“Probably in ten or fifteen minutes. Go on and get everything ready.” He watched as she hurried up the stairs, leaning over the counter and burying his face in his hands.
“What are you doing, Mortimer Jackson? Have you lost your mind?”
“I don’t know what you mean.” He didn’t even react to Grace’s presence. He’d been haunted by her since her death, and usually he was excited when she appeared before him, but not this time.
“You’re pushing that woman away. There’s never been a woman on this earth who was more suited to marrying you and working with you. And here you are, telling her to go back east.” Grace shook her head at him, as if he’d lost his mind.
“I’m not pushing her to go back east. I can see she misses her family back east, so I suggested she go for a visit.”
“Well, she thinks you want to get rid of her. Use a little tact. Court her like you courted me. I know you know how to court a woman. Use some of those skills. Buy her flowers!”
“Toria? She’d rather have something practical, I’m sure. A skein of yarn would make her happier than a bunch of flowers.”
“You’d be surprised, Mortimer. Women everywhere are the same. You have to treat her like a princess before she takes off and never comes back. You and John need her more than you ever needed me. She’s the woman who belongs with you. Wake up and start treating her like it!” With those words, Grace faded from view as she’d done a thousand times.
Usually after her visit, he was left sad and lonely. This time, he was galvanized into action. Maybe she was right! It was time he courted his wife and treated her like the incredible woman she was. No one needed to be treated like an old worn out shoe!
Before he went upstairs for supper, he walked down the street to visit Seamus McFry. He had a small greenhouse, and he grew flowers. Claimed that he needed flowers all year round to remind him of his beautiful Ireland. He’d left when he was just a boy, and now that he’d settled in Creede, he was determined to bring a bit of Ireland there.
Knocking on the man’s door, he waited for a moment. “Mortimer! What brings you here?” Seamus was a friend from church, but not someone he usually saw outside of that building.
“Flowers. I want to buy some flowers for my new wife. I think she’s unhappy here, and I want her to be happy.”
Seamus made a face. “Are you sure? She looked like she was loving it here to me.”
“She puts on a good act. Do you have any roses?” He liked roses for a lady. It was Grace’s favorite.
“Not ready for picking. Let’s see. Would you like to come with me?”
Mortimer nodded, never having been inside the greenhouse before. It was a place he’d always been curious about, but not curious enough to seek the other man out. “I’ve never been in a greenhouse.”
“It’s a magical place. Step lively, or you might crush one of the leprechauns or fairies.”
Mortimer started to tell him he was crazy, but he’d had a conversation with his dead wife a short while ago where she gave him advice about his new wife. If that wasn’t the pot calling the kettle black, he didn’t know what was. “What would you recommend for my wife?”
“I have some Irish wildflowers in one corner of the greenhouse, that I think will appeal to you and your wife. They’re a mixture of blue and purple, and they make me think of home.” Seamus led him into the glass building, fortified with wooden posts, and then he took him to the area he’d suggested. “I think a bouquet of these would make any woman’s heart sing, don’t you?”
Mortimer looked at them for a moment and then nodded. “I don’t know her favorite color or her taste in flowers. I knew those things about my first wife within a couple of days of meeting her. I am not being a good husband to Toria.” And she was being a wife beyond his wildest beliefs of what a wife could be!
Seamus frowned at him. “A beautiful lass like her, and you’re not doing everything you can to make her fall in love with you? Granted, she can’t sing, but that seems to be her only flaw. It’s time for you to work for her. She deserves it.”
Mortimer sighed. “She works for me. I’ve never seen a woman work quite like Toria does. She cooks, bakes, balances my books, fixes displays, and makes me socks…I get tired just thinking about everything she does.”
Seamus grinned. “You’re in love with her, aren’t you?”
“I don’t think so. I’ve not even known her a week yet. Does love come that fast?” When he thought about it, he realized his emotions were becoming involved in his feelings for his wife.
