by Megan West
To Emma’s left, there was another area of the room holding a long wooden dining table with benches on either side. Beyond that was the kitchen complete with counters to prepare food, a black iron wood burning stove to cook, and a large wooden barrel standing by a deep sink. Black pots and pans hung from a wooden rack placed in the center of the room.
Emma thought it was all perfect.
“What is that heavenly aroma?”she asked.
“Well, that would be some of my prize winning beef stew,”Roy said as he puffed up proudly.“I made that for the boys’dinner tonight and thought you all might appreciate having a good meal to come home to.”
Emma smiled at him.
“Thank you so much, Roy. That was so thoughtful of you.”
Turning to Daniel and Mary Beth who had now joined them in the house, Emma continued to smile.
“Will you all join us for dinner?”she asked.
“Well, I’ll be eating with the boys,”Roy replied.“They kind of expect that of me.”
“We would love to, Emma, but it’s been a rather busy couple of days and we need to check on some things at home before getting some rest tonight,”Mary Beth said.“But I will be here in the morning to show you where things are around here.”
“But it looks like there’s so much food here,”Emma protested.
“Now, I didn’t say we wouldn’t help you eat your dinner,”Mary Beth laughed.“Daniel and I are happy to take some of this food off your hands. We’ll just be eating it in our cabin.”
“Oh,”Emma said although she was a little puzzled at what was happening.
“Come help me dish up some of that stew, Emma,”Mary Beth said as she took Emma’s arm and led her into the kitchen.
As she fetched a large bowl from a free standing cabinet that Emma had not noticed before, Mary Beth lowered her voice and leaned into Emma.
“You and Simon need some time alone to talk and get acquainted,”she whispered.“You’re married now. Don’t forget that.”
Emma nodded even though she really did not understand what Mary Beth was going on about.
After she had ladled some of the stew into the large bowl, she covered it with a small clean towel and headed back into the living room.
“Come on, Dan,”she said as she reached the front door.“We need to get home and let these two have some time to themselves. You go, too, Roy. There will be plenty of time for everyone to get acquainted later.”
Just like that, everyone was gone leaving Emma and Simon alone. For a minute, they simply stood awkwardly in the middle of the living room. Finally, Simon looked at her.
“Would you like to see the rest of the house?”he asked.
“Oh, definitely!”she cried.
Nodding, Simon led her to a hallway that she had not previously noticed. There were four doorways off of the hallway. Following Simon, they stopped at the first door on the right.
“This is where I sleep,”he said as he stood aside for her to peek in.
It was a typical man’s room, she noted. Mostly wood furniture and tan fabrics. But it was a nice room and suited him. They moved on to the next room which turned out to be the bath room. It held a large claw footed tub and a wooden stand with a wash basin on it. There was also a large wooden barrel beside it. The next room was on the left and appeared to be another bedroom.
“This is your room for now,”he announced.
That is when she saw that her trunks had been placed in this room. The bed was also wooden but stained white and held a flowered coverlet. There was a dresser with a mirror as well as a wardrobe.
“It’s very nice,”she told Simon.“Thank you.”
Inside, though, she was wondering why she would be sleeping in a separate room from Simon. After all, he was her husband now. Surely he would want to share a bed with her.
Simon continued on to the last room on the left. It was a wonderfully large room with beautiful furniture and fabrics decorating it.
“This was Ma’s room,”he said.“She and Pa shared it until he passed on and then it was hers until she went.”
“I see,”Emma said.“Well, it’s a beautiful room.”
When they had returned to the living room, they sat down for a few minutes. Simon explained some of the more important things to her such as the barrels standing by the sink in the kitchen and in the bathroom.
“Those are filled with fresh water from the well every day,”he said.“Roy gets some of the guys to fill up buckets to bring in so that those barrels always have clean cooking water and bathing water.”
“How handy!”Emma exclaimed.“May I ask who those boys are that he kept talking about?”
“Oh yeah,”Simon laughed.“Those are the men I hire to work on the ranch. You couldn’t see it but there’s a bunk house behind the barn. That’s where the guys live. Roy has separate quarters from them but he looks after them like a father. He has his own kitchen out there, too, and that’s where he cooks for them. Roy’s responsibilities are kind of all over the place. He’s been with us for years. My Pa hired him when I was 15 and he’s just been here ever since.”
“Well, he certainly seems like a wonderful man,”Emma said smiling.
They talked for hours and soon it was getting dark. That was when they realized that they had not eaten dinner yet. Simon accompanied Emma into the kitchen and showed her where things were kept. They also discovered that Roy had made a pitcher of tea that he had placed in the ice box.
They sat down at the long dining table with their food and proceeded to have their first dinner together. By the time they had finished eating, both of them were doing their best not to yawn.
Laughing, they agreed that it was time to call it a night.
“This has been quite a day,”Simon said as he looked down at Emma.
