She watched him with a heavy heart. Had she lost her chance at happiness for want of a declaration of love?
*****
Genny walked into the kitchen, put her gloves in one coat pocket and her stocking cap in the other, then took off her coat and hung it on a peg by the door.
Nettie turned from the stove. “Well, there you are. What happened?”
“We got caught in the snowstorm and took shelter in a line shack about an hour from here.”
“Well, good. That’s kind of what we figured. I’m just glad you’re both all right.”
“Yeah, we’re fine and dandy.”
“Uh oh. Sounds like something went wrong. Tell me.”
Genny needed to talk to someone and Nettie was kind and genuinely wanted to help. “Oh, Nettie, I thought I was making progress because of the weather we had to dry our clothes and both had only a blanket to shield us. You would have thought that was enough but the man…it’s like I have no effect on him. He refuses to…” A tear rolled down her cheek. “Then he said he didn’t want to lose me in childbirth like he did Martha and I said ‘so you do care for me’ and he went all cold. We didn’t talk at all on the way home.”
“Oh, honey, he’s scared.” Nettie set her spoon down on the metal spoon holder on the stove. “Martha’s death nearly destroyed all of us. Joe took it the hardest. Stuart would have but he had children to care for, one of which was a newborn babe. I helped where I could but he still had every night alone with those two kids. I don’t think he’s ever really grieved.”
Genny nodded. “I understand that. I don’t understand why her death affected Joe so greatly.”
“What affected me?”
Joe had come into the kitchen and neither Nettie nor Genny heard him. She must get her hearing checked. These men keep sneaking up on her.
“Why did you take Martha’s death so hard? She was Stuart’s wife not yours.”
“Not that it’s any of your business,” Joe said coldly. “But she wasn’t my wife because I didn’t ask her when I should have. I was too stupid to realize what I was doing. Wanting to sow my wild oats.”
“So she and Stuart fell in love and married?” asked Genny.
Joe looked at the floor before raising his gaze. “Yes. That’s what happened. I got used to the idea, but I never stopped regretting it.”
“You never said anything to me. Why? If you loved her, why?”
Stuart stood in the doorway.
Joe turned and faced his brother. “You and she had decided to marry and you’d been courting her for more than a year by the time I realized what I’d done. I couldn’t step in then.”
Stuart took a deep breath and let it out. “God, Joe if I’d known, I would never have—”
Joe closed the distance between them, and then took Stuart by the shoulders.
“No. You’re the one she chose and that’s the way the arrangement should have been. She wanted stability, something I couldn’t provide her at that time. I’m sorry. I should have told you this a long time ago. But if it’s any consolation she did love you. She told me so.”
Stuart, paled and his eyes looked hollow. He turned and walked back out outside.
Genny, tears in her eyes, wanted to follow, but she was an outsider and until Stuart let her in, she couldn’t do anything to ease his pain.
Joe made to follow Stuart.
“Let him be, Joe,” said Nettie. “He must work this through by himself. When he does, he’ll realize what he felt for Martha and what she felt for him were two different things. He needs to know that before he can move on.”
Joe sat at the table and put his head in his hands. “I never meant to hurt him, Nettie. Never.”
Nettie walked over to him and put her hands on his shoulders. “He knows that. A lot of things weren’t good about Martha. I know that. We’ve deified her because she died giving birth to Lucy, but Martha was not a saint. She was a woman. She married Stuart to spite you. Oh, I think she eventually fell in love with him, but not like you. You were her first love. I’ve never told anyone this, but when she was sixteen and you said you wouldn’t marry her at the city dance in Elko, do you remember?”
“I remember.” Joe hung his head. “I wasn’t ready.”
“Well, she went immediately to Stuart—”
Stuart spoke from the doorway, his face pale except for his cheeks, red from the cold. “She told me she’d be amenable if I wanted to court her. I’d only thought of her as a little girl until that night. She kissed me and not the kiss of a child. I needed a wife and so I agreed.”
“I had an inkling, but never knew for sure she did that. I’m sorry she used you in that manner,” said Joe.
Stuart came in and put his coat on one of the pegs by the door.
“The reason she came to me doesn’t matter. We ended up having a wonderful marriage and I have two beautiful children to show for it.”
Stuart had gotten over Martha’s duplicity long ago. He realized she was only eighteen and had led a sheltered life on this remote ranch. He was not unaware of Martha’s machinations, but she seemed to change by the time they got married and settled down to family life on the ranch. At twenty-three, he’d married Martha so they could raise children and cattle and build the MacDonnell name throughout the valley.
That life hadn’t come to pass with Martha, she was just too delicate.
Genny was different in every way from her locks to her glorious body with its strong legs and arms. He’d asked her how her arms got so strong, she told him it was from praying too hard…and carrying heavy bolts of material around the factory floor and bags of groceries up four flights of stairs when she got home. She’d said this was the easiest she’d ever had it as far as work went. Caring for the children was wonderful and learning to do things around the ranch was interesting.
But no matter how strong she appeared, childbirth was difficult at the best of times and he couldn’t take the chance. Better to stay away from her. Keep her safe. Keep his heart safe.
