "I just reminded him that it's not a good idea to leave the two of them alone for very long, even though they ARE engaged."
The other woman's eyes opened wide. "You mean Hoss..." she couldn't seem to finish that thought.
"On no, Hoss is a gentleman. Dora, my cousin, is the problem. She's been after that poor man ever since she first laid eyes on him." Thea paused to chuckle and kiss her son again. "After all, a man can only take so much. I think we all will be relieved when they get married in two months." She glanced toward the stairs and put a hand over her mouth when she saw Hoss and Dora enter the room with red faces and downcast eyes.
Laura leaned forward to look too, just as Adam followed them through the doorway. He gave his wife a dark look from across the room and shook his head.
Thea still had her hand covering her mouth, but shook with muffled laughter. That made him grin and he started toward her, only pausing for a second to give Hoss a quick, disgruntled glance as he passed.
When he reached them, Thea was still trying to stop laughing and only nodded when he said, "Thank you for reminding me."
"I guess you made it in time then?"
"Yes," he said shortly.
"Just barely?"
"No," Adam shook his head again, "but I will be very glad when those two are married and I can stop being Hoss's bodyguard." Thea laughed again and Laura couldn't help but smile at that image too.
Adam chuckled briefly - it was hard not to respond to Thea's laugh - and observed, "Matthew is down for the count and Thomas looks like he's ready for bed too."
Laura hadn't noticed the child had fallen asleep in her arms and she reluctantly held him out to his father.
Thea stood and followed her husband, but paused to ask Barbara to look after the food in the oven and their newest guest.
The blond-haired woman was watching the couple as they stopped to collect Benjamin first, and then the twins who began to protest against bedtime. Adam only had to give them a stern look to make them stop complaining and hurry toward the stairs.
Sighing, Laura leaned back in her chair, and couldn't help but compare the Adam she used to know to the man he had become. The change in him was not only startling it was fascinating. Then her thoughts naturally turned to comparing him to Will.
Her high hopes for her marriage had not been realized, and the past year had been the worst. No matter what she did or how she tried to please her husband, he just kept becoming more critical, colder, and remote. And she had no idea why.
A hand settling on her shoulder made her jump in her chair. She turned to her left and found herself looking into a pair of lovely blue eyes, heavily lashed in gold and warmed by a faint touch of green. The woman smiled at Laura, making her already high cheekbones stand out even more.
"Anytime I see that look on a woman's face it means some idiot male is making her life miserable," she said as she reached up to tuck a stray strand of honey-blonde hair back into the chignon that nestled at the nape of her neck. Her over bright, only slightly inebriated eyes shone with sympathy for the other woman.
"Husband trouble?" she asked and Laura nodded reluctantly, not wanting to admit it.
Barbara patted her hand. "Don't you worry, dear. There's never been one born yet that didn't get his long johns in a twist about one little thing or another."
"No truer words have ever been spoken," a voice said to Laura's right. She turned to see Marie sitting in the chair Thea had just left. The black woman smiled her sweet, sweet smile. "It doesn't matter who or what they are child. Tall or short, fat or thin, handsome or ugly, rich or poor, they all act like children sometimes."
"Ain't that the truth," Barbara chuckled and stood. "Well here comes the happy couple so we better start getting this show on the road." All three women looked across the room to see Adam and Thea coming down the stairs.
Thea hurried over to them as Adam went to inform their guests it was time to take their seats. Laura sighed - she could tell it was going to be a long evening.
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
The clock in the hall struck twelve times and Laura gave up trying to sleep. Throwing back the covers, she was about to light the lamp when the sound of a door closing down the hall reached her hears. She hurried over to open her door a crack and saw Adam's broad back clad in a red shirt moving away from her toward the front stairs.
Laura retreated to the bed to sit there for a while in the dark, thinking. Coming to a decision, she pushed her feet into slippers and shrugged into a robe before following him. Thea had taken her on a brief tour of the house after dinner so she knew where Adam's office was. She assumed that was where he was going.
By the time she was standing in front of his closed office door her hands and feet felt icy and her nerves were almost screaming. She took a deep breath and knocked softly. There was a pause, then Adam's voice quietly said, "Come in."
Adam stood as he watched her walk into the room and he gestured to two overstuffed chairs in front of his desk that sat with their backs up against the back of a large sofa that faced a fireplace.
"Can't sleep? Are you worried about Will?" he asked as she sank into the first of the two chairs.
She looked at him mutely, her eyes huge in her pale face.
"Trust me. He IS in that jail and I promise you'll have him back tomorrow," Adam continued as he sat down behind his desk again. She did not respond and only continued to silently stare at him.
His eyes narrowed. "What is it?"
"I think I married the wrong man," she blurted out.
"What?" he said genuinely shocked.
"I think I married the wrong man. If I knew then what I know now, I never would have gone with Will..."
Adam held up a hand to stop her flow of words. "Laura," he said quietly, "stop. I don't want to hear it."
"But it's the truth! I must have been insane to choose him over you..."
"Stop," Adam said again then sighed. "I didn't want to tell you this, but you leave me no choice." He paused and shook his head. "Laura, I don't remember you."
