The Cold Wife

by Ruth Ann Nordin

  “I have enough to take care of with the ungodly bunch of animals living here. I don’t need you to add to my work load.” Then she shoved the broom and other cleaning supplies at her and motioned to the broken lamp, white rug with drops of blood on it and the bird poop on the walls. “Birds are messy but I didn’t bother them this time so I won’t clean that stuff up either.”

  Realizing that Veronica no longer wished for her company, Carrie mutely nodded and went to work. An hour later, she was done and looked for Veronica, but the maid informed her that the woman had taken Julie shopping in town.

  “What am I supposed to do until my husband returns?” Carrie asked her, bewildered and hurt that Veronica would leave her like this.

  “I don’t know and I don’t care. I have animals to bathe before her majesty returns,” the maid bitterly replied.

  Deciding that sitting in her room was probably the safest bet so she could stay out of trouble, she went back there. She began reading her book but as the hours passed, she grew more and more restless. She was tempted to leave the room but didn’t dare. When two o’clock came and went, she became aware of the growing sense of foreboding in the pit of her stomach. An hour later, she was even more hurt and angry than she had been with any of the events that occurred earlier that day.

  At four, she was fuming. She knew that Justin’s work was important, but it didn’t dawn on her until that very moment that he preferred his work to her. It seemed that he was always running off from one business meeting to another, and she was left to sit around and wait for him to return. At five, she was fighting back tears of rejection and fighting the urge to take all of Justin’s things and throw them out the window.

  Finally, she couldn’t take it anymore. She grabbed her suitcase and left the house. Veronica and Julie were still gone, so no one cared or noticed that she left. She paid the stagecoach driver to take her to the train station. She boarded the train and went back home.

  Chapter Nineteen

  Justin’s agitation was growing stronger and stronger by the minute. His jaw was sore from gritting his teeth for the past three hours. He couldn’t even walk back to the house since they were out in the middle of nowhere and he had no idea how to get there. He tried twice to get back but only got lost. The trees surrounding him made him lose track of direction. At one point, he even slipped in some mud. He managed to stumble his way back to the two men who looked very content to stay there forever, if necessary.

  Every time he asked Howard Davidson to go back to the house, he promised he would in another five minutes. “What’s your hurry? We’re here to enjoy ourselves,” he added.

  It didn’t help that Harrison was encouraging the older man to stay out as late as he wanted to. “This is fun,” he agreed. “We need to wait for the right deer.”

  “Exactly,” the man said. “Sit down and relax. You’re too tense.”

  Justin sat in the grass, swatting at the many mosquitoes that buzzed around him, and prayed that Howard would finally spot the perfect deer. It was insane that he should spend twelve hours in the forest in hopes of finding the one deer that would catch his fancy.

  “What about that one?” Justin asked as he spotted a buck.

  Howard seemed to consider it. “The antlers aren’t symmetrical enough. The head will look crooked on my wall.”

  He stifled an aggravated scream. So far Howard found an excuse as to why none of the deer were right. One was too thin so it wouldn’t make good steaks. Another was too young and wouldn’t look impressive to his colleagues. Then there was the deer that wasn’t the right shade of brown. Howard couldn’t shoot a deer that was too large since it would be hard to drag back to the house. There was the deer that moved too slowly. “Its reflexes are way off,” he commented. “It won’t be a challenge.” The excuses kept rolling off his tongue. Justin wondered if the man intentionally found something wrong with every deer they found just so he could stay out of the house and far away from his wife who obsessed over her animals.

  Poor Carrie. What she must be going through with that boring woman. He desperately wanted to get back to her and not just so he could consummate their marriage. He missed her. She was already a part of him. He couldn’t wait to see her again.

  “Do you hunt with your father?” Howard asked Harrison.

  “On occasion,” Harrison replied.

  “What about you, Justin?” Howard wondered.

  “My father passed away when I was two. My uncle raised me, but we didn’t hunt.”

