The Officer and the Traveler (20 page)

“
But my father, he—he—he...”
 

“
Was my mother’s friend,” he said with a frown.
 

Michaela gasped, covering her face with her hands. “No. No. That can’t be.”

“
What can’t be?”
 

“
I don’t think they were friends, Gray.”
 

He twisted his lips. “They weren’t friends in the way that you and I are friends, no. They were other kinds of friends.”

“
Lovers.”
 

He grimaced. He’d always hated the way that word sounded. They might have had a professional relationship, but he didn’t believe for a moment that any love passed between them. “Yes. They were the type of friends who shared certain intimacies. And yes, she was on her way to the fort that night to see him, consequently,” he said before she could ask.

“
Gray, I am so sorry,” she said again.
 

“
Don’t be. You can’t change the past any more than I can.” He swallowed the hard lump that was in his throat.
 

“
I know I can’t, but is there nothing that I can do to show compassion or seek forgiveness for the hatred I’ve let fester all these years?”
 

He tried to chuckle but ended up wincing and groaning in pain. He’d assumed her bitterness toward him when he’d first arrived was just because he’d never shown any interest in her overall during their time at Fort Henry, not because of the events of one night. He reached for her hand and in the most serious and authoritative voice he could muster under the circumstances said, “Now that I’m your husband, you must banish all hatred post haste. As for the other, your father tried to make it right the only way he could by sending me to West Point.”

“
Is that bitterness I hear in your tone, Captain Grayson Montgomery?” she teased.
 

“
Perhaps a bit.” He wrapped his arm around her and pulled her against him, suddenly very tired.
 

“
Thank you for telling me your secrets, Gray. I’m glad you did.”
 

Oddly enough, so was he.

Michaela could hardly wait to see her father so she could start demanding some answers. She’d kept quiet long enough.

Fortunately for her, the chance came sooner than she’d expected when a swift,
bang, bang, bang
resounded on their door.
 

“
Just use your key,” Pa snapped from behind the door.
 

“
I’m giving them a chance to answer,” Uncle George said tightly.
 

Michaela wiggled in Gray’s strong hold and looked up to his face. He looked tired and weary. Whatever time they’d just been allowed for him to sleep hadn’t been enough.

“
I’ll send them away,” she assured him.
 

The corner of his mouth pulled up in the hint of a smile.

“
Do you not believe me?”
 

He shrugged. “I just want to see you try, that’s all. They’re both very determined.”

“
And so am I.” She climbed off the bed and walked to the door. “He’s not accepting visitors right now,” she said by way of greeting to her father and Uncle George.
 

Father ignored her and pushed past her to enter her room. Uncle George gave her an apologetic smile and a shrug as he and another man she hadn’t seen before came inside.

“
I don’t believe my wife gave you permission to come in here,” Gray said evenly.
 

“
You look bad, Grayson,” Pa said.
 

Gray stared at him. “Apologize to her.”

“
Why aren’t you lying down?”
 

Gray didn’t answer, just stared at her father.

“
Apologize for what?” Pa burst out.
 

“
For ignoring her when she spoke to you.”
 

“
Boy, if a man listened every time a woman spoke, he’d never leave his house.”
 

“
You know what I meant. She told you not to come in here and you pushed right past her before she’d finished speaking. Now apologize.”
 

“
Must have taken a hard hit to the head.”
 

“
Not too hard that my thick skull didn’t protect me,” Gray said through clenched teeth. “This is
Michaela’s home, too, and you should have respected her enough to have listened to her, and not just let yourself in.”
 

“
You need someone to look after your injuries,” Pa said unapologetically.
 

“
And I’ll let old sawbones over there do his job after you apologize to Michaela.”
 

Michaela nearly let out a nervous giggle. She didn’t think her father had apologized to her. Ever. Leave it to Gray to demand the impossible.

“
I’m sorry, Michaela,” Pa practically barked.
 

“
Next time don’t ignore her,” Gray warned, scooting down on the bed to lie down.
 

 
The strange man in the room, who Michaela suspected was who Gray had referred to as “old sawbones” came forward and began an examination of Gray, noting the lacerations on his face and the bruises on his midsection.
 

“
Anything below the waist?” he asked, casting a pointed glance at Gray’s groin.
 

Michaela’s skin grew warm. She hadn’t even thought to ask if he’d been injured there.

“
It’ll be fine,” Gray said harshly, moving a hand to shield that part of his anatomy. Apparently, men like Gray had a bit of modesty, too.
 

Shame washed over her.
Men like Gray?
Everything he’d told her this afternoon contradicted everything she’d ever believed to be true about him. He wasn’t the womanizer she’d mistakenly believed him to be based on his knowing the names of everyone in the brothel and being acquainted with where everything was. She shook her head. She still had questions, but now wasn’t the time.
 

“
Well, if your stones continue to hurt or turn purple, come see me,” the medic said with a grunt.
 

“
That won’t be happening. Your solution to everything is amputation,” Gray said with a snarl.
 

The medic chuckled then placed a hand on either side of Gray’s abdomen and ran his fingers slowly up and down the sides, pushing on different places. “Inhale. Again.”

Gray sucked in a breath and winced and bucked.

“
Try again,” the medic said, digging his fingers in deeper into Gray’s skin near the protrusions.
 

Gray did as he was instructed, cursing in pain.

“
Cracked ribs, I’m afraid,” the medic concluded.
 

Michaela had guessed as much just by looking at him.

The medic dug into his bag and pulled out an amber bottle. “Laudanum. It’ll help him sleep until he can start healing. He should be able to walk and work just fine within three days.”

