A Love Foretold by Kimberly Wright Chapter 19 to 21

“Finally,” she huffed under her breath as the stagecoach pulled into town. Then she stepped from the stage and waited, impatiently, for her bag to be handed to her, deciding to visit with Teaspoon before heading to the weigh station. Upon entering Teaspoon’s office, the young deputy there informed her that he had gone to the weigh station bunkhouse to have some lunch. Breanna said thank you to the man, turned and headed for the long house at the end of the street. She hesitated, for just a moment, took a deep breath then entered the bunkhouse.

Several pair of sad eyes looked up as she walked in, but none of them belonged to the one dearest to her heart.

“You’ve just missed him Breanna,” Rachel said as she came around the table to take the bag that was firmly held by a small tight fist. “We were just finishing up and,” she glanced in Cody’s direction, “and we…”

“What did you say Cody?” she hissed as she took a step toward the blonde rider. She was still taking steps toward him when Jimmy suddenly stood in her way. “Get out…of my way James.”

He shook his head so she decided to go around him, but he was quicker and had her in his arms before she knew it.

“Quit squirming and calm down Bre. You know how Cody always puts his foot in his mouth.”

“Let…me…go,” she hissed at him, struggling against the iron grip that held her in place.

“Not a chance Little Fire. We’ve all seen what one of your punches could do and you just might mess up his pretty face.”

She was starting to get real angry. Angry at Cody for saying whatever it was that he said, angry at Jimmy for not letting her have a go at Cody’s face and angry at Ike for…for what? How could she be angry with Ike? She didn’t even know where he was.

“What did you say Cody?” she asked again

All eyes turn toward Cody, waiting for him to answer, but he didn’t answer right away. His face became flushed with embarrassment and he quickly averted his eyes from his friends, especially from the angry woman being held back by Jimmy.

“Cody,” Teaspoon spoke quietly a few moments later. “Son, I’d be answering if I was you.”

His answer was a soft whisper.

“What?” Breanna said. “I didn’t quite hear you.”

“I said that I was glad it wasn’t me that got shot,” he grumbled.

Her heart just about crumpled into tiny fragments at his words. Then with the tears of frustration and anger coursing down her cheeks, she exploded.

“You low life son of a…big mouth…snake! I ought to cut your tongue out and feed it to the coyotes. You know they’re as close as any brothers could be.”

Then Jimmy whispered in her ear that Ike had died from the gunshot and she nearly sank to the floor at Jimmy’s feet.

“No,” she gasped at the words Jimmy just spoke. “He can’t be dead.”

“Whoa there Bre,” Jimmy said when he felt her literally almost swoon at his feet after mentioning about Ike. “I think you’d better sit down.”

She didn’t want to sit down, she wanted to scream…to run far away and scream at the injustice of it all. How could Ike be dead? She just had seen him only a few short weeks ago, or had it really been more than that? She pulled herself from Jimmy’s, now relaxed, grip and flew out of the bunkhouse and ran as far as she could.

When Breanna could run no more, she collapsed into a puddle of tears in the middle of the road. She didn’t know how far she’d run. She didn’t even really care. She only knew that the ache in her heart of losing a friend would never, ever go away…just like the ache of losing her baby.

“Oh God,” she cried, her face lifted toward the sky. “Why Ike? Why’d you have to take him too?”

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Rachel saw the small figure sitting in the middle of the road. She pulled the wagon over then got down and approached the young woman.

“Breanna?”

“Go away.”

“I thought we could talk.”

“Don’t want to.”

Rachel sighed as she sat next to her friend. She waited till Breanna was ready to go back to the house. She didn’t wait too long, for it was the young woman’s growling stomach that brought her to her feet.

“I’m ready. Not to talk, just…just…”

“All right,” Rachel said. “No talking until you’re ready. You should talk with Buck though and let him fill you in on what happened, but if you’re not up to that yet…”

Breanna nodded then sat silently on the seat for the ride back to town. A few moments later her stomach rumbled again and she smiled…a little.

“Guess I should eat something first.”

Rachel laughed, “Guess so.”

The next morning as the sun streamed through the curtains, Breanna slowly opens her eyes to find Buck leaning against the doorframe gazing at her with a lingering sadness in his eyes.

