Tracie Peterson (5 page)

Chapter 7

D
aughtry felt as though she lived a lifetime within a single day. Nicholas asked her to share with him all that she’d done in his absence, and Daughtry happily complied. He seemed especially impressed with the large stack of wood she’d positioned near the back of the house.

“I couldn’t find any more coal,” she explained, “so I did the next best thing.”

“Those must be some arms you have,” he teased and reached out to gently caress her upper arm. “Hmm, you don’t feel like a lumberjack.”

Daughtry giggled and looked at him shyly. “I felt like one and I think I probably got as dirty as one. I went down to that grove of trees by the creek,” she said and pointed. “There was quite a bit of dead wood there, and I just made good use of it.”

“I have a load of coal coming,” Nicholas said, reluctantly removing his hand from her arm. “It ought to get here tomorrow or the next day at the latest. I also arranged for the ice man to deliver here until the creek freezes. I figure I can manage to keep us supplied through the winter.”

Daughtry felt her skin tingle long after Nicholas had stopped touching her. She barely heard his words as he continued to speak of his arrangements for the ranch.

“I thought we might go into town tomorrow. We could purchase some of the things we’ll need for the winter and also get some staples that I didn’t have on hand. Milk and eggs ought to be readily available.”

“A milk cow and chickens would suit us better,” Daughtry said without thinking.

“I suppose that’s true enough,” Nicholas said thoughtfully, “but with winter coming on and us not having the ranch really prepared for livestock, I thought maybe we’d just rely on store bought.”

“I guess that makes sense,” Daughtry replied, walking with slow even strides beside her husband.

They paused at the broken down corral, and Nicholas leaned against a piece of fencing. The wind had picked up a bit and blew wisps of Daughtry’s hair across her face.

Daughtry noticed the look of hesitancy in her husband’s eyes, and she couldn’t help but wonder if he were hiding something from her. How could she know what type of man he’d been before or what type he’d be now? Mother had once said that people always proved their true nature by their actions. Well, so far Nicholas’s actions had given Daughtry little to fear.

“What do you suppose we should do first?” he asked her seriously.

Daughtry’s introspection was released as she shrugged. “It all depends on your plans.”

“What would you suggest?”

Daughtry smiled. “Well, being a woman, I suggest the house be put in order first. When I was trying to repair the roof the other day. . .”

“What? You were up on the roof?” Nicholas interrupted.

Daughtry felt her face flush. “Not exactly ladylike, was it?”

Nicholas laughed. “Ladylike or not, I’m amazed at your abilities. Did you actually get up there to fix the roof?”

Daughtry nodded, feeling rather proud. “I was inspired. The second night here it rained so hard that I had puddles all through the house. I can’t say I accomplished much, but it was a healthy start.”

“I guess that’s what I’ll do first then,” Nicholas said with a thoughtful glance back at the house. “What else?”

Daughtry smiled. He genuinely wanted her to have a say in the matter. “Well, I’d like to cart everything out of the house and clean it good before winter sets in,” Daughtry admitted. “As you could see, I only managed to set the kitchen and bedroom to rights before your return.”

“Two very important rooms, if I do say so myself,” Nicholas remarked.

“I figured it that way too,” Daughtry said and, without thinking of the implications, added, “after all, I figured most of my time would be spent in one place or the other.” The words were no sooner out than Daughtry realized how they sounded. She clapped her hand over her mouth.

Nicholas laughed until he doubled over, and Daughtry turned crimson, knowing he must think her terribly forward.

“I didn’t mean,” she started to justify herself, then realized she would only make matters worse by continuing.

Nicholas straightened up and tried to control his mirth. “That’s quite all right, Honey,” he said with tears of laughter gleaming in his eyes. “I pretty well figured what you meant.”

Daughtry had to turn away to hide her embarrassment at her own statement.
Sometimes,
she thought,
I say the stupidest things.

Nicholas sobered as if he’d noticed her discomfort. “So we empty the house,” he said matter-of-factly, “and we wash it all down. Then what?”

“We put it all back inside,” she answered softly. “Of course, if we don’t want something back in the house, we can store it in the barn. I don’t really know where you want things, so it might be nice if you had a part in the sorting through.”

“I’m not sure what’s even in there,” Nicholas admitted. He stared at Daughtry’s back for a moment before continuing. “I bought the place as is from a widow woman who wanted to move back East to live with her daughter. She’d let the place run down to this state and was barely able to feed herself. I heard from the sheriff in town that they were considering trying to force her out for her own good, so I came out here and we made a deal. She left a lot behind, but I have no idea whether it’s useful stuff or just junk.”

Daughtry nodded and finally turned to meet Nicholas’s gaze. “I uncrated the dishes,” she said, “but I didn’t go through much else. I guess we can do that together, if you like.”