  “That’s too bad. A man can build character in the hunt. He learns patience, precision, and peace.”

  He can also learn boredom, Justin thought. Lots and lots of boredom.

  “I remember a time when I went hunting with my father. I was only five,” Howard began.

  “I’ll be back,” Justin said, not wishing to hear anymore of Howard’s ‘I remember when’ stories about hunting. He set down the rifle and walked far enough from them so he could go to the bathroom. As soon as he was done, he buttoned his pants and turned around to see Harrison. “Do you make it a point to watch other men do their personal business?”

  Harrison ignored the question. “Do you really think it’s wise to stay silent all afternoon? Mr. Davidson might not pick you if you insist on moping.”

  Justin growled at him.

  “Oh come on. Aren’t you blowing things out of proportion? It’s not like you and Carrie haven’t done it yet.”

  The fact that Harrison knew exactly what he had interrupted made Justin’s frown deepen.

  Harrison’s eyes grew wide. “Oh, you’re kidding.” He laughed. “You’ve been married for two weeks now and you are still a virgin? What is taking you so long to make your move?”

  Justin shook his head and walked past him.

  “Maybe I should have done you a favor and broken her in for you. Maybe then she wouldn’t be too timid to have you bed her.”

  One minute Justin was several yards away from Harrison, and the next minute he was punching his nemesis in the nose. Harrison didn’t miss a beat. He returned Justin’s attack with his own punch, except he punched Justin in the stomach. Justin hunched over for a moment but quickly stood straight enough to land a punch squarely on Harrison’s jaw.

  “Carrie would never compromise her virtue,” Justin hissed.

  “Maybe not,” he consented as he felt his jaw. “But I would have had her on the wedding night had I accepted her proposal.”

  Justin’s blood turned cold. “You’re lying.”

  “Am I? Just ask her where she was the day before your wedding. You can ask my butler if she came over to my home to see me. She asked me to go for a walk and said she wanted to marry me instead of you. You really should thank me for telling her no. I made sure you had a wife. Well, at least she will be until the month is up since you’re so incompetent at sealing the deal. It’s no wonder that everyone’s calling her The Cold Wife.”

  He realized that Harrison was most likely telling him the truth. She had been desperate to get out of the marriage. It seemed that she would have done anything to avoid it. All the fight that had been raging inside of him departed. Why? Why had she found him so offensive and found Harrison so appealing? But he hadn’t mistaken her desire for him that morning. Surely, she had to love him on some level to want to consummate their marriage.

  Harrison, still grinning, walked by him and patted him on the shoulder. “It’s time you became a man and let her know that she better perform her wifely duty to you. After all, it is your right.”

  A surge of hot anger resurfaced. “A real man never forces himself on his wife.”

  The other man shook his head and chuckled. “You must like lonely and frustrating nights.” Then he finally left.

  Justin closed his eyes and took a deep breath to settle his nerves. Why was he letting Harrison rattle his cage? He already knew he couldn’t trust the man.

  Howard called out for him.

  He shook his head and walked back to wh
ere Harrison was talking to the middle-aged man. If I knew how to get out of this maze, I’d go straight to Carrie and beg her forgiveness for leaving her alone for all this time.

  “Justin,” Howard began, looking unusually solemn, “I realize that you and Harrison don’t get along, but a gentleman never punches another man.”

  As the man turned his back to him and Harrison, Harrison smiled slyly at him. It was then that Justin realized what Harrison had done. He instigated the fight to gain Howard’s sympathy. Justin supposed he should make an effort to explain the situation to the man, but he didn’t care anymore. He wasn’t thrilled that the potential client didn’t care that he wanted to spend the afternoon and evening with his wife. As far as he was concerned, Harrison could have the account and all the hours sitting in a forest waiting for the perfect deer. If Harrison didn’t care to be with his bride, that was his business. But Justin desperately wanted to see Carrie again.

