He held his tongue until he and Lokni left the small building. “I thought you wanted to work until the day before we’re due to head out.”
“I had planned to do that, but a woman who lives in town needs to start work tomorrow. Her husband suffered an accident and can no longer work. Wilma already paid me for the work I’ve done. I’ll give it to you when we’re in the hotel room.”
“It’s nice that you were willing to help Wilma during the meantime. She looks a lot more relaxed now that she isn’t surrounded by a mountain of laundry.”
“Well, she did as much for me as I did for her. I would have been bored spending all day in a hotel room, even if I do have Clint to care for. I like keeping busy.”
“You might not think that way once we’re back on the trail.”
She smiled at the teasing tone in his voice.
He glanced at the general store. Some of the people from the wagon train were in there, probably eager to grab supplies they were low on. “Maybe we should go in there and get the things we’ll need when we leave town.”
At the moment, it looked like four families were in there, so Mr. Burk wouldn’t be low on things yet. They still had time to get what they wanted without worrying over whether it was sold out or not.
Her steps slowed and she turned her gaze to the store. Her eyes grew wide. “Where did all these people come from?”
“A wagon train just pulled in. There are fifteen families total.” He glanced along the street, noticing that most of the people had already found a restaurant or a place to stay. He put his hand around her arm and led her in the direction of the store. “Do you know what you want?”
She nodded, and they continued on their way to the store. He gave her Clint to hold and then opened the door for her. Inside, the group of people were collecting the items they wanted. Brandon grabbed the last available basket and asked Lokni what she wanted.
“Goat’s milk, eggs, butter…” As she stated out the rest of the list, another family came into the store, making it even more crowded.
Clint started crying, and Brandon had to strain to hear her over the people talking around them. While she spoke, someone accidentally bumped into her, and people kept glancing Clint’s way in irritation. Though Lokni was rubbing Clint’s back in an effort to soothe him, he only cried louder.
When she was finished with the list, Brandon said, “I don’t think Clint likes being in here with all these people. Maybe you should wait outside or go to the hotel room. I’ll get the items.”
She shifted Clint to her other arm and pulled the money Wilma had given her from her pocket. “I’ll wait outside.”
He collected the money from her and nodded. “I’ll try to be quick.”
As she headed out of the store, he turned to the shelves and started grabbing the things they would need for their trip. It was a good thing he had decided to come in here now before the entire group from the wagon train stopped to make their purchases. With this town being so far from other places, he imagined Mr. Burk would be left without some goods until a new shipment came in.
Brandon had never had that problem, but then, Omaha was larger than this place, and it was close to Council Bluffs, which had a good-sized population of its own. Also, being right along the Missouri River made it easy for shipments to come in. Out here, Mr. Burk had no such luxuries.
Brandon decided he would only take exactly what he and Lokni would need until they reached the next town. The temptation was there to take more simply because so many people were grabbing things, but he resisted the urge to do that. By the time he was done, he went to the counter and waited in line to make his purchase.
Chapter Fourteen
Lokni paced back and forth in front of the store. Clint had calmed since leaving the store, so she was reluctant to go back in there. She had considered going to the hotel room, but she wanted to wait for Brandon. Now that she had decided to stay with him, it seemed that she had a desire to spend more time with him.
She hadn’t expected to feel such a strange sensation. But she had missed him all through the day while she was with Wilma. Clint wasn’t the only one who had been excited to see him when he got off work. She had been, too. And she wasn’t sure what to make of it. Was this kind of thing normal when a woman was with a man by choice?
“Is that child your sister or brother?” someone asked from behind her.
Lokni spun around, surprised to see an older woman approaching her. The woman wasn’t one who lived in the town. She was new. She was probably one of the people who’d come in on the wagon train Brandon had mentioned.
“No. This is my son,” Lokni replied, wondering why the woman was even talking to her.
The woman’s eyebrows furrowed. “Your son? How can that be? You look young. How old are you?”
Lokni frowned. It wasn’t any of this woman’s business how old she was. She didn’t know this woman, nor did she have any plans to do anything with her. She glanced at the general store as two more people went inside the building. Through the windows, she couldn’t make out where Brandon was since there were so many people crowded in the small place.
“I’m forty-two, and I still haven’t had a child,” the woman continued, drawing Lokni’s attention back to her. “My husband and I have tried. For twenty-one years we tried. I was older than you when I married. Everyone around us kept having children, and yet, we never could. You obviously can, and you have your entire life to have more.”
An uneasy feeling crept up Lokni’s spine. She took a step away from her, but the woman took one toward her.
In a lower voice, the woman said, “I might not look it since I’m wearing a poorer fabric of clothing for the journey on the wagon train, but my husband and I have done very well financially. He owns railroads. In fact, one of the things he plans to do out west is to establish more lines. That way people aren’t forced to keep taking the wagon train all the time to go from the East to the West coast.”
