CHAPTER FIFTY-TWO
Saturday's lunch at the cafe, followed by a ride out in a buggy which Hank had hired for the afternoon was great fun, Samantha particularly enjoying the excursion out of town. Hank drove the horse fast and the little girl squealed in excitement, bouncing on Myra's lap.
Hank dropped them off at the house at four o'clock, then returned the buggy and went to the guest house to bathe and put on his best suit. He arrived for supper promptly at seven o'clock and Myra let him in. She was wearing a deep red evening gown, the exact same colour as the rubies in her ring.
"Hey, beautiful," Hank said, bending to kiss her.
"Uncle Hank!" Samantha scampered down the corridor towards him, arms stretched out and behind her two slightly older children appeared, standing still as Suzannah stepped out of the dining room behind them.
Hank scooped Samantha up into his arms and she cried out in delight, earning a disapproving frown from Myra's sister. The look switched from Samantha to Hank and he realised instantly that Suzannah was not going to make things easy for Myra with regard to her marrying him. The younger woman had come an awful long way from the shack by the creek in Denver and he wondered if her stiff-looking husband, Edward, even knew where she came from.
The meal was awkward if nothing else, with very little conversation taking place. Suzannah's children ate in silence and Samantha did her best, although her apparent delight with Hank's appearance at supper encouraged her to begin chattering to him on more than one occasion. Myra hushed her gently once and the second time Edward spoke up, reminding Samantha that children needed to be quiet at the table. Samantha fell silent, eyes round and filling with tears, her bottom lip trembling.
"Leave her alone," Hank growled.
"Hank," Myra said under her breath, eyeing him a little worriedly.
"Children are expected to exhibit good manners in this house, particularly during meals," Edward said sternly.
"Well, Sam ain't yours," Hank remarked. "Treat yer own how ya like, but leave Myra's to her."
"Who are you to give instructions on the raising of my sister-in-law's child?" asked Edward.
"Her step-father, as good as."
"But not yet. While she resides in this house, she will live by my rules."
"And thank God that ain't gonna be for much longer," grunted Hank.
Suzannah gasped and Edward's frown deepened. Myra glanced at Hank again, her head lowered, but her lips now twitching in her efforts to restrain a smile. Hank simply glowered, horrified to discover what Myra and Samantha's lives had been like since they came to St Louis.
"I dread to think how the child will turn out, with such a poor role model to influence her," Edward finished.
"I expect she will grow up happy, Edward," Myra said.
Edward didn't respond to this and after the meal ended, Suzannah went to make coffee and he sent their children from the room. Myra picked up Samantha and took her into the drawing room, holding her on her lap. Hank sat down beside her on the couch.
"Edward's exactly like my brothers," Hank whispered while they were still alone. "Who's he think he is?"
"I'm sorry," Myra said.
"Don't say sorry to me, ya can't help yer relatives," Hank grinned.
Edward and Suzannah came into the room then, Suzannah carrying a tray of coffee cups and a large jug of strong coffee. Stilted conversation continued for another hour and then Hank decided to excuse himself. He could quite easily have drawn Edward into an argument, which likely would have ended with him punching the man and he didn't want to make things more awkward for Myra. She saw him to the door now and he promised to meet them outside the church in the morning. Hank pulled the door open and then leaned against the jamb for a moment.
"Hope the Reverend ain't gonna keep us waitin' long," he grinned. "Sooner we're married, sooner I can get the pair of you away from them two sourpusses."
Myra giggled now and smothered it with her hand. "I do love Suzannah, of course I do, but I have to say I never liked her choice of husband. All his family are like that."
"Ya weren't tempted by any of his brothers, then, when ya came to her weddin'?" Hank teased.
"Mostly I was too busy thinking about you," Myra confessed.
"I worried ya wouldn't come back," admitted Hank. "Think it was then I realised I really loved ya." He reached out now and drew her closer to him, bending to kiss her. For a long moment they clung together until Suzannah interrupted.
