“This is one smart kid.” He ruffled the boy’s hair.
Almost in unison the pair of them picked up a biscuit and dropped it.
Anna laughed. “That’s what you get for being impatient.” She was starting to feel more relaxed here now. “I’m wondering about supper.” She poured some of the leftover milk into her coffee and stirred in a spoonful of sugar. “You drink the rest of this, Max.”
“I don’t want it.”
She emptied the contents into a cup and added water. “It’s good for you.”
“No.”
“You won’t grow strong if you don’t drink milk,” Connor said. “A weedy undernourished ranch hand isn’t much good to me.” He winked at Anna.
“Okay, I’ll drink it.”
Anna turned a laugh into a cough. Connor certainly knew how to manage him.
“What do you think of the house? I mean, beneath all the dust and stuff?”
“I’ll like it once I tidy up a little. It’s a good size.”
“Did you find everything?”
“No, I didn’t like poking around when you weren’t here. Do you have any bed linen?”
“Yes, I use it too. Ma always said every household should have decent bed linen. I probably don’t change it as much as I should, but I do boil it up in the copper.”
“For a man alone trying to run a business and a ranch, you didn’t do too badly.”
She wrung her hands under the table, wondering how to broach the subject of their sleeping arrangements.”
“What’s up there?” Max pointed to the loft.
“It’s where I used to sleep.”
“I want to sleep up there, it can be my room, my own special room.”
“I thought you and Anna could share the double bed until….”
“You sleep with her. I want my own room.” His bottom lip trembled as tears filled his big brown eyes. “I’ve never had a room of my own.”
“Don’t get upset,” Anna soothed. “I’m sure we can work something out.”
Connor quirked his eyebrows. “Go on, I’m all ears.”
Max shot up from the table and bolted for the loft stairs.
“Don’t go up there,” she called out.
“Let him go,” Connor said. “It will give us a chance to talk. Listen, Anna.” He picked up her hand. “I didn’t want to get married, never thought I ever would, but if we share the one bed I can’t promise not to, well I’m a man with the usual urges. I doubt I could stop myself from wanting to claim my marital rights.” Red tinged his cheeks. “Give me your answer, Anna. Yes or no.”
She was inwardly shaking with turmoil, her answer here would probably be one, if not, the most important in her life. Did she want Connor to be a proper husband to her and all that it entailed? She liked him, more than liked if she was truthful. Each time she was near him her heart fluttered. The way they had met and married, surely the hand of fate had intervened. It was meant to be this union between them.
Tension built up between them as she argued with herself. There would be no turning back if her answer was yes. If it was no. Well, she didn’t know how they would cope. Do you want to leave Connor or stay with him? Become a proper wife and in time, God willing, have his babies? Foolish woman, you know what you want. Follow your heart.
“Yes.”
His wide smile erased the usual somber lines on his face and brought a sparkle to his eyes.
“It’s what I want, too. I’ve got strong feelings for you Anna, even on such short acquaintance. We can have a happy life together.” He rose from the table, stepped over to her and wrapped his arms around her.
They jumped apart as Max clambered down the stairs. “I like the loft room. I want it.”
Can it be mine? Please.”
“Okay, it’s yours. I’ll just have to share with Anna.” Connor quirked an eyebrow.
Chapter Nine
After they finished their coffee Connor said, “I’ll show you around outside.”
He didn’t put his hat on, so she didn’t bother with her bonnet. As they stepped outside, he linked arms with her, and it felt so right.
“I have quite a few chickens, I use them for meat as well as eggs.”
The chickens were in a large wire enclosure. One corner had a wooden shelter for them, and the nesting boxes had swing doors at the back, so the eggs could be collected without going into the enclosure.
The barn was enormous, down one end it was neatly stacked with bales of hay, saddles and harnesses. The rest of the building housed Connor’s workshop. Piles of neatly cut timber took up a large amount of space, as did the iron hoops he had collected from the railway freight yard.
“See those pieces of board,” Max said. “They’re called staves and you need twenty-four or thirty-six of them to make a barrel.” Max aired his recently acquired knowledge.
“My, that does sound interesting.”
Connor laughed. “Tell her about the hoops.”
“Those circles of iron we picked up today are called hoops and they hold the barrel together. Connor uses a hoop…..what?”
“A hoop driver.”
It puts the circle of iron on,” Max went on.
“I’ll make a cooper out of this boy yet.”
“I want to be a rancher like you.”
“I’m a rancher and a cooper. I’ll teach you to be both, then when you’re old enough you can decide.”
“Where do you get your timber from?” she asked.
“I get it delivered from a sawmill in long lengths then I cut it to size myself. Once I cut the staves to size, I need to soak them, so they curve properly. I made myself a special trough to do this and I bring buckets of water up from the well when I need to.”
“Sounds complicated.”
“It isn’t if you know what you’re doing and work out a routine.”
“You don’t cut down your own trees. I mean, you’ve got plenty of them growing around here.”
