Megan gritted her teeth. Since when did Esther’s words mean more than hers? “Ted!” she snapped.
Esther motioned to Richie. “Show Miriam your horse. I need to talk to Ted and Megan, and what I’m going to discuss is not meant for untried ears.”
Megan’s jaw dropped. Oh, she wouldn’t! Not in front of Ted!
Miriam frowned and placed her hands on her hips. “I may not have experience in this area, but I am not naïve.”
“When you’re married, we can include you,” Esther replied, shooing her away with her hand.
“You just wait, Esther. One of these days, I’ll leave you out of something important. Then we’ll see how much you like it.”
“This is for your own good. You needn’t be curious about things until the time is right.”
Miriam’s mouth formed a tight line but she stomped over to Richie.
Nodding in satisfaction, Esther turned back to them. “Good. Now, before I begin, I want you to know that what we discuss will be between us. I don’t believe in gossip.”
Ted frowned. “Gossip about what?” He looked at Megan, his eyebrows furrowed.
“Nothing! Get up here and let’s go home,” Megan insisted.
Esther glared at him. “Do no such thing. You ought to know that she’s determined to end your marriage.”
Megan couldn’t tell if he looked shocked or angry.
“What?” he practically yelled.
Okay. So he was angry. “There’s no point in it, Ted, and you know it,” Megan said. “And you know why.”
“No, Megan. I don’t,” he replied, his voice sharp and his eyes piercing.
Esther cleared her throat and neatly folded her hands at her waist. “Good. I’m glad to see that you’re being reasonable, Ted. I can tell that you are doing your part to ensure this marriage lasts, and I applaud you for your efforts.”
Megan grunted and turned her attention to the horse pulling a buggy down the street. Just because they stood near her, it didn’t mean she had to listen to them.
“I hate to be the bearer of bad news,” Esther told Ted, “but your wife wants an annulment.”
Megan watched as the driver of the buggy came closer. She squinted. The person looked familiar, but it was hard to see his face around the horse’s bobbing head.
“We’re not getting an annulment, Megan,” he sternly said.
She intentionally kept her eyes focused on the buggy.
“I’m afraid you’ll have to do better than that,” Esther said. “Now, I’m not a big proponent of making a woman do anything she’s not comfortable with, but there comes a time when you have to put your foot down. As the head of the household, you need to assert your right to consummate the marriage.”
“I can’t believe this, Megan. You told her that too?”
“No one blames you, Ted. You’ve been patient with her. You can’t help it that she’s as bullheaded as they come.”
Megan cringed. Oh great. The rider of the buggy was none other than Aaron. This was just what they needed. A fourth party, fifth if one counted Miriam, involved in this pointless discussion. Since Ted and Esther were busy talking to each other, they didn’t notice Aaron pull to a stop by the wagon.
“Uh…Esther,” Megan warned.
“Not now, Megan. Ted, my suggestion is that you give her a soothing bath,” Esther instructed a red-faced Ted. “It might ease her nerves. Then when she’s relaxed, take her to bed and get this marriage consummated.”
Aaron stepped down from the buggy.
“Esther,” Megan warned again but the woman ignored her.
“The more relaxed a woman is, the easier her first time will be,” Esther concluded, looking very pleased with herself for giving him instructions on how to approach the situation.
“Did I hear right?” Aaron grinned at Ted. “You couldn’t do the job?”
Esther and Ted jerked as soon as he spoke. Then they glanced at Megan.
“I tried to tell you he was here,” Megan said, feeling triumphant, even though it was a small win. Still, that showed them that they’d do well to listen to her in the future!
“Ted, do I need to have a little talk with you about certain facts of life?” Aaron asked, a low chuckle rumbling deep in his throat.
“No,” Ted snapped.
Esther shook her head. “You don’t need to patronize him, Aaron. He’s got a resistant wife. It’s not his fault.”
Aaron tipped back his hat and laughed. “Then his technique is wrong. No wonder you had to seek the services of a prostitute.”
