Page 6 of Sudden Mail-Order Bride (Frontier Brides #1)

Jeremy wasn’t sure which stung more, that his family would forget him in their preparations or that Caroline would imagine he’d be willing to stand and watch while she worked. Did she think him so lazy? Or had the men in her life simply left everything to her?

He had a suspicion it was the latter. From the things she’d written in her letters, her father had spent much of his time working and her brother playing. The cooking, the cleaning, the washing, and everything else in their day-to-day lives they’d left to Caroline. And that wasn’t fair.

He might grow frustrated with his family from time to time, but they generally worked together. The ranch wouldn’t function otherwise. And there was truth to the saying that many hands made light work.

Just not when those hands belonged to intruders.

Before they’d ridden in that morning, he and Jack had made a cursory sweep of the forest as far as the edge of their property, but they’d found no other signs of occupation. Still, they’d alerted Pa and Jacob as soon as they’d returned, and everyone had agreed to remain watchful. They had one hundred head of cattle in the pastures. By many standards, that was a piddling amount, but for them, it was a year’s worth of income that supported everything else on the ranch. Losing even a few head would hurt. Whether Ma liked it or not, he had a feeling that keeping the cattle safe would take precedence over courting. And he was surprised that annoyed him more than it should.

Now he located an apron in the bin at the back of the barn and tied it in place before taking Caroline to where his two closest brothers were giving orders. Jack and Jacob had apparently finished mixing the lime-based paint, for they handed out buckets and brushes to their workers, then pointed them to a different part of the barn.

“We’re going to start high and finish low,”

Jacob explained to Jeremy and Caroline as he offered them a bucket and two brushes. “Jason and Joshua will lean out the hayloft doors to reach as much of the top as they can. Jack’s going up the ladder to get the rest. I want you two to take the finer work around the bottom doors. Watch out for the hinges. Lime isn’t kind to them.”

“I understood half of that,”

Caroline confessed as she followed Jeremy around to the rear of the barn, armed with one of the wide, horse-hair paintbrushes. He led her to where the massive double doors an arm’s reach higher than his head stood in the center of the arched wall, with wooden beams crossways to support them and iron hinges clamping them in place.

“Which half?”

he teased.

“Door,”

she said. “Paint. But I’m not entirely sure how they meet.”

“Watch me.”

He set down his bucket, dunked his brush to the top of the bristles, and lifted it dripping to the door. Then he scrubbed it around on the planks, watching as the thirsty wood sucked in the moisture.

“Easy,”

he said, stepping back. “Just don’t get it on anything made of metal, and you’ll be fine.”

She dipped her brush into the whitewash, dragged it up, and slapped it on the wood. Paint splattered, hitting Jeremy in the chest, the chin, the cheek. He wiped it off one eyebrow with the back of his hand.

She dropped the brush into the paint with a splash that splattered her apron too and clapped both hands over her mouth. “I’m so sorry!”

“No trouble,”

he said, lifting a corner of his apron to wipe off the rest. “But I was sure I said to stick to the wood.”

She lowered her hands with a giggle. “To be fair, you said don’t get it on anything made of metal. I’m fairly sure you’re not made of metal, sir.”

He might not be made of metal, but he’d thought his heart made of firmer stuff after the debacle with Deborah. He no longer believed he’d look up one day and spot his mythical true love. Too few women. Given the hundreds of lonely bachelors in Washington Territory, any lady here could take her pick, and it wasn’t likely to be the third son on a busy cattle ranch, which, apparently, wasn’t all that impressive.

But maybe Ma was right about painting being courting, because he could feel his heart opening, softening.

Toward Caroline.

***

How nice that he wasn’t bothered by something so small as splattered paint. Any time she’d answered incorrectly at the academy, Miss Wilmont had looked down her pointed nose and glowered. If Caroline had burned the biscuits or shaken the dust rag too close to the door, her father would sigh, as if he’d hoped for more from her. And Ned would tease her for weeks. He seemed to find it terribly funny that she made mistakes.

Jeremy’s teasing felt different, as if it was all right to laugh at mistakes, together.

Nonetheless, she was very careful to keep her paint to the wood of the door after that. She found if she took a moment to wipe the excess off on the rim of the bucket, it was easier to control the flow. And she was pleased to see that Jeremy noticed and mimicked her.

“Fine work,”

his father said as he came around to check on them. It was the first time she’d seen him walking any distance, and she was surprised to find that he limped.

“We do our best,”

Jeremy said solemnly, but laughter bubbled in his green eyes.

His father rubbed his hands together. “At this rate, we’ll have the whole barn painted by Monday.”

Jeremy brightened, until he added, “And then we’ll start on the other.”

“Always more work to do around here,”

he said as his father continued on to check the others.

“I like that,”

Caroline said, dropping her brush in the nearly empty bucket. “You’ll never be bored.”

