Bargain For Baby

by Kirsten Osbourne

  He nodded. “Sounds perfect. We’re going to shop for furniture now.”

  “If you don’t find what you need at the furniture store in town, you can always come back here and look through our catalogue. It would take a week to arrive, but you’d have more selection that way.”

  He shook his head. “I’m afraid my mother is going to be here on Friday, and she will not be pleased at all if my house isn’t furnished.”

  Toria smiled. “Mothers can be very difficult.”

  “They can. And I don’t want to give her any reason not to love Becky as soon as she sees her.”

  “Of course not.” Toria waved goodbye to Becky, and Becky waved back, a smile on her face.

  Amos offered her his arm, and they walked to the furniture store, which wasn’t a large store, but there was a lot crammed into the small space. Becky was immediately drawn to a cradle and couldn’t prevent herself from walking over to it, her hand rubbing over the fine woodwork.

  Amos followed her over. “Do you like that one? There’s another at the other end of the store.”

  Becky didn’t look at the price tag because she was afraid to see the cost. “I like this one. Please.”

  He nodded, smiling. “Absolutely.” He nodded at the salesman who had followed them across the room. “We’ll take this.” Then he headed across the room to the arm chairs. “I want to find just the one I like. You can pick out the tables for the parlor, but I want a chair that fits me well that I’ll enjoy sitting in when I get home at the end of the day.”

  “All right.” She left him to sit in the different chairs as she wandered around and looked at little sets of tables. She wanted a low table for in front of the sofa, and then she wanted tables for each side of it. Three should be enough for their parlor. She wondered if they could spend a little money to decorate, but she didn’t ask. He’d already spent so much on the house that day.

  She found the tables she wanted, and he found a chair.

  “Come over here, Becky,” he called.

  She walked to him and looked at the chair he was in. “Will this match the sofa?”

  She made a face as she thought about the sofa that was in his parlor. “I think it will go nicely. They’re both the same shade of blue.”

  “Good.” He looked at the salesman. “We’ll take this chair and the tables she chose. Now for artwork . . .”

  “Can we afford all this?” she asked in a whisper.

  “I wouldn’t be buying it if we couldn’t.” He pointed to seven different paintings. “Which do you like the best? I think we should have one for over the sofa, don’t you?”

  She nodded. “All right.” She pointed to her favorite of them. “And those two smaller paintings would look good in there as well.”

  “That’s the spirit!” Amos grinned at her, pleased that she was finally stopping her constant worry about money and accepting what he needed her to do. “Now let’s go find the high chair.”

  They found a chair that would look good in the kitchen, and she ran her hand over the smooth wood. “I do like this one.”

  “Then we’ll get it.”

  She bit her lip. “Would it be possible for us to go to the dry goods store? I’d like to be able to make some pillows to match the parlor.”

  “Those silly little pillows that a man is afraid to sit on?”

  “Yes, that’s exactly what I’m thinking.”

  He wrinkled his nose. “If they’ll make you happy, then you can make them.” He wouldn’t sit on them, but she obviously thought they were necessary.

  “Thank you!” He arranged for Wednesday afternoon delivery of the furniture, and they left the store to go to the dry goods store. “How many of those dreadful pillows will you make?”

  Becky laughed. “I want a few for my bed, and I’ll make probably four or five for the parlor. How many of the chairs did you buy?”

  “Two.”

  “Then I’ll make four. One for each end of the sofa and one for each of the chairs. Then probably five or six for my bed, but those shouldn’t bother you.” She thought about asking him for fabric to make some things for the baby because she hadn’t been able to do that yet, but she didn’t want to push her luck.

  When they stepped into the dry goods store, he let her choose the fabrics she wanted for the pillows. “Do you need to make anything new for yourself? Or for the baby?” he asked as she was having the fabric cut.

  She bit her lip. “I don’t want to ask you to spend anything else on me.”

  “I’m offering. Go choose what you think you’ll need.” Amos watched as she meticulously chose fabric, and then paid for everything.

  As they drove back toward the house, he looked at her and saw that her face was glowing. “Happy?”

  She nodded. “I haven’t been able to make anything for the baby yet. I haven’t had the time or the money, and now I’ll be able to prepare for him. I’m very excited.” She looked at him. “Thank you, Amos. I really appreciate all you’re doing for me and my baby.”

  “Our baby. That baby will have two parents. Not one.”

  That’s when it hit her that he really did plan to parent with her, and she smiled, even as they passed her parents’ house.

  Chapter Three

  As soon as they got back to their new home, Becky went in, looking carefully through the kitchen to see if there was anything else they needed. She had fabric for all of her sewing projects, including curtains, in the back of the wagon. Amos had said he would bring them in after unhitching the horses.

  Thankfully the food arrived a few minutes after they did, and she busied herself putting things away and making plans for supper that evening. “Are you hungry for anything in particular?” she asked as Amos came in with a crate full of food.

  He shook his head. “Surprise me.” He wasn’t picky, and he had a feeling anything she made would be better than anything he could dream up. “I’m going to get started on the back porch. I’d meant to work on that earlier today, but then we went back into town. I may not have time to get it done before my mother arrives.”