CHAPTER 7
The next morning, Genny left the house with a bucket full of table scraps for the pigs. She’d discovered they would eat anything. Stuart also fed them grain because there was never enough scraps to feed three full grown sows, two boars and three litters of between four and eight piglets, especially this time of year. In the summer there would be more waste with fresh vegetable stalks and leaves, as well as the leftover meat, bones, and other scraps.
She hadn’t gotten far when she heard running footsteps behind her.
“Genny! Genny! I go, too.”
She turned and fell to her knees as Billy ran into her.
“Billy, what are you doing out here? You’re supposed to stay in the yard.”
“I want see baby kitties in da barn.”
Genny shook her head and smiled. “Oh, all right. We’ll stop by the barn on the way back to the house.”
She held the bucket of slop in one hand and his little hand in the other as they went down to the pig sty.
When they got there Genny let go of his hand, walked to the fence and dumped the bucket into the wooden trough. Then she took a long stick and spread the food waste over the bottom. She put down the stick and turned back to get Billy. Her heart stopped beating.
“No. Billy!”
“Babies.” He’d crawled over the bottom rung of the fence, heading for the piglets. Two of the sows snorted and turned toward him. The third was at the trough, ignoring what was happening.
As fast as she could, Genny ran to the fence and climbed over the top.
“Billy stop! You stop right now and come back to me.”
She scrambled toward him just as the sows moved the same way, putting themselves between Billy and their piglets.
Genny trudged through the muck with determined strides, her boots making sucking sounds with each step. She reached Billy and picked him up, out of the way of the charging sows. Then she turned her back and tried to run, but her boots sunk deeper into t
he muck. She reached the fence and practically dumped Billy on the other side just as one of the sows rammed into the back of her legs. Off balance, she fell, waving her arms, and then other pig hit her in the back. She dropped to her side and covered her head. Squealing and snuffling they bit her arms, legs and back of her shoulder.
Genny was sure she was dying, when she heard shots ring out. The sows backed off and she felt herself being lifted out of the mud and over the fence railing.
Billy cried hysterically.
As soon as her feet hit the dirt she dashed to him.
“It’s okay baby. You’re all right.”
She opened her arms and the child ran into them.
“Shh, now, you’re fine.”
“But you’re not.”
Stuart’s voice sounded ragged.
She turned to look at him, noting his strained expression.
“I’m sorry. I should have watched him better. I’m so sorry.”
Stuart gathered her and Billy into his arms.
They stood there, the three of them, huddled together. Genny didn’t want to move, relishing the sense of closeness she felt at the moment.
“I’m just glad you’re both alive. Billy’s all right, just scared. He’s always been fascinated by the baby animals.”
“I should never have let him come down here with me.” Genny was angry with herself. Billy could have been killed and it would have been her fault.
“No. He’s been down here before. He knows he’s not allowed into the pen.” Stuart released Genny and his son. “Don’t you Billy?” He looked down at the child.
The little boy sniffled and cried but he nodded.
“Let’s get you both up to the house.” He picked up Billy, then turned to Genny. “You’ve got some bad bites on your arms and your back, maybe your legs, too. They have to be cleaned and then you should lie down for a while.”
“I have too much to do, to lay about this afternoon,” protested Genny, though her wounds throbbed like the dickens.
“We’ll see. In the meantime let’s go to the house and get you bandaged. You’re bleeding and I’m willing to bet that a chunk or two of you is missing.”
Genny twisted her arms trying to look at the back of them but couldn’t see anything.
“How did you know to come?”
“I heard you scream Billy’s name when I was heading to the barn. I ran as fast as I could to reach you. I’m sorry I wasn’t quicker.”
“Did you have to kill the pig?”
“Only one, the other sow backed off.”
“Oh, Stuart,” she put her hand on his arm. “I’m so sorry.”
“Don’t be. You saved my son. I don’t know how to thank you for that. As to the pig, it’ll just be slaughtered earlier than planned. I’ll have some of the boys get down there and drag her out as quick as possible, before the other pigs start to eat her.”
She shuddered. “Pigs really are disgusting animals.”
Stuart reached over and wiped her cheeks with his thumb.
“Dirt?”
“Tears. You’re crying.”
She hadn’t realized and sniffled. “I have a right. This has been a very trying morning.”
Billy stopped crying and put his thumb in his mouth. Considering what they’d just been through neither Stuart nor Genny tried to correct him.
Stuart carried Billy as they walked back up to the house.
As they arrived Nettie ran out the door carrying a shotgun.
“I heard the shots. What’s happening?”
“Just a little accident,” said Stuart.
“Genny! You’re absolutely filthy. You look like you were wallowing with the pigs.”
“I was.”
“What?” Nettie looked at her, wide-eyed. “You’re bleeding. Come with me, and let’s get you cleaned up. Stuart, get the bath tub and bring it into the kitchen, then tell the boys to stay away. Genny needs a bath and so does Billy.” Nettie looked over Stuart. “So do you by the looks of things but Genny’s the worst. She’s got mud all up and down the whole right side of her body.”
