Wife Number Seven (The Compound, #1)(3)

Chapter 2

Last night was the first time Rebecca fell asleep without tears soaking her pillow. Her boys were doing well with the other children. Some meltdowns occurred, but nothing that seemed to have her worried. She was making her best effort to learn the structure of our home and to find her place.

“Are you nervous?” I whispered as we lay in bed on our last night together in my room, both fighting sleep, knowing that tomorrow brought much change for all of us. She and Lehi were to be married by the prophet, followed by one night away as their honeymoon.

“About the marriage?”

I nodded.

“Not about the ceremony.”

“The honeymoon?”

“No one has touched me but Burt. No one.”

The room was almost pitch black. I couldn’t see her eyes, but knew they must be pained. She was doing her best, but this wasn’t what she wanted for herself or for her boys. She missed her family.

“Does he . . . I’m sorry, it’s not proper of me to ask.”

“You can ask me anything, Rebecca,” I assured her. We’d spent the last five nights getting to know each other better. We shared stories; we laughed and cried. She was quickly becoming my best friend. I trusted her, and I wanted her to trust me.

“Does he expect it on the first night?”

I wanted to ease her fears, to tell her that Lehi was a gentle lover who waited until his wives were ready. But that simply wasn’t my experience.

“Yes.”

She sighed loudly into her pillow, her breathing ragged as she held back tears.

“But . . . it doesn’t last too long,” I said, and raised one wicked eyebrow.

Rebecca let out a small giggle, clutching her pillow. When she laughed, I felt the tension in the air break apart and I laughed with her. As our laughter filled the air, we covered our mouths to keep from waking our sister wives.

“May I ask something?”

“Yes, of course,” Rebecca answered.

I hesitated and then asked, “What do you miss most about him? About Burt?”

Rebecca lay in silence, but I could hear her wringing the fabric of her nightgown between her hands. Another moment in thought passed by.

“I miss his crooked nose and bushy eyebrows when he hadn’t groomed them in a while. The way his smile pulled to the left more than the right. The way he smelled after working a day in the summer heat.”

I pursed my lips, confused at her words and at her memory of Burt. “He doesn’t sound at all attractive.”

“He wasn’t, Brinley. Not in the sense that women find Lehi attractive. But he was attractive to my heart. And my heart will have no one else.”

“Wow.” I was amazed by the idea of missing everything about one person. It was unfathomable to me. If I were reassigned this minute, I’d miss the security of Lehi, but not much else. He didn’t have much of a sense of humor, and he wasn’t interested in discussing current events in the community with his wives. He was a man of few words who kept to himself. But he took care of me, and I didn’t feel suffocated. He wasn’t a watchdog; I was allowed to go into town when necessary, and he also allowed me to visit my parents as often as I wanted. Not everyone could say that about their husbands.

“He loved me,” Rebecca added. “Really loved me. I don’t believe I’ll ever feel that way for Lehi.”

“I understand.”

“But I’m thankful for you. I didn’t care much for my sister wives before. You’re different.”

“I feel the same way. Aspen and I are . . . it’s complicated, but I guess we’re friends. I could never tell her the things I’ve told you, though. And I’ve known her for years.”

“I feel honored.”

I reached over and gripped her hand. “I’ll do whatever I can to help you feel at home here.”

“Thank you. That means so much.”

She drifted to sleep still holding my hand. Her grip loosened as her body relaxed into slumber.

I listened to her breathing, knowing I would miss having her here with me. But starting the next morning, she’d have her own room, her own space. And I’d be forced to welcome Lehi back into mine.

? ? ?

Lehi and Rebecca were married this morning by the prophet. Rebecca wore a crisp white cotton dress with a scalloped collar and a bow in the center of her chest. Her hair was styled in the usual way, but a few of the young girls had found fresh flowers for her to place inside the grooves of her French braid. During the short ceremony, her teeth dug into her bottom lip. I’d seen her do that several times since arriving at the Cluff household. She was holding back tears, and nervously clutched at the fabric of her wedding dress.

Leandra was determined to have a bedroom ready and waiting for Rebecca when she and Lehi returned from their night together. She assumed I was missing him (I wasn’t) and that Rebecca was ready for her own private space (she wasn’t), and felt the best way to make everyone happy was to rearrange the bedrooms to accommodate Rebecca.

“I need someone to go into town,” Leandra said as she clipped coupons at the large kitchen table in our dining area.

That statement was my favorite in the world. I craved it and jumped at any chance to leave the compound and venture out into the “outside world.”

“I’ll go,” I said as casually as I could.