Chapter Track: "Stay With Me (Brass Bed)" – Josh Gracin
Jack rapped his knuckles on the door. "Maddie?"
"Go away," she moaned from behind the door. Bedsprings groaned and creaked; bed sheets rustled.
"You doin' all right? Can I come in?"
A long sigh and a groan answered him at first. "I feel like shit… Hell, I even look like shit."
Jack chuckled softly. "You did drink half a bottle of whiskey last night. And as far as lookin' like shit, I highly doubt that, darlin'."
"Don't flatter me."
He snorted and smiled with amusement at her sour retort and bowed his head. "Can I come in?"
"Oh, alright."
Hesitantly, he turned the knob and pushed the door open, the hinges squeaking softly. His boots thudded against the wooden floor as he stepped into the room. She lay on her side facing him. Her hair was a mess around her shoulders; terrible bags formed under her half-opened eyes. The moment he stepped into the room, she pulled the covers up over her head and moaned with misery. Jack chuckled as he walked up to her bedside and sat down on the corner.
"Maddie, c'mon," he encouraged with a smirk. "You don't look that terrible. You never have to me, anyways."
"Oh, you're just layin' it on thick this morning, aren't you?" she grumbled from underneath the sheets.
"I'm just being honest is all."
She gave an unimpressed grunt as she slowly lowered the covers to her chest. Her face scrunched into a countenance of pain, and she rubbed at her temples with her fingers gingerly, gasping and wincing.
Jack scooted closer to her. "Headache?"
She nodded, her eyes shut tight.
"I've still got that medicine the doctor gave for you. I can get it for you, if you like."
She laid her head back down on the pillow and rolled onto her back; she covered her face with both hands and sighed heavily. "If you would, please."
He wasted no time retrieving the medicine from her belongings across the room; she'd kept her things, what little she had at the ranch, sitting atop the dresser. After she'd taken the pills, she laid back down and closed her eyes, her forehead furrowed as the pain continued to wrack her head. Jack sat beside her for a time, looking her over with concern.
"You gonna be okay?" he asked as he rested a hand on her arm.
She shook her head. "I don't think it's been this bad before. Jesus Christ, what was I thinkin' last night?"
His thumb caressed her skin; he squeezed her arm. "Well, I don't think you were thinkin' at all, Maddie. But then again, I went and did the same thing in town." He glanced to the side and frowned. "I'm sorry."
She opened an eye and frowned quizzically at him. "For what?"
"For last night. For leavin' you here, alone. And for yellin' at you."
She blinked and opened her other eye, staring at him with a blank expression.
"Or do you not remember?"
"It's…fuzzy…but yes, I remember. And I'm sorry for everything you've had to go through." Her eyes softened as she looked up at him. She took his hand in hers and squeezed it.
"No need to apologize, ma'am. All that's happened so long ago. None of it matters anymore."
She frowned as she closed her eyes and sighed.
Jack studied her for a time, noticing how worn out and frail she seemed. Her hair, though tangled slightly, was spread out atop the pillows and her shoulders in a beautiful fan. He stood up off the bed and turned to leave.
"Wait a minute," she called out. "Where are you goin'?"
"Chores gotta get done some time this mornin'," he answered over his shoulder. "And the barn needs to get finished."
"So, what, you think you're gonna do all the work outside by yourself today?"
He nodded. "I think it's just best if you rest up and sleep it off. Just for today. Then tomorrow I'll put your lazy butt back to work. How does that sound?"
She frowned at him and rolled her eyes. "If my stomach wasn't churnin' and my head wasn't poundin', I'd get up and beat some manners into you. But as it seems, I'll most likely prove a poor worker today. I swear, if I live through this day, it'll be a miracle."
Jack chuckled as he rested his hand on the door knob. "You'll be fine. You're tough."
"But what if you need help out there? What am I supposed to do, just lay here and not do a damned thing while you're out there bustin' your ass?"
He nodded resolutely. "And if you try to get out there and help, I'll drag you right back in here and make you lay down."
She sighed and draped an arm over her face, shielding her eyes from the morning sunlight that fought to pierce through the curtains. "Fine, but I'd better not hear any sass-mouthin' from you later on. If you only knew how much this hurts…"
"Trust me, I've had my fair share of mornings like this. Just rest. I'll be back in here 'round noon to check up on you. Until then, get some sleep, alright?"
"Okay," she groaned and rolled over onto her side with her back facing him. Before he closed the door behind him, he heard her murmur, "Thank you, Jack."
"Any time, miss."
By the time dusk began to settle around the ranch, Jack had finished with most of the exterior of the barn and did chores. Weary and hungry for a hot meal, he shuffled back up to the house. As he walked up the porch steps and towards the door, he paused when he saw movement out of the corner of his eye. Turning, he blinked with surprise to see Maddie sitting on the corner of the porch in the rocking chair, one hand holding a book and the other a large smoking cigar. Happy to see her out of bed, he ambled up to her with a smile.
"Glad to see you're feelin' better," he said as he leaned against the porch railing. He glanced down at the book in her hands and squinted to discern the title. "What are you readin'?"
