by Sondra Grey
“Never?”
“Nope. Only hot steaming strong coffee.”
Chapter Eleven
E lizabeth had just finished her cooking for the evening meal. For lunch, she had made sandwiches, baked potatoes, and salad. She was now aware of exactly how much she had to cook for the lot of them. It was still late afternoon, and she had decided to work a little in the small patch of garden behind the kitchen.
She had found a cupboard full of gardening tools and some essential seeds earlier as she was rummaging through the little shed just outside the kitchen.
She had sent Lydia off for a wash before settling in for an hour of gardening. Elizabeth was strict about maintaining hygiene and expected Lydia to be always clean and orderly. The girl had always obeyed her and had never shown any reluctance with the salts and soap her mistress insisted she use. She even made regular use of the little tin of talc Mistress Rutherford had given her as a parting gift.
Elizabeth worked for a solid one hour in the garden, weeding the place and watering it making it ready for sowing. She had then made neat rows and put in a couple of different types of seeds. She had just been thinking of taking a break when she heard the horse coming down. It was Caroline
“It actually smells clean and ….” she stopped in her tracks as she entered the clean and spotless kitchen. Elizabeth had liked her kitchen. It was huge and well lit, and the cook top was large and comfortable. There was lots of space to move around and lots of fresh air.
‘What have you done to this place. It really looks spic and span. No offense to you but I cannot imagine this place clean.” she said looking around.
“None taken,” Elizabeth said laughing merrily, and she realized suddenly how much he missed the company of Elinore.
“So how many months are you gone?” Elizabeth asked smiling as Caroline followed her into the kitchen.
“Take a guess.” Caroline was saying pulling off her riding gloves and sitting at the kitchen table.
“Nic tells us your father was a doctor and you studied medicine, though you don’t have a degree really.”
“He said that?” Elizabeth asked as she washed the mud off her hands at the huge kitchen sink.
“He said not to talk to you about it as it might make you feel sad. He said it was complicated.” Caroline prattled on innocently.
“Yes, it was” Elizabeth drawled, pulling down a tin of tea and putting the kettle on.
“So, what do you say?” Caroline asked, her hands spread out.
“Five at the most six months.”
“Six and a half,” Caroline said smiling widely thinking that she was after all not a good doctor. But when Elizabeth suddenly stopped in her tracks, put down the tin of tea and turned to look at her in disapproval, Caroline’s smile faltered.
“What?”
“Have you gained enough weight?”
“Of course, I have gained weight. Look,” she said indicating her tummy, but the confidence had gone out of her voice.
“Martha keeps saying I don’t eat enough. But sometimes I am so sick all day that I just cannot gulp down a morsel. Martha helps women here around with…you know…when the time comes.” she said
“Have you been seeing a physician?” Elizabeth asked
“I have a feeling I am seeing one now,” Caroline said uncertainly. “Have you delivered babies before Lizzie?” Elizabeth was shocked at the use of the name her father and Elinore had used for her.
“Yes,” she said turning her back to Caroline and busying herself with the tea. She did not want Caroline to see in her face the emotions she had stirred by reminding her of her profession.
“How many?” the young girl asked quietly and Elizabeth clutched the sides of the cooktop harder than necessary. She did not answer right away. Instead, she filled the cups and brought them around to the table. She placed one in front of Caroline then went to cut her a large piece of cherry pie from among three large ones that sat cooling on the counter. She put some cream on the side and put the plate in front of the girl. Caroline was still looking at her as if waiting for her answer. Elizabeth sat across from her and let out a shaky breath.
“Three hundred and seven,” Elizabeth said with a sad smile that nearly threatened to tumble into a hysterical laugh.
Caroline grabbed her hand over the top of the table and leaned forward shocked.
“Why Lizzie? Why did you not get that degree?”
“Because I topped my class.”
“You know you are not making sense, right?”
