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Melanie moved quickly to her feet. "Sheriff Morgan?" she said, stunned by his presence. "What's wrong? Why are you here?"
Sheriff Morgan removed his hat and came into the room, overpowering in his two hundred and fifty pounds of brawn and muscle. "Sorry to intrude on your private moments with your brother," he said softly. He looked Shane over slowly. "But I'm here to see Shane. It's about his brother."
He looked directly into Shane's eyes. "By God, I cain't get over the resemblance. You and Josh are identical, ain't you?"
"What about my brother? Shane said, brushing aside the small talk.
The sheriff twirled his hat around, between his fingers. He looked at the floor. "The news ain't good," he said hoarsely. He rose his eyes slowly back up again and met Shane's steady stare. "Son, I need you to come into town and identify the body."
Melanie teetered for a moment. She grabbed for
Shane's arm and steadied herself. Shane paled. Something grabbed him at the pit of his stomach, as though a sledge hammer had hit him there.
"What are you saying?" he said, his voice drawn.
"Seems your brother has played his last game of poker," Sheriff Morgan said sullenly. "He got careless. Someone pulled a gun on him and blasted him clear to kingdom come. He didn't know what hit him." He cleared his throat. "It's required that the next of kin come and identify the body. It's at the undertaker's. Then you can talk with the undertaker about the arrangements that need to be made.''
Shane was in a state of shock, filled with regrets and memories of long ago, when brothers behaved as brothers and loved one another! He had hoped that it could be the same again once Josh thought more about things and was able to accept Shane into his life!
"No, it just can't be!" Shane said, between clenched teeth. "It isn't fair!"
He turned away from the sheriff and buried his face in his hands. Melanie crept an arm around his waist and hugged him tightly.
"Shane, Shane . . ."
Chapter Thirty-two
Sunshine streamed through lace-draped windows. Light flooded through double doors that had welcomed the guests to the Brennan mansion.
When they entered they had walked past big covered Delft jars on black and gold Italianate brackets. The room in which they all now stood was complex with hot accentsrose-strewn chintzes and a Bessarabian rug, and gilded Italian side chairs in a brilliant red weave, with Edwardian needlework pillows. The floor boards were mostly bare.
The house was lavishly decorated with great masses of flowers. The staircase was garlanded with roses and other blossoms, filling the house with a sweet, heady fragrance, mingling with the
aroma of freshly baked rolls wafting through the hall from the big kitchen.
The marriage ceremony was performed in the back parlor, where the windows opened onto a large garden whose gnarled old pear trees were heavy with ripe fruit. A low breeze disturbed the silence and gentle petals of autumn flowers in the garden, a lush bouquet of colors.
Melanie stood clasped by the golden light, like the sweetheart of the sun, as she looked adoringly up at Shane, the minister with an opened bible standing before them. She wore a white Venice lace and silk satin gown with a Queen Anne neckline, long sleeves, and Alencon lace framing her face, falling back into a long train that hugged the floor around her. She carried a bridal bouquet of miniature pink roses, the pink of her cheeks seeming to be their reflection.
With one sweep of her eyes she saw Shane as someone wonderfully handsome in his double-breasted coat that had a fitted bodice and flared skirt with a split in the back, its lapels curved almost like a shawl. His dark trousers were worn down on his shoes, even touching the floor in the back with straps under his feet. His coat fit him perfectly, emphasizing the broadness of his shoulders, his shirt front was dazzling white, with an abundance of ruffles spilling over his gray waistcoat. His hair caught the rays of the sun in its folds, making it appear more golden than usual.
The moment was magical, something that Melanie had wanted from the moment she set eyes on Shane. She had often doubted that she and
Shane would reach this day, for one thing
after another had stood in the way of their happiness. Even the latest death had postponed this precious moment. They had been forced to wait until a respectable amount of time passed after Josh's funeral, so much that Melanie was beginning to show that she was with child.
"I now pronounce you man and wife," the preacher said, closing his bible. He clasped his bible in one hand and placed it behind him, smiling from Shane to Melanie. "You may now kiss the bride."
Behind Shane and Melanie, Terrance leaned heavily into his canes, one in each hand, his artificial leg balancing him as well as if it were a true leg. He smiled from Melanie to Shane. He had been wrong about so many things. All along Shane had been the true answer to the dilemma that Terrance had found himself in since his father's death.
Now that Melanie had married Shane, she would live with him and the farm was back in Terrance's control. To hell with wanting to get his hands on a portion of the Brennan estate. He felt lucky to have anything.
He eyed his wooden leg. Damn it, he had almost mastered it. One day he would even ride a horse again!
The only thing that he deeply regretted was Josh's death. Yet something good had come from it. Terrance no longer gambled or drank. Those vices had been the cause of Josh's early demise.
The same fate would not come to Terrance Stanton!
