Jess looked at her friend. “Go home and get a frying pan, pot, potatoes, chicken, and flour.” She went on to name several other things JoAnn would need.
“Are we feeding the whole town, or just Kendall and me?”
“Just go get the ingredients, and I’ll show you how to make use of them.”
JoAnn sighed, stepping outside to go do as she was told. She didn’t want to cook. She wanted someone else to magically make food appear on her table like she was used to.
Three hours later, she was stirring the gravy on the stove at her house, knowing it was perfect this time because Jess had stood over her as she carefully mixed in the flour and the milk.
When Kendall came in the door, he inhaled appreciatively. “Something smells really good!”
JoAnn smiled at her husband, her heart jumping at seeing him. “Jess helped me, and I took notes. I really think we’re actually going to be able to eat it.”
He walked to her, stooping down to kiss her cheek. “How was your day?”
“It was good. We all went to the train station to say goodbye to Miss Hazel. She’s going to be missed around here.”
“She is. When she left last time, if felt like a hole was in her place in our little town. Even though she left Jess, so we had someone making wonderful meals for us and a feminine presence, it wasn’t the same.” He shrugged. “She’s a really special lady.”
JoAnn frowned. “Well, I know I’ll miss her.” She watched as he stripped off his Mountie jacket and hat, appreciating his shoulders. “Supper’s ready. I just have to serve it.”
He sat down at the table, his eyes watching her every movement. He was ready for her to be his wife in every sense of the word, but he was afraid to bring it up. “Your cooking gets better every day.”
“Are you trying to flatter me, Constable Jameson? I assure you, I’m going to let you eat regardless.”
“You are incorrect if you think I’d ever stoop to flattering you to try to get supper. No. I am hoping you’ll consider sharing that big bed with me, though.” He watched her carefully, wondering how she’d react. The subject had been left unspoken for long enough that it had to be brought up. They’d been married six days now, and they got along better than a lot of married couples he’d met.
JoAnn bit her lip. The idea of sharing a bed with him made her nervous, but it was his right. How long would he agree to sleep on the floor in the main room? “I suppose we could discuss that.” She set the plate filled with fried chicken in the middle of the table, then went back for the mashed potatoes and gravy. After serving them each a glass of water, she sat down across from him, noting his astonished look. “What?”
“I just didn’t expect you to agree so readily.”
“I didn’t agree. I agreed to talk about it. That’s something else entirely.” JoAnn put a scoop of potatoes on her plate and topped them with the creamy gravy. She’d stolen a taste while she was stirring them, and it was the best gravy she’d ever had the pleasure of eating.
Kendall filled his plate, carefully looking at everything. He knew he was being unkind by worrying that it would kill him, but her cooking wasn’t always the best. He put a tiny bit of gravy on the mashed potatoes, and after taking a bite, he grinned. “This is fabulous!”
“Now don’t you wish you’d tried my gravy the other night?” she asked.
He frowned. “Will you ever forgive me for that?”
“Sure I’ll forgive you, but I have a long memory. I won’t forget about it. Ever.”
He sighed. “I should have known better. How about I make up for it by eating every bite on my plate and then getting seconds.”
“Are you sure you want to make that offer before even trying the chicken or the green beans?” She bit her lip at the look of fear that passed over his face.
“Well, maybe I should try just a taste of them first.”
JoAnn laughed, shaking her head. “You are not a very trusting man, are you?”
“I just don’t want to get sick. If I’d eaten any more of your chicken and dumplings, I’d have been very ill!”
“You just don’t have any respect for the work that goes into feeding you. Alas, I’ll spend the rest of my life laboring away for a man who has no appreciation for me. Woe is me!” She put the back of her wrist against her forehead in a dramatic pose.
Kendall bit into the fried chicken and sighed happily. “This is really good!”
“I know.” JoAnn took another bite of her mashed potatoes before cutting off a piece of bread and buttering it. “Bread’s good, too.”
“Your bread is always amazing.” He piled more potatoes, gravy, green beans, and chicken onto his plate, then buttered himself a piece of bread.
“You’re eating like it’s been months since your last meal!”
He shrugged. “It seems to be feast or famine around here. I’ll feast while the food is good, and then I’ll be able to skip a couple of meals when they’re disgus—err…not to my liking.”
JoAnn shook her head at him. “I’m getting better. It’s just taking some effort. I thought because I could follow instructions, I could come out here and follow any recipes. There’s more practice involved than that, unfortunately.”
“I’m sure you’ll be as good as Jess and Tilly in no time.”
“Tilly? Have you heard about her cooking already?”
Kendall nodded. “Yeah, Nolan brags about it every day. I know you’ve met him, but have you ever seen him eat? I swear the man could go to a church potluck and push everyone else out of the way to eat every single bite of food himself.”
“Really? He’s so thin. How can he eat that much?”
“We’ve all wondered that. I have no idea. I swear he must have hollow legs. I’ve seen him eat three times what everyone else eats, have room for dessert, and still steal someone else’s food. He’s a mess.”
