Chapter Eighteen
Maeve would have never imagined she’d willingly laze about for an entire day.
Her past self would have balked at the idea, insisting that there was always something she could be doing on the ranch.
But today she wasn’t anywhere near the ranch.
Today she was in town, sprawled out on a friend’s couch with a chatty toddler sat on her lap.
Lila’s face still had traces of flush left over from the night before, though it was mostly covered by sticky bits of porridge from lunch.
She’d spent the next half hour or so after eating babbling incoherently on top of Maeve, waving her signature spoon about as if directing an important conversation.
“Is that so?” Maeve asked, maintaining a very serious tone. “I reckon that’s quite a thing to think, Miss Lila.”
Lila replied with a delighted squeal, nearly hitting Maeve’s head with the spoon as her arms flailed about.
“You reckon that’s the truth, huh?”
Lila stuck her tongue out, blowing a massive spit bubble Maeve’s way.
“Hey now!” She quickly sat upright, shifting Lila to her seat while wiping her face clean of spit. “We were having a civil conversation, miss! Ain’t no reason to start playing dirty.”
Lila waved her spoon around plaintively, her cheeks puffed and lip sticking outward.
“Now don’t you go looking fer sympathy,” Maeve replied matter-of-factly. “You started this here fight, and I ain’t just gonna sit back and let you bully me.”
“Who’s bullying who?”
Maeve let out an embarrassed squeak as her head swiveled to the now-open front door.
Jed had come in so quietly she hadn’t heard him, moving to hang up his hat before joining Maeve in the living room.
“I–I was just playing with Lila! We were, uh…?” A slight grimace crossed her face, heat rising in her cheeks.
Jed sat down beside Maeve, stretching out his arms. Maeve happily passed Lila off, looking down at her hands sheepishly while the toddler continued to babble.
“I… Sadie suggested I try talking to her more,” Maeve finally admitted. “She sorta sounded like she were trying to talk, and Sadie reckoned if she had more examples to go off of…?”
Jed nodded, helping Lila to stand on his lap. She bounced excitedly, letting out a delight of squeals and sounds that, admittedly, did sound close to proper words.
“She don’t feel hot anymore.”
He sounded so relieved. Maeve related to the feeling deeply, having experienced it herself when she finally stopped dozing in bed. “Uncle Wit came by to check on her a few hours back. Said he’s awful pleased with her recovery, but that we might wanna stay an extra day, just in case.”
Jed nodded again.
Maeve’s brow furrowed slightly, and she scrutinized her husband a bit more closely.
His expression wasn’t exactly neutral–he was clearly happy about Lila’s recovery–but there was something he was holding back.
Some part of him that was trying to default to that familiar, stone-like expression.
There were enough cracks to, at the very least, help Maeve recognize the pattern now, and Sadie had mentioned Jed left as early as he had to take care of personal matters.
She did want to know what he’d gotten up to, wanted to dig a bit more at those cracks in his defense.
Bu, instead, she let out a relieved sigh and sunk into the couch.
Their recent argument still lingered in the back of her mind, and truthfully, Maeve didn’t have the energy to start up another.
Even if it were only a temporary peace, she wanted to enjoy this unusual day for as long as possible.
“When’d Sadie head out?” Jed suddenly asked. “She were with you when you got up, right?”
Maeve giggled, stretching her arms up toward the ceiling.
“Her face were right up next to mine when I properly got up. Said she’d head out to the cabin after we made dinner.
” She paused, then immediately sat upright.
“Oh, dinner! Right, I dunno if you’ve ate or not, but we got leftovers if ye’re interested.
” She crossed into the kitchen, where the pot of porridge still sat cooling on the dining room table.
“Uncle Wit said we should try and feed Lila something hearty, so Sadie helped me put chicken parts in this here porridge.
Jed raised a brow. “‘Chicken parts’, huh?”
Maeve made a dramatic face back. “The usual parts, sir. Ain’t just thrown a whole unplucked chicken in here. But I might serve you just them feathers if you keep up with the sass.”
That got a bit of a chuckle out of Jed. He stood from the couch, shifting Lila to his hip, and made his way over to the table. There, he sat and played with the toddler while Maeve put a bowl together for her husband.
‘He’s keeping something from me,’ she thought to herself. ‘But…he’s not completely shutting me out.’
At least for now, Maeve was willing to accept that small win.