  “With all due respect, Mr. Davidson, I would prefer to go back now,” Justin said. “I promised my wife I’d be back by two.”

  Howard looked startled. “Why did you promise her that? I specifically told Harrison to tell you that we would be hunting until sunset.”

  He forced himself not to punch Harrison again. “I was told that we would return at two,” he slowly stated.

  The man glanced at Harrison.

  “I told him sunset,” Harrison lied.

  Justin had to admit that Harrison was a very convincing liar. “Fine. How do I get back? Just point me the way I need to go and I’ll leave.”

  Mr. Davison looked like he wanted to protest but decided against it. “I see where your priorities lie. Very well. The house is in that direction.”

  Justin thanked him and left. By the time he reached the house, it was six. He saw Mrs. Davidson and Julie laughing as they sorted through the items that they bought for the birds, cats and dog.

  “Excuse me for interrupting,” Justin began as he entered the parlor, “but do you know where Carrie is?”

  The older woman shrugged. “I don’t know. I haven’t seen her since she destroyed Tiffy’s rug and Zipper’s lamp.”

  He had no idea what the woman was talking about, nor did he care for clarification on the matter.

  “She’s not here,” the maid stiffly informed him. “The stagecoach driver said she left an hour ago.”

  He momentarily closed his eyes so he wouldn’t scream in frustration. When he opened them, he calmly asked, “Did she mention where she was going?”

  “No.”

  He doubted she would go to the beach house if she was upset. Naturally, she would be upset if she left without him. She must have gone back home. “Thank you. I will be leaving as well.” He didn’t waste any time in getting out of there.

  ***

  Carrie paced back and forth in the entryway, thinking of what she would tell Justin. She’d heard a buggy pull up in front of the house while she was trying to read in the parlor, so she ran to the door, ready to give him a piece of her mind. She had the entire speech planned out and ready to go. She stopped pacing, put her hands on her hips and got ready for a fight as soon as he entered the house.

  He took his hat off and placed it on the hat rack before he set his luggage down. Giving her a pleading look, he began, “I-”

  “How dare you leave me all day so I had to fend for myself at Mrs. Davidson’s house! You promised you would be back at two, and I waited for you but you never showed up!”

  “I can explain.” He glanced at his dirty clothes and sighed. “I better take these things off first.”

  “Are you trying to get out of an argument, because I’m not letting you off the hook.”

  “I don’t expect you to. I just don’t want to explain everything while I feel filthier than a pig in the pigpen.”

  She angrily followed him up the stairs. Since she had to lift up the lower half of her dress so she wouldn’t trip on it, she couldn’t catch up to him. It was unfair that women couldn’t wear pants.

  By the time she reached the top of the stairs, he was in his bedroom, taking off his shirt. If he thought she was going to be easily deterred, he had another thing coming. She didn’t care if he had his shirt on or not.

  “I’m really upset, Mr. Monroe.”

  “I know.” He dumped the dirty shirt in his hamper and gathered some nightclothes from the drawer. Slipping off his shoes, he continued, “I don’t blame you for being upset. I would be too if it happened to me.”

  Some of her anger dissipated. “So...what happened? Did you want to stay out all day with them?”

  He went to the bathroom so she followed him. “No. I didn’t want to be out there at all.” He placed his nightclothes on the shelf and turned on the bath water. “Harrison told me that we would be back at two, but Mr. Davidson had told Harrison that we were supposed to be back at sunset. I didn’t realize that Harrison lied to me.” He started to unbutton his pants.

  She felt the heat rise in her cheeks. He wasn’t actually going to completely undress in front of her, was he? He was going to wait until they were done with this conversation and she was out of the bathroom...right?

  To her surprise, he walked over to her and shut the bathroom door. “I don’t want anyone seeing me naked.”

  Her eyes grew wide. Oh goodness! He really intended to undress in front of her...with the lights on and everything?

