Penny (Orlan Orphans Book 6)

by Kirsten Osbourne

  “But—you can’t call the girls bastards. It’s rude! I don’t think it’s even true of Penny—not from what she told me.” And even if it was, why would she call them that?

  “I’m not talking about their parentage!” Edna shook her head. “I think bastards need more love than other children, because they have gotten less through life. So when I call my girls bastards, it just means I love them extra, like I would if they really were bastards. Make sense?”

  Tom stared at her as if she’d lost her mind. Had she ever had one? “Not a bit.”

  Cletus grinned at Tom, obviously enjoying his confusion. “It does in Edna Petunia speak.”

  “Are you making fun of me, you old coot?”

  “Of course not, dear. You know I love you above all else.” Cletus hunched forward just a tad bit, and Tom immediately knew why when Edna Petunia slapped him across the back of his head.

  “You’re the one that chose to marry me and adopt fifteen bastards with me.” She looked at Tom as if nothing had happened. “Will you sign the document?”

  “I—.”

  “Just agree with her,” Cletus instructed. “She’s not going to give in otherwise.”

  “I’ll sign it then.” Tom shook his head. What on earth was he agreeing to? No wonder more of the girls weren’t married if men had to go through this to even court one of them.

  “I’ll go spend time with my precious grand-bastards now then.” Edna Petunia left the room, leaving Tom more bemused than he’d been when she’d followed him into it.

  Tom looked at Cletus, shaking his head. “I’m not sure what just happened.”

  Cletus sighed, waving a hand at Tom. “Have a seat, and we’ll have our real talk now.”

  Tom sat down on the edge of the sofa, ready to run if things got any stranger. Of course, if he ran, he’d just have to come back, because his soul mate lived there, but he wasn’t sure that really mattered at all. “You’re not going to let me court Penny?”

  “Of course, I’m going to let you court Penny, and now that Edna Petunia has stuck her nose into things, I’ll even write up a document. The document will say that you promise to never hurt Penny. Does that work for you?”

  Tom stared at the older man. He was getting dizzy with as quickly as things were changing. “Why not ask me to wait three months after my engagement?”

  “Because that’s a ridiculous thing to ask of you. I would like you to wait that long, because I don’t want to have to deal with my wife if you don’t, but I won’t require you to do it legally. That would be silly.”

  “Why don’t you want to deal with her if I don’t wait three months?” Tom desperately wanted to understand what was happening, but none of it made any sense at all to him.

  “Edna Petunia has in her head that she wants to plan a wedding for one of the girls. She doesn’t even care which girl. Every time one of them gets engaged, they marry immediately, and I have to listen to her ranting and raving about it until the next one starts courting. So while I’d rather you waited, I won’t force you to. I think premarital shenanigans are more likely to take place if we make you wait a long time.”

  Premarital shenanigans? “I can promise to do my best, but if I feel we’re in danger of…shenanigans, I will let you know.”

  “I’d appreciate that!” Cletus sighed. “I’ll have the form ready when you pick her up for your first outing. When will that be, by the way?”

  “I asked her if she’d go to the diner in town with me tomorrow night. I really want to dance with her, but I couldn’t find anyone having a dance.”

  Cletus looked at him for a moment. “I don’t know of anyone having a dance, and I’m not sure I’m ready for you to be touching my baby yet.”

  “Your baby, sir?” Didn’t Penny tell me she’d only been in Texas a few years? Why would he refer to someone he’d met as a teenager as his baby?

  “All of Edna Petunia’s little bastards are my babies. We each have our own sweet nicknames for them,” Cletus explained patiently.

  “I see.” No, I don’t, but I’m not about to argue with a madman. Who am I kidding? I’m a madman for sitting here and participating in this conversation.

  “So you’ll take her to the diner tomorrow evening, and I will have the document ready for you to sign.”

  “Thank you for taking the time to talk to me, sir. And for making the document I have to sign a bit more palatable.”

  “Is what I hear about your family true?”

