A Convenient Wife (12 page)

It was his right, she knew that. He'd married her, and so had the right, by law, to lay claim to her person. And why shouldn't he?

“Ellie?” Win stood by the bed, and she lifted weary eyelids to focus on his face. He bent to sit beside her again. “Here, honey. Drink some water. You look like you've been run over by a horse and wagon.”

“Well, that's flattering,” she managed to whisper. She sat up unsteadily and reached for the water glass, her hands trembling. Win helped her, one hand on her back, the other offering the cold water, his hand covering hers as she drank.

She lay back on the pillow, shaking her head in refusal as he would have offered more. Closing her eyes, she felt weariness sweep through her. Win's hands loosened her shoes and drew them from her feet, then returned to strip her stockings from her legs. He lifted a quilt from the rack in the corner and covered her, and she was grateful for the weight of it.

 

He brought her a tray, and she roused from a restless slumber, her eyes heavy. A lamp on the dresser illuminated the room, and she watched as Win placed the tray on the night table beside her. Fluffing the pillows, he stacked them behind her, lifting her to sit against the headboard.

“I want you to try some of this soup. It's what we had for supper last night, and there's enough of it to warm you up.” He'd spread butter on a piece of bread from this morning's baking, and cut it in small pieces. A cup of pale tea completed his offering and she nodded her thanks.

“I appreciate this,” she told him, feeling a strange distance from him, even though he was only inches from her side.

“Do you need me to help you?” he asked softly, and she shook her head, looking up at him with a shaky smile.

His eyes were dark with worry and she sought a way to
relieve his concern. “I don't want to be a burden on you, Win. You do too much for me.”

“You're my wife, Ellie.”

It was a simple statement, one she might have taken at face value a day or so ago. Tonight it seemed only to be a reason for his kindness, and she needed more than kindness from this man.

He'd loved her body, and loved it well, teaching her how to please him and bringing her untold pleasure with each encounter on this wide mattress. And yet, there had been no words of love, only whispers of admiration for her face and form. She'd held back her own avowal of that deep emotion, fearing to place the burden of her need on his already overloaded shoulders.

Winston Gray carried the weight of the well-being of untold numbers of townsfolk and ranchers. He was the only doctor within a hundred miles, and over the past weeks, she'd seen his practice grow and almost double as his reputation spread across the territory surrounding Whitehorn.

If she could help make his life more pleasant, she would do it. If taking his ease with her body pleased him, she would gladly be available to him for the comfort only a woman could give.

But if he was tiring of her, wearying of the responsibility of a wife, with a baby on the way, she would not impose on his kindness. Going with Tommy and his miserable excuse for a mother was not an option. Her flesh crawled when she remembered those grasping hands and the greedy fashion in which Tommy had misused her.

There would be another way. And in the meantime, if Win… She could not bear to think of it. The bread was without flavor, the soup choked her, and she pushed the tray aside.

“I can't eat any more,” she told him, apologetic as she realized the trouble he'd gone to for her benefit.

“I'll leave the tea, Ellie. Try to drink some, will you?” He
bent to take the tray and she nodded, then watched as he left the room.

He was a handsome man, tall and strong, his shoulders wide, his hands gentle.

And she loved him. With all her heart, she yearned for him, and tears slid from her eyes, blurring her vision as she turned away and buried her face in the pillow.

 

Win held her throughout the night, an undemanding, loose embrace, his arm across her waist, careful not to brush against the fullness of her breast, as had been his wont on other nights. The morning light awoke Ellie, and she found him gone, the house silent. Stumbling to the kitchen, she found a note on the table.

He'd been called away. Would Ellie please watch for patients during the morning hours and explain that he might be gone until late afternoon? And then his name, the letters firm and masculine, scrawled across the bottom of the paper.

She made a cup of tea, forgoing the coffee he'd left on the back of the stove. A piece of bread made up her breakfast, and she sat at the table, wrapped in Win's paisley-cloth dressing gown, her hair tangled around her shoulders and down her back.

A sound at the back door caught her attention and she rose to answer the knock. Tess waited on the stoop, her eyes anxious, and she scanned Ellie from top to bottom as she stepped inside the kitchen.

