Mistletoe Mayhem: Clean Historical Western Cowboy Romance Novel (Dawson Chronicles Book 1) (12 page)

              Sawyer hadn’t been sure how to dress; he’d forgotten to ask Devon where they were going.  He opted for a more casual, brown suit.  Finishing with the tie, he tried to calm his nerves, but he wasn’t successful.  Was he making a mistake by pursuing Devon again?  Was he only setting himself up for more hurt?  Was she?  Doubt crowded his mind, but he wasn’t going to back out of their date.

             
I’ll just see how things go.  No sense putting a lot of pressure on myself with a bunch of expectations. 

              He smiled as he thought about the crazy plan his friends had concocted.  Skip had started the ball rolling when he’d involved Renee, but she’d taken it from there, quickly becoming the ringleader.  He admitted that it had worked, too.  So far.  He realized that although his friends had helped him, what happened now was up to him and Devon.  He was done with schemes.

              Going into the parlor from his bedroom, which was on the first floor, he saw D.J. sitting in one of the chairs reading a photography magazine.  He looked up and smiled at Sawyer.

              “You look nice,” D.J. said.

              “Thanks,” Sawyer said.  “Do you think I’m making a mistake?”

              D.J. said, “No, I don’t.  I think you owe it to yourself to see if your relationship with Devon can be repaired.  If this damn war hadn’t started, you would’ve never enlisted and the two of you would be married now.  I think you’re brave, but then again, you always have been.”

              Sawyer dropped down in one of the chairs.  “I have?”

              D.J. nodded.  “Yeah.  When I had meningitis and lost my eyesight, you helped me get around and you never steered me wrong.  Nothing seemed to scare you.”

              Sawyer said, “I remember some of it, but I was so little.”

              “Be glad you don’t,” D.J. said.  “It was one of the worst times of my life and I almost lost Frankie over my stupidity and pride.”

              Sawyer frowned.  “You did?”

              “Actually, I’ve been meaning to talk to you about this.  If your ankle doesn’t heal the way you want it to, don’t let that make you feel like any less of a man, Sawyer.  Don’t let that interfere with your relationship with Devon.

              “When I couldn’t see, I was devastated because if my sight didn’t come back, I wasn’t going to be able to be a photographer anymore.  I had no idea what else I’d do.  I couldn’t read or write, and I didn’t know what I’d do if I was alone with you and you got hurt.  How could I marry Frankie and have more kids that I couldn’t help take care of? 

              “I thought she’d be better off with someone who was normal even though she kept telling me that it didn’t matter to her and that she loved me no matter what.  I wouldn’t listen and I ruined our original wedding day, something I’m still trying to make up for,” D.J. said.

              This was the first time Sawyer was hearing about this.  “You did?  How?”

              It was hard, but D.J. wanted to impart the painfully acquired wisdom he’d gained from that horrible time.  “I couldn’t see anything— the guests or Mac—but worst of all, I couldn’t see Frankie.  I wanted so badly to see my bride and I couldn’t.  I think my blindness, almost losing Pa, and losing Aunt Wind Spirit, all crashed down on me and I panicked. 

              “I passed out and when I woke up, I was so embarrassed that I just ran out of the church and rode home.  By that time Joe had helped me train Gabe to go where I wanted to go so I was able to get home.  Things were terrible between your mama and me for several weeks.  I kept trying to push her away, but it’s a good thing for me that she wouldn’t give up on me.”

              Sawyer wouldn’t have thought his father was capable of being so bitter.  Ever since he could remember, D.J. was mainly mellow and understanding.  His personality was much more like Tessa’s than Dean’s. 

              “How did you work it out?”

              D.J. smiled.  “You were instrumental in that.”

              “I was?”

              “Yep.  I was so depressed that I hardly left our room.  You came up to see me one day and wanted me to come play with you, but I wouldn’t.  You knew you weren’t supposed to go down the stairs without help, but no one else was around, so you decided to go anyway.

              “I didn’t know you’d left the room until I heard you scream and fall down the stairs.  Fatherly instincts won out over my depression and I came after you.  I had to feel my way down the stairs until I found you at the bottom.  You were unconscious, but breathing.”

              D.J. had to pause for a moment as the memory brought tears to his eyes.  Blinking them away, he continued.  “I got you out to the barn.  I’d memorized about how many steps it took to get there.  I got Gabe saddled, managed to get us on him somehow, and rode into town to the clinic.

              “Thank God you were ok.  You had a concussion, but Ben said you’d be fine.  Your Uncle Mike made me see how stupid I’d been.  Even blind, I managed to get you to town all by myself.  My worst fear had come true and I’d handled it just as well as I would have if I’d been able to see,” D.J. said.  “I apologized profusely to Frankie and promised to never let the bitter, nasty man she’d been dealing with for those horrible weeks come back.”

              “And you never have,” Frankie said, entering the room.  “From that moment on, he became the man I’d fallen in love with.  The man with a big heart who took his commitments seriously and who made me laugh so much.  When he was blind, he accomplished so much—things that he didn’t think were amazing, but really were.”

              “Like what?” Sawyer asked as she sat down on D.J.’s lap.  He smiled at the nice picture they made.

              “Well, he learned to tell time by feeling the positions of the hands on a clock.  He learned how to cook.  We arranged everything in the kitchen so that it would be easy to remember and he made some very nice meals.  You helped him go to town by telling him which way to steer.  He did all sorts of chores by feel and by learning how many steps away things were from each other.  All kinds of things.  He ran the telegraph machine, too.  He remembered how words were written and could write fairly legibly if he took his time,” Frankie said, hugging him.

              Sawyer smiled.  “I’ve always said that you’re one of the smartest men I know, Pa.  That just proves it.  How come no one ever told me any of this stuff?”

