MORNING GLORY

Chapter 8

Lou gathered what few valuables she left in her former room in the saloon. She smiled as she heard the excited shouting, cursing, and fighting that went on in the place. Funny how I miss these little things, she thought. She dared not take any items that did not belong to her although they were used by her. She took her belongings that she paid for, worked for, or received as presents.

How have I accumulated all these things in such a tiny space! She frowned at the sight of a cream dress with a plunging neckline that a former saloon girl had given her. Such a pretty dress, if only I have a reason to wear something like this.

For some reason, the image of Samantha flashed in her mind, causing her to frown even more. She'll definitely look good in this. If only my breasts were a bit bigger . . . .

Her thoughts were interrupted by Charlotte's entrance in her room. "Louise, Boggs's here."

"Then I better get out of here now," she said, stuffing the rest of the dresses in the luggage. She had not seen Boggs since he kicked her out of the house, practically disowning her. Encountering him was something she was not looking forward to.

"You need help carrying that?"

"No, I can handle it. Thanks for your help, Charlotte."

"If I find something here that you might have forgotten, I'll give it to Jesse to return it to you."

"Don't bother," Lou said, scanning the room. "I'm sure this room will be occupied by one of his women in no time."

Charlotte nodded understandably. She gave the young woman a quick hug. "Be careful, Lou. Remember I'm always here for you."

"I know," she said, returning the hug.

Lou opened the door to her room and carefully scanned the dim hallway to ascertain Boggs's absence. She quickly descended down the stairs, entered the smoky saloon, dashed across the sea of wild men, and welcomed the world that waited patiently outside.

After unpacking the items she brought back from the saloon, Lou proceeded to finish the house chores. Rachel never asked her to help with the chores, but Lou knew it was the least she could do for Rachel who offered her a home in a moment of despair. Contrary to what people would expect from a wealthy saloon owner's daughter, Lou was used to hard work. Hard work, hard life, anything hard were all she knew in the years spent with Boggs.

"Louise, what are you doing?" Rachel asked with a stunned look on her face.

"I'm helping you with the laundry," she said as she rinsed the clothes.

"Honey, you don't have to do everything here," Rachel told her softly. "Lou, I mean it."

"Rachel, I want to help you. This is the least I can do considering what you've done for me."

"I've offered you a home, just as we've offered Jesse a home. That's all there is to it. You're family now. Don't be so hard on yourself. Why don't you go out? Shop? Watch a play?"

Lou smiled. "Thanks, Rachel, but I really ought to finish this."

"Honey, it's okay. I can do it. Since you've been here, I'm left with nothing to do," Rachel said, laughing. "I'm losing all my muscles."

"It's really okay. I don't mind working."

"All right," Rachel said, giving up. "But promise me that you'll take a break."

"I promise."

Rachel sighed, finding more to admire. It was rare to find someone like Lou, someone so beautiful, kind, hard-working, and bull-headed.

"Rachel, why don't you take a nap," Lou told her. "You look a little tired."

"Tired of not doing anything," Rachel joked. Lou's pleasant mood was contagious, but Rachel continued to worry that Lou would work herself to death.

"It must be the weather or somethin', but robbery is the frequent crime around here these past few days," Teaspoon said as they began to eat dinner.

"At the saloon, robbery is an everyday activity," Lou said. "Most victims don't even realize they've been robbed."

"How did you stand living there?" Cody asked her. "I mean if you were a guy, I'd understand. I mean, who wouldn't wanna be around beautiful girls everyday?"

"It wasn't so bad," Lou said, reflecting on the happy times. "It was kinda fun."

The riders exchanged funny glances.

"The only person that made it hell was my father," she said sadly.

"Sorry I brought it up," Cody apologized.

"Don't worry about it," she said. "I'm starting to get over it, you know?"

"From my experience," Teaspoon said, "when it comes to things like that, you just don't forget."

"My situation's kinda different," Lou said. She never used to open up herself, especially in front of several men. This time, it was different. They were family, and they listened and cared. "He's practically disowned me so many times. This time, I guess he wants it to be official."

"Lou, you were never his own," Jimmy told her. "His blood may run in your veins, but that's about it. You're not his property. You were never his to begin with so he can never disown you."

