The Valentine

I smiled, remembering. "It was silly," I said fondly.

"It was, and funny. It was meant to be funny. My boys read it again and again to every new body that showed up. We all laughed every time."

"Did they know you were Jake?"

"Are you kidding? I told everyone I came across I grew up with THE C. Sutton. Told them all about you and showed them every inscription in every book. When I read that and saw right off it was me, you bet they all knew it! They thought that was even funnier, that I was some wise-ass kid growing up. Tried to tell them that part wasn't me, but they thought I was puttin on. I talked about you enough that each and every one of them ended asking the same question. Why didn't I marry you? Told them all you wouldn't have me. You wouldn't have me so I took off and stayed gone and that's why I was where I was. Once they found out C Sutton was Cass Sutton Durham... they started thinking you had gone after bigger fish. It was fun telling them that you were the bigger fish and that you never wanted to marry Durham. Never got into the whole story, but it was fun knowing someone with a big name and being able to jolly the boys along a bit. Still... every time I talked about you, told everyone about you... kept you right at the top of my head and my heart."

"Maybe you should have left it all behind, moved on."

"Are you kiddin' me? Nah. It's been fun. I met a few girls along the way and none of them were you. Couldn't hold a candle. You were all there ever was for me. You knew me once, enough to know that once I have my mind to something, that's all there is for me. No one could ever measure up to the girl I knew I wanted."

"Jack..."

"And maybe I shouldn't be saying this, bringing it all back up and rehashing it again after all these years... but you need to know. There's still someone in this world who thinks the sun rises and sets in your eyes."

I blushed and half smiled. "You DO read all of my books, don't you? Even the romance novels."

"Especially those. I always look for the Jake and Cassie in every single one."

I laughed, shaking my head. "You are incorrigible! Will you stay to dinner? Meet Garreth and his wife? And Tommy?"

"Sure. Been a long while since I had your cooking."

"Oh... I don't cook!" I laughed. "It's been a very long time since I have."

"Yeah," he said looking around. "This place is pretty fancy. I've never been announced before. That was something. That your new book there? What's it about?"

I smiled and rolled the cover down on my desk. "It's a secret!" I told him, standing up.

He stood also, then hesitated as he looked down at me. "I really did forget how small you are," he said with a grin.

"Oh, no. You are bigger! Your shoulders and arms were not this big! I DO remember. You were a slender young man comparatively. Janice! Janice, we will have one more for dinner, seat him next to me please. Missy, can you prepare a guest room for Mr Rafferty? The blue one. Jack, would you like a bath drawn up?"

"Are you saying I need one?" he asked with a laugh.

"No! No, I just mean would you like one? To freshen up and relax?"

"You really have gone fancy, haven't you? Is this you dismissing me then?"

"No, of course not! The room is for your leisure if you wish to bathe or change or rest. I was about to take a walk in the gardens. Garreth and Janey will be home soon and I find I can tolerate her more if I am too tired to argue."

He grinned at me and moved closer. "Mind if I join you then?"

"Of course not, you are always welcome."

"Wow," he said softly as we stepped out back. "This is... larger than I thought. So many flowers? I have never seen so many just... all in one place like this. I've seen flower gardens... but this..."

"I like them. The flowers. They remind me..."

"Sterling?"

"Yes. The Valentine. That one simple card that seemed to change my entire life."

"Do the bee's still kiss you?"

"You remember that?" I asked, shocked.

"Sure. Teased you about it often enough. You'd be sitting there reading and a bee would be crawling on you. Any other girl would have screamed and ran, but you just stayed still and let them do as they wanted. Never minding them. Do they?"

"They do, actually," I said happily, pleased he remembered.

"You should write a story about a bee charmer."

"Maybe I will."

"And her man named Jack?"

I laughed again and took his arm as we walked. We were both quiet for a while, walking and remembering and just being happy to be close and share memories. We were on our way back to the house before either of us spoke again, though it wasn't to each other.

"Mother!" Tommy yelled, running out the back door and smiling excitedly. He paused when he saw Jack, but brushed him off quickly. "Mother you should have SEEN him! He was a beaut! He won by a whole length, just like I knew he would!"

"I suppose you just had to have him?" I asked, smiling.

