"I gotta go." He almost ran through the kitchen on the way to the great staircase and up to his room for a bath and change of clothes. He was back down in half an hour ready to head to town and put some distance between him and the ever-growing posse of women on his trail.
"Aidan, are you taking the truck into town today?" His mother's question seemed innocent.
"Yes. I have to pick up some goat feed at the feed store. Why?" He realized too late she had a motive.
"I have a list of items I need from town. Would you mind driving Maura into town to get them for me?"
"I can get what you need. I'm sure Maura is tired—" The words slipped out of his stupid mouth before he knew what he was going to say.
"I mean—" There was nothing he could do to fix it. The grins on his mother, old nanny, and her great-niece made him want to punch something. A quick glance at Maura, and he was convinced all four women were in a conspiracy against him. When did everyone Langley become so enamored with everything Jackson? He had no idea but there was no doubt about it, they liked his new bride, and that wasn’t going to make his job any easier when it came time to dissolve this agreement. If it weren’t for his feelings for Beth, he might be tempted—
"I'll get whatever it is you need. I’m picking up Tommy on the way to town. His car is at Herbie's garage."
"I suppose now that you are a married man you'll be spending less time with that Hillman boy. You know, there's always been something about him that sets my teeth on edge," Nola offered. "He's too polite. Too agreeable. Too—nice."
Aidan noted the way she said the word nice. It did not sound complimentary.
Aidan didn't like where this conversation was going. He was married in name only, so where he spent his time and who he spent his time with was no one's business but his own.
"We’ll see. Well, I gotta go.” He took off out the door and was almost off the porch before Maura stopped him. "Aidan, here’s the list of things your momma wanted.”
He took the list from her. Their fingers brushed across the piece of paper. She pulled away and turned to go back into the house. He was scot-free. He had the whole day away from Maura's presence. He needed the time to regroup. To contain his emotions. To control his sexual attraction to his unwanted bride. And he needed to bring Tommy up to speed on his unexpected deviation from their plan.
"Maura?" He knew as soon as the words were out of his mouth he was in trouble.
She turned, her gaze bold and challenging. "Yes, Aidan?"
"Would you…like to ride into town…with me?" He didn't realize how much he wanted her company even though everything in him told him it was a bad idea.
"No, thank you." She turned and disappeared inside the house, leaving him gaping in surprise at her rebuff. She had turned the tables on him again.
"What the hell?"
Chapter Twelve
Aidan was still stewing when he picked up Tommy at his house for the ride into town for Tommy’s car at the mechanic's shop.
It was Tommy's turn to stew when Aidan told him about his wedding night.
"What the hell were you thinking, Aidan? You had a plan. We had a plan. You could have blown everything. She could be pregnant with your child as we speak."
Aidan didn't know why Tommy was so pissed. Aidan was the one on the hook here. "I hardly think one night of sex will result in a baby, Tommy. Besides, I've learned my lesson. I'm staying a hundred feet away from—her."
"You better hope so. A baby will screw up everything."
He was touched by his friend's ferocity in fighting his cause. He felt he owed him an apology of some sort although why, he wasn't sure.
"Look, I'm sorry. All I intended to do was consummate the marriage and then leave her be. But there was a complication I hadn't expected."
Tommy speared him with a look of suspicion. "What kind of complication? You aren't falling for that Jackson girl, are you? Because if you are—"
"No. No, of course not. I'm not falling for her. I just wasn't expecting her to be…so passionate."
His friend turned in his seat to face him. "Passionate? Like how?”
“Tommy, I’m not gonna talk to you about what my wife and I do in our marriage bed. It’s—unseemly somehow.”
“Now you really have me worried, Aidan. You are referring to her as your wife. Is that how you feel? Because if you do, we don’t have to—”
“No. It was just a slip of the tongue is all. I just meant that she is a lot more adventurous in the bed than I anticipated her to be. But that probably comes from her not being a vir—”
“Are you saying she wasn't—isn't a virgin?" Tommy's glee at that bit of information was a little disturbing.
