Chapter Twelve

Nick

When he finished caring for the horses, the sun had begun its westward descent. He returned to the house to find it quiet. He imagined her upstairs, cowering in her room, terrified of her wedding night. He felt a pang of sympathy, but then recalled the way she’d suspected he would dishonor her. If she was worried, she had only herself to blame. He’d been perfectly happy to take his time, but no. She hadn’t believed he would care for her and respect her. He looked through the house and found Justine in the library sorting through his books, but she was alone.

“What are you doing?”

“Putting your books away. On the shelves, so you can find them.”

Books filled the top shelf and she’d already started on the next row.

“When the books are put away, you will be able to sit on the chairs,” she added. Holding up a plate, she pretended to offer it to him. “Are you hungry? I found this.”

A withered apple core sat beside what looked like a biscuit. Maybe a cracker.

He grinned and took the plate. “Thank you, I’m starved. You know how to do all this? Organize a man’s library?”

She picked up a book and ran her fingers over the cover. “I do. I grew up in an orphanage that had a school and a library.”

He almost chuckled at her mention of ‘growing up’. She was so small and delicate and so far from being grown up. Yet, there was something about the girl that made her seem wiser than her years. The way she quietly observed things, he was certain she understood most matters better than most children her age.

“Why did you run away, Justine?”

She looked up from the book with a surprised expression. For a moment he regretted the question. Too much. Too soon. Who knew what the girl had been through. He had no business asking a prying question when he barely knew her.

She set the book down on the table. “The husband and wife who ran the orphanage got too old to manage. They hired a new couple and I didn’t like them. They really didn’t like me. So, I left.”

“When?”

“Last year. Christmas Eve.”

“Christmas Eve? In Boston?”

“Thereabouts.”

He frowned at her evasive answer. “You don’t need to worry, Justine. I’m not shipping you back, even if I thought I could.”

“I like it here,” she whispered the words, and the look of yearning in her eyes caught him off-guard.

“Good,” he said gruffly. “Cora’s attached to you and I like having you here too. You don’t need to worry about money anymore. I have enough to take care of you. Understand?”

“All right,” she said with a morose tone.

“Where’s Cora? Upstairs? Hiding?”

She shook her head. “I don’t think so. Some ladies were here, waiting. They’re outside helping her with the clothing that fell in the river.”

“All right. I’ll find them.” He gestured toward the tidy shelves. “Looks nice, thank you, Justine.”

She turned away and resumed her work. He marveled that she’d taken the task on without any instruction from him or Cora. While he never minded the disorder in his home, he could see that a little care made a big difference. He left the library and went to the back porch. There he found Laura and Charlotte helping Cora wash her dresses.

“This is a nice surprise,” he said, greeting each sister-in-law with a kiss on the cheek.

“They came to talk to you about a mail-order bride,” Cora said with a mocking smile. “I didn’t know you had matchmakers trying to marry you off.”

She stood over a washtub, her sleeves pushed up and her hands submerged beneath a cloud of bubbles. Her eyes sparked with bemusement. A wisp of hair had fallen loose. Her lips, curved into a smile, made him want another kiss and a thousand other wicked things. He was so struck by the sight of her, there on his porch, engaged in such a domestic task, he found it impossible to reply.

Her smile faltered. “I was teasing, Nick.”

“Right,” he said.

“He resisted us at every turn,” Charlotte said. “He wanted us to leave him in peace and said he wanted to live alone, like some, solitary, growling bear.”

“A bear with furniture,” Laura added. The women laughed at Laura’s comment.

Nick leaned against a nearby beam. “I’m not going to bother arguing. I know when I’m outnumbered.”

The women worked steadily. Soon the line drooped with the weight of Cora’s dresses and lacy underthings. The stockings fluttered in the breeze. The women grumbled about putting laundry out overnight, but it couldn’t be helped. The gowns had already lain wet for over a day and if they weren’t washed soon, they would begin to mold.

When they were done, Cora went inside and brought Justine out to meet Charlotte and Laura. The girl answered their questions with a pained look on her face, unused to the intense scrutiny. To Nick’s surprise, she agreed to let Charlotte measure her, so she could make her a few dresses. He eyed her short, boyish haircut. She must have cut it with a dull knife. No two strands were the same length.

