Mail Order Mistake (12 page)

Malinda shrugged.  “I’ll make mashed potatoes.  I know how to do that.”  If she could
just find the potatoes.  She looked around vaguely.

“Do you have any vegetables in the cellar?”

Malinda hadn’t considered there must be a cellar somewhere.  “Cellar?”
 

“I’ll go look.  Where are the potatoes?” 

“I don’t know!”  She was starting to panic now.  Her husband would hate her if she
didn’t have his lunch ready
when he got home.

“They’re probably in the cellar too.  Let’s go down and see what’s there.”  
Ellen looked under a rug and pointed to the trap door.
  “Grab a lantern.”

Malinda
found
a lantern
and lit it before descending the stairs with Ellen.
“Good.  You have a lot of food
down here.  Alice told me she sent canned goods home with Wesley every fall and wasn’t
certain if he’d eaten them
.”

Malinda looked at the shelves lining the walls.  They were filled with jars full of
different fruits and vegetables.  She saw Ellen remove some potatoes from a bi
n
.
“This will be enough for just the two of you
,
”
Ellen said as she filled the skirt of her borrowed apron with potatoes.

Ellen walked Malinda through frying the chicken, and Malinda took careful notes on
a piece of paper she’d
set
next to the stove. 

While she fried the chicken
,
Ellen made the potatoes and cooked a jar of green beans.  When she was finished
with
her part
, Ellen disappeared down the hallway.  Malinda was removing the last piece of chicken
from the frying pan when Ellen came in.
  “Now all you need to do is mash the potatoes
and make some gravy.”

Malinda felt her heart sink.  Ellen had always made the gravy like everything else.
  “Gravy?”
  She knew she sounded like an idiot, but she didn’t even know how to make gravy.

Under Ellen’s tutelage, she managed a simple gravy. 
“Now you have a feast
.
” Ellen poured the prepared gravy into a bowl.  “I’m going to go home now.  You make
things right with y
our husband. 
Make sure he knows that you care about him.  It’s important.”

“Will you come back after lunch?” 
Malinda was nervous about having to cook dinner.
  “Say around two?  I might need more help.”
  Her eyes pled with Ellen to take pity on her and help her after lunch.

Ellen nodded. 
“I’d be happy to, but only to show you how to do things.  Neither of our husbands
will be happy if I come over here every day to cook and clean when you’re supposed
to be doing it.”

While she waited for Wesley to come home, Malinda wandered through the house and looked
at the work Ellen had done.  Both of the beds were made neatly and the cushions on
the sofa had been fluffed.  Malinda got an old rag and dusted the furniture in the
parlor before sweeping the wood floors throughout the house. 

Wesley came in at half past twelve and went straight to the kitchen to eat.  Malinda
hurried in to pull the food out of the oven where it had been warming and set it on
the table.  “How was your morning?” she asked, hoping to start a conversation.

“Pretty quiet.  Not much happening in town, but it’s a good thing when the sheriff
doesn’t have a lot to do.”

Malinda smiled.  “Just don’t get shot, and I’ll stay happy.”

“Chicken’s good,” he told her.  “I thought you said you couldn’t cook?”

“I’m learning as fast as I can.”
  She wondered if she should admit to the help she’d received, but decided not to
lie to him.  “Ellen helped.”

He smiled and nodded. “Thank you.”

He left immediately after lunch without telling her what to make for supper.  She
quickly washed the dishes, missing Ellen.  Washing dishes was a task they had done
together from the time Malinda was small.  Even before their mother had died, the
task of drying the dishes had been hers, and she’d always enjoyed working alongside
Ellen to do it.

When Ellen got back, she showed Malinda how to make a simple stew out of salt pork,
potatoes and carrots.  “Just bake some bread and a
dessert
to go with it, and you’re set for the night.”  Ellen eyed Malinda.  “Are you going
to make it right?”

Malinda shrugged.  “As soon as I figure out how.  Talking to him doesn’t work.  I
tried sitting beside him on the couch, but he got up and
moved
.  I don’t know how to get his attention.”
  She could probably take all her clothes off and dance naked in front of him, but
somehow she couldn’t see herself doing that.

Ellen thought about it for a minute.  “Well you need to think of something.  It won’t
be any fun to be married to brothers if you two are fighting all the time.”

Malinda sighed, looking down at the floor.  “I know.  I’ll do my best.”
  She hated fighting with her husband.  Why couldn’t she be the good wife Ellen was?

Ellen kissed her sister’s cheek on her way out the door.  “That’s all anyone asks. 
I’ll be back after breakfast tomorrow.”

Malinda spent the rest of the afternoon in the kitchen baking bread and making a cherry
pie from the fruit on the shelves in the
cellar
. 

When Wesley got home
,
he took a deep sniff of the air.  “Something smells good!”

“I like to call that something supper.”  Malinda walked to Wesley and kissed
his cheek
.  “I missed you today.”
  She hadn’t meant to say that to him, but the words just spilled out.

He gave her a surprised look before sitting down.  Malinda served the stew and fresh
bread and butter.  The pie was sitting on the work table
,
cooling. 

After they’d eaten dessert, she pushed him toward the par
lor.  “I’ll get the dishes done
an
d then I’ll join you.”  All day
she’d done her best to think of a plan to get his undivided attention, and she thought
she finally had one.

Once the dishes were d
one, she walked into the parlor
and saw that he’d chosen the arm chair to sit in, probably because he didn’t want
her beside him again.  She
took the paper from him and sat in his lap before he had time to protest.   After
pressing quick kisses over his face, she pressed her mouth to his, kissing him passionately
as he’d taught her.  Her hands were on his shoulders, rubbing them through his shirt. 