“Well, it isn’t always the most interesting work,”

he admitted. Then he winked at her. “But when you have interesting company, it makes it all the easier.”

She couldn’t agree more.

They all finished in time to clean up at the side of the barn before dinner. Jacob took the brushes to wash them with spirit of turpentine and gave everyone rags soaked in the stuff to clean their hands. The tart piney scent made her wrinkle her nose. She couldn’t help wondering who would be given the task of washing all those aprons, but that would likely wait until the painting was over.

Rag in hand, Jeremy stepped closer. “You have two spots, there and there.”

She couldn’t have seen the spots without a mirror, and she certainly didn’t want to go to dinner looking like a speckled hen. She leaned closer, and he dabbed at her cheek. Dark lashes framed his eyes, with tiny creases at the corner, as if he smiled a great deal.

Then their eyes met, and the world faded away. The green seemed to darken as his gaze dropped to her mouth. His lips were only inches from hers.

Caroline closed her eyes, hoping, wishing, and breathed deep.

Inhaling a lungful of turpentine fumes.

She choked and coughed, her eyes popping open and her whole body shaking.

He straightened and patted her back. “Are you all right?”

“Fine,”

she wheezed. “I’ll see you in the house.”

She fled before he could respond.

Like his sisters, she’d dreamed of being courted for years. Walking hand in hand to services with someone who admired her, just as she was. Dancing in her beloved’s arms. Sitting in the parlor by a warm fire and talking long into the night. Kissing goodnight on the porch and going to sleep with the joy of knowing he’d be back tomorrow.

She hadn’t even managed a kiss in the barn! And she was supposed to be a mail-order bride!

Jeremy was trying to do his part in courting. She should do the same. She could support him as she wished to be supported, think of things that might please him too.

She made sure to check her hair and face, then hurried into the kitchen, where Jenny was taking golden-topped biscuits from the oven.

“What’s Jeremy’s favorite food?”

Caroline asked.

Jenny raised her brows, then giggled. “Oh, I see. You want to cook him something.”

Caroline nodded.

Jenny leaned closer. “He’s quite partial to strawberry rhubarb pie, but we won’t have fresh for a while. Can you make do with canned?”

“I’ll have to compensate for the extra liquid,”

Caroline mused, finger tapping her chin. “But I think I can contrive.”

“We’ll do it tomorrow, then,”

Jenny promised, straightening. “We can serve it for Sunday dinner.”

They grinned at each other.

Dinner was much easier to eat after that. Jenny and his mother had made fried chicken, biscuits, and mashed turnips, and platters flew up one side of the table and down the other as soon as Mr. Willets had said the blessing. Once again, Jeremy served her, as if she were a princess and he a courtier bent on flattery.

But it was clear that wasn’t sufficient for his mother.

“You all made such good progress today. I see no reason why Jeremy and Caroline cannot be excused when you resume painting on Monday,”

she said as they tucked into the meal. She looked to Jeremy. “You should show Caroline more of the area. The lake, perhaps.”

“It’s more of a pond than a lake,”

Jeremy confided with a smile that nearly made her forget about the food before her.

“And it’s only fun to swim in when the weather’s warmer,”

Joshua shot across the table. “And the cows haven’t beaten you to it.”

Jeremy winked at her, and that tingly feeling started all over again.

“The blockhouse would be a better choice,”

Jacob suggested. “It has historical importance.”

“Anything older than you has historical importance in your mind,”

Jason pointed out. “I’d take her to the drop.”

Joanna and Jenny giggled. Jeremy flushed and looked away.

Interesting.

“I’d like to see this drop,”

Caroline said. “It sounds mysterious. And the blockhouse too.”

She smiled at Jacob, but he was watching Jeremy.

“That’s settled then,”

his mother said, passing Joshua the turnips, which he had somehow neglected to add to his plate. “We’ll be busy with services tomorrow, but Monday you can saddle two of the horses and have a nice ride, weather permitting.”

“Barometer indicates a clearing trend,”

Jacob offered. “It should be a sunny day.”

Caroline reached for her glass. “I’ve never ridden a horse.”

All conversation ceased, and silver clanked on porcelain as someone dropped a fork.

“Never?”

Joy asked, wide-eyed.

Jane and Jenny looked positively shocked, as if she said she would walk to church in her underthings. Jason was scowling as if this proved she was irreparably damaged. Their father’s lower lip was out, as if he pitied her. She wanted to crawl under the table.

“No, sorry,”

she mumbled. “I had no need back home. Everywhere I went was a short enough distance to walk. And when it wasn’t, Father borrowed a carriage.”

“I’ll teach her,”

Jack said as if that was that. “It’s not hard, Caroline. I’m sure you’ll catch on quickly.”

“I should teach her,”

Jacob corrected him, shoving his spectacles up his nose. “You call me professor, after all. That’s what professors do: teach.”

“And what do you two know about riding sidesaddle?”

