A Heart's Gift

by Lena Nelson Dooley

  How far are we from the ranch? She glanced around but couldn’t tell for sure. Finally, she raised her eyes to peek at him. A frown wrinkled his brow and drew his lips down. He almost looked worried.

  “Yes, I’m sure.” She sat up as straight as she could...with his arm around her shoulders.

  When had he put it there instead of on the back of the seat? Lorinda was more unsettled than at any time since she came to the ranch. Maybe she should have taken her money and gold and fled instead of agreeing to marry him.

  They couldn’t get home soon enough for her, so he’d move.

  Home? Yes, she felt at home on the Rocking V, and Franklin had said the ranch belonged to her as much as to him.

  At least her son would have an inheritance that was worth more than two small pokes of gold pebbles.

  With his arm lightly touching Lorinda’s shoulders, Franklin wanted more. Every spot on his arm where they touched tingled with the connection. Half of his heart wanted to cling to her until he could convince her to be his completely, the other half, to keep his distance. What a dichotomy! Yesterday and today must be an aberration. The sooner they got back to the ranch, the sooner things would settle down to what they’d been before the wedding...with a few modifications. Modifications that shouldn’t affect the way he ran his ranch...or his family.

  “Franklin, can we go to Stella’s and pick up Michael?” Lorinda’s quiet words penetrated his thought processes, bringing them to a halt. “I really miss him.”

  Why not? “Rusty, keep driving to the Morgan Ranch. That should still give you plenty of time to get us home and back to town before Mrs. Oleson is finished with...whatever she’s doing.”

  “Sure, Boss.”

  Franklin didn’t want to make a fuss in front of Lorinda about Rusty calling him that, so once again he let it slide. Was everything in his life changing, just because he made a business-like deal with...his wife?

  Someone saw them driving up, because Stella came out on the front porch before they reached the house. She held Michael, and the baby’s hands swatted through the air in a way that touched Franklin’s heart. He was glad Lorinda wanted to come get her...their son. He’d missed seeing the little man. He wanted to get back to their rituals at mealtime when he played with Michael while the women got the food on the table.

  He jumped down from the buggy, then reached back to help Lorinda. Her waist was tiny for a woman who’d had a baby less than four months ago. She practically ran toward the front porch.

  Stella met her at the bottom of the steps and handed off Michael. “I was just about to feed him.”

  Lorinda turned toward Franklin. “Do we have time for me to feed him before we head to the ranch?”

  He glanced at Rusty.

  His ranch hand nodded. “I won’t have to be back to town until mid-afternoon.”

  “Rand is out in the barn checking on a new colt.” Stella held her hand up to shade her eyes from the sun.

  “Let’s go.” Franklin nodded at Rusty, and the two men headed toward the large red building that housed the growing herd of Thoroughbred horses.

  Rand’s horses were known all over Colorado and even out of the state. He sold to the U.S. cavalry and other ranchers. His choice to change from cattle to raising the horses had carried him through the slowing economy so far. He didn’t own as much land as Franklin did, so he hadn’t been able to sustain as many cattle as were needed to keep a ranch afloat. Franklin was thankful his father and grandfather had the foresight to add so much land to the Rocking V. All the viable ranch land in the area was owned by someone, and people didn’t decide to move away very often.

  Now he had something else, besides his pretty new wife, to capture his thoughts...at least, he hoped so.

  What bliss, sitting in a comfortable rocking chair, nursing my wonderful son. Lorinda didn’t plan to spend another night away from him. Especially not a night and early morning that was as awkward as this last one had been.

  “I’ve made us lemonade.” Stella bustled in carrying a tray with a pitcher and two glasses. “We didn’t use all the lemons at the wedding.”

  “Thank you. Today is already plenty hot.” Lorinda cast another glance at her son, nestled in her arm, before she took the cold glass. “Where did you get the ice?”

