Her Secret Baby

by Christine Sterling

  Her eyes went wide, and she quickly shifted her focus to the floor. That’s where he went, to go and talk to Carl. She felt her stomach tossing and turning. “Thank you,” she whispered.

  She could feel his eyes turn to her and he shrugged. “That was the deal.”

  She turned towards him. She had never felt so thankful for someone before. He had done all this for her without really knowing her. Before she could stop herself, she was throwing her arms around him. “This means so much to me. I don’t know how I can ever repay you.”

  At the initial contact, Tom’s body had frozen. He didn’t seem like he knew what to do with her. After a few seconds, he moved his hands to pat her on the back. “It’s nothing; you are my wife now. And that’s what a husband does for his wife. He takes care of her.”

  She separated from him, long enough to look him in the eyes. There was overwhelming emotion consuming her and all she wanted to do was show him exactly how thankful she was.

  Feeling fearless for the first time in hours, she leaned in and kissed him on the lips. At first, it was tentative and sweet. She had never really kissed a man before; there were a few stolen kisses here and there when she was a teenager, but nothing too unbecoming of a lady. This kiss blew those out of the water. She tried to move closer to him, as if she wanted to become consumed by him. Tom seemed to soften up and pull her closer, deepening the kiss. This went on for a few minutes until Tom stopped abruptly, shooting up so Elizabeth tumbled off the bed.

  “Shit,” he exclaimed, as he leaned down to help Elizabeth up.

  As startled as she was, she felt hurt by his sudden rejection.

  “I’m sorry, I don't know what came over me,” Tom said, setting her down on the bed again. “I shouldn’t have taken advantage of you.”

  “No, I wanted it. Isn’t that what a husband and wife are supposed to do?” Elizabeth asked.

  Tom nodded his head, before he closed his eyes in what appeared to be frustration. “Yes, but we don’t have a normal relationship. We shouldn’t be intimate. This must be a partnership with no feelings. And intimacy will lead to feelings.”

  Elizabeth looked down at the floor. She felt ashamed at her actions towards him. Tom just stared at the ground. “I think I need to go take a walk.”

  Before she knew it, he was out the door and gone. Elizabeth laid down. She couldn’t help but feel disappointed and even though there was a sleeping baby next to her, she had never felt so alone.

  As Tom rode to the farm, he was trying to go through his story in his head. Coming back home with a new wife and child was not what Seth and Samantha would be expecting from him. He had to try to find the best way to tell them.

  He saw Samantha outside, watering her small garden in the front yard. When she heard the horse galloping, she turned around. Seeing it was Tom, she smiled and waved her arms. “Tom!” she said, rushing to him as he stepped off the horse, “We didn’t expect you to come back so soon.”

  As soon as he touched the ground, her hands were around him in a tight hug. Tom smiled as he patted Samantha on the head. She was overly affectionate to him, especially when she hadn’t seen him in days. Had his best friend not been her husband, he would have thought she was coming on to him. But as she disentangled herself from him and turned to call over her devoted husband, he knew she would always love him as an older brother.

  Seth walked over, grime and sweat gleaming from his forehead. He smiled wide and went to shake Tom’s hand. “Hey buddy! The work is already done with the store?”

  “No, I have something else I need to discuss with you. Well, both of you actually.”

  Seth gave a quizzical look, but Samantha’s face fell. “Something is wrong.”

  Seth looked over at his wife and squeezed her hand. “You are jumping to conclusions. Just because he needs to discuss something with us doesn’t mean he is in trouble.” Seth turned over to his best friend, “Right?”

  Tom scratched his forehead, trying to give a reassuring look. Apparently, this look wasn’t as reassuring as he had thought, because Seth’s face turned stone cold and he narrowed his eyes. “What did you do now?”

  Tom rolled his eyes. “Why do I have to do something? It could be good news.”

  “When you make that face, it’s never good news. It’s the face you make when you are trying to reassure someone that nothing bad is going to happen, but you know something bad is going to happen.”

