He rubbed the back of her hand with his thumb. “I’ll try to be more like that again.” He didn’t want to get too close to her and be broken when she left, but he didn’t want to push her out the door sooner than she would leave on her own either.
She smiled. “Are you sure I haven’t done something wrong? I don’t want to upset you in any way, and if I’m doing something without realizing it, then I need to know what it is I’m doing.”
He shook his head. “You’re not. I promise.” He looked into her eyes, and she could see the sadness there.
“Why are you sad? When I first came, your eyes were always so happy. Now, it’s like all the happiness has been sucked out of you.” She hated seeing him so unhappy. She wanted to fix whatever was wrong, but how could she do that unless he told her what it was?
Eli shrugged. “I feel like I should be spending more time working and less time with you. I’m going to put us into the poor house if I spend all my time with my wife.”
Daisy sighed. “I’m not asking for all your time. I’ve never demanded more of your time, have I?” She shook her head. “I’m not lacking anything I want or need. I’m just happy to be with you when you have time for me.”
Eli felt like a heel. She was so open in her affection for him, and he knew he was growing to love her, but he couldn’t let her see it. Letting her know he loved her would give her a power over him that he couldn’t handle. “I have time for you. I just have to keep going with the ranch too. No one will watch out for my interests like I will.”
He trusted the men who worked under him, but he hadn’t let any of them meet her yet and wasn’t planning to soon. He trusted her…as much as he could trust any woman. What if she ran back to Seattle? He was getting used to hot meals and clean sheets. His clothes were always put away in his drawers where they belonged. He never had to eat at the bunkhouse with his men. Life was good now that Daisy was here. He didn’t want to lose her, but by being so afraid, was he pushing her away?
He hoped he wasn’t, but he was very worried he was. “Your shooting is getting much better,” he told her.
She smiled at him. “Thank you. Do you mind if I start practicing when you’re not around?” She thought she could become a better shot if she could practice more and not have him breathing down her neck when she tried to shoot. Sometimes he made her nervous.
He made a face. “I’d rather you knew how to handle a gun better before you start practicing on your own.”
She sighed. She’d expected that answer. “How am I going to get better without practice?”
“You practice with me every day!”
The waitress brought their food then, and Daisy picked up her fork. “I want to start practicing on my own soon. Please?”
He sighed. “I’ll work on getting you ready, but don’t try it until I tell you it’s fine.”
“I won’t.” She smiled at him happily. He was still moody, but he seemed better that afternoon. She hoped she hadn’t sent a panicked letter to Amaryllis too quickly.
Chapter Five
Daisy sat down with her letter as soon as she put their purchases away. She curled up on the bed and opened the letter, her eyes eating up the words from her favorite sister. “Dear Daisy, I can’t believe how much I miss you. I know that we didn’t see each other every day while you were at home, but it was different knowing you were in the same city, and I could walk across town if I needed to chat with you. Letters will never be enough. You need to talk that cowboy of yours into a trip home. I can’t travel now, and won’t want to for a while after the baby comes. Please come home if only for a week. I need to see you and know that you’re okay. Bring the cowboy with you or come on your own. I don’t care. I just miss you. How’s marriage going for you? I hope you’re experiencing everything we talked about. Mama would have been mortified if she knew I talked to you about those things, but I don’t think women should go into marriage ignorant. Too many women do. I love you, and I’m anxiously waiting for a reply. Why haven’t you written me yet? Granted, you’ve only been gone for two days, but that doesn’t mean I shouldn’t have a letter in my hand! Love you, Amaryllis.”
Daisy read the letter and laughed. She’d needed that piece of home to get her through. She’d wanted out of Seattle so badly, but now that she was in Montana, she missed her sisters. Well, most of them anyway.
She brought up Amaryllis’s letter during supper, hoping that even if he didn’t want to go with her, he’d let her go for a week. He shook his head. “You can’t go without me, and I can’t get away right now. It’s almost a full day of just travel, and if you stayed for any period of time, which you’d have to do if you wanted to travel that far, then we’d be gone for over a week.”
She sighed but nodded in agreement. “When you can go with me, I’d like to go.”
His hand reached out and squeezed hers. “Are you that homesick?”
She shrugged. “Not for everyone, but I miss my sister, Amaryllis a lot. In her letter she talked about how we didn’t get to see each other every day, but at least we could walk across town if one of us needed to talk. We can’t do that now.”
Eli sighed. “We’ll make a trip. Maybe after her baby is born, so you can see your new niece or nephew.”
Daisy smiled. “I’d like that. I want you to meet all my good sisters too. And my papa. And my Aunt Harriett and Uncle Max. Oh, just everyone I love.”
He laughed. “I can do that.” He hated the idea of her going back to Seattle, because he was afraid she’d stay there, but he wanted her to be happy. He couldn’t seem to make the two sides of his feelings for her join together. There was how much he cared about her, and there was the fear she’d leave him. How could she not leave when everyone else in his life had?
Daisy sat down and wrote back to Amaryllis after the dinner dishes were done telling her that Eli had said they might come after Amaryllis’s baby was born. “I want to see the baby almost as much as I want to see you! I’m going to be an aunt again!” She folded her letter and laid it on the corner of the table to take to town the next time she went.
