The Unexpected Bride (The Unexpected Sinclares Book 1) Page 13

  Her dresses, hats, and shoes went into the wardrobe alongside Caleb’s things. Her other articles of clothing fit neatly into the four empty drawers of the six-drawer highboy. She displayed her toiletries and jewelry case on the top of the dresser. Two of the miniatures found a home on a bedside table. The other miniature and an ormolu clock flanked the wolf on the mantle.

  There, that should give the room a lady-in-residence feel. The rest of the unpacking could wait. There was something else she wanted to do right now. Rolling up her sleeves, Elthia set to work.

  Fifteen minutes later, she stood back to survey the results. Dusk approached, but there was still enough light coming in the windows to see clearly. She’d shoved the chaise closer to the corner of the room, next to one of the four large windows. Near the head of her soon-to-be bed, she’d placed a small table she’d hauled from its place by the door. Some books she’d brought with her now graced its top. She’d find a lamp to add later. At the foot of the chaise sat one of her trunks. It now held a sheet and light blanket she’d appropriated from the linen closet.

  And strategically placed between the chaise and the rest of the room was the blessedly solid wooden screen.

  She smiled in satisfaction. The overall effect was to create a cozy little nook of a bedroom within a bedroom.

  She could set the screen back against the wall during the day. The area would then appear innocent, just an inviting spot to while away a lazy afternoon with a book or a bit of sewing.

  What could Caleb possibly find to object to in that?

  Caleb climbed the stairs, all his senses on the alert for trouble—trouble of the Lady Privilege variety. She’d been upstairs for over an hour now. What in the world was she up to?

  He reached for the knob and then paused, remembering it wasn’t just his room now. Grimacing at the need, he knocked. But rather than a polite Come in, a loud thud and bit-off exclamation answered him. Caleb swung the door open, his gaze sweeping the room for the source of the alarm.

  Then he stopped in his tracks. Lady Privilege sat on the floor beside the bed. Her mouth gaped open in stunned surprise, her glasses were in imminent danger of slipping off her nose, several tendrils of hair had escaped her neat coiffure, and she clutched a pillow to her chest. But the sight that riveted his gaze was a bit lower. The hem of her skirt, with unladylike lack of constraint, caressed her knees, coyly displaying shapely ankles and calves to the appreciative gaze of her husband.

  A moment later she’d yanked her wayward skirts down, glaring up at him with a flaming face.

  Caleb recalled himself and moved quickly to help her up, though he couldn’t quite control the twitch of his lips. “Are you okay?” he asked, reaching down a hand to her.

  She pushed her glasses up before accepting his hand. “Yes, thank you.”

  His grin only widened at her obvious attempt to recover her dignity. “Were you trying out the bed to see what you’d be missing, or was it because you changed your mind?”

  That brought her fire back. If she tried to stand any straighter, her backbone would likely snap.

  “I was not trying out the bed.” She bent to retrieve the pillow she’d dropped when he helped her up. When she faced him again, she seemed more composed but no less red-cheeked. “I’d merely taken this for use on my own bed, then climbed up on this monster to straighten the covers. I was on my way down when you knocked.” She shrugged. “It startled me, and I lost my footing.”

  A picture of her up there among his pillows and blankets flashed across his mind. What did her eyes look like behind those glasses? How would her hair look, loose and mussed about her face and shoulders? How far did those freckles of hers go? The surge of longing those images evoked caught him off guard.

  Then he gave himself a mental shake. He couldn’t let emotions undermine his control. He’d just been on his own too long, he assured himself. It had nothing to do with any attraction he might feel for this bespectacled puzzle of a female or with her intriguingly shapely legs.

  He gave her a short bow, determined to keep things light between them. “My apologies for startling you.”

  She waved a hand, dismissing his apology as unnecessary, then moved across the room with the pillow.

  Caleb frowned as he noticed the changes she’d made. “You’ve been busy.” He moved to where he could see around the screen.