“Rachel says I should tell you what happened.”

Breanna nodded as she sat up. She waited patiently for him to tell the painful tale of losing his friend and when he was done, he just stood there looking like the world had crumbled beneath his feet. She was out of the bed and had her arms wrapped around him in an instant.

“Oh Buck…I’m so sorry.”

“Me too Little Fire…me too.” Then he whispered, “You still want to visit his burial place?”

“Can we?”

He held her for a few more minutes then softly told her she should get dressed while he saddled up a couple of the horses. As he turned to go outside, he reminded her to eat breakfast since she hardly touched her supper the night before.

“Agreed,” she replied, smiling to herself. Then she dressed as quickly as she could and was about to sail out the door when she was stopped by Rachel’s commanding voice.

“And just where do you think you’re going young lady?”

“To vis…”

“Not yet you don’t. Now sit…eat,” Rachel replied sternly as she set a plate piled with pancakes, ham and eggs in front of her then handed her a glass of tea.

“Mmm, thanks Rach,” Breanna spoke through a mouthful of pancake. “This is heavenly.”

She was almost finished when Buck came back into the house. He sat in the chair next to her as Rachel handed him a cup of coffee. Breanna glanced at him while she took a sip of her tea and smiled inwardly.

“Wanna bite?” she asked him.

“Had some of that earlier,” he replied with a small smile and a twinkle in his eye.

“Suit yourself,” she said just before she took the last bite of her pancakes all the while thinking, “You could nibble on me.”

With her breakfast plate cleaned and with another glass of tea, Breanna felt she was ready to face the place where there buried Ike…at least she would be able to say good-by to him in spirit.

“You know he’s not really gone,” she softly said as they rode out of town.

“I know. But it should’ve never happened like that,” Buck replied just as quietly. “We were going to grow old together…have families…”

“I know. Buck?”

“Hm?”

“Do you still want to build that house we talked about?”

He glance over a his little spitfire then shrugged his shoulders as they came to a stop at the edge of a beautiful tree lined meadow and replied, “I don’t know. Could we discuss that later?”

“Sure,” she answered, her heart sad again. She looked around the meadow then with a big smile; she jumped from the horse and exclaimed, “Oh Buck, he would’ve loved it here.”

“Yeah…I thought so,” he replied as he got down from his own horse and stood by her side.

Suddenly Breanna felt like playing in the field and began to run around like she had done as a child. She spun around in circles, her eyes closed, absorbing the peace and serenity of the area then she turned in Buck’s direction.

“Come on grumpy,” she spoke seductively. “Come play with me.”

“Aren’t you a bit too old to be acting like a child?”

She shook her head then slowly, purposely walked toward him. When she was standing toe-to-toe with him, she looked up into his oh so expressive beautiful brown eyes and whispered; “I’ve missed you.” Then she proceeded to glide her hands up his chest and began to undo the buttons on his shirt.

Just as she was undoing the third button, Buck took a hold of her bold little hands and breathed, “Little Fire, you are so much a part of me…it scares me sometimes.” Then he was lifting her off the ground, holding her close to his heart.

“Me too,” she replied breathlessly before their lips touched.
 

Chapter Twenty

Just a few weeks after she and Rachel had come back from visiting the burial site of their friend, Breanna now stood in her very own kitchen.  Her eyes swam with unshed tears for the millionth time, her heart overflowed with love for the boys…and Rachel, Louise and Teaspoon. They had managed to hide this project from her during all that time, leaving her clueless and guessing at what all the lumber had been for.

“Well,” she said aloud to her new kitchen, “should I ‘break in’ the stove with a special apple pie or…or maybe,” she glanced toward the new sofa that sat in her living room, “maybe I’ll just lie on the sofa for a few minutes. But then, maybe I’ll just bake that pie and take it over to the station house.” 

An hour later, just after the pie was done, she heard the sound of an approaching wagon and glanced out her new kitchen window. She smiled. It was just Rachel coming for a visit and she ran outside to greet her friend.

“Hi Rachel. What brings you by this afternoon?”

“Was asked to keep an eye on you, according to Buck.”

Breanna rolled her eyes in exasperation saying, “What am I going to do with him?”

