If she could stay at the ranch until the baby was born and she had regained her strength, she would leave without making a fuss. If he gave her a small amount of money it would be easier for her to start afresh somewhere else,
“Hannah.” She came out of her trance. “Doc said we should leave now. It’s a long drive home.”
“All right, stay with me while I say goodbye to everyone. They’ve all been so kind.”
He stood next to her as she said farewell to everyone. Doc and Iris walked out to the buckboard with them. “Make sure Grant brings you in with him when he comes to have the stitches removed,” Iris said.
“Thank you for everything, Iris.” Hannah gave her a hug. “You too, Doc. I never would have got through this without you.”
“I can take the stitches out myself.”
“You’ve had a nasty head injury and I want to make sure everything is healing as it should. Hannah, my dear, you make him bring you in.”
Grant placed his hands around Hannah’s waist to lift her into the buckboard then climbed aboard himself. “Giddup.” He slapped the horse’s rump with the reins to get him going.
As they left town the lights receded and the night grew black. Hannah shivered.
“Are you cold?” he asked.
“No, why?”
“Because I felt you shiver.”
“I’m not cold, I don’t know why I did that.”
They didn’t speak for a time. She knew they should. Once and for all she had to discuss her future with him. Easier to do it in the dark when she didn’t have to look into his face.
“Um, Grant.” She cleared her throat. “About the promise you made Arnie to marry me?”
“What about it?”
“I won’t hold you to it. Arnie was delirious, he didn’t know what he was saying.”
“I knew what I was saying. I gave my word and I won’t break it. Doc says we should do it sooner rather than later.” There was a harsh edge to his voice.
“I don’t want to marry you. You don’t even like me.”
“Liking you has nothing to do with it. It’s the ideal situation. I’ll look after you and Arnie’s child, you can keep house for me.”
“We don’t have to be married to do that.” She touched his arm and he flinched. “I need somewhere to live at least until after I’ve delivered the baby. After that you could give me a little money, I wouldn’t expect much, just enough to set myself up somewhere else.”
“It’s marriage or nothing, Hannah. I don’t have any money to give you.” In a few sentences he told her what had happened in the canyon. “So, there’s no money. I’ll be battling to keep the ranch going as it is.”
“I’m so sorry. You’ve lost your men as well as Arnie.” No wonder he had been so abrupt and angry, ready to accuse her of the most awful things the first time they met.
“I could help you make the ranch prosperous again.”
“How? You can’t ride. You can’t do any outside work,” he shot back.
“I can cook for you, do your washing and other household chores.”
“Look, Hannah. I’m tired, upset and so angry I could swallow a horn toad backward, so I’m not in the mood to argue.”
“I can stay without marriage.”
“I’m a bachelor, you’re a widow; we aren’t even related. If you stay with me without marriage your reputation will be ruined.”
“I’m prepared to risk that.”
“You might be, but I’m not. What about Arnie’s child? Do you want it to be stigmatized?”
“No, no, I couldn’t bear that.”
“We’ll get hitched. It will be a marriage in name only.”
“You won’t want….?”
“No, I won’t, well not with you.”
All her insecurities resurfaced, not that they had been buried very deep. A young virile man like Grant saw her as so unattractive he could live without what she now knew men wanted when it came to women. Oh, Arnie, why did you leave me? Tears filled her eyes and she sniffed them back. The night was so black she didn’t know how Grant or the horse could find their way home.
“Are you crying?”
“No, I mean yes.”
“If we get married we can lead our own lives, the ranch is isolated. No-one would know it isn’t a normal marriage.”
“What about when we go into town for supplies?”
“I’ll play the devoted husband.”
She detected a slight sneer in his voice. “What do you have against marriage?”
“Nothing, for other people. It just isn’t for me.”
“Don’t you want to fall in love?” She was like a dog with a bone and wouldn’t let go.
“No. I don’t believe in that kind of rubbish. Giddup.” He urged the horse to pick up speed.
They lapsed into silence.
“Why did you change your name, Milly?” His question shocked her. The breath caught in her throat and she clenched the side of the buckboard so she wouldn’t faint.
“How did you know?”
“On the day Arnie died, when I laid you on my bed I saw the birthmark.”
“Aunt Edna made me use my second name Milly, but Hannah is my first name.”
“She was a cruel old witch of a woman.”
“How do you know all of this?”
“Don’t you remember me? I said you would grow up into a beautiful swan and you did.”
“Luke Grant.”
“Yeah that’s me. Arnie always called me Grant, I don’t know why but it stuck.”
She couldn’t believe what was happening. Luke was the only person who had treated her kindly amongst the people she knew in Deadwood. He and his father had left in a hurry. They were there one day, gone the next.
“Why did you leave Deadwood so suddenly? Where’s your Pa now?”
“We left because Pa couldn’t pay his debts and had to get out. For years we moved from one place to the next, always just ahead of the debt collectors.” He gave a harsh bark of laughter. “One day when I was about fourteen, I woke up and he was gone. I’ve never seen or heard of him since.”
They lapsed into silence once more.
