Summary: Adam substitutes again but a sharp, sassy student with a shocking background keeps his hands full.
\nRating:\u00a0 PG-13\u00a0 (13,690 words)<\/p>\n
Maureen Series<\/strong><\/p>\n Freckles & Rouge<\/a> <\/p>\n The Brandsters have included this author in our project: Preserving Their Legacy.\u00a0 To preserve their legacy, we have decided to give them a home in the Bonanza Brand Fanfiction Library.\u00a0 The author will always be the owner of this work of fanfiction, and should they wish us to remove their story, we will.<\/p>\n Freckles and Rouge<\/strong><\/p>\n Maureen sat at her desk and stared at her hands as the rest of the students filed out of the classroom for recess. They were all probably wondering what she was in for.<\/p>\n She was wondering that herself. She risked a glance at their teacher. He was seated at his own desk, skimming through the lessons for the younger children.<\/p>\n He wasn\u2019t their real teacher\u2014he was just filling in like he had once before. Maureen was amazed that he agreed to come back. It hadn\u2019t gone so well for him last time.<\/p>\n He had wanted to teach them about the territory\u2019s history. But when he did his research he uncovered a scandal. He found out that some upstanding citizens of Virginia City once massacred Indians and stole their land.<\/p>\n He got beat up for his efforts, but he still exposed the crime. You’d think that the whole experience would have soured him to teaching, but he was back. And she was glad, despite the trouble she was in.<\/p>\n He had gotten some fine learning back east, so he didn\u2019t just teach by rote out of the Bible or the McGuffey. And, unlike their regular teacher, he didn\u2019t mind that Maureen was left-handed. He didn’t try to force her to become a righty.<\/p>\n She probably had Little Joe to thank for that. Little Joe Cartwright was his youngest brother and he was a lefty too. He was also, in Maureen\u2019s opinion, the most darling man in the world. She had talked to him once or twice and those mischievous green eyes of his had set her stomach quivering\u2026but that was beside the point.<\/p>\n The point was that Adam Cartwright had watched his little brother struggle to conform to a right-handed world. He concluded that it was better to leave lefties as nature intended them.<\/p>\n That was all well and good, but she was still in trouble. Maureen started tapping her fingers, wondering what sort of punishment he would mete out\u2014and how long he meant to keep her waiting for it.<\/p>\n “Stop fidgeting, Miss Sullivan,” he told her without looking up from the lessons.<\/p>\n She sighed and did her best to keep still. She hoped that he had some special affection for her, seeing as how she was a lefty just like Little Joe. Maybe he would let her off. Or maybe she could blackmail her way out of trouble.<\/p>\n She could threaten to tell folks that he was married to that pretty Creole girl of his. He seemed determined to keep the marriage quiet. She supposed it was to shelter his wife from the biting prejudice they\u2019d face if people knew. After all, she was a woman of color.<\/p>\n But anyone with brains should know the truth. The banns were announced right at St. Mary\u2019s. Funny how no one pays attention to details like that.<\/p>\n She shut her eyes and gave up her scheme. If he wasn\u2019t afraid to expose a crime\u2014even after he took a beating\u2014he probably wouldn\u2019t give into blackmail.<\/p>\n “Well, Miss Sullivan?”<\/p>\n The words startled her out of her thoughts. She opened her eyes to find him standing right in front of her. She hadn\u2019t heard him move.<\/p>\n He looked awfully foreboding right now. He was leaning back against the desk in the next row with his arms folded across his chest.<\/p>\n “Well what, Mr. Cartwright?” she managed.<\/p>\n “I\u2019m giving you a chance to explain yourself.”<\/p>\n She shrugged, hoping that she looked unconcerned. “What\u2019s to explain? I cheated and you caught me.”<\/p>\n “Why haven\u2019t you come to me for help with arithmetic?”<\/p>\n “Because I don\u2019t care if I fail.”<\/p>\n To her surprise he smiled. “Then why bother cheating?”<\/p>\n He had her there. “I don\u2019t know,” she owned. “I suppose I was angry that you\u2014that you confiscated my book yesterday.”<\/p>\n “You shouldn\u2019t have been reading during lessons,” he told her. “And you shouldn\u2019t have been reading that particular book at all.”<\/p>\n She gave him an innocent look. “Why not? I thought you liked the classics.”<\/p>\n He grinned. “I do. I\u2019m quite partial to ‘The Metamorphoses.’ And I know how engrossing it is, so I understand why you hid it under your horn book. But Apuleius is not meant for a twelve year old.”<\/p>\n Maureen met his eyes. “There\u2019s nothing in there that shocks me,” she said defiantly. “It’s just a crazy mix of myth and mysticism.”<\/p>\n “That’s not all that’s in there,” he said dryly. “Where did you even find a copy of it?”<\/p>\n “One of my mother\u2019s gentlemen friends gave it to me. I only wish he had the original Latin too.”<\/p>\n His eyebrows shot up at that. “You understand Latin?”<\/p>\n “Some,” she answered. “I can translate the Mass and all the prayers on my own.”<\/p>\n “Ah. Well, you\u2019ll need more than church Latin to get through Apuleius,” he remarked.<\/p>\n She bit her lip, wondering if he’d be willing to help her. “C-could you teach it to me?” she ventured.<\/p>\n He shook his head. “Mine is too rudimentary. But tell you what. If you\u2019ll work at your arithmetic, I\u2019ll see if I can find a good Latin grammar and dictionary. Between the two of us we can piece it together.”<\/p>\n She eyed him suspiciously “And then you\u2019ll help me translate Apuleius?”<\/p>\n “No,” he answered. “You\u2019re too young for that\u2014even if you have read it already. We\u2019ll work our way through Caesar instead.”<\/p>\n She was disappointed, but she still considered his offer. “I\u2019ll work at my arithmetic,” she agreed.<\/p>\n “Good,” he said. Then he paused and crouched down so that they were eye to eye. “I\u2019m going to keep you here after class and see if I can\u2019t tutor you a bit.”<\/p>\n “I can\u2019t stay late,” she told him. “And I don\u2019t need your help. I\u2014I just didn\u2019t get a chance to study last night.”<\/p>\n “I won\u2019t keep you too long,” he promised. “And in the meantime, Miss Sullivan, you can write a few paragraphs explaining what kept you from studying yesterday.”<\/p>\n She frowned at him as she took out her paper and blotter. Then she picked up her pen with her left hand.<\/p>\n “Are you sure you want to know?” she asked. “The answer might shock you.”<\/p>\n He narrowed his eyes at her. She could tell that he was trying to decide how serious she was. Oh, would she show him.<\/p>\n “I’ll take that risk,” he said at length.<\/p>\n *<\/p>\n Adam looked over his classroom. He had managed to get all the different years working quietly, so he sat down at his desk with Maureen\u2019s paper.<\/p>\n He read through it twice. He couldn\u2019t bring himself to believe her words the first time. She had told him that ‘The Metamorphoses’ didn\u2019t shock her. No wonder\u2014not if what she wrote was true.<\/p>\n He set the paper down. Maureen had a talent for writing. Her words were crisp and immediate and they grabbed hold of you. But her story\u2014which was every bit as explicit as Apuleius\u2014sickened him.<\/p>\n Maureen\u2019s mother, it seemed, allowed her \u2018gentleman callers\u2019 every conceivable liberty with her daughter. And the girl was only twelve.<\/p>\n Adam wasn\u2019t na\u00efve. He knew that such things happened. But in this case he had an obligation to put an end to it. If Maureen\u2019s story held up he would have to remove her from her home.<\/p>\n He could go to the law, but that probably wouldn\u2019t answer. Judges did little to protect children from their parents back east, let alone out here.<\/p>\n But maybe he didn\u2019t need the law. If he waved enough cash in front of Maureen\u2019s mother she might sign away the rights to her daughter. The question was what to do with Maureen afterwards.<\/p>\n He sighed. Well, if she had no other family he could take her in. He could always find her a good boarding school. The girl had a first-class brain; she deserved a better education than Virginia City could give her.<\/p>\n Perhaps she could even go on to college. It was difficult for a woman to receive higher education, but not impossible.<\/p>\n He sighed again, hoping that the story was just a creative piece of mischief. Lefties were known for their creativity.<\/p>\n But his gut told him that it was all too true.<\/p>\n *<\/p>\n Hoss led Chub into a stall at the public livery. He gave the horse a fond pat on the neck and made sure to scratch behind that left ear\u2014Chub always appreciated that.<\/p>\n “How do you like that?” Hoss asked with a wide grin. “I got me a whole day off and it ain\u2019t over yet.”<\/p>\n He swung the stall door shut, latched it and then strode outside, taking a deep breath as he did so. The streets of Virginia City always had a peculiar scent to them\u2014a combination of fresh mountain air, lingering tobacco, wafting perfume, dust and manure. He relished the smell of it.<\/p>\n The day had been perfect thus far. Hoss had slept till nearly ten o\u2019clock\u2014a fine change from rising at cockcrow. Then he\u2019d convinced Hop Sing to make an extra batch of flapjacks for him. He\u2019d taken his time, savoring every bite.<\/p>\n He had even enjoyed having the breakfast table to himself. Pa and Little Joe were long since up and gone and Adam wasn\u2019t even on the Ponderosa. He was staying in town with Charlotte as he filled in for the schoolteacher.<\/p>\n Now, what to do for the remainder of the afternoon? He would spend this evening at The Bucket of Blood\u2014there was going to be quite a poker game tonight. But he still had a couple of hours to kill\u2026<\/p>\n “Hoss!”<\/p>\n Hoss turned in surprise at the sound of someone screeching his name. Before he knew it Charlotte was rushing headlong at him, apparently intending to hurl herself into his arms.<\/p>\n He caught her by the forearms and looked at her face with concern. “What\u2019s the matter, Charlotte? What happened?”<\/p>\n “Oh, Hoss\u2014there\u2019s so much to explain!”