Chapter Seven
Merry finished up the ornaments on Monday and had them ready to hang on the tree whenever Clyde was ready to find one. She was pleased with her work, but she was also pleased with the relationship she was building with her new husband.
On Tuesday, she and Charlie gave the house a good cleaning, deciding they’d spend the afternoon working on the new quilts while the children napped.
Clyde seemed distracted when he came in for lunch that day. “I don’t have much time,” he told Merry, hanging his coat and hat by the door.
“Why not? Is something wrong?” Merry asked.
“It looks like we’ve got another storm coming in. We had a bad blizzard just a couple of weeks ago, and now it looks like another. We need to get the herd moved to another part of the ranch where they’ll have more of a chance to get out of the harsh weather.”
“Will they die?”
He shook his head. “Rarely. They grow a thicker coat during the winter, and they’re really good at burrowing through the snow to get to the grass underneath it to eat. I just like to make it a little easier on them by moving them to a wooded area, so they’ve got a bit of cover. The range they’re on now has no trees at all, so they don’t have any protection. They don’t need it, but for my own peace of mind, I want them to have it.”
“I think that makes sense.” Merry walked to him and kissed his cheek. “Lunch is ready.” She’d made a thick hearty chicken soup, worried about how cold it was outside and the number of hours he spent out there. She could warm him up with the soup.
“Sounds good.” He wandered into the kitchen, sitting at his spot at the head of the table.
“So you really think the bison will be all right?” Merry asked, a little worried about him and his livelihood.
“Oh, yeah. We lost one sick animal during the last storm. We’d already been watching her, because we knew she was ill.”
Merry nodded. “Eat your soup. I want you warm before you go back out there. I worry about you getting ready for a storm. Are you sure you won’t get caught out in it?”
“I take every precaution I know to take. There’s no need to worry about me. I’ve been doing this for a long time now.”
“I suppose so. I just haven’t been your wife that whole time.”
He took her hand and kissed it softly, ignoring Charlie and the children. “I’m glad you’re here with me now.”
*****
Before going in for the evening, Clyde made sure that he’d given the horses extra hay, strung a rope between the house and barn so he could milk the cows, and spread extra hay out for the bison to eat in case the storm lasted longer than they expected.
He was late getting into the house, weary from the day. The first thing he saw when he walked in was the baby taking steps while hanging onto the sofa. It was the first time he’d seen the boy move on his own. Merry had told him repeatedly that he did, but Clyde worked most of the hours the baby was awake, so he’d not gotten a chance to see him moving that way yet.
After shedding his outerwear, he sat down on the sofa and carefully picked the boy up, holding him under his arms. He’d never held a child so small. Addy was sitting with her doll, holding her as she watched him with her brother.
“What did you do all day?” he asked, softly. “Huh?”
“He doesn’t talk yet,” Addy told him, her voice filled with an air of superiority that was seldom heard from people older than five.
“I see. What does he do then?”
“He eats and poops and crawls and makes messes. He’s boring.”
Clyde shook his head. “So you don’t like having a brother?”
“He’ll be better when he’s bigger and I can boss him around. That’s what you get to do when you’re the oldest.”
“Really? I was the youngest so I never got to boss anyone.”
“Well, now you get to boss Aunt Merry, cuz she’s smaller than you.” Addy smoothed down her doll’s skirt, not looking at him as she talked to him.
Merry stepped into the room then. “I hope your uncle won’t start bossing me around just because he’s bigger than me. That wouldn’t be nice at all.” She walked over to Clyde. “We waited for you for supper. Are you hungry?” She sat beside him, resting her head on his shoulder as she made faces at the baby, and he cooed back at her.
“Starving.” Clyde smiled at her, slipping an arm around her shoulders. “Did you get a lot done today?”
She nodded. “I made curtains for both of the children while Charlie worked on the quilts. I hope to get the curtains hung up tomorrow. You’re not going to be able to work tomorrow, are you?”
