Page 547 of Conveniently Wed
She closed her eyes and swayed to the beat of the music. He loved watching her like this. When the instrument stopped playing, she twisted the key herself.
While the music played again, she gazed into his eyes. “This is the most wonderful thing anyone has ever given me. Thank you, Franklin.”
When the song ended, she set the instrument on the table beside the lamp and rose gracefully. Her arms crept around his waist, and she rested her head against his chest, right above his heart. He wondered if she could hear his heartbeat galloping. All he could do was fold his own arms around her and revel in the feeling of his wife in his arms again, glad he’d taken time in town to go to the bathhouse and barber to get a shave and change into clean clothes. She wouldn’t have wanted to touch him if he was covered with the filth of trail dust, sweat, and a scraggly beard.
When Lorinda impulsively threw her arms around Franklin and leaned against his chest, she didn’t expect him to put his arms around her, but she liked it.Too much.
She lingered as long as she dared, enjoying the warmth, the rock-hard muscles, and the familiar scent of fresh Bay Rum Oil. As she released her arms and slipped back away from him, he let her go. How she wished he would gather her once again into his embrace. A sigh slipped out between her lips.
“Are you all right?”
His tender tone brought tears to her eyes. She turned away to hide them. “Yes. I believe Mrs. Oleson should have our supper ready.”
Franklin followed closely behind her as she led the way into the kitchen. She felt his every move.
“There’s my boy.” When the first word left Franklin’s mouth, Michael dropped both spoons and lifted his arms toward him, jabbering away in his own baby language.
Lorinda smiled as her husband lifted her son from his high chair and cuddled him against his chest. Just where she’d placed her face minutes before. Michael stayed there only a moment before lifting his head and reaching to pat Franklin on his cheeks.
“Hey, buddy.” Her husband’s words rumbled through the room. “I missed you, too.”
“Welcome back, Franklin.” Mrs. Oleson dried her hands on the towel tucked into the waistband of her apron.
“Something sure smells good.”
“Supper’s not quite ready.” The housekeeper took the lid off the large frying pan, then used a fork to start turning pieces of chicken. “Won’t be long though.”
Franklin turned to Lorinda. “How about I take this boy out to the barn while I put up Major?”
All Lorinda could do was nod and watch them head back up the hallway toward the front door. She knew what would happen. Franklin would hold Michael while he rode the horse into the barn. Those two really enjoyed spending time together.
Mrs. Oleson turned back toward the stove. She opened the oven to remove the biscuits that had risen tall and golden brown, filling the kitchen with another aroma to blend with the chicken. “I told you he’d be home today, but he was later than I thought he’d be.” She bustled around putting the finishing touches on Franklin’s favorite meal. “I’m surprised he already bathed, shaved, and changed clothes before he came home. He always comes straight from a cattle drive–dirty, smelly, and wrinkled. I guess being married has changed him in more ways than one.”
Lorinda started setting the table, keeping her head turned. She didn’t want the woman to see the blush making its way up her cheeks.
Yes, there were ways Franklin had changed, but they weren’t due to her or their relationship, because there wasn’t one. Could she really live this lie for the rest of her life? Everything within her rebelled at the thought.
Lorinda hurried from the kitchen before she could blurt out the truth. This had to stop.
Somehow.
27
Since Franklin had been gone several days, he decided not to go out to work so early. He wanted to have breakfast with his family. Lorinda had already taken Michael into the kitchen by the time he finished dressing for the day.
Lorinda noticed him as he stepped into the doorway. “Here’s your daddy.” His wife’s smile arrowed straight to his heart.
Wanting to gaze at her while he ate, he took the chair across the table and pulled it out before dropping into it.
Michael banged a spoon against the wooden tray of his high chair. “Da...da...da.”
Franklin’s head shot up, and his eyes zeroed in on the baby. “Did he just say daddy?”
Lorinda laughed. “Sounds like it to me. I was hoping he’d say momma first.”
“He’s started cooing and then babbling really early. And Franklin...” Mrs. Oleson brought a plate of bacon and eggs and set them in front of him. “...when you were an infant, you said daddy first. Your mother was so disappointed.”
He looked up at her. “I didn’t know that.”