“Should I call you Luke or Grant?”
“Grant, everyone else does.”
“All right, Grant it is, and I’m Hannah. Silly Milly, the ugly duckling is dead and I never want her to be resurrected.”
“Okay.” He picked up her hand and squeezed it gently. “We can make this work if you don’t expect anything from me other than my protection and somewhere to live. I haven’t got anything else to give you.”
“All right, if that’s how you want it.”
They arrived at the ranch, he lifted her from the buckboard, came inside with her and lit two lamps. “I’ll see to the horse and come back.”
“Do you want a hot drink?” She felt bone weary now, all she wanted to do was sleep. It would blot out the pain of her loss.
“No thanks.”
“Grant. I accept your marriage terms.”
“Good, we need to get everything settled now, then we can try to get on with our lives.”
“Thank you. I’m going straight to bed.” She turned to go.
“Hannah.”
She spun around.
“You did grow up to be a beautiful swan like I said you would.” He strode out of the room, leaving her bemused. One minute he was surly, the next he was nice. She was too weary to even try to work it out.
She was in bed wide awake, hugging the pillow for comfort, when she heard Grant return. Her room was in darkness, because she had snuffed out the lamp, only leaving the one in the kitchen burning.
Hannah woke up to a mid-morning sun shining through the window. No sound came from the house, and she somehow knew Grant would have been up hours ago.
After dressing, she wandered out to the kitchen. The fire in the stove had been built up, the firebox replenished with logs and kindling. An empty cup and a crumb covered plate sat on the table. A bucket
of milk stood next to a loaf of bread. He had obviously done the milking before he left.
She cut off a slice of bread, speared it with a fork, opened the stove and held it over the flames to toast. For the sake of Arnie’s child she had to eat, even though she didn’t feel like it.
After eating, she lit the copper to catch up on the washing. She would normally have had her washing well and truly pegged out on the line by now. Once the washing was done, she tidied up the kitchen then sat down to have a second cup of coffee.
Keep busy to take your mind off Arnie and what you could have had with him. If she worked hard she would be exhausted by bedtime, making it easier to sleep.
After making her bed and dusting and sweeping the room she wondered whether to tidy up Grant’s room. He had said the house was her domain, so it was part of the house, wasn’t it?
Decision made she stepped into his room. It was dusty, clothes were strewn over the floor, bed unmade, no sheet on the mattress even. This would not do. It was an insult to her fastidious nature. Cleanliness is next to Godliness, Aunt Edna had drilled into her with her screeching voice, or the short strap hanging on the back of the kitchen door. The lesson was quickly learned, never forgotten.
No personal items lay on the old chest of drawers. She even peeked inside, nothing, except a few items of clothing. Half the drawers were empty. There were no curtains on the open window, no mat on the wooden floor.
She hung up the pants he had worn to the funeral, collected the rest of the clothes from the floor and took them out to be washed.
Part of the back porch had been enclosed and turned into a washing and laundry room. Apart from the copper and troughs, there was a battered hip bath. She always kept a bowl of clean water, towel and soap on a bench Arnie had put up for her. They drew their water from a well in the backyard and it was always crystal clear.
She cleaned Grant’s room and remade the bed with sheets and the old patchwork quilt Arnie had used before she made a new one for them.
Most of their meat was salted or dried, mainly beef and pork. They kept a few pigs purely for food. There were no sheep as Arnie hated them. Smelly, putrid animals he used to call them. They only ate fresh meat after a kill, and what they didn’t use in the first couple of days they preserved, so there was always plenty of meat for them. They ate well, the vegetable plot she had taken over on arrival produced potatoes, onions, corn and beans. They had apple and peach trees. Except for flour, salt, sugar and coffee, they could almost live off the ranch if need be.
Grant had sounded upset about losing his friends. He could have died as well at the hands of those vicious brutes. Icy fingers played up and down her spine. How unbelievable was it that Arnie’s Grant could be the boy Luke, who had stood up for her all those years ago at school. He had been the one spot of brightness in her bleak, cheerless existence.
Chapter 8
Grant arrived home as the sun was setting. He strode straight into the kitchen and sniffed appreciatively. “Something smells good.”
The stew was bubbling away on the stove, biscuits not long out of the oven. “I can dish up whenever you’re ready.”
“I’ll go to the wash house to clean up first.”
He returned within a short time, his face and hands washed, his dark hair slicked back from his forehead.
“Would you like a cool drink?”
“No thanks, I had some when I went past the well.”
They were like two over polite strangers.
“I noticed all the sheets and clothes on the line.”
“Yes, I put the copper on. I tidied up your room, too.” She waited for an explosion and wasn’t surprised when it came.
“You had no right. I’ll thank you to stay out of my room, there’s nothing wrong with it.”
“It was dusty and untidy. I did your washing as well.” She gave him a defiant stare. “Call it part of my wifely duties.”
“We’re not married yet,” he snapped.
“I’m sorry, Grant.” She reached out and touched his hand and he snatched it away. “I have to keep busy, but nothing too heavy.”
