Her Silent Burden (Seeing Ranch series) (A Western Historical Romance Book)

by Florence Linnington

  Farrow sat at the table, a cloth doll in her lap. At the sight of her, a lump formed in Thea’s throat. Without any warning, her thoughts went to those of her siblings. The last time she saw her sisters Angela and Tennessee, they’d been sitting and playing with dolls.

  Thea blinked back tears. She’d already written her family, letting them know she was settling in well and that Wakefield was a wonderful man. It would be weeks till she received a response, and she was trying not to hold her breath.

  “Have a seat,” Jenny urged.

  Thea did as instructed and watched as Peter hurried in with the kindling and his mother re-started a dying fire.

  “It shouldn’t take too long,” Jenny said, taking a seat at the table and brushing a lock of hair from her forehead. “Now, what do you think of Whiteridge so far?”

  “It’s lovely,” Thea automatically answered.

  “Is it?” Jenny asked with raised brows, her skepticism apparent.

  “Um,” was all Thea could get out. She had no clue what to say.

  “It’s the middle of nowhere, though,” Jenny said. “It’s a lot to get used to.”

  Peter took the last seat at the table. “We’re from Wisconsin.”

  Jenny nodded. “Milwaukee. Moved out here about a year ago. It’s a big change.”

  “It is, isn’t it?” Thea found herself agreeing. At first, Jenny’s brashness had taken her by surprise, but now she quickly found herself appreciating it.

  “My husband runs the general store here. He’s the one who wanted to go out west. Said there were too many people in Wisconsin.” Jenny absentmindedly ran her hand over Farrow’s brown hair. “In my opinion, there aren’t enough people in Wyoming. Not up in these mountains, anyway. Where are you from?”

  “South Carolina. Outside of Charleston.”

  “Charleston!” Jenny smiled. “How metropolitan.”

  “Not where I’m from. I grew up the daughter of a miller, on the outskirts of Charleston. I’m afraid there wasn’t much excitement to be seen there.”

  “Have you seen the mine?” Peter asked. “It’s where they dig coal up from deep down in the earth.”

  “No,” Thea answered. “But I know it’s not far from here.”

  “Sometimes miners die,” Peter solemnly said. “There are explosions, and they get trapped down there.”

  “That hasn’t happened here,” Jenny answered. “Peter. Farrow. Go check the garden for bugs and feed them to the chickens. Those big shiny ones are going to eat all our vegetables.”

  Wordlessly, both children went outside, Farrow taking her doll with her. Jenny stood and poured the hot water, bringing two tin mugs full of tea to the table.

  “Thank you,” Thea said, wrapping her hands around her mug. Hot as it was, she found the warmth of the tin comforting.

  “Tea feels like such a luxury out here,” Jenny said.

  “Yes,” Thea agreed, taking a careful sip.

  Jenny eyed her. “One week into marriage, right? How is it going?”

  “Wonderful,” Thea sighed. “Except...”

  She thought of Wakefield’s resistance to her going out on her own, and guilt washed over her.

  Again, she reminded herself, I have not gone very far. I’m just up the road. If he came out and called for me, I would probably hear him.

  “Marriage is complicated,” Jenny said when Thea did not go on.

  “Yes,” Thea agreed. “Your children seem very lovely.”

  “They are. Sometimes.” Jenny winked. “I suppose you’ll see once you have some of your own.”

  “Oh, that won’t be happening.”

  “No?” Jenny frowned in confusion.

  “I—I don’t think so,” Thea said, fearing she’d revealed too much. The matter of having children or not having children was between a husband and a wife. So far, Thea liked Jenny very much. But it wasn’t really right for her to share personal business that had to do with Wakefield.

  “Thank you very much for the tea,” Thea said. “I’m afraid I must be getting back.”

  “Yes. Supper is soon,” Jenny agreed, standing.

  At the doorway, Thea’s hostess stopped and turned to her. “I’m glad you wandered by, and my overly friendly child stopped you. This was nice. Will you come back again?”

  “Yes,” Thea answered. “I would love that very much.”

  Taking her leave, she walked past the garden, where Peter waved an eager goodbye, and back down to the road. With each step, her heart thudded harder. What if Wakefield had come early? Was it really wrong of her to be out by herself? Wasn’t it her God-given right to move about freely?

  Yes. It was. And that was what she would say to her husband if he had come back early and found the cabin empty.

  Still, upon arriving home and seeing the cabin undisturbed, Thea could not stop herself from sighing in relief.

  Chapter 14

  a silly wish

  14. Wakefield

  Chapter fourteen

  The wind sang through the trees as Wakefield sat on a chair just outside the door. He leaned back, allowing his legs to stretch fully out. With the work day over and his belly full, he was a contented man.

