Lucy’s legs felt wobbly, and she sank onto the chair he’d vacated. It was bad enough to have one Stanton opposed to her presence. How was she going to convince them all that she could do this? Especially now that she was beginning to have doubts herself.
A FIRE BLAZED in Lucy’s fireplace, and the warmth enveloped her. The wind rattled the window but failed to flutter the curtains. The house must be tighter than the old house in Wabash. Her room held a large bed covered with a feather top and several quilts. It appeared to be a woman’s room with rose wallpaper and pink curtains.
Her siblings were across the hall. Eileen had wanted to sleep with her until she’d seen the lavender room that held a white single bed and some toys. In the closet she found a toy train and several carved toy soldiers as well as a stuffed bear with a missing eye. Lucy suspected the toys were Nate’s.
Her trunk was by the closet, and she crouched beside it. When she opened it, her hand hovered over the top dress. Hadn’t it been on the bottom? It was her work dress, and she’d been careful to put her only good dress on top.
She lifted her meager clothing from the trunk and shook out the two dresses. Her arms were tired, and her good dress felt heavy in her hands. When a knock came at the door, she laid the garment on the bed and went to open it.
Nate stood in the hall. When he saw her, he tugged at his collar and shifted his feet. “I would like to speak with you.”
“Is your father all right?”
“He’s sleeping. I checked on him.”
She stood aside to let him pass, but he shook his head. “It would be better to talk in the parlor.”
A perverse impulse to add to his discomfort kept her standing in her room. “We are married,” she reminded him. “I’m unpacking. You can talk to me while I put my things away. If you wish, you can leave the door open.”
He frowned, then hesitantly stepped into her room. “I haven’t been in here for years.”
“It appears to be a woman’s room. Whose was it?”
“I believe my mother used it as her sewing room.”
Lucy lifted her good dress and shook it again, then hung it on a hook in the closet. “What did you need to speak to me about?”
He was staring at the closet. “Are those all the dresses you have?”
Heat rose to her cheeks. “I’m sorry if my attire fails to impress you.”
“It’s not that—it’s just that I thought women loved pretty dresses. I expected you to have others like the one you’re wearing. Expensive and lavish. The gray one on the bed is worn. Even the one in your hand has seen better days.”
She looked at the brown dress in her hand. “I wore my mother’s best dress to give me courage. I didn’t want you to be introduced to a frumpish wife.”
When he didn’t answer, she peeked up through her lashes and saw his expression soften.
He walked to the window and gazed out. “How did you hear of my father and his desire to marry me off? Did he run an ad? I want to understand how all this transpired.”
Her hands stilled. “You should ask your father such questions. Suffice it to say that he persuaded me. I was not looking for a husband, if that’s what you are asking.”
He turned from the window and stared at her. “Most men would be reluctant to take on the responsibility of your siblings.”
She drew herself as tall as she could. “Mr. Stanton, I have no interest in fleecing you or your father. I came here in good faith, intending to pull my weight and be a helpmeet to a kind, Christian man. So far, I’ve seen little evidence that you possess either of those traits.”
His gray eyes darkened, and his lips tightened into a firm line. “It’s hardly unchristian to question the motives of a woman who would marry a man sight unseen. There is more here than you’re willing to tell me.”
The fact that he was right took the wind out of her sails. She was hardly representing Jesus well herself with her evasiveness. She slumped onto the bed. “Very well, Mr. Stanton. I would not want you to question my integrity, so I shall tell you the unbridled truth. Your father came to see how we were getting along. He’d heard of my father’s death and had received a letter from my stepmother asking for assistance. He came to see what he could do.”
Nate frowned. “Pa came to you?”
“He did. He was friends with my father in their younger days. When he heard of our circumstances, he put forth the proposal of marriage. I was quite unsure about agreeing to something so extreme.”
“So why did you?”
She forced herself to hold his gaze. “Several reasons. I lost my job at the dressmaker’s shop, and we were being evicted from our home. Then someone broke in and threatened us. The policeman said a man had been watching us since my father died. He thought it a good idea to get out of town.” Lucy was tired, so tired, but she lifted her chin.
