A Husband for Charli Rae

by Elly Knight

  With Ben taking care of Jasper, it didn’t take Charli long to check on things. She was relieved to find all the piglets, including the one who’d taken sick, looking healthy and well. They were growing so quickly she could really see the difference and it gave her confidence that she’d be able to sell one in the next few weeks to bring in some much needed cashflow. They were going to need it with two mouths to feed. Charli rubbed her brow, feeling a little overwhelmed at the thought of how they were going to make it through.

  “Everything all right here?” Ben asked her when he approached her in the chicken coop. Charli had collected a good basket full of eggs that had been laid while she’d been in town.

  “There’s a good number of eggs here,” she said with a nod. “I’ll have some more to take to the store. Henry exchanges them for store credit. I’ve lost a few chooks lately though. I might get you to have a good look around the enclosure and see if you can figure out where a fox might be getting in. I can’t for the life of me figure it out,” Charli suggested.

  “Sure, I can take a look,” Ben agreed. “They’re wily things those foxes, they don’t seem to need much of a gap.”

  “I am aware of that!” Charli snapped at him.

  “I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to imply that you weren’t,” Ben said apologetically.

  Charli huffed and stomped her way up to the house. It had been a long day and she was ready to fall into bed. She felt a little silly about snapping at Ben, but it was a bit of a sore point with her that she hadn’t been able to figure out how the foxes were getting into the chicken enclosure. If she hadn’t been so desperate not to lose any more chickens, she wouldn’t have even asked for his help.

  When she got inside, Charli stopped, surprised by the fact that the kitchen was warm and a lamp was sitting on the table illuminating the room. She was so used to coming home on dark to a cold dark house that it momentarily stunned her. Tears filled her eyes as she realised Ben had obviously already taken care of things when he’d brought the bags in. It felt strange and yet overwhelmingly nice, to realise she was no longer completely alone.

  Ben spent some time poking around the chicken enclosure in search of any place a fox might get in. The light was fading fast and he knew he’d have to come back again the next day to have a good look around, but he wanted to give Charli some space for a few minutes. His heart nearly broke when he entered the back door in time to see her wiping away a few tears.

  “I honestly didn’t mean to upset you,” he said gently to her, his face showing his deep concern.

  “I’m fine, I’m sorry I snapped at you. It’s just been a long and overwhelming day,” Charli said as she busied herself getting out the food Martha had sent with them. “Would you like your chicken heated?” she asked him.

  Ben stepped toward her and wrapped his arms around her. “Everything is going to be fine Charli Rae,” he promised her. “You and I will make a great team, you’ll see,” he added with a smile. “Why don’t you sit down and let me take care of that. I’m rather partial to cold friend chicken myself, how about you?”

  Charli sank into a nearby chair. Having had little to no sleep the night before really was catching up with her. “Food is food as far as I’m concerned,” she told him. She was almost too tired to eat but the smell of the chicken drew her in.

  They ate in silence for a time. “I haven’t had fried chicken in so long,” Charli eventually said, breaking the silence. “If I could spare it, I’d kill one of ours and make this myself,” she told him. “Martha gave me her recipe years ago.”

  “Say the word and I’ll happily slaughter one for you. Fried chicken is my favourite dish,” Ben told her with a grin. Charli frowned and Ben looked worried. “What is it?” he asked her.

  “I hope you didn’t marry me for my money,” Charli told him softly.

  Ben chuckled and then sobered a little. “No sweetheart, I most definitely didn’t marry you for your money, or your farm. I married you because I’ve loved you for as long as I can remember.”

  Charli’s mouth opened in shock and her eyes filled with tears. She swallowed heavily and tried to concentrate on the food in front of her. It was the most beautifully romantic thing she’d ever had said to her and she had no idea how to respond. “I’ll make up Papa’s bed for you,” she said, standing abruptly from the table and leaving the room.

  Ben followed her into the only bedroom in the house. “You don’t sleep in here?” he asked her. He’d known that as a child she’d slept in the living room while her papa had the only bedroom but assumed she’d moved into the bedroom after her papa passed away.

  “I couldn’t bring myself to move in here,” Charli said with a shrug. “It reminded me too much of Papa.”

  “We’ll make new memories,” Ben said as he took her in his arms. Charli looked up at him in alarm. “I intend for this to be a real marriage Charli Rae,” he said gently to her. “I won’t force you to have marital relations until you’re ready but I do intend for us to share a bed.”

  Charli stepped back so suddenly that Ben didn’t have time to react and hold onto her. “Please Ben, we haven’t seen one another for years, I need time to get used to this whole marriage thing before we share a bed.”

  Ben regarded her in silence for a few moments, torn between wanting her with him and not wanting to make things harder on her. “One week,” he said to her. “You can have one week to get to know me again and then you move into my bed,” he added firmly.

