by Cassie Hayes
Caitlyn laughed. “I just can’t get the image of the animal’s sweet, innocent, trusting face looking up at me. Like Flopsy. It doesn’t bother me that others don’t feel the same as I do. I know I’m…different that way.”
He couldn’t argue there, though he figured he probably should at least try. That’s what wooing was all about, wasn’t it?
“I think you’re the perfect kind of different.”
Her smile shone brighter than the sun and nearly blinded him. When she’d stepped off the train a few days earlier, he’d thought she was the prettiest girl he’d ever seen, but staring down into her flashing green eyes, he realized who she was only enhanced her beauty. They’d had a rough start — all his fault, he was certain — but she grew more intriguing every day. He hoped that would continue for the rest of their lives.
“It sounds as if your family is very close,” he said as they turned onto the road that would take them home again.
He would have loved to have stayed out with her all day, but he had to get to work. He made a mental note to talk to George about the beavers and the best way to break up their dam.
“Very,” she agreed. “My parents called Molly, Colleen and me the Three Musketeers. We did everything together. Poor Molly had it the hardest, what with Mam’s expectation she’d join the convent. Of course, Colleen and I suspected becoming a nun wasn’t really her heart’s desire, but as the oldest, she felt as if it were her duty. I’m not sure why. It was just some silly family tradition.”
“Our biggest family tradition was eating soup on Christmas Eve,” he said, laughing.
“Exactly! That’s what traditions are, not forcing a young girl to commit to the life of a nun before she really understands what that entails.”
“How did your mother take it when Molly married a Mountie?”
“Not well, I’m afraid. But Da and Mother Superior eventually helped her see the error of her ways.”
Curtis frowned in confusion. “Wait, didn’t you say she also pressured your other sister and you to join the convent after Molly left?”
“I did. To be fair, she didn’t really try too hard with me. The most she did was suggest it as a way to avoid getting married or being thrown in the poor house. I think she knew her dream of carrying on the family tradition was dead. It helped that a distant cousin also bucked tradition recently. Mam was no longer the only failure in the family.”
“Poor house?”
It dawned on him that he’d never asked why she’d chosen to marry him, a total stranger. There was so much he didn’t know about her.
And whose fault is that?
“As you may have noticed, I have what could kindly be called an independent streak.”
He laughed and took her hand in his again. “Stubborn as a bull is another way to put it.”
“That too,” she said, grinning up at him. “That independence led me to secure a position as a secretary, save my money and move out into a flat with two other women. Unfortunately, not long after, my employer decided to move to Ibiza, leaving me jobless and homeless, since I couldn’t pay the rent.”
So she’d been forced to marry him? That troubled him greatly. He’d thought of marrying a strange woman as a grand adventure, but she’d had little other choice — except to join a convent.
“Why didn’t move back into your parents’ home?”
“They wouldn’t allow it,” she said in a surprisingly light tone. “I don’t blame them. They’d finally gotten rid of three mouths to feed, they didn’t want to add one back into the mix.”
“Fifteen is a lot of mouths, not counting their own.”
Caitlyn shook her head solemnly. “I can’t imagine having that many children. I don’t want more than five, six tops.”
“Six?!” Curtis nearly shouted in surprise.
“Is that a lot or a little?” she asked, her expression guarded.
“A lot. Don’t you think?”
He tried to imagine a house full of six kids running around like wild animals. But when Caitlyn’s gaze locked onto his, his heart stuttered in his chest. If she kept looking at him like that, he’d give her anything she wanted.
“I dunno,” she said quietly, batting her eyelashes in the most obvious — and mesmerizing — way. “Seems to me making all those babies could be a lot of fun.”
His eyes widened at the suggestion, then he broke out into a big, beaming smile. “In that case, I couldn’t agree more!”
