by Barbara Goss
“I’d be happy to come in with you and hold your hand,” he said.
“No, thank you.” Eden slowly disappeared into the trees and once again, Andrew shook his head.
When she returned, she stared at Andrew. “I thought I was to sleep on the horse blanket.”
“We’ll take turns,” he said, as he slipped into the pine trees.
When Andrew returned, Eden was lying on the bedroll with the jacket thrown over her. He laid down on his blanket and stared at the fire. His thoughts were depressing. He prayed and then closed his eyes.
In the morning, they finished off the rabbit and extinguished the fire. Andrew walked to get the horse while she rolled up their bedding.
Once more, they were on the road. Each day after that went pretty much the same, with Eden frustrating Andrew and he fighting for patience.
By then they'd had a routine when they made camp. Andrew walked the horse about a half-mile from camp while Eden gathered firewood. Andrew’d had good luck hunting, bringing them a rabbit or a woodchuck each night. One night he'd even caught a pheasant, which was a treat.
They’d been on the road for four days and so far, the weather had been warm and sunny, but their luck was about to change.
As Andrew cleaned the large fish he’d speared with a sharpened stick, he looked up at the sky. It had been cloudy all day and it looked like a storm was brewing. He figured they’d arrive in Great Bend the next day, if they were lucky, two days at the latest. He prayed the weather would hold for they had no shelter. The camp that night was in a spot a good distance from the road, and while trees in the area were scarce, there were large bushes dotting the fields. He’d chosen a thick grove of tall bushes for their camp.
He looked up to see that Eden hadn’t found much firewood.
Andrew speared the fish and held it over the fire.
“Do we have to eat the skin?” Eden asked with a grimace.
“Have any of my meals failed you yet?”
“Yes. The woodchuck was tough and fatty.”
“All right—one night out of four isn’t so bad,” he said, trying to keep his voice from his usual frustration. “You can peel the skin from the meat easily once it’s cooked.”
“I’d kill for a vegetable,” she said.
He nodded. “Me, too. We might reach Great Bend tomorrow.”
The rumble of thunder made them both look skyward.
“What if it rains?” she asked.
He shrugged. “I guess we’ll get wet.”
“Our fire will go out and we’ll freeze, as well,” Eden said with a shiver.
Lightning streaked through the sky with a jagged flash of light. Andrew counted. When he heard the thunder, he knew the storm wasn’t far. He scanned the area for some way to keep dry.
They ate quickly and took care of their nature calls. Andrew drew the bedroll as close to the bushes as he could, then motioned for Eden to sit on it. He sat beside her and held the horse blanket over their heads just as the clouds opened and the rain came down in torrents. Each time the lightning flashed or the thunder crashed overhead, Eden moved closer to Andrew.
The wind accompanying the storm blew the rain into their faces. They huddled under the wet blanket, hoping the storm would blow over.
“I’m soaked,” Eden said, “but I needed a bath, anyway.”
“I just hope our horse doesn’t bolt,” Andrew said. “He’s tied, but if he’s scared, he might flee and take the bush with him, roots and all.”
Andrew could feel Eden shivering. “Listen, Eden, we have to do whatever we can to stay warm since we’re both soaking wet.”
“Like what?” she asked.
“Like huddling together.”
“I’m okay with that,” she said between shivering lips.
He put his arm around her and pulled her close. “It doesn’t help much, since we’re both so wet but it’s better than nothing.
"Shh,” he said, “it’s not raining as hard as it was.”
Eden picked up a corner of the horse blanket. “It stopped as suddenly as it started.”
“Good,” Andrew said as he put the horse blanket down. “I can see the moon, so the clouds have blown over, too.”
He began to start up the fire again, but the wood was too wet. “Drat,” he said. “We can’t even light a fire to dry ourselves.”
The horse blanket and the bedroll were soaked through. Eden threw them over a clump of bushes, hoping they might dry somewhat. Andrew walked deeper into the thick bushes and called for Eden. “Look, it’s not too wet in here. Thank goodness for the dense foliage.”
