The Blessed Blend (13 page)

Jim looked at Darlene and shrugged. “Well, more specifically, it involves you,” he said as he pointed his chin at Euan, “and Callie. The two of you are going to start doing your chores together.”

John sat back, his eyes wide. Then, looking at Euan, he said morosely, “It’s been nice t’ hae been acquainted wi’ ye, Euan. I’ll miss ye
shuirly an ootthrou
.”

“Och, thanks lad,” Euan replied drily. “I hope ye’ll remember me fondly.”

Three of Mountain Rose’s young cousins were staying the night, most likely because their nosy parents wanted to get some information about the newest member of the family. Lizzie, Beth Ann Crowe, and Heather Boone joined Mountain Rose in playing
‘Beauty Salon’
, using Euan, John, Caleb, and Eli as ‘
customers
’. Lacie, Caleb’s girlfriend, had come over after dinner and was supervising the giggling group of little girls as they brushed, combed, and attempted to style the men’s long locks.

From the complaints, they were mostly yanking at it.

“Och!” John protested to Lizzie. “Can ye nae pull sae hard, lassie? M’ haid’s nae made o’ rubber, ye ken?”

Jim’s black eyes sparkled with mirth as he looked up from a book. “That’s why I keep mine cut short,” he said. “Nothing to get yanked out.”

Caleb sat on the floor with his arms crossed across his chest, his black hair pulled up rather unevenly in several ponytails and braids festooned with brightly-colored ribbons and pony-tail holders with plastic butterflies, flowers, kittens, stars, and rainbow decorations. Looking at his fellow similarly-adorned guinea pigs, he said, “God, I hope this never makes it to YouTube. We’d never be able to show our faces in public again.”

Eli shrugged and replied, “Well, we’d be providing some world-class entertainment. Heck, we’d be famous!”

“Famously fruity,” retorted Caleb. “Might as well take to wearin’ dresses and high heels.”

John’s face flushed and he said quickly, “D’ ye need t’ be givin’ the wee lassies ideas like tha’? For chrissake, shut it!”

Eli grinned mischievously and teased, “A bit insecure in your manhood, there? Hell, I’d do it just
for
the laughs!”

“Yeah, well around these parts you might get a few proposals, too,” Darlene joked as she pulled a stitch in the piece she was beading. “Those Dancey boys are always pretty hard up for a date.”

Lacie wrinkled her nose and said with no small amount of disgust, “That’s because they don’t know how to bathe or brush their teeth. They smell bad enough to make a buzzard puke!”

Caleb smirked. “Obviously you’ve never had the pleasure of having to use the bathroom after my brother there gets done with his business. Even the Danceys would smell good compared to that!”

Everyone shared a good laugh. The ‘customers’
began poking fun at each other, keeping all of the adults entertained. The hairstylists, however, were a bit too young to get the jokes.

Mountain Rose was trying to comb her father’s hair, her small hands overwhelmed by the long, thick, wavy locks. “Your hair’s pretty, Daddy,” she said. “Grandma says it’s just like mine. Do you think so?”

Euan smiled and patted her leg where it was draped across his shoulder. “Aye, lass,” he answered. “Ye an’ yer brother both hae m’ hair, an’ ye hae yer mathair’s pretty eyes.”

Mountain Rose giggled, pleased by the compliment. “Mama has pretty hair but Aunt Nancy Jo doesn’t think so. She says Mama should be blonde so she can get a man.”

“I ken yer aunt should mind her ain business,” Euan said rather quickly. “Yer mathair’s hair is fine as it is.”

“And she doesn’t need a man,” the child said, nodding in agreement. “She’s got you, Daddy!”

John started laughing so hard he almost choked. Caleb bent forward as he guffawed, eliciting a protest from Beth Ann as he pulled away from her, and Eli fell over sideways laughing himself silly. Lacie and Darlene couldn’t help but crack up laughing. Even Euan was enjoying a good laugh at his own expense.

 
“What’s so funny?” asked Lizzie, the confused look on her face mirrored by that of the other little girls, which only made the adults laugh harder.

