Rose’s face flushed as she looked down at her left hand, probably embarrassed she couldn’t do the same as the rest of the family.
Cullen quickly looked up, wondering what to do. Angus caught his eye where he sat across the table. Angus squeezed Daisy’s hand, let go of it, and wrapped his arm around her shoulders. Fergus noticed too and did the same with Iris.
Cullen took a deep breath and gently wrapped his right arm around Rose’s tiny shoulders. They both let go of their pent-up breath at the same time.
“Heavenly Father. Thank you for this table full of excellent food for our bodies, and the family members who sit with us tonight to enjoy it.
“We thank you for the safe deliverance of Rose, the newest member of our…community. In Jesus’ name, we pray...”
“Amen,” everyone at the table said in unison.
Cullen stared at his pa, knowing why he hesitated to say “community.” His father almost said family, as if Rose was going to be Cullen’s wife.
It did feel good to wrap his arm around Rose, just as his brothers did around their wives. Was he missing something important in life because he hadn’t wanted a wife?
“Thank you, Cullen, for putting your arm around me. I try not to let my injured arm bother me, but I can’t help feeling sorry for myself now and then,” Rose whispered so only Cullen heard her.
Cullen’s arm was still around her, and their faces were only inches apart. Rose’s blue eyes shimmered with tears, and Cullen squeezed her shoulder to show his support again before dropping his arm and grabbing the platter of meat Pansy held in front of him. Cullen held the platter with his left hand and used his right hand and the serving fork to transfer a slice of meat to his plate.
He automatically started to pass the platter to Rose, then stopped, wondering if she needed help.
“Can I hold the platter while you choose your choice of roast?” Cullen asked.
“Yes, please. Thank you, Cullen.” Rose deftly speared a piece of meat with her right hand, laid the serving on her plate and returned the fork to the platter. Ma took the dish from Cullen without saying a word and got her own meat.
The food continued around the table, and Cullen helped Rose with each bowl or platter. Luckily Cullen’s sisters-in-law kept their conversations to cover Rose’s situation.
When the food had been passed, and everyone had their plate filled, Cullen watched Rose out of the side of his eye. Did she need help to cut her meat? Buttering her bread? But Cullen didn’t want to act as if she needed help like his two-year-old nephew did though.
Cullen watched as Rose picked up her knife and cut her meat without using her fork. Then she laid down the knife and picked up her fork to use it next. Only then did Cullen start to eat.
“Rose, what was your favorite town to visit?” Daisy asked. Cullen noticed Daisy was eating with one hand too because her left held her infant in her lap. Women did seem to adapt when they had to, better than he would have.
“Most the time we traveled to a town, set up the tent for the performance and left right away for the next town without getting the chance to look around. But every year we’d spend a week in New York City, so we’d try to see a little of the city each trip.”
“Did you perform in Madison Square Garden?” Daisy asked. “I’ve always wanted to travel to New York, but we haven’t gotten there…yet.” Daisy looked at Angus to make her point. Both Angus and Daisy had traveled before they married, whereas Cullen hadn’t traveled out of Kansas.
“Yes, we did,” Rose said matter-of-factly as if it was no big deal.
“What were the highlights there?” Daisy asked between bites of her meal.
“Being with the circus when Jumbo, the African elephant was introduced in ’82.”
“The famous Jumbo? I would have loved to photograph him, “Fergus asked.
“Jumbo was huge, and a big loss to the circus when he died three years later.”
“Did you get to see the new Statue of Liberty being erected last year?”
“Yes, last October on our last trip to the east coast.”
Cullen listened as Rose chatted with his family, answering their curious questions without any hesitation. She was an open book on places she’d seen and experienced.
Why had Rose decided to be an instant bride in a small frontier town? Why such a radical decision? True, she couldn’t perform now because of her injuries, but maybe her shoulder and arm would heal. Rose and Pansy were already talking about exercises to build her strength again.
