Chapter 17

A shiver ran down her spine as Kid's hand brushed up and down her naked body. Lou turned her head and smiled blissfully when she found herself staring into the deep, blue eyes of her husband. She told herself she couldn't take things for granted. Having Kid back was too precious, and in silence she prayed she be allowed to gaze at his handsome face and drown in his profound eyes for as long as she lived.

An unexpected giggle escaped her lips as Kid's fingers caressed her most sensitive skin on her waist. "Hey, that tickles!" she exclaimed, chuckling as she playfully swatted his hand away.

Kid joined her mirth, but then he sobered and turned all serious as he said, "Oh God, you're so beautiful, and I love you so much."

Lou smiled bashfully, and let herself be cocooned in his arms again. Their lips merged into a deep, hot kiss, and when they pulled away, they remained locked into a close hug, both spellbound staring at each other. Louise breathed in as strong sensations coursed all over her body. Her eyes closed as she buried her face in his bare chest and planted a soft kiss on his skin.

"I'm sorry for bringing this up now, but shouldn't we get going?" Kid said as he kissed the top of his head. Lou lifted her face and looked at him quizzingly. "I believe we're already running late. Everybody must already be at the station."

Lou made an unhappy face. "I don't want to go," she said in a whiney tone. "We can stay here all day… getting further reacquainted." As she talked, her two fingers flirtingly tiptoed over his chest.

Kid grinned with a very goofy kind of smile. "Lou, however tempting your offer is, I think we should leave our reacquainting for later. It ain't very often we all have the chance to be together, and in two days we'll have to say goodbye."

Louise disengaged herself from his hold, sat up, and pulled the sheets up to cover her body. It was obvious she was anything but happy after what Kid had said, and he grew concerned. Lifting his head from the bed, he shifted to prop his back up against the headboard, and passed an arm around her shoulders. "What's wrong, Lou? Why don't you want to go to the station?"

Louise slowly turned to look at him. "I… I… I'm afraid they might not approve of us," she whispered, swinging a finger to and fro between their close bodies.

"What?" Kid exclaimed, staring at her warily as if she had gone crazy all of a sudden.

"I already know they don't have a very good opinion of what I did to you. I can't blame them, of course. Rachel told me I had been unfair to you, and Emma kind of implied I might never have loved you in the real way. Maybe they'll feel pity for you when they learn we're back together. They may think I ain't the right person for you."

"Lou, I don't care what Rachel, Emma, or the president of this country think," Kid explained. "The only person that matters to me is by my side right now… you. I chose you to be my wife… my wife for life, and I plan to keep our vows and live with you until death do us part. Nobody's gonna interfere. Nobody. Besides, what do you plan to do? Stay hidden here for the last few days?"

"No, of course not. And I understand what you're saying, but it'll hurt if I notice their disapproving looks," Lou muttered sadly.

"Honey, Emma, Rachel, and the others love you dearly, and just want you to be happy. I very much doubt they'll be anything other than over the moon for us. But if someone feels differently, that's their problem, not mine."

"I know you're right."

"I am," Kid added with a goofy smile. "Come on, Lou. Let's get a move on. I'm pretty hungry, and I'm sure you are too."

Kid slid out of bed, Lou did not move as she longingly kept watching him naked around the room, picking up his discarded clothes. A disappointed sigh left her lips as he finally covered his nudity, and then without much enthusiasm, she followed suit.

"Are you all right? You've hardly said a word since we left the house… I mean… home," Kid said, swelling with satisfaction with just uttering that word, a word that changed everything. They had reached the bunkhouse and were climbing the couple of steps leading to the porch. The walk to the way station had been filled with too much silence, momentarily interrupted by the welcoming loud shouts from Buck's and Cody's children to the cry of "Uncle Kid" and "Aunt Lou" since they were playing in the yard.

"I'm fine, Kid."

"Still nervous about us making our entrance?" the Southerner insisted.