  She looked over her shoulder with a breezy smile. “This is going to work out quite well, don’t you think? It will give us both privacy without compromising the appearance that we are living in wedded bliss.”

  “Will it?” What the devil did she know about wedded bliss?

  Nodding with an insincere I’m-digging-in-my-heels smile, she tossed the pillow on the chaise and took hold of the screen. “I moved this here to see how it would look. During the day we’ll set it against the wall, and the bed linens can go in my trunk.”

  He moved to help her with the heavy screen and was rewarded with an uncertain smile.

  “See,” she said when they’d finished. “It all looks perfectly innocent.”

  He stared at her rather than the corner of the room she’d made her own. “But we both know looks can be deceiving.” He’d had his share of experience with angel-faced devils. So why did his instincts tell him she was different, she could be trusted?

  His wife tilted her freckled nose at him. “But that’s what you want, isn’t it? To deceive everyone into thinking we have a real marriage.”

  There was no answer for that. Then his gaze fell on the large basket resting on the floor beside the chaise. “No. Absolutely not. That mutt of yours will not sleep in my room.”

  “But he won’t—”

  “I don’t care.” He refused to let her little-girl-lost look deflect him, not this time. “I let him into my house, into my kitchen, even into my wedding, but I draw the line at my bedroom.” He yanked the basket off the floor and handed it to her. “Find him someplace else to sleep.”

  She stared at him, chewing on her lip. “Where?”

  Caleb was relieved she’d backed down. He didn’t like acting the bully. But seeing that basket there had conjured up an image of her thinking she needed that pitiful excuse of a guard dog to protect her virtue. And he liked that thought even less.

  He shrugged. “Set him in the kitchen. Or let him sleep in one of the kids’ rooms. Just don’t bring him in here.”

  She nodded, and he felt a twinge of conscience for putting the droop in her shoulder. “Come on,” he said gruffly. “Zoe will have supper set out for us by now.”

  Caleb climbed the stairs in the now quiet and darkened house. His only sources of illumination were the low burning lamp on the downstairs hall table and the silvery moonlight filtering in through the window at the top of the landing.

  There’d been a bit of a ruckus earlier when Elthia had asked the children for ideas on where Poppy should sleep. The four youngest had all been very vocal in volunteering their rooms. It had finally been decided that the dog would alternate among them by weeks. The girls had won the draw for the first week. Caleb had been quite firm on the fact that the dog was to sleep in his basket, not on the beds.

  The kids had been put to bed over an hour ago. Tonight Elthia had done the honors. She sure had a way of getting them to settle down. The promise of a story or a lullaby and they were under the covers and settled in, in no time flat.

  Elthia had turned in right after that. He’d stayed out on the porch, whittling. After the way he’d acted about her dog, the least he could do was give her privacy to get ready for bed.

  The image of her shapely calves flashed through his mind, and he firmly squelched it. No point thinking on things like that. She wasn’t interested in him, and he’d promised not to force any unwanted attentions her way.

  Putting his knife away, he decided to check in on the kids one last time before he headed for his own bed. He cracked open the door to Keith and Kevin’s room first, the room where Elthia had slept the past few nights. Ther
e were no traces of her in here now. The little-boy clutter of the twins had reclaimed it as their space.

  The boys slept soundly, so he closed the door and moved on. Again, in Peter and Alex’s room, the only sound was the even breathing of the sleepers. He stood a moment watching Peter. The lad looked so innocent, so boy-nearing-manhood vulnerable in his sleep. Quite a contrast to his surly disposition when awake.

  Caleb felt a deep sense of frustration for his own failure to help Peter heal and move on. Stuffing his hands in his pockets, Caleb moved to the girls’ room. He frowned when he spied Poppy, curled up between Josie and Zoe. Then he shrugged. Moving Poppy now would likely result in that hairy flea trap waking the whole house. Better to just let it be for now. He’d talk to the girls in the morning.