“Win asked me to stop by and check on you,” she said. “He had to go clear past Matt Darby's place to tend a family that's laid low with whooping cough. A neighbor came by to fetch him early this morning. One little fella died last night, and the rest of them are in bad shape.”

Ellie felt a shaft of shame pierce her. She'd been feeling a bit neglected, what with Win's not being here, and it was about time she realized that there were others more needy than she.
“I didn't know where he'd gone, Tess. He left me a note, and I just got up a while ago.”

“That old biddy, Marie Jamison, was in the mercantile first thing this morning, asking around about you and Doc,” Tess told her. “She wanted to know just how long you'd been married, and was trying to discover if you were living as man and wife. As if it was any of her business.”

“What did you tell her?” Ellie asked, lifting her cup of tea to sip at the lukewarm brew. She wrinkled her nose at the taste and settled the cup back on the table.

Tess watched, her eyes alert to Ellie's mood, it seemed, for she rose and snatched the tea, dumping it into the slop bucket. “You need a fresh cup, girl. Let me fix it for you.” Her quick energy made Ellie wince, and she offered no protest as Tess found the tea cannister and filled the dainty teapot with hot water. Wrapping it in a heavy towel, she brought it back to the table, then sat with a sigh.

“You need one of those tea cozies. I'll have to get a couple for the store next time I place an order. Keeps your tea nice and hot till it's brewed.” She bent forward to look into Ellie's eyes. “You look kinda peaked. Doc said you'd been upset yesterday, what with those two coming here and causing a ruckus.”

“What did you tell Mrs. Jamison?” Ellie repeated her question, sensing that Tess was putting her off.

“I told her it was none of her business, but that Doc was looking mighty happy these days.”

“Why would she want to know that, anyway?” Ellie moved her cup, daubing at a puddle of tea on the table with the edge of the towel. Looking into Tess's eyes was not an option. The fine flush of embarrassment was climbing her cheeks, and the thought of someone speaking so casually about her intimacies with Win was not to be believed.

“I suspect she figured if Win hadn't consummated the mar
riage, they could arrange for an annulment, and haul you off to Philadelphia with them.”

“I'd think I'd have something to say about that,” Ellie said quietly. “I'm not interested in spending a moment with Tommy, let alone my whole life.”

“Maybe that's what you need to tell them, then.” Tess reached to pour tea into Ellie's cup, and they both watched the golden liquid, waiting until the leaves settled in the bottom of the cup. “If I had second sight, I could tell your fortune, Ellie,” Tess teased gently. “And if
I
had second sight, I'd never have gotten tangled up with Tommy,” Ellie retorted. “Right now, I just wish Win had never put himself into this mess. It isn't fair to him to be burdened with a wife and child he never planned on.”

“I don't hear him complaining,” Tess said. “And I wasn't joshing about him looking pretty content lately. You're good for him, child. He needed someone to take hold here and offer him a home instead of a place to hang his hat.”

Ellie grunted her disagreement. “Huh. He could have gotten that sort of service from a housekeeper. Instead he got stuck with me.”

“You're not thinking of leaving him, are you?” Alarm etched Tess's words as she cast a quick, inquiring look in Ellie's direction. “Where would you go? And more importantly, why would you do such a thing?”

Ellie felt tears close at hand. Her eyes blurred and she looked down, unwilling to cry in front of Tess. “I've brought trouble to Win, and all he's ever done is to be good to me. Maybe if I wasn't here, he'd be rid of the hassle with Tommy and his mother.”

“Win'll scalp you if you run off and make him worry,” Tess predicted. “He cares about you, Ellie. You ought to know that. A man doesn't marry a woman without reason.”

“He's kind,” Ellie said, blinking back the threatening flood. “And I don't want the Jamisons pestering him.” She rose and
tightened the belt of Win's robe that had been handy when she arose. “I'm going to speak my piece to them.”

 

Clad in the dress she'd been married in, and wrapped warmly in her coat, Ellie walked into the hotel. Behind the desk, Amos Carlton lifted a hand in greeting. “Good morning, Ellie. What can I do for you?”

