Westward Holiday

by Linda Bridey

  Rebecca said, “See? That’s what I’m talking about. You don’t care that I’m fanciful and dramatic. My mother used to tell me that I was too melodramatic and I talked too much. Women should be quiet and sensible.”

  Jake said, “I don’t want you to be quiet or sensible. I mean, a little sensible, but don’t be too sensible. And don’t be quiet.”

  Rebecca looked at him and said, “Do you know that is the first time I’ve ever had anyone tell me to not be quiet? I could marry you for that reason alone.”

  Jake laughed. “That’s a heck of a reason to marry a fella, but I’ve heard worse.”

  Rebecca laughed and sidled close to him again. She put her head on his shoulder and they rode in silence the rest of the way to Wolfe Point.

  Chapter Nine

  When they returned to Dawson, it was early evening. They’d had an amazing day with each other and weren’t ready to part ways. Rebecca held Jake’s hand after they’d dropped the team off to the livery stable.

  “Teach me to dance like you do,” Rebecca said.

  “You mean now?” Jake said.

  “I mean right now,” Rebecca answered.

  Jake smiled. “Ok. I can do that,” he said as he unlocked the back door and brought her inside. He took her hand and led her through the dark hallway. He knew the route by heart, but he didn’t want her to trip or run into anything. Once they were in the barroom, Jake told her to stand still while he lit some lamps. Warm light spread through the large space and Rebecca followed Jake’s progress as he lit a few more.

  “I can’t dance like that in a suit jacket,” Jake said and took it off along with his suit vest. He undid his shirt cuffs and got rid of his tie, too.

  Rebecca remembered how his body had looked that morning and wouldn’t have objected if he’d taken the shirt off. Just the thought of that made her feel warm. She undid her cloak and laid it on the piano bench. She saw Jake looking at her critically.

  “What is it?” she asked.

  “You’re never going to be able to dance in that dress without tripping. It’s too long,” he said.

  “I’ll take it off then,” she said.

  “Whoa! What? No!” Jake said even though the thought didn’t bother him too much.

  Rebecca laughed at his reaction. “It’s fine, Jake. I have so many petticoats and such on under here that it won’t make any difference if I remove the outer layer. Trust me.”

  Jake eyed her suspiciously at first and then said, “Ok. If you’re sure.”

  “Good. Just a moment,” she said.

  Jake felt as if he should turn around so he couldn’t see her take it off, but then thought what did it matter? He was going to see her underthings anyway. He watched her unzip the garment and draw it down from her upper body. Jake swallowed hard as she shimmied the rest of the way out of it. As she’d said, there were many petticoats underneath it and the underthings didn’t show off more than the dress did except for her lower calves and feet.

  He grinned. “Perfect. And beautiful. You can just wear those from now on. I won’t mind.”

  Rebecca laughed. “I think that would be frowned upon by some people.”

  “You’re probably right,” Jake said. “Ok. Now the thing you gotta remember about this type of dancing is that your hips and shoulders drive everything you do. You’ve got to be loose in your hips to do it right. It’s not like ball room dancing where you keep a good frame and your upper body is stiff.”

  “How do you know all of this?” Rebecca asked.

  “My Ma was a dancer, remember? She taught me from the time I was kid. It came in handy with the girls when I got to be a teenager,” he said with a wicked grin.

  “I can just imagine,” Rebecca said.

  “Yep. So the hips have to be loose because you’re gonna be doing a lot of twisting and if you hold your hips too stiff, you could pull something,” Jake said. “We’re gonna start off with easy stuff.”

  “All right.”

  For the next two hours, Jake taught her how to do simple moves until she could put them together into one long routine. Then he showed her one of the dances that he and Lacey did together. Jake was pleased to find that she had natural grace and good instincts. When he felt she’d had enough for one night, he stopped the lesson even though she protested.

  “I’m having so much fun,” she said.

  “Me, too, but I don’t want you to be sore tomorrow so it’s best to quit now,” Jake said. “I’ll walk you to the hotel.”

  “All right. I’ll put my dress back on,” Rebecca said.

