A Bride Worth Billions Read online

  “No Henry. Mert has done nothing to me but you have.” I couldn’t help but smile. The timing was horrible but I couldn’t complain about carrying Henry’s child.

  “What did I do? Was I too rough the other day in the barn? I can’t help it Faith. I lose control when I’m with you.”

  “No Henry. You have only made me feel good. You and I are going to have a baby; I’m pregnant Henry”

  “Wow.” Henry started jumping up and down. “A girl or boy doesn’t matter as long as she looks like you.”

  “I wish I shared your enthusiasm Henry but don’t forget that I’m a married woman and you’re not my husband.”

  “I don’t care Faith. We’ll run away together. We can make it work anywhere as long as we have each other. I have skills as a carpenter and maybe I can get on board with a crew. There are some fancy homes going up and I can help with the detail work.”

  “I’m supposed to be with Mert tonight. It will give him reason to think the child is his. If he were to find out otherwise he’d kill us both. He’s gonna hit it big in the damn gold mine, making Denver his home forever. We have to be satisfied with knowing we created something beautiful together.”

  Henry grew silent. He eventually looked as if a lightbulb had gone off in his head.

  “Where’s Mert’s operation?”

  “East of Denver. It’s dug and the crew goes in next week to mine the gold that he hopes is there.”

  “There are no workers in there now?”

  “Not a soul. Mert is expecting the workers next week.”

  “I have to leave Faith. Remember when I talked about having patience?”

  “Yes.” I answered.

  “I think it’s about to pay off. I love you Faith.”

  That night I busied myself around the house having no idea what Henry had planned. When I heard the door push open, Mert burst inside.

  “Hello Mert. What’s the matter?” I asked because he was worked up about something.

  “The entire mountainside collapsed and I lost all access to the gold that I was sure to find. It’ll take years to pull back the rock that fell. The reason I’m here has been destroyed.”

  “You can find other ways to strike it rich in Denver.”

  “There’s nothing left to keep me here. I’m heading back to Chicago. Alone. Who needs a frontier woman if I won’t be living on the frontier?”

  “You’re leaving me here in Denver to fend for myself?”

  “I’d like to see you try and stop me. I knew you were dead weight from the start.”

  Mert Flanders left me that night. I tried to seem like I cared but I was relieved and confused. He took everything that I had that was worth anything including my wedding ring. I was glad to remove it from my finger. I felt my Grandmother’s clip and my belly at the same time. I smiled and somehow knew that we would make it. My head hurt and I was too tired to figure out how Henry factored into my husband’s sudden departure. I collapsed in my bed and decided to figure it out in the morning.

  I woke up to Henry’s soft touch as he brushed aside a strand of my hair.

  “Am I dreaming?” I whispered.

  “No it’s me my love. Mert is gone forever and I‘m never leaving.”

  “How?”

  Henry put his fingers to my lips.

  “A family with six rambunctious boys. We liked to blow stuff up. Daniel imagined a huge explosion someday just for fun. He stockpiled stuff and I thought why not put it to good use. I took down the side of that mountain in his honor. I’m all yours if you’ll have me.”

  “Do you have to ask? Our baby wants to sleep some more. Care to join us?”

  “Do you have to ask?

  Conclusion

  Henry and Faith married themselves down by their stream. They pretended that Mert Flanders had never existed and they called themselves Mr. and Mrs. Stanich. They moved into Faith’s old house and used the barn as Henry’s wood shop. People appreciated his artisanship and paid for it too. They made enough money to revitalize their ranch thus creating many chores for their son Daniel. Who was the first of many Stanich children. Faith and Henry became pillars of their community

  THE END

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  AFFECTION

  Lara sprung up and down to the steady and sweetly soft rhythm of her music. She loved listening to her playlist especially while having her evening jogs. Sticky sweat gradually kept soaking her light runner hoodie. She tried to increase her pace to beat her previous lap time but fatigue got the better of her, she panted, wiping her mouth on the sleeve of her hoodie.