"I guess," Lou admitted in a soft voice as she warily looked at the closed door.

"Everything's gonna be all right, you'll see," Kid assured, giving her cheek a peck just before he grabbed the door latch and lifted it.

Inside the bunkhouse the usual banter was taking place, and the couple could hear Cody loud and clear. "Oh come on, Teaspoon. Don't give us that. You know I…" The former rider's voice faltered when he noticed Kid's head crane inside.

"Hey, Kid!" Teaspoon exclaimed, bringing everybody's attention to the blue-eyed man. "Don't stand there and come in."

The Southerner opened the door wide and stepped aside to let his wife enter. Lou slowly walked into the bunkhouse with her eyes downcast and her arms folded over her chest in a protective way. "Sorry we're late," Kid apologized as he stood, looking over the table for a place for him and Lou to sit. There were two free spots on the packed benches, but on opposite extremes, and of course he wanted to sit next to his wife. Emma realized what his hesitation was grounded in, and rose form her position. "You two sit here," she offered, and took her plate to take the free other space at the further extreme of the table.

Lou could feel all eyes boring onto her skin, and was unable to face all those curious stares. The room was in silence, which made her feel even more self-conscious. Kid put his hand on the small of her back, and steered her to their places on the bench. Kid sat down next to Sam while Louise took the edge, next to Teaspoon, who took the head of the table, and across from Cody. Rachel soon put some food on their empty plates, and Kid finally broke the silence as he asked, "How's everybody doing today?"

"Not as good as you, my friend," Cody piped up, and those words made everybody roar with laughter.

Kid also joined their amusement, admitting Cody's words, but Lou remained stoic, staring at the food in her plate, and feeling her cheeks even hotter with embarrassment. As laughter died down, she told herself she was acting silly. She had nothing to be ashamed of, so steeling herself to face the music, she finally lifted her gaze to find three pairs of eyes belonging to her former fellow riders staring in her direction inquisitively. "What on earth are you looking at?" she asked in an unkind tone.

"We're just curious," Cody answered, smirking at the same time. "Jimmy told us about what he saw this morning… about you and Kid in the hotel room."

"Cody…" Jimmy warned softly, foreseeing that his friend was getting himself into a jam.

"We ain't a show," Lou retorted, glaring at Cody. "So keep your curiosity for yourselves."

"I beg to differ," Cody continued. "There are people in this room, one of whom is my wife, who have never seen you two together. Our curiosity is logical."

Lou narrowed her eyes, glowering at the blonde young man. She was not happy at being the centre of attention, and this was exactly the kind of situation she had been dreading all along. Before she could say anything else, or would punch Cody for that matter, Kid stepped in. "That has an easy solution." The Southerner passed an arm around his wife's shoulders and scanned his eyes over the people at the table. "Ladies and gentlemen, my name's Kid… Kid McCloud and this charming, beautiful lady is my wife, Louise McCloud. From now on you'd rather get used to seeing us together, because that's the way things are gonna be like." Unexpectedly Kid turned her face to him and kissed her on the lips. Louise blushed as she pulled away, and kept her eyes downcast but smiling from ear to ear. Clapping and whoops around the table made her look up, and she found everybody with pleasant smiles on their faces.

"We're so happy for you," Emma said.

"Same here," Rachel agreed.

"And it was high time," Teaspoon added, clearly happy for the couple. "I always knew you'd find each other sooner or later, but it took ya a while to make your move."

"Thanks," Lou said bashfully, her previous fears vanished as she heard the sincere congratulations from her family. Kid squeezed her hand under the table. She was beaming happily when Cody spoke up again. "Fellas, what about some bets?" he asked, sharing a conspirational look with his male friends.

"Bets, Cody?" Buck asked, completely lost at what Cody was up to now.

"Yeah, let's guess how long they last this time. I got myself good fresh money last when I staked they wouldn't survive together longer than four months."

