Chapter Five
POV Emma Taylor
Emma woke up early next day and looked out the window to find some men already moving about with the sun peeking through the clouds and birds chirping away happily. She was used to waking up early in the morning and went to the washstand to wash and freshen up. By the time she was done with donning her dress and getting ready, Jesse also woke up.
“Good morning,” Jesse greeted, stretching her arms over her head and yawning hugely.
“It’s a good morning indeed. And you are late in waking up. I’ll go see what’s happening in the kitchen before the men try and make anything on their own,” Emma told her, moving towards the door.
“Really, is it the breakfast? Or are you just looking forward to meeting your fiancé before he goes off to work?” Jesse inquired, grinning. Emma rolled her eyes, threw a pillow at Jesse before replying saying,
“Think whatever you like,” in a singsong voice.
“Hey! There’s no need to be so violent this early in the morning, sunflower,” Jesse scowled and mocked Emma who had always been a morning person. Emma couldn’t resist sticking out her tongue and teasing her friend, just like old times, as she moved towards the door of the room. Just as she was about to move out the room, she collided hard with someone out there in the hallway. She moved her eyes from Jesse to stare wide-eyed at Lucian who was passing their room, his attention on some papers in his hand. He stabilized Emma with a hand around her shoulders before commenting,
“We keep meeting this way,”
Emma couldn’t stop the blush from moving across her neck and towards her cheeks as she looked at Lucian.
“I-I was just about to go prepare breakfast,” she told him, looking down.
“Oh, Thank Heavens. I didn’t think I could endure any more of my own cooking,” John said aloud as he came out of his room down the hall from the ladies’ room. Emma smiled at his teasing and moved out of Lucian’s partial embrace towards the kitchen.
Oh, Lord. That man is dangerous to my senses, she thought as she stood in the kitchen. From the time that she had seen Lucian, Emma couldn’t control her heart from beating really loud every time he was near. It was especially embarrassing that her cheeks flamed every time he said anything to her. Jerking out of her reverie, she looked around to the kitchen and found eggs, slices of bacon, and a fresh loaf of bread. Thinking of preparing a simple breakfast for everyone, she got down to work.
Everyone came into the kitchen just when she was finishing up. She had made some French toast accompanied with butter and cream. Along with them, she had also toasted the bread and made fried eggs. She served fried bacon with them on the side.
“Oh, the aroma is so good,” John commented, entering the kitchen. Emma had observed by now that John was the talkative one out of the friends. On the other hand, Lucian was just the opposite. He was serious and silent. Most of the time he was thinking or otherwise occupied. He rarely ever laughed. Ever since the time Emma had arrived at the farm, she had seen Lucian smiling just once or twice and never really laughing.
Everyone came and sat down around the table as breakfast was served. John made all sorts of appreciative noises while consuming his food and Jesse annoyed him with a comment here or there. Lucian stayed silent as always, simply eating his breakfast. After everyone was done and the dishes were as good as clean, the ladies got up and started picking up the cutlery from the table. Emma was just removing the plates from Lucian’s side of the table when her foot tripped and all the plates in her hand fell down with a crash.
Before she knew what had happened, Lucian had jumped up from the table and covered her body with his. She was crushed under the weight and had no idea what was going on. She could hear his harsh breathing and his body shook badly. Clearing her head, she realized that the crash had probably reminded Lucian of his days in the army and he was so attuned to all kind of these small crashing and clashing noises that he had done the first thing that had come into his mind, acting on his instincts.
“It’s okay now. They were just plates,” Emma tried reassuring him but it was as if her words fell on deaf ears. She looked up to find his eyes had turned completely dark gray with his irises huge and a wild look in his eyes. She had no idea what horrors he was reliving as he stared at her, not recognizing her in the least.
A storm was brewing in his eyes and Emma had no idea how to take him out of his turmoil. She knew she had to help him before he completely lost it. Trying not to be scared by the way he was looking at her, Emma started reassuring him again in small whispers. She stroked his hard shoulders and kept looking into his eyes. It was after some time that she noticed his eyes gaining back their awareness and the struggle in him subsiding. His breaths started coming out easy and his body relaxed.
“I-I am sorry,” he stuttered out before straightening up lightening fast.
“There’s no need. I’m sorry about the plates. I should’ve been more careful,” Emma replied in an awkward voice.
“No, no you don’t understand. I could’ve hurt you,” he told her, raking his fingers through his hair and muttering things under his breath while pacing the room in an agitated stride.
“But why would you hurt me? I know it was just the shock of the plates…”
Emma didn’t even complete her sentence when Lucian roared out a loud,
“No!” Everyone around the room stilled. From the corner of her eyes, Emma saw Jesse’s eyes widening in surprise while John shook his head.
“I could’ve killed you. Now you know what’s wrong with me, why you shouldn’t marry me. I’m broken. Every sound feels like another bullet or cannon sound. I destroy everything around me at times. Just last week, I tried to strangle a servant when he had touched my shoulder to call me. I’m a ticking bomb with no fixed time. Everything takes me back to the war. I can still see the number of bodies I left behind, some of my friends and others my enemies, but all of them painful and horrific.
“I cannot sleep due to the nightmares and all of them different events and happenings that I’ve actually been through. The blood, the body parts, the death. All of them surround me and haunt me. All the lives I’ve taken and all the people I’ve lost, I can still hear them. I can see it all, feel it all. I’m dead inside. And I don’t want to hurt anyone in here. I don’t want to become the monster that I’ve spent my whole life being. Please leave. You will find quite a number of men around who would be willing to marry you and care for you like a real man would. I really wish I could do that but I’m afraid that I would end up hurting you instead.”
Lucian finished his explanation in a broken voice. His voice was thick with unshed tears while his eyes had taken a faraway look.
