She chuckled as the waitress set their food down in front of them. The waitress looked back and forth between them. "This one bill or two?"
"One," Colin answered quickly before Elaine had a chance to say anything.
When she'd walked off, Elaine shook her head at him. "You shouldn't marry me out of pity. I know you heard what happened, and I don't want you to feel obligated to do anything." She couldn't marry a man who just felt badly for what another man had said to her. She had to marry for the right reasons or not at all.
He took her hand in his, holding it tightly. "John's a jackass. He's the kind who would drown his own kid if he was born with a hair color he didn't like. You'd be much better off with me." He brought her hand to his lips, kissing her fingertips. "You would have married John who was a complete stranger. At least you've seen me." He was very attracted to the pretty girl beside him, and he saw a strength in her that he couldn't discount. She was obviously going to be a hard worker. He could see it in her eyes.
"But...you don't know me at all." She looked down at her stew. "You must not have heard the entire conversation. I have a leg that doesn't work right..." She hated pointing out her faults to the man, but she couldn't let him think he was marrying a woman with no problems. He needed to understand what he'd be getting out of the deal.
"I heard. I also saw you walk in here, carrying your own bags after how long on a train?"
"Just over three days," she said, her voice tired. She needed to walk around to exercise her leg whenever she could, or it just got worse and worse.
"So you spent three days on a train to come and marry the man, and he couldn't be bothered to even carry your bags for you when you got here? That's not the kind of man a pretty lady like you should marry." Colin looked deep into her eyes, astounded by the clear shade of sky blue they were. "Forget him and marry me."
She laughed. "You don't want to marry me. You just...feel bad for me." She was tempted to say 'yes' and see how long it took him to run from the restaurant.
He sighed, shaking his head at her. "I do feel bad for you. I feel bad that a neighbor of mine left you in a restaurant in a town you'd never been to instead of marrying you like he promised." He took a sip of his water, watching her over the top of the glass. "If you tell me you're going to get on a train and go right back home to wherever you came from..."
"Massachusetts," she said. Why she felt the need to tell this man anything about her, she didn't know, but she was strangely attracted to him.
"So if you tell me you're getting on a train and heading back to Massachusetts, I'll just walk away, and go back to the mercantile, and write the mail order bride agency and ask for a pretty blond with the bluest eyes I've ever seen. I'll insist that she's from Massachusetts, and her name has to be Elaine Phillips." He looked at her. "Please save me the time!" He felt sorry for her, because of what John had done, yes, but that wouldn't have been enough for him to ask her to marry. She was beautiful, and if she could really cook, then he would be in heaven.
She shook her head at him, laughing softly. "I do believe you're serious." And suddenly she wanted him to be serious. She wanted to marry this man and stay in Kansas.
"You've never met a more serious man in your life. Please, let's go see the preacher, and then we'll go to the mercantile, and you can pick out all the glorious food you're going to feed me." He grinned at her, and it reminded her so much of a little boy she had to laugh.
"All right. I'll marry you." She wondered if he'd expect her to share a bed with him, seeing as how they'd only just met. Of course, she'd have shared a bed with John, so she couldn't expect to not share one with Colin. Could she? "Would you...would you expect me to share your bed?" Her words came out in a rush, and his smile widened.
He tilted his head to one side, considering. "Well, I'd want you to. I won't lie about that, but you seem awfully tired. How about this? I'll give you two nights to settle in good, and we'll plan on sharing a bed after that? You have time to feel better, and then I get what I want."
She considered his words, thinking he was being more than fair. Her mother, despite her anger, had explained about the marriage bed before she left, so she knew what to expect. "That sounds fair to me." She held her hand out to him to shake on their deal.
He ignored her hand and threw some coins on the table for their meal, standing up and taking both of her bags in one hand, and offering his other arm. They left the restaurant and he quietly led her into a gap between the buildings that was quite dark and not visible from the street. He set her bags down and turned to her. "I'm not going to shake on a deal with the lady who is about to become my wife." He caught her waist and pulled her to him, his mouth coming down on hers, kissing her sweetly.
