Chapter 1
The town hustled and bustled with an astonishing amount of people Lisa wasn't used to. Living in the cottage with Frank sometimes made her forget that there was a world outside of their little homestead, and trips to town like this one were exactly what she needed to rekindle the sense of adventure that had filled her with excitement when she was a child and people had spoken of settling land in the land out west.
Iowa may not have been as far west as California and the gold rushers there, but it was much farther west than most of her east coast relations would ever manage to get in their entire lives. Lisa rode Jeb to the nearest stable and turned him over to the young boy out front.
“Could you just wash him down and baby him a little bit?” Lisa asked.
“Well I sure can miss,” the boy answered, taking the reins from her hands.
Not until after she had walked away to window shop on main street did she realize that she'd never inquired about what the payment would be. She wondered if the young boy would even charge her. She’d heard that sometimes people in town did little things like that no charge as long as the people riding in from the country did something to stir the economy; it was a kind of incentive and a sharing in the little hardships of country travel that served to lessen their sting. Lisa thought that there might be a chance she could acquire the horse shoe and nails for free as well since they were such small things that many of the city folk would have in abundance just laying around.
She wondered what things she had that the city people didn't, what little things she had access to in her day to day activities that a city slicker would find intriguing. Frank had told her once that a doctor had paid him for a map of where morel mushrooms grew at in the forest. The doctor had gone on to tell Frank that he had an interest in all kinds of fungi, and that any kind of specimens that Frank gathered in his travels should be brought to the doctor and he would buy them for a fair price. The richer folk in the city seemed to have some eccentricities about them, but she found them interesting instead of obnoxious like Frank did.
Lisa walked down the main street, window shopping as she looked at dresses and household appliances on display behind the big window pains of busy stores. The gangplanks creaked loudly as she walked, making her glance with worry at some of the boards that bowed in badly, as if they were going to break at any moment. She found it strange to think that the city didn't take care of the walkway and that each individual store had the responsibility of fixing up the boards that broke in front of them.
She wasn't an economics professor at some fancy university. It reasoned that if the stores were essential to the survival of the town then the city should see to it that the people could get to them without breaking their necks tripping on a broken board.
She walked into a furniture store. Polished chairs glimmered in the light streaming through the windows, along with tables, bed frames, benches, and all other manner of wood work. From the looks of it the furniture was being made in the back of the place.
All of the wood work bore a uniformity only achieved by skilled hands working lathe, saw and sand paper over the raw wood itself, followed by several coats of some kind of high gloss sealant. Lisa didn't know a great deal about how the creation of furniture, but she did have a good idea as to the basics of wood working, enough of an idea to know that whoever was working wood here knew what they were doing and did it well.
“Oh my, my, my,” Lisa said.
She ran her hand over the arch of a chair's back as she admired it. Frank had made all of the chairs in their log cabin when he'd built it. He was competent enough when it came to woodworking—the chairs had never failed to support his or her weight—but he didn't have the style or flair of a professional. Lisa would have died to be able sit in the chairs in front of her now. She would have loved to bring food off the stove and set it on one of the tables that shone like glass, or to be able to prop her feet up on one of the comfortable looking stools after helping Frank around the fields. She knew that Frank wanted to make a bigger bed for them at some point, but time was hard enough to find, not to mention the lumber.
“Well hello, madam,” a voice said from the back of the store.
A tall man with dark hair and eyes walked toward her while he wiped his hands with a rag. From the look of black oil on his fingers he'd been in the back room staining some new additions to his stores inventory. The man's hands were strong and well muscled, bearing heavy calluses. His chest was broad and the shirt he wore hung unbuttoned, opened down to the middle. Sweat trickled down his brow, and he wiped it again and again while he made his way toward her.
“Hello,” Lisa said, her voice almost catching in her throat.
“What can I do for you today?” the man asked.
“What is your name?” Lisa said. Immediately she blushed a deep red. It wasn't because she’d asked his name; it was how she asked it. She sounded like a young girl at a school dance wondering the name of a pretty boy who had just walked in the room. From the way the man hands slowed down their efforts wipe the stain from themselves it was apparent the man had noticed it as well.
God damn it, Lisa thought, way to make yourself look like a country bumpkin.
Lisa glanced down at her own clothes and realized that it was obvious she had come in to town from a nearby homestead.
“You look famished,” the man said. He extended his hand. “My name is Ted. It's a pleasure to meet you.”
Lisa took his hand and squeezed it.
“Ted, it is so nice to meet you. Your wooden creations speak much to your work ethic and character.”
“Well thank you, Lisa,” Ted said. He glanced at the clock above the door then back at Lisa. “You know, I see the dust on your boots and it occurs to me that you just road into town and you looked simply famished. Why don't I close for lunch and we head up top for lunch?”
“Up top?” Lisa said, hesitantly.
