Winter Love Part 17

"Please, G.o.d," she prayed as she started a thick slice of ham frying in the cast-iron skillet, "make Fletch Thomas pay for what he has done to my life. Make him feel some of the mental pain I have suffered all these many months."

Half an hour later, Taylor's lunch packed in the usual basket, she went to set it out on the porch for Fletch to pick up. Her heart sank when she saw Fletch standing on the bottom step. He had arrived early.

He stared at her, stony-faced, for a moment, then took the basket from her. He gave a significant look at her stomach and asked, "When are you going to tell Pa?"

Laura looked up at him, her eyes expressionless. After a moment she answered tiredly, "Sunday. He'll know all there is to know on Sunday."

She knew by the way Fletch s.h.i.+fted his feet that he wanted to linger, that he was itching to draw her into an argument. She stopped him neatly by turning around and walking back into the kitchen. He had to content himself with growling, "Make sure you do," before stepping off the porch and stalking toward the post.

Fletch hadn't noticed, but he too had lost weight. His face had thinned out considerably, and like Laura, he wore a haunted look in his eyes.

But Taylor had noticed the change in his son, and when he had finished his lunch and they were having a cup of coffee he spoke about it. "Something is bothering you, son," he came straight to the point. "Do you want to talk about it?"

Fletch gave him a startled look, then answered, "There's nothing bothering me, Pa."

When Taylor gave him a look that said he knew he was lying, Fletch added, "I admit I'm getting a little tired of being cooped up in the store all the time. I guess I need to carouse, with my friends for a change."

"I thought maybe you'd had an argument with that Milly Howard and were feeling bad about it."

Fletch gave Taylor a disapproving look. "I thought you'd give me more credit than that, Pa. I care more for Big Bertha's girls than I do for that one. The wh.o.r.es aren't mean and vicious."

"I'm sure glad to hear that. A few months back she was spreading it around that you were going to marry her."

"I sure hope n.o.body swallowed that as gospel," Fletch said at the end of a snorting laugh. He didn't add that at the time he'd wanted Laura to believe it.

Taylor set his empty cup down. "Give me another week and I can take the store over. We can both get back to our normal way of living. It's been d.a.m.ned hard staying in that back room all this time."

"I can imagine," Fletch said, thinking that life would never be normal for him again. The woman he loved with every breath he drew had allowed a man who didn't love her to father a second child on her. How could he ever live with that?

Why did he keep staying on in Big Pine?

Fletch asked himself later, standing in the doorway of the store, listening to mothers call their children into supper. Because you won't let Laura go, his inner voice answered. You unconsciously keep thinking and hoping that someday she will be yours.

I don't think that! Fletch denied vehemently.

Yes, you do, and you're a d.a.m.n fool for thinking it. She will never forgive you for calling her child a b.a.s.t.a.r.d. You let that jealous temper of yours get away from you once too often.

Fletch made no response to that charge. He could not deny it. And the first statement the pesky voice had made was true also. The wish that Laura was his was always on his mind. He would gladly marry her if he could, and he would raise her children as if they were his own. He already loved Jolie dearly and he felt that he would love the one yet to be born just as much. After all, they were a part of Laura. How could he not love them?

Fletch left off thinking of Laura when he saw a couple trapper friends coming toward the post. "How you doin', Fletch?" Red Southern, a tall, slender man with red hair to his shoulders, asked as he entered the store. His companion, Jake Crawford, short, dark, and squat, stepped in behind him.

"Let's put it this way." Fletch grinned. "When Pa takes over the store next week, I'll feel like I'm being let out of prison."

"Yeah, it sure is too fine weather to be cooped up inside," Red said, crossing the room and sitting down at a table in a corner. "We thought maybe we could help you spend some time playin' a few hands of pinochle if Taylor feels like joinin' us. Me and him can be partners against you and Jake."

"Sounds good to me," Taylor said as he limped into the room. A deck of cards lay on the table where the last players had left it.

When everyone had taken their seats, Jake dealt out the cards. There was silence in the room as the men arranged their hands; then Taylor spoke.

