“Our room?” she squeaked. Somewhere in the back of her brain she figured that she would be sharing a room with him, but to do so right after the ceremony. Audrey took a deep swallow.

  Hunter pushed the door open and motioned for Audrey to move inside. As she walked past, he took Willow from her arms and passed the child over to his sister.

  Audrey moved into the room. There was a large bed with a plump mattress, covered by a quilt in all colors. A simple dresser was against one wall and a board lined with pegs and hooks ran across the other. Hunter’s overalls, shirts and a pair of long underwear were hung on the pegs. His shoes and boots were laid out underneath the clothing.

  Audrey felt her insides go warm at viewing something so intimate as Hunter’s undergarments. Hunter placed the bag in the middle of the bed. “I cleared out the top two drawers of the dresser.” He ran over to the pegboard and removed several articles of clothing. “Here. You can have these pegs. If you need more, let me know.” Audrey watched him shift from foot to foot. It must be a habit he has when he gets nervous, she thought. “I’ll leave you to get settled. I need to feed the livestock.” He hurried from the room, pulling the door closed behind him.

  It wasn’t a moment later when there was a knock and he entered the room again. He grabbed a pair of overalls and a shirt from the pegs, along with his boots and scooted back out of the room.

  Audrey sighed. When he said he could provide for her, but not at the level she was used to, she didn’t realize that it meant she would be living in a shack.

  She flopped back on the bed and grimaced. Peeking under the covers she groaned. It was a straw mattress. Maybe she could bring her feather one from home? She absently twirled the ring around her finger and thought about the events of the day.

  Mrs. Lawson.

  Mrs. Audrey Lawson.

  Mrs. Hunter Lawson.

  Audrey sighed on the last one. She was truly married. Her husband was something else. She didn’t know much about him, but after that kiss, she was determined to learn more.

  He said he would never love her, but a man that kissed like that still had some passion in his heart. Audrey wanted to find out how deep it ran.

  She looked around the room once more and a bit of panic rose up from her belly to her throat. She had no clue how to be a wife. Or a cook. Or a maid, which appeared to be all the things that the Lawson family needed.

  She knew exactly what to do. She needed to speak to Josie.

  Chapter 8

  Dinner that night was leftover sandwiches and some cake. Josie taught Audrey how to make coffee and where to save the eggshells that would go at the bottom of the pot.

  Audrey learned how to fetch the water and warm it up on the stove to do the dishes. The dirty water, Josie explained, would be used to water the plants in the garden the next morning. The scraps from dinner went into a separate bucket to be shared between the chickens and the hogs.

  Audrey was a little overwhelmed by everything, but she put everything that Josie said to memory. She didn’t want Hunter to find any fault with her.

  Soon it was time for bed. The boys fussed about having to get into their nightclothes. “We want to stay up!” Gunner cried.

  “Me too,” Reid said, rubbing his eyes. He opened his mouth in a big yawn.

  “Let me get Willow to bed,” Josie said, “and I’ll tuck you boys in.”

  “How about I do it?’ Audrey quickly volunteered. Josie looked at her, and then nodded.

  “The boys would like that,” she said. Audrey watched Josie disappear into the bedroom with Willow and gently close the door.

  Audrey looked at the boys and clapped her hands together. “Why don’t you walk me through your nighttime routine?”

  Gunner’s eyes perked up. “Well…,” he started. “We each get a cookie before bed.”

  “Yes, a cookie,” Reid exclaimed. He didn’t appear so tired now. “And a story! We get a bedtime story.”

  “Two stories,” Gunner insisted.

  “Three,” Reid chimed in.

  Hunter sat at the table and laughed. When Audrey looked at him, he simply shrugged his shoulders. She wondered if this was some sort of test and would she be able to pass it.

  She looked at the boys. “No cookies. You had cake earlier. You may have a glass of milk if you need something to drink, otherwise give your Pa a kiss goodnight and I’ll tell you a story.”

  “Two stories?” Gunner prodded.

  “We’ll see,” Audrey said. “But no promises.”

  The boys ran to give Hunter a hug and kiss before pulling Audrey towards their bedroom. It was a simple room with the same peg board that was in Hunter’s… their room.

  A large wooden bed sat beneath a picture window. To each side of the bed were two handmade wooden tables. There were two wooden chests at the foot of the bed. There was no other furniture in the room.

  “Are these your night clothes?” Audrey asked, pointing to the long linen shirts on a peg. The boys nodded. “Alright, I’m going to step outside; you boys get changed and hang up your clothes. Once you are done, let me know and I’ll tell you a story.”

  She left the room and pulled the door closed. She leaned against the wall waiting for the boys to call her. She felt Hunter staring at her. When she looked at him, she noticed that he had the same expression as right before he kissed her.

  She was about to say something when she heard the boys call out for her. Giving Hunter a wink, she disappeared behind the door to where both boys were sitting on one of the beds.

  “What type of story are you going to tell us, Ma?” Gunner asked.

