A Path Worth Taking

by Mariella Starr

  Beth smiled up at him. “From what I saw and heard, you were a good officer.”

  “Maybe, except you aren’t a soldier under me. I’m sorry I was barking out orders without taking the time to discuss them with you.”

  “Thank you,” Beth said.

  “I don’t mean to ignore that you’re a woman of delicate sensibilities. You’re the most precious thing I have. You’re mine, Beth, body and soul. I love you.”

  Garret stood up suddenly and lifted Beth to her feet. He led her to the wagon where he tossed the blanket into the back. He turned to her, took her hand, and placed it against his crotch. He was hard and stiff.

  “Do you know what I need from you, Beth?”

  She looked into his eyes and nodded. It was pretty darn obvious. “Yes.”

  “Good. It doesn’t always take words for you to understand me,” Garret said kissing her. He wanted to crush her mouth with his and yet was uneasy about hurting her sore jaw. He lifted her onto the tailgate of the wagon and lifted her skirts out of the way, and then he pulled down her bloomers and carefully removed them. He uncovered himself. He wanted his wife badly. He pulled her legs around his waist and entered her in one hard thrust. Garret plunged into her body deeply, savoring the feel of knowing she was his.

  Beth did not know what had gotten into Garret. He was ravishing her and not against her will. She was willing and so distracted she forgot her anger with him. She understood exactly what he wanted. Not only was she willing to let him have his way, she encouraged him. Sometimes it was hard to understand how a man’s mind worked and yet he spoke the truth. She was his, body and soul. Her husband was not necessarily good with words, but he expressed himself quite well in other ways.

  She climaxed first with him quickly following as he buried himself as deep into her as possible. When their passion was quenched, they were both breathing heavily. Garret was right. Some things did not require words. As their heartbeats slowed, Garret kissed her. He gave her a smoldering look, which she knew had nothing to do with his previous anger. This was love and lust. She had no idea what had triggered it, but she liked it.

  Their trip back to the ranch was not a quick one. They were completely alone on the high plains and could have been stark naked. No one would ever know because they were the only people there. They moved on, only it was not long before they made another stop. Beth removed her undergarments and left them off this time. She wanted nothing between them to hinder their passion. Neither one knew what had ignited their sudden need for each other, but they were willing to see it through, enjoy it, and give each other’s bodies pleasure. They could do this anytime, except there was something strangely erotic about being totally alone.

  All it took was a look, a glance, a touch, and they knew what they wanted. Once, they were moving along slowly when Beth released her husband’s penis from his trousers and stroked it with her fingers. He reined the horses to a dead stop in the middle of the trail as she lowered her mouth to him. He lay back against the seat to enjoy it. When he was about to explode, he had her straddle him, and he plunged upward into her as she lowered herself onto him.

  When the sun began to lower on the horizon, Garret pulled off the road and set up camp. Still, their lust for each other was not quenched. On a pallet of fresh cut grasses and blankets, they continued to enjoy each other long into the night. Exhaustion finally overtook both of them, and they lay in each other arms and slept.

  When Garret opened his eyes in the early morning, Beth was still asleep. He had awakened several times during the night. As an ex-scout, he still slept with his senses on full alert. He had not awakened Beth, as she needed the rest. He had taken her so many times the day before that he suspected she was worn out. They had experienced this kind of lust before, sneaking around to avoid the others on the ranch. They still had another two days of complete privacy. Would Beth be willing or would she be too tender to participate?

  When Beth opened her eyes, she took one look at her husband and kissed him passionately. The torch was relit instantly. The next two hours were a marathon of sexual greed as neither of them was willing to accept anything less than all of what the other had to offer.

  Beth lay panting as Garret continued to fondle and kiss her breasts.

  I’m spent,” Garret admitted.

  “It was a worthy cause,” Beth teased.

  “So it was.” He turned to face her. “Promise me, you will love me like this for the rest of our lives!”

  “Only if you make the same promise,” Beth qualified.

  “I do,” he said kissing her. “When we took our vows, we never had any idea it could be this good.”