"I do! He is something special! His stock is going to be something! Who is this?"

"Tommy, this is Jack Rafferty."

"Jack? THE Jack?"

"Yes," I laughed.

"The Jack?" Jack asked, in mock concern.

"Pa may have told him all about you. Tommy is Pa's grandson through and through, they spent all of their time together. There is very little about my childhood out west that Tommy does not know."

"I was truly sorry to hear about Tom," Jack told Tommy solemnly, extending a hand. "Any kin of Tom's is a friend of mine."

Tommy grinned and shook Jack's hand. "How much do you know about horses?" he asked exuberantly.

"Next to nothing, but I can tell you almost anything about horsepower!"

"That's right, you went on to work with the railroad! What was that like?" Tommy asked, his eyes lit up.

I smiled as I watched him, always hungry for new information. Jack was happy to tell him, answering all his questions with the same enthusiasm Tommy had in his questions. I was sitting with them both on the couch when Garreth and Janey came home.

I introduced them and Garreth was more reserved as he looked Jack over. Janey smiled and seated herself practically on Garreths lap, hanging on his arm as Garreth leaned forward on the sofa. "So, you're the Jack mother went to school with?" he asked softly. "The one from back west. What brings you to Charleston? I suppose you heard about my father?"

"I read the news on my way here. I just retired from the railroad, it's a younger man's game. I intended to come see Charleston and then board a ship and go see the world."

"Intended. But you no longer intend it? Because you read about my father?"

"Garreth!" I began.

"It's alright Cass," Jack said softly.

"Cass? Already using the same pet name my father used."

I laughed then, I couldn't help it. "Garreth! He has called me Cass since we were five! It is all he has ever called me!"

Garreth scowled, but leaned back some. "But you do intend on sticking around now. Since you read about it?"

"That is up you your ma, I guess," Jack said politely.

"'Ma'?!?" Garreth sneered.

"Garreth Eugene Durham!" I snapped. "You will not be rude or condescending! You know for a fact that is how I was raised too! You heard me call Grampa Tom 'Pa' for years and never once dared condescend to ME, but you would do it now in front of me? You need to apologize!"

Garreth blushed, lifting his chin. He looked EXACTLY like his father in that moment, his full lips compressed angrily. "You have my apologies, SIR," he said acidly. "But I WILL know your intentions towards my mother."

"I came here to see an old friend. Cass and me have a long history and we've been friends a long time. We've been in touch a long time. I can show you letters where she told me about the day you were born and how proud your Pa was of you. Letters about your first day of school, you and your brothers. Your first dance, your first kiss, everything. I've written her too. We shared our lives this whole time, even if you didn't know it. My intentions? It's no secret to anyone that I have been in love with your ma since we were both eight years old. I asked her to marry me more than once. She said no. Every time. She married your Pa, loved him absolutely. I came to say hello, but I'd be lying if I said I wasn't also hoping for a chance to win her again after I saw he was gone. I'm sorry she is hurting, but I also hope to heal her heart a little. If she will let me."

"This isn't the west. You can't just show up to someone's door and announce you want to get married," Garreth said angrily. "You think there aren't better men beating that door down trying to get at her and her name and her money?"

Jack laughed. "You think I am after her money? Or her name? Hell, boy, last thing I want is her name. I want her to have MY name. And I don't give a rats ass about money, you can keep it. I just want her. She is all I have ever wanted."

"Governor," I said suddenly.

"What?" Garreth asked, confused.

Jack grinned at me, his eyes shining. "The word she spelled in the spelling bee. The one where she beat the older girl, I don't even remember her name. She beat her and all the older kids, just 8 years old. Both of us. I looked at her then, so small standing up there with those bigger kids... I knew that second. That was my wife standing up there."

I smiled back at him, looking up at his shining eyes. I could see him, then, the boy looking back at me. I also remembered what that boy had done and my smile faded. His did as well when he saw my face fall.

"So he happens to show up here after all this time, conveniently right after father dies. Never while he was here. We never even heard of him until now except that she went to school with a boy named Jack."

"That's not true at all!" Tommy said, chiming in finally. "Grampa Tom talked about him all the time! Mother did too when they talked. She talked about him other times as well, but you were always too busy with your friends to listen! She even talked about how he was in two of her stories!"

