Chapter Forty-Eight: Tears, Truth Telling and Lovemaking
"Miss Charlotte, I can't help but notice that you seem upset." Silas said as he entered their bedroom that night.
Charlotte looked up from the mirror that she'd been staring into while brushing her hair. "I am, I suppose. I apologize that I cannot hide my emotions better."
Charlotte felt herself tremble when Silas came up behind her and bent low, laying his chin on her shoulder and caressing her bare arm with his calloused finger. "You never have to hide your feelings from me. You know that." He whispered against her ear. "Are you thinking about Little Grace?"
Charlotte felt her heart ache at the mention of her daughter's name. "Always. But no, that's not what I'm worried about."
Silas took the brush from her hand and began to run it through her long chestnut hair himself. "What is it then, Miss Charlotte?"
"I'm worried about everyone. I know that everyone lived through this most recent nightmare but everyone is most certainly not alright."
"You can't be worrying so much about everybody else. They'll figure things out."
"I don't like Rachel, Silas, and it's not in my nature to feel such a strong dislike toward a person who has never personally wronged me. Evangeline wouldn't say what was going on with her but she made Ox cry. Ox is too sweet a man to treat badly. And Katherine has not come out of her room since she returned. And poor little Susette is sleeping on the sofa downstairs with Frankie on the floor beside her because apparently Frankie and Comanche are no longer speaking....." Charlotte's voice trailed off at the amused look on Silas's face.
"Miss Charlotte, you just focus on you and let everything else work itself out."
Charlotte felt tears fill her eyes and she broke down. Her sobs filled the quiet room as she buried her face in her hands. Silas scooped her up into his arms and carried her to the bed. He laid her down gently and Charlotte curled her body as tight against his as possible.
"Come on now, Miss Charlotte—I know these tears aren't for everyone else. Talk to me."
Charlotte sniffed and breathed Silas in. Almost everyone had taken baths tonight, needing them terrible after the last couple of days, and Silas smelled strongly of witch hazel. "I just miss her so badly." She whispered.
Silas caressed her hair gently and kissed the top of her head. "I know you do. I miss her too." He replied, sadness coloring his voice. His dark hand took hers and he laced their fingers together. Charlotte found herself staring at the way their hands contrasted and yet fit together perfectly.
"I'm sorry, Silas. I wanted to be strong...." Charlotte said tearfully.
Silas released his hold on her hand and placed his finger under her chin, tipping her head up so she was looking into his eyes. "Any person who would call you weak because you cry while thinking about that angel has no heart, Miss Charlotte."
"I wanted to be strong for you." Charlotte admitted, seeing the tears filling Silas's deep brown eyes.
That warm, tender smile that Charlotte loved so much lit up Silas's face and he kissed her tenderly. "How about we just be weak together?" he offered as he pulled away.
Charlotte loved him more in that moment than she had ever loved him before. Gently she pressed her lips to his and as he pulled away, Charlotte felt his lips dancing across her cheeks, tasting her tears and kissing them away.
"You're an amazing man, Silas." Charlotte whispered with a smile.
Silas smiled back at her and caressed her cheek. "I am the man you make me."
***
Katherine stood in the full length mirror of her bedroom and let her eyes roam over her the reflection of her bare skin. Her naturally tanned skin was pale and her face was ashen and drawn. Dark circles surrounded her emotionless green eyes and her normally bright pink lips were nearly colorless.
Bruises marred the smooth skin of her hips; Jackal's fingertips clearly etched into her flesh as a reminder of the pain she had endured. Her scalp was tender thanks to Hoss's big hands holding her hair roughly and yanking it as she Katherine had pleasured him. Bruises marred her upper arms as well, from Hoss's calloused hands yanking her
She turned her head slightly and tossed back her hair, revealing the pleasure mark that Jackal had left behind on the flesh there.
