Selina headed upstairs to pack her meager belongings. She wouldn’t be able to leave until morning, but when morning came, she’d be ready. She would ask Rainee to loan her the money for a train ticket and when she got back to Kentucky, she’d take in sewing to pay her back.
She opened the closet door and reached for a dress but stopped. Those weren’t hers. She closed the door and sat on the bed.
The stairs creaked. Michael was coming.
Selina sprang up to close the door, but Michael stuck his foot inside and blocked it before she had the chance. “Please move your foot, Michael.”
“Not until you let me in.”
“We have nothin’ more to say to each other.”
“Well, maybe you have nothing more to say, but I’ve got plenty to say.” He pushed on the door, and she was no match for his strength. His body filled the doorway.
She stepped back, crossing her arms over her chest.
“Look, Selina,” he said, his voice going ragged. “It doesn’t matter what I want or don’t want. God chose to put you and me together and we need to stay together. We need to try and work this out. I care about you, Selina. I really do.” His eyes searched hers.
She blinked. “I can’t live like this, Michael. I tried wearin’ dresses to please you, to be the type of woman you wanted. But when I saw that fancy ballgown, it reminded me that that was the type of woman you really want. That even with all the changes I made, I still ain’t good enough for you. And never will be.”
“I’m so sorry you took it that way.” He took a step toward her.
She held up her hands. “Please don’t come any closer.”
“Why, Selina?” He took another step toward her.
“You know how I feel about you, and you comin’ closer ain’t helpin’ things none. I ain’t made of stone, you know. I got feelin’s.”
“So do I.” He took another step.
“But they ain’t for someone like me.” She stepped back.
“How do you know that?” He took another step.
“I just do.” She took another back.
“Are you sure?” He stepped closer.
She moved back farther until her back touched her bedroom wall. Against her will, his eyes held hers prisoner, and she was unable to pull her attention from him.
He pulled her to him.
She stiffened, but he tugged harder until she found she couldn’t resist him.
His arms went about her, and he pressed her head into his chest, settling his chin atop her head. “Please stay. We need more time.”
Being in his arms, breathing in the spicy forest scent that was all Michael, her heart skipped like a stone across the pond, and she found she couldn’t say no.
Chapter Sixteen
Clean and refreshed from his dip in the creek, Michael headed to the house and stepped inside. In front of the fireplace, with her back to him, Selina stood wearing a blue dress and matching ribbon in her hair that flowed freely past her waist. He was glad she hadn’t left, but things were far from settled between them and he knew he had a lot of ground to make up with her.
“You look beautiful, Selina.” He wanted to step toward her but his feet wouldn’t move, and that was a good thing because he didn’t know what he would do.
“You look mighty fine yourself.”
“Shall we go?”
“I’m ready whenever you are.”
“What all needs to go?”
“That picnic basket.” She pointed to the large basket on the table.
“What’s in here?” He picked it up and opened the lid to find cloth-covered platters nestled inside. One peek and he saw his favorite cookies, Swedish oatmeal cookies, Brunscrackers, and his favorite one of all—Swedish tea cookies. The thought of the buttery sandwich cookies with the buttercream frosting in the middle made his mouth water. When he reached to grab one, she slapped him on the hand.
“Those are for the party.”
“What if they all get eaten before I have a chance to get any? Can’t I have just one of each?”
“I know they’re your favorites, so I made plenty of extras for you. They’re in the cookie jar.” Was there no end to her sweetness? Making his favorite cookies. She really was a thoughtful little thing. He shoved his arm through the picnic basket handles and scooped it up, then offered her his other arm.
She looped her arm through his, and out the door and down the steps they went. “You brung, I mean, you brought the buggy?” Surprise fluttered through her eyes, eyes that endeared her to him.
“Can’t have my wife walking and getting all dusty, now can I?”
The scent of roses surrounded her.
He set the basket on the floor of the carriage and offered her a hand up. She settled her skirt, and he climbed in next to her. Their shoulders brushed, then melded together.
