Prudence hugged her. “It was my pleasure. Besides, I slept in a little later this morning, so I’m well rested. Better now, because when the baby comes I won’t be able to sleep.”
A pang of envy hit Letty, surprising her. “I’ve heard that same thing. Still, I would feel terrible if you over-did because of my wedding.”
“Oh, no. I love to entertain, but there just hasn’t been much opportunity here. Now that you’re in town, I hope we can have more get-togethers.”
Letty patted her hand. “I would enjoy that very much.”
“Now, what brings you into the store?”
“In my rush to get here to find my brother, Maggie chose my clothes, none of which are at all practical. I need a few personal items.”
Paul motioned to his wife. “I’ll be over here looking at the tools.”
The women exchanged knowing smiles as Prudence led her to the far corner in the store. The walls were lined with shelves that displayed bolts of colorful fabrics, spools of thread, straight pins and sewing needles. The shopkeeper opened a cabinet below that had stacks of neatly folded undergarments.
On another shelf were a half a dozen fashionable hats, straw and felt, and some bonnets, along with ribbons and hair combs. There was even a rack of simple cotton day dresses, along with three blouses, two white and a pale pink, and a brown and black shirt.
Prudence gave a sweeping motion with her hand, proudly showing off the new department. “You are fortunate that you weren’t here a few months ago. My husband had stocked nothing in the store for the women in town. The shelves used to be filled with mostly men’s work clothes and tools.” She raised an eyebrow. “Women need clothes, too.” Prudence sighed. “So I did some ordering of my own.”
“Oh, my, you have more of a selection than I realized.” She picked a calico dress, a light blue and yellow print with a row of tiny lace along the collar and cuffs. Working at the school in Chicago, she’d always worn a uniform that consisted of a white blouse and dark skirt. This would be a nice change. “This looks like it would fit me.” She held it up in front of her, and then checked the size.
Prudence eyed her closely. “You’re probably used to finer things, but this dress will look nice on you. And for everyday around the ranch, it’s also practical. We have a wonderful seamstress in town, Cinnia Andrew, but for every day, this dress should do. Maybe when you have more time you can have something made of your own choosing.”
Letty glanced across the store to see Paul walking toward her.
“I think it will look very nice on you, Mrs. Slater.”
She laughed, and leaned close and whispered, “Better than the long johns?”
Paul grinned. “You would look beautiful in anything you wear.” He took the dress from her and carried it to the counter.
Letty had to look away from the man, but her memory of last night was a clear vision in her mind. No man had ever kissed her like Paul had. She’d had few opportunities, and only with schoolboys’ fumbling attempts.
“Your new husband is extremely handsome,” Prudence said, bringing Letty back to the present.
Letty nodded then quickly glanced at more merchandise. A pretty yellow parasol caught her attention.
Prudence raised an eyebrow. “It is eye catching and matches your hair.”
Letty picked it up, opened it and fell in love even more. Although the nuns preached for years about the sin of vanity, Letty still yearned for this pretty little umbrella. She came to her senses, closed the umbrella and put it back on the shelf. “I’m married now, I need to be more practical.” She picked out a plain cotton camisole with a touch of lace and another pair of drawers. She took them to the counter where Paul was waiting for her.
He also had some purchases of his own: shaving soap, a pair of work gloves and some candy, licorice.
She looked at him. “Sweet tooth?”
He shrugged. “I can’t help it. I like sweet things.”
Prudence totaled the purchases.
Letty began to open her purse.
Paul stopped her. “You are my wife, I will buy you what you need.”
She started to argue, but she saw Prudence watching them. “You are a lucky man today, husband, that I didn’t indulge in a lot more.”
***
After another hour, Paul realized that Letty hadn’t finished her shopping.
She also bought chickens: three laying hens and one rust-and-black rooster, along with some chicken wire for fencing. And on the way home, she told him about her plans to rebuild a coop that she’d seen behind the barn. So they could raise more chickens, and then they’d have their own eggs.