<\/p>\n He led her to the side of the street so that they wouldn\u2019t block pedestrian traffic. He ignored the curious stares they were attracting\u2014poor Charlotte, she had to deal with those stares all the time\u2014and asked again what was wrong.<\/p>\n “Adam has a student named Maureen Sullivan,” Charlotte managed. “She wrote an essay for him and he found out\u2014oh, Hoss, it\u2019s unspeakable! Men are always calling on Maureen\u2019s mother, you understand?”<\/p>\n Hoss nodded. She lowered her voice and continued.<\/p>\n “Mrs. Sullivan allows\u2014she forces her daughter to entertain them as well,” she explained. “And the girl is only twelve!”<\/p>\n Hoss felt his blood drain as Charlotte\u2019s words sank in. He knew full well what she was leaving unsaid. He didn\u2019t know this Maureen\u2014or at least, he couldn\u2019t place her at the moment\u2014but there was a slow anger burning in his belly at the thought of any child being used that way.<\/p>\n “Don\u2019t you worry, Charlotte,” he said. “I reckon Adam will put an end to that situation.”<\/p>\n She nodded. “I know. But Hoss, he brought the girl to the Widow Hawkins. He introduced her to us and then he took me aside to explain what was happening. He means to go and speak with Mrs. Sullivan and bribe her to\u2014what are the words I want? He\u2019s going to induce her to make him Maureen\u2019s legal guardian.”<\/p>\n Hoss felt his jaw drop but at length he recovered. “Well, I don\u2019t know if that\u2019s the best solution,” he said slowly, turning it over in his mind, “but it\u2019ll do for now. At least it will get Maureen away from those men.”<\/p>\n “Oui,” Charlotte continued, nearly stamping her foot with impatience. “But what will he do with her afterwards? He thinks he can just send her to some boarding school. This girl is very bright, you see, and he wants her to have a first class education. But he can\u2019t just tear her from her mother and then send her away!”<\/p>\n Hoss sighed. Sometimes his brother was like that\u2014too intellectual for his own good. It was easier for him to nourish the girl\u2019s brain than to see that she would need a true parent in place of the one she was losing. If Adam didn\u2019t mean to be a real father to Maureen, he was better off finding her another home.<\/p>\n “No, I reckon not,” he said. “Well, we\u2019ll explain that to Adam later. Between the two of us we can bring him around.”<\/p>\n Charlotte clasped his arms. “Yes, but first we have to find Maureen. Hoss, she was very quiet, so I just kept talking and talking. I told her about New Orleans and, oh, all sorts of things. She was nervous, I think\u2014I doubt she ever spoke with a black woman before. And then the moment I turned my back she slipped out!”<\/p>\n Hoss swore under his breath. “Did she know what Adam intended to do?”<\/p>\n “No,” Charlotte answered, shaking her head. “She knew that Adam meant to speak with her mother, but that was all.”<\/p>\n She paused and bit her lip. “Unless she understands French. Then she would know everything. We have to find her! Mrs. Hawkins is staying at the house in case she returns.”<\/p>\n She released her hold on Hoss, raised her hands to her head and swore in French. “All I had to do was mind that girl for an hour. How could I be so stupid?”<\/p>\n “Don\u2019t beat yourself up,” Hoss advised. “You didn\u2019t know that little filly was going to bolt. Just tell me what she looks like. Then we\u2019ll tear this town apart if we have to\u2014but we\u2019ll find her.”<\/p>\n Charlotte nodded and began to describe the girl in detail\u2014far more detail than Hoss could take in. Hoss felt like he would recognize the girl anywhere now, from her nut-brown hair, to her freckled nose, to the gingham pattern of her dress\u2014even down to the tiny hole in the stocking on her left leg.<\/p>\n Once the picture of the girl was clear in his mind he and Charlotte set off to scour the town. He never once thought to regret the loss of his day off.<\/p>\n *<\/p>\n “\u00bfQu\u00e9 pasa, gringa?”<\/p>\n Maureen nearly jumped at the sound of someone whispering in her ear. She spun around and found Miguel crouched behind her.<\/p>\n She gave a sigh of relief. Miguel was a fellow student and one of the few friends she had made at school. They were both outcasts, albeit for different reasons, and so they tended to cling to each other.<\/p>\n \u2018Gringa\u2019 was his pet name for her. She should probably be insulted by it, for she knew that Mexicans used \u2018gringos\u2019 to refer to whites. But Miguel always said it with a teasing tone in his voice that made it impossible for her to take offense.<\/p>\n But now she had to explain why she was crouched outside her house, hiding in the bushes near an open window. Well, it was only Miguel. She might as well tell him the truth.<\/p>\n She pulled him into the bushes next to her so that neither of them could be seen. Then she cupped her hands over her mouth and whispered in his ear. “Mr. Cartwright made me write an essay telling him why I couldn\u2019t study for math.”<\/p>\n Miguel pulled his ear away and shook his head. “Is that all he did after he caught you cheating?” he whispered back. “He didn\u2019t whip you?”<\/p>\n “No, he didn\u2019t whip me!” she answered, annoyed at the disappointment in his voice. “But I\u2014Miguel, I told him everything in that essay. About my Mam, I mean.”<\/p>\n He stared at her. “You told him what your mother makes you do with those men?” he demanded.<\/p>\n She nodded. “I wrote it all down. I\u2014I wanted to shock him because he thought I wasn\u2019t old enough for that book he confiscated from me. Then after class he\u2014Miguel, he wasn\u2019t angry at me and he didn\u2019t act shocked, but he said that he needed to have a talk with my mother.”<\/p>\n Miguel looked like he was thinking that over. “Tell you what, gringa,” he said at length. “I think this is a good thing. I\u2019ll bet Adam Cartwright can help you.”<\/p>\n “Miguel, he brought me to that Creole woman. He took her aside and spoke to her in French. I don\u2019t think he knew that I could understand him. He told her that\u2014that he means to bribe my mother into making him my guardian and then he\u2019s going to send me away to school.”<\/p>\n His eyes widened at that. “You spoke with his Creole woman? Dios m\u00edo, is she not the most heavenly creature? What did her voice sound like?”<\/p>\n Maureen rolled her eyes. “Mother of God, Miguel! Forget about her. Look, I slipped out when she wasn\u2019t watching so that I could come here. The point is that Mr. Cartwright wants to take me away from my Mam and then send me off to boarding school!”<\/p>\n Miguel shrugged. “You don\u2019t want to stay with your mother, do you? And if Adam Cartwright becomes your guardian\u2014Madre de Dios, think how rich he is!”<\/p>\n She stared down at her hands. “No, I don\u2019t want to stay with my mother,” she answered, taking care to keep to a whisper. “But I don\u2019t want to be sent away either.”<\/p>\n But he brushed that objection aside. “Mira, gringa,” he said, “it\u2019s too late for him to send you away to school this year. And by next year you can talk him out of it, no?”<\/p>\n She bit her lip as she considered that. But before she could reply she caught sight of Adam walking up to her mother\u2019s door. She clamped her hand over Miguel\u2019s mouth to keep him quiet and then watched Adam knock.<\/p>\n He had papers in his hand. He must have stopped at his bank and at his lawyer\u2019s before coming here. He was quite sure of himself, then\u2014quite certain that her mother would agree to his terms.<\/p>\n Maureen couldn\u2019t decide how to feel about that.<\/p>\n She was glad to see her mother looking fairly well. Apparently she hadn\u2019t drank much today. That made it easier to bear the thought of Mr. Cartwright meeting her.<\/p>\n She removed her hand from Miguel\u2019s mouth as they listened to Mr. Cartwright introduce himself. Her mother invited him in as he removed his hat. They were soon out of Maureen and Miguel\u2019s sight, but the children could still hear them through the open window.<\/p>\n “Can I get you some tea, Mr. Cartwright?” her mother asked.<\/p>\n “No,” he answered. “I\u2019m afraid this isn\u2019t a social call.”<\/p>\n Her mother took that in good part. “I understand that you\u2019re filling in for the schoolteacher. Is my daughter having troubles at school, then?”<\/p>\n “I believe the problem is at home. Maureen wrote an assignment that I\u2019d like you to read.”<\/p>\n Maureen heard her mother chuckle in a self-deprecating manner. “I\u2019m afraid my daughter is more clever at reading and writing than I am, Mr. Cartwright.”<\/p>\n “Very well,” he returned. “Then I\u2019ll read it to you.”<\/p>\n And he did. Maureen felt her face flush and her throat catch as he gave voice to her words. She glanced at Miguel, but he was too embarrassed to meet her eyes.<\/p>\n She bit her lip again. She wished she could see her Mam\u2019s reaction. Was she too dying of shame?<\/p>\n There was silence when Adam finished, but at length Mam broke it.<\/p>\n “What are you wanting to hear, Mr. Cartwright?” she asked with that faint Irish lilt that still clung to her voice. “Haven\u2019t I got to earn my keep\u2014and Maureen\u2019s too? And I\u2019ve no family to help us. No husband to go and out and work. I\u2019m sorry to use her in my\u2014my trade, but I protect her from the worst of it.”<\/p>\n Adam kept silent. Maureen wished that she could see his face.<\/p>\n Her mother spoke again. “Maureen won\u2019t trouble you any longer\u2014she won\u2019t be returning to school. She\u2019s all but grown now.”<\/p>\n “She\u2019s not grown, Mrs. Sullivan. She\u2019s a child. And I don\u2019t mean her to spend another night here.”<\/p>\n “And how do you intend to take her away?” she demanded, her voice growing sharp. “Aren\u2019t I her mother?”<\/p>\n Adam\u2019s voice stayed even. “You\u2019re going to give me full custody over her and make me her guardian,” he said, speaking as if the issue was already settled. “And when that\u2019s done, you\u2019re going to leave Virginia City.”<\/p>\n “And where do you expect me to go?”<\/p>\n “I don\u2019t care,” he answered, “as long as you stay away from Maureen.”<\/p>\n Maureen sank to the ground. She felt sick to her stomach.<\/p>\n “My daughter still loves me,” she heard her mother insist. “I\u2019m not a monster, Mr. Cartwright\u2014I\u2019ve done my best by my girl. If you part her from me she\u2019ll hate you for it.”