  Chapter Seventeen

  Beth sat in a kitchen chair as Lettie inspected her bruised jawline while shaking her head and scolding.

  “Next time, I’m going with you,” Lettie declared. “What is the world coming to when a woman isn’t safe on the street from ruffians?”

  “It was all I could do to keep Garret from going after him,” Beth admitted.

  “Oh, honey, he did,” Lettie retorted. “The coward would not show his face!”

  “He didn’t!”

  “Oh, yes he did,” exclaimed Lettie. “I overheard him talking to Jeb. He called the low-life a lot of names I can’t repeat.”

  “He never told me,” Beth huffed. “Oh, enough of this fussing, Lettie. Why don’t you tell me what’s been happening here while we were gone?”

  Lettie busied herself at the stove. “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

  “Your bloomers are going to burst into flames,” Beth teased.

  “Miss Beth!” Lettie exclaimed scandalized.

  Beth laughed. “It’s true! Is Abram Parker sparkin’ you?”

  “Miss Beth, you need to mind your business, not mine!”

  “All right, all right,” Beth relented. She stopped her teasing. She and Lettie went up in the loft to sort through the remaining dresses she had found in the trunks to see if there was anything Lettie could wear. Whatever she chose, they knew it would have to be altered, as Lettie was a small woman.

  “There he goes,” Beth said one night, peering out of their bedroom window.

  “I’ll have a talk with him,” Garret said as he joined her to see Abram go into Lettie’s cabin and close the door.

  “It’s really none of our business,” Beth said.

  “I don’t believe I heard you right! If he gets her pregnant, he will marry her!”

  “She’s a grown woman who can make those decisions,” Beth declared stoutly.

  Garret shook his head in disapproval. “Where do you come up with these ideas? Come to bed, Beth. At least we stood before a preacher.”

  “Not the first time,” Beth reminded him.

  “Hush. We need to keep that particular indiscretion a secret. Would you want your daughter knowing you were deflowered before you were married?” He smiled at her. “Although, I took those memories with me everywhere I went for several years. You ruined me for other women.”

  “Good!” Beth exclaimed with a laugh.

  ***

  Beth and Lettie carried in a basket of harvested vegetables between them to the cabin. “Where has the summer gone?”

  “I think we worked clean through it,” Lettie said. “We’ll have a good winter.”

  “True enough,” Beth agreed. She set down her end of the basket and dashed around the corner to the outhouse.

  Lettie was waiting outside when Beth opened the outhouse door.

  “Are you pregnant?”

  Beth wiped her mouth. “I don’t know. It’s too soon to tell.”

  “You got the symptoms.”

  “It could also be a stomach upset,” Beth replied.

  “Your stomach’s been upset ‘most every morning for a month,” Lettie said knowingly. “When are you gonna face it?”

  “I’m scared of facing it,” Beth exclaimed as tears came to her eyes. “What if I can’t carry it like the last time?”
r />   Lettie hugged her friend to her. “I know it was hard, but you have to put it behind you. You’ve had time to heal. You can’t know if the same thing will happen.”

  “No, I don’t, but I’m scared. I’m not telling Garret until I do know it for sure,” Beth exclaimed. She wiped her eyes and faced her friend. “I don’t want to hear another word about babies unless you’re pregnant.”

  Lettie spread her hand over her stomach. “I am.”

  Beth gasped. “Oh! Well, what’s Abram doing about it?”

  “I ain’t told him yet, either,” Lettie said.

  “Why not?”

  “I have my reasons.” Lettie raised her head proudly and walked away.

  Beth knew Garret and Jasper were in a backfield cutting what would be the last crop of hay for the season. She made sandwiches and carried them along with a jug of water to her men.

  Garret smiled when he saw his wife coming across the field. “We would have come in for dinner.”

  Beth glanced up at the sky dark with storm clouds. “No, you wouldn’t. You’re trying to beat the storm. I need to talk to you.”

