Bluebonnet Bride
Page 20
“Linnea.”
She closed the door behind her, shutting him out.
“Linnea!” he called through the wood. She turned her back, filled a bud vase and arranged the pretty blossoms.
“Linnea.” He peered in at her through the open window.
She marched around the table, closed the window and untied the curtains. Ruffled fabric tumbled free, covering him from her sight.
He knew the truth. What more did he want from her? A complete confession? The memories were too painful. The cups rattled on the tray as she crossed the room and the bluebonnets swayed in their vase. Bluebonnets that were hard to find this late in the summer.
He’d searched out these flowers for her, because he loved her. But he didn’t love her now. There was no way. No possibility.
“The major picked you some flowers, Mama. Wasn’t that thoughtful of him? He came by to see how you were doing.”
Mama’s smile remained lopsided, but not quite as bad as before.
“Your mother is a remarkable woman, Miss Holmstrom,” the doctor commented as he put away his stethoscope. “She’s already improving and has some strength in her hand. I predict a full recovery.”
The tray slipped from her fingers and clattered to a rest on the bureau. The worst of her fears vanished. “Thank you, Doctor.”
Grateful beyond words, she dropped to her knees and took Mama’s hand.
* * *
An illegitimate baby. That explained a lot. From the threshold, Seth watched Linnea hold the teacup for her mother. Her words were soothing, her touch gentle, her love as bright as the sunshine streaming into the room.
Yes, it explained a lot. He rubbed his brow. She thought that this painful time in her past would change the way he felt about her. Well, she thought wrong.
The doctor strolled into the room, sipping a cup of tea. “Morning, Major. I’m ready to head home. There’s nothing more I can do here. It looks as if Mrs. Holmstrom got lucky. A very minor stroke. She should recover well enough, but she’ll be frail for a long time.”
“She’ll need care, is what you’re telling me.”
“Yes.” The doctor set the empty cup on the table. “I’ve got rounds to make. I’ll be back in the afternoon to check on her.”
“Send me the bill.” Seth read the surprise in the man’s eyes. “I’ll be responsible for Mrs. Holmstrom from now on.”
“So, it’s like that, is it?” The doctor nodded once with quiet approval. “Linnea’s a nice woman. I’ll be glad to see her happy.”
“He’ll not send you the bill.” Linnea closed the door behind her, fire sparking in her eyes. “Seth, I don’t understand why you’re doing this.”
“Isn’t it obvious?”
“Time to go.” The doctor grabbed his medical bag and showed himself out.
“You came in the back door. You had no right.” Linnea looked brittle and the hurt that drove her was evident, even though she was waving a fist at him. “And what you offered the doctor was just plain wrong. I don’t need charity. I won’t have you pitying me like some of those women in town.”
“This isn’t about pity.” He caught hold of her fist before she could hit him. “I love you. It’s that simple.”
“You can’t love me.”
“Why not?”
She didn’t answer.
He knew what that loss felt like. He recognized the bleak grief in Linnea’s eyes, felt it in the sobs that wrenched through her.
“The past is gone,” he told her. “We don’t have to dig it up, bring it back and carry it around with us forever. I’m sorry your baby died. I’m sorry a man lied to you. But I’m standing in front of you with the truth. This is a second chance for both of us. Will you take it with me?”
“I want to more than anything. But I can’t.” Her lower lip wobbled and he felt her defenses crumbling. He held out his arms and she came to him, with needs and fears and flaws.
No different than he was.
“Life takes a toll on all of us. But together we can make those hardships easier to take.” He pressed a kiss into her silken curls. “Believe in my love for you. Don’t ever doubt it again.”
She was crying, tiny trembles that ran deep. They’d both been lonely and hurting. Now that was over.
He’d make damn sure to cushion every blow life gave her. Love for her flared in his heart, brighter and stronger than any he’d known. Love for this woman he would love for the rest of his life.
“Let me take care of you and your mother.” It felt right to provide for her. To be the man she needed.
“Don’t leave me,” she whispered.
“Not on my life.” He held her, breathing in her delicate scent, drinking in her warmth, loving the feel of her feminine curves and softness.
This was the way he wanted to hold her. Forever. “Tell me what to do to help.”
She gazed up at him, true love lighting her up. How glad he was to see it.
“I love you, Seth Gatlin.” She smiled and, without a word, he knew.
Everything was going to be all right.
* * *
“There. Your bath is done.” Linnea set the towel and washcloth in the basin. “You rest now.”
“Thank you, my dotter.” Her speech was a touch slurred, but she sounded like herself.
She laid her hand to her mother’s face and kissed her brow. “The doctor says you may get out of bed tomorrow, if you continue to strengthen. I bet you’ll like that.”
“Yes. Did you have the major take my letter?”
“He posted it yesterday.” She gathered the basin, towels and soap. “And yes, I added a note about your stroke.”
“You should not have done that.”
“She needs to know, Mama. But I also wrote down every word of the doctor’s prognosis so Aunt Eva wouldn’t worry. You get some sleep.”
She left the room, leaving the door ajar. The afternoon was dark and the curtains whipped in front of the open windows.