“You told Pa all of this?”
She nodded. “Most of it. I didn’t mention the intruder, only our circumstances. He was so kind . . .” And shrewd. Henry knew exactly what he wanted.
He lifted a brow. “Pa is a sucker for a hard-luck story, especially when the person caught in the circumstances has a bit of pluck. So he offered you a way out and you snatched it up.”
“That’s not what happened at all. Your father basically talked me into accepting his proposition.”
“Come now, Miss Marsh, you can’t expect me to swallow that.”
“It’s Mrs. Stanton. Or just call me Lucy and be done with it. And if you don’t believe me, ask your father. I—I thought perhaps God was opening a door so the three of us could stay together. Without a job or a home, I would have had to take the children to an orphanage.”
He absorbed her statement in silence. “I can see where you might believe God had done this,” he said finally. “It was a very queer thing for my father to suggest.”
“I was shocked. But he assured me you were a fine man and would welcome a helpmeet.” She’d better tell him all of it. “One of Jed’s friends dared him to pickpocket someone. While your father was waiting for me, Jed decided to take the bet. He tried to lift your father’s wallet.”
Nate’s eyes widened. “Pa thrashed him?”
She shook her head. “He used it to persuade me. He promised you and he would take Jed in hand. I came for my brother and sister. So they would have a better life. So Jed would become a man I was proud of.”
She rose and stood as tall as she was able. “I’m a hard worker. I will not let you down in any way. Just give me a chance.” She held her breath as she studied his conflicted face. “I’m a good housekeeper. I will take charge of the chaos here at the ranch, and you’ll be surprised how smoothly things will run.”
“I like dealing with things as they come up. Our chaos is controlled. We don’t need our routine changed.”
She’d already seen ways she could make their lives easier, but she held her peace. “Does this have anything to do with your brother? About him saying you were letting your father run your life?”
His lips tightened. “I am my own man. My father knows better than to try to control what I do.” He stepped to the door and into the dark hall, closing the door behind him. “Good night, Miss Marsh.”
“That’s Mrs. Stanton!” Exhausted, she fell back onto the bed. If he cast her off, what would they do? How could she keep them all together?
EIGHT
The next morning Nate went to his pa’s room and found it empty. Panic made his mouth go dry. He rushed down the hall and found him in the kitchen with Jed and Lucy. They were laughing around the table like they’d done it every morning for years. He felt like an intruder as he stood in the doorway and watched them.
“There you are, my boy.” Pa pointed to a seat across from him. “Breakfast is ready. Lucy fixed the best flapjacks I’ve ever feasted upon.”
Nate eased into the seat and looked at the platter of flapjacks. They did look good. His stomach rumbled. “How’d you get Percy to give up his kitchen?”
“He didn’t give it up. He shared it.” Lucy’s smile seemed to brighten the sunshine flooding through the window. “He fixed the coffee and eggs and let me do the flapjacks.”
Truly, Lucy was a miracle worker. Percy guarded his kitchen like a mama bear guarded her cubs. The kitchen was cleaner too. Or else it was the presence of women and children that made it seem sunnier and more welcoming.
Nate transferred a heap of flapjacks to his plate and spread jam on them. The flapjacks were light as thistledown, and Nate dug in with gusto. “I’ll say one thing,” he mumbled past his mouthful of food. “You sure can cook.”
He wished he dared ask his father about the circumstances that brought Lucy here. Could her wild tale possibly be true? He aimed a glance at his pa. “You’re looking better.”
His father leaned back in his chair with his coffee cup in hand. “I feel fine. Dr. Cooper is an old woman. I aim to rest up another day, then get out to the barn and shoe the horses.”
Lucy opened her mouth, but Nate shot her a look of warning and she quickly closed it. Arguing with Pa would do no good. “Good idea,” he said with a shrug. “But don’t you reckon it would be bad manners to leave Lucy alone all day?”
“You’re probably right. You get your chores done, then get back in here to entertain her,” his father said.
