Mercy
Chapter 16
The plan was in place and so far nothing was interfering with it. Rick wasn't putting up with going in small groups with Kate and Johanna left on their own down at the pond. It hadn't rained in over a week so the wedding was also part pond swimming party.
While getting the almost the entire town to the pond meant going in groups, Rick was going to go with Kate and Johanna and anyone else that was part of their group.
Since Rick was going with Kate and she had a firm hold of his arm, Elias was going with Johanna and they were simply holding hands.
Once everyone arrived they found that a group had set up tables with food. Most of the food was from Johanna's restaurant and it was also a pot luck meal. Meaning other people had brought their own foods.
There were no chairs so everyone had to stand or sit on the ground. There was also a trellis filled with flowers down by the pond. It was there that they would be married.
Johanna had married Jim in a much larger city and their wedding had been very different. However, she liked it.
Kate knew this was going to be her one and only marriage and she was grinning as she watched what had to be the entire town gathering as she and Johanna took their places across from the men that had control over their hearts.
The minister of their small church married them. The entire event was nothing like a wedding on Karla. This wedding was far more simple and all he had to do was say yes or I do. Both couples were married at the same time and both kissed at the same time as the town erupted in applause.
Johanna was happy; Kate was joyous. She had a husband and she loved him with her whole heart. It was followed by eating the food, kids going swimming and the town wishing the four of them well and hopes for their future.
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By the time it was dark, everything and everyone was gone from the pond. All the leftover restaurant food was back in the restaurant. Johanna had gone to what was now her home with Elias while Rick and Kate were in their bedroom upstairs.
Kate was sitting naked on their bed and was waiting for Rick to come out of the bathroom. Once she saw him she used her finger to beckon him closer. "Come here, husband." She had waited weeks to be able to use that word. She had a husband which meant she was married.
Kate took him in her hand until he was hard enough to go in her mouth. They then spent the next hour or more making love until Kate was tired and satisfied and resting on her husband.
"I love you." Kate could feel her heart was so open. She loved him so totally unconditionally. They had had an occasional disagreement over small things but they had yet to have an actual fight. His trying to leave her was now far behind both of them.
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Kate was up first. She washed up and got dressed and went downstairs. She was expecting to find her hired help waiting at the front door. But Kate had to sit and wait for fifteen minutes before she showed up.
She was a young teenager that was looking forward to having a job so she could help her parents afford to live. Her parents were both farmers and she had ridden in on a horse that was left at the stable and walked from there to the restaurant.
Kate wasn't sure she was ready for this but she had little choice. She was now the cook and Juana would take the orders, bring the food to the customers, then clear the tables once the guests had left.
Kate was to handle the kitchen and clean it while Juana was to clean the dining room. Then she was served free food and given time off between each meal. At least that was the plan.
Both were in the kitchen as Kate was cooking when Rick came downstairs.
Juana was a bit bashful and simply smiled at him. She didn't live in the city and wasn't used to seeing him. Between his arm, his eye, his ear, and what he was wearing he looked rather imposing to her. She had attended their wedding so she had seen him at least once, but now she was really close to him.
"Be careful, husband." It was Kate's new favorite word and she had plans to use it a lot.
Juana watched them kiss before he went out the back door. She knew he was the sheriff in the town and it was his job to keep all of them safe.
"Go unlock the front door and let's start breakfast," Kate told her and they started their first day together.
Kate had an idea of using one of her mother's recipes and one she had just dreamed up last night. She made pancakes, cut them in half and placed a little bit of sausage, scrambled eggs and some pieces of caramelized onions from their cellar that needed to be used up in-between each piece of pancake.
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Juana was thankful it was only breakfast and was surprised when she was told that this was the least busy time of the day. She thought she had kept up pretty good.
Right now the front door was closed and locked and Juana and Kate were sitting at their little table eating their own breakfast. Once they were done Kate cleaned the kitchen while Juana cleaned the dining room area.
