Her Silent Burden_Seeing Ranch series

by Florence Linnington

  Tears of gratitude filled her eyes. “Thank you.”

  “Tonight, rest. Tomorrow, do whatever you like to fix this place up. Make it a home. The general store doesn’t have much in the way of decorating, I’m afraid, but maybe soon I’ll close the saloon for a day, and we can ride into Shallow Springs or Pathways. We can get you whatever you want to brighten our little cabin up.”

  Our little cabin.

  “I would like that very much,” Thea said. “And do not worry about walking me to the general store tomorrow. As much as I would love to spend the time to get more acquainted, I am sure you have much to attend to at the saloon. I can find my way there and back.”

  “I’ll walk you.”

  “But what about—”

  “I’ll walk you,” he repeated, finality in his voice. “I don’t want you going out on your own.”

  Something in his voice gave her concern. “Is there something to be worried about?”

  “There’s… nothing in particular. Just, please, don’t go out without me.”

  Thea hesitated. She’d been so eager to explore her new surroundings.

  But maybe it would be better if she went out only when she was with Wakefield. She knew nothing about the Rockies. Also, she would not bore quickly at home, what with all the tending the garden needed.

  “Yes,” she answered. “I will wait for you to go out.”

  “Good,” Wakefield said with relief.

  They went back to eating, the last bits of wood cracking in the cook stove and the owl from earlier calling out again. The whole world around Thea was strange and wild. One day, she knew, it would become familiar.

  But she did not need to wait for that day. As things were, she already felt at home.

  Chapter 10

  back with his bride

  10. Wakefield

  Chapter ten

  Wakefield propped open the saloon’s back door and stood on the steps taking in the view. From the back of Outpost, he could see across the small dip in the mountains. The shallow area next to the crest Whiteridge was on wasn’t large enough to call a valley, but it did provide a nice view of two mountain peaks.

  He’d spent the morning cleaning and looking over his bookkeeping. Try as hard as he had to be busy, it had been impossible to keep Thea off his mind.

  Her beauty must have grown over the night because when he woke in the morning and found her already bustling around, getting breakfast ready, she had shone with an inner light.

  Wakefield folded his arms and smirked to himself, thinking of how happy she had seemed. He’d had serious doubts over bringing any woman into the Rockies. It was beautiful but it could be a very desolate place. So far, though, Thea seemed to be satisfied.

  What’s more, she’d been understanding of his confession. She didn’t appear to hold any resentment over his previous marriage. Wakefield, for his part, was glad her last husband was in the ground.

  Just thinking about the man had Wakefield’s hands curling into fists. He knew forgiving and forgetting was important, but Lord help him, he had no tolerance for men who put their hands on a woman.

  Ending his short break, he went back into the saloon. It was the second Saturday, and the mine had let out early, which meant Outpost bustled with business. Unlike a lot of mine owners, Daniel Zimmerman had a heart. He gave his workers Sundays off and half days every other Saturday.

  Behind the bar, Noah flitted around, pouring shots and picking up empty glasses. Wakefield slid behind the bar, falling easily into the rhythm with him.

  “Whiskey?” he asked Charlie, one of the oldest miners.

  Grizzled Charlie nodded his head, and Wakefield deftly poured and deposited a shot in front of him.

  “She’s a bright young thing,” a man down the bar was saying. “What I wouldn’t give to have a go at that.”

  The hair on the back of Wakefield’s neck stood straight up. There were very few women in the area, and he had a good guess as to who the miner was talking about. Pretending to wash a glass, Wakefield cocked his head and listened for more.

  “Wonder what she’s doing here,” another miner responded.

  Wakefield eyed the men. Two young ones. He didn’t know their names, but they came into Outpost on the regular. Putting the glass on the shelf, he sidled down the bar, to where the two sat.

  “You talking about the young brunette?” he asked casually.

  The first man nodded. “You seen her?” He whistled between his teeth.

  “She’s my bride,” Wakefield barked, all playfulness gone.

  The men’s faces fell. Wakefield took his time looking into both their eyes.

  “Stay away from her,” he said, putting a punch into every word. “Don’t go near her. Ever. Or else you’ll have me to answer to.”

  The men glanced at each other. Wakefield didn’t stick around to hear a response. He’d laid out the boundaries, and if either man toed the line, they’d be answering for it.

  “What was that about?” Noah asked in a low voice.

  “I took care of it.”

  Noah scoffed. “I’m sure you did. Hey, Reverend Pullman is coming tomorrow.”

  Wakefield stopped wiping down the bar to look at him. “He doesn’t come until next week.”

  Noah shrugged. “Something changed, I guess.”