5
Caitlyn woke the next morning with a new bounce in her step. After their walk the previous morning, she felt closer to Curtis than ever before. He’d seemed genuinely interested in her for the first time, even though she’d been taken aback at first by his reaction to her wish for a large family. They’d been married nearly a week — it was time to start that family already, or at least start trying.
It was with renewed excitement about her marriage and life to come that Caitlyn started her day. She didn’t even try not to wake Curtis as she set about making him another big breakfast with his favorite food — bacon. Whenever the face of a pig popped into her head, she envisioned her belly heavy with child and hummed a little louder. It wasn’t an ideal solution, but it helped.
The love seat creaked as Curtis stretched. Leaning one arm on the back of the love seat, he smiled sleepily at her.
“Morning,” he mumbled, sniffing the air appreciatively.
“Good morning,” she sang.
She couldn’t help herself. After their rough start, they seemed to have broken through some kind of barrier into the land of — dare she say it? — love. Her cheeks burned at the thought, but it stuck with her. She loved many things about her husband — his love for his own family, his dedication to his profession, how his eyes sparkled merrily when he laughed — but she wasn’t entirely sure she was in love with him yet. After their rocky start, who could blame her? But she wanted to be in love with him, so she knew it would come. And probably very soon.
Curtis ambled into the kitchen and leaned one hip against the sink, watching her work. When his eyes skimmed her from head to toe and back again, her face flushed hot. As embarrassing as it was, she also rather enjoyed the attention. Still, she couldn’t resist teasing him a little.
“What are you looking at, sir?”
He reached for her hand and pulled her body into his, then wrapped his arms low around her waist. “I’m looking at my wife. Is that okay?”
She snuggled into his embrace and smiled up at him, losing herself in his earnest gaze.
“Very much so. But if you don’t let me go, your oatmeal will burn.”
His eyes drank her in. “Let it.”
Keeping his eyes locked on hers, he lowered his head until his lips were almost touching hers. Aside from their kiss at the wedding, this would be their first real kiss. Caitlyn let her eyelids flutter shut in anticipation, then…
Loud hissing erupted behind them and she whirled around to find the pot of oatmeal boiling over.
“Shoot!” she cried, rushing to pull it off and silently cursing it for choosing that particular moment to cause a distraction.
“I guess that means breakfast is ready,” he laughed, sauntering out of the kitchen and taking his spot at the table.
Once she settled down with her own bowl of oatmeal, she asked if he and the other men had any big plans for the day.
“Nothing too exciting,” he said as he crunched into his last rasher of bacon. “Just our normal rounds, but those can take a while since we have folks living pretty far out of town. What about you?”
“First, I’ll go tend to Sutter’s garden.”
“Don’t you think it’s about time to start calling it your garden?” He said with a wink. “You’ve put a lot more into it than ol’ Sutter ever did.”
It was true that Sutter’s garden had been a mess when she’d arrived, and it wasn’t all from neglect after he’d passed away. Tomatoes were planted too close together, the carrots hadn’t been thinned, and
it didn’t appear as if he’d ever fertilized. Then there were the weeds…
“I don’t know,” she said between spoonfuls of oatmeal, “I’ll always think of it as Sutter’s garden. Strange, I never met the man, yet he’s going to supply us with food all summer, and if I can swing it, all winter as well. I think he deserves the honor of having the garden named after him, don’t you?”
Curtis stared at her for a moment, then he shook his head as if he was amazed. “You really are a wonderful woman, you know that?”
She dropped her gaze to her nearly empty bowl, then peeked up at him from under her eyelashes. “Thank you.”
His eyes widened slightly and his nostrils flared, then he cleared his throat and asked, “Any other plans for the day?”
Caitlyn paused, wondering exactly how a lady told her new groom she wanted to finally consummate their marriage. As bold and brave as everyone thought she was, she couldn’t bring herself to say the words. Instead, she opted for insinuation.
“Yes, in fact. I have a very special dinner planned for you tonight.”
“Can’t wait,” he said, jumping up from the table and shrugging into his red serge coat.
