Pioneer Dream: The O’Rourke Family Montana Saga

by Ramona Flightner

  Aileen woke early and sat on her bed in the miniscule room she had been given in the upstairs of the Bordello. Although she knew she would soon need to begin sewing, she moved with a quiet reluctance to the one window in the room, looking over Front Street and the river. She had thought she would never fall asleep last night, with the noise, laughter, and music playing, but she had tumbled into a dreamless slumber almost before her head hit the pillow and had not awoken until a few moments ago.

  Rubbing at her stomach, she remembered she didn’t eat yesterday. First because she had been terrified at the prospect of binding herself to Declan forever. And then because she was in a brothel and didn’t know where to go for food. She sighed, resting her head against the cool glass windowpane. She watched as the first rays of the sun peaked over the ridge and then she stepped away, nearly blinded as they burst into her room.

  A knock at the door caused her to freeze, but then she forced herself to move. She trusted the Madam and prayed she was honorable. Standing behind the door, she opened it, only poking her head out. “Yes?”

  The severe looking man as large as an ox stood in front of her with a tray with a plate of food, a cup of coffee and a glass of water. “Madam thought you would be hungry,” he said as he handed her a tray. When she would have taken the tray and slammed the door in his face, he put his boot in the doorway, preventing the door from shutting. He met her glare with an implacable stare and motioned for her to set the food on the lone bureau in the room. She scurried away, throwing furtive glances over her shoulder to see if he would follow her in. However, he remained outside in the hallway.

  When she returned to the doorway, he handed her a basket filled with clothes. “Madam thought you needed better clothes.” He nodded to her and turned on his heel to leave. With a deep sigh of relief, Aileen shut the door and flicked the latch.

  After inhaling her breakfast she tugged off her soiled wedding dress. She grimaced as she looked at her bruised and bloody knee. After washing it with the meager water in the ewer, she sat on her bed again in her shift, waiting for the bleeding to stop as she had irritated the wound as she cleaned it.

  Her mind spun with the revelation from Madam Nora yesterday about her father. Where was he? she wondered. Had he always wanted her? Her breath caught at the possibility, but she fought down hope as she had too often been disappointed in the past.

  A pounding on the outside door to the Bordello interrupted her thoughts and she stood, sneaking to the window in an attempt to see who would call at such an early hour. However, she could not see who stood under the small stoop. Loud voices sounded, and she shivered at the anger she heard. Sitting again to tend her knee, she ignored the small ruckus from downstairs, and let her mind wander.

  Visions of her wedding day flit through her mind. However, it was a day where she married Kevin. No one interrupted them and the sun shone down on them as though in a benediction. She carried a small bouquet of flowers, and he stood with Ardan beside him, beaming with joy and wonder.

  Glaring at the door as it rattled, she gave a shriek when the latch broke and it burst open. Aileen grabbed her soiled dress, holding it to her front as she only wore her threadbare shift. “Get out!” she yelled, her voice quavering with fear. “You have no right to manhandle me!”

  “Aileen,” Kevin said in a soothing voice, as he stretched a hand out in her direction. Ardan was at his back holding off an irate Ezra. “Please inform Mr. Jackson you wish to speak with me. Otherwise he’ll bludgeon us with his billy club.”

  “I’m not dressed. This isn’t proper,” she stammered.

  “I’ll never hurt you,” he said and then grunted as Ardan fell into his back as Ezra pushed at Ardan.

  “Mr. Jackson, I must speak with Mr. O’Rourke. Please do not harm him or his brother,” Aileen said in an imperious voice.

  Ezra nodded and backed away. “As you wish, miss. But I will remain within shouting distance in case you desire my aid.”

  She flushed as Ardan winked at her and stepped outside, shutting the door behind him and leaving her alone with Kevin in her underthings. “Won’t you wait outside until I am properly---oof.” She gasped as he tugged her into his arms.

  “Never do that to me again, Aileen,” he rasped as he ran his hands over her. “Never frighten me like this.” He dropped his head, kissing her head and then shoulder.

