The Rancher's Bride (4 page)

“Jack and Henry’s mama and daddy owned the farm down the road from ours. They was always nice folks and my mama liked their mama. They was good friends and would get together whenever they could manage it.” Marie paused. She looked up at Frank. “I remember when those boys were born. I’ve known them their whole lives.” Marie looked down at her hands again and continued.

“Then their daddy took sick. He got real bad real fast and died awful quick. It was a sad time. We did what we could to help, with food and such, but there was an awful lot of young’uns at our house too.”

“One day I went to visit and bring some baked goods Mama wanted to send over and found Trudy, Jack and Henry’s mama, in bed, took sick herself. I ran back home to tell Mama and she decided that I should go stay at their place so’s I could care for Trudy and the boys until she was better.” Marie was wringing her hands now.

Frank realized that she was having a hard time talking about all this. “I’m surprised that your folks chanced you going to stay.” Frank was puzzled by this, and a bit bothered. “They weren’t worried that maybe it was somethin’ that you’d catch too?” Frank noticed that Marie seemed uncomfortable with his question.

She didn’t make eye contact with him as she answered. “I think that Mama was worried—I overheard her discussing it with Pa—but he didn’t sound worried none at all. He kept insisting it was the right thing to do. I’m not sure Mama agreed with him all that much, but she didn’t ever go against him that I can recall. That time was no exception.” Marie was wringing her hands again and seemed to be choosing her words carefully before continuing. “I think he just liked having a good excuse to send me away for a bit. Sometimes it seemed like he didn’t like having me about the place.”

Now Frank was well and truly puzzled. Marie was one of the most gentle, hard-working, and agreeable young women he’d ever come across. Why would a body prefer she not be around? Didn’t make no sense at all to him.

“It was probably all in my head. Just a feeling I always had; maybe it was because I was born a girl and he wanted all boys. Boys can do more work on the farm. Pa always said girls are weak and only good for one thing.”

Frank saw red at this last statement and desperately tried to reel in his temper. From what he was hearing from Marie, he didn’t like her pa and he hadn’t even met the man. Perhaps it’d be best, Frank thought, if they just stuck to the subject at hand. “What happened with the boys’ mama?”

“She didn’t get better. She died after a spell. It was real hard on them two boys.” Tears ran slowly down Marie’s face. “I just didn’t know what to do for them.”

“Before she passed, when she knew she was real bad and probably not going to get better, Trudy made me promise her that I would look after her boys as if they were my own. I swore to her that I would.” She looked directly at Frank.

“I’m sorry about lying to you, Mr. Carter, but I was afraid that if anyone knew those boys weren’t mine they would take them away from me. I promised their mama and I need to keep that promise. And I wasn’t sure that you would let them stay here also if’n you knew they weren’t mine.” Marie looked back down at her hands again. “I’m sorry.”

They were both silent for a few minutes as Frank digested the information.

“I understand what you did and why you did it, Marie. And you’ve been punished for it. I told you that you were forgiven and I meant it. What I’m not clear on now is why you was on your own here in this town with those boys. Why didn’t you go back to your ma and pa’s farm with them?”

Marie burst into tears then. “They wasn’t there,” she sobbed. “When I got back home with them, the farm was deserted. Mama left a note for me, sayin’ that there wasn’t nothing left for them and they needed to move on to find work to feed everyone. But she didn’t say which direction they went.” Marie sniffled. “I was hopin’ that Pa could help bury Trudy, so I had to go back with the boys and do it myself.”

Frank felt sick at her words.

She went on. “I made sure that they was busy doin’ somethin’ else while I did that so’s they wouldn’t see it.”

“When it was done, I packed the few things we had, and we headed to the nearest town, which was here. And now we’re here.” Marie looked at Frank then and the look on her face nearly broke his heart.

“I’m grateful for the job, Mr. Carter. I didn’t know what I was gonna do and how I was gonna take care of them two boys. I’m sorry for lyin’ and I promise I won’t never do it again. I won’t never give you a reason to punish me ever again.”

