Page 511 of Conveniently Wed
She laid Michael in his cradle. When he started to stir, she gently patted his back until he settled back to sleep.
After dressing in her dimity night dress and plaiting her hair into a loose braid, Lorinda blew out the lamp and got into bed.She turned onto her side and closed her eyes. Thoughts marched through her head, their pounding keeping her from slumber.
She flipped over to her other side and scrunched the pillow up under her neck and head. Swooshing out a deep breath, she willed her body to relax. In only a few moments, every muscle tensed once again. No matter what she tried, sleep eluded her.
Finally, she arose and paced across the moonbeams bathing the room with soft, silvery light. She stopped to gaze at Michael sleeping peacefully. Oh, to be able to forget everything like an infant and just sink into rest.
Maybe she was going about all this the wrong way. She lit the lamp, picked up her Bible, and sat in the wooden rocking chair with the padded seat.
“Father God, you’ve brought me to this house of safety.” She whispered the words so she wouldn’t wake her son, but she liked talking to God as if he were in the room with her. She’d formed that habit during those lonely months in the cabin. “I don’t know what to do. Please show me something in Your word that will lead me. I know Your word is a lamp to my feet and a light to my path, and I need a lot of light right now.”
Lorinda opened the book and read a few passages. She poured out her heart to God, telling Him what she wanted and that she would listen to anything He revealed to her spirit. Her supplication must have taken quite a while because when she finished, the path of the moonlight had moved most of the way to the other side of the bed chamber.
She sat in wakeful silence for another period of time that stretched until the first blush of dawn barely touched the eastern sky outlining the mountain peaks in gold. Peace drifted on her like gentle snowflakes, but warming her inside instead of bringing the cold. She folded her hands on the open pages of her Bible and just basked in the peace.
Finally, she knew what she was supposed to do. She didn’t understand why God wanted her to accept Franklin’s strange proposal, but she wanted to be obedient to God the way the women she’d read about in the Bible were. She wasn’t sure how she would find the courage to step out in faith, but she knew she soon needed to let Franklin know.
After a long day out on the range, Franklin stood beside the washstand in his bedroom, circling his shaving brush in the cup with soap to work up enough lather. He’d started removing his whiskers in the evening so he could come to the table clean and well-shaven. He hoped Lorinda would notice the care he was taking with his appearance while in the house. Maybe it would help her make a decision in his favor.
Two whole days.Franklin wondered how much longer he’d have to wait for her to give him an answer. At least, he’d been busy enough during the daytime to take his mind off his proposal, if he could call it that. He and Thomas had ridden out to each of his pasturing areas to check on the divided herd and the cowboys wrangling them. Thank the good Lord, he would be able to send several railcars full of cattle to market in Chicago. He wanted them to feed on the tall mountain grasses for at least another month, maybe two, before they would drive them to Frisco in the next valley.
Both days, he’d come home near suppertime. After he left his boots in the mudroom, he’d gone through the kitchen on the way to clean up. He took time to talk to the infant he hoped to claim as his son and surreptitiously watched the boy’s mother.
Lorinda smiled often, and she looked a little different. Kind of peaceful. But she never said a word about his idea.
He was not a patient man. If she didn’t talk to him soon, he might have to do a circuit of the line shacks to make sure they were in good shape before winter. Never knew when someone might need to shelter during a storm. Sometimes, it was one of his hands. Sometimes, a stranger. That was part of the code of the west. To provide and help those in need. Give him something to do until she made up her mind. To keep himself from going crazy. Maybe if he weren’t here for a day or two, Lorinda would miss his presence enough to come up with an affirmative answer.
He finished scraping the last of the shaving soap off his neck and glanced in the mirror. Lifting the small towel from the warm water in his wash bowl, he squeezed out the excess water before he patted his face, then wiped the last vestiges of lather from his cheeks and neck. He opened his bottle of Bay Rum Oil and poured a little in the palm of his hand, then gently rubbed this lotion on his face to heal any nicks. The fragrance of the product was light and pleasant, making him feel even fresher. He hoped someday Lorinda would get close enough to catch a whiff and enjoy it.
What am I thinking?He didn’t need any emotional entanglements, but smelling nice would be a good thing even in a marriage of convenience. He’d decided he’d never marry, especially not a marriage of convenience. When had the idea ceased to be abhorrent? He glanced in the looking glass attached to the wall above his washstand. The face that stared back at him almost a stranger. He shook his head and went into the hallway.
When he stepped into the kitchen again, Lorinda was helping Mrs. Oleson get the food on the table. She was doing everything one-handed. Michael squirmed in her other arm.
“Here, let me help.” As he reached for the baby, Lorinda glanced at him, a smile barely tilting the corners of her lips.
“Thank you, Franklin.” She turned back toward the cupboard and lifted down the plates. Almost as if she couldn’t get away from him fast enough. Or was she ignoring him?
While he played with the boy, the women quickly finished loading the table with a bounty of food. He loved this child. Although he would never try to keep Michael from knowing about the man who sired him, he wanted to fill the role of father in the boy’s life.
“I’m going to have to take Michael and change him. And he’s probably hungry.” Lorinda took her son back from him. “The two of you can go ahead and eat. I’ll be back as soon as I can.”
He watched her walk into the hallway, and he immediately missed her. He glanced toward his housekeeper. “Something smells wonderful.”
“Lorinda cooked the pot roast today.” She sat down in her usual chair. “I’ve been enjoying the aroma for several hours. It’s nice to have something to eat I didn’t cook.”
Franklin sat in the opposite chair. “You like having her here, don’t you?”
“I’ve told you that before.” Mrs. Oleson put some roast on her plate and added potatoes and carrots beside it. “I’d hate to think of her leaving us.”
“Me, too.” He quickly took the dish she passed his way and heaped the delicious food onto his plate, hoping Mrs. Oleson didn’t notice the flush heating his face.
The door to the hall was on his left. While he and Mrs. Oleson ate and carried on a sporadic conversation, his eyes kept drifting toward the open doorway. He couldn’t remember it taking Lorinda so long to change and feed her baby. Maybe she was dawdling over the whole process because she didn’t want to face him yet. Was she going to tell him she wasn’t interested in his idea? A shaft of uneasiness pierced his heart.The best-laid plans...
Being the owner of the ranch and the boss to many people who worked for him, if he wanted anything, all he had to do was tell them, and it was the same as done. No questions. Now a little slip of a woman had him tied in knots. Was he selfish to want his way in this situation? He didn’t think so. Both of them, actually all three of them, would benefit from an agreement from her. Why couldn’t she see that? What was holding her back?
Halfway through the food on his plate, his throat almost closed. He might not be able to swallow another bite. He laid his fork on the edge of his plate.
“Is something the matter, Franklin?” Concern shouted through Mrs. Oleson’s tone.