Michaela doubted that was true, but understood that injured men who weren’t missing limbs, were still men well enough to work. She took the laudanum from the medic. “Thank you for coming by.”

“
Thank
you
for your fine hospitality,” Pa said sarcastically.
 

She was tempted to let that go, but she couldn’t. “I need to speak to you.” She cast a glance back at Gray. “Can you come back after I give this to him?”

Her father sobered. “Is there something more serious, Michaela?”

“
N-no,” she lied. What she had to say was serious indeed, but it wasn’t about Gray’s injuries. “I just want to talk.”
 

“
I don’t have time to just talk. Now that Gray is injured and Ridgely is more determined than ever to see Gray be punished, I need to find out what I can before his trial.”
 

“
When is his trial?”
 

“
I don’t know yet. We’re still waiting to hear back from General Bridges.”
 

“
Please, Pa, come back to speak to me. It’s important.”
 

He sighed. “All right. But it had better be important.”

***

Samuel Davis had the strangest suspicion that what Michaela wanted to speak to him about was not only irrelevant these days but wasn’t an easy topic to trudge through.

He mindlessly ran his thumb over the edge of his chin. At least she’d married. He’d always worried she wouldn’t and when he was gone, what or who would she have in this world? Nothing. No one. Now she had Grayson. His heart hurt all over at just the thought of his son-in-law’s name. Grayson had always meant well, but even sometimes those with good intentions find themselves in trouble. Just like now.

Closing the door to the storage closet behind the ammunition storage, he bit back a grin. Living at military forts had been his life. What he loved more than anything. He’d retired four years ago when Michaela’s mother had become sick and couldn’t stay on post with him any longer. The physician said fresh air and open spaces would be best for her so he’d retired and they’d moved to a plantation outside of Savannah. He’d gone so she could live out her last days comfortably and his daughters could make good matches.

He crested the top of the stairs that led to the rooms where his daughters stayed. He paused and looked out over the fort. Considering what Michaela might want to talk to him about, it might be the last time he got to enjoy such a view.

“
I thought I was going to have to hire a spy to track you down,” Michaela said, opening her door.  She stepped aside for him to enter.
 

“
Oh, so I’m allowed to come in this time?”
 

A shy smile spread her lips. “I don’t know what came over him earlier.”

“
He’s just a husband trying to show a protective interest in what’s his.” Samuel came inside and
sat down. “There’s nothing wrong with that.”
 

“
You didn’t seem to accept that earlier,” she pointed out.
 

“
No. I’m used to getting my way, and he wasn’t giving in.” He couldn’t stop his grin. “That’s the way he’s always been with me though.”
 

“
Do you blame him?”
 

“
No, I don’t suppose I do. Not when he’ll forever hold me responsible for killing his mother.”
 

***

All the air in Michaela’s lungs left with a swift
whoosh
. She hadn’t expected her father to be so blunt.
 

“
I see I’ve shocked you.”
 

“
I just thought I’d have to pry a little more, that’s all.”
 

“
Oh, I’m sure you’ll do that, too.” Pa crossed his ankles. “What would you like to know?”
 

Michaela walked in a circle on the floor. There were so many things she wanted to know. So many questions she’d listed in her mind before he’d come in. Then he’d been so blunt and now she couldn’t think.

“
I’m assuming you knew all along who everyone was?”
 

He didn’t even blink at her unclear statement. “You mean that Rebecca was Grayson’s mother?”

Michaela nodded numbly. She’d only ever heard her father use his lover’s name once, the night she’d first confronted him after she’d found evidence of their affair: a heavily perfumed letter signed:
I’ll be waiting for you always, for you’ll always own my heart, Rebecca.
“Why didn’t you tell me?”
 

“
Why did you need to know?” he countered.
 

“
Because...because,” she stammered. “You know why.”
 

“
Because you were helplessly in love with her son?”
 

Hot scorching flames crept up her neck and licked her face.

He poked out his bottom lip. “How could I blame you? Grayson was so very similar to his mother at that age, I couldn’t fault you there.”

“
At that age?
” she burst out.
 

Pa rubbed his hands over his wrinkled face and sighed. “You should probably sit down.”

She took a careful seat on the edge of the bed, trying her best not to disturb Gray as he snored quietly.

When she was still, her father began to speak again. “I met Rebecca when she was sixteen and I was eighteen. There was something about her that drew me to her. I imagine it was the same thing that drew you to her son.” A wistful smile touched his lips. “We’d met the summer before I left for West Point. I loved her dearly, but I couldn’t marry her. Not yet. If I did; I couldn’t attend West Point and become an officer. It was just that simple. I didn’t have the means to support her. We each promised that we’d wait.”

“
But she didn’t,” Michaela guessed at the sad expression that came over her father’s face.
 

“
She married an investor,” he said by way of answer. He frowned. “But not a very good one.” He shook his head. “By the time he died eight years later, I’d already married your mother and Virginia and Mary had been born. I wasn’t able to help her clear the bad debt her husband had left her and one of the men who’d been owed money offered to settle her debts if she’d take a two year contract in his brothel.” He let out a deep, harsh breath. “I hated the way I couldn’t help her. But I had a family, too, and didn’t make near the amount she needed.” He let out a deep exhale. “Her two year contract turned into a lifetime. Not that I was around for most of it. After your mother had found the first letter, the one asking for help to pay off Rebecca’s husband’s debts, she’d demanded I sever contact, which I did. Your mother was my wife, after all. She didn’t deserve the shame that might come if someone were to find out. Even if we hadn’t done anything wrong.”