  Jake could have groaned as she donned the dress and turned around. “Will you please help me?”

  “Yeah,” Jake said and stepped behind her.

  Rebecca drew her curly hair away from the zipper so it didn’t get stuck. The movement exposed the creamy skin of her neck and Jake wanted to kiss it. Instead, he zipped her up quickly and moved away. He didn’t trust himself to not do something inappropriate.

  “All set,” he said.

  Rebecca noticed his hurried manner and asked, “Did I do something wrong?”

  Jake laughed. “No, you didn’t do anything wrong, sweetheart. You’re just so damn pretty. Honestly, it’s hard to keep my hands off you.”

  Rebecca smiled and blushed. “Oh, I see.”

  “That’s another reason, we should quit for tonight,” Jake said.

  “Thank you for being such a gentleman, Jake,” Rebecca said.

  Jake nodded and put his heavy coat on and gave her cloak to her. “Better bundle up. I’m sure it got colder out.”

  Rebecca gave him a look that could have melted a glacier and said, “I don’t think I’ll notice.”

  “Me, either,” Jake said.

  Jake walked her to the hotel and kept their goodnight kiss short even though he didn’t want to. Sleep was elusive that night.

  Chapter Ten

  Tears streamed from Rebecca’s eyes. They were playing poker in Jake’s apartment the next night and Joe had just told a particularly raunchy joke. Sammi laughed so hard that she snorted and that made it even worse. Jake held his stomach as he laughed because he was in danger of cracking a rib. Mitch grabbed his wife by the shoulders and shook her as he laughed. He loved it when she snorted like that.

  Lacey said, “I can’t breathe! Oh, oh!”

  “Damn it, Sammi!” Joe said, “I’ve never heard anyone snort like that when they’re laughing. You’re worse than one of my horses.”

  Sammi smacked his arm and he smacked her back. Mitch didn’t intervene. Sammi rough-housed with all the guys from time to time and she could take care of herself.

  Jake said, “Ok, you two! No fighting up here. I don’t need you breaking another lamp.”

  Joe said, “Quit your whining. I paid ya’ll for the lamp, didn’t I?”

  “Yeah, but I don’t care. Simmer down,” Jake said in his bartender voice.

  “Fine.”

  Jamie cleared her throat and looked at Luke who nodded at her.

  “Luke and I have something to tell you all,” she said. “We’re having a baby in about five months or so.”

  Pandemonium broke out within the group as they couple was heartily congratulated.

  Joe said, “I wondered why you weren’t drinkin’ tonight, Jamie girl. I’m gonna be an uncle! How about that? Uncle Joe. Sounds good, huh?”

  Sammi grinned and said, “Well, she might not be drinkin’ but the rest of us are gonna and we need to make a toast. We’re out of booze. I’ll run down and grab some more.” She jumped up and ran down the stairs into the darkened bar.

  She made it as far as the office before bursting into tears. Sammi cried into her forearm to stifle her sobs. No one outside of Hannah and Marcus knew that she and Mitch were trying for a baby and while she was thrilled for Jamie and Luke, she was sad for Mitch and her. Sammi couldn’t go back upstairs and get through the rest of the night. She ran back down the hallway and out the back door into the night air.

 
Jake was attuned to all noises pertaining to the bar and recognized the sound of the back door shutting. Sammi hadn’t returned yet and he wondered what she was doing. Mitch seemed to share his concern. Jake got up and looked out the window that faced the back of the building and saw Sammi running up the small alley that led to the main street.

  “Mitch, your wife just ran away,” Jake said as he turned back to the room.

  “Aw, hell,” Mitch said as he got up and grabbed Sammi’s coat and his own. He didn’t take the time to put his on.

  Lacey asked, “Mitch, what’s wrong?”

  He sighed heavily and said, “We’re trying to start a family and she’s scared to death it’s not going to happen.”

  Jamie put a hand on Mitch’s arm. “I’m so sorry. She didn’t tell us. I didn’t mean to upset her.”