“On my own it’s too much for me to cut down the trees and prepare them. Pa planted a few oak trees here and if I have a special order I might cut down and prepare it myself. Oak is the preferred wood for wine and whiskey barrels.”
“What difference does the type of wood make?” she asked, interested despite herself.
“The grain is finer, making the barrels more easily waterproofed.”
“I didn’t realize there was so much to know.”
“It brings in money. I couldn’t keep the ranch going on my own without it.”
“You never thought of moving into town?”
“No. I don’t like the hustle and bustle of a town or a lot of people because of my face and limp. I keep thinking everyone is staring at me whether they are or not. Makes me uncomfortable.”
“I’m sure they’re not.” She leaned into him and ran her finger along the jagged section of skin. “It’s not as noticeable as you think.”
His hand cupped her head so his lips could claim hers in a passionate kiss that sent sparks shooting through the whole of her body.
“Why are you kissing, Anna?” Max’s query had them stepping apart.
“I felt like it,” Connor said with a grin. “When you want to, you can call me pa and Anna ma. We’re you’re family now, Max.”
“You’re our little boy,” she said.
He stared at them for a moment before turning away, but not before she had seen the sheen of tears in his eyes.
“Do you have a root cellar?” She wanted to break the silence between them with a mundane topic.
“Yes, there’s a trapdoor in the kitchen near the back door. It’s not very large and you need to climb down into it.”
“I hope there’s a ladder.”
He laughed. “There is. Come on, I’ll show you the rest of the place.”
Max skipped on ahead, they walked more sedately. Pastures near the house and barn were neatly fenced with post and rails, everywher
e else appeared open to her. Closer to the hills the land was heavily treed, and she wondered whether wild animals might lurk there. She must warn Max to stay clear of it. For a small boy it wouldn’t take much to get lost.
Most probably the area would have been cleared to give Connor more grazing land if he’d had the time and someone to help him do so.
“I think I’ve had enough exploring for one day. It’s a good place you’ve got. I’m sure Max and I will be very happy living here.”
“That’s good.” He squeezed her hand. “I doubt if I could live in town. My nerves get the better of me sometimes. I can cope out here in the peace and quiet. If there’s too much noise I go to pieces.”
“I want to get back to the house and tidy up a little before I start on supper. I don’t suppose you’ve got any lard?”
“I have, it’s in a bucket dangling down the well to keep cool. I store butter there too when I have it. None for the moment, I’m afraid. There’s dried and salted meat and vegetables in the root cellar. If you make a list of what you need, I’ll take you into Skilton, our nearest town, it’s only an hour or so away and you can buy what you need. Like I said, I didn’t cook much for myself after my mother passed. I threw out all the little bags of herbs and stuff she used.”
“Maybe I could make us a stew.”
“Sounds good. Take Max back to the house with you. Get him to help you. There’s a couple of things I need to do that I’d rather him not see.” He frowned. “I kept an old mare to help settle the younger horses down.” He shook his head. “She toppled over a few moments ago and if she’s not dead already, I’ll have to put her out of her misery. I can’t let her suffer and I don’t want the vultures getting at her. I’ll have to burn the body as she’s too big for me to dig a hole to bury her. She’s been here for years and doesn’t deserve to be just left lying out in a paddock.”
“I’m sorry.” Anna felt for him. No decent rancher liked to see their animals suffer. Her father had been a hard man and she had once heard him crying after he had put down a horse after it broke a leg.
“Max, sweetheart, come back to the house with me.”
“No, I want to stay with Connor.”
“I’ll be back soon. I just need to do a couple of things first. You help Anna she doesn’t want to go down into the root cellar alone.”
“That’s right, it might be dark and there could be spiders.” She gave a theatrical shudder.
“Girls are sissy,” Max said.
“We are not.”
“You’d be doing me a big favor if you went with her, son.”
“Oh, all right.”
They headed toward the house with Max skipping along in front of her. She glanced over one shoulder in time to see Connor leaving the barn carrying his Winchester.
Once inside the kitchen, she found the door to the root cellar and opened it. It was dark and cool. She lit a lantern standing on a shelf at the top of the steps and it illuminated the place enough for her to see barrels stacked on the floor and smaller ones on a shelf running around three sides of the room. Max followed behind her. Everything was neatly labelled. Pork, beef, vinegar. Potatoes, pumpkin, onions and corn were all laid out in an orderly fashion.
A barrel of apple cider probably came from Pastor Schmidt. She decided to change her menu and would now have fried potatoes, ham and eggs with pancakes. Quick and easy. Without any herbs or spices the stew she had planned to make would probably be flavorless. There was an empty barrel with a handle on it to carry the supplies up to the kitchen and place them on the table ready.
“I didn’t see any spiders.” Max sounded disappointed.
“No, luckily.”
A shot rang out and Anna shuddered.
“What was that?” Max asked.
“I’m not sure, it doesn’t concern us. Come and help me change the bed linen.”
He followed her into the main bedroom. On the top shelf of the closet were two sets of bed linen. They were white, so Connor must have boiled them up like he had said. She would have liked to have had pretty lace trimmed linen for this, their first night together in his house.