“All right. I suppose I should be grateful. It’s just that I’m not used to having the feminine touch around the house.”
“What happened to your mother?” She placed a plate of biscuits on the table and a small bowl containing butter.
“I don’t remember her, she died when I was small. Pa raised me as best he could I suppose. It wasn’t easy drifting from place to place.”
“Neither of us had a happy childhood. That’s why I want everything to be good for my baby.”
“Ouch, these are hot.” He dropped the biscuit on to the table.
“You should be more careful.”
“Yeah, I know. I’m trying hard, Hannah, but all this is new to me.” He bit into the biscuit. “These are good. At least the old dragon showed you how to cook.”
“And clean.”
They both laughed.
“You know how we used to come into the diner for a meal every few nights?”
She nodded. “Hers was one of the bills Pa never paid.”
“I’m glad. She must have been so angry about it.”
“Not as angry as when I climbed up and changed the sign over the diner.”
“You changed it?”
“Yeah. It used to be Duckworth’s Diner.”
“I used to wonder why it was called Ducky’s Diner. It didn’t sound like Aunt Edna at all.”
“She didn’t know it was me.” He grinned. “It would have been just before you arrived on the scene.”
“Why didn’t she get it changed back?” Hannah dished up the stew and it looked just as thick and appetizing as she had hoped.
“No-one would do it for free, and she was too mean to pay, so it stayed like it.” He smiled and what a difference it made to him. Luke Grant had been a fine looking boy, but even better as a man.
She sat down to eat. “You know something, if I ever have to leave here….”
“You won’t have to leave unless you want to.”
“Well, if I ever did, I would never go back to Deadwood. I hated it.”
He shrugged. “I’ve lived in dozens of towns like Deadwood and never felt like putting down roots in any of them. This tastes good.”
“Thank you, there’s plenty more.”
“I’ll certainly be having seconds.” He ate heartily while she nibbled at hers.
“You need to eat well,” he emptied his mouth long enough to say. “You’ve got the baby to think about, too.”
“I know, I just don’t have an appetite at the moment. I feel like I’m in a hole so deep I can’t climb out.”
“It will get better as time passes.” He didn’t sound too convincing to her.
A few days later, Doc removed Grant’s stitches and the preacher married them. Doc and Iris acted as their witnesses. Once they were pronounced man and wife the preacher said. “I hope you’ll bring Arnie’s child in for me to baptize.”
Grant shuffled his feet and grunted something. “We will, Preacher,” Hannah said. “Thank you for everything you’ve done for me and Arnie. I’ll be forever grateful.”
“You’ve got yourself a good woman,” the preacher said. “See you take good care of her.”
“He will,” Iris chipped in. “I’ll make sure he does.” She poked Grant in the ribs.
They strolled back to Doc’s place, refusing Iris’ offer to stay for lunch.
“I want to get back to the ranch. I’ve got a lot of work to catch up on. If only I hadn’t been away for so long.”
“It wouldn’t have made any difference, son. What Arnie had was incurable. He probably didn’t notice any symptoms until his eyesight started to deteriorate. You can’t look back. You’re both young enough to have a full and happy life together. Arnie would have wanted that.”
Hannah felt tears welling in her eyes and blinked them back.
“Do you want to wait here while I get the wagon from
outside the store? Mack said he would load up the supplies for me.”
“No, I’ll come with you, that way we can drive straight out of town and head for home.” She turned to the elderly couple. “Thank you both for everything.”
She linked her arm through Grant’s much to his surprise and they walked toward the buckboard. A drunken young cowboy accosted them as they passed the saloon.
“Not satisfied with getting Arnie’s ranch,” he sneered. “You took his woman as well.”
Grant went to remove his arm from hers, but she held on to him tightly. “No, don’t.”
She stared at the cowboy. “Does your mother know you speak so rudely to people?”
His face turned bright red, and swaying slightly, he stumbled away.
Grant laughed. “You handled him nicely, I was going to punch him on the nose.”
“No point using violence if you don’t have to.”
He lifted her up on to the buggy seat. Had his hands lingered on her waist a little longer than necessary?
Three months later.
Grant punched his pillow several times. It was impossible to sleep knowing Hannah was in the next bedroom. He was a dang fool suggesting a marriage in name only. Now he was stuck with it.
Things couldn’t go on the way they were. He was just about at the end of his tether. He tried to avoid her as much as possible, she seemed to be doing the same to him. Did she have feelings too? He didn’t know whether women had needs like men, but supposed some of them might.
She was the perfect wife in every way, except for the one thing he wanted above all else – to consummate their marriage. Most nights she read in bed. Even with the door closed he could see a sliver of light coming from under her door.
The moon shone through his window. He hadn’t bothered drawing the curtains she had placed there, and he no longer complained about her cleaning his room. In fact he liked the way it looked now.
She had turned the ranch house into a home, something he had never had before. He had to do something before desire drove him crazy. Could he have fallen in love with Hannah? He had mighty powerful feelings for her now.
Promise Forever: Fairy Tales with a Modern Twist Page 32
