Mail Order Baron (The Brides of Tombstone Book 3) (14 page)

“Yes, sir.” He waved toward Molly. “But what about Mrs. King?”

He narrowed his eyes at Molly. “I’ll see, Mrs. King home.”

“Yes sir.” Gil walked over to the woman. “Miss Gordon, if you’ll come with me?” He held out his arm.

She took it but looked over her shoulder at Ben. “See you later Ben?”

“No, not tonight.” He looked at Molly and held out his arm for her to take.

Instead she walked by him, head held high, and headed to their suite. When she got there she waited for him to use his key to enter.

Once inside, he turned on her. “What the hell do you think you’re doing having dinner with Gil?”

“I’m having dinner with my friend and not alone as I usually do. What about you?” She pointed at him. “You have dinner with your latest paramour and I’m supposed to just accept that it’s all right. That it’s the normal course of things. I told you when we married I don’t tolerate cheating and it looks to me like that’s exactly what you were doing or going to do if you haven’t already.”

He ran his hands through his hair. “Miss Gordon is not my paramour.”

She moved to the other side of the room where the door to her old room was. “You could have fooled me and every other diner in the room. I’m sure most of them were sniggering behind their hands when I came in, just waiting for the fireworks to start.”

“And I didn’t disappoint them did I?” he said softly.

“No, you didn’t.” She bit back a sob.

“I’m sorry, Molly. I didn’t think. I was just taking the latest performer for the Bird Cage Theater to dinner. Nothing more.”

“You could have fooled her…and me. I heard what she said. She fully expected you to join her in her bed. Would you have, if I didn’t show up? Is that what our marriage has become?”

“You know I always come home to you.”

She scoffed at his avoidance of her question. “Yes, at two or three in the morning. Then you wake me up to have relations turn over and go to sleep. You don’t even kiss me like you used to. Just little pecks on the lips and lately on the cheek.” She shook her head. “What am I supposed to think? Who are you giving your love to? It’s certainly not me.”

He held out his hand. “Come to bed, Molly. We’ll talk about it there.”

She shook her head and wrapped her arms around her waist. “No. I’m not coming to bed with you. I’ll sleep in my old bed until you can explain what I did to make you go to such great lengths to avoid me.” She took a shaky breath to continue. “You act like I’ve got the plague. You only come to me in the dark of night until breakfast in the morning and I get the feeling you’d leave before I got up if you could, just to avoid me all together.”

He moved his head and looked at the floor, but didn’t say anything.

“You see. I’m right. You don’t want to see me. I don’t know what I’ve done to make you hate me. I wish I did because then I could change it.”

“Molly, I don’t hate you. I care for you very much.” Suddenly his eyes got big and he stalked over to her. “You said pregnant. His pregnant wife. You’re certain now?”

“So what? At least when the baby’s born, I’ll have someone who loves me and wants to be with me.” She turned and went through the door to the adjoining suite.

He followed her. “Molly, we have to talk about this. It’s not good for you to be so upset.”

“What is there to talk about, Ben?” Her shoulders slumped, sadness overcoming her. “You don’t love me. I’m hopeful that you’ll love our child.”

“Of course I’ll love our child. I already do.”

“Do you? I don’t think you have any idea what love is. She’s not even here yet and you say you love her but you can’t love her mother who happens to be your wife. Instead you make a laughing-stock of her in front of the whole town.”

She went to the bed and lay upon it fully clothed.

“You shouldn’t be gallivanting around town either. I’m going to post Gil as a guard on your door so you can’t leave.”

“I won’t be a prisoner.”

“You’re not a prisoner.” He paced the room and ran his hands through his hair. “I’m doing the only thing I know how in order to protect you.”

“You’re crushing me.”

“Molly…”

“Ben, don’t do this. Please don’t do this.”

“It’s for your own good.”

“Please just talk to Mal and Lizzie before you do this. Don’t make us enemies.”

“Get up Molly, were going to bed.”

“I’m sleeping in here. I’m not sleeping with you.”

“Molly, I’ve told you before, no matter how angry we are with each other, we always sleep together. You agreed to that.”

Damn, his memory
. “Maybe I’ve changed my mind.” That was just for small issues, not huge ones, like his cheating.

He smiled. “You can’t change your mind. You have a little bump where the baby is growing.”

Her hands flew to her stomach and she looked down. Molly walked over to the mirror and turned sideways and smoothed her dress. She was starting to show.

Ben stood in the door way, leaning against the frame with his arms crossed over his chest. “Another reason you shouldn’t wear corsets.”

She ignored him, walked to the bed and turned down the covers. Before she could put her knee on the bed she was swept into his arms.

“Put me down,” she stiffened and pushed against his chest to no avail. She crossed her arms over her chest and closed her eyes.

“Molly.”

“Hmm.”

“Look at me, please.”

He carried her to their bed in the adjoining suite.

“No.”

“Why?”

“Because I’m crying and I don’t want you to see. I’m angry and hurt and I don’t want you to know.”

“I’m sorry, Molly. I’m conducting business as I always have. I never intended to hurt you. Just as I never intended to bed Miss Gordon, regardless of what she wanted. I told you I take my vows seriously. Keep myself unto you was a vow I made. I won’t cheat on you. I expect the same courtesy.”

He carried her through both living rooms and into their bedroom. “I’d never cheat on you. But I don’t deny I wanted to make you jealous. I also enjoyed having someone to eat dinner with. I don’t like being alone all the time. Gil is nice and he helps me during the day, but at night, I’m here alone. You work very hard to avoid me and I don’t know why.”

