“Just once, and that was enough.” Thane growled then kissed Lily’s cheek, making her giggle.
“Uncle Thane’s a bear.” Lily poked his chest and he growled again.
“Tell me about the bear you saw,” Jack pleaded. He loved hearing Thane’s stories from his life in the west.
“Some of us went into a mine shaft. We split up because there was a fork in the shaft. It’s powerful dark down there, even with a light. My friend and I got down to work, not noticing a bear slept in the back of the tunnel. We woke him up and he chased us all the way outside. I learned two things that day.”
Jack looked at him expectantly, as did Jemma. “What did you learn, Uncle Thane?”
“First, never enter anywhere dark without making sure there isn’t already an occupant. Second, you only have to worry about a bear eating you if you’re the slowest runner.”
Jack laughed and Jemma smiled, amused by Thane’s story. “Might I assume, then, that you were the faster runner of the two?”
“You assume correctly, ma’am.” Thane tipped his head to her as the carriage stopped in front of the hotel.
After washing for dinner, they ate in the hotel’s opulent dining room then went for a stroll, looking in shop windows as they meandered down the street.
“Is there anywhere you’d like to shop before we leave tomorrow?” Thane asked as Jemma looked in a dress shop window, admiring the American styles.
“I was hoping to find a particular type of store, but haven’t happened across one yet.” Jemma smiled at Thane as she turned back from the window and they continued on their way. Jack walked to her right, holding her hand, while Lily walked between her and Thane, holding onto both of their hands. The little girl alternated between quietly trudging along then chattering when she saw something that sparked her interest.
“What sort of store might that be?” Thane asked as they waited for traffic to pass so they could cross the street.
“A store that sells books informing one how to cook.”
Thane’s gaze snapped up and he looked at Jemma to see if she was teasing or not. Much to his dismay, she appeared quite serious.
“You don’t know how to cook?” he asked, as they crossed the street and continued walking at Lily’s pace.
“I do, but I assume American cooking differs from what I’m accustomed to. I’ve noticed just today that the food is different than our typical menu.”
Thane absorbed that information and glanced around. Down the street, he saw what he was looking for. He picked up Lily and hurried them down the block and across another street to a dry goods store.
As he held the door open for Jemma and Jack to walk inside, the man behind the counter greeted them and asked if he might be of assistance.
“Do you have any cookbooks?” Thane asked, taking in tidy shelves filled with an assortment of merchandise.
“Indeed. We have several from which to choose. Right this way.”
Thane motioned Jemma to follow the man while he kept the children occupied looking at a display of toys. Jack seemed quite taken with a train set while Lily couldn’t keep her eyes off a beautiful baby doll.
Neither child asked for anything. Thane was once again impressed with their good manners.
When he noticed Jemma at the counter with the clerk, he herded the kids that direction and paid for the three cookbooks she selected, along with a licorice whip for each of them.
After picking up Lily in one arm, he took the books in his other hand and thanked the shopkeeper.
As they started down the walk, Thane looked around then set Lily down. “I forgot I wanted to ask if he knew how early we need to be at the train station. I’ll be right back.”
Thane ducked back inside the shop and returned a few minutes later. “We need to arrive about an hour before the train leaves. I’ve already secured our tickets, so we’re all set.”
Jemma gave him an odd glance, but didn’t question his need to confirm details with the store clerk. While she held Jack’s hand in hers, Thane carried Lily and they strolled back to the hotel for one more night of rest before the long trip across the country.
Chapter Eleven
“Might we expect to arrive in Baker City soon?” Jemma asked as she and Thane sat in the pre-dawn darkness on the train.
“It should be just a couple of hours. I can’t wait to get off the train and go home.” Thane raised his arms over his head and stretched as best he could in the close quarters.
The first leg of the trip, he’d managed to book a private car. It gave him room to stretch his long legs and the children a place to play. When they switched trains in Chicago, he was unable to secure anything private and they had no choice but to ride in one of the passenger cars. The children grew weary and irritable, sitting for hours on end.