  “I’m starting to get a little nervous about your mother arriving, just so you know.” She worked on unpacking the crate, thinking about what she wanted to fix. She settled on a thick beef soup with noodles. Mrs. Franklin had taught her to make noodles, and she really enjoyed the process. It gave her mind time to wander.

  “Don’t worry about her. She’s going to love you because you’re going to give her a grandbaby.” He walked out of the kitchen and toward the back of the house. The porch was started but not finished, and he really did want it as perfect as he could get it, so they could sit outside and watch the sunset—before and after his mother was there.

  Becky was thankful the house was new, and there was little cleaning up that needed to be done. It was just a matter of keeping up with how fresh it already looked. There were walls that needed to be painted, but she’d seen paint buckets sitting around. That was something she could do while he worked if he wanted her to.

  On the porch, Amos gave himself over to the methodical push and pull of the saw as he cut the boards for the railing. He glanced up and wasn’t surprised to see the stranger watching him. He didn’t say anything for a minute, preferring to finish his task first. Over the time the man had been coming to him, he’d learned that making him wait didn’t perturb him at all.

  “How can I help you today?” Amos finally asked.

  “Don’t you mean to ask how I’ll help you?” The stranger grinned at him, leaning against the side of the house, which had yet to be painted. Amos could already picture it painted white with the porch green. It would be beautiful.

  Amos just looked at him. “I reckon you’re going to eventually tell me something. If not, I’m just going to keep working.”

  “Your bride needs to fall in love with you.”

  Amos raised an eyebrow. “Unless you’re going to give me some sort of magic love potion to work with, I’m not sure how I’m going to m
ake that happen.”

  “Well, you need to court her, of course. It’s important she love you before the baby is born.”

  “Why?” Amos stared at the stranger, trying to understand why it mattered exactly when his wife fell in love with him. As long as she did, Amos would be happy.

  The stranger laughed. “Do you really expect me to answer that? Don’t you know me better than that by now?”

  Amos sighed. “So I need to get her to fall in love with me before when? When will the baby be born?”

  “No one can ever tell those things, can they? You’re just going to have to work fast.” With that, the man faded from view.

  Amos removed his cowboy hat and hit his leg with it in frustration. He’d learned quickly to listen to every word the man said because everything he told him was the gospel truth. Whether he liked it or not, the man knew a great deal more than he did, so he needed to listen and obey.

  How on earth was he supposed to court his very pregnant wife? Maybe asking her how soon she would be having the baby would be a good first step. That’s what he’d do. He’d ask and hopefully get a quick answer. He looked out over the fields and saw a few early spring flowers popping out of the ground. There weren’t a lot in early April, but there were enough that he could pick a bouquet for supper.

  He sighed and got back to work, promising himself to pick those flowers. Why she needed to be in love with him before the baby came would be good information to have, and it might help him figure out what he was going to do, but he knew he’d get no more information on the topic from the stranger.

  Just before going into the house for supper, he walked out and picked a bouquet of wildflowers, getting as many different colors as he could. He carried the offering into the kitchen, holding it behind his back.

  “How’s my favorite wife?” he asked.

  Becky turned around from the pot she was stirring on the stove. “Does this mean you have other wives hidden around that you haven’t told me about yet?” Her grin told him she was amused by his words.

  “Well, no, but that means less competition for you!” He winked at her, enjoying her blush.

  She laughed. “Supper’s almost ready.”

  He looked and saw the table was already set. “I have something to add to the table, if you’d like.” He pulled the flowers from behind his back and held them out to her. “These are for you.”

  Becky’s hand went to her chest in surprise. “Thank you, Amos!” The truth was no one had ever brought her flowers before. It wasn’t something Cliff had ever done. “They’re beautiful!” She took them and frowned. “If there was a vase in this house, where would it be?”

  He shook his head. “I never thought of that. There isn’t a vase here.”

  “No matter.” Becky hurried to a cabinet and pulled out a tall glass, putting the flowers into water in the glass. “I love that you have a pump right in the kitchen. We didn’t have that when I was growing up, and we were always having to go outside to pump water.”

  “I tried to think of everything a wife would want when I designed this place.”

  She looked at him with surprise. “You designed the house as well as building it?” She carried her glass to the table and set it in the middle, arranging the flowers fussily.

  “I did. I’ve always wanted several children, so I designed it with that in mind. I figure I’ll eventually build a little house for my mother in the backyard because once grandkids come along, we’ll never get her to go back to New York.” He walked to the sink and washed his hands, inhaling the scent of the meal she was cooking. “Supper smells good. I can’t wait to try your cooking.”

  She smiled at that. “I hope it tastes as good as it smells. This is one of my favorite meals, but I’m not sure how you’ll like it.” Filling two bowls, she carried them to the table. She’d made one of her favorite things, but it also happened to be one without a great deal of meat, so it was an inexpensive meal to make. She hoped he would appreciate her thriftiness.

  Once they were seated, he took her hand in his and said a brief prayer over the meal. “I’m glad you thought to get bread at the store. There’s no way you could have had some ready for supper.” He buttered a piece, happy with how soft it was.