"What's new in the village, men? I've not heard much of anything the past few months stuck back there in that storage room."

"You haven't missed much," Red answered. "The farmers are plowin' and seedin', the womenfolk are all doin' spring cleanin'. The only thing of any interest is the talk of the big cabin Hunter O'Hara is buildin'. Four rooms plus a loft room."

Fletch lifted his head, a startled look on his face. "Why would he build a place so large for just himself?."

"Rumor has it he's gettin' married," Red said, starting the game with a jack.

"To who?" Fletch held his breath.

"It's hard to believe, but to Agnes Morse."

"Agnes Morse!" Fletch and Taylor said in unison. "He's taking on that brood of hers?" Taylor added.

Red nodded. "That's why he's buildin' such a large cabin."

"That sure beats all." Taylor shook his head. "Hunter never struck me as the marrying kind. I sure can't see him settling down with little ole skinny Agnes."

"I guess you haven't seen Agnes lately," Jake said, covering Red's jack with a queen. "She's put on weight and she's not bad lookin' at all."

The men settled into the game, and the subject of Hunter and Agnes was dropped. Not by Fletch, though. The pair was very much on his mind. Over and over he asked himself how could O'Hara marry another woman after knowing Laura?

Chapter Eighteen.

Laura stepped out of the cabin, Jolie on her hip. It was Thursday, the day she and Hunter always visited with Big Bertha. It was the last time she would take the path to the madam's cabin back of the post, and she was going to miss the rough, tenderhearted woman. She felt guilty about not telling her she was leaving, or where she was going. But if her friend didn't know where she had gone, she could truthfully say so if she were asked.

And there was Maida whom she would pay a last visit to tomorrow. That tender soul would worry about her, she felt things so intensely. The birth of her baby, however, would occupy most of her mind. Would Daniel get the son he wished for? she wondered. A son who would take care of his mother after his father was gone? Laura was a yard or so away from the pleasure cabin when Hunter called out to her. She turned around and waited for him to catch up.

"You're early." She smiled. "Aren't you afraid of being talked about; the neighbors seeing us going to visit Bertha together?" she teased. "You're going to ruin your good name, a.s.sociating openly with Big Pine's fallen woman." Her eyes twinkled.

Hunter grinned. "I'll chance it," he said. "I don't think I'll be driven out of the village." His face took on a serious look. "I wanted to talk to you alone before we go inside."

"Oh?" Laura looked at him questioningly. "What about?"

"I guess you've heard I've been building a cabin."

"Yes, I heard that. Everyone is wondering why you're building such a large one."

"I'm getting married."

Laura could only gape at Hunter for a long moment before finally gasping, "You are? To who?"

"To the sweetest, kindest woman a man could ever meet."

Laura slowly nodded her understanding. "Agnes Morse," she said softly. She laid her hand on Hunter's arm and, looking deeply in his eyes, asked, "Do you really care for her, Hunter, or are you marrying her out of pity? Wedding someone because you feel sorry for them is not a good basis for a happy union."

"I know that, Laura," Hunter said quietly. "I do love Agnes. I love her the same way I love you; like a dear sister."

"But what if Agnes expects-"

"Agnes knows my secret," Hunter interrupted her. "She knows that's the only way I can ever love a woman, and it suits her fine. She had enough of that side of a marriage to last her a lifetime. That George was like a rutting moose. You know, Laura, the thing that bothered me the most about losing my manhood was the knowledge that I would never have a wife and a family, someone to spend my old age with. I've seen old bachelors sitting around, waiting to die, welcoming the grim reaper to come for them, take them away from their lonely existence."

"My dear friend." Laura smiled at Hunter through tear-glimmering eyes. "I am so happy for you. And Agnes too. I'm sure she's counting her blessings to get such a fine husband."

"Thank you, honey." Hunter thumbed away a tear that escaped her eyes. "I wish you could find the same happiness someday." Laura's only answer was a wan smile.