Both he and Jemma had taken turns trying to entertain them, particularly Lily. She’d had a tantrum of monumental proportion before they tucked her into bed the previous night. Boredom and being forced to sit for hours and hours as the train chugged west caused much of her temper.
“They seem so angelic when they sleep,” Jemma whispered, as they gazed at Jack and Lily in the muted light.
“It’s hard to believe such a tiny little person could create so much chaos and work.” Thane mulled over the constant attention Lily required. He dearly loved his niece, but he couldn’t wait to set her down at the ranch and let her run off some of her bottled-up liveliness.
As though sensing his thoughts, Jemma leaned toward him with a teasing grin. “Just be grateful she’s no longer in nappies. That would have made the trip quite miserable.”
“Nappies?”
“Oh, what do you Americans call them?” She thought for a moment than glanced at Thane. “Diapers?”
Thane chuckled. “That definitely would have made for a miserable trip. Thanks for putting things in perspective.”
“You are most welcome.”
Thane could hear the smile in Jemma’s voice although he kept his gaze on the children. When they weren’t entertaining the youngsters during their days of travel, Jemma either gazed out the window at the passing scenery or studied the cookbooks she’d selected in New York. He wasn’t worried about her cooking for him. There was a cook at the bunkhouse and, if needed, Thane could rustle up grub.
However, the thought of coming home after a hard day on the range to find a hot meal and a beautiful woman waiting for him held a certain amount of appeal.
While the children slept, Thane and Jemma talked about a variety of subjects. Amazed by her vast knowledge of many topics, she was well read and educated, putting his eight grades of schooling to shame. Most of his wisdom came from hard-earned experience.
Jemma shifted uncomfortably on her seat and Thane moved his arm so it rested around her shoulders. “Lean against me a while. It’ll be more comfortable for you.”
Stiff and rigid, she gingerly rested against his side, absorbing his warmth right along with his appealing scent.
When her hand brushed his leg she jerked it back, but not before feeling the rough fabric of the denim trousers covering his solid thigh.
“Why is it you wear those trousers? The construction is of denim, correct?” Jemma asked. Although she’d never admit it, she preferred seeing Thane in his western attire than the expensive suits he’d finally started wearing before they left England.
The Stetson on his dark blond hair, the chambray work shirts, denim pants and cowboy boots, as she’d learned they were called, fit the rugged personality of the man.
“They aren’t denim trousers. They’re called waist overalls, or even Levi’s, made by Levi Strauss & Co. He came to California during the gold rush and ended up inventing durable overalls with a man named Jacob Davis. The reason I wear them is because they’re strong, they don’t rip easily, and the rivets help keep them together.”
Jemma had noticed the rivets on the seams but had no idea what purpose they served other than decorative. Determined to chang
e the subject from the pants that outlined Thane’s form, she picked up on the mention of the gold rush. She’d read about the California rush and the madness that ensued as people fought over gold.
“You mentioned the other day that Baker City had a mining history. Was there a gold rush there, too?”
“As a matter of fact, there was in the 1860s and it’s been picking back up again recently. There’s also silver, coal, and quartz mines.”
Jemma relaxed as Thane spoke, nestling against his side, enjoying the way his deep voice rumbled in his chest and vibrated against her back. “What made you choose to live there? I know Henry grew up in South Carolina, but he never mentioned his life there or any family.”
“Henry and I grew up on a farm. Our mother taught school and our father raised cotton. That’s how Henry got interested in creating inventions to improve the cotton industry. Henry was eleven and I was just a newborn when the war between the states broke out. Dad decided to go fight with the confederates and left my mother and Henry to care for the farm. She had no interest in the cotton and Henry was too young to have such responsibility on his shoulders. Our father returned from the war but my dad really never came home.”
Thane tipped back his head as memories he’d long buried flooded over him. He didn’t know why he shared them now, other than he was weary and it felt comforting and right to have Jemma pressed against his side.
