Her Winding Path_Seeing Ranch series

by Florence Linnington

“How was your morning?”

  “Very nice. We did laundry and cleaned up the kitchen.” Her weight shifted forward, eyes peeking at the far end of the barn.

  Tom turned to see what she was looking at and saw Chestnut curiously studying her. “Have you looked around the farm yet?”

  “No. It seemed like there was so much housework to be done. Perhaps I should-”

  He interrupted with a jerk of his head. “Come on. I’ll show you around.”

  “What about your work?”

  “It can wait.”

  A smile flickered across her face. “I cannot really say no to this.”

  “No, you can’t,” he grinned back.

  With her eyes on him, he joined her in the doorway and broadly swept his arm across the scene in front of them. “That’s the alfalfa right over there. Down the hill are the potato and corn fields. That there is Eddie.”

  Across the yard, Eddie looked up from where he was pulling water from the well.

  “We met,” he winked at Ida Rose.

  “Hey,” Tom jovially barked. “That’s my fiancée. You go and get your own.”

  Eddie rolled his eyes and Ida Rose laughed.

  A cold nose pushed its way into Tom’s palm. Red was wiggling his way between him and Ida Rose, his tail wagging happily. “And this is Red.”

  “Now, Red I have not met.” She bent down and rubbed the sheepdog’s head. “This is quite the tour and we have not even taken a step.”

  “There’s more.”

  Skirting around the edge of the horse barn, he showed her the chicken coop, the pig pen, the barn most of the alfalfa hay was kept in, and the vegetable garden.

  “That’s the last of the squash,” he explained, pointing the orange and yellow gourds out. “There’s a good amount of asparagus right now, though. You like asparagus?”

  “Yes, but I have only had it a few times.”

  “You’ll get sick of it out here.”

  Her musical laughter filled the yard. “I cannot believe that.”

  “Soon enough, there’ll be more. Lots of melons in the summer… and we can go to the hills and pick berries.”

  Ida Rose lifted her eyes to the clouds. The day was warmer than the one before it, the heat of the season rolling in fast.

  Thanks to the bright blue sky, fluffy clouds, and beautiful girl, Tom could feel a spring fever coming on.

  “And so, you sell the hay and potatoes?”

  “And the corn. Plus, sometimes pigs.”

  “It’s a wonderful farm.” Her eyes lowered back to his. “I am honored you asked me to come out here.”

  A lump formed in Tom’s throat. “I’m the one who should be happy,” he croaked. “A fine gal like you could have any man she chose.”

  Ida Rose turned pink and looked away. “It’s not so easy in New York. My father’s business partner… He made sure my family did not get the money we were due after Father died.” Her jaw tightened.

  “I’m sorry.”

  He’d known she had to be in some kind of financial bind to become a mail-order bride, since most of the women who chose that path were, but none of her letters had revealed the exact details of her life.

  And though he didn’t know everything about New York society, he understood enough to know that it could be hard for a woman without a dowry to find a husband there.

  “It has worked out.” Her smile was tired, but at least it was there. “My sisters and mother are doing all right, and I am here now.”

  “You must miss them.”

  Her eyes quickly became wet. “I do. So terribly.”

  Tom instantly regretted saying anything. “I’ve upset you.”

  “No.” She blinked back the tears. “It is fine. And, I must admit, part of the reason I felt I would be happy here was because of your mother. I received letters from a couple other men, but they were all living on homesteads by themselves. I did not want that kind of life. When I read that you lived with your mother, I knew I had to write back. You see, female companionship is very important to me, I suppose because I’ve been surrounded by women my whole life.”

  Tom didn’t know what to say. The whole time Ida Rose was talking, his insides had been slowly turning to ice. She had come to marry him mostly because of his mother…

  He bit down on his bottom lip and kicked at a tuft of grass. “You like puppies?”

  “Of course,” she laughed.

  “Eddie’s aunt’s dog just had a litter. Red is getting old anyway, so I was thinking about taking one of them. What do you think?”

  Ida Rose’s eyes lit up. “Truly?”

  “Maybe we can go and look at them this week. You can pick out the one you like best.”

  “What kind are they?”

  “Mutts. They should be big and strong, though. Good for guarding the farm.”

  “I can’t wait!”

  “Good.” Tom laughed, then noticed the length of the shadows. It was long past noon. “Did you eat yet?”

  “No.” She frowned. “Oh. You must be hungry. Let me make you something.”

  He nodded in appreciation, wondering if she was going to ask why his mother hadn’t already prepared the midday meal.

  She seemed too distracted by the thought of puppies, though, talking on about what kinds she liked best as they made their way to the house.