Fletcher Thomas's fingers curled into fists as he stood in the post doorway and watched the tender gesture of Hunter's hand on Laura's cheek. He could not see the glistening tear, and to him it was a lover's caress. d.a.m.n you, Laura, he raged silently, you said you were finished with Jolie's father. Are the two of you going to carry on as usual even after he's married?

Pain and rage warring inside him, Fletch turned back into the store, and in so doing missed seeing Agnes join Laura and Hunter.

When Agnes walked up to Laura and Hunter, her husband-to-be put an arm around her shoulder, smiled down at her, and said, "I've just been telling Laura our good news."

"I'm so happy for you both." Laura stepped forward and kissed Agnes's cheek. "I know that you both will be very happy."

"Thank you, Laura," Agnes said shyly. "All the credit goes to you for getting us together. If you hadn't made me get out and mingle with my neighbors, I'd have never met this wonderful man."

As Hunter smiled fondly at her, Bertha called from her doorway, "Are you three gonna stand there and gab for the rest of the day? Should I pour out the coffee and put away the cake I baked?"

"Don't you dare," Hunter joked back. "I've been looking forward to your applesauce cake all week."

As soon as they stepped inside Bertha's comfortable kitchen, the big madam took Jolie from her mother. Talking baby nonsense to the little one, she placed her in a high chair that Hunter had crafted some months back. "My, she's getting big," she said, handing Jolie a sugar cookie. "Changing in looks too." Bertha gave one of her rowdy laughs and added, "If I'm not mistaken, she's beginning to look like that h.e.l.lion uncle of hers."

Everyone except Laura laughed. Her face paled and she grew very still. Only Hunter noticed her startled unease and thought with shock, That b.a.s.t.a.r.d is Jolie's father. He wondered at first if Fletch knew it, then decided that he didn't. The man was crazy about Jolie's mother.

Hunter thought back to when Laura and Taylor had married and remembered that Fletch had gone off to Canada a month before. In a panic to save her good name, the elder Thomas had married the young woman he had raised as a daughter. Did Taylor know that he was the baby's grandfather? Hunter asked himself He thought not. Had the highly principled man known, he'd have gone after his son and brought him back to do the honorable thing by Laura.

Who had she named as the father? The question slipped into Hunter's mind. After thinking on the matter a moment, he decided that Laura hadn't named anyone. She had let Taylor, like everyone else, guess the man's ident.i.ty.

To divert Bertha and Agnes from noticing Laura's strange silence, Hunter began talking about the cabin he was building. He ended by saying that all that was left to do was put on the roof Laura regained enough composure to be aware of his adding, "And then Agnes and I are getting married."

By the time Bertha had congratulated the couple, Laura was able to join in the conversation and ask, "Do your children know yet, Agnes?"

Agnes's teeth flashed in a smile. "Yes, I told them last night. My two oldest, Jebbie and Mary, were uneasy at first, especially Mary. Poor girl, she likens all men to her father." Her soft brown eyes moved to Hunter. "I finally convinced them that my new husband would never hurt me. All of them are excited now about living in larger quarters."

"I expect you're happy about that, too," Bertha said. "Having that many young'uns underfoot all the time must be a bother."

"It is indeed." Agnes laughed. "Especially when I'm trying to get a meal together."

"You won't have to bother about that anymore," Hunter a.s.sured her. "The kitchen is a separate room, and when you cook you can keep everybody out if you want to."

Laura was finally able to relax, and she sat quietly, listening to and watching the three friends she would miss so badly. When it came time to break up the little gathering, she surprised Bertha by putting her arms around her and kissing her painted cheek. Although the action fl.u.s.tered the madam, the softness that came into her eyes said that she was touched, and pleased. The big woman didn't know that Laura was telling her good-bye.

Nor did Hunter, when outside Laura thanked him for being there for her when she was at her lowest. Smiling, he teased, "You're being awfully mushy today. I'll still be here for you anytime you need me."

Laura blinked against tears as she walked away from the friend she would never see again.