<\/p>\n “I\u2019ll take that chance,” Adam answered. “And I\u2019ll provide you with enough funds to start over.”<\/p>\n Maureen shut her eyes and tried to remember to keep breathing. The bushes felt like they were closing in on her. Suddenly she felt Miguel\u2019s hand on her shoulder. He gave her a comforting squeeze, reminding her that she wasn\u2019t alone.<\/p>\n “Have you thought about what people will say?” her mother asked. “They might think that you\u2019re her father\u2014if they want to think kindly of you.”<\/p>\n “I\u2019m not concerned with what people think,” he said softly. “I just want to give her a decent home and a real education.”<\/p>\n “How charitable of you,” she said dryly. “Do you mean for that woman you keep to raise her? Or do you mean to let her live with a family of bachelors?”<\/p>\n “Worried about the proprieties?” Adam asked. Maureen didn\u2019t miss the sarcasm in his voice.<\/p>\n “We\u2019ve always kept up appearances,” her mother retorted.<\/p>\n “She\u2019ll stay at the Ponderosa until I can find a good school for her,” he explained. “My father will be a more than respectable chaperone.”<\/p>\n Maureen heard her mother start pacing around the room. When she spoke again her voice was brisk and business-like. “Well, I want three thousand dollars. Then you can have my daughter.”<\/p>\n “Very well. I have the paperwork here. You can sign these\u2014I presume you know how to sign your name\u2014and I\u2019ll write out a bank draft.”<\/p>\n Maureen didn\u2019t wait to here anything more. She crept out of the bushes and went to her own front steps. She wanted Adam and her mother to have to face her when they finished this\u2014this business transaction.<\/p>\n Miguel followed her. “Maybe we should head back to the Creole woman,” he said hopefully.<\/p>\n But she shook her head. “I\u2019m waiting right here.”<\/p>\n Miguel sighed. “If you insist, gringa,” he said. “But I\u2019d better wait with you.”<\/p>\n *<\/p>\n While Mrs. Sullivan was packing a bag for Maureen, Adam stepped outside. He started as he caught sight of Maureen herself sitting on the front steps.<\/p>\n Her friend Miguel was standing right in front of her, presumably to support her through this ordeal. Adam cringed as he realized that the pair of them had probably listened to his conversation with Mrs. Sullivan.<\/p>\n He forced himself to recover. “You two must have heard an earful,” he remarked as he took a seat next to Maureen.<\/p>\n Maureen answered him with a cold glare while Miguel reddened and stared down at his feet.<\/p>\n “Miguel, why don\u2019t you head on home,” Adam advised. “I need some time alone with Maureen.”<\/p>\n The boy shuffled his feet for a moment and then sent Maureen an apologetic glance. “I\u2019ll see you tomorrow, gringa,” he told her as he took off.<\/p>\n Adam turned to Maureen. “I don\u2019t suppose Charlotte knows where you are?” he asked.<\/p>\n She shook her head. “I just left when she wasn\u2019t watching,” she answered in a flat tone.<\/p>\n He sighed. Charlotte would be frantic, no doubt, but he couldn\u2019t worry about her right now. He had to do his best to explain the situation to Maureen.<\/p>\n “I\u2019m sorry that you overheard my conversation with your mother,” he began.<\/p>\n “Why?” she interrupted. “Were you going to lie about what you both said?”<\/p>\n “No,” he answered, keeping his voice even. “But I wouldn\u2019t have mentioned the money.”<\/p>\n She shrugged. “I\u2019m not stupid,” she informed him. “I would\u2019ve guessed that you paid her something. She must be happy\u2014I\u2019ll bet she never thought that some man would be willing to give her three thousand for me.”<\/p>\n Adam knew that she was trying to get a rise out of him, so he kept his peace. They were both silent for a long moment.<\/p>\n At length Maureen spoke up again. “I\u2019m not grateful to you,” she informed him. “I didn\u2019t ask for your help.”<\/p>\n He weighed his words before he answered. In the end, he decided that brutal honesty would carry the most weight with her.<\/p>\n “Maureen,” he said, “you just told me that you\u2019re not stupid. You must have known that I\u2019d intervene once I found out about your situation here. If you didn\u2019t want my help, you would never have written that essay.”<\/p>\n She had the grace to blush at that, but he could see that her embarrassment only made her angrier.<\/p>\n “I\u2019m still not going to thank you for it,” she managed to retort. “In fact, I\u2019ll hate you for this.”<\/p>\n She wasn\u2019t lying\u2014that was obvious. Adam shut his eyes for a moment and thought back to a conversation he\u2019d had with Laura. He remembered how distraught Laura was when she believed that Peggy, her own daughter, hated her.<\/p>\n He remembered telling Laura that even if that were true, she still had to live up to her responsibilities as a parent. Well, now he would have to live up to his own responsibilities as Maureen\u2019s guardian, regardless of how the girl felt about him.<\/p>\n “Look,” he said at last, “I\u2019m not doing this to win your affection. You don\u2019t have to love me or even like me, Maureen. But I\u2019m not leaving you here.”<\/p>\n She stared down at her hands. “I remember what it was like when I was a stranger in town,” she said softly. “When we moved here from San Francisco, I mean. My Mam had a\u2014a protector back there. He was a Frenchman. He was kind to both of us, but my Mam drove him away with her drinking.”<\/p>\n Adam kept silent, but he wondered how much French she\u2019d picked up from her mother\u2019s protector. It was quite possible that she had understood everything he said to Charlotte.<\/p>\n “Then we came here,” she continued. “I hated Virginia City when we first came. It was just as rough and rude as San Francisco, but it didn\u2019t have a\u2014a big city feel to compensate for it. It\u2019s grown up since then, but I still remember how homesick I was for the first year or so. And then I had to\u2014I had to work with my Mam so we could afford to stay here.”<\/p>\n “Your mother was wrong to use you that way,” Adam said quietly.<\/p>\n “I know,” she said as she kept staring at her hands. Her voice was strangely calm now. “But she\u2019s still my Mam and I don\u2019t want her to be a stranger again in a new place. She already came from Limerick to the Five Points in Manhattan, then from Manhattan to San Francisco, and then to Virginia City. I don\u2019t want you to send her away now.”<\/p>\n She paused and took a deep breath. “And I don\u2019t want you to send me away either. I won\u2019t go to some boarding school. If you want to be my guardian you\u2019ll have to deal with me yourself\u2014otherwise I\u2019ll just run off.”<\/p>\n Adam considered that. He didn\u2019t appreciate being blackmailed, but he knew that he\u2019d have to compromise if he didn\u2019t want to spend half his life chasing after her.<\/p>\n “I won\u2019t force your mother to leave town,” he said at length. “But I won\u2019t permit you to see her alone. If you want to visit her, you\u2019ll have to bring me, my father or one of my brothers along. Or Charlotte, I suppose.”<\/p>\n She shrugged, which he took as her way of conceding. “What about school?” she asked.<\/p>\n “You\u2019ll never get the education you deserve here in Virginia City,” he said. “You\u2019re a bright girl, Maureen. You may be able to go on to college eventually.”<\/p>\n Her eyes widened at that and she glanced up at him. “Can a woman go to college?” she demanded.<\/p>\n He nodded. “It\u2019s difficult, but there are a few schools that permit women.” He paused to allow that to sink in. “At any rate, I don\u2019t want you worrying about it now. We\u2019ll discuss your schooling later.”<\/p>\n He watched her bristle at the tone of command in his voice. “I want to talk about it now.”<\/p>\n He shook his head at her. He wasn\u2019t about to let her ride roughshod over him.<\/p>\n She made a face at him. “Charlotte says you\u2019re a tyrant,” she told him. “She said that you punished her the first night you met her.”<\/p>\n Adam sighed again. Charlotte would talk to anyone about almost any topic.<\/p>\n “Well, she was just a child when we first met,” he explained. “She was seven and I was eighteen. She went through my valise without my permission and I caught her playing with my gun. Fortunately she couldn\u2019t figure out how to prime and load it.”<\/p>\n She regarded him curiously. “Did she despise you afterwards?”<\/p>\n “No,” he answered, smiling as he remembered little Antoinette-Charlotte trailing after him wherever he went. “She followed me around like an adoring puppy the whole time I was in New Orleans.”<\/p>\n Maureen rolled her eyes in disgust. “No wonder you play the part of a tyrant.”<\/p>\n Adam grinned. “It works surprisingly well for me,” he admitted.<\/p>\n He watched her try to frown at him, but she ended up dimpling instead.<\/p>\n “That\u2019s better,” he said as he stood up and offered her his hand. She accepted it and allowed him to help her to her feet.<\/p>\n “Let\u2019s go inside and speak with your mother,” he suggested. “Then we’ll find Charlotte and put her mind at ease.”<\/p>\n She nodded, but she paused once she had her hand on the doorknob. “Does the tyrant act work on Little Joe?” she asked.<\/p>\n He raised his eyebrows at that. “What\u2019s your interest in Little Joe?” he asked.<\/p>\n “Nothing,” she said quickly.<\/p>\n Adam cocked his head at her, but decided to leave it alone. “It works on Joe about half the time,” he told her, grinning again. “The other half we come to blows.”<\/p>\n She smiled outright at that and together they stepped inside.<\/p>\n *<\/p>\n Ben took his coffee and went to the window that looked out into the yard, squinting at the morning light. Once his eyes adjusted he gasped and took a step back. Then he laughed as he shook himself. He was just not accustomed to seeing a twelve-year-old girl on the Ponderosa.<\/p>\n Maureen was outside watching Adam and Joe wrestle each other. One glance told Ben that the boys were just roughhousing, not fighting in earnest. He smiled as he realized that Maureen was shamelessly rooting for Little Joe.<\/p>\n She had quite a crush on Joe, but that didn\u2019t worry Ben. That would pass. He was more concerned for her relationship with Adam.