Daisy (Suitors of Seattle) (6 page)

She blushed at the thought that other people would know they’d done this together.  How could she face her mother and sister the next day?  She couldn’t make him stop, could she?  “People are going to know we did this…”

He nodded, his eyes boring into hers in the slight light coming in through the window from the bright moon.  “Yes, they will.  And that’s okay.  We’re married.”  His finger moved in and out of her slowly, mimicking what he really wanted to do.  “Does it feel bad?”

She shook her head.  “No, just odd.”

“But good?”

She nodded, embarrassed that he was making her talk about it.  Should she discuss it with him?
  Should she discuss what they were doing with anyone?

He pressed his lips to hers again as his finger picked up the pace inside her, moving faster and more frenziedly.  After a moment he removed the finger and added a second one, continuing to stroke her with it.  She was surprised by how much she liked it.  She moaned softly against his mouth as she felt something building inside her, just waiting to happen.

He seemed to be able to tell how interested she was, because he removed his hand and pushed against her shoulders until she rolled to her back.  He knelt between her spread thighs and pressed his member against her.  She was startled by the feel of his thick flesh, but lay still.  Her mother had told her this was her marital duty, and she needed to lie still.  Amaryllis had said it would feel so good she wouldn’t be able to lie still and would be wild beneath her husband.  She was about to find out who was right.

He pressed deep inside her, and she let out a gasp of pain.  That didn’t feel good.  She wiggled her hips as she tried to get away from him, but he groaned and held her still.  “You’ll get used to it,” he whispered.

Daisy hoped so.  She could see that he was really enjoying himself, even though she wasn’t.  She wanted him to be happy though, so she closed her eyes and prepared to deal with the pain.

He moved slowly inside her, stroking out and then quickly back in.  Her eyes widened with surprise.  It still hurt, but underneath the pain was something else.  She felt it throbbing inside her.  He pressed his lips to hers, his hands finding and cupping her breasts through her nightgown, his thumbs toying with her nipples.

His hips thrust repeatedly against her, and she lay beneath him, enjoying the motions, even though they still hurt.  It wasn’t long before he let out a deep groan and collapsed on top of her.  She sighed, stroking her fingers through his hair.  She hadn’t gotten the same intense pleasure he had, but it hadn’t been all unpleasant either.  Maybe he was right, and she’d get used to it.

He rolled to her side and pulled her into his arms, holding her tightly.  Her head went to his shoulder, and she curled against him.  She almost wished she wasn’t wearing her nightgown, because she wanted to feel him against her more.  Her body felt like it was on fire, and she was restless. 

“I’m sorry,” he whispered.

She looked at him in surprise.  “For what?”

“It’ll be better for you next time.” 

She sighed against his shoulder.  “It wasn’t bad this time.  It was supposed to hurt my first time.”
  She had no idea what he was talking about.  Her mother and sister had both told her that it was going to hurt, so why was he apologizing?

He nodded.  He hadn’t been referring to the pain she’d felt but to the fact that he hadn’t been able to wait a little longer for her. 
She kissed his shoulder, trying to placate him.

He sighed
, stroking her back.  If he didn’t think it would bother her, he’d try to make her feel the pleasure he’d felt, but she was already settling down and closing her eyes.  He promised himself the next time would be better for her.

*****

She woke before he did in the morning and decided not to change into her dress in case he happened to wake up.  Instead she put on her dressing gown before padding out into the kitchen to start a fire and fix breakfast.  She was in the cellar when he came out of the bedroom, dressed to go milk the cow.  “Daisy?” he called.

“Down here!  I’ll be up in a minute!”  She felt her face flame at the thought of seeing him after what they’d shared the night before.  She waited until she heard the door to the outside close before she hurried up the stairs and put the bacon on to fry. 

There was no bread, and nothing to make bread with.  She’d have to get those things in town.  Her only option for breakfast was scrambled eggs and bacon.  She looked forward to getting some supplies when they went to town. 

