Page 50 of Mail-Order Brides Wishes
“Then I’d have to say you were raised a lot differently than I was.” Addie continued to work as she talked. “We depended on a garden to feed us. If not our tiny patch, then what others shared with us.”
“My grandmother taught me housekeeping. But didn’t care for the mess of cooking or preserving food for the winter. Our next-door neighbor, Mrs. Blake, taught me some of those skills. She had a garden, but I seldom spent time helping in it. Grandmother always knew when I did and complained about the dirt I dragged home. So, I’m glad of your expertise.”
Addie showed Bryn how deep to dig the trenches and how far apart to space the seeds. “Most of these seeds came from the Shannons who generously shared them.”
“They seem like good people.” Bryn’s conscience pricked her. Good people deserved the truth. But she was only protecting Susie. Ensuring the child had a good home here and didn’t face rejection because of who her mother was.
“Carrots we sprinkle because the seeds are so tiny.” Addie’s words brought Bryn’s attention back to the task at hand.
Daisy had followed Addie over and after a few minutes of the two cats circling each other on tiptoe with raised hackles they became friends chasing each other through the grass and then attacking and wrestling.
“Auntie Bryn. They’s fighting.” Susie’s face wrinkled up, prepared to cry.
Bryn squatted beside Susie. “They’re playing. Like this.” She grabbed Susie and tickled the child, laughing along with her. “You need to think of a name for your cat." She set Susie aside and returned to the garden where Addie leaned over, putting seeds in the ground. Bryn should not be neglecting her duties while Addie did them. “You don’t need to do my work.”
Addie straightened and smiled. “I like to keep busy.”
“Then thank you.” Bryn returned to planting the row of beans next to Addie.
The sun was high in the sky and burning with heat when they finished. The least she could do to thank Addie was invite her to join them for dinner. Bryn thought of what she had that would do. There were still biscuits and a hunk of cheese. Some canned apricots.
“Will you join us for dinner?”
Addie tucked the garden things into her basket while Bryn carried the longer tools. “I’d love to. Can I run back to the house and get some things to contribute?”
Bryn considered the offer. “It’s very kind of you, but I’d like to give you what I have on my own. After all, you did all this.” She waved her hand to indicate the garden that was now neat rows marked with sticks at each end.
Addie’s laughed. “It’s always more fun to work together.”
As Bryn prepared and served the simple meal, she learned more about Addie. How she’d been responsible for tending to her younger siblings for much of her life. How her mother had taken a job with a well-off man. “He was the one responsible for sending me west under false pretenses. Making me think I would be working for the preacher’s wife while all the time he planned for me to marry.” She spoke without any trace of bitterness. Then chuckled. “I’ve wondered what would have happened if I hadn’t lost part of my memory. I would have been in the west without a job or anyplace to live though I’m sure the preacher would have helped me.”
“You ended up in the right place for you.”
A smile to rival the sun in brightness flashed across Addie’s face. “I certainly did. It reminds me of a verse in the Bible. ‘The lines are fallen unto me in pleasant places.’”
“One of the Psalms, I’m guessing.”
“Chapter sixteen.” Addie stirred her coffee though she’d not added sugar or milk. “Enough about me. How are you finding life here?” Her gaze circled the room. “So many new things.”
“I’m loving it.” Realizing that Addie might interpret that to mean Bryn loved Flint, her cheeks burned.
“I’m glad to hear it. I’ve found it to my liking as well.” She lowered her gaze to the table and her voice fell to a whisper. “Especially Jayce.”
Awkward silence followed her words.
Bryn traced her finger round and round on her empty plate. She could easily love Flint. But did she dare? Would she only be inviting greater hurt in the future when…? When he grew disappointed with her? When she didn’t measure up to a mark he’d set? When—
Could she hope to hide the truth forever in order to protect their place here?
She was waiting for Flint when he strode toward the house. Her smile beckoned like a warm fire on a cold winter day. Flint’s pace increased until he stopped in front of her. Half a dozen scents filled his nostrils. A savory aroma drifted to him from the kitchen. The familiar smell of freshly turned soil came from close by. The green leaves on the nearby trees had their own smell. Others scents that he couldn’t put a name to. But one needed no identifying. It was Bryn. As unmistakable as any of the others. Sweet and clean.
“Glad you’re back. Supper is ready.” Her gentle words welcomed him home.
An unfamiliar feeling pushed up his throat. Although he’d been happy cowboying, he’d always longed for a home. Ormaybe it had been more’n that. Maybe what he’d wanted was the welcome. Not that being able to give it a name mattered. He stepped across the threshold and into the house he now shared with a wife and child. He knew little about love. Hadn’t bothered to think about it a whole lot but if this was how it felt, well, he understood why it changed men.
He deliberately brushed his shoulder to hers as he made his way past her. Knew a sense of connection not only from the touch but from the sound of her drawing in a quick breath that told him she might have felt something she liked.
Susie followed him across the floor. “My kitty and Daisy are friends. They plays fight.”