<\/p>\n Maureen swore that she didn\u2019t even like Adam, but Ben wasn\u2019t fooled. He could see how desperately she wanted him for a real father. She went out of her way to draw his attention, sometimes by being on her best behavior but often by testing the limits of his patience. Right now Adam could bring her in line with a firm lecture, but Ben suspected that would not always be the case.<\/p>\n Adam, meanwhile, seemed to enjoy her company. They were learning Latin together and he was teaching her chess. But he tended to keep her at arms\u2019 length.<\/p>\n Ben sighed. Adam\u2019s distance from the girl had more to do with his own uncertainty as a guardian rather than a lack of affection for her, but how was Maureen to know that?<\/p>\n Ben continued staring out the window as the boys got to their feet. They were laughing and shaking hands so they must have agreed to a draw.<\/p>\n He decided to drink his coffee out on the porch. As he was shutting the front door behind him he heard Little Joe addressing Maureen.<\/p>\n “Look, you\u2019ll never be able to shock older brother here,” he was saying. “There\u2019s no trouble you can get into that I haven\u2019t been in already.”<\/p>\n “Oh, I can think of one kind of trouble that you weren\u2019t capable of,” Adam said dryly.<\/p>\n Joe laughed. “Well, yeah\u2014but apart from that.”<\/p>\n Maureen snorted. “No wonder you want to send me away to an all girls\u2019 school,” she said to Adam. “But there\u2019s no need. Little Joe would marry me to save my face\u2014wouldn\u2019t you Joe?”<\/p>\n Ben could see Joe shaking his head now. “Can\u2019t marry you, darlin\u2019,” he said. “That would make Adam effectively my father-in-law\u2014and then he\u2019d be unbearable.”<\/p>\n The whole group laughed at that. Even Ben enjoyed a quiet chuckle from his chair.<\/p>\n “It doesn\u2019t matter,” Maureen said at last. “I have more sense than to get into that sort of trouble. And I wouldn\u2019t come home drunk, either,” she added, giving Joe a significant look.<\/p>\n “Oh, last night was nothing,” Joe assured her. “I was just a little tipsy. My real drinking days are over.”<\/p>\n “Since when?” Adam asked.<\/p>\n “Since that morning I woke up next to you, older brother,” he answered. “Before I opened my eyes I had no idea why I was curled up against some man\u2014you can\u2019t imagine how relieved I was when I found out that it was you!”<\/p>\n Adam rolled his eyes as Maureen laughed. “How\u2019d you end up next to Adam?” she asked.<\/p>\n Joe grinned. “Oh, I was about three sheets to the wind. I couldn\u2019t ride back to the Ponderosa, so Adam brought me to the International House instead. I kept him awake for the better part of the night while I succumbed to a crying jag.\u201d<\/p>\n But Adam was shaking his head. \u201cDon\u2019t worry,\u201d he said. \u201cYou were upset, but you weren’t crying.\u201d<\/p>\n Joe shrugged. \u201cWell, Adam finally figured out what was eating me. He did his best to comfort me and then he let me fall asleep with my head on his shoulder, as if I were still a five year old. He also held a bucket up for me in the morning while I hurled my guts out.\u201d<\/p>\n Adam and Maureen both laughed at that last bit. Then Ben watched as Maureen gave Adam a tentative smile.<\/p>\n “You don\u2019t sound half bad as an older brother,” she commented.<\/p>\n He winked at her. “I\u2019m not always a tyrant.”<\/p>\n Ben smiled at that and took a long drink of his coffee. Perhaps there was hope yet.<\/p>\n *<\/p>\n The next few weeks were busy ones for Adam. He kept tutoring Maureen, he kept substituting and\u2014finally\u2014he and Charlotte picked out a house in town. After all, she couldn\u2019t go on forever at the Widow Hawkins\u2019. Adam would spend half of each week there and the other half on the Ponderosa.<\/p>\n Eventually Charlotte\u2019s sister Th\u00e9r\u00e8se and her husband would be joining her in the house. Adam would feel better then\u2014he didn\u2019t like the idea of Charlotte living alone, even for only part of the week.<\/p>\n Meanwhile, just when he finished off his job as a substitute teacher, a new problem cropped up. Some fellow, who, by all accounts, could have passed for Adam\u2019s twin, borrowed a horse and money in his name.<\/p>\n Adam followed his double\u2019s trail to Placerville. But he never got a chance to meet him\u2014not alive, at any event. And so he rode back to Virginia City with a strange, empty feeling.<\/p>\n It was after midnight when he crept into Charlotte\u2019s house. He managed to open the door without causing it to groan and to step inside without causing the floorboards to creak.<\/p>\n But he may as well have spared the effort. He was a foot into the house when over a hundred pounds of dog slammed into him, knocking him to the floor.<\/p>\n The dog barked and snarled as it pinned Adam to the ground. Adam cringed from the animal\u2019s hot breath and held still, hoping not to antagonize it any further. Even in the darkness he had glimpsed its bared teeth.<\/p>\n He heard footsteps racing down the stairs and soon Charlotte came into view, holding up a lantern.<\/p>\n “Caesar!” she called out. “Get off of him! Come here, boy.”<\/p>\n Adam watched the dog narrow his eyes at him, but he reluctantly obeyed Charlotte\u2019s orders.<\/p>\n Adam sat up and cocked his head at Charlotte, who was now kneeling by the dog\u2019s side telling him what a good boy he was.<\/p>\n “New addition to the household?” he asked dryly.<\/p>\n She bit back a grin as her eyes danced at him. “Hoss knew that I\u2019d be spending a lot of time alone in this new house\u2014at least until Th\u00e9r\u00e8se the Terrible arrives. So he thought I should have some companionship. And see how good Caesar is?” she continued as she kissed the dog\u2019s nose. “Look how he defended me against the evil Adam.”<\/p>\n Adam rolled his eyes at that and held out his hand to the dog. Caesar regarded him with suspicion, but after an encouraging shove from his mistress he walked over and sniffed at the intruder.<\/p>\n His eyes softened as he allowed Adam to pet him. Then he forgot his hostility completely, even going so far as to lick Adam\u2019s hand and face. Finally he rolled over on his back for a belly rub.<\/p>\n Charlotte smiled and sat on the floor beside the pair. She joined Adam in rubbing Caesar\u2019s stomach.<\/p>\n “What kind of dog is this?” Adam inquired.<\/p>\n She frowned. “Hoss wasn\u2019t sure. Some sort of shepherd mix\u2014he keeps trying to herd me. Hoss told me about this double of yours,” she added. “Did you find him?”<\/p>\n Adam nodded. “In a manner of speaking. The man who looked so much like me was named Tom Burns. He\u2019s dead.”<\/p>\n She raised her eyebrows at him. “Mon Dieu, I\u2019m sorry! What happened?”<\/p>\n Adam relayed the story of his trip to Placerville and his discovery of Tom Burn\u2019s murder. He didn\u2019t leave anything out\u2014not even his partnership with the saloon girl Anne.<\/p>\n Charlotte grew uncharacteristically quiet at that. “This Anne\u2014she\u2019s a white woman?”<\/p>\n Adam nodded.<\/p>\n “Pretty?” she persisted.<\/p>\n “Very,” Adam agreed. “She, ah, wanted to know if I was married.”<\/p>\n Charlotte\u2019s eyes flashed. “What did you tell her?”<\/p>\n He sighed. “Per our agreement I told her that I wasn\u2019t.”<\/p>\n “Oh,” Charlotte said in a flat tone.<\/p>\n Adam could see that she wasn\u2019t happy\u2014and that was just as well. Maybe he could finally talk some sense into her.<\/p>\n “Charlotte,” he began, “I don\u2019t want to keep this secret anymore. I want people to know the truth about our marriage. I know that we\u2019ll face prejudice because of your race, but I\u2019m willing to chance that.”<\/p>\n But Charlotte\u2019s mind was fixed on one point. “Was she a brunette?” she demanded.<\/p>\n “What?”<\/p>\n “This Anne of yours. This saloon girl. Was she a brunette?”<\/p>\n “No, she was a blonde. But that\u2019s beside the point\u2014”<\/p>\n “Did she make overtures toward you?” Charlotte interrupted.<\/p>\n Adam stared down at Caesar. At length he looked back up at his wife. He was hard-pressed not to smile\u2014her eyes were blazing with jealousy now.<\/p>\n “She was in love with Tom Burns, poor girl,” he explained. “I gave her a farewell kiss, but it was Tom kissing her, not me.”<\/p>\n Charlotte stood up abruptly and spent the next few minutes stomping around the room. Then she swore heartily in French against white women in general and blondes in particular. That seemed to restore her temper.<\/p>\n At length she knelt down again. “I\u2019m sorry for this double of yours and I\u2019m sorry for this Anne who was in love with him,” she told him. “I don\u2019t blame you for kissing her\u2014especially if it was on behalf of the dead man. But I still don\u2019t think we should announce our marriage. You have no idea how bad the prejudice will be.”<\/p>\n She paused and took a deep breath. “But if any other pretty blonde women ask if you\u2019re married, you may tell them yes.”<\/p>\n Adam choked back a laugh and reached out to tousle her hair. “All She smiled. “Let\u2019s get to bed.”<\/p>\n He nodded. He stood up and helped her to her feet and then allowed her to lead him upstairs. To his chagrin the dog followed.<\/p>\n “He doesn\u2019t think he\u2019s staying in our room, does he?” he inquired.<\/p>\n Charlotte looked surprised at the question. “Of course he\u2019s staying in our room. He\u2019s been sleeping on the bed.”<\/p>\n She smiled again and patted Adam\u2019s cheek. “You\u2019ll be spending half of your time at the Ponderosa,” she reminded him. “I can\u2019t kick Caesar out just for the nights that you\u2019re here.”<\/p>\n Adam sighed and stopped at the threshold of the bedroom. Caesar stopped as well and gave him a questioning look.<\/p>\n Adam knelt down so that he was eye to eye with the dog. “We\u2019re going to have to have a talk, boy,” he told him.<\/p>\n *<\/p>\n Ben yawned and stretched and made his way downstairs. He could already smell Hop Sing\u2019s bacon and cornbread. And he could see that Hoss, Little Joe and Maureen were seated at the table. That left only Adam unaccounted for.<\/p>\n Adam had returned to the Ponderosa last night, so Ben knew that his son was home. Well, the smell of breakfast would bring him down soon enough.<\/p>\n The threesome, meanwhile, must have been there for some time. Ben sat down to a conversation that was already in progress.<\/p>\n “Hey!” Little Joe was saying sharply. “My mother was a very good Catholic. As long as you didn\u2019t expect her to go to Mass.”