Genevieve_Bride of Nevada

by Cynthia Woolf

  *****

  Supper was a family affair, where family meant everyone on the ranch. Genny met all the cowboys and Pete, Nettie’s husband, who was a handsome man just as slender as his wife was stout. Pete and Nettie teased each other incessantly. He referred to her as the old woman and she referred to him as the old man. Genny could tell they loved each other very much. They’d been with Stuart and Joe since the boys were young and their parents owned the ranch. Nettie and Pete’s three sons and one daughter had been raised with the MacDonnell boys.

  “Where are your children now?” asked Genny.

  “Well the boys have their own places, cattle spreads around Reno and Carson City. And Martha, we lost her about six months ago.”

  Nettie’s eyes watered but no tears fell.

  “Martha?” Genny’s gaze flew to Stuart and back to Nettie. “Oh, my God, I’m sorry. I didn’t know.”

  “Don’t be sorry. My Martha was a wonderful, kind woman and she’d be pleased for the children to have a mother to care for her children.”

  Genny’s eyes filled with tears. “Excuse me.”

  She fled the dining room and went out to the front porch. Once there, she let the tears fall. How could Stuart have not told her that Martha was Nettie and Pete’s daughter? Or that Billy and Lucy were their grandchildren? How could Nettie be so nice to her?

  She heard the screen door close softly behind her.

  Boots sounded across the porch and stopped.

  “I’m sorry. I should have told you, Martha was their daughter.” He paused before moving beside her and placing his hands on the porch railing. “Martha and I grew up together and I always thought she was just that kid who followed me around everywhere. Then when she was about sixteen, things changed. She wasn’t a child anymore. We courted for two years and married on her eighteenth birthday. We were very much in love and I don’t believe I’ll ever feel that way about anyone again. She was the sun in my life, with her curly blonde hair and green eyes that were always filled with mischief, just like Billy’s. She was a special woman.”

  “Yes, I’m sure she was.” Genny kept her gaze focused on the mountains that were farther than they looked.

  He placed a hand on her shoulder. “Come back in to supper.”

  She nodded.

  He turned and went back inside.

  But she didn’t promise or say anything. How could she return to them? She’d embarrassed herself and there was no safety net here of Julia and Katie to bolster her courage.

  “Just go in and hold your head up high,” Julia would have said.

  “You didn’t do anything wrong,” Katie would claim.

  Could she? Was she brave enough to face her new family? How could Nettie and Pete accept her as a surrogate mother to their grandchildren? How was she, a city girl who knew nothing about ranching, going to be able to compare to Martha, a woman raised on this very ranch?

  CHAPTER 3

  Genny dried her eyes, took a deep breath and rejoined the family for the meal. The atmosphere wasn’t quite as boisterous, but that was all right with her.

  “Genny, why don’t you help come with me and help with dessert?” Nettie rose from the table and walked toward the kitchen.

  “Of course,” Genny followed her to the room she’d be spending a lot of her day in. It was well appointed. A long counter against one wall, broken only by the sink and icebox. The stove and pantry on the next wall, to her right. The wall to the left had a long row of pegs that were full of coats and hats. On the wall next to her was a long table with benches on the long sides of the table and captains chairs one either end.

  Nettie and Genny stood by the sink. “I wanted to get you alone. You need to know that Martha and Stuart didn’t have the perfect marriage as he would have you believe. Yes, they courted for two years, but Martha’s heart was with…someone else, who didn’t come through in the end. I know my daughter. She was in love with both MacDonnell brothers, but she wanted to marry Joe. While she was friends with Stuart, she struggled because he was so much older than her. I think you’ll be good for him and for my grandchildren. I feel it in my bones and I know Martha would have wanted someone to care for and raise her children. There’s no reason that can’t be you. You seem to be a good woman and now that you know, it’ll be easier for you. You’ll get used to us and fit right in.”

