Cullen's Love (Grooms With Honor Book 5)

by Linda K. Hubalek

  “And you’d be just down the hall to come in for my men’s coffee group,” Mr. Clancy told Charlie.

  Charlie looked at Cullen who nodded toward the back area. “Go look around. See what you think.”

  “Come on, Mr. Moore, I’d like your opinion about the bedroom,” Mack said as he ushered Charlie into the other room with everyone following, except Cullen and Rose.

  “What’s wrong, Cullen?” Rose asked knowing the smile on Cullen’s face was strained.

  Cullen let out a long breath. “I’m still in shock over the cost of a custom-made artificial leg. I want Charlie to have it, but it’s a lot of money. A lot more than I have in savings.”

  “Will the railroad company pay part of that by chance, since Charlie’s accident happened on the job?”

  “I hadn’t thought of that, but I can check into it. I’m afraid the railroad will say it was Charlie’s negligence that caused the accident and they aren’t responsible.”

  Dare Rose offer to help pay for Charlie’s new limb? She’d gotten a settlement for being in her train wreck. Rose thought she’d still have money left over after buying all the furniture she wanted.

  “The government gave veterans seventy-five dollars if they lost a leg in the Civil War, to help pay for the artificial limb. But even then, many men still couldn’t afford a good leg, opting to use crutches instead.

  “Guess how much the best type of new limb cost now, twenty years later?” Cullen let out another breath before rubbing a hand over his face.

  Oh, dear. Maybe Rose didn’t have enough money to help pay for the leg either.

  “Doctor Pansy gave me a quote of one hundred sixty dollars. But I didn’t tell Charlie the real amount, and please don’t tell him either. He’d say not to order it if he knew how much it is going to cost.”

  Rose made a snap decision. She didn’t need the fancy parlor set she’d picked out. She could order the least expensive set instead.

  Writing on the dining room table would work just as well as the roll top desk she’d planned to put in the corner of the living room. She could easily cut her furnishing’s cost down to pay for Charlie’s new leg.

  “I’ll give you the money, Cullen. Please go ahead and tell Doctor Pansy to order Charlie’s new leg,” Rose quietly said so no one would hear them from the other room.

  “Rose, you have that much money? I heard Jasper whisper to Julip you’d bought all the furniture he had in stock in his showroom.”

  “I need furniture for upstairs, and I thought I should give Jasper as much business as I could. Besides making nice furniture, it would help out his new family.”

  “That’s very nice of you, Rose, but I couldn’t accept your money. I’ll think of another way to raise the funds.”

  “Here’s another option. Let go of your apartment. We can marry, and you move in with me.”

  Chapter 13

  “If you can’t answer me, Cullen, at least close your mouth. It’s so wide open a dragonfly could land on your tongue.”

  Cullen snapped his jaw shut, but he still couldn’t speak. Did Rose just offer to marry him so Charlie could get his leg? Should he be ecstatic or offended?

  “Why?” was all Cullen could sputter out.

  Rose’s arms wrapped in front of her chest in the typical woman’s defensive stance.

  Oh, oh. Cullen knew someone was in trouble when his ma used that posture, be it him, one of his brothers, or his pa. Someone was about to be clobbered with words—or silence. Either one was effective to make Ma’s point.

  “It will give Charlie the chance to walk again. He’s too young to spend the rest of his life using crutches,” Rose answered, knowingly avoiding the question Cullen was really asking her.

  Cullen hated to see Rose upset. He really liked Rose, but she kept bringing up marriage. He should be the one to ask for her hand in marriage—when he was ready. Cullen wasn’t going to let Rose, or his parents, push him with a deadline. This was a decision he had to be positive about because it would affect him forever.

  Everything had to be planned and perfect. Cullen didn’t want his children growing up in a loveless situation as he had.

  Cullen stepped back from Rose as voices moved toward them. Tara and Tyrell skipped ahead of Charlie, apparently fascinated with his crutches since they were trying to skip backward and watch Charlie at the same time.

  “I think we can get your apartment ready in two weeks, don’t you, Jasper?” Mack said as they walked back into the library room.

