by Annie Lane
Charlotte screamed this time, making the pig and Thomas flinch in unison.
Thomas shook his head, chuckling under his breath. “I was hoping to introduce you two a little later, but I guess now’s as good a time as any. Charlotte Bates … please meet Rosy. She’s like a part of the furniture ’round here. She’s as harmless as the day is long, but she’s got the social graces of … well, a pig, I guess. Watch the bottom of your skirt if you don’t want her peekin’ up your petticoats.”
Charlotte gasped and wobbled on the chair, almost losing her balance. Thomas’s eyes grew wide and he dropped the bowl clean from his hands, the sticky yellow mess spilling all over the porch. While the pig moved as fast as she could, licking up every last drop, making noises Charlotte had never heard before, Thomas rushed to her side and offered his hand, helping her carefully back to the ground.
“She doesn’t bite, Charlotte. Don’t be afraid of her, she’s in the family way, so she’s a little slow on her feet. We’re expecting … uh, she’s expecting the arrival any time now.”
Charlotte, still shaking some and watching the pig waddle around the porch, licking her lips and searching for crumbs, didn’t know exactly what to think. Rosy’s stomach was thick and round and ballooned out on each side of her body. She looked fit to burst at any moment, but it didn’t conjure up any sympathy from Charlotte. She cared for pigs about as much as she did for babies. So a combination of the two was a right mess if ever she’d seen it.
“Don’t be rude, Rosy … come say hello?” urged Thomas.
But the pig wasn’t having any part of it either. She lifted her snout so high in the air that Charlotte could see all the way to the back of her nostrils. Then she gave Charlotte the once over in a very deliberate move. Once she was satisfied, she simply turned her back, trudged through the house and swayed out through the side door until she was in the yard again.
“You keep pigs?” Charlotte asked, still a little out of breath.
“Not pigs, just one pig … Rosy. And before you question my sanity, yes I know how reproduction works. It sure does take two to make a litter … but Earl’s American Yorkshire, Snog, took a fancy to Rosy the very first time they met and they ain’t ever looked back, it was love at first sight or something equally as crazy. We’re going to split the litter in half and raise the piglets by hand. Junior’s beside himself with excitement.”
Charlotte narrowed her eyes. “Snog … the hog?”
Thomas tried to cover his amusement but he couldn’t hide it for long. He laughed again. He hadn’t wanted to. But he couldn’t help it. Junior had named the pig a few years back and it still tickled his fancy from time to time if he gave it too much thought.
Charlotte couldn’t explain the way her smile grew at the sight of him looking so happy all of a sudden. She guessed he was just as selective about who he shared his laugh with as he was with his smile. She should have been angry with Thomas for leaving her to deal with Mabel all on her own, and for having a pig inside the house that rattled her so bad, but she couldn’t stop the warm feeling she felt spreading through her.
“How did you sleep Charlotte? I sure hope you got some rest after your long trip yesterday. I appreciate you coming such a long way to meet me, just so you know.” Thomas walked the few paces that separated the two until he was standing right in front of her. “And I won’t have you traveling around town with Mabel again, don’t worry about that. From now on you’ll use my wagon for anything you need in town. It’s at your disposal for the rest of the week. I’ll give you a quick rundown on the workings of it all and then you can be on your way. Feel free to come and go from the ranch as you see fit.”
“Thank you, Thomas.”
“Hope you’re hungry? I’ve made enough breakfast to feed a small army. Come on inside now before the bugs set to biting your arms and the heat settles into your bones.”
The size of the house surprised Charlotte. The porch was wide and the wood was strong and sturdy. It looked out across the open plains beyond. The glare from the sun was bright, but when she squinted, Charlotte could still see some way off into the distance. A herd of cattle were corralled together under the trees and she found herself caught up in the beauty of it all, allowing herself a moment to gaze out in wonder across the paddocks.
“It’s a mighty nice view. If you’d like, we could eat our breakfast out here. The pantry’s run down some, but I’ve done the best I could with what was there.”