“My teachers were all men, so were all my fellow students. They did not appreciate that a girl should be at the top of the class. They refused on the grounds that I was a woman and women did not have the right temperament for being doctors.” she said giving Caroline the official reason that had been given to her. The real reason was much darker, and she did not wish to dwell on it.
“So, do you think I am…underweight or something…Do you think something is wrong with the baby.” she looked outright alarmed now.
“Caroline, don’t fret. I believe we can wait and watch for another couple of weeks. But I will draw you a chart for your meals. You must follow that strictly.”
“But I cannot eat. Nothing stays inside.” Caroline complained.
“I will prepare some gruel for you. It will make you feel better.” Elizabeth said, doing exactly what her husband had forbidden her from doing. Playing doctor around his ranch. Well, she had not gone around looking for patients. This was just Caroline, and it was clear that if she did not intervene the girl would become anemic. She might even deliver prematurely and lose the baby. Elizabeth shook herself out of the reverie just in time to hear Caroline say.
“Lizzie, you will be with me when the time comes, won’t you?” there was fear of the unknown lurking in the girl’s eyes and Elizabeth only knew it too well.
“Of course, sweetie. You called me Lizzie. My father used to call me that. And so, does my best friend in Cleveland, Elinore. I already consider you special.”
“That reminds me, you have a letter. It is from your best friend, Elinore Rutherford. I didn’t mean to pry, but she has written the return address and her name right below yours, see?” Caroline said handing the letter to Elizabeth. She remembered Nic having mentioned it in one of his letters that since the nearest post office was several miles away, the mail for the people around the ranch was mostly delivered at the Mercantile shop from where they picked it up.
“Oh, and here is one for Nic. It’s from the Association. And here is one for Greg. And this one for Jim.”
“Jim’s packet is the largest.”
“Oh, it’s going to be some law journals or case files or some other kind of manual. Our Jim has big dreams. He wants to hit it big someday.” Caroline said fondly making fun of Jim’s aspirations. And Elizabeth pondered over the men and women from this corner of the world. They were so self-satisfied in their little eggshell that anyone even thinking of leaving this world was, in their eyes, not to be taken seriously.
Elizabeth thanked Caroline, and at the wistful expression that came into her eyes, Caroline got up to leave saying she would leave her to read her letter. Elizabeth assured her she was in no hurry to read, though she couldn’t wait to read the news from back home.
“Umm…Caroline…there is something I wanted to ask you.” Caroline suddenly stopped in her tracks. A look of fear crossed her eyes. Then she quickly replaced it with good-natured curiosity.
“Of course, ask away.”
“Caroline, will you teach me how to make coffee?”
Chapter Twelve
A fter dinner that night, Elizabeth made coffee the way Caroline had taught her. She had just finished cleaning the kitchen while Lydia had done the dishes and put them away. The girl had looked dog-tired, and she had dismissed her to her room behind the pantry.
Lydia had taken up her place and her responsibilities in her new home seriously, genuinely grateful to Elizabeth and Nicholas for having offered her a safe ho
me. She would be up hours before dawn and would have the fire going by the time Elizabeth came down to make breakfast.
The men would come in just before dawn for their food, and before the sun was completely up, they would all be gone off for their work. Lydia would help make breakfast, serve the men and clean afterward. What was more, she did her duties quietly and always kept a pleasant disposition.
“What is that smell?” Nic asked coming down from the bedroom where he had gone right after dinner leaving his men behind to finish their meal. They had later told Elizabeth that the boss had had a rough day with the people from the association who were pestering him to sell his land to them.
“Elizabeth, what are you doing?” he asked and his voice was laced with slight irritation.
“I was making coffee,” she said pouring him a cup as he came towards her. Though the moon had not yet waxed fully, the night was cloudy. The only light came from the mild fire in the hearth. In that light, Nicholas Rhymer looked forbidding and intimidating. As he approached her Elizabeth’s heart beat faster, and her knees went weak.