“Oh for goodness sakes. I already explained that we misunderstood that one,” Esther said. “Don’t you pay attention when I talk?”
“I much prefer what you do when we’re in bed, sweetheart.” He leaned over and kissed her cheek. “You know what I mean, Ted?” He put his hand over his mouth. “Oops. I forgot. No, you wouldn’t know, would you?”
Esther shot him a disapproving look. “You better watch it or you’ll be sleeping on the couch.”
He immediately stopped laughing. “You wouldn’t dare.”
“Don’t press it, mister. I don’t want to hear this thing spread around town.”
“Come on, Esther. You know I’m not one to gossip.”
“You shouldn’t even make fun of Ted. I told you, it’s not him. Megan is convinced that they don’t belong together. She wants an annulment.”
“An annulment?” Aaron’s voice was so loud that even Miriam and Richie turned their attention to him.
Esther groaned and put her hands over her face. “You and your big mouth. I swear, sometimes your voice can carry for miles.”
“Sorry,” he whispered.
Richie ran over to them, Miriam following close behind. “What’s this we hear about an annulment? Aaron, Esther, how can this be?”
Aaron scoffed. “Not me and her. Ted and Megan are the ones getting an annulment.”
“But why?” Richie asked. “It’s not Jason Hensley, is it?”
Irritated, Megan jumped down from the wagon, almost knocking Ted and Miriam over. “I’ve had all I can take of this. You all need to butt out of my personal life.”
“Butt out?” Miriam asked.
“It means to leave me alone.” She let out a loud sigh and glared at each person who stared at her. “I don’t need to explain myself to you. There are some things that are meant to be and some things that are not. I don’t belong here. I don’t know why or how I ended up here-”
“You came off the train,” Aaron interrupted. “With Ted.”
Rolling her eyes, she continued. “Never mind. Suffice it to say that I’m going home.” She turned and grabbed the edge of the wagon and pulled herself into it, feeling like a fool as her foot slipped and she almost went tumbling to the ground. Mustering every ounce of self-respect she could, she shot Ted a wary look. “Are you coming or are you staying?”
Ted crossed his arms, a scowl on his face. “You’re not getting back unless I take you.”
She narrowed her eyes at him. “Says who?”
“Says me. You haven’t handled a horse before, let alone two horses pulling a wagon.”
If there was one thing Megan couldn’t resist, it was showing someone how poorly they judged her. She snatched the reins. “Oh yeah? Watch me.”
She clicked the reins and waited. Nothing happened.
Looking amused, Aaron walked over to her side and undid the brake. “There. Now the wheels aren’t locked.”
She gritted her teeth, her face flushed at the snickers from her audience. She clicked the reins again and the geldings moved forward. She gasped and struggled to steady her balance as the wagon swayed under her. Dear Lord above, how was someone supposed to steer horses and stay seated at the same time? Her grip on the reins tightened as the horses lugged the wagon down the road, dust swirling around their feet. She grimaced and swallowed hard. An intersection was coming up, and she needed to take a left. But how in the world did one steer animals?
She had watched Ted steer the horses. What was it he did when he wanted them to go in a certain direction? Biting her lower lip, she pulled the left rein back. She nearly cheered when the horses went left. But her small victory was short-lived, for the next thing she knew, they marched right in front of another horse-drawn wagon.
“Ah. Okay,” she mumbled. “I can handle this.”
She pulled the right rein, which turned out to be the wrong signal, for the horses veered to the right. She gulped. Now her horses were directly in front of another person’s horses and wagon.
“Hey! Move out of the way,” the man on the other wagon barked at her.
“I’m trying!” she retorted.
She shifted the reins to the other side. The horses changed their course, and she lost her balance. Letting go of the reins with one hand, she grabbed the seat to regain her balance and the horses picked up their pace. What in the world were these beasts doing?
“Pull the reins toward you!” Ted yelled.