Caitlyn frowned and got up to clear the table. He’d missed her clue. Maybe she’d been too subtle. She’d often heard other women complaining about their husband’s general cluelessness when it came to hints. Still, she had to find a better way than just blurting it out.
“Don’t suppose your were planning on doing laundry?” he asked.
She barely heard him as she scraped out the last flecks of oatmeal from their bowls and wondered how she could signal her intent for that night.
“Mmmhmm,” she hummed.
Curtis stretched and three loud pops rang through the cabin. “Oof da!”
That’s it!
Her pulse racing, she took a deep, bracing breath. “If your back hurts, maybe you shouldn’t sleep on the love seat anymore.”
He shook his head, then jammed his hat on. “Nah, I think the floor would hurt it even more.”
Good grief! Did she have to draw him a picture?!
She took a step out of the kitchen and waited until he looked up at her. When she caught his gaze, she refused to let it go. The corners of her mouth twitched upward, partly out of nerves, partly out of excitement.
“Maybe you shouldn’t sleep on the love seat anymore.” Her voice was soft but firm. If he didn’t get it from that, he never would.
He just looked at her for a moment, then his eyes grew wide. His sudden smile took her breath away. He crossed the space between them in two long strides and took her in his arms. Gazing down at her, he held one hand to her face and let his thumb brush along her cheek, setting free a rash of goosebumps along her arms. Caitlyn slid her hands up his arms and clasped her fingers behind his neck, waiting.
“I would like that very much,” he whispered, his eyes locked on her mouth.
At her sigh, he dipped his head and claimed her mouth, this time without a moment’s hesitation. Her body relaxed in his embrace and she sighed again as his lips explored hers. She’d been kissed before by a few suitors, but none had made her toes curl quite like Curtis. When they finally broke apart, they remained in each other’s arms, foreheads pressed together and panting.
“I’d love to stay…” he started.
“But you have to get to work,” she finished for him.
He kissed the tip of her nose and pulled away. She stood in the doorway, watching him walk down the street toward the Mountie station for far too long to be seemly, but she didn’t care. Things were finally going well between them and she wanted to bask in it.
Only when he disappeared from sight did Caitlyn close the door and float on air to the garden. Weeding was a delight, spreading manure a pleasure, kneeling in the dirt pure bliss. She was so focused on their kiss — and the promise of more — that she didn’t notice someone was standing over her until they coughed.
“Oh!” She jerked in surprised and then laughed at her own jumpiness. “I’m sorry Mrs. Dandy. I didn’t see you there.”
The woman laughed. “I gathered that. I do apologize for startling you.”
Caitlyn stood and brushed off her knees. “How can I help you, Mrs. Dandy?”
“To start, you can call me Mary. And I was thinking I could help you.”
“Oh?” She liked Mary’s direct manner.
“There are quite a number of herons fishing in the lake and I thought you might like to have a sketching lesson. The weather is so perfect for a walk in the woods.”
Caitlyn glanced back at the garden, which looked better than ever, then over at the empty clothesline. Surely a walk in the woods and a sketching lesson wouldn’t take too long. She’d be back in plenty of time to make dinner. Besides, getting out of the house might be a good idea or she might get nervous about that night.
“Just let me fetch my coat!”
Riding for hours on his horse did nothing to help ease the pain in Curtis’s back, but after tonight, he had no doubt his back would feel right as rain. The promise of their evening together had kept him going as he checked on outlying farms, listened to old geezers telling him the same story for the fifteenth time, and eating some of the stalest bread he’d ever tasted. Not like Caitlyn’s bread.
He’d even ridden past the beaver dam — Bob’s dam — on his way back to the station. George had suggested biding their time on the beaver as apparently some of the other wives had taken a liking to the rodents. Curtis was just glad his wife had more sense than the others. Beavers could cause widespread flooding upstream and damage precious crops. That might have not been as big of an issue farther south, but the growing season was short in the Northwest Territories. A farmer’s entire year was based on that one short season, and Curtis wouldn’t allow an overly ambitious beaver to ruin anyone’s life.