  “I happen to think my reassuring face is one of confidence that can make anyone calm.”

  “I’ve known you for a long time Tom, and I have never seen you give that face.”

  “Would you two quit arguing!” Samantha said, walking to stand in front of them. “I don’t want to spend all day out here arguing over nonsense.” She turned to Tom and jutted her finger forward, so it hit him square in the chest. “Now we are going to walk inside so you can tell us your not-so-bad news.”

  Both gentleman looked over at heated Samantha as she stalked up to the house. Tom turned to look at Seth, who shrugged and followed his wife up the pathway to the house. As she opened the door, she turned around and stared Tom square in the eye. “I swear, if you got into another bar fight, I’m going to knock you out myself. I don’t need to be paying for another broken table!”

  As Tom sat at the table, looking into the faces of his closest friends, he didn’t know what to say. He had just relayed the story of his marriage, from punching Carl at the train station, the quick wedding at the chapel, and then the money exchange in the saloon. They hadn’t spoken for a few minutes and he was trying to gauge their reactions through their facial expressions, but neither one of them was showing any emotion.

  Finally, after the minutes felt like hours, he spoke. “Well, what you think?”

  Samantha was the first to speak. “What do I think? I think it might be one of the dumbest decisions you have ever made,” she said, standing up and walking towards him. Then she threw herself at him in a hug. “And I’m so happy for you!”

  It took Tom by surprise, and he looked over at Seth’s face, who as just as shocked as he was. “You are happy for me?”

  Samantha stepped back, a huge grin on her face. “Of course! All I’ve wanted for you was to get married and now, you have a wife and a child! Like a ready-made family.”

  “He doesn’t even know her! This woman could be bad as far as we know,” Seth countered, looking to his wife and then to Tom. “I can’t believe you could be so impulsive as to do something like this without thinking of the long-term consequences.”

  Before Tom could counter, Samantha intervened. “Tom is an impulsive person. I couldn’t see him doing anything but something like this.” She turned back to Tom who was scratching his head in disbelief. “So, when are we going to meet the lucky lady?”

  Seth put his hand down on the table. “Now, wait a minute. We still haven’t talked about this girl. What do you know about her? Where she came from, what she was doing here?”

  Samantha put her hands on her hips and stared at her husband with narrowed eyes. “Haven’t you been listening? Tom saw her at the train station, she needed help because of that Carl Gaines. You know, I’ve always thought there was something sleazy about that guy. Asking for a bride and then chiding her at the train station. What kind of man does that?”

  “I can see his point though; he didn’t want to get saddled with a child. She wasn’t being truthful with him; which means, maybe she isn’t being truthful now!” He turned to Tom, pointing at him in an authoritative way. “You should have talked to her more before you decided to get hitched.”

  “I can’t believe how hypocritical you are being? You knew nothing about me and yet you married me on the spot. How is this any different?”

  “This is completely different. You were exactly as described in the letters. So, I knew I was getting the right merchandise…” Seth started to say, before realization of his words dawned on him.

  “So now I’m merchandise?” Samantha screeched. To
m could feel the anger rolling off Samantha, and he knew she was ready to start a fight. She was a firecracker like that and although he thought all their petty fights were hilarious, now was not the time to get sidetracked.

  “Hold on,” Tom said, putting his hand up to hopefully calm the situation. “Before you two continue, I think I should speak up on the matter.” He turned to Samantha and motioned for her to take her seat again, which she did. Although, when she did sit down again, she made it a point to dramatically inch her chair away from her husband before looking back at Tom. “Look, I know this is a lot to take in, but marriage is something I have been thinking about for a while. I know we’ve talked about getting serious on the farm and I really feel it’s the best decision right now for me to make.”

  “But, I still don’t understand why?” Seth asked, concern etching his face. “This isn’t an act I would see you doing unless there was a really good reason.”