She stared back at him stunned. "You don't?"
"I don't have one single memory of you. But don't take that personally, I didn't remember Pa, or Hoss, or Joe for six years either."
Her face turned red with embarrassment.
"I'm sorry if that hurt you, but you and everyone else need to understand one thing - nothing and no one will ever get in between me and my wife. I will not tolerate it. Thea is my best friend, my partner, and the mother of my children. I not only love her I respect her and she is now the heart of this family. I don't think we could survive without her." He smiled then said, "Isn't that right, Theadora?"
"Actually, I think it's getting pretty deep in here," Thea's voice came from behind the back of the large sofa where she must have been the whole time.
Adam laughed and Laura gasped as she stood to flee the room, but stopped when Thea said, "Hold it right there woman, don't you take one more step," in a hard voice.
She stood and came around the end of the sofa, never taking her eyes off Laura. "Adam, would you please go to bed now? We need to have a little chat in private."
"Well, you did use the magic word, so I can't refuse you. Just promise me one thing - don't hurt her, she IS still family."
"Believe me, if I had wanted to hurt her she'd be toothless and bald on the floor right now." She glanced at Adam then turned her gaze back to the woman standing with her head down and her hands covering her face.
"No," Thea continued, "I actually feel some sympathy for her. After all, she married a Cartwright and that's enough to severely confuse any woman and make her do foolish things."
Laura dropped her hands and looked up at Thea astonished as Adam chuckled.
"Alright, on that note I think I will take my leave. Good night, ladies." Adam was still chuckling as he left the room.
Thea moved forward to settle in the chair closest to her as the other woman watched her warily. She pulled her feet up under herself to sit partly sideways and leaned one elbow on the padded arm. Nodding toward the other chair she said, "Sit, we need to talk."
Laura reluctantly came to sit down stiffly; ready to take off running if necessary.
Smiling at the other woman's obvious fear Thea said, "First of all, I am duty bound to say if you ever try anything like that with my husband again I will be forced to hurt you."
The other woman's posture stiffened even more.
"Now," Thea continued, "I also want to say that taking up with another man won't solve your problem, it will only make things much, much worse." She paused to let that sink in. "So tell me everything."
"Everything?" Laura echoed, not understanding.
"Yes, everything from the first moment you realized something was seriously wrong with your marriage."
And so Laura did, surprised that everything came pouring out so easily to this woman she barely knew and was actually afraid of. But when she was finished unburdening herself she was sitting back in the chair, emotionally drained.
Thea's expression had been impassive at first, but the longer she listened the angrier she became. Somehow her expression managed to combine both that anger at Will and her sympathy for Laura. She remained silent for a few moments, thinking as she reached into a pocket and pulled out a handkerchief, which she absently handed to the other woman.
Laura wiped her face dry and sat up, not sure what would happen now. She glanced at Thea then looked quickly away, not wanting to break the silence.
"Well," Thea finally said as she turned her head to look at Laura, "its crystal clear to me what a large part of your problem is."
"What?" Laura said eagerly, turning in her chair to face Thea.
"You married a Cartwright and as wonderful as they are they still have this one little flaw they all share without exception." She paused and turned to look at Laura. "Woman, they will walk all over you if you give them the chance."
"What!" Laura's mouth dropped open.
"It's true. I know you thought you were doing the right thing, being a good little obedient wife, but that's the worse thing you can do with a Cartwright." She shook her head, "Dear Lord, you might as well have been wearing a sign that said 'Doormat - please wipe your feet on me'."
Laura continued to stare at Thea in disbelief for a while, but the more she thought about it, the more she could see that the other woman was right. Her eyes narrowed, her face turned red, and her fists clenched in her lap.
"Damn him!" she almost shouted, making Thea burst out laughing.
"Good girl!" she finally said. "That's the first step. Now, listen to me carefully because this is what you are going to do tomorrow when Adam brings that man back to you..."
Chapter 42
Adam moved quickly down the board sidewalk heading for his office. He walked along with a half-smile; his family was well, the organization of the new office was shaping up, and it just happened to be a beautiful spring day.
When he reached the building he turned down the side street and went up the short flight of stairs that led to the private entrance to his office. He unlocked the door and started to push it open when he sensed movement in the room. Quickly, he stepped to the side and flattened himself against the outside wall and drew his weapon.
Almost immediately he heard his father's voice saying his name from inside the room.
He sighed deeply and his brow furrowed in irritation as he stepped in, still holding his gun, but keeping his arm straight with the weapon pointing to the floor. Always a professional, he surveyed the room with just his eyes before turning his attention to the people.
Ben, Joe, and Hoss were standing in a group behind one of his leather wingback chairs, and all three were looking at him anxiously. Then he turned his gaze to a petite, blonde woman who gave him an uncertain smile. He smiled back as he nodded to her, leaned back to half sit on the front of his desk, and looked at his father for an explanation as he holstered his weapon.
The three men glanced at each other, looked at Adam who was still watching them expectantly, and then at each other again.