“Keep him.”

“Well of course that, but…”

“I know,” Rachel replied with a laugh. “He’s just a worry-wart. Why don’t you come back to the station with me for a while?”
“Alright, let me get the pie and put my shoes on.”

Ten minutes later Rachel and Breanna were headed back to the weigh station, the still warm apple pie safely sitting in a box under the seat. They talked about the trouble that was stirring in the south. They talked about when Kid and Louise might actually get married and they talked about her favorite subject…Buck. Then Rachel asked a surprising question.

“So, which shoes do you have on this time?”

“These,” Breanna answered with a smile as she lifted up her skirts.

Now it was Rachel’s turn to roll her eyes.

“Not again. I swear Bre…”

“What? They are shoes. They cover my feet.”

“Oh never mind,” she laughed as they pulled up next to the station house.

Breanna jumped from the wagon before it came to a complete stop, letting Rachel know she was going to say hi to the others then wait for Buck to return from his run. A few moments later it decided to rain and she ran into the house to keep from getting soaked, but kept watch at the window for him. Several moments after that, the rain settling down to a fine drizzle, she saw him racing toward the barn next to the bunkhouse and began to smile.

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She was trying to sneak up on him as he brushed the rain from the stallion’s hide, but she was doing a terrible job of it. He’d heard the subtle intake of breath she took as she stood by the door and he smiled when she began to walk toward him. Oh how he wanted to spin around and give chase, just to see her try to run on the mud soaked ground, but he maintained his position…waiting for just the right moment. Then he whispered, “I know it’s you Little Fire,” before turning around and pinning her with his eyes. “Come closer.”

She didn’t budge. His eyes were sparkling, teasing…pulling her into their liquid chocolate depths. She shook her head once, her feet frozen to the ground.

“I ain’t going to bite you,” he said with a wiggle of his brow as he stepped ever so closer. “That is…unless you’d like me to.”

For every step he took toward her, she took one step back. Then she spun around and started running, laughing as she ran. She looked over her shoulder and said, “Catch me first.”

Buck smiled again as he shook his head thinking, “Here we go again.” Then he sprinted after her. He watched as she hiked up her skirts and nearly groaned at the sight of the moccasins covering her legs. “No fair Little Fire,” he thought as he continued to chase her through the spattering of rain.

Then as Breanna looked over her shoulder again, she promptly tripped over a rock and went tumbling to the ground.

“Damn-it,” she cursed as she slowly turned to a sitting position to examine the palms of her hands, only to find Buck standing over her.

“You are…the…most infuriating woman…I know,” he said trying to catch his breath. “You know it ain’t fair you wearing them things.”

“Well…yeah, but how am I supposed to outrun you if I’m wearing any others?”

Buck reached for her, to pull her to her feet, but noticed that she was hobbling on one. Then he scooped her up and walked to the nearest tree so that they would be off the road. He sat her down, picked up her foot and started to massage it. 

When his hands began to massage her leg, she glanced at him through narrowed eyes and sighed, “Buck…uhm…”

“Not hurting you, am I?”

“N-noooo,” she gasped as his hands inched higher still. “St-stop that. Oth-ers might s-ee.”

He ignored her plea. He continued to massage up her thigh while gazing into her green, desire filled eyes and softly said; “We’re far enough away that others won’t see. Now, since I was unable to give you a kiss earlier…I’ll just give it to you here.”

And he placed a soft, sweet kiss on her lips.

An hour or so passed before they managed to walk back to the station, holding hands, un-aware of the mud and grass and leaves that had decided to stick to their clothes. When they reached the edge of town, Buck leaned toward her and gave her another one of his toe curling kisses before heading to the bunkhouse to wash up for dinner.

Breanna stood there for a few moments, her mind still in a daze at the tender lovemaking they had just shared then she walked into Rachel’s house. After she entered the house and closed the door behind her, she leaned against the door and sighed like a contented cat.

“So, I take it you two had your talk?” she heard Rachel say.
“Hmmmm. Oh…yeah, we had our talk.”

“And it was a good talk?”

“Mmhm,” Breanna nodded. That’s when she noticed her dress. She felt the blush creep up from her toes to her face and said, “Well…uhm…guess I’d better wash up before dinner.” Then she headed up the stairs, Rachel’s laughter following her.