JoAnn looked shocked. “Wait—he’s a Mountie and he steals food? Isn’t that against your moral code?”
“It should be against everyone’s moral code, but he says that he’s a growing boy, and we should all be willing to share our food with him.”
She sighed. “He sounds like someone I really don’t want to get to know.”
He shrugged. “He’s a great guy. Everybody loves him, and we all continually forgive him for stealing our food.”
“Well, I certainly don’t know why. Unless the food was like my chicken and dumplings the first night.”
“Nope. We even forgive him for stealing food Jess has made.”
“Sounds like he’s got to be a good man, or no one would ever forgive him.” She got to her feet, carrying her plate to the sink. “Are you done eating? Or would you like me to wait to start the dishes?”
“No, I’m done. I think I’m going to work a little more on learning to read music. I want to figure it out. I didn’t even know what the strings were called on the guitar until you told me.” Kendall stood and walked toward where his guitar was leaning against a wall, always in the same spot except when he played it.
While she worked, he picked out a couple of songs, and then he strummed a chord. “What chord is this?” he asked.
“That’s a C.” JoAnn had perfect pitch, and she’d always been able to hear the different sounds in the notes, naming them correctly.
“How about this?” He played another. He played all the chords regularly, but he wanted to be able to call them the right thing when he was talking to her. He was suddenly obsessed with learning all the notes and the chords and reading music properly. He wanted to be as well-versed in music as she was, now that he knew how easy it all was.
“G.” She kept washing the dishes, randomly calling answers to him over her shoulder.
After a little while, he stopped playing with the notes and started playing again. He played yet another Highland love song for her. His voice rose and fell as he strummed the chords in accompaniment.
JoAnn put the last dish away before she turned and walked toward him. His
music was like a siren’s call to her, making it impossible for her to keep her distance. She walked over and picked up her violin, playing an accompaniment softly. She’d never heard the song before, and she didn’t want to not hear the ending.
By the time the song was over, she had tears coursing down her face. “Your music is beautiful.”
He smiled. “Do you play the music of your ancestors? Where is your family from?”
She shook her head. “My family has been in Canada, or the British colonies, for four generations. I don’t know any of the songs of my German ancestors. I wish I did.”
“Well, at least you can play polkas with the best of them,” he said with a wink. At that he transitioned into a fast-paced polka that had her laughing as she fiddled right along with him.
When they were done, she put her violin down. “My mother was always against my using the violin as a fiddle. She said it was a beautiful instrument, only suitable for the orchestra. I love playing it as a fiddle though. Just know we can never do it when she’s around.”
“Do you think we’ll see her often?”
JoAnn shook her head, feeling a bit homesick. “No. They’re too far, and Mother doesn’t like to travel.”
“That’s too bad. I’d like to get to know them.”
She looked at him, thinking about all the reasons he was perfectly suited to her, but she knew her parents would never like him. No, she wouldn’t take him home often. There was no need to put either of them through that.
8
Sunday was another shooting lesson. JoAnn hated holding the gun, but she knew that Kendall would have a hard time feeling safe without her learning. As she stood with the gun held tightly in both hands, she carefully squeezed the trigger, missing the target and hitting a branch in the tree a good five feet higher than her goal.
“I hate this!” she said. “I don’t even like holding this thing. It feels dangerous!”
“It is dangerous, which is why you’re learning to use it properly.” He sighed, walking toward her, but making sure to stay out of the line of fire. She was still waving the gun around like it was a toy. “I know you hate it, but if you can’t use it, how am I going to be able to leave you while I go out overnight? How can I trust you to stay out of Mickey Moose’s way?”
“Monty Moose.”
He stared at her in confusion. “You called it Mickey before.”
“I didn’t know Miss Hazel had already named it Monty Moose.” She shrugged. “I have to listen to her. I think she would wallop me otherwise.”
He shook his head. “Fine, Monty Moose it is. Why would she wallop you?”
“I’m not really sure. But I think she would. She wasn’t happy when I kept referring to meese either. She said I had to learn to say moose.”
He had no idea how they’d gone down this conversational path, but they needed to be steered back to the shooting lessons. “You need to be more careful with your aim.”
“Do I have to learn to shoot? Can’t Evelyn learn and protect us all? She was sure she could defend us before we even came out here.”
“I don’t care if Evelyn can shoot. I care if you can shoot, because I want you safe.”
She sighed. “But I don’t like shooting. Maybe I can learn to use a sword. Or I can learn to play a really high note on a flute, and it would shatter the eardrums of any creature trying to hurt me! Would that be okay instead?”
Kendall looked at her like she’d lost her mind, which she had to admit to herself, she probably had. She didn’t want to shoot, so she was talking about absolutely ridiculous things that weren’t even within the realm of possibility to get out of it.
“No. You will learn to shoot.” He pointed back at the small target he’d nailed to a tree. “I want you hitting the center of the target nine times out of ten.”
“I see. You want to be married to Annie Oakley.”
“I want to be married to JoAnn Jameson, but I want her to learn to defend herself against attackers. I don’t want to lose you at a young age because a wolf or a bear came at you. Or a moose with the ridiculous name of Monty!”