Dark clouds marched across the sky from the western horizon. A storm would hit by nightfall.
Too weary to even think about all the work that would bring, added to her already unending list, Linnea tossed the towels and cloth onto the pile of laundry. She’d been working day and night with little sleep for a week. Somehow she’d have to find time to do the laundry. Mama needed clean sheets.
Wagon wheels rattled in the yard. She pulled back the curtains to watch Seth drive up. There was a young woman at his side, someone Linnea didn’t know. Seth caught sight of her at the window and grinned, tipping his hat.
“I want you to believe in my love for you,” he’d told her, even after he’d learned the truth about her. How could he be so forgiving?
“Linnea, this is Claire Rhodes.” Seth helped the young woman, hardly more than a girl, from the wagon seat. “I’ve hired Claire to help you with your mother and the housework. She assures me she’s a hard worker.”
“I’m grateful for the work, ma’am.” The quiet girl offered a shy grin, then stared hard at her shoes.
They were patched, Linnea noticed, even more than her own pair. Her dress was threadbare in spots, but clean and pressed. How could she say no to either the girl needing to work or the man?
“Claire, I’m pleased to have you. Why don’t you go inside and put on wash water to boil?”
“Oh, yes! Thank you.” Claire hurried to the house, her eagerness unmistakable.
Seth crooked one brow, his smile slow and sure. “What? No protest? I can’t believe it.”
“I know what it’s like to need work.”
“Claire lives with relatives, so she needs an income more than most. See how easy it is to accept my help? Maybe you could get used to it.”
“You do too much, and you know it.”
“This is just the beginning. I plan on spoiling you all I can.” He pulled her into his arms, his love for her in his touch, in the velvet caress of his kiss, in the way he closed his eyes as if to savor her.
This time, with this man, she could believe in love.
He broke the kiss but didn’t move away. He leaned his forehead to hers so they were eye to eye and she was lost in him.
“How is your mother?”
“Mama’s napping. She’s stronger. She can walk on her own with the cane the doctor left, but I’m not letting her out of bed yet. Tomorrow, maybe.”
“I want you to come with me tonight after she’s asleep. Claire will stay with her.”
He swept his hands down Linnea’s back to rest in the dip of her spine. He pressed her more firmly against him so she could feel the strong wall of his chest and abdomen, the powerful contour of his thighs and his unmistakable arousal. “There’s something I want to show you.”
“I bet there is.” She laughed, knowing she shouldn’t encourage him. “I can’t leave Mama for that. And besides, I—”
“That’s not what I want to show you. Well, that’s not true.” His laughter rumbled through her, as if he were part of her.
She blushed. She didn’t know what to say.
“I love you, Linnea. You. Come with me tonight. There’s something I want to ask you.”
He kissed her again, slow this time. A tender brush of his lips that left her senses spinning.
* * *
This was his land. His very own. Seth liked the feel of walking on his own piece of the Montana prairie. It had cost him dearly—nearly every penny of his savings, but it was a fair trade. The wind rustling through the dry grasses seemed to welcome him.
Here’s where he planned on putting the house, if it was all right with Linnea. The knoll where she’d be able to gaze out over the flower-dotted plains in the summer. On the other side of the house, she could sew in the winter’s sunshine with a view of the snow-covered mountains.
He’d make it roomy, with a bedroom on the main floor for her mother. He could already see it in his imagination, with a wraparound porch and plenty of rooms upstairs for the children they would have.
Children. Now there was a thought. He’d give anything to have the privilege of marrying Linnea. He’d give even more to be the father of her children. Little girls with golden curls like their mother. Maybe a son to teach to ride.
Bittersweetness filled him. He ached for the children he’d lost. And for the children he might have one day soon.
It felt good to have a life again.
And it was because of Linnea. She’d done this. No other woman had awakened his heart. But she had. Her love had saved him. Chased away the unbearable loneliness. Given him a future.
Maybe he’d build a large corral here, a good distance from the house, but close enough to watch the horses from the front porch. If he raised the fence to eight feet, it’d be too high to jump. Even for a wild stallion.
He took the ring from his pocket, the one he’d picked up in town today. The small diamond winked merrily.
Second chances were rare in this life. He was a damn lucky man.
Now it was all up to Linnea.
* * *
“Mama?” Linnea pushed open the door. “I’ve been waiting for you to awaken. Seth brought you another surprise.”
“Oh, that man.” The nap had done her good. The color had returned to her cheeks. “What did he do now?”
“He hired someone to help us out. Her name is Claire and she lives on the other side of the river near town.”
“Oh, the orphan girl come to stay with the Burgains.” Mama sat up, determined to adjust her own pillows. “Now I will not worry so. I have made so much work. And the canning cannot wait.”
“You’re all that matters, Mama.” Linnea hurried to snatch the pillow from her mother’s hand and plumped it. “There, sit back. Do you want anything to eat? I have soup heating on the stove. And the last of the cucumbers and tomatoes from the garden.”
“Yes, that would be fine.”
“Good. You wait right here.” Linnea turned up the wick so light tumbled across the bed, turning her mother’s curls platinum.