“How long did it take you to know you loved your Grace?” Seamus had moved to town not long before Grace’s death, but he’d known her a little.
“It was different with Grace. I took one look at her, and I knew she was the woman for me. I fell for her beauty before she even learned to cook or do other things to take care of me.” It seemed to him that his love for Grace was an immature love.
“And Toria is the other way around, isn’t she? That doesn’t mean you love her any less.”
Mortimer frowned. “Possibly. How much for the flowers?” He’d picked a handful and was clutching them as if his life depended on it.
“They’re a gift. Make your Toria happy.” Seamus watched him go with a slight smile on his face. “If I had a woman like the beautiful Toria, I’d be going to her on my knees begging her to stay and be my wife.”
If Mortimer heard him, he gave no indication of it as he walked away. Going straight upstairs to their home over the store, he saw that she was working away in the kitchen. “Toria?”
She turned and looked at him, her eyes just a little red. He felt like the world’s biggest louse for making her cry. She was always so upbeat and happy. He’d obviously done something very rude to hurt her. He just wished he understood what that thing was! “Yes?”
“I’ve treated you badly, and I’m very sorry. I’m going to court you. No woman should have to skip the courting time with her husband, where he treats her as if he worships the ground she walks on.” He thrust the flowers at her. “I hope you like them.”
Toria looked at the flowers and then up at Mortimer. “They’re beautiful. Thank you.” She hurried to find a vase and rinse it out. There were many vases there in the small house, telling her that he’d been a great deal more attentive to his first wife’s needs than he was to hers. She couldn’t believe he’d brought her flowers. Maybe things would turn around a little.
“Do you like flowers?”
She laughed softly. “Of course I like flowers. Just because I can do math and enjoy working doesn’t mean I don’t have a love for all things pretty and feminine.”
“I’m glad,” he said softly. It was something he could bring her. And he could order her jewelry from the catalogue in the store. He’d given his Grace a beautiful engagement ring that he’d had to pay off over a few years. Toria wore no ring at all, and he had the means to just buy one outright. What was wrong with him?
“Supper will be ready as soon as John gets back.” She glanced at the clock on the wall, her brow furrowed. “I expected him a while ago.”
Mortimer frowned. “Maybe I should go see if I can find him.”
“I do think that would be a good idea. What if he went to the saloon again?” Her heart dreaded the idea that he’d gone back to his old ways, but if he had, she would continue to love him.
“I’m home!” John called up the stairs, and Toria immediately felt guilty for her negative thoughts.
“I was starting to worry,” she said.”
“It was snowing on the way back. I took it a little slower to be safe.” He looked between Toria and his dad. “Sorry to worry you. I did what I thought was best.”
Mortimer nodded, clapping him on the shoulder. “You did just right, son.”
Toria hurried to get supper out of the oven and on the table. “Supper’s ready.”
John shook his head. “It’s a good thing you made something else, since you gave away the supper we were supposed to hav
e.”
Mortimer looked at Toria. “I’m glad you gave our supper to Willie’s family.”
“He didn’t want to eat his lunch, thinking he should take it home to his family instead. So I told him the two of you wouldn’t eat the same meal twice, and it would help me out if he took the rest of the chicken and dumplings home. I had planned to serve them for supper.”
Mortimer laughed softly. “Your big heart is going to hurt my stomach one of these days.”
She grinned. “I made you something else. We can afford to make supper twice. He can’t afford to make it once. I think it all balances out in the end.”
John smiled. “His mother was very excited to get some supper. She’s had a really hard time since her husband died in that accident. I don’t know what she’d do if Willie wasn’t doing so many odd jobs to help them.”
“I’m glad I did the right thing.” She looked at Mortimer. “Would you mind blessing our food? We’re talking so much about others eating, that we might starve to death sitting here looking at our own supper.”
