Almost A Bride (Mail Order Matrimony Book 2)

by Sarah Banks

  The week hadn’t gone by fast enough for David. He couldn’t come up with any excuses to drop by during the week that his aunt wouldn’t see right through, so he forced himself to wait until the following Sunday. And even though he arrived early, everyone including Leander was already seated around the table, except his aunt who was in the kitchen. He hung his hat and jacket on the pegs and went to greet his aunt.

  “You’re early,” she observed with her hands covered in biscuit dough.

  “Better than late,” he replied, dropping a kiss on her cheek.

  She smiled. “We’ve only been home from church for a few minutes. Supper’ll be another half hour or so.”

  “Anything I can do to help?”

  She gave him a look and he raised his hands, slowly backing out of the kitchen.

  “Uncle David!” Lee called, just noticing him. “We’re playing poker with Uncle Leander. Come play!”

  David froze. This was the first time Lee had ever called him uncle. He wasn’t entirely sure how he felt about it. Lee had been calling his aunt, Aunt Susan, practically since the day they met, she had insisted upon it. As far as he knew, Lee called Kate only by her name. But perhaps Leander had told the boy to call him uncle. He had a dozen plus nieces and nephews, it wouldn’t surprise him at all if Leander had made the suggestion and Lee had naturally applied it to him as well.

  He stepped toward the table and his eyes met Kate. She was watching him, he didn’t know for how long, he hadn’t allowed himself more than a quick glance at her since he came through the door. Leander was sitting at the head of the table, she was sitting to his left with Lee’s chair pulled close to hers. In front of them was a small pile of miniature sugar cookies that his aunt must have made for the occasion. She was always doing those sorts of things. She already loved these children, he could tell. And Kate too. He hoped that she wouldn’t be too hurt when they finally moved on. He refused to think of his own feelings on the matter.

  When he looked from their smaller pile of cookies to Leander’s much larger one, he decided that either Kate and Lee were terrible at poker, or Lee had been eating the cookies as he spied a couple of crumbs on his lips. Maybe both. He sat down across from them.

  “Deal you in?” Leander asked.

  David nodded and then looked at Kate again.

  “Where’s Olive?” He asked, taking the cards Leander dealt along with half of his pile of cookies ignoring Leander’s “Hey!”. “Napping?”

  Kate shook her head and nodded over her shoulder. Once he forced his gaze away from the long graceful line of her neck and the curling wisps of hair at her nape, he spied Olive laying on the rug in front of the hearth, reading a large book. Well, perhaps looking at the pictures. Even though he didn’t know much about children, he was pretty sure a three-year-old couldn’t read. It was the first time he had seen her without her thumb in her mouth, but he supposed she needed that hand to turn the pages.

  Her lips were moving and he could barely make out her voice. It was also the first time he had ever heard her speak. His lips quirked when he realized that she was making up her own story to go along with the pictures. Now that was something he would have done as well at that age. He had always loved to read.

  “We found another crate of books in the attic. Olive’s in heaven!”

  David smiled at Kate’s obvious joy. The children seemed to be thriving in her care these past few weeks. They no longer seemed to be the silent, frightened children they had been when they first arrived. He was surprised to see Kate’s cheeks turn pink as he studied her for perhaps a mite too long. Her eyes shifted down to the cards in her hand. She seemed more lighthearted as well. She no longer seemed upset with him after their disagreement on the wagon ride home the Sunday prior. He cast a quick glance at Leander and wondered if it had anything to do with him.

  Leander won the first hand, David won the second and it went back and forth like that with Kate and Lee’s pile of cookies rapidly disappearing. She didn’t have especially bad hands, but she did have tells, and when it finally came to a hand she might win she was practically dancing in her chair. She made a move to raise the bet but only a single cookie remained in her pile.

  “Hey! I thought I had more cookies left,” she complained, narrowing her eyes at Lee who stopped mid-chew.

  “Sorry,” he mumbled around a mouthful of cookie.