"Two?" Jack asked, his eyebrows lifting as he looked at me.

I felt my face heat as I looked away. "Garreth, I have had enough. I appreciate that you are acting like a concerned son and looking out for me, but I am a grown woman who can take care of myself. I know Jack well enough to know that the last thing he is here for is our assets. Please remember your manners and stop acting like an overbearing father."

"Oh! Garreth you TOLD her! You promised we would announce it together!" Janey cried.

My eyebrows shot up as I looked at Garreth, then couldn't stop my smile.

"Janey! No, YOU just told her. She meant I was acting like HER father."

"You are going to be a father?" I asked, standing holding my stomach.

"Yes," he said grudgingly, scowling at Janey who looked confused. "Only a few months along, but the doctor says the baby is due in mid to late spring. He'll know more when she is further along and can feel the baby better. Strong heartbeat though. We were going to announce it at the Samhain ball."

"You still can, of course!" I said happily. "Your brother won't breathe a word and neither will I!"

"What about him? Bet he can't wait to go tell the papers."

"Boy, I could care less who knows your news, all I care about is the fact that Cass is grinning from ear to ear and she's pleased as punch right now. I'm not from here. I don't go blabbin news to papers or people or anyone unless it's my own news. Where I'm from, no one cares. That you think I am more anxious to spread your news than I am to spend time with your ma just goes to show you really have no idea who I am. Let's you and I get something straight. I am here for one reason and one reason only. Not you, not your baby, not your house or your money. I don't care about who is in the papers or who else has come sniffing around. I love this woman right here. If she said the word, I would take her back west and start all over again from scratch, not a penny to our names, just as long as I was penniless with her. Maybe you can't understand that with your mindset the way it is, but it's the truth. I love her. I said nary a word to her about it while she was married, happy enough to just be her friend. I wasn't just standing by and waiting for your Pa to die, I was ready to die her friend and nothing more. But it just so happened that I decided I was quitting the railroad and going to see the world, saying hello to her on the way through. I think that it was some sort of divine providence made me decide to quit instead of taking that promotion and desk job in Kansas City. Decide I wanted to see what there was to see while I was young enough to enjoy it. I get on that train and switch off in Virginia and get hit with the news. An old paper, but somehow still there and front page staring at me with her picture. So do I have an agenda? You bet. The woman I have loved and pined over since I was 8 years old is free again. You bet I want to throw my hat in and hope she judges me worthy this time."

"Jack! You were always worthy, don't think that! I mean... you know. Mostly... I just... Could we speak of this later? Alone?" I whispered, shocked.

"Mother?" Tommy said softly. "I do know."

"You know?" I asked, confused.

"I understand. What he is saying about not caring about money."

"That's... good?" I said, still confused.

"Tommy, now is not the time," Garreth hissed.

"Time for what?" I demanded.

"Mother, I love Valery. I have for a year now, but couldn't say so."

"Valery? Our driver's daughter?"

"Yes," he said defiantly.

"So she is why you suddenly fell in love with horses!" I exclaimed.

"Well... a bit. She introduced me to them but I discovered I liked them on my own... you aren't upset?"

"No?" I asked, confused again.

Tommy looked at Garreth angrily. "You said she wouldn't allow it! That she would disown me!"

"I did not! Blake said it, I just didn't correct him! You can't marry Valery, she's a servant!"

"Garreth! Garreth, you don't truly think that, do you?" I asked, my heart really hurting. "I raised you better than to think that way!"

"But it's true! Everyone knows it but you and it's only because you were stolen away and raised wild! Everyone says it!"

"Tommy, you will march yourself out there and ask Valery to dinner tonight! Her parents too! And if you have something special you want to ask her, I have your grandmother's ring right upstairs!"

Tommy jumped up, grinning. "Truly, mother?"

"Yes, truly! It so happens I think Valery is sweet and smart and adorable! I would love to have her as a daughter in law!"

"Mother, you have to think this through!" Garreth said, taking hold of Tommy's arm before he could leave.

