Chase (Prairie Grooms, Book Four) (20 page)

“
Indeed it is,” agreed Edith.

“
I just hope I can keep it that way,” added Lena as she stretched the aching muscles in her back.

“It ain't the T
riple C,” said Edith. “But there's still going to be a lot of work for you to do on a day-to-day basis.”

Lena slumped. “Oh dear, like what?”

“
Well, aside from the cooking, cleaning, sewing and mending, you'll be taking care of the stock, milking the cow, tending the garden, and then of course…”

“
That's enough!” exclaimed Lena as she held both hands in front of her in a defensive gesture. “One thing at a time.”

Edith smiled. “Well then, let's get started shall we?”

“
What did you have in mind?” Lena asked, her voice cautious.

“
I thought today we’d put in a vegetable garden. It's a little late to plant some things, but not too late for others.”

“Would this task involve digging and hoeing
by any chance?” asked Lena, eyes wide.

“
It would indeed,” said Edith with a grin.

“I’l
l go get a shovel,” said Jefferson as he headed for the barn.

Le
na stretched her back again. “I shall be dead by lunch time.”

“
Nonsense,” said Edith. “You should last at least until supper.”

“
You're not helping,” Lena told her.

“
I was hoping I was.”

“
Even though today is going to be the end of me, I do appreciate all you and Jefferson are doing to help.”

“
If the situation was reversed, I'm sure you do the same for me.”

“
Maybe so. But I'd be teaching you how to embroider, paint, and the proper way to read poetry to one's elder.”

Edith burst into laughter. “I'm afraid none of those things are good for keeping you alive. And out here, that's what everyone's concerned with.”

Lena stared off into the distance and let her eyes rest on the prairie and what trees dotted the landscape. It was a beautiful picture and for a moment, she was able to draw strength from it. “We'd better get started,” she suggested. “Before I become too faint of heart, and flee for my life.”

“
Oh for heaven's sake, don't be so dramatic,” said Edith as they headed for the house.

“
On the contrary,” said Lena. “I'd much rather be dramatic. It's something I've always aspired to, but have never been able to achieve.”

“
What you talking about?”

Lena glanced around as
if she was about to tell her a huge secret. Now that she thought on it, she was. “I've always wanted to be on the stage.”

Edith stopped at the cabin’s front door. “You have?”

“
Yes, but it's not something a lady can do. In fact, it's highly frowned upon in England.”

“
Well honey, that's not how it is out here. You need to talk to Preacher Jo and Annie. They're in charge of the church’s Christmas play. We started it a couple years back, and this will be our third one come this winter.”

Lena stared at her. “Really? A play?”

“
Sure, the whole town gets involved. It's a lot of fun!”

Lena opened the door and stepped inside. “I had no idea. I'm so glad you told me!” She looked around the cabin with renewed strength. “What shall we do first?”

“
Well, if I had known telling you about the Christmas play would give you this much spunk, I'd have told you yesterday.”

Le
na laughed. “I've always wanted to be in a real play, but was never allowed to. You don't know how happy you've made me.”

“
We'll see how happy you are after we've dug the garden.” With that they set to work.

It took a few hours, but between the three of them (or rather two of them as Jefferson had to take frequent breaks on account of the injuries the outlaws dealt him) they got the job done. Edith brushed dirt from her hands and surveyed their work. “I'll go fix something for lunch. Jefferson, why don't you teach Lena how to gather eggs?”

“
I can do that,” he said. He looked at Lena. “You ready, or do you need a break?”

Lena leaned over,
her hands on her knees in a hunched position. “Give me a moment,” she said as she caught her breath. Edith and Jefferson exchanged quick look smile.

“
Well hurry it up,” he said. “Time’s a wasting.”

Lena straightened, groaned, then nodded at him.

He led her to the barn where he took a basket that hung on a peg, then motioned her back outside. “Aren't we going to gather eggs?” she asked.

“
Yes, but the chickens aren't in the barn. They’re over there,” he said and pointed to a small structure.

“
What is that?” she asked.

“
It's the henhouse. It’s where your chickens lay their eggs.”

She'd noticed chickens wandering around barnyard the day before, but gave them no mind, nor had she noticed the structure that housed them. “I say, but this looks like it's going to be tricky.”

“Ain't
nothin’ to it,” he told her. “Now watch.” They went inside the tiny structure where a half a dozen hens roosted. Jefferson reached under one of them and pulled out a couple of eggs. The chicken didn't bat an eye.

“T
hat wasn't so hard,” said Lena with a smile. “Let me try.”

Jefferson handed her the basket. “Go ahead.”

Lena went to the next hen
and reached her hand out. The bird gave a loud squawk, and pecked at her. “Ouch!”

“
They can sense fear, you know,” Jefferson told her in a serious tone.

Lena glared at him and swore he tried to hide a smile. “Mr. Cooke, please refrain from enjoying this.”

His shoulders shook but he kept his mouth shut. He waved at her to go ahead and try again. This time, the chicken let her take an egg from beneath it. “You did it!” chuckled Jefferson.

Lena stared at the
egg in her hand. “I did, didn’t I?” She put it in the basket. “Let me try again.” Soon she'd gathered the eggs and was able to return to the house with pride. “Look!” she told Edith as she entered. “Look what I did!”