  Kate rolled her eyes with a smile. “I guess I’m out.” She gave Lee’s ribs a tickle and the boy laughed, cookie crumbs flying out from his mouth.

  “Supper’s just about ready anyway,” Aunt Susan called over her shoulder as she pulled a sheet of golden biscuits from the oven. “Lee, come get the plates and help set the table please.”

  David felt his mouth salivating at the sight and smell of the delicious biscuits. Nobody made a biscuit better than his aunt. Lee obediently slipped down from his chair and trotted into the kitchen.

  Before Kate could set down her cards, David impulsively said, “Bet something else.” He wanted to see her win.

  She raised her eyebrows. “Like what?” She looked around the room, her gaze touching on her sewing kit. “Buttons?”

  Leander shook his head. “Nuh-uh, I like cookies better,” he said, popping a cookie from his pile into his mouth and winking at her.

  Kate shook her head and laughed. “For some reason, I have a feeling Lee’s going to turn out just like you when he grows up.”

  “Is that such a bad thing?” Leander teased.

  David fought the urge to throw Leander out the front door. Leander’s flirting had never bothered him before but directed toward Kate, it made him crazy. They seemed so comfortable together. And David hated it.

  He quickly racked his brain and came up with, “Loser makes supper for the winner next Sunday.”

  Kate laughed. “I’m not sure I’m willing to risk invading Aunt Susan’s domain. She about got my fingers with a wooden spoon earlier.”

  “I’m not that bad,” Aunt Susan protested, overhearing their conversation.

  Nobody dared say anything but all three of them exchanged glances and grins.

  “Am I?”

  The three of them burst out laughing.

  Even though Aunt Susan crossed her arms, she couldn’t keep the smile from her lips. “I’ll give up my kitchen for an afternoon if it meant either one of these two scamps had to make supper,” she challenged, looking back and forth between him and Leander.

  “But there will be two losers,” Kate said.

  David thought that over. “Then two people make the meal.”

  He wanted to see Kate’s reaction when she won but if she lost and he did too, they would spend next Sunday afternoon in the kitchen together. He wouldn’t mind that at all. It shouldn’t be too difficult to avoid winning. The odds that she would either win or they would both lose seemed like a safe bet.

  “Okay,” she agreed.

  Leander accepted the terms as well and took three cards. David also took three cards, discarding his pair along with his highest card. Kate declined to take any cards and the adorable smile she couldn’t hide indicated that she had a stellar hand.

  When it came time for them to reveal their hands Leander groaned and tossed his cards face up on the table. He had a pair. “Of all the times to lose. I’m guessing a pair of eights won’t keep me out of the kitchen.”

  Kate’s smile widened and she shook her head, laying down her cards. “Nope.” She had a full house, Jacks over sevens.

  Leander whistled. “Nice.” And then he looked over at David expectantly. “I guess it’s you and me in the kitchen. We’re in deep trouble because one great thing about having six sisters is I’ve never had to cook a meal a day in my life.”

  “Did you win Kate?” Lee asked excitedly over her shoulder.

  “I’m not sure yet. David?”

  David looked from her cards on the table to the cards in his hand and then to her smiling face. He reluctantly laid his cards face up on the table. He had a full ho
use too, kings over threes. He had drawn two kings and a three. Of all the bad luck. He had beaten her.

  Kate’s smile dimmed only slightly but she was a good sport about it. “Not this time Lee. Next time. Don’t worry Leander, I’m not terrible in the kitchen but I’m also not as good as Aunt Susan.” She gathered the cards up and helped Lee set the table.

  David was a passable cook after watching his aunt in the kitchen all these years but it didn’t matter because he had won. He had wanted Kate to win, just to see the look of pure joy on her face. His consolation prize was to have been spending the following Sunday afternoon in the kitchen with her and he hadn’t even managed that. Now she and Leander would be spending even more time together. That was the last thing he wanted. He felt like he had lost all the way around.

  They ate supper and afterwards, while Lee read to his sister and Kate helped his aunt with the dishes, he and Leander went out to the porch to smoke their cheroots.

