Chapter 20

Louise smiled as she looked around the room. After riding for the whole day and stopping every three or four hours to rest, they had reached Fort Kearney and their home when the sun had already set. They had then taken care of the horses before heading for the house, so because of the darkness already reigning, Lou did not have the opportunity to see the ranch completely, just the stables and so far the living room of her new house.

"What do you think, Lou?"

"I like it. You have a very nice place here," she replied.

"We."

"I beg your pardon?" Louise asked, not sure what he had just said.

"We have a nice place here," he repeated, emphasizing the pronoun. "This is your home too… so no more me and you, now it's us."

Louise smiled, and still looking around, she added, "I have to say I miss some feminine touch… it's too manly."

"You can add any touch you want now," Kid replied, reaching out and intertwining his fingers between hers. "You can go shopping, and do some decorating." Lou nodded, not voicing that she had already thought of doing just what he was pointing out. "When I first bought this property," Kid continued, "I only had a bed, a few chairs, and a table, just enough to get by. Later when I hired Ari, she helped me to furnish the rest of the house. I guess she kept her feminine side to herself."

Lou nodded, aware of who this Ari was. Kid had told her that he had hired a widowed woman years ago to help him with the housework. The woman lived in a hut on the property too. When Kid had told her about Ari, Louise had been unsure whether she would feel comfortable with a woman around… in her kitchen and her home. She wanted to be Kid's wife in all senses, and that included to even do cooking and cleaning, which she did not like very much. In an awkward way Lou had confessed to Kid about her reluctance to have Ari around. He had understood her position, but had finally talked her into letting the woman stay for the time being. They would be gone for a few weeks later, and she could decide then if they should have some help at home or not.

"I can't wait to see the rest," Lou said.

"It's a shame we couldn't get here sooner when there was still some light," Kid replied casually.

"Well," Louise starting, brushing her palms up his chest flirtingly until finally hooking her hands around his neck. "I meant something else… the bedroom."

Kid let out a sonorous chuckle. "You are naughty, did you know that?" he said, playing along enticingly.

Louise grinned. "And you haven't seen half of me yet," she replied, and taking his hand in hers, she steered him to the stairs that she knew would lead to their bedroom and the beginning of their life together.

Louise let out a groan as sleep gradually wore off, and her own body pushed her to greet a brand new day. Her head was buried under the pillow as an hour ago the first sunrays had disturbed her rest, and in a desperate attempt to hold onto Morpheus, she had instinctively sought out darkness and grasped some more sleep.

Still with her head under the pillow, Lou spread her arm across the bed and her hand crawled over the mattress, hoping to find Kid. When she noticed his side cold and empty, she finally opened her eyes, and in a sudden motion she sat up. As she rubbed her eyes and shifted in the bed, the sheets slid off, leaving her naked body exposed to the air. Little by little, her five senses recovered from a full night sleep.

Not bothering to throw anything over her body, Lou walked up to the window and had a look outside. Her mouth stretched into a smile as her eyes finally admired the whole property. As Kid had said, it was not very big, but she loved it. The way the different outbuildings were spread over the place reminded her of the station in Sweetwater, the town she had been happiest in her whole life. The stables rose up strong and solid on the right, and not far there was a corral. The yard was not as ample as the one in Sweetwater, and as Lou directed her eyes to the far end, instead of the empty horizon, she could see a line of thick trees bordering the property. Kid had told her that from the ranch it was possible to walk to a nice pine forest, and in the summer they could go swimming at the waterhole, sheltered inside the vegetation of the forest, just like they used to do when they were younger.

As Lou studied the property, she fell more and more in love with it. This was just exactly what she and Kid had always dreamt about. Prior to their marriage, they had talked at length about their plans and dreams, and it was great to see he had managed to materialize what back then had just been words gone to the wind. Louise felt this showed perfectly that Kid had not forgotten her all this time, but it also saddened her to have missed the beginning of their dream just because of her own stubbornness.

As she kept looking out the window, she saw Kid come out of the stables, carrying a wooden crate, which he left outside before walking back inside. Lou waved at him and tried to call his attention by knocking at the window pane, but he never noticed her. So eager to kiss him good morning, she rushed to grab her carpet bag, which was still full with her clothes and other items. She chose to wear one of the skirts she had brought from Seneca, and slid into the only clean blouse she had. This turn of events in her life had been totally unexpected, and caught her completely unaware, so she was without many clothes. Lou made a mental note to go to town as soon as possible and do some shopping. She really needed to get herself some more clothing, especially undergarments.