"Thanks, Jimmy," Lou said, greatly appreciative of Jimmy's kind words.

Cody was about to open his mouth to say something when a knock interrupted the dinner.

Buck, being the closest to the door, rose and opened it.

"Hi, Buck," Samantha's soft voice gently broke the silence.

"What is she doing here?" Ike signed.

Noah cocked his eyebrows in the direction of the Kid.

Jimmy tried to stifle a laugh. This could get real interesting.

"Buck, don't just stand there," Rachel scolded the handsome cowboy. "Invite her in."

"I'm sorry. Come in," he said, opening the door for the Southern belle.

Gee, she really dressed up for this, Cody thought, observing Samantha's stunning lacy black dress and her neatly framed hair arranged in twisted, wild, sexy curls.

"I'm sorry to bother y'all," she said softly, keeping her eyes on Kid who could not look away from her. "I just wanted to return some cooking utensils that I borrowed the other day. Thank you very much, Rachel."

"You're welcome," Rachel said, taking the kitchen utensils from her hands.

Cody could sense the tension in the room. To lighten up the mood, he said, "Samantha, why don't you stay for dinner? We just started."

Noah wished he sat next to Cody so he could give him a good kick.

"It's quite all right," she replied.

"We insist," Teaspoon said. "Please have a seat."

Kid glanced at Lou who suddenly found her plate more interesting. Out of respect, he rose to pull a chair for Samantha who gave him a sweet smile.

"You cook?" asked Cody to Samantha.

"Yes, of course. I don't wanna brag, but people say I'm very good at it."

Lou felt herself getting smaller and smaller. It was not because of the lack of attention she received, but because of the mere presence of the woman. She wished she could sink to a size of a pebble and disappear.

"I love women who are beautiful and can cook," Cody said.

"Don't we all?" Noah added.

Lou felt out of place. She even began wishing she could cook. She did everything at Rachel's house but cook. She just never learned to cook despite the opportunities and practice she received growing up.

"So, Kid," Samantha began, "do you love women who can cook?"

"Of course," he said, smiling.

Lou made a face. She really needed to get out of there. "Excuse me, but I've got chores to do."

Samantha raised an eyebrow. She disliked Louise, the young daughter of the saloon owner. She learned about Lou moving into Rachel's house, and she was pretty aware of the woman's interest in her man. She found Kid first, and Lou certainly was no competition. She eyed the woman cockily, glad that she could make her feel so uncomfortable that she decided to excuse herself. Now that Lou lived next to the station, Samantha was determined to claim what was rightfully hers, Kid's attention. That was the main objective of her visit that evening.

"Lou, you haven't finished your food," Buck said.

"I ain't hungry. Excuse me," she said, closing the door softly despite her anger. She ran to the stable to brush her horse, something that she had done in the past to calm herself down.

Why do I even care anyway? We're not even together, and here I am acting like a jealous girlfriend.

She remembered how Samantha looked at her as if Samantha was the queen and she was the servant. She knew that the schoolteacher hated her guts. Maybe because she was the daughter of the saloon owner. Samantha probably made up her mind about her from the ugly lies and rumors about Lou. Although Lou had the reputation of a nice, sweet girl who lived with an abusive father, she also had the reputation of being a whore, a prostitute, things of that nature.

Lou brushed her tears. She seldom cried, usually because of Boggs, but she rarely, if never, cried because of a boy. I've changed so much, she thought. Since I've moved here, I'm more sensitive. What's wrong with me? Am I losing my mind?

"What's the matter with her?" Samantha asked with attitude after Lou ran out of the house.

"It's probably that time of the month," Cody said.

"Do you think it's strange how her father doesn't even care that she left?" Samantha asked. "I can only imagine what kind of daughter she is to be disowned by her own father!"

Kid was angered by Samantha's words. First of all, Samantha didn't know Lou. Even if she did, she had no right to say something she did not know about. "I don't think it's any of your business," Kid said as politely as he could.

"I know you are new here, but haven't you heard about her?"

"What about her?" Jimmy asked.

"About what kinda person she is."

"What exactly is she?"

"From my understanding," Samantha said, acting as if she'd rather not talk about it, "she's a pretty naughty girl."