Charlotte turned at the sound of his deep voice. Thomas stood with both hands gripping each side of the doorframe. He was staring at her and she felt herself blush before she spoke. “I’m more than capable of preparing the meals for you Thomas, after all, isn’t that why I’m here? I’m a decent cook if nothing else, and besides … there’s only one chair.”
Thomas nodded, but got to thinking almost immediately that he would have to rectify that situation. “It’s the least I can do Charlotte.”
Charlotte waited until Thomas moved aside before she stepped into the room. She was excited to see where she would be living and had wondered on the ride over just what kind of mess she might stumble upon. With Thomas being a bachelor and so very young, she didn’t expect it to be overly tidy, but she never anticipated it would look the way it did. She glanced around herself until she had completed one full circle.
She was speechless.
The house was the exact opposite of what she’d pictured. If she didn’t know better she would have thought he’d only just moved in. It was completely bland. There were no paintings on the walls. No curtains on the windows. No color. No excitement. Not even a rug on the white-washed floors. Charlotte knew that some bright, checked fabrics and a woman’s touch would cheer the place up in an instant, but she wasn’t game to mention that to Thomas just yet. She got the feeling that he liked his things just the way they were.
A narrow hallway separated the main living quarters, the kitchen and the sitting room from the bedrooms, which she soon discovered there were two of. A good-sized washroom was at the rear of the house and Charlotte couldn’t disguise her delight at the amount of space available. The bathroom at the orphanage was half this size and meant to service many more people. But even the bathroom was listless and boring. Other than a single towel drying over a rack, there was little to say that it had been used recently. She might have thought that the case too, if it hadn’t been for the delightful, fresh scent of Thomas’s skin as she walked by him earlier. It was a mix of soap and earth and something unmistakably male and Charlotte had taken a deep breath, hoping to hold on to it just a little while longer.
“Would you like to take your bath, Charlotte?”
Thomas stood in the hallway, catching Charlotte off guard by the candid way he spoke. He was watching her absorb her new surroundings. He liked the way she studied his things so closely. Not that there was much. He’d never been one for sentiment and fancy things. So he kept the rooms bare and to a minimum. It had worked just fine so far.
“There are clean towels stored in the linen cupboard and a brand new bar of soap in the receptacle over the tub. Things can get a bit crazy over at the Calhoun’s, so if you didn’t get a chance to freshen up there last night, then you are more than welcome to do so here.”
“Thank you Thomas, that’s very considerate of you, but Gabe didn’t come in until very late, so there was plenty of hot water to fill their tub. I must have soaked for the best part of an hour before I went to bed.”
Thomas nodded, blinking faster than he ever believed possible. At the mention of a bath, his thoughts had turned to her undressing, which had led to thoughts of her being naked in his bathroom, and then that led to thoughts of their upcoming wedding night. Knowing she was looking at him again with those pretty flushed cheeks made him panic. He’d never been with a woman before. He knew the physicality of it though and he looked forward to consummating his marriage just as much as any other young man his age might do, but it still unsettled him some with the idea of gettin
g it just right, for Charlotte’s sake if nothing else.
For the time being though, since he wasn’t married just yet, he thought it best to remove temptation altogether and walked past Charlotte to open another window. If he didn’t get some fresh air swirling around the room, and Charlotte’s beautiful smell out of his nose, then he felt that he might just be setting himself up for embarrassment.
He gestured for her to return to the kitchen and when she took a seat at the table, her eyes were drawn to the only sign of life she’d found in the entire house so far. Sitting right there in front of her, were three shiny red apples. They looked delicious, fat round ones, like they’d just been picked straight from a tree, and her father’s words came rushing back to her in such a way that it left her a little breathless.
Apples … Branches … Fruit.
If that wasn’t a sign then she didn’t know what was.
