Jud

"Are you busy?" Laurey asked, as though Jud had a reason to be in the house if he didn't have some errand to do.

"No, just finished fixin' the leak in the kitchen. You need anythin'?"

She smiled and shifted self-consciously. With Aunt Eller right outside, she wasn't likely to ask him to kiss her, let alone strip down for him, but then again, he didn't always understand her.

"Well, it's awful silly, but the Sears-Roebuck catalog arrived today, and I wanted to look at it with you. We can go outside and sit on the back porch swing; it's nice bein' out there in the summer".

"Yeah, I'd like to do that." He followed her outside and sat on the swing next to her, wondering if she wanted something else from him, or if she actually wanted to look at a catalog.

"My mother and I used to play a game–you flip to a random page and pick the thing on that page you'd wanna buy. But you have to pick somethin', all right?"

He nodded, figuring it had been ridiculous to hope that a well brought-up girl like her would let him kiss her in broad daylight, but he'd be more than happy to play a silly game if it meant being near her. She let the pages slip through her fingers until she stopped at one towards the middle.

"Carpet sweepers? Oh, that's an awful one. But I s'pose I'd buy that one" She pointed "looks the smallest."

He considered her choice and shook his head. "Somethin' like a carpet sweeper–ought to get the most expensive, so it'll be good quality and you won't have to think about carpet sweepers again."

She pointed to the priciest one on the page. "So you'd get that one? Yeah, that's smart" she turned to a new page. "Okay, chairs–that's more fun. I think I like that one, but do you think it's too fussy?"

"Nah," he tried to picture it. "Could put it in the livin' room, maybe put a pillow on it. But I'd buy that rocking chair instead."

"Yeah, that'd be good for outside. We'd put it right there. Or I guess since it was your choice, you could put it outside the smokehouse. That'd look good, too"

The next page she flipped to was for ladies' dresses. "This is gonna be hard; I just want all of 'em" she sighed happily and he took the opportunity to slide his gaze up to her face, taking in every detail of her absorbed expression, every freckle on her nose. "Wanna have a dress with lace on it. Like that one, I'd wear it–"

"Laurey!" Aunt Eller's voice came from the front of the house. "Laurey, Curly's come over; stopped to pay you a call!"

Jud's breath caught in his throat at the sound of that name.

"Tell him I'm busy!"

Jud exhaled, wanting nothing more than to kiss her right then.

"Laurey Williams, if you don't come over here–"

"All right, 'm comin'!" she rolled her eyes at Jud. "Be back soon as I can. 'M sorry."

Sorry? As though that conspiratorial look didn't make him the happiest man alive. "That's all right."

He crept towards the front of the house as much as he dared, but he couldn't catch anything Laurey and Curly were saying. He could tell that Curly wasn't singing and she wasn't laughing, and that was all he needed to know.

After a short time, he heard the front door open and slam shut. He didn't like to pry, usually wound up hearing things he'd rather not have, but at the sound of the women's voices, he couldn't help but creep towards the door, catching whatever part of their conversation he could.

"Don't know why he thinks he has the right to…"

"...awful fond of him 'fore he left."

"...different now….'F you like Curly so much, go ahead and marry him yourself." He heard Laurey's light footsteps approach the back door.

"Just be careful." Aunt Eller's voice rang out clearer.

"Careful of what?" The footsteps stopped.

"Still can't help but think it's an awful big coincidence that those men happened to show up when I was gone. Or that Jud happened to be outside at exactly the right time."

Jud felt time stand still as he waited for Laurey to respond

"How can you say that? He–"

"I know, he rescued you. You told me a hundred times. You told everybody in the Territory by now. I just can't help but feel that he–"

"I don't wanna hear another word against Jud! Ain't fair the way people act like there's somethin' wrong inside him. If my mother was still here, I bet she wouldn't—"

"I just wish you'd listen–"

"No, I'm goin' back outside. Me and Jud were playin' a game and I don't wanna leave him waitin'"

He hurried back to the swing chair, pretending to be absorbed in the catalog. She sat next to him, clearly flustered and close to tears.

"Sorry 'bout that. Curly had half a mind to take me to the social, and some men just don't listen when you tell 'em 'no' the first time."

"D'you need me to…"

"Nothin' like that; I'm fine. Just don't see why people expect me to go to the social with some smart-alecky cowhand. Rather go alone than go with him."

"But you ain't goin' alone," he took her hand, his chest swelling with a new bravery he felt around her, now that she stood up to Curly and Aunt Eller to defend him. "'cause I'm takin' you to the social."

She smiled. "Didn't think you'd ever get around to askin' me" she said in that slightly high-pitched, teasing voice that he'd only heard her use with Curly.

He took another deep breath, daring to confront her for the first time. "I, uh, I tried to ask you a while back. Didn't seem like you wanted to go with me."

She spoke slowly, mulling over every word. "I'm sorry. I'm awful sorry, I just didn't know you as well back then. You seemed so quiet, I wasn't sure how it would be goin' to the social with you. But I know you now, and there's no one I'd rather go with."

"I'm real glad about that, Miss Laurey." He squeezed her hand. "Still haven't picked your favorite dress. Looks like that one has the most lace on it, but I reckon that one's prettier."

"You're right" she settled next to him, her head against his shoulder. "You're good at this game."

"I am?"

"Sure, you take it seriously. Other folks don't always do that, and it spoils things."

He smiled, knowing full well who other folks were.