How could she face Ox? How could she tell him what she had done? Ox had looked at Katherine as something other than what she was and how had she repaid him? By giving herself with the first two men that had come along.... Though if she hadn't done what she had done; if she hadn't thrown herself at Jackal and Hoss then Susette would have faced a much worse fait than even being tossed out onto a street full of rabid. Katherine had had good reason to do what she had done so why was she so scared to speak to Ox?
Katherine knew why. Ox mattered to her. His feelings mattered. The way that he looked at her mattered. What he thought about her mattered. No one had ever mattered that way to her before. Once that evening he had knocked on her door but Katherine had been unable to move away from her window. She'd been unable to convince her feet to move across the worn carpeting and allow him into her room; to allow him to see her, judge her, know the truth....
Finally, after nearly an hour of simple staring at herself, Katherine moved away from the mirror and slid into a white sleeping gown. The gown had a high neck and long sleeves and it hid all her bruises from sight. The saying 'out of sight, out of mind' played itself in her mind and Katherine wished it really was that easy.
She walked to the lantern and lifted the glass globe, blowing out the flame gently before replacing the globe and tip toeing to her bed. Just before Katherine slid beneath the covers she heard footsteps outside her bedroom door.
They were heavy steps and they seemed to be pacing back and forth. Katherine wrapped her arms tightly around herself before walking to the door and looking through the tiny peephole and out into the dimly lit hall. It was Ox. He was moving his mouth as if having a silent conversation with someone. One hand kept rubbing the back of his neck roughly while the other motioned in the air with earnest as he 'spoke' to someone only he could see.
Katherine knew he had to be faced. She had to do this. At least in this gown Ox wouldn't be able to see the bruises and the proof that Katherine had been touched by those two monsters. She took a deep breath, preparing herself for the rejection that she might very well experience soon. With a trembling hand, Katherine reached out and pulled open the door.
Ox stopped pacing and his green eyes looked straight into hers. Katherine felt her breath catch. Ox was everything she wanted. She knew that now more than ever before. He was kind, gentle, caring and warm. The single kiss they had shared had lit her body on fire and left her craving so much more; she had never truly craved any other man.
The cold hard truth was that Katherine did not deserve him, and now he would know it.
"Hello, Miss Kate." Ox mumbled as he pulled off his hat and wrung it in his hands. His green eyes were so sad and his shoulders were slumped. The man looked as if he had a ten ton weight on his massive shoulders.
"Hello, Ox." Katherine whispered quietly in response. They both stood there, each seeming to be just as unsure as the other. Finally Katherine spoke again. "I'm sure you're wondering why I've been locked up in here all day."
Ox shifted his feet and his gaze went to the floor. "Aunt Rachel told me."
Katherine felt her heart skitter to a stop. He already knew? "What did she tell you?"
"Shit, Miss Kate, don't make me say it." Ox mumbled. "I just want you to know that I understand and there's no hard feelings."
"You understand.....?" Katherine questioned. What did he understand? Did he understand why she had given herself to Hoss and Jackal? If so then he was the single most understand man that she had ever met and he had gotten over it faster than any other man possibly could.
"Yeah—I reckon I knew all along I wasn't good enough for you..." Ox's voice carried off as he picked at a knot in the wooden doorframe.
Katherine frowned. "What are you talking about? What did your aunt tell you?"
Ox turned away from her. "Gee, Miss Kate, I don't wanna repeat it."
Katherine grabbed his shoulder and yanked him back around. She knew that if he hadn't wanted her to turn him she wouldn't have been able to but thankfully he moved with her. "Joshua Gilcrest, tell me right now what she said. What did she say happened over there?"
Tears filled Ox's eyes and he stuck out his chin, clearly fighting those tears with all his might. "She said you wanted to leave with those men. That you—uh—You gave yourself to them willingly." Ox swallowed hard, and Katherine noticed his fists clench. "But she explained that it was cuz I'm just not good enough for you. I'm a simple man and I need a simple woman who will appreciate how—well, how simple I am."