He gave a sly grin, and Nate had to grit his teeth to keep from spewing out his thoughts. He still hadn’t changed his mind over Pa’s fool-headed scheme to marry him off to this tiny girl. When she saw the cabin where he spent most of his week, she’d soon be hightailing it back to Indiana.
Pa pointed his fork at Lucy. “She tells me you asked how she came to be chosen as your wife. What she told you is true. It was all my idea. I even used young Jed here to persuade her.”
“Why would you do that?”
His father shrugged. “It was a test, boy. I wanted to see if I’d judged her faithful heart right. And I did. You need a wife who will stick with you when the droughts come. One who won’t let the tarantulas scare her off.”
Lucy’s eyes went wide. “Tarantulas?”
“They won’t hurt you,” his father said. “And Lucy has that big heart we need here. I’m a good judge of people, and you know it.”
Nate didn’t want to admit it, but his pa had rarely been wrong. “I’ll take her to the cabin when I finish up with chores.”
“I was going to suggest that,” Pa said. “Lucy here is eager to see her new home.”
“She may change her mind when she sees it.”
Lucy lifted a brow. “I’m not staying here? I already unpacked.”
“Well, pack up again. Nate doesn’t live here. He just eats here.” His pa poured more coffee into his cup from the battered tin coffeepot. “And don’t you go scaring her, Nate. That place just needs a woman’s touch. It’s what your ma and I had when we were first married. You’ll build her something better soon.”
“It’s fine like it is. She’ll have to get used to it.”
“You needn’t discuss me as though I’m not here,” Lucy said. “You did enough of that last night.”
Nate felt a shaft of grudging respect. She knew how to hold her own. Footsteps clacked behind him, and he turned to see Roger coming through the door. His hair was still damp and his sideburns curled from the moisture. “You just now getting up?”
Roger shrugged. “I was up late.”
Roger had been playing poker with the ranch hands in the barn when Nate went to bed, well after midnight. “I need help mending the corral. Trip knocked out some boards.”
“I’ll be along in a bit.”
At least Roger wasn’t planning to shirk work while he was here. “Appreciate it,” Nate said. “We’re heading to the cabin to get Lucy and the children settled in.”
Jed shot to his feet and practically pranced around his chair. “Can we ride a horse there?”
Nate aimed a glance at Lucy. “Can you ride?”
She swallowed and looked away. “A little.”
A tenderfoot, just as he suspected. He shrugged and got to his feet. “Wanda is real gentle so you’ll be okay on her. And Jed can ride Buck. I’ll put Eileen in front of me.”
Lucy stood and began to clear the dishes. “By the time you get the chores done, I’ll have these dishes cleared away and Eileen fed and dressed.”
“Let Percy see to those dishes. You young’uns run along.” Pa waved a hand. “You need to start settling into your new life.”
His new life. Maybe he wouldn’t have been kicking so hard if he hadn’t been dragged to it like a roped calf. “I need to check the stock,” he said, heading for the door.
Walking the back paddocks, Nate kept his coat around his neck. He broke the ice on the water troughs, then went to the barn to check on the injured cow he’d corralled yesterday. Inside the barn he smelled an unfamiliar odor. Some kind of hair tonic maybe, but none of his hands sissified themselves that way. Frowning, he walked through the barn and checked the stalls. In the back right corner one he found a heap of hay covered with a man’s shirt. A makeshift bed? And if so, whose? The man who had tried to burn the barn?
AT ABOUT TEN o’clock Nate came in from the barn lot, bringing a rush of cold air with him. Lucy watched the play of emotions across her new husband’s face. It was clear he didn’t think she was up to ranch work, but it couldn’t be any harder than dressmaking, just different. She’d repacked her few belongings, and Percy had brought the trunk down by the door.
“Ready?” Nate stood in the kitchen with his feet apart and his coat still buttoned. “Let’s get your coat.” He jerked a thumb toward the entry.
“I really should help Percy,” she told Nate as she followed him from the kitchen.
“I don’t need no help. I packed you sandwiches for lunch.” Percy handed Nate a sack.
