Chapter 16
That Saturday, the wedding day of William F. Cody and Sarah Ann Olsen had arrived. The ceremony took place in a clearing surrounded by trees that had changed into beautiful autumn colors. Teaspoon performed the ceremony as he had done Kid and Lou's. Sarah made a beautiful bride and all in attendance seemed to enjoy the joyous day. The reception that evening went on for hours and included music and dancing and some wonderful food.
The couple had been happy to hear that the bunkhouse would soon be available for them to call home. They would be staying in the spare room at Rachel's until the other weddings took place. Of course that would be after they returned from their trip to Denver for their honeymoon.
Sarah's dress had turned out beautiful and she was so happy and beautiful in it. Many of the wedding guests asked where she had ordered it from, as they assumed it must have come from one of the high-end shops out of St. Joseph or even St. Louis and must have paid a small fortune. When they learned that it was a local designer, one of their own neighbors in fact and who many already knew, they were quite surprised and truly impressed. One woman had even approached Lou, telling her that she was in need of a dress and asked if she would be available to make it. Jimmy had said, mostly as a joke, that perhaps Lou should open her own store. What he didn't know was it had once been a dream of Lou's to have her own dress shop, well hers and Charlotte's dream that is. Lou had loved working at the sewing shop in Virginia with her friend Nancy and had learned to sew almost anything but it had been the fancy dresses that always appealed to Lou.
Lou was reminded of the last time she had seen Charlotte, when her dear friend had come to Rock Creek after escaping from Wicks, their former employer. Charlotte had taken some money from Wicks that she felt was owed to her, but she had died, leaving Lou in possession of the money. The money sat in the bank at Rock Creek still. Lou, for reasons she wasn't sure of, had left it there instead of taking it with her to Virginia. She had never even told Kid she had the money. It would be more than enough to pay for rent to get a shop up and running if she chose to do so.
It was at that moment she knew she had a lot to tell Jimmy still about her past. She knew he would still love and respect her after hearing what Wicks had done to her as a child, and she knew going forward no secrets would be kept between them.
As the reception went into the night, Lou and Jimmy had danced, ate and laughed with their family and friends. Jamie had been playing with some of the kids his age, as he had most of the evening. Lou was happy he easily made friends and was well behaved. Now, the little boy was lying next to her with his head in her lap, and she thought it best to call it a night and get him to bed. Her and Jimmy said their goodbyes and congratulated the happy couple once again and headed back to the bunkhouse.
Jimmy carried Jamie in and laid him down, removing his shoes. Lou helped get him into his pajamas and tucked him in, ruffling his hair and kissing his forehead. Jimmy then took Lou by the hand and led her over to the other side of the room where he had started a fire in the fireplace. They sat down near the hearth on the rug. He immediately started kissing her neck. "It was a nice wedding wasn't it?" Lou asked Jimmy. "Yeah, I guess so. I had a good time." He said. "I did too." She smiled giving him full access to her neck. He pulled back the fabric and started kissing her shoulder while his hand was roaming over her body. She was on fire and it's wasn't due to the proximity of the fireplace. He moved his lips to hers and they kissed. Her hands moved to his chest and was exploring. Suddenly she stopped him and said "wait".
Jimmy stopped and pulled back slightly and said "sorry, I guess we got a little carried away."
"Jimmy, it's not that I don't want to, I do. You have no idea how long I've wanted to." she said looking down, feeling a little embarrassed.
"Believe me, I think I do." he said with his finger under her chin lifting it up to look her in the eyes. I love you sweetheart but if you want to wait that's okay."
"It may sound silly but I think it would be more special if we waited until we were married. Kid and I, well you know, we didn't and I sort of regretted it. Do you understand?"
"I think I do." He said planting another kiss on her lips and then one on her nose making her laugh. "You sure were beautiful tonight." He said showing he was alright not going any further tonight and changing the subject, "and the bride was too."
"Oh was she now?" Lou asked giving him a hard time.
"I was referring to her dress. I heard all the ladies fawning over it," he said.
"You know it got me thinking."
"Oh yeah, what about?"
"Opening a dress shop." She had said it. She was nervous about bringing up the topic, afraid he wouldn't like the idea, but she forgot who she was talking to. This wasn't Kid. Kid would've told her she was being foolish and she didn't need to be working.
