BOOTLEG LOVE

16

The weeks that followed were rather uneventful. With Quincy Hamilton no longer part of the Constabulary, the Kingston boys had no one dogging them. It was business and usual, and Evangeline had gotten into the family business. She spent a lot of time out in the shack helping the boys brew, bottle, and ship their spirits.

The family was all the buzz with the current federal election. They even gave money to the Prime Minister’s campaign, trying to get him in office. Tempest actively contributed her time canvassing for the man. They were doing everything they could to keep him in power. The promise that he would revoke prohibition was a huge factor in their efforts.

At family dinners, they all joked about going legit should prohibition be revoked. They would invest in a brewery and sell their product legally. They had decided to call it Kingston Spirits. But, of course, this was all just wishful thinking, given nothing had yet been legalized. As of the moment, they were still criminals, but after the election, they might very well become enterprising entrepreneurs.

They all sat around, laughing and drinking and thinking of what might be. Then, finally, Payton offered Evangeline a glass of the Wild Cherry Jack; they had all been drinking, but she placed her hand over her glass, stopping him. “No, thank you.”

“If it is too strong for your liking, we could mix it with water.” Payton offered.

“Mix it with water?” Trenton scoffed, offended that anyone would want to water down his masterpiece. “Sacrilege.” He said, sipping his glass.

Remington laughed. “Don’t listen to him. If it is too strong, feel free to dilute it.”

“It is not that. The booze is fine. I am just not drinking.”

“Why not?” Payton asked.

Tempest smiled. “Oh my, are you…?” She asked knowingly.

“Three weeks, according to the doctor,” Evangeline confirmed her suspicions.

Payton looked at her, concerned. “Am I missing something? Why are you seeing a doctor?”

Remington laughed. “She’s pregnant, Son; for a smart man, you can be awfully dense.”

Payton smiled at Evangeline. “Are you really pregnant?” She nodded, and Payton hugged her tight.

“Well, that happened fast.” Colton teased. Seems like the Kingston clan is growing. The good folks of Ontario better watch their back. If this kid is anything like his daddy, he will be breaking laws as well as hearts all over town.”

“It could be a girl.”

“You have the same problem,” Trenton snickered, “Only instead of having one roaming c**k to worry about, you’ll have hundreds.”

Tempest slapped Trenton in the shoulder. “Trenton, mind your tongue in mixed company.”

“Sorry, Mama.” Trenton smiled.

“Well, I don’t think things could be better for us. Evangeline is bringing a new Kingston into the world, and prohibition is on its way out the door with tomorrow's election. So I do hope everyone is going to go out and vote tomorrow and do their part to help this new bill along. The sooner we can come out of back alleys, the better. We could make a lot of dough going legit.”

Payton drained the last of his drink and tapped Evangeline’s hand. “Come on, doll, let's head home and get some sleep. It’s going to be a busy day tomorrow.

Lenox got up, and the two of them said goodnight and left the house. They got into the car and drove into town, talking about possible baby names, when Payton slowly began to drift into the other lane on the highway. “Payton, what is wrong? You are all over the road.” She said as he swerved back into his own lane. “Maybe we should have stayed at your parents’ house. I think you have had too much to drink safely.”

“Nonsense, I’m fine.” He disregarded her concerns.

“Maybe I should drive.”

“Gee Evangeline, stop nagging. I’m fine.” He snarled, looking at her.

“Payton! Look out!” She threw her arms up and screamed.

Payton looked back at the road to realize he had drifted into oncoming traffic once more, and there was a huge truck coming right at him, honking its horn. Payton yanked on the steering wheel, and the car jetted off-road quickly, it tipped in the ditch and rolled four times before slamming into a tree upside down, and Payton blacked out.

He did not know how long he had been unconscious when he came to. Payton was cramped in a cockeyed position in the overturned car. He groaned in pain as he shifted, trying to set himself right. Slowly and painfully, he crawled out the broken window and then looked back to see Evangeline unconscious and bleeding inside. “Evangeline, Baby, are you ok?”