  One step at a time. He’d perked her up for the day. There was still the awful truth lurking around the corner, waiting to pop out at any moment, but at least for the time being, Ida Rose was happy.

  Now, if he could just please her like this every day…

  5

  5. Ida Rose

  Chapter Five

  The next morning felt fresh, full of possibilities. Whether it was that Tom had promised to take her to look at the puppies or that a whole day had passed without any disasters, Ida Rose did not care. The front door was thrown open and the sweet-smelling air filled the house.

  With the kitchen being small as it was, she’d had no trouble getting to know her way around it. With Elizabeth still asleep when she had woken that morning, Ida Rose had taken it upon herself to prepare breakfast. Now, as she finished setting the table, Tom entered, his straw-colored hair mussed from a night of sleep.

  “Good morning.” She smiled.

  “Good morning.” His gaze lingered on her for a moment, making the pleasurable feeling that was already in her heart double.

  “How did you sleep?”

  “Pretty good. Except Red was barking in his sleep half the night. He must have been chasing chickens in his dreams.”

  “I thought I heard a woof once or twice,” she laughed.

  Carefully wrapping her apron around the handle of the coffee pot, Ida Rose carried it to the table and filled the three tin mugs with the hot liquid. Elizabeth was still looking out the window, something she had been doing since she walked into the main room ten minutes earlier.

  “Good morning, Mother.” Tom gently placed a hand on her shoulder. She turned and looked at him for a long moment before murmuring her own greeting.

  “Sugar?” Ida Rose asked.

  Elizabeth slowly nodded, her eyes not rising. The joyful flame in Ida Rose’s chest flickered. Had she done something wrong?

  Worry gnawing away at her stomach, she took her own seat.

  “Rebuilding is starting today in town,” Tom announced, blowing on his coffee. “Once everything else is finished, there’s going to be a big party for when the hotel is built. Everyone will be there.”

  Ida Rose made herself look pleasant. “That sounds wonderful. I will have to start thinking about what I can make.”

  “What’s your specialty?”

  “Pies, mostly. Everyone at my old church loved my fruit ones.”

  “You’ll have plenty of berries soon, and then in the fall, there will be apples.”

  The whole time they were talking, she surreptitiously watched Elizabeth from the corner of her eye. Tom’s mother was still looking out the window, her
chin in her hand. As the conversation turned to what months the different fields were harvested, she picked up her fork and began delicately eating breakfast.

  Dropping his napkin on his plate, Tom stood. “I’d best be getting out there. Eddie is likely already over. I might not have time to come in to eat today.”

  “I will bring something out to you,” Ida Rose quickly answered.

  He gave her an appreciative look. “Thank you. It’ll be nice to take a break and see you.”

  He went out, leaving the house in a state of silence.

  Ida Rose cleared her throat. “It is a lovely day today, is it not?”

  Elizabeth lethargically turned her face to her. “Yes, beautiful.” At least she was smiling.

  Perhaps she just has some quiet days, Ida Rose decided as she cleared the table. Her sister, Theodora, could be a moody one, chatty on Tuesday and reclusive on Wednesday. If that was the case, the behavior was not anything Ida Rose was not used to.

  With the sun heating up the house, she fetched a pail of water from the well. “After the dishes, what shall I do?”

  Elizabeth had moved to the fireplace mantle, where she was running her hand over the smooth wood. “What, dear?”

  “What would you like me to do after the dishes?”

  “Oh.” She pressed a finger to her chin. “Feed the cats. Yes. They are probably hungry by now.”

  “There are cats?”

  “Mm-hmm. The tabbies.”

  Ida Rose filled the wash bucket and began scrubbing away at the plates. “How sweet. They live in the barns?”

  “No, in the house, child.”

  Her hands stilled in the water. She’d failed to heat it up first and it was close to icy cold. Quickly wiping her palms on her apron, she turned to Elizabeth. “I have not seen any cats. They sleep outside sometimes?”

  “I…” Elizabeth frowned. “Where is Thomas?”

  Ida Rose’s heartbeat sped up. What was going on? “He went out to work. Remember?”

  She slowly shook her head. “No.”

  “Elizabeth, are you… all right? Maybe you should lie down for a bit.”

  “Yes,” she nodded. “I am rather tired.”

  Ida Rose watched her retreat to her bedroom, and then just stood there for a long time, her heart rate never slowing. Was something the matter with Elizabeth? She was acting so different from the lively, happy woman who had greeted Ida Rose the other night.

  Her quiet demeanor itself was alarming, but then, there was the talk of the cats. Ida Rose had only been at the farm for two nights, but in that short time, she was absolutely certain she had seen no cats.

  So, what was going on?

  Tiptoeing down the hall, she peered through the crack in Elizabeth’s bedroom door. Lying on her side, she had her back turned to Ida Rose and appeared to be sleeping.