“What happened?” she asked, hoping he’d continue his story.
“My parents fought all the time after the war. Dad left the better parts of himself, the gentle, kind parts along with an arm, on a battlefield in Georgia. He came home a hard, changed man and one day my mother just couldn’t take it anymore. She left when I was ten and we never saw her again. Word came when I was thirteen that she’d been killed in a wagon wreck in Tennessee. My father died when I was fourteen. Henry had taken over raising me long before then, anyway. When I was sixteen, he came up with an invention he just knew would revolutionize the way mills processed cotton. He traveled around the south trying to find an investor while I worked the farm. Scraping together the last of our money, he decided to travel to England to see if he could generate interest.”
“And he left you behind?” Jemma couldn’t believe Henry would abandon his brother, especially at such a young, impressionable age.
“Not willingly. I didn’t want to go and someone had to keep trying to make some money from our farm. The taxes were due and we were waiting to receive our payment from that year’s cotton crop. I told Henry I’d keep things going until he got back. Since neither of us liked farming cotton, he told me if I had a chance to sell the farm, to do it. Henry left with a hopeful twinkle in his eye and a promise to be back in six months. As you know, I never saw him again.”
“How did you end up leaving for Oregon, though? Did you sell the farm?”
“I did.” Thane recalled the agony of making that decision on his own. Of selling something that had been in his family for three generations. “The money from the cotton crop barely paid the taxes. I started asking around town to see if anyone was interested in buying. There were always Yankees wanting to buy a piece of land at a good price. I happened to find one who gave me a fair deal so I sold the place, wrote Henry about what I’d done, and bought a train ticket headed west.”
Thane chuckled and moved his arm slightly, so he held Jemma a little closer. “I’d planned to go to Texas. Since I’d heard all about the rough and rowdy men settling there, I decided I’d fit right in. On the train, though, I overhead a handful of men discussing rich gold mines in Baker City, Oregon, so I decided to see if I could make my fortune. Not too many people are willing to let a sixteen-year-old kid prove himself, but I managed to work hard and save the money I earned. I bought my ranch and here we are.”
Jemma thought about her husband, left completely alone at such a young age. At least she’d always had Jane. For the first time since she’d met her brother-in-law, she felt disappointed in Henry for not taking care of his younger brother. Admittedly, Thane was probably just as hardheaded and stubborn as a boy as he was now, though.
“Tell me about Baker City.” Intuitively, Jemma realized Thane didn’t want to discuss his past or his family further. “What’s it like?”
“It’s nothing like you’re used to,” Thane said, wondering how his wife would adjust to life in the rugged Eastern Oregon scrubland. “About three years ago, a big fire burned down a good portion of the buildings, so most of the businesses and homes are constructed of brick or volcanic tuff that’s been quarried south of town past my ranch. There’s a new hotel I reckon you’d find exceptionally nice. There are several restaurants, an orchestra, and an opera house. We have a variety of stores, even a dress shop, and a handful of churches. Some people refer to Baker City as the Denver of Oregon.”
“I shall look forward to seeing it. How long will it take to get to your ranch from town?”
Thane tipped back his hat with the hand not wrapped around Jemma and rubbed his fingers across his forehead. “It’s a good hour in the wagon, although not nearly that long horseback.”
“I suppose with that distance, I shall need to continue Jack’s lessons at home.”
Thane turned to glance down at the top of her head and a plume from her hat tickled his nose. Wrinkling it, trying not to sneeze, he nodded his head. “I hadn’t thought about it, but it’s too far for him to go, especially with winter approaching. I can help with some of his lessons if need be.”
“Thank you. I might call upon your expertise in certain areas beyond my abilities.” Jemma noticed light beginning to streak across the morning sky.
“I can’t believe there is anything beyond your ability, other than to find it in your cold, miserable heart to like your new husband.”