Thomas poured Charlotte a cup of coffee, setting the cream and sugar down in front of her, completely oblivious to the way she was staring so intently at the table. “I better beat us up some fresh eggs, it won’t take me too long, drink your coffee up while you wait. I’ll just grab the last bag of flour down from the pantry so I can knock up some flapjacks too. You like flapjacks, Charlotte?”
Charlotte glanced up at him and watched him work. She released a breath, one she didn’t even realize she was holding and shrugged, feeling herself blush for what must be the hundredth time. “I … I don’t think … think I’ve ever tried them.”
Spying the way Thomas’s muscles shifted as he hoisted the flour bag from the top shelf had pleased her in ways she’d never experienced. His shirt had risen a little from his britches too and she’d caught a small glimpse of his lean, flat stomach. Thomas knew Charlotte was watching him again and decided he’d better busy himself with making the breakfast before his thoughts started wandering again.
Whether he wanted to admit it or not … he was falling for Charlotte Bates.
Chapter 14
Thomas furrowed his brow when his attention was drawn to the distinct sound of galloping hooves coming toward the farm and any feelings he had brewing away inside him were soon squashed by the sight. A thin fume of dust rose over in the valley and caught his eye through the open window. Without a second guess he knew exactly who it was, and by the time he’d lead Charlotte back out onto the porch – conceding he’d need to make the introductions sooner rather than later – he looked up to find Earl and Junior pulling their sweating horses to a halt just a few yards away.
“Howdy, Mr. Ackerman, we came over to get us a look at…” Before Junior could finish the sentence, the back of Earl’s hand clipped his son’s ear and near knocked him straight off the rear of Lightning. The boy rubbed his head as he sat up tall again in the saddle. “Aw shucks Pa, whatcha go and do that for? I was only tellin’ it straight like ya always taught me.”
“I warned you twice before we even left the house. Watch ya manners.”
“Yes, Sir.”
Junior jumped from the horse and fiddled with his hair to keep it from falling in his face. He desperately needed a haircut but they’d been so busy on the farm lately that Earl just hadn’t found the time to take him into town. As he brushed the dust from his clothes and offered an enthusiastic ‘it’s mighty fine to meet you’ Charlotte couldn’t help but laugh when instead of extending his hand like a young man ought to, for some reason the child attempted to curtsy – like he was meeting the Queen of England.
“Dang boy! Enough with the curtsyin’ already. If it’s not one thing it’s another with you lately. This new bowing like a fool thing you’ve started up is gittin’ on my nerves.” Earl swung his leg out of the stirrup and jumped to the ground. He strode toward Charlotte, chest first, as proud as any man Charlotte had ever seen. “Earl Mason’s the name and this here is Junior, for whom I sincerely apologize. We live right over there…” He tipped his hat in the opposite direction. “It looks a way off to the naked eye but the homestead’s only a five minute ride. If you ever find yourself needing help with anything, you just give us a holler.”
Charlotte found herself instantly drawn to Earl and his darling son. Both Mason fellows had a thick mop of jet black hair, dark brown eyes and wore matching dimples that sat deep in their right cheeks. “That’s mighty thoughtful of you, Mr. Mason. I’ll be sure to take you up on that offer if the need arises.”
She couldn’t be sure, but Charlotte thought she noticed Thomas’s jaw tighten as he headed for the stables. He fetched a bucket of water from the well and roughly filled both of the troughs. To her eye they already looked good and full, but what did she know about farming, so she kept her thoughts to herself. “I’d love to meet your wife someday, too. I’m sure we’ll become fast friends.”
The words had no sooner manifested themselves before Charlotte wished she could take them back again. She’d just noticed Earl’s left hand and could tell instantly that he hadn’t worn a wedding ring there for many years. There was no banding of the skin and his tan was evenly placed.
“I’m terribly sorry, Mr. Mason. I should learn to mind my own business.”
“Nothin’ to be sorry about, Charlotte, and please call me Earl. We lost my beautiful Grace a few years back.” He nodded and smiled as he hugged Junior into his side. The boy pulled a carrot from his pocket and took one enormous bite. The loud, snapping crunch was so unexpected that Charlotte flinched. “But we do alright for ourselves, so you can lose that expression. You’re far too pretty to be sourin’ up a face like that with pitiful thoughts of me and the boy.”