"That's what I'm saying but this is between you and me, my friend. If my parents knew I was talking to you about this, they would not be happy with me. They are big proponents of what goes on between married couples stays between married couples."
"You and Maura aren't really married, not in spirit. It's not like you are in love with each other. This arrangement between you two is a business deal. Nothing more."
"Still. Keep it to yourself," Aidan warned.
Tommy sat quietly, once again staring out the window for the next couple of miles.
"Aidan? I have a question for you."
Tommy's face was hard to read, but something about the way he said it made Aidan uneasy.
"Okaaay. Ask." He watched Tommy hesitate. "Come on. You are never one to mince words. What's up?"
His friend inhaled a long breath. "Now, don't kill the messenger—"
"I won't. Just ask me whatever it is you are going to ask. It can't be that bad."
"You said Maura isn't a virgin which means she's been with at least one other guy. How do you know she's not already pregnant and Old Man Jackson is trying to pass off someone else's bastard off on you?"
Aidan's heart hiccupped.
"What the hell are you saying, Tommy? You think Maura might already be pregnant? That’s a pretty underhanded sort of thing to do even for Harvey Jackson, don’t you think?”
"Yeah, maybe. But, it is common knowledge that Harvey Jackson has pulled off a trick or two in his lifetime. Everybody around these parts has had some dealin’ with him from time-to-time. He ain’t always honest, you know. And—Maura is his daughter."
Aidan steered his pickup through town, pulling up to the mechanic’s shop. Tommy got out of the car and shut the truck door. Aidan's mind was reeling when his friend stuck his head through the truck’s passenger window.
"Do the math, Aidan. If Maura announces she's pregnant before her next, you know, how are you gonna know if it's yours or someone else's?"
***
Maura informed Mrs. Langley, Nessa, and Nola she was going to visit her mother.
"Do you want a ride, Maura? I can have one of the hands we hired back since we got the money from the bank drive you over," Aidan's mother offered.
"No, thank you, Mrs. Langley. I'll walk, if you don't mind. It will give me time to think."
"Of course, dear. I understand. And please, call me Rachel."
"Thank you, Mrs.—Rachel. I'll be back later this afternoon."
"See you then," Aidan's mother and Nola called in unison.
Maura walked down the dirt road than ran through the middle of the ranch to the cattle path leading toward the north property line. A sound behind her caught her attention. She turned, and there was Aidan's dog, Willow, following at a distance. As soon as she stopped, Willow stopped and dropped to the ground.
"Come, Willow. Come here, girl." The blue-merle colored Aussie stared at her with her crystal blue eyes but wouldn’t come to her. "Okay, then. Up to you."
Maura turned her back on the dog and cut across the field to the fence line dividing the Jackson and Langley properties. She crawled between the rows of barbed wire, catching a glimpse of Willow hunkered down in the tall grass, watching her.
Twenty minutes later, Maura walked through the back-porch screen
door of her family's home to find her momma busy at the kitchen sink, washing herbs.
The sound of the screen door banging against the wooden frame startled her mother. She let out a shriek and turned, her pruning shears raised in one hand. She saw Maura and gasped in exasperation. "Maura, darling. Don't sneak up on your momma that way. You'll give me a heart attack for sure."
"I wasn't sneaking, Momma. But next time I'll call out before I get to the door."
Her mother rushed to hug her. "Who's this?"
Willow lay at the bottom of the steps.
"That's Aidan's dog, Willow. She won't come to me, but she followed me here. A strange dog if you ask me, but she seems harmless."
A look of concern crossed her mother's face. "Why are you here, Maura? Is everything alright?"
"I'm fine. Aidan went to town, and I decided to come visit you. How are the herbs coming along? After all, life doesn’t entirely revolve around Aidan Langley, even though he’s convinced it does."
Worry creased her mother's brow. "Has something happened, my darling girl? It’s only been one day since you and Aiden were married."
