Shoshanna Evers - The Pulse

Mason gaped. “How’d you hear about that?”

“Just a guess, based on your attitude problem.” Luke continued. “Potterskill is a very tightly run ship. We have enough food and supplies for our residents and no more. The only reason we let you in the first place was so Emily could treat Melissa. Emily has since earned her keep. I think we need her, even if some others don’t feel the same way. I wouldn’t mind having her stay, but we don’t need you. You’re taking up valuable resources. If you want to stick together then she has to leave with you.”

“Who are you to decide? There’s a whole slew of folks out there who live in Potterskill too, and they might feel differently.” Mason gestured to the line of Emily’s patients.

Luke nodded thoughtfully. “I’ll put it before the council tonight, then. We’ll have a town hall meeting and people can vote.”

Fuck. What if they voted them out? If they didn’t think Mason and Emily were hitched then they might agree to at least keep Emily. All those men in town would definitely want Mason out of the picture so they could try for a chance with her. But the meeting would give Mason a chance to state his case, at least. He didn’t want a handout, he wanted to work for his food.

Mason stormed off, slamming the gate behind him. Damn him. It made sense, he knew that. Everything Luke said made sense. If Mason was in charge of keeping an entire community safe and fed and alive, he’d probably do the same thing. Here, Emily would be fed well. She’d gain weight. But what about when she caught some illness and died, like all the nurses and doctors before her?

He had to make sure she stayed safe.

Mason took the time while Emily napped to walk around the center of town. The people looked happy here. Busy, perhaps. Hardworking, definitely. But the bad sorts were all gone or dead by now. So were the weaker ones. Maybe next winter wouldn’t hit them as hard as the last, now that they had fewer people to keep alive. To keep fed and warm. If everyone stockpiled firewood, enough to last through the winter, outside each of their houses, and stockpiled food now—maybe made a bunch of beef jerky—they could be okay.

How would Emily fare if he took her from here? On the road, they could die. Maybe if they found another setup like this one, they’d be all right. But one of the reasons Potterskill thrived was that they were smart about things, triaging supplies for their own people, and refusing to let hungry travelers put their survival in mortal danger.

He needed to give Emily a chance to stay in the town, even if they didn’t want Mason.

Mason walked back to Luke’s house. He was still planting. The man stood up when Mason came through the back gate.

“I’m not here to start trouble,” Mason said, his hands up as if to say he surrendered. “I’ll stand by whatever the council decides tonight. I just want to talk.”

“So talk.”

“Me and Emily aren’t really married. We met in New York City a couple weeks ago.”

This didn’t seem to be what Luke expected to hear. He raised his eyebrows and stayed silent in an implicit invitation for Mason to continue.

“I’m probably more… more attached to her than I should be, all things considered. I told her I’d make sure she was safe. So—I’m thinking you guys can probably keep her safer in here than I can out there.”

Luke nodded.

“I’m nervous, though,” Mason continued. “Nervous about leaving her, a single young woman, alone here. I need to know there will be a man, one of your residents you won’t be kicking out, ever, to watch over her. To keep her from the other guys, like how you take care of Melissa.”

“No one would touch Melissa,” Luke interrupted. “They wouldn’t dare.”

“Exactly my point.”

Luke thought on this for a moment and nodded. “Okay.”

“So I need a few more days here, even if the council decides tonight I need to go and she can stay. If you make me leave tomorrow, I’ll take her with me to make sure she’s okay. But if you really want to keep her, I need a bit more time to make sure you honor her new work hours, and to find a guy who will look after her. Then I’ll leave.”

“What does Emily say about this?”

“Emily doesn’t know yet about the town hall meeting tonight—I still have to tell her.”

Emily had been growing more and more confident each day she spent with him, and she’d proven that she can take care of herself. She probably wouldn’t care at all if he left.

That should have made him feel better, but for some reason it didn’t. It’s a good thing she’s able to protect herself without me around, he told himself. A good thing.

“For my own peace of mind, let me stay a few more days.”

“For your peace of mind?” Luke snorted. “I only care about keeping my town safe and secure. I don’t give a shit about your peace of mind.”

Mason had to make sure Emily would be okay. “Then I’ll take her with me tomorrow morning.” He wasn’t even sure if he was bluffing or not, so he doubted Luke would know.

Luke sighed. “Fine. If the council decides to kick you out of Potterskill but let Emily stay, I’ll recommend they give you three days to wrap things up. Today’s Saturday—I want you gone by Monday, whether you take her or not. But for her own good, I’d suggest you let her stay where she has a chance at surviving.”

Mason nodded and went to wake Emily up from her nap. The line of people waiting to see her was still long. They had all waited outside for the past two hours.

Was there any chance the council would let him stay here in Potterskill with Emily?

He had a lot of work to do before Monday. First he need to make sure she wasn’t going to end up being worked to death, and the only way to do that was to insist she stand up for herself. Second, he needed to find a man for her to live with. In three days.

The thought of another man putting his hands on her made him so angry he could barely think straight, but there was no other way.

She wasn’t his to keep.

But how could he get the right person to watch over Emily for him without her realizing what he was up to? Mason knocked on the back bedroom door softly. No answer.

He stepped inside, annoyed she hadn’t thought to lock the door. If he had been anyone else, she could have been in danger. But as soon as someone stood up and claimed her, like Luke did for Melissa, no one would dare touch her. Luke and Melissa had a good life—and it would be selfish of him to not want the same for Emily.

But he’d always been selfish. Always been a loner. Just because he wanted to continue being with Emily didn’t mean he had a free pass to put his needs above hers. No, she had taught him something about generosity, and he intended to put that knowledge to good use.

She looked so beautiful, lying there on the bed, her legs sprawled across the bedspread, her mouth slightly open as she slept deeply. He didn’t want to wake her, but he had to. The people were waiting.

He leaned down and kissed her cheek lightly and she stirred, opening her chocolate brown eyes.

She sat up on the bed. “Thanks for making me nap,” she said.

“You need to start sticking up for yourself. Promise me from now on you won’t let yourself get overtired or sick.”

“Well, nurses are notorious for putting other people’s needs first. I once gave myself a bladder infection when I worked at Roosevelt because I held my pee so long. Every time I wanted to take a bathroom break, a call bell would ring, or something would happen that needed my immediate attention.”

“See?” Mason said. “That’s exactly what I’m talking about. You can’t be like that here. You have to set limits, and demand people respect them.”