  Audrey put her hand on her heart. She wanted to cry hearing Gunner calling her Ma. She cleared her throat and motioned for the boys to scoot over. Settling in beside them, she brought the boys under her arms, like she had seen the chickens do with their young.

  “What type of story do you want?”

  “One with giants…”

  “One with boys…”

  “Lot of adventure…”

  “A long story!”

  Audrey laughed. “Alright.” She thought for a moment. “How about the story of a shepherd and the battle against the biggest giant in all the land?” The boys nodded eagerly. “Once there was a boy from the tribe of Judah named David who was a shepherd and a musician.” She continued the story of David fighting the giant Goliath until both boys were fast asleep in her arms.

  She slid out from the bed and shifted the boys so she could cover them. As she tiptoed from the room, Gunner sat up.

  “Goodnight, Ma,” he said.

  “Goodnight, Gunner.”

  “I love you.”

  Audrey’s voice caught in her throat. “I love you too.”

  She closed the door behind her. Hunter was no longer at the table. His cup had been washed and was hanging up on a hook drying. The lamp had been dimmed, providing just enough light for her to navigate to the bedroom she would be sharing with Hunter.

  She popped her head in, but the room was empty. She looked back towards the main room and noticed the front door was open and the faint smell of tobacco was coming from the porch. She went out on the porch and there was Hunter sitting on one of the chairs smoking a pipe.

  “May I join you?” Audrey asked. Hunter nodded and pointed to the chair next to him with the tip of his pipe before putting it back in his mouth. She wrinkled her nose. “I didn’t realize you smoked.”

  Hunter looked at her with his soft brown eyes. “Is that a problem?” he asked blowing the cherry scented smoke out to the yard.

  “No. I just didn’t think to ask.”

  Hunter tapped the pipe out on his boot, the red ashes falling on the porch. He crushed them under his heel. “I don’t smoke as a rule,” he said. “Only on Saturday nights. One pipe. My grandfather used to smoke on Saturday nights. My grandmother would join him on the porch.” His eyes gazed out into the yard. “My father did the same. He would sit here after we had gone to bed. He’d smoke his pipe and talk to God, telling Him about his week.”

  “Doesn’t God already know?”

  Hunter gave a little laugh. “Yeah, you are probably right. I just know when I’m out here I feel closer to God than I have ever felt in a church.”

  Audrey watched him put the pipe in his pocket and stand up. He held his hand out to her. “Are you ready for bed, Mrs. Lawson?”

  Audrey swallowed as she looked at the hand outstretched in front of her. “About that…” Hunter raised his eyebrow. “…I don’t think I’m ready...”

  Hunter shook his head. “I’m not going to ravish you, Audrey. You can decide when you are ready.”

  Audrey let out the breath she was holding. He curled his fingers, beckoning her towards him. She slid her hand in his and he twirled her around before scooping her up into his arms.

  Audrey gave a little squeal. “Put me down!”

  “Nah, Mrs. Lawson. Every bride deserves to be carried over the threshold.” Audrey only had a moment to wrap her arms around his neck before he carried her into the house, kicking the door shut with the heel of his boot.

  Audrey wasn’t sure what to do with herself. She had been living at her new home for nearly a week. True to his promise, Hunter was a perfect gentleman. He didn’t press for anything more than sleeping next to each other. Even on the mornings where Audrey woke and found herself wrapped up in his arms, he still didn’t initiate anything.

  The boys were outside playing, and Willow was down for a nap. Josie came in from the garden with a bucket of green beans. “I thought these would be good for dinner tonight.”

  “Oh!” Audrey said. “I didn’t even think about dinner tonight.”

  “Don’t worry,” Josie said. “I put some ham and beans on the stove. I’ll teach you how to make cornbread and then I think you’ll be ready to go on your own.”

  “Go on my own?” Audrey said.

  Josie nodded. “I can’t stay here forever. You and Hunter need to form your own family. I’d just be in the way.”

  Audrey put her hand out on Josie’s arm. “Don’t you ever think that. You are welcome for as long as you want.”

  Josie grabbed a bowl off the wall near the fireplace and started snapping the ends of the beans. “Thank you. But I think you and Hunter will do better if I’m not here.”

  “Are you thinking of going back East?”

  Josie shook her head. “No. I’m going to go stay at Paps’s for a bit. He needs some help with cooking for all those ranch hands. I’m not ready to go back home.”

  “Oh,” Audrey said. “I still have so much to learn.”

  “That’s the kind of learning that doesn’t come from a book or from me teaching you. You just got to experience it for yourself.”

  They silently trimmed the beans. Audrey was lost in her own thoughts. She looked at Josie. She would probably know her brother best. “May I ask you a question? Now that we are sisters?”

  “Of course,” Josie replied.

  “Tell me about Hunter.”

  Josie froze. She tossed the beans she was trimming in the bowl and picked up a few more from the bucket and started snapping the ends. “What would you like to know?”

  “What was he like as a boy?”