"I just wanted to visit you, Momma. Is that a crime?"
"No, darling. Of course, it isn't a crime. Are you—okay? He didn't hurt you—"
"Mother, I'm fine. Now, let's talk about something else, please." Maura felt her cheeks heat with embarrassment. Good Lord, she didn't think it necessary to discuss everything about her wedding day, or wedding night, with every person she happened upon.
She abruptly changed the subject and went to inspect the plants in the sink.
"A nice batch of lemongrass. I'm surprised you have so much this late in the summer."
"I am too. And the lavender and English thyme are coming along nicely too. Once I get these tied into manageable sprigs and dried, I'll take them to town and peddle them. I've been getting a penny a sprig. Well, that is when I can find someone who actually has hard coin these days."
Maura nodded her understanding. Everyone had been reduced to bartering since the crash in ’29. “Can I help with something?” she asked.
“Yes. If you can help me tie the lemongrass into bundles, we can finish much faster.”
Maura spent the rest of the afternoon helping her momma clip, wrap, and tie measured bundles of the fragrant lemongrass with twine and hang them on a board dotted with a row of nails so they could dry in the sun.
A penny a bunch, huh? She took a mental inventory of how much money that would be for the amount of lemongrass drying on the hooks. Three dollars maybe. Not bad for a bunch of fragrant weeds.
Maura stayed busy all afternoon helping her momma, it wasn’t until the sun drooped lower in the sky and shadows grew longer, she realized she was expected to return to The Legacy.
"I guess I better get back, Momma. Is there anything I can do for you before I go?"
Her mother wiped the dirt from her hands on her dirty apron. "No. You have helped me so much already. It would have taken me two days to get all this tied and dried.”
“Where’s Papa? He should be helping you with these heavy baskets?”
Her momma shook her head in denial. “Maura, your papa has his own work. He’s been repairing the tractor and equipment to get ready for planting the summer wheat. We don’t work too well together anyway. It’s best this way.”
“Have you and Papa always fought? Even when you first got married?” Maura had never pried into her parent’s marriage. It was just something she thought was off limits.
Her momma was quiet for such a long time, Maura didn’t think she was going to answer. Finally, she began to talk. “No, Maura. Harvey and I were happy in the beginning. But, when two people have secrets from each other, it’s hard to trust. And without trust, a marriage ain’t gonna survive.”
“What kind of secrets did you and Papa have from each other?” Maura wrapped her arm around her momma’s shoulders.
“It isn’t important anymore, Maura. All water under the bridge. Now, you better git home before that Aidan boy comes looking for his bride.” Her momma pecked her on the check and ushered her toward the back-screen door.
Maura grabbed a couple of the drying sprigs of lemongrass on the way out and stuffed them into her knapsack. She stepped down the steep, rickety back steps, and there was Willow. Still waiting. "Willow? Are you still here? Gosh, I forgot about you. Let’s get going." She didn't try to pet the dog. Instead, she walked toward the Langleys’ place to the south and the dog followed, still at the distance the Shepherd mix was comfortable with, but she wasn’t crouching in the grass when Maura faced her. That’s progress.
Maura enjoyed the walk. The late afternoon sun cast long shadows across the ground. She wanted to be home before twilight.
Maura wasn't sure where she and Aidan were going to set up house. She hadn't got that far into the marriage. Would it be the little cabin where they spent their honeymoon? The big house?
The thought of setting up her own home and sewing curtains and baking made her yearn for things she wasn't certain being married to Aidan was going to give her. Only time would tell. Before their wedding night, she was thinking of ways to escape. Now, she wasn’t in such a hurry to run. She wasn’t ready to examine her feelings for Aidan though. Not yet anyway.
Half an hour later, Maura sat down on the little porch of the primitive cabin and removed her shoes. Willow lay down in the grass and watched her.
"You are a funny dog, Willow. You seem to like my company, but you won't come near me. Oh, well, suit yourself. Let me get you some water. You must be thirsty."
