Falling in Love With Her Husband (13 page)

back to normal. “Open it and find out.” I sat on her bed, not

trusting myself to stand. I was ready to run over to her and

kiss her. I didn"t trust myself to get too close to her. As it

was, I almost felt guilty for staring at her, but I remembered

that we were married and looking at her was acceptable.

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She gently removed the ribbon. Why did women feel

the need to take their time opening gifts? I didn"t bother to

ask. In fact, she could take all day if she wanted. I

suddenly caught sight of her reflection in the mirror and saw

the skin below her collarbone. She wasn"t aware of my

response to her. It didn"t even occur to her that I was

thinking about sex.

She removed the cloth and squealed with delight.

“It"s gorgeous!” She picked up the dress and put it up to her

neck so she could inspect it in the mirror. “Oh, and there"s a

bonnet to match! This will be more comfortable than the

hats.”

I wanted to tell her to put the dress back down so I

could continue to look at her skin, but she was happy with

the dress so I didn"t. I was glad she liked my gift.

“How do you know my measurements?” she

wondered.

I blinked and looked at her eyes. They were such a

pretty brown color. I always liked her eyes.

Her eyebrows furrowed. “Are you feeling alright?

You look flushed.” She forgot to hold her dress up to her

neck and walked over to me. She leaned over and touched

my forehead.

I couldn"t move. Her sudden movement loosened

her robe enough for me to catch a glimpse of her breasts.

Perfectly formed white mounds with pink tips. They were

much better than I imagined.

“You feel warm. Maybe you should lie down,” she

said, concerned.

“No, I"m fine,” I quickly argued. The beating of my

heart sounded loud in my ears. She was, without a doubt,

the most exquisite woman in the world.

“I don"t know. You look like you"re going to faint.”

She stood back up and studied me, as if determining

whether I was sick or not.

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I shook my head to clear it. “I"m fine. It"s just a little

hot in here, that"s all.”

“I feel cold. Maybe that"s because I just got out of

the bath. Would you like to take a bath? Maybe it would

cool you off.”

“That"s a good idea.”

“I can boil some water for you.”

“No. I"l just take cold water.”

“Are you sure? That can"t be comfortable.”

“I"l survive it.” It was either that or throw her on the

bed and act on the thoughts that were racing wildly through

my mind.

She stood there and stared at me.

I looked back at her. “What is it?”

“Aren"t you going to take the bath?”

“I was hoping to see how you look in the dress first.”

There was no way I was going to stand up with her looking

at me. I didn"t want her to see how aroused I was. I cleared

my throat. “You can put it on in the third bedroom.”
Or you

can put it on right here.

She blushed. “Oh.” She quickly tightened the top of

her robe.

I sighed. I was hoping she wouldn"t remember to do

that.

“I"l be right back,” she said before she left the room.

I jumped off the bed and opened the window so that

the fresh, cool air would calm me down. There was no way

that the dress would look better than her wearing nothing.

She was incredible.

When she returned, she wore the dress. I breathed

a sigh of relief. I didn"t think I could handle watching her in

her robe anymore.

She ran to the mirror and examined her reflection.

“This is a wonderful dress. How did you know my

measurements?”

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Now that she was fully dressed, I could concentrate

again. “That was easy. I took that pink dress you wore at

the dance to Mrs. Rhodes.”

“It fits better than that dress.”

“I told her the pink dress was a little tight because

you felt faint in it.”

She went to the mirror and combed her hair which

was drying nicely. She placed the bonnet on her head and

turned to me. “What do you think?”

“You"re the best looking woman I"ve ever seen,” I

whispered.

She beamed. “That is very thoughtful of you to say.”

She walked over to me and hugged me. “Thank you. This

is the best gift anyone"s ever given me.”

“You had better dresses back in Virginia.” It felt so

good to hold her.

“But this took some thought.”

“I know how much you like dresses.”

“Todd, you"re the best husband a woman could ask

for. I"m very thankful you love me so wel .” She kissed me

on the cheek.

I turned my head in hopes she would kiss me on the

mouth, but she had already pulled away from me and was

admiring the dress in the mirror.

“I think I"l take that bath now,” I weakly said before I

left the room.

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Ann’s Point of View

I was thankful for the fall season. It was good to feel

the cool breezes drift in through the open windows. Early in

October, I woke up and realized I had finally forgiven Kent

and Rebecca. I was relieved and happy to be able to move

on with my life.

Since Todd and I slept in separate bedrooms, I

wasn"t aware he had trouble sleeping. How many sleepless

nights had he spent pacing in his bedroom or downstairs in

the parlor?

I wouldn"t have even known he was having trouble

sleeping if I hadn"t gotten cold in the middle of the night and

had to close my window. I realized I was thirsty, so I

decided to go to the kitchen to get some water. On my way

down the steps, I heard the sound of footsteps in the parlor.

I gasped and stood still, afraid to move. I held my breath

and considered what to do. Suddenly, it occurred to me that

an intruder wouldn"t spend so much time in one place.