Cody's words were followed by an avalanche of recriminations, rebukes, and protests. Kid glared at him in such a way that it was obvious he would throttle his friend's neck right now if he were closer. Louise kept staring between Cody, Buck, and Jimmy with an expression of utter horror. "I… I can't believe you… you of all people played and made fun of our life and our suffering as if we were just two puppets in a farce!" Lou's voice trembled with sheer anger, and hot tears pushed behind her eyelids. "I hope you had your entertainment at our expense. We didn't have any… any at all!"

"Lou, please, don't listen to Cody," Buck said, cursing his clumsy friend under his breath. "You know how he likes to make up all kinds of silly stories. Do you think we could do that to you and Kid, and play with your feelings?"

"Lou, we love both of you," Jimmy added, sending Cody a wait-until-I-catch-you kind of look. "We know it hasn't been easy for you and Kid. We couldn't take your problems lightly."

Cody realized he had really blundered this time. Even though he was the first wanting a good laugh, he was also always ready to admit his mistakes. "I'm really sorry," he said in a low voice. "I didn't mean to hurt you or Kid. I thought this would make us loosen up a bit. Lou seems too wound up today and she looks as if she needed to laugh a little."

"Forgive my husband," Louisa stepped in before Cody could say something that would sink him even deeper. "His sense of humor is often hard to understand."

"Often?" Jimmy echoed sarcastically. "I'd rather say always."

Her friends' words made Lou soften, and her anger gradually disappeared. She exchanged a look with her husband, who looked less irritated too, and said, "I have to admit I'm a bit nervous today. I've had too many emotions in the last twenty-four hours."

"That's natural," Rachel remarked with a smile.

Kid squeezed Lou's hand comfortingly, and she felt her cheeks blush at the simple gesture. It was ridiculous. She was almost in her thirties, and a simple touch from her husband made her act and feel like a teenager.

"And let me get this clear. We never bet on your marriage… never. Take my word for it," Cody stated firmly.

"It's fine, Cody. We believe you," Emma added with a smile.

Tempers relaxed, and everybody started to eat in peace and quiet. Naturally, attention was drawn to the couple who had reconciled, and everybody was more curious than they would let on. It was Sam who finally asked the question that all the bunkhouse occupants were dying to know the answer of. "So what are your plans now?"

Lou and Kid shared a look before he said, "We've talked about a lot of things, but not about our near future."

"I'm going where my husband decides to go. I ain't leaving him alone anymore."

Kid smiled at his wife's statement of loyalty, and looking at no one but her, he said, "I… I've been thinking that we could now have the honeymoon we didn't have back then. Name where you want to go and we'll spend a week or so there. I think we have good reasons to give ourselves a treat with the money we still have in the bank.

Lou's blissful expression showed she was delighted with the idea.

"Oh I think that's so romantic!" Julia exclaimed, looking at her husband sideways, and wishing she could enjoy a respite from her hard daily routine as a mother of her four boys from time to time. That would not happen any sooner, especially when the new baby was born in a few months.

"And then what?" Cody dared to ask after his previous blunder. "Fort Kearney and Seneca ain't really too close. You'll have to choose a nest to lay your egg, won't you?"

Even though not liking the choice of his words, Lou decided not to comment on it, and instead she turned to look at him. "When Kid and I first got married, our plans didn't include selling feed and seeds to make a living. But we did talk about breeding and raising horses."

"Do you mean you want to move to Fort Kearney with me?" Kid asked, smiling hopefully.

Louise nodded. "Of course I'd need to go to Seneca to sort out the matters of the shop and pick up my things."

"We can do that, naturally," Kid assured her. "There are a couple of mares that are close to foaling in the next weeks. What if we spend that long at the ranch, and when the mares and their babies are settled, we can go on our honeymoon."

Lou smiled from ear to ear. "And finally we can head for Seneca."

"Is that right?"

"I don't know what my sister will say, but I think that's a wonderful plan."