Priceless Marriage

by Bonnie Gardner

  “The door wasn’t locked.”

  Of course. Nobody locked their doors way out here in rural Montana. Not unless there was a reason to. Was having a husband show up after months away a reason to lock the door, as she would if a convict were on the loose? With all the strangers in town these days, maybe she’d better start. She was alone here most of the time…Ruby realized. “It will be from now on.”

  Sam frowned. “I waited for you to call me, but you didn’t. So I figured I’d come to you.” He took a sip of his own coffee, then put the mug down. “I want you back, Ruby. We were good together.”

  “When we were together.”

  “I told you, I left the air force. I’m here to stay,” Sam said, placing both hands palm down on the table in front of him. “That life is over.”

  “For how long?” Ruby looked down into her coffee and watched the rich liquid swirl. Whenever she looked at Sam, that old longing returned. She had to work this out with her brain, not her body. When she was close to Sam, her hormones clicked in and she couldn’t think clearly.

  “Forever.”

  “I wish I could believe that, Sam,” Ruby said tiredly. “But what’s to keep you from taking off as soon as something more exciting than raising organic vegetables comes up?” She took another sip of her coffee, hoping that the reviving brew would give her the strength she needed to face him.

  “You gave me your word before,” she added, “and we both know what happened. I need you to prove it to me. I can’t take anything you say on faith anymore.”

  Sam looked as though she had struck him, and Ruby felt a pang of regret, but it had to be said.

  “I want you to understand, Ruby, that I meant every word of that promise when I made it,” he insisted, the expression on his face sobering. “But circumstances made it impossible to keep.”

  “I know that, Sam.” Ruby stared at him, waiting, hoping for a real explanation. One that would magically make everything all right again. One that would erase the last painful five months.

  “All right,” he said slowly, making it clear that he was going to make no excuses. “I accept that I’m on probation, then. I mean it, Ruby. I’ll do anything it takes to prove to you that my word is good and that I’m here to stay.”

  “Anything?”

  Sam nodded. “Anything.”

  “Will you get up at the crack of dawn and shovel compost and manure? There’s a lot of very dirty work involved in getting this farm producing.” Ruby was testing him, and she fervently hoped he’d pass.

  “I’m here. Have your way with me,” he drawled, his smile wide and maddeningly cocksure.

  Ruby rolled her eyes at the double entendre. It was so like the Sam she’d fallen in love with.

  Was in love with still.

  “Oops. Maybe I’d better come back later,” a voice said.

  Nick stood in the doorway from the mudroom to the kitchen. How much had he heard? “No, Nick, come in. Sam’s going to be helping us get the farm working.”

  Nick stepped inside, taking off his Stetson. “Glad for the help, man,” he said. He offered Sam his hand.

  “Sam Cade,” Sam said, accepting the handshake.

  “Nick Folger.” Each man eyed the other as though sizing him up. “Ruby’s told me a lot about you.”

  “I wish I could say the same about you,” Sam said wryly as he released Nick’s hand.

  As the two men took one another’s measure, Ruby did the same. Sam and Nick were similar in height and build, with Nick being maybe an inch or two taller than Sam’s six feet. Sam’s muscular build had come from hard training, working out in a gym, while Nick’s was from construction work. The biggest difference was, of course, their hair. Sam’s dark brown hair was regulation trim, now salted with a bit of gray, and Nick’s black mane was long and shiny and tied back with leather thong. And Nick had a silver-and-turquoise earring with a Native American motif in his left ear, something Sam would never dream of wearing.

  “Nick’s in construction in Rapid City,” Ruby stated. “He’s been indispensable in getting this place into shape.” She turned toward the refrigerator. “I’ll get breakfast ready, and then we can get started,” she said as she got out a carton of eggs and a package of bacon.

  “You don’t have to cook breakfast for me, Ruby,” Sam said. “I ate at Gwen’s.”

  Ruby looked up as Nick poured himself a cup of coffee. She turned to Sam. “That reminds me…The apartment above the Mercantile is empty. There’s no need for you to stay at the boardinghouse.”