  They smoked in silence for awhile before Leander finally said, “Go ahead and ask.”

  David cocked his head. “Ask what?”

  “About our picnic.”

  David exhaled smoke, “What picnic?”

  “You didn’t know?”

  “Know what?” David asked, frustration making him grind out his cheroot before he was entirely finished. “What are you talking about?”

  “I took Kate on a picnic Friday afternoon. A sunset picnic on Pine Rock.”

  Pine Rock was about an hour away by wagon and someplace David had gone at least twice a year when both his parents were still alive. Sunsets were remarkable anywhere around here given the right skies, but they were especially spectacular on top of Pine Rock. It was a place his father used to take his mother and him and something David hadn’t allowed himself to think about in quite some time. And now Leander had taken Kate there on a romantic sunset picnic. He should have been the one to take her there.

  David fought hard to keep his voice neutral. “Why did you take her to Pine Rock?” He asked, even though he already knew the answer. Leander had asked to court Kate. Something he hadn’t been able to stop thinking about the entire past week. Kate said she would refuse him, but had she?

  Leander saw right through David’s supposed disinterest with a roll of his eyes. “She turned me down.”

  “She did?”

  David was both surprised and relieved. Every time he had seen them together these past few weeks their relationship seemed so natural, as if they had known each other for years. It didn’t seem too far outside the realm of possibility that they might marry each other.

  “Did she say why?”

  Leander shrugged.

  “I’m sorry.”

  “Are you?” Leander challenged softly.

  David didn’t answer. Leander had known him for nearly twenty years, he would recognize the lie instantly. He wanted them both to be happy, but he couldn’t deny he was glad Kate had turned down Leander’s proposal. Unlike Leander, David had never seriously considered leaving the small town of Noah. He was born and raised here, and he supposed he’d eventually die here too. But if Kate had married Leander, it might have been the one thing that could have forced him to leave town. He didn’t think he could bear to see his best friend and the woman he was supposed to marry, end up together. But she would marry someone else eventually, wouldn’t she? He forced the thought away and noticed Leander was still staring at him, awaiting a response.

  “Well, it’s not like you love her or anything, right?” David said thoughtlessly.

  Leander’s eyes narrowed. “I might not love her, but I know a good woman when I see one and you were a fool to let her get away.” Leander ground out his cheroot and went back inside without waiting for a response.

  Chapter Nine

  The following Sunday when David entered his aunt’s kitchen Leander was nowhere to be found even though he had lost last week’s poker hand and should be making Sunday supper with Kate. He had seen Lee, Olive and some neighborhood kids running around outside, enjoying the mild weather when he rode up. Aunt Susan was sitting on the top porch step, keeping watch over the children while sewing a pair of David’s old pants from when he was a kid for Lee. She told him Lee had already grown an inch in the weeks he’d been here before he ducked inside to see Kate.

  He found Kate all alone in the kitchen looking especially lovely. Her skin was glowing from the heat of the stove, more than half of her golden-brown hair had slipped free of the knot at the back of her neck, cascading over her shoulders and she was dusted with flour, from head to toe.

  “I promise it’ll taste better than I look,” she teased, dragging the back of her hand across her forehead, doubt creeping into her voice and he couldn’t help but laugh.

  He opened his mouth to tell her she looked beautiful but then closed it. This is what it would be like if he had married her, he realized. It was easy enough to imagine her in his own kitchen. After a long day at the mill he would come home and she would be there, waiting for him.

  He had been a fool to refuse her, he had always known that and although she turned down Leander’s proposal, she would marry someone eventually. She was too much of a prize not to and Noah was filled with eager bachelors.

  “Why are you looking at me like that?”

  He took a step toward her and then another. She took a step back until she was pressed back against the counter. He stopped close enough that her skirts brushed the tops of his boots. “Like what?” He asked softly.

  “Like you want to…” Her voice tapered off, her gaze dropping to his lips. She unconsciously licked her own lips and he groaned. Her eyes flashed back to his.

  “Like I want to kiss you?”

