Zach entered the hot workshop and nodded amiably to the blacksmith. As the man looked up, surprised to see the young man, Zach waved at him and yelled loudly above the din of hammering.
"Don't worry, I just remembered you said the shoes and tack wouldn't be ready until next week! I'll return then!" he shouted and waved again as he hurriedly exited, leaving the perplexed blacksmith frowning in his wake. Once outside, he glanced at the dress shop and saw that Katie had evidently gone inside and was out of eyesight. Zach turned and set his face grimly as he began to walk down the wooden planks of the narrow sidewalk towards the general store.
You can do this. Tell her the truth. She'll understand it's not your fault and you can't get out of it. Just be honest with her. This was all your father's doing. Zach thought it to himself, but found his stomach growing filled with more butterflies with each step. The saloon appeared suddenly and without even consciously thinking, Zach turned into the swinging doors and entered that crowded and smoky room. It was filled with music from a pianist playing in the corner and the din of noisy conversation battled with the piano for attention. Ok, this is good, just one shot to steel the nerves.
One shot quickly turned to three as Zach found himself explaining the whole mess to the very interested barkeep and the town drunk who kept station at the seat at the bar closest to the door. They didn't have a lot of great advice, but seemed unusually interested in his story, with the barkeep giving him the last two shots of whiskey for free. The clock tolled and he realized with a start he'd been in the saloon for far longer than he had planned and he hoped that Katie hadn't beat him to the general store. He tipped his hat to his drinking companion and the barkeep, and quickly exited. At least now his whole body had a pleasant warmth from the whiskey and the butterflies were gone.
With a final glance at his reflection in the glass, adjusting his hat and collar one last time, he strode into the general store with the face of a man headed to a firing line - eyes grim and jaw set. Annie was talking with a customer, but saw him immediately and started, her eyes widening. A dark haired brunette with flashing blue eyes, she had ivory white skin and full red lips. A very pretty girl, he realized with a sigh as those eyes fixed on him firmly. And a very willful girl as well, with a sharp tongue and a temper when needled. A temper he dreaded being on the wrong side of. She hastily excused herself and ran to Zach, hands bunching her skirt up slightly to free her legs in her haste. A big smile was on her face, but there was some tension in her eyes as she stared at him searchingly.
"H-hey Annie! I...." he started to say as she reached him. She cut off his words with a big hug and a kiss on his cheek. It was a forward display by any measure. He'd only kissed her in private before and even that only recently! Granted it was on his cheek, but combined with the unusual hug he found his face flushing under his beard and his arms lightly circled her awkwardly before he gently pushed her away.
"Whoah there Annie-kins!" he said, involuntarily grinning at her and using the little nickname he had adopted. He winced as he said it, realizing it was exactly the wrong way to start this conversation.
"Zachary Corbett!" she said, still smiling but flashing him a mock pout. "I've heard the most ridiculous rumor and was hoping you would come to town to put it to bed." She was chuckling and smiling, but her eyes were deadly serious as she regarded him. "I heard a woman arrived in town yesterday, from the South, and she was looking for a ride up to your ranch. And our wagon driver said this morning he took her up himself... that she had told him she was your wife!'
She laughed again, but it was a cold and emotionless laugh. Like someone would use when they heard a joke they didn't like and wanted to show that they didn't think it was funny at all. And those eyes were fixed on him, hard and narrowing now as she studied him. The smile faded and she tilted her chin up to regard him with annoyance. Her foot began tapping slowly and he released his hands from her shoulders like he was touching hot coals.
"Tell me this is some ridiculous joke. Some misunderstanding. I'm your fiancee!" she shouted the last part loud enough that several of the customers in the large store all glanced at them. The clerk, one of her father's employees, also looked up and dropped his spectacles to frown and peer at them. Thankfully, her father wasn't in the store right now. Zach was going to reply and first inform her that technically she wasn't his fiancee yet as he hadn't proposed, they just had talked about proposing. But, inexperienced as he was with women he was not dumb enough to realize that based on her body language any such clarification would not help his cause in the least.
"I-uh, Annie, this may sound crazy, but I guess I should just tell you the truth as there is no other way," he said, stammering slightly. The whiskey was helping but now he wished he'd had another shot before he left. Those butterflies were coming back and he felt even more nervous than he could have imagined. She was already pissed and he hadn't said anything yet! "That woman -Katie- is my wife now, legally. My father set this all up and didn't tell me. Had me sign some papers last winter and I didn't realize what they were. He'd somehow found her and convinced her to come out here from Richmond to marry me! Crazy, right?" He gave a weak chuckle and tried to smile at the end, shrugging his shoulders slightly. The entire time he spoke, Annie's face had grown darker and her eyes had narrowed, until she was scowling at him with her brow furrowed.
"What the FUCK are you talking about!" she screamed at him, causing gasps from other customers in the store. Zach raised his hands to try and calm her down, flashing a forced smile to the customers now staring at him to try and convince them this was not a big deal. Her finger raised and pointed at him, trembling slightly as her face flushed with rage. That small, slender digit felt like a six shooter pointed right at his head. "You are going to marry me! Not some slut from Richmond your father ordered from a catalog! You had better get this damned contract annulled, or invalidated, or whatever it is you need to do and get that hussy out of town!"
