For the next few days, things went a lot smoother. Lokni noticed that Brandon was still pushing through the effects of not having alcohol in his body, and throughout the day, she would rub his head if it ached. This, in turn, seemed to make him less anxious. He never came out and said it did this. All he ever said was “thank you”. However, his trembling wasn’t quite so bad, and he stopped looking around as if he expected someone to come up and attack them.
At night, she would help him go to sleep by massaging his head. She couldn’t be sure, but she thought it was because of this that he didn’t have any more nightmares.
On the day they finally arrived in the small town, it was around noon. She scanned the buildings that lined the dusty road. Further from the buildings were small homes people lived in.
“The first thing I need to do is make sure we can get a room at a hotel,” Brandon told her. “After all the walking we’ve been doing, I think we should stay here for a short time. It would be nice to earn some money to buy more clothes and camping supplies. We still have a long ways to go before we’re in California.”
And it would give her time to figure out if she could find a job to support herself and her son. This was what she had been looking forward to ever since they got married. She’d wanted to start a new life—one free from all men.
Except now, she wasn’t sure if that was what she still wanted. She liked the idea of being independent of anyone—of having full control of her life. But she wasn’t sure she wanted to be free of Brandon. Not now. Not after the time they’d spent together. Not after finding out he wasn’t like the other men who’d been in her life.
She wasn’t sure what to do about her conflicting emotions. Of course, she didn’t have to make a decision today. Brandon said they would be staying here for a while.
Her baby let out a cry, and she hurried to pat his back in an attempt to quiet him.
“I bet he’s hungry,” Brandon said. “Let’s see if there’s a room at the hotel. Then you can feed him while I put the horse in the livery stable.”
She nodded and followed him to the hotel. He tied the horse’s reins to the post and then led her up the steps and to the door. He opened the door and looked at her expectantly. It took her a moment to realize he expected her to go in first. She quickly did but got behind him as he went to the front desk.
He rang the bell, and a few seconds later, a middle-aged man came out from the room in the back. He pushed his glasses up his nose. “Are you looking for a room?”
“Yes. My wife and I,” Brandon gestured to her, “will be needing one for two or three weeks, if that’s alright.”
“Two or three?” the man asked.
“We’re on our way to California, and we’ll be needing some more supplies. I was hoping to take a job here for a couple of weeks in order to buy what we’ll need.”
“Ah, I see. I’ll put you down for three weeks. If you only need two, you can check out early. The room will be six dollars for each week. That’s a dollar off the regular rate. Each day is one dollar, but I like to offer a discount to those staying a full week. If you want meals, that will be twenty-five cents for all meals.” He glanced over at Lokni and the baby. With a smile, he said, “But for your family, I’ll make it ten cents.”
“That’s very generous of you.”
“I was a young married man with a little one once. I remember how it was.” With a glance at Lokni and her baby, he added, “All my kids are grown. Seems like a lifetime passed in the blink of an eye.” He turned his gaze back to Brandon and winked. “Enjoy it now while you can.”
Brandon looked over at her and her son then. Lokni wasn’t sure what he was thinking. She also wasn’t sure of how to respond. She hadn’t expected anyone to notice her or her baby, much less care.
Finally, Brandon smiled at her in a way that made her feel…warm. What an odd sensation. That had never happened before. Not with Brandon. And not with anyone else. She wasn’t sure what to make of it.
“I’ll need you to sign this,” the man said, bringing Brandon’s attention back to him. He opened the registry. “I just need your name. You don’t need to bother writing theirs in. I’ll mark down there’s three of you, and my wife will bring you a bassinet.”
“Thank you,” Brandon replied and wrote his name on the line.
The man grabbed a key from a hook on the wall and gave it to Brandon. “You’ll be in room four. It’s just down that way and to the right. It’s facing the park. It’s better than a room that faces the street. Also, when you open the window, the breeze comes in from that direction. Let me know if you need anything else.”
Brandon gave the man a nod and led Lokni to the room. Now, numbers, she did know. They were easier than letters.
In silence, Brandon unlocked the door, and she followed him into the small room. She didn’t know why it hadn’t occurred to her before, but there was only one bed—and it was small. She didn’t see how they would be able to avoid touching each other if they both slept in it.
“I’m going to bring our things in,” Brandon told her. “Then we’ll get something to eat. After that, I need to find a job.” He paused. “I suppose during the day, you can take the baby to the park if you get restless in here. I’ll leave you with the key, so you can come in and out of the room whenever you want. I don’t want you getting too bored while we’re in town.”
“The baby keeps me entertained. I won’t get bored.”
He set the key on the small table and smiled. “I’ll bring our things in here.”
After he left the room, she opened the window and sat in the rocking chair beside it so she could breastfeed her child. Just as the man said, a nice breeze came into the room. So this would be her home for the next two or three weeks. She wondered if something like this might be for rent in this town. While it would be cramped for three people, something this size would fit nicely for her and her son.
That was, of course, if she decided to stay in this town. She rocked in the chair and looked down at her child. She wasn’t sure what the right decision was. What would be best for her son? It wasn’t just her she needed to be concerned about. She had a responsibility to him, too.
A knock came from the door, and once Lokni adjusted her shirtwaist, she went to answer it.
A middle-aged woman came in with a bassinet. “How are you doing?”
“Good,” Lokni replied.
