“No—” Before Tully could finish protesting Cullen sat down and pushed with his hips and legs to forcibly slide Tully’s body down the pew.
“Ahem,” his mother cleared her throat. Cullen looked up to see his mother’s raised eyebrows, but he didn’t move to sit on the other side of Tully. He was going to sit on Rose’s left side so they could share the hymnal together. His left hand and her right hand would hold the book perfectly.
*
Cullen rushed in the back door of the kitchen, knowing he was late, but he hated to leave Rose. Hopefully, Tully had drained the potatoes and was starting to mash them. His folks, Rose, and Adolph were almost to the front door of the parsonage.
Before Cullen dropped his second boot, he was surrounded by his four older brothers, standing shoulder to shoulder, arms folded, staring down at him with furrowed brows.
Oh crap. His brothers were going to gang up on him.
“What’s your intentions for Rose?” Angus started the interrogation.
“Don’t have any,” Cullen honestly replied.
“But you’re hovering over her like you do,” Fergus added.
“You need to either step up to be her husband or step aside, so she can marry someone else,” Seth added and Cullen bristled at his words
“Are you wanting to marry her?” Cullen had to know.
Seth shook his head. “I’m not interested, so quit looking like you want to take a swing at my jaw.”
Cullen unclenched his right fist and ran his hand over his face. He needed to calm down, and everyone needed to get the food on the table.
“Let’s drop it. The folks and their guests are about to come in the front door,” Cullen tried to push through the wall of brothers, but they didn’t budge.
“Open your eyes, Cullen. Rose is the perfect woman for you,” Mack stared down at Cullen.
“Don’t mention Rose and my body size ‘match’ again or you’ll need your wife to stitch up your gut.”
“I’m not joking this time, Cullen. Rose has only been here two days, but we’ve all seen how you look at her. You’re attracted to Rose, and it’s a safe bet she’s the first woman you’ve ever been attracted to,” Mack said.
Cullen couldn’t meet his brothers’ eyes because they were right.
“But what can I do about it? I don’t have a house, and I can’t ask her to live in the small one-room above the café.”
His brothers waited for Angus to answer Cullen. Angus had always been the ringleader of their group and Cullen had always looked up to him, even when Angus was ten years old and tackled Cullen in an alley when he was six years old, filthy and hungry. Cullen would never forget the feeling of Angus’ arms wrapped around him. He’d fought back for a few seconds, then realized how good it felt and collapsed in Angus’ hold.
“There are two houses in town which are available to move into now. You and Rose pick which one you want, and we’ll help you get it.”
Cullen was surprised by his offer. “Why and how?”
“If the ‘why’ isn’t clear by now you’re a lost cause, Brother. We love you, and you’re part of the Reagan family. And we know you spend your salary to help others in town.
“And the ‘how’ is we’ll all pitch in to help you buy the house. One house you’ll need to buy directly from the owner, and the other from the bank. We’ll cover the down payment as our wedding gift to you,” Angus said.
Cullen was speechless. His brothers would do that for him?
“Wow. I hope you five help me when I’m dumb enough to marry,” Tully’s outburst didn’t surprise anyone, but it lightened the mood in the kitchen.
Mack wrapped his arm around Tully’s neck and pulled him into the circle.
“You do realize three of us have married women with flower names, Tully?” Mack wiggled his eyebrows. “Daisy, Iris, Pansy, and maybe Rose will be added to the family too.”
“So?” Tully squeaked.
“I’m not holding out for Seth to marry anyone with a flower name anytime soon, but Violet Tucker is sweet on you, Tully,” Mack said when he finally released Tully.
“Eww! No! She’d be the last person I’d want to be chained to for life!”
“Quit pestering your little brother and please get the food on the table,” their mother ducked in the kitchen door to announce before going back to her guests.
Rose and Adolph.
“Thanks for the offer, everyone. I’ll have to think about it,” Cullen mentioned while walking over to the bowls of mashed potatoes someone had already made in his place.