Sock-footed, Maura went inside, found a bowl, and filled it with water. Back on the porch, she deliberately set the bowl down close to her. "If you want water, you are going to have to come and get it."
Maura sat the bowl at her feet and waited. The Aussie stood but didn't step forward. "Come on, girl. I promise I won't hurt you."
One step. "Good girl." Maura was encouraged. "Come on." She picked up the water bowl and scooted it closer to the dog. "Come on, Willow. You can do it. Be brave."
Two steps. Willow sank to the ground and waited, as if weighing her options.
Maura dipped her hand in the bowl and flicked some of the cool water in the dog's direction. Willow raised her nose and sniffed the air.
"Just a few more steps and it's all yours."
Maura was about to give up and move the bowl off the porch and onto the grass when the dog rose and inched closer. One paw on the first step, then down. Stepping onto the next step, then down. Finally, the extremely shy dog was on the porch and crawled her way over to the bowl, where she drank her fill.
"Look at you. You aren't opposed to making friends with the enemy if it gets you the prize, now are you?"
Aidan's voice startled her. She had no idea he was back from town.
"And what prize are you after that would tempt you to make friends with the enemy, Maura?"
Chapter Thirteen
Aidan had no idea what made him say that to Maura. That wasn't quite true. It was his conversation with Tommy that made him suspicious of the woman now sitting on his family’s porch making friends with his loyal companion. His suspicions ran deep. Could Maura already be pregnant with someone else's child? He stole a glance at her flat belly. If she was, it had to be a recent revelation. Was that the reason for Harvey’s arrangement? Had he known his daughter was a soon-to-be unwed mother and was trying to avoid shame on the family while hooking his plow to the Langleys?
The surprised look on his new bride's face was genuine. She didn't have any clue what he was talking about. That didn't mean it was any less true. He passed over his comment and focused on the reason he had come to the original homestead in the first place. Willow.
"I've been looking all over for you, girl. Where have you been?" He sat down on the edge of the wooden porch and petted the Australian Shepherd, scratching her behind both ears.
"She was with me," Maura offered, secretly pleased Aidan's dog accepted he
r so soon.
"You? That's not possible. Willow doesn't trust people. Just me. She won't even go to my parents, although she will approach Nola if she has a piece of food close by."
Maura shrugged. "I don't know what to say. I walked home, and she…just followed. She wouldn't come close or let me pet her, but she followed me all the way there and back. I was offering her some water when you startled me."
He didn't miss the reference to home.
"This is supposed to be your home now, Maura. Is that a problem for you?" he challenged. Would she pretend to like it here for the sake of her illegitimate child? He wondered. Tommy reminded him she was the daughter of Harvey Jackson and that meant she couldn’t be trusted.
He watched her struggle with her answer. "It's not home. Yet. I’ll admit that. But I've only been on The Legacy for twenty-four hours. It is going to take a little longer than that to make me feel at home here.”
Aidan could tell she was speaking the truth. She wasn't trying to ingratiate herself to him and his family by trying to convince them she was happy here. But time would tell. And, for the next month, he would watch her closely and wait for her next monthly flow. That would negate any possibility she was carrying another man's child.
"Aidan, I was wondering—could I talk to you about something?"
His heart hiccupped underneath his ribs. Was she feeling remorse about her deception and she was ready to come clean? He suddenly realized how much he hoped not.
If Maura admitted she was pregnant with another man's child, he would have no choice but to have their marriage annulled. Not only would his family lose their legacy of the last four generations, he would no longer be allowed to experience Maura's…playfulness.
"Sure. What is it?" He braced himself for the truth. A truth that would destroy his family.
"Well—" She hesitated.
The longer she waited, the more agitated he became. Finally, what tiny bit of patience he possessed evaporated into the air.
"Damn it, Maura. Just say whatever it is you obviously are trying not to say." he spat.
Aidan's Arrangement: (The Langley Legacy Book 4) Page 7