  “I don’t understand,” she gasped, turning her neck so he could kiss it.

  “I’ve searched and searched this town for you since I learned you didn’t marry Declan yesterday.” He leaned back, cradling her face in his palms. “I couldn’t find you. I thought something horrible had happened.”

  She shook her head. “No, I’ve been here.” She flushed. “Although to all, I will be seen as a fallen woman. I spent the night at the Bordello.” Her eyes filled and her blush deepened as though with shame. “What must your family think of me?”

  “Hush, love,” he whispered. “There’s no shame in doing what you must to survive. If anyone understands that, ’tis my mum.”

  “You still want me?” she breathed, her expression filled with wonder and uncertainty.

  “Of course I do, you wee eejit,” he said with a tender smile. His thumb traced a path over her cheek and he leaned forward, kissing her softly. “I can’t imagine you lost to me. ’Tis why I couldn’t bear to attend the wedding.”

  She pushed herself into his arms and sobbed softly. “I’m sorry. Forgive me.”

  “No, lass, there’s nothin’ to forgive. You’re here, in my arms, where you always should have been.” He kissed her head as she soaked his shirt.

  “You wouldn’t forgive me the other night,” she stammered out.

  He chuckled. “No. I knew I would never regret knowing you. I couldn’t forgive you when there was no reason to forgive you that.”

  She shook her head in confusion. She sniffled and met his somber gaze.

  He cupped her cheeks. “You wanted to apologize for meeting me. For spending time with me on that boat. As though you regretted our time together.” His eyes shone with love and a stalwart dedication to her. “I will never accept such an apology because I will always exult in having met you. I give thanks I was the one to catch you when you tripped. What if it had been another man?”

  She giggled and turned her head so she could kiss one of his palms.

  “I must ask you, Aileen, is this the life you want? Living upstairs above a brothel?” He waited, his muscles tightening when she remained silent and watched him in silence. “Or do you want a life with me?”

  “Why would you still want me?” she whispered. “I obeyed my aunt, rather than my heart’s desire. I betrayed us.” Tears plopped onto his fingers.

  “I’m your heart’s desire?” His expression lightened when she nodded. “I want you, Aileen, because I love you. You brighten my day, you lift my spirits, and there’s no one else I’d want beside me as my wife.”

  “How can you forgive me when I can’t forgive myself?” she whispered. “I would have betrayed us.”

  He kissed her, pulling her into his embrace. “I never thought to know such terror as I knew last night. I thought I understood what Da went through when he lost Mum, but I know now I had no idea what he suffered.” His hands ran over her back. “Now I understand better the agony he felt. Tell me you want a life with me, Aileen. Please.”

  “I do, Kevin.” She kissed his cheek and she pushed at his shoulder so he backed up a step. “I do. I love you. I loved you from that first night on the ship. At first, I thought my aunt wouldn’t care who I married, as long as I married. I never understood that her bargain was that I had to marry your brother, or she would lose out on money.”

  “I’d have paid her whatever she would have lost. Surely you understand that?” He gripped her arms, his hazel eyes lit with anger.

  Aileen nodded, her hands stroking over his in an attempt to soothe him. “Yes, but then she informed me that if I married another, one of my choosing rather than he
rs, I’d never learn information about my father.” Her wide-eyed stare met Kevin’s. “I’ve prayed, every night since I was a girl, for him to write. For him to have loved me enough to remember me.” She bit her quivering lip. “I couldn’t be denied the chance to meet him. To know him.”

  He gaped at her as his strong hands massaged her shoulders. “She would have denied you that? Your chance to meet your father?”

  She nodded.

  “Oh, love,” he whispered as he pulled her close, his fingers tangling in her long hair. “I understand. If I’d had the chance to find Mum before now …” He closed his eyes. “I’d have done anything,” he breathed.

  “Don’t hate me,” she cried as she clung to him. “I never wanted to choose anyone over you. It was an impossible situation.”