They all walked into the kitchen. Stuart set Billy down on the floor and the boy immediately started to cry.
“You hush now,” said Stuart. “You’re fine. You’ll have a bath in a bit.” His voice was stern and tears rolled down Billy’s face.
Stuart knelt in front of his son.
“You’ve had quite an adventure today and you need to rest now. Let’s take off your shoes and pants since that’s where the mud is, then you can go up for a nap. After your nap, you’ll have a bath and then you and I will have a long talk about what you can and can’t do and how you need to mind Genny. When she tells you to do something, you do it. Understand?”
Billy nodded his head and sniffled. Big fat tears ran from his eyes but he wasn’t crying hard or whining anymore.
“Now wait here with Genny and Nettie. No questions asked.”
“Yes, Daddy.”
The child hung his head.
Stuart turned to Genny, his arms straight at his sides and his hands clenched. “You could have been killed. You are never to put yourself in such danger again.”
Genny’s eyes widened, and she angled her head. “Stuart, I didn’t do it on purpose. Billy and I were going to visit the kittens after I fed the pigs. He was so fast.” She collapsed in a chair with a sigh. “I’ve never been so scared in my life and if you think I would not put myself in danger and let him be killed you’re out of your mind.”
“Yes, I nearly went out of my mind when I saw you fall.” He sat in the chair next to her and put his hand on her leg. “I don’t want to ever feel like that again.”
She put her hand on top of his. “Now you know how I felt when I saw Billy in there.”
He stood and squared his shoulders. “I’ll get the tub. Take off your clothes so we can get those bites cleaned up good.”
“I’ll help her Stuart, you don’t need to,” said Nettie from the sink where she pumped water into a metal bucket.
“No, I want to make sure she’s taken care of properly, no offense meant, Nettie.”
She cocked an eyebrow and grinned wide. “None taken.”
Stuart walked outside to collect the long tub for bathing.
With slow moves, Genny undressed Billy and then, with Nettie’s help, herself. The bites on her arms hurt badly now and so did her shoulder. Her legs would be bruised where the animals attacked her.
“You have two bites on your left arm and one on the back of your shoulder,” said Nettie with a tsking sound. “They look deep and flesh is missing.”
The kitchen door opened and Genny dove for her dress to cover herself.
“It’s just me.” Stuart clamored through the door carrying the tub. “I ran into Joe and he’s telling the rest of the men not to come to the house for at least an hour.”
He set the tub in the middle of the kitchen.
“Billy, you go on upstairs now and I’ll come get you after a bit.”
The child nodded and left the room.
Nettie pumped water into the second metal bucket and put them both on the stove to heat. Two buckets were already on the stove filled with hot water. Nettie kept them there for washing the dishes and for the men to wash before meals. She also made tea from them, and anything else she needed hot water for. Then she went into the pantry and came back out with bandages and a bottle of whiskey.
Genny pointed at the whiskey. “What do you think you’re doing with that?”
“First, you’ll drink some and then I’ll pour some into your wounds. But before that we have to give you a bath,” said Stuart as he handed her the bottle.
Genny looked at him but acquiesced and took several large drinks of the fiery liquor. She choked and sputtered with each drink but the nasty stuff stayed down. She was surprised at Stuart’s insistence that he take care of this task when Nettie could have handled it just as well.
“I’ll be with the children. I don’t want B
illy to come wandering down. Lucy is taking a nap,” Nettie said on her way out of the kitchen.
Stuart checked the water in the first two buckets. “Good, it’s hot.” He poured both into the long tub refilled one from the pump at the sink and added it, too. Then he refilled both buckets and put them back on the stove.
“Well, what are you waiting for? I want to see the damage.”
Genny dropped the dress she was holding and took off her chemise, bloomers and long johns. She stood naked, shivering in the cool air, while Stuart checked her all over.
“I only see full bites on your left arm and shoulder. But I can see definite marks where they got you on your thigh.” He touched her leg. “Here and here.”
“Are you making me stand here all day? I’d really like to get into that tub.”
He checked the temperature.
“It’s good and hot.
Genny stepped into the tub and sighed as her legs were enveloped with the steamy water. The moist heat felt so good on her tired limbs. Now that the emergency was over all her muscles screamed in pain. She didn’t usually have to scramble over a fence to save a child.
She leaned back. Stuart had put a towel over the edge of the tub so the metal wouldn’t be cold on her skin.
“You have to sit up while I wash your back and arms.” Stuart took a washcloth and lathered it with her rose soap.
She sat forward and he gently cleaned her left arm and shoulder, the soapy water stung her wounds, but she managed not to squirm, too much. Then he moved to her right side and glided the soapy cloth over her skin.
Genny laid back and let him minister to her. She was so very tired and having someone who takes care of her felt wonderful.
“Let’s wash your hair. You’ve got mud from the sty in it. If you get on your knees and bend your head forward we can wash it without getting muddy water in your wounds. She nodded and got on her knees.
Stuart took one bucket of hot water and poured half of it into the tub, then filled bucket with cold water. Then he poured the clean water over her head as she bent forward.
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