Emma had tears freely falling down her cheeks, hearing the man’s struggle. She knew most women would be scared and running for the hills by now but Lucian’s speech had instead triggered a soft spot in her heart. She wanted to ease the hurt and lonely man. She wanted to help him gain all that he had lost. With this decided, she ignored the stares of Jesse and John and moved across the room towards Lucian. She saw a guarded look come into his eyes as he tried to decide what to make of her approach. She just stood right in front of him with just a few inches in between and stretched up on her toes. Looking into his eyes, she stroked his face softly. His eyes widened at the unexpected gesture and he stared into her eyes, trying to find what she was on about.
“I will marry you. Not because I’ve nowhere else to go but because I see the goodness in you. I’ve observed a lot of things ever since I came here and in all of them I’ve found a person who cares, even if silently. You jumped on me when you heard the crash of the plates which meant you wanted to protect me above all else, even at the cost of your own life. You allowed Jesse to come along with me when any lesser man would’ve refused. You are working as a lawman even though you have nightmares brought on from the guns and the violence. Lucian, you are a very brave man and any woman would be fortunate to become your wife. Please marry me and stop doubting yourself. And I know you will never hurt me. I know it in my heart,” Emma relayed while looking into his moist eyes and caressing his face slowly.
“Please don’t. I don’t know how long I would be able to refuse. There’s no telling if I strangle you in my sleep. I’m not dependable or trustworthy,” Lucian told her with a desperate look in his eyes.
“I’ve decided, Lucian. There’s nothing you can say to dissuade me, believe me. And we can keep separate beds until you improve. It’s too soon to forget easily. I’m sure it will get better with just a little more time. Please don’t refuse,” Emma urged him, her eyes pleading with him to accept her proposal and just agree.
Lucian gave a few more paltry excuses before finally telling her yes. The joy Emma felt at that moment was unspeakable. She looked towards Jesse to find her friend smiling at her with tears in her eyes.
Chapter Six
POV Lucian Thorne
It had been a week since the plates incident. Emma and Jesse had taken control of all the household duties as well as some of the farm work. He saw daily the progress the women were making for all of them. Both he and John were very grateful to the women. They had transformed the house. Pieces of wood had been taken and converted into small shelves and decorative pieces.
All around the house, tapestries and embroidered stuff can be seen here and there, speaking of the woman’s touch inside the house. The house was always clean and the food always ready but the thing that gave him the most pleasure was seeing the smiling face of Emma every day after work. Lucian’s life was finally moving in the direction he wanted it to and he thanked God every day for it. His nightmares had eased and he rested better now.
It was Sunday and all four of them were going to the church. The marriage license Lucian had applied for had arrived a day early and thus the ladies and John had decided that he should get married post haste. The bride was willing and, now, she looked gorgeous in her ivory dress that fitted her perfectly. It was a simple but beautiful dress. Emma looked at him shyly once in a while from under her lashes and those gazes were undoing the ice around Lucian’s heart.
They were all chatting happily when Lucian suddenly heard a strange noise. He looked around the carriage to see if anyone had heard it too and sure enough everyone was staring at him with questioning looks. He shrugged his shoulder just when the carriage suddenly drew to a halt and a loud commotion was heard outside. The door of the carriage was jerked open and a man stuck his upper body in. His face was covered by a handkerchief while in his hand he held a gun. A creeping chill stole over Lucian’s whole body as the man waved his gun around ordering all of them to give up everything they had.
It was no doubt a normal highway robbery but Lucian could not stop his mind from moving back in time. He started hearing and seeing things as they were in the war. There were guns pointed at him, the stench of death around him as his friends lay around him, covered in death and dirt. The man was saying something to him, pushing the gun into his chest when the red haze stole over Lucian.
He gripped the hand pointed at him and twisted it around so badly that there were sounds of bones breaking. As he threw the man backward and jumped outside the carriage, the rest of the robber’s partners had taken stances as well. There was a total of four men outside. Before they could even guess what was happening, Lucian had jumped on the nearest man with a roar of retribution. He was on a roll as he punched, kicked, and attacked the men one after the other.
The last man was a cunning guy and had managed to turn towards the carriage. By the time Lucian turned around to teach him a lesson, the guy had shoved Emma out of the carriage and now held a gun against her head. Lucian froze. For once, he was able to clear his mind of the red haze. The sight of Emma being held hostage with a gun to her temple shook Lucian to his core. Instead of diving at the man as he would have done otherwise, he feigned a step to the left and as the man moved his stance around to adjust Emma, Lucian pounced. He jerked Emma out of the man’s hold and simply high kicked the gun out of his hand. The robber had had no time to anticipate any of Lucian’s actions before he was on the floor, bleeding like the rest of his fellows.
As he stood breathing harshly, staring at the downed men, both John and Jesse came out of the carriage. They moved cautiously at first but as Lucian gripped Emma’s arm and pulled her into his embrace, burying his nose in her fragrant hair, both of them relaxed. Emma’s slight body trembled a bit before she raised her arms and hugged Lucian back.
“Thank you,” Emma whispered as she held fast. Lucian sighed as he relaxed his hold and looked into her green eyes.
“I think I know now that I can control myself when it comes to you,” he told her, smiling fully for the first time. Emma smiled back and him just when John patted him on his back, his way of thanking him.
“Let’s get married,” Lucian murmured, staring deep into Emma’s eyes. With his doubts cleared about hurting Emma in his haze, Lucian was more than a bit relieved. He knew they would still have to tread slowly and keep separate beds before he was completely recovered but the process had been started now and he knew that he could not wait another moment to marry Emma.
“Let’s,” he heard her reply as she moved back into his arms.
THE END
Daisy, in Spanish
“tejas - friends”