  Footsteps sounded behind him, and Thea came out, hands on her hips, and stared out into the darkness. The light from the stove outlined her profile, showing off her perfect features.

  “Have a seat,” Wakefield said.

  She looked around. “There’s nowhere to sit.”

  “Right here,” he said, reaching over and wrapping his arms around her waist. She laughed as he pulled her onto his lap, and he nuzzled his face against her neck.

  “A week and a half,” Wakefield said. “Does it feel like it’s been that long since we married?”

  “Hmm.”

  “That’s no answer.”

  Thea loosely draped her arm around his neck and giggled. The beautiful sound made Wakefield laugh as well, though he didn’t even know what was funny. Just being in Thea’s presence made him feel carefree and alive. From the day he’d first gotten to Whiteridge to the day Thea arrived, it had been work, work, work. He kept to himself and did what was needed.

  But now things were different. He had someone to take care of. Someone to love.

  Wakefield’s throat tightened. He still hadn’t told Thea that he loved her, though he knew by now that he did. Their whole unconventional marriage had sent all the traditional rules out the window. They’d been married ten days, and Wakefield had gotten rid of the little makeshift bed and moved the big one into the second room.

  They shared a bed as man and wife. They shared their home as man and wife. It didn’t seem right that they still hadn’t shared their hearts as the same.

  “Are you happy here?” Wakefield asked, squeezing Thea’s hip the slightest bit.

  “Yes,” she answered right away and then paused. “Although...”

  “Although what?” he pressed.

  “Some days I feel rather boxed in up here. Like an animal in a cage. I would love to see more of the area.”

  Wakefield frowned. He hated hearing that Thea was unhappy with any part of her life.

  “I know I work a lot,” he said.

  “I do not blame you for it. My apologies. That is not what I meant.”

  “I know. What I was going to say is, how about we plan a trip? We could go to Shallow Springs or Pathways. I’m afraid we can’t go when the mine is open. It would have to be on a Sunday.”

  “Traveling on Sunday?”

  “Is that all right?”

  “Yes, I suppose the Lord won’t mind if we make sure to still take time to worship Him.”

  “Good, then,” Wakefield answered. “It’s settled. Only thing is, I’m afraid I can’t promise you what Sunday that’ll be. Things are a little uncertain around here right now.”

  “What do you mean? Is business all right?”

  “Oh, yes. That’s all fine. Don’t worry yourself over it.”

  Wakefield was glad it was
too dark for his wife to read his expression. What he’d been worried about was Ed Vang. Since that scuffle at the saloon, nothing notable had happened, but the absence of danger hadn’t put Wakefield at ease. In fact, it’d had the opposite effect. He still worried that Vang might turn into Whiteridge’s resident troublemaker.

  What Vang and his friend were still doing in Whiteridge, no one knew. Wakefield had asked him once the week before, and Vang had answered that they were “settling down for a while.”

  If Wakefield had only heard one contradictory statement in his whole life, that was it.

  “I was thinking,” Thea said, “more about the day-to-day aspects of my life. I know you said you do not want me going about the whole mountain by myself, but surely it would be fine for me to walk around here? To town, or to meet some neighbors?”

  Wakefield drew his eyebrows together in dismay. He could still hear the things those two miners had said about Thea in the saloon. There were dozens more men like that where those two came from.

  Maybe he’d made a mistake by bringing a woman to an area filled with so many rough characters.

  “Wakefield?” Thea asked. “What do you think of that?”

  He pressed his palm to her lower back. He knew he worried too much sometimes, but this wasn’t one of those instances. He couldn’t lose Thea. It didn’t matter what needed to be done, he’d protect her. Keep her safe.

  Keep her with him.

  “There are a lot of men roving around these parts,” he said slowly. He didn’t want to scare Thea, but he also wanted to be honest.

  “That’s what you’re worried about?”

  “Yes.”

  “Oh.” Thea shifted a bit on his lap, and it seemed she was about to get up and leave. “You do not need to worry about that, Wakefield,” she sharply said.

  His sharp exhale stung his nose. He didn’t want to have an argument over this. What’s more, it would be the first argument of their marriage. A week and a half in, they should still be doing nothing but enjoying each other.

  “I worry about you,” he said.

  Her feather-light touch trailed down his jaw. “I have been doing fine up here. I’ve just been a little lonely. That’s all.”

  He nodded. “I’ll start coming home earlier when I can.”

  “No, that’s not what—”

  “I’ll do it. Noah lives above the saloon. He can close a mite more.”

  “The saloon is important.”

  “And so are you.”