Jemma jabbed his side with her elbow. “I might learn to like him if he wasn’t so nasty and loathsome. There are some days, Mr. Jordan, when you are thoroughly unendurable.”
As he chuckled, Thane ducked around the plume and lowered his head so his breath blew warm against her neck. “And what about those other days, my lady?”
His breath on her neck, combined with his scent and proximity made her heart beat faster while her stomach fluttered nervously. She had no idea how he unsettled her so, but he did.
“I won’t dignify that with a response,” she said, unwilling for him to know those other days found her intently watching his muscular form. On those days, she eagerly waited for the sound of his voice, listened for his laugh, watched him toss Lily in the air, making her giggle.
They sat in silence for a few moments then Thane’s hand settled on her leg. The heat from his palm seared through the fabric of her skirt and petticoats, sizzling into her flesh. Too startled to move, she wished she’d never leaned against him. It was hard to keep her thoughts together when they lingered on how much she wished he’d kiss her again. He hadn’t done more than peck her cheek since their wedding.
Forcibly willing away thoughts of his tempting lips, she considered the adjustments she’d need to make to life in the west. The biggest would be getting used to the idea of having a husband, albeit one who was maddening, bossy, opinionated, and incredibly handsome.
From her position, she could see Thane’s chin out of the corner of her eye and noticed the blond stubble covering it. He’d informed her the second day they were on the train that he didn’t fancy slitting his throat with his razor if the train hit a bump and wouldn’t be shaving until they reached home, and only then if he was of a mind to.
Visions of the scraggly beard he’d worn up until their wedding day flew through her mind. She certainly hoped he had no plans to grow another. Inquiring about it would no doubt cause him to grow one down to his knees just to spite her.
Humored by the image in her mind’s eye, she stifled a giggle, eliciting another tap from Thane’s hand where it rested on her leg. Had they not been married, she would have shoved it away and slapped his face for his impudence, but she couldn�
�t muster the will to do either.
“What’s so funny?” he asked.
“Just a memory,” she replied.
“If you’re thinking about the past, would you tell me how you ended up caring for Lily and Jack?”
“I assumed Weston informed you.”
Thane rubbed his hand along her leg, unaware of the unsettling effect he had on her. “No. Good ol’ Weston told me I’d have to get the details from you. That man can be quite close-mouthed when he chooses.”
“Remarkably so,” Jemma agreed, thinking of all the times Weston could have told her about Thane before shocking her speechless when he read Henry’s will. “I suppose I shall have to share the story, since you were kind enough to tell me yours.”
“It’s only fair, don’t you think?”
The casual tone in his voice made her relax against him again. “My mother died when I was twelve. She took sick right after Easter that year and lost her health. It devastated my father. He was never the same after her death, like a part of him died right alongside her. Jane was seventeen then, courted by any number of handsome suitors. She and I clung to each other in our grief and found healing while Father fell deeper into his. In his distracted state, he made some rather poor investments. Within two years, we had to let most of our staff go, except for Cook and Greenfield, and move from our grand house to the cottage. Not long after we moved in, Father went for a walk and never returned. Greenfield found him in the meadow behind the stables, already gone. The doctor said his heart gave out on him, but I think it had completely broken.”
Jemma took a deep breath before continuing. “Jane’s suitors all turned to wealthier girls and we began selling the paintings, tapestries, and what-not in an effort to keep from losing everything. Then Jane met Henry. Handsome and charming, he claimed to have fallen for her the first time he saw her across the street in Bolton. After a brief courtship, Henry married her in the church where we wed and moved into the cottage. As his wealth increased, Henry began buying back the things we’d sold until all had been restored. Henry was a very kind, generous man and I miss both he and Jane greatly. By the time I was of an age to court, Jane was bedridden, expecting their first child. Unfortunately, that little one didn’t make it. She recovered and went on to have Jack. She needed my constant help. After that, I didn’t have time for anything besides caring for my family.”
Crumpets & Cowpies: (Sweet Historical Western Romance) (Baker City Brides Book 1) Page 14