  Just as quietly, Ida Rose left the house, striding quickly past the stable and the chicken coop.

  The house and barns sat atop a hill which, on all sides, took long slopes downward. At the bottom of the hill, on the edge of a field, Tom was plowing, one of his brown horses hitched to the contraption. Ida Rose’s steps picked up speed as she propelled herself down the hill, till she was jogging.

  Noticing her approach, he took off his hat and wiped sweat from his brow. “Ida Rose? Is everything all right?”

  She came to a stop in front of him and took in a much-needed deep breath. “I am worried about Elizabeth.”

  He blinked fast, but said nothing.

  “Tom?”

  “What happened?” he blurted out, nearly talking over her.

  “Are there any cats on the farm?”

  His eyebrows threaded together. “No. Not for years. We used to have a few tabby cats, but they died years ago.”

  Fear stuck Ida Rose’s heart. During her search for Tom, she’d held on to a bit of hope that she was the one in the wrong after all. She’d thought that there could be cats on the farm, but she, in her recent distress, had neglected to see them.

  “Elizabeth asked me to feed the cats. And more than once. It wasn’t a slip of tongue. She seemed to… she seemed to really think that there are still cats here.”

  “Where is she now?”

  “Lying down. I suggested she was tired and she agreed.”

  Tom ran his palm over his mouth and looked down, hiding his face. Ida Rose waited, but he said nothing.

  Why wasn’t he talking?

  She worked her tongue around her dry mouth, looking for the right words. “Perhaps… we should call a doctor. She could have fallen and hit her head and not remember it. That can cause confusion sometimes.”

  “She’s already seen a doctor.” Tom raised his face, his eyes full of emotion.

  “What? When?”

  He exhaled heavily. “She’s been seeing the town’s doctor regularly. I…” Turning away from her, he laced his hands together and pressed them against the back of his head. A terrible tension filled the air between them.

  “Tom?”

  “I haven’t been honest with you.” He turned back to her. “My mother’s mind is going. She was confused about the cats, but it’s not the first time it’s happened. It’s been going on the last couple of years. It...” His Adam’s apple bobbed. “It’s only going to get worse.”

  Ida Rose stared at him, horror filling her. “But yesterday...”

  “Yesterday was a good day for her. Not every day is like that.”

  “I...” She didn’t know what to say. What was there to say?

  “I hoped to explain the situation to you once you got here. That’s why I didn’t tell you in a letter.”

  “But you did not.”

  His face fell. “A lot has happened at once, Ida Rose. You almost died the other day.”

  “Do not feel as if you have to remind me of that,” she fiercely whispered.

  He held up his hand. “I meant no offense. I know you’re probably still shaken up from it.”

  She was, and also still worried about the bandits. But now that it felt as if Tom was against her, she wasn’t about to lay her weaknesses out in the open for him to view at his leisure.

  “What has the doctor said?” she questioned.

  His lips pursed. “That it’s old age. She’s forgetting things, getting confused. There’s nothing that can be done about it.”

  So many questions were trying to claw their way out of Ida Rose’s throat that they all ended up getting jammed together in there, not one of them escaping. Had Tom truly ever planned on telling her about his mother’s mind? Was it safe for her to be at the farm? Was there somewhere else she needed to be living? Did he just expect Ida Rose to accept that he had brought her to marry him under false pretenses?

  “Ida Rose...” He reached for her, but she stepped to the side, away from his hand. So far, he’d only touched her in the most appropriate ways. She was not going to allow their first embrace to be driven by such a distasteful, regrettable moment.

  “I need some time to think right now,” she thickly said, not looking at him.

  Turning swiftly, she walked back up the hill and past the barns. At the house, she couldn’t bring herself to stop, so she kept on going. Down the drive. Across the road. Her feet possessed a mind of their own.

  Likely, they are trying to take me back to New York, she wryly mused.

  The idea did not bring her the humor she had hoped it would. Instead, it sent tears to her eyes. Wiping angrily at them, she stalked on. At the edge of a field full of tall grasses, she stopped and sucked in a long, deep breath.

  So, Tom had lied to her. Or, rather, kept the truth from her. And what was she to do about it now?

  Nothing. That was the answer. She could not go back to New York. She did not have a husband waiting for her, nor a real skill like Martha had. She had to stay in Shallow Springs. Come what may, all she could do was make the best of it.

  6

  6. Tom

  Chapter Six

  Red stared back at
Tom, his head cocked in question.

  “What’s that look for?”

  The dog just tilted his head the other way. Sighing, Tom raked his fingers through his hair. He stood, took a few steps, sat back down on the bottom of the hayloft ladder, then stood again.