“You saw me every day.”
“That’s not what I mean. There’s seeing you and then there’s having you close to me. I’d gone about as long as I could without something giving way between us.”
“And are you happy now?” She looked down at Susan, holding the baby’s fingers, bending to kiss the soft, rosy cheek she could not resist.
“What do you think?” He held the reins in one hand and slid the other arm around her, scooting her across the wide seat to nestle next to his side. “I’ve never been so happy, Jen. My claim is producing well. My partner is cooperating with me, filling his shoes and mine, too, while I sort things out. Our house is waiting for us. And best of all, my wife is here with me, and she loves me.” As if that were the epitome of success, he tossed his head back and laughed. “What more could any man want?”
She leaned her head against his shoulder, willing to be a submissive wife today. And then a stray thought zipped through her mind. “You didn’t leave the house a mess, did you?” She tilted her head to one side and looked up at him, meeting his amused gaze.
“You know better. If I had any hope of bringing you home with me, I knew I’d better clean up behind myself and not leave anything to chance.”
HE’D DONE QUITE WELL, Jennifer thought, standing in the middle of the big kitchen, sorting out boxes of supplies as Lucas carried them in. Susan was sleeping in the middle of the big bed upstairs, pillows surrounding her.
The kitchen showed the evidence of Lucas’s attempts at housekeeping and not for the world would she criticize the pile of dust and dirt he’d swept into one corner or the mess he’d made of the big iron skillet, washing it and ruining the surface with soap and water. It might take her a week to season it properly again, but she’d never let on for a minute that he’d erred in his care of anything in this house.
The floor needed a good scrubbing, and bits and pieces of dried egg yolk and crumbs of bread on the table were mute evidence that he’d managed to put together a few meals on his own before he’d moved into the boardinghouse.
And into her heart.
And where that thought had come from, she didn’t know. Only that it was so.
LUCAS SPENT the rest of the day helping her set things to rights, toting obediently when she pointed a finger at a box or bundle, placing everything where it belonged. They ate Ida’s soup at noontime, and Jennifer worked hard to put together a meal he would enjoy after his long day’s work was done.
He brought the cow home from a neighbor’s house and gathered the chickens from the yard where they’d run wild while the house was empty, eating the chicken feed he’d scattered hither and yon for their sustenance. Late in the day he carried a bucket of milk into the springhouse and reappeared moments later, his long strides bringing him to the back porch, where he took off his boots in deference to the freshly scrubbed floor.
“Come wash up. Supper’s ready.” With a flourish, Jennifer lifted the lid from her big Dutch oven and exposed the contents to his view. A beef stew simmered beneath a covering of big, fluffy dumplings and Lucas lifted an eyebrow as he gazed at it with appreciation.
“You’ve learned well, Mrs. O’Reilly. I never would have thought the bride I brought home would have caught on so quickly.”
“I was hopeless,” she said, laughing at the memory. “You put up with an awful lot, Lucas.”
“You’ll have to make it up to me.” He pouted nicely, moving across the kitchen toward her. “It looks like you have enough food there for a small army. That’s a good beginning, ma’am.”
A horse’s neigh outside brought Lucas’s head up quickly and he turned back to the door, his stance that of a man ready for whatever might come. “We have callers.” His voice was harsh and Jennifer didn’t need to look past him to know who the visitors might be.
“My parents.” She walked to the door and his hand was on her shoulder.
“Are you all right?” Warm and comforting, the heat of his body sheltered her and she turned her head, the better to meet his gaze.
“I’ll be fine.” But her heart jolted within her chest as she recognized that she might never be the same again. If she lost Susan, she would have a huge, empty gap where once a baby had filled her heart.
She stepped outdoors and greeted her parents. “Lucas said I’d cooked enough for a small army,” she told them with a smile. “We’ve plenty to eat. Come on in.”
Both her mother and father looked surprised by the greeting. “We found out in town how to get here,” her father said. “Rented a buggy and headed this way.”
