Jake was stunned.
“It’s a geranium,” Elizabeth said when she saw him looking at it. “The reverend had a plant and he offered me a bloom for my bridal bouquet.”
Jake felt suddenly conscious of the dried mud on his boots. And the creases in his shirt. He’d tied his hair back with a string of rawhide, but he smoothed it down anyway. He should be wearing a suit. Not that he owned one, but he should have tried to borrow one from the officers at the fort. Sergeant Rawlings probably had one.
Elizabeth was smiling at him. Not a big smile, granted. But she looked as though she was well enough pleased to be standing where she was.
“I should have gotten you a ring. If you wait a minute, I’ll go back and get one.” Jake realized with a start that he was as nervous as an untried colt. Until this very minute, part of him had assumed Elizabeth would have the sense to back out of their agreement. He’d even given her a half hour with the reverend. Surely the good man had talked some sense to her.
“Or flowers. Maybe I can find some proper flowers.” He could almost see his mother shaking her head over that little geranium blossom.
Elizabeth shook her head. “We don’t need to fuss.”
Jake didn’t agree. Elizabeth looked like a bride. Not just because of the flower, but also because her face was all pink and glowing. She looked very pleased with herself. And beautiful in that quiet way she had.
“You’re okay with all of this?” he asked her. He needed to give her one last chance to change her mind.
But Elizabeth nodded. “Reverend Olson made me realize that, if I had died before Rose, she would have needed another woman to help her live. The fever could have taken me as easily as it took Matthew. So I’m doing this for Rose in a way. I consider it an honor to help.”
Jake felt her words like a kick to his stomach. He didn’t know what he had been thinking. Of course, this wasn’t about him. He wouldn’t be able to please this woman any more than he’d pleased his mother. Elizabeth wasn’t marrying him with any hope in her heart related to him. She was being a dutiful martyr, giving herself up to keep a helpless baby alive.
Well, Jake decided, he couldn’t complain. That had been their agreement.
He glanced over to where Spotted Fawn sat on one of the benches with the baby on her lap. Those two were all he needed to worry about.
“Ready?” Reverend Olson asked as he walked over to look out the window. “I see my wife and her sister coming. They’ve agreed to be witnesses.”
“We decided to do the minimum.” Elizabeth looked up at Jake. “None of the sickness and health—just the ‘I dos.’”
“Is that legal? I don’t mind promising to take care of you.”
“Well, but it doesn’t mean anything, does it? Not when we’re already planning to annul the marriage in the spring.”
Jake felt his frown deepen. He turned to the reverend. “Are you okay with that? An annulment?”
“All I ask is that you give God time to work in your hearts,” Reverend Olson said as he opened his Bible. “There’s the baby to think about, and besides He might surprise you.”
Jake felt Elizabeth flinch beside him. Then he heard the door open and the footsteps of the two women as they walked forward.
“Can we begin?” Elizabeth asked.
“Of course,” Reverend Olson said as walked to the front of the aisle and looked down at his Bible. He began to read.
Elizabeth tried not to listen. She didn’t want to hear about anything but the good thing she was doing for the baby. If she kept remembering that it could be some other woman doing this for her Rose, she felt good. If she thought about getting married, she felt a little, well, panicked.
Elizabeth calmed herself. She knew how to be a servant in someone else’s house and that is the way it would be for her in Jake’s. The reverend had been right when he pointed out that she needed Jake’s provision as much as he needed her help. It was an agreement much like the ones she’d made with those families when she’d been a girl. She knew what to expect with those arrangements; she’d be fine until spring. Living in those households hadn’t made her part of a family any more than living in Jake’s house would make her his wife.
“It’s time,” the reverend whispered to her and Elizabeth realized she’d missed the reading of the vows.
“I do,” she said. It didn’t matter if she had missed everything. She knew what her job would be. Cooking, cleaning and taking care of the baby. Really, it wouldn’t be so bad. She’d get to hold the baby whenever she wanted and she wouldn’t need to winter in the wagon.