“I’ll start your bath.”

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Mid May 1861

Rachel looked out the window at Breanna. She was sitting on the steps just in front of the door and not looking too happy about something, but then Rachel knew what that something…someone was. Buck had just received a letter from the woman he had been promised to when he still lived with his brother and now that woman was coming to Rock Creek…with her fiancé.

“Oh well,” she silently said to herself as she returned to the carrots she was slicing. “Buck and Bre will just have to work this out.”

Then the door swung open and Breanna walked in saying, “My stomach keeps grumbling, feeeed meeee.”

“Funny Breanna. Stomachs don’t talk. Well, unless you’re Cody’s stomach and his never seems to shut up.” 

“I’m serious Rachel. My stomach just rumbled very loudly a few minutes ago, demanding to be fed again.”

“Alright,” Rachel replied. “There should be…wait a minute, didn’t you eat just as much as Cody did this morning?”

“Did I?”

“I’m pretty sure you did. Could it be that you’re in the family way?”

“I think so. It’s been a couple of months since my last woman’s thing.”

“Have you told Buck yet?”

Breanna shook her head saying, “I just can’t…not right now.”

“Camille?”

“Not really. I just want to be extra careful…not bring bad luck by blurting it out like the last time. I don’t know what I’d do if I lost this one too.”

“Oh Bre, you don’t know…”

“I just don’t want to chance it Rachel,” Breanna replied. “Do me a favor and don’t tell anyone else. I’ve got an appointment with the doctor tomorrow to find out for sure. Until then…”

“I promise…not a word to anyone.”

“Thanks Rachel.”
 

Chapter Twenty-One

“Morning Jeffrey, is the doctor in?”

“No ma’am, Miss Breanna. He had to see about a patient over at the hotel.”

“Oh. Anything serious?”

“Not sure,” he answered. “But you might just want to sit and wait just in case. He could return any minute.”

“Thanks Jeffrey.”

So Breanna sat, wondering what was going on at the hotel that had the doctor over there instead of the patient here at his office. But she just shrugged her shoulders and picked up a discarded newspaper to read while she waited. A few moments later the doctor re-entered his office and she stood to greet him.

“Morning Dr. Pratt.”

“Miss O’Neill? Did we have an appointment?”

“Yes sir.”

“All right. Come on back and tell me what’s ailing you.”

“Nothing’s ailing me,” she thought as she followed the doctor back to the examining room. “Nothing that maybe another seven months would cure.”

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“Rachel,” she spoke softly as she entered the kitchen.

Rachel looked up from scrubbing a plate and knew in an instant that Breanna was pregnant again. She smiled, dried her hands and went to give the young woman a hug.

“So…you going to tell him?”

“I know I should. Maybe I’ll wait a couple days.”

“Till after Camille and Bill have left?”

“Yeah, that too.”

“What else?”

Breanna had sat down with a sigh and replied, “Well, for one, Buck and I aren’t even married. And then there’s…” she suddenly stopped talking when she heard the front door opening and saw that it was just Teaspoon. Then she told Rachel that she was going to lie down for a while before lunch.

That evening after supper, Breanna decided to take her cup of tea and head outside. She walked over to stand by the corral not knowing that Buck was watching her from the bunkhouse. Then he saw Rachel joining her.

“You were awfully quiet at supper Bre. Were you thinking of your other child?”

“A little. I was also thinking about what Buck would say…I mean, I did tell him the last time to find someone else to have kids with and if we lost…”

“Don’t you be thinking like that Breanna Nicole,” Rachel scolded as she enveloped the young woman in a motherly hug. “Things will be ok this time. Now come on, we got an early day tomorrow, so we might as well head to bed now.”

The next morning found everyone at the breakfast table except for Cody, who was out on a run, and…Buck. Nobody knew where he was, but Teaspoon said he probably went to say prayers as he was taught to do.

“But Teaspoon,” Kid said, “he’s usually back before breakfast is over.”

“That maybe so, but I’m thinking he had some extra prayers to say this morning.”