Michael looked at her and smiled.
Innocent eyes gazed up at him, blinking, and her lips parted.
Like a moth drawn to flames, those sweet lips lured him to her until he found himself leaning into her and capturing her mouth in a brief but pulsating kiss.
Their lips separated and they smiled at each other before he picked up the reins. Maybe things would work after all. “Giddyup.” Michael turned his horse toward the ranch yard. A quick glance at his wife and his shoulders straightened. This time he would not be embarrassed to ride in with her. Not because the lady who’d worn trousers when he’d first introduced her to everyone was now wearing a dress and looked prettier than a field of buttercups. No, it was because she was beautiful on the inside and he was proud to call her his wife.
Joining the reins in one hand, he reached over and clasped hers.
Her gaze slid to their adjoined hands, then turned up at him, questioning him with a look only. He answered with one of his own—admiration and pride.
Buggies and wagons nestled against the base of the trees in the ranch yard. Tepid air drifted down the mountain, but the sun balanced it, making it a warm, but not too scorching, day.
“There’s Rainee. I can’t wait to see Haydon Junior again.”
He parked the buggy and helped her down. His eyes scanned the crowd of neighbors. Unlike the last time they’d gathered together, surprised looks were quickly replaced with admiration.
He grabbed the picnic basket with one arm and offered her the other, leading her into the crowd.
Women gathered around Selina, gushing about how beautiful she looked and crowding him away from her. “I’ll go put this on the table,” he said over the flock of ladies’ heads.
She nodded and turned her attention back to the women.
On his way to add their basket, Rainee, carrying Haydon Junior, came walking toward him.
“Hello, Michael,” Rainee said passing him by.
“Whoa, just a minute there. Where are you going in such a hurry that you can’t even stop and let Uncle Michael see his nephew?”
“I wanted to see Selina.”
“Seems like you and everyone else.” He glanced over to where she stood.
“She sure looks lovely.”
“She sure does.”
“Her reading has improved greatly, too.”
Shock slammed into him. “Her reading?”
“Yes, she—” Rainee stopped. Her eyes widened in horror. “Oh, Michael. I was not supposed to say anything. She would be quite displeased if she knew I had. Oh, my. Please, do not tell her I told you. It slipped out.”
He rested his hand on her arm. “Relax, Rainee. I won’t say anything.” Michael darted a glance over toward Selina, then turned his attention back onto Rainee. “How long she been learning to read?”
“Ever since she arrived.”
Michael didn’t know why, but the thought of her trying to improve herself blessed him.
“Please, do not tell her I let it slip. Promise me you will not.”
“I won’t, Rainee. I promise. Now let me see that baby.”
She handed Haydon Junior over
to him. Michael tucked him to his chest, and the hunger to be a father returned. His attention once again slid over to Selina. Maybe there was a chance for them to be a family after all.
“Okay. Give me my son back. I want to go see Selina.”
Michael did as he was told and watched Rainee walk away and inch her way into the crowd surrounding his wife. He continued to watch as Selina took his nephew from Rainee. She looked so natural holding a baby in her arms. He visualized her holding their child, and he smiled at the image.
The dinner bell rang. The ladies separated from Selina in search of their spouses. Michael strolled over to Selina and offered her his arm. They gathered around the table with the rest of their neighbors, family and ranch hands.
Haydon’s voice boomed as he spoke, “Let’s bow our heads.” When he finished praying, women bustled about uncovering dishes. Families lined up at the tables, filling their plates with a menagerie of foods.
Once he and Selina had their plates filled, they found seats.
Within seconds, Jake strode up. “Mind if I join you?”
Yes, he minded. What was with Jake coming around so much lately? Michael thought he meant no harm, but now he was beginning to wonder.
Selina nudged him in the side.
“No, no, don’t mind at all.”