“I think she named him Monty, because he lives so close to five Mounties,” she offered helpfully.
He was losing his patience with her. He pointed at the target. “Shoot!”
She frowned. “You don’t have to yell at me!”
He took deep breaths. “Are you deliberately trying to provoke me?”
“Of course not! Why would I want someone to yell at me? I haven’t lost my mind, though you may have lost yours!”
“JoAnn?”
“Yes, Kendall?”
“Would you please shoot that target so we can go home and put the gun away?”
She nodded. “I’ll try. If I hit it this time, will we be done for the day?”
“Nothing would make me happier.”
JoAnn took careful aim, wanting to get home before it started raining more than anything else she’d ever wanted in her life. She wanted to be done shooting more than she wanted to play music again, and that was saying something. She closed her eyes and pulled the trigger.
Kendall let out a whoop, carefully taking the gun from her hands and emptying the chamber before putting the gun into his holster. He grabbed her into a bear hug and swung her around, lifting her off her feet. “You did it! You hit the center of the target.”
“I figured out the trick!” She couldn’t have been happier with herself.
“What did you do this time that you didn’t do the other times?”
“I closed my eyes!”
Kendall pulled away, looking down at her face. “You what?”
“I closed my eyes, and it worked!”
He sighed. “At times like this I just want to yell at you. Do you know that?”
She nodded. “You have this vein in your forehead that throbs when you get angry with me. I noticed it our first night together. Right now, it seems to be trying to play a song, because the tempo is very steady. Fast, but steady.”
He shook his head at her. “Let’s go home. What time is everyone going to be at our place?”
“Six. But I don’t have to cook. Everyone is bringing their own dishes, and all the others are going to cook. All I have to do is play music.”
“I’m sure that will thrill you. I want you to cook, and you play music. I want you to shoot, and you close your eyes. Why exactly did you come West again?”
She grinned, looping her arm through his. “Because I knew there was a very lonely Mountie who needed a bride who would keep him on his toes.”
“You’re doing that, all right.”
“And you know why else?”
“I’m sure I couldn’t begin to guess.”
“Because I knew you played beautiful music, and I knew you needed me beside you, playing with you.”
Kendall smiled at her. As crazy as she made him, she was right. He did need her playing with him. “I’m so glad you’re here. I’m still annoyed with you for shutting your eyes when you were supposed to be shooting, but I’m glad you’re here.”
“Me too.” It was then she realized what had happened. She’d come to the West to start a new life with a stranger, and she’d gone and fallen in love with him. That hadn’t been part of the plan at all.
The next morning, JoAnn waited for Kendall to head to work, and then she went to see Jess.
“You need to teach me everything you know about cooking. I’ll take good notes. How much can you teach me before Kendall gets home from work tonight?”
Jess stared at her friend for a moment, blinking slowly. But then a slow smile transformed her face. “You love Kendall!”
JoAnn frowned. “Is it really that obvious? Just because I want to learn to cook?”
“Just because you’re in a hurry to learn so that you can make him happy. I think it’s great!” Jess rubbed her hands together, excitedly. “So what do you want to learn to cook first?”
“Can we start with breakfast foods? I make the wo
rld’s best pancakes, and I’m not quite sure how it happened, but that’s the only thing I know how to make for breakfast, and I think Kendall should have options.”
Jess laughed. “Sure, let’s start with breakfast. Eggs?”
JoAnn shrugged, sitting down at the table and pulling out a notebook. “Let’s make a list of what I want to learn first, and we’ll go from there.”
“Sounds good to me. You’ll be the best cook in town except for me, Tilly, and anyone else who can cook!”
“Thanks for the vote of confidence.”
“Anytime!”
Kendall was doing rounds with Theodore. Usually they went their separate ways, but there had been some trouble south of town, so the two of them went together rather than splitting up.
“Do you love Jess?” Kendall asked, not looking at his friend. He was embarrassed to bring up the conversation, but he needed advice, and Theodore was the only man he knew of to ask. He could write his father, but why wait?
Theodore gave Kendall a funny look. “Of course I love my wife. I wouldn’t have asked her to marry me if I didn’t, would I?”
“I guess not.” Kendall rode on for another five minutes, trying to think of the best way to ask his next question. “How did you realize you loved her?”
“When I knew that Jess was going to leave to go back to Ottawa and everything inside me hurt at the very idea. I couldn’t bear to let her go.”
“Because of her cooking?”
Theodore grinned. “You know, her cooking actually had nothing to do with it. It was her. She was the sweetest, kindest, most loving woman I’d ever met. And the prettiest, of course.”
“JoAnn is prettier.”
“Maybe to a blind man who has nothing to do but play guitar all day.”
Kendall glared at the other man. “You heard her sing. She’s amazing.”
“She has a voice, that’s for sure. Jess can’t carry a tune in a tin pail. She tried to sing in front of me once, and it was all I could do not to cover my ears and run for the hills.” Theodore shrugged. “I love her anyway.”
RNWMP: Kendall (Mail Order Mounties Book 1) Page 7
