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Three Months Later...
“Effie’s letter came,” Leonard said, going into the house and handing it to Lucille, who ripped it open and read it voraciously. She started to laugh, then her eyes widened and tears formed behind them, then she laughed again.
Effie’s letters always managed to have Lucille running the gamut of her emotions. “Oh, that dear girl,” Lucille said, rubbing her stomach.
He glanced down at the slight bulge that had formed beneath her clothes. He thought the roundness of her frame was especially breathtaking on her. It seemed to fit her somehow, though she would have denied it.
She’d been worried at first that he would dislike her figure as it grew with their child, but if anything, it had only increased his appetite for her. Their lunches were running longer and longer. He wondered how much longer Amos could take it before he said anything and resolved to try and keep things at an hour or less. Though that would prove rather difficult for them both.
“What’s Effie up to?” he asked her, getting ready to go back to work.
“Mrs. Brown had her help teach a lesson last week,” she said. “Effie had such fun with it, she’s decided to be a teacher.”
“That’s nice,” he said. “She’ll make an excellent teacher. What was so funny about that though? You were laughing.”
“Oh, one of the schoolboys tried to convince a girl that if she kissed a toad, he would turn into a prince. Well, the girl wasn’t going to kiss a toad all by herself, so she made the boy go first, telling him it would turn into a princess. And don’t you know, the boy fell for it! He kissed the toad, and then she refused to kiss it as well, and he got mad and threw a tantrum.”
Leonard looked at her, his jaw dropping open. “Good Lord, is that the sort of thing we’re going to have to contend with? Kissing toads?” He made a face.
“Oh, don’t worry. I’m sure our child will not be so silly as that.”
“Of course not,” he said. “Just keep praying she or he doesn’t turn into a train robber.”
Lucy looked at him, rising from her chair and putting her arms around his neck. He inhaled her heavenly scent, reluctant to exhale it. But he knew he could always get it back so long as he had her.
“I’ve told you,” she said, kissing him lightly on the lips. “Those days are all behind me now. No more robberies; no more anything.”
“That’s good,” he said. “For a while there, I rather thought Amos might have been suspicious, but if he was he’s decided to let his suspicions go I guess, because he’s said nothing about them to me.”
There was a knock on the door then, and Leonard reluctantly released her from his arms. She answered it and Irene, Betty, Francis, and Belle all stepped into the house. He was surprised to see the five of them together and a sinking feeling hit the pit of his stomach.
“Good afternoon,” he said to them all.
They bid him a good afternoon in return.
“The girls were just going to help me plan a little party for the baby once it comes,” she said.
“We’re going to throw it for you,” said Irene. “You won’t have to lift a finger.”
Leonard relaxed. A party for the baby sounded just fine. It was just like women to do things such as that. What could be more natural than a woman wanting to throw a party for her child, or her friends wanting to help her?
He hesitated. “That’s all you’re planning, right?”
The women broke out into giggles. “Of course it is!” Betty shouted, her face flushing red. “The Beauty Bandits have not struck in almost a year. Unless, of course, you count that incident three months ago, but that wasn’t a real robbery, that was only to help you and Lucy and Effie.”
“Oh, I got a letter from her today,” Lucille said and started telling them all about it. The women moved to the parlor, and Leonard gave Lucy a kiss before going back to work. Halfway there, he realized he’d left his hat at home and hurried back to get it.
He opened the door and stepped inside and overheard Lucille saying, “Yes, but we have to be careful. I think it’s best to stick to our old plan. Three of us at a time, not four, and certainly not five.”
“Maybe we ought to do something different with our hair,” said Irene.
Leonard’s blood ran hot. He walked swiftly into the room. “What’s going on here?” he demanded.
The women all jumped. “Nothing,” said Lucille. She blinked innocently at him. He didn’t trust it.
“I heard you talking about your hair, and about using no more of than three of you. Your ‘old plan.’”
He waited for them to say something. Lucille burst out laughing, and the rest of the women followed suit. She stood up and went to him. “We were only talking about the party,” she said. “Irene thought it would be nice to do something drastically different with our hair, just for fun.”
“Yes,” said Irene.
Her fingers wrapped behind his neck and began to massage it. “And the ‘old plan’ you were speaking of?” he asked distrustfully.
“That was me,” Francis shouted. “I thought we ought to have a new sort of party, something different than the ones we normally throw for our friends when their children are born.”
“And I thought we ought to stick to our old plan,” said Lucille. “No more than three of us in a room with the baby at a time, otherwise he will never sleep and cry the whole party through. Five women at once would be too much for such a small thing to handle. Especially with all the oohing and ahhing that’s bound to happen.”
Leonard’s shoulders relaxed. The way Lucy’s fingers worked his muscles was like magic. “Oh, well... I suppose that all makes sense,” he said. The clock struck one and he jumped. “I only came back because I forgot my hat.” He grabbed it off a side table and gave Lucy another kiss goodbye.
As he was exiting, he heard Betty say, “By the way, Jack Weaver and I are talking again. There’s nothing official yet, but I have hopes you may soon be throwing me a wedding celebration.”
The girls erupted into giggles, and any lingering doubts Leonard had vanished. They were just girls being girls, he had no reason not to trust them... anymore. Besides, there was no way that a woman with child would ever participate in a train robbery, that would be absurd.
Yet, in the back of his mind, he could not shake the feeling. He resolved to keep an even closer eye on Lucy from now on, just in case. The last thing he needed was Decker coming back from Texas or wherever he was now. The man had been gratefully silent since he’d left town, and Leonard preferred to keep it that way.
“I’m sure it’s all in my head,” he muttered to himself as he entered the station.
“What is?” Amos asked.
He looked up. “Nothing,” he said. “Nothing at all.” He sat down. “There haven’t been any new reports on the Beauty Bandits, have there?” he asked.
Amos frowned. “No, not in some time. Why?”
Leonard shrugged. “Just wondering.”
He exhaled. Lucy was a good woman and the mother of his child-to-be, it was time he trust her. He resolved to let old ghosts die. The Beauty Bandits were gone for good... he hoped.
* * *
