Breakfast for fifteen people is no small affair especially when eleven of those are hardworking men who need a lot of food to sustain them. She started off with eggs and biscuits, bacon and sausage, pancakes with jam and butter, oatmeal, and finally coffee. All of them ate like they were starving. There was not a scrap left over when they were done.
After breakfast, she started a pot of beans with the ham she found in the larder. She asked Bertha to peel potatoes, turnips and carrots for a beef stew. She’d leave these on the stove for the men to eat when they took breaks. She also made another batch of biscuits and some cornbread. Then she started on the dessert baking. She’d checked the pantry and the cellar for fruit and found some canned peaches and blueberries. They’d be perfect for pies and a couple of cobblers. Some for supper tonight and some for breakfast tomorrow. At the rate these people ate, she was going to have to make a trip to town for supplies.
She wondered if John would be able to take her since she didn’t know how to drive a team yet. Or maybe she and Bertha could go if Bertha could drive. They could take the girls and make an outing of it.
John told her he’d be working in the barn for most of the day so she walked out there.
The barn was painted a dull red and had big double doors on both ends. This end also had a regular door which she entered through, thankful she didn’t have to try and open the big doors.
“John. John are you here?” she called out.
“Sarah?” came the voice from above.
She looked up and saw him standing in the loft. “What are you doing up there?”
“Working. Moving Hay. What are you doing down here?”
“I came to ask you a question. Can you come down so we don’t have to shout?”
“Sure. Give me a minute.”
He disappeared from view and Sarah started looking around her. There were five good sized stalls. In one of them were a mother horse and her baby.
“Oh, aren’t you just adorable,” she said when the baby came to investigate. With his mother so close he was emboldened and sniffed at Sarah’s open hand.
“Here give him a little sugar. You’ll have a friend for life.”
“Oh!” Sarah jumped back. “You startled me.”
“Sorry. Here,” he placed a sugar cube in her hand. “Give the colt the cube. He also likes carrots and apples if you’re so inclined.”
“Here boy,” Sarah urged him, then held the sugar cube in her fingers.
“Flatten your hand and put the cube on it. He could bite your fingers the other way and we don’t want that.”
She did as he said and the little colt came over, sniffed then brushed her hand with his soft lips as he scooped up the treat.
“His lips are so soft.”
“Not as soft as someone else’s I know.” His eyes were dark and she knew if she wanted they’d make love right then and there. She glanced down and saw that he was definitely ready.
“You have to stop that. I’m in a perpetual state of embarrassment. My daughter thinks I’m suffering from the heat because I’m red all the time.”
“So?”
“So? It’s your fault.”
“Really? Why is that do you suppose?”
“I don’t know. I’ve never had this response to anyone before. I don’t normally blush.”
“You don’t?” He crossed his arms and leaned up against the stall door. “Just with me?”
“Yes.”
“Good. I’m glad to hear it. I’d hate to think you were sexually attracted to other men.”
“What?! I’m not….”
“Yes, you are. I knew the minute you blushed the first time.”
“Awfully sure of yourself,” she teased.
“Yes. I am.” He pushed away from the stall and took her in his arms. His lips found hers for a scorching kiss. “When it comes to reading you.”
She hoped that wasn’t true. She hadn’t been completely truthful with him about her background. Oh, she’d never actually lied with words, but she lied by omission. But surely, Mrs. Selby told him about her background. A little voice in her head said that probably wasn’t true. She hadn’t shared that fact that Katy was so traumatized by her mother’s murder that she refused to speak. That was different, she told herself. Different than being a fallen woman.
Closing her eyes she chased the doubt away.
He pulled back but kept his hands locked behind her back. “What did you need before I so rudely interrupted you?”
“You weren’t rude.” She leaned back allowing him to support her and put her hands on his shoulders. “But what I wanted was to see if someone can take me to town for supplies. I need food stuffs if I’m going to feed us decently.”
“Make me a list and I’ll have Bertha go.”
“Well, I thought maybe the girls and I could go with her and make an outing of it. I understand a lot of farmers bring their produce to town and it would be good for the girls. And I could get to know the suppliers.”
“I’d rather the girls stay here. I’m not ready for Katy to go to town without me. She might see the outlaw. They don’t always were masks you know. She could go even deeper into trauma if I’m not there to protect her.”
“I hadn’t thought about that. I’m sorry, I should have thought about Katy’s safety first.”
“You’re new at this. You haven’t had to think about MaryAnn’s safety in the same way. Besides that the girls are just fine here. They’re getting along and learning how to play with one another.” He thought about it for a minute. “What about this? You go with Bertha and get what you need for a couple of weeks. Then I’ll take you and the girls next time.”
“That sounds fine. It would be even better if you taught me to drive a team so I could go by myself when I need to.”
“I can do that. How about one day next week after breakfast?”
“Wonderful. When we go, if the produce is any good I’ll buy enough to can. Do you know if there are canning supplies anywhere? I doubt that Bertha has done any canning but Dorothy must have. I found some lovely peaches and blueberries in the cellar.”
