Mail-Order Brides of Oak Grove

by Lauri Robinson

* * *

  With her cheeks still burning, Mary hurried toward Rex’s bed. So much for good luck. Bad luck was the cowboy from the train being Steve Putnam. She’d recognized him the moment he’d walked in the door and her entire being had been shaking—inside and out since that moment. “Of course,” she said to Rex. “Is your leg still hurting?”

  “No,” Rex said. “But I don’t want the pain to come back.”

  “This will help.” She picked up the bottle of tonic she’d left next to the bed and carefully poured a spoonful of the thick liquid. Rex had his mouth open like a baby bird waiting for a worm from its momma. That was how it normally was. It truly was a cure-all, just as Da always said. Of course, she’d seen it cure many ailments herself. Everything from gout to gas when administered correctly.

  “I think I need two spoonsful,” Rex said. “I’m in pretty bad shape still.”

  He certainly was. She’d changed the bandage on his leg earlier. Now was not the time to be stingy or think of profits, considering how badly Rex needed the tonic, so she filled another spoonful and fed it to him. Then, while replacing the cork in the small bottle, she said, “You can have some more in a little bit, before you go to sleep for the night.”

  “Can I just suck on the spoon?” Rex asked.

  She couldn’t help but giggle. The man’s face might be wrinkled and his hair gray, but he put her in mind of a little boy the way he was looking up at her. She handed him the spoon. “Of course.”

  “What are you feeding him?”

  Tingles shot up her spine. She’d momentarily forgotten the man who stood in the doorway—the one she’d lied to about going to Denver. The one whose lap she’d fallen into. No matter how hard she tried, that memory wouldn’t leave her alone.

  “The best tonic I’ve ever tasted,” Rex said.

  “Tonic?”

  She turned around and held up the bottle as the man walked closer. “Yes. McCary’s Finest Recipe Tonic.”

  Beneath a set of dark brows that were frowning, his brown eyes bore so deeply her hand shook as he took the bottle from her. “McCary? That’s your name? You made this?”

  “Yes, that is my name. Mary McCary, and yes, I made it.”

  He pulled out the cork and smelled the contents. His frown increased as he poured a small amount onto the tip of one finger and then stuck it in his mouth.

  “Good stuff, isn’t it?” Rex asked.

  Steve’s face filled with something she’d seen before. Disgust. And that turned her stomach hard.

  “It’s snake oil,” he said while sticking the cork back in the bottle.

  She snatched the bottle out of his hand. “Only ignorant people call it that.”

  His hard stare never faltered as he said, “Only ignorant people think alcohol will cure what ails them.”

  “It sure took away my pain,” Rex said. “And tastes a whole lot better than the stuff the doc left.”

  “Because you’re drunk.”

  “He is not.” Mary set the bottle on the table. “This tonic is an old family recipe and has been proven medicinal many times over.” Trying to convince men of that was next to impossible. Because doctors refused to prescribe it. That was only because it cured their patients. Her family had been run out of town by more than one doctor over the years. She drew a deep breath and asked, “Are you interested in hiring me as a cook or not?” Nodding toward the doorway behind him, she added, “If not, Brett and I need to head out before the sun sets.”

  “Ya,” Brett said from the doorway.

  Steve’s jaw twitched but he didn’t glance over his shoulder, just kept staring at her.

  “I thought you already hired her,” Rex said. “I can’t cook for the boys, not in my condition.”

  “I’ll hire you,” Brett said from the doorway.

  This time Steve gave Brett a glare. “You don’t need a cook.”

  “Ya, I do.” Brett looked her way. “I’ll pay you twenty dollars a month.”

  Mary bit down on her bottom lip. She’d have to sell an entire batch of tonic to make twenty dollars.

  “Cooks don’t make twenty dollars a month,” Steve said.

  “You pay me thirty,” Rex said. “Same you pay the cowboys.”