"The Taming of the Shrew," she replied and brought the cigar to her lips. She took several short puffs before one long drag. She let the smoke roll out of her mouth and past her lips in one glorious bluish-white cloud; it drifted up around the brim of her Stetson and dissipated slowly in the air above her. Her hair had been washed and combed and pulled up into a messy bun, with several strands falling over her forehead. She looked ravishing to him.
Blinking away his entrancement, he cleared his throat and asked, "Again? I thought you've read that already, back at Bonnie's."
"Well, yeah, but I wanted to read it again. I never get tired of Shakespeare and his whimsical plays. And this one," she tapped on the cover and glanced up at him, "is just as interesting."
He grinned down at her. "So, is it better the second time around?"
She nodded as she returned her gaze to the pages. The cigar released a tendril of smoke that danced around her head. "Hamlet is still my favorite, though."
"Mine, too," he agreed as he reached within his vest pocket and withdrew a cigarette he'd rolled and packed earlier that day. He lit up and took a long, refreshing inhale, letting the smoke drift out of his mouth as he looked out across his ranch. The sunset cast a beautiful, orange haze over his property, and he grinned at how much he'd gotten done so far that summer. "Ya know, it won't be long before we get done with everything." He glanced down at Maddie, and sorrow crept into his heart. He stepped closer to his companion and rested a hand on her shoulder to get her attention.
She looked up at him from her book and blinked. "Yes?"
He bit down on his lip, not knowing how best to phrase his concerns. "So…have you made a decision yet?"
"You know the answer to that question, Jack."
He opened his mouth to rebuke her decision, but he closed it when he realized it wouldn't make much of a difference. I wish you'd stay, he thought as he removed his hand from her shoulder and turned to face the sunset, staring solemnly past his property and across the Great Plains. I wish you would reconsider…but you won't.
"It's better this way," she murmured as she closed her book and set it on her lap. "You and I both know this to be true."
He glanced back at her over his shoulder with a deep frown and a furrowed brow. "If that's what you want..."
"Thank you, Jack. I appreciate your respect for my wishes."
Jack nodded curtly as he looked back out around the landscape. He quickly smoked his cigarette before he ground it out on the railing, flicked it over the side, and hastily retreated into the house to start on supper and keep himself from thinking further on the saddening matter at hand.
The weeks passed; June passed into July, and the barn and silo were completely restored. The livestock had all but grazed down what grass the property could give to them, and one morning Jack and Maddie saddled up and drove the cattle and Féileacán out to the Great Plains to graze. All was quiet as they sat atop their horses watching over the herd; they hardly spoke and the silence wasn't bothersome to the two as they enjoyed the quietness of the plains. However, after they drove the livestock back to the corral for the night, the silence was broken as they unsaddled their horses in the barn.
Maddie looked at him overtop Gypsy's back and said, "I'm leavin', Jack."
Jack flinched and stared at her, wide-eyed as he tried to process her words. "Now?" he asked fearfully, his voice quivering. He paused loosening the front cinch.
She shook her head once and pulled off the saddle and blanket off her mare's sweat-drenched back. "No, tomorrow mornin' after chores."
Jack's heart sank deeper and deeper into his gut. Frowning deeply, he pulled the saddle and blanket off and set them atop a saw horse. Without looking at her again, he led his palomino out the back of the barn and into the corral, where he took off the bridle and patted the stallion's rump, urging him to walk on and join Féileacán's side.
Maddie and Gypsy walked up to him; Maddie took off the bridle and watched as her black beauty trotted over to her herd mates across the corral. The trio of equines whickered and brushed noses, happy to be together at the end of the day.
Jack turned to her. "What spurred this on?"
Maddie shrugged and looked up at him. "You don't need me here anymore. My debt has been repaid, and it's just best we move on." She turned and walked away through the barn and out the front, heading back to the house.
Jack watched her leave, temporarily rooted in place by the icy pain in his chest. Determination boiled over, thawing his cracked heart, and with a shake of his head, he strolled through the barn and followed her inside. She stood in the living room, looking around the house as if she were painting a picture of it in her memory before she left. A sad frown adorned her lips, and her eyes were narrowed slightly, but nevertheless, she looked determined to take her leave come tomorrow morning.
She blinked as Jack came to stand before her. "What?"
"Don't go. Please, Maddie. Please reconsider it. I'm beggin' you."
She shook her head as she undid her hair and let it tumble down her shoulders and back. She flicked her hair back with a toss of her head as she crossed her arms and refused to submit to his pleadings. "No, Jack. It's not right for me to stay here any longer. It's heresy for an unmarried woman to live with an unmarried man, you know that. Besides, it wouldn't make sense for me to stay with the man who killed my uncle, nor for you to be with the niece of the man you killed."
Jack's jaw dropped. "That shouldn't matter now, Maddie! It doesn't! What are you so afraid of? What could possibly not make you want to stay, other than such stupid reasons that really don't matter anymore?"
