Page 5 of Leftover Mail-Order Bride (Frontier Brides #2)

“A nd so I told him if he wanted me to keep working under those unsatisfactory conditions, he would have to raise my pay. And he did.”

Victoria smiled politely over her turkey and dumplings. Who knew a sawmill could have so many trials and tribulations? Or perhaps it was Mr. Goodenough who had all the trials.

“Well, I’m sure you were pleased about that,” Mrs. Dalrymple said with a bob of her head as she sat across the table from Victoria. “And now you have even more to offer a wife.” She looked to Victoria.

She dabbed her mouth with her napkin as an excuse not to weigh in. She had worried Jack Willets might want merely another pair of hands for his ranch instead of a wife he could love and cherish, but she wasn’t sure Mr. Goodenough had room in his heart for anyone but himself.

“I am in a most fortunate position,” he declared now, mopping up the last of his second helping. “A steady job with good pay, a house right in town with the mercantiles only a few steps away, the admiration and respect of all my peers, though there are few enough of those, I admit. And I hope to purchase a buggy soon.”

From what Victoria had seen, buggies were still somewhat rare here. Most families walked, rode, or drove in a wagon.

“How lovely,” Mrs. Dalrymple enthused. “Isn’t that lovely, Victoria?”

No room for excuses this time. She pasted on a smile. “Yes, very impressive. I hope those working to build the church will be as industrious as you are, Mr. Goodenough.”

He puffed out his already thoroughly puffed chest, straining the buttons on his silk waistcoat. “What they need is motivation and good management.” He turned to Mr. Dalrymple at the head of the table. “Speaking of which, I thought I would volunteer my skills to the task.”

The minister nodded with a smile. “That would be very welcome. Many hands make light work. Talk to Jack Willets. He’s leading the charge for us.”

A little tingle went through her. Just at the mention of Jack’s name? Where was her caution, her pride?

“Willets seems competent,” Mr. Goodenough allowed, leaning back in the chair and setting it to creaking. “But I wonder how much experience he has managing a task of this size. I’ll see what I can do to help. At the very least, I can advise him on the budget.”

Oh, Jack would love that. Victoria bit her lip and dropped her gaze to her nearly clean plate.

“Perhaps a walk after dinner,” Mrs. Dalrymple suggested, rising. “Let’s fetch our coats, Victoria, dear.”

She rose, and the minister and Mr. Goodenough stood as well.

“I’d be delighted to join you,” the latter said, holding her chair for her.

An interminable hour later, she finally stood on the porch as he rode off into the sunset toward Puget City.

“Successful fellow,” Mrs. Dalrymple pointed out, turning for the door. “Well spoken.”

“He certainly speaks well for himself,” Victoria agreed, following her into the house.

The minister’s wife pursed her lips. “I am beginning to get the impression you don’t favor him.”

She had to go carefully. The Dalrymples had done so much for her—taking her in when Charles had abandoned her, allowing her to live here free of charge, helping her find her way in this new community. She didn’t want to insult the lady, but she couldn’t lie to her.

“He isn’t what I had hoped for in a husband,” she tried as she pulled off her coat.

“Well, we can’t always get everything we want,” Mrs. Dalrymple said cheerfully. “What do you find lacking, dear?”

“A quieter, more contemplative nature?” she mused, helping the minister’s wife off with her coat as well. “A focus on family rather than career? A dedication to helping others?”

Mrs. Dalrymple arched a brow. “You just described Jack Willets.”

Victoria started, face heating. “Why, I suppose I did. But there’s more.” She glanced around as they came into the parlor and was relieved to find the minister hadn’t joined them yet. Still, she lowered her voice. “I can’t help thinking that I should feel something for the fellow I intend to marry. And I just can’t find it in me to feel anything but annoyance with Mr. Goodenough.”

Mrs. Dalrymple cocked her head. “And you felt something for Charles Bishop, who promised to marry you if you came all this way?”

The reminder still stung, as if she’d reopened a sore she’d thought healed.

“No, I suppose not,” she said, dropping onto the sofa. “But look where that led me! It seems he used me merely to make his former sweetheart jealous. He never cared about me.”

