He woke early, knowing he had a lot of work to get done at the blacksmith shop. He dressed as quietly as he could and slipped out of the house. She knew he’d be at the shop, and hopefully wouldn’t need him until he returned. And he was sure there would be a lot of visitors to the house.
He wondered if he should have made her breakfast, but didn’t want to wake her since she seemed to be sleeping so peacefully. If he was lucky, she’d be able to figure out something for lunch or dinner, depending on when he made it back. He would be able to get a quick bite from the mercantile. They always had some fresh baked goods.
He had just gotten the fire burning hot enough he could put the iron in to prepare some horse shoes when the first visitor arrived.
“Surprised to see you here this early,” Lester said.
If Birch Creek had an official town drunk, it would be Lester Olsen. The man was mostly harmless, just a bit of a nuisance.
“Like to get my hot work done in the cool morning hours.” Michael hoped that would put an end to the questions, but instead the guy kept going.
“Married life not like you’d hoped?”
“Been less than a day,” someone from the side joined the conversation, saving Michael the need of a reply. “Don’t think you can make a judgment call like that in such a short amount of time.”
“How can I help you, Bert?” Michael asked the second man who’d arrived.
“I heard you was looking for a goat or maybe even a cow.” Bert said, moving a bit to the side in order to stand in front of Lester. Michael nodded as he pumped the billows for a moment to get the heat up.
“Do you have any leads?” Michael asked when he stopped the pumping.
“I have a couple of milk cows and a couple of heifer near old enough to breed, I might be willing to sell one of my older girls since I’ll have a young replacement soon.”
“That would be great,” Michael said. “What price you thinking?”
“I know cash is hard to come by, but I will need some shoeing on my horses. Got the three of them. Wondered how you’d feel about a year worth of shoeing on all of them in exchange for a cow. There are some good years to her still.”
Michael offered his hand to Bert. “Deal.”
“Want me to bring her over soon?”
Michael shook his head. “I’m gonna need to build something to hold her first. Don’t think she’d just hang out by the house otherwise.”
Bert laughed and nodded. “Let me know when you plan to get started and I’ll come help you.”
“I’ll do that,” Michael said. “Thanks.”
“Congrats on your wedding,” Bert said. “Sure am happy for you. She seems nice.”
“That she is,” Michael nodded. He purposely ignored Lester who had been hanging around to the side. Luckily, Bert took Lester by the shoulder and started walking along with him.
“Know anyone that’s got some axes?” Bert asked loud enough Michael could hear him. “Sounds like you might be useful in the next day or two in helping Michael get himself a pen built up. How about you go round up a few people to help you cut down some of those cottonwoods.”
Michael wasn’t sure exactly what Lester’s reply was, but he was sure the man was trying to find some way to get out of any extra work. But as long as that made Lester disappear from his shop front, Michael didn’t mind one bit.
Most everyone else that came by just stopped long enough to offer more congratulations or do business and get some long awaited work done in order to help him get a better savings built up to help with his newly married status. He had always had plenty of work to do, and enough to take care of his own needs, but now that he had a wife, and he hoped someday children, he would need to build a steady flow of customers.
He worked long into the day, feeling the heat as it continued to build and was happy to see an end to his work. He’d just finished his last set of shoes he’d had cut and formed for preparation of horses to come when a shadow in the front of the shop caught his eye.
Expecting a customer, he looked up ready to tell them he’d be there in a moment, but instead he was blessed with the sight of his wife.
“Hello,” Susan said, taking a step into the shaded part. “Wow, I thought it would be cooler in the shade, but that fire kicks off a lot of heat.”
“That it does,” Michael agreed, taking a moment to move over to his bucket of water. He took a long drink with the ladle, then took another scoop and poured it over his head to help him cool down.
Susan’s eyes widened and as he met her gaze, his heart raced a little to realize she found him appealing. He wished he dared go over to her and pull her into his embrace, but he knew she didn’t deserve to have a wet and smelly man accost her. No matter what her eyes said. Instead he did his best to smile back, letting her know he appreciated the sight of her as well.
***
Susan couldn’t tear her eyes off her husband. He’d been working so hard in that incredible heat that his shirt was practically glued to him, then when he poured water over him, Susan thought she might need to take a dousing as well. Working with iron and a hammer did wonders for his physique.
Michael smiled at her and she blushed, then as he looked her over with those eyes that saw everything, she had to take a couple quick breaths to catch up with her pounding heart. He took a step forward and she felt frozen in place.
“How have you been today?” Michael asked.
“Huh?” Susan said, feeling completely stupid, but not able to really focus on much besides the way he looked at her.
“How was your day?” he repeated. “Did you have a chance to get some breakfast? I’m sorry I didn’t make you any. I wanted to make sure you got the rest you needed.”
“Oh,” Susan said. “I uh, I found some food. I’m good. I tried to figure out what to make you for lunch since I didn’t know if you had anything, but I’m afraid I don’t know much about cooking. I saw you had some canned beans and such. Then I found some eggs. The hens weren’t actually as terrifying as I thought they’d be. I didn’t make it up yet, because I wanted to know if you would like me to bring it here, or if you wanted to come home to eat.”
