Two

“I need to talk to you.” I start to say before I chicken out. “In private.”

“Private?” His smile turns into a snicker and he shake his head. “Children should be in their beds.”

“Please. Is important.” I press on trying to forget the jolts of pain and ignoring the fact that he just called me a child. At 24 I did not consider myself a child, I may look younger than I was but not that much to call me child.

“To whom?”

He has me there, I don’t want to say it in from of them.

“To you.” I’m not brave enough to raise my voice but is loud enough for him to hear.

“Really? Now this sound interesting.” Ok, from afar he doesn’t look this intimidating. I had a speech ready and all. I had written it and practiced in front of my bathroom mirror several times before heading here. “I’m listening.” He said crossing his arms, the scowl on his face darkening.

“Not here.” I beg. “Please.” I try to get some kindness out of him, but the tone does nothing to change his demeanor towards me.

The squint in his eyes tells me he’s thinking about it. The nod is barely noticeable but as soon as it happens I’m free to move. I stumble forward and regain my balance with my left foot while my right almost makes me scream. I heard a few chuckles but paid no attention to them, just the man that’s advancing towards the stables is important right now.

The smell of hay is strong and also the sounds tell me that I should be alert. He’s fast, I mean he has two good legs while I only have one plus the unevenness of the ground doesn’t help me at all. I’m trying to make the limp less noticeable, and press harder, since he’s not looking my way I can drag my foot a little hoping that he waits until I can lean onto the wall before he turns.

He leaning onto one of the stalls and there’s a horse head hanging in there, being petted by him. I decide to halt and wait until he turns back his attention to me.“I don’t have all day. You have five minutes.”

“I know my father owes you money.” There, I got his interest now. The way his eyebrow almost reach his hairline tells me that it was what he least expected.

“The whole town knows your father owes me money.” He scoffs.

Why can’t he just be nicer, is just a conversation we’re having.

“I have a proposition.”

He turns and steps forward, a little bit too much into my personal space. Under this light I can see the whole picture. Everything about him screams danger and wild and something else. I almost want to run away. He has this dark look about him that goes quite well with his bad wolf fame.

“And?”

This is my only chance, I need to woman up and just tell him, the worse that could happen is him throwing me out after having a good laugh.

“I can’t lose, I mean we can’t lose the land.” My voice falters just a little, I don’t think he noticed but then again his attention seems to be somewhere else but besides me. He keeps looking away, to the horse that continues to seek his petting.

“Well, is not like there’s any land to lose. It’s already mine.”

“I’m aware of that. I’m here because of it.” No matter how much my father fought and tried to get a bank loan, how much cattle he sold or how many men he got rid of he wasn’t able to get the money to pay. I have no idea how long it had been going on, how much he had taken from the Mckinnon’s but from what I heard my father and brother whispering is too much. “I wanted to know if there was any chance that we could get into an arrangement.”

“And by we you mean?”

“You and me.”

Now I have his attention. His body turning in my direction. “What kind of arrangement?” The corner of his mouth curves up. “It has to be something good, because your father’s lands are really valuable and doubt there’s something as good as it.”

I know that. I’m quite aware of the potential it has to grow and become a good land to grow crop, I mean it has the river right there and it being so plain and at the foot of the hill.

“Kennedy girl, what is it? What am I supposed to get in exchange of that land?”

There’s a long pause, is not an awkward one, I guess not for him since he’s not serving himself on a silver platter. “Me.”

“I beg your pardon?” He scratches his jaw looking all annoyed.

I clear my throat. I’m not sure I can repeat it a second time, but I have to. I can’t lose my childhood home; I can’t lose my mother’s memories.

“Me.” He shakes his head and sighs. The hands on his hips making the gap of his shirt open wider, giving me more than a glimpse of him hardened muscles and dust of body hair. He is freakishly gorgeous.

“So, let me get this straight.” He looks confused pinching the bridge of his nose. “You are as valuable as that land I had been dying to get my hands on?”

“Well… no…I.. but mean..” Okay, this was not what I had in mind. This is not how is supposed to go. I was supposed to say that I would let him marry me and then he would give the land back to my family. And now that I think of it I can see how silly it must have sound to him. Me? The almost crippled, the sad joke of all town.

A spinster in the making.

He lets out a deep sigh.

“You’re what? Offering your body in exchange of your own land, well mine now. What ever made you think I’d say yes?”