Mrs. Dalrymple perched beside her and reached out to pat her hands where Victoria had folded them tightly in her lap. “You were dealt a severe blow. There’s no denying it. But it does not have to end tragically. Were there no young men in Albany who stirred your heart?”

She could not meet the woman’s gaze. “I hadn’t really settled on anyone before my father’s accident and my mother’s illness, and none saw fit to help with either. And afterward, my cousin wanted all my attention. I suppose I answered Mr. Bishop’s ad because I needed to escape the daily reminders of what had been. And I certainly didn’t want someone to marry me out of pity!”

“Still, I can see marrying Mr. Goodenough would not make you as happy as I’d hoped,” Mrs. Dalrymple said. “Would marrying Mr. Willets be better?”

Hope leaped up, so strong she had to press her hand to her chest as if that would contain it. “I… I think so,” she marveled, meeting her hostess’s gaze at last. “But you were right. There’s a lot about ranching I don’t know. Can I be the wife Jack needs?”

The minister’s wife smiled. “You leave everything to me, dear. With any luck, we’ll have you engaged before Decoration Day at the end of May.”

***

Jack wiped his brow with a kerchief before tucking it back into the pocket of his work trousers. The last day of April was sunnier and warmer than usual, and leveling the ground for the church wasn’t the easiest task. The Hawks Prairie soil was thick and rich, but it grew rocks as well as it grew hay.

He’d taken on leadership for the effort, with their neighbors stopping by when they could to help. He probably should have left it to someone else, given all that was happening on the ranch, but everyone in his family had tried to contribute to the effort in some way.

Ma, Jane, Joanna, and Joy had donated various sewing projects like quilts and Jenny and Caroline had baked pies and cobblers for the auction that had helped raise money for the land and building materials. Jeremy, Jacob, and Pa had coordinated with the architect in Olympia to draw up plans. And Jason and Joshua had ridden miles carrying messages and donations. Jack knew how to get things done. Preparing the ground had seemed a logical task.

Now, across the thirty-foot square of cleared area, his oldest sister, Jane, raked some of the remaining rocks into a pile. Caroline had her own rake at the opposite corner. Joy and Joanna waited with their aprons tied in hammocks in front of them to pick up the stones and carry them off to one side, where they could be used for the foundation. Caroline and his sisters had all been far enough along on their chores for the week that he’d felt comfortable taking them away from the ranch.

“Is that your girl?” Jane asked with a nod toward the parsonage a little distance away.

Jack turned to find Victoria walking toward them. She was wearing that red-and-green plaid gown again. It shimmered as she moved, the lace at the hem and cuffs fluttering.

“What’s she carrying?” Joanna asked, squinting.

Joy bounced on her feet, setting her apron to flapping. “I know, I know! That’s a serving platter. She’s bringing us tea!”

Lemonade, as it turned out. The silver platter held a pitcher of the yellow drink and several glasses.

“I thought you could use a break,” Victoria said with a smile all around.

His heart started beating faster, and it wasn’t at the thought of a drink of the cool lemonade. He set aside his shovel. “Here, let me hold that for you.”

If anything, her grip tightened. “It isn’t heavy. Perhaps you could introduce me, and someone else could pour?”

Where were his manners? Ma would be scolding him if she had been here. “Miss Victoria Milford, allow me to present my sisters, Jane…”

Jane nodded in greeting, hair as red as his glinting in the sunlight.

“Joanna…”

Joanna grinned, lighter-red curls already springing free of her bun.

“Caroline…”

Dark-haired Caroline waggled her fingers.

“And Joy.”

Joy bobbed a wobbly curtsey, her own coppery curls swaying. “Very pleased to make your acquaintance, I’m sure.”

“Very pleased to meet you as well,” Victoria said. “In fact, you’re some of the only young ladies I’ve met since arriving in Washington Territory.”

Joanna put a hand on her hip. “Well, there aren’t very many of us.”

“Men still outnumber the women eight to one,” Jane allowed. “And I’ll pour.” She reached for the pitcher as Caroline and Joy came to join them.

“Thank you,” Victoria said. As Jane handed around glasses, Victoria glanced at the field. “This is where the church will stand?”

“Yes, ma’am,” Jack said before taking a long swallow of the tart liquid.