When they opened for lunch, Juana used what she had learned at breakfast to get her through lunch which was busier.
Then they repeated. Closed the restaurant but this time Rick was eating lunch with them. This was the closest he had ever been to her. Juana was grinning as she ate and stole glances at him. At this level it was mostly his eye that she kept looking at.
Juana finally got up enough courage to ask him something and pointed at her own right eye. "Does it hurt?"
"No, I don't really even know it's there any longer. I gotten used to it," Rick replied. "How is it going?" he asked, looking at Kate. He knew she wasn't used to being the cook and she was doing all this without her mother for the first time.
"Not too bad. I'm having to get used to going down to the cellar to get more food to cook." Her mother had warned her but doing it was different.
"So what's for dinner?" Rick inquired since he was trying to get her ready for it.
"Rolls, buffalo, roasted potatoes, onion and bacon on a sheet. Just cut it up into serving sizes and bake sheets as I need them. Oh, it has grated cheese over all of it. Mama wanted me to try one of my own recipes and this is one of them." If it didn't work dinner was going to be ruined and they weren't going to make much money that night.
Rick, though, had an idea for her to think about. "You can make dough, right?" Rick saw her nod her head. "You still have tomatoes." Another nod. Then he proceeded to explain how to make something he called a pizza. It was cut into slices and served one slice at a time.
"We have all that. Is it good?" Kate queried and watched Rick smile. "We'll try it tomorrow." Kate was all set up for her idea so she was going to go with it. Pizza tomorrow and fish the next night.
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"Rick will escort you home," Kate informed Juana. Juana had had a long first day and she looked as tired as Kate felt. It was only after they were gone that Kate looked over the dining room. This used to be her job so she knew what the problems were better than anyone. She was pleasantly surprised to find the place clean and ready for tomorrow. It meant she only had to clean the kitchen.
Kate was still cleaning the kitchen; she was dead tired and was just sitting down when suddenly Rick jumped into the room. "Juana is at home." Rick poured some water and placed it in front of his wife. Juana came and went with a horse but since his wife had asked he couldn't refuse her.
"Thanks." Kate was still adjusting to just how tired she got because she was pregnant. Yet it was only her first day at her new job description. The restaurant was now hers and she was going to show her mother that she could do it.
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Juana saw new customers for lunch and went to the table to explain what was available today since it changed almost every day. "Missus Beckett." She was surprised to find it was Kate's mother and her new husband. "I mean…"
Johanna waved her off. "It's okay, Juana, I'm still getting used to the name change too. So what is lunch today?" Elias had a delivery and they had delayed being in town long enough to eat at the restaurant.
"Pizza," Juana told them.
"What is pizza?" Her daughter must be experimenting much like she had done. But what in the world was pizza? Juana pointed at a nearby table that had two men eating a slice of pizza.
"It's mostly dough with spiced tomato sauce, lots of cheese, and various other toppings on top, then it's baked." Then she leaned down closer. "It was Rick's idea and it's actually pretty good." She straightened back up and waited.
Johanna looked at Elias to see if he was willing or if they'd go home and she would make lunch for them. "I guess we'll try a piece, then." Juana retreated to the kitchen while these two watched the only other two customers eating pizza. While they waited, Johanna recognized four more who walked in and were immediately waited on by Juana.
Now Kate was nervous and was peeking out the door as Juana served her mother and her new husband a slice of pizza. She saw Juana move to clean a table for the next customer and watched as her mother and her husband worked out how to eat their pizza.
The cheese was stretchy and hot and Johanna was using her fingers to try and help break the string of cheese. The look on her face told Kate that she liked it. Kate retreated before Juana hit her with the door on her way back into the kitchen.
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Kate was just putting another pizza in the oven. "Hello, Katie." Johanna helped herself going into the kitchen.
"Mama!" Kate felt like she had just been caught stealing cookies or something and twisted around to face her.
"Your pizza idea was actually pretty good." It was very cheesy tasting.