Mortimer grinned as he bowed his head. Even if his Toria was a bit unhappy about the way he’d treated her since she’d arrived, she still found ways to joke around. He found he couldn’t complain about that one little bit.
After the prayer, he looked at John. “How was Willie on your first day?”
John shook his head. “He barely let me carry anything at all. The child is definitely hungry and willing to do anything to feed his family. I’m just glad he hasn’t turned to thieving. That says something about how his parents raised him.”
“Yes, it does.” Mortimer nodded. “I’m glad we’ll be able to help out for a while.
Chapter Nine
The next few days were a peaceful time for Toria and Mortimer. John was happily doing his deliveries, so content it was surprising. Toria had in the back of her mind constantly that Mortimer didn’t want her around. She wasn’t sure how she’d upset him, unless he was once again comparing her to Grace.
Mortimer decided it was time to court his wife in earnest. He found out about a barn dance that was happening out of town on Friday night at the Clarks’ ranch outside of town.
On Thursday afternoon, he went to his wife, taking both of her hands in his. “Would you do me the honor of allowing me to escort you to a dance tomorrow night?”
Toria looked at him with surprise. “A dance? Really?”
“Yes, there’s a barn dance at Royce and Marta Clark’s place. The weather has been downright nice lately, and they thought to take advantage of it.”
“I’d love to go. We don’t need to work?”
He shook his head. “We’ll close an hour early tomorrow night. You’ll need to take a covered dish, if you don’t mind that. I think a loaf of bread or a cake would do as well.”
“Is John going, too? I think he should ask Patience.” Why she so badly wanted to see John married off, she wasn’t certain. She couldn’t have a need for grandchildren when she’d never had children, could she?
Mortimer shook his head. “John is welcome to go, but not with us. I’m courting my wife, and men don’t bring along their grown children when they’re courting.”
Toria grinned. “Sounds good to me. I have just the right dress to wear!” She couldn’t believe how excited she was about the idea of a barn dance, but it had been ages since she’d danced, and she did love it. “I plan to work tomorrow afternoon, so I’ll make baked goods in the morning, and a covered dish will be prepared before I come to work for the day. I will keep it in the refrigerator until about an hour before it’s time to go.” She frowned. “Maybe I’ll start working at one so I can give you your four full hours, but then I can also be ready when I need to be.” She would even get out the irons to curl her hair. She was excited to have time to look her best for Mortimer.
When John came in a few minutes later, he looked back and forth between the two of them. “What’s so exciting that you’re both grinning?”
Mortimer shrugged. “I’m taking my wife to a barn dance out at the Clarks’ tomorrow night.”
“Oh, good! I’d love to go.”
“John, I love you, but I’m courting my wife. You may take the store wagon if you want, but I’m driving her in the buggy.” Mortimer was certain John would understand the feelings behind the words.
John laughed. “Fine. I’ll take myself out to the dance.”
“You should ask Patience!” Toria said as she put food onto the table for supper.
“Not yet. I need to prove to myself for a month or two that I can go without drink. It can’t be for her. It has to be for me.”
Toria nodded. “You’re doing very well. I’m proud of you.”
John tilted his head to one side, studying her. “For someone who is determined not to be my mother, you sure do mother me a lot, Toria.”
She blushed. “I’m sorry. If it’s too much, tell me, and I’ll stop.”
“It’s not too much at all. I’m actually very pleased that you treat me the way you do.” John walked to her and hugged her awkwardly. “You’ve been a good change in my life, and I can’t complain about it one little bit.”
Toria smiled at him. “I’m so glad. We’ll work together to find the right balance of me mothering you and not.” Why did she feel so much more confident about her relationship with her stepson than she did with her relationship with her husband?
“Sounds good to me.”