Elaine had never been kissed before, and she quickly sucked in a breath as his lips descended on hers. She'd never even thought about how a man's kiss would feel, and she was surprised at the softness of his lips. She wrapped her arms around him and clung to his broad shoulders, astounded at the tingling sensation rushing through her body.
When Colin raised his head, he looked deeply into her eyes. "Not sure I can wait that long, sunshine."
Elaine stared up at him, her tongue coming out to lick her lip. She could still taste him. "Sunshine?" No one had ever used a pet name with her before, and she found she liked it.
"Your hair is the color of sunshine." He stroked her cheek lightly with one finger. "Let's go get married before some other man sees you and tries to steal you away from me." He brushed his lips across hers one more time, certain waiting even two nights to make love to her was going to kill him.
She laughed, shaking her head. "I don't think that's something you need to worry about with my bum leg."
"I haven't seen your legs yet, but I'll bet they're as beautiful as the rest of you. If you want to, you're welcome to show me later." He wagged his eyebrows at her, making her blush.
She shook her head. "You're being very naughty, Mr. Monroe." And she liked it. Why did she like it?
He smiled, holding his arm out to her again, noting that she was needing to use his arm to help support herself. He walked slowly toward the pastor's house, knowing the man would marry them with no problem. "Do we need to get you a cane when we go to the mercantile?" He didn't want her to be in pain for any longer than absolutely necessary.
She nodded, not wanting to admit it, but knowing she had no choice. "I have my own money. I can pay for it." She wouldn't be a financial burden on him. She didn't want to tell him yet about the money she had stashed away, but she was more than willing to use it for a purchase that would only benefit herself.
Colin shook his head. "You're about to become my wife. Let me buy you what you need." He looked up and realized the pastor's house was well past the mercantile. "Let's stop and get your cane before we get married. We can come back to get the supplies we need afterward." He hated the idea of her being in pain even an extra minute. If the cane would help, he could put the wedding off for a few minutes.
She nodded gratefully. "Thank you." She wasn't sure how much longer she could walk without a cane, but she hadn't wanted to tell him that.
"Don't thank me. It's what men do for their wives." He pushed open the door to the mercantile and held it for her. Mr. Judd was watching them with wide eyes. "Mr. Judd, this is my fiancé, Elaine. Elaine, this is Mr. Judd. He owns the mercantile." Colin's eyes were dancing with laughter as he saw the look of astonishment on the older man's face.
Mr. Judd shook his head as if confused. "Your fiancé?"
Colin shrugged at the merchant. "You're the one who told me to find a mail order bride. I did." He walked to the display of canes in the corner and frowned. "None of them are good for a lady." He chose the shortest one that would be the right length for her. "I'll make you one just as soon as I have time, but this will do for now." He hated that there were no pretty canes he could buy her.
She accepted it gratefully, and used it as they walked to the counter, nodding shyly to Mr
. Judd.
"We'll be back for supplies right after we go to the preacher's house to get married." Colin leaned forward as if he were imparting a secret. "She can cook!"
Mr. Judd laughed, smiling at Elaine. "Well, I think she'll be a fine wife for you then."
Colin smiled at her. "I know she will." He paid for the cane and they moved down the boardwalk toward the pastor's house. Once they reached it, he turned up the path and knocked loudly on the door.
Elaine was clinging to his arm with one hand and leaning heavily on her cane with the other. When the pastor opened the door, Colin smiled at the older man. "Pastor Samuels? We'd like to get married."
Pastor Samuels looked at Elaine with a smile. "Come in!" He opened the door wide, stepping aside for them to walk in.
Elaine saw by the look in the pastor's eyes that he noticed her limp, but he said nothing. Once they were both inside, Colin set her bags down and they stood before the preacher who, after asking her name, invited his wife into the room to witness the ceremony.
