AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“Ben—”
“—What? He had it coming.”
Betsey stared at him, the rigid line of his back stiff, his chin raised as if daring her to object to what he’d done. “Hitting him won’t make the situation any better.”
“No, but it made me feel better.” He grinned, then sighed when she didn’t give him one back in reply. “Fine. I probably shouldn’t have hit him in front of half the town but …“ He paused, something in his eyes going soft as he looked at her. “Did you see—”
“—The Indian girl?” Ben nodded. “Yes, I saw her.” She looked back down at Samuel, that ache in her chest pulling tight again. “Where did you see them?”
Ben didn’t answer right away but when his soft reply of, the hotel, reached her ears another little piece of her heart died.
“Did he say who she was?”
“I didn’t give him a chance to.”
Betsey turned Samuel around to her other breast, stroking the blonde wisps of his hair. The day weighed down on her shoulders as it played out again inside her head and she’d never felt so weary. She sat down in the rocker Ben had been sitting in andsighed. “Even though he said he wasn’t coming back, I knew he would one day and I thought … I’m not sure what I thought. That it wouldn’t be so hard to see him, I guess but …” Samuel stopped sucking, his features going slack in sleep. She pulled her dress back over her exposed breast and rubbed the top of his head. “I was talking to Keri when I saw him and I begged her not to tell him about Samuel.” She looked up at him. “You do the same. I don’t want him to know.”
Ben scoffed. “He’s going to find out, Betsey, and you can lie to him all you want about who fathered your son but the moment he hears his name, he’ll know.”
She laid her head back against the chair and closed her eyes. The day Samuel had been born—and Keri held her grandson for the first time—played behind her closed eyelids as if it happened earlier today instead of three months ago. She hadn’t thought Keri would be so emotional about the birth but with Aaron being gone and no clue when or if he’d ever be back, Keri had taken one look at his son and started crying, then asked for his name. When she told her she hadn’t decided on one yet, Keri’s suggestion of Samuel, Aaron’s middle name, was tossed out there and some crazy part of her wanted to use it but knew it would be a mistake. In the end, she’d let Keri pressure her into it so Samuel Benjamin Atwater was what they’d decided on. Keri balked at the last name but Betsey had drawn the line there. If Aaron wanted his son to have his last name, then he’d have to earn that privilege by being a part of his life and she didn’t see that ever happening, especially after today. She had no idea who the Indian girl was but if Ben had seen them at the hotel, then it wasn’t hard to figure out. He’d moved on and forgotten about her. “We won’t tell Aaron his name.” She looked up at him. “If he asks, tell him it’s Benjamin.”
Ben blew out a breath and shook his head. “That’s not going to work for long, Betsey, and you know it.”
“It’ll work long enough for me to figure something else out.”
“Like what?”
“Like …” She sighed. “I don’t know. Maybe I should have married Caleb when he asked then this wouldn’t even be a problem.”
“I still don’t know why you didn’t.”
Betsey looked down at Samuel and smiled at his sleeping face. Caleb held no real affection for her, nor did she hold any for him, but she considered him a friend. He’d been trying to help her out of a bad situation but she couldn’t do it. She couldn’t take another man’s name, share a home with him—and his bed— when her heart was no longer hers to give. Aaron had taken it the day he left town and she’d never get it back now. She’d didn’t think anything could hurt as much as being in love with someone who didn’t love you back did but seeing him with another woman nearly tore her heart out. How was she supposed to pretend she didn’t care what he did or who he did it with when every time she looked at him her heart bled out more sorrow and pain? As much as she wanted to hate Aaron Hilam she couldn’t. She loved him. Always had. Always would. And letting him go would be the hardest thing she’d ever had to do.
Chapter Four
Ben setthe brake on the wagon and hopped to the ground, coming around the other side and lifting his hand. Betsey adjusted Samuel against her chest, making sure he was tucked in tight to the length of cloth she had draped around her neck that he was cradled in. Ben helped her down then reached in for the basket she kept Samuel’s extra clothes and a handful of linen squares to keep him dry. Their eyes met and she knew he was still angry at her. Over breakfast, they’d rehashed the conversation from the night before and their fight over keeping knowledge of Samuel from Aaron still caused a strained silence between them. “Promise me you won’t say anything to Aaron if you see him.”
Ben sighed. “Betsey—“
“—Promise me, Ben.” He gave her a hard stare but finally gave in with a nod of his head.
“Fine but when he finds out Samuel is—“
“—He won’t find out. Only a handful of people know and I know they won’t say anything. Most of the town think’s Caleb is his father anyway since he asked me to marry him when it wasobvious I was expecting so, as far as Aaron is concerned, he can believe what everyone else does, too.”
He stared off down the road that ran through the middle of town for long minutes before shaking his head. “I still think it’s a mistake to keep it from him but I won’t say anything. It’s your story to tell anyway.” He leaned over and kissed her cheek. “I’ll see you tonight. I’ll probably have to bring Pansy to town instead of the wagon. I’ll be lucky if that wheel lasts until I get home.”
Betsey glanced at the repaired wheel on the wagon, a wheel that needed to be fixed again with money they didn’t have. Ben could complain about her job all he wanted but truth was, they needed the money, regardless of what people thought she was doing in there.
She watched him walk away, the tightness in her chest loosening. She understood his reluctance to keep the truth from Aaron. Her brother wanted Aaron to take responsibility for his son. He wanted her out of the saloon but they’d never survive without the small amount of money she made there.
Heading to the other end of town, she kept her eyes down and avoided looking at anyone directly. The town had grown so much over the last few years there were more than a few people who lived on the outskirts of town she didn’t know by name yet and those were the ones who looked at her as if she were—less. She hadn’t felt that way in years. Not since her pa had drunk himself to death. How they’d survived to adulthood, she’d never know. Scrounging for food and wearing the same old rags made them the talk of the town and they took care of themselves most of the time but to have people still look at her as if they were better than her brought back the anger she’d thought she let go of. Her father failed as a parent. Cared more about himself than he did them and she’d vowed to never let a day go by that Samuel didn’t know he was loved.
She stepped off the sidewalk and was nearly to Miranda’s house when she saw Aaron riding into town. He was in theLloyd’s buckboard wagon and he was alone. Where was the woman he’d ridden into town with?
Probably at his house waiting for him to come back.
The thought was enough to bring the ache back to her chest and she hurried the rest of the way to Miranda’s and hoped he didn’t see her. She’d made it to the bushes that lined her yard when she saw him look her way. She ducked between the hedges and ran for the door. Maybe he hadn’t realized it was her. She glanced back over her shoulder relieved to see he was still heading into town. He hadn’t seen her.