"Let him go, Garreth. I do not like this... person you have become. I thought I raised you better, but I see this whole time you only heard what others said to you and not what you saw with your own eyes. If you cannot live here and act like a civil human being, then you will not live here. I hate the thought of it, but no one will live under my roof who thinks I am unworthy or wild and not bred well enough. My name and my money are good enough, but not my upbringing? No. Tommy, go and talk to Valery. Ask her to dinner. Garreth, this is the last time I will say it. If you think you are better than I am, then you have no need of my name, my home or my money. Make your choice."

"Mother, you don't understand! We will be laughed at!"

"By whom? Why do you care? Let them laugh! What is that compared to your brother's happiness? This whole time he has been terrified to be happy because you convinced him that it was wrong and that I would cast him out? It took a stranger professing his love in front of him to get the courage to speak up and hope my heart had been softened by Jack's words? I am so ashamed for you, Garreth! Never in all my days did I think I would utter those words! It breaks my heart! Does Jace think this too?"

"Jace? Jace doesn't care one way or the other. He is too busy writing screenplays. He only loves his writing, not a girl. Mother... please understand, once the papers find out..."

"I will hear no more of it! I don't care about the papers! I don't care about what anyone else says or thinks! I care about my sons being happy! Are you truly happy, Garreth? Or did you marry her because she is a Westmoreland? Can't you see why that is wrong? Can't you see how much happier you would be if you had married a smarter, sweeter girl who..."

The second the words were out of my mouth, I tried to snatch them back, wincing.

Garreth turned red, standing up straight, both of us looking over at Janey.

Janey was looking at her teeth in the back of a spoon, picking at them and not paying attention at all.

I let out a relieved breath and looked at Garreth apologetically. He was still looking at Janey, his look pained.

I realized it then. He HAD married her for her name. He had no care for her at all.

"Garreth!" I cried softly, going to him and hugging him. He hugged me stiffly, but I didn't care. My heart was broken for him, I had failed him completely. I should have seen it, but I was so caught up in my own sadness.

Janey stood up. "Gary, I am going to our room to lay down. Send someone to wake me before dinner?"

"I will, and I have asked you not to call me that."

"But it's so cute! My Gary Beary!" she called as she flounced up the stairs.

"Mother," Garreth said quietly. "I'm sorry. I will see you at dinner... I am going to... go take a walk."

I let him go and stood there feeling sadness shadowing my heart again. I hated that he felt that way and that I hadn't known.

"Well. That was something," Jack said lightly.

I turned to him, remembering he was there.

"Tommy seems like a wonderful kid," he said with a grin. "And I TOLD you on the grandmother thing."

I laughed, shaking my head. "They are both good kids... Garreth is just a little misguided."

"Are you sure she is pregnant?" he asked curiously.

"Why would she say it if she wasn't?"

"I just noticed after he said something... she was wearing a corset. A lot of my boys were married and the wives followed the lines. First thing they all did was stop wearing those the second they knew. Couple months in, they wouldn't have worn them for fear of hurting the babe. Other thing was, they had just come from eating. Most the women in the first few months couldn't stomach hardly a thing. Could you? Even smells would set them off."

"Well... no, but every woman is different. The corset though... someone should tell her not to wear it if she is pregnant. She probably thinks to wear it until it is announced."

"Or she is lying and she wants attention. She will claim to lose it at some point soon, before it's time for her to actually start showing. Saw that often enough too. Girl like her is keen on attention. She had no care at all as she sat there about a baby in her belly. She cared about him telling you before she could and that's it. She is only invested in the attention. If she really is pregnant, I will eat my hat."

I opened my mouth and he quickly pressed his finger to my lips.

"I will buy a damned hat and eat it."

I smiled, then pretended to bite at his finger and he snatched it away.

"Now, about this second book," he said lightly.

I laughed, shaking my head. "You have read all my books, you said so."

"Apparently not. I would have noticed myself in another book. I think you didn't send it to me or you published under another name."

"No. It's published under C Sutton."

"So one of your early books. That you didn't send me. What's it called?"

"She said yes!" Tommy called happily, running into the room. "She'll come to dinner! Can I really give her grandmother Zelda's ring?"

"Of course! It is in her jewelry box in her old room. The amethyst one."

"Thanks!" he yelled, turning to go.