Frank stood quietly in the kitchen doorway and watched Marie work. He was so quiet that she didn’t notice him standing there. Frank had never seen her when she thought no one else was around.

She sure was a pretty thing. Especially in that new dress, and he was glad to finally see her wearing it.

Her old dress had been threadbare. In fact, it was almost indecent, the way it was so thin in places that you could practically see through it. Why, Frank found himself trying to get Marie to not come out around the ranch when the sun was strong, it was distracting the hands. But when he had offered to buy her a new dress or two she had refused him. Why she would refuse clothing that she clearly needed was really beyond him. Maybe she didn’t want to feel beholden to him?

No matter the reason, he’d bought her the clothes; in fact, he’d ordered two once she told him what size and picked one out so he had an idea of what she liked. Then he’d ordered some clothes for them young’uns. She had put up a bit of an argument, and Frank had been tempted to just put her over his knee and wallop some agreement into her.

Maybe he should be gentler with her, but Frank didn’t really know how to be gentle. He just knew what needed to be done and he was gonna do it. He knew what was the right thing to do and he was gonna do that too. She’d learn his way soon enough and accept it. He was in charge—on his ranch and in his home. He set the rules and they were followed. She’d follow his rules or learn to soon enough. Frank had no patience for disobedience.

Women were real good at some things and men were real good at other things. Neither one of ‘em should have to do all them things themselves, if at all possible. Frank respected women. But he also believed that a man should be in charge.

He read some of the papers and periodicals in the barber shop when he went into town; he knew that things were a’changing in the world.

But Frank would have none of that nonsense in his house. He’d bought her the clothes and some shoes too. And clothes and shoes for the boys. He could afford it. If they were living under his roof, he’d see to their needs. Marie would just have to accept that. She was certainly holding up her end of the bargain in that she took real good care of Emmeline, the house was spotless and every meal was right on time. And real tasty to boot.

Even still, Marie had taken a little time to accept the purchases Frank had made for her and start actually wearing the new clothes, although she had put the boys in their new things almost immediately. He hadn’t seen that old dress in over a week now.

And anyway, Frank had thought her pretty in her old, worn dress. No, it wasn’t the dress. She had a relaxed and pleasant expression on her face. She never looked like that when she was near him. He supposed maybe she was still nervous around him, not sure of how to act. And the spankin’ he had given her for lyin’ to him didn’t help her feel any more at ease around him, he was sure of that.

Marie began to hum as she rolled out the dough for the pie she was fixin’. She had her back to him and, as Frank watched her moving, working the rolling pin over the dough, he felt his trousers suddenly get tight. He shifted himself suddenly in reaction and Marie turned.

“Mr. Carter,” Marie sounded surprised and Frank noticed her almost instant change in demeanor. “I…I didn’t hear you come in.” She dropped the rolling pin and it clattered to the floor, the handle breaking off in the process. “Oh, dear! I’m so sorry—I’ve broken it. I’m so clumsy, I’m so sorry.”

He walked right over and picked up the rolling pin from the floor, along with the broken handle. He wasn’t looking at Marie at all.

“I can fix this,” he stated matter-of-factly, then turned and left the kitchen with the broken rolling pin. He stopped at the door and turned back to Marie. “Shouldn’t take me more than a few minutes, then I’ll bring it back to you so you can finish up that pie. I wouldn’t want to miss out on one of your pies.” He winked at her and left the kitchen, headed for the barn and his tools.

* * *

Marie just stood, in shock. Had Frank Carter really just winked at her? She just didn’t know what to make of that. He was her boss. He was just being friendly, that’s all, and she just wasn’t used to it. She wasn’t used to him being friendly and she wasn’t used to men being nice. And so far, Frank had been gruff and serious. Never friendly or lighthearted.

Maybe she had imagined it. Yes, that must have been what happened.

It was almost a relief, really. She had just started to become accustomed to his rough manner. The last thing she needed was for him to change and leave her having to figure him out all over again. Marie much preferred knowing what to expect from people, even if it wasn’t pleasant. It was the not knowing that made her nervous. Yes, she was sure now; she had imagined the whole thing.