<\/p>\n Hoss put down his fork. “But Joe, she had all those\u2014what do you call them? You know, those magic charms around.”<\/p>\n “Gris-gris,” Joe supplied. “Voodoo charms. But that doesn\u2019t mean she wasn\u2019t a good Catholic.”<\/p>\n “How can you be a good Catholic if you don\u2019t go to Mass?” Maureen demanded.<\/p>\n Ben couldn’t imagine what had started this conversation, but he judged it time to intervene. “In fairness to Marie,” he said, “St. Mary\u2019s wasn\u2019t built yet when she was alive. To attend Mass you had to wait for a priest to come around or travel some distance.”<\/p>\n Hoss grinned. “I don\u2019t think she would have gone much even if St. Mary\u2019s had been here. She told me once that the Creoles of New Orleans rarely went to church. Look at Charlotte\u2014she don\u2019t go much either. Apparently it\u2019s the Irish who go to Mass all the time.”<\/p>\n “That\u2019s because the Irish are more devout than the Creoles,” Maureen announced. “In fact, we\u2019re more devout than just about everyone.”<\/p>\n Joe laughed. “Yeah, and you know why that is? Because you Irish are the only ones fool enough to believe whatever the Church tells you.”<\/p>\n Ben was about to reprimand his youngest, but then he realized that Maureen wasn\u2019t offended. In fact, she was choking with laughter. But she recovered sufficiently to throw a biscuit at Little Joe, which he deflected with his bread plate.<\/p>\n Ben rolled his eyes. “That\u2019s enough, you two. How did you even get on this subject?”<\/p>\n “Adam found some convent school near San Francisco to send Maureen to,” Hoss informed him.<\/p>\n Maureen made a face. “It\u2019s run by Dominican Sisters. He must want me to become a nun.”<\/p>\n “I bet all fathers secretly want their daughters to become nuns,” Joe put in. “Even non-Catholics like Adam.”<\/p>\n “He\u2019s not my father,” Maureen pointed out.<\/p>\n Hoss shrugged. “He might as well be.”<\/p>\n But she shook her head. “If he thought of me as his daughter he wouldn\u2019t want to send me away.”<\/p>\n Ben regarded Maureen for a moment. Was it the thought of a boarding school that bothered her, or was it just the uncertain nature of her relationship with Adam?<\/p>\n “He doesn\u2019t want to send you away,” he explained gently. “But he knows that you can\u2019t get the education you deserve here in Virginia City.”<\/p>\n She sighed. “Well, it doesn\u2019t matter,” she said. “After last night I probably won\u2019t live long enough to go away to school.”<\/p>\n Joe laughed. “Adam\u2019s not going to kill you,” he assured her. “He might tan your hide, but he\u2019s not going to kill you.”<\/p>\n “What did you do?” Ben asked.<\/p>\n “Don\u2019t answer that!” Joe ordered. Then he turned to his father. “Sorry, Pa, but don\u2019t worry about it. She\u2019s in enough trouble with Adam.”<\/p>\n But Adam must have overheard them. “She ransacked my room,” he said as he came down the stairs and made his way to the breakfast table. “And she managed to break a certain music box. Fortunately I think I can fix it.”<\/p>\n Ben almost choked on his food. “Not your mother\u2019s box?”<\/p>\n “That\u2019s the one,” Adam confirmed as he took the seat next to Maureen.<\/p>\n “I\u2019m really sorry,” Maureen said. “But if you hadn\u2019t confiscated my book I wouldn\u2019t have had to tear apart your room looking for it.”<\/p>\n Adam had picked up his knife and fork, but he set them down at that. “I told you weeks ago that Apuleius is not appropriate for twelve year olds.”<\/p>\n “I know,” she owned as she leaned her head against his shoulder and widened her eyes until she looked like an innocent pup. “But if I tell you what a hard life I\u2019ve had, will you spare me the hiding?”<\/p>\n Ben grinned despite himself. He noticed that even Adam couldn\u2019t help but smile at the pathetic look she was giving him.<\/p>\n “I wasn\u2019t planning to spank you, Maureen,” he informed her. “You can handle the laundry today instead.”<\/p>\n Both Hoss and Little Joe instinctively cringed.<\/p>\n “Oh, you poor kid,” Hoss said, shaking his head.<\/p>\n “Yeah, I\u2019m sorry Maureen,” Joe added with sincere sympathy. “I should have told you not to act up the night before washing day.”<\/p>\n “And the water pump isn\u2019t even working!” Hoss pointed out.<\/p>\n “We\u2019ll find the yoke for you,” Joe said. “At least that way you can haul two buckets of water from the well at a time.”<\/p>\n “`Course it takes forever to heat up enough water for the tub,” Hoss continued, looking morose.<\/p>\n Maureen frowned at Adam. “If it\u2019s all the same to you, I\u2019ll take the hiding.”<\/p>\n He laughed. “Keep it up and you\u2019ll get both.”<\/p>\n Ben narrowed his eyes at his oldest boy. “Wasn\u2019t it your turn to do laundry?” he asked.<\/p>\n “Yes, it was,” he admitted. “So this works out rather well for me.”<\/p>\n Maureen lifted her head and playfully stuck her tongue out at him. “May I be excused so I can start the water torture?”<\/p>\n Adam nodded, but he grabbed hold of her arm as she passed him “Just a moment, sweetheart,” he said. “I want you to come with me next week to take a look at this school.”<\/p>\n “What if I hate it?” she demanded.<\/p>\n He shrugged. “Then you don\u2019t have to go. But it has a good reputation and it\u2019s close enough so that you can spend your holidays and summers here.”<\/p>\n She considered that. “I\u2019ll look at it,” she said at length. “But don\u2019t think I\u2019m going to become a nun,” she warned him.<\/p>\n “Don\u2019t worry,” he said dryly. “I wasn\u2019t counting on it.” With that he turned her around and gave her bottom a firm swat, sending her off toward the kitchen.<\/p>\n Ben smiled at their antics. They might not have the ideal relationship, but they seemed to be growing on each other–and growing more at ease with one another.<\/p>\n Little Joe gave Adam a questioning look as soon as Maureen was out of earshot. “Out of curiosity, older brother, where did you put that book?”<\/p>\n Adam nodded toward the shelves. “It\u2019s right over there, next to ‘Tristram Shandy.'”<\/p>\n Joe sighed and shook his head. “Hidden in plain sight. That works every time.”<\/p>\n *<\/p>\n Little Joe Cartwright strode into Charlotte\u2019s house without bothering to knock. Knocking only got Caesar crazier. As it was the dog barked and growled until he sniffed at Joe and reluctantly decided that he was not an enemy.<\/p>\n Joe laughed and scratched the dog\u2019s ears. Caesar was over a hundred pounds now\u2014he\u2019d probably be a hundred and fifty by the time he stopped growing.<\/p>\n Caesar led the way to Charlotte. She was kneeling in her workroom, putting some finishing touches on a cream-colored gown that was probably intended for some rich debutante.<\/p>\n She glanced up from her work and smiled as Joe kissed her on the cheek. Caesar followed suit by licking her face before settling down on a blanket in the corner.<\/p>\n “Very pretty,” Joe said as he nodded at the gown. “Which lucky girl will be wearing that to the dance tomorrow night?”<\/p>\n To his surprise Charlotte shrugged. “I don\u2019t know,” she told him. “I can\u2019t remember her name.”<\/p>\n He narrowed his eyes at her. Charlotte was a serious modiste\u2014she had made it her business to learn the names of all the wealthy wives and daughters in town. She wouldn\u2019t forget the name of a client.<\/p>\n Joe grinned and crouched down at her side. “Why are you being so secretive?” he asked. “Come on, you can tell me who the girl is.”<\/p>\n “No, I cannot,” she informed him. “It\u2019s bad luck for a boy to ask questions about a girl\u2019s dress.”<\/p>\n “Bad luck for who?” he demanded.<\/p>\n “For the girl, of course.”<\/p>\n Joe stared at her. “What sort of superstition is that?”<\/p>\n “It\u2019s an old Creole superstition,” she insisted.<\/p>\n “No it\u2019s not,” Joe retorted as he stood up again.<\/p>\n She gave an exasperated sigh. “Why would I lie about this? And why are you asking so many questions?”<\/p>\n He shrugged. “I\u2019m not asking so many questions. I\u2019d just like to know what you\u2019re trying to\u2014oh no! That dress is for Maureen, isn\u2019t it?”<\/p>\n Charlotte swore in French. “Yes,” she owned at last. “It\u2019s for Maureen. She\u2019s going to the dance tomorrow night and she\u2019s wearing this gown.”<\/p>\n Joe rolled his eyes. “Char, Adam told her she couldn\u2019t go. He said no dances and no long dresses until she\u2019s thirteen! He\u2019s her guardian\u2014not you.”<\/p>\n But she waved that objection aside. “Adam doesn\u2019t understand these things.”<\/p>\n Everything fell together now. “No wonder Maureen wanted to stay with you for a couple of days. What are you going to do when he finds out?”<\/p>\n “Why should he find out?” she asked. “I can\u2019t go to the dance because of my race, so he won\u2019t go either. Besides, he\u2019s too busy with that\u2014how do you call it?\u2014that wind mill project on the Ponderosa. The one he convinced your father to try.”<\/p>\n Joe stared down at his hands for a moment. He hated to think that Charlotte wouldn\u2019t be welcome at the same dance he meant to attend. “Are you sorry that you can\u2019t go?” he asked.<\/p>\n She shrugged. “A bit. I\u2019ve never been to a dance. My mother and Th\u00e9r\u00e8se wouldn\u2019t let me go to the quadroon balls of New Orleans\u2014and with good reason. Adam sent us enough money to ensure that neither Monique nor I would need to find a white man to take care of us.”<\/p>\n Little Joe sighed and leaned back against the wall. Charlotte was one of the free people of color from New Orleans. She was also his mother\u2019s youngest sister, so she was technically Joe\u2019s aunt, even though she was only a year older than he was. She was his full-blooded aunt, in fact. His mother had been a quadroon too\u2014she\u2019d just been light enough to pass. None of the Cartwrights had known that except for Adam.<\/p>\n Of course, now Charlotte was also his sister-in-law. She and Adam had married quietly at St. Mary\u2019s.<\/p>\n They lived apart, but that was her choice. She preferred to have people think that she was Adam\u2019s mistress\u2014she felt they\u2019d face less prejudice that way. Besides, she claimed the notoriety was good for her business.<\/p>\n Joe thought about the fact that he was one-eighth black. If the good folk of Virginia City knew that, they might not want him at their dances either.