  “Well, darlin’. I’d sort of planned on being able to stay here,” Sam said, flashing one of his little boy grins that she had always been helpless to resist.

  But not now! She’d gotten stronger in the months they’d been separated. “No, Sam,” she told him firmly. “We are legally separated. Until—no, if—I decide otherwise, you will not stay under my roof.”

  Sam’s grin faded a little, but he seemed undaunted. “Fair enough,” he said. “I don’t like it, but I can understand your logic. I’m paid up for the rest of the week at Gwen’s, anyway. Then I just might take you up on that offer.”

  Ruby was pretty sure that Sam hoped for a different sort of invitation by the time he moved out of the boardinghouse, but until she was certain about his intentions, she was not about to let him come any closer to her than he was now. It was just too hard to be in the same room with him and not want him.

  She would work beside him, she would cook his meals, but she wouldn’t let him get close to her. She couldn’t risk it. Not until she was sure about him.

  Not until she was certain he would really stay this time.

  Chapter Three

  Sam laid the hammer down and flexed his tired arm. He guessed he was well on the way to working at the plan, if a man could consider working like a dog at a woman’s beck and call a plan. But he had to prove to Ruby that he was willing to do things her way this time. They’d done it his way for the last ten years.

  He glanced over at Nick, who was hammering away as if he had a bionic arm, then grabbed another board. Sam wasn’t going to let that guy show him up. He was airborne. He could handle any situation put in front of him.

  Even working on a farm.

  Ruby had to learn that she could trust him. That when he made a promise, he meant it. That’s why he was here, working his fingers to the bone and trying to keep up with—no, do more than— “Just Nick.” Sam had to prove to Ruby that his word was his bond. Even if he had let her down in the past.

  He’d never thought nailing a few boards would be such work, but if that six-foot gorilla, Nick, could do it, dammit, so could he. If Nick could knock together ten sets of cold frames—whatever they were—in a day, then Sam would do twelve. He just figured he’d better stop by Cozy’s Drugstore on the way home and pick up some Epsom salts. He was definitely going to need to soak the aches out of the sore muscles he’d only just discovered he had.

  He longed to take a break, but Nick was over on the other side of the yard hammering nails like an automaton. When was the man gonna let up? There was no way in hell Sam would quit before Nick did. Even if it killed him.

  He’d be damned if he’d let that long-haired hippie get the best of him. But at this rate, he was pretty sure it was gonna kill him.

  Sam hammered the last nail into the last board on this cold frame and stood back to examine his creation. It looked as if it would make a good sandbox. “What is a cold frame, anyway?” he mumbled as he gathered up his tools and supplies.

  “It’s a framework to let me plant early and to protect the young seedlings from the cold in early spring,” Ruby said from somewhere behind him.

  Sam turned to see her standing behind him, one hand on her hip, the other shading her eyes from the afternoon sun. She appeared to be evaluating his work.

  “With a sandbox?”

  Ruby laughed, a sound Sam used to love, but he wasn’t sure, this time, if his wife was laughing at him or with him. “It’s not fi
nished yet. Nick’s going to make tops covered with sheets of clear plastic that can be raised or lowered depending on the temperature.”

  Sam frowned. Was Nick going to make the tops today, after all the bottoms they’d already done? Sam would never get a break! “Oh,” he said, feeling like a doofus and a half.

  He was going to have to bone up on farming so he wouldn’t keep looking like an imbecile in front of the woman he was trying to impress. At least he’d managed to make it through the day without collapsing in a heap on the ground.

  Though he wished he could.

  “Well, you’ve done a good day’s work, Sam,” Ruby said, sounding more like a picky employer than his loving wife. But Sam would take any encouraging word he could get from her. “Supper’s almost done. Put your tools away and wash up, and we’ll be ready to eat.”