"I like the idea but I'm not sure how much that all is going to cost. I mean I guess you could sell some dresses first to make some startup money or something" he said as he thought of the possibilities.
Lou smiled so big her face was hurting.
"What?" Jimmy asked.
"I love you. You just continue to surprise me how wonderful and supportive you are." She was starting to realize however that it was time to confess some things to him and her smile faded a little. "Jimmy, there are some things I need to tell you."
He could tell by her voice things were about to get serious. "You can tell me anything, you know that."
"The thing is I never even told Kid this, actually no one knows, well no one alive that is." She added. "Do you remember Charlotte, my friend from St. Joe who came to visit me in Rock Creek years ago?"
Jimmy gave a little nod. "She was the friend of yours that got shot and then her beau killed him, right? I was on a run but I kind of remember Teaspoon mentioning something about it. I'm sorry I must've been wrapped in my own drama to ask about it at the time."
"That's alright. I wasn't really ready for ya'll to know anyways." She took a moment to collect her thoughts and began again. "You see, Charlotte had taken quite a bit of money from that guy, the one that ended up killing her. His name was Wicks. She worked for him back in St. Joe, well actually we both did. He came to Rock Creek looking for her to get his money back. I don't know exactly what happened but when she ended up shot, I knew it was Wicks that did it. Then after Travis killed him…well I kept the money."
Lou had stopped talking but she could tell Jimmy was still absorbing everything she had just told him. He chose his next words carefully. "Where is the money now?"
"In the bank, here in Rock Creek. I never told Kid about the money and therefore never took it with us when we left. I think I was afraid he wouldn't like how I got it and he'd want to get rid of it somehow, I'm not sure." She said shaking her head. "Jimmy when Charlotte came to town she told me she wanted her and I to open a dress shop together because we used to talk about it back in St. Joe. Hell, she even found a building to rent here in Rock Creek and everything. I feel like maybe it's meant to be for me to make it happen. If you don't agree, I'll understand though..."
"I think you should do it."
"Really?"
"Lou, you shouldn't let this talent you have go to waste and it's your money. Charlotte would've wanted you to do this. I just wish I had got a chance to meet her myself."
"Me too"
"There's something else Jimmy and I hope you'll forgive me for not telling you before but…I was ashamed of it for so long that I didn't want you to look at me differently."
Jimmy was starting to get scared that maybe he wasn't ready to hear what was coming next, but Lou continued. "When I left the orphanage it was hard to get by on my own. I knew I needed a job but I was so young no one wanted to hire me. It had been a harsh winter and I had almost given up, but then I saw a sign in the window of a building that they needed laundry help so I applied and got the job. It was Wicks that ran the place and a bunch of fancy women lived there. It was awhile before I knew what kind of place it was." She paused once again feeling that feeling of shame that she could never shake off.
"Was it a…" Jimmy didn't want to say the words but he knew of places like that.
"A whorehouse? Yeah it was. All the women were pretty awful to me but mostly left me alone, except for Charlotte. She became my friend, kind of like a big sister. I had been there about a year doing laundry when one night…"
Jimmy was afraid to say anything although he was starting to think he knew where this was going.
"One night Wicks, he came into my room and…forced himself on me…" It still surprised her that after all those years it still hurt to think about that night.
Jimmy moved closer to her and put his arm around her shoulders and pulled her to him. She laid her head against his chest and then continued. "The next morning, Charlotte snuck me out and got me a ticket for the stage to St. Louis. That's when I cut off all my hair and started dressing like a boy. I worked in a livery for a while before finding the sign that The Pony Express was looking for young, skinny fellows who were orphans to deliver the mail, and I figured I'd give it a try." She smiled and he saw her strength return to her demeanor.
"I'm sorry that happened to you sweetheart. You were so young. I wish that man was still alive just so I could kill him. Jimmy confessed. "Thank you for telling me but I hope you know it doesn't change how I feel about you, if anything I realize how much stronger you are for overcoming it."
"Thank you for loving me Jimmy, all of me."
"I do love you and I'll always want to know what happened in your life that made you the amazing woman you are today."
They held each other in front of the fire that night knowing their bond was stronger without secrets.
