Page 534 of Conveniently Wed
As Lorinda forced down each bite and held back the tears, she watched Franklin play with her baby. He was a natural father. When he looked at Michael, his expression turned so tender, his eyes twinkled. The baby leaned against his chest showing how much he loved and trusted him. Often, their gazes connected and held so long she wished she were part of the connection. Too bad Michael was the only child he would ever have.
Franklin stood and lifted his son high above his head while the baby laughed and sent slobber down the front of his starched shirt.
Lorinda grabbed a napkin and started dabbing the mess. “Just look what he did.”
He handed the baby to her, and their fingers intertwined on Michael. For a moment, she felt so connected with both of them. He stared into her eyes and the connection grew stronger. She backed away, pulling her son against her shoulder.
Franklin dropped his hands. “Not a problem. I’ll just change before I go.”
Go where?She couldn’t bring herself to voice the question. What rights did she have in this marriage? Not that she had verymany in her first, but Mike did at least tell her where he was going and when to expect him back. What exactly was wrong to cause those worry lines on Franklin’s face? Maybe he thought she wouldn’t notice...or maybe he didn’t look in the mirror this morning.
“All right.” Her gaze followed him as he left the kitchen.
“You want me to hold him while you finish your breakfast?”
Lorinda had almost forgotten Mrs. Oleson was in the room. “Yes, thanks.”
After passing off her son, she dropped back into her chair. She really wasn’t hungry anymore, but she knew she had to eat to keep up her strength and provide her son the nourishment he needed. She took a fork full of eggs and slid them into her mouth. She chewed them even though they seemed tasteless to her. Tasteless...colorless. Everything in her life, except her son, had changed.
She listened and swallowed back the tears until Franklin went out the front door. She didn’t want Mrs. Oleson to know how unhappy she was so soon after the wedding.
The housekeeper talked and played with Michael until Lorinda finished eating. “Just leave the dishes on the table. I’ll clean them up.”
Lorinda took her son and started nursing him. It felt so good holding him close and knowing that she was providing everything he needed. After dropping a kiss on his smooth forehead, she glanced up at Mrs. Oleson.
“Do you know where Franklin is going?”
With a shake of her head, the housekeeper responded, “No.”
At least he hadn’t toldherwhile keeping the information from Lorinda.
“Well, what about last night? Do you know what was wrong?” She couldn’t breathe as she awaited the answer.
Another negative response released a sigh from her. So she wasn’t the only person in the dark. “I hate to ask this...but is this usual in a marriage? Not telling the wife anything?”
Mrs. Oleson turned from washing the dishes and wiped her hands on her apron. “Not in my marriage. And not in Franklin’s parents’ marriage.” She came to the table and sat in a chair across from Lorinda. “But it’s been a while since they’ve been gone, and Franklin hasn’t had anyone but himself to think about. A man can get set in his ways. He probably didn’t even think about telling you.”
“I’ve never liked having someone else decide everything about my life.” She tried to keep the bitterness from her tone.
Michael stirred and stopped nursing for a moment. He always did that when something upset her while she was feeding him. She pulled him closer and murmured loving words into his ear.
After he settled down again, Lorinda raised her gaze. “When Mike and I were married, he made all the decisions, but at least he told me about it.” She wondered if she should be comparing her husbands out loud to the housekeeper.
Tenderness filled Mrs. Oleson’s eyes as she looked at her. “Give him time to get used to being married. It’s a lot to take on all at once...a wife…a son. Maybe he’ll tell us when he comes back later.”
And maybe he won’t.
Franklin rode into the pasture where the chuck wagon was set up to feed the ranch hands while they were working out on the farther pastures of the ranch.
He dismounted at the edge of camp and walked Major toward the wagon to both cool his stallion down and keep from raising a dust cloud. “Terrell, has everyone finished breakfast?”
The rotund man did a quick glance toward the sun and his gray handlebar mustache twitched. “Sure have. Gettin’ closer to lunch time. Gettin’ married musta slowed ya down.”
Franklin expected to get some ribbing from his men, especially the ones that had been here the longest. “Maybe, for a while.” He glanced around. “You know where Thomas is?”
“Sure thing, Boss.” The cook grinned.
Just like Rusty. No matter how many times he’d tried to get Jerrel to stop. So Franklin just got used to it.