Joe figured it out. "He doesn't remember," he said low to Ben and Hoss so the woman in the chair couldn't hear. Adam's brows rose as he watched their expressions.
The other men glanced at each other again then Hoss came around the chair to take Adam's arm and lead him out into the hallway.
Those still in the office listened to Hoss speaking for a bit then heard Adam loudly say "What?"
Hoss must have been explaining because he spoke for a while. Then there was silence in the hallway for a moment that was eventually broken by Adam's deep laughter, which was quickly muffled.
Laura looked at Hoss nervously when he came back into the room alone, not sure what Adam's absence meant. The big man was quick to reassure her.
"Adam wants us to wait 'bout five minutes and then go to the meetin' room. He said Joe knows where it is."
The younger man nodded.
"He also said to give the keys to this office back to Marie and if you ever take 'em again he's gonna tan your hide. Pa, we aren't supposed to be in here. Adam said no one is without him."
"Joseph!" Ben said while glaring at his youngest son. "I don't care if you get yourself into trouble with Adam, but don't drag Hoss and I into it too."
"Come on, Pa. He knows we wouldn't mess with anything in here."
"That is NOT the point. This is a federal government office and no doubt what we've done is against the regulations. You could cause both Adam and Marie to receive a reprimand."
"I never thought of that," Joe turned red with embarrassment.
"Of course not, if you had actually thought at all you wouldn't have done something this stupid," Ben said in exasperation.
Joe just nodded and glanced at Laura out of the corner of his eye. The woman was sitting back in the chair now, looking very tired, confused, and worried.
"What does all this mean? Is Adam willing to help?" she said, looking at Hoss with a frown. The big man nodded.
"He's gettin' his deputies together."
"I think the five minutes is up," Ben said. "Joseph, go give the keys back to Marie and meet us in the hall."
Still embarrassed, Joe hurried from the room.
Ben offered Laura his hand to help her up saying, "Don't worry, if anyone can find Will, its Adam."
"He seems to have changed a great deal," she said softly, still uneasy about asking her former fiancé for help.
"Yes he has, and no he hasn't," Ben said cryptically and the three left the office, making sure the door was locked behind them.
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
All four of Adam's deputies had been right where he expected them to be, already in the meeting room. As usual, the four were going over paperwork and good naturedly arguing about something. But when Adam came in they sat up and gave him their full attention.
"We don't have much time, so I'll make a long story short. Seemingly, I was engaged to a woman named Laura who dumped me to marry my cousin, Will Cartwright. She showed up at my father's ranch earlier today looking for help because Will has disappeared." He resisted the urge to chuckle as his deputies looked at him as though he was demented.
"But here's the interesting part. I don't have a single memory of her and can barely remember my cousin."
The four men seated around the table glanced at each other and grinned, realizing Adam was highly amused by this situation.
"Now, my father and brothers are bringing her down and that should be in a few minutes. From what I understand the couple was on their way here by train for a surprise visit, but had a long stopover in Bentwood Junction. Then according to Laura, Will was arrested by a deputy sheriff and accused of trying to pass counterfeit bills. Does any of this sound familiar to you? I could swear I heard something similar to this before."
Three of his deputies shook their heads, but Mike nodded.
"I've been hearing some rumors about high quality counterfeit in connection with that area. Bentwood is about forty miles east of here, isn't it?"
His boss nodded. "But the story gets a little strange after Will was arrested. They claim he was already released and have no idea where he went. She asked to see the sheriff, but was told he was out of town."
Adam watched their reactions carefully and saw what he expected. Dylan smiled wryly, John shook his head, Mike rolled his eyes, and Nate gave his boss a shrewd look.
"So you're all thinking the same thing I am, they're trying to pull a jailhouse shuffle."
All four men nodded and Adam was about to speak again when they heard a knock at the door. He hurried over to open it for Ben to escort the woman into the room. He met his father's eyes as the two passed and nodded toward the empty chair at the head of the table.
Ben led her over and held the chair for her to be seated. The deputies had all stood when she came in and now resumed their seats. Adam then motioned for his father and brothers to join the others then moved to stand at the foot of the table.
"Laura, these are my deputies; Nate, Mike, John, and Dylan." Each man made eye contact with her and each man nodded when his name was spoken.
"Now," he continued, "please tell us everything that happened from the moment you arrived in Bentwood. Don't leave out a single detail."
Laura looked down the table at this man who seemed so different from the man she had known then opened her mouth, but was at a loss as to what to say. "I don't know where to start," she said staring.
Smiling, Adam answered, "Usually the best place to start is at the beginning. What time did the train arrive?"
She blinked and gathered her scattered wits together. "About nine o'clock in the morning. We arrived on schedule and had a two-hour wait to board the next train."
Adam had slowly moved to stand to the side of the table, directly behind his father. "What did you do then?" he continued to prompt her as he moved slowly until he was standing behind her.
"We went to a restaurant."
Adam nodded at his second-in-command, indicating he should take over.
"And then?" Nate said. She turned her eyes to the tall, blonde man and seemed to relax somewhat.