Breanna’s eyes snapped in Teaspoon’s direction. He smiled. “Dear God,” she thought, “he knows.” Then she glanced at Rachel who just shrugged her shoulders, letting her know that she hadn’t told him. She then excused herself from the table, walked out the door and over to the edge of the corral where she stood gazing in the direction of the rising sun.

“Miss Bre,” Teaspoon spoke softly a few moments later. “I…well, uhm…Buck didn’t actually…”

“He’s with Camille, isn’t he?” she asked as the tears stung her eyes.

“Afraid so. Took her out of her room last night and poof…they were gone.”

“Yeah…poof,” she said quietly as she went to saddle up a horse.

She rode away from Rock Creek, the tears now streaming down her face as she made her way to the meadow where the funeral pyre had been. When she got there, she slid from the horse and sat next to the fresh grass that sprouted out of the charred ground and cried aloud.

“I think I’ve lost him my friend. He and Camille disappeared last night and…and I’m pregnant again,” she whispered. “He doesn’t even know yet.” Then she swiped angrily at her tears and said, “Watch over them. Keep them safe.”
With that done, she slowly got to her feet and rode back to the station so that she could be there when…if they decided to come back.

Several days later, with Mr. Barlow, Noah, Lou and Kid still tracking after Buck and Camille, Breanna was about to give up on her baby ever knowing its father. She felt like crying again, but knew it would just give her a headache so she just got herself some more tea to help sooth her nerves.

“They’ll find them,” Rachel said. “You know there’s got to be a good reason for him to be doing this.”

“I know, but it still doesn’t help that they snuck away in the middle of the night.”

Just then, they heard the sound of multiple riders approaching from the northwest and rushed outside to see if it was their guys returning. Sure enough, it was everybody, but instead of Camille sitting in front of Buck…she was sitting in front of her fiancé.

Breanna slowly let out the breath she held. Then she noticed that Noah tilted his head in her direction and said something to Buck. Her breath caught in her throat again as he glanced her direction. His left brow arched and she practically tripped over her feet to meet him half way as he walked toward him. Then she was in his arms again.

“If I scared you for taking off without notice, I’m sorry,” he spoke softly as he gently held her. “But she needed my help.”

“Why?” Breanna asked, looking up into his soulful brown eyes.

“She could’ve died if I hadn’t.”

“But she’s better now…right?”

“Much better.”

“Tell me about it later, that is, if you feel like it.”

He tightened his hold on her, his little spitfire of a woman and nodded his head before saying, “Come on, let me introduce you.”

That evening as they sat at the dinner table, Rachel kept giving Breanna the “look” about mentioning the new baby yet to come and Breanna blushed as she shook her head whispering, “Not yet.”

“Not yet what, Miss Bre?” Teaspoon asked before he took a sip of his third cup of coffee.

“N-noth-ing.”

Then Rachel said, “Now Bre, don’t you want everyone to know the happy news?”

“News…what news?” Buck questioned as he placed his chair back on all four of its legs. “Little Fire, what news?”

Breanna sighed then stood up from where she was sitting, walked over to the chair that Buck still sat in and said, “Well, if you must know…”

“Bre-anna, you aren’t being fair.”

“I know,” she replied before she sat on his lap, wrapping her arms around his neck and then whispered, “We’re pregnant.”

He was speechless for just a moment then he choked out, “Pregnant? Why didn’t…when…how…?”

“How?” she laughed. “You should know that Mr. Cross…you were there. As for the when, it was probably just after I came here from visiting my family.”

“That would’ve been about…”

“Sh love. I know, but think of it as a good sign. You know he still watches over all of us and maybe…even though he’s not physically here, we could still make him the god-father.”

Buck sat there, holding onto his woman and thought about what she said. Then he nodded with a smile before setting her on her feet and bending to one knee.

“Miss Breanna Nicole,” he began. “Little Fire…would you…”

She cried as she dropped to her knees also and said, “Yes Running Buck, I would be honored to be your wife.”

“When and where would you want our ceremony?”

“Last year?” she replied hopefully. “Tomorrow? Whenever, as long as its at the meadow…sunset.”
 
Teaspoon cleared his throat then said, “Well now since that’s been settled, I’d say it’s time to call it a night. It’s going to be a long day tomorrow.”

.