  Lorinda knew they had an ice house in town, but by the time they would try to bring it to the ranch, the block would be melted.

  “When Rand built the ranch house, he also turned a cave not far from the house into ice storage.” Stella took a sip before continuing. “A cave is naturally cooler, and he layers sawdust to cover the blocks of ice the men cut from a small lake we own. We have ice all summer long.”

  “I wonder why Franklin doesn’t have an ice house.” She set her glass on the pie crust table beside her chair and snuggled Michael even closer.

  Stella glanced out the window toward the barn. “I’m sure he’ll make one for you if you ask him. From what we all saw yesterday, the man’s completely crazy about you, as he should be.”

  Yes, he should be, but he isn’t. “He’s done a lot for Michael and me, so I don’t want to be too demanding.” That should end this conversation about ice...and heat.

  A merry, lyrical laugh burst from Stella. “Honey, after the way that man kissed you yesterday, in front of God and everyone...”

  Lorinda couldn’t stop a blush from rushing heat to her cheeks. Probably part of the fire the man lit inside her.

  “I’m sure last night was even hotter than usual.” A wicked grin spread across her friend’s face. “I’m glad Franklin has finally gotten over Miriam and what she did to him. The man deserves a loving wife like you.”

  Lorinda wished a hole would open up and swallow her. This kind of conversation is what she’d been dreading. Of course, having a friend like Stella might come in handy. Since she was speaking so openly about things that usually were kept quiet, maybe she could find out who Miriam was and what it was she did to him. She was tired of fighting the jealousy whenever someone mentioned that woman’s name. Now how should I approach the subject?

  She placed a diaper on her shoulder and held her son against it. With rhythmic patting on his back, he should soon release the air from his stomach.

  “Stella, I shouldn’t be asking you, but I want to know about something, and I don’t want to upset Franklin or Mrs. Oleson by asking.”

  Stella set her glass of lemonade on the table beside her chair. “That’s what friends are for, and you know I consider you a good friend. How can I help you?”

  Here goes. She took a deep breath while she formulated the question. “No one has ever told me what happened with this Miriam. Her name has only been mentioned a time or two at the ranch and then skipped over. So what happened?”

  Stella stared at her a moment. “You really should know. I don’t know why Franklin didn’t tell you. It might keep you from having trouble in your relationship.”

  “That’s right.” She didn’t want the other woman to stop.

  “Franklin, Miriam, and Marvin Pratt grew up together. Marvin was Franklin’s best friend, or so he thought. I always thought something was kind of off with Marvin...that he wasn’t sincere as he should be. And I guess I was right.” She twisted her skirt with her fingertips. “Miriam and Franklin were to be married. Such a lot of plans were made. It was going to be the largest wedding ever in these parts. Franklin almost worshiped the ground she walked on.”

  Stella arose from her chair and went to the front door, where she stood studying something outside. Then she turned back. “Two weeks before the wedding, Marvin and Miriam eloped.”

  That wasn’t what Lorinda expected. Poor Franklin. No wonder he had made that declaration to her. He didn’t know if he could trust any woman. He must have built a wall around his heart. But why did he kiss her the way he did if he didn’t want any kind of romantic or physical relationship with her?

  Tears seeped from her eyes and down her cheeks as her son gave a loud burp. She nestled
him at her other breast and began rocking him as he nursed.

  “I didn’t mean to upset you. Maybe I shouldn’t have told you.” Stella pulled a clean hanky from her sleeve and pressed it into Lorinda’s hand.

  “I’m crying for the hurt Franklin must have experienced.” She patted the cotton square against her cheeks. “I’m glad you told me. I understand some things better now. And no one has to know that you told me.”

  Rusty delivered them to the ranch, and Lorinda handed Franklin her sleeping son. He stepped from the buggy, then reached his other hand to help her down.

  After the ranch hand unloaded their luggage, he drove the vehicle toward the carriage house.

