Maxine Tells Her Story

 "If everybody would just quit with all the questions and the shouting. I'll tell you what I know to be the truth. Now just quit pointin' fingers at me. Y'all are makin' me a might nervous, with all this whooplarah."

"No, I want to hear what Josh has to say. What do you mean your father's a crook and you've been helping him? Just who are you anyway?" sobbed Allie.

Haylee looked at Allie and said, "Josh is telling you the truth ,Allie. I know who he is. And I know who his grandfather is." Maxine gave Haylee a small smile and said, "I wondered if the truth would come out someday. I was hopin' it wouldn't. Well, who's gonna tell this tale? You want the history of the truth and the whole truth from an old woman or the youngest of the  bunch tellin' the story. It's up to you." She looked the sheriff dead in the eye and said, "Well? What will it be?"

The sheriff looked around at the mix of folks all whom were upset to say the least. Maxine was the oldest of the bunch, but he knew Laura the best. They had been pals for years. He raised his thick eyebrows at Laura and she gave him a slight nod. He said, "Alright, Maxine, so tell it. It had better be good because I'm going to check out every word you say. And you, young man, are not going anywhere. You are stayin' put until I tell you that you can go. Sorry, Allie. I know you were putting your trust in this fella. Down right sorry I am. Well, get to it, Maxine."

Maxine cleared her throat and said, "Well, this is going to take a few minutes to tell, but it's good to be tellin' it. You know I wasn't always this old. I was young and kinda pretty is what my man said, "He loved me you see, but he loved playin' cards more. I didn't know that when I married him. Hey, sheriff, could I have a cup of coffee? This is gonna take a cup or two to tell."

"Oh, he was a sweet talker, that's for sure. And handsome? None better. I was the envy of all the girls in town. I loved that man with my whole heart and soul and still do for that matter. I was takin' in by all his sweet words and what I thought was sincere plans for our future. He had bought a few acres down here. As a matter of fact the land that my cabin is on was the first land that he ever bought. Said it wasn't much, but he knew with hard work and a little luck we'd have the biggest ranch in Texas. Wanted to raise horses and build me a beautiful house. Said we could have a few kids and the land would be in the family forever." Maxine wiped some dust from her eyes, or so she said. She sipped at her now cold coffee and looked at Josh. "After our boy was born, he seemed to want to go out at night more and more. He said he was lucky at cards and wanted to build us a nest egg. A nest egg...well he did that and bought more acres of land. Before I knew it we had five thousand acres. It still wasn't big enough for him. He wanted more land and more horses. I wanted my husband home with me and our boy, but he couldn't be tied down he said. The last night I saw him he told me he was goin' into town. There was supposed to be a hotshot card player coming. The stakes were high and he was going to win enough to add even more land to our already huge ranch. I pleaded with him to stay home. But he wouldn't listen. My memory of that night will never leave my mind. That was the night that changed my life and my son's life forever. After playing cards for hours he had run out of money. He had gambled all of the money he had in the world. All he had left was the ranch. So he did the unthinkable. He bet the ranch on the hand he just knew was going to beat that horrible man. My man told the dealer to hit him with two winning cards. He quietly picked up two aces and he had three sevens in his hand. He had a full house! He could just taste the win, but the shark said, "I'll call." My husband  laid his cards on the table and he chuckled until he saw the hand that the card shark laid down. He had been holding a royal flush. My husband didn't stand a chance. People tell me he left town that night. No one has seen him since. I haven't heard from him since that night so many years ago. It's probably been sixty years by now. I have no idea if he's alive or where he is, but there is one man in town that does. She looked at Josh and said, "He is the man that won this ranch in a card game; his brother; your grandfather.

K.R. made it to the beach and was enjoying the warm sun and an adult beverage. He had gotten away with a lot of money from those silly small town yokels. Thousands of dollars all his. He had really wanted to kick the girl off the ranch and sell it and get a few more thousand, but this way he was safe from the law and enjoying all that he had worked for. "Ha, I love it down here. I wish I could get this red stuff off my hands. Wonder what I got into. Oh well, think I'll order in a pizza. Man this is the life. I bet I could run a little scheme down here too. That would keep me in spending money. Yeah, I think next week I might just put an investment website on line. That way I won't have to rent an office. My mind just keeps coming up with new ideas to take and keep. Yup, that's my new motto, 'take and keep.' I think pepperoni and mushroom sounds good. Yup, this is the life. Ow! Man I keep having these headaches! Probably should go see the doctor. Aw, I'll just pick something up at the drug store. Doggone it! It's really getting bad. I'd better go lay down for awhile. Then I'll order some food."

The sheriff put his hand in the air and said, "Hey, cut the chatter. This number keeps calling me. I'd better take it. I'll be right back."