"We had breakfast, Will paid, and we left to go back to the train station to wait." Nate just looked at her with his brows raised, so she continued.
"We had only been at the station for about fifteen minutes when the cashier from the restaurant and a deputy sheriff came in to arrest Will. When he asked on what charge the deputy said for passing counterfeit currency. Will didn't even get a chance to argue. Another deputy came in and they dragged him away. I started to follow, but Will told me to get on the train and come here for help - but I couldn't do it, not right then because the train was delayed about two hours. I went to the sheriff's office and they told me Will had already been released and they had no idea where he had gone."
She paused as her lower lip began to tremble and looked down at the table until she had herself under control again.
Nate looked at his boss who nodded again.
"I think you're leaving out some details," he said. "Were you near Will when he received his change at the restaurant?"
"Yes, I was standing right beside him."
"Did his manner or expression seem odd or different to you right then?"
Laura closed her eyes for a moment to think. "Well, I believe he did give the cashier an odd look right before we left."
Adam and Nate exchanged a quick glance before the deputy continued.
"After you left the restaurant did he do or say anything else that was different in any way from what you would usually expect?"
"Yes," she said promptly, "he handed the bills he received in change to me and said to hang on to them."
"Do you have them with you and may we see them?" Nate asked, his expression brightening. Counterfeit currency was one of his areas of expertise.
"Yes I do," she opened her reticule and handed him one five-dollar and four one-dollar bills.
Nate held the five-dollar bill up to the light first then rubbed it between his thumb and index finger before handing it to Adam, who had come silently to look over his shoulder.
Adam pulled a jeweler's loupe out of a vest pocket and went over the bank note thoroughly. Then he handed both to Nate.
The blonde man stood and laid the bill flat on the table. He bent down and put the loupe to his eye. When he had finished examining both sides he stood and whistled.
"Beautiful work, don't you think?" he said as he handed the loupe back to his boss.
"Some of the best I've ever seen. Does it look like Nick's work to you too?"
Nate nodded and sat down as he handed the one-dollar bills back to Laura. "These are genuine," he said then fell silent as Adam walked down to the end of the table. He had heard everything he needed to be reasonably sure about what had happened. Everyone looked at him expectantly.
"Well, I'm sorry to say it looks like Will just fell into this by accident. I think he recognized something was wrong with that bill because of the way it felt. That's the hardest thing for a counterfeiter to fake. The engraving is almost perfect, but the weight and the texture of the paper is off." He paused to laugh. "These people have a great set-up. Hundreds of people move through Bentwood Junction every week, and I believe many of them leave with at least one counterfeit bill mixed in with the genuine. And from what you have told me I think they panicked when Will gave the cashier that odd look so they arrested him. Not a particularly intelligent thing to do, they should have just let him go."
Joe spoke up, "But how could they just let him go?"
"Look Joe, if they HAD let him go Will might have gone to someone to see if the bill was counterfeit. On the other hand, he might not have. Either way, it would be impossible for anyone to prove he got the bill at that restaurant. All they would have had to do then is shut down operations for a while until it was reasonably safe again. Arresting him and holding him illegally has now opened up a whole can of worms they really don't want anyone taking a close look at. Bad mistake." His four deputies nodded in agreement.
"Who's this Nick you mentioned?" Dylan asked.
"Nicholas Teyssier," Adam and Nate said together then Nate went on to explain. "One of the best forgers and engravers in the business, but I don't see how it could be him since he died about five years ago."
"Doesn't matter," Adam answered, "who knows how many sets of plates he made."
Laura impatiently interrupted. "But where is Will?" she almost wailed.
Adam shook his head at her. "He's there, right in that jail in Bentwood Junction. Believe me, I've seen this before. The sheriff probably IS out of town and they don't know what to do with him so they're keeping him until the sheriff gets back. What a bunch of idiots!"
The four deputies chuckled and Laura went red in the face. "How can you laugh when Will's life is in danger like this?" she snapped then dropped her eyes when Adam gave her a chiding look.
"His life is not in danger, at least not yet. Besides, he'll be out of that jail by noon tomorrow."
Her head snapped up, "How?"
He laughed again, "Simple, we're going to go get him."
Her mouth fell open. "But how can you do that? He's under arrest, what if they refuse to turn him over to you?"
All of the men in the room, except Adam, laughed at that.
"Laura, I am a Federal Marshal of a special division of the Marshal's office. That means any state, territory, possession, or protectorate of the United States is my jurisdiction. They can't tell me 'no'."
"But what if they still do?" she persisted stubbornly.
Adam smiled a smile she had never seen on his face before - it made her turn cold.
"Then we'll go in and take him," he said quietly and she finally believed him.
"Hoss? Joe?" he said turning his attention away from her. "I'd appreciate it if you would come along tomorrow to help make a show of strength."
His brothers nodded eagerly.
"Good, consider yourselves sworn in," he said. "If you will all excuse me for a moment I need to discuss something with Marie." He quickly left the room.
The other deputies, Hoss, and Joe stood to come and cluster around Nate who was holding the counterfeit bill up to the light again. Ben came to sit down in the now empty chair to her right.
