Her eyes grew wide. “How is he doing that?”
“His house is two stories. He has the view of this entire place when he’s on the second floor.”
He did? She had never taken the time to look over at his property. But she opened the door and stepped onto the porch. She scanned his land and realized she could see the top of Seth’s house from here.
“I don’t know what to do about him,” she said as she went back into the house, slamming the door behind her.
Val shrugged. “I don’t know, either. I figure I’ll just act like he can’t bother me. In my experience, if people think they can’t get to you, they eventually give up.”
Maybe. Or maybe not. Seth was probably the most persistent person she knew. Val might have learned that money wasn’t all that mattered, but it seemed to mean a great deal to Seth. He only wanted to be with her so that he could combine their properties.
“Try not to let it bother you.” Val cupped her face in his hands. “You can’t control what he does. You can only control what you do. I, for one, refuse to let him ruin what we have.” With a smile, he leaned forward to kiss her.
The heat of her frustration began to cool. She didn’t want Seth to ruin her time with Val. With Val, she had something wonderful, and she wanted nothing more than to get lost in the thrill of being with him.
When their kiss ended, he said, “I’ll start breakfast while you take care of the animals. What kind of eggs would you like this morning?”
“I would like poached eggs.”
“Your wish is my command. I shall go and poach the eggs for you.”
She chuckled, and at once, she felt much better. Val had a way of easing the situation, no matter how tense it was. “Well, I can’t milk the cow without pulling my skirt up. It’ll get in my way. I’ll change into a pair of pants. Then we’ll have fresh milk for breakfast.” She gave him a quick kiss then hurried to the bedroom to change.
Chapter Eighteen
The next afternoon, Val and Nelly went to town with his trunks and the clothes he’d brought with him from Boston. He had taken out the few items he could wear around the homestead, but most of them were going to have to go. It felt strange to get rid of them. They were a part of his old life. His parents and sister had gone to Europe. His friends were back in Boston. All he had left to show for his old life were his grooming supplies, a few ties, his undergarments, shoes, a hat, and a shirt and pair of pants.
In some ways, he felt that by getting rid of the trunks and clothes, he was letting go of his past. And that was, perhaps, for the best. This new world he had stepped into was so different from that one. Nothing was the same here. The people all acted differently. They dressed and talked differently. Even in church, they weren’t the least bit formal. There were no servants to help with the household work. The people had to do everything for themselves. Or, at least, that’s how it was on all the homesteads around here.
But he was slowly adjusting to it all. In some ways, it was satisfying to do the physical tasks of running a home. There was a sense of accomplishment in it. He and Nelly were starting to fall into a comfortable routine. They still had a ways to go before everything ran smoothly, but he was getting better about doing the chores with each new day. He had enjoyed checking the property and taking note of the crops yesterday. He could see himself doing more of that. He didn’t even mind feeding the animals. He wasn’t sure he ever wanted to milk a cow again or clean another stall, but no one knew what the future might bring.
It took him and Nelly three whole hours to sell everything, including the trunks, but they managed to do it. Most of the items were sold by going door to door, though the mercantile owners and clothing store owners took a few things.
With a small portion of the money they made, he asked Nelly if he could get a couple of things he had wanted the last time they were looking at clothes for him but hadn’t because of how much they cost. He got the vest with the nice golden color with an attractive design stitched into it and a couple of the nicer shirts he hadn’t been able to get before.
Afterward, he also got Nelly a couple of things since she needed them. Nelly had been reluctant to spend any of the money on herself, so he had to talk her into it. In the end, though, he thought she was better off having a few new items to take home with them.
After they were done shopping, they put their purchases under the seat of the wagon. He happened to glance over at a building next to a bank and noticed that the company specialized in buying stocks. He had never done any actual investing before. His father had managed all of that, but perhaps now might be a good time to try his hand at it.
He turned to Nelly. “How much money do we need to live on comfortably?”
Her eyebrows rose in surprise. “Did you want to buy something else?”
“I want to buy some stocks and see if we can make any interest off of them.” When he realized she didn’t understand what he meant by interest, he explained, “Interest is profit. If the stocks we put money into do well, we’ll make interest. There’s a possibility the stocks won’t do well. That’s why it’s never a good idea to put all of your money into one stock. If you spread the money out across a couple of them, you’re more likely to reap a profit. My friend back East—Jim—told me about a couple of promising stocks. I was thinking of seeing if that business over there,” he pointed to the building, “sold the stocks I’m interested in. But I only want to use the money we don’t need. I learned the hard way that you don’t want to put everything you have into the stock market.”
She opened her drawstring purse and counted the money in it. “I’d like to have $5 to save in my dresser drawer. That will give you $12.35. Your clothes and trunks brought in more money than I’ve ever seen in my whole life. Do you want to use that?”
If she knew how much of a loss he’d taken when he sold his things, she wouldn’t be so impressed. But, perhaps, he could take the $12.35 and turn it into the kind of money he was used to.