“Yes, it has been,”she agreed looking up into those hypnotic blue eyes.
“Thank you for coming here,”he said.“And thank you for being my wife.”
Smiling, Emma didn’t quite know what to say.
“Well, Simon, thank you for inviting me.”
To Emma, it all seemed so strange. Why were they talking to each other like this? They were married! Then Simon really stunned her.
“If you need anything, just knock on my door,”he said.“I’ll see you in the morning.”
With that, he went into his bedroom and gently closed the door. Emma stood and stared at the closed door for several minutes as if she couldn’t quite believe what she was seeing. As she had never been known for her patience, she suddenly rapped on the door and waited. Simon opened it and looked out at her clearly puzzled.
“I do apologize if I am being too forward here,”she said.“But may I ask why we are sleeping in separate rooms?”
A quizzical smile crossed Simon’s face.
“Well, I do acknowledge that this is sort of a non-traditional way of doing things,”he said slowly.“We don’t really know each other that well and I don’t want you to feel pressured in any way. I thought it might be more comfortable for you if we got better acquainted before sharing a bedroom.”
“Oh.”Emma was truly at a loss for words. After blinking at him several times, she eventually found her voice.“Well, alright. If that is what you feel is best. I’ll bid you good night then.”
Quickly, she walked away from him as she felt her face flooding with color. Hurrying to her room, she closed the door and leaned against it wondering what had gotten into her. She needed to find her sleeping gown but was not going to try to unpack her trunks by candlelight. Also, she realized that she had not even bothered to wash off the day’s traveling dust.
Oh well, she thought. I’m too tired to worry about any of this tonight.
With that, she slipped out of her dress and shoes. Pulling back the covers of the bed, she fell into it wearing only her slip. She would not have believed it possible, but she was asleep within minutes of her head hitting the feather pillows.
The next morning was the start of a routine that Emma would follow every day. True to her word, Mary Beth had arrived bright and early to help with preparing breakfast. Following breakfast, the dishes were washed in boiling water and put away. Next, came the dusting and sweeping of the house. All of that was finished by mid-morning, at which time Simon came to collect Emma to show her around the ranch. She saw the cows, the horses, and was taken to the chicken house to be shown how to collect eggs.
Soon it was time to prepare the noonday meal and she was very happy to have Mary Beth’s help with that even though it was only the process of heating up leftover stew from the previous night. Mary Beth told her that smart cooking meant preparing a large meal that could be eaten more than once. Emma could see the wisdom of it.
As time went on, Emma learned how to wash clothes using the bath tub and then hanging them up on a line outside to dry. Along with those things, she learned how to make soap, churn butter, and to build fires in the fireplace and the stove. Simon had promised to take her riding.
The only problem that she had experienced so far was getting breathless and easily tired. However, Mary Beth explained to her that it was simply adjusting to the new atmosphere. Emma had come from a low atmosphere into a higher and thinner one.
She and Simon had fallen into an easy and comfortable rhythm with having dinner each evening and then sitting in the living room and talking. When it became late, they would each retire to their separate bedrooms for the night.
Emma had begun to wonder if that was ever going to change.
A month later, that was still their routine. By now, though, Emma had learned to be responsible for supply shopping. Daniel usually took her into Idaho Springs at least once a week for shopping. Most of the time Mary Beth would go, too, and Emma found that she really loved those outings. She had grown to know the owner of the general store as well as the post office staff. There was a shop that sold some very lovely fabric that she had purchased. She was starting to make friends with some of the other women that lived on the outskirts of town as well.
If asked, Emma would have said that her life was a good one. It was almost complete. She had a lovely home, some good friends, and a dependable husband. But she had to admit that she longed for more closeness than Simon had, thus far, been willing to offer her. Even though they had been married for a little over a month, now, he still told her goodnight and closed himself in his room each night. He never hugged her or even held her hand. They had yet to even share one kiss unless she counted his chaste buss on her cheek at their wedding.
She still wondered why he kept one side of his face so carefully concealed when around her. Mary Beth would not tell her a thing, still insisting that it was Simon’s story to tell and not her place to do it for him. Emma had noticed how some people looked at Simon when they went into town together. Most shied away from him, but others seemed to genuinely like him. She just wished that he would tell her more about his life. She could tell that there were things that he was hiding from her.
Then came the day that would change everything in their lives.
That morning had begun much the same as others except that it was the day when some major animal supplies were needed. Simon went into town, taking along Daniel, Roy and several of the ranch hands. This left only Emma and Mary Beth along with a skeleton crew of men to run things.
The morning and most of the afternoon passed by without incident. Emma and Mary Beth were in the process of preparing a huge meal because they knew the men would be tired and hungry when they returned. Everything was simmering and baking so the two women went outside to sit on the front porch for a few minutes. Enjoying a glass of cold lemonade, they talked as they watched the sky slowly taking a dark turn.