“
Well, well, don't those look fine. We can use them to bake a cake, and the rest for Chase's supper.”

“
Eggs for supper?” asked Lena.

“
Sure,” said Edith. “Folks do it around here all the time. He's got some bacon in his smokehouse. You can cook some of that up for him as well.”

“
Bacon and eggs for dinner?” mused Lena. “I never would have thought of it.”

“
Darlin' there's a lot of things you never would've thought of,” said Jefferson. “I'm glad we agreed to this cockeyed idea of your sister’s. I think it's helpin’ you a lot.”

Le
na smiled. “You know what? I do believe you're right.”

Fourteen

Lunch consisted of sliced apples, jerky, and a few carrots. But it might as well have been a nine-course meal, as hungry as Lena was. She never thought such simple fare would taste so good. She didn't know work could give one such a healthy appetite.

“
Now I’m going to teach you how to do the mending,” said Edith as they cleaned up after their meal.

“While you two do
that, said Jefferson. “I'm going to go see what I can hunt up out on the prairie.”

Edith nodded as she led Lena into the living area. There was a loveseat and two chairs in front of the fireplace, and a small table with a lantern. “Do you know how to start a fire?” Edith asked as Jefferson headed out the door.

Lena shook her head. “I had a scullery maid for that.”

“Ain’t
no scullery maids here. You're going to have to learn how to do it yourself. But right now, let's take care of your man's shirts. I swear Chase can't keep a button intact if his life depended on it. At least two were missing off of each shirt I mended yesterday.”

“How does he manage to lose so many?”

“
He's a blacksmith,” said Edith with a shrug. “It's hard work with all that bending and stooping working on those horses.”

Several shirts Lena had washed the day before, lay across the back of one of the chairs. Edith handed her two, and took one for herself. “Where do I start?”

“
Take a look at them and see what needs to be done,” Edith instructed.

Edith was right, Chase
was
hard on his clothes. Each shirt had at least three buttons missing. “I say, but I'm going to go through a lot of buttons, married to this man.”

“You'd better go
to the mercantile and have Mrs. Dunnigan make you up a sewing kit of your own. You're going to need it.”

“
How right you are,” agreed Lena.

They hadn’t been sewing long when Chase walked through the door. Lena stood, and for whatever reason, hid the shirt she was working on behind her back, then slowly brought it to the front again. “Hello.”

He
watched her the entire time, took his hat off, then hung it on a peg near the door. “Well now, don't you two make a pretty picture, doin’ your sewin’ by my fireplace? All we need now is a fire.”

“Not at this time of day
,” commented Edith. “The cook stove warms the house well enough and you know it.”

“Just sayin’ what would make things cozy,” he said and winked at Lena.

She blushed.
Here we go again.
Would she ever
not
blush in this man's presence?

“What ya doin’ there sweetheart?” he asked
.

Lena's cheeks
flamed at the endearment. “Mending,” she squeaked.

“Mending, huh? My clothes
can always do with some of that. Let's see what you've done,” he said as he held his hand out.

She gave him the shirt she'd been mending and smiled, proud of her work.

Chase held the sh
irt up for inspection and grinned back. “Well now, this looks mighty fine…” He took a closer look at it, and held it up with both hands. He then burst out laughing.

“
What's the matter?” asked Lena in a huff.

He tried to still his chuckling, and failed miserably. “You done sewed the button and the shirt together!”

“
I did,
what
?”

“
See?” he said as he held the shirt in front of her. “You sewed the button on all right, but you sewed it to both sides of my shirt.

Lena's mouth dropped open in shock. She'd been so intent on getting the needle and thread through the material, she didn't realize she pulled the needle through not only the front of the shirt, but the back as well! How could she have made such a hideous error? “Oh no,” she groaned. “What a dolt!”

“
I don't know what a dolt is,” he said. “But I do know you’re mighty pretty when you're mad at yourself.”

“
I think I'll go outside and see if Jefferson's back,” said Edith with a mischievous gleam in her eye.

Lena watched her in horror
. “You're not going to help me fix this?”

“Nope, I ain’t. You
sewed it, you fix it.” Edith winked at Chase, set down the shirt she'd been working on, and left the cabin.

Lena buried her face in the shirt and groaned again. “I'm so sorry!” She pulled the shirt away from her face and shrugged. “What's to become of me? I'll never get the hang of this! I can't cook, I can't sew, at least I can dig… I’ll be the death of you for…”

She never got to finish. Chase had closed the distance b
etween, and before she knew it, silenced her with the kiss.

Unlike the one he gave her yesterday, he didn't pull away after a second or two. No, this kiss he took his time with, and went from capturing her lips to capturing
her,
as his arms wrapped around her, and pulled her into his chest. Any thoughts about her failed attempts at sewing were crushed, as his tongue delved into her mouth and took over. Never had she imagined being kissed so thoroughly before.

She liked it.
No
. She loved it!

Chase slowly raised his lips from hers, his breathing heavy, and rested his forehead against her own. “Now there's the kind of mending I like,” he whispered.

Le
na fought to keep her wits about her, and her feet on the ground. She didn't want to fall in love, not yet, not until she was sure she wasn't going to fail him as a wife. “I say, but I don't think you're going to find that in a sewing kit.”