A Pair of Black Eyes, Part Six

by J. Rosemary Moss

Genre: Fan-Fiction (Bonanza)
Rating: Mature Content

LINK TO PART ONE

~

Bess stared down at her breakfast plate. Nothing on it looked appetizing. That must be due to the morning sickness. Or a lingering sense of guilt—one or the other.

"Eat something," her aunt ordered. "You'll need your strength."

She gave her aunt a wry smile. "There's no point—it'll just come back up again."

Her aunt shrugged and looked to her own plate so Bess went back to poking her food with a fork. She and Aunt Beatrice were the only two at the table—her brothers had been out working since sun-up.

"You should have the wedding as soon as possible," her aunt commented. "Folks will talk."

Bess dragged her eyes off of her food and looked into her aunt's eyes. "Aunt Beatrice," she said, "they're already talking. What does it matter?"

Her aunt sighed at that. "I suppose that's true. Well, at least you'll have a ring on your finger before the baby comes."

"Yes," Bess agreed. "And I'll have a husband who despises me."

Aunt Beatrice gave her a sharp look. "What do you care? As long as he's willing to claim the child and support you both it doesn't matter what he thinks of you."
Bess just shrugged at that. It was amazing how you could get everything you wanted and still be miserable.

Her aunt must have followed her thoughts. "Don't look to me for sympathy, young lady," she spat as she stood up. "I don't see why you couldn't have just told the real father."

"The real father knows," Bess said flatly. "But he's married—he wants no part of the baby. He won't claim it."

"Mother of God, child," Aunt Beatrice said. "How could you be such a fool as to give yourself away to a married man? Well, put him out of your mind and do your best to be a good wife to Little Joe."

Bess forced herself to nod as she stood up and helped her aunt clear the table. She spent the rest of the morning trying to take her mind off of everything by losing herself in chores, but it was no use. She kept seeing Little Joe staring at her, his eyes full of icy contempt.

Well, there was still one other option: one way to get both herself and Little Joe off the hook. But she had to act quickly, before her brothers came back to the house. And before she lost her courage.

She was dressed only in her shift, so she hurried upstairs and pulled on a pair of stockings, two petticoats and an old dress. Hopefully Joe wouldn't notice that she hadn't bothered with stays.

She crept back downstairs when she completed her toilette and made sure that her aunt was still occupied in the kitchen. She scribbled a note to her and left it in the sitting room. Then she went out to the barn and prepared to hitch the horse to the gig.

The sound of a horse approaching caught her attention. Little Joe was riding up to the house. Well, that saved her a trip.

He caught sight of her through the open doors of the barn. She watched him dismount Cochise and make his way over to her.

"You shouldn't be hitching the gig yourself in your condition," he scolded.

Now wasn't that just like Little Joe? He might despise her but he was still determined to look after her.

"There's no need to now," she assured him. "I was going to see you."

He nodded. "Want to talk about the wedding?"

She took a deep breath. "No," she managed. "I—I want to tell you the whole story. You deserve that.”

He stared at her for a moment, but at length he nodded. Bess took a deep breath and leaned back against one of the stalls.

“I'm sorry, Little Joe,” she began. “I let myself get carried away with a married man. He wouldn't claim the child. He scarcely even tips his hat when he passes me.”

She paused, watching his reaction. His hazel eyes were hard and bright and still filled with anger. But she wasn’t sure if he was directing that anger at her.

“You know how my brother Frank is,” she continued. “If I couldn't produce a father and a wedding band he was going to turn me out on the street."

Little Joe still said nothing. Now she couldn’t read him at all, but she forced herself to go on.

"Well," she said, gathering her courage, "I'm going to tell Frank and the rest of my family that I lied. I'll tell the sheriff too. That way everyone will learn the truth and no one will hold you responsible."

Joe sighed at that, finally giving her an indication of his thoughts. "I don't want to expose you, Bess,” he said. “I don't want you and the child to have to live with that kind of shame."

She smiled at him, grateful for his concern. What a fine husband and father he would have made.

"Just hear me out,” she said. “I'm going to move away. To San Francisco, I suppose. And I'm going to change my name and start over. I'm going to pose as a widow—the pinnacle of respectability. There won't be any shame for me or the child."

"What about your family?" Joe asked.

She shrugged. "Frank will go ahead and disown me. I doubt my aunt or my other brothers will stand against him on that. But it doesn't matter—I'm not as close to them as you are to your family."

She paused and took another deep breath. "It's better this way," she said at length. "We can't live together with you hating me the way you do. We'd just make each other miserable. Maybe I deserve that, but you don't."

He didn't respond to that. "Who's the father?" he asked instead.

There was a hard, dangerous look in his eyes now. She should have expected that—he wouldn't have any use for a man who fathered a bastard and refused to acknowledge or provide for the child.

"Oh no," she answered. "I'm not going to tell you that. I don't want you going off half-cocked against him. Besides, I'd as soon forget all about him."

For a moment he looked ready to argue, but something about the firmness in her voice must have changed his mind. "You'll need money," he pointed out.

"Yes," she agreed. "This—this isn't blackmail, Joe. I'm just asking for a loan. Eventually I'll get on my feet somehow. I'll find a husband or I'll—"

To her astonishment, Joe cut her speech short by drawing her into his arms and kissing the top of his head. She could feel at least some of his anger melting away.

"I know you'll get on your feet," he told her as he tightened his hold on her. "And I'll support you in the meantime. But I don't want you going all the way to San Francisco."

"Why not?" she asked.

He released her and smiled down at her. Suddenly the laughing, teasing light was back in his eyes.

"Because I promised myself that I'd give you a good tanning after you had the baby," he informed her. "I don't want to have to travel that far to deliver it."

She bit back a grin. "Will you come visit me now and then after that tanning?"

He leaned over and kissed her gently on the lips. "Yeah," he said. "I think I can manage that. Now how about we go into town and talk to Roy?"

She nodded and stepped back so that he could hitch up the gig. Her heart clenched as she watched him work. She looked away for a moment, praying that he would come and see her often.

LINK TO PART SEVEN