I slowly walked down the stairs and tiptoed to the

sound, curious as to what Todd would be doing up at such a

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late hour. I was ready to let my presence be known when I

saw him, slouched over the desk in the parlor. The

candlelight by his side showed his worried expression. I

stayed out of sight in the shadows. He was greatly troubled.

He never told me anything was bothering him, so I had no

idea what it could be. He sighed loudly, stood up and paced

in front of the desk, sat back down in front of a pile of

papers, wrote something down, threw his pen down in

aggravation and paced the floor again. Obviously, whatever

he was writing wasn"t working. Final y, he blew out the

candle and walked back up the stairs. I quietly hid in the

shadows.

Once he shut his bedroom door, I crept over to the

desk and pulled open the drawer that contained the papers

he had been scribbling on. I pushed aside my guilty feelings

and walked to the window so I could study what was on the

papers by the light of the moon. It didn"t take me long to

realize that I was holding the household budget. I frowned.

We needed more money. I put the papers back where I

found them. I didn"t know if I felt better or worse now that I

knew what kept him up at night. He wanted to protect me

from financial worries, but I was partly responsible since I

bought extra food that I wanted to cook. Some of the food

was expensive. Plus, he originally planned on coming out

by himself, so I was an extra person to care for.

Winter

was

coming

soon,

and

Barbara

recommended that I get warmer clothes, coats and boots.

Now I was worried. How could we afford those things? I

wanted to help him but didn"t feel comfortable approaching

him since he was determined to handle this on his own.

That night, I stayed awake, tossing and turning in my bed as

I thought of ways I could ease our financial burden. As I

cooked breakfast, I found the answer. I would take Mrs.

Coley up on her offer to give me food in exchange for my

services.

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Barbara came by to pick me up later that morning.

We went to town once a week so she could visit her mother.

Molly usually joined us while Calvin and Bruce helped John.

While Barbara and Molly visited her mother, I went to the

store.

Mr. Coley was stocking the shelves. “Hello, Mrs.

Brothers. How are you and Todd doing this morning?”

“We are doing well, thank you,” I replied.

Mrs. Coley walked out from the backroom. “You"re

early. You don"t usually come for another hour.”

I took a deep breath. “Yes. I had something I

wanted to ask you.”

Mr. Coley stopped and looked at me.

“Is your offer to help you with the store still open? I

would like to work for free food.”

Mrs. Coley thought for a moment. “We could use

someone to clean the store, update our books, and keep an

inventory list of the supplies we have. Are you willing to do

those things?”

I nodded. “I know how to do all of that.” For once, I

was grateful for my schooling. “I"m not sure my husband

would appreciate it if I worked here. He might not like the

fact that I"m helping with the finances.”

“You don"t need to explain,” Mr. Coley replied. “We

won"t say a word about this.”

I sighed, relieved. “Thank you.” I didn"t want Todd to

feel like he couldn"t make it out here on his own.

So we agreed that I would come in twice a week to

do these chores in return for food and cooking supplies.

Since Todd didn"t go shopping, he didn"t know the cost of

food, so I was able to fib on the cost of different items. I

simply explained that I had found ways to cut back on the

grocery bill. He accepted my reason for the sudden

decrease in food expenses.

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After two weeks, I took a midnight peek at the budget

and smiled when I saw we were back in good financial

shape.

As it turned out, Mrs. Coley and I became good

friends. She would fill me in on her past memories,

especially funny stories of her children"s childhood. She

loved to tell her stories, and I enjoyed listening to them. She

also gave me advice on staying warm during the winter. It

was funny how I got used to doing the chores at home and

in the store. I didn"t even notice how exhausting they were

anymore.

***

That Sunday evening, Todd and I sat on the porch,

watching the sun set as the wind tossed orange and red

leaves on the ground.

“I wish time would stand stil at this moment,” he

commented. “If only things could always be this peaceful.”

“It is beautiful,” I agreed.

He closed his eyes and leaned his head against the

chair. It had been a couple of weeks since he sat next to

me on the porch swing. I worried that he no longer loved

me like he used to, but I didn"t ask him about it in case I was

right.

“I wish tomorrow wasn"t Monday.”

I sighed. It seemed that he hated his job more with

each passing day. “Try not to think about the bank.”

“I try, real y I do. I tell myself once winter is over, I

can afford to quit. John"s going to help me purchase farm

equipment. He"l know what I need to get started. He

recommends I start planting-”

I bit my lower lip so I wouldn"t scream. Instead, I

said, “Todd, I"ve heard this a dozen times already. Can we

talk about something else? Maybe you should quit your job

at the bank and get another job until Spring.” When he didn"t

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respond, I continued. “There"s an opening at the post

office.”

“Do you think I can"t handle the job I already have?”

He sat up straight, his eyes wide.

Why did he have to be so touchy? “You"re a great

banker. It"s just hard to watch you spend all your waking

hours in misery. You might enjoy life more if you did

something else for the next few months.”