By the time he came in from milking the cows, she had two cups of coffee on the table with eggs in a large bowl and bacon on a plate.  He took the spot opposite her, and they prayed before eating.  While they ate, he said, “I have a couple of hours
I can work before we need to go to town.  I’ll be back here to take you around nine.  Will that work?”

She nodded, pleased that he hadn’t commented on how red her face was.  Hopefully he would assume it was the heat from the stove and not realize how embarrassed she was.  After he finished eating, he hurried around the table to kiss her before plopping his hat onto his head and heading out to the range. 

She did the dishes in silence before hurrying to clean the bedroom floor and windows the way she had the kitchen and parlor the day before.  Then she sat down and made a list of the things she’d need so she could cook for them.  She wasn’t about to let him go without decent meals just because he hadn’t had the foresight to have food around when she got there.

He was back right at nine
, and they rushed out to the wagon. He helped her to the seat and drove toward town.  “Are you happy you’ll get to see your mother again before she goes back to Seattle?” he asked.

She nodded.  “I am.  I know she seems overbearing to you, but she’
s my mother and I love her.”  She was still going to be embarrassed to see her, but she didn’t tell him that.

“And Jasmine?”

She made a face.  “No one ever wants to see Jasmine.  The girl is demented.”

He laughed.  “She really is your least favorite sister, isn’t she?”

Daisy nodded.  “She is.  Amaryllis and I tried to talk Aunt Harriett into making her a mail order bride, but she wouldn’t agree to it.”

“So you became one instead?”

“It got me away from Jasmine,” she said with a grin.  Of course, she’d never intended for her life to go this way, but it had happened.  She wasn’t complaining at all. 

When they pulled up in front of the hotel, her mother and sister were waiting out front for them.  Daisy jumped down and hugged them both.  Eli helped her mother onto the seat in the front beside them, and Jasmine climbed into the back without being told.  There was no other place for her.

“We have to get some supplies before we head out,” Daisy told her mother.

“That’s fine.  I enjoy looking around stores.” 
Mary’s head was erect, and she was obviously annoyed with her new son-in-law, but she wanted to see what supplies her daughter would have available to her.

They did their shopping quickly.  Daisy wished they could have waited to go to the mercantile until after they’d dropped her mother and Jasmine off for the day, but she knew she needed to have food to fix for lunch.  She’d boiled a chicken down that morning that they’d use for chicken and dumplings for lunch, but she needed to get bread baked that day as well.  And there was not enough flour to even make the dumplings.

Daisy sat in the middle, and they chatted on the way out to the ranch.  “We had breakfast at the hotel this morning, but it wasn’t as good as it was yesterday,” Mary complained.

Eli nodded.  “They don’t do a lot of breakfast business from what I hear.  They’re more of a lunch and supper type of place.  Most folks around here make their own breakfasts.”

“Well, I couldn’t in my hotel room, now could I?” Mary asked in a rude voice.

Daisy looked at her mother with surprise.  “Be nice, Mama.”
  The woman who had always lectured her and her sisters about being polite at all times couldn’t have just been so rude to Eli.

Mary sighed.  “I just hate that today’s the last day I’ll get to see you before I go home.”  She glared at Eli.  “He could have let us stay for a few days.”

“There’s a lot of work to be done at the house.  I need to dig in and do it.  Having you and Jasmine here would just distract me.”

Mary didn’t respond to that, but she
seemed to understand.  When they arrived at the ranch, Daisy was all but wringing her hands together as her mother looked around the outside.  “This looks like a big operation,” she said.

Eli nodded.  “Yes, ma’am.  One of the biggest in the area.”  He tipped his hat.  “If you’ll excuse me, I’ll get to work.  I’ll be back in an hour for lunch.”  He kissed Daisy.  “That give you enough time?”

“Plenty,” Daisy responded.  “I’ll have it ready when you get here.”  She had left the pot of chicken on the corner of the stove to keep it warm.

