North of Austin - Chapter 17

Vince was Happy with his New Wife

Chapter seventeen

When I arrived I greeted the kids and Abby. The first words out of her mouth was; “Was it him”. I tried to change the subject by saying, “Aren’t you glad to see me?”

She said; “yes but was it him”?

I walked over to the sink and started to wash up and refresh myself. My attempt to ignore her wasn’t going to work so I went into the parlor and sat down with her right beside me.

I began by telling her about the trip to the Hacienda and meeting the patron.

“Was that him?” she asked?

I said, “No that wasn’t him.”

I told her, “I met a young woman who had two light skinned children and could tell there was another one on the way. Then I met the man she was married to.”

Before she had the opportunity to say; “Was it him?”  I said, “Yes it was him.”

She said, “I have to go tell mama,” and she started out the door saying, “Watch the kids.”

I hustled over and grabbed her by the arm and told her to sit down.  She started to protest as I stopped her.

“You haven’t had time to think this through all you want to do is stir up some trouble and cause as much harm as you can. First of all you don’t know the circumstances surrounding all that happened.”

She said, “Well! What else do I need to know?”

I said, “You need to be aware that he has had a serious head injury that caused him to lose his memory. He doesn’t remember anything about this place and the people here. Not your mother, not you, not me or anyone else. I thought if he saw me he might snap out of it but everything is a blank.

He is perfectly happy as he is with his new family. All you could do is cause him pain and disrupt his life. Then there is your mother. She has moved on and is married to Len. They are happy together and the news you want to give her will tear them apart.

The saying “let sleeping dogs lie” certainly applies in this case. No one knows why I went to Mexico; they think I went to pay the remainder owed for the cattle (which I did).

I have had several days to think this over and I can’t bring myself to ruin the happiness they have found. I could have lied to you but between you and me there can be no deceit. We need to leave things as they are and move on knowing Vince is well and as happy as he has ever been.

The same can be said of your mother. She is happy as she has ever been with her new man and all of her friends around her. I can’t spoil her happiness by trying to trying to put her together with a man who doesn’t know her.”

Having heard everything I said Abby sat down and was speechless. She finally spoke and said I never knew what he must have gone through. Do you think we can keep this a secret? I said yes I think so. No one knows except you and me and there is no reason for anyone to go to Mexico who knows Vince.  Even if they did see him he looks so different now they wouldn’t recognize him.”

Abby said, “I hate it because the kids won’t get to know their grandpa and he them.”

I said, “I suppose they will have to settle for my Pa.”

As it turned out Vince was never heard from again and Abby and I never brought the subject up again except once.

Abby’s mother, Sally always called her husband grandpa Len when our children came over to her house and they picked up on that. He was grandpa Len to them which was okay with me. 

Since I had a back log of work to catch up on my days at the office were long and Abby and I didn’t have much time to talk.

After church on Sunday and dinner was over Abby sent the boys out to play and said she had time to think more on her Pa’s situation and she thought maybe she should tell Sally about how things stood.

That didn’t set too well with me for we had agreed to leave things as they were.

I laid out the reasons once again but she was still wavering. She attached some guilt to keeping a secret from her mother.

Len and Sally rode up in the buckboard they used for their shopping and I didn’t want Abby talking to her mother while being in her present state but there wasn’t anything I could do about it for they were already in the parlor.

Sally was over excited as she was gushing about her news. Len was somewhat relaxed about the whole situation which was unusual for him. Sally couldn’t hold it in any longer she blurted it out; “I’m going to have a baby.” 

Upon hearing that; the room went silent. For the next half hour there were statements and questions like; “Are you sure, how did this happen, when is it due and so on.”

Len just sat quietly, red faced as if he had done something wrong. We found it uncomfortable to look at each other at that moment. After the excitement died down, our boys came in and wanted to know what the noise was all about. After I explained to them about them getting a new uncle or aunt they asked some of the same questions as Abby had.

Finally satisfied they went back to playing. Then the noise exploded once again. Abby shared a secret with her mother she had kept from me because of what had being going on with Vince.

She was also pregnant. She realized it was true while I had been gone but the news about Vince put that on the back of the stove for the present.

The rest of the afternoon consisted of rehashing the two revelations and I never knew being pregnant could make women so happy.

Seems the most important thing about this circumstance was they were going to be the talk of the women’s circle for the next year or so. Len and I managed to talk about some legal aspects of some cases litigated back east and how they might affect issues here in our county. I cut a ham and fried up some slices of it.

I also put on a pot of grits and some greens for our supper. Sally’s news overshadowed the fact Abby was with child again and this time it had better be a girl or else. I asked her or else what?

She answered right back saying or else you can start sleeping alone.

To Be Continued