Outlaws - An American Youth - [Charles Smith x OC]

Chapter 45 - A sweet night, Part 1

One late afternoon, Charles came to my office, asking to speak to me. The slight smile on his lips intrigued me. I say to Mrs. Webber, an old lady who has become one of my regulars, to move into my consulting room. I turned to my friend who ended up telling me the reason for his coming.

"She's back.

- Abi? When?!

- This afternoon. And when she found out that you were in town, she practically threw me in the cart to come get you."

Overjoyed, I almost gave Charles a hug. But I remembered the presence of my patient, who could see everything through the open door. I cleared my throat to regain composure. I asked him to pick up my mare from the stables while I took care of my last consultation. Although he came by cart, I wanted to have her with me, in case of intervention. He nodded before leaving me. I joined Mrs. Webber.

"He is a handsome man.

- Who, Charles?

- I saw everything you know.

- Excuse me?

- You and this young man.

- What? No... What do you mean?

- I'm an old lady but I'm not blind. Oh, don't worry. You remind me of my youth. If I had been born in your time, I would have liked to be like you. To work. To choose my husband myself. But I guess times were different. However, I am not sure that society has changed so much. You're a good doctor, so they accepted you. But I'm not sure they'll accept such a quirky couple. What a pity. I knew a man like him when I was young. He was handsome, he made me laugh. He made me feel loved, understood. As you can imagine, it was doomed to fail. It was 1850, the war had not even taken place. We had to resolve to separate. Well, it's a thing of the past now."

The old lady looked away, lost in her early stories. She often babbled about her memories, but she had never spoken of such intimate things. I didn't know what to say, but she didn't seem to expect any comment. Chances are she would have forgotten what she said a few minutes later.

It was thoughtful that I joined Charles. Together we went to the grocery store. I wanted to give a big dinner to celebrate the arrival of Abigail. I browsed the shelves, filling the arms of my friend who was struggling to keep up with my ramblings about the menu.

"Charles, we don't even have a proper pot to cook all of this. I'll take this one from you, Mrs. Walker. My god, do we even have decent dishes? This dinner is going to be a disaster.

- Calm down Anna. He built her a house and she will see you again. I guarantee she doesn't care that dinner isn't served on golden plates."

I pouted thoughtfully, making him laugh. He was about to take out his wallet, but I stopped him immediately. There was no way he was spending a dime. All this was my gift for Abigail. He had paid for my studies, he wasn't going to pay that extra when I had a good salary because of him. I saw him tense up at these words. I bit my lip. I had forgotten he didn't know I knew about his scheming around paying for my education. A flutter was felt, so I turned to the owner of the place to pay. Without a word, my friends filled the pot with all my purchases.

We then went to the butcher to choose a nice piece of meat. As Charles loaded all our purchases into the cart, I went to tell the Sheriff I was leaving. I got along well with him, he was kind and not very intrusive. I would always let him know when I was leaving town, so I could be found if there was an emergency. He would then send one of his assistants, a young boy who was still a teenager, to come and get me.

We were all set to go. My mare attached to the cart, we took the road that left the city. We carefully avoided the subject of my studies, discussing life on the ranch and other trivialities. I greeted the townspeople we met. They were no longer surprised to see me with Charles. Thanks to my work, they had accepted my eccentricities. If some did not approve of my conduct, they did so in silence or in the discretion of their homes. But I never felt in danger. The mayor or the sheriff never had to warn me.