Elaine was surprised by how quickly it went. One minute she was stepping off the train to marry John, and the next thing she knew, she was marrying Colin. She knew she'd gotten the better man, not only by how he treated her, but by how he treated others. She'd noticed that John didn't seem to look at anyone, and people tended to give him a wide berth. Everyone seemed to smile and wave at Colin as if they all knew him and respected him. She was pleased that she'd done so well for herself after all.
When the pastor said they were husband and wife, Colin pulled her to him and kissed her sweetly, just barely brushing his lips across hers. Elaine wanted more, but she didn't know quite what more she wanted.
Colin pressed some money into the pastor's hand, and they walked to the street and stopped at his wagon to put her bags in the back. "I should have put them there when we passed a little while back, but I was too excited about marrying you." He waggled his eyebrows at her. "Being with such a beautiful woman seems to steal my senses away."
She blushed, watching the way the shirt he wore stretched taut across the muscles of his back. He was a very handsome man, and she still couldn't quite figure out why he'd chosen her for his wife and not someone else.
"Do you need to rest in the wagon for a moment before we shop?" he asked quietly, not wanting anyone else to hear, because he could tell it embarrassed her when attention was drawn to her infirmity.
She shook her head. "No, let's just get it done, and then we can go home." It felt strange calling a house she'd never seen home, but it was the only place she had now. He led her into the store again, and she looked around. "I don't know what you already have." How could she buy supplies when she couldn't take inventory? She didn't know what pots, pans, or cooking utensils he had. She wanted to just go back to the house so she could look around and come back the following day, but she had a feeling that wouldn't go over well.
Mr. Judd walked over, shaking his head. "You don't need to worry about that. He has nothing but beans in his house. I know because I'm the one he buys everything from, and he never buys anything but beans and crackers."
Elaine bit her lip to keep from laughing. "He's already told me he doesn't ever want to eat beans again, so we'd better start from scratch." She simply had to point to something and Colin would place it on the counter for her. They had a huge pile of goods by the time they were ready to leave. Finally she looked at him. "Do you have pots and pans and dishes? Or do we need to get those as well?"
He shrugged. "I have some." He had no idea what she needed so he didn't know how to tell her what he had.
"Do you have a bread pan? A big pot for soups and stews?"
"I think I have a bread pan, and I know I have a big pot, cuz that's what I use for my beans."
Mr. Judd put a large box filled with bake ware on the counter. "Don't let him fool you, Mrs. Monroe. He has nothing."
Elaine looked at Colin with one eyebrow raised. He shrugged like a child, obviously having no idea what he had. She sighed. "We'll take that as well." She smiled at him. "Do you have curtains? Table clothes?" The picture she was getting in her mind of his house was something completely bare and hardly livable.
He shook his head. "I've never really needed them."
"I'm going to buy fabric to make them with my own money," she told him, walking to the fabric and picking out some pretty blue gingham. "You obviously don't care about them, and I do." She needed her home to be a place she'd be happy to entertain in, even if she didn't know anyone.
After she'd carried the bolt of fabric to the counter and placed it with everything else, Elaine was almost embarrassed at the quantity of supplies she was buying. If he really only had beans and crackers in his house, all of it was necessary. She wished she knew if she was getting too much.
Mr. Judd found Elaine a chair to sit in while he and Colin loaded the wagon. She felt as if she should be helping, but she had to admit, if only to herself, that she couldn't. She was at her limit, and if she didn't get into a hot bath quickly once they reached his house, she was going to be in a lot of pain. She hoped he had indoor plumbing as her family had in Massachusetts, but she didn't ask. She didn't want him to think she was pampered.
"You ready?" Colin called from the doorway, and she got to her feet, moving slowly and stiffly. As he watched her move, he hurried across the store and swept her off her feet.
