She smiled at him. “It’s just eggs with some bacon chunks.”
“I’m hungry, so that sounds delicious.” He wished he could find the right way to convey how he felt about her cooking for him. He’d tried so hard to learn during his years as a teacher, but he’d gotten nowhere. Perhaps being able to cook was in a person’s genes, and he’d been born without that particular gene.
He washed his hands and face using water from the pump and then sat down at the table, waiting.
Coral put his plate on the table in front of him and sat down with her own plate. They each had a cup of water to drink. “Do you have a cow?” she asked.
He nodded. “I took it to one of my students to take care of while we were gone.”
She hadn’t considered he’d had arrangements to make before they could leave. “Well, it’ll be nice to have fresh milk.”
“I have several chickens as well, as I’m sure you’ve gathered.”
She nodded. “I figured as much. I’ll be thankful for the eggs for my cooking.” She looked down at her plate for a moment, hesitant to bring up something she needed to talk to him about. “I think we can keep sleeping like we did last night. With you on top of the sheet and me under them. It worked well.” Sort of. It had been a bit awkward, of course, but not so awkward they couldn’t stand it.
“Are you sure?” He looked over at her, trying to read her face, but she was looking down at her plate, hiding her eyes from him. “I can make a bed on the floor if I need to.”
She shook her head. “I’m sure. I’m not a shrinking violet.” She finished her food and walked to the sink, immediately washing the dishes she’d dirtied. “I’m going to need to get more food as well. I’m happy to have eggs and milk, but unless you have flour and sugar and other basic ingredients hidden somewhere I can’t find, I’m going to need to go to town.”
He frowned. “I didn’t think of that. I can take you into Morgan’s Crossing after school tomorrow if you’d like.” He would have to put off grading some papers, but he could still make it work.
“I thought that was several hours away by wagon.”
He nodded. “It is, but if we need supplies, we need supplies.”
“Would you mind if I took the buggy on my own? If you hitched it up before you went to work in the morning, I would get home in the afternoon, about when you would be able to unhitch it again.”
He thought it over for a moment before nodding. “I’ll draw you a map of how to get there in the morning. It’s not difficult if you just keep following the main road.”
“That would help a great deal if you don’t mind.”
“I don’t mind at all. I like to eat. More than I should probably.”
She smiled at that. “Well, I’ll be sure to keep you fed if you can keep me in supplies.”
“I’ll leave you with some money as well. I don’t make a whole lot, but we can sure afford whatever food you want to buy.”
“That’s all we need.”
He nodded. “All right.” He stood up. “I’ll stay outside for twenty minutes or so to give you time to get ready for bed.”
“Thank you.” She hurriedly finished the dishes and put them away before going into the bedroom and changing. She was thankful he was so thoughtful.
She was asleep as soon as her head hit the pillow, exhausted from her long days of travel. Being married was hard work.
*****
Driving the buggy to town was an interesting experience for Coral. Jackson had her drive him to school, so she could get a feel for the horses, and then she just kept driving. She wished she had time to scrub the house before going for supplies, but it made sense to get food right away. She couldn’t invite herself and her new husband to her sister’s house for every meal while she got her new home cleaned.
While she drove, she let her mind flow, thinking about the past couple of days. When she’d first met Jackson, she’d found him to be too rigid. He was very schoolteacherish in her mind. Now that she’d spent time with him, though, she realized that it wasn’t so much that he was rigid, but more that he was uncomfortable with new situations. Having someone interested in marrying him was very new. Being married was new.
As they got to know each other more, she realized that she could come to care for him. All the things about her that others found odd, he liked. He was something like she was in that regard. He’d finished school young, and was very intelligent. They both had a love for learning, which she couldn’t discount.
No, she was certain that if she had to marry immediately, she’d found a good man to be her husband.
When she got to town, she went into the mercantile, buying the supplies necessary for a couple of weeks’ worth of cooking. She immediately turned around and headed home afterward, knowing she would have to make pancakes or something equally simple for dinner again. She didn’t want to have to keep making such quick meals, and she wouldn’t have to any longer now that she had the ingredients she would need for something more complex.
When she pulled into the yard, Jackson came out of the house. “I was starting to wonder if I should worry about you!” he called.
She scrambled down from the buggy after setting the break. “No need to worry. It’s a long drive.”
“I know. I needed to know my wife was all right though.” He walked close to her, taking her hand in his. “I had to worry at least a little.”
She blushed at his attention. “I’m fine.”
“I’m glad.” He looked into her eyes for a moment, and then did what he’d been wanting to do since the wedding ceremony. He leaned down and brushed his lips across hers, needing to know if what he’d felt that night was real, or just a faulty memory.
When her hands wound around his back and her lips parted for his, he knew it wasn’t a faulty memory. She felt a great deal of passion for him, just as he felt for her. He sighed, resting his forehead against hers. “I’m not sure how I’m going to wait two months.”
His words were soft, but she heard them, blushing profusely. “I—I got everything we needed at the store in town.”