  Mitch smiled at Jamie and said, “Don’t you dare be sorry, Jamie. I can’t tell you how happy I am for you guys. You’ve been working on it for a while now and you deserve to be happy. She’ll be ok. Don’t worry.” He kissed Jamie’s cheek and went after his wife.

  He found her out in the old carriage house they were renovating. Their favorite chair had been put out there when they’d bought new furniture for the large parlor of their huge house. There were many times when they went out to the carriage house and sat in it together. Sammi found the chair comforting and went there when she was upset.

  Mitch was one of the few people who ever saw Sammi’s vulnerable side. He saw her curled up in the chair and his heart filled with love for her. Mitch didn’t say a word as he picked Sammi up and turned around so he could sit in the chair with her on his lap. It was something they’d started shortly after they’d met and they had continued the habit. Sammi wrapped her arms around Mitch’s solid bulk and cried into his chest.

  He rubbed her back and held her tightly for long moments. Sammi’s sobs started to subside and she raised her head.

  “I couldn’t stay. I’m so happy for them but I just couldn’t stay,” Sammi said. “I’ll talk to Jamie tomorrow, but I just couldn’t tonight.”

  “It’s ok. They understand. I had to tell them, Sammi. They were gonna figure it out anyway,” Mitch said.

  Sammi nodded. “It’s ok. I know it’s too soon to expect anything, but it still hurts.”

  Mitch looked into the blue eyes he loved so much and said, “Sammi, it’ll be ok, one way or another, remember?”

  “It’s easy for you to say that, Mitch!” she said as she grabbed his shirt collar and shook him. “You’re not defective! All of your important parts work. Mine don’t. I know I’m not very feminine, but I’d like my female parts to work right.”

  “If I’d had someone pummel my important parts the way they did yours, mine wouldn’t work right, either,” Mitch said. “But listen, Marcus said to not give up hope, right? We have to think positive. We’re just starting out with this, Sammi. I know you’re not a very patient person, but you’re tough and we can get through this together. You’re not alone, sweetheart.”

  Sammi sighed and laid her head on his chest. “How do you always know the perfect thing to say to me?”

  “Because I know you and I love you. I pay attention to you, Sammi,” Mitch said. He stopped talking because Sammi had started unbuttoning her shirt.

  “Are you paying attention to me now?” she asked in a naughty voice.

  “Oh yeah,” Mitch said. “It’s cold out here.”

  “Don’t worry. We won’t be cold for long,” she said calmly. “And this isn’t because of the baby thing. This is because sitting on your lap does things to me.”

  “So right here, right now?” Mitch asked.

  She gave him the kind of look that always heated his blood. “Right here, right now.”

  Jake and Rebecca cleaned up after everyone else had gone. After Sammi’s departure, the party atmosphere had been ruined and no one really felt like continuing.

  Jake was worried about Sammi and didn’t talk much. Rebecca helped wash the glasses and dishes. Jake had made dinner for the group and Rebecca had been surprised by how good his cooking was. When everything was put away, Jake sat down with her on his sofa.

  “I feel so badly for Sammi,” Rebecca said.

  “Yeah, me, too. Mitch’ll take good care of her though,” Jake said. “He’s one of the few people who can get through to her. Owl runs a close second in that department. It’s a funny thing about those two. Owl says it’s like they knew each other in a previous life or something. Who knows? Maybe they did.”

  Rebecca said, “He’s the first Indian I’ve ever been around.”

  Jake knew that she came from a former slave state where people of color were still not treated fairly. There was bigotry in Montana, too, but the close relationship Dawson shared with Owl’s tribe made their situation unique to many other parts of the state.

  “And what do you think of him?” Jake asked.

  Rebecca smiled. “He’s funny and very nice. And obviously very intelligent. Hannah and he are very happy, it seems.”

  Jake wound a tendril of her inky hair around his finger. “Yes, they are. I can’t wait until they have kids to see who they look like. They’ll be adorable, I know that.”

  Rebecca smiled. “I wonder what our children will be like.”

  Jake leaned closer to her and said, “So you’re planning on us having children?”