  Tom frowned. “What do you hear?”

  “That there’s something off about you. Something about seven sons in every generation.”

  “That’s true. I’m the seventh son of a seventh son.” Tom didn’t mention that it went back for generations and generations, because he was afraid of how Cletus would react.

  “And will you have seven sons?”

  Tom shrugged. “I believe I will. My brothers have sons and daughters, though.”

  “But you won’t.” Cletus’s eyes seemed all-knowing in that moment.

  “I don’t believe I will. It seems to be only the youngest son who carries on the tradition.”

  “Does Penny know that you want her to have seven sons and no daughters?”

  Tom frowned. “Honestly, I’d love to have a daughter, but I don’t believe they’re in my future. I do think Penny is in my future though.”

  “Tell me this, if you could skip over the courting part of things and marry her tomorrow, would you do it?”

  “I would. I know she’s the girl for me.”

  “Because you have some sort of magical power?”

  Tom shook his head. “No, not magic. I don’t even believe in magic. It’s just a knowing. That’s the only way I can express it.”

  “Do your brothers know things as well?”

  “No, sir. Not like I do.” Tom hated admitting to the rumors, but he hated the idea of lying to the man even more. Not when he was agreeing to let him court his daughter.

  Cletus frowned at him for a moment before nodding. “Just be kind to her.”

  “I don’t know how to be any other way to a lady. My mama taught me to treat a lady as if she was a piece of delicate china. That’s how I’ll always treat your Penny.”

  “That’s all I care about.” Cletus stood and held out his hand to Tom, who shook it.

  Tom left the room in search of Penny, finding her as she was leaving the dishes. “Cletus has given me permission to court you. Would you care to walk with me outside for a short while?”

  Penny nodded. It was a chilly night, and she reached for her shawl, which was hanging on one of a series of hooks along the hallway. She put it over her shoulders and followed him out the door, not protesting when he took her hand as they walked.

  “I’d like to take you to supper tomorrow night.”

  “If Cletus approved you as a suitor for me, then that would be fine.” She had too much respect for her adopted parents to do anything that would upset them.

  “I’ll come by around five tomorrow evening to pick you up. Edna Petunia wants me to sign a contract stating I wouldn’t marry you without a three-month engagement.”

  Penny threw back her head and laughed. “Are you kidding me?”

  “I’m glad you’re amused. Cletus is going to make the contract read that I won’t hurt you instead. He apparently doesn’t think Edna Petunia will read it, so I’m going to do that.”

  She smiled. “Maybe we should just court and not worry about marriage for a while.”

  He frowned, not liking her answer. “I’d marry you tomorrow if I thought you’d agree.”

  She gaped at him. “I barely know you!”

  He shrugged. “That’ll change with time.”

  Chapter Four

  Penny was waiting for Tom when he arrived the following evening. She’d worked in the parlor most of the day, amidst her sisters, who had no problem teasing her about her new beau. Katie had been practicing for a solo at church on Sunday, and they had all gathered, inc
luding the nieces and nephews, and listened while she sang.

  The twins played happily on the floor with dolls with Minnie, and Alice chose to forgo her studying for the day to be with the others. Edna Petunia had looked around the room in satisfaction, happy to be in the middle of the chaos created by her daughters and grand-bastards.

  When the knock came at the door, Penny was wearing her newest dress, one she’d only worn to church once. She stood as soon as she heard the knock, but Edna Petunia took her hand and pulled her back down onto the sofa beside her. “Don’t look too eager.”

  Penny frowned, but nodded. She didn’t think women should play games with men, but she wasn’t going to argue with Edna Petunia. There was nothing good that ever came from that.

  Hattie hurried to the door to greet him, and Penny listened to her. Hattie was one of Penny’s favorite sisters, because she was always so happy and upbeat. “It’s good to see you, Mr. McClain. I’m sure you don’t remember my name, but I’m Hattie.”

  “It’s nice to see you again, Miss Sanders.”