"Don't worry Laura, Adam knows what he's doing."
"What happened, Ben? Why is he so different now?" she asked.
"Are you thinking he became this way because of what happened between you two? No, that's not the reason." Ben chuckled then took a deep breath and tried to be brief. "About seven years ago Adam left to go to Chicago to help an old friend. This man's name was Allan but he was no friend at all. He was being threatened with death by some vicious criminals he owed a lot of money to, so he brought Adam back with him to take his place."
She gasped, but didn't speak as he continued.
"Allan hired someone to kill Adam and planned to put his identification on the body and dump it somewhere. Unfortunately for him the people he was trying to avoid caught up with him before they managed to kill my son. He was barely holding on to life when a doctor in the morgue examined him and realized he was alive. He died on the table right in front of her, but she managed to bring him back. The she spend the next six months helping him to heal. But he had no idea who he was; he couldn't remember anything about his past except his first name. We didn't see him again for six years until Joe happened to run across him in San Francisco. Adam's only been living in Virginia City for less than a year now."
Laura was openly staring at Ben now, a mixture of horror and fascination showing on her face. He was about to continue his explanation when his eldest son returned.
"Everything has been arranged for tomorrow so I think it's time to go home. You are still coming to dinner aren't you?"
The deputies nodded, but Ben, Hoss, and Joe hesitated.
Adam laughed at them. "Thea, Dora, Cassie and Barbara have been cooking all day. If you three don't show up I'm warning you now - don't come to me for protection."
Everyone except Laura laughed at that then Ben gave his son a questioning look. Adam just winked at him and went to hold the door open. "Let's move it on out, folks."
"We're not going back to the ranch?" Laura questioned Ben in surprise.
"No, we're going to Adam's home, it's very close to this office."
They paused in the front hall where Adam offered Marie his arm. She tucked her hand under his elbow and said good night to Walt, the large young man who had been hired to lock up and guard the offices overnight.
The group spilled out of the building and good-natured chatter flew back and forth as they made their way across and down the street to the cream- colored house.
They all hung back when they arrived to let Adam and Marie go in first. Laura looked up at the unusual house with her mouth hanging open. Ben noticed her staring and chuckled. "If you think this place is something, you should have seen the house he had in San Francisco," Ben said as they came through the door and into the hall.
Adam helped Marie out of her coat and hung it up for her as the black woman hurried down the hall to the kitchen. She was greeted by an outburst of female voices and laughter.
Ben helped Laura as the deputies, Hoss, and Joe stood around still talking, deeply engrossed in their own conversations. That's when she noticed Adam quietly making his way to an open door on the right of the hall that had a wooden gate blocking the lower half. The sound of children's laughter reached her ears even though they were still standing just inside the front entrance.
He stopped at the side of the door and quickly poked his head around the edge to take a look. When he turned around he was shaking his head and motioned for his father to come over. Laura still had her hand on Ben's arm so she came with him.
When they reached the door Adam nodded for her to look in. She saw a young, black-haired boy on the floor with three babies sitting in front of him. The boy was making hideous faces and the babies were laughing so hard at him they'd occasionally start to fall over backward. But a young, black- haired girl sat behind them and was busy keeping them upright.
Laura gave Ben a puzzled look after he had taken his peek into the room. He was chuckling, but was going to explain when Adam stepped into the doorway. All five children noticed him at once and the twins yelled, "Pa's home!" at the top of their voices. They quickly scrambled up and dashed over to the door while the babies called out in their own way as they came crawling at top speed.
Adam bent over and picked the twins up when they reached the gate. He gave each one a squeeze and a kiss on the forehead before setting them down in the hall. They immediately scurried over to latch onto their grandfather's legs while laughing up into his face. Ben went down on one knee to put his arms around them and looked up at Laura.
"Laura, this is my granddaughter Annalise and my grandson Alexander." The children turned to smile at her and she was shocked when she realized there was no doubt who their father was. Ben laughed and nodded when he saw her expression, then the twins shrieked with laughter when he stood with one under each arm and headed toward the kitchen.
She turned to see Adam still standing in front of the gate. The three babies had pulled themselves up and were standing clutching the wooden bars of the gate in their little hands. One just stared up at him with a sweet smile; another was babbling what sounded like "Pa!" over and over again, while the third was bouncing up and down on his little feet and grinning.
Adam laughed again, crouched down and unlatched the gate to carefully swing it open. The three babies quickly fell on him then laughed as he wrapped his arms around them and stood. They waved their arms and kicked their legs as he kissed each little face then Hoss and Joe came to carefully take their namesakes.
Turning to Laura, Adam held the remaining baby out to her saying, "This is Benjamin."
She quickly took the baby from him and cuddled him close while Adam watched her carefully. When she finally looked up again he caught a brief flash of yearning in her eyes.
"This one is yours too?" she said, looking a little dazed.
"Laura...all of them are mine," he answered and smiled at her expression. "Joe took Matthew, Hoss took Thomas, and you met Annalise and Alexander before my father carried them off."
She hesitated before speaking. "So you're married?"