Jane challenged. “Joanna and I may ride astride when we’re helping with the cattle, but Caroline will want to ride like a lady.”

“Which is why I should teach her,”

Jenny put in. “She’s closer to my size and could use my saddle.”

Arguments sprang up on all sides. Caroline blinked in surprise.

Jeremy put a hand on hers and gave it a squeeze. “I’ll teach Caroline,”

he announced over the top of his squabbling siblings. “It would be my pleasure.”

With him looking at her so warmly, it would be her pleasure too.

Everyone settled down after that, so Caroline was able to enjoy the rest of the meal. Still, the idea of doing something more for Jeremy teased her mind. The first night she’d been here, he’d taken her out to look at the sky. She could invite him to do that again. A kiss under the stars? What could be more romantic?

But his mother had other ideas for the evening. She handed out her usual tasks for the morning, then asked everyone’s help in getting ready for services in the morning.

“Carry your chairs into the parlor,”

she directed. “Jason, Joshua, fetch those two benches you use in the barn. Joy, find quilts to pad and cover them. We’ll put them under the window, at the back.”

“You don’t have a church?”

Caroline asked Jeremy as she carried her chair toward the parlor.

He glanced back over his shoulder from where he was carrying his own chair. “Not yet.”

His mother, who was supervising from the doorway, must have caught the exchange, for she chimed in. “Mr. Dalrymple, our minister, is hoping to raise funds to build one. As it stands, the ranches and farms take turns hosting services, and it’s our turn tomorrow. And we want to make sure everyone is comfortable.”

It was a scurry and a hurry, but soon, the parlor boasted several rows of chairs and benches of one kind or another, and the sofa held pride of place at the front, next to a table and the spot where the minister would stand.

She sidled closer to Jeremy as he stepped away from the sofa. “Looks like a nice night out there.”

She tipped her head toward the porch.

His smile grew. “Mighty fine night. Perhaps we should…”

“I have to apologize, Caroline,”

Jacob said, joining them. He must have knocked his spectacles loose in all the hurry, for he settled them more firmly on his nose now. “I owe you a discussion of literature.”

Disappointment nipped. But, much as she wanted to spend time alone with Jeremy, she certainly didn’t want to antagonize any member of his family. And how long could it take to talk about books? “Why, certainly, Jacob.”

“Now you’ve done it,”

Jeremy warned. “He can go on for hours.”

Oh, dear.

Jacob drew himself up. “I’ll have you know that a well-read mind is a treasure.”

“It certainly is,”

Caroline agreed. “I saw a number of fine books on your shelves. Which are your favorites?”

That should be a safe gambit. How many favorites could he have?

Quite a few, as it turned out, though most had a scientific bent, like Frankenstein and the works of Jules Verne.

“And yours, Jeremy?”

she asked when she could get a word in edgewise.

“Anything that’s short,” he joked.

“My brother isn’t the most patient when it comes to learning,”

Jacob explained. Then, as if realizing he wasn’t helping with courtship by maligning Jeremy, he hurried on. “That is, not all of us are gifted in every area. I have found Jeremy to be neat in his habits and encouraging in his conversation.”

“Such praise, brother,”

Jeremy quipped.

“High praise indeed,”

Caroline countered. “What bride doesn’t want a husband who is neat and encouraging?”

Jeremy raised a brow. “I had no idea those were high on your list of qualities in a husband.”

“I never made a list like some girls do,”

she allowed. “But I’d have to say kindness and encouragement would be requirements.”

He nodded slowly, as if she’d revealed something important, then exchanged glances with his brother, who also nodded. Her whole face felt on fire. She was just glad his mother declared it time for bed before either Jeremy or Jacob could question her further.

She puffed out a sigh as she shut the bedroom door. Should she have a longer list of requirements? A hard worker, perhaps, someone who would provide for his family? What had she been looking for when she’d read those mail-order bride ads? A husband, certainly. But some of the ads had been easy to avoid.

Wanted: wife willing to work hard and raise six children.

She hadn’t been clear whether the fellow wanted six children or already had six children, but either way, he had made it sound as if she’d be doing the raising alone. She’d already done everything around the house alone. Shouldn’t she look for a better situation, not more of the same?

Wanted: woman willing to move to Wyoming Territory and help with claim. Marriage optional.

No, marriage was a requirement!

Wanted: good-natured bride willing to relocate to Washington Territory and make a home with lonely cattle rancher. Offering companionship and a helpmate in times of trouble.

Jeremy’s ad had caught her eye from the first. She was good-natured, willing to relocate, and happy to make a home, so she appreciated and met all his criteria. Loneliness, she understood. Companionship and a helpmate sounded wonderful!

She hadn’t thought much beyond that until his letters had started arriving, and the man they revealed met every criterion she didn’t know she had.

But his mother was right. Letters might not tell the truth. They were words, after all. She must watch his actions.

And show by her own what she expected and valued.