“Would you like to see a drawing?” Joy asked. Before Victoria could even nod, she shoved her glass at Joanna and dug in her apron pocket. “This is what it’s going to look like.” She unfolded the piece of paper and held it up.

“I didn’t know you’d sketched it, Joy,” Jack said, eyeing his sister’s handiwork. The square, white church showed two windows on a side, with a short steeple for the bell, capped with metal spikes surrounding the cross.

“I wanted a copy, so I took a likeness of the drawings the architect gave us,” she said. She angled the paper so she could point at the top. “All those pointy pieces are called the crown of thorns, like what our Savior wore for us.”

“Very fitting,” Victoria said. “And a very good likeness, Miss Joy. Nicely done.”

Joy folded her paper as she pressed up the shoulders of her gingham dress in obvious pleasure. “Thank you very kindly.”

“How soon do you expect to finish?” Victoria asked as Jane, Joanna, and Caroline set their empty glasses back on the tray, and Joy began drinking.

“The first step is clearing and leveling the ground,” Jack explained. “We should have that done shortly. Next, we’ll set up the stones for the foundation and sink supports for the floor. The beams rest on those. Then we need to have all the materials delivered.”

She cocked her head, and the breeze tugged a strand of hair free. He swallowed the longing to tuck it back.

“And did Mr. Egbert donate as you’d hoped?” she asked.

“Yes, ma’am. The kegs of nails and boxes of hinges and knobs will come with the lumber. I expect them later this week or early next. The weekend after, we’ll have a church raising.”

“Every man, woman, and child old enough to carry something will help,” Jane confirmed. “You should come, Miss Milford.”

“I’d be delighted to help wherever I can,” she assured them, but her gaze went to Jack.

“Oh, good,” Caroline said, stepping forward. “Jane and I about have piles ready. Maybe you could help Joanna and Joy carry them off the clearing.”

Caroline and his sisters had on their work gowns, practical gingham, with aprons over the top. He wasn’t sure what Victoria’s gown was made of, but it certainly hadn’t been designed for working.

“Of course,” Victoria said. “Let me return this tray to the parsonage, and I’ll be right back.”

His gaze followed her figure like she was water and he was parched.

Jane came to nudge him with her shoulder. His sister was nearly as tall as him and her oldest brothers, making her tower over any other lady in the area and a good portion of the men. “I hear she rides well. Can she shoot?”

Jack gripped his shovel. “Never had call to ask.”

“It’s a handy trait,” Joanna chimed in. “Fox in the henhouse, cougar going after one of the calves, rustlers.”

“Joanna,” Jack warned her, and his sister widened her eyes.

“What?” she asked innocently. “You had to fight off thieves only a month ago.”

“Scare off more like,” he reminded her.

She nodded to his hip. “You’re still wearing your six-gun.”

“That’s just a precaution,” Jack said.

“Like if we meet a bear or a wolf,” Joy helpfully supplied.

Jack groaned. “Will you all keep that to yourselves? The last thing we need to do is scare her away.”

Caroline patted his shoulder. “Oh, I don’t think there’s any chance of that. She seems eager to help.” She nodded to where Victoria was already hurrying back toward them. Like his sisters, she now wore a voluminous apron over the top of her fancy gown.

Jane took her arm and led her over to the pile of rocks, explaining what was needed. Joanna paired herself with Caroline, and Joy stayed close to Jane and Victoria. He watched as Victoria bent and began picking up rocks. The sunlight outlined every curve. Mighty hard for a fellow to focus on work.

He gave himself a mental shake, then purposely put his back to the fetching sight and began plying his shovel again.

Their voices drifted to him across the space nonetheless.

“Did you go to school back East?” Joy asked.

“I had a governess,” Victoria explained.

“What’s that?” his littlest sister asked, sounding perplexed.

“It’s a live-in teacher,” Jane offered. “A woman trained in all manner of subjects who shows you how to become a lady.”

“That’s right,” Victoria said. Did her voice sound strained? Jack chanced a glance, only to find her tottering toward the edge of the foundation with an armload of rocks. Everything in him urged him to go help. He shoved his blade down into the ground instead.