  He couldn’t see Thea’s face, but he could feel her smile. Dropping her lips to his, she laid her hands on either side of his face and gave him a tender kiss.

  “I have that money saved up,” she said.

  He ran his hand up and down her back, not sure why she’d brought that up.

  “If we did decide to take a trip at some point,” Thea explained, “we could use that.”

  “No. That money is for you. Use it and buy yourself something nice.”

  Thea tucked her face into the crook of his neck and shook her head. “There’s nothing else I need.”

  “Nothing at all?”

  “Nothing that can get up here into the mountains.”

  Wakefield guffawed. “What does that mean?”

  “Nothing,” Thea answered.

  “Hold on, now. Tell me.”

  Sighing, she sat straight up. “I have a wonderful husband. I have a home. But, if there was something else I could have, if I could wish for anything and have it magically arrive on my doorstep...”

  “Uh-huh?”

  “It would be a piano.”

  “A piano,” he repeated surprised.

  “I had one back in South Carolina. I had to sell it—that’s where I got most of that money from.”

  “I didn’t know you played,” Wakefield said. He’d heard her singing and humming around the house, and she had a lovely voice.

  “A neighbor taught me when I was a child. But no matter. It is a silly wish.”

  “Don’t say that. No wish is silly. I wished for you, after all.”

  Thea swatted his chest. “You’re trying to flatter me, I think.”

  Wakefield guided her face back down to his. “Is it working?”

  “Yes,” she whispered against his lips.

  Chapter 15

  retreat from the world

  15. Thea

  Chapter fifteen

  “Scoot now,” Thea told the hen. She gently nudged the chicken over, and the bird jumped down from her roost in the small chicken house.

  “That makes three,” Thea said to herself, picking up the smooth and warm egg and carefully laying it in her apron.

  It was not a lot of eggs by any account, but then again, they did not have a lot of chickens yet. Wakefield had bought five hens and a rooster off of some neighbors, then built a little coop for them to roost in.

  Provided nothing happened to the rooster, they would have continuous broods hatching. Thea had already been leaving most of the eggs the hens laid, and in another week or so the first ones would be hatching.

  She smiled to herself as she closed the door to the coop. Chicks! It would change everything for her in the kitchen. Now she had eggs to bake with. When the chicken population was large enough, they’d have roasted chicken to eat every once in a while.

  And, on top of that, Wakefield had promised he’d get them a cow as soon as he could.

  The little cabin was turning into its own miniature farm, and Thea loved the process. If only she didn’t still feel so sequestered off from the rest of the world.

  It had been over two weeks since she walked down the road and met Jenny. Since then, she’d seen the other woman at service on Sundays, but had only been able to promise her she would visit one day soon. If Wakefield had noticed them talking, it hadn’t raised any questions for him. He seemed content to believe the two women had met at Sunday service and that was why they were so friendly.

  Thea felt bad about that one escapade, but it had turned out well, and she did not wish to shake a hornet’s nest. Everything was fine with her and Wakefield—wonderful, really. Starting a conversation that could change that would be a bad idea.

  And he’d been good to his promises. Whenever she needed something from the general store, they went together. Jenny’s husband, Mr. Chandler Mullins, always took great care of them. The first time in there, Thea had held her breath, hoping Mr. Mullins wouldn’t say anything about her visit to his home. If he knew about it, though, he didn’t seem to think it worthy of bringing up. Instead, every time they went into the store, Mr. Mullins spoke politics and general news with Wakefield while Thea gathered the things they needed.

  Thea made her way around the side of the house, heading for the front door. At the sound of a wagon, she paused and looked in the direction of the road.

  Slowly, painstakingly, a team clopped their way up the hill toward the cabin, a man on foot guiding them. Two more men Thea had never seen followed behind, and next to them came Wakefield.

  Thea stared in confusion. What was going on?

  “What is this?” Thea asked, meeting the procession halfway across the yard.

  Wakefield removed his hat and used his forearm to wipe sweat from his brow. “A late wedding gift.”

  “What on earth?” she mumbled, her attention falling back on the wagon. Its contents were covered by several large tarps, shielding whatever was in there from view.

  “Can you guess what it is?” Wakefield asked.

  “No,” Thea answered, eyeing the tarps. “Are you moving a whole village?”

  “Look here.” Wakefield stepped up to the wagon bed and, with one fluid motion, threw back a corner of the tarp.

  Thea gasped in surprise, and she stopped herself just in time from letting go of her apron and dropping the eggs. A brown, shiny upright piano sat in the back of the wagon bed. Nestled under its keys was a matching bench. The knobs on the lid were round and carved to look like roses, and a holder for sheet music lay fol
ded down.

  “How… but… It is…” Thea sputtered till she ran out of breath.