Paul parked the wagon beside the barn, and he helped Letty down.
“I’ll be right back to help,” she told him then ran off to the house.
He unhitched the horses, sent them out in the corral and returned to the barn to find Letty. He stopped when he saw she’d changed into her pair of jeans and what looked to be one of her brother’s shirts. She had the sleeves rolled up to her elbows and the tails tucked into the pants with a belt circling her tiny waist. He groaned as his body stirred with feelings he didn’t want to examine. This woman would be the death of him. Well, he only had himself to blame. He was the one who'd bought her the damn pants.
She looked up at him. “Will you help me move the coop from behind the barn?”
He nodded as they walked out behind the barn into the sunlight and found the abandoned structure. “I better add a few nails before we start transporting it.” He located his hammer in the tack room and a bag of nails. Once he finished the repairs, he brought over the wheelbarrow and, with Letty’s help, lifted the coop onto the front. Slowly, they managed to get the structure across the yard to the back of the house.
Once in place, Letty stood back and looked proudly at her accomplishment. “Will you let me borrow your hammer and nails, and a shovel? I need to dig holes for posts so I can string the wire.”
“You want to do it?”
She nodded. “We kept chickens at the school.”
Paul raised a hand. “Let me guess, you also had to care for the chickens, too.”
She shrugged. “It wasn’t that much trouble. I had some of the girls help me collect the eggs. I just wasn’t happy when I had to kill the chickens for our supper.”
He nodded but wouldn’t mind having fried chicken. “Why don’t we just worry about eggs for now?”
She smiled.
His chest tightened. Letty Drennan Slater kept surprising him more every day. “Reckon I have some wood that might work for posts.”
She gave him another smile.
He needed to get out of there. Digging holes in the hard ground might be what he needed to exhaust his…energy.
***
Two hours later, Letty stood back, enjoying the look of her new chicken coop. It wasn’t a big structure, but there was room for a dozen hens. Maybe in the future she could get Paul to expand it, then she could get more hens, and she’d be selling the eggs to the company store. As more ideas came into her head, she glanced around.
“Oh, no, what are you thinking about doing now?” Paul asked.
She shrugged. “There are so many possibilities, and not just with cattle. I mean, have you thought about planting wheat or hay to feed your own cattle?”
“I have, but we had a bad drought last summer. Part of the reason a lot of cattle died, not enough feed.”
“Still, you should consider planting. It could save a lot of money, especially if you want to enlarge the herd, or even sell the hay to other ranchers.”
“And I thought Johnny had a head for business.”
With the chickens content to be in their new home, they walked to the house.
Inside, Letty went to the stove and started a fire to begin supper, but first to heat up some coffee.
Paul put his hat on the hook, and then sat down at the table. “I like your idea to plant hay, but right now, with Johnny back in Chicago, I’m not sure i
t's possible for another undertaking. The first thing I need to concentrate on is looking for the rest of our herd.”
Once the coffee was reheated, she poured two cups. “My brother left so fast, it was difficult to sit him down to talk about the ranch.”
Paul hesitated then finally spoke, “Johnny has pretty much left me to handle the herd. He’s had other interests. Remember when we said that the man who sold us the ranch had made his money in mining?”
She nodded. “You said the mine played out.”
“Johnny doesn’t think so. He’s been spending some time at the old mine. He’s found some…small nuggets.” He watched her eyes light up.
“Really? How wonderful.”
He shook his head. “I’m not so sure there is more gold, but Johnny planned to keep looking now that winter has passed. I don’t put much stock in searching. It takes a lot of time, and there hasn’t been much gained so far.”
Letty looked fascinated over the information. “This is so exciting.” Her brown eyes sparkled. “Nothing like this ever happens back in Chicago.”
