AN: Here we go, another chapter here.
I hope you enjoy! Let me know what you think!
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Daryl's determination was a driving force for himself and others. Hershel rode out with him to show him the land and Daryl roped off where he intended to build a little one room house for him and Carol to share as soon as they were wed. Once Hershel headed back in the direction of the farm, Daryl had unloaded the wagon and jumped into things full force.
The land had been meant for farming since Hershel had started clearing it. As a result, it already had a well in place, it just needed a little work. Work didn't scare Daryl. Daryl set the small cabin he intended to build not too far from the pump. By the time they broke for the evening, Daryl had posts set and was ready to start on the floor, following the same fundamentals that he'd used the year before when he'd helped Hershel with a storage shed that he didn't want suffering too much from the ground changes that came with the deep-freeze of winter. If he could keep his stamina up, and if he could keep Merle and Joey motivated to help him, Daryl figured they could have the cabin up in the matter of a week or two.
When they returned to the farm—all of them exhausted, filthy, and starving—Miss Jo had served up plates for them all and sent them to bathe. After they ate, Hershel brought Daryl out to the porch and he sat him down in one of the chairs out there to give him the ins and outs of building the cabin, making sure that Daryl knew what he was doing and that the structure would stay standing for as long as he needed it. Then he'd spoken to him, while Daryl fought the desire to catch up on the sleep that his busy mind had made him miss, about the ins and the outs of marriage. It was one last effort, perhaps, to make Daryl rethink his decision.
But Daryl wasn't going to rethink a thing.
Daryl saddled Nessie before the sun had ever gotten all the way up. Merle took to the back of Runt, a sturdy but somewhat lazy gelding, and the two of them headed back to the house of Eden. The trip from the farm to town, on horseback, didn't seem to take nearly as long as it should have. It didn't take even a fraction of the time that Daryl remembered the walk taking. Daryl, of course, could have contributed some of the short and easy ride to the fact that he couldn't remember a time in his life when he felt lighter or better about what was to come.
They'd no sooner tied the horses at the posts outside the house than the big red door of the house opened to reveal Miss Andrea standing there. She smiled at them as they came up the porch steps.
"I'd've treated you boys better if I knew you were gonna turn out to be my regulars," she said. "You've come on mounts this time. Strike it rich?"
"They's borrowed mounts," Daryl offered. "But that's just 'cause I ain't bought me none yet."
Andrea's smile spread a little more.
"So you're the wealthy one?" Andrea asked. "I could've charged you full price your first time. But—I can see you're back for more, so you'll make up the difference."
Daryl felt every square inch of his body grow warm with the hot embarrassment of standing in front of the woman. She invited them quickly inside, closed the door, and shucked off the robe to reveal that she was wearing something similar to the fancy underbritches she'd been wearing the last time, though this particular get-up was a crimson color that was different than the one she'd worn before.
Daryl waited for Merle to give instructions, but Merle was watching him and waiting. Daryl didn't know, exactly, how he was supposed to go about things. He knew that if he was asking someone's father for her hand, he was just supposed to out and ask him for the right to marry his daughter. He didn't know, though, how such things worked when it was a Miss-Madame that was in charge.
Carol, he was sure, would know what he was supposed to do.
"Well?" Andrea asked, clearly a little bored with being made to wait even a fraction of a second for business to get underway. "What do you boys want?"
Merle cleared his throat.
"Can't say for my brother," Merle responded. "But I want me what I had the last time. Suited me just fine from start to finish. Weren't nothin' needed shakin' up."
Andrea smiled at him.
"What kind of woman you want?" Andrea asked. "I've got 'em all."
Merle sucked his teeth.
"Like what I'm seein'," Merle said. "If you ain't too busy to tend to a payin' customer's needs."
"That depends," Andrea responded. "Are you paying? Or is he?"
She turned her attention to Daryl for a moment and, feeling that money might be important at the moment, Daryl dipped his hand into his pocket and came out with a decent amount of it. Judging by the quick widening of Miss Andrea's eyes, it was at least a few pennies more than what she figured they needed. Daryl swallowed, but it didn't do him any good. There wasn't any moisture left in his mouth and he somewhat choked on his own tongue. Andrea smiled at him, sincerely this time.
"It's dry out there," Andrea said. "Everywhere except the streets. Fifty pounds of mud on my floors within an hour of opening the door. Let me get you some water. Then you can tell me what you've got in mind."
