Man of the House: An Older Man Younger Woman Romance

by Sarah Rowling

  Laura popped the last blackberry into her mouth and let her head fall back to her shoulders to be kissed by the hot sun. It was summer, she was 18, and she was free from her studies.

  She brushed off her dress, hopped down from the fence and ran towards the large white house that her grandfather built with his own two hands, a fact that her father never seemed to let her forget.

  “Laura!” Mac yelled as she passed him in a rush to the front door.

  Her father was rocking himself on the front porch in one of the chairs he had built as a child, another fact he constantly reminded her of. Laura had never built anything, nor did she have the desire to, she only wanted to enjoy her life, to be young and free, and to fall in love.

  “You’re a frightful mess girl,” he scoffed.

  Laura let her eyes drop to her feet that were covered in mud. She kicked off her shoes and left them by the door. Her hands worked to smooth back her long hair into a tight ponytail, tying it up with ribbon that had fallen loose from her dress.

  His eyes drew soft as he watched her. “You look just like your mother,” he said.

  His lips curled into a slight smile as he spoke. It was the only time that Laura saw him smile anymore; when he talked about her mother.

  Mary, a beautiful free spirit who married the now tycoon well before he had established his ground as a successful rancher and gave birth to Laura at the young age of 17. She was an amazing mother, one that encouraged Laura to be true to herself, to experience life and to enjoy everyone and every moment.

  Laura was only ten when she lost her to an illness that was still unclear to her. She only remembered sitting on her mother’s bed, brushing her long blonde hair while she told her stories of love, life and fantasy.

  “Get inside and get cleaned up,” Mac said with a delicate tone unfamiliar to his usual.

  “Yes, sir,” Laura said.

  She swung open the screened in door and ran into the house. The hardwood floors felt cool against her hot feet. A soft breeze circulated inside from the large built in house fan, which buzzed in her ears as she made her way to the kitchen.

  “Child, what have you been into?” Clara asked.

  Laura loved how her voice travelled when she talked with such a dramatic tone. Her dark skin wrinkled when she gave Laura her looks of disapproval, but smoothed out like chocolate silk when she smiled.

  “I was picking blackberries,” Laura said.

  “Did you bring me any to make a cobbler?” Clara asked with her hand on her large hip.

  Laura giggled. Clara rolled her eyes. “Child!” she exclaimed.

  Laura washed her hands in the sink, scrubbed the blackberry stains from her delicate dress and then sat at the table with the other kitchen help, Myra and Myrna, twin sisters with a great flair for gossip.

  Clara placed a large pan of beans in front of Laura as she sat down beside her.

  “Go on and make yourself useful child,” she said with a warm smile.

  “I hear your father has found you a suitable husband,” Myrna says with her eyes wide and ready for the details of the gossip she’d overheard.

  Laura rolled her eyes.

  “I’m not marrying that man!” she said sternly.

  “But, your father…” Myra said quietly.

  “He can’t tell me what to do,” Laura said earnestly.

  Clara let out a deep chuckle. She held her belly as it began to roll with her excitement.

  “Child, Mac Elkridge tells everyone what to do, and they do it,” she said, jabbing her finger to drive home her point.

  “Not me,” Laura said, feeling her gut tell her that was easier said than done.

  Chapter Two

  Laura felt herself drifting off into fantasy as she told the kitchen help about her ideal love. She wanted to feel butterflies, to get all giddy when her love was around, and to know that she would live happily ever after.

  “The only thing I feel in my gut when Martin Adler is around is sickness,” Laura explained.

  The women all listened, Myra and Myrna with their heads in their hands and elbows on the table, but Clara with a disapproving glance.

  “Your daddy seems to believe he is a good man,” Clara said.

  Laura let out a long sigh as she stood from the table. “I want a man I love,” she murmured as she walked away.

  As she left the kitchen and the pan of beans she had been snapping, Martin’s image appeared behind the screen door.

  She had hoped he hadn’t noticed her, but his awkward wave and goofy smile let her know he had.

  Laura opened the door. He stepped inside without being invited and handed her a bouquet of beautiful red roses.

  “No thank you,” Laura said.

  “Laura, don’t be stubborn, take the flowers,” he said with a grin.

  She gripped the flowers and felt the thorns cut into her fingers.

  “You’re wasting your time Martin,” she said bluntly.

  His face grew pale, even paler than it had begun. Laura watched his lips tighten, and his eyes blink rapidly as his anger grew. She knew he was growing tired of her refusal to accept him, and she had hoped he would just give up.

  “Once we’re married that smart mouth of yours must cease,” he said coldly.

  Laura felt her blood boil as her fists clenched tightly by her side. She wanted to let out a scream and run to her room, throw herself on her bed and punch the mattress, but she was a lady now she reminded herself calmly.

  “We will never be married,” she assured.

  Laura let the flowers fall to the floor, her hand bleeding from the pressure of her clenched fists around the thorny stems.

  Martin turned and walked out the front door, the screen banged violently against the hard wood of the frame.

  She felt relief at his exit, but exhaustion, knowing he would return again and again. If nothing else, Martin Adler was persistent.

