Authors: Annie Jones
Riley was watching her as though he understood what she was feeling.
“
You see, you don
’
t know how destructive a single person who thinks only of themselves can be to a desperate family that wants nothing more than to love and help that person.
”
Riley sat back and raked his fingers through the thick waves of his black hair.
“
I
’
ve felt that hurt and seen the devastation in my mother
’
s eyes. It
’
s not something I ever want to see again, and yet Momma prays every day for Marcia
’
s return. How can I hope for those prayers to go unanswered, even if only for a little while longer?
”
He drew his fingers down the length of the worn black
Bible, rubbing them very gently over the gold, stamped letters of her great-grandfather
’
s name in the right-hand corner.
“
Why can
’
t I be excited about this, Dixie? Is something wrong with me? Am I the one who is now being shallow and selfish?
”
“
No. You said I knew the truth about you. Well, I
’
m not sure about that, but I do know that you are not putting your feelings first in this.
”
“
Isn
’
t that exactly what I
’
m doing? Putting how I feel about this ahead of everything else?
”
He picked the Bible up, ran his calloused thumb along the gilded edges of the thin paper. Pages slid over each other, rustling as he leafed through the find from the safe.
“
You
’
re a
father
, Riley
”
“
You
’
re right. Sitting here stewing isn
’
t going to help matters any. Guess I
’
d better call Fulton to give him notice he may hear from Marcia, then go home and have a long talk with Momma.
”
He blew out a long breath.
“
I don
’
t look forward to that.
”
“
Your mother is stronger than you think, Riley.
”
Dixie stood and paced out a few feet away
from the desk.
“
And where she isn
’
t strong, she has you and Wendy and Sis and Grandpa and me and Miss Lettie to hold her up, physically, spiritually, and in whatever way she needs. The same goes for you and for Wendy...and for Marcia, if she comes back into the picture.
”
He jerked his head up and narrowed his eyes at her.
“
You
’
re saying that if Marcia comes back and wants to try to mend fences and be a part of our lives again, that you
’
d be there to help deal with it?
”
She met his searching gaze without flinching and nodded.
“
Whatever way it goes.
”
“
Thank you.
”
He stood and reached his hand out to her.
“
For everything.
”
“
Hey, don
’
t thank me, thank the family that spoilt me.
”
She hooked her thumb under the strap of her overalls.
He laughed.
“
I
’
ll do that. You can count on it. Now, I
’
m going downstairs to get some coffee before I try to track down Fulton. Want to come down and shake things up in the showroom?
”
“
I
’
ve been shaken up enough for one day, thank you.
”
The warm memory of the kiss they had shared washed over her.
“
I think I
’
ll just stay here safe from shocks, tremors and surprises, and just go through some of these old, familiar family things. You know, sort of remind myself of how boring and stable they really are down deep.
”
“
Way
down deep.
”
She could hear the teasing in his voice as he headed for the door.
“
I
’
ll be back in a minute.
”
Dixie sank into Daddy
’
s old chair and opened up the old Bible to the stiff center pages.
Family Register
, it said across the top of the first page. Below the heading were lines for the name of the Bible
’
s owner and spouse, and below those was the bold proclamation
were united in Holy Matrimony,
with a place for the date and place of the ceremony.
“
Holy Matrimony,
”
she read softly, glad that Riley had not been near to hear the wistful tone that she could not keep from her voice. Nestling down into the chair, she drew her feet up and pulled the Bible close.
‘“
Samuel Prescott Fulton and Eugenia Anne Hamilton were united in Holy Matrimony on the fifteenth day of August, in the year of our Lord nineteen hundred eighteen in Fulton
’
s Dominion, Mississippi.
’“
She looked up at the stern-faced couple in the faded wedding photo on the wall and smiled. She knew little about them, really, only the small remembrances Lettie shared, which tended to focus more on Founder Fulton, whom the old woman revered, and his only surviving daughter, whom she
’
d all but raised.
Dixie sighed and turned the page to glance over the list of births.
Samuel Omar, Prescott Warren, Samantha Eugenia...
She frowned at the last name on the list.
“
Helen Bettina?
”
Dixie blinked. Why on earth had her great-grandfather written down Lettie
’
s daughter
’
s name with his children? She looked to the next page, as though that might provide a clue.
