Fated Memories

by Judith Ann McDowell

  “Where the hell’s Charlotte?” Eathen walked past the table. “At least she can get her ass in here long enough to feed her own daughter.”

  “Ah doan minds feedin’ dis chile, Mist’ Eathen.” Hattie pulled the messy little girl forward, placing a loud kiss on her food-covered mouth. “Ah enjoys it.”

  “That might be, but she’s Charlotte’s responsibility, not yours. She don’t tend to any of her other duties but, by God, she’s gonna attend to this one!”

  “Hyah we goes agin,” Hattie murmured to the wide-eyed child.

  “Charlotte!” Eathen yelled up the stairs. “You got one minute to get your ass down here or I’ll get it down here for you!”

  “Is there a problem?” Charlotte stood at the top of the stairs.

  “You’re goddamn right there is. Your daughter needs her breakfast!” He peered up at her. “You might be worthless as a wife, but you could at least try bein’ a mother!”

  Dressed in her plush green robe, with her deep auburn hair flowing loose about her shoulders, she replied, “Could that be anger I hear in your voice, Eathen?”

  Taking the wide steps two at a time, an angry Eathen bounded up the stairs. When he had her standing before him, he gripped her by the shoulders. “Now you listen to me. I’ve had about all the shit I intend to take from you. How you treat me’s one thing, but I won’t stand by while you neglect Jessie.”

  “How am I neglectin’ her, Eathen?” Charlotte asked sweetly.

  “You leave everything for Hattie to do. You’re her mother. It’s your place to feed and take care of her, not Hattie’s.”

  “Spoken like a true and caring father.” Charlotte tossed her head. “A father who never has time for her himself, but wants everyone else to stop what they’re doin’ to dote on her.”

  “What the hell you talkin’ ‘bout, woman?” Eathen’s strong hands bit into her arms. “I’ve been cooped up in this goddamn house with the three of you for over a month. I play with Jessie.” He jabbed a finger into his chest. “I even feed her, which is more than I can say for you.”

  “Don’t get all upset, Eathen.” She pulled away from him. “I’m sure the saloon girls in Helena miss you,” she smiled a sweet smile, “just as much as you miss them.”

  In an instant, his demeanor changed. A slight smile tugged at the corners of his full mouth as he scooped her up in his strong arms.

  “Eathen Thornton, put me down!” Charlotte insisted, kicking her legs in an attempt to get away from him. “What do you think you’re doin?”

  “Why, takin’ care of my frustration problem, Charlotte,” he told her, all the while striding towards her room.

  “I didn’t say anything about you bein’ frustrated.” She pushed, to no avail, against his chest.

  “Oh, but you did.” He smiled down at her angry face. “Accordin’ to you, the reason I’m losin’ my temper with you is because I need the attentions of a woman. You know what?” The smile left his face. “I think you’re right.”

  He tossed her on the bed then stood for a moment staring down at her. Of all the women he had been with, she was the one who heated his blood the most. Catching the door with the heel of his boot, he grinned as it slammed shut. With a slow calmness, he began to disrobe.

  “Eathen Thornton, are you crazy? You are not going to put your hands on me. I forbid it!” Charlotte shrilled, trying to scoot off the bed.

  “If you still have that robe on by the time I’m undressed, I won’t be responsible for its condition.”

  “You wouldn’t dare,” Charlotte challenged him, the venom in her icy glare warning him away. “Either you leave right now or Hattie’s gonna hear me start screamin’!”

  “You go right ahead, darlin’.” He yanked his arms free of his shirt. “By the time she lumbers up all those stairs, it’ll be too late. But just in case she decides to come up the back way and arrive before we’re through,” he peered at her over his shoulder as he turned the key in the lock, “this’ll make sure she don’t walk in on an embarrassin’ situation.”

  “You would take your own wife against her will?” She gazed at him with all the dismay she could call forth.

  “Yes,” he told her, unbuckling his belt, “if that’s what it takes to bring her to her senses.”

  “Eathen Thornton, you’re a cold, heartless man.” She leaped off the bed. “And I’m leavin’ this room right now!”

