Summary: A Missing Scene reflecting on events from The Pressure Game and The Triangle. Inspired by a Seedling challenge.
Rating: T (685 words)
Author’s Note: This was the original short story written, but a reader in the Forums made a comment concerning the opening paragraphs… And so I wrote, The Vision. Featuring another woman, another man, and another night that led to something wonderfully special.
LAURA’S DECISION
The second floor room glowed in the soft light provided by the two, low-wicked lamps that sat on either side of her dressing table. The drapes floated from the rods as they trapped the gentle breeze that blew through the partially open window. The covers to the large bed placed along the opposite wall were turned down in anticipation of welcoming a body succumbing to the draw of slumber. She sat on the needlepoint cushioned bench in front of her dressing table and mirror; bottles of perfume and jars of various potpourris were properly positioned within her reach, as well as the powders that brought color to her cheeks and the paints that lightly highlighted her lips and eyes.
She had slipped from the robe and draped it across the foot of the bed before turning down the covers. As she sat there, the satin dressing gown she wore shimmered as the flames danced, accentuating her curves, the low collar revealed soft mounds as the fabric hugged her breasts and slightly pushed them up. Only once, on a very special occasion had she ever considered wearing a dress out in public almost as revealing as the gown she wore in the privacy of her own room; however, she wished he was there…now… waiting to take her into his arms. Slowly she brushed her hair in long… gentle… strokes, and dreamed of his hands stroking… her eyes closed in eager anticipation as her body reacted to her thoughts.
*****
It had been such a long time since she had felt anything other than… How had she felt? She’d always had someone to take care of her, seen to her needs, provided for her… until that day when Adam Cartwright had brought news of her husband’s accidental death. But that was months ago…
“Oooooooh!” she had growled. “How could he?! He’s just like Frank.”
Her thoughts ranted, ‘Telling me what to do, falling asleep after supper, refusing to set a date… He was the one who proposed.’ She gritted her teeth. ‘And Peggy… Peggy’s becoming the center of his attention, just like Frank. Oh… I wish I could trap him like I did Frank, only he’s too honorable. Doesn’t wish to tarnish my reputation. I’m not a soiled dove, but I am a woman!’
She was so happy the day that Adam arrived under the guise of helping out; thinking the world was hers again. ‘But now, its… oooooh, he’s just so frustrating, he’s courting me, but that ranch is more important than me! Maybe, just maybe… Aunt Lil was right; make him jealous.’ Curiously she considered, ‘Who?’
‘Ben? No, I don’t need a father figure, I need a man.’
Again she ran the brush through her golden waves of hair.
‘Hoss? No, Adam would never believe that.’
Setting her brush down, she thought of others.
‘Joe? Ugh, he’s too young and he certainly wouldn’t know how to please a woman, saloon girls, maybe, but not me.’
Knowing Adam wouldn’t believe any of his family would conspire against him to woo away his fiancée, she thought of others who would keep her in the way she wanted to be kept. Money for what she wanted, clothes, travel, jewels…
‘Banker Weems? He’s a worse prospect than Ben.’
‘Well… we’ll… Will… Hmmmm.’
*****
She didn’t mean to… It was all supposed to be so innocent… She just wanted to make Adam jealous, make it so he’d set a date for their wedding. Who would have thought that someone could set her heart to flutter so wildly? Certainly not Frank, Adam came close, but Will…
She would have to tell Adam the truth, so their engagement could be broken.
Closing her eyes, she dreamed of that day she and Will had picnicked together, pressed against his firm chest, his arms around her, his lips feather like and then…
The passion contained within that kiss… He took her breath away.
‘Yes,’ she thought, laying down her brush in extreme fatigue, ‘I have had my vision.’
~The End
Author’s note: Was Laura really as dim-witted as she appeared?
Story Tags: jealousy, Laura Dayton
This story was inspired The Pressure Game / The Triangle, credit give to their respective authors.
I’m not sure I believe Laura was “selfishly conniving” so much as manipulative and self-centered. In the end she was the one who got caught in her own trap. One hopes her more genuine feelings for Will resulted in a better relationship than she would have had with Adam–although I agree that Adam’s freedom is much more important!
Thank you for sharing this!
Sue, In the episodes involving Laura, I agree with your sentiment. Maybe my muse let a little bit of Aunt Lil into this story and that’s why she took me this route with the prompt. That’s right, blame it on my muse. 🙂 And true, Adam’s freedom and peace of mind is so MUCH more important!
Laura’s awful – selfish, manipulative – Adam’s better off without her.
Yes she was, wasn’t she… And I agree, Adam is MUCH better off. Thank you for taking the time to read and to leave a comment.
Wow, you have her as more of a selfish conniver than a ditzy whiner, but at least Adam was rid of her.
Thanks Betty! I always thought of her as selfish, and the ditzy whiner was an act… to seem helpless in order to ‘catch’ a man, so to speak. And yes, thankfully Adam was rid of her.