<\/p>\n Charlotte must have read his thoughts. “Don\u2019t feel guilty, Little Joe!” she said as her eyes gleamed with amusement. “The world is what it is. If I could pass and go to the dance, believe me I would. But now you understand why I must help Maureen! I intend to live vicariously through her.”<\/p>\n Joe laughed at that. “All right, all right. But I know from experience that these schemes have a way of misfiring.”<\/p>\n “Why should it misfire?” she asked. “You\u2019re not going to say anything to Adam, are you?”<\/p>\n “Hell no,” he told her. “Just understand that you\u2019ll be in as much trouble as Maureen if Adam does find out.”<\/p>\n “That\u2019s true,” she acknowledged as she turned back to the gown. “Mon Dieu, Little Joe! He forgets that I\u2019m not a child anymore.”<\/p>\n “Can\u2019t imagine why,” Joe muttered.<\/p>\n Charlotte gave him a sharp glance. “What was that?”<\/p>\n “Nothing,” he said as he gave her an expression of pure innocence.<\/p>\n She regarded him with suspicion but decided not to question him further. She put some pins in her mouth instead and began pinning up bits of the muslin.<\/p>\n “I\u2019ll even keep an eye on Maureen at the dance,” Joe offered. That would assuage his conscious\u2014now he had a good reason to go. “She should have a chaperone, after all. Hoss can look after her too\u2014uh, that reminds me. What about Pa?”<\/p>\n “What about him?” she asked through the pins.<\/p>\n “He\u2019ll be at the dance. I can convince Hoss not to say anything, but not my Pa.”<\/p>\n Charlotte opened her mouth and all the pins fell out. She started muttering in French. He didn\u2019t understand her, but he gathered that she was upset.<\/p>\n But she finally regained her temper. “Well, this is not a disaster,” she said when she was calm enough to speak in English again. “It\u2019s a large dance\u2014you and Hoss will just have to steer your father away from Maureen. And even if he does see her he wouldn’t force her to leave, would he?”<\/p>\n Joe tried to answer her, but she cut him off.<\/p>\n “He might not recognize her anyway,” she mused. “I\u2019ll have her hair pinned up and a bit of rouge on her cheeks\u2014”<\/p>\n “Rouge!” Joe repeated, not bothering to hide his outrage. “You can\u2019t put paint on her face! Do you have any idea what Adam would do to you?”<\/p>\n Charlotte rolled her eyes as she picked up the fallen pins. “You Americans hear ‘rouge’ and instantly you imagine a saloon girl. Perfectly respectable women can wear a hint of rouge. Besides, she needs it to disguise the freckles.”<\/p>\n “Respectable women, maybe,” Joe returned. “Not respectable twelve year old girls!”<\/p>\n She didn\u2019t answer that\u2014she gave him a smile of pure charm instead.<\/p>\n Joe knew that smile exactly. His mother had flashed it whenever she wanted to avoid awkward questions about her spending. Joe used it himself whenever he needed to convince his brothers to back him in some crazy scheme.<\/p>\n Good to know that it ran in the family.<\/p>\n “All right,” he said, returning the smile with an exact replica. “I\u2019ll trust you about the rouge. And I’ll try to keep Pa away from Maureen. Now let\u2019s just pray that those windmills keep older brother occupied.”<\/p>\n *<\/p>\n Maureen looked heavenly when Little Joe came to escort her to the dance. Charlotte felt a glow of pride as if Maureen were\u2014well, not her daughter. After all, Charlotte was only ten years older than the girl. No, she felt as proud as if Maureen were her little sister.<\/p>\n She felt a stab of jealousy too\u2014she wished that her own mother had let her attend one of the grand quadroon balls of New Orleans. What harm would there have been? She hadn’t wanted a white protector. No, she had just wanted to dance and flirt.<\/p>\n But she pushed that thought aside and reminded herself that she was happy for Maureen. Then she turned her mind to business. She had to work on an evening gown for Mrs. Lewis.<\/p>\n Mrs. Lewis was one of those dreadful nouveau riche women that Virginia City was churning out. Her husband\u2014who was no doubt equally crass\u2014was a mine baron. Charlotte shook her head as she remembered how Mrs. Lewis had paraded about her shop snapping her fingers and barking orders at her. But what did that matter? She was paying top dollar for her dress.<\/p>\n Charlotte almost felt guilty about the price she was asking. She had talked it over with Adam, but he had laughed and told her that she should charge as much as Mrs. Lewis was willing to pay. These women, he said, prided themselves on how much they spent on their clothes. There was nothing wrong with taking advantage of that.<\/p>\n She smiled as she thought back to that conversation. Adam had good business sense. No wonder\u2014he was a hardheaded Yankee, after all.<\/p>\n Adam had also advised her to hire a couple of girls for the easy work. He was right about that too, but if Charlotte had to pay employees it would be that much longer before she showed a profit. She was anxious to make a success of her business\u2014patience had never been her strong suit.<\/p>\n Caesar started barking wildly, pulling her out of her thoughts. She rushed to the door to see what had excited him.<\/p>\n Adam was making his way inside. He was kneeling by the door, laughing and petting Caesar as the dog licked his face. Charlotte smiled, happy to see her two men getting on. But Caesar would still be annoyed tonight when Adam shut him out of the bedroom.<\/p>\n She rushed into Adam\u2019s arms as soon as he stood up. He kissed her soundly and then put her gently aside so that he could remove his coat, hat and gun belt.<\/p>\n “What are you doing here?” Charlotte asked. “I thought those miserable windmills were going to keep you away from me.”<\/p>\n “Those miserable windmills are proving to be more trouble than I expected,” Adam owned. “They\u2019ll be worth it in the end, but I decided to take tonight and tomorrow off. I want to spend some time with my two girls. And this way Maureen can come back to the Ponderosa with me tomorrow evening.”<\/p>\n Charlotte\u2019s eyebrows shot up at that. She\u2019d been so wrapped up thinking about her business that she\u2019d forgotten all about Maureen. She bit her lip in alarm. This could get awkward.<\/p>\n “Where is Maureen?” Adam asked as he took her hand and strode toward the couch.<\/p>\n Charlotte allowed him to pull her onto his lap as he sat down, but her brain was racing ahead. She had to come up with a story fast. And then she had to make sure that Adam was sound asleep before Maureen got home.<\/p>\n “Maureen?” she answered as she put her arms around his neck and forced a smile on her face. “She\u2019s not here. She\u2019s with Miguel.”<\/p>\n “With Miguel?” Adam repeated, frowning. “It\u2019s a bit late, isn\u2019t it? I\u2019d better walk over to his house and fetch her.”<\/p>\n “No, don\u2019t do that!” she ordered. Then she took a deep breath to disguise her alarm. “She\u2019s not there. I mean, they\u2019re not at his house. They went for a ride in the buggy.”<\/p>\n He stared at her. “Do you mean to tell me that Maureen and Miguel are tooling around Virginia City by themselves?”<\/p>\n “No, of course not,” Charlotte corrected as she gave him a reassuring smile. “Miguel\u2019s parents are chaperoning them.”<\/p>\n Adam narrowed his eyes at Charlotte and then set her on her feet. She watched with dismay as he stood up himself and folded his arms across his chest.<\/p>\n “Miguel\u2019s parents are chaperoning them,” he repeated.<\/p>\n She gave him an innocent nod, but she could feel her stomach twisting\u2014Adam wasn\u2019t buying this. But where had she gone wrong? Everything she had said was plausible.<\/p>\n Well, there was nothing for it but to soldier on and hope that she could keep Maureen out of trouble. The girl just wanted to enjoy her first dance.<\/p>\n “Both his parents?” Adam persisted.<\/p>\n She laughed, hoping that she looked more at ease than she felt. Lying to Adam was not sitting well with her.<\/p>\n “Yes, both his parents,” she confirmed. “What\u2019s wrong, Adam? Why shouldn\u2019t his parents accompany them? The children need chaperones and, besides, I\u2019m sure that Miguel\u2019s father doesn\u2019t trust him with the reins yet.”<\/p>\n “Miguel\u2019s father has been dead for some years,” he informed her.<\/p>\n Charlotte felt her mouth drop open. That\u2019s where she had made her mistake.<\/p>\n She swallowed as Adam walked over to her and took her chin in his hand. He did not look pleased.<\/p>\n “If you\u2019re going to lie to my face, Antoinette,” he said, using her childhood name, “at least take the trouble to invent a creditable story.”<\/p>\n Charlotte felt obliged to defend herself on that score. “I didn\u2019t have enough time,” she complained. “You weren\u2019t supposed to be here tonight.”<\/p>\n He ignored that. “Where is Maureen?” he demanded.<\/p>\n She gave him an apologetic smile. “At the dance,” she admitted.<\/p>\n Adam sighed as he released her chin. “The dance that I told her she was too young to attend?”<\/p>\n Charlotte nodded. “That would be the one,” she agreed. “I know that I shouldn\u2019t have allowed her to go, much less have sewn the gown for her\u2014”<\/p>\n “You made a gown for her?” he interrupted. “After I told her that she couldn\u2019t wear long dresses until she\u2019s thirteen?”<\/p>\n “Oh, but Adam, this is the most ravishing gown!” Charlotte gushed. “I made it from simple cr\u00e8me muslin but we dressed it up with tiny rosettes. Even Little Joe said\u2014”<\/p>\n Adam broke in with a sour laugh. “So Joe\u2019s in on this too, is he?”<\/p>\n Charlotte cringed. “Yes, but only because I dragged him into it. This is my fault, Adam. Please don\u2019t be angry with Maureen and Joe.”<\/p>\n He didn\u2019t answer that. He just walked over to the coat rack and began putting on his jacket.<\/p>\n “Where are you going?” Charlotte demanded.<\/p>\n “To fetch Maureen,” he answered.<\/p>\n “Wait,” she pleaded as she ran in front of him. She placed herself strategically between him and the door and gave him an imploring look as she put her hands on his shoulders.<\/p>\n Caesar must have sensed her urgency, for he got up from his spot by the fireplace and started dancing around the pair of them, forcing them to stay in place.<\/p>\n Adam spared the dog an irate glance. “Sit,” he ordered in a tone that brooked no argument.