“That’s mighty nice of you to think of me,” Michael said.
“Isn’t that what a wife’s supposed to do?” Susan asked. “Though I’m not sure exactly what to cook, if you give me some pointers, I’d be happy to try.”
“I usually have a pretty good lull in the middle of the day. So if you’d like, I could take a break now and come back to the house with you. Then we can go over what we’ve got and make a plan of the supplies we’ll still need to get.”
Susan nodded and took a step back toward the road as he walked forward, not ready to be so close to him for fear of touching or kissing him. And she didn’t want all eyes on them if that happened.
“Oh,” Michael said as he joined her on the street. “I made an arrangement to get us a cow. Just have to put up a fence first before we bring her over. Or we might check with the neighbor family to see if they’d let us keep her there for a bit. Of course, that would mean it’s further for you to walk and carry back the milk.”
“I think having her close would be nice, but if you want to get her right away, I don’t mind walking for a bit.” Susan slowed down and turned to him. “How much milk does a cow give anyway? Would I be able to carry it back?”
Michael nodded. “A couple buckets usually. And it would be twice a day. Morning and night.”
“Okay,” Susan said. “I could do that I guess.”
“I’ll check with the neighbors then for a temporary location. And see what it would take to build us our own barn to house her. Might just need a small shed. Something to hold her and the chickens. The pigs could stay outside and just fenced in for the most part.”
“Look at me, being all country,” Susan said with a small chuckle. “Never in my life did I think things would turn out like this.”
“I hope you don’t regret it,” Michael said,
a touch of concern in his voice.
“Oh no, not at all. Just that it wasn’t something I thought I’d actually experience. Growing up in New York City is so different than this. I kinda like the wide open space and how friendly everyone is.”
“I’m glad,” Michael said.
She looked at him as he walked for a bit then once her courage was up enough she reached for his hand. Hopefully it was acceptable for a husband and wife to hold hands as they walked in public. She didn’t know if they were more into a hand on the elbow or arm of their men or if threading her fingers through his was appropriate, but she loved the way it felt to touch him. He was solid and strong and kind and exactly what she had never known she needed. A much better option than any of the hipsters she’d dated through college.
When they reached the house, she hoped he would be pleased with what she’d done. She’d enjoyed decorating her own apartment back in her own time, but she’d had all kinds of things at her disposal. Here, she’d had to make do with what there was, and that wasn’t a lot.
She’d found a small broom made of stiff straw that she had almost broken to bits before she figured out how to use it properly. She’d also managed to get the counter and table cleaned off with some elbow grease and a lot of refills in the water basin. He hadn’t been living in complete filth or anything, but she could tell he’d been in a hurry most times and hadn’t done a deep and proper job of cleaning.
She’d found an old can that had a hole in the bottom that she had used to hold some of the dried weeds she’d picked from the side of the road that had a well-defined seed grouping that reminded her of wheat. She’d found a couple scraps of fabric that had some pretty designs on it in the piles of rags he had. She had twisted the strips around the can in a pattern that she’d remembered seeing in one of the magazines she’d flipped through in a waiting room back home.
“You put foxtail in a can?” Michael asked, stepping closer to it.
“Is that what it’s called?” Susan asked. “I see why. It does look like a tail, huh. I thought it looked pretty. Is that okay?”
“I think it looks nice. Just not something I expected. And you’ve been busy. I’m sorry it was in such poor shape.”
“It’s no problem,” Susan said. “And good thing is, there’s only one room to clean. I won’t be working all day every day to keep up. And maybe someday I’ll be able to cook and have meals ready for you.”
“That would be wonderful,” Michael said stepping closer to her. “The thought of coming home to a nice house and warm meal is something I will look forward to every day.”
He pulled her into a hug and though she wasn’t quite used to the scent of a man fresh from the blacksmith shop and all the hard work he put in there, she was surprised it wasn’t horrible. Sure, he smelled like sweaty man, but it was good honest sweat and nothing gross.
“I hope this is okay,” Michael paused only inches from her lips.
“Mm hmm,” she murmured inching closer to him until her lips met his. “It’s more than okay,” she whispered against his mouth and then he stole the rest of her words as he kissed her nearly senseless.
CHAPTER FIVE
If Lester asked again, Michael would definitely say married life was great. They’d been together less than a day and already he knew he would never regret his choice to send for a wife. And he thanked his Maker above that He’d seen fit to send this particular woman to him.
As much as he wished they could just keep kissing, he eventually pulled back and looked into her eyes. “Maybe there can be some of that every time I come home too?”
Susan laughed her infectious laugh and it warmed him even more.
“Sounds good to me. So let’s get some lunch made, then you can show me what you’d like me to do. Also, is there anything I can do to help you get ready for the cow?”