It would be better than washing glasses in some saloon in town. If the truth were told, she wasn’t so sure she could have wintered in a saloon, even if she was in the back where she didn’t have to see the customers. She wondered how life would be for that woman who was playing the piano in that place.
Elizabeth forced her mind back to the present. She’d just heard Jake make his own vow to take her as his wife.
It was quiet for a moment. Then one of the women standing behind the reverend cleared her throat quietly.
Elizabeth was going to turn to leave but the minister continued.
“You may now kiss the bride,” Reverend Olson announced firmly.
Elizabeth looked at the minister in astonishment. He knew it was not that kind of a wedding. But there was no missing the hope on the older man’s face. Or on the faces of his wife and sister-in-law. Elizabeth was going to protest, but she already felt Jake’s hands on her shoulders.
Oh, my. She looked up and his eyes darkened. Maybe it was the shadows inside the schoolhouse, but he looked as if he meant something by the way his hand was tipping her chin up to meet his lips.
Elizabeth didn’t have time for her back to stiffen. She told herself that was why her knees felt a little weak. Jake was thoroughly kissing her. Oh, my. Even Matthew hadn’t coaxed her lips apart quite so sweetly or slipped his hand around to the small of her back as though he knew she needed a little support.
Jake had been hit over the head once. He hadn’t passed out, but he’d seen a star or two floating around while he caught his breath. He never knew a man could feel the same way after a simple kiss.
He’d have to have a word with the Reverend Olson. The man had meant well, but he had set in motion something Jake did not want to think about. Of course, Jake didn’t want to think about much of anything. He’d rather share another kiss with the surprising Elizabeth O’Brian. He wondered if she knew he could feel her melting into his arms.
Jake heard a woman’s indignant gasp and he thought it was Elizabeth until he realized she couldn’t be gasping and kissing him at the same time. He lifted his head just in time to see the pink rising in Elizabeth’s cheeks. He was tempted to leave his gaze there, but he looked higher and saw Mrs. Barker standing in the doorway of the schoolhouse with one arm pointed heavenward like an avenging angel.
“This is outrageous,” the woman said. Her hat was halfway off her head, but she didn’t hesitate. She bristled as she led her charge into the schoolhouse. Her two friends meekly followed her, looking around, unsure if they should be there.
Mrs. Barker stood at the front of the church and glared at the reverend’s wife. “I didn’t expect to see you here at this—this—”
“A man’s entitled to kiss his wife,” Jake interrupted mildly.
“I don’t care who you kiss,” Mrs. Barker spat out as she put her hands on her hips. She turned her frown to Jake. “But I’ll have you remember this is our children’s schoolroom.”
“I’m sure Jake is well aware of that,” Reverend Olson said.
“Just so he knows he doesn’t have the right to interfere with the education of our children.”
“School’s not in session,” Reverend Olson said. “This is also the church and, as such, the proper place for two people to be married. My wife and I will have everything back in place and ready for school tomorrow morning in plenty of time for the children. You don’t n
eed to worry.”
Mrs. Barker walked halfway back down the aisle until she was standing next to the bench where Spotted Fawn sat. “There won’t be any children here tomorrow until we get one thing settled.”
Jake took a few steps closer to his nieces so he was standing between them and the woman. “We’ll settle it later and alone.”
Mrs. Barker didn’t stop. She leaned around Jake and pointed at Spotted Fawn. “This school is for the children of this town. Not for heathens like her.”
Elizabeth gasped. “She’s not a heathen.”
“She is an Indian. And I want it to be clear that she won’t be going to school here. Not with my children or any other children of Miles City.”
Jake grunted. If he were facing a man, he’d know how to handle him. Mrs. Barker required something else. It took him a second to think of what it was. “You’re forgetting that I own half the lumber in this school. Spotted Fawn will go to school here if I say so.”
Even Mrs. Barker couldn’t argue with that.