Maddie set her face into a hard grimace as she threw her arms down to her sides and shouted, "Both our families are broken and dead, so what do you suppose will happen to us if I choose to stay with you?"
"We would be happy, for one thing!" Jack answered earnestly and stepped closer to her. "I've started all over again, so why shouldn't you? Maddie, please just listen to me. Why leave when this is your home already? What will you do, besides go back to Bonnie's and go back to bounty hunting? What's there for you to do, besides be a ranch hand over there and spend the rest of your days being shot at by criminals and raising livestock? What happens if you get killed the next time you go out alone on a hunt? If you just ride off by yourself, then what am I supposed to do? Just sit here helpless and hear about how you got shot down and killed like some wild animal out in the middle of nowhere?"
She stiffened with anger and stepped closer to him. "I'm NOT goin' to be a bounty hunter, Jack. Not anymore. I'm through with that business: all it's proven is that I'm no stronger than I was when I first started. It's deflowered me and turned me to someone I'm not. And I have every intention on goin' back to Bonnie's. She needs my help."
"Bonnie's just fine without you, darlin'. She's got more than enough help at the ranch than she can keep track of. Please, Maddie, stay with me."
She shook her head and furrowed her brow. "I've only stayed here this long to pay my debt. Besides, these past three months have been hell for the both of us. Admit it, Jack, you've hated havin' me here: I've made your life a livin' hell! I've been nothin' but a burden to you."
He grasped her by the shoulders and looked deep into her eyes. "Maddie, don't EVER say that! You've never been a burden to me, not ever!"
She looked off the side and bit down on her lip. For a long moment, she stood there debating, all the while mixed emotions flashing across her face. She glanced back at him with a burning affection that made his heart stop; she glared at him with seething hate and betrayal; she blinked away tears of regret and heartbreak and stared down at the floor.
Seeing her distress, Jack stepped closer and took her hands in his. They stared at one another for a long second before the silence was broken.
"Can I trust you?" she whispered sincerely.
He blinked. "I've been takin' care of you, haven't I? Come on, Maddie, just think about what you've just asked me. You can trust me."
Anger flashed in her brown eyes. "Can I? When the last time I trusted you, you hurt me more than I've ever—"
"Oh, COME ON, Madeline! ENOUGH of that! Why do you keep throwin' that in my face?!"
She wrenched her hands out of his and shouted back, "So I can make sure I won't get hurt again! Do you not see how difficult this is—has been for me? Even if I try, what's the point when one of us will eventually say or do somethin' to hurt the other?"
"The whole point in two people doin' this sort of thing is that they're willing to give it a try, because they want and know that somethin' good will come out of it!" He stepped closer to her once more and reached his hands out to hers.
In response to his advances, Maddie shied away until her back pressed against the wall adjacent to his parent's bedroom.
"Maddie, I trust you and… and I love you." He stepped closer to her. "I'd lay my life down for your sake. Hell, I tried that, and you ended up not shootin' me. And I knew you wouldn't do it, because you know why?" He looked deep into her eyes as he took her hands. "Because I know you love me. I wouldn't be standin' here right now if you didn't. You could've taken my life that day, but instead you gave me another one. You've saved me in so many ways; I'll never be able to repay you, darlin'. So really, I'm indebted to you, Madeline Ross. So I'm beggin' you to stay so that I can somehow find a way to repay you."
She pushed him away and shook her head furiously. "You owe me nothin', Jack. Stop doin' this."
"Doin' what?" he asked innocently as he turned and walked up to her.
She backed away, her hands raised to show she didn't wish him to come any closer. "You mean well, but please let me leave. I can't do this goddamned dance with you anymore. I'm tired, Jack, and I just need to go." She turned to her bedroom door and rushed forward, her free hand reaching for the doorknob.
Desperate, Jack grabbed her outstretched arm by the wrist and pulled her back away from the door. Unbeknown to him, his grasp triggered her into a panic, and she yanked away from him. What started out as a means to keep her with him turned into in a sudden moment of passion as Jack grabbed her by both wrists and pushed her up against the wall, his face a hands breadth away from hers. He stared into her eyes for a long moment…before he moved his hands from her wrists to intertwine his fingers with hers as he kissed her vivaciously.
She was caught off-guard, and for a second, she allowed him to kiss her. Suddenly, her anger returned, and she was able to free a hand from his and push him off her long enough to shout, "How dare you, Jack Marston! After everything you've—"
"Shut up and kiss me," he growled lasciviously and silenced her with another passionate kiss. He briefly pulled away long enough to see if she would respond.
She did, to his surprise and pleasure, as she let go of his other hand. With her left hand, she grasped his face, and with her right, she grabbed the back of his head and laced her fingers into his hair. She kissed him with a sudden aggressive, heart-stopping passion. His ardor spiked to an unbearable level when she shoved him back into the opposite wall.
They pulled away from each other briefly, panting and suddenly eyeing each other with a shocked hunger. Maddie grinned amorously at him and asked coyly, "Is that what you wanted?"
Breathing heavily, he took her by the hand and led her to the nearest bedroom.