Page 517 of Conveniently Wed
She turned toward him. “What can I do for you?”
“I’ve been thinking about something.” He took off his Stetson and hung it on the back of one of the kitchen chairs. “Would it be bad to give Lorinda something that I had planned to give Miriam?”
She stared at him a moment. “What?”
“Well, I have my mother’s pearl necklace and eardrops. My dad gave them to her on their wedding day.”
A grin spread across her face. “That would be wonderful. Since you never really gave them to Miriam, and you wanted your wife to have them, it would be most appropriate.”
“They’re in my bedroom. Will it be all right for me to go get them? You can give them to her to wear in the wedding.” He had never felt so awkward in his whole adult life. Like a little boy that didn’t know what was expected of him… Maybe because he didn’t.
“Go right ahead. Lorinda won’t be coming out of her room for quite a while.”
He headed down the hallway wondering how she could know that. Before he reached his room, he heard soft splashing and humming, and an enticing flowery fragrance teased his nostrils.Lorinda is taking a bath!His stomach quivered, and he took a deep breath, trying to settle his nerves. Try as he might, he couldn’t keep pictures that hinted at what she might look like in the copper bathtub from flitting across his thoughts. This was not supposed to happen. All he wanted was an heir, not a woman invading his mind. After grabbing the velvet box that held the pearls, he hurried to the kitchen as if the hounds of hell were nipping at his heels.
“Here they are.” With a thunk, he dropped the case on the table without looking at Mrs. Oleson.
Just before he went through the door, he turned back. “I’m leaving a couple of the hands to ride along with the buggy into town.”
He was out the door and halfway across the back yard before he slowed down. He needed to stay in the barn and pray until the women left. Maybe then he could control his base instincts. Why hadn’t he even considered this kind of repercussion? He could not let his thoughts of Lorinda get out of hand. He would never,evergive his heart to another woman.
Dressed in a dark blue summer frock with tiny white flowers scattered across it, Lorinda sat beside Mrs. Oleson in the buggy. Rusty was in the driver’s seat, and he kept his face forward, giving them privacy. He had tied his horse to the back of the buggy and two of the other ranch hands rode on either side of his steed. For some reason, this added to Lorinda’s feeling of being protected since she’d been taken into Franklin’s home. If only she could convince her stomach everything was all right. She had barely forced down a few bites of scrambled eggs and biscuits before they left the ranch house.
A whole flock of flying barn swallows were building themselves a home in her innards, creating a feeling she’d never experienced before. Although the sun shone with a cheery brightness, and a soft breeze caressed her face, all she could do was think about what was to come. Could she really go through with the ceremony? Of course, she knew she wouldn’t embarrass Franklin by backing out. Her doom was sealed, and it would be wrapped up in fancy, colorful clothing that should make any woman happy. But she felt as out of place in the sham marriage as she did in the fancy unmentionables.
Rusty stopped the buggy outside the parsonage, then helped both her and Mrs. Oleson down to the boardwalk that led from the front door to the church on the next lot.
Glad they had made it to town without encountering any kind of trouble, Mrs. Oleson smiled up at the tall, red-headed cowboy. “Thank you so much, Rusty.” She even reached up and patted his cheek, which took on a hue similar to his hair.
Lorinda knew she should thank him, too, her relief at making it safely to church was dammed behind anxiety about what would happen after she left the church as Franklin’s wife. She nodded and gave him a tight smile. He doffed his hat toward them then headed to the livery with the buggy. The other cowboys ambled up the street. She wondered where they were going, but since it was early for the service, she figured they had some way to kill the time.
Mary Nelson welcomed them into her parlor. “Brian is already at the church. He spends a couple of hours on Sunday mornings going over his sermon notes one more time. So we have the house to ourselves.”
Stella sat in a rocking chair with Michael asleep on her shoulder. “He’s been a dear since we picked him up at the Rocking V this morning. We’re getting along just fine.”
Her youngest child had pulled up on the table beside her chair and was trying to reach the books stacked near the back.
Lorinda walked over to peek at her son, then looked down at Stella’s daughter. “I haven’t seen her stand by herself. When did she start that?”
“Just last night. Now she’ll be getting into everything.” She didn’t sound the least bit upset about that. Of course, she had several older children.
“Are you sure you want to take care of Michael today? You’ll have your hands full with the two of them.”
A tender smile lit Stella’s face. “I love babies, and I can take care of more than one of them. If Michael awakens and is hungry, I can nurse him, so your day will be just for you and Franklin.”
Words wanted to burst through, but Lorinda worked hard to keep them inside. This wedding was just a formality, something to protect her and her son’s future. That thought made her feel like a fraud. Her heart ached. Had she made a deal with the devil for her own gain, and would she lose her soul in the long run?
While Mrs. Oleson helped Lorinda into her wedding suit and all the underthings, complete with a corset, which she’d never worn before, Mrs. Nelson packed all her other new clothing into a small traveling trunk. Although Lorinda thanked the women, she didn’t know when she’d ever need a traveling trunk. Her future would be spent on the Rocking V ranch.
Before she gave Lorinda the jacket or hat, Mrs. Oleson took Michael from Stella’s arms without waking him. “Stella’s going to dress your hair so the hat will fit just right.”
Using a curling iron, heated on the kitchen stove, Stella curled and arranged Lorinda’s hair, then took her to the cheval glass in the bedroom.
Lorinda wouldn’t have recognized the woman staring back at her if she hadn’t known what had gone on before. She had always felt plain, even ugly sometimes. But this woman was pretty...like a picture inHarper’s Bazarmagazine.
“Do you like this style?” Stella stood beside her and cocked her head to the side as she studied Lorinda in the looking glass.
“I’m almost speechless. I never dreamed I could look like those women in the magazines.”
