Jakob grabbed her by the hand and pulled her toward the living room.
“Now, wife,” he said.
She giggled.
When they were in the living room, he had a wrapped box sitting there waiting for her.
Sitting on the horsehair sofa, she took the box and rattled it. Nothing.
“Hmmm, what could this be?”
She tore into the wrapping and when she had the fancy paper off, she opened the box. With a gasp, she pulled out a gold locket necklace.
“It was my mother’s,” he said.
“Before I left Charleston, she gave it to me and said that my father had given it to her. She wanted my wife to have it. And now you are the owner of the locket.”
“I’ll put our babies’ pictures in it,” she said.
He grinned.
She opened it to see a picture of his mother and his father.
“Are these your parents?”
“Yes,” he said. “They were very young.”
Gazing at him, she threw her arms around his neck, her naked breasts pushing against his shirt. “Thank you. It’s beautiful and it’s so sentimental. This means a lot.”
“Just don’t lose it,” he said.
“I won’t. We’ll pass this down to our son to give to his wife,” she told him.
“I’d like that very much,” he said, kissing her on the neck.
She leaned back.
Martin was grinning at her. “My gift cannot be wrapped or even brought in the house.”
Taking her hand, he helped her stand and then pulled her to the door. When she saw that he was going outside, she resisted.
“I can’t go out naked,” she said.
“Yes, you can,” he replied. “Our hands are gone on Saturday and Sunday. They don’t come back until late tonight.”
“Are you certain?” she asked.
“Yes, now, come with me,” he said, pulling her through the door.
She followed him outside and they walked to the barn. The hay was tough on her bare feet, but she didn’t say anything. If he gave her what she hoped he had, she was going to be ecstatic.
Once inside, he took her to a stall.
There was a beautiful palomino horse.
“This is Sweetie,” he said. “She’s yours.”
Tears welled in her eyes and she gazed at the beautiful animal. “Sweetie. You’re so beautiful.”
She rubbed the horse’s nose, letting the girl smell her hand, and the horse snorted and licked her hand.
“Oh my God, thank you, Martin,” she said, crying as she threw her arms around him and kissed him. “I miss my horse so much from Charleston. I didn’t know if I’d ever own another one. This makes me so very happy. Can we take her for a ride?”
“Of course,” he said grinning at her. “But I think you should put on some clothes.”
The man had no idea how happy he’d just made her.
She stepped out of his arms and rubbed the horse’s neck. “I’ll be right back and then we’ll go for a ride.”
Running into the house, she forgot about the hay sticking to her feet, the dishes, everything but the thought of riding her own horse.
Coming to Montana had been so hard, but maybe everything was going to be all right. She raced up the stairs and when she found her carpetbag, she pulled out her men’s clothing.
For a second, she thought about Jakob and quickly decided she didn’t care. She was not going to ride with a skirt pushed up around her legs.
Throwing the men’s pants and shirt on, she grabbed her old boots and then ran down the stairs. She didn’t have a hat, but she didn’t care. She was going riding on her new horse.
When she reached the barn, the men had saddled three horses, including Sweetie, and were waiting for her.
“No. Just no,” Jakob said, his eyes widening at the sight of her. “You’re wearing britches. Men’s clothing.”
“I always wear britches when I ride,” she said, not liking his tone one bit. The man could be so overbearing at times. And this apparently was one of those times.
Martin sighed. “We’re here alone. No one is going to see her, what can it hurt? I think she looks rather desirable in those pants.”