  Tom knew what Seth was referring to. This was an act out of the Seth Jenkins’ wheelhouse; it was out of character for Tom to act so gentlemanly, especially something as rash as marriage. And in the last day, even Tom himself had to take a step back and think about why he even did it himself. But that voice kept ringing in his head and his stomach twisted into knots. He buried the voice again in the deepest part of his soul and looked back at his friend. “I just couldn’t let that happen to her. I know you two might not understand my choice, but at the time, I couldn’t not help her. She looked so vulnerable on those steps, with no one to help her. It was instinct at first; but the more I think about it, the more it makes sense.

  “This marriage, it’s that of convenience, and she knows that. I told her before we got married. We are both helping each other out. I’m giving her protection and she is giving me a wife, with no emotions attached.”

  Samantha's face fell while Seth’s eyebrow inched up questioning. “So, as you say it, it’s just a business transaction?” Seth asked.

  Tom nodded his head. “Yes, in every sense. I’m not expecting anything else from her. And I explained to her not to expect anything from me. I don’t intend to love her.”

  Samantha reached over to pat his outstretched hands. “But, that seems so sad. Don’t you want to fall in love?”

  Tom looked into her eyes and saw the sadness there. How could he explain to her without telling her the real reason? It’s something he had kept secret for so long and yet, it would explain everything. But he was afraid if he spilled his secrets, they would think differently of him. And he didn’t want them to think of him as the monster he thought he was.

  Tom smiled, hoping to turn on his charm and dissuade Samantha’s worry. “For me, it’s enough. Love isn’t for me; I don’t think I’ll ever find someone to love the way you two have found each other. And I’m not getting any younger. It’s time for me to stop messing around with all these women and start focusing on our farm.”

  Samantha seemed to retreat into herself, though she tried to smile. Seth reached for her hand to comfort her. Tom knew that this would hit Samantha the hardest, since she wanted Tom to find someone. He knew Seth and Samantha had talked about him at length regarding his prospects. At first, he didn’t want a woman meddling in his affairs. But after a while, he enjoyed the attention. It showed how much they cared about his well-being, and in a way, he thought maybe it was to repay him since he was the one who forced Seth to write the letter in the first place.

  Seth sighed wearily. “I can understand, but I still don’t approve. But it’s not my life to live.” Samantha nodded her head, seeming to echo the statement. “So, what are you going to do now?”

  Tom let out the breath he didn't know he was holding. He was happy the two seemed to be on board with the decision. “Well, I have at least one more day making repairs to the general store. I’m going back this afternoon to finish. Then I’m going to come back tomorrow and spend the day trying to fix up the house. After it’s a little bit more livable, I think I’m going to bring her here for you two to meet. You are going to love her.”

  Both Seth and Samantha looked at each other, but Samantha turned back and smiled. “I’m sure we will.”

  Samantha then got up and rambled on about laying out some lunch for them to eat before Tom headed back into town. Their conversation seemingly over, Seth began talking about cattle and the new harvest. But Tom wasn’t paying attention; he drifted off into his own mind, thinking about Elizabeth. He wondered what she was doing back in the hotel. He wanted to think she was thinking of him. There was a twinge of pain in his heart, but he didn’t know why. Then he was angry at himself for even thinking of her. I won’t fall in love with her. I can’t fall in love with her. When he turned back to his friend to rejoin the conversation, he tucked those feelings back into his heart and prayed they wouldn't appear again.

  Chapter 8

  Elizabeth was getting restless. It had been four days since she arrived in Black Hills, and she felt like she was ready to climb up the walls. Her new husband was off doing some work at her eventual home and had been there for the past couple of days. When she first inquired about when they would be making the journey, he told her that it wasn’t ready yet. After a few days had passed, she wanted to tell him she didn’t care where they were going, just as long as she didn’t have to stay in that hotel room anymore, but she couldn't muster the courage to make any demands. She still felt indebted to him.