“It would be my pleasure. Now, why don’t you tell me about our grove of trees. Did you see anything of value there?”

“There were several apple trees, and I think I recognized a plum or two. Would you like to walk down there?”

“Yes,” Nicholas replied. “I’d like that.”

Daughtry began to walk at a fairly good pace. She was disturbed for some reason by the feelings Nicholas brought about. She thought back to the days she’d spent with nothing more than his picture and realized how much she’d lost her heart to him.
He can’t possibly feel the same way,
she scolded herself.
Men are much more level-headed about such matters.
Nicholas obviously needed a hard-working wife, and he probably hadn’t wanted to waste his time with romantic notions and courting.

Daughtry was so lost in these thoughts that she didn’t pay any attention to the ground she was covering. Before she could tell what was happening, she lost her footing on a large rock and fell forward.

Nicholas’s arm shot out in a flash and encircled her waist protectively. He pulled her upright, then, as though he were doing the most natural thing in the world, he pulled her close against him.

Daughtry stared up into his face, knowing he would kiss her. She saw the questioning look in his eyes, as though he were asking permission. Without thought, she reached her hand up to the back of his head and pulled his face down to meet hers.

Nicholas needed no more encouragement. He quickly captured her lips with his own and kissed her so ardently that Daughtry forgot for a moment who and where she was. When he pulled away, Daughtry uttered the first thing that came to mind.

“I love you, Nicholas! I have ever since seeing your picture.” Daughtry
no longer cared that the declaration sounded like that of an infatuated teenag
er. She meant the words with all her heart. She really did love this man.

Nicholas held her at arm’s length for a moment. The troubled look on his face brought Daughtry back to reality. Somehow, she had offended him.

“I’m sorry,” she whispered and walked backwards a step. “That must sound insincere. After all, we’ve known each other for such a short time.” She turned to go back to the house, wanting to run away and hide from her feelings and the man she’d so clearly startled.

Nicholas crossed the distance between them and halted Daughtry from going any farther. “I don’t believe you could be insincere if you tried,” he whispered.

Daughtry lifted her face, revealing all the emotion and misgivings she felt. “Please don’t be angry with me. It’s just that I haven’t had much practice at things like this. Maybe it’s because I’ve never felt this way before.” She shrugged her shoulders before continuing. “My mouth gets a little ahead of itself sometimes, as you’ve witnessed before.”

Nicholas shook his head. “I’m not angry. Surprised, yes, but not angry.”

Daughtry nodded and tried to think of something she could say to negate her declaration of love. Short of lying, however, she didn’t know what she could say. She meant her words of love. As crazy and untimely as it seemed, Daughtry knew they were truer than anything else she’d said to Nicholas.

As if reading her mind,
Nicholas
took hold of her hand and squeezed it gently. “Just answer me this. Now that we’re not in the middle of a kiss, did you mean it?”

Daughtry knew exactly what he was asking of her. “I meant it,” she barely whispered. “I know it sounds impossible, but it’s true. I never would have married you otherwise.”

They walked back to the house in silence, but Daughtry felt the awkwardness between them. She knew Nicholas was taken aback by her statement, but she sensed that something more than just that was troubling him.

Without a word, they sat down at the table and stared at each other. When Nicholas finally did speak, Daughtry felt her heart skip a beat.

“Tell me about your family, Daughtry.”

The soft request shouldn’t have caused her such fear, but Daughtry felt confident that Nicholas would never allow her to stay if he knew the truth. And more than ever now, Daughtry didn’t want to lose her husband and new life. She didn’t want Nicholas to send her back home.

“I grew up on a ranch,” she said carefully. “I learned just about everything there is to know. I can ride, shoot, rope, brand, mend fence, whatever. I’ve nursed sick calves back to health, assisted with birthings, medicatings, and even helped to drive the herds to market. Ranching isn’t just something I learned,” she admitted. “It’s something that’s in my blood.”

“But that doesn’t answer my question. I want to know about your family. You said that you were alone, but there must have been someone with you at one time or another. What became of your father and mother? Do you have brothers or sisters?”

“I had a sister,” Daughtry said, feeling it safe to speak of Julie. “She died several years ago when her horse slipped on an icy trail and went over the side of a ravine.”

“I’m sorry. That must have been terribly hard on your folks.”

“Yes, it was,” Daughtry admitted before realizing that Nicholas had led her where she didn’t want to go.

He was looking at her intensely now, expecting her to continue, but Daughtry knew she couldn’t. “I don’t want to talk about it anymore,” she whispered and quickly left the room.