Katherine could not believe what she was hearing. How dare that horrible shrew of a woman tell Ox that he wasn't good enough! Ox was an amazing man and any woman would be blessed to have him. And to pretend as if she did not understand why Katherine had thrown herself at those monsters was beyond cruel and cold!
"Ox that's just not true!" Katherine exclaimed. "You are an amazing man!"
"Miss Kate, don't be mean. I just wanted to come in here to tell you that I understand and I'll leave you alone from here on. I ain't even mad about it....."
Katherine could tell he was lying about the last part. His fists were clenched so tightly that Katherine knew they had to be paining him. She reached out and grabbed his thick forearm.
"Ox, please, you have to believe that your aunt was lying. I love you, Ox."
"Miss Kate, don't lie to me." Ox grumbled, yanking his arm away and swiping the back of his hand across his face.
"I'm not lying!" Katherine vowed. "I love you. I did not lay with those men because I wanted to. I was born and raised a whore, Ox. I don't know any other way to reason with men other than to use my body....."
"But dammit, you can't love me and lay with other men, Miss Kate. It just doesn't work that way. All the other women used me to be unfaithful to the men that they loved. I don't wanna be one of those men."
Katherine shook her head and wished she could take away the pain etched on his handsome face. "Ox, I did lay with those men but I had no choice...."
"They forced you?" Ox growled.
Katherine was shocked. She had never heard an angrier tone in her life. Ox's body was all but vibrating with rage. "Ox, calm down. They didn't force me...."
"So you wanted to lay with them?" Ox demanded with confused rage.
"No."
"Why did you?" Ox asked, that sadness coming back to his voice.
Katherine wrapped her arms around herself, suddenly feeling cold. "I didn't have a choice."
"So they did force you."
Katherine sighed with frustration. This would have been so much easier had Rachel not opened her mouth and said what she had. "Come with me." Katherine urged, grabbing Ox's hand and leading him down the hall.
Ox allowed her to lead him, though Katherine could sense his confusion. "Where are we going?" he asked.
"To talk to your aunt. I'm only going to explain this once and I want that old bitch to admit to her lies."
Katherine didn't even bother to knock before throwing open the door. Rachel's room was still lit by a lantern and she was sitting in a chair beside the window staring off into the night. At the sound of her door crashing off the wall, she cried out with shock and jumped to her feet, whirling around to face Katherine and a bewildered Ox.
"Rachel, I believe you and I need to have a talk." Katherine stated firmly.
Rachel looked back and forth between Ox and Katherine and seemed to be thinking very hard about jumping out the window beside her.
"What is going on?" Colt's voice came from behind them. Katherine turned to see him and Evangeline standing in the hall. Both of them appeared to have been sleeping and Katherine wondered why a couple of newlyweds were spending their nights sleeping.
"I need to have a talk with Rachel." Katherine replied. She turned her attention back to the hateful woman. "If you ever speak another ill word about Ox, or make him feel as if he's not worthy of something, then so help me I will punch you so hard it'll take your head a week to stop spinning around on your neck."
"That's a pretty good damn punch." Colt mumbled.
Rachel snorted. "I have already been smacked once today by Evangeline, but I refuse to apologize. I was only telling the boy the truth."
"You smacked Aunt Rachel?" Ox questioned his sister.
Evangeline blushed red and shrugged as she leaned into Colt's arms. "She deserved it, Ox, and if she isn't careful, I'll do it again."
"You won't have to, Evangeline." Katherine assured her and then she turned her attention to Rachel and Rachel alone. "How dare you tell Ox what you told him. You have no idea how I feel for that man. None. You and I have never really spoken and you don't know me. I may not be a gently bred lady but I do have a heart, contrary to what you would have everyone believe."
"I never said you didn't." Rachel spoke up. "Are you honestly saying that my nephew who, although he is a good man, is quite simple, is enough to satisfy a woman of your—upbringing?"
"Yes. I am." Katherine replied, reaching to the side and taking Ox's hand firmly in hers. "He is what I want. For you to tell him that I laid with those men because I wanted to and because he is not enough of a man to satisfy me is complete and utter ridiculousness."
