Bartered Bride Romance Collection (23 page)

“Josh!” His name came out in a shocked interruption to her laughter. “You wasted food!”

“No,” he said as he handed her another piece of chicken. “I paid a pittance for your priceless laughter.”

Rawhide gave them only a short rest before he spat out a wad of chewing tobacco then rumbled, “Oregon ain’t coming to you. Best get a move on. Want to gain as much distance as we can while folks and beasts are fresh.”

By nightfall they’d traveled to the Methodist Shawnee Mission. For the first time, Bethany saw Indians. The men bought feed for their livestock, and a few of the women started to cook supper.

Josh insisted, “I’ll arrange for supper for us. It’s been a long day. I want you to rest.”

Penny limped up. “Rest? Oh, that sounds heavenly. My feet are beyond sore. I’m inviting Papa and myself along. The honeymoon is over for you two.”

“You’re welcome to join us.” Josh tugged Bethany away from the wagon wheel she leaned against. “But the honeymoon isn’t ever going to end.”

The honeymoon isn’t ever going to end…
. Josh’s words echoed in Bethany’s mind as he held her arm and led her back to their wagon after they’d enjoyed a delicious roast beef supper at the mission. All around them, folks unfurled bedrolls beneath their wagons. She smiled at him. “I guess this is our first night to have a canopy of stars.”

Penny soaked her blistered feet in a bucket while they listened to some of the other travelers sing and fiddle.

Bethany continued to stand by the campfire. She longed to rub her aching hips, but that simply wouldn’t do. Papa stood and swept his hand toward the chair in a gallant motion. “Thank you for the offer, but I prefer to stand.”

Josh refilled his blue-speckled graniteware coffee mug and shot her a look. He sidled closer. “Wagon jounce you a bit too much?”

She felt her cheeks go hot and confessed under her breath, “I’m liable to lose either my molars or manners if I sit down.”

“Feel like a naughty girl who got a spankin’?”

Straightening her shoulders, Bethany declared, “I have no idea what one of those would feel like.”

Josh nodded his head knowingly, but his eyes sparkled with the impish humor she’d learned he exercised with endearing frequency. “I suspected as much. You must have been a very spoiled child.”

Bethany made a show of looking about the wagon train as she declared, “I see all of the children have been tucked in. I suppose since I already have cinnamon rolls for our breakfast tomorrow, I’ll turn in now, too.”

Papa chuckled. “You napped along with the children while we crossed the Blue River, too. Fast as it was moving, I expected the roaring water to wake you up, but you slumbered on. Josh promised you’d already bought enough flour, but we stopped at Fitzhugh Mill and bought one hundred pounds more of flour and fifty of grist corn.”

Bethany stumbled, and Josh steadied her. She laughed as if she’d been clumsy … but fear welled up in her throat.

Chapter 4

A
ll too early the next morning, the crack of a gunshot sounded as the train’s wake-up call. Bethany crept from their quilts beneath the wagon so she could start breakfast. Chilly air had her making coffee and oatmeal to go with the cinnamon rolls.

“Delicious oatmeal, sweetheart,” Josh said as she refilled his mug. He smiled and leaned closer. “Do we have any hot water?”

“A bit to do the dishes.”

“Good. Dip your hanky into it then sneak it to me.” When she started to ask why, he silenced her with a quick kiss before whispering, “Tell you later.”

Josh wandered off as soon as she handed him her mug. Inside, the soaking hanky steamed in the morning air. A few minutes later, he sauntered back, tossed back another mug of coffee, and hitched up their oxen.

As he handed back her handkerchief, he murmured, “I needed it to draw a splinter out of Dillon Trier’s hand. It’s not a big deal, but his boss, Millberg, is so disagreeable, we want to keep quiet about it.”

She whispered, “You trust me to keep a secret?”

“Trier doesn’t mind you knowing as long as his boss is kept in the dark. I owe my patients their privacy, Beth. Many’s the time you won’t understand what’s happening. I’ll expect your blind trust on those occasions.”

Bethany nested the dishes in the dish box mounted on the rear of the wagon then tucked her hands into the pockets of her apron. “If it’s all the same to you, I think I’ll walk today.”

Josh studied her for a long moment then said, “Fine, but we get to eat supper alone then.” He tapped her nose playfully. “And don’t leave your shoes in a mud puddle along the way.”

As she walked along, Bethany thought of Josh each time she saw wet patches of earth. This was the first day since their wedding that they’d been apart, and though she’d felt awkward with him yesterday, she missed him now. Plans for a nice, private supper filled her mind. What would make him happy?

Happy. He’d bent over backward to make her feel cherished. Guilt speared through her as she wondered how he’d react when he discovered her fear of water. Would he be understanding, or would he be mad? Deep in her heart, she knew she ought to have told him about this weakness of hers, but Bethany had feared he’d not wed her if she confessed how she dreaded water, and she couldn’t let him leave her behind.

Penny chattered about the other folks on the trail, and she caught Bethany’s attention when she dropped her voice and said, “Mr. Millberg has the looks and temperament of a troll!”

Bethany choked on her laughter then said, “Our guide surely took care of him yesterday. Why, the way Mr. Rawson championed all of us ladies—I think he’s quite clever.”

Penny shuddered.

“You needn’t fear him. Josh told me he researched the guides, and I trust his judgment implicitly. Rawhide’s capabilities and character truly impressed him. I’m going to think of our guide as a tattered knight.”

“Knight? He’s as superstitious as a Saracen! If you want to talk about knights, I’m positively surrounded by them. Will you think me too bold if I invite any of the men over for supper?”

