Chapter Nine
Clyde came in three times during the course of the day, once for lunch, and the other two times to get coffee. Merry made sure there were fresh cookies ready before he came in the first time that morning. He drank two full cups of coffee and ate a half-dozen cookies. “Do you think you could make a few more cookies for my men? They have their own cook, but he’s not one to make sweets for them often, and for some reason, sweets along with the coffee just seem to keep you warmer in the winter.”
Merry took him at his word, and she, Charlie, and Addy spent the rest of the morning baking cookies. When Clyde came in for lunch, they presented him with a basket full of them, covered by a napkin.
“How many are in there?” he asked, lifting it a little. “You made a lot more than two dozen.”
Merry shrugged. “We were having so much fun baking cookies, we just kept going. I think there are probably four or five dozen in there.”
“Thank you.” He leaned over and kissed Addy’s forehead, then stood to take Merry into his arms and kissed her sweetly.
When he came up for air, he saw Charlie had her hands up in front of her. “No kisses for me. I’m not that kind of girl.”
Clyde shook his head at her as Merry laughed, taking her chair at the table and picking up the baby, who’d enjoyed playing with the small pieces of dough they gave him to roll around.
Charlie served them all, putting a huge bowl of the chicken and dumplings down in front of Clyde. “Merry’s recipe. She said you needed something hot and hearty so this is what you got.”
“My mom used to make chicken and dumplings for the first snowfall every year. They’re a special treat to me.”
Clyde took a quick bite, closing his eyes as the flavor tickled his taste buds. “This is wonderful. You have my permission to cook them any time you want.”
Merry laughed. “They’re a lot of work, so only on special occasions.” She cut off a tiny bit of a dumpling with a spoon and fed it to Joey, who gobbled it up. “How are you with building furniture? We need a high chair for him. I would put him on a pillow like we do for Addy, but he would topple off head first, just to see if he could. He’s too adventurous for his own good.”
Clyde frowned. “I’ve never tried to make a high chair, but I’d bet I could. I’ll get to work on that tomorrow. We can’t go to church anyway.”
“Are the roads still too bad?”
He nodded. “We could make it there, probably, but they won’t have services with as thick as the snow is. They won’t want people to risk their safety to come and worship. Besides, Wednesday is Christmas Eve, and we’ll all be going in for the Christmas party anyway.”
Merry eyed Charlie. “That should be fun for you.”
“And for the children,” Charlie said, not meeting Merry’s eyes. She hurried and sat down, taking her own first bite of the dumplings. “These are delicious, Merry! Next time you decide to make them, you need to let me watch, so I can make them myself.”
“Planning on running off on us soon?” Clyde asked.
Charlie shook her head emphatically. “Even if I do find a man to marry around here, this family is my first priority.”
Merry laughed. “I don’t know that you should go committing to all that. What if you marry a man who has six children, all under six years old, and they need you?”
Charlie wrinkled her nose. “I think I’d rather marry a man who doesn’t come with quite so many little people.”
“I don’t think it’ll matter how many little people are involved if you love him,” Merry said with a smile, her eyes going to Clyde. He was staring straight at her, causing her to blush. “More?” she asked little Joey.
Clyde smiled as he watched her. Was she saying she was falling in love with him? Could he ask her that? It sounded too needy, but he wanted to. It wouldn’t be polite, and he wanted her to think he was the right husband for her. He grinned as he spooned a big bite of his dumplings into his mouth, still watching his beautiful new wife. He couldn’t imagine what he’d done to deserve her, but he certainly wasn’t complaining.
*****
After the children were in bed that night, Merry slipped upstairs to put on her nightgown, readying herself for bed. She was nervous, and had thought of little else all day than her promise to Clyde that she was willing to try to let him make love to her.
She lay on her back, with the covers up to her neck, and her hands folded over the blanket when he came in, not letting her eyes meet his.
Clyde saw her, all trussed up in the bed, looking like she’d been laid out for her final viewing before her burial. He hoped she didn’t feel like she was going to her death. He would make it the best he could for her, but he wasn’t exactly experienced in bed himself.
He turned the lamp down and undressed in the dark, slipping into bed beside her. “Are you okay?” he asked, as he reached for her arm. She hadn’t been as stiff as she was now the first time they’d shared a bed. Why was she so nervous?
“I think so. I just—I don’t know if I’m ready to do this yet.”
He sighed. “Well, at least let me kiss you and touch you. You can tell me to stop any time you want, and I will.”
Merry turned on her side to face him, her hand going to his cheek, rough with the stubble of the day. “I appreciate you being so kind and gentle with me. I know I must be frustrating you.”
He ran his hand down her arm, which was covered with her nightgown. “Only a little. I do understand that you don’t know me well, and making love with a stranger isn’t natural.” It would have been natural for him, if she’d been amenable on their wedding night, but he didn’t say that. He didn’t need her to be even more nervous than she already was. He pulled her to him, kissing her softly, careful not to move his hands away from her arm. He didn’t want to frighten her, but he wanted to make love. He’d already waited more than a week!
Merry moved a bit closer to him, her mouth opening for his kisses. She liked kissing him so much—it was the stuff that came after that scared her. She wrapped her arms around his waist and put her cold feet atop his.
“Hey, you’re cold!” he said, shivering a little.
“Very. Did you realize that there’s snow all over outside?”
He sighed. “I’m going to warm you up.”
Merry felt the fear wash over her, but at the same time, she felt content. Like she was where she needed to be. “You are?”