  “I wish you’d told me. We would have figured something out,” he murmured as he kissed her head. “Although, knowin’ your aunt, she swore you to secrecy, did she not?” At her nod, his hold on her tightened. “What matters is we are together now, my love. And nothing will ever separate us again.”

  Her arms were around his waist and she clung to him. “You still want me?”

  A laugh burst out at her wondrous voice and he rocked them side to side. “Only forever, darlin.’” He kissed her head once more and then stepped back. “Get dressed an’ come to my parents’ house. We’ll take care of you before our marriage.”

  Nodding, she watched as he slipped from her room and heard the rumble of voices in the hallway. After a dazed moment, she leapt into action, pulling on the clothes the Madam had loaned her.

  Aileen clasped Kevin’s hand as she left the room at the Bordello. Ardan walked in front of them, and soon they were outside heading toward the O’Rourke home. She saw Ardan stiffen and then Kevin move to walk more closely beside her. “What is it?” she asked in a low voice.

  “’Tis your aunt,” Kevin said as he continued to look ahead.

  Aileen peered around Ardan who effectively shielded her from her Aunt Davies. However, Aunt Davies had seen her with Ardan and Kevin and pushed past Ardan.

  “Look at you!” she shrieked, earning the momentary attention of men wandering down the street in search of entertainment in the small town. “You’ve been corrupted by the Bordello and now think to fob yourself off on these poor, unsuspecting men. Have you no shame?”

  Aileen shook with pent up rage and anger as she stared at her aunt clinging to her affronted dignity. “How dare you?” Aileen hissed. “After you lied to me about my father? After you tricked me into coming here? After you withheld the most basic of affections from me?”

  “You’ve always been prone to histrionics, girl,” Aunt Davies said with a pitying look. “I’m surprised Mr. O’Rourke is so foolish as to believe he must accept soiled goods when he could wait for someone much better than you.”

  When Kevin took a step forward as though he would challenge her aunt, Aileen placed a hand on his chest as though asking him to remain quiet. “What I fear you don’t understand, Aunt, is that there is no one better for him than me. You attempted to separate us, for reasons I don’t understand and don’t care to know. The important matter is that you failed.”

  Janet Davies flushed with rage as she beheld the unified front of Kevin, Aileen and Ardan. “Your family will never countenance a trollop entering the family.”

  “Say one more word about the woman I will marry and you’ll wish you’d never been born,” Kevin hissed. “She’s a fine, upstanding, respectable woman who’s had to fight for what she wants. In a just world, she would have had your support and love. Instead, she had to fight against your disdain and greed.” He took a deep breath. “Nothin’ Aileen could do would ever shame me or make me not want her. Nothin’ you could ever tell me would ever make me change my decision that Aileen is the woman I will marry.”

  “You’re fools, all of you,” Aunt Davies sputtered.

  “And my father?” Aileen asked. “The letters he wrote?” When her aunt remained staunchly silent, she rasped, “Why won’t you be honest now? You have nothing to gain.”

  Aunt Davies tilted her head up and thrust her shoulders back. “You’re a selfish, greedy girl and you’ll never understand all you’ve cost me.” Turning on her heel, she stomped away.

  Kevin slung an arm around Aileen’s shoulder, tugging her close to him. “’Tis all right, love. You have a family now. You have no need of her.”

  She turned her face into Kevin’s shoulder, taking comfort from his warm, solid presence. “I fear I’ll never learn anything more about my father. She’ll never tell me what she knows, and I long to discover if what the Madam told me was true.”

  “Come,” Ardan said. “Let’s return home. Mum and Maggie will fuss over you, and you’ll feel better after a little coddling.”

  That evening, Aileen snuck into the O’Rourke kitchen for a glass of water. She had braved the family dinner and had enjoyed the gentle teasing from all the brothers. Although she had feared receiving brooding, sulking glares from Declan, he seemed unperturbed by her presence. Confused by the evening, she was unable to sleep in the comfortable bed in the room she shared with Maggie and desired a moment alone.