“Did you check the pantry or the cupboards in the kitchen?”
“No. I thought I’d check with you as long as I was asking things.”
“I don’t know where they’d be. If you can’t find any, buy some at the mercantile.” He unclasped his hands from around her waist and she let go of his shoulders. “I should get back to work.”
“Me, too. I have to get dinner cooking. Do you have any requests for supper?”
“Whatever you fix will be wonderful. The men have been congratulating me on marrying well because of your cooking skills. You’ve made the two best meals we’ve had in years. Poor Bertha, she tried but it just isn’t something she’s good at.”
“I’m glad they like me for something.”
“I like you for something,” he waggled his eyebrows and winked at her.
“Oh my.” She knew she blushed again.
He laughed.
She turned and walked out of the barn, fanning herself as she went, his laughter followed her. She smiled.
* * *
Sarah finished with the breakfast dishes. She’d washed and Bertha rinsed and dried. Today was her first lesson in driving a team. She ran upstairs and checked her appearance in the mirror. She was going to spend some time alone with John that wasn’t in bed. Though she couldn’t complain about that. He was a very caring, generous lover. She always climaxed at least once. Usually more.
She pushed stray tendrils of hair back up into the knot on top of her head. It probably wouldn’t stay but no one could say she hadn’t tried. If she’d been back in New York she wouldn’t have dared to step out of the bedroom much less the house with a hair out of place. Aunt Gertrude would turn over in her grave if she saw Sarah now.
She ran down the stairs and out on to the front porch. John waited in the buggy, the smallest of their conveyances. As soon as he saw her he jumped down and ca
me around to help her up into the seat. Then he went around and got back in.
“Okay. You ready?”
“Yes.” She could barely breathe; excitement about learning to drive was the least of her worries. Being this close to her husband and them both having clothes on was almost sexier than without. Almost.
She smiled up at him. “What do I do first?”
He handed her the reins. “First you take off the hand brake. I’m going to do it this time, but when you’re driving you’ll be in my seat and you’ll set it and release it. Always remember to set it. It won’t stop the horses from taking off if they were determined but it serves as a reminder to them they aren’t supposed to move.”
“Right. Brake.”
“Next you take the reins and give them a little flick of the wrist to swat the horses butt.”
She tried but wasn’t doing it right because the horses didn’t move so much as an inch.
He took them from her, “like this.” He jerked his wrists and the leather straps went up and came back down on the horses rumps and they started walking. “Now if you want them to go faster lift them and bring them back down and say ‘giddyup’.”
She nodded. “Giddyup.”
“Okay you try it.” He handed the reins back to her.
She slapped the them on the animals rumps and they started trotting.
“Good. Now turn them to the right.”
“How?”
“Pull on the right rein while leaving the left one alone. Just the right.”
She did and was surprised the horses actually went right like she wanted them to.
“I think you’ve got it. When you want them to go left pull on the left rein. Want them to stop, pull back on both reins together.”
“This is easy. Thank you for taking the time to teach me. I know it probably put you behind in your work today.”
“Not really. I’m taking the morning off to show you around the ranch. Give me the reins and we’ll go.”
She handed them back to him. He swatted the horses rumps and got them into a slow canter. A much smoother gait for pulling a buggy.
They drove west up to the mouth of a small canyon and then went into it. Traveling where there was no road, it was a little on the bumpy side and Sarah grabbed John’s arm when it got to be too much.
Shortly, John stopped the buggy. She noticed that he not only set the brake, he hobbled the horses as well. “I don’t want to get stranded up here if they get spooked for some reason.”
He grabbed a blanket from the rear of the buggy and they walked a short way to a small stream. It was clear and looked only inches deep. “Oh, can we wade, it’s so shallow.”
“It’s deceiving because it’s so clear and running pretty slow now, but you get away from the bank and it gets midway up your thighs.”
He placed the blanket on the ground. Then he bowed and swept his arm toward the blanket. “My, Lady.”
Sarah flushed and sat arranging her skirt around her. “Oh my, aren’t we the gallant one.”
“I brought you here for nefarious purposes.”
“Oh, what is that?”
“I intend to take advantage of you.”
“Here? Out in the open?”
He smiled and undid his gun belt dropping it on the edge of the blanket.
Sarah scooted over when he came down on his knees next to her.
He reached up and caressed her jaw with his hand then ran his finger down her neck to the top button of her blouse and undid it. Moving slowly he undid the next and the next, revealing her an inch at a time until her shirt lay completely open. Then he did the same thing with the ties on her chemise. She sat there mesmerized by the desire in his eyes. He leaned forward and took her lips with his. His gentle touch sent goosebumps to her skin and heat to her core.
She leaned up and undid the top button of his shirt, exposing him as slowly as he did her. When she finally had it open she pulled it from his pants, slid it down over his shoulders and his arms until he was free of the encumbrance to her exploration. She ran her hands over his firm chest muscles, stopping to tweak his nipples as he so often did hers.