Cody began laughing. "Naughty? I like that."

"She has a reputation of being a . . ., I don't think I can say it," Samantha concluded, but she was sure that they got the idea, maybe except for Cody.

Jimmy shook his head. "I don't believe it. A person's reputation doesn't make the person. Since I've known her, she's anything but what you implied."

"You can believe what you want, but everyone in town knows the truth about that girl. Be careful. She's not that innocent," Samantha warned.

"Thanks for the advice," Rachel said, trying to control her anger. "But I'm pretty sure we can say that about other women in this town."

Buck glanced from Samantha to Rachel, afraid that a cat fight would break out.

Kid refused to believe Samantha. He was not sure about what was said in town, but he knew people who knew the truth about Lou. From his experience, Lou proved to be sweet, innocent in ways between a man and a woman, and even angelic.

After a few minutes, Samantha excused herself. She was a bit disappointed that Kid didn't offer to accompany her home. Nonetheless, she was happy to hook her arm in his as they walked outside of the house. She secretly wished that Lou was somewhere where she could see the proximity she shared with Kid.

"Thanks for a beautiful evening, Kid," she said, gazing into his eyes. She was obviously waiting for a kiss.

"Good night. Take care," he said, helping her mount on her horse.

He watched Samantha ride away into the night then headed to the bunkhouse to play cards with the boys.

"Did Lou come back to Rachel's place yet?" Kid asked after a few moments.

"Not that I know of," Buck answered.

"She left almost an hour ago," Noah said. "She definitely doesn't like Samantha."

"Let me go see what she's up to," Kid said.

He went to Rachel's house only to find that she had not come back. He searched everywhere, and she was still nowhere in sight.

I better check if she took her horse with her, he decided, heading straight to the stables.

He stood by the doorway, watching her brush her beloved horse with such focus and intensity. "Lou, what are you doing here?"

She didn't bother to look at him, a good indication that she was upset.

"Honey, what's wrong?"

"Kid, leave me alone," she said.

"You've been here for almost an hour. You planning on sleeping with the horses tonight?"

She glared at him. "I can sleep with whoever, whatever, whenever I want."

"Of course, you can, honey," he said, moving closer toward her. "Is there something about Samantha that bothers you?"

"No," she lied.

"C'mon, Lou, you didn't even talk to her. As soon as she got there, you left."

"So what?"

"Lou, c'mon, give it a rest, will you," he said, taking the brush from her hand. "You're gonna get blisters on your hand."

"I don't care. Why do you care? Is it because you want smooth hands with manicured nails?"

He smiled, loving her feisty mood. "Who cares about what I want? What do you want?"

You, her mind answered simply. "A chance."

"Chance?"

"Chance to change what some people think about me. A chance to be loved. A chance to be happy. A chance to feel something. Anything that money can't buy is what I want."

"Then you'll be hard to please," he said, putting his arms around her. "Priceless things often come with hard sacrifices. But I'm sure you're worth it."

She tried to break free from his hold, but he would not let go. She loved his arms around her anyway so she didn't put up a fight.

"Still mad at me?" he asked.

"I wasn't mad," she said, softening in his arms. "I was just tired of seeing Samantha's face."

"The feeling's mutual," he said, laughing.

"Kid, I don't know about these kinds of things, but I think I like you," she said shyly.

"Like I said, the feeling's mutual." He began kissing her neck tenderly.

"Kid, are you even listening to me?" she asked.

"Mmhhm," he said. "Always."

"Okay, what did I say?" she asked, testing his claim.

"You asked if I was listening to you."

"Before that."

"You said that you like me, and I say, 'I love you. You are the most beautiful woman I've ever seen. You're the nicest, kindest, sweetest person I've ever met.'"

She smiled at the sincere words. "What did I ever do to deserve you?" she asked him.

He frowned. "I should ask that question, not you." He kissed her softly on the lips and gently caressed her arms. "Did I tell you I love you?"

"I don't mind being reminded," she replied, enjoying the feel of his lips against her neck.

They remained in the stables for a while, watching the pretty horses as Lou sat enveloped in Kid's strong arms. She never imagined feeling as wonderful and special in all her life the way she did that night. Now she understood what people meant when they said that the best things in life were free.

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