  “Yes,” she said as his close proximity caused her pulse to jump.

  “I’m glad that you want a family,” Jake said as he caressed her cheek with his thumb.

  She nodded but said nothing as the air suddenly crackled with a shared desire. Jake looked at her parted lips and knew how sweet they were. He wanted to taste them again. He lowered his head and pressed his lips firmly against hers. Rebecca threaded her fingers through his hair and kissed him back. Gathering her close, Jake ran his hands up her back.

  The wine she’d drunk helped her lose some of her inhibitions, but it was Jake’s kisses that made her feel feverish. The hard muscles of his chest drew her hands and she liked how they felt under her palms. She’d never touched a man like this before and she was spellbound. When she’d told Jake that she thought he was the most handsome and virile man she’d ever met, she meant it.

  He tasted of whiskey and made her want something but she didn’t know what that something was. Jake knew he was reaching the point of no return and sorely wanted to strip off her clothes and have his way with her. Somehow he found the strength to slow things down. He grasped her wrists to stop her further exploration of his body and raised his head from hers.

  “I think I should take you home,” he said in a husky voice.

  “Why? What’s wrong?” she asked. Her green eyes were bright with desire.

  Jake cleared his throat and said, “Rebecca, if we stay here, I’m going to make love to you. Are you really ready for that?”

  Her pretty eyebrows drew together. “I don’t know. Perhaps. All I know is that your kisses are intoxicating and I don’t seem to want to stop.”

  He chuckled a little. “Rebecca, I want you, but I don’t want to rush you and have you wind up regretting anything that happens between us.”

  She gave him a little smile and drew away from him a little. “I know. You’re right.”

  Jake could tell that she was a little disappointed and although he felt the same way, stopping was the right thing to do. “Let’s get you home.”

  When they said goodnight at the hotel, Jake kissed her chastely on the cheek because he was afraid they’d get into trouble again.

  Chapter Eleven

  “Pa, if you don’t take the medicine, it won’t do you any good,” Jake admonished his father the next morning.

  Tuesday mornings he usually went to check up on his father.

  Calvin let out a sarcastic noise. “Yeah, I know that, but half the time I forget to take them,” he said. “Well, come on and sit down, son. I made breakfast.”

  Jake sat at the scarred kitchen table that he rem
embered from his childhood. He’d lost count of the many meals they’d eaten at this table. Jake always sat at the place at the table where he’d carved his name when he was seven. His pa had scolded him fiercely, but his ma had laughed and said that Jake just wanted to carve out a niche for himself in the world.

  Jake traced the lettering with a finger now and smiled at the memory. Calvin saw and chuckled. “Your ma used to get the biggest kick out of that every time she wiped the table. She’d laugh and say, ‘there’s Jake’s niche’. Lord, how I miss that woman.”

  Jake swallowed around the lump in his throat. “Me, too, Pa.”

  Calvin sat a plate of scrapple and eggs in front of his son and then made his own plate. Jake took a pill out of the bottle and sat it near his father’s plate. Calvin sat down slowly across from his son and took the pill before he forgot to do it again. Jake got his height from his father, but got the rest of his looks from his mother.

  “There. Happy?” he said to Jake.

  “Yeah,” Jake said.

  “So how’s things at the saloon?” Calvin said as he took a bite of scrapple.

  “Good. Real good,” Jake replied. “Good scrapple, Pa.”

  “That Sammi lady still kicking tail?” Calvin asked. He’d developed a strong liking for Sammi upon meeting her.

  Jake laughed. “Oh, yeah. She’s something to watch in action. You gotta come down some night, Pa. Everyone would love to see you.”

  “Yeah. I’m gonna have to do that,” Calvin agreed.

  “Of course, I just found out last night that she and Mitch are trying to start a family. I don’t know what I’m gonna do for a bouncer once she gets pregnant,” Jake said. “But they want a family and I’ll be really happy for them when they start one.”

  “You’ll find someone, son, but it won’t be as entertaining. You tell her I want her to come visit, ok?” Calvin said.