Chapter 29
Giggling and soaked to the bones, Louise tried to open the door in the darkened alley, but her hands faltered as behind her some fingers tickled her sides. "Stop it!" she scolded her husband, swatting his hands off. Kid was as drenched as she was, and drops of water dripped from his hat and clothes.
Last night they had stopped to spend the night in the open. The sky had been studded with bright stars and a full moon smiled above them. Yet, at some point torrential rain had surprised them in their sleep, so the weather had decided for them, and the couple had to break camp, and drive to Seneca under the rain. When they had reached the city, a slight drizzle was falling, but by then they were already wet.
Louise turned her attention back to the door. In an attempt not to wake up and startle her sister and brother-in-law, who at this time were surely sleeping, Lou decided they should make their way into the house through the back door of the store. Inside there was a staircase that led directly to the second floor where her bedroom was. After a couple of attempts, she managed to unlock and open the door, and turned to Kid. "Keep as quiet as a mouse. We don't want to wake them up."
Kid nodded, and followed her inside. Everything was pitch black, and barely had he taken a few steps when his knee knocked on some kind of stout wooden piece, and an involuntary curse left his lips. "Shush, Kid!" Lou berated him in a whisper. "Do you want Albert to think we're thieves and shoot us on the spot?" As soon as the words were out, she could not help but giggle amused. She just could not imagine her brother-in-law brandishing a gun and shooting. The odds leaned more to Theresa handling a shotgun than her husband. Albert, bless his soul, was on the weak side, and Lou doubted he was capable of hurting a fly. "Just follow me, honey."
They managed to make their way across the room, and soon they were climbing the stairs. Lou took his hand and led him along the corridor, stopping at the third door. Once inside the room, Lou felt her way to the dresser, and managed to light a lamp. Kid squinted for a moment as the light suddenly hit him, but when his eyes got used to it, he scanned around until his gaze fell on Lou, who was stripping off her coat.
"Very nice," Kid said.
Lou looked at him quizzingly. "You mean the room?"
"No, you," he whispered, staring at her intensely.
It was then that Lou realized where his eyes were fixed, and looking down at herself, she noticed that her wet blouse, sticking to her skin, left little scope for imagination. "Hey!" she exclaimed, feigning embarrassment and folding her arms over her chest.
Kid took several steps closer and ended up standing inches from her. "We need to get you out of those clothes," he whispered flirtingly, and his mouth lowered to her neck, kissing and caressing it while his hands worked on opening her buttons. Their lips eventually found each other hungrily, and as they kissed, they gradually discarded their wet clothes, which wound up scattered all over the room. Kid wrapped his arms around her waist, and lifted her from the floor. Clad just in her bloomers, Louise encircled her legs around him, and among hot kisses Kid started moving towards the bed. Unable to see his way around, Kid took an unsteady step, and tripped over his own boots. Louise let out a shriek as she unexpectedly found herself flying in the air, and then dropped heavily on the bed, and just seconds later her slim body was crushed as Kid fell on top of her.
The unexpected tumble disoriented both of them for a few seconds, and with their faces almost touching, they stared at each other for a while. Seeing his shy and dumbfounded expression, Louise suddenly burst out laughing, loud peals of laughter echoing in the bedroom, and soon Kid also joined her. His hands found her sensitive sides, tickling her, which made her laugh even harder. Lou tried to escape his grasp, and for a while they fought in mock until once again they kissed endlessly. "I want you," Lou whispered as his lips left her mouth to nuzzle her neck, and in a bold motion, she snuck one of her hands under his long john bottoms to caress the firm skin of his buttocks.
A loud, sudden bang resounded in the room, and at once the couple got startled and let go of each other. Kid got a glimpse of the door opening and hitting the wall, and in a flash he pushed Louise behind him protectively. As he sat up, blocking her, he tugged at the quilt to cover himself as soon as he saw a lanky, tall man in a nightshirt standing under the threshold and menacingly holding a poker with both his hands. "Albert," Louise panted as she spotted the man from behind Kid.
"Louise?" he exclaimed in clear surprise. "What on earth is going on?"
The sounds of steps succeeded, and Theresa appeared in her nightclothes. Her eyes narrowed as she looked between her husband and the couple in the bed. Her face showed almost shock as she exclaimed, "Louise and… Kid!" She uttered the Southerner's name with greater emphasis in apparent astonishment. Noticing the lack of clothes on them, she lowered her eyes, and muttered, "We … we heard a noise, and… and…"
"Sorry for waking you up. We tried to be as quiet as possible," Lou said, snuggling closer to Kid and pressing her naked chest against his back.
"It's… it's fine," Theresa stammered, lifting her eyes. Embarrassed and awkward, the young woman kept quiet, and stared at the couple.