  ‘‘I must be stinking so badly,’’ She thought and chuckled to herself as she started slowing down. There was something she always loved about the breezy stroll in the evening after her runs that made her feel rejuvenated. It was like a ritual to her, pausing shortly at the clear brook before crossing the wooden bridge. She admired the stillness of the waters and took a moment to take all the beauty in.

  However today, something did not feel right. She felt a voice calling her into the woods at first but when she listened closer, she realized that it was a moan of agony, as if someone was in pain.

  ‘‘Someone must be hurt…’’ she thought as she hurried into woods. Lara was not really the brave type but she pushed herself to find out what was wrong. Ever since she was a little girl, she had always been inclined to helping people. That is in fact what drove her to nursing school.

  Sunlight majestically tinted the initially azure sky with a variety of shades of gray. Lara shuddered and sighed. As she went deeper into the woods, she'd had this uncanny feeling and it really scared her.

  ‘‘I hope I won’t get mauled by wild animals…’’ She muttered silently. In the past few months, there had been reports of animal attacks but she was unable to shake the feeling of helping someone who was in pain. She nervously skimmed around and there he was, a man who seemed to be gasping for his life. Her heart pounded against her chest and she hurried to where he lay. The man seemed to have crawled quite a distance, probably to look for help but to no avail. And this only worsened his already fatal wounds. It was quite a surprise that he was still alive.

  ‘’Hey, shhhhhhh…’’ ‘‘Save your energy, don’t speak, your body needs it more’’ Lara said to the stranger in pain.

  ‘‘I am a nurse, I will do my best to help you..’’ She continued.

  Lara worked quickly applying her basic nursing first aid training to the bleeding man. Despite the pressure she applied the crimson pool of blood darkened, and the stain on the man’s attire spread from his nape to his stomach. Lara did her best to close his wounds hoping that he would survive….

  * * * * * * * * * *

  The man lay as unconscious on the comfy bed in Lara’s guestroom like a lifeless cadaver and just as sallow. His pulse was rather thread and Lara looked at him thinking that he was gone for sure. Nonetheless, she still felt that there was a chance that he would still wake up. She tucked him in and stared out in space shortly wondering what could have happened to the man.

  Al along, Lara wondered what made her bring a man she did not even know to his home. She could have even called an ambulance which would have taken him to hospital. This is what she would have done on a regular day but this time, she did not understand what got into her that she decided to bring a stranger to her home. What if he was a gang member who was being hunted? What if the people who had hurt the man followed her home?

  All these thoughts raced through her head but her instincts told her not to call the authorities. She really hoped that she had made the right decision. Ever since she was a young girl, she was always encouraged to trust her instincts and sometimes it landed her in trouble. She hoped that this was not one of those times.

  The fading of the sunlight had also translated to the fading of the mild heat. Wintry air twirled around taking with it every single lick of warmth that it could get. She hurried and closed the windows, cold air was sipping in and she
had already started shivering. She watched the leaves scud randomly over the earth and take tiny flights into the windy air. She tossed her head back and raised her eyes towards the sky and a nervous smile spread across her cheek. The trees swayed their branches like the arms of a cheering soccer crowd and they looked hypnotically beautiful in their bit of chaotic dance. Her mind relaxed a little and she felt some happiness of her life bubble up from within when she remembered her childhood days. How she would spin in the wind with her arms stretched out, with spread out fingers and she deeply inhaled. The wind carried the beautiful fragrance of the woodland, which was an essence of her days as a little girl...

  Lara was rather exhausted but she was not about to leave his patient alone, she felt she had to stay beside him, at least until he woke up or God forbid … he flat-lined.

  * * * * * * * * * * *

  The blackish dawn sky slowly but surely turned into a dim grey and the illumination of the clusters of stars became lethargically lackluster. Millions of the night time stars in the vast ebony sky started hiding their glow and got bit by bit dissipate, as if someone was going to come and find them. Divergent birdies were softly flying in the beautiful sky and their soothing dawn choruses was effortlessly audible.