“Yes,” he replied. “I think you’ll be pleasantly surprised when you discover what investing money can do for you. Well, that is when you do it right.”
She didn’t seem to know what to think of his comment, so he decided he’d wait for a year and then take her down here to show her what happened with the $12.35 she was giving him to invest. Taking her by the arm, he took her to the investment company.
When he had finished distributing the money among four different company stocks, they went to the post office. Two letters were waiting for him. One was from his family, and the other was from Jim.
He read both letters aloud to her after they were heading home. His parents and sister were managing comfortably in London. They were already working on connecting with the influential members of society. He had to stop halfway into the letter and explained the differences between a duke, a marquess, an earl, a viscount, and a baron.
“The different titles don’t mean each gentleman has more money,” he concluded. “It only gives him more esteem in society. No one out here in Omaha cares about a title. Back in London, though, being an earl is an important distinction.”
Her eyebrows furrowed, and she glanced over at him as she led the horses down the dirt path. “Aren’t you the son of an earl?”
He nodded. “When my father dies, I’ll inherit his title. Then if we have a son, he’ll inherit it from me. Only the oldest gets the title. If I were to die without having any sons, then the title will go to my nearest male relative. This is why most titled gentlemen try to have at least two sons. That keeps the title directly in their line.”
“So, it really is something special to be the son of an earl?”
Noting the surprise in her voice, he said, “Only if you’re the next in line to inherit the title. And,” he added, “only if you happen to be in a society that cares for that kind of thing.”
“Well, if you’re the son of an earl and you’re married to me, what does that make me?”
“Nothing right now.
But when I inherit the title, you’ll be a countess.”
“A countess?”
He nodded. “If we were in London, I would be addressed as Lord Edon and you would be addressed as Lady Edon. That’s because I would be Valentine Silverton, the Earl of Edon. Edon is the title. I doubt we’ll ever be in London, though, so we’ll always be called Mr. and Mrs. Silverton.”
She stared at him for a moment then said, “It sounds pretty important in London.”
“It is. Though, now that I think about it, some families in Boston were impressed with it. Out here, all people do is give you a blank look or laugh when you tell them you’re the son of an earl.”
“Well, it’s because we don’t have any counts or countesses in the area. At least, I don’t know about them if they’re here.”
“If any are here, they wouldn’t bother to mention it.”
“You mentioned it when I met you.”
“And you didn’t seem to care,” he reminded her with a smile. “I’ve since learned to shut up about it.”
She gave him an apologetic look. “I’m sorry, Val.”
“It’s alright. You didn’t know what it means, just like I didn’t know what it meant that you owned a homestead.”
She laughed. “I suppose there’s bound to be some confusion when three meddling sisters match up two people without telling them what they’re doing.”
“To be fair, I don’t think they knew what I meant when I told them I was the son of an earl. They also assumed I already knew what being a homesteader was about. You can’t blame them. Their hearts were in the right place.” He put his arm around her shoulders and gave her a hug. He would have kissed her cheek if the wagon wasn’t bouncing them around so much.
She leaned into him and grinned. “That’s the only reason I’m not upset with them. For a while, I was tempted to haul them out somewhere and let them rot, but I’ve decided to let them live.”
Amused at her joke, he replied, “I’m sure they’re relieved.”
He released her shoulders and finished the letter from his family. Then he opened the one Jim had written to him. He read up until the point where Jim mentioned his parents making him marry Carla.
“What is it?” Nelly asked, glancing over at him.
He read through the rest of the letter in silence to make sure he was reading what he thought he was reading. He read it through a second time, and the words didn’t change. He checked the date on the letter. It was too late for him to stop the wedding. The letter had been sitting at the post office for an entire week. But even if he had gotten this letter as soon as it arrived in Omaha, there wouldn’t have been time to send a reply back. The wedding had already taken place.
“Val?” Nelly asked.
He set the letter in his lap and sighed. “My friend, Jim, got married to someone who’s not going to make him happy. His parents arranged the marriage. Apparently, his father wanted to combine his business with her father’s business. They did it to increase the wealth between the two families. Jim’s not going to be happy with his wife. The only person she loves is herself. I wish I had talked him into coming to Omaha with me. He would have been better off without the money.”
Never in a million years did he think Jim’s parents were going to arrange a marriage for him, and by the words Jim used in his letter, he hadn’t expected it, either.
“Maybe things will be alright,” Nelly said. “Look at us. Things didn’t look very good at first, but we managed just fine.”
“Yeah, but you’re not constantly checking your reflection in a mirror.” Her eyebrows furrowed in confusion, so he added, “I know who he married, and she’s too in love with herself to care about anyone else. I’d rather put up with Seth every day for the rest of my life than be with her.”
He shook his head. His poor friend. And he wasn’t even in Boston to lend him support. All he could do was write a letter telling him he was sorry to hear the bad news.
“Well, I hope things go better for your friend than you think they will,” Nelly said.
He decided not to comment. He didn’t see how this would be a good thing. Unless Carla had a serious change of heart, Jim was going to find out exactly why Val had refused to propose to her.