"But you threw yourself at those men."
"Are you honestly that daft or is this just an act?" Katherine demanded, throwing her free hand in the air. She placed her finger into her own chest and glared at Rachel. "If I hadn't thrown myself at Jackal and Hoss then Jackal would have.... He would have taken Susette's innocence and you know that as well as I do. Then once he was finished with Susette, he would have come for you!"
"But Susette is a child—No man looks at a child that way!" Evangeline countered from the doorway.
"Jackal would have." Colt assured her quietly.
Rachel stuttered several times and clutched at her own throat. "You acted like you wanted them. You acted like a whore...."
"Yes. I acted like I wanted them! Do you not remember the deal I made with them? That in return for getting me they would let you and Susette go?"
"We almost died." Rachel argued. "You should have known you couldn't make a deal with men like that!"
"I had to try! It was more than you did. You would have let them have Susette just so long as it kept them from touching you!"
"Ox, are you honestly going to stand by and let this whore talk to your aunt that way? We're family!" Rachel exclaimed.
Ox, who had been slumped shouldered and rather quiet through the entire exchange, brought himself to his full height at the word 'whore' and glared with narrowed eyes at his aunt. "You won't speak about Katherine that way again." He stated. "She's the woman I want, Aunt Rachel, and I don't care if you like that or not. You can forget about having a nephew if you're gonna treat her bad because I won't allow it."
Without another word, Ox pulled Katherine out of the room. Katherine spared one last glance at Rachel to see that the woman's eyes were wide and her mouth was working rapidly, though no words were coming out.
Katherine spared a quick glance at Evangeline and Colt before Ox yanked her further down the hall, around a corner and out of sight.
***
Colt shook his head as he stepped into Rachel's room. Evangeline was beside him and he could tell she was thinking about harming her aunt once again. Colt feared that if Evangeline got started, she wouldn't be satisfied with just a simple smack this time. While Colt wouldn't be too awful sad if Evangeline killed the woman, he didn't want his soft-hearted wife to have that on her conscience come morning.
So before Evangeline could speak, Colt opened his mouth. "Rachel, I think we need to get something straight between us."
"And what on earth would that be?" Rachel spat, though Colt could see tears in her eyes as she wrapped her arms tightly around herself.
"As badly as I might want to, I won't kick you out of the group over this and I won't leave you to fend for yourself. Not because I give a snowball's chance in hell what happens to you but because you're Evangeline's aunt and she's my wife—" Colt paused. "—which I reckon makes us family. And I saw that vein just about bulge from your head just now and trust me I ain't real happy about that revelation either but it is what it is."
"Do you have a point?" Rachel asked, sounding tired.
Colt put his thumbs through his belt loops and rocked back on his heels. "Yep. My point is that I don't know where we're going out west. I have no real idea what the hell I'm doing, but my only goal is to keep everybody alive until I figure it all out. I don't have time for bullshit. I don't have time for somebody within our group stirring up trouble, minding business that ain't hers to mind and running off at her mouth when she needs to keeping it closed. If that kind of behavior continues I'll get rid of whoever's causing it, no matter whose aunt she is."
"I didn't mean to cause trouble, Colt. I was looking out for my nephew."
"You—" Colt cut off Evangeline with only a look.
He turned his attention back to Rachel. "Just the same, I wanted you to be aware of where I stand."
Rachel simply nodded and Colt led Evangeline from the room and closed the door firmly behind them. He looked down into his wife's deep green eyes and knew he was in trouble.
"Exactly why was I not allowed to speak in there?" she demanded.
"Because you didn't want to speak, you wanted to hit her." Colt replied calmly.
"And what would the problem with that have been?" Evangeline questioned, her hands going to her curved hips. Colt loved that spark of fire in her green eyes that flashed brighter when she was in a temper.... OF course it flashed even more brightly when she was consumed with passion.
"I already told you that you're hands are too pretty to go around hitting people." Colt replied, stooping down to let his lips taste her neck, nibbling at the tender flesh.
