Dave stalked over to where they were standing. The man bristled. “Are you implying I pushed you into the river?" The man looked as if he could strangle Ruth where she stood. Ruth pointed her nose a little higher in the air. “Well, I certainly didn’t step into it, now did I? You purposely jostled the ferry so I would fall.”
Lauren held her hands out. “Ruth. Ruthie. Please,” she begged. “I am sorry you came all this way, but I am not leaving Last Chance. I am staying here.”
Her sister looked shocked. “How could you want to stay here? This town is the most wretched, horrible, disgusting place I’ve ever seen.”
Dave sneered. ‘And you’re the most vulgar woman I’ve ever looked at.
Lauren gasped.
Ruth whitened with rage, but she deliberately turned her back on David and grabbed Lauren’s hand, dragging her up the hill. “I can’t let you stay here, Lauren. We’ll get a hotel room so I can dry off and then make arrangements to go back home.” She glanced over the crowd and her eyes landed on Christopher. Snapping her fingers, she exclaimed, “Excuse me. Yes, you… please grab my luggage and carry it to the nearest hotel.” Ruth looked around at the buildings. “Preferably something that isn’t above a saloon.”
Lauren yanked her hand back. “That is not some luggage boy. This is my husband, Christopher Spaulding.”
Ruth's eyes opened as if seeing him for the first time, then narrowed into thin slits. Lauren could see that the description of her sister was just sinking into Christopher’s brain.
"Well, I can't let you stay here without my help again. I'll be here for the duration. Until you come to your senses and realized that marriage is not what you thought it was."
“That isn’t going to happen, Ruth. Why don’t you come home with us, and we can get you a warm bath and a hot meal?”
Ruth put her nose in the air. “No thank you. I’d rather stay in a hotel. When does the next stage leave to go back to wherever I came from?” she waved her hand in the air.
“Not soon enough,” Dave murmured under his breath.
“Two weeks,” another person piped up.
Ruth nodded, ignoring Dave’s comment. “Two weeks. That gives me two weeks to convince you to come home with me. Although judging by the people here, that won’t be very hard. Which way is the hotel?”
Christopher pointed down the road.
Ruth nodded and grabbed one end of her water-laden trunk and started dragging it in the direction Christopher pointed.
“Well,” Christopher said, looking at Lauren. “That was rather interesting.”
Lauren wrapped her arm around his side. “Let’s go home, husband. We need to find a way to keep her out of the house.”
Christopher laughed. “We can do anything together.”
Epilogue
Two years later…
Lauren Spaulding walked along the river bank and watched the calm water flow downstream. There was a break in the grass and a dirt path led directly to the water’s edge. She skipped down the dirt and crouched along the shore. She could see her image reflecting in the still water.
How things had changed since that fateful day that Christopher saved her life.
Dipping her fingers into the warm water she flicked it, distorting her image.
It was incredible that she felt safe being near the water once more.
It now held joy instead of fear.
Children splashed on the other side of the river. One spied her and raised his hand in a wave. Lauren waved back and laughed. Soon Esther would want to be swimming on the hot summer days. But not yet.
Esther was a precocious two-and-a-half-year-old. It took another three months before her colic ceased and Lauren could find enjoyment in her daughter again. Mrs. McCallister was a wonderful grandmother for the young girl, and Esther took delight in having the older woman wrapped around her little finger.
Along with caring for Esther, Mrs. McCallister took over most of the household chores. Yet, she never let Lauren completely become useless. Over time, Lauren learned how to cook simple dishes, and she still had to do some of the household work. It was something she wanted to do. She had no wish to be a cossetted wife.
Her sister’s words from two years ago echoed in her brain. “Until you come to your senses and realize that marriage is not what you thought it was, you will regret living here.”
