Texas Trio Ch. 24-End

Colt figured it out later that day. Nanny was like a mother to his wife. In a way that made her his mother, too. Colt had never had a mother, or even a mother figure, until Nanny. He thought he'd been doing just fine with her disdain until she poured him that first cup of coffee. That cup of coffee made him want to start crying right there at the table, at the same time it made him want to laugh.

Colt was forever Nanny's favorite of Cat's two husbands from that day forth, to Jem's eternal amazement and occasional disgust, when Colt got the last piece of pie or the biggest cut of meat. Nanny fed him, bullied him, mended his clothes, and all-around mothered him, and Colt never tired of it.

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A month after the gun incident in the stable, Caleb brought the mail in from town while everyone was getting ready to sit down for the noon-day meal. Things were a lot more casual out here on "the farm," as the women had taken to calling it, and most meals were a mix of staff and family members. Sometimes it was difficult to say which category a person belonged in, but no one cared anyway.

When Caleb handed Becky a letter, every eye snapped anxiously in her direction, as their location was supposed to be a closely guarded secret. After first reassuring them that the sender-- a solicitor-- was on their short list of trusted and approved correspondents, Becky read the news aloud.

The solicitor was very sorry for her loss, but her uncle, Harrison Matthews, had been killed in a carriage accident with his manservant, Hawkins (first name unknown). Would Miss Connor like to have her brother-in-law, Jeremiah Wilson, appointed as her guardian until such time as she married or came of age? Otherwise, the firm would be happy to appoint someone to act in her best interests.

"Please respond...." Becky's voice trailed off and three pairs of eyes turned cautiously to Colt.

"What?" he asked, slightly alarmed by the intensity of their stares.

Catherine put her hand on his arm. "Colt...."

"Oh... oh, no you don't!" Colt directed the first half of his comment to Jem and the remainder to the room at large. "I didn't have nothin' to do with that!"

Cat stayed where she was, studying him, and his eyes dropped to hers. "Cat, honey, I swear I didn't have nothin' to do with it. I'm glad he's dead, but I didn't know it until right this minute, just like the rest of you. You know I ain't been off the ranch, anyway."

A collective sigh of relief stirred the curtains as Colt gathered Catherine to his chest.

"Thank goodness," she murmured.

Colt kissed the top of her head, smiling over at Jem, also obviously relieved.

"Thank goodness, indeed." Jem returned his best friend's smile. Even five months pregnant, their wife was insatiable. "I wouldn't want to do all the work around here by myself."

Cat blushed against Colt's shirt-front, and Becky pretended not to notice.

Nanny wasn't the least bit surprised by any of it. She kept her eyes on the jug of water she was carrying, merely brushing Caleb's hand with her own as she passed by.

She smiled a little, too, as she went about her work.

You don't mess with the family of a Cajun woman an' a Cherokee man.

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