Eli looked at the letter. “More letters to mail?”
Daisy shrugged. “Everyone I know is in Seattle. Of course there will be a lot of letters to mail.”
It snowed the following day. A cold wind blew in from the north, and by noon, it was obvious it was going to be a blizzard. Eli stayed in the house with Daisy, pacing the floor while she worked on a shirt for him. Every once in a while, she’d look up and try to start a conversation, but he’d shake his head and go back to pacing.
It was too cold for him or any of his men to be out in the weather, but the cattle weren’t always smart enough to get out of the weather themselves. There’d been a very bad winter five years previously that had almost wiped out his herd. Between the weather and buying the new land, it had taken him years to rebuild to the point he was at before.
Thankfully, the blizzard was a short one, only lasting one day. He rode out the next morning and looked for cattle, the roads too thick with snow drifts for them to attempt the trip into town to go to church. She hated that she wouldn’t have the fellowship with other women, but she understood the necessity of staying put when the weather was so bad.
She was almost frantic by the time Eli came home early that afternoon. It was late, and he’d been in the cold for a number of hours. She didn’t know how long he could take the extremely cold temperatures before he got ill. When he came in, his face was cold, and there was snow covering his beard. She rushed forward to help him get his coat off and rubbed his hands to warm them. “Why weren’t you wearing a scarf?” she asked.
He shrugged. “Don’t have one.”
“I made you one! Didn’t you see it hanging beside your coat?”
“I didn’t know it was for me.”
She shook her head. “I put it beside your coat so you’d use it. And I know you like your cowboy hat, but I’ve almost finished a stocking cap for you to wear under your cowb
oy hat.”
He nodded. “I’ll wear them both.” He liked the idea of her making him things to keep him warm, like he really mattered to her.
“Good.” She ran to the stove and poured him a cup of the coffee she had hot and ready. “Here drink this.” She put it into his hands as she gently pushed him toward the table. How had he managed on the days before someone had been there to have coffee waiting for him? “I made a nice thick soup for lunch. Do you think you can eat some?”
He nodded, his eyes droopy. “I think so.”
She put some into a bowl and took it to him with a spoon. “Can you handle the spoon?” She’d seen how badly he was shaking and wasn’t sure he could get the liquid to his mouth.
“I’m not sure.” His eyes met hers, and she could see how tired they looked. He’d only been out in the cold for four hours. What if he’d stayed out all day?
She sat in the chair beside him and carefully spooned the soup into his mouth, one bite at a time. He shuddered as the warm food got into his system. When the bowl was gone, she got him another. He was able to take the spoon from her that time and feed himself.
She got herself a bowl and moved across from him. “Did we lose many cattle?” she asked.
He shook his head. “One of my men is missing, though. I’ve got to get back out there and look after lunch.”
She knew he had employees, but that was the first time he’d mentioned them to her. She stared at him for a moment before shaking her head. “You can’t go out there again.” She couldn’t live with the fear of losing him.
“I have to. If one of my men is out there, and there’s any chance he’ll survive, we need to find him.”
Daisy grabbed his hand in hers. “I can’t lose you.”
He stared at her in surprise. He hadn’t expected her to ever say what was on his mind about her. “You won’t. I’ll stay safe.”
There was a loud knocking on the door. A man was carried in across the shoulders of two other men. “He’s alive, boss, but barely.”
Daisy rushed to open their bedroom door. “Put him in here.” She hurried to get another bowl of soup for the man they’d found. “I’ll get some soup in him to warm him.” She watched as the older of the two men who’d carried him in removed his boots and socks and rubbed his feet before putting him under the covers of her warm bed. “Get him into a sitting position.” She sat on the side of the bed, and spooned a bite of the warm broth into his mouth. “How long was he out there?”
Eli had come to the doorway and stood watching her. “Longer than I was. He was out before me this morning.”
Daisy just nodded and continued spooning the liquid into his mouth. “What’s his name?”
“James,” Eli told her. He turned to his other men. “Thank you for bringing him here. My wife and I will take it from here.” He paused after a moment. “Get yourselves some hot coffee and soup before you go. I don’t want anyone else in the condition he’s in.”
Eli watched his wife as she took care of the man, hoping he was just cold. “Did he pass out before you found him?” he asked over his shoulder.
“No, boss. He was thrown from his horse, and trying to get back to the bunkhouse. He was still on his feet.”
Eli nodded, thankful that was the case. “He should make it then.”
Daisy practically ignored him for the rest of the day as she nursed James. By morning, the man was awake and back to a normal body temperature. Eli tried to complain about having to sleep upstairs, but he couldn’t make himself do it. He was just thankful the man was alive.
James ate breakfast at the table with them, recounting his story. “I didn’t see a fallen branch because of the snow covering it, and my horse tripped, and then threw me. I think he was okay, because he ran off in the direction of the stables, but he left me to get home on my own.”
“Any idea how long you were on foot?” Eli asked. Being on foot in the bitter cold they were experiencing was life threatening.