<\/p>\n Caesar narrowed his eyes at Adam, but he obeyed him. He gave him a sharp bark, however, making it clear that he would defend his mistress should the need arise.<\/p>\n Charlotte smiled at the dog and then turned back to her husband. “You can\u2019t just storm in there and drag her out of the dance. Please don\u2019t embarrass her that way.”<\/p>\n Adam hesitated. Charlotte could see that he was still furious, but at least he was willing to listen. She could coax some sense into him.<\/p>\n “Why don\u2019t you wash up?” she invited. “I\u2019ll get your good shirt and frock coat ready for you. That way you can walk in without attracting too much attention. You can watch over Maureen for a little while and then take her home. No one will wonder at that.”<\/p>\n He raised his eyebrows at her. “You expect me to play chaperone at a dance I told her she couldn\u2019t attend?”<\/p>\n She risked a smile. “Of course. Stop glowering, Adam. I know that you\u2019re anxious to lecture Maureen and me both\u2014<\/p>\n “I intend to do more than lecture you,” he interjected.<\/p>\n “\u2014But that can wait a couple of hours,” she finished, dismissing his threat.<\/p>\n He stared at her for a moment and then laughed despite himself. “Well, that\u2019s true,” he owned.<\/p>\n He paused to place his hands on Charlotte\u2019s cheeks. “I\u2019m doing the best I can with Maureen,” he said. “Next time you think I\u2019m being unreasonable, send word and talk it over with me. Don\u2019t go behind my back again.”<\/p>\n Charlotte bit her lip. “You weren\u2019t being unreasonable,” she admitted. “We were just over-eager\u2014me especially. I\u2019ve never been to a dance. I don\u2019t even know how to waltz properly\u2014did you know that? So when Maureen told me how badly she wanted to go I thought it would be nice to live vicariously through her.”<\/p>\n Adam smiled down at her, but his eyes took on a far off look. His hands were still on her face, but Charlotte got the sense that he was looking through her.<\/p>\n “Your sister taught me to waltz,” he said at length. “I\u2019d be happy to teach you.”<\/p>\n She cocked her head at him. “Which sister? Monique or Th\u00e9r\u00e8se?”<\/p>\n He leaned forward and kissed her lightly on the lips. “Neither,” he answered. “I meant Marie.”<\/p>\n “Oh,” she said, a little stunned. Adam rarely mentioned Little Joe\u2019s mother\u2014at least not to her.<\/p>\n She put her hands over his. “I know that you and Marie had some vicious quarrels,” she ventured, “but Joe told me that you had a soft spot for her. Do I ever remind you of her?”<\/p>\n “Yes,” he answered after kissing her forehead. “Sometimes it\u2019s hard to look at either you or Joe and not think of her.”<\/p>\n Charlotte felt something catch in her throat. “Is\u2014is that why you married me?”<\/p>\n To her surprise, Adam smiled. “I\u2019ll answer that if you\u2019ll answer my question,” he told her. “You were seven when I met you and I was eighteen. I wasn\u2019t old enough to be your father\u2014but I was old enough to remind you of him. I was white like he was, I took you seriously like he did and I took you in hand the way he used to. Is that why you married me?”<\/p>\n Once again, Charlotte felt her mouth drop open. Then her eyes danced with amusement. “Touch\u00e9,” she managed.<\/p>\n Adam laughed as he released her cheeks. “Come on upstairs and help me get ready for this dance,” he said.<\/p>\n *<\/p>\n Adam slipped into the dance without attracting much attention. His eyes found his Pa first. The Widow Hawkins had trapped the poor man in a corner. He was trying to make his escape, but she seemed to be in the middle of some elaborate story.<\/p>\n Adam smiled to himself. Charlotte had confessed that she and Little Joe had dragged the widow into their scheme. It was Mrs. Hawkins\u2019 job to keep Pa distracted and make certain that he didn\u2019t lay eyes on Maureen.<\/p>\n His eyes continued to search the room until he found Joe and Maureen. They were waltzing together.<\/p>\n He almost caught his breath at the sight of his ward. Charlotte hadn\u2019t exaggerated\u2014she looked lovely. Adam was still annoyed to see her in a long gown\u2014with a hoop skirt, no less\u2014but he had to admit that the cr\u00e8me muslin was appropriate for an ing\u00e9nue. And if Charlotte had applied any paint to the girl\u2019s face, it was done subtly enough to be negligible.<\/p>\n He turned his attention to his little brother. He was smiling down at Maureen. Adam felt his heart clutch at the sight of that smile\u2014it reminded him painfully of Marie. Whatever her failings, she had always radiated charm.<\/p>\n Adam leaned back against the wall and silently thanked Joe\u2019s mother. Without her he wouldn\u2019t have Little Joe\u2014and he would never have met Antoinette Charlotte.<\/p>\n Adam shook himself out of his reverie just as the waltz came to an end. Then he stood up straight and walked over to Joe and Maureen. It was time to claim a dance with his ward.<\/p>\n *<\/p>\n Little Joe had led Maureen off the dance floor so Adam made his way over to them. He managed to sneak up behind them and take his ward by the hand.<\/p>\n “May I have the next waltz?” he inquired as he raised her hand to his lips.<\/p>\n Maureen had the grace to blush, but Joe just gave him an innocent smile\u2014as if he were delighted to see him. “Evening, older brother,” he said.<\/p>\n For a brief moment Adam contemplated strangling him, but something about that smile disarmed him. Did Joe know how much he took after Marie?<\/p>\n Joe must have read his thoughts, for his smile broadened as he winked at Adam. So he did know\u2014and the wretch knew just what effect that smile had on his older brother.<\/p>\n Adam grinned despite himself. “In the future, Joe, I\u2019d appreciate it if you wouldn\u2019t help my wife and daughter disobey me and go behind my back,” he informed him.<\/p>\n “If you didn\u2019t have such a pretty wife and daughter I wouldn\u2019t have given in to them,” Joe assured him.<\/p>\n Maureen managed to give Adam a small smile. “Are you really angry?” she asked<\/p>\n Joe laughed. “Don\u2019t worry, darlin’. Adam\u2019ll let you off the hook.”<\/p>\n Adam raised his eyebrows at that. “Will I?”<\/p>\n Joe nodded. “Yeah\u2014cause I\u2019m going to play my corral card.”<\/p>\n Maureen looked puzzled. “What\u2019s a corral card?” she asked.<\/p>\n “Oh, me, Adam and Pa once had a conversation down by the corral that I like to remind Adam about every now and then.”<\/p>\n Adam narrowed his eyes at him. “That only works if you use it sparingly,” he reminded his little brother as he gently pulled Maureen in front of him. “Are you sure you want to waste it on this minx?”<\/p>\n Joe grinned. “Not just on this minx\u2014on Charlotte too. I want both of them off the hook.”<\/p>\n Adam sighed.<\/p>\n “Both of them, Adam,” Joe continued. “Or I\u2019ll start making the puppy eyes,” he persisted, suiting his actions to his words. “Of course, if you don\u2019t agree, I\u2019ll understand. After all, I\u2019m probably not\u2014”<\/p>\n “All right!” Adam said, cutting him off. “They\u2019re both off the hook. But I\u2019m still taking Maureen home after I waltz with her.”<\/p>\n “That\u2019s fine,” Joe agreed. “I would\u2019ve brought her home soon anyway\u2014I\u2019m not totally lost to propriety. In fact, I\u2019ll even come with you if you\u2019ll let me sleep on your couch tonight.”<\/p>\n “Oh, you don\u2019t have to leave the dance because of me!” Maureen said at once.<\/p>\n Joe winked at her. “Don\u2019t worry,” he said, chucking her chin. “I\u2019ve already danced with the prettiest girl here.”<\/p>\n *<\/p>\n “But what is the \u2018corral card?” Maureen asked for the umpteenth time.<\/p>\n She was out of her gown now, wearing nothing but her chemise and a freshly scrubbed face. Charlotte, it turned out, had put rouge on her\u2014so Adam had insisted that Maureen scrub every trace of it off once they got home.<\/p>\n The four of them\u2014Adam, Charlotte, Maureen and Joe\u2014were all sitting at a table with cards in their hands. Adam and Joe both had their jackets and cravats off while the women were already comfortable in their chemises.<\/p>\n Caesar was also present. He was lying by the fireplace, watching the game and instantly rising to the alert whenever someone shouted in triumph or despair.<\/p>\n “Corral card?” Charlotte repeated. “What is that\u2014Joe! Why didn\u2019t you trump that? Now they\u2019ll take this trick too.”<\/p>\n Adam bit back a grin as Joe gave his cards a look of disgust.<\/p>\n “If I had anything remotely like a club I would\u2019ve trumped it,” Joe retorted. “God, I hate whist!”<\/p>\n “Why do you always agree to play?” Adam inquired.<\/p>\n He laughed. “Because I always forget how much I dislike it.”<\/p>\n “Well, your misery is about to end,” Maureen announced as she laid down her hand. “The rest are ours.”<\/p>\n “Good girl!” Adam said, looking over the cards she had saved. “Now let\u2019s count up the honors\u2014”<\/p>\n “Mon Dieu, don\u2019t bother,” Charlotte said, rolling her eyes. “You two have won again. Now what is this \u2018corral card?\u2019 Is this another game?”<\/p>\n Joe gave Adam a wicked grin. “Shall I tell them the story?”<\/p>\n Adam sighed. “Go ahead.”<\/p>\n “A few months after Adam returned from college,” Joe began, \u201che and I were down by the corral one morning. I was going out of my way to infuriate him.”<\/p>\n He paused, clearly enjoying the memory of what a young devil he\u2019d been. “Adam grabbed me by the scruff of my neck while I screamed and carried on about how I wished that he wasn\u2019t my brother. He yelled back that knowing my French-Quarter mother, we probably weren\u2019t related at all.”<\/p>\n Charlotte and Maureen gasped in unison as Adam buried his head in his hands.<\/p>\n “That was pure malice on my part,” Adam confessed. “I knew full well that Marie never played Pa false\u2014she just liked to flirt.”<\/p>\n “Well, it turns out that Pa had come up behind us,” Joe said, picking up the story again. “He heard the whole argument\u2014and you should have seen him! My God, he was in a red-faced rage. I just stared, open-mouthed, as he spun Adam around and shouted, ‘I don\u2019t know where you get your temper from, boy!'”<\/p>\n Charlotte and Maureen burst out laughing and even Adam managed a smile. The apple hadn\u2019t fallen far from the tree, but you couldn\u2019t get Pa to admit that. He always thought of himself as a placid, even-tempered man.