Wouldn’t she want to go back to the glamor of the circus and her family if she could? Cullen was wary of committing to Rose, or anyone because they’d get tired of his simple life and leave him, just as his mother had done.
Chapter 4
Rose breathed in the fresh air, reveling in the peace and quiet of the open prairie. Cullen had correctly described the landscape and sounds of the area in the poems he’d added to Richard’s letters.
“Do the hills have a name?” Rose wondered out loud.
Cullen turned to look at her, as if he was so lost in thought he didn’t realize she was sitting beside him.
“Not really. But this area is called Horsethief Canyon.”
“Why?” Rose asked as she scanned the area. They seemed to be in a low spot with high sandstone rocks on either side of them.
“Look close, and you can see caves up in the rocks. Makes good places for someone to see out, but not be seen, like horse thieves.” Rose followed where Cullen’s arm was pointing and spotted an entrance to a cave.
“Could we stop so we can climb up to the cave? I’d love to see the view from that point,” Rose asked Cullen, and he pulled on the reins to slowly stop the buggy they were riding in.
So far, Cullen had been a man of few words this evening. Rose didn’t think Cullen wanted to drive her out to see the countryside, but his mother insisted, and he grudgingly hitched up the pastor’s one-horse buggy and helped her crawl up to the seat.
“You sure you want to do that? Could be a long climb up there,” Cullen asked, and she knew he was worried about her arm since he glanced at her shoulder.
“My legs are fine, and if I pulled up my skirt and petticoats, I bet I could beat you up to the top,” Rose said smartly. She didn’t want Cullen’s sympathy.
“Fine,” was Cullen’s one-word answer, which he’d seemed to use a lot.
Rose waited for Cullen to set the buggy brake, hop off the buggy, and to come over to her side. She could have quickly vaulted off the buggy with her good arm but preferred his hands on her waist to help her down instead.
“The sunset is a gorgeous array of gold and pink, just like you described in your poem, Cullen.”
Rose looked at Cullen for his reply, but he was looking at the sunset, his face almost matching the red streaking across the sky.
“Out of the letters I received from prospective grooms, your poems were what made me decide to come to Clear Creek.”
“I’m sorry I included them then,” Cullen replied.
“Why? They described my new home perfectly.”
“Because now you’re stuck out here in the middle of nowhere without a man or a home. You should have answered an ad from a man in a city, one who could send you back to your circus life when you get tired of pretending to be who you aren’t,” Cullen said as he waved his hand to indicate the empty space around them.
“Destiny changed my path, but I’m not sorry, except for my injury, of course. This is my opportunity to live like a normal person.”
“Why? You had fame and a glamorous life. Why leave it?”
“It’s not like you think it is, Cullen. We lived on the train, and all our meager belongings fit in trunks. We worked in all kinds of weather to set up tents, props, and perform. And when our performance was done, we packed everything up back on the train and left for the next town. It’s a routine I’ve done since I could remember, but I don’t want it anymore.”
“But you’re leaving behi
nd your family,” Cullen reminded her.
“Yes, I am, but I can write and visit them,” Rose answered as she walked through the clumps of grass toward the cave above her.
“Watch out for rattlesnakes,” Cullen called behind her, but his warning didn’t deter her. Snakes and their charmers were part of her circus past too.
“What a glorious view from up here,” Rose called to Cullen who was still working his way to the top.
“How’d you get up there so fast? You part monkey?” Rose laughed at the first funny thing Cullen had said to her.
“No, I’m half trapeze artist and half high wire walker. If we could connect a high wire between this side of the canyon to the other, I could walk it, if I still had my balance.”
“Seriously?” Cullen asked in surprise.
“By the time I was six years old, I was part of my family act, walking on a thin cable wire twenty feet in the air.”
“Were there ever any accidents?”
“Constantly practicing to stay safe was always our priority, but sometimes equipment would fail, or not be set up correctly.”
“Then what happened?”
Rose wrapped her good arm around her middle, even though the evening was hot. “Injuries, death. But we always packed up and moved on to perform in the next town.”
