“Is there anything I can do for you, ma’am?”
The man’s words interrupted her troubled thoughts, for which Ella was grateful. She shrugged. “Not that I know of, but thank you. I was just going to take a look around before I get on with my chores. It seems to be a beautiful day.”
“That it is, ma’am.”
Ella was becoming a little frustrated with his continued polite emphasis on her married status. Was he trying to remind her that she was a married woman? She wasn’t likely to forget. She could feel her smile tighten but tried to maintain a grip on her temper. With nothing more to say to the man, she stepped away, heading toward the first barn she could see.
“Ma’am, step carefully. We haven’t cleaned up the yard here yet, and many animals have passed through.”
Ella glanced down and realized he had prevented her from stepping into a smelly mess. Feeling heat climb her cheeks, Ella was torn between gratitude that he had helped her and embarrassment that she had required the reminder. While she was city bred, the problem was a universal one if you were ever crossing a street. She waved in acknowledgment of his words and continued carefully on toward the barn.
It was cooler and darker inside the large, wooden structure. Ella took a deep, appreciative breath. This space was clearly kept cleaner than the yard. All she could smell was fresh hay. The barn was nearly empty. Ella wondered why the foreman was still around if everyone else had left to work elsewhere on the property.
“Are you certain I can’t help you with anything?”
Ella nearly squeaked as she jumped and whirled toward the voice. She hadn’t heard Brent follow her into the barn.
“Why are you following me?” She squinted her eyes at him, full of suspicion.
“I was just trying to watch out for you, ma’am. It’s rather apparent you aren’t from around here. Wouldn’t want you to hurt yourself on your first day.”
Cheeks burning, Ella tried to be grateful but all she felt was resentment. She didn’t need a minder. He saved her from needing to respond by turning the subject.
“Were you by any chance looking for the horses? Or maybe the lambs?”
Ella didn’t want to admit that she hadn’t a clue what animals there might be on the farm, except that she had been expecting to see at least a few cows, so she merely nodded, making the man laugh.
“We had a surprise batch of lambs born just a couple days ago. The rest of the ewes gave birth weeks ago and those babies are getting pretty big by now, but come through here to the next barn and you’ll be able to see the new babies.”
Ella was delighted. She tried to appear unaffected, but she couldn’t wait to see the lambs now that he had told her about them. She lifted her skirt and hurried to keep up with his long strides.
The babies were delightful. Ella was well aware that babies of any species were appealing, but there was just something about the lambs that was drawing her in. She didn’t even mind when they nibbled on her hem and butted against her legs.
“Your pretty dress is going to get grubby if you don’t have a care, ma’am.”
She hadn’t realized he was still there. It startled her, but she appreciated his obvious concern for her wellbeing. But she wasn’t going to be gainsaid from her fun.
“That’s quite all right. It can be washed. These babies are just so darling, I cannot be bothered to prevent them from rubbing on me.”
“Have you never seen lambs before, ma’am?”
Ella grinned. His constant calling of her ma’am had been grating on her nerves, but now it was starting to amuse her. She tried to recall his question.
“No, I can’t say that I ever have. At least not in real life. Maybe in a painting. But no painting could ever capture how very captivating they are. And their plaintive bleating. I shouldn’t find it so amusing, I suppose, but I just want to cuddle them all.”
The foreman laughed along with her. “I never really thought about how someone unused to them might see them. I’m glad you like them.”
Ella looked up with a sigh. “I suppose I ought to return to the house and get on with preparing a meal. From the looks of the sun, noon is fast approaching.”
Brent scratched his head. The look he cast her was full of skepticism. “I think you have a bit more time to spare. Would you like me to show you a little bit more of the property before you head in?”
Ella hadn’t been too full of enthusiasm for the tasks that awaited her inside, so she quickly accepted.
It was all new to her and it struck her that her husband’s property must be vast indeed as the foreman showed her around.
“Do the animals out in the fields not have a shelter? Why would they be allowed to roam so far?”
“There’s no need for them to live in a barn as they aren’t dairy cows. They have thick coats that protect them through the winter months. We do like to have them closer so we can check on them, though, whenever there’s a particularly cold spell, but for the most part, they huddle together and manage quite well.”
“But why allow them to get so far away in the first place?”
Brent shrugged. “They like to roam. And your husband has enough property that it isn’t an issue. When they spread out over the land, it leaves enough grazing for all of them.”
“Doesn’t it leave them susceptible to predators if they’re spread all over the place?”
“It can. But your husband has some men that also roam around, keeping an eye on the herds and providing protection when necessary.”
Ella shivered. “What kind of predators might be around?”
Brent shrugged. “Bears, coyotes, wolves, mountain lions.”
Ella could feel her eyes growing wider and wider with each animal he listed. Brent chuckled at her expression.
“Not all at once, and most of them are rarely seen in these parts. But we have lost a few animals in the time I’ve been here. You just asked what might be around. Those might be.”
Ella looked around at the tranquil scene before her and gulped. She was just beginning to think she needed to return to the house where there was no chance of encountering a wild animal when her husband strode toward them.