Jake smiled at Selina as he lowered his bulky frame down. “You’re looking prettier every time I see you. Is that a new dress?”
“Yes.” Selina’s cheeks tinted to a light shade of pink. Was she blushing because of Jake’s compliment, or was she embarrassed by the attention he had just lavished on her? Michael wasn’t sure why Jake’s attention to Selina bothered him so much.
This time, however, Michael wasn’t going to be left out of the conversation. “Selina.”
She pulled her attention away from Jake and onto him.
“Back home, did your neighbors get together after harvest season?”
“Sure did, but we gathered together when the weather changed, any time someone had a baby or when the first frost gathered on the ground. Why, any excuse we could find, us neighbors used it to get together.”
“You had parties that often?”
A strand of her molasses-colored hair slipped over her shoulder. He wanted to reach over and slip it back, but not in front of Jake. Touching her always did funny things to him and he was afraid it would show.
“We sure did.”
“What were they like?” Michael asked before Jake had a chance to.
“Well…” She set her fork down. “Ain’t much different than this one. Except we always set up a wooden floor in the middle of a clearin’ or the meadow and had us a dance. Folks brought their fiddles, guitars, banjos. Some folks even made music blowin’ into empty moonshine jugs. Others would play spoons. Anythin’ that made music, they used it. Always had a heap of contests, too.”
“What kind of contests?” Michael found he really wanted to know.
“Contests to see who could toss an ax closest to the center of a circle. Horseshoe toss. Log sawin’. Iron skillet toss. Just about every kind of contest you could think of. Everything from gunnysack races, to berry pickin’, to corn shuckin’. Womenfolk entered their pies in the pie tastin’ and eatin’ contests. Well, one man did, too. Piney Baker. He’d enter his blackberry pie over and over again. And every time he lost on the count of his pie crust had the texture of uncooked grits.”
“What’s grits?” Jake piped in.
“Y’all ain’t never had grits?” Shock sang through her slow melodious voice. A voice he now enjoyed listening to. “You don’t know what y’all are missin’.”
“What is grits? What does it taste like?” Michael shot up his hand. “Not that I want you to make me any,” he added quickly, afraid she’d make him another crazy food he wouldn’t like. “I’m just curious what it is and what it’s like.”
“Well, it’s kinda bland. But it’s mighty tasty iffen you add lots of butter or cheese or sugar or syrup to it. Some folks mix it in with their eggs. Some pour redeye gravy on top. I never did that. Don’t care much for the taste of that stuff.”
“What stuff?” Jake asked, and Michael frowned.
“Redeye gravy.”
“Never heard of it. What is it?” Jake tore off a huge chunk of buttered bread slathered with jam and shoved it into his mouth, but his focus never left Selina’s face.
“It’s made from ham drippings.”
“Sounds like you grew up with some unusual foods,” Jake said.
Frustrated that once again Jake was occupying Selina’s attention, Michael tore off a chunk of Selina’s Southern fried chicken. There was nothing unusual about it. She made the best chicken he’d ever eaten.
“Wasn’t unusual to us.” She looked at Michael, her eyes and lips twinkling. “There was one contest you could’ve never done, Michael.”
“Oh, yeah. What’s that?” Michael suddenly felt challenged.
“The crawdad eatin’ contest.”
She was right. He would have never been able to enter that one. The others sounded fun, though.
“Crawdad tails?” Jake looked shocked. “You eat fish bait?”
“That’s what I asked her. She made me some for dinner one night. I hate to admit it, but they weren’t too bad. Even though they tasted all right, I still couldn’t eat them once I knew what they were. But at least they weren’t frog legs. I’m glad for that.”
Jake’s eyebrows rose toward the sky. “You eat frog legs, too?” He looked horrified.
Michael understood Jake’s reaction firsthand. He chuckled.
Selina shot him a scowl. “We sure do,” she said proudly. “Y’all don’t know you’re missin’.” Defensiveness stole her voice.
He hadn’t meant to hurt her feelings by laughing.