  The first auburn hued sunrays emerged gracefully on the skyline, which went with ease through the clouds and the phenomenal sky was clearly visible. The dazzling sun came out of its domicile across the bright orange horizon and gleamed in the sky. It slowly rose up the cherry skyline ushering in a glorious morning. Now the warm morning breeze could be felt and the plants all over the landscape made a blissful smile of appreciation towards the sun.

  A nudge to his ribs makes the stranger jerk awake to see Lara’s smiling face. Her beautiful smile shined brightly like the stars in the sky, with no bright town lights to dim them. It was as if the brilliant sun had opened up its glorious light to shine exclusively about her, only brightening her impeccably aligned pearly white teeth.

  ‘‘How long was I out?’’ he said still staring at her… and his memories before he was out started flooding in..

  ‘‘What happened, where am I?’’ he started sniffing around slightly, bringing out the powerful sense of scent in his werewolf self.

  ‘’Who are you!?’’ he snarled stretching out his arms trying to grab her by the throat yelling…

  ‘’Are you one of them!?’’….his eyes started glowing in anger and he was ready to attack. Lara watched the whites in his eyes turn ruddy in anger, and as his iris scowled teal. Symbols, lines and dots formed in the iris, placed in a sort of scary manner. Her heart pounded thunderously and she started shaking like a feeble blade of grass in a relentless whirlwind. His lethal glare felt rather painful and shrill, as if his stare was ripping her heart apart, piece by piece with a blinding teal light.

  ‘’With who?....I…I found you almost dead a day ago..’’ Lara stuttered in fear.

  ‘‘I am Lara…just a nurse, please, don’t hurt me…I saw that you needed help and did my best to patch you up’’ Lara continued, still scared hoping that he would not hurt her.

  ‘‘Oh, I am so sorry, I am Dembe’’ The man said, as she sensed the innocence and fear in her voice.

  ‘‘She must be telling the truth.’’ He thought. It is virtually impossible to lie to a werewolf, with all the superhuman senses, a lie could be detected in a split second.

  ‘‘I thought you are one of them, those who are after me’’ he said, as he stood up all his wounds completely healed, without even the trace of a scar.

  Lara stared in shock as she saw Dembe tear off all the bandages with no sign of the wounds.

  ‘‘Wait, how did your wounds heal in less than a day?’’ She asked in astonishment,

  ‘‘It should take you at least a fortnight in intensive care with the kind of damage that you had!’’ she continued in disbelief.

  ‘‘I must leave immediately, you are not safe with me here.’’ Dembe as he looked around for his belongings.

  ‘‘Please don’t leave,’’

  ‘‘I must, I have already placed you in too much danger as we speak.’’ Dembe replied as he headed for the door.

  It was a door which seemed like it was meant to keep out the worst of the weather rather than burglars or intruders.

  ‘‘She must be living in a very safe neighborhood’’ Dembe thought, He couldn't imagine himself having a door like that, especially with his occupation. The frame was built with what looked like just a regular plank of wood around the edges on the outside and another one across the middle section to reinforce its strength. It looked like it had the grazed, somewhat bubbly look of wood that was beginning to decay at the jointed sections. The bottom half of the door looked like a fragile piece of plywood had been fastened in place and then coated with paint, the top half of the door was made of a single pane of what looked like frosted glass which was covered in condensation that was being melted away by the piercing sun rays.

  ‘‘At least stay for breakfast, you must be very hungry.’’ Lara insisted.

  ‘‘I would like to know a bit of your story if you don’t mind, she added.

  ‘‘Okay, then, but I have to leave immediately after.’’ Dembe replied. He did not want to stay there too long. He feared that might end up hurting her, especially if his supernatural self takes over. Still, there was something about Lara that made her want to stay. He stared at her as she left the room.

