The Unexpected Wife

“My first impression of you was wrong. Dressed in that fancy dress of yours, you didn’t look like you knew the business end of a stove.”

She shook her head. “That fancy dress was a cast-off from my cousin.”

“I’ve underestimated you. You are more than you seem. It’s been a long time since I’ve come home to supper and a clean home. The boys have never been happier. You fit here.”

Again no words of love. “I smooth people’s lives. That what I’ve always done best.”

“That’s why you worked in the kitchens.”

“After the trouble with Douglas and I realized my uncle had every right to throw me out, I decided to make myself so useful that they’d never want to send me away. And it worked. Everyone in my uncle’s social circle coveted my cooking skills. There was a pumpkin spice cake recipe that several fine ladies tried to buy from me.”

“You never sold it.”

“No. If I sold my recipes I could have been replaced.” Looking at him made her heart ache. Traitorous tears filled her eyes. “But I’m tired of just being useful. I want to know that if I got sick or I couldn’t work there’d be someone to take care of me. I won’t be just a convenience anymore.”

“I don’t want you to leave.”

She sighed. “I’ll stay until the end of the summer as I first promised.”

He frowned, frustrated that he couldn’t give her what she wanted.

“Thank you for trying, Mr. Barrington. But it’s best I leave.”

Over the next couple of days, Matthias continued to arrive home before dinner. He played with the boys and tried to stay near Abby. He found all kinds of fool excuses to talk to her, whether it was the boys, the weather or cattle prices.

She was always polite and answered his questions, but she kept her answers short and her guard up. By the third day, he was running out of excuses to talk to her.

To Matthias’s great relief, Holden arrived with his coach midafternoon on Friday. This time he carried three miners and a railroad executive. All the men ate their fill, and Abby was pleased to earn nearly five dollars for her meals. Reputation of her cooking was spreading like wildfire.

The men spent a good bit of time talking about beef and horses. The railroad was going to need both if it was going to bring a rail line up from Butte. With the railroad as a customer, Matthias would do more than break even this fall, he’d make one hell of a profit.

He should have been pleased by the development. After all, the lack of money had always been at the root of his worries. But even the promise of a hefty profit didn’t soothe the tightness in his gut. He was losing Abby and he didn’t know what to do.

Thirty minutes later, Matthias and Holden fastened the last of the buckles harnessing the horses to the coach.

“So how are things going with you and Abby?” Holden said as he rechecked the harness. “Abby seems extra quiet.”

Matthias shoved his hands in his pocket. “Tense.”

Holden shoved out a sigh. “Look, Matthias, I know we all sprung Miss Abby on you out of the blue. If things ain’t working out between you two then I can take her back into town with me.”

“No,” he said, surprised at the force in his voice. “We just need a little more time to work things out.”

Holden lifted an eyebrow. “So you’re glad we sent for her?”

“She’s one helluva complication.”

Holden lifted an eyebrow. “A good complication or a bad one? I’ve had my life complicated by women before and I’ve got to say it wasn’t all bad.”

“It’s not all bad.”

“What are you gonna do?”

“Hell, I don’t know. With Elise the love was there at first sight for both of us. Whatever is between Abby and me isn’t clear-cut or easy.”

Holden laughed. “Sometimes when you got to work for something you appreciate it more.” His gaze drifted past Matthias to Abby who was talking to three very attentive miners. “But you better work fast. There are a lot of men who’d marry her in a heartbeat.”

His gut coiled with hot jealousy as he watched a miner kiss her hand. “What the hell can I do?”

Holden scratched his chin. “For starters, I’d bring her into town for the Fourth of July picnic.”

“Holden, I’ve got more work than I can shake a stick at. I can’t spare two days.”

Holden shrugged. “If you want to keep Abby you better consider it.”

He didn’t want to lose Abby. “What difference will a picnic make?”

Holden laid his hand on Matthias’s shoulder. “Think about it. Women love social gatherings. Mrs. Clements and the other two women in the valley will be there. And you know how women like to talk. There’ll be music, dancing and I bet Mrs. Clements would be happy to watch the boys for the night so you two could get a little privacy.”

“If I tried to touch her right now, she’d likely brain me with a frying pan.”

Holden laughed. “Which is exactly why you need to woo her, win her over.”

“Woo my wife.”

Holden shrugged. “Desperate times mean desperate measures.”

“A picnic? Elise did like picnics.”

“That’s another thing. If you want to win Abby over you’re gonna have to stop comparing her to Elise.”

“Easier said than done.”

“How would you like it if every time you crawled into bed with Abby she was comparing you to another man?”

His jaw tightened just thinking about Abby with that damn Douglas. “Point taken.”

“So we can count on you for the picnic?”

The idea was growing on him. “The boys would sure like it.”

Holden groaned. “This outing is about Abby, remember that.”

He watched Abby walk toward the house, her calico skirts billowing in the wind. There were a hundred reasons why he should love her.

However, he accepted the fact that the chances were slim. His heart had turned to stone, and he doubted anything would bring it back to life.

But for the first time in a very long time, he wanted to try.

Past seven that night, the fire crackled as Abby sat by the fire in a rocker mending a torn shirt that belonged to Mr. Barrington. The boys leafed through a two-year-old copy of Harper’s Monthly magazine while Mr. Barrington reviewed his accounts.

The evening was painfully normal, and there were moments when it was easy to forget that she was leaving in six weeks.

“The horse roundup is going well. The herd is healthy and strong this year. I should make a fine profit when I take them to the railhead,” Mr. Barrington said as he tossed another log on the fire.

/> The sound of his voice startled Abby. She looked up from her mending.

“I know you’ve been worried about that,” she said.

“Abby,” Quinn said.

Mr. Barrington glanced at his son, as if annoyed by the interruption, but he said nothing.

Quinn pointed to a pen-and-ink sketch in the magazine. “What’s this?”

She glanced down over his shoulder to the picture. “That’s a bicycle.”

“What’s a bicycle?”

“You sit on it and push those pedals with your feet. The wheels turn and you start moving. It’s kind of like riding a horse.”

“Does everybody in the city ride a bicycle?” the boy asked.

“Not so many people. It’s hard to ride on the cobblestone streets.”

“Have you ever ridden a bicycle?” Quinn said, looking up from the worn page.

She laid her darning in her lap. “No, but I saw one when the carnival came to town.”

“I’d like to see a bicycle,” he said. “Did you like living in the city?”

“Sometimes, I loved it. Sometimes it wasn’t so fun.”

“What did you like about it?” Mr. Barrington asked.

She glanced up at him, startled by his interest. “The theater. I would go once or twice a year. And the shops. In San Francisco, there are always ships coming in from the Orient. There are so many spices to choose from.”

“Are there children there?” Quinn said.

She laughed. “Oh yes. Lots of children. Where I live they all go to the park in the morning to play in the grass. In the summer there is a merry-go-round.”

“What’s that?”

“It’s a big wheel that has painted wooden horses on it and it turns round and round while music plays.”

Tommy frowned. “Why would anyone want a wood horse?”

These children had lived their entire lives in wide-open spaces. Horses were a part of their lives. “It does seem rather silly doesn’t it? But it can be fun.”

She would have liked to have shown the boys San Francisco and take them to the merry-go-round and maybe buy them an ice cream. Then she caught herself. She’d be doing none of those things.