“But… you didn’t ask her. She insisted!”
“I know that, and you know that, but Edna Petunia likes to write her own versions of things. I don’t mind.” With as much as the older woman had done for her, she had a right to tell anyone anything she wanted about what had happened. The Edna Petunia version of events was always a great deal more entertaining anyway.
He smiled over at her. “Then I won’t mind either.”
Chapter Ten
When they got to their new home, Tom helped Penny down, going to the back of the auto to start carrying her things in. “Where do you want me to put everything?”
She bit her lip. The master bedroom was on the first floor, and she could easily unpack from there, but she didn’t really want their room that cluttered. “Put them in the spare room on the first floor.”
He nodded and picked up two boxes. “I’m going to change into some work clothes to do this. I also need to milk the cows for the night before we settle in.”
She nodded. “I’ll change into a work dress as well, and get the table set. You’ll find our supper back there somewhere.”
She found the carpet bag containing her clothes in the back and plucked it out before hurrying into the room she’d share with Tom. She was just starting to unbutton her dress when he opened the door, stopping where he was. “I was going to change.”
“Me too,” she said with a blush.
He walked to her, cupping her face in his hands. “We’re married. There’s nothing for us to be embarrassed about.”
“I know…I just…I feel like I’m in such a weird position.”
He frowned, sitting on the edge of the bed and pulling her down beside him. “What do you mean?”
“Well, I know we’re married. And I know how I feel about you, but I have no idea how you feel about me.”
“What do you mean you don’t know how I feel about you? I’ve told you over and over!”
She shook her head adamantly. “No, you’ve told me over and over that you knew we were meant to be together. You’ve asked me to marry you over and over. You’ve never once told me how you feel.”
“Asking you to marry me wasn’t enough of a declaration of love?”
“No, because I didn’t know if you wanted to marry me because you had feelings for me, or if it was because you were trying to fulfill some sort of destiny that you believed I had to be part of.” She knew she was being greedy, needing to be loved as well as married, but she didn’t care. She wanted it all.
He blinked a few times, utterly astounded that she really didn’t know. “Penny, I knew I loved you from the moment I set eyes on you. I never would have taken you to meet my parents or asked you to marry me otherwise.”
“Even though you knew we were destined to be together?”
He nodded. “I wouldn’t have followed along just because I was supposed to. No, I was looking for real feelings, and I had them. Immediately.”
“I…really? Why didn’t you ever tell me then?”
“Because I thought you knew! I had no idea you were wondering how I felt. I wrote you the world’s worst love poem! Did you hear that poem? I would never have done something so silly if I didn’t love you!” He slipped his arm around her back, his hand stroking up and down her arm. “You know, you haven’t told me how you feel either.”
“Oh, you don’t just know how I feel? I agreed to marry you…” Penny couldn’t resist teasing him.
He sighed. “All right. Point taken. I’m sorry I didn’t think to say something sooner. Someone should take me out and flog me.”
She rested her head on his shoulder. “I love you, Tom McClain. I think you’re the man I’m meant to spend my life with, and I’m so glad you found me.”
He kissed the top of her head. “Then do you want to finish bringing stuff in and have supper? Or do you want to get to the evening’s main event?”
“Oh, Tom. You make my heart flutter with your romantic speech!” She shook her head at him. “Really?” Surely, he would learn to talk to her over time. She didn’t think his father was quite as bumbling with his mother as he was with her.
He sighed. “You knew I didn’t have a romantic bone in my body after hearing that awful poem, and you know it. You can’t expect me to have one now that we’re married. And what’s so wrong with me telling my wife that I want to make love with her?”
She shrugged, blushing a little. “I don’t know, but it doesn’t feel right. I’m sure we have to wait until after dark or something.”
Tom shook his head. “We don’t have to. We can do whatever we want.”
Penny bit her lip nervously. “Maybe I just need to wait until it’s dark so I won’t be so nervous.” She put her hand on her stomach. “Or hungry. Do you realize the only thing I was able to eat at the reception was that one bite of cake you fed me? And now I’m starving!” She’d only been able to stomach a few bites of her pancake breakfast too. No, it was time for food.
He kissed her forehead. “All right. We’ll wait. I’ll take my clothes into the spare room to change.”
“Thank you.”
“I love you. I’ll do whatever it takes to make you happy. Haven’t you realized that yet?”
Penny smiled. “Just keep telling me, and I’m sure I’ll figure it out!”
*****
Three weeks later, Penny had settled into married life well. She was still sewing as much as ever, but she was now only sewing for people she loved. She’d made dresses for all of her nieces, and she’d started piecing some baby quilts together. She wanted each son to have a baby quilt, and she knew there would be little time after the children started coming along.
She was sitting in the parlor sewing quietly on a Wednesday afternoon, when she heard the front door slam. “There’s an orphanage on fire in Bagley! I’m going to take some blankets and some water, and we’re going to try to help the boys.” Tom hurried past and went to do whatever it was he was doing.
Penny jumped up to follow him. “Boys? No girls?”
Tom shook his head, quickly changing into old, worn out clothes. “No girls. The orphanage is church run, and that particular church doesn’t think boys and girls should live together if they’re not related.”
“I’m going with you!”
“Why? I’m not going to let you help fight the fire!”
“No, but I can be there to help with the boys. I’m not going to argue with you. I’m just going!”
He sighed. “Fine. You’re going with me, I guess.”
She helped him gather the supplies he needed, and she threw a few fresh loaves of bread she’d baked that morning along with some leftover ham into the back of the wagon, and they drove to Bagley, which was the nearest town to the McClain Ranch.
