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  Slim joined Richie in the chow line. When their plates were full they came back to the table and sat down. Slim watched as he quietly bowed his head for a few seconds before eating.

  “Richie,” asked Charlotte. “What’s your full name?”

  “My last name’s Hanson. But my full name is Richard Hanson, Junior. No one has ever called me Richard. People just call me Richie.”

  Chapter 1

  Slim’s fork slipped from his hand and loudly dropped on to his plate. Charlotte and John looked at each other with their mouths open. Richie kept eating, oblivious to the bomb he had just dropped into the conversation.

  “What was your mother’s name,” asked Slim.

  “Marie Hanson.”

  “What was her full name?” Slim’s voice was noticeably louder and had a bit of an edge to it. Richie was startled by his tone but didn’t slow down his eating. He was shoveling in food just as quickly as he could.

  “Her name was Consuelo Marie de Zavala Morales Hanson.”

  “What a lovely name,” said Charlotte. John and Slim were still too stunned to speak. They just stared at Richie. “Will you tell me about her? Your mother must have been a wonderful woman.”

  “She was, Charlotte.” Richie stopped eating and put his fork down. Tears once again gathered in his eyes has the conversation turned to his mother.

  “She was the finest person I know. Mom raised me by herself and didn’t have help from anyone. But she never complained. Her own parents didn’t want anything to do with her but it didn’t matter to her. She made dresses for women in Laredo so we got along just fine.” Tears were streaming down his face as he stared at his plate.

  “Where was your father,” asked Charlotte.

  “I don’t know. She wouldn’t ever talk about him. Any time I asked her about him, all she would say was that he was a good man although her family didn’t want him around.”

  “Did you ever meet your father?” ask Charlotte.

  “No. I don’t know anything about him other than Mom saying he was a good man.”

  Charlotte looked at Slim but Slim was looking up at the ceiling.

  “Richie,” said Charlotte. “I think you and I might be related.”

  “Really? I don’t think I have any family around here. Before my mother said I had some relations here in Bandera, I thought our only relatives was her family in Mexico and we didn’t see them very much.”

  “You see, Richie,” Charlotte continued. “My name is Hanson. At least it used to be. I’m Charlotte Crudder now but it used to be Charlotte Hanson. Daddy?” Slim didn’t seem to hear Charlotte. She called him again. “Daddy, is there anything you would like to say? I think all of us would enjoy hearing from you.”

  Slim let out a long sigh, looked at Charlotte, then at John, and then at Richie. “Well, I don’t really know how to say this, but Richie, my name is Richard Hanson.” He paused and added, “I guess it’s really Richard Hanson Senior.” There was a pained look on Slim’s face as he struggled to continue his response.

  “I was in love with your mother before you were born. I asked her to marry me but she got angry and said she couldn’t marry me. She didn’t tell me why and just said she would never be able to marry me. I wasn’t sure how I’d gotten her angry. In fact, I never saw her after that day. That was about sixteen years ago. I didn’t know she was expectin’ a baby. In fact, I’ve tried to find her so many times over the past sixteen years but never found out where she was.”

  Richie stared in disbelief as he listened. Charlotte placed her hand over his. John placed a hand on Richie’s back.

  “Richie,” began Slim. “I’m not sure how to tell you this. But it appears I’m your father. I never knew you existed. If I did, I would have come to you and your mother. I loved her with all of my heart.” He turned to Charlotte and continued. “Charlotte, I didn’t think it was possible for me to ever love someone again after your mother died. But I met Marie in San Anton when I was coming back from a cattle drive.”

  There was silence at the table as they waited for Slim to continue his story. Even the twins were quiet. Richie’s mouth was open as he stared at Slim.

