Falling in Love With Her Husband (9 page)

me, so I told him that if he was right, I would do his

homework for a month. But if I was right, he had to give me

his bicycle. He threw a couple of pebbles but I threw most

of them. I was beginning to fear you weren"t going to

retaliate. You almost made me look bad. I had such

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confidence that you weren"t like the other girls. I was

relieved when you dumped the sand on us.”

She laughed. “Why Todd, that is sneaky. Here I

thought Alex insisted you join him in his pranks. I had no

idea you were capable of such deceit.”

“I knew you weren"t weak. You could hold your

own.”

“I can"t believe you did that.”

“You made me proud.”

She shook her head, amused. “It did get him to

leave me alone, so I suppose it worked out well enough.

But I am surprised it was your idea. Apparently, there"s a lot

I don"t know about you.”

“To put your mind at rest, I won"t throw pebbles in

your hair.”

“Good. Because if you did anything sneaky like that

again, I"d have to dump sand on you.”

I raised an eyebrow. “What if I put a squirrel in your

bag?”

Her jaw dropped. “That was you?”

“Guilty.”

“You"re rotten!” The twinkle in her eye revealed that

she was enjoying it. “Why didn"t you confess?”

“And miss him panicking over what you might do

next?”

“I"m going to have to keep a close eye on you.”

I chuckled.

***

On the first of August, we were due to reach

Jamestown. I got up early and quietly grabbed my good suit

and bathing supplies while Ann slept in the bed. I glanced

at her for a moment. She had bathed the night before, and

she smelled and looked wonderful. I liked to watch her

sleep. She seemed peaceful and content. I hoped it

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wouldn"t be too long before I could sleep next to her. I

would like to see her first thing every morning. I already

knew that we would start out sleeping in separate bedrooms

at our new home.

I left our room and went to the lavatory. Fortunately,

it was vacant. After bathing, I took out my shaving kit and

rubbed the lather on my face. I couldn"t help but smile as I

recalled the previous afternoon while we were on the

wagon. She was curious about my facial hair.

“Do you plan to keep the beard?” she had asked.

“No. I just haven"t shaved because we"ve been

traveling. Why? Would you like me to keep it?”

“Honestly, no. I can"t see much of your face. Does it

feel strange?”

I hadn"t thought about it, so I shrugged. “I don"t

real y know it"s there.”

She looked like she wanted to ask me something.

“What is it?” I prompted.

“You"l think it"s silly.”

Curious, I urged her to continue.

After a moment"s hesitation, she asked, “Can I feel

it?”

I thought it was an odd request but agreed she

could. I stopped the horses so she could move closer to

touch my face.

This time it was her fingers that trembled, which I

found a relief since she was just as human as I was. My

breathing quickened with her sitting close enough to me that

I could almost feel her body against mine. Her fingers lightly

brushed my cheek.

She grinned. “It tickles. And it"s a little rough.”

I smiled at the memory as I shaved. I didn"t care for

the look or feel of it myself, but apparently, some men liked

it. I got dressed in my dark gray suit and returned to the

room.

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She was already dressed, and she was putting her

brush into the carpet bag. She had her hair pulled back into

a braid. When she finished packing, she put her hat on. As

much as she liked to go without it, she realized that wearing

the hat protected her skin from the heat of the summer sun.

“Good morning,” I greeted. I packed my things away

and picked up my blue tie.

She smiled at me. “Did you sleep well?”

“Yes. Spending all day on a wagon wears a person

out. How did you sleep?”

“Wonderfully. It"s good to be clean for a change. I

didn"t realize how much I missed baths until I took one last

night.”

“It does make a person feel better.” I slipped the tie

around my neck and began to tie the knot. I stopped when I

noticed she was staring at me. “Is it the wrong color?”

“No. I...I was just thinking that you are a handsome

man.”

I blushed at her compliment. I didn"t know who felt

more awkward. Final y, I said, “Thank you” and finished

working on my tie. I was glad she liked looking at me. I

wanted to be as desirable to her as she was to me.

“Can I feel your face now that you shaved? I"m

curious to know what the difference is like.”

You can touch me anywhere you want to.
“I"m all

yours.” I tried to sound nonchalant about it, but I suspected

she picked up on my excitement.

I stood still as she walked over to me and gently

stroked my face. She had wonderful hands. I wondered

how they would feel on other parts of my body. My face

tingled at her touch. I longed to take her hand and kiss it but

forced myself to remain still. Her fingers lingered on my

cheek.

“I like it,” she whispered. Was she as excited as I

was? “It"s smooth but masculine.” She blushed and quickly

put her hand down. Then she turned to put on her shoes.

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I pushed aside my disappointment and picked up our

luggage. I missed her touch.

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Ann’s Point of View

When we reached Jamestown, a sense of peace

washed over me. I gazed upon the flat farm lands further

out of town.

He pointed north. “The way to our house is in that

direction.”

“It"s beautiful,” I whispered. A strong wind tossed my

braid around so that it flapped against my back. It wasn"t

this windy in Virginia.