He held up his left hand to show her his wedding ring. "More than six years now," he said and took the baby back. He nodded toward the kitchen as he shifted Benjamin to his shoulder and they started moving in that direction. Something hilarious must be happening, judging by the laughter they could hear spilling out the doorway.
Adam chuckled. "I have a feeling more than cooking has been going on in there today."
"What?" She said, completely overwhelmed at this point.
He shook his head with a grin. "You'll see," was all he said and motioned for her to go in first. Laura took three steps into the room and stopped to stare, trying to take everything in.
She spotted Hoss and a tall woman with wavy chestnut hair to her right. Hoss was holding the baby he had taken from Adam while the woman was making the child giggle by tickling him.
Joe was seated at the foot of the table with Matthew in his lap. The deputies where gathered around that end and the four men were having a lively discussion. Then she noticed a petite strawberry-blonde sitting in a chair at the side of the table, but her head was resting on her folded arms and she seemed to be asleep.
The twins went running past then and a huge black dog followed them as they headed for Hoss. She heard Adam laughing behind her and when she turned in his direction she saw Ben standing there too.
Adam was still laughing helplessly and couldn't answer his father immediately when he asked, "What is going on with these women?"
"Oh Pa," he finally managed to say. "Can't you see they're all a little...uh...under the influence?"
"Drunk?" Ben said shocked.
His eldest son nodded. "Considering they've been cooking Italian food today, I imagine you will find Chianti instead of tea in those cups."
Ben looked around the room and when he turned back to Adam he was smiling. "Well, I guess they do need a chance to let their hair down occasionally."
Adam nodded, still chuckling and held Benjamin out to him. "Would you mind? I think Cassie needs to go to her room."
The older man took his namesake and settled the baby on his shoulder. Laura tugged on his sleeve and he leaned down so he could hear her. "Which one is Adam's wife?"
"You can't see Thea, she's on the other side of the room by the stove with Marie."
Adam had helped Cassie up and was passing them on the way to the back stairs. He heard what Laura said and stopped to yell, "Theadora!" Only Laura jumped, everyone else was used to his unexpected bellowing.
People moved out of the way and soon Laura found herself watching a short, black-haired woman coming toward them. Her heart-shaped face was flushed a becoming pink and her almond-shaped hazel eyes sparkled as she looked up at her husband. She reached up with both hands and pulled Adam's head down to kiss him. Laura was shocked when she saw the scorching look he gave his wife.
"Hoss! Dora!" he called over his shoulder, "Give me that child and you two take Cassie up to her room - seemingly she's had too much 'tea'." The two quickly came and took charge of the young woman while Adam tucked the baby in the crook of one arm while putting the other around his wife.
"Thea, this is Laura my cousin Will's wife. Laura, this is my wife, Theadora."
Thea turned her beautiful, intelligent eyes to Laura and gave the other woman her usual wide smile. Taking her hand, Thea tugged her forward and said, "I'm so glad to meet you, but you look so tired. And it's no wonder, I know we can be a bit much for some people." She looked up at her husband expectantly then. Adam immediately whistled his loudest piercing whistle. All conversation stopped.
"All right people, let's keep it down to a dull roar, we're giving Laura a headache," he called out. Everyone laughed then continued their conversations, but in much softer tones. Thea smiled at the blonde woman again and pulled her by the hand over to the table to an empty chair. "Sit down, I'll get you some coffee. You look like you need it."
Laura thankfully sat down and closed her eyes, feeling as though her nerves had been stretched to the breaking point. Her hostess was back in a moment with the coffee and she murmured a faint, "Thank you." Thea patted her on the shoulder then turned to Joe, who was sitting in the chair at the foot of the table, with a pointed look. The young man instantly stood, handed over Matthew and went to find another place to sit.
When Thea was seated she smiled at the other woman, but Laura seemed to be avoiding making eye contact. "Relax," she said quietly, "I know you and Adam were engaged years ago. Joe told me the whole story."
"Does everyone always do what you tell them to do?" Laura blurted out without thinking.
Thea narrowed her eyes in a wicked look. "Only if they know what's good for them."
That startled a quick laugh out of Laura and her hostess smiled with satisfaction. Mission accomplished - making her guest feel more comfortable.
Matthew decided he had been ignored long enough and claimed his mother's attention by reaching up and pressing both of his small hands across her lips. She chuckled and lifted the child to hold him standing up in her lap. They both leaned forward until their foreheads met and Matthew chortled with glee.
"You don't like not being the center of attention do you?" she said and the baby burbled in response as he bobbed up and down in her lap.
"He's a beautiful child," the other woman said wistfully and Thea immediately held him out to the other woman. Laura instinctively took the child and sat him in her lap. The two stared at each other blankly as Thea stood, gently stroked the boy's hair back from his forehead and said, "This is Matthew. I'll be right back."
"Matthew," Laura said softly and he grinned at her showing two small white teeth with a gap in between in the front. She shifted her hold on the child to one arm and turned her head to the left to look for Thea. She spotted the black-haired woman on the other side of the room just walking up to Adam.