“Looks like we’re in for some rain,”Mary Beth said as she sipped her lemonade.“It’s a good thing that we got everything done this morning.”
“Are the storms very bad here?”
“They can be, but not always. Sometimes they just pour some rain on us and disappear. Other times, the lightning reaches all the way down to the ground.”
Emma sipped her lemonade as Mary Beth talked. Those clouds were getting dark in a hurry and the wind was already starting to whip up a bit.
“Will the men be alright?”she asked apprehensively.
“Oh sure! If things get too bad, they will wait it out in town. If they’re already on the road, they will pull over somewhere and take shelter until it has passed. Don’t worry, Emma. Simon knows this part of the country like the back of his hand. They will all be just fine.”
When the rain started to pour down, they returned to the cozy inside of the house. They checked on the various simmering pots, stirring their contents, as well as making sure that the fresh bread was baking as it should.
The storm raged on in full force now and it was as black as night outside. Emma was standing by one of the windows when she heard the first shouts.
“What’s going on?”Mary Beth asked from behind her.
“I’m not sure,”Emma said as she tried to see through the blinding rain.
The few ranch hands that had been left to watch over things were racing around in the rain. Finally, Emma could see that the storm seemed to have spooked the horses and they were running in all directions. As she watched the ranch hands chase off after the horses, something caught her eye.
“Oh no!”she cried as she ran to the front door.
“Wait, Emma! You can’t go out there!”Mary Beth exclaimed.
“I have to!”Emma yelled as she yanked open the door and pushed her way outside amid the driving rain and fierce winds.
She fought her way against the elements to reach her destination.
A small, tan figure curled up on the ground shivering and shaking as it was pelted by the rain and wind.
Somehow, the newest foal had been lost in all the confusion. Emma could not imagine where his mother had gone but she knew that she had to save this tiny horse. Fortunately, she was close enough to the barn that she was confident of getting the baby safely inside.
Reaching down, she lifted the tiny horse into her arms, which was no small feat, and encouraged him to stand. He didn’t fight her at all. It was as if he knew she was there to help him. Instead, he snuggled against her and allowed her to lead him through the storm to the barn. She was wondering how she would get the doors open as she approached, but the doors weren’t latched and the wind actually blew them open for her.
Trudging inside with the baby horse, she found an empty stall to put him in while she went back and closed the doors. Racing back to the little horse, she looked around for something to cover him with and spotted a riding blanket. Grabbing that, she went and sat by the horse and wrapped the blanket around him. She sat with him, talking softly and continuing to rub his little back. Finally, he stopped shivering. Only then did she go get him something to eat.
As she was insuring that he was fine, the ranch hands returned with the escaped horses in tow. They looked at her curiously and she realized then what a mess she was. Shivering violently, she explained what had happened. One of the men insisted on escorting her back to the house and she was suddenly so weak, that she agreed.
Mary Beth was waiting anxiously on the porch and instantly took charge of the situation. Thanking the man, she put her arm around Emma and guided her into the house. She helped her get out of the wet clothes and dress in a warm, soft cotton robe.
“Now, you sit right here by the fire, Emma, and I’m going to make you a nice cup of hot, honey tea.”
“Mary Beth, please don’t fuss. I’m fine.”
“No, you are not fine. You’re a shivering damp mess and we need to get you warmed up. What were you thinking, Emma?”
“That baby horse means a lot to Simon,”Emma replied quietly.“It almost died when it was born. You remem
ber. I had to save him. He’s so little and helpless. I couldn’t let him just lay out there and die.”
Shaking her head, Mary Beth smiled ruefully at her.
“I do believe that Simon would have chosen you over that foal,”Mary Beth said.
An hour or so later, the storm had calmed to almost nothing and the front door slammed open. Simon burst into the room looking about wildly.
“Where is she?”he shouted.“Mary Beth, where is Emma?”
“Calm down, Simon. She’s right here.”
Emma sat up from where she had been napping on the sofa.
“I’m here, Simon,”she said.
“Oh thank goodness!”he said as he practically ran to her side.
Shocking her, he wrapped his strong arms around her and drew her close to him in an embrace that almost hurt her.
“I don’t know what I would have done if something had happened to you!”he murmured into her shoulder.“The guys told me what happened when we went to check on the animals after this storm. What were you thinking?”
“I couldn’t let that little baby horse die. I know how much he means to you.”
Now Simon looked at her with something like amazement on his face.
“You risked your life to save a baby horse because of how important he is to me? Emma, don’t you realize that you are much more important to me than anything on earth?”
As always, Mary Beth took charge of the situation.
“Simon, there are going to be a lot of hungry men in here in just a few minutes. Why don’t you take Emma to her room and get her settled before that happens?”
Nodding, Simon picked Emma up and carried her in his arms down to her room and gently sat her down on the bed.
Then he pulled up a chair to sit close to her.
“Emma, please promise me that you won’t ever do anything like that again.”
