Sins of Summer (44 page)

Judge Kenton selected an envelope and took out a letter. It was several pages long.

“James, your mother wrote this letter to you after she recovered from a serious illness. George kept it for years, then passed
it on to Steven with a letter of his own. With your permission, I’ll read it aloud, or you can read it and keep the contents
to yourself.”

James shook his head and the judge began to read.

Dear Friend Steven,

This letter was written by my beloved Jean years ago. When the time is right, give it to our son, James.

The judge placed the yellowed sheet on the bed and began to read again.

Dear James,

Oh, how I loved you, my first born, the moment you were placed in my arms. I was sure that you were the most beautiful baby
in the world and your father agreed with me. He was so terribly proud of you. First I want to say to you that a father is
not necessarily the man who plants the seed that gives life. A father is a man who raises you, provides for you, loves you,
teaches you.

I was pregnant with Chip Malone’s child when I married George. I knew it and George knew it. He said he would love my child
as his own and he has. In a weak moment I had surrendered to Chip, whom I had known and liked all my life. Afterward I realized
that we could never have a happy life together. He was a wild, reckless sort of man and George was so kind, so gentle and
so loving. After only a few weeks of marriage to George, I came to love him with all my heart.

I pray you will not think less of me, your mother, or George, your father, for he has been your father in every way except
for the blood in your veins.

May God bless you and keep you always.

Your Mother, Jean Callahan

There was a long silence in the room when the judge finished reading the letter. Dory didn’t dare to look at James.

“Would you like to read the letter, James?” the judge asked. “Are there any questions?”

James seemed to come out of his trance.

“Hell no!” he shouted and jumped to his feet. He pulled Odette up off the bench, grabbed her around the waist and whirled
her around and around. “We can get married, sweetheart!”

“James! Put me down!”

Judge Kenton looked at James as if he had suddenly gone mad. Grinning broadly, James sat Odette back down on the bench and
knelt down in front of her.

We can get married.
His lips moved without sound.

“James, what did he say?”

He says we can be married.

“But Papa won’t be happy. I don’t know why.”

It will be all right now.
James turned to Ben. “Tell her, damn you! Tell her she can marry me.” With his fingers on her cheeks, James turned Odette
to face Ben.

Ben nodded his head as he spoke. “I’m happy for you and James.”

“Why did you change your mind, Papa? What did he say?”

James turned her face back to him.
I’ll tell you later, sweetheart. I’ll tell you every word and you can read the letter he read to us.
He sat down beside her on the bench and put his arm around her.

“I must say that is a reaction I never expected,” Judge Kenton said drily.

“Judge, I can’t tell you how happy I am to know that I’m not related by blood to Milo or Louis.”

“Harrumph!” Judge Kenton returned the letter to the envelope and pulled sheets of paper from the other.

“It’s a long story, your honor,” Ben said. “I’ll be glad to tell you about it later.”

Dory’s mind was whirling. James was Chip Malone’s son She didn’t think the fact had had time to sink into her brother’s mind
yet. All he could think about was that the way was clear for him to marry Odette. It was ironic, Dory thought, that she and
her mother, her wonderful mother, had both committed sin with a Malone. Her sin had brought her Jeanmarie. Her mother’s sin
had given her James, her pride and joy. The judge was speaking and Dory’s attention turned back to him.

“This letter will be equally shocking to both of you and you will know why I read Jean’s letter to James first. The first
part of this letter is to Steven, telling him that if matters between the four of you become intolerable he was to bring the
letter and the document to me or to a suitable magistrate should I be deceased.”

Dory was trembling. Ben loosened his hand from hers, put his arm around her and pulled her close as the judge began to read.

“I am not sure to whom I should address these remarks. My beloved wife is gone and I will be joining her soon. She brought
me more happiness during our short time together than any man deserves. She gave me a son and a daughter. I knew from the
start that James was not from my seed. It mattered not a whit to me. He was, is, a son any man would be proud of. My beautiful
Dory, so like her mother, is the joy of my life. I hope and pray she will meet a man who will love her as I loved my Jean.