“An hour maybe? Not that long.”
Eli sighed. “That’s probably the only thing that saved you.”
“That and your wife. I hope you know what a treasure you have there, boss.” James winked at Daisy.
Eli’s eyes met Daisy’s, and he nodded. “I’m fully aware.”
“Thank you for saving me, Mrs. King.”
Daisy blushed. “I didn’t save you. You saved yourself by not lying down in the snow and letting yourself die. You fought for your life, and that’s what saved you.”
Daisy was clearing away the breakfast dishes when the men left. James had promised her he’d spend the day in the bunkhouse, and not return to work yet, but Eli was going back out on the range. She wrapped the red scarf she’d made around his neck before letting him go. “Be careful out there.”
He grinned, kissing her softly. “It’s not as cold as it was yesterday. I’ll be fine.”
She watched them go, still a little afraid. She didn’t want Eli to risk his life for anyone, including her and his cattle. His life was here in Montana, and she understood that, but she wished he was a rancher in a warmer climate. The Montana cold was starting to scare her a great deal.
She had a big pot of stew on when he came home a few hours later, and she breathed a sigh of relief at the sight of him, rushing to help him with his coat and hugging him tightly. “I’m glad you’re all right.”
He sighed, understanding her fear, but needing to alleviate it. “Daisy, it’s so warm out that the snow is starting to melt again. This is the warmest January we’ve had since I moved here.”
She looked out the window in surprise. “This is warm?”
Eli laughed. “You’ll get used to it. I promise.”
“I hope so. I don’t like you out in the cold like that.”
“I can’t ask my men to do something I wouldn’t do myself,” he reasoned. “I’m out there working with them every day, because that makes me the kind of boss I need to be.”
“I know, but your men don’t have wives. They’re alone. You have a wife, and I need you.”
He smiled. “Their lives aren’t as valuable as mine because they don’t have wives?” Did she even know what she was saying?
She stammered, “Well, no…but their lives aren’t as valuable to me as yours is.”
He held her against him trying to soothe her. “I promise not to take any crazy chances. All right?”
She nodded. “Sit and I’ll get your stew.”
Eli talked about how the ranch had fared from the blizzard. “Our first blizzard this year, and we haven’t lost a single head. I’m thrilled. It could be so much worse.”
“I’m glad,” she said, her mind still occupied with how he’d looked when he’d come in half frozen the day before. The cattle didn’t matter to her at all. Not the way he did.
She watched as he ate three helpings of her stew, before wrapping the scarf around his neck again. “My men were laughing at me this morning.”
She looked at him in surprise. “Why?”
“Because my wife wrapped my scarf around my neck and told me to be careful. They thought it was funny that you mollycoddled me.”
“James?”
He nodded. He didn’t seem upset with her, though. “You’re welcome to mother me anytime you want, but don’t do it in front of my men.”
“I won’t. I’m sorry they all heard about it.”
He shrugged. “At least they all know I found a good wife.” He closed the door behind him on those words, and she was thrilled. He hadn’t called her a good wife before, and she took the words to heart.
She sat down and finished his hat to match his scarf. She didn’t want him to have to go out in the cold for one more day without a warm hat.
*****
By April they’d settled into an easy routine, each of them knowing what to expect from the other, and Daisy realized she was expecting, which would nix their plans to visit Amaryllis after her baby was born. Daisy sighed. The baby was due at the first of May
. Should she hide it from Eli so she could visit her sister, or should she tell him?
Maybe he wouldn’t mind if she was a little bit pregnant while they traveled. There was really no reason she couldn’t take the train. She decided she would tell Eli and let him make the decision for her. She wanted to see her family desperately, but not enough to anger her husband with a lie.
She fixed a special meal that day of fried chicken and mashed potatoes with cream gravy. He loved her fried chicken, and she didn’t make it nearly often enough to suit her husband. She made a special cake as well, wanting her news to be celebrated the best way she could.
Eli walked in the front door with one hand behind his back. When she turned to him, he pulled a small bouquet of daisies from behind his back. She took them with wide eyes. “Thank you! My flower.” Her eyes filled with tears. She loved her namesake as much as her sisters loved theirs.
He pulled her into his arms and kissed the tip of her nose. “Did you have a good day?” he asked. He knew she’d been keeping busy with spring cleaning and the house was shining from top to bottom.
She nodded happily. “I did. I need to go for supplies tomorrow.” He’d been letting her go into town without him since the snow had melted, and though she’d missed him, she was pleased to have the freedom.
“I can’t take the time tomorrow, so you’ll need to go without me. Spring is my busiest time.”
“That’s fine. I don’t mind.” She set the platter of chicken on the table and hurried to put the potatoes and gravy beside it.
“This looks delicious. What did I do to deserve this?”
She laughed. “I’ve cooked this for you before.”
“But not every night like I asked,” he frowned. It was the only thing she’d refused that he’d asked of her.
“I’m not cooking any one thing every night.” She sat down across from him and waited while he prayed. She’d put the daisies into a vase and they decorated the center of the table which thrilled her.
Daisy (Suitors of Seattle) Page 7