Nate took her arm in his free hand. “Pa won’t rest until he knows we’re on our way. So we’d best get it over with, then check back and see how he’s doing.”
Lucy nodded and went with him. Her bag was on the table by the door, and she picked it up. Jed carried his belongings, and Nate hoisted her trunk to his shoulder. The sunlight nearly blinded her when she stepped outside, and the cold air stole her breath. There was white on the ground.
“I hadn’t been expecting snow,” she told him.
“Don’t get it often,” Nate said. “A skiff of snow is about all we ever see. I can’t remember ever having this much.” He put the luggage on the back of a mule, then led Lucy toward a black-and-white horse whose markings reminded her of a cow. Its forlorn stance with its shaggy back to the wind softened her heart.
“This is Wanda. Riding her is like sitting in your mama’s rocking chair.”
“Why can’t we take a buckboard?”
“Mine is at the cabin. Pa will need his for supplies later. Besides, we need to get these horses to the cabin for our future use. Don’t be afraid of Wanda. She won’t let you fall.” The horse nuzzled Nate’s hand and he laughed, then dug his hand into his pocket and pulled out a lump of sugar for the mare. She lifted it with soft lips from his hand.
Lucy’s trepidation eased. Wanda glanced at her with gentle brown eyes, then dropped her head again. Lucy let Nate help her into the saddle. He’d had the foresight to provide her with a sidesaddle. It was old but well oiled and in good condition. This high up, she could see out across the land. Stanton land. And she was as much a possession of Nate’s as these boundless acres. In that moment the thought terrified her.
Jed bounded onto his horse, a small buckskin that shied nervously at his exuberance. Nate lifted Eileen in his arms and showed her how to pet his horse. “This is Whisper, Eileen. Would you like to give him a lump of sugar?”
Eileen’s face was white with fright but she nodded, and Nate gave her a lump of sugar. The gelding’s lips closed gently around the sugar, and Eileen gave a squeal of delight. “I feeded the horse, Lucy!”
Lucy gave her an encouraging smile, full of pride. “You’re
a brave girl, Eileen.” Something in the way he spoke to Eileen—gently and respectfully—eased her unsettled feeling.
Nate set Eileen at the front of his saddle, then swung up behind her. “Follow me,” he told Lucy and Jed.
Clutching the reins, Lucy managed to get her horse to follow Nate’s lead, but she had a sneaking suspicion it had more to do with her mare’s determination not to be left behind. As the horses labored through the snowdrifts, Lucy kept stealing glances at Nate’s firm jaw. She had so many questions she wanted to ask him, but her tongue seemed stuck to the roof of her mouth.
They traveled over a hill, and a frozen creek appeared in the valley below. A building crouched beside it, the siding gray and worn. A small, leafless tree, shaking in the wind, seemed to cower under the cabin for cover.
Lucy smiled. The way he’d talked, she was imagining a soddy or something even worse. He didn’t know how rude their former lodgings were. This little place was simply waiting for her. Its forlorn appearance warmed her with the desire to make a difference. This would be home, and she would make Nate glad his father had found her. She would earn his admiration and respect yet.
Nate pulled his horse to a halt and jumped down, then pulled Eileen down against his chest. His gaze scanned Lucy’s face, and puzzlement clouded his face when she gave him a serene smile.
“It’s not much,” he said. There seemed to be regret in his voice. Was he ashamed of the little cabin?
Her smile warmed. “It’s charming.”
His eyes widened, and he gave her a sharp look, then turned to go inside.
Jed dismounted and thrust his hands into his pockets. Surveying the shanty, he turned to Nate with a grin. “This doesn’t look so bad, Mr. Stanton. Lucy’s real good at fixing stuff up. You should see the house we used to live in.”
Lucy felt the heat of a blush on her cheeks. Such faith was humbling. Her gaze was drawn to the cabin again. It seemed to call her like a long-lost child. In her mind’s eye she could see a small garden patch out front and wild roses climbing on a trellis under the kitchen window where she could enjoy the fragrance.