  “Oh, you have to call us by our first names around here,” Hattie said with a laugh. “There are too many Miss Sanders for you to call us that. We’ll all answer at once, and that’s even more confusing than learning our first names.”

  Penny saw the two of them at the door to the informal parlor, and she started to stand, but Edna whispered, “He has to see Cletus first. Wait.”

  Tom nodded at Penny. “I’ll go talk to Mr. Sanders and be right back.” He smiled at her in a way that set her toes to tingling. There was something very special about him to make her feel that way every time she saw him.

  After he’d walked off, Penny worried about her appearance. “Is my hair all right?” she asked, wishing there was a mirror in the parlor.”

  “You look beautiful,” Edna Petunia told her. “Now remember. If he asks you to marry him, you may tell him yes, but he has to know the engagement will be at least three months.”

  Penny grinned, doing her best not to giggle. “Yes, Edna Petunia.”

  Hattie caught her eye from where she stood beside the piano and winked. “I love that dress on you. The lavender really brings out your eyes.”

  “Thank you, Hattie.”

  “You should wear that dress when you marry next weekend,” Theresa said mischievously.

  Edna Petunia growled, and all the girls dissolved into giggles. “I promise not to marry him next weekend,” Penny whispered as she patted Edna Petunia’s arm.

  Tom stepped into the parlor then. “Are you ready, Penny?”

  Penny stood and walked to Tom, smiling at all the calls to have a good night. “I’m ready.”

  “I feel like I’m starring in some sort of play. You’re the heroine, by the way,” he whispered as he helped her on with the coat she handed him.

  Penny laughed. “It does sort of feel that way, doesn’t it? My family is the perfect audience.” When they stepped outside, she spotted the automobile he’d driven over. “Oh! I thought we’d go by wagon.” It was always a treat to ride in an auto.

  “This is more fun,” he countered, hurrying to open the door for her. “You look beautiful tonight, Penny.”

  She climbed into the auto, feeling the blood flood to her face. “Thank you.”

  Once they were both seated, he pointed the vehicle toward town. “The document was just what Mr. Sanders told me it would be. I signed it with no problem.”

  “Let’s just hope Edna Petunia doesn’t figure out he didn’t have you sign the right thing. She’d be livid.”

  “Does she get angry often? She seems to love all of you girls.” He was happy for the topic of conversation. Even though he knew he was destined to marry her, knowing what to say was beyond him. He’d spent little time entertaining women over the years, because he hadn’t met the one who he was intended to be with.

  “Not often, but watch out when she does! She usually just takes it out on Cletus, who smiles and says a lot of ‘yes, dears.’ The rest of us don’t see it. I mean, she’ll grumble a lot when someone marries with no notice, but then she gets over it.”

  “If I asked you to run off and marry me next weekend, what would you say?”

  She grinned. “I’d say two things. First of all, I don’t know you well enough to even consider marriage yet. Why, we’ve never even kissed! Second, I’d tell you that I just now promised Edna Petunia that I would not marry you next weekend. I didn’t say I wouldn’t the next weekend, though.”

  Tom laughed. “I like the way you think. Did you tell her we wouldn’t marry Monday?” He was thinking hard about what she’d said about never having kissed him. He wanted to kiss her, but would she think it was too soon?

  “Of course not. But I’ll tell you I won’t marry you on Monday.”

  “About that kiss…when is too soon for a first kiss? I wanted to kiss you the instant I first saw you, bent over your work in the back of the mercantile, but I know some ladies think they need to wait for that kiss.”

  “I don’t think it’s appropriate to kiss on the first date.” One of the girls back in New York had kissed a boy on her first date, and a couple of months later, she’d had to marry him. She’d vowed never to kiss the first time she went out with a man.

  “Well, technically our first date was supper at your house last night, so I could kiss you tonight?”

  Penny was strangely intrigued by the idea. She’d never been as aware of a man as she was Tom. There was just something about him that spoke to her. It wasn’t just his eyes or the way his pants fit his bottom either. No, there was an unspoken gentleness about him that she respected. “Let’s see how the evening goes.”

