Montana Sky: Mail Order Machinations (Kindle Worlds Novella)

by Kirsten Osbourne

  Brody shook his head, having a hard time believing it all. “And your grandparents didn’t want you and your sister?”

  Coral answered that question. “They always hated our father, so they were never exactly fond of us. They took Mother back, because she’s a recluse, but we’re not exactly the grandchildren they always wanted.”

  “That’s really sad.” He reached out and took Esther’s hand in his. “Your grandparents are missing out on two very sweet young ladies.”

  “I think so,” Coral said as she took a big bite of her chicken. “I could have helped Grandfather with his business, but he’s too old-fashioned for that. He’d have been fine with me going off to be a seamstress, but he never would have let me keep the books.”

  Brody gaped at her. He’d rarely met a female who admitted to being good at keeping books. “Are you skilled at math then?”

  Coral shrugged. “I’m skilled at everything.” She obviously didn’t say it to brag. She really must be skilled at everything. “Except music. I have a tin ear.”

  “Well, that’s something at least. I’m happy to hear you’re not good at everything.”

  “Why?” Coral asked. “I like being good at things.”

  “I hear you’re an excellent cook and will be helping Esther learn to cook better,” he said, looking for a more comfortable subject.

  “Yes, I’ll help her. She’s not a terrible cook now. Why, she learned a lot about making decent meals while we lived with Elizabeth Miller.”

  “The matchmaker? You lived with her?”

  “We had nowhere else to go after Father was arrested. The bank sent men to take all of our things. We were allowed to take our clothes, but nothing else,” Esther told him softly.

  He understood better then. “And Miss Miller let you live with her free of charge?”

  Esther shrugged. “I think she would have, but Coral organized her business papers while we were there. And everything else.” Coral couldn’t stand to see anything in disarray. She’d not only filed all of Elizabeth’s papers during their month with the matchmaker, she’d also alphabetized her books and reorganized the kitchen cabinets. Even her drawers had been rearranged in a way that made sense to Coral.

  “Well, I’m glad you were able to earn your keep. I was starting to wonder if I should send her a bit more money for your room and board.”

  Coral shook her head. “No need. We definitely earned our keep. While we were there one of the maids had a baby, so we did some of the housework, and Esther helped with the cooking as well. We worked during that time. Not that she wasn’t incredibly kind to allow us to live there, because she was.”

  Brody wasn’t certain how to respond to that, so he didn’t. He found Coral a bit intimidating. He was glad he’d gotten the soft-spoken sister and not the know-it-all.

  Twenty minutes later, they were back on the road and headed toward the ranch. They would need to travel at least another four hours before they could stop for the night. There was a small shelter at that point where they could stay the night. If it was just him, he wouldn’t mind sleeping out in the open or under the wagon, but with two women to look out for, it would be better if they got to the shelter.

  There was only one large room, and he hoped he would be able to find a way to at least sleep with his new bride in his arms, even if he wasn’t allowed to have relations with her yet. Well, allowed wasn’t the right word. If he couldn’t find a way with her younger sister right there.

  He sighed. It would be best if he waited for that until he was at home on his ranch anyway. His sweet bride deserved a good bed for her wedding night.

  The sisters talked to one another as they drove, and he enjoyed observing them. Listening to them, it sounded as if Coral was the elder, but every once in a while, she would say something, so utterly naïve that he’d realize she really was younger. The women had an odd relationship, and he was glad to observe it.

  “What’s your favorite food?” Esther asked him, surprising him by suddenly including him in the conversation.

  “Mine? Pot roast,” he told her.

  Esther frowned. “I haven’t made a pot roast yet. I’ll make sure that’s something Coral teaches me to cook before she marries.”

  “You talk as if her marrying very soon is a given.”

  Esther shrugged. “I’ve never seen Coral put her mind to anything that didn’t happen as soon as she wanted it to. I’ll be shocked if she doesn’t marry within a week of her eighteenth birthday.”

  “Why are you so determined to wait until you’re eighteen to marry?” he asked Coral.

  Coral shrugged. “Elizabeth Miller wouldn’t let a girl go off to be a mail order bride until she turned eighteen. I’ve always thought many girls marry much too young, so I’ve adopted the age Elizabeth uses. It sounds like it’s a good one to me.”

  “I see,” he said, but really he didn’t. His sisters had all married before they turned sixteen. “Eighteen is practically an old maid in Ireland.”

  Coral made a face. “I’m glad I don’t live in Ireland then. I think women should be allowed to grow and learn things before they start pushing out babies.”

  “You don’t want children?” he asked, shocked. Most girls he knew were infatuated with the idea of having babies.

  Coral shrugged. “I guess I wouldn’t mind having one or two. I certainly don’t want a whole houseful like Esther does. Since we were little girls she’s dreamed of having babies. I think babies are fine, but they won’t complete me. I need to find something within myself that will do that.”

  He had no idea what she was talking about, so he didn’t pursue it. The girl was odd, and that was that. He looked at Esther. “You want a lot of children?”

  Esther nodded. “As much as it infuriated our parents, I’ve always thought eight or ten children would be the perfect number. You did specify that you wanted a woman who wanted children.”

