“Nothing I guess.”
The waitress stopped by their table, and they ordered their food. “Penny, we’re hiring here. Do any of your sisters need jobs right now?” Emily, their waitress, had gone to school with Penny.
“Betsy might enjoy working here. She isn’t working at the moment. She’s pretty shy, so I’m not sure if she’s even looked for something.”
“Have her come in on Monday, would you? I’d love to get some help.” Emily hurried away.
“I guess you know her,” Tom said, his entire focus on Penny.
“We were in the same class in school. She married the day after we graduated. Her parents own this place, and she works here for them.”
“Will you want to work after we’re married?” he asked.
“You’re acting as if us getting married is a foregone conclusion. You really believe that we’ll marry, don’t you?”
He nodded. “There’s no doubt in my mind. The only thing I wonder about is how soon I’ll be able to convince you that it needs to happen.”
She laughed, shaking her head. She’d never met a man who was so confident of what life held in store for him. “What if I don’t want children?”
“You do.”
“How do you know? We’re virtual strangers!”
“No, we’re not. I spent yesterday evening with your family, and I saw you with them. You love children, as evident by how you were with your nephews and nieces. You are willing to put up with a lot of craziness, so you have a very even temper. You’re a hard worker, willing to take your work home with you to finish it, rather than relying on finishing everything during work hours. You may think we’re strangers, but I know everything I need to know, and I’m ready to propose tonight.”
She laughed, shaking her head. “You know a lot more about me than I know about you.”
“Come to my house for supper tomorrow night then. I’ll introduce you to my family, all my brothers and sisters-in-law. All the nieces and nephews. You’ll love them.”
“I thought your family didn’t have girls,” she said with a frown.
“Only the youngest son holds that distinction. I’m sorry I can’t offer you daughters, but just about anything else you want, I’ll lay at your feet if you’ll marry me.” Tom looked down at their joined hands, amazed that touching her felt so right to him. “Come to supper tomorrow. I want you to meet all the people I love.”
She nodded. “All right.”
He grinned. “I’ll pick you up at five. Mama serves supper at six on the dot. If anyone is late, they don’t get to eat.”
“Sounds like she runs a tight ship!”
“She said if she doesn’t teach her boys the way things should be, she’s doing a disservice to all the women of the world.”
As their food was placed in front of them, she watched him. The man was interesting to say the very least. She wasn’t convinced they were fated to marry, but she’d keep an open mind.
Chapter Five
An hour later, they were on their way back to Penny’s home. As Tom drove, he talked to her about his family’s ranch. “We were some of the first settlers in the area, long before the Texas Revolution. I lost many family members in that war. One of my great great uncles died at the Alamo.”
“That’s sad.”
He nodded. “I never knew him, of course.”
“Well, obviously not.”
He pulled the car off onto a side road shortly before they would have reached her house, and she looked at him funny as he turned the key. “I want to kiss you. I want to show you how good we’ll be together.”
Penny studied him by the light of the full moon. “I don’t know how Cletus would feel about that.”
“As long as I’m not hurting you, I’m not doing anything wrong, I don’t think.” He reached out and stroked her cheek with the back of two fingers. “I promise not to hurt you.”
She nodded, her face tingling a little under the fingers that were still resting on her cheek. “Kiss me then.” She couldn’t believe she was being so forward, but even though he was a bit odd in his beliefs, he just seemed like the right person for her. She didn’t know why, and she wasn’t sure she ever would.
Tom leaned forward and gently brushed his lips against hers, before pulling back and looking at her for a moment. “Okay?”
She nodded, her arms going around his shoulders. This time it was her that leaned in, her lips toying with his. The feelings that rushed through her body left her breathless, and she suddenly understood why there were so many unwed mothers in the world. This felt so good!
Penny pulled away, resting back into her seat, her hands folded in her lap. “I don’t think we should keep doing that.” She almost added “until we’re married,” but she caught herself. She was his. She knew it as well as he did.
Tom stared at her in the dark, wondering what was going through her mind. “You didn’t like it?”
She laughed softly. “I liked it too much. I don’t think it’s a good idea for us to continue, because I suddenly understand why people do things they shouldn’t before they marry.”
He grinned. “So you liked it that much, did you?”
“Don’t let it go to your head. I’ve never been kissed before. Perhaps I’d love being kissed by any man that much.”
“I’d rather you didn’t try it and find out. We’ll assume it’s just me, okay?”
She grinned at him. “I think that would be the best course of action.”
“So dinner tomorrow night, and you learn more about me, and then we’ll talk about the future. All right?”
She didn’t need the dinner to talk about the future. She already knew she’d marry him the next time he brought it up. How could she not? People running around with all those feelings were not good for anyone. “Sounds good.”
When he walked her up to the door a few minutes later, he reached for her again, needing to know for himself if the feelings were as strong as he thought they were. He wanted to spend the rest of his life with her, and he would do whatever was necessary to make that happen.