  ***

  Lettie helped Beth clear the dishes after dinner, after which she took little Virgie from Jeb's arms and went home to her cabin. When a knock sounded, she opened the door to Abram.

  He came inside holding a handful of wildflowers he had picked somewhere. She took them from him and put them in a glass.

  “What’s wrong?” she asked as Abram made no attempt to kiss her.

  He snatched his hat off his head and rolled the rim in his hands. “I reckon it’s time we tied the knot, Lettie,” he said, watching her.

  She searched his face, and she knew. She turned her back on him, stiffened her shoulders, and then turned around to face him. “Why now, Abram?”

  “You know why,” he said. “Lettie, I want to do things right by you. You’re having my baby.”

  She turned away again. “You mentioned marriage several months ago, yet I ain’t heard a peep out of you since about it.”

  “I was wrong not to keep after you,” Abram said. He walked over and put his arms around her. “I sort of already feel married to you. I know little Virgie ain’t mine, but it feels like he is, and I’ll raise him as my own. I love you, Lettie. If you’re with child again, I’m doing the right thing.”

  “What are you going to do?” Lettie demanded.

  “Marry you.”

  “I don’t mean that,” Lettie exclaimed. “Do you plan on working here forever? Or will you take off the next time someone offers you something better? You took off on me once before. How do I know you won’t do it again!”

  “I took off ‘cause Miss Beth couldn’t afford to pay us no more,” Abram exclaimed. “I did what I had to do to make a living. I was born a slave, Lettie, and I wasn’t taking no chances. If the war went against us, I had to be firmly on the Northern side. If you want to hold it against me, then go right ahead. You were never owned by anyone, and you don’t know what it was like. Mr. St. Claire took good care of his hired folk, and you lived well. It wasn’t the same for all of us. When I bought my freedom papers, I thought my life would change. I thought I was gonna be a rich man. We both know now, it wasn’t gonna happen, but I made a good living for myself, and I bought my two sisters their freedom. When I had a chance to join the Union Army, I jumped at it. The only way we’ll prove to the white folk we are as good as them is to take on jobs and work side-by-side the white men.”

  “You took off when we needed you the most!”

  Abram tossed his hat on the bed angry. “I’m a man, Lettie. I did what I had to do and taking up arms against the South and slavery was part of it. I intended to go back for you. Heck, I’ve been sweet on you since you were fifteen years old. I have a good job here with Mr. Wakefield, but I don’t intend to work here forever. I’m saving my money. I have my eye on a piece of property not far from here. I can claim it as a homestead, and I know I can prove-up before the five-year requirement. Lettie, I can do it by myself, ‘cept I don’t want to go it alone. I told you a while back I wanted to marry you and I ain’t changed my mind. I love you, and if’n you got my baby growin’ in your belly, you’re gonna marry me. I’ve said my piece, woman. What’re you going to do?”

  “I’m not giving up my cabin unless you’ve got somewhere else for me to live,” Lettie said firmly. “I’ve had my fill of sleeping rough.”

  Abram scratched his head. “Are you saying yes?”

  “If you get a property and if you get me a cabin built,” Lettie said. “Otherwise, I’m staying right where I am.”

  “All right. I reckon I’ll be heading to town to file a claim,” Abram said. “Are you coming with me, so we can get married?”

  “No,” Lettie said firmly. “You have to prove to the government you can work that land before they will give it to you. You have to prove to me first that you will keep your word. You get your land, Abram Parker, and you get a cabin built on it. I’m not taking myself or Virgie anywhere until I know there’s something better waitin’ for us.”

  Lettie stormed into the main house kitchen the next morning. She slammed a kettle down so hard on the stove Beth was surprised it didn’t shatter. Then Lettie turned on Beth, and there was fury in her eyes. “Don’t you ever stick your nose in my business again!”

  Beth bit down on her lower lip and faced her friend. “If Abram wasn’t planning to man up…”

  “It was none of your business,” Lettie announced.

  “I’m your friend…”

  “Then act like one and stay out of my business!” Lettie snapped.