His features were hard and handsome, a broad forehead, a long sharp nose, high cheekbones and blue, blue eyes. The day’s stubble had grown over his face and made him look scruffy and somehow more attractive. Elizabeth could not believe for a moment that this tall, powerful man with a strapping figure, was her husband.
As protection, she held the coffee mug out to him before he could come any closer. “I wanted you to have the first cup I made.” Now, where had that come from? Elizabeth berated herself for her brazen remark and stood to wait for his reaction. He did not move to take the offered mug, and she felt like a fool standing there her hands outstretched.
Then he held his sides and let out a loud guffaw. His laugh made her feel more uncomfortable, and she glared back at him.
“I am happy that I amuse you.” she said tersely.
Still shaking with laughter, Nicholas took the offered mug then shaking his head vigorously he said.
“You never cease to surprise me, Liz Rhymer.” Hearing her name like that filled her with a vain delight, and coming from him it sounded all the more gratifying. It filled her with a sense of belonging.
“Liz, people don’t drink coffee before they go to bed. It’s actually supposed to wake you up.” She scowled at that.
“Well, back in Cleveland, we drank tea at any hour of the day. Even before going to bed. It would sooth the body and act as a mild soporific. Coffee essentially has the same composition. It should also…” she stopped suddenly as the jovial expression had left his face and he looked at her sharply.
“A soporific is a …” She began, but his expression made her stop as she gulped down the fear that was now rising in her chest. She had displeased him.
“I know what a soporific is Liz…point is why do you know about it…oh yes, your medical training…did we not say we were going to put that behind us?” he glowered, holding the coffee mug in one hand and holding her upper arm with the other. The grip was a bit too tight and making her squirm. But he did not relent and finally, Elizabeth stood there quietly, bearing the pain that was now searing through her arm and looking up at him pleadingly.
When Nicholas saw the tears swim into her eyes, he let go quickly. God, what was he doing? The girl had had formal training in medicine. Asking her to forget it was like asking a horse not to gallop. Why was he being so unreasonable?
And why did he have this primitive urge to hurt and to possess her? But he knew the answer to that one. When he had selected an orphan from Cleveland he had imagined her to be ugly, neglected and a dimwitted woman. One who would save him from the marriage trap, do all the household work and expect nothing in return.
Instead, he had gotten a pretty little vixen who also had a sharp intellect. She attracted him and threatened his resolve of lifelong celibacy.
“Don’t worry sweetheart. I was actually going out to the barn to get some work done before turning in. This cup of coffee is exactly what I needed.”
He saw the disappointment on her face and groaned inside. He did not want to be so accommodating towards her feelings. He was going down a path he had already traveled once before and knew would find only deceit and pain there.
“Actually, I had just a few minutes of work out there. Would you like to walk down with me Liz?” A man could have killed for the smile of delight that spread across her face. As they walked out and into the yard Nicholas said.
“The dinner was delicious. You cook really well.”
“My bible group back home did a lot of work for the orphans. I was terrible at knitting and sewing. And I absolutely cannot sing. I had no knowledge of either grammar or literature. And though I was good at math I had no patience to teach. So, the responsibility of cooking fell to me. I would make delicious Sunday lunches for the children, and they loved it.”
“The coffee is good too.” He said taking his first sip and looking at her with surprise. “You learn fast.”
“Thank you. I had a good teacher. Caroline taught me. She came visiting this afternoon.”
“And how do you find her?” he asked, and Lizzie knew that he was fond of the girl.
“She is such a sweet girl. We had a nice talk.”
“What did you talk about?” he asked trying to sound casual, but she did not miss the note of slight concern in his voice. It terrified and excited Elizabeth that she was so finely tuned to his mood changes.
What are you worried of that she would have told me? She wanted to ask, remembering the look of concern that had come into Caroline’s eyes earlier. She also remembered him talking in his sleep and thought that there was something he was not telling her. But she let it pass.