Evangeline moaned as she pressed her body into his. "Colt stop..." she whispered half-heartedly.
"No." Colt growled. He'd been letting her turn him down for too long. Just a couple of hours ago she had turned him down yet again, claiming to be worried about his shoulder. Colt was no longer concerned with the state of his shoulder; his shoulder would be just fine. His cock on the other hand, well that was a different story.
"Colt your shoulder..." Her voice was no more than a moan as Colt wrapped his arms around her waist and gripped her buttocks tightly, pulling her into him and molding them together. He nearly came undone as his growing arousal rubbed against her soft body.
"My shoulder is fine, Evangeline." He assured her, his hungry mouth traveling up to her ear. What he wanted was to taste that flesh beneath her nightdress. He wanted to touch, lick and kiss every inch of her tiny body and listen to those moans grow louder. Her quiet moans in this hallway were already driving him wild and he could only imagine what they'd do to him as they grew louder.
Evangeline tried to wiggle away but Colt held her firmly in place. "Colt, you've already been stitched up twice just today. If you tear it again then Silas is going to lose his temper. You can't have much skin left to stitch!"
"Silas said no ladders and no heavy lifting. You're a short woman, I shouldn't need a ladder and you don't weight no more than a feather so the heavy lifting isn't something we need to worry about."
"Colt...."
Colt moved one of his hands from her rear, stuck his knuckle under her chin and lifted her head as he looked down into her eyes. "I need you, sweetheart."
Several long heartbeats passed by and then Colt felt a raging desire unlike anything he'd ever known come over him when Evangeline's eyes darkened and she gave him a little nod.
Without another word, or wasting another second, Colt attacked her lips with his and enveloped her body in his arms. He walked backward, to their bedroom and pulled her in, turning and closing the door with his foot so he wouldn't have to break the contact between their bodies and mouths.
All he wanted in the world was to devour her. Colt had never felt a feeling like this before. It was more than lust and it consumed him. Always Colt had been good at controlling himself. He couldn't have lived the life he had if he'd been impulsive or easily swayed. Evangeline did something no other woman in his life had ever done; she broke through that wall he had kept so carefully around himself.
It was a wall that had always been there, though Colt had never been aware of building it up. He had kept it up to every single person he had ever met, even his first wife and his own daughter, but Evangeline was like dynamite and she had blasted that wall down the moment she had blasted into his life—or fallen into his drunken arms would probably be the better description.
Colt could hardly stand to break their kiss, as the feel of her lips and the taste of her mouth was intoxicating him, but there were entirely too many articles of clothing standing between them.
He raised her arms over her head and then held her gaze as he lifted her nightdress and slid it up her body, tossing it carelessly across the room. Colt's heart damn near gave out on him right then and there as he watched the candlelight flickering against her smooth, pale skin.
His eyes roamed over her body. Evangeline had been blessed with the perfect feminine body. She was tiny in all the places that mattered and full and curved in all the others. Her breasts were perfectly shaped and the tight pink peaks gracing them seemed to be screaming out for his kiss. Colt was glad to give them exactly what they wanted.
Wrapping one arm around her waist to hold her up, Colt tipped her back, stooped low and began to tease and taste her. Suckling her nipple into his mouth and rolling it across his tongue before grazing it gently against his teeth and then moving to the other.
Evangeline cried out his name. Her fingers buried themselves in his hair (though he knew she was being careful not to touch the gash that Clay's bullet had left there), and her back arched, bringing her breasts closer to him.
Colt lowered his free hand, brushing his fingertips across her hips and down her thighs. He felt her tremble and her knees buckled as Colt's hand settled over the soft dark curls between her legs.
"Colt.... I've never... I don't know how and I don't want to disappoint you. What if—" Colt chuckled and cut off her rambling with a hard kiss to her lips.