  She nodded. “I’ll do my best, Nettie. This is my family now and I mean to keep all of you.”

  Genny cut the two pies into six slices each. Nettie had baked four blackberry pies and made clotted cream to put on them.

  “I’ve already decided that no matter what, I will always live here in the Ruby Mountains, in the Lamoille Valley. I’ve never been to any place so beautiful in my life. I want to raise Billy and Lucy. And I want babies of my own, but if I don’t get them I already love Lucy and I think she likes me. As for Billy, he’ll come around.”

  Nettie laughed. “Yes, that’s the spirit. Now let’s get this pie out there before they start wondering if we abandoned them.”

  Genny carried the pies and Nettie followed with plates and forks. Genny returned to the kitchen and picked up the coffee pot while Nettie got the clotted cream. They both returned to the dining room.

  “Here we go. Who wants more coffee? It’s nice and hot,” said Genny.

  She went around the table, filled everyone’s cup, while Nettie served the pie and cream. After all the cups were full and everyone had a piece of pay, Genny sat to the right of Stuart and ate her piece of pie which was delicious. Nettie would definitely have to teach her how to bake. Genny might have been a passable cook, but she couldn’t bake for squat.

  Supper was over much too soon for Genny. She enjoyed the lively conversation and the feeling that she was a part of something. She had a family and for that she was grateful. She and Nettie cleared the table while the men retired to the parlor for cigars and whiskey. Normally, Stuart and Joe would head to the office, the cowboys would go to the bunkhouse and Pete would go to his bedroom. Tonight though, was a special occasion because Genny was there, so when she and Nettie finished cleaning up, they joined the men.

  Lucy sat on Joe’s lap, playing happily with her uncle and a rattle.

  Genny walked to Joe and held her arms out to the baby. “Let me take Lucy and get her ready for bed.” Then she looked over at Billy who was sitting on his father’s lap. “Billy would you like to come? I’ll tell you a story while I get you and Lucy ready for bed.”

  Billy hesitated but the offer of a story won him over and he went with Genny up stairs to the bedroom.

  Genny changed Lucy’s diaper, put her in a sleeping gown and laid her in the crib. Then she put on Billy’s pajamas, helped him brush his teeth and say his prayers before she told him the story. She started telling him the story of Robinson Crusoe. The story would take many nights to finish and if Billy liked the tale she would continue with it. He may want something less complicated, so she knew several fairy tales she could tell him, too.

  Billy fell asleep about the same time that Robinson was marooned. Genny bent and kissed his forehead.

  She checked Lucy and she was also asleep.

  “You did very well with the children.”

  Stuart’s deep baritone washed over her like a gentle ocean wave, yet Genny’s hand flew to her throat. “How long have you been there?”

  “Long enough to hear poor Robinson land on the island. Do you have the whole book memorized?”

  “Enough of the story’s high points to entertain a child Billy’s age.”

  “As I said, you’re good with them. Given a little more time, I’m sure they will come to love you.”

  “I hope so. They are wonderful children.”

  Stuart held out his hand.

  “Enough talk. Time for bed. Morning comes very early. And you get to learn how to milk a cow.”

  Genny took his hand. It was so much larger and engulfed hers with warmth as they walked to his bedroom. “What about Lucy, does she wake in the
night wanting to be fed or changed?”

  “No, she sleeps all night through now.”

  When they entered the bedroom Genny saw her carpet bag on the bed with its iron head and foot boards. The mattress was covered with a beautiful patchwork quilt. She dropped Stuarts hand and hurried forward. “Oh, I forgot to unpack. Do you have room in the closet and the bureau for my things?”

  A shadow crossed Stuart’s face for just a moment.

  “Yes, of course. I should have thought to bring you earlier.”

  He went to the closet and showed her the space.

  “I hope it’s enough room. Also, the top two drawers in the bureau are empty.”

