by Danni Roan
Reg caught the glimmer in Lexi's eyes and could not help but smile. Apparently, her family was not beyond using round-about means to get what they wanted or just to keep the peace.
Chapter 11
"Reg, won't you go down to the Mercantile before it closes for me?” Dora asked with a smile that night. “I have a list of things I'd like to take to the ranch with me and since we're leaving tomorrow I'd like to get them tonight."
"Yes, Ma’am," Reg said, climbing out of his chair and reaching for his hat.
"Thank you," the young man's mother replied. "And Lexi, would you mind going along to help pick out a few things for your sisters back home? I'd very much like to have a few simple gifts for them. I’d go myself but I have so much packing to do, besides, you know what they might like." The older woman smiled sweetly, waiting for the girl’s reply.
Lexi's eyes grew wide as she thought of walking in the dark with Reg again. Part of her wanted very much to be alone with him, but another part of her, the part that had not yet figured out why she felt like she did after one simple kiss, hesitated.
"Oh, yes, of course," she finally managed, "Is there anything special?"
"I thought a handkerchief or some stationary for each of them would be appropriate."
"Yes, I'm sure they'll appreciate that. I'll fetch my reticule and be ready in a moment."
Lexi was so preoccupied with her own thoughts that she did not even notice Cathleen's sharp look, or the fact that she was biting her lip to suppress a grin.
Silent darkness engulfed the young couple as they stepped out into the street. In the distance, the same tinny piano and raucous laughter filtered through the summer air from one of the saloons, but neither of them spoke.
Lexi's hand felt strange as it rested on Reg's arm, and his muscles felt tense under her touch.
A flash of anger at her own silliness finally made Alexis speak; after all there had to be a logical explanation for what had happened the night before.
Straightening her spine, she opened her mouth. "Have you had time to think about our experiment last night?" she asked. Her voice sounded cold to her, but she stayed focused.
Reg swallowed, noting the tone of her voice and the matter of fact manner in which she asked the question. Perhaps the kiss had not affected her at all.
"Yes, I thought about it extensively last night." With his free hand, he tugged at his collar that suddenly seemed quite tight. "How about you?"
For a moment, Lexi's whole body went stiff. How was she supposed to tell him that it was all she had thought of last night?
"Well, yes," she finally replied, "but I'm not sure what to make of it. Perhaps if we compared our thoughts on the subject it would be more comprehensible."
"That sounds logical." Reg's brain began working through each aspect of the kiss, but the more he thought of it, the more he wanted to kiss the young woman whose hand rested on his arm.
"How would you describe the experience?" Lexi said softly, hoping the tremble she felt in her chest did not translate to her voice.
"Interesting," Reg said, his steps shortening.
"What was interesting?"
Pulling his hat from his head, Reg ran his hand through his hair while still gripping the headgear. He did not seem to know what words could describe the way he felt kissing Lexi.
"I guess I felt funny."
"So did I," Lexi admitted, dropping her eyes.
"What do you think it means?"
"I don't know. I thought I could talk to your mother today, but every time I tried I was sure she'd know what we'd done."
Reg looked down, trying to catch a glimpse of Lexi’s face in the dark shadow of the evening gloom. The dim light of a nearly extinguished sun made her skin look like white silk. She was a good deal shorter than he was, her head just coming to the top of his shoulder and with her head down he could not see her eyes. He felt the muscles in his arm tense as a sense of protectiveness swept over him. Placing his forefinger under her chin, he tilted her head up so he could look at her.
He didn’t like the idea of anyone thinking badly about her. “I understand,” he stated, looking into her eyes. “We’ll have to come up with a way to compare responses, but let’s not give my mother any ideas.” His voice was soft and cheerful, but his heart thudded in his chest when she licked her lips.
A small shiver raced down Alexis' spine, her mouth suddenly going dry as Reg tipped her chin up and without thinking, she licked her lips nervously.
What was it that caused this effect? Her eyes met his and his face moved toward hers as if pulled by an invisible string.