“Oh, my, well yes you wouldn't know, would you?” Ted said with a smile. “On top of this building I've set up a table, chairs, an umbrella of sorts to keep the sun off and music player. Just a little bit ago I set out some rather hot soup to cool as well as some sandwiches to warm in the sun. I'd love for you to join me!”
“I don't know,” Lisa said.
She didn't know why she was having such trouble thinking around this man. Her breath was come more difficult than it had before she'd seen him. Scared to open her mouth in fear of something silly coming out of it she had to really put effort into forming words and sentences.
It had been a long time since anyone had made her feel so beside herself for no reason. It made her think back to when she was an awkward teenager and boys were noticing her all the time and then finally she had noticed one of them. Goodness, this man in front of her looked simply divine, like a sultry, dark haired angel that fell from earth and decided to start making furniture.
“No none-sense, please,” Ted said. “I realize we don't know each other but I often times have guests on top of my shop for lunch, especially people that haven't been in to see it before. I realize I'm new here and it's good to build up a rapport with people, not just for myself as a man but for my business as a whole.”
Lisa didn't know what to say.
“So please,” Ted said as he put her hand on the small of her back. “Just come with me.”
Chapter 2
The sun hung high up in the sky. Its glare would have been harsh had it not been for the cloth umbrella casting its shadow on the table. Lunch had been wonderful. Music had played from a strange machine that Lisa had not seen before, only heard of, while Ted had talked to her about the city and how it had been changing.
There was a new mayor who wanted to establish some kind of economic dominance in the area in many different material mediums. Much of it affected Ted because in his line of work he used wood, cloth, copper, and steel to create furniture. When the mayor, or whoever else the powers that be were, decided to raise the prices or create some
kind of tariff, it made Ted raise prices. That or he took the hit on the chin and just made less money.
It was hard for Ted to justify not passing the money onto the customers, though. Most of the town’s people loved the mayor while having no idea what his policies were or how he planned on improving the town. As far as Ted was concerned anyone that voted for the mayor could help shoulder the financial burden of his poor policies and decision making.
Lisa had listened much more than she talked during lunch. Much of the time she had simply admired the view or Ted, depending on whether he was paying attention to where her eyes fell or not. Most of the time he was completely oblivious to anything but what he was talking about, not that he was pretentious, though. He was just the kind of person that passionately believed in what they spoke.
It wasn't some kind of theory for Ted. It wasn't a ‘What if I owned a store and had to deal with the stupid ideas the mayor implemented into the economy’ like it was for most people that lived in the city simply to work or try to start farms. He had a vested interest in the things that most people spoke of simply to fill the void of conversation that often sprung up amongst those who lived in the same area but besides that had nothing else to talk about. Often times he would ask Lisa for her opinion. Lisa had blushed every single time, and answered just a few of them. When she did Ted had looked at her seriously and listened closely, like he really considered what she was saying valuable.
Lisa appreciated that Ted was being so kind to her, but she was sure that was it. A city slicker businessman taking in a homesteader off of the street to feed them lunch and listen to their opinion on economics like they had any idea of what they were speaking on was just simply being polite. Or so Lisa thought. She couldn't find another reason why he was talking to her at all. He was such a beautiful man, with broad shoulders, round with muscles.
His hair was a few inches long on top and curled into locks that hung down in his face. He would flick these away from his eyes in annoyance, but Lisa found the action to be very attractive. Now, looking down at her plate with the food almost finished, with Ted just having left to take his dishes downstairs while assuring her he would return for hers, Lisa wondered what was getting into her.
She was a married woman. Whether or not she was happily married depended on the day. Frank's behavior in the bedroom had been completely selfish, but he was a work in progress in that regard. It wasn't that she was cheating, she had to remind herself. She was simply sitting with a nice stranger and listening to him talk. It would have been hugely rude to turn down his insistence that she eat with him. After all, he had not acted inappropriately the entire time, so his intentions must have been what he outlined at the start—that he often asked strangers to eat with him so they could get to know him and maybe buy some furniture in the future.
Lisa thought it made sense, although when it had occurred to her how much the small steaks and almost out of season fruit must have cost, her stomach turned a little. However, she had thus far kept her mind from wallowing in it. She had intentionally kept herself from recognizing that she was a very attractive woman sitting with a very attractive man who was making small talk and smiling at her like it meant the world to him.
Oh well, she thought, I haven't done anything wrong and I don't intend to. Ted is just a good guy. That’s all.
Standing up from the table Lisa looked out over the town spread out in front of her. She was amazed at how much it had grown since she had last seen it. The word that came to mind was “boom-town” but there was nothing about this city to make it boom. People were just that interested in moving west.
Many of the people in the town, Ted had told her over lunch, were transients now. That meant they had money to spend and weren't going to be around long. This had led to an increase in crime, both from the store owners swindling the people just passing through and transients stealing from the permanent residents. Lisa's mind reeled as hundreds of people filled the streets just after the noon hour. One of the few things she had brought up on her own over lunch had been something Frank had brought back from the city in his talk—the idea to name the city Des Moines and make it Iowa's capitol.
