Page 26 of The Unlikely Wife

But Michael didn’t smile back. Instead, he looked over at the material sitting in a basket next to the rocking chair by the fireplace. “Is that all you made?”

She frowned. “For now. Ain’t had time to make nothing else yet.”

“But you plan on making some dresses, right?”

That was less of a question and more like an order. One she didn’t take kindly to. “Michael Bowen, I told you, I ain’t worn a dress since my ma died. A person can’t hunt or do chores properlike in a dress. Iffen you think a body can, then you put one on and see for yourself that they can’t.”

He ran his hand over his face. Something he seemed to do a lot around her. “Selina, you know how I feel about you wearing pants. You’re a woman, not a man. When are you going to get that through your thick head?”

She slammed her hands on her hips. “We’ve already been through this. Ain’t no man or no woman gonna tell me what I can and can’t wear. So when are you gonna get that through your thick skull? Just ’cause the good Lord made me a woman don’t mean I have to wear a dress.”

“I don’t care what you say, woman. No wife of mine is going to wear pants in my house. It’s neither proper nor comely.”

“Accordin’ to who?” She crossed her arms in front of her. “Besides, you forget. This is my house now, too. You told me that, and I aim to take you at your word.”

Michael closed his eyes and dropped his head back, blowing out a long breath at the same time. Why me, Lord? “We’ll discuss this later. I’m famished. What’s for supper?”

“Even iffen we discuss it later, my mind won’t be changin’.”

With a shake of his head, he went to the sink and pumped the handle harder than he needed to, taking his frustration out on it. When the wash bowl in the sink was full to the brim, he washed his hands, face and neck. The grime from the day ran down the drain. If only he could wash his problems away that easily and watch them all disappear down the drain, too. He grabbed a towel and dried himself off.

“I made stew for supper.” She looked over at him as she stirred the pot. “Oh. I just remembered somethin’. How come you left so early this mornin’ without lettin’ me fix you some vittles? Same with lunch.”

“I’m sorry. I forgot to tell you that me, Jess, Haydon, Smokey and the hired hands were going to get an early start. We had lots to do. As for lunch, couldn’t wait till you got home. I was famished so I went ahead and ate. Oh, by the way. Thanks for taking care of the horses and chickens this morning and for cleaning out the stalls. That was a huge help.” For a man who didn’t want his wife doing chores, he had to admit he truly was grateful.

“You’re welcome. Glad I could help.” Her face beamed under his praise, making her pretty features even prettier. If only she’d learn to control her tongue. “Now sit down while I put supper on.”

He obeyed like a good husband and sat down at the kitchen table. Selina flew around rattling dishes and silverware and clinking glasses as she set the table. Grabbing a couple of the crocheted potholders his mother had made, she picked up the stew pot and set it on the table, along with a pan of biscuits and some butter and jam, then poured milk into the glasses. He’d never seen anyone set pans on a table before.

His family always used serving dishes and put the biscuits in a covered basket. One more reminder of the huge gap in their lives to this point.

She raised the lid off the kettle and the savory smell of rich beef gravy reached his nose. His stomach growled. “Smells good, Selina.”

“Tastes mighty good, too.”

“Been sampling supper already, huh?” He laughed.

“Sure enough have. How else am I supposed to know iffen it tastes good?” A twinkle filled her eyes.

“You got a point there.”

She grabbed his bowl, put a large portion of stew into it and handed it to him. He watched as she scooped one small ladle into her own bowl.

“Selina, do you remember what we talked about earlier?”

She looked over at him with a frown. “Not sure what you’re referrin’ to.”

Reaching over, he dipped a full ladle of stew and put it into her bowl.

Surprise jumped to her face. “What did you do that for?”

“Because you won’t.”

She dropped her gaze and picked it back up, settling it on him. “Don’t know iffen I’ll ever get used to being able to take as much as I want.”

His heart broke for her then. She might be a wildcat, but she was his wife. And for some reason God had brought them together, so he’d try his best to take care of her. Even if she didn’t want him to. And even if it killed him. And even if it was sure to drive him crazy. Which it just very well might.

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