Chase (Prairie Grooms, Book Four) (13 page)

“
That you will,” he said as his eyes roamed her face.

This time she studied
him, then looked at him boldly. Admiration, or adoration? How was one to tell? Perhaps there wasn't any difference at all. Or, was there as much difference as there was, say, between lust and love? She closed her eyes, annoyed at her own line of questioning.

“Are you sure there ain’t
nothing wrong?”

She opened her eyes and smiled at him. “No, not at all. Five o'clock.”

Chase looked up and down the street. “I still don’t see any sign of Colin.”

Lena glanced around. Colin was nowhere in sight. In fact, there were very few people about town. Mrs. Mulligan spoke with the sheriff in front of his office, and there was a woman coming out of the mercantile, but other than that, there was no one else around. “I haven't the foggiest,” she said, grateful for the distraction. “Where can he be?”

“
I'd be happy to help you look,” said Chase with a smile.

Another blush crept into her cheeks and the flutter in her stomach was back. He wanted to spend more time with her! “Don't you have work to do?”

He let go a heavy sigh. “Yeah, I suppose I do.” He looked down the street. Besides, there’s your cousin.”

She turned. Colin was just coming out of the mercantile and started to walk toward them. Disappointment replaced the flutter in her stomach, and her legs felt heavy. “Well then,” she began. “I must be going. I trust you will inform the proper people whom will then let the town know the
actual date
of our wedding?”

“If you mean
should I go down the mercantile and tell Wilfred, don't worry, I will.”

She smiled at that. “See that you do.”

“Maybe I'd better
go down and do it right now, before someone in town starts telling folks we’re having babies.”

His remark
took her by surprise. Her head snapped around to him.

He took in the action and pulled her one step closer. “Well now, don't look so shocked, Miss Lena. It's bound to happen sometime after we’re married.”

He was right, of course, but the thought of a pregnancy right after their wedding, didn't settle with her.
Marriage, children, growing old, death. In that order. The cycle of life,
she thought to herself. She wanted more than that, so much more. She wanted love, and wanted it to permeate every last inch of her life, and that of whomever she married. Given a choice, could she marry this man if she knew, without a shadow of a doubt, that he might never love her? Did she have what it took to fulfill her end? That of a mail-order bride? Marry a man she hardly knew and hope for the best?

Speaking of admiration, she found she had a healthy dose for other mail-order brides! She also realized that they were all a lot braver than she was.

* * *

“Mr. Adams has asked me to dinner tomorrow night,” Lena blurted as soon as Colin reached them.

Colin
smiled at them both. “I'll deliver her to your door myself,” he told Chase. “In the meantime, I'm afraid I'll have to steal my cousin away from you.”

Chase looked away a brief moment, and Lena thought she saw a glimpse of disappointment in his eyes. She felt a pinch of empathy, as she herself had become more familiar with the feeling. He straightened and looked at Colin. “I've told Miss Lena five o'clock. I hope that works for you. Are you to chaperone, then?”

“
That'll be fine. But no, I don’t plan to dine with you. I have business to attend to in town tomorrow evening. I can take care of it while you woo and win the heart of dear Cousin Lena. I’m sure you’ll do fine without me.”

“Colin
!” She gasped. “Really!”

“
Well, that's what the poor chap is doing, isn't it?” asked Colin. “Would you rather I said, he's going to bore you to tears?”

Lena snapped her mouth shut to keep from giggling and did her best to hold her frown in place, lest Colin think he got away with something…
again.

“Not that I'm insinuating that you’re boring,”
Colin explained to Chase as he waved a dismissive hand at him. “But after what my family has been through, a little boorish company can be overlooked.”

“Except
Miss Lena wasn't here for any of it, so I suppose I’d better do my best not to bore her.” Chase gave Colin a slight bow, then winked at Lena, making her blush.

“
Tomorrow then,” said Colin as he held his arm out to Lena and looked at her. “Shall we?”

She hooked her arm through his and gave Chase on apologetic look. She and Colin then began to walk away. She caught his smile just before she turned around, her own smile firmly in place. After all, how could she not smile after seeing the look on his face. Was that … longing?

“
I'm taking you to the Waller's,” said Colin, interrupting her thoughts. “Ryder is there, and so is Constance.

“How is the
patient?” asked Lena.

“Better.
I thought you might keep Constance company while Ryder and I speak with him.”

“
Of course, I'd be happy to. Is he… in much pain?”

“
I would think so considering what he's been through. But at least he's able to speak coherently. Enough to maybe give us some information on the outlaws.”

“
He's going to be all right then?”

“
It looks that way, if Ryder has anything to say about it. He's so happy he could bust a  gut.”

“
Good heavens! I certainly hope not!”

“
Not literally, dear cousin. It's a figure of speech out here. Someone is going to have to teach you the language of the West. If I had the time, I'd see to it myself. But as I’ve a ranch to run, I shall leave you in the capable hands of your betrothed.”

“
My, my,” said Lena. “I'm afraid that Fina, Apple, and I may never learn all there is to learn in this place.”

They reach the Waller's house and went inside. “Don't worry,” said Colin. “You'll learn everything you need to, in time. Now follow me.”

They went down the hall and into the kitchen. There was a door off to one side and she could tell that a room had been added onto the house. They went in, and Lena gasped at what she saw.

Ryder and Constance stood, one
on either side of the bed upon which lay a man with the upper half of his face covered in bandages. The other half was red, puffy, and it looked like most of his hair was burned off. His lips were swollen, dry, and cracked. She then noticed that his hands were bandaged as well.