“Decide soon. Adolph’s looking pretty happy sitting next to Rose in the dining room,” Angus said as he looked through the kitchen door.
Cullen braced his jumbled thoughts as he carried the bowls into the dining room. Adolph sat on Rose’s left, and Pansy was already sitting on Rose’s right. Cullen couldn’t help Rose with passing the food, and he felt a jab in his heart.
He really wanted to be there for Rose. Was it because he felt guilty in his part of getting her to Clear Creek, or because he really liked her?
If Cullen got through dinner without bolting for the door before dessert, it would be a miracle. Rose caught Cullen’s eye and gave him a faint smile and shrug, ignoring Adolph’s one-sided conversation. Rose mouthed, “sorry” to Cullen before turning back to Adolph.
Did Rose mean she’d prefer to be with him instead of Adolph? She’d already agreed to take a drive with Adolph, so she’d either enjoy it or know the man wasn’t for her. Cullen would have to be patient with her decision.
Was Cullen putting himself in the running for Rose’s hand? The more he thought of Rose, the more he liked her. Their interests matched and their differences in personalities seem to complement each other instead of clash.
“Sit down, Cullen, so I can say grace.” Geeze. Cullen was standing across from Rose still holding the two bowls in his hands. He quickly lowered them to the table and pulled out a chair to sit across from Rose.
“Put up your hand so I can hold it,” Adolph whispered to Rose.
“Sorry, but no, Adolph. I can’t move my arm, so we can’t hold hands,” Rose muttered back before bowing her head.
After two seconds of watching Rose, she raised her head enough to wink at Cullen.
Did he have a chance with Rose? But did he want it was the more significant question? Cullen needed to think about it because he had competition.
Chapter 6
Rose wasn’t surprised to see part of the Reagan family on the parsonage porch when Adolph brought her back. It was a hot summer day, and with today’s breeze, the porch was cooler than the parlor.
Between the buggy canopy and her parasol Rose hadn’t overheated, but she suggested she’d had enough of the heat which made Adolph kindly suggest they cut their ride short.
Not that they’d go far. They’d driven out into the country to go around the section, then back to drive through town to see Adolph’s shop and his home two blocks away from Main Street.
Adolph was a nice man, but the conversation between them was stilted after they left Reagan’s dinner table, making it hard to know the man or judge his character.
Cullen stood and left the porch as soon as he saw them approach the house. Cullen nodded to them before standing below her side of the buggy.
“Have a good ride?” Cullen said politely.
“It’s sweltering today so we—,” Adolph started to say until he realized Cullen was helping her out of the buggy. Adolph probably hoped Cullen would hold the horse as Adolph came around to help her down.
“Yes, it is a very hot day. Adolph thought I should get out of the sun,” Rose smiled back at Adolph. “Thank you, Adolph. I enjoyed meeting you and look forward to seeing your shop soon.”
Rose turned, slipping her right hand in Cullen’s elbow to walk to the house to signal Adolph could leave. She was thirsty, but her primary goal was to get back to the parsonage.
“Did you have a good visit?” Kaitlyn asked as the
y walked up the porch steps. Kaitlyn and pastor sat in matching woven cane rockers by the front door.
“Yes, we drove out of town a ways, then circled back through part of town.”
Cullen led Rose over to the porch swing and held it still while she sat down.
“Would you like a glass of lemonade?” Rose looked up to see Cullen held out a glass which had been sitting on a side table between the rockers.
“Yes, thank you.”
Everyone on the porch seemed content to be together and not talk. What a contrast from the constant noise of the circus. Did Rose miss it? She missed her family but enjoyed this peaceful solitude so much more.
“It’s hot today, but in six months it will be snowing,” Pastor mumbled from his rocker. His head was back against the rocker and his eyes closed. Her family never had the chance to just do nothing on a Sunday afternoon because of the afternoon’s, then sometimes evening’s performance.
“You say that every Sunday, Pa,” Cullen replied as he sat down on the opposite end of the swing.