Later in the afternoon, near suppertime Laura took a pan of pasties out of the oven and set them on the table. Taylor was very fond of the mixture of meat, potatoes, and onions wrapped in dough and baked to a crusty, golden color. She wanted him to enjoy this last meal she would be cooking for him, she thought sadly as she sat down at the table.

She stopped the tears that were gathering in her eyes by mentally counting off the items she had packed in a heavy cloth bag yesterday. She hoped it was enough for the two-week trek Little Fox had said it would be to reach the island. There was a slab of salt pork, a bag of coffee, ajar of matches, two loaves of her bread wrapped in a cloth, several strips of pemmican, and her and Jolie's clothes. In the small barn back of the cabin she had a canvas tarpaulin and three heavy blankets ready to be strapped on the back of the saddle. She felt confident that she and Jolie would be warm enough in that bedding.

She glanced over at the haversack lying in a corner of the kitchen. Inside it was a battered coffeepot and a smoke-stained skillet, a knife and a spoon. The same gear she and Pa used when they went on overnight fis.h.i.+ng trips.

That was another thing she would miss, Laura thought sadly. There were so many things, so many people she was going to miss. Although Maida hadn't known it, Laura had said good-bye to her yesterday. Though she hadn't known the young wife long, she was as fond of her as she was of her lifelong friend, Justine. She felt regret that she'd never see Maida's baby, never know if Daniel had got the son he wished for.

An hour later, heaving a ragged sigh, Laura began packing up Taylor's evening meal. She wasn't going to wait for Fletch to come for it today. She would deliver it herself and spend an hour or so visiting with the man who had raised her. She would stow in her mind this last time together, bringing the memory out to relive when missing him seemed unbearable.

To her surprised pleasure, Laura found Taylor minding the store when she arrived, Jolie on her hip and the food basket hanging from her arm. "Well, now, this is sure a nice surprise." Taylor's face beamed with a wide smile. He held his hands out to take Jolie from her mother. "Let me hold this little sc.r.a.p. I don't see nearly enough of her."

His eyes skimmed over Laura's thin face.

"And I don't see enough of you either, young woman," he said, frowning. "Aren't you feeling well, honey? It seems like the few times I do see you that you have lost more weight. Is anything bothering you?"

"No, Pa, I'm fine," Laura hastened to say. "I guess being cooped up so much this past winter honed me down some. When you don't get much exercise you don't eat much."

"That will change." Taylor grinned as he followed her into the back room. "It's garden-making time, and you'll get plenty of exercise."

"How come you're minding the store alone? Do you really think you're up to it?" Laura asked as she set out the pasties and a tin cup of b.u.t.termilk. "Where is Fletch?"

"To answer your first question, my leg is almost as good as it ever was. b.u.t.terfly says it's time I start walking around on it, otherwise it will stiffen up on me. I plan on coming home tomorrow, sleep in my old room again. I'll be glad to see the last of this dungeon. As for Fletch, he went off with his friend Red Fox hunting for a few days. I told him I didn't need him in the store anymore." Taylor's lips twitched in a sheepish grin. "Truth to tell, I could have taken over the store a couple weeks ago. I just hated giving up my nights with b.u.t.terfly."

"I don't know why you don't marry the woman." Laura took Jolie from Taylor so that he could eat. "You love each other. It's a shame you have to hide it."

"I've thought about it," Taylor said after popping a forkful of pasty in his mouth. "There's a couple reasons keeping me from asking b.u.t.terfly to be my wife."

"And those are?"

"One, how will she be treated by the womenfolk around here? You, better than anyone, know how they can snub a person, curl their lips scornfully."

Laura nodded with a rueful smile. "I agree, they know how to hurt a person. What is your second reason?"

"Well, honey, that should be obvious." Taylor grinned at her. "I'm already married."

"Oh, for goodness sake, I forgot about that." Laura laughed merrily. She turned serious then. "You'd have no problem having our marriage dissolved. I think that by now all of Big Pine thinks our marriage is a sham."

"That could be, but what about Jolie? Would she still carry the Thomas name?"