“We spoke of girl things, her…er…condition you know. Look here Nic I know you disapprove of me playing doctor. But I observed she is very weak. So, I made up a meal chart for her.” She had expected a reprimand, but he suddenly stopped in his tracks and put the coffee mug on the ledge near the barn door
“Do you think she is in serious trouble?” the concern in his voice told her she really mattered to him.
“She might be. Why do you ask?”
“Because Caroline’s mother had become very weak during her first pregnancy. She never recovered enough after Vincent was born. Then after she had Caroline, she died in just a couple of weeks’ time. Vincent loves his sister, and she is his only family. I love her like a little sister too. We grew up together. Besides Vincent is my best buddy. Do you think these things can be in the blood?”
“It is possible. I will wait for a few weeks and see her progress after the meal chart. If she does not improve, I will do a checkup.” She looked at him waiting for his reaction. A fight of emotions raged in his eyes, his opposition to her profession against his love for his dear ones. Then he nodded in agreement.
They had come to the barn now, and Nic took her to a stall. A handsome mare stood behind the booth.
“Elizabeth meet Star. Star Elizabeth.” He said introducing Elizabeth to the horse. The horse moved her snout as if in acknowledgment and Elizabeth giggled. She found it endearing that Nic should treat a horse as if she was a person. Nic scratched Star’s mane then picked up a brush and gave her rump a thorough brush.
“You came all the way here to give this dumb beast a brush?”
“She is not a dumb beast. She is my Star.” Nic said with pride. It made Elizabeth all the more aware of his kind nature.
For a moment, they both stood looking at each other. Then suddenly he pulled her closer and crushed his lips over hers. The sensations that coursed through Elizabeth’s body were exhilarating. She bunched her fists into his shirt front, as his hands splayed over her back.
Her softness, her curves, her scent were all driving him crazy. One of his hands slid slowly down her back and clutched at the base of her hips drawing her nearer. His hard-swollen erection pushed into her soft belly through the fabric of her dress. And Elizabeth was thrilled to know that she had
had that effect on him.
She whimpered as he withdrew his lips momentarily. He shoved his fingers roughly through her mob cap and holding on to a fist full of hair pulled her head back. Then put his lips to the exposed arc of her neck. At first, he went torturously slow then he could not get enough of her neck, her shoulders and her lips and kissed her with a feverish passion.
He had pulled up her skirts with his other hand and was drawing his palm from her knee upward when suddenly the barn door opened and Vincent walked out.
“Goodness boss.” He stopped in his tracks for a second not knowing what to do then recovering quickly he walked away from the barn muttering.
“You have a perfectly good room inside a perfectly good house. Why do you have to roll in the hay?”
Though he had walked away the magic of the moment was lost, and the two pulled apart. Nicholas held on to her for a few more seconds when he realized she was shaking.
“God Liz, you drive me crazy. I married you because my father’s will stated that I had to marry before I turned thirty, to own his ranch. I chose you in particular because I expected an orphan from the east to be a plain daft woman who would cook and clean and leave me alone. Instead, I get a fiery witch like you. Stay away from me, Liz. I will destroy you. I have nothing inside me to give you. I am like a black hole. I will suck out your happiness. Stay away from me. Do you understand me?” The last of his words were said harshly while he shook her hard and Elizabeth was terrified by the change in his countenance.
She took one last look at him then fled back into the direction of the house.
Chapter Thirteen
W eeks passed, and Elizabeth settled into a comfortable routine at the ranch. She cooked three meals a day for Nic and his men, and they all loved her cooking. Lydia was always at her side helping and working like a soldier ant.
After Nic’s initial warning none of the men ever tried to seduce Lydia or vice versa. But they all made fun of her and teased her. She had become everybody’s little sister. They brought her little trinkets, flowers, wild fruits stones from the river, and she took care of their laundry, mending, and other trivial chores.