“Boring enough for you, Rose? Welcome to Sunday afternoons at the parsonage,” Cullen commented with a wave of his hand and a smile.
Rose sat back in the swing and sipped her lemonade, enjoying every minute of it.
*
“Rose, Rose? Wake up,” Cullen’s voice slowly brought her back from her drowsy state. She thought it was a fly bothering her at first, but it was Cullen instead.
“Oh, my goodness! I shouldn’t have fallen asleep.” Rose gasped as she sat up straight. Now she had a kink in her neck too.
“That’s alright. That’s what lazy summer Sunday afternoons are for,” Cullen said as he pointed to everyone else on the porch. Pastor was snoring in his rocker. Tully was on his stomach, stretched out on the porch, oblivious to the world.
“I go somewhere on Sundays before supper. Want to go with me?” Cullen quietly asked.
“Yes, I’d like that.”
“Take the tin of cookies I set on the kitchen table, Cullen,” Kaitlyn said without opening her eyes.
“Thanks, Ma.”
They quietly opened and closed the screen door into the house and walked through the kitchen.
“Need anything before we go for a stroll?”
“I need to visit the outhouse.”
“I’ll put on my boots and meet you on the back porch.”
Minutes later Rose met Cullen, holding the tin of cookies in his right hand, and holding out his left elbow for her to hold on to as they walked.
“It’s cooled down a little, don’t you think?” Rose asked to make conversation.
“Maybe a little. Let’s sit down on the church steps so we can talk. It’s in the shade right now.”
Rose was glad they finally had some time alone. She had questions for him and was sure Cullen had some too.
“Cullen, I’m sorry your father put you in the middle of my predicament, but I’d like to talk about it. Adolph is a nice man, but I’d prefer to marry you.” Rose waited for Cullen to say something, but he stared at the ground instead.
“Does my past make me unacceptable to be your wife?” Rose couldn’t change it and her husband, whoever he was, would have to accept it.
“No, I can’t judge you for it, but getting a glimpse of your costumes made me cringe. Made me think of a painted lady’s dress.”
Ah, Cullen’s mother, although he hadn’t spoken about her yet.
“I gave all of them away to other performers except a few favorite costumes that my grandmother made for me. Does the clothing I wear now bother you?” Rose wore a white and light pink gingham dress today.
Cullen looked sideways at her. “You’d still be pretty to me even if you wore a gunny sack.”
“Cullen, if you don’t want to marry me, just say so.”
“It’s not that easy, Rose. There are so many things to think about before jumping into marriage. Marriage is forever. Fifty to sixty years together.”
“I understand that more so now than when I answered the mail-order bride advertisement.” Rose shuddered thinking she would have been living isolated in Richard’s shack today if she had married him two days ago.
“Because we’ve been corresponding, we know we have similar tastes and personalities. I think we could have a good marriage.”
“You might want to go back to the circus, and I won’t leave Clear Creek.”
Cullen still worried about her running back to the circus.
“I left for several reasons and will not be returning. But, I’d like to visit my family whenever they may be close by performing. And I’d like to invite them to visit Clear Creek during the circus’ off-season.”
Rose wanted to be sure Cullen knew she was not going to cut off her life from her family. They may live in different places, but they could still keep in touch.
“I can’t provide you with unlimited train tickets.”
“Then I’ll write romance novels and save up my own money so I can visit them every other year,” Rose retorted back.
“The husband is to provide for his family.”
“And you have a good job as a postmaster.”
“I don’t have a house for us.”
“Then we live in your room until you can afford something different for us.”
What was going through Cullen’s mind? He’d been attentive and protective when around others but shied away from her now.
Cullen took a deep breath and finally looked Rose in the eye.
“I have an obligation that takes a chunk of my paycheck.”
“You already have children to support?”
“What! No, nothing like that, I swear.”
“I wouldn’t be upset if you did. It’s better than you have a gambling debt or drinking habit you had to support.”
“I’ve never stepped into a saloon after…I don’t drink or gamble.”