She did not reply. Worried, he reached inside and carefully pulled his wife from the mangled wreckage. He held her in his arms as he knelt on the ground. He caressed her face. “Wake up, Evangeline, please wake up.” When she did not wake, he looked up and screamed for someone to help them, but the highway was deserted. There was no one for miles, and the truck he had almost hit had not stopped to see if they were alright.

He was miles away from any help. He had to get her to a hospital, and he needed a ride. Payton hoisted Evangeline up into his arms and got to his feet. He staggered as he carried his unconscious bloodied wife up the ditch to the main road. His folks' place was a few kilometres back, and he knew one of them would drive them to a hospital. So he carried Evangeline, the four kilometres in the dark, back to his parents’ house.

Reaching the property, Payton yelled for help, and everyone came running out onto the porch. “Good Lord, Payton, what happened?” Tempest asked, rushing to their side.

“We went off the road. She needs a doctor. My car is wrecked.”

Remington took his keys from his pocket. “Get in.” He said, holding the door to his truck open. “I’ll take you to the hospital.” He said, helping Payton get into the passenger seat and cradle Evangeline’s limp body in his lap.

Remington closed the door and got in behind the steering wheel. He started the truck up and drove as quickly as he could to get to the city. It took twenty minutes to reach the hospital. Payton carried Evangeline into the hospital, and she was immediately taken in by the medical staff. Payton was forced to stay behind in the waiting room with his father.

Payton dropped to his knees and began to sob silently. “I killed her.” He muttered between sobs.”

“You did not.” His father scolded.

“I drove us off the road. She wanted to drive. She said I was too drunk, and she was right. I should have just let her drive. But my damn male pride wouldn’t let her. I killed her. I killed the only woman I have ever loved.”

Remington took Payton by the arm and urged him to his feet. “Pull yourself together, Son. It is going to be ok. I promise. She wouldn’t want you beating yourself up over this.”

The two of them took a seat on the chairs in the waiting room. It had been an hour without a word when Tempest and the boys arrived to see how things were going. Payton kept asking the doctor where Evangeline was and how she was doing. All anyone told him was her condition was critical, and she could not receive visitors as of yet.

They spent the night in the waiting room. It was dawn when a nurse woke him telling him that Evangeline was awake and accepting visitors. Payton stood up and stretched his sore muscles as he followed the nurse to Evangeline’s room. When he walked in and saw his wife sitting up in bed, he smiled, but his smile faded as he saw all the bruises from the crash on her lovely face. He almost cried again as he came to the bed. “Baby, I’m sorry. Can you ever forgive me?”

“It’s ok.” She promised, tapping his hand lovingly.

“How is the baby?”

“Alive.” The doctor said, coming into the room. “You got lucky. At this stage in a pregnancy, it would be easy to lose it in such an accident, but God was smiling on you, and the way Evangeline landed had actually protected the child from harm. So you are very, very lucky. Just a few bumps and scratches. She can go home if she feels up to it.”

“Yes,” Evangeline groaned. “I want to go home.”

“She will need crutches for a few weeks.” The doctor said, snapping his fingers for the nurse to bring the crutches. “Just until she can bear weight.”

“Thank you, Doctor.” Payton waited for the staff to leave the room before helping Evangeline to get out of bed and get dressed. Once she was on her crutches, they slowly walked back to the waiting room where the others were napping.

Payton woke everyone, and they were so pleased to see that Evangeline was not seriously harmed. However, Tempest insisted that they would all spend the night for safety's sake the next time they spent the night drinking.

Remington offered to take Payton and Evangeline home. “Oh, but it is election day,” Evangeline noted. “You have to vote.”

“The election is the last thing we should be concerned about,” Payton said.

“Nonsense, your family’s future hangs in the balance. You must vote.”

“One vote isn’t going to sway anything.”

“You don’t know that. If everyone felt that way, no one would vote, and democracy would crumble. So I refuse to go home until all four of you men vote.” She said, standing her ground.

Payton frowned. “Fine, we will vote, but then it is straight home.”

“Deal.”