CHAPTER TWELVE
Two days later, Loretta stood on her front porch, shading her eyes from the bright sunlight as she kept a lookout for her guests to arrive. She wanted to return Prudence Morgan’s kindness and have her to the house for tea, along with Bertha and Mrs. Tisdale and Rosa. They'd all worked so hard on the wedding and reception.
She thought back to the beautiful day and twisted the ring on her left hand. Paul had been wonderful to her, including treating her like a loving husband would. The only problem was, it was all pretending. Outside of the kiss they had shared their honeymoon night, the man had kept his distance from her.
Since that night, she had moved from the office into Johnny’s room. There was more space, the bed was bigger and it had a bureau. She could hang up her clothes and keep them from wrinkling. Now, she truly felt she belonged in this house, and she would be sad when the day came she had to leave.
She knew that it was in the marriage bargain, but in the past three weeks since their first meeting, she had come to care about the man. Several times, she’d caught him looking at her. It gave her hope that he might have some feelings for her, too? And what would happen when Johnny returned and took her back to Chicago? Should she tell everyone here she was just going for a visit, and then never return? How would Paul explain the end of their marriage?
Letty glanced toward the road and saw a carriage, followed by a wagon. She put on a smile and went to greet her guests as the buggy pulled up in front of the house.
Paul hurried from the barn in time to help Prudence climb out of the buggy.
“Thank you, Mr. Slater. It’s nice to have gentlemen around who are so helpful.”
“My pleasure. Please, call me Paul.”
“Thank you, Paul. And my friends call me Prudence.”
He nodded and assisted Bertha from the buggy, then went to the wagon and helped Mrs. Tisdale and Rosa. He even spoke some Spanish to Rosa.
She blushed as he escorted her and Mrs. Tisdale into the house.
Letty followed closely with Bertha and Prudence.
Once inside the door, there were several gasps as the group wandered around the large main room.
“This is so quaint, Letty,” Prudence said. “And a lot bigger than I imagined.” She touched the back of one of the chairs. “And the furnishings…How nice that you have them.”
“Yes, my brother and Paul were lucky to get them in the sale of the ranch, or we’d all be seated on the floor.”
Laughter broke out, and Paul spoke up. “I believe it’s time that I leave.” He did a slight bow. “Ladies, enjoy your afternoon.” He walked over to Letty, leaned down and kissed her right on the lips. He lingered then finally broke away. “I will see you later, wife.” He went out the door.
“Oh, my, “Bertha said. “Newlyweds are so wonderful to watch. So much in love.” She turned to Prudence. “And Michael dotes on you, too.”
“Yes, he does. Letty and I are blessed that we married such good men.”
Letty agreed and directed the ladies to the dining room table that was draped in a white bed sheet serving as a tablecloth. She’d found some lace and yellow ribbon and added it down the center to make it more festive. She had made several plates of small sandwiches, egg salad and homemade elderberry jam. There was also thin-sliced beef left over from last night’s meal. Thanks to Bertha, she had purchased a chocolate cake from the boarding house.
As she motioned for her guests to take their seats, she was glad to see Prudence began the conversation. That was all right with Letty. She didn’t want any attention on her or her marriage.
“Michael does dote on me now, but it was not always the case.” Prudence sent a knowing look to Mrs. Tisdale, then back to Letty. “Our marriage didn’t start off very well. As I explained, I was a mail order bride, and I was not what Michael expected to get as a wife. He said he wanted a strong-willed woman, but he met his match with me. I was definitely more than he bargained for.”
“And Mr. Morgan can be pretty stubborn, too.” Mrs. Tisdale spoke up. “Although, watching the two of you… battle was entertaining.”
Prudence shook her head. “That was because you were not the one who fell into the pig pen.”
Letty gasped as she filled the china teapot from the stove kettle. “You didn’t.”
Prudence nodded. “Oh, yes. We had this terrible argument, and I poked the end of my parasol at him. He grabbed the end, and I jerked hard to free it. Then Michael finally released it, and I fell right on my backside.”