              “Because I hate talking about it and everyone knows it so they don’t mention it, either.  But I figured that now was the right time.  I don’t want you to repeat my mistakes.  Even if your ankle and shoulder aren’t perfect, you’ll still be able to do a lot of things, Sawyer.  There are a lot of other ways to contribute to the war effort.”  He held up a hand to quiet Sawyer. 

“I know you’re thinking about those pictures and what they did to you, but don’t let that make you bitter, either.  Those other men over there who are fighting for our country didn’t do anything to you.  They need our support.  When you get rid of those crutches and cast, you’ll be able to help out.  Like a very smart woman told me: concentrate on what you
can
do, not what you
can’t
do.”

“Thanks for telling me.  I’ll keep everything you’ve told me in mind,” Sawyer said.

They heard a car pull up to the house.  The motor shut off and in a moment, someone knocked on the door, which Sawyer had already been moving towards.  He pulled it open and Devon smiled shyly at him.

“You look nice,” she said.

“Thanks.  I wasn’t sure what to wear,” he said.

D.J. and Frankie came into the kitchen and greeted Devon.

“It’s wonderful to see you both,” Devon said.

D.J. said, “Likewise.  So where are you two headed?”

Devon replied, “Wolf Point.  The new movie house has some new films showing.”

“That sounds fun,” Frankie said.  “Have a nice time.”

Sawyer put on his coat while D.J. held his crutches for him.  “Thanks.  I’m sure we will.”

Frankie closed the door after them, watching them go to the car through the window.  “I hope it works out for them this time.”

D.J. put a hand on her shoulder.  “Me, too.”

*****

              Before automobiles had come along, it had taken a couple of hours to get from Dawson to Wolf Point.  However, with the wondrous machine it now only took approximately an hour, depending on how fast the car could go and the weather conditions. 

              Sawyer and Devon were quiet on the way until she said, “I still can’t believe that Mr. Keller hit that man.”

              “Skip said Switch’s hand still hurts some.”

              “I hope it gets better soon.  I’ve always felt so bad for Mr. Keller.  It’s a shame that his parents treated him so badly and never appreciated him.  He’s such a sweet man.”

              Sawyer laughed.  “Skip says that he writes his mother nasty rambling letters every so often when he gets in a mood about them.  I’d like to read them.  It serves her right after everything she did and then all the embezzling her and Jay did.  I hope they’re miserable in jail.  I know Switch is still mortified over it.”

              “He has no reason to be ashamed.  He had nothing to do with it.  I think it was really nice of him and Mrs. Keller to build the Playhouse, though.  It was a good way to put the money to use,” Devon remarked.

              “Yeah.  Guess what he said to me last night at supper?”

              “What?”

              “He said that it was too bad I wasn’t younger because I could have played Tiny Tim in their production of
A Christmas Carol
since I’m on crutches.”

              They laughed together and as they did, both of them were surprised again by how easily they were conversing.  It had always been like that between them.  Part of it was because they’d grown up together and had begun courting when they’d been eighteen.  They’d known each other well and having so much in common had made it even easier to relate to one another.

              Although they’d been so comfortable with each other, their relationship had been far from boring.  They’d had all kinds of fun together and with their group of friends and family.  Joey and Skip were younger than most of the people they’d palled around with, but that had only added to the fun because both of them were good at convincing the rest to go along with slightly more juvenile behavior. 

              It didn’t seem very long until they reached Wolf Point.  They went to a popular restaurant called the Slop Shop to eat.  Sawyer had missed the place; they made delicious food and the two brothers who owned it provided great entertainment when they exchanged amusing insults.  It was their favorite place in the town to eat.

              They’d always sat in the furthest booth from the door because they could see out the windows well there.  Devon liked to watch the people going by.  She automatically began walking to it and Sawyer followed without complaint. 

              Once they were seated, Sawyer asked, “Do they still make those hamburgers and French-fried potatoes?”  The two foods had caught on country-wide and were Sawyer’s favorites.

              “Oh, yeah.”

              “Boy, did I miss those,” Sawyer said.

              Cordell Blankenship, one of the owners, came over to their booth.  “Whatdya want?”

              He and his brother, Willy, weren’t known for their tact or customer service skills.  Their great, downhome cooking was what drew in patrons.

              “Hi, Mr. Blankenship,” Sawyer said.  “It’s good to see you.”

              “Oh, God.  You’re that Samuels kid that always wants two hamburgers and a double order of those French-fried taters,” Cordell said.

              Sawyer laughed.  “Wow.  You remembered me.  That’s quite a feat at your age.  How old are you now?  You probably remember when dirt was born, huh?”

              Devon shook with laughter as Cordell glared at Sawyer a moment before he actually cracked a smile: a rare occurrence.  “That was a good one.  I’ll use that on Willy later.  I always remember our soldiers.  You came in right before you left for boot camp.”  He motioned at Sawyer’s crutches.  “I’ll bet you gave the Hun a lot worse than you got, huh?”

              Sawyer didn’t enjoy taking others’ lives and he certainly didn’t want to brag about it.  “Well, yeah,” he said in a subdued manner.  “I guess.”

              “Good.  Ok.”  He looked at Devon.  “How about you, Dwyer?”

              “I’ll have the same,” she said.

              “Ok.”  He left the table.  “Hey, dimwit!  That Samuels kid is back and his filly is with him!” he hollered at Willy.

              “Got it!”  Willy shouted back.

              No one could figure out the Blankenships’ ordering system.  Cordell always took the orders and just shouted seemingly random things to Willy.  Yet Willy always somehow knew what Cordell meant.

              A couple of other people came in and Cordell said to them, “You know what to do,” and waved towards some empty seats.  “There’re plenty of spots to rest your backsides.”