I was a lad of seventeen when I came to the Bitterroot. My family had died of cholera on the way west. I mined for gold, grubbed
out tree stumps, worked in the lumber camps doing everything from high-climber to river rat to cook’s helper to keep body
and soul together. The winter I was nineteen, I came down out of the mountains, sick, cold, and hungry. I was prepared to
die in the cold when I came onto a cabin where a woman and two small boys had wintered alone. Their cabin was warm, but they
were hungry. They had a gun, but no ammunition. I had ammunition, but had lost my gun when I fell in a snow-filled crevice.
She took me in, thawed my frozen limbs, and shared what little they had with me until I was strong enough to hunt.

Together we survived the winter. I want to make it clear that I was never in Hattie Springer’s bed from the day we met until
the day she died. She told the boys that I was their pa and they believed her. At first I didn’t mind, because I didn’t plan
to stay. Then something happened that made me so indebted to Hattie that I stayed.

It was spring and I went out of the cabin one morning to see to the stock and was cornered in a shed by a grizzly. I yelled
to Hattie to get the boys in the house. That spunky woman ran at the grizzly with the axe, and as it reared up to strike at
me with its deadly paws, she sank the blade in the back of its head. Then she said,’ “Now you will stay. You owe me.”

She was a strange woman. She never showed affection for her boys and certainly none for me. She never spoke of the boys’ father.
After she was gone, I found several letters from him. As far as I know, she never heard from him during the ten years I was
with her. I provided for her but spent most of my time in the woods.

Gradually I got a stake together and started sending logs down river to Coeur d’Alene. My business grew and I hired Wiley.

After Hattie died, I worked with the boys. Louis showed the most promise. He worked hard and seemed to like the business.
Milo was a hell-raiser from the start. He didn’t take anything seriously except his pleasure. Yet he was a good dogger and
would have been a good sawyer, but he was too reckless.

My relationship with the boys was not good, but it was not bad until I met and married Jean. Louis especially seemed to resent
her. My dear Jean did everything in her power to win them over. But the more she tried, the more resentful they became. Both
boys hated James. Jean was constantly on guard until James was big enough to take care of himself.

I am hoping Milo and Louis will work amicably with James in the business. When Dory weds, her husband can take an active part
on her behalf. I’m sure that under Steven’s guidance the business will prosper.

Should Steven determine that friction between the four of them will not ever be reconciled, he is to produce and file with
the magistrate of the Territory my second will, which divides the property as follows: All my property, with the exception
of the homeplace, which I bequeath to my daughter, Dory, is to be sold and the money divided between James, Milo and Louis.

By doing this, each of my children will have more of a start in life than I had. I consider Milo and Louis my children because
of my debt to their mother.

On closing I wish to say that I have not been a perfect man, but I have done the best I could with the hand I was dealt. I
paid my debts, I loved my wife, and provided for my children.

George Callahan July 1876

When the judge finished reading, the room was as silent as a tomb. He held the sheets of paper in his hand and looked first
at Dory and then at James. Dory looked as if she would cry while James’s face was creased with an angry frown.

“Why in hell didn’t he tell us that we weren’t kin to those two no-goods? They made our lives miserable! All my life I’ve
had to walk on eggs to keep one or the other of them off my back. Dory did the same. Why didn’t he tell us?”

Steven spoke. “I don’t know, and it wasn’t my place to question. But
they
knew George wasn’t their
real
father. I don’t know if he told them, or if their mother did. But after George died Louis made a remark that let me know
he and Milo felt they had first claim to the land because their father had filed for it and their mother had improved it.
They resented Dory and James having a claim to it.”

“The old man could have told us—”

“Don’t you dare say anything bad about Papa.” Dory turned on her brother. “He was good and kind and tried to do the right
thing.”