  The way Steve scowled at Rex tickled Mary’s insides. Thirty dollars would be more money than she’d ever made in a month. More than Da had made.

  “I can’t pay her what I pay the boys,” he said.

  “Sure you can,” Rex answered. “The boys won’t mind.”

  “You’re drunk,” he snapped.

  “I’m not,” Brett said. “I’ll pay her thirty-five.”

  Steve threw his arms in the air as he spun around. “This isn’t an auction.”

  So much excitement danced inside her, Mary’s toes were tapping inside her shoes. Thirty-five dollars would go a long way in getting her and Maggie westward. It took her a moment to remember Brett had said he’d put money toward bringing the brides to Oak Grove, but had left the train when the girls got off, figuring he’d get to know them later when it wasn’t so crowded. But he wanted one. A bride. And she wasn’t about to become that.

  However, she could take advantage of the situation. Stepping forward, she put herself between Steve and Brett who were in a staredown. At this moment, they looked to be about the same in size and temperament. If push came to shove, either one had a good chance of winning. But this win would be hers.

  “No, it’s not an auction,” she said, “but it is a contest, and I know how we can settle it fair and square.”

  “How?” all three men in the room asked at the same time.

  Keeping her smile well-hidden, she said, “Rex, you get some rest now. You other two follow me.”

  Once in the kitchen, she cleared a section of the table and then gathered three tin cups of manageable size and the cork from the vanilla bottle she’d used to make the caramel sauce. “Sit down, gentlemen.”

  Casting each other stern stares, they sat.

  Positioning the cups on the table, she said, “Whoever guesses which cup this cork is beneath will be the winner, and that person will agree to pay me forty dollars for a month of cooking.”

  “Thirty-five,” Steve said.

  She was about to agree when Brett said, “Forty.”

  Steve shook his head, and for a moment her breath stalled. She feared she’d gone too far, until he blew out a long sigh.

  “Fine,” he said, “forty, but that includes laundry and housekeeping.”

  “All right,” she said quickly before Brett could say more. “Forty dollars for cooking, laundry and housekeeping for one month. Now watch the cork.” With great show, she put it under one of the cups and then started shuffling them around each other. After switching her hands back and forth over the moving cups several times, she lined them in a row. The odds hit her then. They were much more in her favor when only one person was guessing. She should have thought of that earlier.

  It was too late now. Besides, she was fairly confident neither of them would pick the right cup. “Brett, you can pick first,” she said.

  “Ya, I vill.” He stared at the cups while rubbing a hand over his chin.

  After an extended length of time, Steve said, “Pick one, will you?”

  “I vill,” Brett said. “Let me think.”

  After another length of time, the rancher huffed out a breath, “Oh, for—”

  “That one,” Brett said.

  Having started to worry, Mary let out a sigh and lifted the cup to reveal the empty space.

  “Who wins if Steve doesn’t pick the right one?” Brett asked.

  She really hadn’t thought this through. Usually she didn’t want the cork found. “I guess we’ll try it a second time,” Mary said.

  “No, we won’
t. It’s under this one.”

  The rancher picked up the cup, revealing the cork. The glint in his dark eyes had Mary’s insides quaking, and she wondered if she’d just won or lost.

  Chapter Four

  As Steve watched Brett drive away the thrill of winning seeped out of him like a bucket that had sat in the sun too long. Slowly, he turned to face the house. What the hell had he just done? Forty dollars? For cooking and cleaning? His stomach did an odd little flip-flop. It wasn’t the money. Feeding his men was worth that. It was her. In his house. She’d made a point of claiming that included room and board. He’d known that was a given, but what that meant hadn’t completely struck him until right now.

  She’d be living in his house. With him. What was he thinking? He’d already concluded that would start a stir long before he found her in his house.

  “It’s only for a month,” he told himself aloud. “Rex will be up and about by then.”

  Or drunk as a skunk on her tonic, the other logical part of his mind pointed out.

  That he’d put a stop to right now. A few other rules wouldn’t hurt, either.