“Dotter? Bring me my crocheting. I feel restless lying here. I must do something.”
“I have just the thing.” Linnea lifted the lid of her cedar chest. Of the three balls of silk thread she’d bought, two had been ruined when Oscar Hansson had accosted her. One ball of thread was like new.
She hadn’t been able to look at it without remembering. But maybe now was the time to turn the sadness into something beautiful.
“Look at what I’ve been saving for a surprise.” Linnea placed the thread in her mother’s hand. “The finest in Mrs. Jance’s shop.”
“Why, it must be beautiful.” Mama shone, showing more strength in her new project. “Quick, my needles. My hand is not as good as I would like it, but I will manage.”
Linnea fetched the little basket that held all of her mother’s crochet needles. Mama unwound a length of thread from the thick ball.
She looks like her old self. Grateful, Linnea didn’t mind the exhaustion weighing her down as she headed to the kitchen. Claire was in the yard, scrubbing towels on the washboard.
“Here’s some cider, cool from the cellar.” Linnea handed her the cup. “Why don’t you come in and eat? You’ve worked far too hard today.”
“I’m pleased to have the work, ma’am.” With the back of her hand, Claire brushed away the dark wisps that had escaped from her braids.
“Leave the towels. It won’t hurt them to soak.”
Claire smiled, and tiny lines dug into the corners of her eyes. In the half-light of dusk, she looked older than Linnea had first thought.
Claire filled her plate with bread, leftover bacon from the morning meal and thick slices of tomatoes. She retreated outside. As Linnea ladled soup into a bowl, she heard the splash of wash water through the open windows.
Claire was a good worker and would be a big help. She owed Seth dearly. What a good man he was. What a good husband he would make.
Did she dare hope that he really planned to marry her?
Mama would hardly stop crocheting long enough to eat her supper, and then continued to work into the evening. Darkness fell, and the hour grew late. Linnea had to pry the needles from her mother’s fingers. She laid the perfect start to what would be exquisite lace in the basket and set it on the bureau.
As she did every night, she opened one of Papa’s books and began to read. Slowly Mama drifted off to sleep.
“I’ll sit with her,” Claire whispered as she stepped into the tiny room. “Major Gatlin asked me to do so. I’ll take good care of her, don’t worry.”
“I’m not worried at all.” There was a kindness in Claire that Linnea recognized, and she doubted Seth could have found a gentler caretaker in all of Iron County.
Even so, it was hard to leave her mother’s side. Harder still to walk away from the room and out onto the porch. Seth rose from the shadowed steps.
When he smiled at her, she felt like the most desired woman in the world. He took her hand and she never wanted to let go.
“Looks like there’s going to be a storm tonight. Hope you don’t mind being out in it.”
“I love a good storm. I should close the windows before I leave.”
“Claire can handle it.” He twined his fingers through hers. “How are you holding up?”
“Better because of all you’ve done.”
He liked knowing that. “I haven’t seen the mustangs in a while.”
“They’ll be here to stay when snow comes to the mountains. Probably in a month or so.”
“Good. I figure they could use a permanent home.” He watched her out of the corner of his eye. She had a tender heart, that was for sure. He wasn’t sure how she’d take the news. “Neilson’s not the only rancher who’s tired of fighting w
ild animals. It’s a hard life for the mustangs. I could give them better.”
“You’d take their freedom.”
“Not entirely.” He considered his words as the wind gusted around them, whipping through the dried stalks and tangling Linnea’s skirts.
They stopped while she untwisted her petticoats, then gathered her hem in her free hand.
“This is where I’m thinking of building a corral. One big enough for them to run.”
“How big?”
“I’ll start with an acre and add on over time. Figure I have all winter with nothing to do. It’ll keep me busy.” He could see his dream so clearly he could almost touch it. “I was thinking that I’d build it there, where the plains stretch out. I’ll tame only the mustangs that adjust to it. The mares who stay wild will give me foals every year, and I’ll train those.”
She didn’t say anything, and was so still she didn’t seem to be breathing. The wind tore at her knot until it tumbled loose. Silken curls twisted free. “I hate to think of the plains without the wild mustangs.”
“All things change. It was a dry summer. There isn’t going to be the food there was for them last year. The ranchers sold their extra hay for income. They’re going to protect what they have to keep their own livestock healthy through the winter.”
She closed her eyes. “The anger at the horses has been getting worse over the years.”
“I can offer them a safe home. They’ll never be hungry or mistreated. They’ll have their own piece of the prairie to run on.”
She nodded. “This is what you’ve always wanted, isn’t it?”
“Always hoped one day I’d own a piece of Montana. It takes time to build a herd. If I capture the mustangs, I have one ready-made.”
Her fingers tightened around his, and her unspoken approval gave him courage. He led her to the edge of the rise at the end of the field. From here, they could see the far reaches of the prairie and the mountains that made the horizon. They sat down together, shoulder to shoulder.
“Like it here?” he asked. “I thought it might be a good spot to build a house.”
“A house?” She tucked her bottom lip between her teeth. “I thought you were living in the claim shanty near Ginny’s house.”