Page 18 of The Rancher's Wedding

And, despite the smell and the utter disgust she was feeling, Estelle felt her heart melt just a little. The farm may not have been exactly what she was expecting, but maybe she would still get the freedom and life she desired out of it.

***

After a solid morning of work, Estelle asked for a little reprieve from the outdoor work and wished to get to work on lunch.

“Do you need help?” Michael asked.

“Please,” Estelle said, “as your wife, the least I can do is cook for you on my own.”

So, he left her on her own. When he walked back into the kitchen about an hour later, though, it was obvious that he should have at least stayed to supervise.

She was making a salad, though it looked like most of it had ended up on the floor. There was a certain beauty to it, though, with all the colors. He wasn’t sure if he should help clean it later or just let the hogs in and have them take care of it.

“Here you go,” Estelle said, smiling. She passed him a bowl with some half-cut-up carrots, lettuce, and a few chunks of apple.

“Thank you for making lunch,” Michael said. “We’ll make sure to get some meat with dinner.”

“Oh, yes,” Estelle said.

“You don’t need to be ashamed,” Michael said, “if they didn’t teach you how to cook at the orphanage. I’m happy to help teach you.”

“Oh, you’re teaching me so much already.”

“Couldn’t hurt to teach you a little more. It also couldn’t hurt for you to take a little break. You’ve done a lot already. I should be able to handle the rest on my own, like I usually do.”

He took a bite of the salad. As expected, it was fairly bland and dry, but nonetheless appreciated. It was a good sign, at the very least, that she wanted to help out. She would be very helpful one day, it just might take her a while to get there.

“How about you go check on my brother after this?” Michael suggested. “Maybe you can go into town and pick up some more work clothes with him, if you’re up for it.”

“Are you sure?” Estelle said. “I’d like to help as much as I can.”

“Go talk to my brother. That’s something I haven’t managed to do. If you can get more than a few words out of him, that’d be real helpful.”

“Certain—” she began, but she stopped herself. “Okay,” she said.

Michael smiled.“You’re learning.”

***

“Yer gonna want a good fit,” Jacob said, eying the denim at the shop. “Not too tight, not too loose. I reckon they don’t have much in the way of women’s clothes out here.”

“I’m not looking for women’s clothes, per se,” Estelle said. “I just want something that I can wear while working on the ranch.”

“Yup. I hear that.” He picked up a pair of jeans and a button-down shirt, red-and-black-patterned flannel, handing them to her.

“I don’t think they’ll do too much to highlight my figure, but I suppose that’s not the point, right?”

Jacob shrugged.

“You know, Jacob,” Estelle began, “Megan seemed to really take a liking to you.”

He avoided eye contact with her and looked at a pair of boots. “What size you think you are?”

“Those look about right,” she said, pointing to the smallest pair on the rack.

“I reckon those’re for little children.” He laughed.

Estelle did, too. “Yes, I believe they are.” She turned back to the subject at hand. “I think Megan would like it very much if you’d write back to her. I have her address, if you’d like it.”

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