For an awful moment, there was no sound or movement. Then she saw his shadow appear near the back of the buggy and shortly after Max himself approaching her, wearing a fierce scowl. He stopped a horse length away.
“Foolish woman! If you possess a lick of sense, you will remove your petticoat. Then you will obey any other order I give you from now until I get you home. Give me any more trouble before then, and I’ll turn you over my knee. And so help me, there won’t be a petticoat, or a dress, or anything else between my hand and your high-and-mighty backside when I spank some common sense into you.”
Charlotte felt horrified. She gulped, then exclaimed, “You wouldn’t dare, Mr. Harrison!” Tears suddenly stung her eyes.
“Oh, but I would, Charlie.” He moved a step toward her. “Maybe I ought to smack your bottom a few times right now to prove it.”
She took a step back and held out a hand to stop his approach. “That won’t be necessary, Mr. Harrison. I will do your bidding. I see I have no choice, since you’re devoid of the manners that befit a gentleman and would feel no compunction over beating me.”
She sniffled as she bent to remove her petticoat from under her dress. This place was like a foreign country, so very different from Boston, and she suddenly felt like she’d never be able to adapt, if all the men around were like the one standing in front of her scowling. After folding her petticoat in half a couple of times, she held it against her chest and gazed at him sorrowfully. She felt her lower lip tremble and told herself not to humiliate herself further by allowing the sobs to overtake her.
Max’s expression softened as he sighed and closed the gap between them. Lifting her into his arms yet again, he said, “I wouldn’t beat you, honey. A spanking is not a beating. Thank you for obeying me, though, so as not to learn the difference today.” He placed her on the buggy seat gently, then removed the petticoat from her limp hands and stuffed it into her bag.
Chapter Two: Holding Back
Max felt his heartbeat slow to a normal pace soon after resuming their journey. Dealing with a feverish, unconscious woman in the middle of nowhere had given him a fright, and he felt angry with himself for allowing her to get to that point. Unlike him, she hadn’t a clue about how to care for herself in a place where temperatures rose to over a hundred degrees in the summer. He should have insisted much earlier that she change into appropriate clothing.
His fear now gone, he worried about how to contend with the distraught and humiliated woman sitting next to him. He didn’t like seeing the little spitfire he’d met on the platform in such a state. He’d felt much more comfortable when she was giving him lip and showing a bit of pluck. Now she was subdued and depressed. She hung her head and stared at her hands in her lap, sniffling quietly every so often.
He wondered what her story was. She was beyond beautiful; she was utterly breathtaking. She could have batted her eyelashes at just about any man and found herself in a comfortable position for life. Instead, she’d traveled alone to a hard place, intent on earning a living for herself. Max thought about asking her what made her want to leave home, but he didn’t think he could bear it if his question caused her to cry and feel regret.
He reached into his pack and selected the finest looking apple. “Eat this,” he said, handing it to her.
Without a word, she slowly took the piece of fruit. She studied it for a moment, rubbed it down thoroughly with the skirt of her dress, and took a bite. He felt glad that she was getting some nourishment, but he’d hoped for a bit of an argument, like she’d offered him about everything else prior to that point. He recognized that she was heeding his order to obey or else endure a spanking. He should have felt glad about that, but he felt strangely bereft. He worried that he might have broken her spirit somehow.
“Can I do anything to make you more comfortable, Charlie?”
“No, Mr. Harrison,” she said in a voice that sounded dangerously close to tears.
“I wish you’d call me Max.”
“Why?”
“I don’t know, exactly. It just seems odd to be called Mr. Harrison.”
She didn’t respond immediately, but when she eventually did, her accusatory tone provided him with relief. “I suspect it’s so you feel better about using and abusing my Christian name.”
“I reckon that has something to do with it.”
“Well, you’ll get no such satisfaction from me, Mr. Harrison. I think we’re familiar enough as it is, much to my humiliation, without being on a first-name basis.”
He winced and rubbed the back of his neck. “I wish I could say something to make you feel better about what happened. Honestly, there’s no reason for you to feel humiliated, honey. You’re new here. It’s my fault I didn’t insist that you change into better clothes before you became ill. Your stubborn pride didn’t help, of course, but I should have ignored it.”
She swallowed a bite of apple. “I suppose that’s your attempt at an apology.”