He urged the horses forward. “I saw pictures of this

place, but it didn"t prepare me for it. I"m glad we came

here.”

I turned my attention to the town. It was smaller than

the one we grew up in. Even the houses were smaller than

what I was used to, and it didn"t appear that any of them had

servants. The people dressed in a different material and

style than I was accustomed to. I felt sorely out of place

here but was determined not to show it.

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Todd stopped in front of the mercantile. I had heard

of a mercantile but never entered one before. Servants did

that kind of shopping, but we didn"t have servants anymore.

“I"m going to apply for a job at the bank.” He pointed

to the building down the street. “I plan to work there until I

have enough money saved up to buy farming supplies.

Since my father insisted that I work at his bank, I know I can

do that job. Afterwards, I can help you through the

mercantile if you"d like.”

I eyed the store warily. It would be comforting to

have him with me, but I didn"t want him to think I was

incompetent. Besides, I had to learn to take care of these

things on my own. “I"m sure I can figure it out. How hard

can it be to buy food?”

“You"re right. We eat it every day.” He dug into his

pocket and handed me some money. “Do you think this wil

be enough? I know it"s not much but it"s all I can afford right

now.”

Since the issue of cost never crossed my mind

before, I was sure it was enough. “This wil do fine.”

After Todd helped me down from the wagon, I

entered the store, trying to act as if I did this all the time. I

frowned as I walked around, examining the contents on the

shelves. I recognized fruits, vegetables and eggs, but

everything else seemed to be in jars or paper sacks. Why

didn"t anything look like food? I read labels for flour, yeast,

broth and baking soda. My eyes scanned the labels. I felt

as if I were reading a foreign language. Where were the

breads, mashed potatoes, and steaks? Very little of this

resembled actual food.

I sighed in despair. First, I had ripped my pink dress,

stunk for weeks because I hadn"t bathed, and now this?

Was living without servants going to change everything? As

I began to feel sorry for myself, I imagined Kent and

Rebecca together. My jaw clenched. So my life would be

different. I could handle it. I began to pick things at random.

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I would make sense of it later. Luck was on my side, for I

saw a recipe book. Of course, I grabbed it.

“Hello,” a warm voice greeted me.

I looked up from the recipe book that I had just

placed in the basket. The woman who stood before me was

dressed in simpler clothing that looked like it had seen better

days. She looked like she was my mother"s age. I noticed

her rough hands. Would my smooth hands be that rough

one day? Was I staring at an image of who I would become

living out west?

I shoved the thoughts away. “Hello,” I replied,

nervously smiling. I wasn"t sure what the proper method of

greeting someone was in this town.

“I haven"t seen you before,” she kindly said. “Are

you passing through or are you moving here?”

“My husband bought a farm out here.” I cleared my

throat. I wasn"t used to referring to Todd that way. “It"s

north of here actually.”

“That"s wonderful! My names is Beth Coley. My

husband and I own this store. We have a son who owns his

own farm west of here and a daughter who sews clothes

down the street. Where did you move from?”

“Virginia. My name is Ann, and my husband is Todd

Brothers. We just arrived here. We haven"t even checked

out the farm yet.”

“My, that"s a long way to travel. You must be

exhausted.”

I nodded.

“Do you have pots and pans to cook your food in?”

My eyes widened. I hadn"t thought of any of those

things. “I don"t think so.” What exactly did cooking entail?

“Could you recommend some things I might need? I"m not

familiar with cooking. I had servants who did that for me.” I

blushed.

She didn"t judge me as I feared she would. Instead,

she told me the basics of cooking. She examined the items

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in my basket and placed some unnecessary things back on

the shelves. She put the things I would need into my

basket.

Unfortunately, the total amount for all I had collected

was more than what Todd had given me. It was

embarrassing, but she smiled.

“You can put the difference on credit and pay it off

later,” she offered. “Many people do that. Payment doesn"t

necessarily have to be money. It can be items you make,

such as pot holders. It could be jewelry. I have a couple of

merchants who like to purchase jewelry from me. Payment

can also be in the form of fruits, vegetables or eggs. I even

accept it when people help me maintain this store.”

“I"m not sure. I better put some things back for now.”

I wasn"t sure what skil or item I had that would be useful for

her store.

“Whatever makes you comfortable. The offer will

always stand in the future.”

“Thank you.”

A man entered the store with a box full of eggs. “I

have a couple more boxes in the wagon. Mr. Johnson"s

hens are real y pushing them out today.” He smiled when he

saw me. “Hello. My name is Mark Coley.”

“I"m Ann Brothers.”

“She and her husband are the new owners of the

Martin farm.” She looked at me. “It"s the only farm vacant at

the moment. That"s how I know. Mr. Martin left most of his

supplies there, so you should be in good shape. I know he

took good care of his things.”

He nodded. “We look forward to seeing you more

often then.”

“And please, take this recipe book as our gift to you.”

“Thank you,” I replied. I was overcome by their

kindness.

I glanced out the window and saw Todd leaving the