❧

Nicholas
stared at her chair for several minutes. What was she hiding and why did she look so fearful whenever he mentioned her past? Frustration began to build into anger at her distrust, but then Nicholas caught himself and realized that he had no room to express such thoughts. He was just as guilty of hiding from the past as she. Maybe it was what had brought them together. Maybe it was what God expected them both to deal with.

Chapter 8

T
he weeks that passed were the happiest Daughtry had ever known. She worked at Nicholas’s side, laughing, teasing, and falling into a comfortable routine of being Mrs. Dawson. At night, they snuggled down under handmade quilts to share each other’s warmth. Beneath the covers, they talked and dreamed about the future.

Daughtry loved it all. Not a single part of her new life caused her regret, except that she had to avoid her past. She started having nightmares about her father coming to tear her away from Nicholas’s strong arms, but she choked back her fears and refused to let them surface. She couldn’t risk losing all that had come to mean so much to her.

But, try as she might, Daughtry couldn’t forget her family, nor could she dispel the building anxieties that haunted her every waking moment. All she could do was pray and ask God to forgive her and guide her steps, convincing herself that nothing else needed to be done.

Sundays were always a joy to Daughtry. She prepared for church with great enthusiasm, though today the sniffles from a passing bout with a head cold caused her some discomfort.

Nicholas popped his head through the bedroom door with a grin as broad as the barn door opening. “You need help with the buttons, Mrs. Dawson?”

Daughtry looked up and shook her head. “You can’t appreciate what we women have to go through in order to look just right for our men.”

Nicholas rolled his eyes. “You always look just right to me, even when you’re wearing those boys’ jeans you seem to favor.”

“Sometimes I wish I could wear jeans to church,” Daughtry said with a giggle. “Especially when the wind whips up and comes blasting across the open range.”

“Well, I’d better never find you wearing those things off the property. It wouldn’t be decent to have all the townsmen following you around with their tongues hanging out.”

“You sound just like my father,” she replied without thinking. The words were no sooner out than she realized her mistake.

Coming to her, Nicholas pulled Daughtry into his arms. “Why are you so afraid to tell me about him? Did he hurt you?”

Daughtry shook her head.

“I promise to understand. Whatever it is—whatever he did to you. . . .” His words trailed into silence.

“He was a wonderful father,” Daughtry said, still trembling beneath Nicholas’s touch. She would say nothing more, though, and in frustration Nicholas released her.

“I’ll get the wagon,” he said and stalked out of the room.

Daughtry knew she’d hurt him by refusing to deal honestly with him. She comforted herself by remembering that Nicholas refused to share any real details of his own past with her. They were both hurting and hiding, she decided. They might as well do it together.

Daughtry was glad that Nicholas wasn’t a man given to holding a grudge. By the time they headed into town he was laughing and joking about first one thing, then another.

After church they enjoyed a leisurely ride home, and
Nicholas
shared his plans to buy Daughtry a horse. Good horse flesh was something to get excited about, and Daughtry squealed her delight at the news and threw her arms around Nicholas’s neck.

“You really mean it?” she asked, hugging him so tight that he had to stop the horses in order to control her.

“Yes. Yes,” he said, laughing at her enthusiasm. “Who would’ve thought that a little ol’ horse would have gotten me so much attention?”

“It’s just that I’ve really missed riding,” Daughtry said happily. “Back home, I used to ride every day. I had the most wonderful gelding named Poco. He was about fifteen hands high and had the most beautiful gray coat.” She stopped talking because Nicholas was looking at her strangely.

Daughtry jumped back and hung her head. She’d done it again. She couldn’t keep from bringing up her family and the home life she’d once
loved. “He was a good horse,” she finally said, when Nicholas wouldn’t
speak.

Nicholas remained silent and, when Daughtry said nothing more, he snapped the reins and sent the horse down the path to home.

Daughtry tried not to think about her family that night as she curled into her husband’s arms. The day had brought on too many memories, and more than once she’d nearly told Nicholas everything just to be rid of the burden.

“Nicholas?” she whispered against his ear.

“Yeah?”

“I love you.” Her voice sounded like a child’s trying to get on the good side of an adult.

For a minute, Nicholas said nothing. He tightened his grip on her and sighed. “I don’t think you can love me and not trust me,” he finally replied.

Daughtry stiffened in his arms. “What would you know about it? You don’t love me. At least you’ve never said that you do.”

Nick chuckled at her little girl-like voice. “Never said I didn’t, either.”

Daughtry tried to ease away, but Nicholas would have no part of it. “Daughtry,” he whispered her name and it sounded like a song. “Don’t leave me.”

Daughtry wanted to cry out that she’d never leave, but in the back of her mind that one thing spread panic through her like no other. She might not ever leave of her own accord, but what if her father forced her to leave?

“Never!” she declared in a whisper and settled down into his arms again.