  “As long as Rose doesn’t want a rush on her furniture,” Jasper asked Rose as he followed Mack.

  “No, I can get by just fine with what you have in stock. Please do everything you can to help Charlie move in here as soon as possible,” Rose smiled, but the warmth in her face was gone.

  Cullen hurt her feelings by not accepting her help, but a man shouldn’t take advantage of a woman like that.

  “Cullen, how about we eat lunch at the café since it’s noontime?” Charlie asked, looking hopeful. He couldn’t blame the man for wanting to get out of his little house and have a decent meal. Of course, Cullen would be paying for that meal though.

  “Sure, Charlie. Let’s go see what the special is today.”

  “Nolan is serving meatloaf, mashed potatoes, and gravy. Angel food cake today, so tomorrow there will be sunshine cake to use up the egg yolks,” Dan announced as he and Edna slowly moved to the front door. “We were heading to the café before we stopped here. Want to sit with us?”

  Charlie looked expectantly at Cullen. Cullen hated to leave Rose at this point in their conversation, but he was with his father. Being out among people would be good for Charlie.

  “We’d like that, Dan. Want to eat with us, Rose?” Cullen offered out his hand, trying to make a peace gesture.

  “No, thank you. Go ahead. It’s almost time for Doctor Pansy to work on my shoulder,” Rose answered. “Enjoy your meal.”

  Rose stood by the open door, waiting for everyone to leave. Cullen was barely out the door when he felt the swoosh of the door slamming behind him. If he’d have paused a second in the threshold, the door would have hit his backside. The click of the door lock meant he wouldn’t be welcome back inside anytime soon either.

  Should he talk to Angus or Da about how to grovel to get back in a woman’s good graces?

  “Already got girl troubles, son?” Charlie asked as they slowly walked to the café.

  Charlie calling him “son” caught him off guard, but not as badly as if he’d called Cullen that before Cullen heard his father’s side of the story.

  “I’m just not sure what to do about Rose,” Cullen blurted out, surprising himself. “She was supposed to be Richard Kandt’s mail-order bride, but he refused to marry her. Now my parents are saying it’s my responsibility to take care of Rose’s problem since I wrote the letters for Richard.”

  Cullen was frustrated, but it did help to let off a little steam with Charlie. The man was a bystander, of sorts, compared to his parents and brothers.

  “Got any advice?”

  Did Charlie’s startled look mean he was surprised Cullen would ask him? That made Cullen feel embarrassed because he hadn’t talked to Charlie much since he moved to town. Another fence he needed to repair.

  Cullen sat down on the bench outside a store to give them shade from the overhang and a place to finish their conversation before they went into the café. Charlie slid down beside him, probably glad to get off his crutches for a spell.

  “Well, everyone else in town has given me advice, unwanted or not. What do you think I should do about Rose?”

  “What’s everyone’s advice?”

  “Rose is a good woman, and she’d make a good wife.”

  “Why do you doubt everyone’s opinion of Rose?”

  Charlie’s question caught Cullen off guard.

  “I don’t doubt anyone, I just…” How could he explain it?

  “Don’t think you’re a good man or you wouldn’t make a
good husband?”

  Charlie almost hit the nail on the head, but there was more to it.

  “You grew up with a good family and good role models, Cullen. You know right from wrong. Surely, you’ve heard your father say the marriage vows often enough to know them by heart. What part scares you?”

  Dare he say it out loud? At least Charlie would understand since he’d been in a brothel. Cullen was confident his father or brothers didn’t have a clue.

  “Being with a woman, Charlie. I remember seeing men being with Dolly and it was rough, mean, and took away her…dignity.”

  “I’m sure Dolly was with some drunk men, as well as some who treated her well. But having sex with a whore is nothing like loving your wife, Cullen. Your young mind has made the visions worse over time. You won’t act like those men with Rose, Cullen. I’m positive you’ll love and respect her.”

  Cullen stared at the ground, mulling over Charlie’s words.

  “Have you kissed Rose? How did it make you feel?”