Daryl might have refused the water, but it was almost on-hand. Andrea simply stepped behind a small bar area in the main room of the house and came out with a pitcher and a glass. She poured him the water and when she passed it to him, her fingers lingered a moment to caress Daryl's hand. The feeling of it sent a shiver through his body that he wasn't expecting.
The water was wet and cooler than he might have thought given the heat of the building. Daryl drank it down with a thirst that he'd only just realized was there and Andrea took the glass back from him, somewhat caressing his hand again with her long fingers. The air about her was a good deal more relaxed now, even though he'd returned his money to his pocket, than it had been when he and Merle had just stepped through the door and she wasn't assured of how much money they brought with them.
"I'm payin'," Daryl said, finding his voice again. "But he rode out with me an' I promised him what he wanted."
Andrea laughed and glanced at Merle before she looked back at Daryl.
"A pocket full of cash like that and I guess anybody'd ride with you just about anywhere," Andrea offered. "I know what he wants. What do you want?"
Daryl decided the best thing to do was to simply be honest about the whole thing. He looked around the house, hoping he might catch a glance of Carol, but wherever her women were, Miss Andrea kept them hid until she was ready for them.
"I wanna talk to Carol," Daryl said.
Andrea laughed.
"Sugar, I sell a lot of things here, but talkin' ain't one of 'em," Andrea said. There was a slight bit of reprimand in her voice like she was offended that Daryl would even think of asking for such a thing. "What else do you want? Remember—you gotta order it all up front. We're not busy now, but it's gettin' on about that time."
"Carol," Daryl said. "That's what I want. I wanna talk to Carol and—I want whatever I had last time."
Andrea smiled at him.
"Last time was a special," Andrea said. "But I get the idea. Double the time? A little extra in case you're not quite satisfied the first time around?"
Daryl nodded his head. His heart was pounding with an odd sensation of fear that this woman—this pretty, soft woman—might be the one thing that stood in his way of getting to Carol. She was, after all, the one that called the shots. She was the one that was, as far as Daryl could tell, in charge of Carol. She controlled everything.
And he'd give her everything in his pocket—every penny he'd brought with him from the farm—just to be sure that she let him tell Carol of his intention to marry him and she let him get Carol's promise that she'd come back with him as soon as he could get their little house standing. Daryl knew, too, that what he'd brought—the half of it she hadn't even seen yet—had a good chance of persuading the blonde to help him.
"All that," Daryl said. "And whatever else. Long as I get to see her."
Andrea looked somewhat amused. She raised her eyebrows at Daryl.
"You're real strung up, aren't you?" She mused. "First time out's usually a pretty big deal. Gets a taste in a man's mouth. But it's really done something to you. You're hardly the boy you come in as before."
Daryl shook his head.
"Not a boy," he said, holding onto all the resolve he'd been building up. "Weren't then. Ain't now. Carol?"
Andrea nodded her head.
"You sure you don't want someone else?" Andrea asked. "Carol's real sweet and she's real good with the skittish type, but you don't seem quite so skittish now. Sure you're not ready for something a little more challenging? Someone who knows a bit more?"
Daryl's heart thundered even harder in his chest. He really hadn't thought that there was much more to know about these kinds of things than Carol had already taught him about them. He figured that there was just what there was. There wasn't anymore. But if anyone knew more about it, and Daryl supposed they might, Miss Andrea seemed the type to know just about all of it.
And, though he wouldn't admit it, Daryl was a little bit terrified of her and the more that she might know. He wasn't here for that. He wasn't here to learn any more than Carol might want to teach him. Carol was set to be his wife and, as his wife, he could learn all that she wanted him to learn. But he wasn't here for someone else.
Daryl shook his head at Andrea.
"Gotta be Carol," he said.
Andrea smiled sincerely.
"Well, alright then," Andrea said. "The heart wants what it wants," she said. "Among other pieces of the male body. Come on, then. I'll find you a clean room. You remember the rules? No clothes on the bed."
Daryl nodded his head.
"Yes ma'am," he asserted. "I remember all of it."
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The time between when Miss Andrea left Daryl in the room and when Carol arrived felt like an eternity. Afraid to touch anything, Daryl had stood in the middle of the floor with everything on but his boots. His boots he'd taken off and emptied out of the window to keep from dirtying the floor. The rest of his clothing he kept on his body.
When Carol finally came through his door, the mass of red curls piled up on her head, Daryl's breath left his chest again.