  The charm of Lara’s physique stole insensibly upon him. The fine lines of her body were attractively long, charmingly clean and symmetrical; it was a body which sporadically fell into marvelous poses; there was hardly any particular suggestion of the trim, stereotyped fashion-plate about her body. Her beauty was breath taking

  Lara in the other hand also hoped that he would stay even longer than just breakfast, she felt a little excited even though she was chocked a few minutes ago, rather ironical!

  The moment Dembe slide into the dining chair, Lara served him an enormous platter of food. Eggs, some ham, bacon and delicious piles of fried potatoes. The bacon broke over his tongue as he took a bite, perfectly crisp, perfectly salty. The flavor was outstanding, it was like a bomb of joy in his hungry mouth, blowing up and blasting in all the right tantalizing ways.

  ‘’My compliments to the chef!’’ Dembe said

  ‘‘Oh thank you!’’ Lara replied

  ‘‘Here is a glass of orange juice’’ she said as she placed a tureen of fruit sits in ice to keep it chilled. She also set a basket of rolls before him.

  ‘’This could keep me going for weeks!’’ Dembe thought.

  Lara seated herself across from Dembe and watched him as he dug into the richness of food with rapacious hunger.

  ‘‘He must have been really hungry’’ Lara thought and she was really glad that he was enjoying every bit of the meal. He shoved some eggs, pancakes, toast, bacon, and the fried potatoes into his gaping mouth, eating like no one was watching him.

  Lara herself, delicately cut out a small piece from the fried potatoes and placed the oily chunk in her mouth and after she completed chewing it in delight, she interrupted….

  ‘‘So what happened to you?’’

  The question brought him to the memory of the crash. He remembered the helicopter blades slicing through the thick air of the woody jungle, heavy with intense evening humidity and the scent of the dense undergrowth. The cadenced sound resonated out to the dusk. Dembe felt he owed her the truth, at least even if it was half of it, without her, he would have probably been dead, even with his superhuman abilities, the accident had taken a fatal toll on him.

  ‘‘I work for a secret Black Ops government agency..’’ He started and Lara’s eyes immediately lit in curiosity.

  ‘‘We had been sent on a mission behind enemy lines to trail the leader of notorious terrorist group and take him out..’’ He continued

  ‘‘That was what we thought, and I now realize that it was a plot to take us out instead’’ As Dembe said
that, he remembered, his partner Tunde leaning a little on his mounted machine gun in the chopper as they thought they were almost on their check point. He swallowed hard and felt his stomach twisting into bundles of pain.

  ‘‘My partner Tunde, looked like he was daydreaming when he saw the rocket coming blazing toward them and struck the tail.’’ He sighed

  Dembe remembered the helicopter spinning like an amusement park ride.

  ‘‘Their aim was to ensure that no one would get out of there alive.’’ Dembe said feeling betrayed.

  ‘‘There was no time for parachutes, but I quickly rushed for them and handed one to Tunde, minutes later the chopper would be a fireball in the trees… we jumped..’’ Dembe continued.

  He remembered the cold air hitting his goggles and they suddenly misted up. This made him partially blind for a few seconds but they cleared up almost immediately revealing the vastness of the world that was far below them, a tapestry of the jungle they were heading for. As they jumped, the cold air rushed past them and they kept I accelerating, they went faster and faster. The trees on the ground were rapidly getting much larger and they closer.

  ‘‘I checked my altimeter, and confirmed that it was time for pulling the rip cord so that the parachute would pop out to save us a hefty landing.’’…

  ‘‘Pull the cord!...Pull the cord!’’ Dembe remembered urging Tunde. They both expected the chutes to open quickly into a full canopy, to slow them down to a more laid-back descent.

  "Mine is not working!" Tunde yelled as he repeatedly tugged at the cord which was supposed to save his life, but the parachute repeatedly failed to deploy!

  ‘‘I tried to deploy mine too but to no avail and that is when I realized that it was no accident.’’ Dembe said in utter disbelief.

  ‘‘What do you mean it was no accident?’’ Lara inquired.