Chapter 4 #3
Red tugged on the brim of his hat. Belle turned and weaved her way around Muriel. Seth handed her a wooden box full of supplies and followed her out, carrying another one. At the door, Belle froze. Seth almost ran into her from behind.
Belle stared out the front window of the general store at a building at the far end of Divide’s modest Main Street.
The words Golden Butte were painted over the swinging doors.
The banker had said something about Cassie’s silk dress being worn by the ladies of the Golden Butte, and then he’d looked nervous.
A dark-haired man had stepped out of that building on the arm of a woman dressed in a shocking red dress, starchy with frills and lace, cut up to nearly her knees in front.
Seth said, “I’m sorry Anthony stepped out just now.”
Belle turned her head with a hard jerk as if she had to physically tear her eyes away from the sight. “He’s in town more than he’s home, Seth. I’m used to my husband shaming me. I don’t care anymore.”
But the downward turn of Belle’s mouth showed she did care. This hurt, and Cassie knew all about being hurt.
“What was I thinking?” Belle shoved the door and stepped out.
The dark-haired man noticed her. The woman in red stepped out of his arms and flounced back into the building. The man—it had to be Belle’s husband, Anthony—turned and walked quickly in the opposite direction.
Belle went to her wagon as if nothing had happened and set her box inside. Then she walked directly away from Anthony with the thud of boots and the clink of spurs.
Red and Muriel exchanged long glances. The pity Cassie had sensed in Red indicated that Belle’s husband with another woman on his arm was a usual occurrence.
Settling his hat more firmly, Red rested his hand on Cassie’s back. “Let’s head out.”
Confused by that rare, frightening look at a woman who would stare a man straight in the eye and say her piece and feeling awkward about witnessing Belle’s shame, Cassie did as she was told and headed out, following Red. The way a woman was meant to behave.
Belle had looked at Cassie straight out along her hat brim.
Eyes direct, speaking her mind, issuing orders that sounded like threats.
And a huge world yawned at Cassie’s feet.
A world she might have entered if she’d had the nerve to go with Belle.
But did that bold gaze and her strong words cause Belle’s husband to disgrace her?
Cassie would never follow Belle’s example. Instead, she obeyed. It was her place.
Muriel hurried and got the wrapped package Cassie had forgotten in the back room and handed it to Red.
He walked beside Cassie to where Buck stood at the back door.
Red stored the gift in his saddlebag and slipped his hands under her arms and hoisted her gently onto the horse just as he had the first time.
He hooked her knee around the saddle horn again, and she clung to it through the layers of calico.
She had a much better grip without the silk and petticoats.
He jumped on behind, and as he did, Cassie dared a glance at his face.
His jaw was set, and his eyes flashed with anger.
Had it angered him that she’d listened to Belle?
Was it the bills Red had paid? Was he remembering that she’d attacked him at the graveyard?
It looked as if he’d wait and make her pay for misbehavior when they got home.
At least her humiliation would be in private.
She shuddered to think of the times Griff had been this upset with her.
He hadn’t done it for a long time, but she well remembered the heavy belt he’d used almost daily when they were newlyweds, before she learned a woman’s place.
Fear climbed inside her at what was to come until she could learn to please Red Dawson.
Burning tears cut her eyes. Knowing men hated tears, she swallowed hard and stared at the horizon to keep them from falling.
They rode out of town in the opposite direction of Griff’s holding. Then Red leaned forward. She braced herself for his angry words.
“Buck is strong, and you weigh next to nothing. I always run him flat out the whole way home, but we won’t be able to do that riding double.
We’ll push hard for a while, though. I asked Doc, and he said a gallop wouldn’t hurt the babe if you didn’t take a fall.
But Doc said I shouldn’t trot, so we’ll take off fast. It’s a far piece to my land. ”
She was so shocked at his concern for the baby, she didn’t answer him. He rested one hand on her rounded waist to steady her and clucked at the horse. The short-legged stallion shifted smoothly to a ground-eating gallop. No more talk was possible.
Although Cassie would have loved to enjoy the wild ride, she couldn’t relax until she’d received her punishment and made amends in whatever way Red demanded. She just held on and tried to make herself as small as possible.
It was the same thing she’d been doing since the day her mother died when she was twelve. Griff had become her guardian, and he’d helped her understand how much she had to learn. And though it was a terrible burden to him, he’d been left with the chore of being her teacher and wouldn’t shirk it.