  Cullen blushed at Charlie’s question.

  “Yeah, and I really liked it. Made me happy, proud Rose liked my touch.” Cullen sighed, thinking about kissing Rose the other night on the porch. Wishing he could do it again real soon if he hadn’t blown his chance minutes ago.

  “That’s what making love between a husband and wife feels like, not what you remember as a child.

  “I confess I’ve been with several women, but not one of them held a candle to Mary Elizabeth. I loved your mother, but fears of the future, and then drugs, kept her from agreeing to marry me.”

  Charlie struggled to stand up, making Cullen think about the artificial leg he needed to order for his father.

  “Don’t be afraid to take a chance for a good future, like your mother refused to do. All three of our lives would have been different if she’d just taken a chance.

  “I agree with everyone else. You and Rose are well-suited, and you’d have a solid, loving marriage together. Grab the luck that got her to town. You may never have another chance. I didn’t after I lost Mary Elizabeth.”

  Cullen watched his father, yes, his father, slowly limp away from him. The man gave him life, and the best advice he’d ever received.

  After lunch, he’d ask his father how to grovel, no, maybe his mother, and then he’d find Rose. They had a wedding to plan.

  ***

  “Relax, Rose. I can’t work on your shoulder with you being so tense,” Doctor Pansy advised Rose as she slowly rotated the joint. “You’re very tense today. Something wrong?”

  Rose tried to relax, but thinking of Cullen tightened her shoulder back up.

  “Does the problem have to do with a certain blonde Reagan?” Doctor Pansy snickered. “I know from experience with the Reagan brothers, Cullen’s the most stubborn of the bunch…but that has to do with his background, and the chip on his shoulder.”

  “And I’m ready to knock that chip off Cullen’s shoulder if I didn’t worry it would hurt my good arm.”

  Doctor Pansy’s hands paused a moment before starting again. The woman was trying to keep from laughing, for heaven’s sake.

  Rose took a deep breath and willed her body to relax from the top of her head to her toes.

  “That’s better. Will it help or hinder you to talk about it?”

  “I offered to pay for Charlie Moore’s artificial leg, Doctor Pansy, and Cullen refused my help, even though he said he didn’t have the money in his savings account to cover it,” Rose started the conversation.

  “Ah, but none of you have to worry about it, actually. Lyle Elison wired in the order and payment this morning. But since you’re in my office, this information is strictly confidential.”

  Rose turned to look up at Doctor Pansy. “That’s good news, but why is the town lawyer paying for it?”

  “Lyle handles the community funds his sister, Cora Hamner, set up about a decade ago.”

  “Did I meet Cora in church last Sunday?” Rose tried to think through all the people she was introduced to after the church service.

  “I’m sure you did. Cora is very short, with dark, brown hair. Her husband, Dagmar Hamner is very tall, with blonde hair that always looks like it needs to be trimmed. Their pew was filled with their twelve children.”

  “Oh yes, I remember the couple.” They could be in the circus for their distinct opposites of height.

  “Cora left Boston, and the humiliation of three failed engagements, to live a simpler life on the Bar E Ranch north of Clear Creek, which her parents owned at the time. A few months later, Cora had to marry by her birthday to inherit her grandfather’s estate, and so she talked Dagmar, the ranch foreman, into marrying her.

  “Money and status didn’t matter to either of them. Over the years Cora has used the estate money to help others in the area. Even though everyone knows about it, a person can’t ask for money. Eyes in the community, usually Pastor and Kaitlyn Reagan, see someone who needs help and quietly contacts Cora and Lyle about it.”

  “I’m guessing you talked to Cora about Charlie?”

  “Let’s just say I’m in a unique position to see people who need help.”

  “Then thank you, Doctor Pansy, for helping Charlie. I’ve enjoyed getting to know him this week.”

  “He’s a decent man who had terrible luck. Or good luck, if you think that the accident brought him and Cullen together. Pastor Reagan could use Charlie’s situation to prove God works in mysterious ways,” Doctor Pansy mused.