“I understand there’s no school in Puget City,” Victoria said as she dumped her rocks near him with a clatter. “Do you have a schoolteacher on Hawks Prairie?” She smiled up at him, and somehow his shovel never moved.

“Not yet,” Jane explained. “Though Jacob is hoping to start a school as soon as the church is built.”

That was news to him, but it didn’t surprise him, given his brother’s great regard for learning. Victoria moved off, and he made himself keep working.

“Did she teach you to shoot, your governess?” Joy asked.

He nearly broke the shovel he gripped it so hard, but he thought for a moment that Jane was coming to the rescue.

“Ladies in cities don’t need to shoot, Joy,” she told the girl. “More likely Victoria’s governess taught her to speak foreign languages and embroider and paint pretty pictures and such.”

She made Victoria sound almost useless. Jack threw down the shovel. “I’ll have you know that Victoria plays the piano. You never heard anything more beautiful.”

Jane’s face lit up with a grin. Had she been trying to provoke him?

“Thank you,” Victoria said, and her smile warmed him more than the sunshine.

“You want me to take the shovel for a while, Jack?” his oldest sister asked, sweet as molasses.

Jack bent to retrieve it. “No. I’m fine. Best we keep working before the day gets any later.”

Jane chuckled, but at least she stopped baiting him.

His sisters, Caroline, and Victoria continued to chat as they worked. The topics were benign enough that he could let the sound wash over him. When he was done here, he had to check on a cow that was about ready to calve and another that seemed to be having trouble eating enough. Then there was the planting for Ma’s garden and preparing to brand the new calves. Joanna had been begging for a trip to the Sound to gather clams, even though it was a bit early in the season and they’d have to make sure there was no brackish water nearby. Everyone in the area knew that clams could turn deadly if they sat in the red-tinged water too long.

And then he had to build a church and a bunkhouse and his own cabin…

“I like it,” Victoria said.

Jack looked up. She and Joy stood in the center of the space, rocks clustered around them. He nearly sagged. With a sigh, he tipped the shovel up on his shoulder and trudged over to them.

“The idea, Joy,” he said, “is to clear the rocks. Not pile them up in a different place.”

His little sister’s face fell. “But Jack…”

“Move them,” Jack said. “Now.”

Victoria came up to him and put her hands on his shoulders. “Perhaps if you stood here, you might have a different perspective.” She twisted him to one side.

Jack frowned at her. “I don’t see…”

“Trust me,” she murmured. “You will. Not everything has to be work, Jack. Look again.”

He blinked as she stepped away, and his sister’s handiwork came into focus. “Is that a heart?”

“And a cross inside,” Joy said, scurrying around the design. “See, Jack?”

“Because our foundation is the Lord,” Victoria murmured. “What better on which to build a church?”

Humbled, he lowered the shovel. “I’m sorry, Joy. That’s beautiful. Thank you.”

She swayed back and forth, skirts swishing. “Victoria helped.”

“More than she knows,” Jack said.

Victoria’s lips turned up. “I’m glad you like it. Now, I should be going, alas. I promised Mrs. Dalrymple I’d help with the laundry.” She glanced around. “It was very nice meeting you all.”

“You too,” Caroline called, and Joanna nodded.

She started away, and Jane tipped her head at Jack, mouthing Go on!

Jack dropped his shovel and hurried to pace Victoria.

“Thank you again,” he said. “I can get too focused on work.”

“I noticed,” she said with a look in his direction. “But I’m glad you saw the beauty in what your sister created.”

“It’s easy to see beauty when you’re standing by me.”

Once more, color rose in her cheeks, until he had to fist his hands to keep from reaching out to touch them.

“Then I’m doubly glad I could help today,” she said.

His throat was unaccountably tight. He cleared it. “I may not have a chance to call later today, as I’d hoped. Perhaps you’d be willing to come over to the ranch again on Saturday, even spend the night? Services will be at our place on Sunday. I’d love you to meet the rest of the family.” He glanced back at his sisters and Caroline, who were all watching avidly. “I promise they’ll be better behaved.”

“Every member of your family I’ve met has been charming,” she told him. “And I’d be delighted to join you on Saturday.”

His head was bobbing like a horse about to be fed, but he saw her all the way to the door of the parsonage and stood for a moment even after the door had shut behind her.