"Myra!" she hissed. "What if the neighbours see you?"
"What if they do?" Myra said over her shoulder.
"I'll see ya tomorrow," Hank told her and walked off slowly up the drive, hoping Myra's sister and her stuffy husband weren't going to upset either her or Samantha any more.
In the morning, Hank discovered the pair of them had done just that. Myra arrived at the guest house with Samantha at nine o'clock, her eyes tired and red and her face pale. Hank took her into the lounge and closed the door.
"What happened?" he asked, resting an arm around her shoulders as they sat together on the sofa. She sighed heavily and a tear spilled over and trickled down her cheek.
"I could understand Edward, but not Suzannah," she sniffed. "They won't come to our wedding. They spent half the night after you'd gone telling me what a mistake I'm making."
"Didn't like me, huh?"
"I hadn't realised how prim Suzannah had become; Edward has influenced her so much and she's told him all about our past, how I worked for you. They think I'll end up being twice-divorced and stuck in the middle of nowhere alone with Samantha. I know that's not gonna happen, but it's still upsetting to hear." Myra pulled out a lace-edged hankerchief and dabbed at her tears. "I'm sorry."
"Don't be sorry, better to let it out," Hank said. "Don't let 'em bother ya. I know she's yer sister, but from what I can see, since she went off to college yer nothin' alike and it's you that's the better person. If they ain't gonna come to the weddin', it's them's missin' out. It's gonna be our day, the way we want it. The hell with 'em."
Myra smiled wanly. "You're right. I'm just gonna tell Suzannah she's welcome at the ceremony, but she and Edward can stop their interfering." She wiped her eyes again and straightened up. "We better get to the church, otherwise we'll end up arriving in the middle of the service and giving them something else to disapprove of." She smirked a little now.
"God forbid," grinned Hank. He got to his feet and picked up Samantha. "Gonna sit with Uncle Hank in church?"
"Yeah!" exclaimed Samantha, wrapping her arms around his neck.
The service was long and Hank and Samantha both did their best not to yawn and fidget, while Myra sat beside them pursing her lips up in an effort not to smile and Suzannah and Edward, the other side of Myra, frowned in Hank's direction occasionally. Afterwards, the pair stalked off with their children, leaving Hank and Myra behind.
After everyone had left the church, Myra introduced the Reverend to Hank and he was delighted to hear they were to be married. He offered them a choice of Friday afternoon or the following Sunday after the usual service.
"Friday," Hank and Myra both said together, without even looking at each other.
The Reverend smiled. "You two are so obviously in tune, I'm sure your life together will be very happy."
The time was agreed for two o'clock and then Hank accompanied Myra and Samantha back to the house to convey the news to Suzannah and Edward, even though they had already told Myra they wouldn't be attending. Neither of them said much, but both made it clear they thought Myra would regret it and refused to support her by attending.
"Well, that's up to you," Myra said. "I'm sorry you feel that way, but I know I'm making the right decision. I'll be out of your house on Friday and we'll be leaving for Colorado on Saturday morning."
"You don't have to go," Suzannah said suddenly. "Perhaps you could find a home here in St Louis."
"I don't want to stay in St Louis," Myra told her. "All my friends are in Colorado Springs and Hank has a business and home there."
"You mean saloon," Edward muttered. "What kind of home is that for a child?"
"It's an hotel," Myra said, moving towards the door again. "We're going out, please don't expect us back for supper."
Hank opened the door for her and picked up Samantha.
"Ya wanna go back to the guest house?" he asked as they walked up the drive.
Myra nodded, gripping his arm tightly. She looked miserable and he seethed quietly, wishing he could have gone back and confronted Edward with his fists. It wouldn't help the situation, but it would have made him feel better.