  He stopped in front of her. “I kept asking Mr. Davidson to take me back, but he’d find some excuse not to. I tried to get back without asking him for directions but I kept getting lost in the forest. I finally had Mr. Davidson tell me how to get back to the house when I realized he had no intention of returning until nine. Even then, I got lost a couple of times. Carrie, I’m sorry. I feel awful for leaving you alone all day.”

  “I worry it’ll happen again,” she admitted.

  “It won’t,” he whispered before he turned back to the tub and took off his pants. He got into the tub, turned off the water, and took the washcloth and soap to start cleaning himself. “I haven’t been very comforting to you about that, have I? I’ve been running all over the place for my clients.”

  She fought the urge to stare at him, to note the male part of him that intrigued her, and turned her attention to the wall. She needed to focus on what he was saying. This conversation was too important for her to get sidetracked, though he should have realized that if he started bathing in front of her, then she’d have a tough time listening to him. After all, the male body was one she hadn’t seen before. Naturally, it interested her.

  “I just don’t want to go through another incident like today,” she finally said. “Sometimes I wish you didn’t have the job you do.”

  “What if I never went on another business trip like that? I do have the ability to set down such boundaries with my clients. If they don’t like it, then they can take their business somewhere else.”

  “Is that really an option? What about the Grants?”

  “They aren’t worth our marriage.” He washed his hair. “My uncle is reasonable. I can make sure that I only work during regular business hours, but I will have to go to dinner parties and host dinner parties.”

  She thought it over and looked at him. “Really?”

  He nodded.

  She released her breath, relieved. “I could deal with that.”

  He finished his bath and asked, “Will you please hand me my towel? It’s right behind you.” He stared at her and waved his hand to get her attention.

  She blinked and concentrated on his face. “What?”

  He grinned. “I need my towel. It’s on the hook on the door that’s behind you. I need you to hand it to me. That is, unless you want me to stand up and get it myself.”

  “Don’t be silly,” she quickly replied. She turned around and got the towel for him. She held it out.

  He looked amused. “My arms aren’t that long. You’ll have to walk over here.”

  She loudly sighed and slowly walked towa
rd him.

  “At the rate you’re going, it’ll be Christmas by the time I’m out of this tub.”

  She picked up the pace. “Here you go.” Her heart raced with a mixture of apprehension and excitement. She wasn’t sure what was going to happen once he got out of the tub but wanted to find out.

  To her surprise, he grabbed her other hand and pulled her toward him. She lost her balance and ended up kneeling by the tub. Her face was close to his and he gently held her hand. Her other hand still held the towel.

  “Say my name, Carrie,” he softly requested.

  “Justin,” she whispered. The very nearness of him was making her weak.

  “Say it again. I like hearing you say it.”

  “Justin.”

  He smiled. “I love you, Carrie.”

  “I love you too, Justin.”

  “Then will you come to my bed?”

  “Tonight and for the rest of our lives.”

  He kissed her. She responded to the softness of his lips, forgetting all about the water in the tub or her embarrassment at being with him while he was naked. He reached up and drew her into his arms. She parted her lips and he slid his tongue into her mouth. The butterflies in her stomach fluttered as his tongue touched hers.

  When he pulled away, he whispered, “Let’s go to bed.”

  Blushing, she forced aside her sudden unease and nodded. Standing up, she retrieved another towel from the small closet and turned to him. As he stood up, her gaze fell to his erection, but she quickly looked up again. She couldn’t look him in the eye though. She focused on the wall behind him.

  He stepped out of the tub and wrapped the towel around his waist. She waited for him to take her hand and lead her into his bedroom. He softly closed the door, making her jump. She cleared her throat and wiped her sweaty hands on her dress. Though Helen had taken the time to explain what happened between a man and a woman in the privacy of their bedroom shortly after her mother died, she had the sudden inclination to change her mind and go back to the safety of her bed. But she wouldn’t. She did love him and she wanted to finish what they started at the Davidsons’.