  “Yes, ma’am,” he said, with a snappy salute as she strolled away, leaving him a nice view of her well-shaped bottom in those worn, snug jeans. He felt more like a green recruit being ordered about by a drill sergeant than a valued member of Ruby’s team, but he’d do as he was told. Ruby wanted to be in charge of him, and by God, he’d let her. Even if it killed him. As he headed for the toolshed, he tried to shake the stiffness out of his hammering arm, and thought it just might have.

  Sam sure hated taking orders from Ruby, much less “Just Nick,” and he wondered if all this groveling and hard work would pay off. He glanced back over his shoulder to where his priceless Ruby was hurrying into the house.

  Yes, if she was gonna be the prize, it would definitely be worth it!

  But at least he’d get to eat supper with the boss, he thought as he removed his tool belt and hung it on a hook in the shed. Hopefully, Nick would be eating elsewhere, but considering the way he’d showed up at breakfast and lunch, Sam wasn’t sure he could count on that.

  There was a utility sink in the shed, with a bar of soap perched on the rim. Sam pushed his sleeves up above his elbows and began to scrub. The water was cold, but he was hot, so it didn’t matter that much in the scheme of things. If he were running this farm, though, he’d set up a hot water tank and a shower to use to keep from tracking mud and grime into the house.

  Maybe he’d mention it to Ruby. If he could impress her with some useful ideas, it could go a long way toward changing her mind. He hoped.

  Satisfied that he’d gotten most of the sweat and grime off, Sam splashed water on his face and head and dried off with paper towels hanging above the sink. Tomorrow he’d bring a clean shirt to put on after work. He sure wasn’t going to impress his wife if he came in smelling like a farm worker every night. Even if that’s what he was.

  Cheered by his two good ideas, Sam hurried across the yard to the mudroom door.

  He hadn’t really taken the time to look at the kitchen, but he did now as he paused in the doorway. The appliances were all in that awful pea soup–green that had been popular when he was a kid. They might function, but they were ugly as all get out, and probably about ready to fall apart. Funny, though, the color seemed to suit Ruby, setting off her fiery-red hair with just the right contrast.

  She was at the stove, stirring something. Maybe this was a good time to mention the shower thing. “Hey, I had a brainstorm out there in the shed,” Sam said as he stepped inside. He hurried on. “How about installing a water heater in the toolshed? And maybe a shower, too.”

  “Already thought of that,” Nick said, and Sam was not happy to notice that the man was already seated at the table. Hell, he’d even beaten him to his good idea. “Had to order the stuff out of Rapid City. Pine Run didn’t have what I was looking for.”

  Damn, and Sam thought he’d been so smart. He stepped over to Ruby and held up his hands. “Do I pass inspection, boss?”

  Ruby barely glanced up from the steaming pot of chili, which must have been cooking since they’d eaten lunch. “You’re fine. Sit down. I’ll put this on the table.”

  Sam sat.

  Day one was over, and as far as he could tell, he was no closer to winning his wife than he’d been yesterday. But he’d do it.

  If it was the last thing he did.

  IT WAS SO HARD to act normal with Sam sitting there at her table as if nothing were wrong, but Ruby did what she could to keep from being moved by him. She’d always been turned on by the smell of her husband fresh from the shower, and with his short, dark hair slicked down with water, and droplets on his denim shirt, Sam looked as though he’d done his best to clean up for her. She was afraid if she got too close she’d get a whiff of soap from her freshly washed husband and it would all be over.

  Maybe the four-alarm chili would overpower the scent of the man.

  Ruby grabbed a couple of potholders from the counter and carried the chili to the table, setting it on a trivet in the center. She’d serve her meals family style, and maybe she wouldn’t have to get too close to Sam. At least, not until she was ready.

  She returned to the stove, removed a skillet full of cornbread and turned it over a plate. She probably should have made a salad, she thought as she sliced the bread into wedges, but lettuce was hard to come by this time of year, and she wouldn’t be up to full production of her own garden greens for some time. She had washed a dozen or so small carrots she’d pulled from her first crop, and they were already on the table.

  “This is it, guys,” she said as she carried the plate of cornbread to the table. “Eat up.”

  “Sure looks good,” Nick said appreciatively.