He might have convinced himself that she didn't really exist. He might have told himself that he made her up—that she was just too good to be true. But there she was. Just the same as he remembered her. Just the same as she'd been every time he'd brought her face to his memory.
He ran to catch the door for her, just as he'd done before, but the heavy door fell shut too quickly for him and they were locked in the room again. Carol went straight to the dresser of the bedroom and she put down the heavy bowl and pitcher that she'd brought for him to take a bath. Only once she'd put it down did she seem to recognize him. He saw a blush of pink come to her cheeks and he felt warmth in his own.
What she was wearing was simpler today. There weren't as many straps and strings to get all tangled up in. There weren't as many pieces to intimidate Daryl. He still couldn't breathe, though, looking at her because she intimidated him.
Carol offered him a soft smile.
"Daryl?" Daryl nodded, his pulse picking up at the fact that Carol remembered his name. Maybe she'd been thinking of him like he'd been thinking of her. "Andrea told me you requested me," Carol said. Daryl nodded his head quickly. "Thanks for that," Carol said. "Gets us a good reputation around here when we're requested. Not too many people request me after—well, after their first time."
"She wanted me to have someone else," Daryl said. "But—there weren't nobody else for me. Weren't nobody else I want."
Carol smiled a little more sincerely and turned her face quickly away from him to hide the expression.
"I can bathe you," Carol said. "Or you can bathe yourself. It's what you want."
"Can I talk to you?" Daryl asked. "First?"
"You got double time," Carol said. "You got—you got a lot of time. As long as it takes you. As long as you want. If you don't back out on paying for it all."
Daryl shook his head at her, hoping she'd be sure to know that he was serious.
"I ain't backin' out," Daryl said. "Pay twice if I gotta. Three times. Just want to talk to you. First. If that's...if'n it's OK with you."
Carol looked like she was quite concerned about the whole thing, but she nodded her head.
"Talk," Carol said. "Can I bathe you? While you talk?"
Daryl shook his head.
"Don't think it'd be a good idea," he said. "You—uh—you remember what happened the last time?"
"That won't happen every time," Carol assured him. "It only happened because—you were very excited about what was going to happen. It was all a new experience for you. It don't happen every time."
She stepped toward Daryl and Daryl caught her arms. Holding them in his hands, he rubbed his fingers across her soft skin. She stopped any movement, staring at him, and she didn't try to push him into the bath for the moment.
"Just—lemme talk?" Daryl asked. "'Cause I ain't gonna keep my nerve forever and—it might not happen every time but I can't think like I gotta think if you're—if I ain't wearin' my pants and you touchin' me like that."
Carol laughed quietly in her throat. She nodded her head at Daryl and held him with her eyes. He didn't let go of her arms. Holding her there, even as awkward as it was, seemed to give him some kind of strength to go through with things. It reminded him that she was real—and if he was man enough to get through this, she'd be his forever. But he had to get through it first.
"I ain't stopped thinkin' of you since I left outta here," Daryl said. "I ain't hardly slept. The food I been eatin' has just been somethin' I gotta eat because I'm tryin' not to die before I could get back to you. All I been thinkin' about is gettin' back here to you and talkin' to you. Tellin' you what I gotta tell you. Askin' you what I gotta ask you."
Carol nodded at him.
"Then say your peace," Carol said. "I'm not going anywhere."
"I got money," Daryl said. "I got a lot of money. Got me a little farm now. Gonna pay the man what helped me out with interest when the crop comes in. Gonna build fences and a barn. Buy some cattle. A couple chickens for some eggs in the mornin' and hogs for butcherin'. Buildin' a lil' cabin that's gonna hold until I can build a real nice house, Carol. A house like you ain't never seen. Better'n this one 'cause it ain't gonna be of no ill-repute. Ain't gonna be of no ill nothin'."
"That sounds really nice..." Carol said, her voice coming out with a series of starts and stops. Her eyebrows drew up tight and it was clear that she didn't know what Daryl was saying. But he was getting there. He'd get there and she wouldn't be confused anymore.
"Is nice," he assured her. "And you can see all of it. Every bit. It's all for you, Carol. Everything I got and...all I'ma get? It's all for you." Carol shook her head at him, but she didn't put voice behind her confusion. "Want you to marry me, Carol. Want you to be my wife. For today an' every day what's to come. And I'ma give you whatever you need. Anything you want. If I can get it? I'ma get it for you. You just—gotta marry me."
Carol laughed to herself, a short and sharp burst of laughter, and then she shook her head at him.