He grinned slightly at her change of subject. Obviously she wasn’t ready for talk of passion yet, but soon. He needed her to understand he hadn’t married her only for her cooking skills. “I’ll help you carry everything in.”
He released her, reaching behind the seat of the buggy to get some of her purchases, while she went around and got more from the other side. Together they carried them in, and while he unhitched the horses, and then graded papers, she scrubbed out the cabinets and put the supplies away.
“I’m going to have to make something simple tonight, because I didn’t have time to start a meal. Do you want pancakes or eggs?”
“Let’s have pancakes tonight, if you don’t mind.” She’d made eggs for him twice in the past twenty-four hours. He wasn’t complaining, because he hadn’t had to cook, but he would be happy to have something else.
“I don’t mind a bit. Do you want to drink milk with them or would you rather have coffee?” She saw a bucket of milk sitting on the work table that he had obviously gotten for her.
“Milk is fine. I prefer not to have coffee in the evenings, because it keeps me awake at night.”
She made a mental note of his preference and went to work on the pancakes. “What are you working on?” she asked.
“I’m grading papers. I didn’t do any over the weekend, so I have a surplus of papers that need to be addressed today.”
“Maybe I could help?” She felt funny asking, because she had no idea how he’d feel about it, but she was more than willing. It would be nice to use her brain for something more than how to get a stain out of clothing.
“Have you ever graded papers before?”
She shook her head. “No, but I’m sure I could do it.”
He studied her for a moment before nodding. “I’d like it if you’d help me.”
“After supper dishes then.” She turned away from him, trying to hide
her smile. She loved the idea that he’d let her help with something he considered important, and she’d be doing more than just feeding him and keeping his house clean.
An hour later, she had all the dishes put away and joined him at the table. “How can I help?”
He gave her a stack of papers. “I gave a math test to my oldest students today. I graded the first, so you just need to use that as a guide and grade the others according to it.”
She nodded, her eyes immediately skimming over the test. “Wait. There’s an error in the first, and you didn’t mark it.”
“I used the teacher’s manual. There can’t be.” He took the test from her and looked at it, a smile curving his lips. “There is an error! Thank you for catching that.” He marked the problem off and changed the grade at the top. “Do you even need an answer key?”
She shook her head. “No. I do arithmetic at an alarming speed in my head.” She looked down as she said it, knowing girls weren’t supposed to be good at math.
“That’s wonderful! I sometimes get confused with some of the more advanced math. I’m better with poetry and literature. I may let you come in and teach some of that.”
“Really?” she asked. “I’d love to!”
He grinned. “I’d love the help. There are only so many things a person can excel at, and math has never been one of those things for me.”
“I really do excel at everything. I’m not sure if it’s a gift or a curse.”
Jackson studied her, believing her more than he had the first time she’d said that to him. “Well, I’m glad you’re mine then, because I definitely have flaws.”
Coral laughed. “Oh, I didn’t say I don’t have flaws. I have many flaws. I’m just good at everything, which some consider a flaw right there.”
“Not me. I think you’re pretty wonderful.”
Her eyes met his, and she blushed, looking down at the paper in front of her. “I’ll get started then.”
He grinned. “You do that.”
Chapter Five
Coral woke early and got to work fixing breakfast the next morning. She needed to bake bread and get the laundry taken care of, so it was going to be a busy morning.
Jackson woke shortly after the sun was up and looked at the empty spot beside him on the bed. His new wife was truly an amazing woman. She was up before him every day. She had graded the math papers faster than he’d ever done without an answer key. She didn’t intimidate him, exactly, because how could a seventeen-year-old girl do so? She did make him wonder how she’d become so good at everything she did, though.
When he walked into the main room of the house, he found her up to her elbows in bread dough. “Good morning,” he said, still rubbing the sleep from his eyes.
“Good morning.” Her eyes stayed on the bread dough she was kneading, but her heart started racing at his presence. “Breakfast is in the oven keeping warm. Give me a minute to wash up, and I’ll serve it for you.”
“We’re not in a hurry. I need to go out and milk Lizzie anyway.”
“Lizzie? Is that the cow’s name? I’ve already taken care of that.”
“Then I’ll collect the eggs.”
She nodded to a basket of eggs on the work table. “Already done.”
“Then I’ll step outside for a bit of sunshine before breakfast.” How long has the woman been up? Doesn’t she need sleep? He was feeling like a sloth in comparison, a feeling he’d never had before.
“Okay, but don’t take long. Breakfast will be on the table in ten minutes.”
Jackson stepped outside and went to the outhouse to take care of personal business. After walking back to the house, he leaned against the side, breathing deeply. He loved mornings. The air seemed fresher, and he always felt so hopeful with the whole day spread out before him. He didn’t know if he’d gotten the feeling from his time on the farm with his step-father, but he was sure the man hadn’t hurt any. He’d been a jovial man to work with, and Jackson thanked God every day that he was the one his mother had chosen to marry after his father’s untimely demise.
Shaking his head, he opened the door to the house and walked straight to the pump to wash his hands. “What are your plans for the day?” he asked.