If only he’d warned Jim not to marry Carla when he wrote to Jim to let him know he’d made it to Omaha. If Val had known what Jim’s parents were planning, he would have urged Jim to come out to this place. Nelly had two younger sisters who were of marriageable age. Even if this life was nothing like the kind he and Jim had been used to, Jim would have been better off leaving the family money and living out here. But there was nothing he could do about it now. The wedding was done. Jim was now married to Carla.
With a resigned sigh, he put Jim’s letter back in the envelope and tucked it into his pocket with his family’s letter. He wrapped his arm around Nelly’s shoulders. Maybe, at some point, he could help Jim, but he couldn’t help him today. He gave Nelly’s cheek a kiss then turned his attention to the things they’d have to do when they got home.
***
A week later, Nelly had just come back from checking the cows in the field when she saw that her family had gathered onto the front lawn. Her pa, ma, and Daisy were setting out a large blanket that was next to a couple of large picnic baskets. A few feet away, she couldn’t help but notice that Patricia and Erin were gathered around Val.
Her eyes narrowed. Had they made him another shirt? After a moment, she saw that Patricia had unfolded a blue and black plaid shirt. Yep, they’d made him another shirt. With a frustrated sigh, she urged her horse over to them. As soon as they noticed her, they stopped talking.
She got off the horse and closed the distance to them. “Just how many shirts do you plan to make for my husband?” she asked Patricia and Erin, hand on her hip.
“I was just telling them I have more than enough shirts,” Val told her. “But I thought it’d be impolite to say no to another one, especially since it’s the last one they’ll make for me.”
“It’s true,” Patricia assured her. “We weren’t trying to steal him from you.”
“Not that they could even if they tried,” Val said and went over to her so he could put his arm around her waist. He gave her a quick kiss. “You’re the only one I want.”
Nelly felt the heat of her anger cool.
Patricia giggled. “You really think we’d try to take Val away from you? I thought by now you would have realized we’d do no such thing. We worked hard to get him out here to marry you.”
Erin nodded. “You have no idea how hard it was to get to town to see if he answered our letter and then write a reply without Ma and Pa finding out. We could have probably talked Ma into going along with it, but Pa would have put an end to it right away.”
“We didn’t go through all that sneaking around just to take him from you.” After a moment, Patricia added, “Even if he is handsome.”
This time Erin giggled, and Nelly let out a frustrated sigh.
“I’m sure they’ll find husbands of their own soon enough,” Val assured Nelly. “Then they’ll focus their attention elsewhere.”
Nelly could only hope that would be happening sooner rather than later. She didn’t need to vie for her husband’s attention every time they saw her family.
As if she could read her mind, Patricia teased, “And to think Nelly didn’t even want a husband before you married her. She used to say that she wanted to spend her entire life managing this homestead all by herself.” She gave Nelly a wink. “Fortunately for you, Erin, Daisy, and I knew better.”
“The right man makes everything much better,” Erin said.
“And Val is right for you.” Patricia patted Nelly on the arm. “We’re just hoping we can get someone as good looking and sweet as him when it’s time for us to marry, but we have no desire to take him for ourselves.”
“She’s right,” Erin added. “You need to stop looking at us like you plan to kill us.”
Nelly wasn’t
looking at them that way. Was she? She glanced at Val who nodded in agreement with them.
Val smiled. “It’s nice you’re jealous, but there’s no need to be. I only want you.”
“Are you four going to stand there and talk all day, or are you going to sit down and have lunch with us?” Nelly’s ma called out.
Patricia and Erin called out, “We’re coming!” and went to the blanket.
Val turned to Nelly and gave her a playful touch under the chin. “I only love you. Let me put the horse away for you. Then I’ll put the shirt in the house. You should go on and see your family.”
Nelly’s heartbeat picked up in pleasure at his gesture and his words. She handed the reins to Val then went over to the blanket.
“It looks like you and Val are getting along well,” her ma said.
Despite the warmth that flooded her face, Nelly replied, “Yes, I enjoy having him around.”
Her ma’s eyes widened. “You enjoy having him around a little bit?”
Ignoring the way her sisters were giggling amongst themselves, Nelly sat on the blanket. “I like having him around a lot.”
Her ma grinned. “So it won’t be long before I’ll get to hold my first grandbaby?”
Her pa shook his head. “Don’t rush things. Things will happen when they’re ready.”
Nelly breathed a sigh of relief. She’d rather not have so many people focus on her. It’d be best if they changed the topic to other things.
But then her ma said, “She might have a boy.”
Her pa’s eyes lit up, and though he didn’t say anything, Nelly knew he would be delighted to have a grandson. She was sure he’d be happy to have a granddaughter, too, but none of his daughters—not even her—wanted to go fishing with him or toss around a ball.
“I’m famished,” Daisy spoke up as she set out the plates. “I don’t know if I can wait for Val to get here.”
Nelly's Mail Order Husband Page 17