Thea put a hand on his shoulder and he leaned down so she could whisper in his ear. He straightened abruptly, thrust the child into her arms and turned away to dash up the back stairs. When she turned back Laura could see she was laughing and continued to laugh as she sat down again. She turned the baby in her lap to face the other woman. "And this is Thomas."
"How old is he?" Laura asked as she reached out to touch his cheek with the tips of her fingers.
"Six months."
"And Matthew?"
"Six months, and so is Benjamin - they're triplets and were just born on Halloween."
Laura blinked in surprise, but at the same time wondered why she was - it was obvious they were all the same age.
"The twins turned five on New Year's Day." Thea continued as she wrapped her arms around Thomas and leaned down to kiss him on top of his head.
"I've never seen eyes that color before," the blonde-haired woman said, staring at him intently.
"He has my grandmother's eyes," Thea responded then nodded toward Matthew. "Now Matthew has his father's eyes and Benjamin's are exactly like his grandfather's.
Laura nodded, she had noticed. "Why did Adam rush off like that?" she said, wanting to change the subject.
"Well, he sent Dora and Hoss to take Cassie up to her room, but it's been a while since they did." She grinned, "I just reminded him that it's not a good idea to leave the two of them alone for very long, even though they ARE engaged."
The other woman's eyes opened wide. "You mean Hoss..." she couldn't seem to finish that thought.
"On no, Hoss is a gentleman. Dora, my cousin, is the problem. She's been after that poor man ever since she first laid eyes on him." Thea paused to chuckle and kiss her son again. "After all, a man can only take so much. I think we all will be relieved when they get married in two months." She glanced toward the stairs and put a hand over her mouth when she saw Hoss and Dora enter the room with red faces and downcast eyes.
Laura leaned forward to look too, just as Adam followed them through the doorway. He gave his wife a dark look from across the room and shook his head.
Thea still had her hand covering her mouth, but shook with muffled laughter. That made him grin and he started toward her, only pausing for a second to give Hoss a quick, disgruntled glance as he passed.
When he reached them, Thea was still trying to stop laughing and only nodded when he said, "Thank you for reminding me."
"I guess you made it in time then?"
"Yes," he said shortly.
"Just barely?"
"No," Adam shook his head again, "but I will be very glad when those two are married and I can stop being Hoss's bodyguard." Thea laughed again and Laura couldn't help but smile at that image too.
Adam chuckled briefly - it was hard not to respond to Thea's laugh - and observed, "Matthew is down for the count and Thomas looks like he's ready for bed too."
Laura hadn't noticed the child had fallen asleep in her arms and she reluctantly held him out to his father.
Thea stood and followed her husband, but paused to ask Barbara to look after the food in the oven and their newest guest.
The blond-haired woman was watching the couple as they stopped to collect Benjamin first, and then the twins who began to protest against bedtime. Adam only had to give them a stern look to make them stop complaining and hurry toward the stairs.
Sighing, Laura leaned back in her chair, and couldn't help but compare the Adam she used to know to the man he had become. The change in him was not only startling it was fascinating. Then her thoughts naturally turned to comparing him to Will.
Her high hopes for her marriage had not been realized, and the past year had been the worst. No matter what she did or how she tried to please her husband, he just kept becoming more critical, colder, and remote. And she had no idea why.
A hand settling on her shoulder made her jump in her chair. She turned to her left and found herself looking into a pair of lovely blue eyes, heavily lashed in gold and warmed by a faint touch of green. The woman smiled at Laura, making her already high cheekbones stand out even more.
"Anytime I see that look on a woman's face it means some idiot male is making her life miserable," she said as she reached up to tuck a stray strand of honey-blonde hair back into the chignon that nestled at the nape of her neck. Her over bright, only slightly inebriated eyes shone with sympathy for the other woman.
"Husband trouble?" she asked and Laura nodded reluctantly, not wanting to admit it.
Barbara patted her hand. "Don't you worry, dear. There's never been one born yet that didn't get his long johns in a twist about one little thing or another."
"No truer words have ever been spoken," a voice said to Laura's right. She turned to see Marie sitting in the chair Thea had just left. The black woman smiled her sweet, sweet smile. "It doesn't matter who or what they are child. Tall or short, fat or thin, handsome or ugly, rich or poor, they all act like children sometimes."
"Ain't that the truth," Barbara chuckled and stood. "Well here comes the happy couple so we better start getting this show on the road." All three women looked across the room to see Adam and Thea coming down the stairs.
Thea hurried over to them as Adam went to inform their guests it was time to take their seats. Laura sighed - she could tell it was going to be a long evening.
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
The clock in the hall struck twelve times and Laura gave up trying to sleep. Throwing back the covers, she was about to light the lamp when the sound of a door closing down the hall reached her hears. She hurried over to open her door a crack and saw Adam's broad back clad in a red shirt moving away from her toward the front stairs.
Laura retreated to the bed to sit there for a while in the dark, thinking. Coming to a decision, she pushed her feet into slippers and shrugged into a robe before following him. Thea had taken her on a brief tour of the house after dinner so she knew where Adam's office was. She assumed that was where he was going.