He shook his head. “No, I don’t think so. The weather looks like it’s going to be too bad. I might be wrong, but the animals were acting like something bad is coming, and Colin was sure there was a big storm brewing on Sunday.”
“We’ll plan to stay in then. What do you do when you can’t work?”
He shrugged. “I’m making some things for Christmas. During the last storm, I built your workshop.” He looked at her. “Do you like it? I know you’ve had the chance to work in it a bit.” He was a little nervous about whether it was what she needed. It was strange putting so much into customizing a workshop that he never intended to use himself.
“I loved it. It was absolutely perfect. The little compartments will be wonderful places to put the pieces once they’re finished, whether to dry or to store them until someone buys them.”
“How did you learn to carve?” he asked. It didn’t seem like something a woman would enjoy doing.
She shrugged. “I always loved to paint and had an eye for art. When I was a teen, my dad showed me how to carve one day, and I liked it. I practiced a lot, and once my parents died, and I lived with my sister, I wanted a way to make a living. My ornaments became the way to do that.”
“And you just started selling them from a catalogue?”
Merry shook her head. “To start with, I sold them at the mercantile in Beckham. They still sell them, but it wasn’t a big enough outlet for me. I sent some to Boston and sold some there, and that was better, but I felt like I needed to be more hands-on doing it that way, and my brother-in-law didn’t want me traveling alone. So I found a catalogue that specialized in Christmas decorations, and that’s where I sell. I make lots of other things too, but most of my money has always come from the Christmas ornaments, so I’ve started trying to stockpile them throughout the year, making the other things I enjoy more when I get the chance.” Truthfully, she’d done none of the carvings she enjoyed—of animals, both large and small—in over a year. There just hadn’t been time once Joey was on the way and she had to help her sister out even more with household chores and Addy.
“I’m sure I can talk Colin into carrying some of your carvings in the mercantile in town if you’d like?”
She nodded. “That would be nice. I’ll continue to send them back to Massachusetts, and do the catalogue sales. Hopefully with the workshop right here in the house, I’ll be able to get more done.” She loved the idea of having more venues to sell in. Obviously, he didn’t need the money she made, but it made her feel independent and as if she was doing something people would remember her for. Someday far in the future a child would take an ornament out of a box and it would have her initials on it. They would ask where it came from, and their parents may or may not know, but the ornament would be there, standing the test of time.
“Just don’t neglect your husband.”
She bit her lip as she looked at him. “I’ll do my best. I tend to get really wrapped up in what I do, though.”
He laughed, leaning forward to kiss her on the nose. “I’m not worried. If I start to feel neglected, I’ll let you know, but I don’t see it happening anytime in the near future.”
Charlie stepped into the room from the kitchen. “I’ve got the drinks poured. Anyone hungry?”
Addy stood up. “I am! But Baby Ugly Hair doesn’t get to eat because her hair is so ugly. Maybe if I don’t feed her, it will be pretty.” She ran into the kitchen to get her meal.
“She doesn't like the new doll I bought her, either?” Clyde said, shaking his head. “Is that one ugly in some way too?” He was still baffled about why the dolls he chose weren’t right.
“You should have looked at the doll!” Merry said with a wink standing up and taking the baby, carefully not saying anything about the new doll. “Let’s eat.”
He frowned. “What aren’t you telling me about the new doll I got for her?”
She sighed. “She calls it Baby Big Nose.”
“Baby Big Nose?” He shook his head. “Why do I pick out bad dolls?”
“It might have something to do with the fact you’ve never played with one. She plays with both of the dolls you got her just fine. She just gives them terrible names.”
“I’m trying again. I’m not giving up until she has a doll she loves.”
“Fine! Now let’s eat!”
“It smells really good!” He forced his mind off the doll problem and onto the food he smelled.
“Charlie made chicken pot pie. I’ve been smelling it for hours, and I’m starving.”
“I worked hard enough for two men today. I hope she made a lot.” He stepped into the kitchen and saw two huge pans of chicken pot pie. “Did you just hear me say I hoped you made a lot and whipped up extra?”