Myra and Samantha stayed at the guest house until the evening. Mrs Claybourne even provided the three of them with supper, sympathetic when Hank explained Myra's family weren't happy with her choice of husband and wouldn't make him welcome at their house. The woman, who had spent thirty years happily married before her husband died, liked to see couples in love and wished them well. Hank told her he would be keeping his room until after the wedding, but moving out afterwards to spend one night in an hotel with Myra and Samantha before they left for Colorado.
Hank walked Myra home in the evening, carrying Samantha who was now sleeping and said goodbye to them at the door, promising to meet up for lunch after Myra finished work the next day. However, he had plans of his own for the morning.
At ten o'clock on Monday he was back at Suzannah's house, deciding to see if there was anything he could do to improve things between Myra and her sister. It seemed Edward was a lost cause, but Suzannah had at least showed some disappointment that Myra would be leaving St Louis.
He rang the bell and waited. A moment later Suzannah opened the door herself. The house seemed very quiet and he guessed Edward was at work and the children at school.
"What are you doing here?" Suzannah asked primly.
"I wanna talk to ya," said Hank.
"Well, I'm sorry, it's not convenient just now."
She clearly wasn't doing anything important and merely wanted to avoid talking to him. He pushed the door wider now and stepped into the hallway. "Make it convenient, then!"
"How dare you! I'll have you arrested!" cried Suzannah, taking several steps backwards.
"For what? Talkin'? Listen to me, Suzannah. Ya may not like me; I don't much care whether ya do or ya don't. But I'm guessin' ya care for yer sister," he began.
"Of course I do, that's why I don't want to see her making the mistake of tying herself to you again!"
"I ain't finished!" growled Hank. "Myra started workin' for me to put a roof over yer head, to make sure ya had food and clothes and an education. She didn't have to do it, she chose to 'cause she thought it was her best option. Then she carried on workin' for me, even though she coulda left if she wanted, so you could go to college and have a chance to get yer rich husband and yer fancy house. She did that for you! She saved every penny for it, never bought herself a thing."
A mixture of emotions passed over Suzannah's face, from shock to guilt and finally sadness.
"I ain't pretendin' I'm a saint all of a sudden," Hank continued. "Far from it. I made more mistakes in ten years than most folks make in their whole lives, but things are different now. I'm what Myra wants and I'm gonna marry her and give her and Samantha a better life than either of 'em had so far, so don't ya think you owe her just a tiny bit of support after all she done for you?"
Suzannah remained silent for a long moment, staring back at him, her teeth nibbling at her lower lip. "I'm sorry, Hank. You're right," she said at last. "Of course I want Myra to be happy and I have to admit, she looks happier now than I've seen her before. I just don't want to see things go wrong for her again."
"They ain't gonna go wrong," Hank said. "I'm gonna make sure of it. So now it's your turn to make her happy. Ya gonna come to the weddin'?"
"I'd like to, but Edward..." Suzannah stopped with a sigh.
"Tell him yer gonna support yer sister. He ain't yer boss," Hank said. Edward wasn't much of a man either, but he held his tongue on that point. "Sides, he'll be at work, won't he?" he added with a wink. "I guess ya could just not tell him."
"No, I'll tell him," Suzannah said. "You're right, I should be supporting Myra. I'll be there on Friday."
"Thanks." Hank smiled now. "Ya gonna tell her I stopped by?"
"No." Suzannah shook her head slightly. "You shouldn't have had to come and tell me to want my own sister to be happy."
"Well, I ain't gonna tell her. Let her think ya changed yer mind on yer own."
"Thank you."
Hank nodded and left the house, pulled a cigar out and strolled back down the drive and across town, smoking and smiling to himself. One problem was dealt with and he decided to spend the rest of the morning organising an hotel room for Friday night and another suit for himself to wear. Both were dealt with reasonably quickly and then he sent a telegram to his manager at the Gold Nugget, advising him he would be arriving back in Colorado Springs the following Monday. He couldn't help grinning to himself as he imagined what everyone would think when he returned with a wife.