  Steve entered through the kitchen door, and was amazed to find the room clean. Cleaner than he’d seen it in a long time. She was efficient, he’d give her that.

  Snoring from the little room off the kitchen told him Rex was sleeping. Steve made his way through the front and back parlors, his office and the front entrance way, where he stopped to stare up the staircase. It was a given she’d stake claim on one of the bedrooms, and the notion of her sleeping down the hall from him instilled an agony he’d never experienced. Except for when she’d landed on his lap back at the train station.

  Flustered by the entire situation, he started up the steps. She was in the third bedroom, the one that faced east, and staring out the window. Her hair was pulled over one shoulder and she slowly dragged a brush from the crown of her head to the tips of the long strands she held in her opposite hand. If he hadn’t seen it, he wouldn’t believe how much gumption came out of that short and slender body.

  Her shoulders squared at the same time she turned about.

  “Do you always sneak up on people?”

  Speechless for a moment, he took a second or two before he said, “No.”

  “You did at the train station and again now.”

  “I saw you climb into the train car and figured you were up to no good.” Her pinched lips had him asking, “Why did you tell me you were going to Denver? To meet your husband?”

  Her shoulders heaved as she sighed. “What was I supposed to say?”

  “The truth,” he suggested. “That you were sneaking off the train to avoid the men waiting for a chance to marry you.”

  “Posh! I’m not marrying anyone.” She flayed her arms in the air. “Fine. If that’s what you want to hear. I was sneaking off the train to avoid those men. Can you blame me?”

  He couldn’t. Nor could he blame himself for admitting she was probably the best-looking woman any train had ever brought to Kansas. Which made no difference to him. At least it shouldn’t. Flustered, he drew in a deep breath. Something caught inside his nose. “Do you have more of that tonic up here?”

  A nervous gaze shot to the trunk at the foot of the bed before she asked, “Why? Does Rex need some?”

  “No,” Steve answered, moving into the room. “He’s sleeping off what you already gave him.” Upon arriving at the foot of the bed, he reached down to flip open the trunk lid. “China, you said?”

  She hurried forward, but he’d already lifted the lid. A large corked crock and several bottles—too many to count—were packed securely in straw. The smell was stronger, and although he hadn’t smelled it in years, he clearly recalled what the wine his grandfather used to make back in Georgia smelled like.

  She pushed his hand off the lid and gently closed it. “You have no right to go snooping in my things.”

  “That’s a trunk full of wine, and it’s in my house, so I’m not snooping.”

  “Your house or not, the trunk is mine.” Planting her hands on her hips, she continued, “And while I’m here, this room is mine and you’ll stay out of it.”

  He held his stare, all the while wanting to shake her. Ask her why she’d ever felt the need to agree to be a mail-order bride. “While you’re here, you’ll take orders from me. And I order you to dump it out.”

  “I will not.”

  “Then pack up your stuff,” he said, gesturing to the few things lying on the dresser.

  “Why?”

  “Because I’m taking you to town.” Ignoring the pang that shot across his stomach, he said, “Chris and Danny Sanders will give you a job peddling alcohol at their saloon. You’re already good at that.”

  A flicker of fear crossed her face, but then she crossed her arms. “And who’ll cook for your men? You?” The smile that appeared on her lips was full of conceit. “We’ve made a deal, shook on it. I never go back on my word, and I wouldn’t think a man of your stature would, either.”

  Steve’s back teeth clenched. She had him over a barrel, and knew it. He never went back on his word. Her knowing that was enough to infuriate him, but it was another feeling he couldn’t ignore. That of how her flushed cheeks and pursed lips made him want to kiss her like he hadn’t wanted to kiss anyone in years. Tossing aside that thought took will. Deep will. “My men expect three meals a day, morning, noon and night. Good meals. Their clothes washed once a week, the bunkhouse swept and mopped weekly, and this house kept clean.”

  “I already agreed to all that.”