  Charli huffed but nodded her head in agreement, thankful that he hadn’t pushed the issue. She just wasn’t ready yet.

  CHAPTER SEVEN

  “Charli Rae, what have you been eating?” Ben asked her with concern the next morning. She was up before him that morning, but he’d heard her moving around and had gotten up to help her with the morning chores. They were now back inside for breakfast and Ben had just gone through her empty pantry and cupboards.

  “I was supposed to go to the store and trade my eggs the day the judge arrived. Sheriff Johnson made me spend the night in the jail, so I didn’t get a chance,” Charli told him.

  “I’ll get some supplies when I pick up my trunk,” Ben said with a concerned look in her direction. Her delicate frame indicated she hadn’t been eating properly.

  “I’m sorry, I should have made some bread last night,” Charli said, her face flushing with embarrassment over not having food to feed him. “I usually make it at night when I come in but I was so tired last night I completely forgot. I’ll do some tonight.”

  “Eggs will be fine,” Ben assured her. “I’m more worried about how you’ve been coping and whether you’ve been eating properly.”

  “I don’t need much food, there’s not much to me,” Charli assured him with a false smile. “If you’re happy to take the eggs with you when you go, Henry will give you a credit at the store for them.”

  “That’s fine. Did you want to come with me?” he offered.

  “I have a lot to do around here today,” Charli said to him. “Will you need me when you see the bank manager?” she asked.

  “I don’t think so,” Ben responded. “If you do need to be present, I can make another appointment and take you back in. I’m sure things will be fine if it takes us a week or so to get it all sorted.” Charli nodded. “Anything specific you’d like me to buy at the store?” he asked her.

  Charli shook her head. “Whatever you think we need most is fine,” she told him. “It’ll probably be about a week before we have more eggs to barter with though so we can’t afford any luxuries,” she explained. Charli was thankful the egg production had been slightly up. She hoped it would be enough to feed them for the week.

  “I’ll sort it out,” Ben told her confidently.

  <<<<>>>>

  “Mr Montgomery, how lovely to see you again,” Norman Banks said when Ben entered the bank later that morning.

  “Call me Ben, please,” Ben said to him as he shook his hand.

  “As you wish,
” Norman said as he ushered Ben into his office. “I take it you’re here about the loan on your wife’s farm?” he asked him.

  “Among other things,” Ben said with a nod. “Do you foresee any problem getting the loan transferred into my name?” he asked.

  “Of course not,” Norman told him. “The bank will be more than happy to work with you, as long as you continue to make the repayments according to the quarterly schedule set out.”

  “And if we need an extension on a payment?” Ben asked him.

  “That could prove a little difficult,” Norman told him. “The loan was already extended to its maximum. Until some of the principal is paid down, there isn’t a lot of room for negotiation.”

  Ben nodded his understanding. “Can the loan will be written up in both my wife and my name?” Ben asked him.

  Norman frowned. “That would be highly irregular sir,” he told him.

  “I understand that but can it be done?” Ben asked. “It is, after all, my wife’s farm.”

  Norman scratched his head as he thought. “I can possibly write up a joint agreement, however, were something to happen to you, the loan would still become null and void. Miss Ander….I mean, Mrs Montgomery would still have no rights to continue the loan on her own.”

  Ben nodded. “I understand that although I do hope the thinking of your board of directors changes in that respect at some point in the near future.”

  “Well, that is outside of my control sir,” Norman told him.

  “Of course it is,” Ben said with a smile. “While I’m here I’d also like to open an account of my own,” he said to him.

  “Certainly,” Norman said as he pulled out a large book and turned to a new page. He picked up a quill pen and began to write. “How much would you like to deposit?” he asked him.

  Ben pulled a roll of bank notes out of his jacket pocket. “There’s two hundred dollars there,” he told him as he dropped the money onto the desk.

  Norman stared at the money in shock. It was more than his entire branch carried. “You do realise the loan on your wife’s farm is a little under twenty dollars,” he said to Ben. “It would seem you hardly need it.”

  “My wife is a very proud and capable woman and it means a lot to her to make a success of the farm,” Ben explained. “If there comes a day when she cannot make a repayment, I will of course, help her out. However, I wish to give her every opportunity to make a success of it on her own, without my help. I believe it will mean a lot to her.”

  “That is very thoughtful of you sir,” Norman said to him.

  “It also means that my wife cannot know of my wealth,” Ben told him. He’d only brought a fraction of his finances with him, enough for what he deemed most likely to be necessary. He could always have more funds wired later but for now he wished to keep the full extent of his wealth a secret from those around him.

  “I can assure you we take confidentiality extremely seriously,” Norman said to him.

  “I appreciate that. I happen to have a good friend on the board of directors and I would hate to have to report back to him that there was any hint of impropriety in the branch here.”