  Beth dropped her eyes. “I’m sorry! I thought I was doing the right thing.”

  “Did I interfere in your business when Lieutenant Wakefield stayed the night and was in your bed back in Maryland? Did I announce to the world you were a fallen woman?”

  Beth gasped, “How did…”

  “I saw you scrubbing the sheets,” Lettie snapped.

  Beth blushed. “I only want what’s best for you.”

  “I have to decide what’s best for me, not you. Abram Parker has got to prove himself to me before I’m willing to take him on as a husband! If you and Garret can’t accept my decision, I’ll take Virgil’s horse and leave.”

  “No, don’t!” Beth cried. “I won’t say another word, I promise.”

  ***

  Beth sat at the kitchen table playing with her puzzle box while Lettie rocked Virgie in his cradle. He had been asleep for several hours. Every evening for weeks, Garret had returned home late. Abram had followed through on his promise and filed for a parcel of land only seven miles away. He had five years to prove-up to the government land office before he could claim his deed. Requirements for prove-up meant building a cabin and showing proof the land was supporting him. The only problem was, fall was settling down around them, and he had a very short time to get a cabin built before the weather changed.

  Garret had been surprised when Abram told him he was filing a homestead claim, and yet he could not fault the man for wanting his own property. He urged Abram to put off raising the cabin until spring, but the man was determined, so Garret offered to help. With all four men working several hours each evening, it would take less time to raise the structure.

  It was not a secret Lettie was with child, although no one knew how far along. Beth still kept her secret tightly held. She could not deny it to herself, but she was terrified she would lose the baby. Every twinge of pain was suspect, although she had to admit in the day-to-day moving about there were always bits of strain. She loosened the ties on her skirts and aprons to cover the tiny bulge of her belly. She was no longer sick to her stomach, but she got terribly tired by mid-afternoon.

  Lettie watched Beth like a hawk, covering for her in the afternoons so she could slip off to catch a nap. Lettie was showing more and more, and still stubbornly refusing to marry Abram until he completed the cabin. She and Abram argued about her decision almost every day, but s
he was holding her ground. It was one of the reasons Garret and the other men spent their evenings away from home.

  Beth was spooned against her husband one morning in bed when there was a loud knock on their door. Garret jumped from the bed and grabbed his rifle. Beth peeked out the window, but all she could see was a short two-wheel wagon with a bonnet.

  Garret pulled on his clothes hurriedly as Beth gathered hers. He paused at the door, glanced back at his wife, and frowned. “After taking care of our visitors, we are going to have a talk about why you didn’t tell me you were pregnant!”

  Beth gasped in surprise and gazed down at herself realizing she was not hiding anything. Her breasts were larger, and her belly was rounded. She dressed and went out to the kitchen where Captain Sumners was sitting at her table with a cup of coffee. He jumped to his feet when she entered the room. A small, delicate girl rose to her feet, too.

  “Beth, you remember Captain James Sumners,” Garret said. “He’s left the Army now. This is his wife, Magnolia. Magnolia this is my wife, Beth.”

  The young woman curtsied looking very young and unsure. “How do, ma’am.”

  “We’re going for a talk,” Garret said as the two men stepped outside. Magnolia seemed frightened to be left behind.

  Beth smiled. “Did I hear a southern accent?”

  Magnolia nodded. “Yes, ma’am. I’m from Okolona in Chickasaw County, Mississippi.”

  “Would you like a cup of tea?”

  “If it’s not too much trouble,” Magnolia replied and curtsied again.

  “Please have a seat,” Beth said kindly. “How long have you been married to Captain Sumners?”

  “Five weeks,” Magnolia said blushing pink. “He was wounded in the Battle of Okolona, and the Army took over our house to use as a temporary hospital. I met him there because the doctors made us girls help with the nursing.”

  “Pardon me, but you’re awfully young to be a wife,” Beth said.

  “No, ma’am, I’m not,” Magnolia exclaimed. “Why, I’m eighteen years old and almost an old maid! I was worried something awful about finding a husband.”