  “Not yet, you’re not!” His arm shot out, catching the front of her robe and yanking it open.

  The coolness of the room touched her naked body. With shaking hands, she tried to gather the robe around her, but Eathen was already dragging it off her shoulders. His harsh breathing caught in his throat as he stared down at her. “God, woman,” he moaned, pulling her roughly against him, “I’ve missed you so damn much.”

  Her world spun out of control at the feel of his hands on her. The long months of aching frustration turned her ravenous body into one of complete surrender. Never had she been so wild with the man who now placed her withering body on the bed to cover her with his own. His hot mouth was all over her. He felt like a starving man who had just been offered up a feast. Charlotte moaned low in her throat as he drew her small, yet firm, breasts close together, his greedy mouth suckling the aching nipples until her low moans became strangled cries. Grabbing his hair in both her hands, she shoved his head lower to where she so needed him to be.

  He didn’t resist as he answered her need. With trembling hands, he spread her thighs wide, burying his face in her mound of curls, the musky smell of her heightened arousal driving him almost beyond his control.

  She was everything he remembered and more as she urged him on. Her low moans escalated to small screams as his searching mouth found the tiny nub hidden within the petal-soft folds of her womanhood. With wild abandon, he flicked it with his practiced tongue, tasting at last the sweetness she had denied him for so long. As he felt the first spasms rack her body, he held her hips in place so as not to deny himself a single drop of the sweeter-than-honey moisture that laved upon his tongue.

  With boldness born of wanton need, she watched as he lifted his dark head, his heated gaze mirroring the same burning lust as her own.

  “Tell me you haven’t missed that,” he challenged her.

  “I can’t!” she cried, rising up to pull him over her.

  With a low growl, he pushed her back down, his smoldering gaze locking with hers as he wrapped her long legs around his waist. With a snap of his slim hips, he rammed himself deep inside her, shuddering as her hot tightness surrounded him. He stopped, trying to gain some much-needed control over his throbbing loins.

  “No, Eathen! Don’t stop!” she panted, beating her small fists against his back.

  “It’s been too long, darlin,’” he told her, his breath coming in short pants. “We have to take it slow or we’ll both be left wantin’.”

  She refused to be denied. Now the stalker became the prey as Charlotte, in one quick move, toppled a surprised Eathen onto his back. Before he could regain his senses, she had seated herself where she wanted to be. Unashamed, she stared down into eyes liquid with desire. With a deep growl of triumph, she pumped her body up and down. For the first time she ignored his pleas to wait, choosing instead to douse the fires raging within her own starving body.

  When at last the fever that had consumed them both had cooled, Eathen drew her into his arms, nuzzling her slender neck, the taste of her still strong upon his tongue. Burrowing deeper into his arms, she sighed with contentment.

  “I’m a lucky man, Charlotte.” His sated body coiled around hers. “There ain’t a woman in the world that can hold a candle to you when it comes to lovin.’”

  Eathen felt her body stiffen. He moved to turn her face towards him. “What is it, darlin?”

  The pain stabbing into her heart at his choice of words drained away the warm glow she had been enjoying. “If ever a man on God’s earth would know about the women of this world, that man would
be you, Eathen.” Charlotte bit her lip, trying to stop its trembling as she scooted her naked body away from him.

  “Charlotte, all I said is…” he stammered, staring dumfounded at her rigid back.

  “I know what you said, Eathen. You couldn’t let well enough alone. You had to compare me with every other woman you’ve taken to your bed.”

  “Goddamn it, woman!” he growled, throwing back the covers to slide his legs off the bed. “Why do you take everything I say and twist it?”

  Without turning, she replied, “Why do you take everything I do and compare it?”

  Pulling on his clothes, he glared at her. “I’ll say one thing for you, Charlotte! For someone who didn’t want me to make love to her, you sure put on a good show.” He tucked in his shirt then closed his jeans, jerking the wide belt into place before buckling it. “There ain’t a saloon girl in Helena who coulda done any better.”

  “You dare to compare me with your whores?” She sat up in bed, her green eyes filled with pain as she looked at him.

  “You’re the one who took an innocent remark and turned it into a fight!” Eathen told her, dragging his hands through his hair.