“Well, you must be hungry,” Jennifer told them, hugging her mother and then planting a quick kiss on her father’s cheek. “Come on in. Lucas will go up and get the baby. She must be about awake by now. She’s slept the whole afternoon away.”
Jennifer’s mother pressed her lips together. “I’ve been so anxious to see her. Kyle took her away without any notice at all, and we’ve been frantic, worrying about her.”
“How did you—”
Her father waved his hand. “Kyle told us he’d been set upon and beaten terribly by your husband, and the baby had vanished.”
“He lied.” It was all she could say, so great was her anger at the untruthfulness of Kyle’s statements. “He knew where Susan was. He knew I had her.”
“Well, we’re here now,” her mother said. “Come on in, Joseph. I’m curious to see the house where our daughter lives. Not to mention to meet the man she married.”
The supper was approved of by all, Lucas playing down his surprise at the tastiness of Jennifer’s offering. “She’s a good cook,” he told her mother. “Had a good teacher. I brought out a widow lady from town and she had an apt pupil. Jennifer catches on to everything quickly.” His look in her direction made Jennifer blush, and she stored up her aggravation with him for a later time. Jennifer catches on to everything quickly.
The man might just as well have bragged about her prowess in his bed. Although the double meaning in his words seemed to have gone over her mother’s head, her father exchanged a look with Lucas that seemed to please them both.
Susan held her audience in the palm of her hand, eating well, smiling at the table full of beaming adults and reaching for Lucas after she had eaten her fill.
“How long will it be before she calls me ‘Grandpa’?” Joseph asked Jennifer.
Jennifer felt quick tears as she bent her head. “She’s a smart little thing,” she said, her voice choking on the words. “She’s just beginning to make sounds that mimic words.”
“Well, I hope she likes the room we’ve prepared for her, and the nanny we’ve hired,” Joseph said. “She’s an Irish girl. Together with her mother, they make quite a pair, one of them keeping the house, the other just waiting to get her hands on the baby.”
“They’ll love her.” Jennifer stood and began clearing the table. The pan of stew and dumplings was almost empty, and her father spoke from behind her.
“Don’t be throwing that out now, Jen. I’ll have it for breakfast.”
“Breakfast?” She turned to him in surprise. “I thought maybe bacon or sausage gravy would be good.”
“You can eat all the bacon you like. I’ll settle for this,” he said, peering into the contents of the kettle she held. “In fact, I’d finish it up now, but I haven’t any more room.”
“Not even enough for custard pie?” Jennifer went to the pantry and brought out the pie she’d baked earlier while Lucas was rounding up his livestock.
Joseph patted his stomach. “I’ll manage to find room, somehow.”
And he did. As did Lucas and Jennifer’s mother. Susan ate the custard from Jennifer’s slice, but with the thought of the child leaving her on the morrow, Jennifer found her own appetite to have forsaken her.
“I’ll get Susan’s things ready tonight,” she said, “and you can get an early start in the morning.” She fought tears, bending her head to kiss the baby’s head. It seemed almost more than she could bear, giv
ing up this child, but if it was the best thing for Susan right now, she’d bend with the wind and allow it to happen without a fuss.
“We’ll be on the noon coach,” Joseph said. “Then catch a train down the road a ways.” He rose from the table and Lucas joined him as they went out the back door, leaving the two women alone.
“You’re welcome any time you want to come visit, Jennifer.” Her mother’s voice was soft and inviting and the look on her face told Jennifer that she understood how difficult this was for her daughter. “I’m so glad you had the baby with you. I was worried to death that Kyle wouldn’t take care of her or that he might give her away just to spite us.”
“Well, so long as you and daddy have Susan, I won’t have to lie awake at night and worry, Mother. She’s been a darling to take care of. I almost envy your little Irish nanny. I know she’ll love her. It will break my heart to lose her, though.”
“I meant it when I offered to have you come for a visit,” her mother said. “You and your husband both for that matter.” She bent closer and her voice dropped to a whisper, even though the two men were standing near the barn, far out of earshot.