"Uh… Tessie, maybe we could talk about everything tomorrow," Lou hinted, eager to see them go, as it seemed her sister and brother-in-law were reluctant to do so. They were frozen on the spot, and Lou was getting nervous under their scrutinizing eyes.
"Oh…oh sure!" Theresa exclaimed, blushing at her own indiscreet attitude. "Let's go to bed, Albert," she said, hooking her arm around her husband's, and steering him out of the bedroom.
As the door closed, Louise flopped onto the bed, howling with laughter. Kid shifted his body to lie next to her, and made a face. "My, what an entrance we've made!"
Lou coughed, and tried to control her giggles. "And I was worried how to tell them about us. I guess there's no need now… it's pretty clear," Lou remarked with an amused grin. She paused, and shaking her head she added, "What's with us that we are caught in these kinds of compromising situations? Remember in Rock Creek with Rachel and Jimmy?"
"I don't know. Maybe it is because we can't keep our hands off each other," he replied enticingly, and true to his words, his hands crept to caress her naked shoulders.
His touch felt electrifying, and a moan left her lips. Louise closed her eyes, and arched her back as his hands moved further and made their way downwards. "Please…" she begged in a whisper, but her voice died as her lips were captured by his, both continuing where they had left off before the interruption.
Outside Theresa and her husband walked in silence towards their bedroom, and as she looked up, she straightaway noticed the expression on Albert's face. The way his brown eyes gazed ahead and his pencil moustache pointed upwards let her know he was upset. "What are you thinking about, Albert?"
The man did not speak up right away, and when they reached the bedroom, he carefully closed the door, and said, "Your sister! Didn't you see what I saw? I can't believe she'd engage herself in such… such immorality! Getting a man in her bed and our house! I always thought she was a decent…"
"Hold your horses there, Albert!" Theresa cut him off. "Don't you dare go down that road, Mr. Keller. My sister doesn't deserve that judgmental buck wash! For your information, that man is her husband!"
Albert frowned. "Her husband?"
"She married him years ago, but then they fell out for reasons I don't think we have the time to discuss now. For obvious reasons I guess her visit to Rock Creek must have brought them close, and apparently they've made up," Theresa explained with a smile.
"And why on earth have I never heard about this husband?"
Theresa shrugged her shoulders. "My sister's always been very protective of that part of her life, and reluctant to talk about him. Their fall-out wasn't a nice matter. I think it hurt her too much to just mention his name, and I always respected her desire for privacy and silence."
"You could have told me," Albert insisted.
"You're right," Theresa admitted. "I… I guess I was kind of afraid you'd think less of her because of the way she decided to live her life without her husband. You know, your ideas about marriage are a bit strict."
"Strict? I think it's the only way to consider the state of marriage," Albert stated firmly. "In any case, I still think it's wrong of her to bring that man in our house and without our permission."
"Oh come on, Albert," Theresa exclaimed as she wrapped her arms around her husband's neck. "We always tell her this is also her home. Do you want to kick them out now? Both of them are part of our family, honey, or do you expect them to stay at a hotel now that her husband is back?" Albert remained silent and with a skeptical expression. "Admit the confusion was hilarious… awkward but funny." As Albert still kept quiet, Theresa raised herself on her tiptoes and kissed him on the mouth. The young man soon followed his wife's lead, but as he was about to deepen the kiss, he stopped when he felt Theresa giggle against his lips.
"What's so funny?" he asked as he pulled away.
"I can still hear them," Theresa explained, grinning. Albert perked up his ears, and very faintly he could make out some kind of guttural or shrieking sounds and the creaking of a bed.
Theresa laughed and sitting on her rocking chair she started to remove her slippers. "Louise has always been quite passionate with Kid. When Jeremiah and I first moved with them, they'd just got married, and we could hear them every night. At the time I didn't really know what they did in their bedroom to be so noisy… After being in an orphanage run by nuns, I didn't have much idea about things between men and women. Miah had to explain it to me, and I was so curious that I even talked him into spying on my sister and her husband when… you know."
"Theresa!" Albert exclaimed, totally aghast.
"Don't throw a tantrum, for goodness' sake. We never saw anything even though we tried. They were too careful. What we've seen tonight is way more than what we tried to see back then." Theresa paused, and thinking about Louise and Kid together now made her aroused. "Albert, why don't we follow their example?" she said suggestively as she pulled up her nightgown to show her bare legs and thighs to her husband.
"I'm not in the mood," Albert replied gruffly, and got himself into bed, covering himself up and turning his back to his wife. Theresa was used to his weird moods, so she simply rolled her eyes and turned around on the bed, and laid down next to him. She looked at him hopefully, but Albert already had his eyes closed. Theresa sighed, and after putting out the lamp, she rested her head on the pillow, and got ready for sleep come to her once again.