"Annie!" he said, a plaintive tone entering his voice as he tried to calm her. He didn't like appeasing anyone like this, especially in front of a crowd, but he often felt helpless with women as he hadn't even grown up with a mother. "Please, calm down! I didn't do this! My Pa did... I want to marry you, I really do, but I can't just stop this as easily as you think. He wrote in his will I have to marry her and try to make this work. I can't just divorce her and walk away or I lose my ranch! I lose everything!" He hoped that she'd see reason in his problem and realize he was backed into a corner.
"I don't give a FUCK about your stupid ranch!" she continued, voice shrill and full of rage. "You can come work in the store and inherit it with me. Do you think I want to live out there anyway?! End this sham of a marriage and marry me, you cheating, lying bastard!"
Now she was getting personal and clearly not in the mood for logic. Zach tried to shush her again as some of the customers wandered closer, eager to hear this encounter clearly as it would be, no doubt, some good gossip for the otherwise sleepy town. Zach looked at her with anguish. He was in quite a pickle and he knew Katie was on her way to the store as well. As if things could get any worse!
"I c-can't do that Annie! The ranch is everything for me, Pa and I built it together... I can't just walk away!" he said, reaching out to her shoulder with a hand that she batted away with hardly a thought. "I can't end this marriage, we-" he paused at the last sentence, catching himself before he was going to say they had consummated it already. But what he meant to say was clearly obvious as Annie went from upset to furious, face flushing deep red as her eyes suddenly threw daggers at him.
"You FUCKED her! You already FUCKED this woman that just showed up and claimed to be your wife!" she screamed out loudly. "Will you FUCK any woman that shows up with a fake certificate of marriage or only whores with a Southern accent? Or do they need any paperwork at all? You make me SICK! You are a fucking DOG!" She stormed away suddenly, which was actually a relief for Zach as he had half expected her to hit him in front of everyone. He followed her though, feeling like he still had to find a way to calm her. She retreated behind the counter and the clerk quickly left to go the backroom, eager to get away from this brewing scene. Zach stood before her and tried to speak again.
"A-annie, listen to me, I didn't do this to hurt you. I didn't do it at all, my Pa did. He trapped me into this, I didn't know! I wouldn't have been calling on you if I thought I had a wife coming!" he said, voice low so the many eavesdroppers couldn't hear him.
"I don't know what to think of you Zachary Corbett," she said icily, face a little calmer now, but resentment and anger clear on her face as she stared at him coldly. "But a man who would claim to LOVE a girl and promise to marry her, who then FUCKS some mail order bride his dad arranged hours after she arrives. Well that's not the man I thought you were."
Just then the bell at the door rang and Zach turned to follow Annie's stare. His heart raced and his throat suddenly felt dry as he saw Katie walk in. She was smiling, her red locks forming a fiery halo from the light from the street and she had a happy bounce in her step. When she saw Zach she positively glowed, waving at him and quickly walking to his side. She glanced at Annie briefly, her brow furrowing slightly at the anger on the girl's face, and then gave him a kiss that he met with a weak smile. Katie started to prattle about things to buy, just like a wife would, and asked about a bed. A sturdy bed. Oh god, he wasn't brave enough to turn to see Annie's reaction to that. And then she was talking about children. It only was getting worse. Somehow, Annie remained silent, no doubt speechless with rage at this affront that was now prancing in her face. The customers in the store all inched closer, sensing the delicious conflagration that was starting to catch fire in the store and likely to turn into a full on bonfire of fury.
And then Katie introduced herself to Annie.
Zach's heart sank as he turned to look at Annie for the first time. She was glowering and staring at Katie like she was some venomous snake let loose inside her store. He could hear her foot tapping and saw a cruel smile appear on her face as her eyes flicked to his. Like she had just realized something, something that made her happy. What was she thinking? What was she going to do? Zach wished he could be anywhere else right now than caught between these two women; that he could sink into the floor and disappear. Why hadn't he had another shot? Or maybe another ten shots before coming in here!
"No we haven't met, and it sounds like Zach hasn't told you about me," she said, voice suddenly syrupy sweet as her eyes still radiated hatred. "I'm Annie. I'm Zach's fiancee."
Annie let the last word hang out there for a second, enjoying the dramatic impact. The declaration caused a gasp from one of the female customers nearby who dropped a wooden bowl she was holding. Then Annie continued, anger and emotion filling her voice now.
"That's right, your new husband was supposed to marry me until you showed up. I'm shocked he never told you that he loved another woman and we'd made plans to be together forever. I just don't know how that could have slipped his mind. I'm sure you had him distracted with other things, no doubt eager to get your hands on his ranch after you got them on his other body parts," she said, her claws fully out now. "We have a word for women like you out in the West, some people say gold digger, but I think any woman who marries a man for his wealth, no matter how paltry some open land and flea bitten cattle really are, should be called what she is. That is a whore. Proper ladies out here marry because they love a man, not because their dad promised them some money. Of course, any man who marries a whore is just as bad and I'm glad you've shown me what Zach Corbett is really like. I'm sure you'll have a happy life, whore and customer, fighting over some scrawny cattle in your pathetic little house. Just remember, don't believe a word he says as he's a lying dog that will fuck anything that spreads her legs for him!"
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