  She was so smug he searched his mind to come up with other chores. When none appeared, he said, “And there will be no more of your tonic. Not for Rex or anyone else.”

  * * *

  Mary squeezed her fingers tighter around the brush handle. She should be mad enough to pitch it across the room, but it wasn’t anger she fought to control. It was how he’d looked at her. How his eyes had settled on her lips so completely it made them tingle—just like her insides had when she’d fallen onto his lap back at the train station.

  With lightning speed, she crossed the room and shut the door. Her heart was pounding so hard she laid a hand against her chest and the other over the flock of butterflies swarming in her stomach.

  Why did he make her insides go so crazy? Even while he yelled at her, ordering her to dispose of the tonic, all she could think of was how the other women on the train had been right. That the cowboys in Kansas were a handsome lot.

  “Aw, fairy dust,” she muttered. How could someone in her predicament have such thoughts? Perhaps because despite his handsomeness and her other cauldron of silly thoughts, this was rather a perfect solution for her situation. Not only would she gain finances, she could stock up on her supply of tonic while here. There had been honey and jam in the larder downstairs, which meant there must be more where they came from. Rather than train tickets for her and Maggie, maybe she’d buy another horse and wagon like Da. They’d traveled all over Ohio and Pennsylvania with Buck pulling their wagon.

  She and Maggie could do that again. Travel about, selling tonic until they found a suitable place to settle. Perhaps a place with cowboys as handsome as Steve Putnam.

  Telling herself that was a marvelous plan, she changed into her nightdress and climbed into the bed that had to be one of the softest and largest she’d even lain in.

  Sleep came as quickly as the sunrise. She’d chosen this room just for that purpose, so the first rays of the rising sun would wake her. Although she didn’t like how he turned her inside out—for no one had ever done that to her before—she would not let Steve find fault in anything she did. It would be a challenge, she couldn’t deny that. The only people she’d cooked for were her family. Da had always been in such a hurry, off here or there, he’d rarely said if what he’d eaten was good
or not, and as long as Maggie hadn’t had to prepare it, she hadn’t cared what she ate.

  A wave of sadness washed over Mary as she folded back the covers and flipped her legs over the edge of the bed. That had been the first night she’d slept without Maggie nearby. Even on the train, while mad at each other, they’d settled down next to each other come nightfall.

  Rising, she walked to the window and hoped that wherever Maggie was she was safe and knew they’d soon be together. Despite their differences, they were sisters, twins, and always would be.

  Watching the rays of sunlight growing brighter, Mary decided she’d find a way to get a message to Maggie, just to assure her sister all would be well soon. But first, she had a bunch of men to feed. The task wasn’t all that daunting, though. Between Steve’s outdoor root cellar and the kitchen pantry, there was more food than she’d seen in some shops.

  She dressed and covered her hair with the same cloth she’d used yesterday, tying it beneath her hair, and then quietly snuck out of her room and headed downstairs. After building a fire in the stove, she made a pot of coffee and then set about making a batch of biscuits. Once they were in the oven, she poured Rex a cup of coffee and pushed the pot to the back of the stove top to stay warm.

  After a brief discussion with Rex, who was feeling better this morning, she ventured into the cellar for a large slab of bacon, and then went outside to gather eggs from the fenced-in chicken coop.

  That task was easy—gathering eggs, it was the one she’d have to do next that had her a bit nervous. They—her family—had never owned a cow. Rex had said his morning chores included gathering eggs and milking the cow. She knew what to do with the milk once it was in the bucket—how to skim off the cream and make butter, buttermilk, even a soft cheese, but how to get the milk in the bucket was a different story.

  She didn’t want to fall short of her duties. That—the fear of falling short in his eyes—must be why Steve affected her so. She’d concluded that this morning, while being as quiet as possible to not wake him.

  “Morning, ma’am,” one of the cowboys said as he stopped near the door of the chicken pen. “Is there anything I can do to help you this morning?”