“Oh, sweetie,” wheezed Darlene, “you’ll get it in a few years! For right now, just enjoy being little girls!”

“Amen to that,” said Jim under his breath as he thought about his big girl. While Callie had never been a giggly girly-girl like his other daughter, granddaughter, and great-nieces, she had once been much freer with her laughter, finding the humor in most things and even in herself. She hadn’t laughed as often when she returned from Scotland and had instead become somewhat reclusive with her emotions. Now that he understood what had happened, he wondered if perhaps the man who had broken her heart might hold the medicine to heal it and restore her to the good-natured young woman she had been before. Time would tell, he thought with a sigh.

The next day found Euan and Callie gathering old hay and manure to scatter over the five acre garden. “This is
so
appropriate, don’t you think?” Callie asked sarcastically. “I get to spend the whole damned day with
… manure
!”

Euan tried to ignore the insult. He hadn’t done a thing to her this morning. In fact, he’d gone out of his way to be as polite as possible. Over the past few days Callie had been disrespectful to him at every turn, trying to goad him into a fight. Her own siblings had called her a bitch to her face and her elders had reprimanded her repeatedly for her behavior. Even the twins had taken notice of her attitude and had pleaded with her to stop.

His temper was strained to the point that he was afraid that he would explode and the only thing helping him to hold it back was the fact that he didn’t want to hurt his children by venting his anger and frustration on their mother. He tried to remind himself of how sweet she could be but found it more than a bit difficult to do at the moment.

Finally he asked, “Can ye nae gi’e it a rest, Callie? I doona want t’ fight wi’ ye, an’ the bairns are right here hearin’ every word between us.”

Callie responded by pitching a shovel-full of manure over the top of the wagon and hitting him with it. “Oh,
sorry
!” she hissed mockingly.

He sighed and said nothing in response. It took an enormous amount of self-control to resist grabbing her and turning her over his knee for the spanking she so richly deserved for such childish behavior.
But oh, how he wanted to!

The tension between them was uncomfortable enough to subdue the children. Rather than play, they followed their parents quietly about for awhile before going over to sit beneath one of the apple trees. Mountain Rose hugged her knees and asked, “Why can’t Mama just forgive Daddy? Why is she being so mean?”

Red Wolf picked at the fallen leaves for a moment and sighed. “I don’t know,” he replied. “It’s hurting Daddy and I’m afraid he’ll go away. I want him to stay.”

“Me, too,” his sister said. “But Mama’s so mad at him. I think she’s been mad at him for so long she doesn’t know how to be nice.”

“Daddy said he hurt her bad, but I don’t know what he did,” Red Wolf recollected. “It hurts when I try to
see
inside him. Maybe we should just ask.”

Mountain Rose nodded. “Mama won’t tell us. We better ask Daddy.”

After lunch Red Wolf asked Euan to walk with them down to the spring. As they held his hands, Euan walked slowly and kept his stride short so that they could keep up with him. He noticed that the twins were unusually quiet. “Is anythin’ wrong?” he asked them.

Mountain Rose responded first. “Daddy, why is Mama so mad at you? What did you do to her?”

Euan stopped and squatted down to look his children in the face. “Why d’ ye ask that?” he asked.

Red Wolf replied, “Because we don’t know why she’s mad at you or why you aren’t together.”

Euan stepped over and sat down on a large rock. Pulling the children up on his knees, he hugged them gently and kissed them each on the crown of their heads. He didn’t say anything for a few moments, trying to think of how to word his response.

Finally he spoke. “Ye remember that I told ye that I was verra stupid wi’ yer mathair?” he asked softly. When the twins nodded, he continued. “I was her first love, and in truth she was mine as well except tha’ I dinna ken it then. Yer mathair made me feel things tha’ I had ne’er felt before an’ I was afeart o’ it. An’ m’ family didna approve o’ her at all. They threatened tae disown me if I e’en thought o’ marrying her an’ said she was only after me for m’ family’s money.”

“Why would they say stuff like that?” Mountain Rose asked. “Papa says all the money in the world ain’t worth the sweat off a good man’s brow.”