“You want to sleep in here?” she asked.
“No, but we might be able to find enough dry twigs in here to start a fire.” Andrew began searching and picking up twigs. They were small but dry. Eden went in the opposite direction and gathered them, too.
“Let’s see if we can get a fire going,” Andrew said as he mixed Eden’s collection with his.
Andrew finally got a small fire going, but since the twigs were small, he knew it wouldn’t last all night. He’d made the fire as close to the bushes as he could, near where their blanket and bedroll were with the hope they’d dry a bit.
Andrew removed Eden's jacket, the one from her intended, and spread it over the bushes, but she continued to shiver.
“Come here,” he said. “You need to squat down by the fire and get as warm as you can because I’m afraid we’ll have to sleep on the wet ground,” he said.
Eden grimaced.
“I’m sorry, Eden, but I don’t know what else to do.”
“Let’s do it and get it over with then,” she said. “Where should we bed down?”
“Here, near the fire. Lay beside me and maybe we can get some body heat between us,” he said.
He lay on his side by the fire and patted the ground in front of him. “Face the fire,” he said.
Eden lay with her back to his chest, and he put his arm around her waist.
“I apologize in advance for having to get so personal, but it’s a matter of survival, Eden.”
“I understand. I don’t mind. J-just k-keep me warm.”
He could hear her teeth chattering, and he pulled her closer. Despite the cold and the fact they were lying on the wet grass, he felt her shivers lessen until, at last, they stopped.
“Warmer?” he asked.
“Yes, thank you.”
Birds chirping nearby woke Andrew, and he opened his eyes quickly because something didn’t feel right. His eyes widened when he realized an arm was thrown loosely around his neck, but then noticed that Eden was still asleep. He was about to wake her or push her away, but his body seemed to enjoy her nearness. She was warm, now and felt rather good against him. He looked down and saw her eyes were closed. She continued to breathe evenly, her mouth slightly open.
Had he never noticed her lips before? They were heart-shaped and full, and she had freckles. He hadn’t noticed them before either.
Andrew had never had a woman lay this close to him before, and he rather liked it. He yearned to pull her even closer, but he feared waking her. When he was no longer able to resist, he put his arm around her waist and pulled her against him—it felt heavenly. He watched her eyes open slowly and she looked up at him. Her eyes were the color of the ocean, but warmer, and his heart pounded strangely when her eyes met his. He thought she’d push him away and berate him, but she didn’t. She simply looked up at him with her inquisitive eyes, her freckled nose, and her luscious, plump lips beckoning to him. He bent down and kissed her, lightly at first. Because it felt so good, he intensified his kiss. After a few seconds she returned the kiss, and he was nearly undone by it. He groaned and moved his lips into a better position to devour her. She matched his passion.
Nature is a strange thing. He hadn’t planned to, but without thinking, he found himself pulling her on top of him and that’s when she seemed to realize what was happening, and she abruptly pushed him away.
“Enough
!” she said, standing and brushing the wet weeds from her trousers.
He also stood, and was at a loss for words. “I apologize,” he said brusquely, turning. “I’ll fetch the horse.” What had gotten into him, kissing and nearly making love to this troublesome and irritating woman?
She grabbed his elbow as he turned and said, “This never happened, Andrew.”
He nodded. “I agree.”
Chapter 8
Eden pushed her hair up under her hat as they approached Great Bend. She turned and looked up at Andrew when he stopped the horse before entering the town. He stared at her, wearing his mischievous smile.
“What?” she asked.
“I can’t ride into town with another man riding in front of me,” he said. “How would that look?”
“You want me to walk again, right?”
“Please. Meet me at the newspaper office, there,” he pointed.