“Is that true?” Mrs. Barker turned to the minister.
The Reverend Olson nodded, his satisfaction evident. “Don’t you remember, we thanked him at the dedication of the building?”
“Well, that doesn’t mean he has any say over the whole school. You’ll see. The Civic Improvement League won’t stand for it. Will they?” Mrs. Barker turned to the two women who had followed her inside and they shook their heads dutifully.
With that, Mrs. Barker gave a curt nod to the reverend’s wife, turned around and righted the hat on her head before marching out of the schoolhouse. Her two friends followed in her wake.
There was a moment of stunned silence after they were gone.
“She’ll calm down,” the minister said. “That Civic Improvement League of hers can’t even agree on what kind of flowers to plant beside the schoolhouse.”
“Rosebushes,” his wife said. “Virginia Parker needed someplace to transplant them after she left her lodgings at the fort. The council finally voted to accept them.”
“Good choice,” Jake said.
“They weren’t too sure since Virginia plays the piano in that saloon now.”
“Virginia Parker is the same woman today as she was when she lived at the fort with her brother,” Jake said. “I know for a fact she’s not doing anything in that saloon she couldn’t do in church. For pity’s sake, she spends the afternoon playing hymns and Colter sends her home before it gets dark. Some people in this town are just too close-minded for their own good. Make that everybody’s good.”
With that, Jake gathered up his new family and wished the reverend and his wife a good day. His home might be humble, but Jake wanted to walk through his own door with his family and shut the rest of the world out.
Miles City was not the place he wanted any of them to be right now.
By the time they were getting close to his cabin, though, Jake wished he hadn’t left town in such a hurry. If he had waited for a couple of hours, it would be dusk when they came upon his cabin. He should have taken everyone to dinner in the hotel dining room. Then it would be sundown and the shallow light would hide some of the flaws of his place. Spotted Fawn and the baby had been staying in his house, of course, so they were comfortable there, but he wasn’t sure what Elizabeth would think of it.
He’d built the cabin into the side of a ravine close to the creek. The back wall was made with cottonwood logs, but he’d dug out a space in the ravine so that only half of the wall showed aboveground. The Lakota didn’t bother him because of Red Tail and the Crow knew him from the times he’d scouted for the army. He hadn’t wanted to announce his cabin’s presence any more than necessary, though, because the Blackfeet sometimes came through here. A few trees blocked the view of the cabin so no one would see it until they were almost upon the place.
The lean-to was built into the ground next to the cabin, the logs standing upright in a deep ditch he’d dug for them. He kept his horses there and he’d made the place almost as big as the cabin. He was glad he’d done that now that he’d be spending the nights there with the animals. He’d even had the foresight to build a small loft over half of the space so he’d be able to sleep in peace.
Elizabeth had been quiet for most of the trip out of Miles City and Jake suddenly wondered if she was as nervous about seeing his house as he was about showing it to her.
They were almost close enough to see the cabin now.
“It’s built tight,” he said. “I chinked and daubed the walls myself. And, being close in to the ground like it is, it stays a little warmer in bad weather.”
He’d mixed a good amount of lime with the clay mud he’d used in the daubing and taken only the best twigs for his chinking, too. No one could say his place wasn’t well built even if it was humble.
“I’ve read about sod houses,” Elizabeth said quietly.
“It’s not really sod.” Jake was miserable. He was thinking what Mrs. Barker or even Annabelle would think if he offered them up a sod house. Women expected more. “It’s mostly logs.”
The cabin came into full view just as Jake had known it would. The window was dirty. He should have cleaned it after the last rain, or at least the rain before that. The ground in front of the door was packed down. He’d meant to put some logs in that place to make a sitting porch, but it looked more like a dried mud puddle than anything at the moment.
His horse, tied to the back of the wagon, saw the lean-to and gave an excited snort. He knew they were home.