“Lucas is a handsome man, isn’t he? I think you did well for yourself, Jennifer—better than I’d thought. It might have been the best thing you’ve ever done, coming here on the promise of a man’s proposal. I’ll admit I thought you were daft at the time, but I think you’ve landed on your feet. The man seems to be well thought of in town, according to the people we spoke with, and he certainly has provided you with a nice home. Mining must be a lucrative way of making a living.”
“He’s doing well,” Jennifer said, unwilling to elaborate on Lucas’s assets. “He’s very good to me, Mother.”
“I could tell he’s smitten with you, just the way he watches you.” An arch look lit her mother’s face. “I suspect he’ll take good care of you. And I wouldn’t be surprised if you have a baby of your own before long, Jennifer. It would be the best thing in the world for you.”
A baby of your own. The words stunned her and Jennifer felt her mouth drop open in surprise. And then she recovered. “Probably not for a while. We’d certainly like to have a family, but I’m in no hurry. I’ve really enjoyed Susan, but I don’t how good I’d be at taking care of a newborn.”
“It’s something you catch on to in a hurry,” her mother told her. “I think you’re a natural born mother, the way you’ve taken over with your sister’s child.” She looked pensive as she considered her daughter. “I fear you’ll miss Susan more than you know.”
A sound of complaint came from the chair where Susan sat, and Jennifer took her up and wiped her hands and face at the sink. “I’ll put the dishes to soak and we can go in to the parlor and play with her for a while, if you want to, Mother. She loves to crawl across the carpet and play with her toys.”
“ARE YOU ALL RIGHT?” Lucas spoke in a low voice, holding Jennifer in his arms much later that same night. They’d gone to bed well after dark, the parlor becoming a room filled with laughter with all four adults on the floor as Susan experimented with a game that consisted of one baby keeping her audience in thrall to her smiles and jabbering.
“She’ll run us a merry chase, Mother,” Joseph said as Jennifer finally picked Susan up to prepare her for bed.
Susan’s grandmother smiled and nodded. “That’s why we have a nanny.”
Jennifer thought that it would be better for Susan to have a mother or grandmother handling her care than a hired helper, but she kept her ideas to herself.
Now she relaxed in Lucas’s embrace and responded to his query. “I’m fine. Just tired and thinking about tomorrow. I’ll have lots of time for myself now, won’t I?”
“Maybe we’ll have a baby of our own by this time next year,” Lucas said casually, as if it were something he’d been considering.
“Funny. That’s the same thing my mother said. She didn’t mention next year, but she sounded like she thought we should begin a family right away.”
“And what do you think?” He bent his head and kissed her. “We could practice a little right now, maybe get started on the project.”
“My folks are in the next room.” Her words were stilted, her tone frosty. Having the Alstons in the same house probably didn’t matter to Lucas the way it did to her.
“I’ll be real quiet,” he said, his hands roaming over her back and then skating over her breasts and hips. “You don’t even have to wiggle, honey. I’ll just kiss you a little, in all the places that smell so good. And then I’ll—”
“You will not.” Her tone was emphatic now, her position clear, even to a man as set on making love to his wife as Lucas seemed to be.
“How about after they leave in the morning?” He sounded disappointed, but Jennifer thought he smiled, his mouth against her forehead forming into a grin if she wasn’t mistaken.
“I’ll talk to you after breakfast, when they’ve gone,” she told him. And that would be no great sacrifice on her part, she decided. Making love with Lucas had become a part of marriage she’d found to be more than inviting. He gave her a delight she could barely contain, with each touch of his hands, with every movement of his body against hers. The warmth of his mouth, the gentle contact of his skin against hers, his fingers exploring the hollows of her body—all were pleasures she could not resist.
He turned her now, curling against her back, his hand forming to the shape of her breast as he prepared to sleep. His breath was warm against her nape and she shivered.
“I love you, Jen.”