Euan smiled as he looked down into his daughter’s eyes. “An’ he’s right, lass. But y’ see, I was raised in a verra wealthy family an’ I was afeart o’ bein’ cut off. Sometimes all rich people ken how tae do is be rich. I was living on m’ family’s land on m’ family’s money an’ didna think I could ha’ made it on m’ own. I wasna mon enough tae cut the apron strings an’ do what was right by yer mathair. Sae when she told me she thought she was pregnant, I…I behaved like a…”

“A jackass?” Mountain Rose offered. “Mama called you that yesterday when Grandma was fussing at her for being rude to you.”

“Aye, lass, tha’s exactly wha’ I was,” he replied, wincing. “But ye shouldna use tha’ sort o’ language. ’Tis nae fitting for a bairn tae speak tha’ way.”

“Or a grown-up, either,” Red Wolf added. “Uncle Caleb said that Grandma used to wash their mouths out with soap if they cussed.”

“Aye, lad and well she should hae,” Euan replied with a slight smile.

“Grandma said Mama needs indus…industrial….” Mountain Rose pursed her lips as she tried to recall the phrase she wanted to use. Failing that, she said, “You know, really strong soap to wash out Mama’s mouth.”

“Well, yer mathair has the right t’ be angry at me,” he replied. “When she needed me most, I turned away from her an’ I broke her heart when I should hae protected it. I sent her away from me because I was afeart o’ losing m’ family’s support an’ tha’ was verra wrong.”

Red Wolf thought about this and said, “I don’t understand, Daddy. Even if your family didn’t want you if you married Mama, Grandma and Grandpa would have taken you in.”

Euan held his children closer. “There arre things ye’re too young tae ken yet, lad. It’s nae s’ simple when grown-ups get involved in things. Tae be honest, most o’ the time we make it sae much harder than it has tae be an’ usually for the worst possible reasons.”

“But why, Daddy?” Mountain Rose asked. “Why not just do right the first time?”

“If I knew the answer t’ that, lass, I’d be the world’s wisest mon.” Euan kissed her on her forehead as she looked up at him. “I love yer mathair an’ I’d love nothin’ more than for her tae love me again sae I could marry her an’ take care o’ her like I should hae from the start. An’ I love ye twa bairns as much as I love yer mathair.”

Mountain Rose hugged her father fiercely. “Please don’t leave us!” she pleaded. “Please stay here!”

Euan’s eyes misted.
 
“I’ll ne’er leave ye, lass. M’ home is where m’ heart is, an’ tha’s wherever ye an’ yer mathair are.”

“Promise?” asked Red Wolf, looking solemnly into his father’s eyes.

 
“Aye, lad. I promise,” Euan replied as he held his children close.

Neither Euan nor the twins knew that Callie was watching them and had heard every word. Hurt and anger warred with the love and desire she still harbored for Euan, leading to a growing sense of confusion. As much as she wanted to dismiss what he had said, there was something earnest in his voice. She wanted to think that surely he wouldn’t lie to his children but she couldn’t trust that he wouldn’t.

Watching Euan with the twins made her wonder briefly how life could have been had he stood up to his family for her and taken up his responsibilities as a father. Mountain Rose had been right… Jim and Darlene
would
have taken him in if his family had disowned him. No doubt the family would have helped Euan and Callie build their own cabin and clear enough land for a garden, orchard, and pasture. They would have been married and might even have had more children by now.

Of course, if Euan really meant that he would stay over here to be with his children, his family might yet disown him.

It didn’t make sense to her, really. Euan wasn’t the oldest son or the primary heir for his parents’ estate. All he would receive were his trust funds, which by law he should have already received ownership of, and perhaps some family heirlooms or a piece of property. She was aware that since their children had been born out-of-wedlock that they weren’t eligible to receive anything from the Wallaces, but that didn’t bother her in the least. She hadn’t wanted anything from them to begin with.

Then the terrifying thought that struck her was the possibility that they might use the children to get back at Euan should he defy them by choosing his children over his own family. Niall and Leona Wallace might decide to sue for custody in an effort to make Euan toe their line and return to the fold. With all of that money and political power behind them, they could very well succeed in doing just that.