"It was actually Rick's idea. I don't know where he got it from. He explained that you could change out the toppings to various things. I'm thinking meatballs using the meat from that thing with big horns on it next time."
The buffalo was gone and Rick had come back with two halves of this big animal he had found that had these huge horns on its head. They had been serving ribs, steaks, and other slices for dinner for days now. Much like fish it was a big hit.
Johanna raised an eyebrow. She had never considered asking Rick about what to cook ever. She wasn't surprised that Katie was, though.
"Well, it was delicious and we'll be back to try this new meat Rick has found tonight." Elias didn't know that yet but he would as soon as Johanna told him.
Kate smiled a little that her mama was happy. But now she had warning that she would be back to test her dinner making skills. So her smile slowly faded away.
"How is Juana working out?" Johanna was the one that had hired her after Elias had found her.
"She's good. Almost as good as me." Kate would never admit that Juana was as good or possibly better than her. Not in this lifetime anyway. Then as if on cue in walked Juana with a pair of empty, greasy plates that used to have pizza on them along with two glasses. She headed straight for the sink, dropped them in it, and went back into the dining room to clean the table.
"MY PIZZA!" Kate raced to the oven and rescued her pan of pizza. It only took minutes to cook an entire pan and then cut it into large slices for the customers.
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Lunch was over, the restaurant was closed, and Juana was eating her free lunch as part of working here. She was enjoying her own slice of pizza. Later tonight she would decide on either ribs or a steak for dinner along with a baked potato and whatever vegetable was available this late in the year.
Just then in walked Rick with eight fresh fish and put them down. "Thanks, babe, but I was planning on ribs and steaks tonight." It was looking like her plans had just changed.
It was enough fish to fill the tables twice. "Maybe three." They would run out of fish before they ran out of customers every time they had fish. So it was either close the doors after the fish was gone or fix something else.
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As promised Johanna and Elias were back for dinner. However, they both found a line waiting to get in. FRESH FISH Johanna pointed at the sign. That certainly explained why there was a line. She guessed that Rick had gone fishing and a change in the menu was called for.
It took them over an hour of waiting to get in and sit at a table. The dining room was full and Juana was really busy as was Kate doing all the cooking.
"I'm sorry, but we're out of fish," Juana had to inform them.
"That's okay, we came for the steaks." Elias wasn't sad or mad.
"Two steaks. How would you like them cooked?" She was learning that everyone wanted something different.
"Almost well done, please," Johanna said.
"Bloody for me, please. Just not too bloody." Elias liked his steaks a little more raw.
"Be right back." Juana smiled and retreated to get them glasses of water to drink.
"Your mama and her husband are here. Your mama wants her steak almost well done while her husband wants his bloody but not too bloody," Juana informed Kate as she filled their glasses with water and went back out.
She came back with empty plates and glasses then went back to clean the table for the next people.
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Johanna listened to Elias moan at each bite and even she had to admit that whatever this meat was it had flavor. Since the fish was long gone everyone else was eating the same meat and they both could over hear people complimenting the cook and that they would be back to do this again.
Johanna had worried that the restaurant might be too much for her daughter. But so far it looked like she was doing well.
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Juana was soon moaning at each bite after closing and locking the front door so she could eat her dinner. After she was done she would go out and clean the dining room before going home with Rick as her escort.
Rick came back and found everything clean and went upstairs and found Kate naked and asleep in their bed. Stripping so he could join her, he pulled back the covers and couldn't miss seeing that she had the start of her baby bump.
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It was months later and Kate was now very pregnant. None of her clothes fit her any longer and they'd had to spend some of their money buying maternity clothes and buying things to get ready for the baby.
They were also closed for breakfast all the time now. Breakfast had always been their slowest time and Kate was tiring so very quickly now. While it meant Juana didn't make as much money any longer, it also meant the restaurant didn't make that much money, either.