Ted had grown excited while he'd talked about it, and it turned out Frank had been right when he said many people in the town were chomping at the bit to make history and help put a flag in the ground by claiming the city as the capitol. Lisa had thought it grand how wonderful Ted had made it all sound, his eyes getting dreamy when he'd talked about maybe running for some kind of public office when the city got big enough.
Lisa turned and looked toward the homestead. She wondered if she would be able to see it if not for the trees that were assuredly in the way. The homestead was built on high enough ground that she thought she would be able to see it if not for the foliage. But maybe it was too distant. She wondered at how her feelings for Frank seemed as distant as the homestead. It felt good to be away from the seriousness of the relationship, of wondering why she was barren, or if she was barren at all and if it was really Frank keeping them from having children, or if she would even want to have children if she was able to.
There was just so much to be sorted out still between them. It was compounded by the way Frank refused to be a good lover. Although, Lisa reminded herself, he wasn't a bad lover all the time. There were just times that he was extremely selfish and she was growing to resent him more and more for it. Maybe it wasn't the sexual selfishness by itself though. Lisa shook her head. Of course it wasn't just that. It was many things compounded by the sexual frustration. And Frank was too busy out in the fields plowing to realize what was going on, that they were drifting apart while living in the same house and sleeping in the same bed. It made her sad to think about it.
“Don't worry about your plate, I'll get it!” Ted said as he vaulted up from the steep stairway they'd had to climb to get to the roof.
Lisa smiled. That was at least the third time he'd said that to her since lunch had ended. He was nervous because of her and she liked it. She liked the way sometimes there seemed to be an invisible force that leaped between their eyes like lightning, or kept their eyes from touching like they were magnetic opposites. It was something that Frank and her had had between them when they had first started their relationship, but how quickly that feeling had waned and then disappeared.
At the time Lisa's friends had told her it was normal, but now she wondered if it was so normal, and even if it was if it mattered to her. Lisa didn't want to live in a broken marriage, or be stuck in a destitute relationship that no longer seemed to be functioning properly. Lisa was almost ashamed to realize how much she had missed the spark that was so clearly present between Ted and her. She did like it though, and she didn't want it to go away.
“What is that you have attached to the side of your shop,” Lisa asked as she turned away from trying to see the homestead. “It looks like you are trying to open another shop?”
Ted paused his gathering of her plate and utensils.
“I'd love to show you,” Ted said. “I know, I know, opening up to different shops right by each other could easily backfire, and maybe I am expanding a little too quickly, but at the end of the day it doesn’t feel quick enough. I mean, there is just so much I want to do, you know? I want to make beautiful clothes for people, and also make marvelous furniture for them to sit in while they wear the clothes I make for them. Would you like to see?”
There was no way Lisa could say no and extinguish the light in Ted's eyes. So she said yes and away they went down the stairs. Ted said it would be a minute while he cleaned up and Lisa waited patiently. She was surprised to find that Ted didn't bore her at all.
He wasn't just another pretty face. The things they had talked about over lunch, although a little out of her depth, were things she found genuinely interesting. As Ted ushered her into the adjoined shop she wondered what they would find.
Chapter 3
“Just like so,” Ted said.
His hands were re
aching around Lisa's body from behind, careful to miss her breasts as he pulled a tape measure over her clothes.
“See,” Ted said. “That wasn't so bad. Now let me write it down before I forget.”
Ted had taken an hour to show Lisa all of the pretty clothes and fabrics he had amassed in the hopes that one day he'd be able to fulfill his dream of becoming an actual designer of clothes. Lisa looked at some of the machines that he had and stood in wonder at how much they must have cost.
It was amazing that such heavy things could be moved into the building and rest on the wooden floor at all. He had giant sewing machines that looked like they could run all the time without needing a break, looms that she couldn't begin to use as she was so ignorant of their function, and many other things had been in the adjoining building.
In truth Lisa had found the tour of the future clothing manufacturing shop a little bit on the boring side. She wasn't sure how she had been entertained at lunch with talk of politics and economics, but what they were doing now wasn't that exciting. However, she stood still and listened carefully when he spoke. His voice held the still hush of someone telling another about their innermost dreams. It was hard for Lisa to imagine having the courage to open up not just a furniture store but also a clothing store right beside it, especially since both ventures would be making what they sold. It all seemed so ambitious compared to the life they had at the homestead.
“Well if you think about it,” Ted explained. “Most clothing stores don't make their own clothing. Sure they can repair and alter things, but make things outright? That is an extreme rarity. I've done some of the figures and I would be ahead of the game if I made my own clothes. I'm good at it, you know, very good.”
“People would come from far and wide to buy my clothes. Of that much I'm sure.” He continued confidently, “At first I would make simple clothes for people to wear while they work in the fields or do whatever it is they do. But eventually it would be about style and quality.”
A Settler's Wife's Dreams (Erotic Romance, Romantic Erotica, Erotic Historical Romance) Page 4