  “Richie, you have to believe me. I would never have done anything to hurt your mother. I loved her. She told me goodbye and said she never wanted to see me again. I was stunned and, I have to admit a bit angry. So I came back to Bandera. But as I tried to make sense of her change in mood toward me, I thought there must be somethin’ else goin’ on. I went back to San Anton but she had moved. No one knew where she went. I looked for her but couldn’t find her. I was even plannin’ on going to Mexico to find her parents but I didn’t have a clue where they lived. Richie, if I had known about you, I never would have allowed her to drive me away. I hope you believe me.”

  “I don’t know what to believe. But I don’t believe you’re my father. She would have told me if you were.”

  “Why do you suppose she wanted you to come to Bandera?” asked Slim.

  “I don’t know. She never told me except that it would be better for me here and that I had some family here.”

  “Richie,” said Charlotte. “We are the only Hansons in all of Bandera County. That means I’m your sister. At least, I’m your half-sister.”

  Richie put his hands to his face. Between his fingers, tears began to flow. Charlotte put her arm around him and pulled him into a hug. He put his arms around her and continued to sob. Charlotte, Slim, and John began weeping as well. Cora and Claire looked confused.

  “Why’s Mommy crying?” asked Claire as she began to sniffle. Cora joined in and tears began flowing from both girls. They didn’t know what was wrong but it seems they weren’t going to be left out if everyone was crying. Charlotte tried to comfort them. Slim picked up Cora and started patting her on the back and Charlotte picked up Claire. Cora cried louder, “Mommy!” Slim relented and handed Cora to Charlotte. He knew at times like this, even though Charlotte would literally have her hands full with the twins, they could only be comforted by their mother.

  Slim stood and walked over to Richie and put out his hand. “Well, it looks like me calling you ‘son’ in town was right after all. I guess I really am your father.”

  Richie looked at Slim’s hand and slowly stood up. He started to reach out to take Slim’s hand but then threw both of his arms around him.

  “Pa! I’ve always wondered who you were.”

  “I’m right here, son. And I’ll make sure I’m always here for you. You can count on it.

  Richie and Slim continued clinging to each other and crying with abandon, as did John and Charlotte. And the twins, who had almost stopped, let out wales that caused all of the hands in the dining hall to stop their eating and stare at the odd happenings.

  Soon crying turned to laughing. At first, it was just a little giggle but before long everyone at the table was doubling over with laughter. Even Claire and Cora joined in. Even the confused cowboys that were watching started joined the laughter that was now filling the dining hall. It seemed the happy spirit was infectious.

  Chapter 2

  Daddy,” said Charlotte. “Let’s go to the house. It sounds like there’s a lot to talk about. We’ll be more comfortable there.”

  The others at the table nodded in agreement. The group got up from the table. John took Cora from Charlotte and Slim took Claire. They walked over to Slim’s house and took their places in the spacious living room.

  Slim had built the large stone house before Charlotte was born. The room they were in had large windows on two sides, letting in an abundance of light. At one end of the room was a fireplace that was nearly large enough to stand in and not touch the top. When cold descended on Bandera, it was large enough to easily heat the whole house. Slim loved it all the more because of the evenings spent around the fire with Charlotte’s mother.

  Above the fireplace was a portrait from Charlotte’s mother, Leticia Hanson, though Slim always called her Lettie. The furniture in the room was rugged and h
eavy. Each piece was covered in leather. Colorful pillows were on each couch and the chairs. There was seating for at least twenty. Many times, in years past, all seats were taken as Slim and Lettie entertained their friends from Bandera. Slim also used it regularly for planning meetings with his top hands.

  Lettie had decorated the entire house and Slim never changed a thing. When Charlotte was a teen, she introduced some changes to the house that Slim accepted without resistance. But when she wanted to make changes in the living room, Slim wouldn’t allow it. He wanted it just the same as when Lettie left it for the last time.

  In the center of the room hung a large chandelier. However, the only time it would be lit was when they were having a party. Most evenings, Slim would light the beautiful lamps that adorned each table. The lamps were imported by Lettie from Europe. No one in Bandera had anything to equal their beauty.