Kate was sleeping in again and woke to find Rick gone. As much as she hated it, especially now that it was winter and really cold out, she hated it even more since his nice warm body wasn't next to her.
While she wanted to stay in bed her baby wouldn't let her. He or she was awake and kicking her bladder so she needed to pee rather badly, consequently she was up and in the bathroom. Now that she was there she washed a little and thought she would love a nice hot bath. Except that meant heating the water downstairs and carrying the water up and with Rick missing, it was out of the question.
She was big now and Kate feared that she was not just big, she was now fat and Rick wouldn't love her as much or make love to her. She was also hungry. Problem with it being winter all their fruits were long since gone. They had a lot of meat and vegetables.
Also their cellar was now down right freezing. The meat needed to be removed early so it could thaw before being cooked. The same for the vegetables.
Kate was in the kitchen working on making bread for lunch and keeping an eye the meat and vegetables which were thawing slowly. Unbeknownst to her Rick had his own problem this morning.
"Halt." Rick raised his good hand to stop these three men from entering the town. Each of them were armed. "Weapons are not permitted within the city of Mercy."
Usually they handed over their weapons and had them returned when they were ready to leave. Though a few chose to stay and once outside of the city got their weapons back.
"I'm Captain William Jennings. We represent President Sam Houston of the Republic of Texas. Who are you? What are you?" Each of them couldn't miss his right arm or his right eye.
"I'm the sheriff and who you are doesn't matter. No weapons are allowed within the city of Mercy. You will get them back on your way back out of town." Rick watched them talk to each other and thanks to his ear, heard every word they said.
One was willing to fight their way into town. But Jennings reminded him that they were here to survey this area of Texas and determine what was in the area. What was available to help the Republic of Texas. They needed men for the army in case Mexico tried again to take the area back.
"We agree," Jennings told him and each of them removed their weapons and rifles and handed them over.
"You can come to the restaurant to retrieve your weapons on your way out." Rick picked up their weapons and jumped away with them.
"WHAT THE HELL WAS THAT!" None of them had seen or even heard of such a thing. Now they had a lot more questions in addition to the ones they came here with.
Rick had a station a little off to one side to store all the weapons he took from people. He jumped there eventually and dropped off the weapons. Those three were now unarmed of weapons save for knives which were allowed. Even if a couple of them were rather large.
Since the front door was locked he jumped to the backdoor and walked in to find Kate getting ready for lunch. The sight of her made him grin a little. Thanks to her being pregnant and about a month away from giving birth she was about as big as she was ever going to get.
"What are you grinning at?" She was fat and she hated it. She liked her body before being pregnant.
"You're as beautiful as ever." He was still amazed that she was pregnant at all.
"I'm fat! But you're sweet." Kate still loved him.
"We have visitors coming, Kate. Something about President Sam Houston."
That name didn't mean anything to her. So she ignored the news and kept getting ready for lunch. "So what are you making this time?" Rick queried since he was actually hungry today.
"One of your ideas. Kebabs." Kate hoped she gets the word right. She had made them once before and they'd sold quickly. Actually anything that was new seemed to get the town's attention and once the word was out business picked up.
"Sounds good." Just then Juana walked in the back door to get ready for work. That allowed Rick to go into the dining area and stand at the door. Just as he did, he could see those three men ride in and keep going until they reached the General Store.
He was still watching as Juana joined him, unlocked the door, and put out the sign for what was available for lunch today. "Burr, it's cold today," Juana complained as she closed and locked the door then hurried to the kitchen where it was warmer.
Rick grinned and walked to the wood stove in the dining room and began loading it up with wood and lit it. Then he went through the kitchen and out the back door to get a lot more wood.
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Rick was back outside and walking his way from one end of town to the other, scanning everyone he saw. So far it was all peaceful and not that many people were out in the cold.
"Kate, there are men in the dining room that want to talk to you," Juana said.
Kate's first thought was that they hated the food and wanted to complain. So she went into the dining room to find out what they wanted.