“I don’t avoid you. I just have business that needs to be taken care of.”

“Did you think your life wouldn’t change when you married? Do you believe you can put me in a room until you want me and then put me away when you don’t like I’m some piece of furniture? You have managers that can do most of this business. They handled your business just fine when I first told you about the carriage incident. You stayed with me and they did just fine. Why do you have them if you have to do their jobs for them?”

“What makes you think I do their jobs for them?” He set her down in the middle of the bed and came down beside her.

“Ben, I’m ready to go to sleep. Let me get my nightgown.”

“No clothes. For either of us.” He stood and shucked his clothes in record speed.

She stood and took off her clothes as well.

Ben picked up the corset from the pile of clothes on the floor.

“I thought I asked you not to wear these anymore.”

“No, you
told
me not to wear them. Perhaps if you had asked I wouldn’t have felt the need to push back against you.”

He nodded. “I do tend to be demanding. I’m sorry, Molly. Would you please stop wearing that corset? Especially now that you’re expecting. That contraption can’t be good for you.”

She pulled down the covers and crawled between the sheets.

“All right. I’ll quit wearing them.”

“Thank you.”

Ben joined her and held out his arm so she could cuddle against his side.

He felt so warm, so good. She would definitely miss it if she got a divorce.

“I won’t hold you to the marriage. We can get a divorce if you want it. I don’t want you to be so unhappy that you stay away from your home because of me.” Tears rolled down her face and onto his side.

He tightened his hold on her. “There will be no divorce, no separation. We are married for life, Molly.”

“I’m sorry you’re so unhappy with me.”

“What makes you think I’m unhappy with you?”

She leaned up on his chest and looked him in the eye. “Because you do whatever you can to avoid me. You go visit with Matt and Julia, but do you stop and get me before you go, so I can see them, too? No. You go alone, probably because it’s the way you’ve always done it.”

“I’m not avoiding you.” He furrowed his brows together. “It never occurred to me that you might want to go.”

“Because you still think of yourself as single. But you’re not.” She couldn’t help the tears that filled her eyes. “You have me and I’m tired of being alone.”

“Molly, I’ll try to do better. I’ll come home at night for dinner and if I have a pressing matter to deal with, I’ll go back out, but I’ll try to stay in once I come home. We can get to know each other and I’ll get to watch you get big as a house.”

He grinned at her.

She smiled back.

“There was that so hard?” he asked softly.

Molly shook her head. “Smiling isn’t hard. Remembering to smile, having reasons to smile is very hard…when you’re alone.”

He cuddled her close.

“You’re not alone, Molly. Not anymore. I’m here.”

CHAPTER 11

Molly knew he started every day with the best of intentions, but his managers, now used to having him there to take care of problems, couldn’t seem to handle anything without him. Invariably, after dinner, a message arrived that such and such was happening and could he come right away.

Molly was back to being by herself except now she had Ben at dinner time.

“You have to tell them they must manage on their own, that’s their job. If you see they can’t do that job then find someone who can.”

He lifted his eyebrow and grinned. “That’s a bit harsh, don’t you think?”

“I’m feeling a bit cranky. Ignore me if you like but that’s what I’d do.” She shook her head. “If allowed to, they will find the answer without you. If they know you will run to their aid whenever they call, they never will learn and we’ll never have a whole night together.”

“You’re right.” He nodded and a smile grew. “You know, I think I married not only a pretty woman but a smart one, too.”

At almost six months pregnant, Molly wasn’t feeling very smart or very pretty at the moment.

The house was almost done. Molly wasn’t looking forward to living there if she was to be alone. At least here in the hotel, she could go talk to the desk clerk or Sadie if she got too lonely.

At the house, she really would feel even more alone when Ben went out at night. Until they hired some live-in staff, it would be just her and Gil as usual. Ben had decided that Gil would move in, so that he would be on call twenty-four hours a day if Ben needed him. But that wouldn’t be for a while. Molly was being very picky and wanted to make sure she was choosing the right persons for the housekeeper and cook positions.

Sadie came to the rescue for the cook position. She’d trained a nice middle-aged woman specifically for the position with Ben and Molly. When Molly found out she burst into tears and hugged Sadie.

“Thank you. I was so not looking forward to having to rely on my own meager skills.”

The construction went slower because she was there every day checking and making sure it was done to her specifications. She’d made them pull down a wall that was not straight even though it was just off by an inch.

“I’m paying you to get this done right,” she said to the construction foreman. “If it is not done right, I will have you take it down and do it again. Do I make myself clear?”

“Yes, Mrs. King. I won’t let it happen again.”

She was sure he wouldn’t, since he was charged the time and materials to do it a second time.

Molly’s days were now routine. She had breakfast with Ben, went with Gil to the house site, then to Julia’s or Lizzie’s and home to nap before Ben got home.

This day, Molly was more tired than usual.

“Gil, take me home please.” He helped her into the buggy.

“Are you all right Molly? You don’t look so good.”

“That’s not a thing you say to a woman.” She tried to joke and even got out a chuckle before she leaned over the side of the buggy and heaved up her guts.

“Molly!” Gil put his hand on her back. “Are you all right?”

“Now I feel better. I just want to go home.”

“You’re seein’ the doc first. This can’t be good with you expecting and all.”

She was too tired to fight it. “Fine. Just go. The sooner we get there, the sooner I can go home.”

Gil swatted the reins on the horses until they were at a gallop. The trip to the doctors from the house site was only about five minutes with the horses running as fast as they could.

When they arrived, Gil went around to Molly’s side. “Watch your step now.”