  After setting the candle on the table, she sat down in one of the chairs, her mind whirling with all that had occurred in the past two days. By some miracle, she had not married Declan and she would soon wed Kevin instead. Her aunt remained furious with her and she had no family now. She grimaced, for she knew if she were honest with herself, she’d had no real family since her father left home and her mother died when she was five. She rubbed at her temple.

  “You’re taking after him,” a soft voice murmured from the shadows.

  Aileen jumped at the quiet interruption, blushing at having a private moment witnessed. “Mrs. O’Rourke,” she stammered as she stumbled to rise.

  Mary pressed on her shoulder. “Shh, Aileen, you can keep ruminating. ’Tis what all O’Rourkes love to do.” Her wink was barely visible as she moved to the icebox. “I always crave a glass of milk in the middle of the night. I don’t know why.” She poured herself one and, after seeing Aileen shake her head no, she set the bottle of milk back in the icebox. “May I join you?”

  Aileen nodded. “I’d think you’d wish me far away from your family,” Aileen blurted out.

  After taking a sip of her milk, Mary studied the young woman who sat with her hair flowing over her shoulders, rather than tied back in a braid. “Why would I want to banish the woman who captivates my Kevin?”

  “He loves all of you, so much,” Aileen whispered.

  “Aye,” Mary said with a pride-laced voice. “He’s a good lad and is protective of his family. He’s loyal, kind and loving. All traits I believe you know.” She waited until Aileen nodded. After taking a deep breath, she traced her index finger on the table. “I spent too many years away from my family, Aileen, to ever wish them to suffer any more heartbreak.”

  Her brown eyes were huge as she stared at Kevin’s mother. “I don’t know what you mean.”

  “My Kevin looks at you the way Seamus has always beheld me. Like you hung the stars and the moon.” A gentle smile played over her face as she reached forward and gripped Aileen’s hand. “I would never be so selfish as to ask Kevin to deny himself of such joy as I have known. That’s not loving someone. That’s not being a good mother.”

  Aileen swallowed. “I never meant to play Declan false,” she whispered.

  “Tell him that,” Mary said. “’Tis not my place to be involved in your relationships, lass. I want to be your friend, but I will always be their mother first.”

  Aileen nodded. “You don’t hate me?”

  Mary reached forward, swiping her fingers over Aileen’s cheek. “How could I when your aunt dangled your desire to see your father in front of you? All of us know what it is to yearn to see again the person we’ve thought lost to us forever. None of us will ever judge you for it, Aileen.”

  “I’m unaccustomed to such generosity.
”

  Mary laughed. “Then you will be uncomfortable for a little while. But you will adapt.” She stood. “Soon you will understand that all we do is out of an abundance of love. For each other. For our family.” She smiled tenderly at Aileen. “An’ soon you will be a part of our family.”

  With eyes brimming with tears, Aileen whispered, “It seems like a fantasy.”

  “Ah, lass, that’s how you know ’tis true.”

  Aileen watched as Mary set her cup by the sink and then slipped from the room. Aileen sat for a few more minutes as she listened to the sounds of the house around her before returning to the room she shared with Maggie.

  Chapter 15

  Philip Dunmore preferred to stay out of everyone else’s business. Although he ferried passengers all over the burgeoning territory, he preferred to hear their tales of woe, their dreams that he knew would turn to dust, and share little of what he thought. He relished any time he passed alone in silence. He glanced around the restive town as another mass of men flooded the streets and sighed. As silent as it ever was, he thought to himself.

  Motioning for the man beside him to follow him, he walked the short distance to the O’Rourke house from the livery. Dunmore knew the family would be settling in for their evening meal. In a small town, everyone knew each other’s business, and the fact the O’Rourkes were a tight knit group who never missed a meal together was readily remarked upon.

  After taking a deep breath, Dunmore knocked on the front door, listening intently for the sound of approaching boots. After a moment, the door burst open and he nodded at the eldest O’Rourke son. “Ardan,” he said. “I fear I have to interrupt your family dinner. There’s someone here who your family must meet.” He pointed to the man behind him. A man of middling height with a middle going soft, the unremarkable man had a graying beard with a hat covering his brown hair.