*Author's Note*
Thank you for the favs, follows, and reviews.
Portland
Jessa POV:
Perry waved me over, only to gesture to the leather sofa near his desk. "Jessa, please, come have a seat. We have much to talk 'bout."
Nodding, I quickly made my way over to the sofa while feeling as if I was in a fishbowl. Taking a seat on the soft, leather sofa, I told the McCoy family lawyer, "Aunt Betty told me to come and ask about for some legal advice. She also told me that my Cousin Nancy explained everything about my situation to you."
"Do you want to tell her the great news, or you want me to?" Brenton asked while getting up from his desk and making his deeper into the room.
"I'll do it, Brenton. You have no tact." Perry said matter-of-factly as his brother-in-law, that looked like Scott Eastwood in my opinion, flopped down on the sofa next to me. Turning to me with a sly smirk on his foxlike face, Perry announced, "After hearing from Nancy Freeland the lengths you went to in order to protect Tolbert and try to keep him alive, Brenton and I dug into some records with some help from his in-laws, Senator Billings and Lawyer Brock Brooksdale, and have uncovered that you, Jessa, are in fact still legally bound to Tolbert as his common-law wife due to him never removing you from legal documents."
"So, what Bad Frank told me outside a few minutes ago's true? That without some kind of legal document or having me removed from accounts, I'm still Miss McCoy?"
"Ah, yes, Mr. Phillips did indeed tell you the truth." Perry told me while at the same time, his brother-in-law deadpanned, "Nobody calls him Bad Frank to his face or calls him it twice and lives."
Perry gave Brenton a dirty look, only to berate him with, "Don't tell her that! She doesn't need to fear the man that's our head lawman, you tactless oaf." Brenton rolled his eyes at Perry as the lawyer turned to me and said, "Although we here in Kentucky know that the legality of that sham West Virginian marriage of yours to Shaw Eldridge isn't legal, we'll need to file some papers with their courts to ensure that they recognize the forceful fraud the Hatfields put upon you."
"Okay." I nodded. "Then file the papers."
"That, my dear, will take some time."
"How much time?" I asked, hoping that it would just be a few weeks.
"Well…" Perry sighed, while at the same time Brenton Landon bluntly blurted out, "A year."
"What? Why that long?"
"Well...Kentucky law is that you have to live in the state for at least a year before submitting legal work to dissolve a marriage that's from another state."
"Even if the marriage ain't legally recognized here?"
"Sadly, yes, that's the way the law's written."
"Oh…" I sighed, feeling a bit disappointed that I'm stuck in Kentucky for at least a year. I wanted to get word out to Tolbert and leave, but I also wanted to make sure that West Virginia had legal papers sent by my family lawyer claiming that my marriage to Shaw Eldridge was invalid due to me having never been officially divorced from Tolbert.
"Anyways…" Perry drawled out as a way to direct the subject off Kentucky's asinine divorce law and onto something else. Leaning back in his chair and folding his hands onto his mahogany desk, the family lawyer told me, "T.C. Crawford's been sent word to come here for an important feud story. It was going to be about Jefferson's murder, but I think that if you told him your story of how much you've done to fight for and preserve the safety of the McCoy family, it'd make readers see how evil the Hatfields are and bring more supporters to our cause."
Brenton's rection to Perry's suggestion wasn't good. Not at all. In fact, his eyes were large, round saucers as he yelled, "Jesus, Perry! You want her to air out all her dirty laundry for the country to read? Are you nuts?! She'll put a target on her back since, I'm sure, Shaw's going to wanna finish what he started."
"As long as my location's not revealed I'll do it." I told Perry, causing Brenton to snap his head at me in disbelief. A happy smirk spread over Perry's face, but before the lawyer could utter a word, I gave him the condition of, "As long as T.C. Crawford writes down everything I say word for word and doesn't censor it, I'll tell my story."
