To Love Another

Chapter 2

She awoke the next morning to find herself alone in bed. She sat up, stretched and looked around the small room, trying to clear her head of last night’s findings. Kadie got up out of bed, slipped her robe on and headed to the kitchen. Jack was nowhere to be found.  Sitting at the table with a cup of coffee and a piece of buttered bread, she was deep in thought. Fearful that she would suffer the same fate as Becca and apparently so many others. The thought of cheating on her husband, with her husband knowing about it and consenting to it, made her sick to her stomach. But as Becca had stated last night, there was nothing to be done. Tears started to well up in her eyes, as the back door opened. It was Jack.

Quickly wiping her eyes, she said, “Good morning, love. Where have you been?”

Kadie stood up, gave Jack a quick kiss on the lips and went to pour his coffee. She noticed he was a bit frigid and that scared her.

“Kadie, please sit. We need to talk.”

Trying to waste time she said, “Let me get your coffee and breakfast first.”

“Kadie!” he raised his voice, “Sit!”

Now she was terrified, Jack never raised his voice to her. She sat, facing him.

“My conversation with Thomas last night, it was about the bastards that bought this town. From what Thomas had heard, things have been going on all over town.”

“Things?” Kadie questioned.

Jack swallowed hard, “Yes. It seems, as most of them are single, they decided they would like some “activity”. They purposely stopped doing remodels on their precious houses, began shipping fewer cans of paint to the other towns, so they could in turn cut hours at the factory. Placing many of us in financial ruins and putting us at their hands.”

By now, Kadie was in tears, “They did this on purpose?”

“Yes, it would appear so.” He paused, looking at his wife. “I was umm…I was talking to Mr. McDoud this morning about the payment we can’t make this month.”

Kadie interrupted him, “No, no, no. Jack I can’t do it!”

“Can’t do it? You mean you know about the agreements?” Jack was confused.

She hung her head, knowing she was about to betray Becca’s trust.

“Yes, my conversation with Becca last night. They had no choice, they had to take one.”

“They took an agreement? Thomas didn’t tell me that, but I can see why. It’s downright degrading.”

“I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have told you. I thought that you knew. I thought Thomas had told you. But Jack, please!” She begged, “Is there any other way?”

“I don’t like this any more than you do. In fact, it makes me want to kill the bastards. They have no right touching another man’s wife. I hate it. If there was any other way, believe me, we would not do this. But there is no other way. We cannot afford to leave here, we cannot afford to make the payment. I am afraid this is the only way out.”

Kadie started crying, “What if we cut down on the amount of food we keep? Or I’ll sell most of my clothing? Please, Jack, please don’t make me do this.”

“I’m sorry, my love. If I thought either of those suggestions would make a difference, I would let you. But it’s just not enough.” By this time Jack had tears in his eyes. He hated the thought of “selling” his wife, especially to one of the bastards in town.

“Promise me one thing?” Kadie choked through the tears.

“Anything.”

“Promise me, this won’t destroy our marriage. Promise me, we will get through this. Promise me, that over the next year, we will save every penny we can and get the hell out of here.”

“I promise all of those things, my love.” He walked over to her and held her. “We will get through this.”

                Kadie wasn’t so sure that they would get through it. After all, how could any couple survive what they were about to go through? But more than anything she was afraid. She had known very little about Mr. McDoud. She never really spoke to him, except on the rare occasion that he was outside in his back yard at the same time she was out by the pond.  He would walk down the staircase, say ‘good afternoon’ and ask if there was anything she needed help with. There was something about the way he looked at her during those short conversations that made Kadie feel uneasy. His eyes, his smile, it was almost as if he was flirting with her.

Other than that, she only knew what she had heard. And even then it was just little things, like that he had made his money in lumber and construction and that he was able to semi-retire by the age of 40. One of the girls in town had said it was rumored that he was engaged at one time and that she had died mysteriously, but as far as Kadie knew, that was nothing more than a rumor. She couldn’t afford to get caught up in the rumors now, all she was interested in was what was known to be true about Mr. McDoud. She wanted to make sure that she went into this knowing what type of man he was, his personality and whether or not he had a temper. 

Unfortunately she had no one to ask those questions to. She didn’t dare ask any of the ‘help’ that she saw in town, word would definitely get back to him. She had no choice but to wait and see. Kadie decided to just stay calm and do what was asked of her, at least until she could figure out his personality. This was one thing she couldn’t afford to screw up because if she did, it did not just affect her, it affected her husband as well.

The next morning, after Jack went to work, there was a knock at the backdoor. Kadie opened it to find Mr. McDoud standing on the other side.

“I’m sorry, my husband isn’t home right now.” She said, hoping he would go away.

“That’s fine. It is actually you that I would like to speak to. Would you join me outside?”

Uneasiness in her voice Kadie said, “Umm, maybe we should wait until Jack gets home.”

“I just want to talk, that is all.” Mr. McDoud tried to reassure her. “We can sit on the stairs where we can be seen. I promise I won’t try anything,” he chuckled.

                Kadie silently sighed and nodded her head. She felt it was best not to anger him before the contract even started. She followed him to the staircase and sat next to him. She folded her hands in her lap and waited for him to speak.

“I just thought I should go over with you what’s expected.”

“Okay,” Kadie said, her heart racing. She was almost glad that Jack wasn’t here to hear this.

“I only require your company and conversation, nothing more. I know that you are a married woman and I would not ask you to do anything to break your vows. We will share a bed, but only to sleep. I tend to be a very private person, so all that I ask is that whatever is said in my home, stays in my home. Do you think you can handle that?”

“Yes, of course.” Kadie gave him a slight smile, but inside she was ecstatic. Was he really saying that she would not have to have sex with him? If that were indeed the case, she knew she could most certainly handle the next year and that she and Jack would be okay.

“Do you have any questions?”

“No, none that I can think of.”

Mr. McDoud stood up, extending his hand to help her get up. Kadie allowed him to help her. “Good. Then I will see you next week.”