Cullen stood beside her, scanning the view.
“Now I understand why you’re craving a quiet life, but won’t you miss it?”
“Yes, I will miss my past for certain reasons, but I’m ready for a future living in one home with a husband and family. Eating a meal at a table in a kitchen instead of makeshift benches under a canvas canopy in all kinds of weather. And a bed that doesn’t rock all night as the train travels to the next town.
“Living a normal life, wearing normal clothes instead of bright red gaudy costumes. Having all spring and summer to watch a garden grow and be home to harvest it.”
“But you’re injured—”
“But not helpless,” Rose cut off Cullen’s sympathy. “I can still walk and function with one arm. Talk, sing, write, cook, sew. I bet I can still do one-handed flips too. Please don’t think of me as if I’m an invalid or cripple, Cullen.”
Cullen stared at Rose a long second, then nodded. “You’re right, and I’m sorry if I made you feel that way.”
“Thank you. But I do need your help.”
“Of course. Anything I can help you with, just ask.”
“I need a groom, by next Sunday,” Rose boldly said and watched Cullen’s reaction which was to step back and almost trip over a clump of grass.
“I came as a mail-order bride, ready to meet and marry my groom yesterday. That didn’t happen, so I have a week to find someone else.”
“My father was joking. You don’t have to marry right away, or at all. Don’t you have income coming from a book you wrote?”
“I must confess, I’ve sent a story to a publishing company, but I have no idea if they will accept and publish it. But my goal is to marry and have a family, Cullen.”
Rose took a deep breath before continuing. “Could you please introduce me to prospective husbands?”
Rose’s choice of husband would be the man standing beside her, but he didn’t want to marry her, yet. Kaitlyn Reagan suggested spending time with Cullen and having him introduce her to bachelors, to get Cullen jealous and propose marriage to her. Rose didn’t know if it would work, but his mother knew him better than she did, at this point anyway.
“This was my parents’ idea, wasn’t it?”
“Yes,” Rose answered because there was no use in lying. Lies had a way of coming back to haunt a person.
“Fine. We’ll start by visiting prospective ranchers this evening and then you can meet bachelors in town tomorrow morning in church. That suit you, and my ma?”
They had walked back to the buggy, and Rose put her right hand on Cullen’s shoulder to indicate she was ready to be helped back into the buggy. She liked how his muscles tensed under her touch, knowing he was affected by her. She leaned closer so he got a whiff of her rose perfume she’d liberally dabbled behind her ear before he picked her up for their drive.
One way or another, Rose was going to make Cullen think about her as his future wife. Reading his letters and poems had already made her fall in love with him.
*
Rose shuddered when they drove by Richard Kandt’s shabby homestead, but she sat up to admire the property they were approaching now. The neat and clean homestead featured a lovely wooden two-story home, a big limestone barn and a few outbuildings. A flock of chickens wandered around the house and side garden, scratching and looking for bugs and weeds.
A dog lazily stood up from his spot on the house porch and stretched before ambling down the steps toward the buggy. Apparently, the dog knew who the horse and buggy belonged to.
“Who lives here?” Rose tried not to put too much enthusiasm in her voice. She’d love to live in this house. She could sit on the porch swing and never tire of the breathtaking view of the grassy hills beyond the barn and corral of horses.
“My brothers, Seth and Tully. This is the Straight Arrow Ranch, owned by Isaac Connely. Seth raises Morgan horses to supply Connely’s other ranches, and to sell to other ranchers. Straight Arrow horses are known for their sound quality and Seth’s training.”
“Hey, Cullen! Are you out sparking this evening? Does Ma know?” A young man with dark hair came bounding down the porch steps toward them. It had to be Tully by his facial resemblance to Kaitlyn.
“No, Tully, I’m showing our parents’ guest the countryside—so shut up,” Cullen growled, which made Tully laugh as he grabbed the horse’s bridle.