Daisy quickly made the dumplings and dropped them into the water with the chicken.  She then showed her mother and sister around the downstairs.  “I haven’t even been up yet,” she told them.  “I’m sure it needs a good cleaning, but I’ll take care of that after you’re gone.”

Mary looked around the simple home, biting her lip.  She hated that she was leaving her daughter in this place so far away.  “What can we do to help before we go?”

Daisy smiled and shook her head.  “There’s really nothing.  I’m planning on making a table cloth and curtains, but I won’t start that today.  You don’t mind if I mix up the bread dough while you’re here?  That will give it time to rise while we take you to town.”

“Of course not.”  Mary was surprised by how well Daisy knew her way around the kitchen.  She’d never seen her work in a kitchen before because they had servants at home.  Obviously Mildred Higgins was a good teacher, because Daisy did everything flawlessly.  Mary had been an average cook, but she hated being in the kitchen.  She was surprised to see how well Daisy had taken to it.

They had a good lunch with Eli, and after lunch they piled into the wagon to take them both back to Billings.  Daisy was sorry to see them go but glad at the same time.  She needed them to leave so she could start her marriage with her new husband.  They were keeping her from her responsibilities to him. 

She hugged her mother tightly.  “I promise I’ll write every week.”

Mary sighed.  “If you don’t
, I’ll be right back out here insisting to see you.  Don’t miss even a week.”

Daisy sighed.  “I’ll be fine, Mama.  He’s a good man.”

Jasmine hugged Daisy.  “I’m going to miss you.  But I’m taking over your room as soon as I get home.”  The room Daisy had before she moved had been reserved for the oldest child at home.  Each of them had used it before moving out to marry.

Daisy rolled her eyes.  “You do that.”  She stepped back to Eli and leaned against him as he slipped his arm around her.  “You have tickets for tomorrow?” she asked.

Mary nodded.  “And I’ve already arranged to have our trunks taken to the train station.  We’ll be fine.”

“Goodbye.  I love you!  Hug the others for me and tell Papa I love him.”  Daisy felt the tears falling down her cheeks, and Eli squeezed her tightly.
  Now that the time was at hand, she realized just how much she was going to miss her family.

“We will.  Remember, you have a home in Seattle if things don’t go
well here.”

Daisy nodded.  “I won’t forget.”  Eli helped her into the wagon and she turned around and waved until she could no longer see them.  “I’m going to miss my family.”  She sniffled daintily and pulled
a handkerchief from her purse which she used to wipe her eyes and her nose.

He looked at her thoughtfully.  “Do you regret coming here to marry me?”
  Now that he’d met her, he didn’t want to think about what life without her would be like.  He couldn’t stand the thought of her moving back to Seattle.

She shook her head.  “Oh no, of course not!  I’ll just miss them.  That’s all.  They’ve been my whole life for eighteen years.”

“I know.”  He patted her arm gently while she rested her head on his shoulder.

“What about your family?  When did you see them last?”
  He hadn’t mentioned his family to her yet at all.  She knew she should have asked the previous night, but she was so busy answering his questions she hadn’t gotten around to it.

He shrugged.  “I have no idea.  I was sent West on an orphan train that left New York.  I was wandering the streets, and the good people of the city didn’t want orphans on their streets anymore.” 
He kept his voice even as he told her, because he didn’t want her to dwell on his words.  He didn’t want his pretty new wife to feel sorry for him as she realized just how different their upbringings had been.

“How old were you?” she asked in shock.

“Oh, I was seven or eight.  No one is real sure.  I don’t remember anything before living on the streets and begging for food.  There were a bunch of us who would sleep in an alley together.” 

“So who did you live with when you came out here?”

“I was taken in by a rancher and his family, but they made it real clear I was there to work and nothing else.  They let me go to school when someone came around complaining about me not going, but for the most part, I was free labor for them.  I left when I was old enough.  Worked for a couple of other ranchers in the area, and then I heard there was land available in Montana, so I came out here.”