I Am Not Yours

Devious

August 1914

The next morning, Abigail woke up and went straight to the kitchen downstairs in the cafe to prepare the food for breakfast. She let out a long yawn as she recalled the lack of sleep she had gotten. She spent almost all night in bed thinking about Henry and how her body felt when he had touched her. Rather than cringe, the way she had always suspected that she would, she bit her lip, closing her eyes and wishing he were in her bed with her. Truthfully, she loved his hands and how large and strong they were. They made her body feel small in comparison and the thought that he could break her with them only made her want him more. Her inappropriate thoughts had scared her, but her body couldn't help but love the excitement of being so devious. She felt like a young teen disobeying her parents and she loved it. Sending Peter off to the mines when he was grown always made her feel so old and as though her life were almost over. She was becoming an old maid and even Noah had noticed.

The truth was that she and Noah had not touched each other with more than a small peck kiss for years before the mining accident and perhaps she allowed Henry to do whatever he wanted with her to make up for it. She, again, found herself feeling lonely in her bed and she knew that everything Henry had told her about herself was true. She hated that. But she also admired it. She never thought that Henry Gowen, of all people, would know her better than she knew herself. He made her feel young again. Something she never thought possible once she had accepted the fact that she was getting older with Noah. Perhaps THAT was why she was giving in to temptation.

"Good morning, Miss Abigail." Cody said as he came down the stairs that day with his baseball and his baseball glove. "Can I play with Robert and Timmy today after breakfast?" He asked her.

"Have you finished your weekend homework?" Abigail asked him.

"Welllll..." He began to think of a good response, but took too long and she already knew the answer.

"You can play for a little while, but then I want you back inside before lunch to work on it." She told him, frankly not wanting to supervise him right this second considering her lack of sleep was beginning to kick in already.

"Yes! Thank you." He smiled and ran toward the door.

"Wait just a moment, young man. We agreed that you would go out AFTER breakfast....From your lips to my ears. Come on, now. Have a seat while I make you your eggs."

Cody sighed a bit before going to the table and sitting down. Abigail yawned again. "Miss Abigail, are you tired?" He asked her.

"I suppose I am, Cody. I did not get much sleep." She told him.

"Why not? Was it because of Mr. Gowen?"

"Why on earth would you think that?" She asked him, hoping he was not reading her mind as well. She cracked a couple of eggs into a clear bowl and mixed them up.

"Because Robert and I saw you last night heading into the woods toward his big house."

"How do you know where Mr. Gowen lives?" She wondered aloud.

"Robert and I followed him there one day. The kids at school talked about how big his mansion was, so we wanted to go see." He admitted.

"Well...yes, I went to see Mr. Gowen last night to discuss some town business. He is no longer under investigation so he will be mayor again."

"Yes!" Cody celebrated. "That means we can have Domino night with Pastor Frank again!"

"Oh, um...well, Cody. Pastor Frank and I are no longer seeing each other. So Domino night will just be you and I again."

"Oh." He said with disappointment. "Did you two have a fight?"

Abigail poured the eggs onto a pan on the stove. "It was more of a disagreement about our communication." She half lied, not wanting to disappoint him any more than she already had. "But you and I can have just as much fun playing Dominos without him."