They both rid themselves of their shoes and bottoms. When they were both naked, John said to her, “lie back on the blanket. Let me pleasure you.”
Shaking her head she asked him, “Can’t I enjoy you as you do me? With my mouth?”
He got very still. “Are you sure? Most women don’t like to do that for their man.”
“I don’t know if I’ll like it or not. I’ve never done it. Lie back.”
He did as she asked. His erection hard as steel just at the mention of this act.
She leaned down and tentatively took him in her mouth. Just a little way. She ran her tongue around the tip, feeling the silk of his skin over the hard rod beneath. He amazed her. This was such a unique part of him. The softness and the strength combined. She took him farther into her mouth and then back out while her hand explored the sacs below his staff. They were different. The skin wrinkled and loose compared to his shaft.
Around and around with her tongue, then she licked the underside of his penis and he groaned. She liked the power this gave her. He was hers to do with as she pleased. Or so she thought.
Suddenly he grasped her hair and brought her face up to his.
“I need in you now.”
He rolled her over onto her back, reared back and plunged into her with no preamble, no preparation. It didn’t matter she was slick and ready for him as she always was.
Two, three pumps into her and he groaned again and buried his face in her neck. She felt his hot release inside her. Each time she hoped she would get pregnant. She wanted children with this man. Falling hard, hell, she’d already fallen head over heels in love with her husband. She only wished he felt the same.
They lay there wrapped in each other’s arms for she didn’t know how long. Long enough that she could suddenly feel the chill air as the sweat from their exertions dried. She shivered.
“We should get dressed and get back,” he said. “I still have work to do and so do you.”
“This was nice. Thank you for bringing me here.”
“Thank you for giving of yourself so generously.”
“I liked it. You feel amazing. I never knew.”
He chuckled. “You are a wonder. How did I get so lucky?”
“I was just thinking the same thing.”
He kissed her, then turned and grabbed his drawers and pants. She stood and put on her bloomers and chemise.
“I wish we could stay here all day. Go wading and have a picnic. Just you, me and nature.”
“One day we will. I’ll make time and you can plan the meals so they’re easy enough that even Bertha can’t mess them up.”
“That I can do. You just let me know when you can get away for the whole day.”
He gave her a kiss that sizzled her all the way to her toes and made her want to start all over. “It’s a deal.”
* * *
They were getting closer. She felt it. She’d been there for a month and John made love to her every night, but she couldn’t break that barrier between them. His wife’s ghost haunted them. Haunted him.
He’d told her after their first week together, “Don’t fall in love with me Sarah. I can’t love you back. I’ll never love anyone again. It’s too painful.”
She would change his mind. He would come to love her. If she just did everything he wanted he’d love her. She knew it. She just had to make it happen.
* * *
June 25, 1867
William Grayson boarded the west bound train. Sarah had been gone for more than a month in the wild frontier. She should be more than willing to return with him to the comforts of New York where she’d have servants to do everything for her.
Everything he’d read about the west said it was quite primitive. No running water, no bathrooms, no servants. The photo’s showed tired, dirty people, old before their time. He was sure Sarah
didn’t want to live like that.
Well, that was not going to be Sarah’s fate. He’d bring her back, get her marriage annulled and marry her himself. He had it all worked out. She’d be glad to see him and beg for him to take her back.
In eight days all his dreams would be coming true and Sarah would be his.
* * *
A buckboard drove slowly up the road to the house. It was piled high with luggage and trunks of varying shapes and sizes. The driver pulled up in front of the house.
“What can I do for you, mister?” asked John from the top of the porch steps.
“I’m looking for a Sarah Johnson. Would this be the correct place?”
“It is.”
“Good. I’m from the Denver Pacific Railway. We found Mrs. Johnson’s trunk.
“Oh, good.” Sarah said from behind him. “The new clothes for the girls and most importantly my recipes.”
“Recipes?”
“From my old cook in New York. I wrote down each of her recipes. I think tonight we’ll have roast beef with Yorkshire pudding. I swear you and the men will love it.”
“I trust you. I’m sure we will.”
“Can you sign here?” asked the driver shoving a piece of paper and pencil in John’s direction.
“Sure.” He put the paper on the porch rail and signed it and then handed it back to the driver. “Here you go.”
“Thanks. You folks have a good day.” The driver drove off to make other deliveries.
“What was that about clothes for the girls?”
“I bought clothes for MaryAnn in several larger sizes. Now that I have Katy too, they are for her as well.”
“I’m sure they’ll be tickled pink.”
“Not as much as they were when you gave each of us a pair of pants to wear. I’ve never seen them so excited. I can barely get the two of them out of the pants long enough to wash them.”
“Maybe you should was the girls and the pants together,” he said, smiling.
She laughed. “Now that’s a definite possibility.”
John carried the trunk inside and up to MaryAnn’s room.
CHAPTER 5
She put on the pants John bought her for riding. It was strangely liberating to wear them. Each of the girls had a pair as well. They looked so cute with their red plaid shirts and pigtails.
Capital Bride Page 5