He kissed her back, but continued to eye her warily as if trying to figure out what
she was up to.  Her fingers went to the buttons of his shirt, and slowly slipped them
through the holes one by one.  She didn’t want to have to invite herself into his
bed, and this was the best way she could think of to show him she was interested in
making their marriage a real one.

Once his shirt was unbuttoned, she spread it wide, her hands sinking into the hair
she found there.  “I li
ke touching you,” she whispered, meaning it with all her heart.  She’d never disliked
touching him, no matter how fearful she was of what would come after.

“Do you like it when I touch you?” he asked.

Malinda nodded, her eyes never leaving his. 

“Does this mean you want to be my wife?” 

She nodded, blushing.  “I do.  I’m very sorry I ever said otherwise.”  Her hands were
trembling as he set her on her feet and led her from the room.

Her hand was in his as he pulled her down the hallway and into the first bedroom,
which was on the left.  He closed the door behind them and his fingers automatically
went to the front of her dress, unbuttoning the buttons he found there.  Within moments,
she was standing in front of him in just her petticoats.  His fingers found her nipple
through the linen fabric and teased it to a point. 

“You have a beautiful body,” he whispered.

“So do you.”  Her fingers again tangled in his chest hair. 

He shrugged out of his shirt and dropped it to the floor, and then lowered the straps
of her petticoat from her shoulders.  Once she was naked, he lifted her and laid her
on the side of the bed, coming down beside her.  She could see he still had his slacks
on and her nervousness faded away.

He immediately began raining kisses across her face and chest, kissing her everywhere. 
When his mouth dipped and he pulled her nipple between his lips, she arched her
back and cried out.
  How could she have been so afraid of something that felt so good?

His mouth traveled up over her chest and back to her mouth, while one hand kept her
damp nipple aroused.  His other hand caught his weight as he la
y
on his side beside her.  His tongue thrust into her mouth to mate with hers, his
hand stroking down her side and into the small mound of curls shielding her sex. 

Wesley stroked his
hand down between her legs and traced her inner thighs before traveling up to her
core.  One finger went to her nub, while another slowly slid inside her.  She cried
out against his mouth, suddenly afraid what they were doing was wrong.
  Was it okay for him to do that? 

She pushed against his shoulders.  “Wait!”

His breathing was heavy when he lifted his head, staring into her eyes.  He deliberately
moved his finger in and out as he watched the passion
flare
in her eyes.  “What’s wrong?  You don’t like it?”  He almost laughed as he asked
the question, because there was no doubt by her actions that she liked it a great
deal. 

“I do like it, but that’s not what you’re supposed to put in me.  Are you sure it’s
okay to put your finger there?”
  She blushed as she asked the question, hoping he would tell her what he was doing
was perfectly acceptable because she didn’t want him to stop.

He smiled
and
his face li
t
up with amusement at her question.  “If you like it and I like it, then it’s fine,
because we’re married.”

“Are you sure?”  She loved how he was making her feel as his finger slowly moved in
and out of her body, but she didn’t want to do anything that would be wrong in any
way.

“I’m positive.  Just enjoy it, baby.”  His lips drifted back down to hers, his tongue
once again entering her mouth, while his finger sped up the rhythm, plunging in and
out of her quickly.

Her fingers dug into his bare shoulders as she held on while she waited for whatever
was building inside her to happen.  She didn’t know what she was waiting for.  Harriett
hadn’t explained that part, but she knew it was something good.  Something she wanted.

Finally
she burst,
crying
out her pleasure at the sensations washing through her body.  How could something
that felt this good be the thing she’d been so afraid of?

He stood beside the bed, and unfastened his belt.  She couldn’t see him in the dark,
but she could tell what he was doing by the rustling sounds.  She heard his pants
drop to the floor, and then the bed dipped from the other side as he climbed in beside
her.  His hands stroked over her body and his mouth went again to her nipple, the
other one this time, stroking it with his tongue.

“I want you,” he whispered against her breast.  After a moment, he lifted his head
and stared into her eyes in the now dark room.  “I want to make you my wife.”

She nodded, the fear rushing at her again.  This time it wouldn’t be his finger inside
her.  Would she be able to take the pain?
  “I want you to, but I’m scared.”

“I’ll be as careful as I can be,” he whispered before h
e rolled atop her and his legs went between hers.  His hand reached down to guide
his member between her legs and to her e
ntrance.  He pushed against her
and she held onto his shoulders
.
clutching them hard, afraid of what was about to happen. 
She closed her eyes
,
bracing herself for the pain.

He moved into her slowly, being certain to take his time and not hurt her.  He groaned
as he felt her body clenched tightly around him.   “I’m sorry,” he whispered as he
thrust past her maidenhead and pressed his lips to hers. 

She let out a gasp of pain against his lips and then lay still, moving slightly beneath
him as she got used to the feeling of fullness inside her.  She’d had no idea she
hadn’t felt complete before that moment, but having him inside her made her feel like
a part of her had been missing her entire life.
  Yes, there had been a slight pain, but it was gone almost immediately.  It wasn’t
nearly as bad as she’d expected it to be.

He started to slowly move in and out, and she raised her hips to meet him, wanting
him inside her.  Her arms wrapped around him just as her legs wrapped around his hips. 
“It feels so good,” she mumbled.
  Ellen should have told her it felt wonderful.