"He will." Perry assured me. The look on my face must've gave away that I didn't truly believe him, because he added in, "He's never censored a McCoy story to my knowledge."
"My story's long and parts of it aren't for the faint of heart, Perry. The paper might want him to censor it." I knew that certain topics were taboo to talk about in public during the 19th century, and many of those topics just happened to make up the majority of my life.
"That New York paper ain't gonna make him do shit." Brenton cackled, causing me and Perry to give him curious looks. "T.C.'s the golden goose of the New York Globe, they'll let him write anything he wants since it's getting them on top." The legal assistant explained his logic. "Your story paired with a picture of how awful you look'll make that paper millions." He added in before rising from the sofa and returning to his desk.
"Ignore him, Jessa. You know he doesn't have any manners." Perry advised me. "I'm sure you want to get back to Aunt Betty and your children, so I won't keep you any longer. I'll send word when T.C. Crawford's in town; I'll also arrange for the interview to take place at Lawyer Brock Brooksdale's home."
"Thank you, Perry. I really appreciate this." I genuinely told the lawyer before getting up from the sofa.
"You're welcome." He simply replied. Before I could move away from the sofa, he asked, "Will you be attending Jefferson's funeral tomorrow with Aunt Betty? It's being held at the McCoy family cemetery here in Kentucky."
"Yes, I'll be there. My Cousin Nancy needs me right now, just like I need her friendship during this time." I answered Perry before striding over to the door and exiting the office.
Shaw POV:
Pulling his pipe from his mouth, Devil Anse asked, "But why would she just take the chil'ren and leave without telling you?", as we stood near the steam engine run saw that Lias was runnin'.
"Dunno." I shrugged. Pulling my cigarette case and matchbook out of my pocket, I explained my brother's theory. "Todd suggested that wit' things heatin' up wit' the McCoys an' the county hunters that Jessa got spooked; prolly went to Granny Delize's in Virginia."
My cousin's cold, hard gaze bore into me as I lit up my smoke. He took a puff of his pipe as I returned my cigarette case and matchbook to my pocket. "You sure that's why she left? That it didn't have nothin' to do with the father of her youngest son?" He asked as I took my first drag off my cig.
"I'm Endor's daddy, Anse." I fiercely barked. Pointing my cigarette into his face, I lowly growled, "My son's not the reason she left. You not bein' able to lead us into a resolution of it is."
"Shaw, you're not that boy's daddy. Tolbert McCoy is." My second cousin coldly told me, making my blood run cold. I worked so hard to keep that rumor at bay, and here's the head of my family spreading it all over. His cold stare bore into me as we smoked. "And whether you want to think it or not, with her we had a fox in the henhouse." He held his hand up to stop me from protesting, and continued on with, "She was planted in our family by the McCoys, being that you had a blind obsessive love for her, and now that her job's done she's gone back to her own. Her true own."
Was Anse serious right now? How could he think that bullshit? "Jessa's my wife, Anse. She wasn't some plant using me for the McCoy's benefit."
Pulling his pipe down from his lips once more, Devil Anse started his rebuttal with, "I beg to differ, cousin." Watching me as I blew a ring of smoke from my lips, the logger cut me down with his cruel and cold words of, "She got knocked up with Tolbert McCoy's bastard while she was supposed to be your woman. Clearly, she never gave two-shits about you; you were a means to an end. A way for the McCoys to have a bonafide spy in our family." Pointing his pipe in my face, he spat, "Your blind obsessive love for her made you blind to her and that crazy redhead lover of her's intentions towards our family. You vouched for her; had my uncle and cousin vouch for her. Hell, you even talked me into trusting the McCoy lover all cause of your feelings for her." Shaking his head, Anse coldly told me, "Pack your things, we'll be leaving soon and I want everyone gathered at the main house in order to go at an instant's time."
"Fine, I'll go home and pack even tho it's not like I got much to pack up now anyways." I grumbled, only to toss my finished smoke away and storm off.