Marriages
, the title stood out in boldest black on the stark white page. Two marriages were recorded there. One, she had fully expected to find. The other—
Dixie sat up. She blinked as though that might alter the names on the line beneath her grandparent
’
s. They remained unchanged—and yet they changed everything she thought she knew about so many people she
’
d loved and trusted.
“
I know you said you didn
’
t want any but I brought you up some coffee anyway.
”
Riley appeared at the door, two cups in his hands.
“
Thought it might jolt the old system into—
”
Dixie put her hand to her head as if she expected to find a lump or bump where she something had been dropped on her.
“
My system has been jolted enough for one day, thank
you.
”
“
What?
”
He came to her, setting the two coffee mugs down on the desk as he did.
“
What is it? Dix, you look like you
’
ve seen a ghost.
”
“
I
feel
like I
’
ve seen a ghost, or at least like something I can
’
t fully explain has just come back to haunt me. And, truthfully, Riley, I have no idea what to think about it.
”
Chapter Fifteen
“
Oh, no you don
’
t!
”
With the weathered, black Bible in his hand, Riley jumped up from his chair and took two thundering strides across the room.
“
Oh, no I don
’
t
what
?
”
Dixie started to shut the wall safe where she had just haphazardly replaced the boxes and file she
’
d pulled out earlier.
“
Oh, no, you don
’
t close that safe without this Bible in it, Princess.
”
She bristled at the nickname, just as he knew she would, but it accomplished his goal and stopped her dead.
“
I am keeping that Bible out, Riley. I need it.
”
“
For what?
”
The direct approach had always worked with her before. In fact, that was one of the things he valued so much about this woman. Despite the delicate nature of this issue and the reality that both of them were running with their emotions cranked to full throttle, he decide not to change the way he dealt with Dixie now.
“
You want to keep that Bible out of the safe and do what with it? Take it home to confront your family and get them all lathered up over something that is none of your business?
”
“
None of my
business
?
”
She snatched the oversized book from his hand and let it fall open to the pages of the family register.
“
Did you not read the names listed here under the marriages?
”
‘“
Samantha Eugenia Fulton married to George Robert Cunningham, July seventeenth, nineteen forty-seven,
’“
he read, then raised his eyes to her.
“
What about the one after that?
”
“
That
’
s the one that
’
s none of your business.
”
He hit the last four words hard. If she
’
d have been a man, he
’
d have poked her in the chest with one finger to force the point home more fully.
“
None of my...
”
She clenched her jaw, then lifted the Bible up and ran her finger along as she read,
‘“
Samuel Prescott Fulton married to Letticia Sarafina Gautier, August first, nineteen forty-seven.
’
That
’
s Miss Lettie and Great-grandfather Fulton! This says she was his
wife
, and over here, listed under Samuel Fulton
’
s children, Helen Bettina—that
’
s her daughter, Helen Betty
”
“
Yeah, it didn
’
t take a mathematical genius to put that two and two together, Dix. Now, let
’
s move on to an English lesson—you said
his
wife,
her
daughter, personal possessive pronouns, neither of which indicate
you
.
”
He pointed at her, immediately saw how intimidating the gesture looked and backed down, just a little.
“
Leave it be. This is something that many people have obviously gone to great lengths to keep private.
”
“
Don
’
t you mean
secret
?
”
She put the open Bible to her chest and closed her eyes.
“
Family
secrets, to be precise. The secrets may not be mine, but the family is and that makes it my obligation to—
”
“
To shut up and leave it be.
”
He put his hand on her shoulder.
“
Dixie, if Lettie wanted you to know about this, she would have told you. She
’
s had your entire life, to do that. Not to mention most recently when you started trying to write her life
’
s story. Maybe this is the reason she
’
s been so evasive about that.
”
“
Yes, but—
”
“
She is a very old woman, very dear and very revered. It
’
s not your place to go against her wishes by bringing this into the open. There will be time enough to deal with this after she
’
s gone. For heaven
’
s sake, Dixie, she
’
s one hundred years old. Let her finish her life with dignity
”
“
That
’
s exactly what I want to do, Riley.
”
Dixie glanced down at the painting, still propped against the credenza, of the house where they all now resided.
“
What kind of dignity has she had living most of her life posing as the maid, then having to rely upon the self-sanctioned benevolence of people living in the home that should have been hers?
”