"Don't worry, Evangeline." He replied, smiling against her mouth as he realized how wet her curls were beneath his finger. "I could never be disappointed in you." Quickly he kissed her again as he slid a finger inside of her and she cried out his name against his mouth.
Colt led her to the bed and lowered her down, bracing her head with his leaning on his elbow as he continued to kiss and stroke her.
He moved his mouth down her neck, across her collarbones and back to her breasts, taking his time with each one as she moaned and writhed beneath him. He had been right about those moans—they were breathtaking.
Colt wanted to introduce her to all the ways he could pleasure her but knew he couldn't just now. It had been too long since he'd had a woman and he couldn't deny himself any longer. As soon as she stiffened and then began to shudder around his finger, Colt pulled away, stood and removed his clothing, paying no attention to the pain in his shoulder.
He could feel no pain just now, only trembling anticipation.
Evangeline was staring at him with heavy lidded, passion-filled eyes. Her body still tensing with the release he had given her.
"What was that?" she whispered, her hand tracing across her bare breast.
Colt bit the inside of his cheek at the sight of that and prayed that he'd be able to hold on longer than a few minutes... he didn't want to disappoint her.
"That was pleasure, sweetheart. Something I plan on giving you a lot of." Colt assured her.
"I didn't know you could do that to me....." she admitted breathlessly and Colt lowered himself onto the bed, bracing himself over her and nestling his throbbing arousal against her wetness.
"There's a lot more I can do to you, Evangeline—a lot more that I am going to do."
Colt knew that entering her would hurt her. He had never had a virgin himself but he had heard enough to know that it hurt a woman for a moment the first time.
Colt took a deep breath and then entered her in one swift rush, sinking all the way in, burying himself completely inside her tight core. Evangeline whimpered with pain and Colt gently kissed her eyelids, her nose, her cheeks, her lips. "I'm sorry." He whispered. "It will only hurt for a moment and only this time. I promise."
"I trust you." Evangeline replied, her voice quiet. Colt remained motionless atop her, simply kissing her lips gently and waiting for her to urge him on—and it didn't take long.
Soon her hips began to move beneath his, rocking back and forth against him. Colt's kisses grew more intense, hungrier, as he matched her movements, guiding her.
It became hard to distinguish Colt's moans from Evangeline's as both of them climbed higher and higher. Evangeline clung to him and Colt suddenly wished he had more than just one set of lips as he couldn't decide whether to kiss her lips, her neck, her shoulders, her breasts—Evangeline had far too much smooth skin to pick from.
Colt felt his release coming but he fought against it, though he lost that battle as Evangeline found her release and her fingertips dug into the hard muscles of his back and her walls tightened around him.
Evangeline's name left his lips in a breathless rush as he collapsed against her, rolling to his side and bringing her with him. He didn't want to break the contact between their bodies and yet his shoulder was hurting too badly to remain braced over her.
"I never knew... I had heard people talk about how amazing it could be but I never really knew..." she murmured. Colt smiled at the breathless and awestruck quality of her voice. A man felt twenty feet tall hearing something like that.
He snuggled up closer to her and brought the blanket over their bodies. "Neither did I." he replied honestly.
Evangeline snorted. "Don't attempt to lie to me, Colt."
"I would never." Colt assured her.
"Well I happen to know for a fact that you've had at least one other woman before me and I am sure that a roving, wandering outlaw such as yourself had many women in his life."
"Yeah, I've had quite a few." Colt replied honestly. "More than I can remember to be honest." Colt could practically feel the jealousy rolling off of Evangeline in waves, though she was staring at chest and tracing patterns in the dusting of hair there.
"Sweetheart, look at me." Colt urged and she did. "You are more than any of those women ever were." She smiled and Colt felt his heart skip a beat. "I know no other way to explain what you mean to me, Evangeline... You are more."
***
"Miss Kate, can you stop for just a moment?" Ox begged as they entered the short hall that would lead to the kitchen. She had pulled her hand out of his and had begun to lead the way shortly after leaving his aunt's room. Ox was trying to keep his voice down to keep from disturbing Frankie and Susette who were sleeping only a short distance away in the sitting room but Katherine wasn't making that easy since the woman seemed to be ignoring him.