“They’re right tasty.”
“Did you ever enter your fried chicken?” Michael asked. “If so, I imagine it won.”
Her cheeks brightened to a light shade of red. Her gaze fell to her lap. “Sure did. Won first place every time.”
“I can believe it.” Jake tore off a chunk. His cheeks bulged like a chipmunk.
Conversation continued to flow as they ate. As Michael finished the last bite of his chicken, Jesse headed toward him. “Michael, can you help me a minute?”
“Sure.” He stood and looked down at Selina. “Be right back.”
She nodded.
Several yards away, he glanced over his shoulder and noticed Jake had moved around to the other side of the bench and was now sitting next to Selina. He hurried and helped Jesse chase Kitty down and put her back into her pen, then strode back over to her. “Excuse me, Jake. But I believe you have my seat.” He forced his lips to curl into a smile.
“Oh. Um. Sorry about that, buddy.” Jake picked up his plate and hurried back to the other side of the table.
Michael sat next to Selina and faced her. “What would we need to set up a few of those contests you were talking about?”
Her eyes brightened. “You mean it?”
“Yes. I think everyone here would really enjoy them.”
She threw her arms around him. “Thank you, Michael.” Her breath sent shivers skittering through him. “Okay.” She yanked out of his arms and leaped up from the bench. “First we’ll need—”
“You need to finish eating first. And no crawdad eating contest. No mention of it, even.”
“Oh, you big old teasin’ polecat. Ain’t time to catch any today and you know it.”
“Can I help with the contest?” Jake asked.
“I don’t see why not. Let’s get to eatin’ so we can have some fun.”
Michael refused to let his jealousy come between his wife’s happiness in sharing a part of her culture here in the Idaho Territory. He would work with Jake and be grateful for his help, too.
They finished eating and cleaned up.
“Okay, let’s see.” Selina glanced up at Michael standing near the barn. “We need to fetch a couple of cast
iron skillets, an ax or two, four horseshoes, somethin’ to use as a spike. Need two of them. And as many empty grain sacks and gunnysacks as you can find. I need a few dozen eggs and some clean soup spoons.”
“What do you need the spoon and eggs for?”
“Well, you have teams of three. You place an egg in the spoon and carry it to the next person on your team without dropping it. Iffen you drop it, you have to go back to the startin’ line. If you don’t drop it, you hand off the egg and spoon to the next person. The first one to reach the finish line with a whole unbroken egg wins.”
“What do they win?”
Selina pressed her finger to her lip. Just what would they win? Back home there were homemade quilts for the women who won and axes for the men. No time to do that now. Or was there? “Just a minute. I’ll be right back.” Selina scurried over to Katherine.
“Excuse me, Mrs. Hansen, but I need to ask Mother a question.”
“I’ll leave.”
“No, no. Don’t leave.” She ducked toward Katherine.
“Mother, you know that quilt we finished?” She still couldn’t get used to calling her new ma Mother. Maybe one day she would.
Katherine smiled. “Yes.”
“Well, I know I made it for Michael for Christmas, but I was wonderin’ iffen I could have it now.”
Katherine paused, a confused look on her face.
“Is that all right?”
“Oh, sure, sure. You just took me by surprise is all.”
“What do you need the quilt for?” a neighbor standing nearby asked.
“You’ll see. It’s a surprise.”
“Oh, I love surprises,” Katherine chirped. “I’ll go get it.”
“No. Not yet. Iffen it’s all the same to you, I’ll get it when I’m ready.”
“That’s fine, Selina.”
“Thank you kindly.” She gave her a quick hug and raced back to the barn.
Horse flesh, hay and saddle oil swirled up her nose. And so did dust. Oh oh. She felt a sneeze coming on. Achoo! It echoed through the barn.
“Selina’s here,” she heard Michael say from inside the tack room.
“How do you know it’s her?” Jake asked.
The Unlikely Wife Page 21