“I’ll have to cut down some trees first. And see if there are some nails and wires at the mercantile. It’ll be a day or two before there are enough supplies to get it all going.”
Susan nodded as she moved over to the piles of groceries that had been gifted them. “Just let me know. I’m happy to help where you need me.”
“Maybe, if you’re willing, you could go talk to a few of the ladies in town. See if someone could teach you about bread making. I only do flapjacks and that’s not the same. Some homemade bread sounds heavenly.”
“I can do that for sure. Anyone you suggest? I still don’t know many of the ladies by name. It was all kinda a blur yesterday.”
“Mrs. Lewis would be the one I’d check with first,” Michael said. “They’re the ones I was going to talk to about housing the cow.” After he explained which house belonged to the Lewis’ he helped her pull out some of the kitchen things and then touched the cook stove.
“Oh, I thought you’d have started a fire.”
Susan’s chagrined expression made him pause.
“Sorry,” she said. “I wasn’t sure how. Don’t know how much wood is needed and didn’t want to waste matches in any failed attempts.”
“Not a problem,” Michael said. “Did you never need to cook your own food back east?”
“Not much,” Susan said softly. “I worked in places or lived places where I could purchase it.”
“Part of room and board. I think I remember something like that before we moved out here. My momma always cooked and sometimes sold what she had to people like that.”
Susan just nodded and watched him as he broke up some of the smaller sticks to get some good kindling. He walked her through it slowly, enjoying the closeness of her body as she leaned in to watch how it was done. She wasn’t being flirtatious or anything, but just the way she felt so comfortable with him made his interest grow even more.
Before long, they had a fry pan with some salted bacon and a couple of eggs as well as a can of beans cooking. She’d watched closely as if she truly had never cooked before and Michael wondered exactly what her life had been like before she came out here.
When they finished eating, she cleaned up quickly while he hauled the sacks of flour to the cellar and then arranged the items in the cool dark storage room. She followed him down quickly and when she reached the ground, he couldn’t help but pull her close to steal a couple kisses.
She eagerly joined him, but when the kiss got a little heated and he bumped her into the ladder, he pulled back and let her go completely.
“I’m so sorry about that. I’ll behave myself. I promise.”
Susan smiled, and though it was hard to see clearly in the darkness since they only had the small bit of light from above and a little wax candle on a shelf, he knew she wasn’t upset. In fact, she seemed to have enjoyed it as much as he had.
She didn’t speak, but moved to the side and looked around the small room.
“This is great. A cold storage room. Keeps things pretty cool. I don’t think milk would last really long down here or anything, but if I figure out how to do cheese and butter, this would be great. And the eggs and salted meat are good.”
Michael nodded, liking the fact she understood its purpose.
“The ladder won’t be hard for you to manage with your skirts will it?” He’d noticed her taking her time coming down like she’d never done something like that before.
“It’ll take a bit of getting used to. But I think I’ll do all right.” She seemed to be taking stock of what they had and he hoped she’d be pleased. Most of it had come from all of their neighbors, and Michael would have to work hard to pay them all back for their kindness.
He didn’t like the idea that he was in such poor circumstances that people had felt the need to give them gifts of such things, but as Susan looked it all over and smiled at him, he was glad they had it.
If only he’d taken the time to plant more than just a few rows of root crops.
“Maybe we should go look at the garden. It’s too late in the year to plant corn or anything, but we might be able to do a few things more.”
; “You have a garden?” Susan asked.
“Yes, it’s out back. You probably saw it as you were throwing out the water.”
“Oh,” Susan said. “I guess I did. Though I don’t know much about gardens. What do you have there?”
“Potatoes, carrots, beets. A few pumpkins. Didn’t do the beans or squashes. But we’ll see if the mercantile has any seed.”
“Great idea,” Susan nodded. “I’ll do my best.”
“Thank you,” Michael said, taking her hand. “It will be a lot easier to prepare for the future with two of us.”
***
Susan was reluctant to see him leave, but she knew he had to get back to the shop and finish up the work he had to do. She was glad he’d been able to take some time to show her around the house and yard in the daylight. Now that she knew where things were, she’d be able to help out more.
Gathering her courage, she headed toward the Lewis’s, hoping her neighbor would be willing to teach her something about bread making.
As she reached the front yard area, she didn’t even make it up to the door before Mrs. Lewis opened it and smiled brightly.
“Why Mrs. Clark, what a pleasure to see you.”
“Thank you, Mrs. Lewis. I wondered if I might ask a favor.”
“Sure thing. But call me Bessy.”
“Alright, Bessy, and please call me Susan. Though hearing Mrs. Clark kinda made me extra happy right there.”
“Doesn’t it though. So what can I do for you?”
“I was hoping you’d be willing to teach me how to make bread. I’m afraid I don’t have the slightest idea what to do and I’d like to know how to feed my new husband.”
Bessy smiled wide. “I’d love to. In fact, I was going to make bread soon anyway. Might as well do it today. Do you have any pans?”
The Blacksmith's Bride Page 4