Charlie grinned. “I’m using to cooking for fifteen, not five. There will be a lot of leftovers when I cook.”
After supper, Charlie took the children to wash them up for bed and Merry started on the dishes. When Charlie came back down, she shooed Merry away. “I’m here to help so you have more time for your new husband. Go be with him.”
Clyde looked at Merry. “Do you have a coat?”
She’d been wearing one when he met her, so she just looked at him for a moment, before walking to the hook where it was hanging and took it down. He took it from her, helping her into it, then slipped his own coat on. “I love to be outside just before a storm hits,” he said softly. “There’s a certain quality to the air, and you can smell the snow coming.”
“Smell it?” she asked, giving him a strange look.
“I know it sounds crazy, but sniff deeply. That smell is only in the air for a few hours before a snowstorm starts.” He led her to the middle of the yard, his arm around her shoulders for added warmth. “One night, when you’re better rested, we’ll have to stay up late enough to see the Northern lights. They’re my favorite part about living in Montana.”
“Have you always lived here?” she asked softly, realizing just then she knew very little about the man she’d married.
He shook his head. “I came here ten years ago, when I was just eighteen. I worked as a cowhand for a while, and then as soon as I was old enough, I bought my own place. I saved every dime I had. All the other men were drinking and…” he trailed off, obviously thinking better of what he was going to say. “I didn’t do any of that though. I saved it all, and I bought this place with cash as soon as I could. I lived in a tiny little cabin for a while, and then I built the house a little at a time. There’s no mortgage on anything. I bought every board with money I earned with my own two hands.”
She sighed, resting her head against his shoulder. “I wish my family had been that way. After my parents died, we lost the farm, because there’d been a mortgage. Same with my sister’s place. If there had been some money left, I could have saved it for the children’s future. But there was nothing, because they’d both had mortgages.” She looked up at him. “Where did you live before?”
“I grew up on a small farm in Wisconsin. I liked the farm, but I didn’t like milking. It’s still the thing I hate the most, but I’d sure rather milk two cows than a hundred. I did a lot of research and learned about all the different kinds of cattle. I didn’t fall into bison ranching. It’s what I chose to do, because I felt like it was right for me.”
“There was no sweetheart you wanted to share your life with?”
He shrugged. “I thought so once. She was at our wedding actually. We courted a bit about five years ago, but I wasn’t quite ready to marry. I was just starting to build the house back then, and I wanted everything to be perfect for my bride. She wasn’t willing to wait.”
“I’m sorry.”
He shook his head. “I’m not. If she didn’t have it in her to wait a few years for a man who would never betray her, then that’s up to her. What about you? Any suitors back home?”
“Not a one. A few men asked to court me, but I was always so busy. I helped my sister and I worked on my business. I didn’t have time for anything else.” She paused, staring out at the beautiful mountains off in the distance. “Besides, I think I knew as soon as my parents died that I didn’t want to spend the rest of my life in Beckham. There were too many sad memories for me.”
His hand stroked her hair out of her face. “I hope Montana is only filled with happy memories for you.”
She turned into his arms, her own going around his waist. “I can’t see how it could be filled with anything but happiness with you here. There’s something awfully special about you, Clyde Bellman. I’m not sure I know what it is yet, but I feel like this is where I belong.”
He smiled and stroked her cheek. “I promise you here and now, I will do my very best to make you and the children happy here. I already feel like they’re mine. We’re going to be a good family. And Mistletoe is a great place to raise a family. We have a beautiful Christmas celebration at the church on Christmas Eve. Why, the town was named after Mistletoe, so you know it’s going to be full of Christmas.”
Merry smiled. “I’m sure the children will love that.”
“So will you! Christmas is a big deal here. I know it matters to you because of the profession you chose.” Clyde leaned down and kissed her. “You belong in Mistletoe.”
“I’m happy to be here.” And she was. If only it were a little less Christmassy. Then she’d like it a lot better.