  “No, I couldn’t have. But I’ll make some fresh tomorrow.” She already looked forward to taking care of him and pampering him and making all of his favorite things for him. “What’s your favorite food?”

  He shrugged. “Anything with beef. I’m a meat eater.” He took a big spoonful of the beef, gravy, and noodles. “This is delicious!”

  “Thank you! Mrs. Franklin taught me to make noodles while we were working together, and it just seemed like it would go nicely with beef this way.” She was glad her experiment had turned out well.

  “I really like it.” He put some of the carrots she had in a bowl on the table onto a small plate.

  “So you’re from New York? How did you end up in Creede?”

  He swallowed the bite of food in his mouth before answering. “I was never fond of living in New York. My mother liked the society life there, but it wasn’t for me. I decided when I was eighteen that I was going to move to Colorado and dig for gold, which I did. I hit a vein, and mined it completely before anyone else found out about it. Then I went into town and cashed it in. I had enough there that I never had to work again, but I like to work. I’ve always been fascinated by construction, so I started my own business. I have six men who work for me, and I jump in and get my hands dirty right along with them.”

  “That explains a lot.” It now made sense how he’d not worried about money as they’d purchased things that day. “Do you think you’ll want Creede to be your forever home?”

  “I do. I wouldn’t have built this house if I didn’t. This place is just the perfect home for me. I hope you’ll always be happy here because I don’t plan on leaving. I’d be willing to travel a little if you wanted, but other than that, I’ll stay here.”

  Becky was a little surprised at the way he spoke as if they’d be together forever. That wasn’t the way he’d talked Friday night. “I’ve never even thought of travel. I’ve never been out of Colorado. In fact, I don’t think I’ve ever been more than twenty miles from where I was born.”

  “Really? You need to go on the ocean at least once. It’s so beautiful! You need to see the beaches of California, and the deserts of Arizona. We live in a beautiful country, and by not traveling, you’re missing out on so much.”

  She smiled at that. “I haven’t really had much opportunity for travel or anything else. I’m only eighteen.”

  “Really?” He shook his head. “You make me feel old. I’m only twenty-five, but I’ve done so much more than you have.”

  “So you say your mother enjoyed New York society. Does that mean you were raised with wealth?”

  Amos nodded. “My father was a lawyer there, and he made more money than a man should. All of my sisters had huge parties when they came out, and Mother was the reigning queen of society. Now all my sisters are married off and happy, so she’s setting her sights on me.”

  “Is that a good thing or a bad thing?”

  “It’s a little of both. Now that we’re married, it wouldn’t be nearly as intimidating for her to come here and try to parade women in front of me. I really do think we should be prepared for her to bring at least one woman she wants me to marry. I know it will be uncomfortable, but once they see that I’m happily married, they should back off.”

  Becky sighed. Happily married sounded so far off. She barely knew the man. “Well, we’re going to have to get to know each other as quickly as we possibly can if we want to appear happily married by the end of the week.” She shook her head. “I’m not quite sure how we’re going to manage, but I will try my very best.”

  “That’s all I can ask.” As soon as she’d finished eating and stood up to clear the table, he caught her hand in his and pulled her down into his lap. “Being comfortable around each other is somet
hing they’ll be looking for.” He stroked a tendril of hair that had escaped her bun from her face. “You’re a very beautiful woman, Mrs. Bowen.”

  She blushed at his words. “I don’t know how you can think that with as huge as I am.”

  He shook his head. “Babies are gifts from God. We’re going to enjoy every minute of that baby together.” He looked into her eyes for a moment. “Maybe you should tell me a little more about the baby’s father. How long did you know him?”

  “I think we decided we were going to marry when we were nine. I’ve known him my whole life. We both grew up in this area, and we ran into each other from time to time.” She shrugged. “We would see each other at church. When we started courting, neither of our families were thrilled, but they didn’t try to stop us.”

  “He was good to you?” That’s what worried him the most. He was frightened that she had been mistreated before they’d met. He didn’t want that to be the case.

  She nodded. “He was. He wasn’t a man with courtly manners. He never brought me flowers. But he cared about me, and he always put my needs first.”

  “Good.” He wanted to ask more, but he decided it wasn’t his business. He’d accepted the fact that she was coming to him pregnant with another man’s child, and he needed to leave it at that.

  “What about you? Have there been no loves in your life?”

  He shrugged. “I went to events with girls in New York, but after leaving there, I’ve concentrated on my career. I’ve been so busy making money that women just didn’t seem to matter to me.”

  “I see.” She started to stand up, but he kept hold of her waist, keeping her there on his lap.

  “Where do you think you’re going?”

  “I want to get the dishes washed before the food dries on.” She hated having to go through extra work just because she was procrastinating.

  “I want to keep you here for a little longer. We need to get more comfortable with each other.” He put one hand on her cheek, stroking it softly. “May I kiss you?”

  She nodded slowly. The truth was she enjoyed his kisses so much more than she ever had Cliff’s that she felt guilty for it.