"Colin, put me down!" She hoped no one had seen him. What was he thinking carrying her around that way? "People will see!" She looked about her frantically hoping no one was looking at them.
"My wife is in pain, and if I can help her pain, I will." He carried her to the wagon and gently placed her on the seat, hurrying around her and climbing up beside her. He waved his thanks to Mr. Judd and drove away toward the outskirts of town.
She looked around her at the town, noticing how different it was from Beckham. "How far out of town do you live?" she asked, trying to make conversation.
"It takes about thirty minutes to get home from here, so just a few miles." He liked how close he was to town. It was an easy drive when he needed to go, but not so close that people from town were always on his doorstep bugging him.
"How often do you come to town?" She thought for the first time about how isolated life on a ranch would be. Would she only see other people one or two times per week? However it was, it couldn't be worse than feeling like a prisoner in her mother's parlor.
He laughed. "Every Sunday for church, and again every time I run out of beans."
Elaine shook her head. "I will do my best to never cook beans again. What kind of beans do you cook? All different kinds?" Beans were such an inexpensive meal that she hated taking them out of their diet, but she couldn't cook anything that made him sick to his stomach.
"I only know how to cook pinto beans, so that's all I've eaten."
"Well, then we can add other beans into the mix." She smiled as they left the town and she saw the open prairie ahead of her. "It's pretty here." She stared out at the prairie and smiled as she saw a river running along the road to the north.
He smiled slipping his arm around her shoulders and pulling her close to him now that they were out of town. "I love it here. The prairie is quiet. I'm primarily a cattle rancher, but I have a couple of cows for milk and some chickens for eggs." He shrugged. "What more could I need?"
"You have eggs and milk but don't know how to cook with them?" What kind of person didn't know how to cook the food he raised?
"Well, I drink the milk, and I figured I'd eventually figure out the whole egg thing. Just never got around to it."
She was surprised at that. "So what do you do with the eggs?"
"Feed them to the chickens."
Elaine sighed. "You feed the chickens eggs to the chickens. Really?"
Colin shrugged. "I don't know what else to do with them, and chickens will eat just about anything. They're like pigs."
"Will you teach me to milk the cows and collect the eggs? I don't want to fee
l like I'm not doing my share." Helping around the ranch was one of the things she'd moved to Kansas expecting to do. She wasn't going to let up until he taught her what to do.
He frowned. "I don't like the idea of you milking the cows, but I'll teach you to collect the eggs."
She folded her arms over her chest and glared at him. "And just why can't I learn to milk the cows?" If he told her that her leg wasn't up to it, she just might show him how strong her leg really was...by kicking him.
"I don't want my wife to get hurt. Cows kick sometimes."
"Do they ever kick you?" She watched him as he answered her, ready to detect any lie he might be telling.
"Well, no, but they're used to me."
She took a deep breath, trying to keep her anger reined in until she was certain he deserved it. "If you were married to a woman who...didn't have the injury I have, would you let her milk the cow?"
He thought about her question for a moment, realizing it was a sensitive issue for her. "I honestly don't know. I don't think I would, but I don't know."
She nodded. "Thank you for not lying to me about it."
He turned to her, kissing her forehead. "I will never deliberately lie to you. I may sometimes do it inadvertently, but never on purpose."
"Thank you."
"This is where my land starts." He pointed to a fence made of barbed wire. "It's still going to be a little bit of a drive to the house, though."
She looked out over the land, spotting a large group of cattle standing together. "Are those yours?" She was starting to get excited. Cows. Real cows and she would have a say in how they were raised. At least she hoped she would.
He nodded. "They're ours." He squeezed her tightly with the arm still wrapped around her.
She smiled. "I'm going to need a hot bath when we get to the house. My leg isn't going to hold up for much longer if I don't get one." She hated having to admit to it, but she knew it was the only thing that would make it so she could cook even one meal that evening.
Mail Order Misfit (Brides of Beckham) Page 3