  “And I thought you loved me.”

  “Like I said, Charlotte, there ain’t a woman in this world who can even come close to you in lovin’ or any other way.” His eyes dropped to her bare breasts then away as she pulled the sheet up to cover herself. For some reason the movement angered him even more. “But you can’t be content with that. You have to dictate my every move. And that’s one thing that ain’t gonna happen.”

  “I don’t dictate to you, Eathen.” Charlotte determined that this time she would not allow him to turn the conversation back on her. “Unless you call expectin’ my husband to be faithful, dictatin’, then I guess you got a valid point.”

  With nervous fingers, he buttoned his shirt, giving himself time to respond to her statement. And he didn’t fool himself, she had made a statement. “I don’t bring problems into our home, Charlotte. As a man, I keep all that separate.” He yanked his shirt out of his pants to get at the last two buttons. “Most women would be happy with that.”

  “No woman wants to know her man’s sleepin’ around.” Charlotte watched him duck his head as he stuffed his shirt back into his jeans.

  “Men are men, Charlotte. We’re all the same when it comes to women. The problem’s that just a few of us’ll admit it.”

  “What about women?” she pulled over another pillow and leaning forward, placed it lengthwise behind her.

  “What about women?” His eyes narrowed.

  “Ain’t we allowed to separate our problems, too?” A wicked gleam leaped into her eyes, daring him to jump on the double standard for his out.

  “Women don’t have those kind of problems,” he grinned, the tension easing somewhat as he began to spar with her.

  The gleam left her face to be replaced with one of complete seriousness. “Are you sayin’ women don’t have wants and needs too?” She raised her hand when he would have interrupted her. “Do we just put those needs on hold? Ignore them until our busy man can take time for us?”

  A bitter laugh escaped her as she saw the anger creep back into his eyes.

  “Any time you need takin’ care of, Charlotte, you just let me know. I guarantee you,” his blue eyes moved with deliberate ease down her naked body outlined beneath the sheet, “I’ll douse any flame you got burnin.”

  “Won’t that be a little hard with you there and me here?” She knew she treaded on dangerous ground, but the pain in her heart didn’t cut quite sharp enough yet. “Could that be why some women find their pleasure elsewhere?”

  “Just the ones not worth the powder to blow em to hell in the first place.” Eathen plopped down in a nearby chair, yanked on his boot. “Women got it good’n they know it. Most of all you, Charlotte.”

  “Money ain’t everything, Eathen.” She watched him pull on his other boot, then stand. “I think love should be in there somewhere. Don’t you?”

  Tired of sparring, Eathen stepped in for the kill. “Not really, Charlotte. With money, a man can buy all the love he needs.”

  As the door slammed behind him, she turned her face into the pillow to give into her anguish.

  Outside the door he could hear her cries of pain. For a moment Eathen almost went back in, but he knew the woman he had just left would not listen to anything he had to say. Why did he always react with anger? Charlotte was the woman he wanted in his arms. Those others just stood in to get him through the long nights. A man missed a woman’s touch when he had to be away from home for weeks at a time. Why couldn’t women understand that a man didn’t need to feel something for the women he took to his bed? As long as he stayed discreet, a man could do anything he wanted and not have to worry about the consequences. He didn’t mess around with married women. Only saloon girls who made their living off of married men. No harm in that. The woman he took to his bed had to be clean. Some men couldn’t care less what they bedded down with, and then whined in their beers when they found themselves with a crouch full of vermin or the humiliating task of ridding themselves of a contracted disease. He had never had to worry about bringing something unwanted home with him. He was too careful for that. Instead of condemning him, Charlotte should be thanking her luck that she had a man who cared about such things. She should be glad she hadn’t married someone like Frank, who jumped anything with two legs and damn the outcome. Now there was a woman Eathen felt sorry for. Not only did Frank lay up with everything that came down the road, he was abusive to his wife and son and couldn’t care less if they had food on the table. Charlotte should look around her before laying out blame. A good husband and father who never denied his family had to be a rarity. So what if he took care of his needs with someone else, at least he looked out for his family. That alone separated him from the McKennahs of the world. With that thought in mind, he continued on his way downstairs.