It wasn’t that Frank was unpleasant looking. The opposite was true, really. He was a handsome man, Marie had decided when she’d had a moment to steal more than a quick glance at him without him noticing. He was very tall and not of slim build. Must be all the hard work he needed to do on the ranch. His body looked hard all over, from his barrel chest and huge arms to his strong hard thighs, which seemed to strain at the material of his trousers. None of it was fat.

But all that hardness and muscle just made him all the more intimidating, especially with his usual serious demeanor. His hair was dark brown and short—he kept it cut short—and his eyes were brown also, and he almost always had stubble on the lower half of his face by midday. He wasn’t handsome in a dapper kind of way, but his features were masculine and pleasant.

Yes, he was a ruggedly handsome man. But he scared the bejeezus out of her most of the time. He never smiled. And she was sure now that she had imagined that wink. It just wasn’t something Frank would ever do—it would be completely out of character for him, as far as she knew him.

* * *

Later that evening, Marie slowly woke to the sound of insistent knocking on her bedroom door. It was dark. Seemed like the middle of the night. She rose quickly and pulled her blanket from the bed around her to cover herself. Marie didn’t own a nightgown or robe. She slept in her underclothes.

She opened the door to find Frank holding Emmeline, rocking her as she cried.

He looked distraught. “Something’s wrong, I don’t know what, she won’t stop crying.” The words gushed out of Frank in a fast stream.

Marie immediately reached for the baby, holding her close and rocking her also. She moved back to her bed so she could lay the baby down and get a look at her.

Now, even though Marie had never had any children herself, she had been the oldest of seven. She looked like a natural as far as any bystander would be concerned. She had been around babies her whole life, as far back as she could remember—feeding and soothing and changing. She laid Emme on the bed and started to give her a once-over. And it didn’t take Marie long to figure what the problem was.

“She’s cutting teeth.” Marie turned to a worried-looking Frank and spoke softly, just loud enough to be heard over the crying. “Please get a clean diaper from Emme’s room and wet it and put it in the refrigerator. When it’s cold she’ll be able to bite down on it and soothe her pain a bit.”

Marie turned back to soothe Emme, but noticed from the corner of her eye that Frank hadn’t moved.

“Mr. Carter?”

Frank was staring at her and it only took Marie all of one second to realize why. The blanket she had wrapped around herself had fallen off in her concern for the baby and she hadn’t even noticed.

She stood before her boss, in a dark bedroom, in nothing but her underwear. Marie quickly reached down to retrieve the blanket and pulled it around herself. Frank couldn’t seem to move. She busied herself with the baby.

“Mr. Carter, sir, the sooner that wet cloth goes in the refrigerator, the sooner Emme will get some relief.” Marie turned to face him and waited for her words to sink in. It happened real sudden-like. It almost looked like someone had slapped him across the face.

“Of course.” That was all he said, then he turned and quickly left the room.

Marie breathed a sigh of relief, even though she was pretty sure she would have to deal with what just happened in greater depth in the morning—or sooner.

Marie bounced Emme gently on her hip and walked about the room a bit to distract her from her pain. It didn’t help poor Emme none, of course, but it gave Marie something to do to pass the time until Frank returned with the chilled diaper.

When he reentered Marie’s bedroom with the cold cloth, Marie set to helping Emme get it in her mouth and on her teeth. She caught on real quick, smart as a whip this little one was, and it wasn’t long before she had traded crying for biting and slurping on that cool diaper.

Marie looked up at Frank from where she was sitting on the bed, holding the baby. She was about to ask him to put another wet cloth in to chill, so that she could trade off when this one lost its cold, but he spoke first.

“Where’s your nightgown, girl?” He did not look happy.

Marie was afraid to answer. He’d probably be mad that she hadn’t told him she needed one when he had ordered the dresses for her. But she was on the spot and couldn’t think of a decent fib to cover that quickly. She looked down as she answered; he scared her when he was angry, and in the dark of night, well, he seemed even scarier. “I don’t have one, sir.”

“And why didn’t you tell me that when I was ordering them dresses for you from the catalogue?”