***
The next day came and went, following a similarly relaxed pattern to the first. With Uncle Wit’s approval, Maeve took Lila out on short walks around the outside of the apartment, assured that the fresh air would help strengthen Lila’s constitution.
Admittedly, Maeve was thrilled to get out and about herself, holding Lila’s hand firmly as the toddler insisted on trying to walk.
“You really are a force of nature, huh?” Maeve asked.
Lila replied with a grunt, completely focused on putting on foot in front of the other.
Jed had gone farther into Bighorn proper again.
He’d been leaving for long stretches without much explanation as to where he was headed.
Sometime, he’d return with little trinkets for Lila to play with.
Sometimes he’d come back with a sweet for Maeve to munch on.
But he kept a noticeable distance from the pair, wearing the occasional smile that never quite reached his eyes.
The cracks were there, but the stone visage remained.
As much as it bothered Maeve, she kept her questions to herself.
If she had learned anything during the last month with Jed, it was that rushing him never led anywhere good.
He needed time to process things, to figure out the right words to describe his thoughts.
Maeve just had to be patient, even though it was monumentally difficult to do so.
There were times she caught herself wondering if she was somehow at fault. If she’d done something to upset him. But the way Jed acted around her didn’t line up with that fear. He was distant, yes, but he wasn’t cold to her. He didn’t seem to be intentionally avoiding her.
‘Just give him some time, Maeve. He’ll come to you when he’s ready.’
Lila, meanwhile, seemed more than ready to head back home.
With one more check-up from Uncle Wit that resulted in his stamp of approval, the trio saddled Ash up once again and headed out of town.
The sky opened up above the endless prairie, and Maeve couldn’t help but inhale deeply.
The city was nice, but there was something about the great, wide-open plains that called to her.
They seemed to call to Lila as well; the toddler’s hands were constantly grasping outward, desperate to grab a piece for herself.
“She’s awful wiggly,” Jed commented, giving Ash’s reigns a tug as their gallop slowed to a canter.
Maeve chuckled, shifting her arm to wrap around Lila’s waist. “Reckon she’s got that country blood in her veins, is all.”
She’d hoped that would’ve made Jed smile. He only made a slight notion with his head, though, then put his focus back on riding. Maeve couldn't help but feel slightly disappointed; it was suddenly much harder to hold onto her patience.
The sun had reached its highest point in the sky when Maeve caught sight of her cabin in the distance.
A pillar of smoke puffed out from its chimney, and as they rode up the hill, she caught a distinctly rich smell on the wind.
Her stomach rumbled terribly, causing Lila to cackle and gently pat her hands against Maeve.
“I hear you,” Jed said. “It’s just ‘bout dinner time, ain’t it?”
And it seemed a certain house guest had ensured a meal was waiting for the trio upon arrival.
Maeve watched as Sadie scurried around the front porch, placing bunches of wildflowers across its railing.
She’d just finished dusting a few petals across the steps before Ash’s hooves caught her attention, and a huge smile crossed her face at the sight of them.
“Welcome back, you three!” She practically flew across the yard, arms outstretched to take Lila so Maeve could safely dismount. She did so, glancing over at Jed, who made his way to the barn without so much as acknowledging Sadie’s presence.
Maeve’s brow furrowed with irritation, but it quickly melted away at her friend’s tangible excitement. “I thought you were just gonna watch the cabin, hm?”
“I was! I did,” Sadie clarified. “And, as you can see, it’s as nice as the night you left it.”
Maeve looked at the flowers, her heart fluttering at the sight.
She hadn’t realized it upon first glance, but many of them had been bunched and specifically placed to obscure the damage done by the bandits’ gunfire that dreadful night.
She blinked furiously, then pulled Sadie in for a tight hug.
“I reckon it looks even better than when we left it, Sadie.”
Lila squealed, delighted at the hug she’d been trapped in. Her hands immediately grabbed for both Maeve and Sadie’s hair, and the pair let out a loud squeal each when the toddler succeeded.
“Lila–!” Sadie let out a pained laugh, untangling herself from Maeve as she gently freed their hair. “We’re already starting with the mischief, I see.”
“Uncle Wit took amazing care of her,” Maeve said. A tinge of remorse stuck in her throat, and she did her best to clear it before speaking again. “The next time you go and plan something with him…lemme know, okay? I–I wanna make sure I thank him properly. Fer all he’s done.”