Chapter Twenty-Two

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Chapter Twenty-Two

Six Months Later

Rebecca offered Horace a heartfelt thank you as he helped her down from the buckboard they'd ridden into town. Rebecca was so thankful that she had friends these days after spending so much time feeling completely alone on that massive ranch.

Martin, and that horrible marriage, were a thing of the past and had been for nearly half a year. He hadn't put up any fight at all against her demands—especially when he found that even his best of friends had turned on him.

Rebecca was now the wealthiest woman in the territory with a massive ranch and stocks in growing industries. She was also quite overwhelmed. If it hadn't been for the ranch foreman who knew how to run things without any input from her and for her newfound friends in Horace, Lester, Marie and Sara, helping her make sense of her new financial gains, Rebecca would have made countless mistakes.

"Lord, child, it's been so long since I've been to town," Tillie announced as Lester helped her from the wagon as well.

Rebecca smiled at her friend. "You will always be welcome in town with me, Tillie." Martin had not allowed any of the colored help to come into town, except for Felix who had only been allowed to drive the cart, not enter any stores or establishments.

It was only one more reason Rebecca hated the man who had once been her husband. No one should be judged or hated simply based on the color of their skin. Tillie was a true godsend and had done nothing but treat Rebecca with kindness and compassion as she'd struggled through all these months of what was proving to be a rather difficult pregnancy.

It seemed she was always tired and the child inside her seemed determined to see its mother lose whatever she took into her stomach. Thanks to Tillie's knowledge, Rebecca had taken to drinking tea each morning, afternoon and night and it had greatly improved the state of her stomach.

"Oh look, Rebecca! We're here in time to see the train," Tillie cried with excitement. "I've always wanted to watch all those folks get off the train and meet their loved ones. Would ya mind terribly if we spent a few moments at the station?"

Rebecca smiled. They really were in no hurry today. "Of course we can," she replied. "You don't mind, do you Horace?"

"I don't mind at all," Horace agreed. "Would it be acceptable to you ladies if I stepped into the store while you see the train?"

Rebecca waved her hand. "Of course not. We will meet you back here when Tillie has had her fill of people watching."

Rebecca followed after Tillie, waddling with every step she took down the boardwalk. She didn't miss the way some people sneered at her, the way some moved away to avoid being to near. She heard the whispers and felt the stares. She hadn't escaped her divorce without earning quite a reputation with all the snob-nosed folks in town.

She was the scandalous divorcee, pregnant with a babe that did not belong to her husband and had no father to claim it. She was the woman who'd been kidnapped by ruffians and mutilated. Most would not shake her hand as if they feared her missing finger would somehow spread to them and cause their own appendages to begin to fall from their bodies.

No, Rebecca was not popular. But she had people who truly cared about her for the first time since moving to this booming western city—or at least since losing Brantley.

Thoughts of his dark green eyes and deep laughter caused that empty hole within Rebecca to deepen. She missed that man more with each passing day—with each and every kick of the babe they had made together growing in her belly.

Quickly, Rebecca pushed those thoughts aside before the tears burning behind her eyes could fall. Brantley was dead—deep down she knew that. It had been more than half a year since she had last seen his face and surely, if he'd been alive and able, he would have found a way to contact her by now.

Taking her attention from her melancholy thought, Rebecca focused her attention on Tillie and the excitement that the older woman was expressing at simply seeing passengers leaving a train.

The short walk to the train station had Rebecca feeling fatigued so she found a bench in the shade and sat down upon it. Tillie sat beside her and exclaimed over all the fancily dressed men and women leaving the train.

When a man in trail worn clothes stepped from the train, a young boy no more than three or four rushed forward from the crowd. "Daddy!" the boy exclaimed.

The man tossed down his luggage and the boy leaped into his arms, to be spun around and around.

Rebecca smiled at the bittersweet sight. Her child would never get to experience leaping into his or hers father's arms. She laid her hand on her ever-expanding stomach and thought about her own family.

She still had not heard from them. Not one word. Rebecca was beginning to accept the fact that perhaps her mother had passed on and her brothers had left to make their own lives. It made her heart ache to know that she would never again see them—but it was an old ache, an ache that had been there since she'd left home at sixteen.

Person after person left the passenger train. Rebecca would probably find the people watching a dull event if not for Tillie's excitement. She loved seeing her friend so happy after the woman had lived such a dull and boring life as Martin's servant.