They all sat down and had their meal, after which Toria did the dishes while the men played checkers. As soon as she was finished with the dishes, she hurried off to the room she shared with Mortimer to find the dress she wanted to wear. She had several dresses that she usually wore, but this one was different. It was a soft pink, and it showed off her coloring to its greatest advantage. She’d only worn it twice for weddings back in Beckham, and she loved the idea of wearing it to a party for her first social outing with her new husband.
She took it from the wardrobe and shook it out, eyeing it critically. Immediately she knew the one thing that needed to change so it would be perfect for the dance. She needed to embroider tiny little flowers on the collar. The dress was form-fitting, showing off her tiny waist. She hoped Mortimer would be happy for her to wear it. She wanted him to be proud when she was in his arms dancing with him.
“He’s already proud of you, you know.” Grace was sitting beside her on her bed.
Toria shook her head, a tear spilling down her cheek. She was angry with herself for breaking her own rule about five minutes of whining per day! She was surprised she could go from excited to sad so quickly. “He wants me to go back to Massachusetts. I can’t figure out what I’ve done wrong. I’ve worked so hard, and I made him every meal. I cater to his every need. Why doesn’t he want me here?”
“He does want you here, Toria. He’s worried that you’re missing home, so he thinks you should go for a visit, even though you’re happier here. He truly doesn’t understand that.”
“Should I tell him? We’re going to have time to talk on the way to the barn dance tomorrow.” Toria held up her dress. “I’m going to add little flowers to the collar. What do you think?”
“I think you’ll be more beautiful than ever!”
Toria frowned for a moment, looking at the other woman carefully. “Are you a ghost?”
Grace threw back her head and laughed. “Heavens no. I’m an angel. Your guardian angel, to be exact. Why would you think I was a ghost?”
“You’re an angel? And you’re finding a new wife for your husband?”
Grace nodded emphatically. “Who better to find him what he needs? I know him well, and I can honestly say that you will be a much better wife to him than I ever dreamed of being.”
“Do you think? He seemed to worship you.”
“We met when we were very young, and he thought I was the most beautiful girl in the world. He made it very plain. I did the minimum I needed to do to make him happy, and you work yourself half to death. No, you�
��re the woman he needs. I’m glad he found you.”
Toria thought about her words for a moment. “And John?”
“John didn’t want to like you, but he can’t help himself. Now he looks up to you and enjoys your company. It only took you a week to turn him around. You were what they both needed.” Grace smiled at her. “I’m happy now. I’m doing what I need to do. I want you to be happy as well.”
Toria nodded. “I think I’m happy. Mortimer brought me flowers on Monday.”
“Good. He needs to treat you like a princess, because you’re the kind of woman he should have married the first time.” Grace stood up. “I’ll be around if you need me, but you shouldn’t. You’re going to be fine now.”
Toria watched her walked toward the door and fade away as she got to it. She wasn’t certain she believed Grace could be her angel. It was far-fetched, but not a great deal more than her being a ghost.
She concentrated on making the little flowers on her dress. Thinking too much about her guardian angel—or ghost—was too hard for her mind to handle at the moment.
Toria woke the following morning, very excited about going to the dance. She’d picked out just the right brooch to wear with her dress, and she’d finally finished the flowers on her collar. Instead of immediately jumping out of bed to start breakfast like she usually did, she turned to her side to watch Mortimer sleep.
The love that welled up in her every time she saw him surprised her. He wasn’t the type of man she had allowed to escort her in Beckham, but there was something about him that was sweet and special.
Mortimer’s eyes fluttered open, and he found her watching him. “Good morning.”
Toria smiled. “Good morning, Mortimer.”
“Are you just lying there watching me sleep?”
She nodded. “I’m very excited about the dance tonight. It’s been so long since I’ve danced…I hope I haven’t forgotten how!”
He chuckled. “I don’t think you have. But who cares either way? We’ll have fun even if we stand in the middle of the floor swaying to the music. I’m looking forward to holding you in my arms.”
Mail Order Merchant: Brides of Beckham (Cowboys and Angels Book 5) Page 9