Katherine stopped so suddenly that Ox nearly ran her over and nearly fell on the woman as she whirled around. "Did you mean what you said upstairs?" she demanded suddenly.
"Huh?" Ox was still attempting to right himself after the near trampling.
"Did you mean what you said to Rachel or were you simply out anger? Do you truly want to be with me even now that you know what I am? What I'm capable of?"
Ox scratched at his neck. "You didn't do anything wrong, Miss Kate. You saved a little girl from something really bad. I'm the one that messed up."
"What did you do? You weren't even there!"
"Exactly." Ox looked down at his feet and kicked at the floor. "I wasn't there. I should have been there. I should have kept you safe."
"Ox there wasn't anything you could have done. You know that."
"I should have... They were able to touch you because I didn't keep you safe." Ox had never felt a shame as deep as the shame that thought caused him to feel. "I ain't smart enough. I didn't know what to say or what to do..."
"Ox, you'll stop that right now." Katherine warned sharply. "As soon as there was a chance for you to do something, you did it. You saved my life and you saved Susette's life as well. You are a good man, a brave man—" she placed her hand on his cheek, "—you are my man and I love you, Joshua Gilcrest."
Ox felt his face redden as his heart swelled and his head swam. She loved him? This woman who was so beautiful, so brave, who would sacrifice herself for the wellbeing of a little girl she had only known a matter of days was in love with him? Ox had never, not once in his entire life, thought that a woman would say those words to him.
"Ox...say something." Katherine urged.
Ox shook his head, unable to force his mouth to say words. Instead he placed his hands upon her cheeks, tilted her head back and pressed his lips to hers.
This kiss was just as powerful, just as consuming as the first kiss they had shared. Ox felt his body shake with the force of what Katherine made him feel.
He pulled his lips away as she looped her arms around his neck. "I love you too, Miss Kate." Ox finally managed to whisper. The following silence was broken by the rumbling growls of Ox's neglected stomach. He hadn't eaten since early that morning.
"Are you hungry?" Katherine asked with a laugh. She was smiling so big that Ox feared she would cause her cheeks pain. He loved the way her green eyes seemed to light up and shine as she looked back up at him. Ox would never in a million years have thought a woman would look at him like that.
"Yeah, Miss Kate, I am." He replied sheepishly as he rubbed his neck. "I couldn't eat all day and then after Aunt Rachel told me—" his face reddened. "—well I just didn't have much of an appetite."
Katherine's eyes looked down at the floor for a moment but then she looked back up at Ox. "Well let's go get something to eat then, big guy. I'm pretty hungry myself."
Ox suddenly felt shy, but he held his arm out and she looped hers through it. He led her to the kitchen and then stared with surprise at Jedidiah who was stirring a big pot of stew from the day before, warming it over a fire.
Jedidiah smiled happily when he saw them, his crooked and broken teeth giving him that amusing appearance that instantly made people trust him.
"I had a feeling we'd all be hungry." He stated.
"Are you saying you had a vision about us wanting stew in the middle of the night?" Frankie questioned as she too stepped into the kitchen. "That seems like an awful big waste of your talents." The woman added, stretching her arms over her head before scratching at her stomach.
Jedidiah winked. "Call it intuition."
"I thought you were sleeping?" Katherine said to Frankie as Ox grabbed several bowls from the cupboard.
Frankie snorted. "No one can sleep with the way that little girl in there snores."
Katherine laughed lightly. "Yes she is a snorer." She agreed.
"Well then, my dears," Jedidiah began as he put an arm around each woman. "It seems a good night for some warm stew and cheery conversation."
As the four of them settled down at the table, Ox was surprised by just how content and happy he felt. Katherine was his. She loved him. For a day that had started out so terribly bad, it had certainly ended real good! Since it wasn't in Ox's nature to think of the worst, he chose to believe the future would be just as good.