“Are Mrs. Jamison and Tommy staying here?” she asked, looking around the lobby. It was her first venture into the hotel, and her curiosity was appeased as she took in the plush furnishings in the lobby and the cut-glass chandelier hanging overhead.

“Why, yes, they are,” Mr. Carlton answered. He looked at Ellie cautiously. “Are you sure you should be seeking them out, ma'am?”

Apparently the whole town was in on yesterday's events, Ellie thought glumly. She approached the desk and nodded firmly. “I want to talk to them.”

“I believe they're in the restaurant, having a late breakfast,” he said, nodding to the wide double doors leading into the eatery.

Ellie nodded and turned, walking across the wide lobby. She hesitated at the doorway, searching out Tommy's familiar figure. He was seated near a front window, and even as she caught sight of him, he looked up and met her gaze. With haste, he placed his napkin on the table and rose, lifting a hand to her.

Her heart thudded unmercifully in her breast as she crossed the floor, weaving between tables, until she reached the place where Marie and her son waited. “I think we need to talk, Tommy,” she said bluntly, ignoring the woman whose eyes were sweeping Ellie's pregnant form.

“I'm almost done eating,” he said, glancing at his mother.

“Run along,” she said quickly. “Unless you'd like to join
us, Eleanor.” Her smile was edged by white teeth, but her eyes were cold, Ellie thought.

She shivered as she felt the disapproval of the older woman bent in her direction, and shook her head quickly. “I just want to talk to Tommy,” she said politely.

He rose, leaving his half-eaten meal, and followed her lead as Ellie turned, walking toward the lobby. She cast her glance toward the arrangement of plush sofas and chairs in the center of the large room, and nodded in that direction.

“Can we sit down for a minute?” she asked, aware suddenly that her knees were trembling and her heart was beating in an irregular fashion.

“Yes,” he said quickly, following her like an obedient puppy, she thought, smothering the laughter that welled up in her throat. Somehow Tommy had taken on a different, more boyish stature in the past months. Picturing him beside Win, she felt a moment of pity for the young man who had once seemed to be a candidate for her husband.

She sat and Tommy scooted the chair he chose closer to her. “We don't need anyone to listen in, do we?” he said with a nervous smile.

“This won't take long,” Ellie told him. “I'm not sure why you're here, but Win tells me that you and your mother want me to go East with you. It's not going to happen, Tommy. I'm married to the doctor, and that's that.”

“I could give you so much more,” Tommy said quickly, his eyes lighting as he reached for her hand. “I'll have a good job. My grandfather wants to give me a position in the family business.” He bent closer to her, his voice eager. “You'd like it there, Ellie. There's so much to see and do in Philadelphia, and we're going to be living in a fine house, with servants.”

“You aren't listening to me, Tommy,” she said patiently. “I'm already married. I'm not leaving Whitehorn.”

His face took on a disdainful cast. “I'll match what I can
offer against the doctor any day of the week. Besides, your pa might have something to say about it.”

“My father?” Ellie was aghast at the idea. “He has nothing to do with my life.”

“We can get you an annulment, Ellie,” Tommy said, changing his tactics. “I'm the father of your baby. You owe me a certain amount of loyalty, I think.”

“What I think is that you're out of your mind,” she said sharply. “I don't owe you anything. You left me without a word, before I even knew I was going to have a child.”

“My mother knew,” he said. “She said you looked like you were in the family way.”

“And that's why she hauled you away from here and left me holding the bag.” She'd figured it out, and the realization stunned her. That a woman could desert the mother of her grandchild so readily only served to firm her opinion of Marie Jamison.

That Tommy would admit to his own desertion of her was the final touch. His handsome features were repulsive to her as he smiled, a deprecating twist of his lips.

“I know I was wrong, but the point is, I'm back, Ellie. Now that I know for certain we're going to have a baby, I want you to marry me.”

Ellie rose, frustration overcoming good sense. “Go away, Tommy. Even if I weren't married to Win, I wouldn't take you. Not on a bet.”