<\/p>\n “What did your father do?” Charlotte demanded as she grabbed Adam\u2019s hands so that he would have to show his face.<\/p>\n Adam sighed. \u201cLet\u2019s just say that he wasn\u2019t happy with me. And I deserved every ounce of his wrath.\u201d<\/p>\n Joe laughed. “That\u2019s an understatement!”<\/p>\n Maureen narrowed her eyes at Joe. \u201cAnd let me guess,\u201d she said. “You got off scot-free.”<\/p>\n “Oh, better than that,” Joe informed her. Then he put his hands behind his head and gave everyone a satisfied smile before continuing.<\/p>\n “I got something to hold over Adam for the rest of our lives,” he explained. “I like to call it my \u2018corral card.\u2019 Whenever he refuses me something, I just have to widen my eyes, like this”\u2014Adam shook his head as Joe made himself look like a pathetic but adorable puppy\u2014”and say, \u2018Don\u2019t worry, Adam. I understand. Why should you help me? I\u2019m probably not your real brother.\u2019”<\/p>\n Maureen giggled. “Joe, that\u2019s terrible! But I\u2019ll bet it\u2019s effective.”<\/p>\n “It is,” Adam said dryly. “I always give in when he uses it, which is why you and Charlotte aren\u2019t in any trouble.”<\/p>\n Charlotte beamed at Joe. “You used that for our sake? How sweet!”<\/p>\n “It\u2019s the least I could do for my Tante Charlotte,” Joe assured her with a wink.<\/p>\n *<\/p>\n Adam opened the door to Maureen\u2019s room just to check on her before he turned in. To his surprise she was still awake. She was sitting up reading. Caesar was sprawled at her side, spread out on top of the covers on the far side of the bed.<\/p>\n Adam shook his head at the dog. But better here, he supposed, than in the master bedroom.<\/p>\n Maureen closed the book and smiled up at him. “Sorry, Adam. I couldn\u2019t sleep.”<\/p>\n “That\u2019s all right,” he answered as he stepped inside and took a seat on the edge of the bed. “What are you reading?”<\/p>\n “Um, nothing,” she answered quickly. “Just something I found in your section of the books at the Ponderosa.”<\/p>\n Adam narrowed his eyes at her and picked up the book. His eyes widened at the title.<\/p>\n “First Apuleius and now Sappho?” he asked dryly.<\/p>\n She bit back a grin. “What\u2019s the matter? Don\u2019t you like poetry?”<\/p>\n “Well, at least she\u2019s not as explicit as Apuleius,” he commented, handing the slim book back to her.<\/p>\n She smiled outright at that. “I like Sappho. In fact, I\u2019m very sympathetic to her\u2014”<\/p>\n “Stop right there,” Adam warned her. “I won\u2019t be able to handle that conversation for at least another four years.”<\/p>\n Maureen laughed. “Very well. But can I ask you something?”<\/p>\n “As long as it doesn\u2019t concern Sappho.”<\/p>\n “It doesn\u2019t,” she promised. “You\u2014you called me your daughter tonight\u2014when you were talking to Little Joe, I mean.”<\/p>\n “I suppose I did,” Adam owned.<\/p>\n “Did\u2014did you mean that?” Maureen asked. “I mean, I know I\u2019m not you real daughter\u2014”<\/p>\n Adam laughed at the echo of Joe\u2019s words and leaned over to kiss her forehead. “Sweetheart, even if Joe were somehow not my blood brother, he would still be my real brother.”<\/p>\n She took a deep breath. “So you do think of me as your daughter.”<\/p>\n Adam regarded her steadily for a moment. “I suppose I must,” he said at length.<\/p>\n She gave him a tentative smile. “Then can I call you \u2018Da?\u2019 Just sometimes, I mean,” she added in a rush. “I wouldn\u2019t use it all the time.”<\/p>\n “Well, that\u2019s distressingly Irish,” he teased, “but I can live with it.”<\/p>\n She smiled outright at that. “And can I stay home for a year before I go off to that school?” she persisted.<\/p>\n Adam considered that. “Fair enough,” he said at last.<\/p>\n She leaned forward to throw her arms around him. “Thank you!” she said.<\/p>\n Adam laughed as he accepted her hug. “Don\u2019t worry, sweetheart. You don\u2019t have to go to that school at all if you\u2019re opposed to it. We\u2019ll worry about it next year.”<\/p>\n “All right,” she agreed.<\/p>\n He broke apart from her. “Put out the lamp and get some sleep,” he ordered.<\/p>\n “Yes, sir,” she answered, moving to obey him.<\/p>\n He stood up and walked to the door. Then he paused and turned back to her. “Goodnight, Maureen.” he said softly.<\/p>\n She smiled. “Goodnight, Da.”<\/p>\n *<\/p>\n When Adam left Maureen\u2019s room and entered the master bedroom he found Charlotte seated at her mirror. She was attempting to tame her hair with braids.<\/p>\n Adam paused at the threshold and leaned up against the doorframe just to watch her. Her rich mocha skin was glowing in the lamplight. Looking at her now, it was easy to forget that he\u2019d been furious with her earlier.<\/p>\n He smiled to himself. She was a beautiful young woman, his Charlotte. But she was still the same little girl he\u2019d known in New Orleans\u2014full of mischief and the best of intentions.<\/p>\n Exactly like Little Joe. A family trait, he supposed.<\/p>\n He stepped inside and shut the door behind him. Then he walked over to her and kissed her gently.<\/p>\n Her eyes twinkled at him as they parted. “So, let me make sure I understand,” she said as she went back to her hair. “You forgive me for helping Maureen attend that dance?”<\/p>\n He nodded. “And for lying to my face about it,” he reminded her.<\/p>\n Charlotte laughed. “You\u2019ve forgiven my sins but not forgotten them,” she commented. “But as long as I’m not in trouble…I’m not surprised that Joe talked you out of your anger, by the by. He was right about you. Would you pour me a cup of water?”<\/p>\n “Right about what?” Adam asked as he walked over to the pitcher.<\/p>\n “About him being your favorite,” she answered with a wink. “He assured me that he was\u2014that\u2019s why he allowed me to marry you.”<\/p>\n Adam gave her a bemused look as he poured the water into a cup. “What?”<\/p>\n She schooled her expression into a serious look. “Little Joe and I had a talk the day before the wedding,” she explained, tying off a braid. “He told me that he didn\u2019t mind me marrying you as long as I remembered that he had you first\u2014and that I would never equal him in your affection.”<\/p>\n Adam laughed as he walked back over to her and handed her the cup. “And you believed him?” he asked.<\/p>\n Charlotte nodded. “And with good reason. He is your favorite!” Then her eyes danced with laughter as she stood up and held the cup of water in a threatening position. “Do you deny it?” she demanded.<\/p>\n Adam bit back a grin and raised his eyebrows at her. “Throw that water at me, my girl, and you\u2019ll find out what it means to be in trouble,” he warned.<\/p>\n She shook her head sternly. “You, sir, are evading the question! Now which is it: an answer\u2026or the water?”<\/p>\n Adam stood there for a moment, pretending to debate his options. But then he sprang forward and neatly disarmed her. Despite her gasp of surprise there were only a few drops spilt.<\/p>\n But he underestimated her. As he set down the cup she managed to wiggle out of his grasp and run for the pitcher. She grabbed hold of it before he could stop her and promptly flung the contents at him.<\/p>\n Her victory was short-lived. He captured her easily and kept her trapped in his arms.<\/p>\n They were both laughing now, but Adam managed to sober his expression and address her with mock severity. “I see that I\u2019ll have to punish you after all,” he teased as he used one arm to pull her against him and the other to give her bottom a sharp smack. “Do you have an explanation for soaking me, young lady?”<\/p>\n “But of course,” she assured him as she wrapped her arms around him. “I wanted to be in a little bit of trouble tonight!”<\/p>\n He laughed again and kissed her soundly. She returned his embrace with fervor and they soon forgot all about the question and the water.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Summary: Adam substitutes again but a sharp, sassy student with a shocking background keeps his hands full.
\nA Real Father<\/a>
\nStained<\/a><\/p>\n
\n
\n
\nright,” he said. “I suppose that\u2019s a start.”<\/p>\n
\nand pulled her back.<\/p>\n
\nRating:\u00a0 PG-13\u00a0 (13,690 words)
\nPart of the Maureen Series, Links included within<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":12436,"featured_media":41001,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"template-full-width-post.php","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2},"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_members_access_role":[],"_members_access_error":""},"categories":[23,1008,4,3],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-45827","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-drama","category-family","category-humor","category-romance","wpcat-23-id","wpcat-1008-id","wpcat-4-id","wpcat-3-id"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/bonanzabrand.info\/library\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/03\/Preserving-Their-Legacy.png?fit=732%2C477&ssl=1","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/bonanzabrand.info\/library\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/45827","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/bonanzabrand.info\/library\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/bonanzabrand.info\/library\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bonanzabrand.info\/library\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/12436"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bonanzabrand.info\/library\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=45827"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/bonanzabrand.info\/library\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/45827\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bonanzabrand.info\/library\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/41001"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/bonanzabrand.info\/library\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=45827"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bonanzabrand.info\/library\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=45827"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bonanzabrand.info\/library\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=45827"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}