Daughtry faded into a deep sleep, but soon she found herself in the middle of a most realistic nightmare. Her father had learned of her marriage to Nicholas, and now he had come to face him in some sort of showdown, straight out of the frontier days she’d heard so much about.

Tossing from side to side, Daughtry fought with the images, pleading with her father to leave things as they were. He was furious and unyielding,
promising to take Daughtry back home where she belonged and to hurt
Nicholas if he dared to interfere.

He quoted the Bible to her, as Daughtry fell to her knees at his feet. “Children are to obey their parents,” she heard him say. Turning in her dream to face her husband, Daughtry cried out at the betrayal and pain she saw in his eyes.

“You can’t be my wife, Daughtry. You are his daughter,” Nicholas told her through the misty fog.

“No,” Daughtry moaned softly in her sleep. “No.”

“Daughtry!” Nicholas exclaimed and gently shook her shoulders.

“Oh, Nick,” she cried and fell limp against him as though all of her strength had been drained away.

Gently, he eased back against the pillows, taking her with him. “Why don’t you stop all of this and tell me what’s wrong. Tell me what you’re keeping from me that causes you to have such fitful nights.”

Daughtry looked up at him in surprise. Nicholas just shook his head. “This isn’t the first time, you know. You nearly flail me to death night after night. It’s only getting worse, so you might as well deal with it here and now.”

Daughtry knew he was right, but the fear in her heart caused her to hesitate. “You won’t like it,” she whispered.

“Why not let me be the judge of that?”

“Because I can already tell,” Daughtry replied. “You’re so serious about everything, and you handle things in such a mature way that I’m afraid this will make you very angry with me.”

“Daughtry,” Nicholas said, reaching out to touch her cheek, “I could never be angry with you. Tell me.”

Daughtry wiped at her tears with the back of her sleeve, took a deep breath, and got up on her knees. “I ran away from home to marry you.”

“What?” Nicholas’s eyes widened in surprise. “Don’t tell me you’re really sixteen or something.”

Daughtry laughed. “No, I’m honestly as old as I said. A woman wouldn’t joke about a thing like that.”

“Then why do you say you ran away?”

Daughtry folded her hands. “My father was devastated after my sister died. It will be four years this November—but he only gets worse with each year that passes. Julie’s death caused him to become overprotective of me. Everywhere I went, either he or one of my five brothers was there to shadow my every step. He wouldn’t let me meet anyone or court. That’s why I never fell in love with anyone else. You have to understand, I love my father and brothers, but they were smothering me to death. Even my mother understood how I felt, but she couldn’t seem to reason any sense into my father.”

Daughtry could not bring herself to look at Nicholas’s face as she continued. “We had a terrible argument the night before I learned of your advertisement. When I saw your ad in the paper, I thought it just might be my way out. I decided to write to you and at least learn more about you, but then you wrote back with the proxy and the train ticket.” She paused. “And your picture.”

She looked up to see that Nicholas had put his hands behind his head and was studying her intently. Fearing what he might say, she hurried on. “I was going to write to you and refuse the proposal. I thought I could reason with my father, but when I tried to ask him nicely to give me more space—to let me grow up and fall in love—he refused. I was so angry, that I wrote them a long letter and slipped out in the middle of the night to come to you. I didn’t let them know I was marrying you, and I didn’t say where I was going, only that I would be taken care of and safe.”

She sighed. “I’m really sorry, Nicholas. I thought I was doing the right thing, or at least I thought it would work out to be the right thing. I saw it as an opportunity and I took it. Now, I keep having these horrible dreams that my father and brothers come to take me back. They’re always so angry and ugly, and I never have a chance to save you.”

By now she was crying and Nicholas could no longer remain aloof. “Five brothers?” he asked, his forehead wrinkling up in disbelief.

Daughtry only cried all the more and nodded her head. “I don’t want to leave you. I don’t want them to take me away.” She nearly wailed the words, and Nicholas began to chuckle.

“No one is going to take you away from me, Daughtry. Especially not now, not after all this time has passed between us. You’re a grown woman, and you made your choice. You’re a married woman, and you belong with me.” His words forcefully placed the boundaries for Daughtry to see.

“What’s done is done,” he added. “You can’t let them worry about you, though. And you can’t go on having nightmares every night. I have to believe that this father of yours must be someone pretty special. Otherwise, it wouldn’t upset you so much. Tomorrow we’ll go to town and you can telephone them, or we’ll send a telegram. Either way, you have to let them know what you’ve done and that you’re all right.”

“You aren’t mad at me?” she asked through her tears.

Nicholas opened his arms to her with a smile, and Daughtry nestled down eagerly. “How could I be mad at you?” he whispered and reached over to turn down the lamp. “I love you.”