By the time she was standing in front of his closed office door her hands and feet felt icy and her nerves were almost screaming. She took a deep breath and knocked softly. There was a pause, then Adam's voice quietly said, "Come in."
Adam stood as he watched her walk into the room and he gestured to two overstuffed chairs in front of his desk that sat with their backs up against the back of a large sofa that faced a fireplace.
"Can't sleep? Are you worried about Will?" he asked as she sank into the first of the two chairs.
She looked at him mutely, her eyes huge in her pale face.
"Trust me. He IS in that jail and I promise you'll have him back tomorrow," Adam continued as he sat down behind his desk again. She did not respond and only continued to silently stare at him.
His eyes narrowed. "What is it?"
"I think I married the wrong man," she blurted out.
"What?" he said genuinely shocked.
"I think I married the wrong man. If I knew then what I know now, I never would have gone with Will..."
Adam held up a hand to stop her flow of words. "Laura," he said quietly, "stop. I don't want to hear it."
"But it's the truth! I must have been insane to choose him over you..."
"Stop," Adam said again then sighed. "I didn't want to tell you this, but you leave me no choice." He paused and shook his head. "Laura, I don't remember you."
She stared back at him stunned. "You don't?"
"I don't have one single memory of you. But don't take that personally, I didn't remember Pa, or Hoss, or Joe for six years either."
Her face turned red with embarrassment.
"I'm sorry if that hurt you, but you and everyone else need to understand one thing - nothing and no one will ever get in between me and my wife. I will not tolerate it. Thea is my best friend, my partner, and the mother of my children. I not only love her I respect her and she is now the heart of this family. I don't think we could survive without her." He smiled then said, "Isn't that right, Theadora?"
"Actually, I think it's getting pretty deep in here," Thea's voice came from behind the back of the large sofa where she must have been the whole time.
Adam laughed and Laura gasped as she stood to flee the room, but stopped when Thea said, "Hold it right there woman, don't you take one more step," in a hard voice.
She stood and came around the end of the sofa, never taking her eyes off Laura. "Adam, would you please go to bed now? We need to have a little chat in private."
"Well, you did use the magic word, so I can't refuse you. Just promise me one thing - don't hurt her, she IS still family."
"Believe me, if I had wanted to hurt her she'd be toothless and bald on the floor right now." She glanced at Adam then turned her gaze back to the woman standing with her head down and her hands covering her face.
"No," Thea continued, "I actually feel some sympathy for her. After all, she married a Cartwright and that's enough to severely confuse any woman and make her do foolish things."
Laura dropped her hands and looked up at Thea astonished as Adam chuckled.
"Alright, on that note I think I will take my leave. Good night, ladies." Adam was still chuckling as he left the room.
Thea moved forward to settle in the chair closest to her as the other woman watched her warily. She pulled her feet up under herself to sit partly sideways and leaned one elbow on the padded arm. Nodding toward the other chair she said, "Sit, we need to talk."
Laura reluctantly came to sit down stiffly; ready to take off running if necessary.
Smiling at the other woman's obvious fear Thea said, "First of all, I am duty bound to say if you ever try anything like that with my husband again I will be forced to hurt you."
The other woman's posture stiffened even more.
"Now," Thea continued, "I also want to say that taking up with another man won't solve your problem, it will only make things much, much worse." She paused to let that sink in. "So tell me everything."
"Everything?" Laura echoed, not understanding.
"Yes, everything from the first moment you realized something was seriously wrong with your marriage."
And so Laura did, surprised that everything came pouring out so easily to this woman she barely knew and was actually afraid of. But when she was finished unburdening herself she was sitting back in the chair, emotionally drained.
Thea's expression had been impassive at first, but the longer she listened the angrier she became. Somehow her expression managed to combine both that anger at Will and her sympathy for Laura. She remained silent for a few moments, thinking as she reached into a pocket and pulled out a handkerchief, which she absently handed to the other woman.
Laura wiped her face dry and sat up, not sure what would happen now. She glanced at Thea then looked quickly away, not wanting to break the silence.
"Well," Thea finally said as she turned her head to look at Laura, "its crystal clear to me what a large part of your problem is."
"What?" Laura said eagerly, turning in her chair to face Thea.
"You married a Cartwright and as wonderful as they are they still have this one little flaw they all share without exception." She paused and turned to look at Laura. "Woman, they will walk all over you if you give them the chance."
"What!" Laura's mouth dropped open.
"It's true. I know you thought you were doing the right thing, being a good little obedient wife, but that's the worse thing you can do with a Cartwright." She shook her head, "Dear Lord, you might as well have been wearing a sign that said 'Doormat - please wipe your feet on me'."
Laura continued to stare at Thea in disbelief for a while, but the more she thought about it, the more she could see that the other woman was right. Her eyes narrowed, her face turned red, and her fists clenched in her lap.
"Damn him!" she almost shouted, making Thea burst out laughing.
"Good girl!" she finally said. "That's the first step. Now, listen to me carefully because this is what you are going to do tomorrow when Adam brings that man back to you..."