  He smiled. “That sounds like a good number to me too. I like the idea of having several boys to help around the ranch, but girls to help you at home as well.”

  Esther smiled, resting her head on his shoulder. The man was going to be good for her, as long as they could get through having her sister living with them. She just hoped he didn’t realize how much better of a wife Coral would be.

  Chapter Five

  When they finally arrived at the shelter for the night, Esther was sore and tired. She knew it would probably be up to her to sort out supper for the evening, and she hoped Brody had supplies to make it possible. She went into the small one-room shelter, noting that there was one bed, and it was barely big enough for two people. Would Brody give it up to her and Coral and sleep on the ground? Or would he insist on sharing it with her?

  She was nervous at the idea of him wanting to consummate that night. She didn’t feel like she could ask Coral to go for a walk in a strange place, especially after they’d ridden in the wagon all day. Surely her sister was as sore as she was.

  Coral walked up behind her, noting her gaze on the bed. “If he wants to do that tonight, I’ll go for a walk.”

  “No, it wouldn’t be safe.”

  Coral shrugged. “Brody has a rifle in the back of the wagon. I’m sure I could protect myself.”

  “You’ve never even shot a rifle. You couldn’t protect yourself with it!”

  Brody came in then from unhitching the wagon for the night. “You’ve never shot a rifle?” he asked Coral. “You’re going to need to know how, living around here.”

  “Oh, I’d love to learn!” Coral responded.

  “Well, let’s go have a quick shooting lesson.” Brody was tired, but the sooner they practiced, the sooner he would feel safe to have her walking around the area on her own. He could only see that as a good thing when it came to making love with his wife in his small house.

  Coral nodded enthusiastically. “Come on, Esther. You need to learn as well!”

  Esther not only had no desire to learn to shoot a rifle, but she had no desire
to do it around Coral. She didn’t need her sister being better at yet another thing. And she would be. Her sister was instantly better at everything than she was.

  Brody’s eyes met Esther’s. “She’s right. You do need to learn.”

  Esther took a deep breath before nodding. She followed the other two out to the wagon and watched while Brody showed them how to load the gun. He had them aim for a tree not more than five yards from where they stood. “See that low hanging leaf on the bottom branch?” he asked.

  Esther went first, and she surprised herself, hitting the bottom of the leaf, and making it sway, on her third shot. After she got used to the recoil of the weapon, it was easy for her to hit close to where she was aiming.

  Of course, when it was Coral’s turn, she shot the stem, knocking the leaf to the ground on her first shot.

  Esther smiled and patted her sister on the back, while Brody went to look at the leaf, his face showing his surprise. He pointed to another leaf while there and got out of the way. Coral did the same thing with the second leaf. And the third.

  Brody stared at her as if she was from another world.

  Esther leaned toward him and whispered softly. “She’s always been like that about everything. I think she should be in a circus side show.”

  Brody stifled a laugh at his wife’s words, hugging her to him. Coral put the rifle over her shoulder. “I’m going to go for a walk. Have I satisfied you that I can take care of myself?”

  He nodded. “I’ve never seen anyone take to shooting the way you did. Good job.”

  Coral just shrugged, walking off.

  Esther looked at him. “Is there something for me to cook? Or we might have enough food left from lunch.”

  “Let’s just have whatever’s left from lunch. I’d go hunt for something, but your sister just walked off with my rifle, and I’m sure she’ll come back with enough game for us to eat for a month.”

  She laughed. “And she’ll find edible plants along the way. At least we won’t have to worry about breakfast.”

  He shook his head. “I understand what you were talking about now. She’s really different than anyone I’ve ever met.”

  “The thing is, she genuinely loves people and wants to help them. I’ve never met such a loving, giving person, but she is so perfect that it makes me crazy. I think a lot of the reason I agreed to marry Jeremiah, whom I didn’t love at all, was to get away from her. I love her with everything inside me, but it’s hard to constantly be reminded of my shortcomings.”

  He shook his head. “She does seem too good to be true.”

  “Oh, she definitely is. And I’ve never seen her angry. She’s calm all the time. I think if we ever find a man who makes her yell and scream, we’ll find her perfect match.”

  He chuckled at that. “I think I like you.” He shook his head. “Promise you won’t hide anything from me again, though. Finding out your sister was with you was quite a shock to me.”

  “I promise. I’m usually very honest and trustworthy, but I’m sure you can see I couldn’t leave Coral alone in Massachusetts. She’d have taken over the state by now without someone to watch over her!”

  He nodded. “It’s too bad women can’t be president, because she could solve the world’s problems in less than an hour!”

  Together they emptied the picnic basket, setting out the food on the small table. There was only one chair. “We could let Coral eat at the table, and we can make a picnic on the bed,” Esther offered shyly. She was very aware of him as a man as they worked together in the small space. She kept glancing his way, hoping he would kiss her, but he didn’t seem to realize they were alone yet.

  Brody wished he knew how long Coral would be gone. He wanted to kiss his new wife, but he didn’t know when his new sister-in-law would arrive back, and he knew once he started kissing her, he wouldn’t be able to stop. No, it was better that he waited until they were home before he tried to start anything with her.