  Charlotte put on a pot of coffee while the men played with Claire and Cora. Richie, it seemed, had fallen naturally into the role of uncle and perhaps even surrogate brother. The girls laughed as he made silly faces and lifted them high in the air.

  “My turn!” said Cora as she watched her sister flying high in the air. He put Claire down and picked up Cora and gave her the same ride.

  In a few seconds, Claire said, “My turn!” He did this several times as John and Slim laughed along with the girls. After a few minutes, Charlotte brought in mugs and a pot of coffee and set them in the middle of a large coffee table that was in the center of the room. The table was large enough they didn’t have to worry about the girls reaching up and accidently spilling the hot coffee on them.

  “Daddy,” said Charlotte. “I think we’d all like to hear about you and Marie.”

  Slim sipped his coffee and gathered his thoughts. After a full minute of silence, he began to speak.

  “Yes, there’s lots to tell. And I will be glad to tell it. But first, Charlotte, I need you to hear something about your mother.”

  Charlotte had two hankies in her lap. She seemed sure she would need them both.

  “When I married your mother, I was the happiest man alive. I knew the greatest accomplishment of my life to that point and probably for my entire life was to convince her to marry me. We didn’t have much but it didn’t matter. We bought a piece of land, near where this house is standing, and built a three-room shotgun house. From our perspective, we thought we were wealthy.

  “We bought a few head of cattle and all of the calves we could afford and the Hanson Ranch was born. In the first couple of years, we were able to add land to the ranch. Jim Faucett owned the land we now call the Southern end of the ranch. The H&F was born, and we found that together we could be much more prosperous.

  “Charlotte, when your mother told me she was carrying you, my love for her grew even greater—though I didn’t think that was possible. I began loving you long before I saw you.

  “I wanted you and your mother to have a proper place to live so I built this house. I wanted it to be the grandest house in the whole county. Your mother said she didn’t need it. But it was her willingness to do without that made me all the more determined to build it.

  “I had it completed several weeks before you were due. We had enough hands on the ranch to help out so it didn’t take long to build. Meanwhile, your mother set about to order the things that were needed to make the house a home. It took some convincing but I did talk her into ordering the best furniture and furnishings she could find. I felt nothing was too good for my wife and the child she was carrying.

  “When it was time for your mother to deliver, I rode into town and brought the doctor back. I was not gone long but while I was out, your mother had delivered you. When the doc and I got to the house, your mother had you lying on her tummy and was gently rubbing your head and back. You were beautiful—perfect in every way. And you never made a sound. It was like you were just glad to be in the world and were taking in your surroundings.

  “Your mother was smiling but I could tell she was exhausted. The doctor began to examine your mother and said she had lost a lot of blood.” Slim paused and wiped the tears out of his eyes. “Charlotte, your mother never lived long enough to even hold you a second time. I stood by with you in my arms and watched the doc pull a sheet up over your mother’s head. Later that afternoon, I buried her. You’ve been to that little cemetery many times to take her flowers. She loved that little hill so I knew that would be the right spot for her final resting place.

  “As much as I loved your mother, I didn’t spend a lot of time grieving. I knew my job was to raise you so I gave the entire focus of my life to being the best father I knew how to be.”

  “And you’ve been great,” said Charlotte. “I couldn’t have asked for a better father than you have been to me.” She squeezed his hand and Slim continued his story.

  “I was certain I would never marry again. No one could take your mother’s place. I was sure of that so I hired a nanny to take care of you. Do you remember Mrs. Barnes?”

  “Of course, I do. But I never called her anything other than Mrs. B. I remember there were many times when you were out on cattle drives and she stayed here to take care of me.”

  “That’s right. In fact, when you were still small, I realized it would be best to get her to move in so she could take care of you full-time. You remember, she had an upstairs bedroom until you were about ten. By then her health was failing and she wanted to move to Austin to be near her son.

  “Anyway, with Mrs. Barnes taking care of you, I was able to go on more cattle drives. I found the beef I raised here would fetch a much higher price in Kansas City. That helped me to get a more solid footing on the ranch.