Rose reached for Cullen’s hand and was grateful when he wove his fingers with hers.
“Cullen, I won’t judge you, and I won’t tell another soul if you don’t want me to. Is this ‘thing’ keeping you from thinking about marriage to me or someone else?”
“Yes, I guess it is part of my reasons.”
At least he was finally opening up to her. Now, what should she do?
“Then it’s your decision of what happens next.”
They sat in silence for a few minutes before Cullen stood up, pulling her up beside him.
“Let’s continue walking. I uh, need to stop by my place to pick up a box of food,” Cullen said as he turned to walk down the alley behind Main Street.
“I live above Clancy’s Café. It’s only one room, but it’s worked for me, so far.”
Cullen stopped a moment at the bottom of a steep outside staircase. “I’ll be back down in a few seconds.”
Rose watched Cullen run up the stairs two at a time. The screen door had barely banged shut when he was out it again and down the steps carrying a wooden crate that had several cans and jars in it, plus the tin of cookies on top.
“Who’s the food for?”
“I help someone out. Bring him food every Sunday,” Cullen said as he looked both ways before slowly walking down the alley so she could keep up with him.
“I assume your family knows about this?” The Reagan’s might but Rose bet most of the town didn’t the way Cullen was skirting down the alley, trying not to be seen.
“Yeah. Ma usually sends something extra she baked on Saturday. It could be bread, pie, or today’s cookies.”
Rose followed Cullen around to the back of a small wooden house two streets over from Main Street. Cullen juggled the crate with one arm while he opened the back door and called out loudly, “Charlie, it’s Cullen. May I come in?”
“Cullen?” Rose could hear a man’s voice from the front room.
“Yes, I’m here with food and someone else. We’ll set the food down in the kitchen and come in to talk to you.”
“Alright.”
Ros
e looked around at the stark white kitchen. It only had a small table and one chair. One skillet and a coffee pot on the stove, one plate and set of silverware on the table. The person was alone and only had what was needed to survive.
The front room, and apparently the only other room in the house held a bed, a small dresser with a mirror above it, and a rocking chair with a small table beside it. A kerosene lamp and a small pile of books and papers sat on the table. A dingy brown wool coat, a long-sleeve shirt and a pair of overalls hung on the three hooks by the front door.
Cullen led Rose to stand in front of the man sitting in the rocker. He looked to be in his late sixties in age.
“Charlie, I’d like you to meet, Miss Rose Leander. Rose, this is Charlie Moore.”
“Nice to meet you, young lady. Cullen’s never brought a friend to meet me. Cullen, please get the chair in the kitchen so she can sit down beside me. You can sit on my bed.”
“Nice to meet you, Mr. Moore,” Rose said while holding out her right hand to shake the elder’s.
Rose froze when she looked into Mr. Moore’s gaze. His eyes and the shape of his face was so much like Cullen’s. Was this a relative of Cullen’s?”
Cullen brought in the chair from the kitchen and set it between the bed and the rocker, and Rose sat down for the visit.
“I brought you ma’s oatmeal cookies, along with some supplies for your week. You need anything else?” Cullen asked.
“No, I’m fine, thank you. Now I want to visit with your pretty lady friend. You from around here, Miss Leander?”
“No, I’m a long ways from home, but moved here this week to be a mail-order bride.”
“You’re marrying Cullen? By golly, it’s time he married.”
Rose chuckled at Cullen’s red face. “Well, no. I answered another man’s letter, but he decided he didn’t want me after he saw I had a bad arm. I worked for a circus and was injured in a train accident. Until my situation is solved, I’m staying at the parsonage for now.”
“The Reagan’s are good people. I’m sure Kaitlyn Reagan has a plan for your future?” Mr. Moore asked before he grinned, apparently knowing the woman’s capabilities to help others.
“Did you say your name was Leander? I saw the Flying Leanders years ago in St. Louis, oh fifteen or so years ago. Was that your family by chance?” Mr. Moore asked.
Grooms with Honor Series, Books 4-6 Page 15