  Whiteridge didn’t have a reverend of its own yet. It didn’t even have a church. On Sundays, whoever wanted to worship met by the evergreens that surrounded the clearing behind the general store. Once a month, as long as the roads were good, Shallow Springs’ reverend did Whiteridge a favor and came up to lead a service.

  “Why tomorrow?” Wakefield asked again.

  “I dunno… Say, what’s that look about?”

  Wakefield glanced around the saloon. Half of the crowd had cleared out, having spent a percentage of their weekly wages on booze and done moved on to other things.

  “Watch the saloon for a while,” Wakefield said, tossing the rag onto the bar. “I’ll be back soon.”

  “Right then. You want to tell me what’s going on?”

  “Back soon,” Wakefield repeated over his shoulder.

  Rushing out the front door, Wakefield walked up the hill fast. He needed to get home and speak to Thea before he lost his nerve.

  At the cabin, the door was open, the braided rug stretched across the chairs in the yard. Thea appeared in the doorway, her hair tied up and apron on.

  “Oh, hello,” she said, sounding surprised. “You’re back early.”

  “I only came for a minute.” He stopped in front of her, his chest heaving from nearly running up the hill.

  Thea’s eyes turned wild. “Is everything all right?”

  “Yes. I needed to speak with you about something.”

  She looked up at him, her face expectant. “Yes?”

  “It might be a crazy idea, so tell me if you think that’s the case.”

  “Um… what is going on?”

  Wakefield licked his lips and decided to just go for it. “Whiteridge doesn’t have a reverend, but every few weeks Reverend Pullman from Shallow Springs comes and has a service here. It’s not in a church, of course. One day we’ll have one of those, but we’re just not there yet. What I’m saying, Thea, is that maybe he’ll marry us tomorrow. If you want. It wouldn’t change anything, only that we’d officially be man and wife. You can keep on staying in the extra room for as long as you want. I only thought… well...”

  Wakefield couldn’t find any more words. What he’d thought was that he couldn’t wait another day to make Thea his. He’d felt a need to officially claim her the moment he set eyes on her the day before, but the honest confessions they’d shared at last night’s supper had sealed the deal.

  And, if he was being honest, hearing those two miners talk about her had infuriated him. He wanted to get a ring on her finger soon as possible, so every other man in the whole world knew to stay away.

  “Tomorrow?” she verified.

  “Yes. Tell m
e now if you don’t want to do it. I understand that you only just got here, and you barely know me, and...” He stopped talking, afraid he’d already put his foot in his mouth.

  “Where would we do it?” she asked.

  “If the weather is nice, outside where we have our service.”

  “And if the weather is not nice?”

  “Uh… I suppose we’d have to postpone it. I can’t ask you to marry me in a saloon.”

  Thea’s laugh tickled his ears and heart. “Let’s do it.”

  “Really?”

  She shrugged, a smile stretching her mouth. “Why not? We are to wed eventually. We might as well have it done when the reverend is here.”

  Wakefield whooped in joy and picked Thea up by the waist to spin her around. Her skirts swooshed all around them, and she gasped in surprise. Realizing what he was doing, he set her back down.

  “Sorry,” he murmured. “I got a little enthusiastic.”

  Thea’s cheeks were pink. “That’s quite all right. I am… I am excited myself.”

  She blinked, her lips parting. Heat rushed through Wakefield. He wanted so badly to wrap his hand around her waist, pull her close, and drink in the taste of her lips. He didn’t know how she would take that, though.

  “Wakefield?” she asked.

  He leaned a bit closer. “Mm-hmm?”

  “Um… I still need to go to the general store.”

  “Oh.” Straightening up, he self-consciously rubbed the back of his neck. “That’s right. I forgot.”

  “May we go down there now?”

  Wakefield looked over his shoulder, away from the cabin. He shouldn’t have left the saloon at all. There was still inventory to be done. He had to get everything down on paper that day so that he could send in an order to Shallow Springs on Monday.

  “I’ll tell you what,” he said, looking back at Thea. “I have to get back to the saloon, but you give me a list of what you need, and I’ll pick it up on the way home.”

  “Oh.”

  “Is that all right?”

  “Yes. Of course.” Thea smiled, though she sounded a bit disappointed.

  “Thea?”

  “Yes?” she softly exhaled.

  Wakefield swallowed down his nerves. “I’m real excited to marry you.”

  Her pupils widened. “I am excited, as well.”

  “Great.” He grinned as he took a step backward. The saloon needed him. Soon, though… soon he would be home, back with his bride.

  “Wakefield?”

  “Hmm?”

  “The list.”

  “The...”

  “Of things we need,” Thea prompted.

  “Oh. Right.” He hurried back to her. “My mind was elsewhere.”