Coral was surprised by the question. Did men usually ask their wives how they planned to stay busy? “I’m going to catch up on the laundry, bake bread, give the house a good fall cleaning, including blacking the stove and washing down all the walls. I’ll make supper. If I have time left, I’ll bake a cake and scrub the floors. I wish I had time to do the windows today, but those will have to wait until tomorrow.”
He shook his head. “You know you don’t have to do everything today, don’t you? You have the rest of your life to clean and cook.”
She nodded. “I do know. I want to get a good start on the chores, though. I can do things I’ll enjoy once everything here is caught up. I’d like to go visit my sister, but I won’t do it until the house is in ship-shape condition.”
He took his seat at the table and waited as she brought him his plate. Eggs, bacon and biscuits. The biscuits looked so fluffy, he couldn’t wait to sink his teeth into one of them. “You can visit her any time you want. I’m not trying to keep you from her.” He couldn’t resist. Without waiting to pray, he took a huge bite of the biscuit, and he almost groaned at the pleasure. “These are delicious.”
“I know I can go see her without finishing, but I like to reward myself for tasks well done. So if I can get everything finished by the end of the day Thursday, I’ll walk over there on Friday. Would you mind if I invited her and Brody to supper Friday night?”
“No, of course not. Do whatever makes you happy.” And he’d keep eating her biscuits. He reached for a jar of jam in the middle of the table, something he’d been given by one of his students as a new teacher gift, and he spread it on the biscuit, taking another bite. “Will you promise to make these biscuits for me every day for as long as we’re both alive?”
Coral laughed. “I’ll make biscuits as often as you like.” She took her seat across from him, and reached out to take his hand.
He said a quick prayer for them, and went back to concentrating on his biscuit. “You don’t ever have to cook anything else. Just these biscuits.”
She tilted her head to one side to study him. “You seem a bit obsessed with the biscuits this morning, Jackson.”
“Call me Jack, if you don’t mind. That’s what my family calls me.”
“Jack? I haven’t heard anyone else call you that.”
He nodded. “As I said, family calls me that. You’ve never met my family.”
“Will I?” she asked.
“Probably. They’re not so far away that we can’t visit. Maybe during the summer break next year, we can head over.”
“All right.” She looked down at her food and took a bite of the eggs. “I promise, I won’t be cooking eggs for every meal now that I have supplies.”
“Do I sound like I’m complaining? These biscuits are incredible!”
Coral laughed at that. “You really are obsessed with the biscuits, aren’t you?” She leaned forward as if to impart a great secret. After Jackson—Jack—leaned in to hear it, she whispered. “Wait until you taste my bread.”
His eyes widened. “Better than the biscuits?”
She nodded, one corner of her mouth turned up in amusement. “I love to cook!”
“I’m so glad you do!” he said with a smile. “You’re not planning on going anywhere, are you? I mean, I really get to keep you?”
“Yes, my cooking is here to stay.”
“I don’t just want your cooking, Coral. I hope you know that.”
She shrugged, looking down at her plate. She knew her value was in what she could do, and not in the person she was. She’d always known that. “All right.”
He frowned, realizing that he’d upset her without meaning to. He’d have to find a way to make it up to her. He was just beginning to realize what an incredible woman he�
��d married, and he hoped he could find a way to make her realize it as well.
After he left for school, Coral got back to work, punching down the bread before starting on the long task of laundry.
It was shortly before eleven when she realized she hadn’t sent him off to work with a lunch. She searched until she found a lunch pail, and she cut off two huge slices of the bread she’d made, buttering them with the store-bought butter she’d purchased the day before. She fried up a few pieces of bacon, and added them, before pouring some water into a jar. She added an apple and covered the whole thing with a napkin.
She started on the ten-minute walk to the schoolhouse, thinking about what she’d already done. All of the laundry was on the line, the bread was finished, the walls had been scrubbed. She was ahead of the schedule she’d made for herself, and smiled. She might possibly have some time to do a spot of hunting for supper. She did so prefer fresh meat to meat she’d purchased at the store.
She didn’t want to interrupt school, but she didn’t want Jack to go hungry, so she went into the coat room at the front of the schoolhouse and peered around the wall, making certain he wasn’t in the middle of a lesson.
She smiled when she saw him sitting at his desk, still working on grading the mountain of papers he’d brought home the previous evening, and all the children were working diligently at some task at their desks.
Coral stepped into the classroom, walking up the aisle between the desks to set Jack’s lunch on his desk in front of him. “I didn’t think to make you a lunch this morning, so I brought it now.”
He smiled up at her and nodded. “I’ve gotten quite used to doing without lunch, so I thank you.”
“I’ll see you this afternoon.” She turned quickly to leave, realizing the eyes of every one of his students were on her.
“Wait a moment.” He stood, walking over to her, and putting a casual arm around her shoulders. “Children, I got married on Saturday, and I want to introduce you all to my wife, Coral.”
Montana Sky: Mail Order Marvel (Kindle Worlds Novella) Page 3