Eden nodded and jumped from the horse. As she walked, she tried to analyze her feelings. She disliked Andrew, of course she did, yet it had felt so right to be pressed closely against him and she couldn’t explain, even to herself, what she’d felt from his kiss, or how she came to be wound around him. Had she been so lonely for affection that her heart would flip and do somersaults even when kissed by a man who’d irritated her to no end? Neither had spoken of the intimate incident during their daylong ride, but she felt differently while they trotted along, wanting to rest her head on his chest and cuddle up to him. Over and over again she reminded herself that he was an irritable man whom she’d separate from as soon as they’d reached Hays. She hoped her debt to him would be paid, but if it wasn’t, she’d find a way to repay him.
By the time Eden had walked to the newspaper office, Andrew had already gone inside, so she leaned against the building and waited. The town was bigger than Kinsey had been, but smaller than Dodge City. She straightened when Andrew emerged from the newspaper office.
“I sent a wire to Ross. Now we just have to wait for a reply,” he said. “I’d buy you dinner if I had money,” he said, sarcasm evident in his words.
How she despised this man! Would he never stop reminding her, with each bump in the road, that it was her fault?
“If you don’t mind,” Eden said, “I’d prefer to stay here, in Great Bend.”
“You don’t want to go on to Hays?”
“No.”
He looked at her for several moments and she watched the throbbing of his temples as he studied her.
“I think not,” he said.
“Why not? You’d finally be rid of me since I’m such a thorn in your side.”
“You still owe me,” he said as he scanned the town.
“What would you have me do to repay you in Hays?” she asked.
“I could use some help readying my home for Catherine.”
“Catherine? Who’s Catherine?”
“My mail order bride, who, at this moment, is waiting impatiently for me.”
When the train finally screeched to a halt amid large puffs of steam, Catherine Fisher became anxious to meet her husband-to-be. She gazed about anxiously as she stepped from the train. Andrew had described himself as six feet tall, dark hair, and clean-shaven. She was alarmed when a short man with a receding hairline approached her.
“Catherine?”
She tried not to let the disappointment show, but he looked nothing like what she’d pictured. “Andrew?” she asked weakly.
“No, no,” he chuckled a bit. “I’m his business partner, Ross Parker.”
“Yes, he spoke of you in his letters. It’s a pleasure to meet you, but where is Andrew?” She gazed around the depot again.
“He went to visit his mother at a town over a hundred miles from here. He was due back days ago, but I haven’t seen nor have I heard from him. I knew when you were to arrive, so I thought he’d want me to meet you,” Ross explained.
She liked Ross immediately. He was a polite man, and despite his not being Andrew, she felt at ease with him.
The porter set her trunk down beside her. She handed him a coin and thanked him.
“I know that Mrs. Jordan offered to take you in until the wedding ceremony, so I’ll load your trunk and take you there,” Ross said, hefting the trunk onto his shoulders. “Come—my wagon’s parked just over there.”
After they were both seated on the driver’s bench, she asked, “Andrew said Mrs. Jordan is his minister’s mother?”
“Yes, her son, Martin, is the minister of our local church. You’ll like them; they’re wonderful people. Her other son has recently married and moved out, so she has plenty of room.”
Catherine forced a smile. She was barely able to hide her disappointment that Andrew hadn’t seemed interested enough to make himself available to meet her at the train.
Ross helped her down from the wagon as a spry, tiny, elderly woman rushed out to meet them. “Where’s Andrew?” were her first words.
Ross shrugged. “He hasn’t returned from Hunter’s Grove yet, and I haven't heard from him so I brought Catherine directly here.”
The woman looked at Catherine and held out her arms. She hugged Catherine loosely. “Welcome, Catherine. I’ll show you to your room.” She led Catherine and Ross, who was carrying the trunk, up to a nicely decorated bedroom.
“This is a beautiful room,” she told Mrs. Jordan.
“I’m glad you like it. And may I compliment you on that orchid outfit? It’s lovely. May I touch the material?”
Catherine nodded, and the woman caressed the silky material.