  Thea grinned slyly, and for the first time, he saw the desire he felt in her face. “I understand fully.”

  Chapter 11

  loosely on her hips

  11. Thea

  Chapter eleven

  The only mirror in the cabin was the hand-held one Thea had brought from South Carolina. On Sunday morning, she stood in the small bedroom and looked into it.

  Her wedding day. Her second wedding day. One without any of her friends or family present.

  It was absolutely not something she had imagined for herself, and yet she found she was still filled with excitement. On the day of her first wedding, she’d been full of nerves. She’d assumed then that they were the normal wedding jitters. It hadn’t been until weeks later that she began to think they’d been something more—a warning to not go through with the marriage.

  Today, her feelings were on the other end of the spectrum. She couldn’t wait to stand in front of the reverend and pledge herself to Wakefield.

  Stepping into the window’s sun to get a better view of herself, she tucked some loose strands of hair behind her ear. It saddened her to think of being married without Emily and her family there, but she would give them every detail of the day in her first letters home.

  Setting the mirror on the bed, she took a long breath and went out into the main room. Wakefield stood up from the table immediately. They’d both taken to their respective areas after breakfast to get ready for the day, and she now found him changed into a crisp white shirt and black slacks.

  “You look beautiful,” he said, his gaze sweeping up and down her length.

  Thea clasped her hands together. “It is not a wedding dress, but I suppose it will do.”

  Her old wedding dress she’d left behind in South Carolina, thinking it wouldn’t be proper to bring it to Wyoming—much less wear it on the day of her second wedding. The gown had been very lovely, with blue ribbon and lace, but it had reminded her of her unhappy marriage, so good riddance to it anyway.

  “Pink suits you,” Wakefield said, gesturing at the Sunday dress she had opted to wear.

  “Thank you.” She smoothed her hands against her dress, aware of the sweat collecting on her palms. “Shall we go?”

  The weather was nice so they were going to the regular service at the church area. Wakefield had already gone to find Reverend Pullman that morning before breakfast, and he had agreed to marry the two of them that day.

  “If you’re ready,” Wakefield said, offering Thea his arm.

  She hooked her elbow through his, and together they left the cabin and walked down the incline. Wakefield had told her at least twenty people would be gathered for the service. They would perform the ceremony in private, with Noah as their witness, but Thea was nervous about seeing all the new faces before then.

  At least some of the women in the area would be at the service. Or that’s what Thea hoped. Perhaps she would make a friend or two. Spending her days doing housework and waiting for Wakefield to arrive home would be good and well for a week or two. After that, Thea knew she would become terribly lonely.

  There was already a group in the clearing—mostly men, but five or so women and a few children as well. Thea surreptitiously studied everyone and caught sight of one woman who appeared close to her age.

  As the community caught sight of Thea, focused gazes turned her way. Self-conscious, she bowed her head and edged slightly closer to Wakefield. New people may not have come to Whiteridge every day, but she really wished the townsfolk would not stare at her so.

  Stumps and logs were placed in the middle of the clearing, serving as seats. The reverend was already at the front, waiting for everyone to settle in. Wakefield guided Thea to a log, and they settled down together.

  She’d never been to an outside church before, but when Reverend Pullman began to preach in his deep, warbling voice Thea felt as if something was opening up inside of her. Perhaps it was the combination of everything good at the moment. The sermon. The sunshine. The strong, kind man at her side. Thea felt as if all the worry she’d had over the last year was being drained out of her and being replaced with hope.

  She closed her eyes, lifting her face up to the sky as the group sang a hymn. Too soon, the service was over, everyone making the rounds and shaking the reverend’s hand. Thea caught the eye of the woman she’d spied earlier, who had two small children with her. She smiled Thea’s way, and Thea smiled back.

  Before she could go over and introduce herself, though, Wakefield’s hand was on the small of her back. He turned her in the direction of Reverend Pullman, who immediately clasped both of Thea’s hands in his.

  “Ah, Miss Sykes,” the reverend said. “It is a pleasure to meet you. I have heard good things about you.”

  “You as well, Reverend Pullman,” Thea answered. “Although I must confess, I am confused. I have only been here a couple days, and so I am not sure where you might have heard anything about me.”

  “Mr. Briggs spoke very highly of you.”

  Thea glanced Wakefield’s way, and he sheepishly shrugged—an action out of place on a man so large and commanding.

  “Are you ready for the ceremony?” Reverend Pullman asked. “Or is there anything you would like to do first?”

 
Thea glanced over her shoulder. While she’d been talking with the reverend, nearly everyone else had left the clearing. A few people chatted over near the general store, but only Noah remained seated.

  Thea’s heart jumped, and she looked to Wakefield. “I am ready.”