"You're serious?" She asked. "Oh my God, you're serious."
"I ain't never been more serious about a thing in my life," Daryl assured her. "I brung money with me. I brung enough for today and for—two weeks. I didn't bring it all, but I can ride back out to the farm. I can get what'cha need me to get, Carol. You just tell me how much it costs. Tell me how much money it costs to marry you and I'ma bring the money."
Carol shook her head at him again.
"You can't marry me, Daryl," Carol said. "I'm not a wife. I'm not fit to be a wife. Not anymore. You can't marry me because I'm...I'm just a whore. This is where I live now."
Daryl shook his head back at her. Without realizing it, he'd tightened his hold on her arms and Carol winced. She reminded him of his own strength and she reminded him to loosen his grip on her.
"You don't live here," Daryl said. "Not forever. Just for now. Just for a week. Two at the most. I'll have the cabin up and you'll come and live with me. Live in our house. Make it a home."
Carol shook her head.
"I can't!" She declared. "I'm a whore, Daryl! That's all I am now. It's all I know how to be. This is the best kinda life I could hope for now."
Daryl shook his head at her.
"Ain't neither," Daryl said. "I'ma give you a way on better life'n the one you got here. Way on better. You gonna be happy and—you ain't gonna have to hold onto that happy to keep from bein' sad. Because I ain't never gonna let'cha be sad again."
Carol almost looked like she was going to cry and Daryl felt the pressure in his skull that suggested that he wanted to do the same. If it had been a proper moment for a man to cry, then he might've just given into it. He might've just let her know that he couldn't barely stand the way that she was looking at him and he couldn't stand the feeling that was crawling up his spine that told him that she wasn't as set on marrying him as he was set on marrying her.
"I can't give nothing to you," Carol said. "I've got no name worth mentioning. I got no reputation. Everyone in town, Daryl? They know I'm a whore. If you were to marry me? They'd all know you married a whore."
Daryl shrugged his shoulders.
"I got no kinda name," Daryl said. "Come here—come here dirty an' damn near starved on credit. Everything I got? I got it by bustin' my ass from the time the sun come up to the time it set down, Carol. I got it 'cause I didn't let nothin' stop me workin'. Everything I get from here on out? I'ma be gettin' it the same damn way. I don't even got a name that's good enough to buy on credit with." He shook his head at her. "And I don't give a damn what nobody's got to say about me. Not one damn for any of 'em."
"You don't know me," Carol said. "So why would you want to marry me?"
Daryl shook his head and shrugged his shoulders at the same time.
"Know all I need to know," he said. "You don't know nothin' about me, neither. But I know—I ain't never gonna sleep again. Not until I know you gonna be my wife."
Carol pulled away from him gently and Daryl untangled his fingers from her arms. As soon as she left him, he felt cold where her body had been close to him, keeping him warm. The room felt cold—even though a stale heat hung around him. Carol walked over to the wash basin and poured the water. She dipped the rag in the water and squeezed out the excess.
"Water's cold now," Carol said, almost like she could read Daryl's mind from across the room. "Sorry for that. It just don't hold the heat like you'd want it to. Never has to very long. But—the bath doesn't have to take long. And I'll make sure you're plenty warm afterwards."
"Say you gonna marry me," Daryl said.
Carol sighed.
"I can't say that, Daryl," Carol said. "I'm not sure it's up to me to say that. Even if I knew I wanted to."
"Miss Andrea?" Daryl asked.
"She saved my life, Daryl," Carol said. "She gave me—everything I have. If it weren't for her?"
"I'll pay her back for it," Daryl said. "Ever' cent. Whatever you owe her. I'll pay her back. More even. Just tell me—when I come back here for you? Tell me you gonna marry me."
With her back still to him, still worrying the rag in her hands, Carol shrugged her shoulders at Daryl.
"What if you marry me, Daryl, and you decide I'm not what you want? What if you decide—I never was fit for being a good wife and...you just don't want me no more? I don't do what you want me to do?" Carol asked.
"I don't want nothin' special from you," Daryl promised. "Want'cha to be my own wife. Just mine. Make me a home outta the home I give you. Cook us food to eat outta the food I bring you." Daryl swallowed and remembered his own dreams of what Carol would be when she was his wife. "Be soft like you is. Sweet to me. Stay with me. Keep me warm."
Carol turned around and frowned at him.
"We better get started," she said. "You asked for double time, but...I can't take all day."