  “That’s more than enough room for what little I own.” She worried what he would think of her poverty and was embarrassed that she had so little. With a house so grand, he surely expected someone more accustomed to wealth.

  “I still have Martha’s clothes. They’re in the store room. You’re welcome to them.”

  Her stomach twisted. “Oh, I couldn’t. It would be too difficult for you to see me in her clothes. Mine will do until I can make more. I do know how to sew. That was how I made my living before the factory was burned to the ground. I can make the children’s clothes, too. They grow so quickly.” That was all she needed was to wear his dead wife’s clothes and have him remember her every time he saw Genny. She’d never make any progress to getting Stuart to love her if she did that.

  Genny grabbed her carpet bag and began to hang her clothes noticing the garments were terribly wrinkled.

  She glanced over her shoulder. “Do you know if there’s an iron and ironing board in the kitchen?”

  “Yes, there is. Nettie does the ironing on Saturdays and laundry on Friday which is tomorrow.” He frowned. “You just have all sorts of new tasks to learn and still take care of my children. Do you think you’ll manage them all?”

  Genny stopped unpacking and turned to face Stuart. “If I can’t, then I know the children come first. Someone else can be found to milk the cow and do the laundry or if not, then those chores will have to wait.”

  Stuart nodded. “Good. You have backbone and you already have my babies care first in your mind.”

  Genny pressed her lips into a tight line. “As they will always be.”

  “I’m very glad to hear it. Now, if you’re done unpacking, come to bed.”

  “Fine.” Genny began unbuttoning her dress. She wasn’t a modest miss. It didn’t matter anyway. She slept in her cotton chemise, which unlike most was not sheer but quite opaque and not see through at all and which reached her knees. The nuns at the orphanage had them made special and Genny continued to buy them. She had a total of two. They were comfortable and what she was used to. They were also cheaper because the material wasn’t the fine lawn of most chemises. Stuart wouldn’t see anything.

  “You’re not asking me to turn my back or leave?”

  Stuart’s eyebrow was cocked as though he couldn’t believe she hadn’t asked.

  “I got over any modesty I had growing up in the orphanage. I was there until I was eighteen and then had roommates after that. Both of those situations are guaranteed to cure anyone of modesty.”

  When she removed her corset, she sighed. Wearing the contraption for the entire trip had been miserable and she was happy to have it off. She folded her clothes as she continued undressing until she was down to her chemise and bloomers before walking to the closest end of the bed.

  “What side do you want me on?”

  “Over there.”

  He indicated the side nearest the wall.

  “I’d like you to sleep naked. I want us to—”

  “No.”

  “No?”

  “No. If you can’t make love to me and make this a real marriage, then you don’t get to see my body.”

  His eyebrows lifted.

  “You’re quite stubborn aren’t you? And opinionated?”

  “I just know what is right.” She clutched the quilt in her hand before turning it down. “And this is right. I want a real marriage, Stuart. I want to have children. Unless and until I hear you agree to have that kind of marriage I’ll continue with this stance.”

  He thought for a moment, ran a hand around the back of his neck, and then nodded.

  “That’s fair. But you’ll have to get used to me. I do sleep naked.”

  She crawled into the bed and covered up.

  “You can sleep any way you want. Your choice as to your state of undress has nothing to do with me.”

  She turned toward the wall and closed her eyes.

  She heard his soft chuckle and then his clothes piling up in a heap on the floor. Next thing she knew, the mattress sagged under his weight and he was next to her in the bed.

  Her heart hammered in her chest with a ferocity she was sure he felt. She wasn’t as sure of any of this as she let on, but she knew if she gave in now, she’d be losing all of their arguments. And this was an important one. Not just about her sleeping attire, but about their very marriage—and when or if it became real. This was about their having relations and eventually more children. Her stance was about her very future.

  “Goodnight, Genny.”

  “Goodnight Stuart.”