When they arrived, Penny’s eyes started stinging from the smoke. She jumped down, going to talk to the woman who stood staring at the rubble, an angry look on her face. “I’ve told the boys a hundred times not to leave lanterns burning. Now what are we supposed to do?”
Penny sighed. “I’m Penny McClain. Are you the matron of the house?”
The woman nodded. “I’m Gloria Simpson. I’ve worked with these boys for six months now.”
“Only six months?”
“The previous matron ran off with the milkman. These boys are absolutely incorrigible. I was looking for a different position myself.” Gloria shook her head. “I just don’t know where all the boys are going to go. They certainly can’t live here.”
Penny bit her lip for a moment. “How many boys are there?”
“There are seventeen of them…all school age. These particular boys are the ones other orphanages didn’t want. Troublemakers, every last one of them.”
“I’ll be right back.” The fire was already out, but the whole house was destroyed. Penny ran to Tom, determined to make a difference. The kind of difference Edna Petunia had made in her life. “Tom, the house is gone, but there are seventeen boys who need homes.”
He nod
ded. “I’ve just been talking to the pastor about it.”
Penny nodded at Pastor Franks. She’d been at his church the past three Sundays, so she’d met him a couple of times. “Excuse me, Pastor.” She took Tom’s arm and pulled him off where they could speak alone. “I want the boys to come home with us.”
He gaped at her. “You want to take seventeen boys home with us?”
She nodded. “The boys are all children other orphanages won’t take. They need a home, and ours is plenty big. Please.”
He sighed. “I guess we can do that until we can find new homes for them.”
“No. I want to keep them. We have a huge ranch. You mother said that every new generation makes changes in the family’s customs. I want to take in these boys and keep them with us, unless their parents come and want them back. That’s my new custom.”
Tom was having a hard time following her. “You want to keep seventeen boys you’ve never met before? Just take them home and keep them?”
She nodded emphatically. “Yes. They’re my bastards, don’t you see?”
He groaned. “You’re not going to start calling them bastards, are you?”
Penny shook her head. “No, of course not. I’m not insane. I do want to keep them though. When our children come along, we’ll build them cabins to live in. Maybe four boys per cabin, and we can have someone there to take care of them. Don’t you see? This is what I need. I need to give back to the world for helping me land on my feet. I need to give to these boys.”
Tom looked at her helplessly. “You want all seventeen of them?” Maybe if he emphasized the number enough, she’d see how ludicrous her idea was.
She nodded. “Please.”
His heart melted. If she wanted it that badly, then he’d help her raise them. What was seventeen more when you already knew you’d have seven? “Let’s go tell the pastor. He’ll be thrilled not to have to worry about them any longer.”
She threw her arms around him, hugging him close. “I do love you, Tom McClain. You know that, don’t you?”
He nodded. “And if you ever needed a declaration of love from me, this is it. I don’t know what we’re going to do with them all.”
She smiled happily. “First, we’ll teach them to build their own homes. It will be good for them.”
Tom nodded. “Sure, it will.” He had no idea why this was so important to her, but it was within his power to give it to her, so he would. “I hope you know what you’re doing.”
“I’m changing my destiny,” she said with a smile. “If I’m going to spend my life raising boys, I might as well raise a lot of them.” She took his hand and tugged him to the pastor and she announced what they were going to do.
The pastor smiled. “I think that’s the perfect solution.”
Epilogue
By the end of the summer, there were five cabins all in a row, each with four boys in it. Somehow, they’d collected three more boys along the way, and Tom had declared the boys’ ranch was full.
Tom still seemed to think Penny had lost her mind, but she knew this was what she was meant to do. Well, take care of these orphaned boys and have babies, of course. She’d just realized the first one was on the way, and she hadn’t even told Tom yet.
As they lay in bed the night the boys moved out, Penny had her head pillowed on his shoulder. “How’d the boys do at work today?”
Tom sighed. “They’re all hard workers. I’ll give them that. They helped me move the herd to a better grazing area. Joel fell off his horse twice during the process, but we got them moved.”
“Is Joel all right?” Penny said, sitting up. She had to go check on him.
“Don’t worry, he landed on his head. You know as well as I do that the boy has the hardest head of any living creature.”
Penny sighed. “You should have had me look at him. Promise me next time one of them falls off a horse you’ll send him to me!”
Tom sighed. “I will. I don’t know how we’re going to raise twenty boys though.”
“Twenty-seven,” Penny corrected. They had the twenty boys they’d taken in, ranging in age from ten to sixteen, and they had the seven she’d give birth to.
He groaned. “What are we going to do with seven more boys? These are already keeping us running around.”
“We’ll just have to get help.” She took his hand and placed it over her belly. “Because the first one will be here before we know it.”
Tom turned to her, dislodging her and causing her to fall onto the mattress with an “oof!”
“Are you serious? Why didn’t you tell me?”
She laughed softly. “I just found out. I’m telling you now!” She traced his cheek with one finger. “Are you happy?”
“I’m ecstatic. Who doesn’t need twenty-seven boys to raise?”
She smiled, leaning forward to kiss him. “Just so you know, I plan to always keep those cabins full.”
He frowned at her. “What exactly does that mean?”
“It means that when the boys are grown and move on, I’ll just get more.” She settled back onto the pillows, a look of contentment on her face.
“Why?”
She shrugged. “You didn’t ask why I was your destiny. Don’t ask why this is ours. I’m doing it and that’s all there is to it.”
He sighed. “Yes, dear.”
“I knew you’d see it my way.”
As he held her close, he saw their future flash before his eyes, and it made him smile. It was a future filled with more boys than he could count, but so much love. Who could complain about a future filled with love?
Penny (Orlan Orphans Book 6) Page 8
