The Russian Billionaire’s Secret(133)

He gave her a smile as she walked down the path and stopped at the gate. She returned it with as much confidence as she could muster and hoped that it didn’t look as fake to him as it felt to her.

“Good evening, Ma’am.” He bowed like he had before at the train station with one leg outstretched.

“Please call me Belle and thank you for being so understanding about before. I am afraid that I was not feeling well, but I am much better now.”

“I’m glad to hear it Ma’ . . . Belle. I was right worried about you all day today.”

“Thank you for your concern, Mr. Thorn.”

“Welcome, Belle. If you’ll allow it I’ll accompany you to the house where you’ll be staying.”

“That would be lovely, Mr. Thorn.”

He offered her his arm and she took it. He was much taller than her and at first, she had to walk fast to keep up with his long strides, but he seemed to notice and slowed down. She breathed a small sigh of relief as he pointed to a small house up ahead. She wasn’t sure what she had expected, but she was for certain that it wasn’t that nice. The house was painted white and even had a small garden out back. A rose bush grew near the porch and another bunch of flowers near the small fence that went around the yard. She let him lead her up the path to the house. He unlocked the door and guided her inside.

A few moments later, he had a lamp lit and was showing her around the house.

“As you can see it isn’t much, just the bedroom, the sitting room, a small kitchen, and the cellar below that, but it’s mine and I like it.”

“I think it is a fine house, Mr. Thorn.”

“If I’m going to be calling you Belle, I reckon you ought to just call me Matt.”

“Okay. Matt it is.” They had been through this before, but she felt weird calling a man she had just met by his first name.

“I reckon I’m bushed. If there isn’t anything you need, I guess I’ll get some shuteye on the couch there. You can have the bedroom. The bed ain’t much, but it’s warm and off the ground.”

“Thank you Matt. I believe I will retire for the evening.”

“Goodnight, Belle.”

“Goodnight, Matt.”

She went into the bedroom and closed the door behind her. Even though she didn’t feel like sleeping, she thought that it would be best if she tried to get as much sleep as possible.

Em had promised to come over in the morning and teach her as much as she could about life on the frontier and what she would need to do. Belle knew little to nothing about cooking and hoped that Em could teach her how. She changed out of her clothes and into the only nightgown she had. It felt strange and uncomfortable as she lay down in another person’s bed, but the events of the day still weighed heavy on her and she was asleep minutes after her head hit the pillow.

She awoke the next morning long before the sun was up. For a while, she laid in the bed and thought about her life before, but she soon realized that all she was doing was making herself sad, so she got up and changed into the only other dress that she had. “I will have to find a way to make some money so that I can buy new dresses. Dresses that are more appropriate for this place,” she thought.

She looked at herself in the mirror and grimaced. Dark circles had formed under her eyes from too little rest and too much stress. There was nothing she could do about those, but her hair was another story. She fiddled with it for a while and decided to leave it down. She had grown to like the way her hair looked when it was down and hoped that Matt was the same.

As the sun rose over the horizon, she padded as quietly as she could into the kitchen in the hopes that she wouldn’t wake Matt. She might as well have run for he was already up and making coffee and breakfast. He smiled at her as he stood over the stove in his socked feet. He didn’t have his hat on this morning and even though it was early, his hair was slicked back on his head.

“Morning, Belle. Did you sleep well last night?”

“Good morning, Matt. I slept quite well thank you. How about yourself?”

“Snug as a bug in a rug. Would you like some breakfast?”

“Yes, please.”

“Coming right up. If you’ll have a seat, I’ll have your breakfast done in just a moment. Meanwhile the coffee is done if you want a cup. I’ll warn you first off. I make a pretty strong cup of coffee.”

“I like my coffee strong.” She had always preferred her coffee to be strong when she ordered it at a restaurant, so she thought she could handle anything he could have possibly made. She poured herself a cup, nearly burning her fingers in the process and took a small sip. The coffee nearly blew off the top of her head. “Goodness. It is strong.”

“My Pa always said that good coffee could float a horseshoe in it.”

“I believe that this could dissolve one.”

He laughed heartily and set a plate down on the table in front of her. “Eat up.”

She ate the runny eggs and the chewy bacon that sat before her. In her old life, she would have shoved the food away and demanded that it be cooked properly, but she was starved and it looked too good not to eat. Once breakfast was finished, she helped him wash the dishes and put them away. That seemed to be simple enough.

“I’ve got to be going.” Matt told her as he pulled on his boots and hat. “I’ll just be down to the jailhouse if you need me. Em’s right next door as well if you need her.”