  “Of course not,” Norman said somewhat nervously. “We do appreciate your business Mr Montgomery and look forward to a long working relationship together.”

  “I assume your assistance of Mr Bartholomew in trying to acquire my wife’s asset will cease and desist from this point forward?” Ben asked him.

  “Of course, I was merely trying to help her get the best money she could for the land,” Norman told him.

  Ben nodded although he didn’t entirely believe him. Men like Norman Banks were easily swayed by those who had the greatest influence. He was reasonably confident his large deposit in his bank now made him a man of great influence. Ben wasn’t above using that influence to protect his wife, if that’s what it took.

  <<<<>>>>

  “What have you done?” Charli gasped when Ben returned from town with a wagon load of goods. “Please tell me you didn’t take out a credit line at the store. We’ll never be able to pay for this!”

  “Have a little faith Charli Rae, I paid in cash. I do have some money of my own you know,” Ben said, his voice stern. “I also intend to set up a law business in town which should help bring in some extra income.”

  Charli stared at him with her mouth open wide in shock, wondering why it had never occurred to her that Ben would have money of his own. He’d been in England of all places. It took a lot of money to get to England and back. She sank down on the bottom step.

  “Are you all right?” Ben asked her, concern etched in his features. He put down the bag of rice he’d been carrying and crouched down in front of her.

  “I was so worried about how I was going to find enough money to feed you,” she said honestly.

  Ben chuckled. “Feeding the family is now my department to worry about darlin’,” he said to her with a grin. To his consternation, Charli began to cry. “Don’t cry sweetheart,” he said gently as he scooped her up in his arms and carried her up the steps. He carried her into the living room and sat down in the rocking chair with his wife cradled on his lap.

  “I don’t want to be dependent on you,” she eventually sobbed into his chest.

  “Why ever not?” Ben asked her, confused.

  “I don’t want to be dependent on anyone,” she wailed.

  “Oh Charli Rae, you are your own worst enemy,” Ben scolded her lightly. “Is it really the end of the world to have a husband to rely on?”

  “Yes,” Charli wept.

  “Why?” he asked her, still perplexed by her attitude.

  “I don’t know,” she wailed. “I’ve had it in my head for so long that I was going to be an independent woman and you just stripped it all away.”

  “Charli, marriage is a partnership. We both bring what we can to the table and do the best with what we have,” Ben told her firmly. “My having money to pay for food shouldn’t be a reason for this much upset.”

  “It’s just been so hard since papa died,” she confessed.

  “I know,” Ben sympathized. “A little too hard. But I’m here now and it’s time for you to relax and let me look after you.”

  “But what if you die too?” Charli wailed. “And I’m so used to you looking after me that I no longer know how to look after myself?”

  “Oh sweetheart,” Ben said as he rocked her, holding her tight. “What if you die and my heart dies with you?” he asked her. “The only guarantee we have is today and we need to make the most of it. So stop with the crazy notions and enjoy the fact that you can eat three meals a day. Who knows how long since that has happened.”

  <<<<>>>>

  “Is this the gun you shot at Stanley Bartholomew?” Ben asked as he lifted a gun down from above the mantle. They’d finished their evening meal and Charli was working in the kitchen making a batch of bread. It was a good thing he was looking her way when he spoke as all he got from Charli was a nod of her head. “Where do you keep the bullets?” he asked her.

  “In that drawer there,” Charli said, pointing to one of the kitchen cabinet drawers. Ben walked across the room and emptied the bullets out of the drawer. “What are you doing?” Charli snapped as her eyes followed his movement warily.

  “Making sure you don’t take it upon yourself to shoot someone again,” Ben said as he pocketed the few bullets she had left.

  “And what if there’s a wild animal threatening our stock?” she demanded to know, her eyes flashing angrily.

  “You’ll have to let me handle it,” Ben said calmly to her. “The judge has issued me with the task of making sure you don’t handle a firearm and I intend to follow through on that.” He sat down on a nearby chair and cracked the gun open, his brow furrowed in concern as he examined it.

  “Don’t be so ridiculous Ben, as if he’s even going to know!” Charli hissed at him.

  Ben looked up and fixed her with a stern look. “Did your Papa show you how to clea
n and maintain a gun?” he asked her.

  “Of course he did!” Charli retorted, offended that he would even ask that question. Her papa had taught her pretty much everything he knew about everything. They had been inseparable since she was eight years old.

  “So when was the last time you cleaned this gun?” he asked her.

  Charli blushed. She couldn’t rightly remember. It was one of those jobs she’d been meaning to get around to but there never seemed to be enough time. “I’ve been busy,” she mumbled.

  “Charlotte, you could have blown half your face off!” Ben scolded her as he began to pull the gun apart to clean it. “If you haven’t got time to maintain it, you can’t go shooting with it,” he lectured her. “And you certainly shouldn’t go around pointing it at people or holding it anywhere near your own head.”