He nodded, kissing her once more, this time in a deeper more demanding way. His hand went to cup her breast through her nightgown. “Don’t make me stop, Merry. I need you.”
Merry felt her heartbeat quicken. He needed her. She liked hearing those words. She moved closer to him, wrapping her arms around him, her hands stroking the bare skin of his back. Did he mean to sleep with nothing on? He had worn a night shirt every night, and now he wore nothing.
One of his feet stroked up and down her leg, and she let out a sigh. She liked his touch. He made her feel things she’d never imagined she would. She leaned forward and gently kissed his shoulder. “I won’t make you stop. Make love with me, Clyde.”
*****
When Merry woke the following morning, Clyde was lying on his back, taking up most of the bed, and he was snoring softly. She thought about poking him to wake him, but decided to dress quickly and get downstairs to make breakfast before anyone else woke up. It was always easier to cook with no one else underfoot.
Clyde woke as soon as she slipped from the bed, and he watched her dress in the pale morning light. It was just past dawn, and the room was still mostly dark. She’d brought him more pleasure than any man deserved the night before, and he only hoped he’d pleased her at least a little bit as well.
“Where are you going?” he asked as she, fully dressed, put her hand on the doorknob.
She turned to him, her face turning red. “I’m going to go get breakfast started. Just because you’re taking the day off, doesn’t mean that I get to.”
He grinned as he watched her scurry from the room, pleased with his new bride. He quickly dressed to go do his own morning chores. Sunday or not, the cows needed to be milked and the horses needed to be fed.
After breakfast, Clyde asked Merry to put her coat on and accompany him to the barn. She had rarely set foot outside since they’d arrived in Montana. There was a washer in the basement, and she had strung a clothesline across it, so she wouldn’t have to hang their wash out in the winter. During the summer, she’d gladly use the wind to help dry their clothes.
She nodded, putting on her coat, hat, and mittens, following him outside. The bright sunlight off the snow was almost blinding. He took her hand, leading her toward the barn. “I have some scrap wood out here that I think would be perfect for building the high chair. Can you give me an idea of what you want?”
Together, they made the plans for the high chair for the baby, and she watched him nail the first pieces of wood together. “Thank you for being willing to do this.”
He dropped the wood, caught her hand, and pulled her to him, kissing her softly. “Haven’t you figured out yet that there’s very little I wouldn’t do for you?”
She sighed, resting her head against his shoulder. “Thank you for being such a good husband to me.”
“It’s my job.” He stroked her through her coat. “I’m going to pick out a Christmas tree this afternoon. Do you want to go with me?”
She shook her head. “No, that’s all right.”
He frowned, hoping she’d be more excited about getting their house ready for the holiday. “Why don’t you and Charlie make some popcorn and string it for the tree then?”
She nodded. “We can do that. The children will love it.”
“Okay, you go work on that, while I finish up this chair, and go out to find a Christmas tree. By this time tomorrow, our house is going to look like Santa Claus himself came to decorate it.”
Merry just smiled, hurrying back into the house and starting the popcorn. She told Charlie what their task was, and her friend practically bounced with excitement. “I love Christmas, don’t you?”
Merry shook her head. “Not particularly.”
“What? But your job is making Christmas tree ornaments. How could you not love Christmas?”
Merry shrugged. “I do what makes money. Remember, Charlie, my parents died on Christmas Eve. They loved Christmas. They even married on Christmas Day, so the holiday would be more special to them. Carole and I were named to show their love for the holiday.”
“I guess I never thought about any of that.” Charlie sighed. “When you lived with your sister, what was Christmas like?”
“It was as cheerful as we could manage considering the circumstances. We didn’t tend to do trees, but we always had a special gift for each other and Addy. Joey was born in January.”
“Let’s try to make this one special then, shall we? Maybe we can make you forget your sadness surrounding the holiday.”
Merry just shrugged. She was content in her hatred for Christmas. She didn’t care if everyone around her bustled with happiness. That didn’t mean she had to.
When the popcorn was finished, she buttered a small amount for the children to share, and then she and Charlie sat on the sofa with the huge bowl between them, each with a needle and thread in hand. She didn’t know how big the tree would be, but she knew her husband, and he seemed to go to extremes on everything, so she guessed it would be huge.
By the time he came in for lunch, carrying the finished high chair, they’d already strung two large bowlfuls of popcorn. The children were buttery messes, and Joey quickly crawled toward Clyde when he came in. Clyde had taken time to spend with Joey during the blizzard, and the boy was warming up to him.
“Do you like your new chair?” he asked, picking the baby up to see the seat.
The chair looked like a normal chair with arms, but when pushed up to the table, Joey would be unable to escape, thanks to the small bar Clyde had built to go between the baby’s legs. Joey patted Clyde on the chest, smiling and garbling unintelligibly.
“I think I’ll take that as a yes!” Clyde said, grinning. “What’s for lunch?”
Merry walked to him, standing on tiptoe to kiss his cheek. “You’re always hungry. I just fed you a few hours ago!”
Clyde laughed. “Joey and I are men, and men like to eat!”
Joey let out a squeal to show his agreement.
Merry just shook her head as she led them into the kitchen where lunch waited on the stove. Charlie came behind them dragging the new chair. She took Joey and sat him down in the chair, pushing it close to the table.
Merry looked over at them from where she was piling biscuits on a platter. “That’s going to be perfect. Thank you.”
“I keep telling you. I’ll do anything for you,” Clyde responded, taking his spot at the table.