  After the first night of throwing herself at him, she hadn’t dared to try again. Although they did sleep in the same bed at night, he didn’t touch her at all. In fact, she didn’t even think he was attracted to her in any way. It made her feel inadequate. Was there something wrong with her? They had walked around a few times in the past few days, and she had seen many women approach Tom in seductive ways. They would walk up to him and pat his arms or flutter their eyes at him. And even though Tom seemed to pay them no mind, brushing them off at first glance, jealousy still swirled around her like a tornado. She wanted to run over to the girls and yell at them, tell them this was her husband and they were not to touch him or even look at him. The feelings were so strong one night it took everything in her power not to say anything to him.

  But she didn’t want to say anything. He had told her not to fall in love with him, and she needed to remember he would never love her. This was a marriage of convenience, that they were both benefitting from. Emotions would just get in the way. The result of all this would only be her with a broken heart. And she had seen what that did to her aunt; she couldn’t let that happen to her, not when she had Madeline to think of. Yes, Madeline must be the most important thing in her life. Her heart could only have room for one person and it had to be her little cousin.

  She just wanted to get out of the stifling room. Tom had told her she should stay in the room whenever he wasn’t around. He wouldn’t tell her why, but she suspected it was because of the looming threat of Carl. And although she was scared still, the claustrophobia of being in that room was too much for her. She walked over to Madeline’s basket. The baby was wide awake, staring at her with her hands in the air. She bent over and scooped up the baby, holding her close to her chest. “Ready for an adventure?” she cooed at Madeline, as she turned around and walked out the door.

  It didn’t take long for her to exit the hotel. There weren’t many people mulling around, so she started to walk before settling on a bench near a few trees. She looked up and saw the church on the hill, where she became Tom’s wife. It seemed like a lifetime ago, when she walked up that hill. She turned away, bouncing Madeline in her arms. The air was hot, and she felt sticky all over. A part of her longed to go back to her cool room, but she put her foot down, chastising herself. She couldn’t go back to that room.

  She gazed around her surroundings, settling on the path to the right. She saw a man riding a horse, stopping at a post in front of the hotel. When he got off the horse and turned his head, she noticed it was her husband. He was so devastatingly handsome, she knew she would neve
r tire of looking at him. He was carrying things on his saddle, which he started to take off and deposit on the ground.

  Elizabeth then noticed a woman running up to him. She was calling out to him, smiling and waving her arms. Tom saw her and stopped what he was doing. The young woman looked no older than Elizabeth, in a lovely green dress with her brown hair braided down her back. Tom opened his arms and the young woman dropped into them, as if she flung herself to him. Elizabeth’s eyes went wide, and her heart started to beat faster. She had never seen Tom react this way to another woman. Her mind started to think a thousand thoughts. Was this woman the reason he could never fall in love with her? Elizabeth stared at the two, as they were chatting. The woman put her hand on his arm and looked around him. Tom shrugged his shoulders and pointed back at the hotel. What was he talking about?

  Elizabeth could feel her blood boiling. The woman was so pretty and definitely more beautiful than any other woman Tom had brushed off before. She shot up from the bench and started to stomp towards the two. He may not ever love her, but he would not disrespect her like that. As she got closer to the two, she heard them chattering back and forth.

  “You left so early this morning! You didn’t even wait for me to make breakfast.”

  “Well, I had some things to take care of, but I’ll be dropping by later.”

  Breakfast? Dropping by later? Elizabeth was now seething. She practically ran towards Tom, coming to a stop right beside him. Both Tom and the young woman were startled by her presence.

  Tom turned first, blushing redder than she’d ever seen him before. “Elizabeth? What are you doing here?”

  The young woman seemed to perk up at the name and smiled. What was she smiling for? Elizabeth turned to look at her scoundrel of a husband. “I could be asking the same of you? Aren’t you supposed to be working?”

  “I was this morning, but,” he started to say, looking back at the woman, who was staring at them with glee. It was unnerving to Elizabeth. Why was she looking at her with such happiness? Then she got a closer look at the woman, and her eyes zeroed in on her belly, which was rather round for her petite frame.