By C.C.
Copyright 2000
She just didn’t know what she could do about it. She knew trying to break the engagement would be futile, Stephen would never let her out of it. She just didn’t really understand why he wanted to marry her anyway, he never acted like he really loved her. He really never cared about what she thought or what she said, she guessed it was just his pride.
I guess I’ll have to run away, she told herself, not really believing she’d have the nerve to do it.
Deep in thought, she didn’t notice Kid as he approached. He was returning from walking Hannah home.
She almost walked into him.
“Whoa! Lou you okay?” he questioned.
She realized that she hadn’t been paying attention, she was a little embarrassed but quickly remembered Stephen’s comments. She glanced nervously around to be sure he wasn’t around.
“Oh sorry, just thinking” she responded quietly.
“Must be somethin’ real important” he tried to look at her. But she avoided his eyes.
She wanted to tell him what she had been thinking about. She wanted to tell him that she was planning to leave, but she couldn’t, she didn’t want to involve him in her troubles.
“Nah, just wanted some fresh air really” she looked at him. “Oh” she remembered she wanted to apologize about Stephen’s behavior earlier. “I’m sorry about Stephen, I don’t know what got into him” she lied.
“That’s okay” Kid replied “can’t say I blame ‘em, I’m sure if I was in his shoes I’d be picky about who I let you dance with too!” he too lied, realizing that Stephen had paid any attention to her dancing with anybody else, only him.
Lou blushed at his compliment.
“Well Lou, I’d better get back. Come on, I’ll walk you to the hotel.”
“Oh no thank you” she quickly responded “I’m fine Kid, thanks though. Again, I am sorry about our dance, I was really looking forward to it”, she said as she was leaving.
Kid wanted to tell her that he was grateful to Stephen for his interruption, only because as soon as he had embraced her he found he was losing himself in her eyes once again. Every time he seemed to get control of his feelings and thoughts, something happened and he’d have to start all over again. He let out a slow even breath as he turned to fetch Katy.
“Gonna be another long night” he told his horse and confidant. She was the only other one who knew that he loved Louise McCloud.
Humans are so stupid, Katy thought, why don’t they just tell each other?
Louise heard some loud voices coming from Stephen’s room. As she got outside of the door she could tell that he and his mother were arguing.
“You’re going to mess things up Stephen, you let her fall for that cowboy and we all lose, do you understand?” she spoke sternly and loudly.
“Mother, I told her to stay away from him, she won’t go against my wishes” he was trying to remain calm, hating his mother’s interference.
Louise wondered what she meant “and we all lose”.
Stephen spoke again, “now mother, the wedding is Saturday, she doesn’t turn eighteen until the Saturday after that. That money is as good as mine and you know it, nothing is going to happen in a week. We just have to keep her in the dark for one more week, we’ve done it so far” he reassured his mother.
Louise heard Mrs. Richardson continue “Well if we hadn’t come to this god-forsaken place I am sure she would have found out. Too many busy-bodies in Boston. Somebody would have asked her about her father’s Trust. As soon as she’s eighteen were going right back where we belong, her daddy’s fortune becoming the Richardson fortune” she laughed with delight.
Louise couldn’t believe what she had just heard. She was such a fool. She ran to her room and locked the door. She was breathing heavy, trying to fight tears. What a complete fool I’ve been, why didn’t I ever wonder about my father’s money. Why didn’t I realize I’d be entitled to it. She honestly had never given it a thought. The Richardson’s had immediately taken her in and provided for her every need. She never thought about money. Stephen never denied her anything, he’d buy whatever she wanted. Part of their plan to keep me in the dark no doubt, she thought suspiciously, giving her anything she wanted and more; all a ruse to keep her from asking questions.
She was angry with herself, well she was a different person now, they weren’t going to run all over her anymore! She wondered what she was going to do. She realized from what she had heard that she’d inherit her father’s fortune when she turned eighteen, that meant she had two weeks. She knew she could not marry Stephen ever, let alone before she turned eighteen. How would she manage. She paced her room and was startled by the nightly knock.
“Louise” Stephen spoke sweetly, too sweetly. “Honey, I’m sorry about tonight, I’m sorry I upset you. I’m just afraid that boy has some feelings for you, please forgive my jealousy.”
Louise was on the other side of the door and his tone sickened her, his lies made her angry. But she would not do anything to raise his suspicions. “It’s okay Stephen, in fact” she almost choked on the lie that was to come “you showing a little jealousy is nice.”
“Well goodnight sweetheart” his sickening-sweet voice made her skin crawl. She heard his footsteps as he walked down the hall to his room.
No wonder they hadn’t tried to find a place to live, she had often thought it strange that they all lived in the hotel. The Richardson’s had never planned to make Sweetwater their home, they’d planned to get their hands on her inheritance and return to Boston.
Sleep did not come easy for her that night. The next morning she rented a horse from the livery, deciding to get away from the town. Get out into the open, to come up with a plan. She didn’t think she could hide from them for two weeks, besides she didn’t have any of her own money. Stephen always careful to buy what she’d asked for or only giver her enough to make the purchase she had planned on.
She stopped by the stream to allow the horse to drink. She realized as she dismounted the horse that this was the first time she had ridden any horse other than Katy, she was proud of herself. She had handled this horse well, it felt completely natural to her.
Guess Kid was right, I really don’t need anymore lessons.
She thought about him, wondering if she should confide in him, ask for his help. No, she thought, he doesn’t want to have anything to do with me, anyway he’s seeing Hannah, it’s not fair to her to ask him to help me.
She sighed as she realized she had yet to come up with a plan, not even the beginnings of one. She was about to mount the horse when a very familiar horse and rider appeared on the path.