  “In fact, on my last cattle drive, I made enough money to buy out Faucett so the whole H&F would be ours. At the end of that drive, I stopped in San Anton to rest up for a day. Richie, that’s when I met your mother. I was walking down the boardwalk too fast and I bumped into her causing her to spill her packages”

  “What was she doing in San Antonio?” asked Richie.

  “She said she was there to get furnishings for a ranch her family owned in Mexico. Since I watched Lettie furnish this house, I felt I could quickly tell her what I learned. Before I knew it, we’d spent the entire day together looking at furniture and other things for her ranch. I telegraphed Mrs. Barnes and told her I was delayed a couple of days.

  “Marie and I spent every available minute together during those days. She was beautiful and had an easy laugh that reminded me of Lettie. I don’t really know how to explain it but I fell in love with her.” He turned to Charlotte and took her hand. “It was as deep of a love as I had for your mother but I did love her. I’m sorry to tell you that.”

  “Don’t be, Daddy. You didn’t do anything wrong. It’s all right with me that you fell in love with Marie. I don’t think any less of you. That’s natural and normal. So, what happened next?”

  “Well, I needed to get back to Bandera to check on you but I met Marie in San Anton again the next week and we spent several more days together. After that, she went back to Mexico to tell her parents about the purchases she had made. She sent me a telegram and told me she needed more furniture and she was going back to San Anton.

  “I could hardly wait. From her telegram, I knew she was inviting me to join her. I was certain I was in love with her and decided I would ask her to be my wife.

  “We had a wonderful time in San Anton. I hadn’t been as happy since Lettie was alive. We felt like we were teenagers in love. Those few days I spent with her couldn’t have been more perfect.”

  Chapter 3

  Actually, they were perfect until I proposed.” Slim paused and wiped tears that had once again formed in his eyes. “When I told her I wanted her to be my wife, you would have thought I’d slapped her in the face. She told me she couldn’t marry me because her parents would never approve of her marrying a gringo. That’s what she called me. A gringo.

  “She turned her back on me and started r
unning away. I caught up with her and turned her around and tried to hold her in my arms.” Slim mopped more tears from his eyes. “I tried to reason with her but she wasn’t hearin’ anything I was sayin’. In fact, she started saying hateful and vile things about me. I didn’t think she even had those words in her vocabulary.

  “I guess she got what she wanted ’cause I got on my horse and rode just as hard as I could for Bandera. The whole way here I was scolding myself for falling in love with a woman who thought so little of me.

  “After a few days, I cooled down and it suddenly came to me that she didn’t hate me at all. I was sure she loved me as much as I loved her. I realized she said those things to me so I would not press her any more to get married. It was obvious she wanted to honor her parent’s wishes and couldn’t marry someone who was not a Mexican.

  “But I couldn’t settle for that. I wasn’t going to lose another woman that I loved. So I saddled up and rode to San Anton just as hard as I could. In my mind, I was sure I would find a way to convince her to marry me. But when I got there, I found she’d left town. There was no trace of her anywhere. I went to the stores where she’d bought furniture so I could find out where they shipped it. But in every store, the proprietors told me she had left specific instructions that they were not to allow the shipping address to be divulged to anyone.

  “I even went to the freight lines. Surely they’d tell me where in Mexico they delivered the furniture. But again, they told me sternly they would never reveal the address of the shipment.

  “Having done all I could to find her, I finally returned to Bandera.”

  “Did you ever hear from her again?” asked Richie.

  “Yes, I did. She sent me a telegram but it didn’t say where it was from. She said she was married and had a son and she was sorry for how she had hurt me.” Slim paused and dipped his head. Tears were flowing. “Then she told me she did indeed love me but knew we could never get married because of her family. She wished me success and happiness and that was the last I’ve heard from her. I still have the telegram and read it again every so often and I still dream of what might have been.”