Lokni wasn’t sure where the woman was going with this, but she didn’t want to find out. She started to head for the general store, but the woman grabbed her arm and stopped her.
“Will you just let me finish?” the woman hurried out while offering Lokni a hopeful smile. “I’m not trying to scare you. I only want to make a proposal. If you’ll give me a moment, I’ll show you what’s in my drawstring purse. I promise I’m not going to hurt you.”
Lokni hesitated, but given the fact that there were other people nearby, she knew the woman wouldn’t get away with doing anything to harm her. So she remained in place while the woman let go of her and undid the strings of the purse. The woman opened the purse and showed her jewelry. On a closer inspection, it looked as if the whole thing was full of valuable gemstones.
“I would like to purchase the child,” the woman said. “This jewelry can provide for you and all the children you have in the future. You’ll never want for anything as long as you’re careful with this. I’d suggest selling a little at a time.”
Lokni couldn’t believe what she was hearing. “You want me to sell my son to you?”
“I’ll be good to him. He’ll have a good life. My husband has more money than he’ll ever need. The boy will have everything he wants. He’ll even inherit an empire.”
“No. I can’t sell him. He’s my child. I love him.”
“Of course, you love him. I know I’m asking you to do a difficult thing. Believe me, I wish I didn’t have to ask, but I’m never going to have any children of my own. The only way I’ll have one is if I find one. This will benefit both of us.”
Lokni shook her head and backed away from her, holding Clint protectively to her chest.
The woman stepped toward her, and though she was still trying to be pleasant, a flash of irritation lit up her eyes. “You can’t be older than sixteen.”
“I’m nineteen.”
“Even at nineteen, you have years to have more children. It’s obvious by your clothes that you don’t have much m
oney.” She held up the purse. “The jewelry will do you a lot of good.”
“I can’t sell him. He’s my child. I’m sorry, but I can’t do it.” Her mind went back to the loss of her firstborn. “I know it’s a terrible thing to not have a child, but I can’t help you.”
The woman’s face turned hard. “I don’t see why you won’t. I’m only asking for one child. Not all the ones you’ll have in the future.”
“What’s going on here?” Brandon called out from behind her.
Lokni jerked and turned to him. Carrying a box of supplies, he was heading in their direction.
“Maybe you can speak sense into her,” the woman told Brandon. “I’m in my forties. I can’t have children. I have close to a hundred thousand dollars worth of jewelry in this purse. I’m offering it to her if she’ll let me take the boy.”
“She wants me to sell Clint, and I said no,” Lokni said. “I love him. I don’t care about the money.” She silently implored him to agree with her.
Orson and the others would have been more than happy to make the trade. If they had known her child could have been sold, they would have kept her. They only got rid of her because they considered the child to be a useless eater that would take money from them.
But he wasn’t like Orson and the others. He’d been kind, thoughtful, and gentle with her. He cared for Clint. But did he care enough? Was the allure of one hundred thousand dollars enough to persuade him to give up Clint to this woman? Would he put money before her son?
Brandon shook his head at the woman. “There will be no such arrangement.” He stepped between Lokni and the woman, providing a nice barrier between them. “Our son is not for sale.”
She scanned him up and down. “Your son? What you’re doing with this poor girl is indecent. She’s much too young for you.”
“She’s not too young for me. She’s my wife, and that boy belongs to both of us.” He glanced at Lokni and nodded toward the hotel. “We have nothing else to tell her. Let’s go.”
Relieved, Lokni hurried to go with him. He hadn’t made her give up Clint. He had stood by her wishes. What she wanted mattered to him. And in that moment, she knew, without a doubt, that she loved him.
***
When Brandon realized the woman who tried to buy Clint was staying in the hotel, he decided to take Lokni and Clint to the local restaurant. He was afraid the woman, and possibly her husband, would come over to them during their meal, and given the unpleasant nature of the topic on the woman’s mind, he wanted to avoid it. Now there was no way he was going to join the wagon train. All he needed was to spend the next few months being hounded by a woman who had her eyes set on his son.
He almost went up to her husband when he saw them signing in at the hotel so he could tell him what his wife had been up to. But then, he thought better of it. For one, the husband might be in on it, too. And two, it would be an awkward conversation to have in front of the others who were trying to check into the hotel.
So he opted to keep quiet and take Lokni and Clint to the restaurant. Upon their return to the hotel, he caught sight of the woman and her husband in the dining room. Unfortunately, they caught sight of him and Lokni, too, because as Brandon was unlocking the door to their room, he glanced over his shoulder and saw the woman’s husband standing further down the hallway. The man didn’t make a move toward them. He just stood there and watched them.
Brandon opened the door and urged Lokni to go inside with Clint. He debated calling out to the man or heading directly for him, but the man left. Brandon frowned. He didn’t like this. He didn’t like it one bit. But what could he do about it? He doubted a confrontation would go well. Lokni was still visibly upset. Even Brandon couldn’t get rid of the unease in his gut. The man had a look about him that reminded Brandon of a vulture circling around its prey.