“I haven’t had a chance to do much cleaning,” Jake muttered as he took the baby and then helped Elizabeth down from the wagon. Spotted Fawn was wisely staying on her pony and keeping her distance. Jake wished he could let Elizabeth go into the cabin alone, but he wasn’t a coward. He had to admit he’d rather face a charging bear than follow her into that house, but he’d do it anyway.
When she stepped inside the door, Elizabeth smelled sage. She’d never known a man who kept herbs. A large stone fireplace stood on the wall to her right. A black cast-iron hook reached out of the fireplace so a pot could be hung for cooking even though there was also a fine-looking cookstove sitting in the corner. Several pots were scattered on shelves next to the fireplace.
A large table stood in the middle of the room. The legs were made of slender logs with the bark peeled away. The surface was planed lumber, one board lined up next to another so it was smooth. A coal oil lamp stood in the middle of the table with a glass globe that would do justice to a parlor back East. Three straight-backed chairs sat around the table. She thought they were made of oak.
On the far side of the room, Elizabeth saw a bed piled high with blankets and furs. She quickly looked away from that. Midway down the side wall was a rope ladder hooked over a peg in the wall. The ladder led up to a loft area.
The most surprising thing in the room was the rocking chair that sat beside the fireplace. It was a dark wood, she’d guess it was mahogany, and the sides were well-rubbed with some kind of oil so the whole thing had a soft sheen. It was as fine a chair as Elizabeth had seen in the houses where she worked back in Kansas. All it lacked was a back cushion.
“I can bring your things inside,” Jake said from the doorway.
Elizabeth turned around to face him. “Thank you. Just the satchel, please. Your place is lovely.”
Jake grunted. “There’s wood to build a fire.”
Jake left the cabin before he could do any more damage. He should have more to say to his new wife than to ask her to build a fire. Maybe he could think of something more pleasant to say when he brought her satchel inside. Something about the color of her eyes or the shine of her hair. Women set great store by compliments.
He usually wasn’t so tongue-tied, but nothing had prepared him for a wife who made him nervous. That kiss had been his undoing. There was a sweetness inside Elizabeth that reminded him of all he was missing in life. Maybe, even if she was new to this land, she could come to be content living here. With hi
m.
Chapter Five
Elizabeth couldn’t go to sleep even though it was past midnight. The coals from the banked fire cast a dim light around the cabin and everything was quiet. Spotted Fawn was asleep in the loft and the baby was curled up in the rough wooden crib that Jake had fashioned beside the bed.
Everything was peaceful, but Elizabeth was restless.
Maybe it was that she was lying in a bed, she thought to herself. On the way here, she’d spent so many nights stretched out on the ground and then she’d slept on even harder ground outside of the fort. Her body had forgotten how nice it was to have some softness to lie on as she slept.
Besides, it was her wedding night. She smiled in the darkness. The marriage might not be real, but the night seemed momentous nonetheless. She had been pronounced a wife for the second time in her life. She’d felt a little skittish today until she was sure Jake was going to abide by his agreement.
After seeing how fiercely protective he was of his nieces, she had started to trust him, though. She hoped he had enough furs in his lean-to. He’d said he would be fine out there and she was going to take him at his word. He’d been a real gentleman about giving up the cabin and she appreciated it. If nothing else, she needed some privacy to nurse the baby.
For the first time since she’d agreed to Jake’s suggestion that they marry, she thought everything might work out fine. She would stay until spring. She’d spent longer than that working at different homes as a girl. Back then, she’d figured out how to work in the midst of a family and still keep her heart separate. She could do the same now.
This was a good place for her. Not only would she save the baby’s life, but she would have some time to decide what to do next. She wondered if, come next spring, she could go to a town smaller than Miles City and open the store she and Matthew had envisioned. Maybe she’d ask Annabelle the next time they were at the store. She might know of a community that would welcome cheaper goods. She might even be able to dye some of their goods to make them more appealing.
Calico Christmas at Dry Creek Page 7
