“Um, one of the women I shared a jail cell with.”
“You mean a whore?” Jesse roared.
“Yes, where else do you suppose I would get that information?” she snapped, pushing her chin forward. “The Pastor’s wife was busy today.”
Ignoring her sarcasm, he growled. “And how did you get this information?”
“I went to the Bottomless Bucket to talk to her.”
Jesse groaned and dropped his head in his hands. “Didn’t Judge Blaine order you not to go near that place?”
“Nobody saw me,” she said. “I went in the afternoon.”
“I don’t want you near saloons, Tori. I don’t want you getting advice from whores.” He rubbed the back of his neck. “I can’t believe you think it’s your responsibility to take care of this.”
“I told you, no one saw me.” She skirted back and leaned against the headboard, arms crossed.
“And I told you I would take care of it.”
“Oh, and what did you do, talk to a different whore?”
“I bought condoms,” he shouted.
She tilted her head to one side. “What’s that?”
“It’s something a man uses,” he mumbled. This conversation got crazier by the minute.
She smiled, apparently enjoying his uneasiness. “Where did you get it?”
He blew out a breath. “Alton’s Drug Store.
“Oh, so it’s okay for you to walk into a drugstore in the middle of town where everyone knows us and ask for something a man uses?” She clucked her tongue. “Did Mr. Alton ask you who you were going to use it with?”
“Of course not,” Jesse sputtered, his face heating up. “And even if he did, it isn’t any of his business.”
They stared at each other for a few minutes, and then Jesse grinned. “At least we’re prepared.”
She smiled. “So it seems.”
“Come here.” He put his hand out. “Now where were we?”
Tori smiled as she folded the clean wash. She breathed in the fresh scent, cotton and sunshine filling her lungs. She and Jesse made good use of the sponge and condoms. They’d made love every night, sometimes more than once, as if making up for lost time.
Things would be perfect, except for Jesse’s hints she would make a wonderful mother. He didn’t understand how deep-rooted her fears were. She shoved the thought to the back of her mind. As long as they continued to use the soaked sponge and condom, she felt secure enough to engage in some pretty ambitious activities with her husband. They both smiled a lot.
“Mr. and Mrs. Cochran, how nice to see you, it’s been weeks.” Mrs. Boswell’s booming voice grated on Jesse’s ears.
“Mrs. Boswell, good evening.” Tori and Jesse stopped their stroll to speak with the former president of the Ladies League for Decency.
“And it’s ever so nice to see the two of you together,” she tittered, batting her eyelashes at Jesse. He gulped.
Mrs. Boswell turned to Tori, sizing her up with a critical eye. “Well, I would think by now you would have a biscuit in the basket, young lady.”
Jesse rubbed his chin, thinking he knew what she meant, but refused to believe even she would be so rude. He glanced at Tori, who’d gone pasty white. She grabbed his hand, like she needed help to stand upright.
Mrs. Boswell winked at Jesse. “It’s your job, young man, to see to it, or you’ll never have little ones running around.”
Rage started in his stomach, then pulsed throughout his body. How dare the old harridan butt into their business! He put his arm around Tori and squeezed.