  Laura rushed back into the kitchen and let her hand soak in the cool water of the sink.

  “Child, what happened?” Clara asked.

  “Martin Adler happened!” She snapped.

  Clara took her hand and sat her at the table while she bandaged her hand with clean clothes. She was rolling her eyes and sighing as she listened to Laura go on and on about how Martin so rudely appeared at her doorstep uninvited and brought her thorny flowers.

  Laura knew Clara thought she was being foolish. Martin was a handsome man, probably one of the most handsome men she had ever seen, but his arrogance turned him ugly in Laura’s eyes.

  She couldn’t understand why a man with so much would want to marry her, a woman that despised him so.

  “Laura!” Her father’s voice echoed through the house and neared the kitchen where she was hidden.

  He didn’t acknowledge the other women, staring instead at his only daughter. His face was red with anger and his tone stern.

  “There was no reason to treat Martin so poorly,” he said.

  “I didn’t want to see him, and look what his shabby flowers did to my hand,” she said, holding up her hand with the bandage.

  His eyes drifted around the table, glancing at the women who sat around his daughter. Laura knew he hated that she spent so much time with the women. They were the help, and in his eyes, the help were not to be mingled with, especially by his own daughter.

  “You are being foolish,” her father scoffed.

  “I’m not foolish. I just want to fall in love, and I don’t love, nor will I ever love Martin Adler!” She yelled.

  She could see the anger in her father’s face at her defiance.

  “You need someone to take care of you,” he said calmly.

  “I can take care of myself. I have everything I need,” she said.

  “Keep up your foolishness girl, and you may have to,” he warned.

  “Martin has been invited to dinner, so I expect you to be on your best behavior and show him respect when he arrives,” Mac said.

  “And clean yourself up,
” he added.

  Laura felt tears fill her eyes as her father left the room. She knew that her father never remarried because of the love he had for her mother, and she knew she reminded him of her every time he looked at her, especially when she argued with him.

  Her parents had not been arranged to be married, they had fallen in love, so she didn’t understand why her father wouldn’t allow that for her.

  “All I want is to fall in love,” Laura cooed as Clara comforted her in her soft fleshy arms.

  Chapter Three

  The table was set with the fine china and the embroidered cloth that Laura’s mother used to wrap her in pretending it was a long veil. Laura wanted desperately for her mother to be there now. She knew if she were, she wouldn’t let her marry this horrible egotistical man. She knew that she would want her to fall in love and live out the fairytale fantasies that they used to imagine when she was just a girl.

  “You look lovely Laura,” Mac said.

  His eyes were bright and soft as they lay upon his only child, his daughter.

  “Thank you,” Laura said.

  She knew he was thinking about her mother, just as she was. It was hard to stay angry with the man who had such a large heart, even though it seemed buried beneath steel in his chest at times.

  The doorbell rang, causing Laura to shake from her stance as Clara rushed past her to answer it.

  Mac stood at the head of the table. His clothing was perfectly pressed. His hair was slicked back against his head and his stance regal. He was intimidating, even to Laura.

  Clara announced Martin’s arrival as she escorted him to the table.

  He smiled at Laura, his eyes lingering on her full breasts that pushed up and out of her corset.

  “You look lovely,” he said.

  His words didn’t fall on her as lovingly as her fathers. This man and his persistence irritated her, and as she took her seat at the table, her anger again grew with her father for his insistence that Martin was the one she needed to take care of her.

  Dinner was boring as the men talked about business and social affairs. None of the politics of being rich interested Laura.

  Martin boasted about his degree and her father soaked up his business advice, even though Laura knew he had no use for any such help.

  “I think I’ll go to school and get my degree,” Laura said.

  The men at the table silenced, her father’s eyes were heavy on her as were Martin’s.

  “There’ll be no need for that,” Mac said.

  Laura watched as he dismissed her and continued eating. Martin smiled at her with a condescending glance.

  “I can more than take care of us both Laura,” Martin said.

  “I am quite capable of taking care of myself,” she snapped.

  The men exchanged glances and Laura felt she had lost the argument. She pushed her plate aside and stood from the table.

  Clara had started clearing the dishes, so Laura picked up her plate and followed her to the kitchen.

  Mac’s face displayed the embarrassment he felt at his daughter predisposition to act like the help. Martin rolled his eyes at her to show her he felt she was being imprudent. Laura didn’t care how they felt, or how they saw her. She was happy to leave the table of their dull chatter and condescending glances to spend time in the kitchen with Clara and the other women.

  As she pushed through the door to the kitchen behind Clara, a boy stood in the back entrance holding a bag of bruised apples.

  His smile was delicious, his blonde hair shaggy and messy as it draped to his neck and his skin tanned from being outside in the sun all day long.

  Laura felt her heart skip a beat as she stood there in a trance. Her eyes were glued to his image, her mind racing with curiosity about who he was.

  Clara took the plate from her hand and placed it in the sink. She smirked at her as she pushed past her to finish gathering the dishes from the other room.

  Myrna laughed with the boy as they exchanged words and he gripped the sack of apples from her hand.