“I’m glad.” The woman clasped her hands and smiled at her. “I was so excited when my husband said there was a baby staying at our hotel. Do you mind if I hold the child? I promise that I won’t do it for more than a few seconds.”
Lokni almost said no. The protective instinct came up on her so suddenly that it surprised her. But the man at the desk had been kind, and this woman—his wife—seemed equally nice. So she let the woman hold her son.
The woman cooed at him and then turned her gaze to Lokni. “My oldest daughter is expecting a child this winter. I can hardly wait.” She stroked the boy’s cheek. “Is this a boy or a girl?”
“A boy.”
“What an angel. All babies are precious, aren’t they?” She placed the baby back in Lokni’s arms. “I’ll bring you some fresh cloths for diapering, and if you want to give me the soiled ones, I’ll send them to the laundress to wash. And don’t worry about cost. This is on me.”
Lokni could hardly speak a reply. She hadn’t come across anyone as generous as the couple who owned this hotel. Well, the preacher had been generous, too, she supposed. It was just that at the time, she’d been so scared that she hadn’t noticed it.
Brandon came into the room, saving Lokni from having to say something. He dumped their things in the corner of the room.
“You two are a nice looking couple,” the woman told them. “In some ways, you remind me of me and my husband when we were young. What a wonderful future you have ahead of you!” She gave them both an excited grin. “Are you two hungry? I made soup and biscuits earlier, but they can be warmed up in a moment.”
“We would appreciate it,” Brandon said.
“Great! I’ll show you the way.” She waved for them to join her as she stepped into the hallway.
With a glance at Brandon, who seemed amused by the woman’s enthusiasm, Lokni offered him a hesitant smile. Lokni wasn’t sure why she suddenly felt shy. She’d been with him every day since they married. Never once had she felt this way. She reasoned it had to do with being in town. Perhaps being around other people was making her feel shy in general. It probably didn’t even have anything to do with him. Yes, that was it. She’d always been shy around people, and this was no different. Feeling more at ease, she left the room, Brandon following behind her.
***
After they ate, Brandon headed over to the lumberyard since the hotel owner had said Craig was hiring. “He’s got a lot of trees from the mountain, and he doesn’t have enough young men to cut them up. I think you’d be a good fit for the job.”
And so with a good-bye to Lokni, Brandon went to the lumberyard. The hotel owner had been right. There were piles and piles of cut trees waiting to be worked on.
Once he found Craig, he explained that he would be in town for two to three weeks and was looking for temporary employment. “I just need some money to pay for room and board and some incidentals,” Brandon finished.
The man scanned him up and down. “You look strong. Alright, you’re hired.”
“Thank you.” Brandon shook his hand.
“I’ll pay you at the end of each week. Start tomorrow at sunrise, and you’ll work until sunset. I’ll let you have an hour for lunch.”
“That sounds good.”
Relieved it’d been that easy to get a job, he returned to the hotel. Usually, he had to talk to a few business owners before he secured a job, especially since he only wanted a temporary one.
He knocked on the door to the room and waited until Lokni opened it to give her the good news. “I start work tomorrow. I’ll be gone all day except for lunch.”
She smiled. “You’re excited.”
“I am. This is one of best jobs I’ve had in a long time. With the hours and the kind of work I’ll be doing, we’ll have a lot of money.” Noting the pile of the dirty clothes she’d been sorting through, he added, “We’ll get those to the laundry. We should get some new clothes, too. That shirtwaist you have is ready to fall apart.”
His gaze went to the bassinet where her son was sleeping. Not wishing to wake the child, he lowered his voice. “We’ll wait until he’s awake before leaving the room.” Since there was nothing to do at the moment, he sat in the rocking chair and took off his hat. “It always seems that after I’m on the trail for a few weeks, I appreciate chairs so much more.”
She chuckled. “I didn’t grow up with chairs, so I’m used to sitting on the ground.”
“I grew up with chairs. I can’t believe I ever took them for granted.”
He crossed his arms and started rocking as a way to help control his body’s tremors. It wasn’t nearly so bad anymore. Not like it’d been over the past couple of weeks. And he didn’t feel quite so anxious. The urge for alcohol was only a faint memory, which was a welcome relief. Water finally had the ability to satisfy him again.
He turned his gaze to Lokni. She was separating the clothes, and for once, he took time to watch her. Really watch her. He hadn’t bothered doing so up to now. With all the work they’d had to do to get ready for the day, the long walks through the day, and setting things up for the evening, it never occurred to him to take a good look at her.
But now he did. She was actually very pretty. Her long black hair was pulled back into a ponytail at the nape of her neck. Despite the fact that the shirtwaist and skirt were loose on her, she had a nice figure.
Her most compelling feature, however, was her smile. She didn’t smile often. He couldn’t blame her for that. When she did smile, however, her entire face lit up, and for that moment, it seemed as if all the bad things that had ever happened to him didn’t matter. He thought he even might go through all the heartaches and disappointments all over again if he could see her smile one more time.
“Lokni?” he asked, his voice still quiet in case he woke the child.
She glanced over at him.
“You’re pretty,” he said. “Especially when you smile.” Suddenly thinking it was a foolish thing to express such sentiments to a woman who was only his wife because they’d been forced into marriage, he cleared his throat and added, “I just thought you should know that.”
He’d probably just made an even bigger fool of himself. Clearing his throat again, he stood up from the chair.
“I’ll see what hours the laundry owner will be working today,” he said.
Then, without saying anything else to potentially embarrass himself, he left the room.