“Lovely, just lovely,” she said. “You were a schoolmarm in New York, weren’t you?”
“Yes, but when I turned thirty, I decided I didn’t want to become a spinster, so I offered to become a mail order bride.”
“Oh, my son, Sam, had one of those…well, sort of—she was a mail order bride, but not his.” Adelaide Jordan waved her hand. “It’s a long story, and I’ll be sure to tell it later.
“By the way, my name's Adelaide Jordan, but you can call me Addie.” “Thank you, Addie.”
Ross cleared his throat and both women turned to face him.
“If I’m no longer needed here, I have a livery to run,” Ross said.
The women thanked him and he left.
“Ross is a gem,” Addie said. “He married a widow with three children last year, and they seem so happy. He became an instant father and he seems to love it.”
Catherine removed her gloves. “I’m a bit disappointed that Andrew wasn't able to meet me at the train.”
“I’m sure it was an unexpected event that delayed him, and he knows we’ll take good care of you for him,” Addie said. “Are you hungry? I have beef stew simmering in the kitchen.”
“Starving,” Catherine said as she followed Addie downstairs.
As Catherine watched Addie set the table, a man walked in. She assumed, by his casual dress, he was Martin, her son. Addie introduced them, dishing up the most delicious smelling stew as she did.
“Pleased to meet you, Miss Fisher,” Martin said.
“Thank you, Reverend Jordan. You may call me Catherine.”
“You can call me Martin when we aren’t in church,” he said.
As they ate, Martin told her all about their cattle ranch, mentioning his brother, Sam, a few times. It didn’t take long before Catherine began to feel at home with the Jordans.
When they’d finished eating, Catherine jumped up to help clear the table, but Addie put up her hand. “No, you’re a guest," she said. "Martin will escort you to the sitting room and we can take our tea there.”
Martin escorted her to the sofa; he took the armchair.
“So, my mother mentioned you’re a teacher?”
“I was, but I’ve retired.”
“To marry Andrew Mayfield. He’s a fine man,” Martin said. “I’m sure whatever held him up was unavoidable. He’s usually a very dependable man.”
Catherine set her cup down. “I know it’s early, but I�
��m exhausted. Would it be all right for me to turn in?”
“Of course,” Martin said, setting down his cup. “I’ll walk you up.” He stood and escorted her upstairs.
“Goodnight, Martin,” Catherine said. She couldn’t help but smile at Martin, who seemed like such a gentleman…and handsome, too.
“Goodnight…and welcome to Hays,” he said. “Sleep well.”
“I’m not going on to Hays—I’m staying here,” Eden said firmly.
At first, Andrew was going to agree with her. If he let her stay, he’d finally be free of her irritating presence, but for some reason, he wasn’t ready to part with her yet.
“What will you do here? Where will you stay? How will you buy food?” Andrew asked. He watched her expression turn from anger to a blankness.
“I could get a job,” she said weakly.
“All right. I’ll stay with you until you get settled, since I have to wait for Ross’s reply anyway.” He gazed around the town. “What are you skilled at? Besides conning men out of their money, that is.”
Eden gasped. “Conning men? Is it conning when the money was offered? I never asked for it.”
Andrew knew immediately after he’d said it that it was a mistake. He’d have to try to soothe her a bit. “You’re absolutely right. You aren’t skilled at conning people…I’m skilled at being too soft-hearted.”
“You stopped being skilled at that when we landed in Kinsey and you learned I hadn’t a cent to give you,” she said.
Andrew sighed. “All right. So, where would you like to apply for a job?”
Eden gazed around town. “I could clean for someone…I’m a great cook.”
“There aren’t many people here that could afford your services. Most are farmers,” he said. “Where would you begin to find someone to work for, anyway?”
“I could put up a sign,” she said resolutely.
“Oh, good one. And some female-starved lush would hire you and you’d be back to where you started in Dodge City,” Andrew said.