  “Back to you and Cullen, will you need a wedding dress soon? Cora will be sure you have a beautiful gown for your ceremony.”

  “How’s that?”

  “Because I lived with Cora’s parents when I went to physician’s school in Boston, I know Elizabeth Elison ships trunks of dresses to Cora about twice a year. It used to be Kaitlyn Reagan would bring the soon-to-be bride out to Cora’s home for tea, and the bride had the pleasure of choosing a dress from the “five-trunk room,” as they used to call the unique bedroom in Cora’s home.

  “Because the house is filled with children now, Mrs. Elison ships the dresses to Mary Jenkins, the dressmaker in town. The bride tries on her dress there, and Mary can alter it to fit.

  “I’m sure Mary had to use two dresses to make one big and tall enough for my wedding dress, but my dress was so special since I knew the origin of it.”

  “Well, I’m not holding my breath about marrying Cullen anytime soon. I made the mistake of offering to marry him in exchange for Charlie’s leg.”

  “Oh, I bet that was a hit to Cullen’s male pride,” Doctor Pansy said as she dug deep into Rose’s shoulder.

  “I moved to Clear Creek to marry, have a home, and have a family. Richard refused to marry me, and I’ve turned my attention to Cullen, especially since we’re well suited.”

  “Love and marriage is a huge commitment, Rose. It’s not something you should put on a time schedule.”

  “It was Pastor Reagan who told Cullen to marry me this next Sunday.”

  “My father-in-law may be a preacher, but he’s also an Irishman with a temper which pops up at times. He only said that to make Cullen think about the situation.”

  “Are you saying I don’t need a wedding dress by Sunday?”

  Doctor Pansy slowly kneaded Rose’s arm down to her fingers and back up past her elbow.

  “It wouldn’t hurt for Cullen to know you visited Mary about a wedding dress. A little jealousy can make a man think about his future, good or bad.”

  “How so?”

  “If Cullen hasn’t asked you to marry him, and you’re being fitted for a wedding dress…he’ll worry who did ask for your hand in marraige?”

  Chapter 14

  “Uh, Rose? Can I talk to you a minute?”

  Cullen had sat on the parsonage porch swing for over a half hour waiting for Rose to come out of the house. Ma suggested he didn’t come for supper this evening and Cullen agreed. He would have loved to taste Rose’s meal this evening, but he settled for a
sandwich and an apple in his room instead.

  Cullen held out the canning jar of garden flowers to Rose. “I brought you some zinnias to brighten your room. I’ll set them on the side table here until you go back into the house.”

  “Thank you,” Rose stepped closer to touch the colorful petals of the mixed colors. “I love the bright colors. Where did you get them?”

  “I must confess they came from Millie Wilerson’s garden. Every boy in town used to cut her prize roses to give to the girls they wanted to impress. Millie started raising a patch of flowers just for anyone to pick from instead of cutting her roses. Millie still gives away her roses for wedding bouquets though.”

  “That’s nice of the woman. I’ll have to go over to see her flower garden and thank her for growing them.”

  Rose moved to stand by the porch post.

  “You have a minute to sit and talk, Rose?”

  “No, actually. I was walking over to talk to the Paulsons about holding a library fundraising party this Saturday night.”

  “This Saturday? What do you have planned?”

  “I need books for the library, so I thought we could offer a program and refreshments at the hotel. People could donate a book, new or slightly used, as admittance.”

  “Was the Paulson’s event room available for this Saturday? Sometimes it’s booked in advance.”

  “Oh. I hadn’t thought of that. We might have to postpone it a week then,” Rose said as she sat in the chair by the wall, instead of in the swing with him.

  “You’ll need time to make flyers to put in the store windows and pass the word out to the area ranchers. I’m sure they’d like to be included in the event too.”

  “True.” Rose rubbed her forehead.

  “Where are you going to store all those books until Mack gets the shelves made and stained?”

  Rose folded her arms across her chest. “Are you trying to discourage me from doing this?”

  “No, I think it’s an excellent idea. Hardly anyone knows there’s a library being started in town.”