She glanced over her shoulder and saw that Ted, Richie, and Aaron were running after her.
A kid screamed.
Megan turned her attention back to the horses and also screamed.
The horses were barreling toward an elderly woman who was working in her flowerbed. The woman saw her, tossed the weeds she had been pulling, and leapt into her bushes to avoid being run over. A cat on her front porch screeched and bolted across the yard and up the tree. Megan tried to stop the horses. She moved the reins left and right, up and down, and finally back, but the horses didn’t stop until they crashed into the porch. The stop came so abruptly that Megan flew through the air and landed, face first, on the flowers. In the aftermath of the accident, the horses simply neighed, as if laughing at her pathetic attempt at driving a wagon.
Megan lifted her head and spit a daisy out of her mouth.
Ted reached her first. He knelt by her. “Are you okay?” he asked, gasping for air.
“I think so,” she muttered as he helped her up. She brushed the flowers off her dress before she mentally searched for any injured parts on her. “I’m a little sore.” But that was nothing compared to her wounded pride, which she decided not to mention.
The old woman struggled in the bushes, and as soon as Ted saw her, he helped her out.
Richie and Aaron caught up to them, also out of breath.
The woman shoved Ted away and retrieved her hat. Plopping it on her head, she shook a finger at Megan. “You shouldn’t be around horses.”
Megan’s cheeks grew hot. What could she say? The woman was right.
The woman looked at Aaron. “I see that badge on your vest. You must be the marshal.”
“Yes, ma’am,” Aaron replied.
“Then you’re my witness. I want you to arrest her at once,” she ordered.
Ted groaned. “Please, Mrs…”
“Baxter.”
“Mrs. Baxter, we’re sorry. My wife lost control of the horses. It was an accident. She didn’t mean to harm anything.”
“I don’t care. She needs to be off the street. Your wife is a menace to society. Going around town, haphazardly riding wagons and scaring poor, defenseless women and their cats…Why, she’s likely to kill someone. She needs to be safely behind bars.”
Megan decided she’d had enough. “Now listen here. We’ll fix the damages, and that’s good enough. As for driving a wagon, I’ve learned my lesson. I won’t do it again.”
“I don’t know. You don’t look trustworthy.” The woman scanned her from head to toe. “I have a feeling you act first and think later. This trip to prison will do you good.”
“No! I refuse to go to prison, you old hag.”
“Who are you calling an old hag?” The woman lifted her nose and narrowed her eyes at her. “I know who you are. I saw you in the newspaper. You’re the prostitute who carried around counterfeit money.”
“I’m not a prostitute, and it wasn’t counterfeit money!”
The cat dropped from the tree and landed on Megan’s shoulders, digging its claws into her skin. Megan screamed and tried to shake the cat off of her. She tried to catch her footing, tripped, and bumped into the woman who fell to the ground. The cat jumped off of her and ran under the porch.
“Arrest her, Marshal!” The woman pointed an accusing finger at Megan. “The whore attacked me. Again.”
“The whore? Again?” Megan demanded, clenching her fists.
“Look at her. Even now, she’s attacking me with her evil eyes.”
“I’ll show you an attack.” Megan got ready to pull out the woman’s hair but Ted grabbed her. “Let me at her!” she hissed.
“No. You’re making things worse than they are.” Ted grunted as she stepped on his foot and elbowed him in the side. Unfortunately, his hold remained firm.
Man, Ted was stronger than he looked!
“Mrs. Jacob, you are being disruptive. I’m going to put you in jail until you settle down,” Aaron said. “I can’t have you assaulting people.”
And so, Aaron actually arrested her, and Ted carried her to the jailhouse. Megan couldn’t believe it. She fought and screamed the best she could, but she was no match for Ted. The man was a formidable wall of steel.
While she sat, alone, in her cell, she glared at Ted who stood on the other side of the bars, a free man.
“Aren’t you going to pay my bail?” she asked.
“Nope.” He inspected his hat for a moment before he placed it on his head.