  “Welcome home, Mrs. Vine.” Her husband put the baby in her arms, then picked her up in his arms. With deliberate steps, he went up the stone walkway to the porch and carried her over the threshold. Evidently, what he did yesterday didn’t count.

  “I’ll put Michael in his crib.” She whisked into the bedroom she and her son shared.

  After he settled into deep slumber, she went into the parlor and found Franklin waiting for her, leaning against the mantel above the stone-cold fireplace, his arms crossed over his chest. This was the first time she had been alone with him in the ranch house. Everything felt different...and awkward. What would happen now?

  “How will we keep Mrs. Oleson from knowing the truth about our marriage, since she lives in the house with us?” She hated to ask the question, but she needed to know what he expected.

  He pushed away from the mantel and crossed to stand before the chair where she sat. “You are now the woman of the house. You can choose what you want to do and tell her what you want her to do.”

  She stared up at him. “I don’t want to upset her routine.” He was so tall, her neck felt crimped.

  “You can take complete control of our rooms–the cleaning, the laundry, and other things, so she won’t know where anyone slept. There’s a nice sized dressing room between your room and mine.” He thrust his hands into the back pockets of his trousers. She had seen that pose many times when he talked to her about something serious.

  She arose from the chair and moved far enough from him so she was comfortable looking at him without the crick in her neck.

  “When she’s in the room with us, we must make her think we’re in love with each other.” He turned away and glanced out the window.

  That won’t be hard for me. He’d awakened something in her heart that was drawn to him like metal to a magnet. She would have to silence the small voice that kept telling her she was living a lie.

  “Let’s get your things moved into the larger bedroom, where I sleep. It was the room my parents shared, as did my grandparents. That’s what Mrs. Oleson will expect.” He turned back toward her, his eyes searching hers. “Is that all right with you?”

  “All right.” She gave a tentative reply.

  “I will actually sleep in the dressing room.”

  Lorinda let out the breath she hadn’t realized she was holding. “That could work.”

  “The smaller bedroom you and Michael have shared can be turned into a nursery.” Evidently, he had thought through all of this.

  She was glad she wouldn’t have to work it out.

  “I’m even thinking of asking Mrs. Oleson if she’d like larger quarters for herself. There are two nice-sized rooms across the upstairs hallway from where her room is now. We can turn them into a parlor and bedroom for her, for when she wants privacy. She’s not getting any younger, and I want her comfortable for the rest of her life here in our home.”

  Our home. The words were a balm to her heart.

  “And then she wouldn’t be sleeping in the room above our bedroom.” A slow smile crossed his face.

  Now Lorinda understood. Mrs. Oleson wouldn’t be able to hear anything that happened in their bedroom...or anything that didn’t happen.

  Chapter 19

  Unable to take his eyes off Lorinda holding their son on the front porch swing, Franklin walked from the barn to the house. “Michael really likes to be outdoors, doesn’t he?”

  Her smile was brighter than the evening sunlight filtering through the trees. “Yes, and it’s cooler out here right now than it has been all day.”

  The empty space beside her drew him, but if he was going to keep his promise, he couldn’t sit there. He ambled to the rocking chair on the other side of the front door. He pulled it out from near the wall until it was close enough for him to prop his feet on the railing.

  Franklin had gone to the barn to work when they finished fixing the rooms they would share to put some distance between them. He made a conscious effort to concentrate on everything else besides this woman he’d married, and he’d been fairly successful. But with her sitting so near, an awareness that she was his wife teased his senses.

  He cast a glance at her. “We got a lot done today, didn’t we?”

  “It helped that Mrs. Oleson left plenty of food for us in the spring house, so I didn’t have to cook...and of course, those cream puffs you bought were especially good.” She looked down at her son when he grasped one of her curls in his fist and pulled. “Michael is so much more aware of his surroundings now.”

  “Yes, he is.” Franklin wished he was the one holding the silky strand of that golden curl in his hand. How can I be jealous of a baby? He’d dreamed about running his hands through her curls since he’d discovered she was a widow.