  “Yeah, it does. Ruby, you always did make the best chili and cornbread,” Sam said in his best Georgia drawl. He turned to Nick. “Her chili is famous around the world. She’s served it to combat controllers everywhere.”

  Ruby felt her face grow warm, though why a compliment from Sam would do that to her, she didn’t know. “Thank you,” she managed to say. “Chili isn’t that hard.”

  “I’ve enjoyed Ruby’s chili for years,” Nick said, ladling some into a bowl.

  Sam started to eat, but he stopped and glanced quizzically at Nick. Ruby wondered why, but Sam didn’t explain his odd look, and she wasn’t about to ask. She just wanted to get this meal over and done with and both men out of her kitchen and her house.

  She needed peace and quiet to think.

  Why had Sam decided to leave the service now? Why couldn’t he have done it three years ago?

  Ruby sighed and tried to eat. Suddenly, she didn’t have much appetite, and she was pretty sure that Sam was the cause. And, she realized, she was a worse mess than she’d originally thought, if Sam had her off her feed.

  “What made you decide to buy this farm?” Sam asked abruptly. “Wasn’t the store enough to keep you busy?”

  Ruby looked up from idly stirring her bowl of chili. “I needed a change,” she said simply. She wasn’t about to tell him that she needed to get away from the place that held so many memories of the two of them together, even if their time in the little apartment above the store had been limited.

  “Kind of a big one, wouldn’t you say? Taking on an old, beat-up house and going into farming,” Sam observed.

  “You know I’ve always loved to grow things. And this was the only place available.” She shrugged. “So what if the house is a fixer-upper? I had the money, and Nick had the time.”

  And she’d needed a really big challenge to keep her from second-guessing her decision.

  Of course, with Sam sitting across from her right now, she’d started worrying about it all over again.

  “DINNER WAS GREAT, Ruby,” Sam said after a second helping of the spicy chili.

  Ruby blushed, looking pleased at the compliment, but said nothing more than a murmured, “Thanks.” She seemed to be avoiding looking at him, and Sam wondered if that was a good sign or a bad one.

  He thought just maybe it was a good sign. After all, he’d always been able to read Ruby’s thoughts in those emerald-green eyes of hers, and she knew it. If Ruby was trying to keep him from looking into their verdant depths, the
n maybe it was because she was thinking something she didn’t want him to know. And Sam didn’t think it was that she wanted him to get lost. That notion cheered him immensely.

  Nick echoed his sentiments about the chili, and Sam shot him a glare that was intended to say, “Stay off my turf,” but Nick didn’t even seem to notice.

  “I don’t suppose there’s any dessert,” Sam asked hopefully. Anything to give him a reason to stay longer. Anything to keep him as a barrier between Ruby and Nick. Though he’d seen nothing that indicated they wanted to be closer, he still wasn’t taking any chances.

  “Nope. Not today,” Ruby said. “Didn’t have time.”

  “Coffee?”

  Ruby smiled as if she’d figured out what he was doing. “No. It’ll keep me awake. I need all the beauty sleep I can get.”

  “No, you do not,” Sam argued. “You’d be just as beautiful if you’d been up for a week,” he said sincerely.

  “Don’t be ridiculous,” Ruby said, blushing again. “I’m thirty-two years old. I need lots of beauty sleep. Besides, working on this farm is hard work.”

  “Amen to that one,” Sam said.

  Nick said nothing. He just chewed on a toothpick and watched, an enigmatic smile on his face.

  Sam had hoped that Nick would have taken the hint and cleared out after dinner, but he showed no sign of budging. Since Ruby hadn’t produced dessert and coffee, Sam figured he’d best be on his way. There was a fine line between being a squeaky wheel and a nuisance. The squeaky wheel might eventually get the oil, but a nuisance just might get tossed out.

  He was hoping that Nick would soon fall into the nuisance category. Real soon.

  He’d do well to remember that, Sam told himself as he headed reluctantly to the door. Absence made the heart grow fonder, and he sure hoped by clearing out early, Ruby would wonder…what? What could have happened?