She would leave after work the following day. Poor Connor didn't need to have his reputation ruined by her 'help' for even another day.
Chapter 8
Connor never asked where she'd been when she arrived home, and he didn't talk to her about what the men had said in the restaurant which surprised her. When she rolled to him in bed that evening, she clung to him, wanting a beautiful experience to remember. She loved Connor with all her heart and hated that she had to leave him, but his town was rejecting her, and his business was there. She really had no choice.
Business was booming the following day. She was astonished at the sheer number of people who came through, and served everyone with a forced smile. It was hard to want to smile when she knew every one of them hated her and wanted her gone.
She had hidden a small carpet bag in the woods during the night. It had her clothes and her shotgun in it along with a big jar of water. Really, what else would she need? She'd be living up in the mountains, and she'd have no problems living off nature. Now that she could cook, it all seemed so terribly simple. She should have thought of it sooner.
After work, she kissed Connor sweetly, clinging to him, and told him she was going for a walk. He nodded his eyes filled with passion for her. "Be home before dark," he called after her. She had an odd look on her face as she left, and he worried that she was up to something.
She walked away from him without looking back, certain she wouldn't be able to go if she glanced back over her shoulder at him. He was wearing his usual outfit of pants, a button-up shirt, and a cowboy hat. When she'd asked him why he always wore the cowboy hats, even though he wasn't a cowboy, he'd shrugged. "I like them better than a chef's hat."
Millie couldn't argue with his reasoning. When she got to the woods, she found her bag and looked out toward the mountain. She knew she probably couldn't make it all the way to the mountain before dark, and she certainly couldn't try to climb the mountain after dark, so she'd have to spend one night sleeping outside.
As she walked, she cried, thinking about how much she was going to miss Connor. He'd been a good husband to her, even thought she wasn't the wife he'd sent away for, and she'd started their marriage with a lie. Every little sound in the woods made her jump, afraid there was a bear or a mountain lion close. She didn't even know what animals were indigenous to the area. She wished she had a dog to accompany her, but she didn't.
She reached the base of the mountain much faster than she'd expected, because she'd practically run through the woods. She circled the mountain and found a small cave near the base, which she quickly decided would be her new home. She slowly moved through the cave, looking for any animals that might be living in it, with her shotgun at her side. How could she possibly make it through the night with as afraid as she was?
She went to the mouth of the cave and started a fire, thinking that would be the best way to scare off animals. It was chilly, and the fire gave off a nice warmth. She opened her jar of water and took a drink before she realized she was hungry. What was she going to eat? Living off the land sounded easy, but would she be able to actually do it?
She walked out of the cave for a moment having to squint into the setting sun. She looked around for any edible plants, but she didn't really know which plants were edible. She frowned. Why had she assumed she would just find carrots and potatoes lying around ready for her to consume?
Millie knew she was going to have to shoot something, and she absolutely dreaded the idea. How would she be able to shoot an animal and then ready it to cook? Maybe she should have thought her plan through a little better.
She sat in the entrance to her cave for a moment. Skipping supper sounded like a very good idea for that evening, and then she could get up early in the morning and worry about food then. It wouldn't hurt her a bit to skip food for one night.
Leaning against the wall of the cave, she felt her eyes drooping. Surprised that she was so tired, she moved back into the cave a bit further and laid down. Why hadn't she thought to bring a pillow and something to use for a mattress. The hard cave floor wasn't pleasant.
She'd had her eyes closed for less than a minute when she heard a commotion at the front of the cave. Sitting up, she squinted into the darkness. The fire gave off a little light, and she could see the shape of something towering at the entrance to the cave. Reaching behind her, she groped for her shotgun, bringing it to her shoulder.
The gun was snatched from her hand. "You're going to hurt someone with this!" Connor stood over her, and he placed the shotgun against the wall behind him. "Now tell me why you left me to come live in some cave." He sat down beside her, not touching her, but very intent. She could see by the dim firelight that he looked very sad.
She sighed. "It wasn't so much that I left you as I left the town. They—think I'm a troublemaker." She looked down at her hands. Millie still couldn't believe anyone would think that of her. She'd only tried to help.
Connor sighed. "They did think that, yes, but I convinced them otherwise. They know now that you were only trying to be helpful." He reached out and patted her arm, thrilled that it hadn't been him to make her leave. "Does that mean you didn't want to leave me?" He had felt like a failure as a husband when he realized she'd left him, but he couldn't think of a thing that he'd done wrong. He'd been beating himself up the entire way there, trying to figure out how he'd failed her.
Millie threw herself into his arms, burying her face in his neck. "Of course, I didn't want to leave you, but I didn't want to cause you any more trouble. I was afraid that if I stayed, people would stop eating at the restaurant and stop being your friend." She couldn't bear for him to be ostracized and have to go out of business just because people didn't like her.
His arms came around her and he stroked her back, a grin on his face. "I have the only restaurant in town. Of course they won't stop coming." He was so happy she hadn't wanted to leave him that he could barely contain it.