Penny happily moved toward him, wrapping her arms around him. The kiss that he pressed to her lips was light and soft, and she sighed contentedly. She wanted to invite him inside so they could do more of that in the parlor, but she could just imagine what Edna Petunia would say about such a thing. No, she’d be the good girl she’d been raised to be. “Goodnight, Tom. I had a wonderful time.”
Tom smiled as she hurried into the house and shut the door, leaving him standing alone on her doorstep. Penny Sanders would be his wife. He’d known it for days, but now they’d kissed there was no trace of uncertainty left in his mind. She was his and always would be.
*****
Penny stood looking into her closet late the following afternoon, trying to decide which dress to wear.
“The green one. Wear the green one.” Gertrude, one of Penny’s least favorite sisters, commanded from behind her. Penny liked her when she wasn’t bossing people around, so she liked her when she was sleeping. Thankfully Gertie had found a job taking care of children, so she had four young charges to follow her commands, making it easier on everyone else in Gertrude’s life.
Penny looked at the dress in question. It was a light green and the dress meant spring to Penny. She was amazed at the number of dresses she now had. When they’d moved to Texas each of them had a Sunday dress and an everyday dress. Now she had six Sunday dresses and five everyday dresses. The mint green dress in question was a Sunday dress. “I guess I could wear that one.”
“I think he’ll like it.” Gertrude plopped down on Penny’s bed without being invited, but that was nothing new.
Penny bit her lip, frowning at the dress. “I made it a bit too tight in the waist, and my corset will have to be pulled tighter to wear it.”
“It’s worth it! I’ll help.”
Penny sighed, walked over to shut her door, and pulled the dress she was wearing over her head. She could easily we
ar the same dress she’d worn to church for supper, but to meet Tom’s parents for the first time, she wanted to look her best. She turned her back to Gertie and waited as her sister pulled the strings of her corset tighter. “I hate wearing such a tight corset!” Penny sucked in her breath as the strings were tied, and then she pulled the dress over her head. “There. How does it look?”
Gertie nodded, smiling. “You look as beautiful as I knew you would. Do you want me to fix your hair?”
Penny nodded, sitting down. Gertie had a good touch with hairstyles, and she needed all the help she could get. She wanted to feel confident, and that meant looking her best.
“Tell me about your date last night,” Gertie said as she removed the pins that held Penny’s hair in a bun atop her head, and brushed it out.
“He took me to the diner in town. It was really nice.” Penny didn’t mention the kiss or the way it had made her feel. She didn’t feel close enough to Gertie to share secrets like that.
“Do you think you’ll marry him?”
Penny contemplated the question for a moment, and realized there was no point in not answering honestly. “I do. I really do.”
“Are you nervous about meeting his parents? I would be. You want to make a good impression on your future mother-in-law.” Gertie quickly twisted Penny’s hair atop her head and formed a crown. “I’ve always loved working with your hair, Penny. It’s so soft, but it stays where I put it.”
Penny nodded. It never stayed where she put it, but Gertie had a better hand than she did. “I’m very nervous about meeting them. Most potential in-laws aren’t exactly excited about an orphan marrying into their family.”
“We’re not orphans anymore. Not really. Now we’re daughters of…”
“Crazy lovable old people?” Penny finished with a grin. Her eyes met Gertie’s in the mirror and they both burst out laughing.
Gertie quickly shoved pins into Penny’s hair and squeezed her shoulders. “You’re ready.”
Penny frowned as she looked in the mirror. “I just wish I had a necklace to wear. My throat looks bare, doesn’t it?”
“Do you want me to go ask if Edna Petunia has one you can borrow?”
Penny shook her head, wrinkling her nose. “You know Edna Petunia’s tastes. If she has one, it’ll have a dead pheasant or something on it. I’ll go without.”
“That’s probably a very wise choice.”
There was a knock on Penny’s door. “Come in!” she called.
Hope hurried into the room. “Tom’s here. I think he’s early. I told him it was as rude to be early as it is to be late.”
Penny jumped to her feet. “I wish you weren’t so rude to people!”
“Rude? I’m honest!” Hope replied with a frown.
Penny grabbed her coat from her bed. “Thank you for your help, Gertie!” She rushed to the stairs, but made herself slow down as she descended. As soon as she saw Tom, she smiled. “I’m sorry I kept you waiting.”
“No, as one of your sisters pointed out so eloquently, being extremely early is very rude, and I should get my manners checked.”
Penny bit her lip as she struggled not to laugh. “Hope calls things as she sees them—very often to the detriment of others.”
He shook his head, taking her coat and helping her into it. When he looked up, he saw that Cletus was watching them. “When will you have her home?”
“No later than ten, sir.” Tom was still a little nervous around Cletus. The man seemed nice enough, but there had been a lot of rumors of him being crazy when Tom was a boy.
“That’ll work. You two have a good time.”
As they left, Tom was aware that several of her sisters were watching them, from the kitchen and the parlor at the front of the house. As soon as they were outside, he sighed with relief. “Your family is making me nervous tonight.”
“Fair’s fair. I’ve been nervous about meeting your family all day.” She sat quietly as he pulled the automobile onto the road and pointed it in the direction of Austin. “Where does your family go to church?”