  Once they had their meal spread out on the bed, they both sat at the bottom, as far apart as the bed would allow, eating quietly.

  Coral burst into the shelter. “I got two rabbits, and I found some huckleberry bushes.” She held the two rabbits by the feet in one hand and had turned her bonnet into a basket to carry the berries. “We can have these for breakfast if you want? I don’t mind cooking the rabbits in the morning.”

  Esther smiled at her sister, carefully avoiding Brody’s gaze, because she knew she would burst into laughter. “Oh, that would be wonderful, Coral. Do you know how to skin and clean the rabbits?”

  “I read a book about it several years ago, so I’m sure it won’t be a problem.” Coral turned and moved outside, presumably to prepare the rabbits to cook.

  Brody looked over at Esther, his eyes wide. “We should assign her to build us a bigger house when we get to the ranch. I’m sure she could chop down the trees, cut them up for lumber, and build the house with her own two hands in less than a week.”

  “Oh, that’s a wonderful idea. She could probably start a new restaurant at the same time, cooking and serving each of the customers herself. And she’ll probably stroll through the restaurant entertaining people by juggling or something.”

  “Oh, does she juggle?” he asked, his face perfectly straight.

  “Not to my knowledge, but give her a minute.”

  They both burst into laughter. She was relieved that he was as amused by her sister as she was. All the while they’d traveled to Montana, she’d been worried he would want Coral as a wife, rather than her.

  “I’m glad you don’t want her for a wife and not me.” Esther didn’t mean for the words to slip out, but once they were out there between them, she knew they were right.

  “I can see why you’d worry about that,” he said, “but I don’t know any men who would be able to handle being married to a woman who does everything better than they do. It’s strange how weak it makes me feel just thinking about it. I need to feel like I’m the strong one in my marriage.”

  “I think I can help you with that,” she said with a grin. “I don’t feel like I’m very good at much.”

  “I’m sure you’re good at a lot of things, but living with your sister, anyone would feel inept.” He moved closer to her after setting his plate on the bed behind him. “I know you’ll be a better wife to me than she ever could.”

  “How could you know that?” she asked, astounded by his words. They hadn’t even known one another for a day yet.

  He reached out and stroked a finger down her cheek, taking her empty plate and setting it on the bed. “First of all, because I have no desire to kiss her. Or touch her.”

  Her eyes met his, embarrassed and direct all at once. “But you want to do those things to me?”

  He nodded. “I wish she weren’t just outside the door, because I could show you.” He leaned down and gently brushed his lips across hers. “I’m not going to touch you tonight, because we’ll have no privacy. We’ll wait until we get to my house tomorrow.”

  “Do you mind?” she asked.

  “Honestly, I mind a lot. But this will give us a little more time to get to know one another before we take our relationship to that level. I don’t want you to feel like our marriage is built on just lovemaking.”

  Esther blushed, but nodded. “That sounds logical. It will be hard enough to get to know one another in the close quarters you’ve described as your home.”

  He sighed, nodding. “It will be good when she marries and moves out on her own. Let’s not tell anyone how—perfect she is. We’ll have an easier time marrying her off if no one knows.”

  She rested her head against his shoulder, happy to have him there to lean on. Twenty-four hours ago, it would have been hard to believe that she was looking forward to the time when Coral moved on with her life. Now she could think of nothing she wanted more.

  He rested his cheek atop her head, enjoying the feel of her hair against his skin. “I know this is a strange situation, but we’ll
get through it together.”

  She smiled at his words, thankful that he understood her. Maybe this marriage would work out, and she would end up being thankful for her father’s incarceration after all.

  Coral came into the building then, spotting her supper on the table. She sat down and ate, talking between bites. “I’ve got the rabbits cleaned and ready to cook. I’ll get up early and take care of that in the morning. We’ll have roasted rabbit and berries for breakfast.”

  “Sounds good,” Esther replied, not moving away from her new husband.

  “I could go for another walk, so the two of you could consummate your marriage if you want,” Coral offered.

  Esther ignored her sister, but Brody made a choking noise. “That’s not something you just talk about in mixed company,” he said.

  Coral shrugged. “I think people are more than a little uptight about natural bodily urges. Men and women were made to make love. As long as it’s within the bounds of marriage, there’s no need to be embarrassed about it, is there?”

  “It’s still not polite to talk about,” he told her.

  “I don’t know why not.” She continued eating her food, watching her new brother-in-law. “Do you think sexual activity is inappropriate within marriage?”

  “No, but I think this conversation is inappropriate.” He stood, holding a hand down for Esther, who took it readily. “We’re going for a walk now. You clean up the mess from supper, all right?”

  “Oh sure. Just when the conversation gets good,” Coral muttered, taking another big bite of her chicken.

  As he led Esther out of the shelter, he shook his head. “Does she always talk about whatever is on her mind?”

  “Always. Really, being her sister has been something of a challenge over the years.”

  “I can see why. At first I thought she’d be really easy to marry off, but the more I get to know her, I worry. Her looks aren’t bad, though she isn’t as pretty as you are. The problem is her mouth. She can’t seem to control her thoughts.”