"I never thought of that." She sighed, happy to have him with her again. "When I got out here, I started looking for vegetation I could eat, and I realized, I didn't know what I could eat. You didn't bring any food, did you?" She was starving and couldn't help but hope he had thought of food.
Connor wanted to laugh, but knew it would hurt her feelings. His pretty little wife always had the best intentions, but she didn't have the best grasp on how to make things work for her in reality. "I brought a bag full of food." He pulled away and looked down into her eyes. "Would you like me to go get it?" His eyes sparkled with laughter, but he asked the question with a straight face.
She nodded enthusiastically. "I'm starving."
He got up and moved to the mouth of the cave, coming back with bread and butter and some ham. He also pulled out a big jar of water. He put it all on a plate for her and handed it to her. "There."
"Thank you!" Just before she bit into the sandwich, she asked, "How did you know I left so soon?" She had expected him to realize she was missing when she wasn't home before dark. It had never occurred to her he'd figure it out so soon.
"Well, Louis, the boy who taught you to shoot is the son of a friend of mine. He came to me and told me you wanted to learn to shoot, but he wasn't supposed to tell me about it, which made me think something was happening." He shook his head, thinking about how Louis had come to him.
"Mr. O'Reilly?" Louis had said as he'd popped into the restaurant on his way home from school.
"Yes?" Connor had looked at the boy, wondering what he was doing there. They barely knew one another.
"That crazy wife of yours paid me to teach her how to shoot a shotgun, and said something about going out shooting on her own. I'm worried she might be planning something that won't be good for her or anyone else in town."
Connor had nodded. "I'm sure whatever she has planned, she means well." He worried that it wouldn't go well either, but he wouldn't tell Millie that. As hard as she tried, she did always seem to fall short.
"Yes, sir." Louis left rig
ht after that, and Connor had gone to see if anyone knew where his wife was.
Coming back to the present, Connor said, "So then I left the restaurant to look for you. You weren't in our room, so I went to the front desk. They said you'd been seen heading for the woods, so I found where you'd hidden your bag of clothes." He rubbed the back of his neck. "So I went back to the restaurant and packed a big bag of food, and put a sign on the door saying we'll be closed tomorrow, and then I came looking for you." He shrugged. It all seemed like a logical way of doing things to him.
"How do you know where I hid my bag?" she asked between bites of her food. How could he possibly know something like that?
"You buried your things under some leaves, but that obviously changed the leaves in that part of the woods. I could tell something had been hidden there, and I figured it was you, because you were the only one missing." He shrugged. "I walked through the woods, noticing where you'd snapped a tree branch here and there. You left a nice little trail for me. By the time I got to the base of the mountain, I could see your fire. I just followed the smoke, and there you were."
She swallowed the last of her sandwich. "You're not mad?" She knew she'd be mad if he'd taken off on her that way.
Connor shook his head. "How could I be angry? I knew you were doing it to help me."
Millie grimaced. "Some help I am. I heard the men in town complaining about me yesterday."
"I thought so."
"Why didn't you yell at me for messing so many things up?" She really didn't understand him at all.
"I will never yell at you for having good intentions, and you are filled with good intentions. Never have I met anyone who tried so hard to help others." And did so badly at it, he added silently. "Why don't you start coming to me when you want to help someone, and we'll plan out how to do it together?" He could stop her craziest plans that way and quite possibly steer her in the right direction.
Millie nodded. "Does that mean you want me to come back?" She couldn't believe he wasn't happy to be rid of her.
Connor nodded. "I can't let you go. I love you too much."
She stared at him, astonished that he could say that. "You love me? Why would you love me? I don't ever seem to do anything right." She couldn't believe he would tell her that. It couldn't possibly be the truth.
He pulled her to him, hugging her tightly. "You do so many things right. Do you know how happy I am it was you on that train and not your friend? You make me laugh and bring me joy."
"But she could cook!" How could he be happy it was her and not Berta? She knew Berta was the right wife for him.
He shrugged. "So can you now. It only took me a couple of weeks to teach you, because you wanted to learn so badly. If you had come here not knowing how to cook and told me that you weren't willing to try to learn, that would have been different. You not only tried, but you succeeded. You have several meals you can make now, and you do a good job with them." He stroked her cheek softly. "Every morning I'm thankful that you came into my life. I love you, Millie O'Reilly."
Millie hugged him, sighing contentedly. "I fell in love with you within minutes of getting off the train. I knew you had to be the one I married. I even wished that you would fall in love with me on the fountain in the park that day." She grinned at the memory, happy the fountain had listened to her wish.
Connor smiled, kissing the top of her head. "That was a good thing to wish for." He looked around the cave and sighed. "We're going to have to sleep here tonight." He hated the idea, but there was no way to make it back to town in the dark. It was just too dangerous.
She frowned. "It's not very comfortable here." She'd hoped they'd be able to go back instead of spending the night.
"We'll find a way to make it comfortable." He left the cave for a moment and came back with an armful of pine needles that he dropped to the floor of the cave and left again. He made three trips that way, putting the needles down almost an inch thick along the cave floor.