  Closing their door, he turned his steps toward his own room. As he had earlier, he paused with his hand on the knob. But this time he didn’t knock. She’d had plenty of time to change into her nightclothes and climb into her makeshift bed. If she’d already gone to sleep, he didn’t want to risk waking her.

  Easing the door open, he stepped inside. The lamp beside his bed had been left burning low, providing enough light to keep him from tripping over objects in the room. As he paused to let his eyes adjust, he heard the sound of her soft, even breathing.

  So, she’d managed to drift off despite her nervousness. He supposed it had a lot to do with the long day she’d had. Still, he felt deflated that she seemed to feel so… safe in his room.

  Caleb undressed and put away his clothes without disturbing her slumber. After climbing into bed, he lay there, unable to sleep. He could smell a faint hint of the light floral scent she wore. The sound of her soft breathing taunted him. It seemed to whisper of her nearness while at the same time mocking his inability to bring her any closer. She was just across the room from him.

  An unbridgeable distance.

  He was married, by thunder, and he had a houseful of children. He was finally part of a large family again, something he remembered with longing from his earliest years. But it was all a sham. There was no closeness in this house, no trusting acceptance, none of that indescribable something more that had always been the essence of family to him.

  The something more he hadn’t felt since his father’s death.

  The something more that was still just out of his reach.

  CHAPTER 11

  Elthia awoke the next morning and sat straight up, looking around apprehensively. But she was alone. Caleb had already left. Or had he even been here?

  Oh yes, he’d been here. The wooden screen she’d so carefully placed to separate her corner from the rest of the room had been folded and set against the wall.

  Had he paused to look down at her while she slept? That thought started an uncomfortable fluttering in her stomach.

  Stop this foolishness, she chided herself. No man is going to look at your freckled face and garish hair with anything remotely resembling passion.

  At least she knew now that he intended to honor their agreement. She hadn’t felt quite so sure of that last night as she’d lain in the dark, waiting for him to enter their room.

  She dropped her feet to the floor and glanced at the clock. It wasn’t quite seven yet. Goodness, they rose early in this part of the country. Not that she was tired. This household also went to bed much earlier than was her habit.

  Elthia entered the kitchen twenty minutes later to find Zoe busy at the stove. Josie sat on the floor, playing with Poppy.

  Elthia didn’t make the mistake of asking Zoe if she could help this time. She’d been watching closely and had learned a few things about how the kitchen was run. Giving the girls a breezy Good morning, she went to the cupboard to get the dishes they would need for the table.

  When Keith and Kevin came in carrying baskets of eggs, she appropriated the baskets and sent them off to wash their hands. After Zoe took what she needed, Elthia put the rest away in the larder and fetched the butter for the table.

  Zoe removed her apron as Caleb entered with Alex and Peter. Elthia found she couldn’t quite meet her husband’s gaze. They hadn’t shared a bed, but they’d shared a room, and he’d gazed on her as she slept this morning. It suddenly seemed an intensely intimate connection, one they’d repeat nightly for the next three months. A shiver fluttered across her shoulders, and Elthia was very much afraid it had been spurred not by distress but by anticipation.

  She wasn’t sure if she was relieved or upset when Caleb focused his attention on the children, treating her with no more than distracted politeness. As soon as the meal was over, he excused himself to return to his workshop, saying he’d gotten behind on his orders and needed to do some catching up.

  The girls had kitchen duty today. Zoe cleared the table and counters while Elthia and Josie washed and dried dishes. Elthia watched the five-year-old working beside her, remembering herself at that age. The only chore she’d had was minding her manners and keeping her clothes clean. Not that Josie seemed bothered by having to lend a hand. In fact, she was humming, making a game of playing in the water as she rinsed the dishes.

  Peter stuck his head in the room just as they were finishing. “Zoe, come on. There’s work to do in the garden.”

  Elthia watched the older girl pluck her sunbonnet from a peg by the door. “I’ve always liked gardens. Why don’t I join you?”

  Zoe looked her up and down. “In that dress? You’d ruin it.” She moved toward the door. “Why don’t you stay with Josie.”