What would it be like when Connor made her his wife? Her mother had never spoken about such matters and she hadn’t had any close female friends she could ask. No woman wanted their husband to be disappointed on their wedding night.
“Can you take these sheets outside and put them in the washing room. I want to do a big wash up tomorrow. I’ll get up early to light the copper.”
He darted off.
She opened the bedroom window to let in fresh air before unpacking her trunk and separating her own and Max’s clothing.
The closet was quite spacious with plenty of room for her things as Connor only had a few items of clothing. There was plenty of hanging space in the center with shelves on either side. Once the trunk was empty, she placed it on the floor of the closet.
Max sat on the back porch obviously waiting for Connor to return.
“How about we collect a few eggs for supper?”
“From the chickens?”
“Yes.”
As they made their way to the hen house, she walked slowly, pensively while he skipped along. They collected about a dozen eggs. The hens were obviously good layers.
In the washing room she found a broom, mop and bucket. There were cleaning rags, cut up towels by the looks of them and a tin of bee’s wax polish and several cakes of lye soap. Obviously, the late Mrs. Grey had been a good housekeeper.
Strange how she suddenly felt close to this unfortunate woman who had lived such a hard life. No wonder Connor couldn’t bear to see Harry hit her, not after what he’d said about the abuse his mother had suffered at the hands of his drunken father. “I’ll look after your son, Mrs. Grey, never fear,” she whispered.
By the time Connor returned dusk was falling. She had washed the floors dusted the place and washed herself and Max. The coffee pot was on the stove and it would only take a few minutes to cook their supper as she had everything laid out ready.
He stepped into the kitchen looking weary and sad. No rancher liked having to shoot an animal even if it was the only humane thing to do.
“I heard the shot, I’m sorry.”
“It had to be done.”
“I know, it was a kindness really. Do you want to wash up before supper? I’ve got everything ready, so it won’t take long to cook, so you’ll have time. I boiled an extra pot of water for you. Max and I have both cleaned ourselves up. I thought tomorrow I might put the copper on to do the washing or maybe have a bath,” she gabbled, wondering what was wrong with her.
“Okay. I’ll strip off and have a wash and a shave.”
Chapter Ten
About ten minutes later, Connor sauntered into the kitchen, his hair clinging damply to his head, freshly shaven and bare from the chest up. “I’ll put on a clean shirt,” he said, giving her a speculative look. “Haven’t you seen a man without his shirt on?”
She shook her head and he laughed.
His muscular chest was covered in whorls of dark hair, his skin tanned, as if he often worked stripped to the waist. His arms were even more deeply tanned, muscles well defined. What a splendid specimen of manhood he was.
Excitement had her mouth drying up, her breath catching in her throat. In a couple of hours, she would be touching his bare skin with her hands. Such wanton, shocking thoughts punched the air from her lungs, leaving her gasping for breath. Luckily, he had left the room by this time.
She poured some of the pancake mix into one pan, eggs, fried potatoes and ham in another. He was only gone for a couple of minutes, yet it gave her time to compose herself.
“Mm, something smells good.”
“Pancakes, ham, fried potatoes and eggs. Sit down.”
“Ma used to cook this a lot, my favorite meal except for a fat juicy steak.”
There was nothing to spread on the pancakes. “We really need butt
er,” she said.
“We’ll get some when we go into town. It keeps for quite a while in the well.”
“Yes, it would, the lard certainly did.” She dished up the rest of his food. “If you’ve got clothes that need washing, I’ll do them tomorrow for you.”
“It’s going to be warm and sunny,” he said.
“How do you know?”
“Mm, this is good. I can tell by the sky, besides, in late spring we nearly always get good weather.”
She sat down and started eating her meal.
“Did you like living in New Orleans?”
“Not really. I never saw much of it. After everything that happened, I never want to set foot in the place again.” Bitterness edge her voice.
After they had eaten, Connor surprised her by asking. “Do you want me to help you with the dishes?”
“No, it’s all right thanks, I can do them.”
“Good, I want to write up my ledger.”
“Oh?”
“For the barrel making. I’ve got another one for the ranch. It’s easier to keep the two of them separate.”
“I was a bookkeeper for Mr. Moreau.”
“So, you said. I haven’t got time to show you how I do things tonight. Maybe another time, you might even know a better way of doing it than I.”
As he stepped away, she started clearing the dishes.
Time passed; she knew she was deliberately dithering in the kitchen. With Max in bed, she was starting to feel anxious about tonight.
“Are you coming to bed soon,” Connor finally called out.
“In a minute.”
“I think you’re finished,” he said. “Go and get ready for bed while I step outside for a minute.”
The time of reckoning had arrived. Was she up to the task?
The lamp he had lit in the bedroom cast out a comforting glow. She turned the bedclothes back. Before releasing her hair, she changed into a simple lace trimmed nightgown and sitting in front of the mirror started brushing her hair.
Suddenly Connor appeared. He had already taken his socks and boots off. Without saying a word, he took the brush from her hand and ran it down the full length of her hair a few times.
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