"We'll have to..." His words faded away as his lips met hers.
He hadn't planned it, but all at once Reg found himself kissing Lexi and she tasted sweet. This time instead of the gentle brushing of his lips on hers, he found himself wanting more.
As the warmth of Reg's kiss filled her with heat, Alexis James responded by wrapping her arms around his neck, pulling her body inexplicably closer to his. A moment later his arms entwined her waist, crushing her to his hard chest and making the night air sizzle. A tiny voice in the back of her head chided for a moment before disappearing like the rest of the world.
For that one moment, they were two people with no thought other than that one kiss.
Still wishing he could somehow be closer to her, Reg reluctantly released his hold on Lexi, stepping away to try to calm his beating heart. Easing away from her gently, one hand still resting on her small waist, he gazed into her face. Her eyes were still closed, her chin lifted slightly and her lips parted. He longed to lean in and kiss her again but instead took a step back removing his hand from where it rested on her slim waist.
Lexi opened her eyes and blinked up at the lean man before her. Where his hand had rested a second ago, her body felt cold after such a heated touch. For a few moments, she just stood there looking at him looking at her.
"I, ah I thought perhaps recreating the experience might give us more insight," Reg lied.
"Oh, yes. I can see the value of that," Lexi responded, forcing her fuzzy brain to engage.
With an effort, Reg turned his back on the young woman. "I supposed we'd better get to the store."
"My goodness!" Lexi's exclamation made Reg smile, even as he offered her his arm.
The rest of the walk to the mercantile was completed in silence and soon they were returning to Mrs. Bicks boarding house with their packages. They had almost arrived when Lexi stopped, tugging Reg to a halt.
"I'm going to have to write this whole thing down," she stated out of the blue. "I don't see any other way to understand it than to make a record."
"Alright, then I'll do the same and we can compare our notes tomorrow on the trail."
"That sounds like a good idea," Lexi was determined to understand what this whole kissing thing was about, "and if we absolutely have to we'll try the experiment again to gather more data," she added shyly.
Reg schooled his face to stillness even as his pulse kicked up a beat. He would be more than happy to kiss Lexi any time she wanted to, in the name of science, of course.
"Oh, you're back," Mrs. Ogden declared as the two young people stepped through the door. "Wonderful. Lexi, won't you come and help me pack these up for our trip? I have never been to a ranch before, you know. I'm not really sure how to go about these things."
"Of course. I'd be glad to help." Lexi offered a questioning glance to Reg, which was met only by a shrug.
"I think I'll just step outside," Reg stated as the door to his mother’s room closed. "It's a fine night” he added, pulling a small note book from his back pocket. “I’ll take some air.”
"That sounds like a right fine idea." Billy said, springing to his feet. "I find being out-a doors he'ps me think. I reckon I'll join ya for a spell."
Reg blinked at the wiry old chuck wagon cook, but opened the door and followed him out into the night.
The soft sounds of night, mingled with the tinkle of a
piano and the occasional whoop of a cowboy echoed through the streets of Casper as Reginald Ogden leaned against the rail at the front of the boardwalk.
Not all of the houses along the street had railed boardwalks; some had simple planking laid over dirt, while others had covered walkways that were raised off the ground, keeping the mud and other muck of the street from the door.
Mrs. Bicks had added what could be considered a front stoop to her house, not only covering the walkway with a roof, but also lining it with railing and placing a few battered chairs beside the door so that guests could watch the comings and goings of the town.
Behind him, Reg could hear Billy getting comfortable in a chair.
"Sure is a pertty night," Billy's voice rolled across the darkness.
"Yes, sir," Reg said politely.
"Always loved nights like this as a young fella'. Used to take me a turnabout town if'n I got the chance, sometimes I even stepped out with a pretty young girl on m' arm," the old man chortled softly.
Reg could feel his ears getting red, but he was sure there was no way Billy could know he had kissed Lexi, and besides he was just helping his pretty friend with an experiment.