Cold bastard doesn't seem to be worried about how I'm feeling. Doesn't even want to believe Todd's theory about Jessa fearing for the safety of our kids and running off to Granny Delize's. Fuck, my sister Mary's staying with the old hag so of course Jessa'd head there. But no….Devil Anse wants to believe that my wife's a fuckin' traitor.
Roseanna POV:
It was early mornin' an' the sun was halfway up in the sky as I stood at the stove in our kitchen, makin' breakfast while Johnse got ready for the day. Our home was in a port city called Portland. It was a town at what's said to be the end of the Oregon trail. It's near a mouth of a river; it's also isn't far from the large loggin' camp my husband works at.
Johnse was right when he told me all the things he read 'bout this place. It was clear, sparklin' rivers an' streams full of fish as long as yer arm. It also had so many trees, so many that loggin' was a larger business then it was back in the Tug. So many men were needed to cut down the logs, that the camps were filled with hundreds, not just a couple handfuls, of men.
Also, the houses, tho wooden, were placed together in rows on the streets that were endless in the large city. Portland was so large, it was said t'have nearly 20,000 people livin' in the city. I don't know how true that was, but I believed it. My new hometown was large an' have every single shop imaginable in it. Of course, Portland also had many saloons, gamblin' halls, an' brothals in it was well, but that part of town wasn't near the area Johnse found us a home in.
No, Johnse made sure that we lived in a nice area that Sarah Elizabeth could grow up happy an' safe in. He also made sure that we had everythin' we could possibly need since he worked hard at the loggin' camp. He even stayed for night watches to earn extra money for our family. Our family which'll be expandin' in a few months since I was expectin' 'gain.
"Mornin', my beautiful, sweet darlin'." Johnse greeted me, kissin' my cheek as after comin' up behind me as I scrambled eggs t'et.
Lookin' over my shoulder, I smiled at Johnse. "Mornin', Johnse."
Wrappin' his arms around my waist, he asked, "How's the baby treatin' ya? Not makin' ya sick I hope."
"No." I shook my head as I scraped the eggs onto a servin' platter. "So far I haven't had the mornin' sickness yet."
"That's odd. Maybe you should see a midwife or a doc 'bout that?" Johnse suggested while pulling away from me, so I'd be able to finish cookin' up breakfast.
"Sometimes durin' a pregnancy the mornin' sickness don't happen or it's very short-lived. It's nothin' to be concerned 'bout." I assured Johnse while grabbing the bacon I had laid out on the nearby counter an' placin' it into the fryin' pan.
"Oh, I didn't know that."
"Y'didn't know that an' yer the oldest?" I giggled while the bacon crackled in the blazin' hot pan it was dropped into.
"Hey, I'm a logger not a doctor." My husband playfully protested. "I wasn't payin' that much attention to when my mama was expectin', just enough to know she always had mornin' sickness." He explained while grabbing himself a mug from a nearby cupboard. "Y'want me to wake up Sarah Elizabeth for breakfast or y'wanna let her sleep?" Johnse asked while pourin' himself some coffee.
"You ask me this every mornin' Johnse and every mornin' I tell ya the same thing. Wake her up or else she'll be sad that she didn't get t'et wit' her poppy."
Takin' a sip of his coffee, he smiled, "I'll go get her." Givin' me a kiss on the cheek, he handed me his mug and said, "By time the bacon's done we'll be out." I smiled and took a sip of his coffee as he took off upstairs to wake up our daughter. Our daughter that only had us right now, instead of her cousins an' hoards of aunts an' uncles but was safe an' far away from the deadly family blood feud that she was born into.
AN:
Well…believe it or not, we're one step closer to Tolbert and Jessa's reunion. Next chapter will be T.C. Crawford's uncensored tell all article about Jessa's life in the feud. I'm not showing Jefferson's funeral, but Jessa will talk about it in her interview with T.C.