  Elthia bit her lip as she watched the older children troop outside. She really didn’t care if her dress got dirty or ended up with a few tears here or there. But Zoe was right. She needed to make changes to her wardrobe. The hows and whats would require a bit of thought though. Sending away to her dressmaker back home would take too much time. Better if she went to a local shop, but did Foxberry have a clothing establishment?

  Elthia drifted into the study, deciding to browse through the bookshelves. The reader in her had been itching to examine them since that morning she and Caleb had put the room back to rights. Josie pattered barefoot beside her but soon got bored and left to play outside. Elthia took her time, smiling as she recognized old favorites and thumbing through unfamiliar volumes.

  Then she spied a large tome set on a bookstand in the corner of the room. It was a bible, very old, and bound in padded leather. Was this Caleb’s family bible?

  Opening it, she discovered the volume had not belonged to a Tanner but instead to a family named Fairfield. The births, marriages, and deaths of several generations of these Fairfields had been meticulously recorded in the family history section.

  Who were the Fairfields? Of course, that must be his Aunt Cora’s family and that of his mother. She looked at some of the later entries and found one for Cora Louise Fairfield and next to it an entry for Helen Elizabeth Fairfield. These sisters had apparently been the last members of this branch of Fairfields.

  Helen’s marriage was recorded, as were the births of her children. Telling herself she had only a casual interest, Elthia scanned the list for Caleb’s name. There he was, born June 15, 1866. So he was twenty-six, only three years older than herself. Yet he wore the air of a man several years older. Did that come naturally, or had something in his life forced it on him?

  Then she looked at the date again. It also meant he had a birthday coming up in about two weeks. Now, what in heaven’s name should she do with that bit of information?

  Elthia stepped out of the bathhouse, tucking a damp tendril behind her ear. It had seemed indolent of her to slip into that opulent bathing pool in the middle of the day, but she hadn’t been able to resist. Besides, she didn’t think anyone had noticed. Lunch was over, Caleb had returned to his workshop, and the children were either napping or lazing on the porch. It was too hot this time of day for even the children to work up much energy.

  The cool bath and scented salts had been marvelously refreshing. The bathing room at home in Harrelmore wasn’t a match—
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  Her steps faltered at the reminder of her former home and, by extension, her father. Trying to picture how he would react when he learned of her unconventional marriage was beyond her powers of imagination. Her actions hadn’t resulted in the display of decisiveness and independence she’d hoped. Would he ever forgive her?

  Thankfully, he’d be out of the country for several weeks yet. And at least now, whatever else happened, he could no longer push her to marry Baxter.

  Clattering noises from the kitchen provided a welcome distraction from her thoughts. As Elthia pushed open the door, she blinked at the sight that greeted her. A wet and muddy Poppy raced around the room, leaving a trail of dirty paw prints over everything he touched. Josie and the twins were chasing him and in the process had knocked over a sack of a powdery substance, dusting the countertop and floor with a thick white coat.

  “Oh my goodness!” Hoping to contain the mess, Elthia whirled around to shut the hall door. And slammed smack into Caleb’s chest. His arms snapped around her, locking her in his embrace. The expression on his face set her stomach fluttering and her pulse racing.

  When he released her and stepped back, she felt an unexpected twinge of disappointment.

  With a scowl, he turned to survey the kitchen. “What in blazing thunder is going on in here?” he barked out.

  Three little bodies froze and turned to face them. Elthia noticed that their clothes were damp and decorated with pasty patches of the spilled powder.

  “We were trying to give Poppy a bath in the horse trough,” Josie volunteered.

  “He didn’t like it none and jumped out,” Kevin elaborated.

  “And then he got really dirty,” Keith chimed in. He finally had hold of the squirming ball of fur. “We tried to throw him back in, but he’s hard to catch when he don’t want to be.”

  Caleb turned and pinned her with a frown. “Sounds like that furry gnat of yours caused all this mess.”