{Chapter 9}

Aubrey and Wade stared at the little line shack Toni had let them use.

“Well, welcome home” Wade offered a weak smile.

Aubrey giggled. “I love it!”

Wade stared at her strangely. “You do?”

“It’s so… tiny and comfy in a weird way” Aubrey bounced on her toes in excitement. She knew she was going to love it in her new home.

“But it’s so little and… not at all like what you told your home was like in Tennessee” Wade said, cringing.

“So? That big house was more of a chore than a blessing. Can I see the inside?” Aubrey asked.

Wade motioned her to follow him, and walked up onto the porch.

He pushed open the dusty door and revealed one big room with a little fireplace and a table and a little potbelly stove. There was no bed, so Aubrey was glad for the extra one Toni had given them.

“Reckon I’ll start unloading things” Wade turned to head back out the door.

“Is there a broom?”

***********

Wade smiled at the wall of pillows and a few blankets between him and Aubrey on the little bed in the corner of the line shack. Neither of them had allowed the other to sleep in the floor, so they devised a wall of pillows to give Aubrey peace of mind.

Jay had slept in the bunkhouse with the cowboys for tonight so that he and Aubrey could get things settled and bring him there the next day. Jay had like the idea of sleeping with the cowboys and having to deal with the smelly men all night. If anything, Wade pitied the boy.

A fire crackled in the little fireplace to ward off the chill of the winter night, and the stars shone through the one window above the head of the bed.

“You asleep?” Aubrey whispered.

“No. Everything okay?” Wade propped up on his elbow, hoping she was comfortable.

“I’m fine. Just can’t sleep” she sighed.

“Me either. What do you think of the MC?” Wade asked, resting back on his pillow.

“Toni and Erik seem nice, and of course Katie, too. The cowboys are… well, they’re just like cowboys” he could hear the smile in Aubrey’s voice. “I do have one question though. I hope you don’t mind me asking.”

“Anything you want to know” Wade said.

“Was there… anyone… before you were forced to marry me?” Aubrey asked shortly.

Wade smiled. “No. Never has been.”

“I don’t believe that.”

“Why not?”

“Because, you…you’re nearly perfect. You’re sweet and I believe you’d bend over backwards just to please me” Aubrey stated.

Wade snorted. He wouldn’t do that… would he? Was he that desperate to please her?

“I don’t know about that…”

“It’s true. You’ve been so kind to me when I don’t even deserve it. If it wasn’t for me you would be free as a bird right now” he could hear Aubrey’s resentment.

“Didn’t I tell you not to blame yourself?” Wade propped back up on his elbow.

“Yes, but…”

“But nothing, Aubrey. This isn’t your fault. Please… don’t do that to me.”

Aubrey sighed. “I’d feel better if you yelled at me or something.”

Wade smiled. If that was how she wanted it, then he’d oblige her. “Very well. Aubrey Dylan, this is all your fault. You’re a mean, conniving woman who would do just about anything to get a husband. I wouldn’t be surprised if you put your own father up to pulling that shotgun on me” Wade ignored the way he loved the sound of his name on the end of hers.

Aubrey looked over at his smiling face. “That’s better.”

**********

There was such a thing as too sweet, Aubrey decided. After her nearly sleepless night the night before, she was barely dragging by this morning. She had swept the floor, and was pushing herself to scrub it before Wade got back from riding herd or whatever he called it. Jay had been playing around the place for most of the morning, always offering to help her - to which she refused - but continued with his playing.

“Can we go see the others today?” Jay asked once while Aubrey was scrubbing the floor.

“Maybe later, bud. I’ve got to get this place cleaned up.” She needed to find some material for the curtains, make some sort of a rug for the door, make a tablecloth, have some firewood chopped, and buy or make a quilt in order to make this place a home. Wade needed a home, and so did Jay. They needed a place to prop up their feet, play checkers, and have a relaxing evening without coughing up dust from the furniture.

Aubrey heard the sound of hoof beats and stood, smoothing strands of hair behind her ear with wet fingers. Toni McBride and Katie Morris pulled up in front of the little line shack and dismounted. Toni had her daughter with her, barely keeping the hyperactive girl contained.