Then he removed his clothes, piling them over the pine needles. Once she saw what he was doing, she did the same, opening her bag and spreading out more dresses on top of it. They each used a petticoat for a pillow, and she snuggled close to him. "I'm so glad you came to find me. I don't know what I would have done otherwise." She had already been nearing panic mode, worrying about the strange noises she'd heard.
"I like to think you would have come home to me." He shook his head. "Why didn't you just catch a train back to Massachusetts?" He didn't understand her thinking at all, and he probably never would.
"Because everyone would have assumed I made a mistake in marrying you then. Getting on that train in Beckham was the best thing I've ever done." She couldn't bear the idea of going home with her tail between her legs as if she'd made a huge mistake. Marrying Connor had been a good thing for her, not a bad thing.
"So it was pride?" Connor asked.
She sighed. "Yes, it probably was. I hate it when people tell me not to do something and it doesn't work out for the best. It makes me crazy. Berta was certain you'd hate me and send me right back home. I couldn't go now, because she'd think she was right." She was so happy Berta was wrong. She was a good wife to him, no matter what Berta or any of the townspeople thought of her.
Connor stroked her back, sighing. "Well, you're going to have to face the town when you go back tomorrow."
"I know." She rested her head on his shoulder. "You don't think we could just live here, do you? It's a nice cave. Very roomy."
"No, Millie, we really can't. How would we make a living?"
"I haven't spent a lot of time thinking this through yet."
He laughed. "I'll be right beside you when we go back to town. I promise." He closed his eyes. "We need to get some sleep. We have a long walk ahead of us tomorrow."
Chapter 9
Connor and Millie walked back to town hand in hand. He carried her bag of clothes for her, and she carried the empty sack that had once held their food. "I really don't want to have to face anyone," she said. "They all think terrible things about me." She could see the hotel from where she was and wondered if she made a run for it if she could be in their room before anyone caught up with her.
He shook his head. "No, they really don't. I gave them my opinion of how they've treated you, and they all agreed to be more understanding." He still felt overwhelmed with anger when he thought about how the townspeople had talked to him about her as if she were an errant child.
"You did? Really?"
He nodded. "When they all came into the restaurant, I told them that they hadn't given you a chance at all. They were complaining about every little thing you have done since you got there, but I pointed out how hard you'd worked, and how you only ever had anyone's best intentions at heart."
"What did they say to that?" She wondered if they had been angry with him for standing up for her.
"I think they were all embarrassed to have complained that way. They could see that you're a good, loving woman, even though they all looked for the bad in you, you were looking for the good in them and always looking for ways to help them." He squeezed her hand tightly. "I'm proud of the woman you are."
When they walked back into town, several of the people who lived along the main street came out of their houses to greet them. The owner of the mercantile was the first to reach them. "We're so glad you're all right," he said, squeezing Millie's arm.
Millie smiled. "I'm sorry I messed up your display. I really was just trying to help." She didn't explain her reasons for reorganizing the shelves, because they suddenly didn't seem to matter.
He nodded. "I know that now. I wasn't very kind to you, and I'm sorry for that."
What surprised Millie the most was seeing John Bennett and Mary Sanders walking toward her, each of them holding the hand of one of her sons. John smiled at Millie. "We're getting married."
Millie looked back and forth between the two in shock. "But..." Didn't they hate each other?
John laughed. "My Ma
and her Pa were childhood sweethearts. They had a big fight, and each ended up marrying other people. We tried to court when we were both still in school, but our parents put a stop to it as fast as they could."
Mary nodded. "My pa insisted that I marry William Sanders immediately, because he didn't want there to be any chance of me changing my mind. He told me that John had two other girls he was courting at the same time, so I married William."
"And all I knew was that she'd married some other man within a week of telling me she loved me." John shook his head. "You got us to start talking that day. Sure, we started out by yelling, but we ran into each other later, and really talked." He slipped his arm around Mary's shoulders and hugged her to him. "So now, thanks to you, I get a wife and two sons."
Millie was thrilled. "I can't believe it. I'm so happy for both of you!" She wanted to shout from the rooftops that she really had done something good for the couple. She wondered if anyone would even listen.
Mary smiled. "We wanted you to be the first person we invited to the wedding."
"I would absolutely love to come! When is it?" Millie asked, looking over at Connor who was grinning at her.
John shrugged. "How 'bout right now? I don't see a reason to wait."
"Oh, but then we can't have a big party afterward. Connor could bake your wedding cake, and I could make a good meal for everyone there. Please wait a few days."
Mary and John shared a look, both of them shaking their heads adamantly. "If we wait, something else will go wrong. We have to do it now." Mary leaned forward and whispered, "Before my pa finds out."
More than twenty people had gathered on the street to welcome Millie back to town and let her know that they wanted her there. A boy of about fourteen ran ahead to tell the pastor to meet them at the church.
Wild Western Women Spring Into Love: A Western Historical Romance Box Set Page 7