Nearly all passengers had dismounted the car. Rebecca decided it was time to lift her heavy body from the bench. Being short and petite was certainly a bad thing when your middle expanded like a watermelon.

She grunted with effort but froze mid-heave when she saw a man step down the train steps. There was something familiar about him.. something familiar about the set of his shoulders and the line of his jaw.

He looked a lot like her late father.

Then he turned and held out a hand to help the woman stepping down after him. It was clear the woman, probably in her fifties, had lived a hard life. Working too hard did that to a woman. But it was also clear that she was beautiful. Short and petite, dark hair pulled back from her face and wide brown eyes—just like her daughter's. Just like Rebecca's.

"Rebecca, honey, are you alright?" Tillie questioned, her voice lit with concern as she fanned Rebecca's face. "You look pale as a snowflake."

Rebecca's mouth worked up and down several times, however no words would form. "Should I send for the doc?" Tillie demanded. "Is it the babe?"

No matter how hard Rebecca tried, no words would come from her mouth. That was her mother and her brother John. It had been a long long time since she'd laid eyes on either one of them but she recognized them—her heart recognized them.

"I am going to find the doctor," Tillie insisted, standing up.

Rebecca finally found her voice. "No..no, I don't need the doctor." She pointed a shaking hand at her mother and brother, who were busy collecting their luggage and either hadn't seen or hadn't recognized her as of yet.

"What are you pointing at? What's wrong with you, child?"

"That woman and that man... that's my brother and my mother."

Tillie followed her gaze. "Are you certain?"

"I'm certain," Rebecca replied. She glanced around one more time. Only her brother John had gotten off the train with her mother. Where was Thomas?

"If that's your kin, girl, go get them! You've been waiting on word from them for months."

Tillie's urging was the last nudge necessary to get Rebecca to rise from the bench. Her legs felt weak and shaky as she nervously made her way through the crowd. Would her family be glad to see her? They didn't know about her divorce or the child in her womb... what would her mama say?

She could not dwell on that. If Rebecca focused on her worries, she'd turn around, lift her skirts and run away without speaking a word to her mama or her brother.

They had their backs to her as she approached and Rebecca wrung her hands as she cleared her throat to gain their attention.

"Excuse me?" she called, her voice little more than a hoarse whisper.

John and Isabella turned quickly. Rebecca's eyes filled with tears as she looked into her mama's eyes. Eyes she hadn't been able to look into in over a decade. "Hi, mama."

Isabel's brown eyes widened. "Rebecca?"

"It's me, mama."

Without another second wasted, Isabelle threw her arms around Rebecca's neck and held her tight. "I'm so happy to see you!" she exclaimed. "After so long I never thought I'd see my baby girl again!"

"I'm happy to see you too, mama. Why didn't you tell me you were coming?"

Isabelle pulled away and daubed at the tears falling from her eyes. "Oh darling, I've sent you so many letters in the last decade and you never answered any of them. I didn't want to waste time sending another once I got your letter. I just told John it was time to go and we made plans to get out here."

Rebecca turned her gaze to her brother. She could hardly believe this was the same skinny, malnourished, more hair than head boy she'd known when she had left home so long ago.

"It's good to see you again, Becca," he said, though she noticed his voice was tight and his dark eyes didn't seem all that happy to see her.

Rebecca frowned and looked at her mother's heavily lined face. "Mama, where's Thomas? Why isn't he with you?"

Sadness filled Isabelle's brown eyes. "Your brother took sick and died shortly after you came out west. I sent you word, didn't you get it?"

Rebecca's frown deepened as she chewed on her lip. This was the second time her mama was mentioning sending her letters but Rebecca had never received a single letter from her family.

Anger burned in her gut when she realized she had yet another sin to add to the list of horrendous things Martin had done. Clearly he had intercepted each and every letter her family had attempted to send to her since she had left home.

"Mama, John, we have a lot to talk about. I need to let you know exactly what's been happening here the last ten years and I want to know how your lives have been."

"Looks like it's been good to you. You're nice clothes and your servant and it looks like you're gonna have a baby."

Rebecca didn't miss the anger in her brother's tone. Why was he so upset with her? She met his gaze and held it. "Looks can be deceiving." She turned her attention back to her mother. "Come on, let's get you both out to the ranch and we can really talk. I have a feeling the conversation will be a long one."

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