She cast a last look at her reflection in the small mirror on the wall, Lou dashed out of the bedroom. Her mouth was smiling, actually giggling in anticipation, and she almost took two steps at a time in the staircase, trying to get to Kid as fast as it was possible. Yet, she stopped dead in the middle of the stairs when she noticed a woman at the end.

The woman had a broom in her hands and stared up at Lou as if she was seeing a ghost. Without any preambles, she asked in a demanding tone, "Who are you?"

Louise climbed down the last few steps slowly, and stretched her arm as she said, "I imagine you're Mrs. Giles. It's a pleasure to meet you."

Looking at Lou with a wary shine in her eyes, the woman took her hand and shook it stiffly. She was a bit taller than Louise, with slender features, a severe expression on her face, and black hair tied up into a bun. Her neat looks made her appear fifteen years younger than her real age. She clearly did not have the grandmotherly looks of a woman in her sixties or too many lines on her face that marked experience and maturity.

"Who are you again?" the woman asked.

Louise chuckled at her own clumsiness. "Forgive my manners," she said. "My name's…"

Before Lou could finish, the sound of the front door opening drew both women's attentions. Louise's face lit up as soon as she saw her husband appear and completely forgot about the woman before her.

"Ari!" Kid exclaimed, averting his eyes from Lou to greet his housekeeper. This morning he had got up early to muck out the stables, foreseeing he had hard work ahead of him. In his absence he had hired a local man to just keep the stables clean, but his job was not as thorough as Kid liked. As busy as he had been all morning, he had not seen Ari till now. "It's nice to see you."

"I'm glad you're back," replied the woman.

"And I can see you've already met Lou," Kid said, coming to stand next to Louise. "My wife," he added, wrapping his arm around her shoulders, and leaning over to kiss her cheek.

Lou smiled but as her eyes were on Ari, she could see that the woman looked anything but pleased with the information. Ari did not move a muscle, and in a very serious tone, she said, "It's a pleasure to meet you, Mrs. McCloud."

Louise could feel the coldness of her tone almost on her skin, and she could tell that for some reason the woman did not welcome her presence in the house at all. "Please call me Louise, Mrs. Giles."

Lou hoped that the woman reciprocated the gesture, and they could forget about formalities and be on first name terms, a sign that would knock down her assumptions about the woman's impression about her. However, Ari did not say anything else to her, but address the following question to Kid. "May I know how long Ma'am is going to stay?"

Lou was surprised by the question, which only confirmed her previous suspicions. "Ari, please!" Kid exclaimed. "How long do you think she's gonna stay? She's my wife, and the woman of the house."

"I see. Forgive me. It was a dumb question," the woman replied stiffly. "If you'll excuse me now, I have work to do."

When Ari disappeared into the kitchen, closing the door behind her a bit too powerfully, Louise turned to her husband and blurted out, "She doesn't like me."

"Nonsense, Lou. How can't she like you? She doesn't know you at all," Kid replied. "Ari is sometimes difficult to understand. She hasn't had it easy in life, and it takes her time to warm up to people. I guess she feels awkward around you. That's all."

"Does she know what happened between us? About the war? About me turning you down?"

"Well… some of it," Kid said reluctantly. "She's been real good to me during these years, and she often was the only person I could talk to. I guess she reminds me a bit of Emma, and you know how she always had the knack to make us all open up and tell her our problems."

The woman did not remind Lou of Emma one bit if she had to base her opinion on this first encounter. "Now I know why she doesn't like me," she muttered, understanding that if she were Ari, she would not like a woman like her.

"Don't mind her, Lou. You'll see. She ain't as bad as you think. Please give her a chance."

Lou nodded, wondering if Mrs. Giles would consider giving her a chance too. In any case, she would not let herself down for something so unimportant. That would not spoil her good mood, and Kid was right; Mrs. Giles did not know the first thing about her, and with time she would learn to appreciate her. But if that did not happen, she would not lose sleep over it.

"Are you hungry?"

Louise nodded. "I seem to recall somebody made me work up an appetite last night," she whispered flirtingly. "And I better fill my belly because it looks as if I'm going to need my energy tonight too."

Kid let out a sonorous peal of laughter and enfolded her in his arms. "You sure will," he murmured in her ear before he claimed her lips with so strong a passion as the night before. They kissed fervently, and when Kid released her, Lou let out a gasp, and felt her legs go weak.

"Come on. Let's get some grub," he said, and taking her hand, he steered her towards the kitchen, and Lou felt as if she was walking on the clouds, and even if he were leading the way to hell, she would follow him blindly.