  “That sounds fair.” He parked the auto in front of the diner and hurried around to open her door for her. He held his hand out to her and tucked it into the curve of his elbow, leading her into the small restaurant.

  Once they were seated, he reached across the table and took her hand in his. “Do you mind?” he whispered softly, hoping no one would hear.

  She shook her head. “Not at all.” His hand felt right to her. She focused on her menu, trying to decide what she would eat. Everything on the menu were things Edna Petunia cooked on a regular basis. Being the daughter of the best cook in all of Texas did have its advantages. Of course, her sister Sarah Jane was a pretty wonderful cook as well. She finally decided to have the pot roast and closed her menu, watching Tom as he decided what he wanted.

  Tom closed his menu and pushed it to the middle of the table, just then realizing she’d been watching him. He gave her a tentative smile, wondering if she was half as attracted to him as he was to her.

  “Do you live with your parents?” Penny asked, after the silence had gone on longer than it should.

  He nodded. “I do. I’ll inherit the ranch and their home one day.”

  She frowned. “You will? Doesn’t the oldest brother usually inherit?”

  “Not in my family. It’s the whole seventh son thing. The youngest son seems to always have seven sons, and he’s the one who inherits in my family.”

  Penny looked at him for a moment. “So you believe you’ll have seven sons? No daughters?”

  He nodded slowly. “I know that to be the case. Have you heard rumblings that my family is odd?”

  She nodded, blushing. She’d hate for him to think she listened to rumors. “Cletus said something.”

  “Well, I’ve known since I was a little boy that I would have seven sons, and no daughters. And that I would marry a seamstress named Penny.” He watched her face carefully for a reaction, wondering how she’d feel about it.

  Penny blinked a few times. “So you think you’re destined to marry me?”

  “I do.” As soon as he said the words, he realized they sounded very much like wedding vows, and he laughed softly. He saw she understood his little joke when she grinned. “Does it frighten you?”

  “Does what frighten me? That you believe we’re destined to marry and have seven sons? Of course
not. No, things like starvation and bears frighten me. Are there bears in Texas?” She’d wondered that for a long time, but no one had been able to give her an answer.

  He blinked a few times at her rapid change of subject. “Yes, there are bears in Texas.”

  “Well, I can honestly say that I’m a lot more frightened by the bears than I am by you thinking you’re supposed to marry me and have babies with me.”

  “Does that mean you’ll marry me?”

  She shook her head. “Any man off the street could say he was destined to marry me. Then where would you be if I married him and not you?”

  He shrugged. “I guess you have a point. We’ll see how it goes.”

  “Are you a Christian, Tom?”

  Tom nodded. “My family are strong Protestants. Are you a Christian?”

  “Of course. I was raised in a church-run orphanage. I had no choice but to be a Christian. Now that we’re with Edna Petunia and Cletus, it’s my choice to be a Christian. The Sanders have a very odd way of looking at life, but they encourage all of us to be believers. They are clear about the fact that they’ll love us no matter what choices we make in life though.” She leaned forward and dropped her voice to a whisper. “Do you want to know a secret?”

  He nodded, leaning forward as well. “What’s the secret?”

  “I think Edna Petunia is secretly wishing that one of us would have a baby out of wedlock so she really could have a bastard for a grandchild.”

  He shook her head. “That woman is—interesting.”

  Penny grinned. “I love her so much. The orphanage in New York did everything they could to marry off the older girls. No one wanted us. We get here, and she takes all fifteen of us. And she makes it clear that she loves every one of us for who we are, not just because we’re one of her bastards.”

  “Doesn’t it bother you that she calls you a bastard all the time?”

  “It did the first few times she said it, until I realized how she meant it. Now, I just know that it’s her way of showing affection and love for us. It’s a strange way, of course, but she means nothing bad by it.” Penny shrugged. “And I love her and know she loves me. What more could I ask for?”