Should things remain as they were between her and Euan, it could give his parents the leverage they needed to make a convincing case against their own son for custody of his children. Her heart sank and her gut clenched. “Oh Euan,” she whispered. “Why didn’t you do the right thing back then?”

She would have to find a way to forgive him or at least get past her anger at him so they could present a united front in the event his parents decided to cause such problems. Her family stood on good footing with local folks and most certainly with the county for the revenue they were bringing into the coffers, but it was only a grain of sand on a beach compared with what the Wallaces could offer for a favorable custody decision.

She had no doubt that if that came to pass, Euan would go back to Scotland to be with his children and that his parents would see to it that she would be barred from entering the UK. The children would most certainly not be allowed any contact with her nor would the Wallaces allow Euan to take them anywhere. She feared that his parents would make the twins suffer the brunt of their displeasure with her and Euan.

She’d kill the Wallaces if it came down to that.

Then she’d spend the rest of her life in prison, apart from Red Wolf and Mountain Rose.

Lord, she was damned every which way in that scenario. This was something she couldn’t fight on her own, something she just wasn’t strong enough to face down without help. And the only one who could help her was the father of her children.

Part of her resisted the notion of making peace with Euan. Her heart had never healed and the pain was still raw within her. His appearance had been like rubbing the proverbial salt in the wound and then drenching it with rubbing alcohol.

Yet it had also brought all of those memories of their time together back in full color. She had loved him with all of her being and she grudgingly admitted that she
still
loved him deep down beneath all of the pain. The past week she had dreamed of him, of making love with him, and of being betrayed again by him. Hope and longing and fear and hurt all danced around in her dreams like some bizarre two-step, and she didn’t know what to believe or which way to turn.

She sighed and thought to herself,
I’m going to lose my ever-lovin’ mind before this is over.

The hair on her neck stood on end as she heard the deep grunt of a very large hog. Her senses honed in on something big moving about forty yards to the right and behind her.
Very
slowly, she turned and saw a huge boar rooting around a fallen log.

He was massive, standing nearly five feet tall at the shoulder, easily weighing fifteen hundred pounds, and armed with nine-inch long tusks. Callie recognized the brown and black-spotted hogzilla as Hell Hog, the largest, wiliest, and most dangerous of them all. Known to break into pens to kill poultry, calves, lambs and kid goats, he could also destroy a field of crops in a single night. He had killed an entire pack of hunting hounds set on him and was known to have killed at least four men, partially eating one of them.

Folks considered him demon-possessed because he seemed to just disappear when pursued and his scarred hide gave testimony to the fact that he been shot multiple times with high-powered, high-caliber hunting rifles and still lived.

Euan and the children were in danger and whatever ill feelings she had towards Euan fell by the wayside. If any of them moved or talked the hog might see or hear them and if the wind shifted he would smell them, making the chances quite high that he would attack. She turned and looked back at her children, directing her thoughts towards them that they were in danger and needed to be very still and quiet…and hoping that her
gift
didn’t fail this time.

Red Wolf fell silent. Euan noticed the odd look on the child’s face. “What’s wrong, lad?” he asked.

The boy put his fingers to his lips and whispered, “Shh! We have to be very quiet and sit very still.”

Mountain Rose also went still. “We’re in danger, Daddy,” she whispered.

For the life of him, Euan couldn’t figure out what was going on. He started to ask what danger were they talking about but both children reached up and put their hands over his mouth. They looked up at him, pleading silently for him to be still, a plea he actually
felt
.

Any sudden movement or noise could prove disastrous for all of them. Callie calculated which direction and how fast she would have to run to draw Hell Hog away from Euan and the children. As fast as she was, however, a hog that size was even faster at a short distance. She had no weapons except her knives on her, which would be worthless against him. Having made Brutus and the pack stay home in order to better spy on Euan, she had no help to distract the big boar.

If Hell Hog got hold of her she was a goner.

Maybe if she remained still, the hog would wander off in the direction he appeared to be headed. She could only hope that Euan and the twins remained silent and still as well.