“You two look deep in discussion. I hope I’m not disturbing you.”
He sounded angry, and Ella’s stomach clenched.
“I’m sorry. I let the time get away on me. I meant to have your meal ready for you when you arrived. If you’ll excuse me, I’ll get to that right away.”
Without waiting for a reply from either man, she lifted her skirts and hurried to the house, leaving a momentary silence in her wake.
Chapter Nine
“W hat’s gotten into you?” Brent asked.
Carter could feel heat filling his face. He tried to ignore his embarrassment.
“I didn’t think I had to tell you to stay away from my wife. I expected to need to warn the other men, but not you.”
“So, you expected me to ignore her when she came outside wanting to investigate your property? I thought I was doing you a service to keep her from harm.”
Carter could see the other man becoming belligerent in his indignation over Carter’s implication.
“I was surprised to see the two of you looking so deep in conversation.”
Brent shrugged. “She had a few questions about your spread. I answered them.”
“What kind of questions?”
Brent sighed. “I don’t know, questions. She obviously doesn’t know much about animals and such. She wanted to know why the cattle roam and would they be all right on their own.”
“Why’d she ask you that?”
“Probably because I was here. Maybe you shoulda been. Where were you off to when you could have been here answering your new wife’s questions?”
Carter again fought the rise of heat in his cheeks, refusing to acknowledge the truth of his friend’s words. He had ridden into the village hoping there had been word from Fred, but there were no messages awaiting him. If Fred chose to writ
e, it could be a week or more before he heard anything. Carter had been hoping to receive a telegram, but perhaps whatever Fred might have to tell him was too private. Carter would have to ride into the village daily until he got the information he sought. But he didn’t want to share that information with his foreman, even though he would trust him with his life. He wouldn’t have been able to explain why, if he had been asked.
“Never mind about where I was. Get back to your work.”
Brent raised his eyebrows at his boss’ unusually curt manner but didn’t respond other than to lift his hat sardonically and turn on his heel. Carter watched him walk away and wished he could call back his words. Brent was his friend besides his employee. And he would trust him with everything he had. Except his wife. She was too beautiful. And he didn’t trust her either.
That reminder sent him heading toward the house. He needed to keep his eyes on her. Who knew what sort of mischief she could get up to in his house. He ignored Brent’s chuckle coming from behind him. It wouldn’t do to acknowledge the man’s disrespect. He didn’t care if they were friends. He was the boss and his word was final.
His long strides ate up the distance and within seconds he was standing on the porch. He felt a moment’s hesitation before he barged into the house. She was in the kitchen, stirring something fragrant on the stove. His mouth watered and he wasn’t sure if it was the woman or the food that drew his attention more. He was a little disgusted with himself. How could he be so attracted to a woman he wasn’t sure he could trust?
“I’m almost finished,” she called over her shoulder. “I’m sorry I wasn’t ready when you were. I got caught up with admiring the lambs.”
The smile she cast at him appeared even more nervous than usual. His suspicious mind ratcheted up another notch. He needed to get to the bottom of his suspicions of her. But then he noticed she was chewing on her lip, and it dawned on him that she was genuinely nervous, that she was truly concerned that she hadn’t had his meal ready right at the stroke of noon.
“Don’t worry about it,” he was surprised to hear himself saying. “Nothing needs to be timed down to the very second. I’m just relieved that I don’t have to cook for myself anymore.”
She blushed at his words, as though pleased by them. Carter felt his brows furrowing. He didn’t know what to make of this woman. Once again, he hoped Fred sent him some information soon. Carter determined to return to the village first thing the next day.
Ella placed the steaming bowl in front of him filled with what looked like a thick stew. Then she placed a plate piled high with bread on the table.
“Did you just bake this today?” He could see it was still warm.
“Yes, we finished off all the bread you had this morning.”
“How did you find the time?”
Her face scrunched up in confusion. “I don’t understand your question.”
“You were outside wandering around,” he pointed out. “How did you have time to make bread?”
She laughed. “I put it in the oven before I went outside. As luck would have it, your arrival made me come in before I burnt it. So thank you for that. I would have felt dreadful if I had burnt my first batch of bread.”
“What do you mean by your first batch? You mean in your new kitchen?”
Now she truly looked uncomfortable. Her eyes flitted around the room, as though she were trying to avoid his gaze.
“Yes,” she finally answered him, which was not at all informative. He let out a sigh. She was no closer to trusting him than he was to her.
Carter shovelled the stew into his mouth. It was delicious, but now he could barely taste it. All he wanted to do was get out of the house. He hoped there was plenty of hard manual labor to keep him occupied that afternoon. If there weren’t enough chores, he would split wood. He needed to work off his frustration while he waited for any sort of explanation.
~~~
Several hours later, he returned to the yard to find his wife deep in conversation with Brent once more. Carter realized the sensation swelling in his chest was jealousy, but there wasn’t much he could do about it. He ought to tell her to stay inside. He certainly shouldn’t punch his foreman in the face like he wished to, so Carter tried to rein in his temper.