The following morning as Kid and Lou walked into the dining room, Albert was already at the table, tasting his coffee and reading the newspaper. At the sound of steps the young accountant looked up, and simply stared in silence at the two newcomers.
"Good morning," Lou greeted him with a smile and took a seat across from her brother-in-law.
"Morning," Albert replied, but his eyes did not meet Lou's, but kept appraising the man who apparently was her husband.
"Let me introduce myself," Kid said. "I'm Kid McCloud, Lou's husband."
"So I've heard," Albert said, shaking hands with Kid and silently wondering why a man would take his wife's family name. "Would you join us for breakfast, Mr. McCloud?"
"Please just call me Kid."
The Southerner was about to sit on the chair next to his wife when a voice interrupted him. "Kid!" Theresa exclaimed as she appeared, carrying a bowl of hard-boiled eggs she placed on the table. "It's so good to see you!" she added, and came to give him a hug.
"It's been to long, and if your husband allows me, I have to say you've turned into a very beautiful woman."
"Thanks," Theresa replied, blushing.
Kid finally sat down, and Theresa took the seat across from the married couple. The blonde girl kept smiling, happy to see her sister and Kid back together. The hope that Louise would reconsider her attitude and patch up things with her husband had always been in Theresa's heart, but as time went by, that hope had faded to nothing. That was why, when Lou was about to set off for Rock Creek, Theresa had urged her sister to break up with Kid completely and find love again. Yet, Theresa could not have dreamt about a better resolution. She had always liked Kid, and was convinced that he was the man for her sister like Albert was for her.
"So you've been together since you met in Rock Creek, huh?" Theresa asked, unable to control her curiosity any longer.
Kid and Lou shared a revealing smile. Louise then turned her attention back to her sister and nodded. "We've been in Fort Kearney where Kid has his ranch." Lou then proceeded to explain what they had been doing in these weeks, how things were in Fort Kearney, about Dana, about their 'honeymoon', and of course about their plans to return to the ranch and set their home there.
Theresa's smile had disappeared and Albert looked at Louise with a very obvious scowl. "Tessie, we need to talk about the store," Lou continued, having a sip of her tea. "Maybe you'd like to take it over. After all, you've practically been running it with me for years, and nobody knows about it better. But if you ain't interested, I can always talk to Jack."
Theresa stared at her sister agape, and very slowly she said, "You're leaving Seneca."
Before Lou could reply, Albert broke in after being silent for most of the conversation, "Louise, are you sure of what you intend to do?"
"Of course I'm sure."
"You can't just leave everything for the first man that crosses your path."
"One moment…" Kid spoke up, annoyed by the man's words, but stopped when Lou rested her hand on his arm, silently asking him to stay put and let her handle the situation.
"Albert, let me remind you Kid's my husband."
"And where was your husband all these years? Where was he when you first opened the store and had not idea what you were getting yourself into? Where was he when you struggled to make ends meet? Where was he when you were sick with sadness when your brother died? Where was he when we welcomed you to this house with open arms?"
"That's enough!" Lou raised her voice in annoyance. "Albert, I thank you and my sister for having been so supportive for so long, but what happens between me and my husband is private. My decision ain't open for discussion."
Albert kept a serious countenance, and despite Lou's words, Theresa still could not keep quiet. "Kid, I can't believe you're ready to uproot my sister from her family."
"Tessie, for goodness' sake!" Lou exclaimed. "I really didn't expect this reception from you two. This is my decision, and I hoped you could be happy for me. My place is with my husband, and we've wasted too much time without each other."
"But I'm gonna miss you so much," Theresa pouted as if she were a small girl.
Lou smiled. "Me too, but this is what I have to do."
"And Fort Kearney ain't so far away," Kid stepped in. Theresa gave her a resigned look, and the Southerner looked between the young woman and her husband. "And I promise I will take good care of Lou and make her as happy as she deserves."
Louise squeezed her husband's arm affectionately after his words. "We don't doubt that, Kid," Theresa replied, trying to come to terms with the idea that soon her beloved sister and best friend would be too far away.
"We'll still be staying here for a couple of weeks," Lou said.
"Then we'll have to make the most of our time with Louise, won't we, honey?" Theresa remarked, looking at her husband.
"We don't have many more options," Albert said, forcing a smile onto his face. He shifted his eyes to Kid, whose attention was on his breakfast. Albert thought he did not like the fella that claimed to be his sister-in-law's husband. Theresa had explained their story in general terms this morning, and Albert wondered what this man wanted from Louise after so much time. It was a bit strange that he had reconciled with his wife so suddenly, and Albert mused that there must be something more there than met the eye. Albert made a mental note to keep an eye on him in these weeks and see what this Kid guy hid. After all, he thought, he still felt like a guardian to his wife's sister and she was his responsibility.