  Lorinda met his gaze. “I’m glad we finished fixing up the rooms before Mrs. Oleson got back from town.”

  “And I’m glad it makes you happy.” He shifted to get more comfortable in the hard wooden chair. Ahhh. He looked out across his property, thanking God for his blessings. “Listen, Lorinda. This is your home. If you want to change things around anywhere else in the house, you can. Maybe do different curtains, change the colors of the rooms, anything at all.” The woman deserved it since he had no intention of giving in to his desires to make theirs a real marriage. Besides, she didn’t want that kind of relationship, even if he was questioning his choice in the matter.

  Surprise lifted her eyebrows as she stared at him. “Why, thank you, Franklin. I might do some of that...over time...but nothing right now.”

  “And if there’s anything you want added to the house, just let me know.” He watched her as she looked out across the property as he had only a few moments ago. For a while, a comfortable silence reigned between them.

  “I was intrigued by the wash room and water closet at the hotel.” She turned her attention back toward him. “Would it even be possible to have something like that in the house...out here so far from town?”

  Well, he wanted her to feel a part of the ranch and house, and she took him up on his suggestion. He stared at the mountain peaks surrounding the ranch, making mental notes of just where the best springs were located. It would take some doing, but he figured it might be possible.

  “I’ll try to find out what all it’ll take to do that.” As he glanced back toward his new wife, he noticed a small cloud of dust on the road leading to the ranch house. “Looks like someone’s coming. Maybe Rusty and Mrs. Oleson. ’Bout time they got here.”

  Lorinda stood and held Michael against her shoulder as she peeked around the vines growing on the trellis behind the swing. “I think she may have been giving us more private time.”

  “I wholeheartedly agree that we need private time.” Had he really blurted out his feelings? He glanced at Lorinda, taking note of the blush coloring her cheeks at his words and what they indicated. He hadn’t meant to embarrass his wife.

  He got up and went down the steps. “It is them. I’ll help Rusty unload the wagon.”

  He assisted their housekeeper down, then grabbed a heavy wooden box from the back and hefted it onto his shoulder before following her to the house.

  After she climbed the steps up to the porch, Mrs. Oleson reached for Michael. Lorinda relinquished him to her and opened the front door. While the housekeeper cooed and
talked to the baby, they started inside.

  “Where do you want this box?” Franklin caught the door with the toe of his boot and waited until his wife preceded him. “Something smells really delicious.”

  “In here.” Mrs. Oleson led them into the kitchen, and he set his burden on the table.

  “The Ladies’ Glee Club prepared our supper.”

  Lorinda reached for the baby. “How nice.” She pulled him close and pressed a kiss to his cheek.

  Franklin loved watching the two of them. His son would be well cared for by his loving mother. What more could he ask? He wouldn’t let himself go down that road, because he knew there were many things he would want to ask of her...but couldn’t.

  “I believe there’s a pot of stew and cornbread still warm from the oven. Marjorie made her famous dried apricot fried pies for dessert.” Mrs. Oleson started removing things from the box. “There’s even a pot of butter and one of honey.”

  Franklin’s stomach started rumbling like a thunderstorm. He was sure everyone in the room could hear.

  Lorinda laughed. “How thoughtful of the ladies, especially since everyone did so much to make our wedding special.” She glanced at him with an amused twinkle in her eye. “And we know Franklin’s ready to eat.”

  “Isn’t he always?” Mrs. Oleson winked at him and laughed.

  With an atmosphere in the home like this, maybe they really could feel normal again...hopefully soon.

  “That was delicious.” Lorinda excused herself from the table, then carried her dishes to the dry sink. “If I keep eating like this, I’ll be as big as the barn.”

  Franklin chuckled and the sound rumbled through her, almost causing her to drop her load. “I can’t imagine that ever happening. Especially not if you work as hard as you did today.”