  As he passed through the dining room, Hattie glanced up from her cup of coffee, a broad smile pulling at her mouth. Glimpsing the dark scowl covering Eathen’s face, she looked away. “Men!” she snorted, lumbering to her feet. “Effen dey ain’ fightin’, dey’s fuckin’. But dis bes de fust fambly Ah ever seed who kin do both at de same time.”

  Chapter Nine

  With Christmas only a week away, Hattie had her hands full with the many preparations needed to bring in the holiday in the traditional Thornton manner.

  “Hattie,” Charlotte said as she passed by on her way to the sink, “did you get the turkey ordered from Lutten Meats like I asked you?”

  “Yas’m, Miz Charlotte.” Hattie continued with her task of rolling out cookie dough on the floured table. “Dey said dey’d has it hyah in plen’y of time fer Chri’mas, jes’ lak allus.”

  “Good.” Charlotte pumped cold water into the coffeepot. “That’ll be one less thing to worry ‘bout.” She carried the coffeepot over to the big wood-burning stove. “Later tonight, I’ll finish wrappin’ Jessie’s presents and get them under the tree.” She turned the porcelain handle of the large pot outward away from the heat of the other burners. “I think everything’s comin’ along fine, Hattie.”

  “Yas’m, Ah specs dey is,” she chuckled, pushing Jessie’s small hand down on a tree-shaped cookie cutter.

  “Be sure you and Hattie leave enough for Santa.” Charlotte bent over, accepting a piece of wet cookie Jessie transferred from her mouth to Charlotte’s.

  “Doan you worry, Miz Charlotte.” Hattie scooped up a large fingerful of frosting out of the bowl to smear it across Jessie’s half-eaten cookie. “We’s mekken nuff fer eve’body.”

  “I want everything to be just right for Jessie’s first Christmas.” Charlotte rubbed her chin atop Jessie’s soft auburn curls. “I saw a lot more I wanted to get for her, but the weather bein’ what it is, I’m afraid to chance another trip into town.”

  “A chile her age woan knows de diffunce, Miz Charlotte.”

 
; “I know and, besides, Eathen’ll probably pick her up a few more things.”

  Hattie ran the big rolling pin across the widening circle of cookie dough. “She bes awright.”

  “One thing’s for sure, she won’t want for Christmas goodies!”

  “W’en Ah’s a youngin’ we din’ git nuthin’. Miss Jessie’ll bes jus’ fine.” Hattie dusted the rolling pin with flour then went back to rolling out the dough.

  Charlotte glanced at the woman, her face smudged with flour and frosting, who patiently helped Jessie make holiday cookies, and she wondered why it was that some people had everything, while others had nothin’ at all.

  “Somethin’ sure does smell good in here!” Eathen poked his head around the kitchen door.

  At the sound of her father’s voice, Jessie’s head whipped around, trying to find him.

  “Are you Santa’s little helper?” Eathen sneaked up behind her chair and scooped her into his arms.

  “You’s gwing ter bes one too, w’en she gits thoo wid you,” Hattie told him, her large shoulders shaking with laughter.

  “We don’t care, do we, Jessie?” Eathen gobbled up frosting from her cheeks, making her squeal with laughter.

  Caught up in the spirit of the moment, Charlotte laughed as she wrapped her arms around Eathen and Jessie. The love in Eathen’s eyes at his wife’s warm gesture could not be hidden. He placed his arm around Charlotte to pull her in close.

  “I didn’t mean to intrude,” Dave Houston exclaimed, standing in the doorway.

  “Hell you ain’t intrudin’, Houston. Come on in.” Eathen gave Charlotte an extra hug before releasing her.

  “Hattie, why don’t you pour Dave some coffee? I’m sure he could use some after bein’ out in the cold,” Charlotte said.

  As Hattie picked up the large pot from the stove, Charlotte caught the glaring look she bestowed upon the handsome foreman. Feeling ill at ease, she declared, “If you all will excuse me, I have some presents to wrap.”

  “You go ahead, darlin. Soon as I finish with Houston, I’ll come in and help you.”