A.N - I'm sorry about the delay, and the lack of JS romance as yet, but I promised I will update soon with the pair moving on in their relationship. xD. It's times like this that I hate Historical fics, considering they can't move as fast as some people would today. Hehe.
But yeah. I promise I'll update soon - before Christmas even.
On a final note, I'd like to remind everybody, again, of Simon Says: It's Award Time! There's still time to nominate your favourite stories. :)
Chapter Four
I closed my long fingers over Susannah's dainty wrist, ignoring for now the jolt of electricity that shot through me, as I gently pulled her around from behind the bar and out a side door into the darker alley. When I looked back at her, her head was down and her long chestnut hair had fallen forward to hide her beautiful face.
"Susannah," I whispered, my finger going to rest just underneath her cheek as I gently tilted her face up towards me. Her emerald eyes glistened with unshed tears. "Susannah, you are not an 'oddity'." She winced at my use of her word. "Paul Slater is simply a rogue who knows not what he has in you."
I smiled at her tightly; trying to reassure her even whilst my own feelings surrounded the matter influenced my words of advice.
"He's a fool, querida." The hat that had been hanging low on my head, since first entering the saloon, I pushed off finally baring my face to her gaze and I bore my eyes into her own to show her how much I meant the words I spoke. "And I envy, as well as pity, him for the fact that he has you, he has your love, and he doesn't know what to do with it."
Susannah smiled at me.
"He does," she whispered. "He does love me back, I know it."
The confirmation of her love for Paul Slater broke my heart, but I continued smiling. Susannah needed a friend; not a suitor.
"Thank you, Jesse." She smiled at me more prominently now, the glow of it making the water in his eyes sparkle all the more appealingly. "It's nice to finally talk to you."
The grin stretched across my mouth automatically; it seemed that Susannah was the type of person you couldn't help but smile around.
"Yeah, you too."
"Susannah!" Paul's voice echoed against the walls around us, angry as he searched for his missing girl. "We need you back on that bar! People are starting to leave and I need you and your pretty face to keep them here buying more drinks!"
I shook my head. He really doesn't see Susannah for anything more then beauty. Paul Slater is a greedy, superficial man.
Her bottom lip had been help captive by her white teeth – a more enchanting sight I had never before seen – and I had to physically restrain myself from staring at the sight.
"Suze!" He shouted yet again.
"I suppose I should better go," her voice, like chimes, rang in my ear, "But I really hope we can talk again." She smiled. "I could do with a friend like you."
"Yes," I agreed. "Of course."
A friend …
With a small wave and not another word, Susannah left me alone in the darkness, disappearing to find Paul Slater, her love.
--- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- ---
I left my shirt unbuttoned as I began about shaving the newly-acquired, yet awfully annoying, stubble that had decorated my face. I couldn't do with the sun boiling down on the dry land and myself.
It would be a quiet day – Sunday is the day of rest after all. After I finished my task, I was accompanying my family to the local parish with Father Dominic leading the service. Father Dominic had always been more of a father to me then my own; always listened to my problems from childhood and offering me advice. Father Dominic was my confidante, and I had many things to confide in him following the service.
Just as I had to think of a way to tell my father that his niece isn't all we thought her to be. Still, in the eyes of the community, we were happily engaged but in my heart she'd already been cast aside, tore out of my life with the pain of her betrayal fresh in my mind. It's not as if I loved Maria, and was willing to devote every moment of our married life to her, but it is still the disgrace that she has brought upon the De Silva name.
"Jesse?" I heard Jake Ackerman call as he entered the small Sheriff's office, luckily just as I completed my task of removing the harsh stubble on my face. "Are you in here?"
I walked out to meet him, both of us extending our arms to participate in a manly hug of greeting.
"I'm glad I caught you, Jesse." Jake smiled as he sat in my chair and put his feet up on the desk, looking for the entire world as if he was the Sheriff of this small town. "I have been given the task of inviting you to spend Sunday lunch with the Ackerman household."
My ears picked up at the offer and I cast my eye surreptitiously in his direction. He was watching me with a bored expression on his face.
"You, and your fiancée, of course." Jake finished.
I shook my head.
"I hate to disappoint you," I began seriously, "but I don't think my fiancée will remain as such for much longer."
Jake pushed himself out of the chair.
"Why?" He asked. "What happened?"
It was probably too soon to reveal the truth of Paul Slater's saloon to him, in spite of the fact that he had every right to know, considering his position in both mine and Susannah's lives.
"She's just not the girl I once thought she was."
"Finally!" Jake exclaimed, patting me on the back. "Jesse De Silva has seen the light!"
I shrugged him off with a smile.
"But, of course," I continued. "I would be honoured to join you for Sunday lunch."
Jake smiled.
"Great, now there's someone at the table I can have a real conversation with. Paul Slater only seems to like talking about his businesses and, to be honest, I don't particularly care." He puffed out his shoulders, mocking a businessman stance. "I'm more of a working-from-the-land kind of guy."
He relaxed into his normal stance.
"I'll see you in church then." Jake confirmed, waiting for my answering nod before saying his 'goodbyes' and leaving the office.
--- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- ---
Father Dominic was of no particular help; he didn't give me the answer I'd been wanting.
Just after his service I'd gone to find him and told him all about my conflicting feelings for Susannah, and the way Paul Slater treats her, and Father Dominic's reply was to just 'leave them be'. That, sooner or later, Paul would realise how special Susannah is and begin to cherish her like any other Christian man would the one he loves.
So, faced with the knowledge that it would be frowned upon in the eyes of the church to help Susannah out of her relationship I settled for remaining her friend.
It was a good enough thought, one that I was able to play well. Acting with Susannah the way I did with David, the youngest Ackerman boy.
The plan was ruined when Paul Slater entered the dining room and took his seat next to Susannah, barely gracing her with a smile before turning to her father and beginning to talk about how well his saloon was doing, and how much profit he had made.
That, on its own, had made me angry. But what made me furious was the fact that Susannah continued smiling and took it in her stride – which meant that she was obviously used to that kind of treatment of her.
As she smiled at me, her eyes sparkling once again, I vowed to treat her as Paul should. Even if I could never hold the place in her heart that he does.