They were words she thought she would never tire of hearing, and as her eyes closed, she murmured beneath her breath, “I’m glad, Lucas. I love you, too.”
JENNIFER WEPT BUCKETS, more than Lucas would have thought possible. He’d never known that one small woman could contain so much water in the form of tears, yet his shirt was damp and his handkerchief bore the results of her sorrow. Susan had not been happy with her departure from the farm, but Jennifer’s mother had shown a grandmother’s prowess at calming her by the time the buggy reached the side of the house, heading for town.
Now the house was silent, and Lucas recalled his words from the night before and Jennifer’s answer.
How about after they leave in the morning? He held her close now and smiled against the top of her head.
I’ll talk to you after breakfast. As if she, too, remembered her words, she lifted her head from his chest and looked at him with eyes that begged his compassion. “I need you, Lucas,” she whispered, the words an open invitation so far as he was concerned.
He picked her up without haste, yet his body was already prepared for the loving that was to come. It would be a time for Jennifer, he decided, a time in which she would know his love for her, feel his need of her, and resolve any lingering doubts she might have.
He climbed the stairs, her body light in his arms. She lifted her face to his as they reached the upper hallway. “Love me,” she said, her whispered request bringing him to a state of arousal that made him fear his own impatience. Not for the world would he hurt her, not in any case would he bring her to his bed without first knowing she was ready for him, was yearning for this joining as he was.
The bed was unmade, the coverlet tossed to the foot, the sheet crumpled where it had been left when they arose. Now he placed her in the middle of the bed, careful as he removed her clothing, his fingers gentle as he took the pins from her hair and released it from its long braid.
It lay on her pillow, looking to Lucas like a cloud of darkness, tempting his hands to bury themselves in its depths.
He slid from his own clothing and joined her, curling around her, his hands touching her with care, caressing her in a way he knew would bring pleasure to her aching heart. Even as he loved her, as his mouth tasted the sweet flavor of her flesh, he whispered soft words of his desire, reassured her of his love.
And in all of that, he brought her to a culmination of her own passion that caused her to utter soft cr
ies of completion against his skin. She clung to him, her body seeming to form itself to his like a favorite shirt. Beneath him, she lay replete, her body soft and lissome, her smile one he recognized.
He lifted himself over her, arranging her for his own pleasure. Finding the haven his aching body yearned for, he sought out the heat of her, slid with an easy movement into her depths and then was still. This was almost enough, he thought. This womanly warmth that surrounded him, the arms she slid around his waist, her legs holding him fast, lest he leave her empty.
And yet it was not enough, for when she shifted against him, he shivered. When she lifted her hips, the better to contain him, he shuddered, his body responding to the pull and drag of her own, holding him fast, yet releasing him by increments. He moaned his pleasure and spoke against her forehead, telling her of his love, asking for assurance of hers. Finally, when he could no longer contain himself, he emptied his seed into her.
“I love you, Lucas.” Her declaration resounded in his ear, even though she whispered. It echoed through his mind, although each syllable was soft. And he stored up this moment in his memory as a panacea for all ills in the days to come. For now, at this moment, he loved and was loved. A man could ask for no more.
CHAPTER FIFTEEN
THE DAYS turned into weeks and life assumed a rhythm that pleased them both. Mining, as always, was the focus point of Lucas’s days, the piece of land he’d claimed in Thunder Canyon proving to be a rich vein of gold, one that was making him and his partner, Sandy, more prosperous than they could have imagined.
Being the mayor of Thunder Canyon was not time consuming, Jennifer decided, the town council only meeting once a month, the townspeople a law-abiding group of citizens. Pleased to profit by the men who spent their days panning gold and digging into the hillsides of their claims, the owners of the shops and stores of the small town prospered.
Women were still in short supply, but the newspaper editor had hit upon a lucrative scheme: bringing young women from the eastern United States to Thunder Canyon for the express purpose of marriage to the male contingent of the community. Most of the men planned to settle down in the area and raise families, and in order to do that, they needed wives.
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