Charlotte and Laura set off for home a little before dusk. Nick offered to drive them in the buckboard, but they wouldn’t hear of it. The walk was less than a mile and would do them good, they insisted.

“I need to walk every day,” Charlotte said. “Everyone says walking helps with delivery.”

With Charlotte and Laura gone, the house seemed quiet, yet peaceful. Once again, Nick and Cora and Justine ate a dinner that Laura and Charlotte had brought. They’d left a basket in the kitchen with a crock of savory chicken and dumplings.

Justine lit candles and set out dishes, while Cora unpacked the food.

“I can cook,” Cora said quietly. “None of my friends back in Boston know how, but I do.”

“Your friends don’t know how to cook?” Justine asked.

“They have cooks. They have servants for everything. They don’t even polish their own shoes.”

Justine snorted. “Neither do I.”

The time passed amiably. Cora spoke of her home and her parents, touching lightly on her illness. Nick would have liked to ask more, but refrained, sensing how difficult the subject was for her to discuss. Justine spoke of the kindly couple who had run the orphanage, and how much life had changed when they left.

Nick talked mostly about the ranch and the young animals on the way. Over the next few months, the cows would have their calves. Several mares would foal. Noting the way Cora’s and Justine’s eyes lit with interest, he added a final bit about his barn cats.

“I haven’t seen Lucky or any of the others in about a week. I’m pretty sure they’re somewhere in the hayloft waiting on a batch of kittens.”

“Are you going to keep them?” Justine asked.

“Lucky’s the best mouser in Colter Canyon. Usually I give a couple to Seth and a couple to Will. But if you like, I’ll let you have the pick of the litter.”

Justine’s smiled at the prospect of a kitten. “I’ve never had a cat. Or a dog.”

“Mind you stay away from the cows when they have a little one. The mares too. They’re apt to be skittish.”

She wrinkled her nose. “I just want to see the kittens.”

“Any day now, those barn cats will come around to show off their little ones.”

Justine grinned and seemed to be overcome with the notion of a tiny kitten. After dinner, she took a lamp and returned to the library to work on the task she’d taken on. Alone with Cora, Nick reached across the table to wrap his hand around hers.

She flinched, but didn’t pull away.

“Charlotte and Laura want to have a party in honor of our wedding,” she said.

“I figured as much. I’m surprised they didn’t give me a world of grief for getting married without them present. They’ve kind of decided I’m their little brother.”

“But you’re older than them.”

“Try explaining that to Laura and Charlotte.”

“They said we’re not really, officially married until we’ve broken bread with them.”

He arched a brow. “I see where this is going. You’re telling me I shouldn’t get my hopes up for a wedding night tonight?”

She gave him a prim look. “It would give us a few days to become acquainted.”

He growled softly, resisted the urge to remind her that he saw her bare naked after he’d known her a whole, entire hour. He forced himself to agree. “Up to you entirely. You know where to find me.”

“Find you?”

“If you get lonesome.”

“I won’t get lonesome. Not with Justine nearby.”

He shrugged. “Never know. You can sleep with her a few more days, but once we’re officially married, you’ll sleep with me.”

“All right.” She blushed. “I mean, of course.”

“You’ll still need to come give me a good-night kiss.”

“Do I?”

“That’s right. You ever kissed a man before?”

She pursed her lips in an effort to keep from smiling. “Once or twice. I was a debutant, after all. I attended cotillion, of course. Lots of boys wanted to court me. Some ran off when I became ill, and the rest ran off when my brothers took my inheritance.”

“I suppose that’s the sort of thing you could expect from a boy. I’m no boy.”

“I know that. Anyone could see.”

“And I’m the world’s best kisser.”

She blinked. “Excuse me?”

“I’m the world’s best kisser. If you’ve only been kissed by a boy, then you’re going to need lessons.”

She tugged her hand from his and folded her hands in front of herself. “Is that so. Lessons?”

“Exactly.”

“From you?”

“Seeing as I’m the only one who will be kissing you from now on, it’ll have to be me.”

“Nick Travis.” She shook her head. “I’ve run into some arrogant people in my life, but I’ve never heard anything that even comes close to your outlandish claims.”

“I’m not bragging, Cora. All I’m telling you is what I’ve been told.”

“I see. Time will tell, I suppose.”

“Always does.”