by Linda Bridey
“All right, I love you” Chuck moved toward the door. “Now, let me walk you home before we fall asleep here.”
“Stay here,” Violet insisted. “If the others come, you being in here already will explain the candles being lit.”
“I’m telling you,” Chuck repeated. “We don’t need to bother trying to fool them. They already know, just like we already know about them. What’s the point of trying to keep it a secret?”
“Just call it my female sense of propriety,” Violet explained. “If you need a reason, just let me maintain the illusion a little while longer before my maidenhead goes whistling down the wind and I become Mrs. Charles Q. Ahern.”
Chuck chuckled. “It isn’t ‘Q’. It’s ‘J’.”
“ ‘J’?” Violet asked. “What does that stand for?”
“ ‘Julius’,” he told her.
Violet guffawed. “ ‘Julius’!”
“That’s right.” Chuck stiffened. “What’s wrong with that?”
Violet laughed even harder. “Julius!”
Chuck furrowed his eyebrows. “You can stop that now.”
Violet covered her mouth with her hand, but her giggles still bubbled up from inside her. “I’m sorry.”
“You are not!” Chuck barked. “Now stop that this instant! I won’t have you calling me Julius! Now stop it!”
Violet bit her lip. “I’m sorry.”
“Now get home,” Chuck pointed toward the door. “And don’t make me have to tell you again.”
Violet rushed up to him and kissed him. When she pulled away, he broke out in a grin. “Go on. I’ll see you in the morning.”
She kissed him again. “Good night.”
Their lips just wouldn’t come apart, no matter how hard they tried. “Good night. Now get out of here. You’re torturing me.”
She flashed him a glorious smile and hurried out the door before she raced back to him and threw herself into his arms again. He kissed her once and pushed her away. “Go! Leave me alone!”
She left. She ran down the hill, but when she reached the corner of the fence, she stopped. She didn’t want to go back to the house just yet. For one thing, she wanted to wait as long as possible to make sure Cornell wasn’t waiting there for her. The last thing in the world she wanted was to run into him again.
She also wasn’t finished walking in the moonlight. She came outside to walk in the open air, and she hadn’t had a chance when she decided to take Chuck back to the Fort House. She wasn’t tired yet. In spite of her long day, she wanted to stay out a little longer. The air cleared her thoughts and refreshed her aching heart.
What a day it had been! It started with her first confrontation with Cornell, followed by the trip to Butte, her first meeting with Chuck and the other two men, and now the final run-in with Cornell. This would go down as one of the most challenging days of her life.
Yet Violet couldn’t fault herself for any of her actions, not even smashing Cornell’s head into the stairs. She’d merely delivered the final result of all his provocations. She hadn’t retaliated at all when he harassed her endlessly about her decision to marry a mail-order husband. She’d barely reacted at all when he threatened to disown not only her, but her sisters as well, if they went through with their plan. And she only lashed out at him violently when he attacked first Chuck and then her.
She strode along the fence line, but she didn’t see the stars or the moon. Her mind only rolled over and over all the events of the day. She relived the memory of seeing Mick McAllister brawling in the streets, assaulting a man and taking back his rightful property. She relived her fear and foreboding at going into the hotel saloon to find Jake.
Chuck’s description of his two comrades conflicted so deeply with her impressions of them that Violet wondered if he might be mistaken. Maybe they took him in with their talk and good manners. A person could act as politely as he wanted to in a quiet train car. Get him out on the street and he might behave quite differently.
What if Rose and Iris married dangerous men, but only found out their true nature after it was too late? What if Cornell was right about them being wanted outlaws?
And now this final experience of loving Chuck, of the wild insanity of falling into his arms forever. Just thinking about it, remembering his touch and the comforting intimacy of their conversation, sent her spinning out among the stars. Would she ever return to earth again?
Just imagine what would happen on their wedding night, when nothing remained to bring her back! She could discard all the social inhibitions tying her down to the ground and dive head first into him. She could discard this stiff proper body, shedding her skin like a lizard. The confining strictures of self and society would fall away, and she would be pure, unadulterated being.
She could hardly contain her excitement when she thought about it. She felt herself approaching the precipice of annihilation again, and she shook herself to regain her composure. Chuck was right. A few days was a long time to wait.
How stupid all those rules were! How stupid the whole concept of marriage was! Why couldn’t they just live like savages and go home together? They knew they loved each other. They knew they wanted to live together and give themselves to each other. Why not?
Violet stopped at the corner of the fence where Chuck leaned against the top rail. From here, she could see all the range land for a long way around. The moon illuminated the landscape so it shone as bright as daylight.
Was that a black shadow slinking along the back hill and slithering down toward the main house? Was it a coyote, or a person running in a crouch?
The refreshing breeze that just bathed her burning cheeks and forehead turned into a cutting wind, and Violet wrapped her arms around herself to keep warm. She started toward the house. Her bed waited for her in her own room. She could rest there. Tomorrow, she would face another exciting day with Chuck.
In spite of fatigue and emotional distress, she slowed to a reluctant walk on the way back. Just a little while longer…
Chapter 29