“There’s a little country church not a mile from the ranch. It’s the only church I’ve ever attended regularly.”
As he drove, they compared their two churches, each having aspects of the one they attended they loved. She realized that she would be going further from Edna Petunia than any of the others, and she worried it might upset her. She hoped not, because she would never deliberately do anything to upset the sweet woman.
“This is our property line here,” he said, once they’d been driving for over half an hour. “We’re about ten minutes from the house, though.”
She swallowed hard, thinking about just how much land they must have. The car they were in went faster than any wagon she’d ever ridden in, so if it was a ten-minute drive before they got to the house from there, then he was much more affluent than she’d realized. She found she didn’t like the idea of marrying a wealthy man much.
When they pulled up in front of the house, she stared at it, awestruck. “This is beautiful. You grew up here?”
He nodded, helping her from the car. “My father grew up here, and so did his father. It’s where our children will grow up.”
“I haven’t agreed to marry you, Tom McClain. Don’t go jumping ahead of me now.” She frowned at him, hating that he was already taking the fact that they’d marry for granted. She was of a mind to make him work to court her and convince her now, but she knew it would just take one kiss.
“I’m sorry. I’ll try not to do that.” He offered her his elbow, though he wanted to put his arm around her. The yard was filled with automobiles and buggies. His family was there. “All of my brothers were able to come, which surprised me. I thought we’d only have three or four, but they all want to meet the Penny I told them I’d marry when I was five.”
When he opened the door, she could hear the loud conversation going on inside. It made her more nervous than ever. “How many people are there?”
He shrugged. “Six brothers, six sisters-in-law, and a dozen or so kids. Oh, and my parents.”
She sighed. “I can do this, right?”
“Sure, you can!”
When he led her into the parlor, where his entire family was gathered, all attention turned to them, and the room slowly quieted. Even the children stared at her and stopped talking. Tom took her hand in his and smiled down at her. “Mama, Papa, everybody. This is Penny.”
An older woman hurried forward, and she took Penny’s hand in both of hers. “I’m so pleased to meet you! Tom told me you know about our family. You’re not frightened, are you?”
“Frightened of what?” Penny asked. Other than meeting all of them at the same time, she wasn’t sure what she should be frightened of.
“Of having seven sons!”
Penny shrugged, shaking her head. “That doesn’t bother me at all. Meeting all three-hundred-fifty-seven of you at once is the scary part!”
His mother laughed and reached out and hugged her. “And welcome to the family!”
“I haven’t agreed to marry him yet!”
Mrs. McClain smiled. “You will, dear. You will.” She turned and waved her hand toward all the people watching him. “I’m just going to introduce my husband and sons. You’ll figure out how everyone else fits into the mix as you get to know us.” She beckoned to the oldest man in the room. “Come and meet Tom’s Penny. Penny, this is my husband, Jack McClain. Jack, this is Penny.”
Jack smiled at her, his hand enveloping hers. “It’s so nice to finally meet you, Penny.”
His wording was odd, because she’d only met Tom a few days before, but since he’d known he would marry her, she supposed it made sense. “It’s nice to meet you, Mr. McClain.”
“The others I’ll introduce in order to try to make it easy for you, Penny.” Mrs. McClain looked back at the room full of people. “Boys, step forward as I introduce you.” A man who looked a lot like Tom, but older and with blonder hair stepped forward. �
�This is John. He’s the oldest.” Another man. “This is William, James, Charles, Joseph, and Edward. And you know Tom.” She smiled as the men faded back to be with their wives. “I promise there will not be a quiz on it.”
“Do all of the men in your family have the same eyes?” Knowing they were a family trait did nothing to ease Penny’s attraction to Tom. Those eyes of his just melted her. His were special.
Mrs. McClain nodded. “Every single one of them. All of the grandchildren won’t have the same eyes, but your children will.”
“How do you know?” Penny asked. She was baffled by this family, all doing the same thing the same way.
“It’s been the same for generations. We know.” Mrs. McClain patted Penny’s hand as if to say it was all right. “Are you hungry? I cooked enough to feed half the state.”
Penny smiled. “I’m very hungry. Thank you for having me to supper.”
“You’re welcome anytime. I’ll show you around the house later. It’ll be yours soon, after all.”
Penny frowned. Everyone assumed she would marry Tom. Did they think she had no choice in the matter at all? What was wrong with these people?
Chapter Six
The meal was very different than the ones Penny was used to at home. Like her family, they said grace before the meal, but there was less arguing at the table. The children were more polite, and no one was throwing bread across the table to others. She found it emotionless.
Tom leaned over, his lips against her ear. She gave a slight shudder at the contact. “Now you see why I was surprised at the meal at your house.”
She nodded. “I feel like I should throw a dinner roll at one of your brothers, just to see how everyone would react.”
He laughed, and everyone stared at him, the polite conversation stopping abruptly.
His eldest brother, John, raised an eyebrow. “Has no one ever taught you table manners, Tom?”
Tom shrugged. “I learned a new way of eating a couple of nights ago. It was a lot more fun.”
Penny (Orlan Orphans Book 6) Page 4
