Chapter Three
Maura sat rooted in place when her parents finally told her the arrangement consisted of her marrying Aidan Langley. Aidan. Langley. The man afraid of snakes and who screams like a little girl.
She thought about letting loose a scream—something to terrify her standoffish papa. But it would only send her momma into a heap of nerves and what was the point?
She wished she could disappear back to her ordered life as a nanny. But, thanks to this damned economic disaster that stole away everyone’s happiness, she figured she had two choices. Not marry and see her momma suffer even more than she already did or marry and try to figure out how to be married to someone who considered her beneath him.
“A reprobate, huh? I’ll bet if I’m not happy about this arrangement, Aidan Langley is livid.”
She smiled to herself at the thought and decided to become the Jackson sacrificial lamb. She admitted she wasn’t in complete rebellion mode at the thought of marrying Aidan. Thoughts of him in the creek did things to her. Made her think of things. Feel things.
She was holed up in her room, trying to make sense of it all when a soft knock on the door interrupted her inappropriate thoughts regarding a very handsome Irishman.
"Maura. It's your mother. Can I come in?"
“Of course, Momma. Come in." She lay on her bed and stared at the tin ceiling. She wasn't really mad at her momma. Her papa, she just might not ever speak to again, since he was the one who made the deal that forced her into a marriage with Aidan Langley.
She heard her momma come into the room and softly close the door behind her. The bed squeaked under her weight, and yet, her momma kept her silence. Curious, Maura crooked her gaze to the woman sitting next to her on her broken-down mattress.
"Momma?"
The woman who gave her birth wiped away her own tears with her dirty apron.
"It will be okay, Momma. I'll get through it. We'll all get through it—somehow."
She couldn't stand to see her momma sad, so she pushed away her own fears, scooted close, and wrapped her arms around her momma's shoulders.
"Oh, honey. If there was any other way, don’t you think we’d have done it? But there just isn't. We are on our last prayer. The bank has already threatened to take all our equipment, and we can't farm without it. Your papa and I were hoping we would have a few more years of good crops. Then we could have paid it off and breathed a little easier knowing we didn’t owe nobody nothing."
"Just give them the tractor and plows. We can eat from the garden. We can share our vegetables with those Langleys. They can share their beef with us. We don't have to worry about losing the farm. We can eat just fine. Maybe even sell some of those herbs or trade them for coffee or sugar. We can do it, Momma. We can."
"Child, you don't understand. The bank doesn’t lend money on equipment that can break down or get stolen. They want something solid to hold their money's value."
"What are you sayin', Momma?" Maura knew what was coming, but she wanted to hear it for herself.
"The bank took interest on the farm as collateral for the money we borrowed on the equipment. And we can't make enough money selling vegetables and corn to make the payments. We are at the bottom of the well, knee deep in mud. You must know that if we weren't desperate and up against the fence, I wouldn’t have allowed your papa to make this arrangement to marry you to that Langley boy. You are my only child, Maura. I want you to be happy."
"I know, Momma. I guess nobody’s happy nowadays. I’ll do what I can to—” She didn’t know what she had intended to say before her emotions turned her tears loose.
Her momma hugged her hard. “My precious baby girl. Sometimes, we women have to do things we never saw comin'. I've had my share of heartaches and sacrifices—”
Her mother stopped short. It was as if she were going to tell Maura something but changed her mind. "Anyway, it doesn't matter now. All that matters is that you do your best to be as happy as you can, Maura. That’s the only control we have in this world. Just—be happy if you can."
"Look on the bright side. Once Aidan and I get married, and the banker thinks we are one big happy family, maybe the Langleys won’t mind if I move back home. After all, there’s no need for the bank to know where I live, right? As long as we get the government contract, then Aidan and his family will be glad I’m not under foot."
Her mother's sad look tore at Maura's heart. "What's wrong, Momma? What is it you haven’t told me yet?"
Her mother looked guilty. "This merger, between the Langleys and us, it's not a temporary one, honey. We will legally combine our lands with theirs under one title. Your papa and Sully Langley will be co-owners. Neither one of them can ever sell any of the land. It will be passed down to the next generation. That's why it is so important for you and Aidan to marry. We can't have two families fighting over everything when Sully and your papa pass on.”
Maura’s stomach hiccupped at the realization of what her momma was telling her. “You mean Aidan and I are required to have children—together?”
Her momma’s smile was sad. “That’s the only way I know to have children, honey. Together. Once you two have children of your own, then they can lay claim to the entire Jackson-Langley legacy. You can see how important that is gonna be, can’t you?”
Maura closed her eyes against her mother's words. She would not only be married at twenty-four years of age, she would have to stay married until they parted in death.
She gleefully thought about him passing sooner rather than later, but in order for the land to pass down, she would have to get pregnant. Hmmmmm.
“So, after I have a child, let’s say just the one, that child would be entitled to everything?”
“Yes, everything. All of the lands of both families and all the property that would entail.”
“Even the big Langley house?” she wondered out loud.
“Yes, even the Langley house.”
The thought made her smile.
"Maura, you are scaring your momma. Please tell me you aren't plotting Aidan Langley’s murder. I fear the law will know it was you all too quickly if the boy comes up missing. Or dead."
Her mother was too close to the truth albeit she was just kidding. Maura changed the subject. "When is this blessed union supposed to take place? Ten years from now, I hope." She tried joking, but her mother's sad look made her sorry she'd been flip.
"No, darling. It’s—"
Maura's gut twisted inside her stomach.
"Momma, when is the wedding?"
Her momma hesitated for just a bit, then squared her shoulders and spoke. "Day after tomorrow, honey. The wedding is this Saturday."