Bethany shook her head. “Not tonight. Josh and I want to have a supper for two. Maybe tomorrow night. Mrs. Throckmorton would suggest Josh or Papa extend the invitation, though.”

“Invites for what?”

Bethany and Penny both spun around at the sound of that deep voice. Penny stumbled and landed in a flurry of skirts and petticoats with a shriek.

“We’re discussing supper, Mr. Rawson,” Bethany stammered.

He crossed one wrist over the other on his pommel and leaned forward. “Call me Rawhide. And call me for supper, too. I’m obliged for the invite. See you just after sunset.”

After he rode off, Bethany helped Penny up. “You’ll have to handle him tonight.” Penny clung to her. “You can’t expect me to entertain that heathen alone tonight!”

“Papa will be with you—”

“Papa will wander off and start reciting Shakespeare. Josh is the one who’s vouching for Mr. Rawhide. The least you two can do is help me. You’ll have plenty of other nights to share a private meal. After all, we’re family—you have to stick by me!”

Penny was right … but Bethany felt her heart hitch. Would Josh be disappointed? Maybe not. He’d sent her off quite easily this morning. She spied a stem and white flowers and yanked a wild onion from the ground next to where Penny had fallen.

“See? That is a sign.” Penny folded her arms resolutely. “I’m sure of it.”

Bethany looked at the onion pensively. Surely Josh would agree that his sister needed their support. “With this as a start, what kind of menu do we serve to a Saracen?”

The next morning, Bethany moaned when she lifted the lid to the dutch oven. Last night’s stew and fry bread turned out quite creditably. Josh hadn’t said a word about them dining with his family and Rawhide, but she’d sensed tension in his shoulders, and he’d jiggled his leg instead of sitting still. Nonetheless, he’d said a kind word about the food. Unfortunately, her luck hadn’t held out. The top of the breakfast biscuits still looked gummy, but the bottoms …

“Ma’am,” the bass voice of one of the Cole brothers whispered over her shoulder, “them biscuits of yourn are burnin’.”

The lid clattered and dropped onto the ground. “Oh. Yes. Oh, my.”

“Ain’t no need to fret.” The big, black-haired man stooped, used the edge of his unbuttoned brown shirt to lift the lid, and shook off a few leaves. “Lookie here.” He swiped her favorite crimson potholder, took the dutch oven, and flipped the biscuits onto the inside of the lid, then neatly slipped them back into the oven upside down. “Iffen you settle coals atop the lid, they even up the heat so’s the biscuits cook easily.”

Bethany stared at the charred biscuit bottoms and chewed her lower lip to keep from crying. She knew her face must match the hot pan holder. Suddenly, the raised lip on the dutch oven’s lid made sense.

“Betcha ain’t cooked none on an open fire.”

“Just supper last night,” she confessed thickly.

The black-haired giant leaned forward and rested his hands on his knees so he’d be at eye level with her. His voice rumbled softly. “You’ll learn. My ma, she taught me. I reckon a smart lady like you’ll pick it up right fast.”

“Thank you, Mr. Cole.”
Whichever one you are …

“Ain’t nothing. I was fixin’ to start our vittles. Just need to reheat last night’s cornmeal mush and coffee. Iffen you don’t mind me sharin’ your fire, I’d be much obliged.”

Five minutes later, Bethany watched as Josh tucked bacon into a singed biscuit and gamely ate it. Papa and Penny exchanged a look, said nothing, and ate the unburned portions of their biscuits. Bethany intentionally served herself the worst of the batch. Bad enough she’d burned them—the least she could do was suffer the consequences. Both of them looked like lumps of charcoal. The first bite tasted so dreadful, she sneaked the bacon out of them, then secretly dumped both into the fire as she reached for the coffeepot.

Mr. Cole turned out a neat breakfast and deftly slipped a wedge of fry bread into her apron pocket. Looking innocent as could be, he offered, “Doc, iffen you wanna take yore missus up to see Blue Mound today, I’ll drive your rig awhile.”

“I’d like that. Thanks.”

Later Joshua cradled Bethany across his lap as Tonic crested the peak of Blue Mound. She gasped, and his arms tightened as they stared out at the expanse of prairie ahead of them. “Land! Hundreds of miles of land.”
And not a river in sight …

“Ready to cross that?”

“The books said the trip takes six months, but it looks like we’ll take an eternity to traverse that.”

“We’ll make our way across together.” He turned her face to his and brushed a kiss across her lips.

Bethany whispered against his cheek, “The adventure of a lifetime.”

“Rawhide groused about folks coming up here for a peek. I wish we had longer to gaze out, but if we hurry back, Bert Cole said he’d jump from driving our wagon to driving Papa’s so he and Penny could view this, too.”

As they rode back toward their green wagon, Bethany rested her head on his shoulder. He relished the feeling of her leaning against him, as if she fully entrusted herself into his care. Still, he needed to say something. “About supper last night—we were supposed to dine alone, and you invited a guest.”

“I’m so sorry! Penny’s terrified of Rawhide, and she insisted you wouldn’t mind protecting her from him. I didn’t know what else to do.”

He stayed silent. If he complained about helping out his family, he’d certainly set her off. Besides, she’d almost paid him a compliment by saying he was capable of protecting them. Seeing as she’d apologized, he let the matter drop.

“Josh? I hate to ask, but how did you know which Cole brother is which? I can’t tell them apart!”

“There’s a space between Bert’s front teeth. With Beau and Buck being identical twins, I’m as lost as you are.”

“You’re good at noticing little details.”

“It’s part of being a doctor.” He dipped his head and whispered, “It’s part of being a husband, too. This honeysuckle perfume of yours sure appeals to me.”

“I confess, I dabbed it on to disguise the scent of those biscuits I incinerated.”