  He smiled at Laura, his eyes soft and beautiful as he exited back into the night.

  “Who was that?” Laura asked.

  Myrna smiled wide as she took in Laura’s obvious crush on the boy.

  “That is Billy. Your father just hired him today,” she said.

  “He is the new stable boy,” Myra chimed in with a childish teasing tone.

  Laura felt butterflies in her stomach, and her heart was pounding hard in her chest. Her palms began to sweat as she remembered his smile and deep blue eyes.

  “He’s beautiful,” she said.

  “Who’s beautiful?” Clara asked as she entered back into the kitchen.

  “Laura has a crush on Billy,” Myrna teased.

  Clara rolled her eyes at Laura. Her lips curled into a smirk as she shook her head.

  “Child, your Daddy, would have a fit,” Clara said.

  Laura knew she was right, but she also knew she could care less what her father thought at that moment. This was the boy she could fall in love with. What was happening already felt like love, or at least what she dreamed it would be.

  “You will cause that boy to lose his job,” Clara said sternly.

  Laura felt her heart sink into her chest, and the butterflies in her stomach turn to that sickness feeling she got when she seen Martin. She knew that Clara was right, that her father would just as soon as fire him as he would see her fawn all over him.

  “Now, child, that boy has a sick ma and pa, and he is the only one that can provide for them, your daddy pays him better than anyone could afford to, you best leave him alone,” Clara warned.

  “You’re right. I will,” Laura promised.

  She felt ill at the thought of not being able to pursue Billy, but she knew it was for the best.

  The kitchen door pushed open, and Martin stuck his head inside.

  “Laura, your father, has requested your presence in the dining room,” he said sternly.

  Laura felt as though she were being ordered to the other room like a child, but with her heart sinking deeper into her chest she lost the desire to argue.

  She followed Martin into the dining room where her father stood at the head of the table.

  “I have an announcement to make,” he said loudly as if there were others in the room.

  “I plan to retire once you are married, and Martin will take over the ranch,” Mac said proudly.

  Laura felt the sickness in her stomach grow. How could he? Why would he? Questions ran through her mind as she stared at her father. Martin gripped her hand, squeezing it tightly in his as she felt her chest tighten and her breathing start to shallow.

  Chapter Four

  Laura was still reeling from the news of her father’s departure from the throne of the ranch.

  “Why would you retire?” Laura asked.

  “I’m getting older, and I would like to travel, maybe find a new wife,” he said.

  The thought of a new wife caused Laura to rage. She had once yearned for her father to remarry, possibly thinking it would relight the fire he once had and open his heart back up to love, but now, no, she wasn’t ready for that at all.

  Her mind raced, suddenly feeling as if her father was only marrying her off so he could run away to find his true love. The feeling infuriated her. She wanted love, but she was given only the option of Martin Adler, a man who she was starting to despise.

  “I’ve told you time and time again. I am not marrying Martin,” Laura said sternly.

  “Don’t be foolish girl,” Mac said.

  “I could take over the ranch so you could find love,” she argued.

  Her father laughed. “Love?” He questioned.

  “My sweet Laura, I’ve had my love, I only want companionship. I assure you love has nothing to do with it,” he said.

  “See? You’ve had your love. Why can’t I have mine?” Laura squealed.

  She ran out of the house and into the field towards the b
arns. The horses inside always comforted her when she was upset, and her favorite horse Queen was always willing to listen to her sorrows.

  She felt her arm being gripped and her body turning. Martin stood there as her tears fell down her face.

  “Laura, you will one day learn to love me,” he said.

  His voice was soft and his tone sincere. She felt his eyes soften as they looked into hers. His arms pulled her in, squeezing her against his chest as she sobbed.

  She didn’t want to learn to love him. That wasn’t part of the fairytale she had planned. It wasn’t the one her mother used to play out with her. She would be the princess, and her prince would swoop her away. They would be in love, living happily ever after like the stories her mother read to her at night.

  Laura knew if her mother were still alive, she would demand that her father quit acting like a fool. She would never allow him to marry their daughter off like she was a piece of property.

  “I don’t want to learn to love you,” Laura said, pulling from his arms.

  She ran into the barn and found herself snuggled up against her horse Queen.

  The stables were dimly lit, only one lantern shining to light the large area. Queen’s stable was the darkest, positioned on the far end of the stables.

  Laura let her hand run gently across her smooth white coat as she cried.

  She found herself telling Queen all her worries, as she often did. She whispered to her about Martin and told her how her father wanted to marry her off to the arrogant man. Queen neighed at her words, almost as if she were displaying her own disgust at Mac’s actions.

  “I only want to find true love,” Laura said.

  Queen always made her feel better, even though she was certain she couldn’t understand a word she was saying.

  Laura thought she noticed a shadow in the barn. She peered through the stable gate and into the large area. It was quiet and dark, no one to be seen. Queen nor any of the other horses seemed interested in any shadows of the barn, so Laura dismissed it as a bird flying overhead of possibly a branch moved by the wind, even though she hadn’t felt or heard any wind all evening.