"I'll pay for that too," Daryl said. "If you'll just tell me. Tell me you gonna be my wife."
Carol nodded her head gently, but she didn't give Daryl a strong affirmative answer.
"I can't tell you that right now, Daryl," Carol said. "I just can't. But—when you come back? After you think about it? If you come back? I'll tell you then."
Daryl's stomach sunk. It wasn't the answer he wanted, but at least it wasn't a complete rejection. He supposed she needed time to think on it. He supposed she needed to talk to Miss Andrea. He guessed she had affairs she needed to get in order and she wasn't as ready as he was.
Daryl would give her anything she wanted—even time, if that's what she needed. And he needed time too, because he wasn't bringing her home until he had a home to bring her to.
"Fine," Daryl said. "Gonna be a week. Two, maybe, before I get that house up. But I'm comin' back here then. And I want you to be my wife."
Carol smiled at him, clearly forcing the corners of her mouth into the expression, and nodded her head.
"Let's get started," Carol said. "You tell me what you like. What you want. I'll take care of you. I can—I can give you that."
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"Everything as you like it?" Andrea asked Daryl when he came from the room. Carol walked several steps behind him and stopped when he stopped. Daryl nodded his head at the woman. He could tell by the fact that she and Merle were leaning over some playing cards she had spread out on the bar area that he'd taken longer than she'd anticipated. He'd certainly taken longer than whatever she'd been doing with Merle.
"Gotta talk to you," Daryl said.
"Me?" Andrea asked, looking surprised that Daryl might have something to say to her now that the business was done. She shot a look at Carol that could've asked her what it was all about, but Carol didn't give anything away. "You gotta pay. I can call the sheriff."
Daryl didn't know if that was true or not, but it didn't matter. It wasn't an issue. He shook his head at her.
"I'ma pay," Daryl said. "Just—wanna talk to you."
Andrea straightened up from her position leaning over the playing cards and readjusted something that must have been troubling her about her underbritches. Complicated as they were, Daryl couldn't imagine they offered much in the way of comfort. He couldn't imagine why she'd choose to wear them when he was sure that most of the types that staggered into the house of ill-repute would still put their money down—fancy underbritches or not.
"What do you need to say?" Andrea asked.
"I'ma pay you for today," Daryl said. "For me an' Merle. An' I'ma pay you what Carol owes you for up to now. Whatever it is she owes you? For bringin' her here and for—for whatever you done for her? I'ma pay you for that."
Andrea shot another look in Carol's direction. Carol's cheeks were red, but she didn't say anything to the woman.
"Why would you do that?" Andrea asked.
"Because I aim to marry her," Daryl said. "If she'll have me."
"Marry her?" Andrea asked.
Daryl nodded his head.
"Got me a farm now. Buildin' her a house. Ain't gonna be ready for a week or two, but I aim to marry her when I come back for her. If she'll have me...of course. And I wanna pay you for whatever she owes you," Daryl said.
Andrea looked at Carol again, but she was still getting nothing from Carol. She returned her stare to Daryl.
"What if she don't marry you?" Andrea asked. "What if you pay me for—room and board and food? For clothes and medical expenses? And what if she don't marry you then?"
Daryl shrugged his shoulders.
"Then she don't owe you nothin'," Daryl said. "And I ain't spent no better money in my life. But—I'm hopin' she's gonna marry me."
"Carol?" Andrea asked, directing the word toward Carol. Carol still didn't respond to her, though she looked like she was having a little difficulty breathing.
"That ain't all," Daryl said.
Andrea's eyes widened, but she looked intrigued.
"What else is there?" Andrea asked. "You want to pay me all this money and marry Carol. What else could there be?"
"Wanna pay you ahead," Daryl said. "Whatever work she'd have until I get back here. In a week or two weeks. Wanna pay you whatever she'd be payin' you in that time. So she can stay here, until I get back, but she ain't gotta work. She's just livin' here. Waitin' on me and thinkin' about if she's gonna be my wife."
"You want to pay me two weeks' worth of earnings and expenses?" Andrea asked. Daryl nodded his head. "Do you even know how much money that'd be?"
Daryl shrugged his shoulders.
"Don't matter," Daryl said. "Whatever it is? It don't matter. Money I got. Money I'll get. You give me an amount and I'll pay it. You keep whatever's leftover if I get back early. Don't owe me nothin'. Clean deal between you an' me. I don't need it. Only thing I'll be comin' back for is Carol's answer and...I hope, Carol."