“Why not?”
“Because I had time to think about what you said. You know, about how we shouldn’t interfere with people’s lives and all.”
Her back stiffened. She wasn’t going to like this. She just knew she wasn’t going to like this one bit!
“Well, the truth is, you’re right,” he continued, using a nonchalant tone that drove her crazy. “Look at what happened today. You’ve made me the laughingstock in front of the men, again, and you nearly injured a poor, little old lady.”
“I didn’t do that on purpose.”
“Still, the fact remains that had you not been here, none of it would’ve happened. It seems to me that you’re dangerous.”
“Dangerous?”
“Dangerous.” He nodded. “I’m not the one creating problems. You are. So, I agree with you. You should have as little interaction with other people as possible.” He glanced at the bars. “And what better place than to keep you here where you’ll do the least amount of damage?”
“How long are you going to leave me here?”
“Seven days. That’s your sentencing. By then, I should have the money to pay Mrs. Baxter and you’ll be released.”
“You can’t leave me here.” She bolted from the bench and grabbed the bars. “You can’t do this to me, Ted!”
“And you can’t keep making me out to be a fool, Megan.”
Then he lowered the brim of his hat over his forehead and stomped out of the building. She yelled her frustrations but Aaron quickly slipped out of the jailhouse so she was left alone.
Chapter Thirteen
Cole studied Penelope’s profile as she steered the wagon into town. He wanted to remember her, to sear her beauty into his memory forever. He’d miss her when he left. It was a real shame that they weren’t allotted more time together. Had she been born in his time, or he born in hers, perhaps things would have ended differently.
He decided that he could at least load her wagon full of supplies before he left. She stopped the horses in front of the general store, and he got out first so he could help her down.
She took his hand and thanked him.
When they entered the store, she gave the owner a list of supplies she needed, and Cole helped the owner fill her wagon. Once Cole loaded the last box, he glanced at the train station.
“When is the next train due to leave for Fargo?” he asked the owner.
“About an hour from now.”
“Thanks.”
Cole stood by the wagon, watch
ing Penelope fiddle with her long sleeves as she waited for him. She looked at him and he sensed the unspoken question in her eyes. She’d asked him if he’d be returning with her, but he hadn’t said. He couldn’t. His future wasn’t here with her, and if she knew what kind of man he was, she wouldn’t have him.
He’d anticipated getting back on the train, but now he dreaded it. Taking a deep breath, he approached her. “Would you like to get something to eat? It’s been a long time since you’ve been to a restaurant.”
It wasn’t what she wanted to hear, he knew, but she nodded and strolled with him to the restaurant. During their meal, they didn’t say much to each other. He couldn’t think of anything to talk about. How did a man say, “I think I’m falling in love with you but I can’t stay” to the most wonderful woman in the world? He couldn’t, so he didn’t. He lingered for as long as he dared, but the hour came to a close and he needed to get on the train. This was where they were meant to part. She’d go her way. He’d go his. And he’d dream of her every night for the rest of his life, wondering if she would think of him and wondering if she found a good man, a decent man, to marry.
He walked her back to the wagon, and she turned to him. The wind blew the stray strands of her hair around her head. Her blue eyes looked up at him. He tried to stop himself, wanted to stop, but he couldn’t. He closed his eyes and kissed her. Her lips were soft, the softest he’d ever felt on a woman. And despite the fact that they were in public in the late 1800’s, he took her in his arms and deepened the kiss. She responded to him, matching his passion with hers, and he marveled that he could mean so much to her in the short time they’d known each other.
He reluctantly let her go, aware of the stares from onlookers.
She smiled at him. “Cole, we can find a preacher and get married. I hoped you loved me, and I love you too.”
He almost said yes and took her to the first preacher they could find but then he caught sight of his reflection in the store window and remembered who he was.
“I can’t,” he softly said, hating the words even as he spoke them. He saw the hurt in her eyes and quickly looked away. “You’ll do better without me.”
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