"Yes-sir-ee, sometimes I even snuck a kiss or two out under the moon when I was a young fella full of oats. My Sally-Anne she al'ays like a stroll by moonlight."
"Who was Sally-Anne?" Reg questioned, straightening and turning to face the grizzled man where he sat, his chair rocked back on two legs, propped against the wall.
"Sally was my wife son, and a feisty little filly she was, too."
"Oh, I didn't realize you'd ever been married before." Reg offered lamely. "What happened to her?"
"The War," Billy stated flatly, “same as happened to so many. I went off ta do m' duty and when I come home Sally was gone. She'd been killed by a stray musketball in Pittsfield; freak accident's what the neighbors said."
"I'm sorry," Reg offered. "I didn't know."
"Why would ya? Not many do. I left that part o' me buried with her more than forty years ago."
Slowly pushing himself from the railing, Reg walked over and sat in the chair next to Billy. Something told him the old man wasn't finished and he settled in for the whole tale.
"Still don't mean I didn't do my fair share o' sparkin' after that. Nothing serious like. I figured that Sally-Anne was my one true love and that no other could ever take her place." He turned facing the young man next to him. "Least not until just recent like."
The old man's grin was contagious, and Reg felt his face brighten until he realized what the grizzled old coot was saying.
"What?" He croaked.
"Well your mother, there she's a fine looking woman. Fine I say," Billy said, letting his chair come to rest on all four legs with a thump.
Reg was not sure if he should be offended or laugh, so he just stared at the old man.
"Just 'cuz I'm old don't mean I'm dead, ya know," Billy stated. “I reckon once she gets to know me a little, maybe she won't mind me bein' un-edicated an' such."
Reg was still speechless as Billy leaned the chair back against the wall, hooking his thumbs behind his bright red suspenders. "I figure sparkin' will be different at our age though; not like when I was courtin' my Sally-Anne."
Despite his shock at Billy's statement, Reg's curiosity began to peek. "What's sparking like then?" he asked, putting the ridiculous thought of the old chuck wagon cook and his mother out of his mind.
"Well ya see sometimes it's somethin' and somtime's it ain't."
Reg ran a hand through his russet locks, before leaning his elbows on his knees. That statement did not tell him anything at all. He was formulating another question when the old man spoke again.
"Ya see son, some folks has a kind of connection. They sorta click tagether like a puzzle piece and they fit just right." Billy turned his faded blue eyes toward his companion. "Now how can I put it to a young fella with no real worldly experience?" he asked. "When I was sparkin' Sally I knowed I liked her a heap, but I didn't know if we was meant to be tagether or not, but when I kissed her it's like my whole world got turned upside down."
"I don't understand." Reg stated truthfully. "How does a kiss tell you anything?"
"I reckon it's different forever ‘one but they's some people that when you kiss them there just ain't no spark. I mean it’s nice enough but it don't make ya feel like ya swallowed a chili pepper whole." Billy's giggle made Reg start.
"So kissing one person is not the same as kissing another?"
"Nope, not one bit. When you kiss the right girl it's like the Fourth of July, Christmas, and Thanksgiving all rolled into one. I’ve kissed me a fair few, an’ I should know."
Reg scratched his chin, thinking on what the old man had said and trying to decide what he'd felt when he'd kissed Lexi. If the heat he had felt in his gut had been any indication, he thought perhaps he understood what Billy meant about a spark.
"An’ another thing," Billy's words pushed through the silence, "Even though you feel like your brain's soaked in sarsaparilla, and your bloods marchin' to a military band, an’ all you wanna' do is kiss some more, there's something inside ya that feels all protective like." Billy's chair tipped forward and landed with a heavy clomp on the planks of the walkway.
"It's like all o' a sudden you want to be with that somebody all the time, but you also want to see 'em happy all their days and you'd turn yerself inside out to give 'em anything they wanted. Does that make any sense, young fella'?" Billy's eyes bore into Reg, making him squirm, under the steady gaze.
"Yes sir, I think it does."
