Protection

Chapter 23

Chapter 23

Bliss looked at the curiosity in Clint’s eyes and knew that she wasn’t obligated to tell him about Seth, but something inside her wanted to. Maybe he could help her sort things out if he knew the whole story.

“Was he your beau or something?” he asked.

Bliss chuckled to ward off her impending tears. “Oh, that he was. That, and so very much more.”

She saw his confusion and took a deep breath before diving into her story.

“When I was eighteen, my daddy hired on a new cowboy. I’ve never been allowed to fraternize with any of the cowboys except for Mose and Colt, but there was something about this one that caught my eye. I was still a spoiled brat inside, though by all indications on the outside I was an adult. Seth was handsome and had a charming smile. That was about all I wanted back then. I didn’t take time to get to know his personality. We would sneak off in the middle of the night and go riding. Nothing happened much, but we got to know each other. He was about ten years older than me I think, so I hung to every word he said as pure wisdom. I became wrapped up in empty promises and whispered words of what he could give me. I was so stupid back then.

We got married on a whim, regardless of what my father told me. He warned me against entering into such a lasting thing like marriage without very much thought. I didn’t listen. He had given me everything I had ever wanted and I didn’t know how to react to his warning. About a month after our marriage, I found out that he was a drinker. He seemed closer to his bottle of red-eye than he ever was of me. Once he got his whiskey into him, there was no telling what he was going to be. He could be a sad, heartbroken man who would cry in my lap about all of his troubles, or he could turn into a monster that would break things and yell at me. I reacted in the worst way possible to it. I gave him everything he wanted and waited on him hand and foot. I told myself that I was doing the right thing, that waiting on him was how a wife was supposed to be to her husband. That’s what he told me, and since he was so much older, I believed him. So stupid.” Bliss let a tear slide down her cheek as she squeezed her hands, trying to ward off the feeling of regret. “I would never tell Daddy anything. One of the arguments we had before I married Seth was that I couldn’t handle it life away from the ranch. I was so determined to prove him wrong that I let Seth walk all over me. There was a time that I broke, though. One day he went to town and got drunk. I was out for a walk when he came home, so I didn’t find him until some time after he returned. This time he decided to bring another woman along with him. I was so angry when I found them together that I didn’t even get her out. I simply walked outside, grabbed my horse, and rode bareback all the way back to the ranch and told Daddy everything. At first Daddy was angry, but he cooled off before he decided to ride off and blow Seth’s head off. I spent the night at the ranch and when Seth came the next morning to beg my forgiveness and to try to convince me that he loved me, I wouldn’t even hear him. Daddy demanded a divorce…”

She stopped and looked over at Clint, who stared at her through shocked eyes.

“D-divorce?” he croaked.

Bliss nodded. “That’s why no one speaks of Seth. I’m humiliated to admit it, but I figure I’ve got to own up to it sometime or other. No one outside of Seth and I knew except for Daddy, Grace, Colt, and the Justice of the Peace in Plateau. No one else knows to this day. They all think that he’s dead and gone and that I’m a grieving widow. So I guess it’s plain to see why Daddy is so protective of me, but that doesn’t account for the secrets. Seth had nothing to do with Momma’s death.”

Clint simply sat there, processing the flow of information. His expression was somewhat stunned at first, but his features relaxed some after a few moments.