She put a hand to her mouth, not because she was horrified at the sight, but because she suddenly realized deep down in her core what this man had done for Colin and his family. This was a man who risked his life to save the lives of others. His actions had brought him great suffering, and she could tell by the looks on Constance and Ryder’s faces, that they were going to do everything in their power to make sure he suffered as little as possible.

Constance looked at her and smiled. “Lena, come and meet Cutty, the man who saved my life.”

Lena approached slowly as t
he man on the bed looked at her with his one, good eye. “Howdy,” came out a strangled rasp.

Lena felt a little sick to
her stomach. There was an odd smell emanating from him, and she didn't wonder if it was from burned flesh. “Let me say sir, how grateful I am for what you did for my cousin’s family. Thank you. Thank you from the bottom of my heart. If there's anything I can do to make you more comfortable, you’ll let me know, won't you?”

Cutty’s eye
crinkled up at the corner as he gave her a weak smile. She noted a tear forming. It escaped, and slowly began to slide down his face. Ryder reached over, and ever so gently, brushed it away.

Cutty
looked at him and smiled as another tear escaped. Lena swallowed hard as Ryder once again brushed the man's tear away for him. She took a step backward. It was all she could do to keep her emotions under control at the tender scene. There was something familiar about the man on the bed, but Lena couldn't put her finger on what.

“
Constance, why don't you and Lena find Grandma and visit with her in the parlor?” suggested Colin.

Lena slowly nodded as Constance came around the bed and took her by the arm. “Come along cousin, let's go see if Grandma has any molasses cookies.”

Le
na looked over her shoulder at Cutty as Constance began to pull her from the room. She offered him one last smile in hopes that it would give him some comfort before she and Constance closed the door behind them.

Nine

The next day proved to be nothing short of a catastrophe. Lena blew a strand of hair out of her face, wiped her brow with the back of her hand, then used her apron to grab the stove handle and open the oven door. Smoke billowed out of the huge cook stove, blackening the air and blinding her. She started to cough something awful.
Now
she could say the day was a complete, and total catastrophe. No … make that a
disaster
. Wait, wasn't there a word that made
catastrophe
and
disaster
seem quite minimal in comparison?

“
Good heavens, Lena!” cried Sadie as she hurried into the kitchen. “What did you do?”

Lena was still waving smoke away from her face and coughing. “No… nothing,” she hacked. “I thought the bread would be done by now and…” she pulled two pans from the oven and quickly tossed them on top of the stove, the crisp cotton of her apron too thin to protect her hands from the hot pans. “Ouch!” she said as she examined her loaves. “Oh devil take it, but I do believe I've ruined them.”

Sadie laughed. “Don't worry, you’re sure to burn more. You should've seen how many loaves Penelope burned the first few rounds.”

Lena turned and gawked at her. “Worse than these?” she asked as she pointed to the sad remains.

Sadie came over and inspected the burnt loaves. “Oh yes, much worse. At least you still have something left in the pan. We can break some of this up and feed it to the chickens. When Penelope burnt her bread, we had to throw out the pans as well.”

Le
na laughed. “Well then, I suppose I shouldn't feel quite so bad.”

“
No, you shouldn't,” said Sadie with a shake of her head.

“I certainly hope Fina and Apple are better at this than I am
, otherwise the family name shall be forever marred.”

Sadie shook her head. “I'd best go check and see how they're coming along with the laundry. I hope they haven't made too much of a mass.”

“
Oh trust me,” said Lena. “I'm sure that by this time they most certainly have!”

Sadie gave her an,
Oh no!
look, and left the kitchen.

“
What is that awful smell?” asked Cousin Imogene as she entered the room. She pinched her nose and glared at Lena. “Did you do that?” she demanded and pointed at the burnt loaves.

“
I'm afraid so,” said Lena. “My baking skills seem to be sadly lacking thus far. I do hope my new husband doesn't mind”.

“
Mind?” said Imogene. “He most certainly will mind! A man has to eat after all!”

“
I don't see you clamoring to learn how to bake,” pointed out Lena.

“
I'm not the one getting married in a week,” Imogene shot back. “I daresay young lady, but you better hope you get good at something before you get married, or the poor man's liable to seek an annulment.”

Le
na looked at her in horror. “Cousin Imogene! How dare you say such a thing to me!”

“
Well it's the truth! Out here if a woman doesn't know how to cook, sew, bake, do laundry, shoot a buffalo, butcher it, and slap it on a plate, then you're nothing!”

“Cousin Imogene! Wherever did you get such a notion?”

Imogene narrowed her eyes. “India,” she said with an ominous tone.

Lena stiffened, then rolled her eyes. “Oh dear, here we go.”

“
Yes, India!” exclaimed Imogene as she threw both hands in the air.

Lena glanced around and prayed
that neither her cousins nor their wives were within earshot. For the most part, Cousin Imogene was quite sane… for the most part.

“I ought to know,”
Imogene continued with a huff. “I did, after all, have to bag that tiger to save the villagers!”

Le
na rolled her eyes again. As the eldest, she'd heard more about Imogene's exploits than her two sisters. Her father used to tell them to her as bedtime stories. She'd often wondered if he'd embellished them, yet to hear Imogene tell them, she was sure her father’s versions were more truthful. “Cousin Imogene, you don't have to remind me of your… adventures. I know what you did in India.”