Page 87 of Colorado Bride

“What am I to do with you, Emily?I can’t love you like you want me to, but I can’t let you go either.You’re my wife and carrying my child.I care for you deeply and that will just have to do.”

She snored and then snorted.

He groaned and slowly shook his head.She hadn’t heard a thing he said.

When he got to the bedroom, he sat her on the bed, finished undressing her and then laid her down on her left side, so she wouldn’t hurt her injured right arm.

Then he undressed and slid into the bed beside her, scooted close and laid his arm over her hip.

“Sleep now, sweetheart.Morning will bring you more pain and I wish I could take it away but I can’t.”

Ben closed his eyes.

Banging on the wall between their room and his mother’s began at about three o’clock in the morning.

“Mother, go to sleep,” shouted Ben, adding to the noise.

Emily turned toward him.“Ben.She won’t stop.She knows this bothers us and will keep pounding on the wall, as long as she thinks she’s having results.”

He rubbed the sleep from his eyes.“Well, we’ve got to do something.”

“My head hurts and she’s not helping.Seems to me the only way the banging will stop is if you tie her to the bed and that is something you don’t want to do.First of all, it’s mean and second, it would be messy and I’m not cleaning up after her.”

Ben pressed his head back into the pillow.

“Well what are we supposed to do?”

Emily scooted over, careful of her arm.

Ben stretched out his arm for her and gathered his warm wife close.

She cuddled up to his side and ran her fingers through the sprinkling of hair on his chest.

“Get that house built fast.You only need three rooms.One big one for the kitchen, dining and living rooms combined and two bedrooms.”

“Two bedrooms?”

“You’ll have to hire a woman to stay with her.She can’t be alone or she’ll get worse.”

“That makes sense.She also needs a water source, so the house should to be close to the river or I’ll have to dig a well.I’ll build the house close to the river.No way do I want to dig a well.Besides I can’t until spring.We’ll be pushing it to build the house at this time of year.I’ll leave only as many men here as are needed to tend the cows.The rest of us will build the house, as fast as possible.”

“I’m sorry, Ben.I feel like this is somehow my fault.Maybe if you didn’t like me, she wouldn’t feel so threatened.”

“No.I don’t think that has anything to do with it.Her mind has been going for some time now and I just refused to see it.I didn’t even believe her threats to you until tonight.I’m sorry.I didn’t want to see her for what she is…a very disturbed woman.”

The pounding stopped.

Emily raised her head and listened for movement in the other room.

“Do you think she wore herself out?”

“More than likely she’s taking a break or maybe she hurt her hands.In either case, I’m not opening that door until morning.”

“We should try and go to sleep while she’s quiet.Goodness knows how long it will last.”

“True.Goodnight.”

He grinned as Emily felt her way up his chest to his neck to his face, lifted herself and after a couple of tries, and a round of giggles, found his lips.