Page 291 of Conveniently Wed
“Everyone knows I came into Pendleton to marry you today. I can’t see a thing wrong with a husband kissing his lovely new bride.”
Cheeks filled with bright color, Aundy accepted Erik’s help into the wagon and sat down, pleased by his comments.
Once they headed out of town, she relaxed as the noise and activity of Pendleton fell behind them, and the rolling fields opened before them. She released a sigh, gazed up at the sky, and breathed in the fresh air.
“Anything you want to know? Any questions?” Erik asked, watching Aundy as she settled against the wagon seat.
“I don’t think you ever told me how old you are.” Aundy studied Erik’s profile, trying to guess his age.
“I’ll be thirty-nine next month,” he said, turning to look at Aundy with a soft light in his eyes.
“And you’ve never been married?”
“Never. I got so busy building the farm after my parents died, I kept putting off finding someone to court. I woke up one day and realized if I wanted to have a wife and a family, I had better do something about it. So I placed the ad and you know the rest of the story.”
“I guess I do.” Aundy looked with interest at the fluffy clouds drifting across the azure sky overhead and the fields that surrounded both sides of the road. If the land had been flat, she was sure she could have seen for miles. Instead, the gently rolling hills provided their own unique perspective to the landscape. Unfamiliar with wide-open spaces and such clean air, Aundy breathed as deeply as she dared and soaked up the sunshine.
“How old are you?” Erik asked, breaking into her thoughts.
“Twenty-one, although people often mistake me for someone older.” Aundy laughed as a memory surfaced. “Someone once asked if Ilsa, my sister, was my daughter. I didn’t know whether to be insulted or pleased.”
Erik chuckled. “Pleased, I would think. People can’t help but see the way you carry yourself with confidence and strength. That’s a good thing.”
“It is?” Aundy liked the sound of Erik’s laugh. Although she’d only just met the man, it wasn’t hard for her to imagine spending her future with him. Since stepping off the train, what she'd seen and experienced led her to believe Erik was gentle and mannerly. He might not be handsome or young, he might not make her heart pound or butterflies take flight in her stomach, but she thought he would treat her with respect and care. If they were fortunate, they might even come to truly love one another someday.
“Certainly, it is. I wouldn’t want some flighty young thing, so wrapped up in herself that she wouldn’t take proper care of a home or her husband. It’s easy to see that you’ll be a good wife, Aundy. You’re a sensible girl and I appreciate that.” Erik looked at his new bride with a teasing smile. “I also appreciate your fine figure, beautiful eyes, and that sweet smile.”
Her cheeks turned pink and felt exceedingly warm from Erik’s words of praise. Aundy lifted her gaze across the fields, dotted with a few drifts of melting snow.
She heard Erik chuckle again before she felt his fingers on her chin. He gently turned her face toward his.
“I didn’t mean to embarrass you, but I want you to know I think this marriage is going to work out just fine.” Erik leaned over and pressed another quick kiss to her lips.
Aundy closed her eyes and waited to feel something, anything. Instead, Erik pulled back and she opened her eyes to find him studying the road ahead.
“Do you think … if it isn’t … what I…” Aundy stammered, trying to figure out a way to ask if she could take a bath when they reached his farm.
“What is it? Go ahead, Aundy. Don’t be afraid to ask me anything.”
“May I please have a bath? I feel like I’m wearing dust from way back in Wyoming and half a train car of soot.”
“Yes, you may,” Erik said, bringing his gaze back to his bride with an indulgent smile. “You can do that while I take care of the evening chores after I show you around the farm. How does that sound?”
“Wonderful,” Aundy said, excited at the prospect of being clean. “As soon as I’m finished, I can fix the evening meal.”
“No need. One of the neighbors said she’d have a basket waiting on the table for a cold supper so you wouldn’t have to cook on your wedding day.”
“How thoughtful.” Aundy decided Erik must have nice neighbors. “I’ll have to thank her later for her kindness.”
“It’s Mrs. Nash. She and her husband and son live on the farm to the south of us. They’re good folks. Ol’ Marvin Tooley lives on the farm to the west but he’s cantankerous on a good day, so stay away from him if you can.”
Aundy nodded her head, wondering what made Mr. Tooley crotchety.
When they passed a lane that turned off the road, Erik inclined his head that direction while the horses continued onward. “That’s the Nash place. Been here for many years. Raise mostly cattle and wheat. Good folks and good friends as well as our closest neighbors.”
Aundy again nodded her head and gazed up the lane, catching a view of the top of the barn over a rise in the road. Pole fences ran along a pasture down to the road and she could see dozens of cattle grazing lazily in the sun.
“Are those…” A sharp crack resonated around them, spooking the team. The horses lunged forward and the wagon began flying down the muddy road.