"Well, there you go then," Billy chuffed. "Now you know how I feel about yer ma' and maybe you has some thinking to do on it, too." With his last word the old man rose to his feet, patted Reg on the shoulder, then walked back into the house.
How long Reg sat there after Billy left, turning his notebook over and over in his hands, he could not tell. All he knew was that the house was quiet when he finally crept to his room, never having written one word.
Chapter 12
"Now where will all of my things go?" Mrs. Ogden asked Lexi as they entered the room she had hired on arriving in Casper. "I mean, how will they be conveyed to the ranch?"
"They can go on Hank's wagon. It's very large and I'm sure there will be room for whatever you have."
"Do you think they can fit everything, or should I leave things here until next time? I don't know how long I'll be staying so I brought along whatever I thought I could use."
"Let's get everything packed up and then we'll see how much there is. If I think it’s too much, we'll ask Hank and he can make room. How does that sound?"
"What a good idea. Eric is right, you are quite clever," the older woman said with a smile.
"I do like learning," Lexi replied modestly, feeling somehow uncomfortable about the subject.
"Have you had any formal schooling?"
"No, not if you mean attending classes. My Nona, grandmother, taught all of us girls to read and write, and Pa, grandpa Isadoro and the others taught us whatever they felt they could contribute. Grandpa and Uncle Deeks are amazing with figures."
"I see," Mrs. Ogden commented. "You do seem to love to read."
"It's more than that," Lexi began warming to the subject, "reading is just another way to learn new things. You can explore new worlds, go back in time, or just learn from others who have studied a specific field."
"So what do you like to read? I know young women tend to enjoy novels."
"Well, yes, I like some novels, especially the works of Jules Verne, but I also read the Almanac, and history books, even the few farm journals we get on occasion."
"Verne, you say," the older woman smiled. "I know Reggie likes that man's writing a good deal."
"Oh, yes, we've spent many evenings discussing Verne’s work. It's as if the man has melded scientific theory with ideas of the future. It makes me wonder what the world will look like in a hundred years."
"I take it you like my son, then," Mrs. Ogden pinned Lexi with a look as she continued to fold a dress and lay it in a small trunk.
"Yes, Ma'am," Lexi answered honestly, dropping her eyes. She couldn't help but wonder what the woman would think if she knew Reg had kissed her not once, but twice. "He's a very good friend," she hastened to clarify.
Standing to her full height, Dora looked at the young woman busily folding garments.
Taking a step closer, Dora laid a hand on Lexi's arm. "I'm glad he has a friend like you," she said softly. “Moving to a new place is hard on anyone and finding a friend at the end of a long trail makes it easier. Reg has always been too serious and never made friends easily." She smiled again, releasing the girl and resuming her work.
Lexi didn't know what to say. so she continued folding and packing as she pondered what the other woman had said.
"I remember when I first moved to Wilkes-Barre as the new teacher there." Dora Ogden began. "I was about your age, nine-teen and fresh from my teacher’s training. I didn't know a soul." The older woman's eyes took on a faraway look as she continued her tale.
"The very first person I met at the station was a skinny red-haired man who'd been sent to collect my belongings and take me to the cottage by the school. Mr. Robert Ogden Jr. was a farmer and a general handy man around town. He had a quick wit and an easy smile. Reg looks like hims" she finished brightly.
"So it was love at first sight?" Lexi stated curiously.
"Oh my, no," Dora said a hint of laughter in her voice. "He simply became my first friend in town. He was a nice man with a quiet nature. I guess in reality we never even courted. Mostly we talked."
Lexi was confused. If Mr. Ogden had only been a friend, why had they married? Wasn't love supposed to be an intense, overwhelming feeling?
"But you married him?"
"Well of course I did, I fell in love with him."
Lexi was even more confused now, her brows knitted over her dark eyes in thought.
"I can see you're confused," Dora said. "You see, I didn't realize at the time that love comes in different forms, but that each one doesn't just touch your heart they feed your soul."
