Page 103 of My Heart Will Find You

“Me too. I thought I had everything.”

They held each other for a long moment, then she pulled away. “You do stink. I better give you a bath. What body part should I start with?”

“Your choice,” Max said, grinning. “Just so you get every piece.”

“I will do my absolute best.”

Laughing, they ran to the stream.

It was the morning of the fourteenth of May,theday, and Etta was sitting in church beside Alice and Nellie. Pat wasn’t there. But then, the only man in the church was John Kecklin. She’d never seen him there before, but today he was making a point to Etta.

Yesterday, she and Max had a rip-roaring, blistering argument.

Actually, the anger had all come from her. Max had been so calm it was like arguing with a mountain made of granite. In fiction, a strong, silent man sounded good, but in real life, it was infuriating.

When they returned home from their day of laughter and love at the homestead, Etta had done what she was good at. She’d started organizing things. First, she told the men what food was to be taken to the Kanzas the next day.

Max had come up behind her and said, “I’ll take care of this.”

“Thank you,” she said. “We’ll leave early in the morning. I don’t know when—”

“Go to the house,” he said in a tone she’d never heard before.

But it was a voice the men recognized because they instantly disappeared. Poof. Max the boss was there, and they obeyed him without question.

She whirled around to face him. “Why did you do that? I need them to help me prepare for tomorrow.”

He didn’t smile. “This is my territory, and I will deal with it. Go into the house.”

“And be the little wifey?” she snapped at him. “Keep to the stove where I belong?” She saw his eyes flicker at her words since he’d never before heard feminist rhetoric. “I am a person first and I—”

“If you don’t leave, I will carry you inside. I don’t think you want anyone to see that.”

Her eyes blinked rapidly, then she softened and put her hand on his chest. “Max,” she said sweetly. “I have things to do. I must...” His eyes didn’t change, and she knew he’d carry out his threat. She gritted her teeth. “We’ll talk about this later.” With as much dignity as she could muster, she went into the house.

Inside, she chopped onions and cooked beef even faster than usual. She was furious! How dare he treat her like that? He had no right.

When Max came into the house, he sat down at the table, and Etta plopped a plate heaped with food in front of him.

“I don’t like being treated like that,” she said. “When we get to the Kanzas tomorrow, you can’t—”

He didn’t look at her. “You aren’t going. You’re staying here.”

“No, I’m not.”

He didn’t reply, just kept eating.

She sat down beside him. “Max, I must go. Lester, the chief, knows me. He trusts me. He’ll listen to me.”

“You are not going,” he said calmly, firmly. It was his rock voice.

Over the next hour, Etta talked and Max listened in silence.

She reasoned with him. She spoke of women’s rights and of centuries of being held down by men. She emphasized that she knew about events and people, things he didn’t know.

Max didn’t so much as bend. The only answer she got from him was, “No.” She wasnotgoing with him to the Kanzas.

When they went upstairs to their bedroom, Etta burst into tears. Shehadto go.

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