“I’m not saying anything bad about him. He was everything you said, but he should have put his foot down harder on those two.
You should be glad to know that you’re not kin to them. I sure as hell am.”

“James, please—?” Dory’s voice softened. “There’s no use in hashing over why Papa did this or that. His intentions were good.
Now we’ve got to figure out how we’re going to deal with Milo.”

“We don’t have to figure out anything. We’ll sell and divide the money. Malone will snap it up in a minute—” James’s voice
trailed as the realization of his connection with Chip Malone dawned on him. He got to his feet and began to pace. “Why in
hell did it have to be
him?”
He stopped and stared down at his sister. “We’re not selling to
him.
Somehow I’ll rake up the money to buy Milo’s shares.”

“I have a suggestion,” Steven said from the bed. “The judge tells me that I now have money to invest. I’ll buy Milo out and
go partners with you, if you and Ben will run the business.”

“Count me out, Steven,” Ben said. “I didn’t marry Dory to gain a foothold in that business. I have plans of my own to open
a carpentry shop and produce a finished product.”

“In that case I think something can be worked out so that your manufacturing business can be run in conjunction with the mill.
I’ve always thought that Spencer would be ideally suited for such a business.”

Ben grinned. “I thought so myself.”

“That can all be worked out later.” James pulled Odette toward the door. “You’re all invited to a wedding.”

“When is this event to happen?” the judge asked.

“In about thirty minutes.”

“James,” Dory said with exasperation in her voice. “You can’t do that to Odette. She’ll want time for a new dress. Besides
it will be dark soon. It’s bad luck to be married at night.”

“Then, in the morning at ten sharp. Judge, can I have the letters from my ma and pa? I want Odette to read them so she’ll
understand what went on here today.”

“Of course.” The judge sent a quizzical glance at Odette as he handed the envelopes to James. “Chip should know what’s in
the letter from your mother.”

“Why? He probably cared no more for her than any other woman he pleasured himself with. He’s an arrogant know-it-all, if you
ask me. Nothing has changed as far as I’m concerned.”

“You may be wrong about Chip.”

“I doubt it.” James looked down at Odette.
We’ll go back to the hotel, honey. I’ve got a lot to tell you.

Odette looked at Ben. He nodded and smiled. The smile she sent back was beautiful.

“Bye, Papa. Bye, Dory. Oh, bye, Mr. Marz. And… you too Mr. Judge.”

James beamed as if she had said something brilliant. “Come on, chatterbox.”

After they had gone, Dory said, “Isn’t she wonderful?” There was unmistakable pride in her voice. “She’s stone deaf, but she
reads lips. She’s terribly bright and James is crazy about her.”

“Remarkable,” the judge said, and meant it. “She’s just what James needs to settle him down.”

On the way out James and Odette passed through the McHenry living quarters. Chip and the marshal were still there, drinking
coffee and chatting with McHenry. James stopped and pulled his mother’s letter from his pocket.

“I may as well get this over now, Malone. Read this.” He dropped the letter on the table in front of Chip.

While Chip was reading, James stood with his arms folded across his chest. His eyes never left Chip’s face. He saw the skin
pale, then redden. He saw a tic in his cheek muscle and a trembling in his fingers when Chip folded the paper and put it back
in the envelope. James reached for the letter.

“It wasn’t my idea to tell you. It was the judge’s. This doesn’t mean things will be changed between us, Malone. I want you
to understand that.’’

Unable to get a word through his clogged throat, Chip nodded.

“Odette and I are getting married tomorrow. You can come if you want to.”

Chip looked at the tall, auburn-haired man staring down at him. James’s eyes and brows were like Jean’s, his nose like Jean’s.
Chip’s most precious memory returned as vividly as if he were somewhere looking down on the scene. His eyes narrowed suddenly
and his lids blinked rapidly.

“I’ll be there, James.”

“I didn’t think I’d ever get you to myself. Come here, Mrs. Waller.”

Dory blew out the lamp and slipped into the bed beside her husband.