Everyone tried to hide their chuckles, but failed.
“That same day, I packed up and left. I was brokenhearted because I realized how much I loved Michael, but he didn’t like anything I did. Of course, I wasn’t helping my cause by being such a shrew.”
Letty returned to the table and began to pour tea. “Where did you go? Sweetwater Springs?”
Prudence shook her head. “No, to my friends, Darcy and Lina. They’d come out the previous year from the same mail order bride agency in St. Louis to marry ranchers. They moved about halfway to Sweetwater Springs; there’s another road from here that can take you that way. They took me in, but only a day later Michael showed up there.”
Prudence placed her hand over her heart. “I can’t tell you how thrilled I was to see him. He convinced me to come back home with him.” She rubbed her rounded stomach. “Needless to say, things are much better between us.”
Letty clasped her hands together. “Oh, what a lovely story, especially when everything ended so happily. And now you’re having a baby soon.”
Prudence patted her hand. “And someday you will, too. I’ve seen the way Paul looks at you. I doubt a child is far off in your future.”
Letty felt a tightness surrounding her heart. If only that were possible.
***
Paul helped send off the ladies before dark, then came into the house. “Did you have a nice time today?”
“Oh, yes, they are such lovely women. The entire town has been wonderful to me.”
He sat down at the table and took a sandwich. “It’s only a been a town for a few years. Used to be a pretty wild place, and no law to speak of.”
She took a seat across from him. “What made it change?”
“Michael won the gold mine in a poker game.”
Her eyes rounded.
Paul couldn’t help but smile. “Yep, the story was the mine owner thought Michael was bluffing.” He shrugged. “Michael wasn’t. The rest is history.” He popped another sandwich into his mouth.
“I need to fix you some supper.”
He reached for her hand to stop her. “No, this is fine. I’ll just eat the rest of these. But, I wouldn’t mind a big piece of chocolate cake.”
She grinned, her eyes bright. “Oh, yes, your sweet-tooth. What other sweets do you like?”
He leaned forward and covered her mouth with a kiss, lingering a lot longer, b
ut long enough to get addicted to her taste, and her softness. He was in big trouble.
The next day, Paul left the house thinking he needed to stay away from Letty. Then he decided the heck with it. They had to find a way to spend time together. He just had to know when to draw the line. He marched into the house to see Letty doing up the breakfast dishes. “Are you busy this morning?”
She shook her head. “No, I’m just cleaning up.”
“How would you like to go for a ride?”
“Into town?”
“No, on horseback. I thought you might like a look around the countryside and help me look for missing cattle.”
She smiled. “I would love that.” She wiped her hands off. “Let me go and change.” Not five minutes later, she came down the stairs in her jeans.
Oh boy, she was going to drive him crazy.
Letty looked down at herself. “Is something wrong?”
“Not a single thing.” He grabbed her coat off the hook, and they walked out and toward the barn.
He was surprised when she helped saddle her own horse. Once the horses were ready, they walked them into the corral and he handed her Duke’s reins. “Get up, I’ll see if I need to adjust the stirrups.”
Letty didn’t hesitate and put her fur-lined boot into the stirrup. She swung her leg over the back of the big horse with ease. She loved riding horses.
He made some adjustment. “How is that?”
She stood and smiled. “Perfect.”
He smiled then walked to Simon and swung up easily onto his horse. “Come on.” He walked the horses to the gate, and went out into the path toward the pastures.
After they reached a clearing, he began to move faster, and she eagerly stayed up with him. He sent her a challenging glint, kicked his horse and shot off.
She'd never liked being left behind and kicked her horse in the sides, and followed him. She watched Paul as he leaned low over his horse.
He was one with the animal as they raced across the prairie. She imitated his actions with ease. She could handle the animal’s speed and caught up to him.
Montana Sky: Slater's Bride (Kindle Worlds) Page 11