With a shiver, Brandon went into the room and locked the door. After a moment, he turned to Lokni as she started to change Clint’s diaper.
“We need to leave before dawn tomorrow,” Brandon said. He scanned the room and mentally planned out what he should start packing first. “I don’t trust that woman who tried to buy Clint. I trust her husband even less.”
Lokni looked at him. “But you don’t get paid for another three days.”
“I’ll just have to forget it. We got the money Wilma gave you. We’ll make do with that.”
He went over to his leather sack and opened it. Then he went to the dresser and pulled open the drawer and started to roll up their clothes.
Lokni finished changing the diaper then put Clint in the bassinet where he cooed. Clint was such a happy child. He rarely ever complained, and already, he was sleeping through the night. He was like a breath of fresh air. When the rest of the world didn’t seem to go right, all Brandon had to do was look at Clint, and things were better.
He didn’t know if all babies did that, as Wilma had suggested, but he knew Clint did, and there was no way he was going to let someone take Clint from them. He didn’t care how much money they had. There were some things money couldn’t buy, and that precious boy was one of them.
“I’m not going to let anyone take Clint,” Brandon said as he started filling up the sack. “We need to get out of here, and the sooner we do that, the better. Thankfully, those people are heading up to the Washington Territory. We’re going to California. Our paths shouldn’t cross again.”
Lokni pulled clothes out of another drawer and rolled them in a manner similar to his. “Are we leaving right now?”
“No. I don’t want to ruin Clint’s schedule now that he’s sleeping through the night. I was thinking of leaving before dawn. The sun won’t be going down for another hour and a half. If we get to bed within the next half hour, we should be able to get a full night’s sleep.”
The owner of the hotel would be asleep right before dawn, which meant he couldn’t pay him at the desk, and he was afraid to pay him tonight in case the woman’s husband overheard him.
“Do you remember which room the owner of this hotel lives in?” Brandon asked.
“I think his wife said they were in the room beneath the staircase.”
“I’ll pay him on our way out.”
He finished packing the clothes he had rolled up and started to put their food items into another sack.
To his surprise, Lokni went over to him and kissed his cheek.
“What was that for?” he asked.
“For doing what you said you would. Keeping me and Clint safe.”
She offered him a shy smile before putting the rest of their clothes into the sack.
He touched his cheek. It’d been a long time since he’d been kissed. It was nice. Even now, he could still feel her lips where she had kissed him. He hoped the feeling would never go away.
Clint let out another coo, and at once, Brandon’s attention went back to the matter at hand. Turning to the staple items they’d bought at the general store, he packed them.
Chapter Fifteen
Once Clint fell asleep, Lokni placed him in the bassinet. She glanced over at Brandon. Brandon was already in bed, and his eyes were closed. She couldn’t be sure, but she thought he was still awake. It was too early to go to bed. They weren’t used to going to sleep for another hour at the earliest. She doubted either one would drift off to sleep before then, but she figured, some rest was better than none.
She stayed in the chair for a few minutes, debating whether or not she should approach him about consummating their marriage. He had been patient with her this entire time. Not once had he tried to be intimate with her. There were times during the night she’d become aware of his erection. The bed was too small for her not to notice. It was probably why he often turned his back to her when he woke up in the middle of the night. He didn’t want to make her uncomfortable.
The problem, of course, was that while he was asleep again, he would roll back over and snuggle up to her. He probably did that with his first wife. The action must be an old habit.
She had never wanted to be intimate with anyone before, but she did with him. She had a feeling that this was something she could enjoy with him. After all, she had enjoyed everything else they’d done together. He was a good man. A decent man. The kind of man a woman couldn’t help but want to be with.
Taking one more look at Clint to make sure he was still asleep, she quietly got up from the chair and removed her clothes. She went over to the bed and slipped in next to Brandon, whose back was turned to her. This time, instead of turning her back to him, too, she put an arm around him and kissed his cheek.
He opened his eyes and glanced over at her. Then, his gaze went lower. Turning onto his back, he scanned her entire body and then brought his gaze to hers.
“Am I dreaming?” he asked.
She chuckled. “Do you often have this dream?”
A pink tint crept up his face. “Would you hate me if I said I did?”
“No. You’re a man. Men like being with women this way.”
“While that’s true, they should never force women into it. I’m not like those men who abused you.”
“I know you’re not. You never once made me feel like I had to do something I didn’t want.”
He took another look at her body. “Are you sure you want to do this?”
She brought his hand to one of her breasts. “I’m sure. I want to do this with you.”
He hesitated for a moment, probably to make sure she really meant it, and there must have been something in her expression that assured him she was because, in the next moment, he sat up in the bed and removed his clothes.
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