Page 34 of Mail-Order Bride Secret
He helped her and the twins down at the house. He wanted a home and family. She could give him that and hurried inside to prepare the evening meal. Recalling how, in his letters, he’d praised the biscuits Gwen made, she added biscuits to her planned menu, confident they would be as good as Gwen’s.“Can we go outside?” Ivy asked.
“Of course.” The twins were gone before the words were completely out of her mouth. She watched themtrot toward the barn. They would visit the cats, perhaps spend time with Wally or find the other children to play with.
“Mama.” Jonathan tugged at her skirts. He was happy and well. The twins were enjoying the freedom. Maddie had her own kitchen, a place where she belonged. The ranch was the home they all needed.
It’s hard to count on people who aren’t honest. People shouldn’t make promises they can’t keep.
Jonathan trotted after her as she scurried to start work. Wally’s words hounded every step, every breath, every thought. Honesty was not always the best policy. Truth sometimes had the power to destroy.
She measured flour, added other ingredients, cut biscuits, and put them to bake and then heated the last of the stew.
A flash of light caught her attention and she turned to the window. Sunshine splashed on the side of the barn. She stared at the sight as something shifted inside her. A shudder ran across her shoulders, but she couldn’t explain why. It was just sunlight peeking through the clouds and highlighting a spot. Revealing the places where a repair had been made, the place where paint was needed…
Some things couldn’t be hidden.
And sometimes one couldn’t hide. Pulling covers over her head hadn’t helped. Pressing against the wall hadn’t either. There’d been no escape.
Limbs trembling, she jerked away from the window. Breathe in. Breathe out. The sense of panic subsided. Twenty-seven months should have been long enough to eradicate the memory.
Nothing would ever remove it. The most she could expect was she’d get better at burying it.
The sound of china on wood as she set the table clanged through her head like tolling bells.Think of something else. Remember the peace you felt looking out over the rolling hills. The way the children hopped along the trail pretending to be rabbits. How Jonathan went eagerly to Wally. The feel of his hand on hers. Lingering.
He seemed to like touching her. To her surprise and relief, she discovered she also liked touching him. Surely that was enough that she’d be able to forget feelings from the past and be the wife Wally deserved.
A smile clung to her lips when the door opened. The twins rushed in, reporting excitedly on their adventures. Wally followed, paused in the doorway. He studied her a moment then light filled his eyes and pleasure turned his lips upward.
Pleased with herself and how she’d handled her unwelcome memories, she supervised the children washing their hands before she set out food.
They gathered around the table.
It all felt so right. Itwasright.
“Tomorrow is Saturday,” he announced.
“Why so it is. I’ve lost track of the days.” Was there something about the day she needed to be aware of?
“I only mention it because I know the others prepare Sunday dinner the day before. We go to church after chores and breakfast and return in time for the noon meal.”
“I remember you telling me that in one of your letters. Thanks for reminding me.” He’d also mentioned that it was customary for them to gather in one house and eat together but nothing was said about that. She was half relieved and half disappointed.
“We can go to town tomorrow if you’re in need of anything.”
She chuckled. “Thank you, but I’m fine. It appears to me that you are as well stocked as many stores.”
“Mr. Shannon believed in being prepared.”
Amusement filled her. “For what? You live only a few miles from the nearest railway. I understood that was as good as having a city to shop in.”
“Mostly it is.”
His words sounded round and pleasant in her ears. Like the distant tumbling of a stream. Or wind sighing through trees, laden with the scent of pine needles. Drawing her along sunlit paths to the promise of--
“Mama.”
Jonny’s voice pulled her from her thoughts and back to reality. Back to being a mother…and a wife? She was the first because of things beyond her control. She would be the second of her own free will.
She shifted her attention—or at least as much of it as she could back to the here and now—to her son. Saw he needed more food and rose to get the rest of the biscuits.