Started at first, she quickly calmed herself. “Hello Kid, what are you doing here?” she questioned.
“Oh just riding, thinking..... and you?” he questioned back.
“Same, wanted to get out of town” she looked at the horse “you would be proud, I got all the way out here and never once had any problems from him” stroking the black horses nose.
Kid recognized Lightening from the livery, he knew him to be a quick, spirited horse, but with a good disposition. “Lightening’s a good horse” he dismounted Katy and walked to the horse, patting him and talking to him the way he did to Katy. Katy whinnied indicating her jealousy.
“Awe come on girl, just saying hello, that’s all” he eyed Katy.
Louise had to laugh at the exchange. “You know Kid, I’ve never seen anything quite like your relationship with horses, it’s like you talk to them and they understand.”
“That’s cause they do, don’t ya boy?” Lightening nodded his head in agreement, much to Louise’s amazement. “Okay, Okay I’m not going to try to understand it” she stated wide-eyed.
She was surprised by his next comment. “So..... you nervous about Saturday?” he inquired innocently.
She almost went numb. She wanted so much to tell him, but it wasn’t right to involve him.
“Yeah, guess that’s all it is” she replied “Can’t imagine it, scares me really.” Uh oh, she thought. I shouldn’t have said that.
He walked to her, almost touching her. “What are you afraid of Lou?” he questioned, concern in his voice. “Are you afraid of him?” he asked worried that he was stepping over some boundaries.
She eyed him, weighing her choices, does she lie to him, or does she involve him in her tangled life?
“Lou, I’d like to think of myself as your friend, you can trust me” his voice low and soothing.
At that moment she saw love in his eyes. Not imagined, not misinterpreted, just unconditional love. She knew beyond a shadow of a doubt that he loved her at that very moment. She had known for a while that she loved him. She just knew she never could reveal it. But now, now she knew she would not marry Stephen, she was free to let her feelings show through.
At this realization she noticed Kid’s look, he had seen the same thing in her eyes. He knew she loved him however, he was torn. As far as he knew she was marrying Stephen Saturday.
“Lou?” he questioned, not really having to ask.
She knew he was confused, she could feel his feelings, she knew him, like she knew herself. She felt the need to touch him, to have him hold her. She flung herself into his arms. He was shocked but quickly embraced her, she was crying.
“Lou.. Louise, what is it, what’s the matter?” Oh how he wanted to take her pain away. He wanted to kiss her tears away and replace the sorrow on her face with happiness. “Tell me Lou, what is it?”
She turned her face up and met his gaze, the silence was deafening the tension paralyzing. She wanted to kiss him, but how would he react, she wondered. Oh I don’t care, I’m so sick of doing what I’m expected to do. She watched him closely, his eyes still confused but revealing his feelings, she brought her lips up to meet his - he didn’t know what to do - he was shocked but he couldn’t pull away from her. Some unseen force keeping them locked in a kiss. She held him tighter and parted her lips, his tongue finding hers and the earth moved. His embrace tightening, she wanted to crawl inside of him, she couldn’t get close enough to him, to the comfort he brought to her. She knew this is the way it was meant to be. This was love, she had never once kissed Stephen like this, in fact she had never kissed anyone like this. She never wanted it to end. Their passion increasing, she found her hands wandering, her fingers running through his hair, his fingers gently gliding through hers. Kid thought briefly about how many times he had thought and dreamt about running his fingers through her long beautiful hair. Her heart beating rapidly and her breathing become more and more shallow she felt Kid pulling away from her. She tried to hold him tighter, to continue this moment knowing when it ended she’d have a lot to explain, wanting instead this kiss to last forever.
But she was not successful, she could see the bewilderment in his eyes as he pulled away and looked at her disbelievingly. Why would she kiss him and why in the hell did I kiss her back, he thought. She brought her fingers to her lips, wanted to hang on to the feeling of his lips pressed against them.
He continued to look at her confused, trying to figure out what to say. The silence was killing him. “What happened?” he finally found his voice. But that was all he could think to say.
“I’m sorry Kid, I just....” she stumbled with her emotions “I just couldn’t help myself.”
“Louise, what do you mean, please help me understand why you would kiss me, like that” his eyes wide remembering the intensity of the kiss “when you’re getting married in six days” his voice pleading with her to be honest with him.
She hung her head low, they were still standing only inches apart. “Oh Kid” she sighed and peered back up into his eyes. “I love you, I have loved you for a long time, I just tried to deny it for so long, I’m sorry for kissing you but I just can’t deny it anymore. You’re all I think about, I know now that I can’t marry Stephen.... I need you” she finished her plea and again looked down to the ground.
Kid placed his finger under her chin and lifted her face to look into her eyes. “What are you saying Lou? Are you sayin’ your not gonna marry Stephen?” his voice shaky.
There’s so much to explain Kid, but I have to know something” she shied away from him, bracing herself in case she didn’t get the answer she longed for.
“Kid I need to know.... if....well.... if you love me,” she chanced a glance at him and inwardly rejoiced at the love she saw in his eyes.
“Of course I love you Lou, I’ve loved you ever since I realized you weren’t a snob” he smiled his smile. “I just couldn’t tell you, I tried to stop you know. Knowing you were promised to Stephen. I tried everything to stop thinking about you. That’s why I told you I couldn’t give you lessons anymore - it was driving me crazy being with you. I thought if I just didn’t see you anymore I could control my feelings, maybe even stop loving you. But it didn’t work, when I saw you at the dance... oh god Lou, you were so beautiful, I couldn’t take my eyes off of you. I wanted to leave and take you with me... I didn’t care where.....
His words were cut short as she once again pressed her lips to his. This kiss even more passionate and mind-shattering than the last. Inwardly they both were a little frightened by the intensity of their feelings.