It didn’t improve his mood to realize that his arrival put a quick end to their conversation. Ella took one look at him and started toward the house with a backward wave to Brent. Carter watched her walk away while he sat astride his large horse.
“I thought I was fairly clear on my feelings about you visiting with my wife.”
“You certainly were,” was Brent’s cheerful reply.
Carter thought he might grind his teeth into dust as he clenched them in an effort to keep his emotions in check. “And yet here you are.”
“Yes, here I am. Look, McLain, if you don’t want me talking to your wife, you ought to tell her about it. I have no intention of being rude to the poor woman. She just wants to learn about your property and have someone to talk to. It’s far from a social hub around here.”
“She can talk to me if she wants someone to talk to.” Carter could hear the temper in his own ears but he tried to regain control of his emotions.
Brent lifted a sardonic eyebrow. “Perhaps you ought to tell her that, McLain. It’s not as though you’ve been around for her to talk to even if she wanted to. She wanted to spend more time with the lambs. Apparently you told her she could have a pet. She was wondering if a lamb might be a good pet. You’ll be happy, I’m sure, to know that I was able to convince her that while they would probably appreciate her visits, they wouldn’t enjoy living in your house.”
Carter growled, without intelligent words. He couldn’t deny what Brent was saying. He had deliberately absented himself from his wife’s presence in an effort to curb his disquieting feelings toward her. Along with his suspicions and disquiet, he was now beginning to feel a degree of guilt around how he was treating everyone. Carter needed to get a grip on the situation. It would not do to allow it to go on.
He guided his horse toward the barn and made quick work of taking off his saddle and rubbing the horse down. They hadn’t ridden far that afternoon, merely to check on the work being done on the fence along the perimeter. The men were making good time. The project would be done long before the snow flew. At least one thing was progressing smoothly, he was relieved to note.
His steps dragged as he approached the house, dreading facing his wife. It had been apparent his arrival had not been a welcome event for her since she had hurried back to the house as soon as he had appeared. Maybe he ought to try to learn about her from her own mouth before he heard whatever Fred had to tell him. Then at least he would have a level of perspective. But how to get her to talk?
Taking a deep breath when he stepped into the house, Carter appreciated the clean scent that permeated the air. The smell of freshly baked bread still lingered in the air, along with what smelled like cookies of some sort. He was also surprised to note a light scent of garlic. He doubted she would put garlic in cookies, but since he didn’t actually know anything about the woman, he wouldn’t make any assumptions. He would try to swallow them with a smile if she truly had baked garlic flavored cookies, he told himself with a little shudder.
He could hear footsteps overhead so he headed toward the stairs but before he could climb them, he saw that she was about to descend.
“Oh,” she said as she quickly stepped back from the top of the stairs. “I hadn’t heard you come in.”
Carter beckoned her forward. “Come down if this is where you were heading. I was only going to go up because I was looking for you.”
She had started to descend when he gestured for her, but his words made her steps falter. He saw that color was rising in her cheeks, and she now looked nervous and jittery once more. Carter wished he hadn’t said anything.
“Why were you looking for me?” Her voice was low, but he could hear the fear in it.
“I just wan
ted to ask if you were settling in all right. Have you found everything you might need?”
“Oh, yes, everything is just fine,” she answered quickly, but he wondered about the truthfulness of her answer.
“If you could pick one thing that would make it feel more like home, what would you select?”
By now she was finally at the bottom of the stairs, standing in front of him. Clearly she couldn’t drag out her descent any longer. She was fidgeting with the trim on her skirt and not meeting his eyes, but when his words registered with her, her head came up and she finally met his gaze. Surprise at his question was clearly written all over her face.
“Come, let us sit down. Clearly you have ideas.” He laughed as her blush deepened but she didn’t deny what he said. He led her over to the chairs grouped in front of the fireplace. It wasn’t yet cold enough for a fire, but it was the most comfortable place to sit and talk. And he would be able to watch her closely without a table between them to hide any revealing body language.
Once they were seated, she didn’t launch into speech immediately, so Carter prompted her again. “So, have you thought of something you would like?”
He could barely hear her, as her voice was so hesitant, but she finally spoke. “Curtains on the windows would make it much more homey.”
Carter blinked and looked around the large room. He hadn’t thought of curtains. But now that she pointed it out, he realized she was quite right. Every house he had ever been in had curtains of some sort on the windows. Even primitive mud huts usually had some sort of window covering. He almost smacked himself in the forehead. He had thought he thought of everything his house needed, but she had only been there for one day and she had already found something lacking.
“You’re absolutely right. I can’t believe I didn’t think of it myself.” He paused and looked at her closely. “Would you know how to make curtains if you had the right kind of fabric?”
Carter marvelled as her eyes lit up with delight over his question. But she didn’t jump up or in any other way reveal her thoughts. She merely nodded and said, “Yes, I would. But I didn’t bring much fabric with me, and I don’t think Sybil will think to add it to my trunk when she sends it.”
A Bride For Carter (The Proxy Brides Book 6) Page 7