He also wouldn’t allow his stubbornness to ruin his own life. He’d taken George’s advice and remained patient with Caitlyn, doing his best to woo her, and it had worked! And it had been pretty simple. He just listened to her and took an interest — even a minor one — in what she enjoyed. After just a day or two, their relationship had blossomed into something special and she was ready to fulfill her duties as a wife.
He could almost smell the moose roasting in the oven as he hurried home. Dessert would hopefully be another pie. Or maybe a cake. That would certainly suit the special occasion. His mouth watered at the thought. He even spit out his gum long before he reached the house.
Stomping up the steps, he threw the door open wide, ready to smile broadly at his wife and praise her magnificent skills in the kitchen. But the kitchen was empty. So was the living room. He didn’t even need to inspect the bedroom to know she wasn’t in the house. And judging by the dirty dishes from breakfast still piled in the sink, she hadn’t been all day.
Imagining all the horrible things that could have happened to her, Curtis rushed to the back window. No sign of her in the garden and no laundry was hanging from the line. His heart pounded as he ran back to the kitchen, looking for a note or any indication of where she’d gone. Nothing.
Grabbing his hat, he headed for the door. George, Liam and Richard could coordinate a search party while he went to look for her at the other brides’ homes, as well as in town. He tried to tell himself to calm down, she’d probably just lost track of time with her friends, but it looked as if she’d left in a hurry not long after he went to work. That was a lot of time to lose track of.
Before he reached the door though, Caitlyn swept in, a big smile on her face.
“Hi!”she said, setting down a large pad of paper on the table before standing on her tiptoes to kiss his cheek. “How was your day?”
Curtis stood frozen in the middle of the living room as she got busy in the kitchen, humming her nonsensical tune, while his pulse pounding harder than ever. His fear turned to anger in the blink of an eye. He wheeled around and fixed her with a furious glare. If he hadn’t been so mad, he would
have thought she looked quite beautiful, with her hair mussed and just enough falling free from her bun to frame her face. Her cheeks glowed pink from exertion — outside exertion, from the looks of her.
“Where have you been all day?” he demanded.
She jerked as if he’d slapped her. The joy that had lit her emerald eyes only moments before winked out, leaving confusion in its stead.
“I—“ she looked around, as if the answer might be in the kitchen.
“Well?!”
“I’m sorry, Curtis,” she said, her brow crinkling. “Mary dropped by and invited me to go for a walk in the woods.”
“Mary who? Who’s Mary? I don’t know anyone named Mary!”
Her eyes narrowed, her confusion replaced with an emotion Curtis didn’t want to acknowledge. He was in the right, not her. She had no right to be angry.
“You do, in fact, know someone named Mary. Mary Dandy.”
Charlie’s wife. “Oh. Well…why did a walk in the woods take all day?”
As much as he hated it, he felt a bit like a petulant little boy. Even worse, he sounded like one.
Caitlyn pursed her lips and slowly walked back to the table, picked up the pad of paper and thrust it at him. Silently. Painfully silently.
The tablet was filled with sketches and doodles. The first page or two were a jumbled mess and he couldn’t pick out what the object was supposed to be, but over the course of the next several pages, he clearly saw a heron, a copse of trees, even the beaver dam. Each drawing was better than the last, and part of him marveled at her innate talent. A bigger part of him was hungry.
“This took all day?” He snorted and tossed the tablet onto the table, barely noticing that it skidded all the way to the other side and teetered, but didn’t topple to the floor. “And what about my supper? Do you have any idea how far I rode today? I was promised a special meal tonight, but it’s already after seven. The good Lord above only knows what kind of rabbit food slop you’re going to fix for dinner.”
Her expression grew stormy, but she said nothing. She didn’t even move to pick up her tablet. Her silence only fed his anger.