Thomas dropped the bucket to the ground with a loud clang and it took all he had inside him not to kick the stinking thing right across the yard. He’d never been much of a fighter but he suddenly had an urge to knock Earl flat on his back. Pounding on his chest and staking his claim would look right childish in every way but there was something about Earl mentioning the nature of Charlotte’s good looks that got under his skin.
So he made a concerted effort instead to swallow back the ticking in his chin and tightness in his throat and made for the house once more. “You’re out early this morning, Earl. Something I can help you with?”
“Well, I thought you might have a spare helping of breakfast for a poor starving child?”
Thomas rolled his eyes and scoffed so loud that it caught in his throat. He coughed a few times to clear it. “The day you leave that boy to starve is the day I turn up my toes. If your cupboards are bare, just say so and I’ll fix him a plate.”
“Or possibly two?”
Thomas opened the door. “Just get inside, will ya? I don’t have all day. We got a lot of work to do and I ain’t bothered to be standing around wasting time with guessing games.”
Junior felt a rumble in his belly. His Pa was a lot of fine things, but a good cook wasn’t one of them and when the smell of grilled bacon wafted through the air, he couldn’t stop his mouth from watering. “You makin’ flipflops too, Mr. Ackerman? You know how I got a hankering for flipflops. The buttery sort like you always does, with berries and sugar?”
Thomas didn’t answer, didn’t splinter a smile and didn’t hold the door open for anyone else behind him as he trudged back into the kitchen.
It was becoming clear to Charlotte as she followed behind the others, that although Thomas was attractive and everything she’d hoped for in a husband, he was a hard nut of a man and it would take some serious cracking to break through his shell.
Earl hung his Stetson on the hook. “The old pantry’s running a little low or I wouldn’t be bothering you none. I need to get to the store to re-stock, not to mention get this child o’ mine to the barber’s. Looks like no one owns him with his hair bouncing all ’round like that.”
“We got a busy day today, Earl. The grain tower needs attention before the seasons change or we’ll have no stock feed for the winter. There’s no time for running into town.”
Thomas took two extra plates from the bench and divided
the bacon and diced tomato he’d already prepared into four even piles. He began to beat up a fresh bowl of eggs and poured it into the hot skillet, swishing it from one side to the other until it looked like setting. “Where’d the boy run off to now, I thought he was hungry?”
“Went to check on Rosy, he’ll be back in a minute.”
Thomas nodded and then glanced over at Charlotte. “Eat up before it gets cold. Spending as much time as you did with Mabel this morning, I’m guessing you’ll need to re-build your strength.” The slightest hint of a smile brushed his lips but he let it fall away again before it turned into anything more substantial. “She’s nice enough I guess, a little nosey for my liking, but be warned to only share with her anything you’d be happy for the entire congregation to know.”
“That’s one way to put it,” Earl mumbled, shoveling into his mouth the heap of eggs Thomas had just piled high on his plate.
Junior bowled through the side door then, practically skipping over to the table once he spotted the food. His head twitched to the side, shifting his hair so he could make a start on the breakfast. “I reckon it’ll be three girls and three boys … just like Doc Lawson’s got.”
Thomas frowned. “I’m pretty sure Mr. Lawson wouldn’t take too kindly to you equating his children to a litter of piglets, Junior. She may not have that many anyway, don’t go getting your hopes up.”
“Doc Lawson works back in town,” Thomas explained. “Poor thing was left with six children to raise all on his own when his wife died, don’t know how he manages. Good thing he’s a man of reasonable means or they’d have all been sent off to live with relatives.”
Something about Earl’s somber expression caught Charlotte’s eye just then and she saw the same sad look that she’d seen earlier at her mention of his wife. Something told her that raising one child all alone was just as hard for him, as raising six was for the good doctor.