Aubrey stepped out onto the little front porch and smiled at the women.

“Hi” she smiled.

“Hey, we figured you could use a little help up here. I’m not a good cleaner, but I reckon Erik’s taught me how to nail two boards together,” Toni said, holding her wiggling girl.

Jay came from around the side of the house and spotted Sandy.

“A girl!” he exclaimed.

Sandy looked at him and scrunched up her nose.

Jay went in the opposite direction, and Sandy eyed after him.

Aubrey arched an eyebrow at Jay. She had no idea what that was about.

Directing her attention back to Toni and Katie, she smiled. “Thank you so much. You have no idea how much I was dreading doing this all by myself.”

“Don’t even worry about it” Katie smiled. “There’s nothing we wouldn’t do for good ol’ Wade, is there, Toni?”

Toni shook her head. “I’m hard on all of ’em, but Wade’s a good man. You didn’t do so bad for yourself, Aubrey. Now point us in the direction in what you want us to do.”

**********

“You’re a real troublesome one, aren’t ya?” Wade spoke soothingly to the cow as he cut her loose from the thicket she had caught herself in. “This is the third time I’ve had to get you out in a month. No telling how many times the others had to get you out while I was gone.”

The cow trampled off, and Wade remounted Abe. Looking up at the clear, beautiful sky, Wade felt like talking to God.

Lord, what am I supposed to do here? Aubrey needs someone different from me. I ain’t got anything to offer her that she couldn’t get on her own. She loved that mercantile, I saw it in her eyes, and I’ve taken that from her. How could I do that? I feel like an evil monster, taking her from all she’s ever known and loved. Yet what else could I have done? I’ve got to have a job to support her. I’m just so confused, Lord. I just want to deserve her… is that selfish of me?

“Got something on your mind, kid?” Wade looked up to find Rawhide riding beside him.

Wade smiled. “Nothin’ much.”

“Liar.”

Wade looked at him.

“It’s about that little wife of yours, isn’t it?” Rawhide asked.

Wade nodded, knowing that Rawhide was about to offer one of his infamous pieces of advice.

“Well, it’s like this, Wade. A woman doesn’t know what she wants until we give it to them, know what I mean?” Rawhide said.

Wade shook his head. That didn’t make any sense at all.

“Women are so confused, ya see. They depend on us men to tell ‘em what they need. Explain why it’s the man that always proposes, why it’s the man that always supports the family” Rawhide stated.

Wade resisted the urge to roll his eyes. He didn’t feel like answering that, so he didn’t. Neither of them asked the other to marry them. They were forced into this thing, and that was how it was. They just had to learn to create a life together… and that was easier said than done.

**********

Aubrey and Katie scrubbed while trying to ignore the noises coming from outside that sounded more like Toni killing herself. At first, Aubrey had ran to the door to see what accident had occurred, but Toni seemed - if anything - put off by her concerns, so she had backed away.

“Toni seems all rough and tough, but she’s just a teddy bear inside” Katie commented as she scrubbed a spot on the floor.

Aubrey smiled. “Wade told me. He said it’s hard to take her seriously sometimes.”

Katie laughed. “Wade and Erik are the only ones who know how to get her to do things she doesn’t want to do. But if you want to know her soft spot, it’s little Sandy. She’d walk through fire for that little thing.”

“I have two little brothers about her age” Aubrey smiled, remembering Jake and Jordan.

“Awe, really? Are those your only siblings?” Katie asked

“I’ve got a sister, Bridgette” Aubrey replied, scrubbing vigorously at a spot on the floor.

“It’s a shame they treated you the way they did” Katie sighed.

They just wanted me provided for.

Aubrey had told herself numerous times.

Katie sensed that she wanted to change the subject. “I’ve got a tablecloth you can use, and a rug. I’m sure I can find some material for curtains and I’ll help you make them if you like. You’ve got to have something to do while Wade works with the herd by day and the barn in the evening.”

Aubrey smiled at her. “Thank you. That would be lovely.”

***********

Sorry that it's taken me so long to update!!

So what do we think of Wade? Any suggestions?