“Hello, Cullen, Miss,” a man, who resembled neither brother, called out as he descended the porch steps and walked toward them. “Come in and visit. We’re just having dessert after our supper now.”
“Rose, this is my older brother, Seth, and Tully, the youngest of the Reagan clan. This is Miss Rose Leander, from Illinois, who answered a mail-order bride advertisement from Richard Kandt.”
“Nice to meet you both,” Rose nodded to the two, and they did in kind.
“So why are you driving her around, Cullen?” asked Tully.
Cullen looked at Rose before answering. “Uh, Kandt decided he didn’t want to marry her so—”
“Ma moved her into the parsonage,” Seth and Tully said in unison.
“I was injured in a train accident, and I can’t do the...uh, work, Mr. Kandt had planned for his wife,” Rose explained.
“Like build your own outhouse,” Cullen muttered beside her.
Rose glanced sideways at him, getting tired of hearing about that outhouse from everyone.
Rose turned back to the brothers standing beside the buggy. “Cullen is introducing me to area bachelors because I still plan to stay and marry someone. Pastor Reagan will perform my marriage ceremony to someone next Sunday.”
Cullen tensed beside her, but Rose continued.
“Seth, would you be interested in a wife? I’m available to move into your lovely home next Sunday.”
Chapter 5
His ma was introducing Rose to every single man in the church. It didn’t matter if the man was eighteen or sixty, a bachelor or a widower with six kids. Cullen didn’t realize there were so many unmarried men in town.
Cullen tugged at his shirt collar to let off some heat, and it wasn’t all due to the rising summer temperature.
“Rose, I want you to meet—” his mother started to say before being cut off by the excited man who shoved his way through the crowded church aisle.
“Hello, miss. I’m Adolph Bjorklund, and it’s so good to meet you.”
Cullen growled, upset with the attention Adolph was giving Rose.
Why hadn’t the man written for his own mail-order bride yet, instead of waiting to see who the current guest was in the parsonage? Cullen would even help Adolph with writing the letters and buy his stamps—anything to get him awa
y from…Rose.
Okay, he had to admit it. He liked Rose. Her injury, which might never heal, didn’t bother him.
So why was he fighting his attraction? He could marry her next Sunday, or whenever Rose chose to have the ceremony. One, Cullen was afraid she’d leave after she grew tired of their mundane life. And two, seeing her show off her trapeze outfits to his sisters-in-law made Cullen flashback to the gaudy dresses his mother and other soiled doves wore in the brothel.
“After we eat dinner at the parsonage, may I take you for a drive, Miss Leander?” Adolph was already asking to court her, before mooching at their family table? Adolph needed to start furnishing the roast as often as he ate with the family, but maybe he gave his mother a discount when she bought meat at his shop.
At least Adolph needed to start mashing the potatoes and setting the table with the Reagan brothers.
“Thank you, Mr. Bjorklund. I’d enjoy a ride, as long as you can help me in and out of the buggy,” Rose said while pointing to her left arm. “The train accident I was in prevents me from doing many things.”
Cullen studied Adolph’s face to watch his reaction. Nothing but a smile. Had he already heard about her arm, or it didn’t bother him? Why not? Maybe because he lived in town and needed a wife, not an outhouse builder.
“If everyone finds their seats, we’ll start today’s service,” Cullen’s father announced from the front of the church. Most people were already in their preferred pew, except Cullen, his mother, Rose, and Adolph. Adolph grabbed Rose’s elbow before Cullen realized what he’d done.
“Sorry, Adolph. Miss Leander will sit with me so I can introduce her,” his mother smoothly said while ushering Rose toward their family pew, the first pew on the left side of the church, and closest to the pulpit.
Cullen slid in the pew before the women arrived. Tully moved his body sideways so Cullen could get past him to sit on the other side. Nope. The Reagan brother line up in the pew was changing today.
“Scoot over, Tully.”
“No.”
“Yes.”
Grooms with Honor Series, Books 4-6 Page 14