  She swallowed, licked her lips again and responded, “Yes.”

  “Because I do.”

  She sucked in a breath.

  “May I?”

  “It’ll only make things more complicated,” she warned him.

  “They’re already complicated,” he replied. He picked up a lock of hair from her shoulder, rubbing it between his fingers before sweeping it back over her ear. He gently cupped her jaw, tilting her head up. “May I?” He repeated.

  Instead of answering, she leaned up and touched her lips to his. David groaned and pulled her into his tight embrace, immediately deepening the kiss. She moaned, wrapping her arms around his waist. His hands swept up into her hair as he continued to plunder her mouth.

  “Kate! What smells so good?” Lee called clopping up the front porch steps. By the time he made it past the screen door, Kate was alone at the counter and David was standing behind a chair at the table several feet away. “I can smell it all the way at Billy’s! Hi Uncle David!”

  David didn’t correct Lee calling him uncle. He found himself getting used to the moniker. He ruffled Lee’s hair and noticed that he was indeed taller than before. “It does smell good, doesn’t it?”

  Lee nodded enthusiastically.

  “Set the table and you’ll see what I made,” she told Lee over her shoulder. Her cheeks were even pinker than before and she seemed to be avoiding David’s gaze for the moment.

  David helped Lee set the table and when they were nearly finished he caught Kate watching them from the kitchen. She was leaning back against the counter where he had just kissed her with a small smile on her face. When she realized he had caught her staring, she straightened and blushed some more. He wanted to go over and kiss her again. This is what it could have been like. Kate would be his wife. In eight or nine years, this could have been his own son. This should have been his life.

  He still wanted her.

  Aunt Susan and Olive came in from outside and joined them at the table. He forced himself to look away from Kate.

  “You have some flour on your face David,” Aunt Susan said mildly as she settled Olive in her chair.

  David picked up his napkin and ran it across his entire face, especially his mouth. When he looked up he noticed Kate doing the same with a kitchen to
wel and his aunt watching them both with mirth in her eyes.

  After everyone was sitting, Kate served them each a miniature pie. Lee’s eyes went wide with surprise and delight. “Pie for supper!” He exclaimed.

  “Sort of,” she said, sitting down next to Lee with a smile. “It’s chicken pot pie.”

  “Chicken pie?” Lee repeated with uncertainty.

  “Uh-huh, with gravy and vegetables.”

  Lee’s nose wrinkled.

  “Maybe I should have left the part about vegetables out,” Kate said with a laugh.

  Lee poked his fork at it and steam escaped the punctured holes.

  “Try it,” she encouraged him. “I think you’ll like it, but careful, although it’s been cooling for a little while it’s still very hot.”

  Lee tentatively stuck a small forkful in his mouth followed by another large bite and then another. He quickly demolished his pie and helped his sister finish hers too.

  “I think he likes it,” Aunt Susan said, dabbing her napkin against her lips.

  Lee eyed Aunt Susan’s pie and scooted his chair closer to her, fork in hand. “Hey!” She exclaimed and they all laughed.

  ∞∞∞

  His aunt stepped out onto the darkened porch, finding him lurking in the shadows. When he had heard the door open, against his better judgement he hoped it was Kate, and was both relieved and disappointed to discover it wasn’t. Mostly disappointed.

  Aunt Susan walked toward him, tightening her shawl around her shoulders. “What are you still doing here David?” She inquired softly.

  Heck if he knew. He should have left hours ago. Instead he asked a question of his own, “How did you know I was still here?”

  She met his eyes in the shadows. “I didn’t hear your horse leave.”

  He had untethered his horse from the hitching post but that was as far as he got. Other than an impatient sigh now and again, his faithful horse he had for nearly fifteen years now hadn’t gone far from her original spot. David nodded and glanced at the house.

  “She doesn’t know you lingered,” she told him, reading his thoughts. “She and the children went to bed some time ago, shortly after you left. Lee practically fell asleep in his second piece of pie. Kate tucked them in and went off to bed herself.”