  She tried, but sleep wouldn’t come. She stayed stiffly on her side for quite a while but she eventually got up and slipped on her dress before heading down to the kitchen. Genny stirred the coals in the stove and added another piece of wood to the fire. She put water on to boil and then found chamomile tea in the pantry. After she got a cup and saucer from the cupboard next to the sink, she sat at the table waiting for the water to heat.

  What had she gotten herself into? Everyone was nice, and Stuart was polite. He’d been quite adamant she was only there for the children’s sake but she knew if she was to be happy, she had to change his mind.

  The tea kettle started to whistle. She jumped up and took it off the heat before it could make too much noise and wake everyone.

  She poured the hot water over the tea leaves in the bottom of her cup and turned to return the kettle to the warming shelf above the stove, when she saw him standing not more than six feet away. Genny nearly dropped the kettle.

  She squeaked and her hand flew to her chest. “Good grief, Stuart, you gave me a fright.”

  “I’m sorry. I couldn’t sleep and see that you couldn’t, either. Have enough water there,” he pointed at the kettle in her hand, “for another cup of tea?”

  “Certainly. Have a seat and I’ll make you one.”

  When his cup was ready, she carried it to the table, and set it in front of him. She sat across the table from him.

  “I’m finding Martha’s nightgowns and robe for you. You won’t have to dress completely when you want to get up and have a cup of tea.”

  Genny looked down at her dress, wrinkled from wearing it for seven days in a row and dirty as well. He must think she looks a fright in her wrinkled attire.

  “Thank you. That would be very nice.”

  “I wish you’d take me up on the offer of the rest of her clothes.”

  “I don’t know, I…” How can I tell him I don’t want his dead wife’s clothing. I don’t want to remind everyone of her every day. I want my own clothes.

  Stuart filled the silence of her indecision. “She had a lot of dresses and barely got to wear the Sunday ones. Most I haven’t seen in more than a year because she got pregnant and couldn’t wear them. Please. For perfectly good clothing to go to waste would be a shame.”

  “You could take them to the church and have the preacher give them to the needy.”

  He frowned and his eyes narrowed. “Why would I do that, when you can wear them and need the clothing yourself?”

  She sighed wondering how much alterations would be needed for the dresses to fit her properly. “Fine. I’ll look at them and see if I can wear anything.”

  Stuart sipped at his tea. “That’s all I ask.”

  “Tell me about the ranch.”
>
  “Joe and I were raised here. The acreage has been in my family for three generations. Billy will be the fourth. My mother died when I was eight and Joe, just five.” He took another sip of his tea. “He doesn’t remember her much at all. He was too young. Then Dad died seven years ago, and Joe and I each inherited half the ranch. I got married not long after that.”

  “Why did you send for a mail order bride? Surely, lots of girls live here that you could have married.”

  “I didn’t want to have to court anyone again. I didn’t want to pretend to fall in love before getting married. And I needed someone right away, not two years from now.”

  Genny nodded. “That makes sense. You might have mentioned that in your letter.”

  “Nettie is the one who pushed me to remarry. If I had my druthers, I wouldn’t ever have done so.”

  This put a knife through her heart. “It seems odd that Nettie would press you to marry, when Martha was her daughter.” She studied his expression.

  As though his throat was dry, he took a sip of his tea before answering.

  “She wants what’s best for the children, and so do I. What about you? I know you lost your job due to a fire, but what really prompted you to answer my advertisement?”

  Genny looked down at her tea cup before looking up and gazing directly at him. “I wanted a family of my own. I’ve never known family or been a part of one. And you were here in Nevada, far away from Lawrence, Massachusetts, where I’d spent my entire life. The contract was an adventure, one I might never have the opportunity to take again. And,” parched, she gulped the now cold tea. “You already had children. I liked that.”

  “Well, they seem to like you. You won Billy over with the story. I wouldn’t have thought he’d like Robinson Caruso because it’s so long and includes a lot more than a three year-old child can comprehend.”