  “He’s seven years older than me, so I don’t have too many memories. We moved East when my father died. Momma wanted to be back with her family. Hunter… well, Hunter, he stayed here and helped Pops with the farm.”

  “He must have a strong sense of responsibility.”

  “Yes, he does.”

  “Did you know Ellie?”

  Josie shook her head. “Not really. We were already East when he married her. No sense in coming back. I only met her once, after Gunner was born. They came to visit for a month.”

  “I guess he must have really loved her.”

  Josie looked around the house. “Do you see anything here that would tell you a woman lived here?”

  Audrey looked around. She hadn’t noticed it before, because she kept viewing the home as a shack. There were no curtains on the windows. There were no rugs on the floor. There weren’t even any needlepoint pictures on the walls. Had Hunter’s wife really not made this house a home? “I guess I’ve been so wrapped up in everything I really hadn’t noticed.”

  “Hunter was in pretty bad shape after Ellie died. It was Paps who sent my mother a telegram asking for help. He thought having family around might snap Hunter out of it. When I arrived every single trace of Ellie was gone.”

  “So why did you come?”

  “Mother couldn’t travel. So, I came West.” Josie smiled at Audrey. “I think of it as my own private adventure.” She picked up the bowl with the cleaned beans in it and carried it to the stove. Audrey swept up the ends that were piled in front of her and threw them in the bucket for the hogs. “Besides, who could not love those children?”

  “They are adorable.”

  “They have already bonded with you. They love you.”

  “I am very attached to them as well.”

  “They have lost one mother. Don’t let them lose another.”

  “What does that mean?”

  “Hunter told me that this was a marriage of convenience. But I think you are good for him and the children. Besides, he can’t take his eyes off you.”

  “Really?” Audrey squeaked.

  “Just don’t give up on him when he decides it is time to push you away.”

  “Will he really do that?”

  “If he thinks you are getting too close, or might even fall in love with him, then it might happen. Just hold on tighter when that happens. He will realize that he needs you.”

  Audrey stood up and enveloped Josie in a hug. Josie hesitated for a moment and then returned the hug. “Thank you, Josie,” Audrey said. “I’m so happy I have a sister now.”

  Josie patted her back. “Me too.”

  The sound of Willow crying could be heard from behind the door. “I’ll go get her,” Josie said. “She probably needs to be changed.”

  Audrey put her hand on Josie’s arm. “I’ll do it. Why don’t you sit for a bit and rest? You deserve a break.” Josie nodded and sat back at the table. Audrey smoothed her skirt and went to see to Willow. “I’m coming, wee one,” she called.

  When she went into the room a terrible stench overpowered her. She took a couple of deep breaths and tried not to retch.

  She could do this. It was her first challenge in motherhood. A dirty diaper.

  Chapter 9

  Hunter kept stealing glances at his wife. She was in the yard playing with the boys. Willow was sitting in the dirt banging on the ground with a stick.

  She stole his breath away. He would never tell her that, though. He wanted them to be friends. Good friends. Unfortunately, he didn’t think about his good friends the way he was thinking about her.

  “Giddy up,” he hollered to the horse, slapping its rump with the reins. The reaper started to move again, cutting the wheat as the machine moved slowly across the field.

  He stole another glance back at Audrey. Her hair had fallen from the top of her head and was half-up, half-down. She looked so young chasing after the boys.

  He didn’t think much about their age difference, but looking at her now, it was apparent he was nearly twice her age.

  Sleeping next to her was pure torture. He promised he would be a gentleman, and he kept his word. Thank goodness she wasn’t privy to his thoughts. She would probably hightail it back home.

  He kept wishing he could touch her, hold her and kiss her. Most importantly, he longed to have a real conversation with her.

  The evenings were awkward now that Josie had moved from the home. Audrey was still learning how to cook and be a proper wife. Most of the meals were passable. Even though she served them beans and forgot to soak them before cooking, no one was starving.

  When she went to town, he found himself watching every minute until she returned. Then he would breathe easy again once he would see the wagon appear over the hill.

  The boys loved being with her and even Willow was calling her Ma. How could he be jealous of his own children? But he was. He wished he was that close to Audrey. But he knew he needed to keep his distance.

  He told her that he would protect her and care for her, but he could never love her. It wasn’t because she wasn’t lovable. The thought of losing someone was more than he could bear.

  What if something happened to her? What if he wasn't around to save her? What if the children were hurt when they were visiting in town?

  He couldn't go through losing someone again. It would kill him. Audrey was so gentle, he thought she might break.

  He had to get rid of his attraction towards her. He knew she felt it too which made it more dangerous. He wouldn’t give into temptation. He would deal with his feelings. He just needed to keep as far away as possible from her.

  How had he let Audrey get under his skin? For the life of him, he couldn't understand.

  He finished the row and called for the horse to change direction. He saw Audrey wave to him from the yard. She even had lifted Willow and was raising her hand to send Hunter a wave. The boys were jumping up and down waving to him. When they noticed that Hunter spied them, they started blowing kisses in his direction.

  Even Audrey was blowing kisses and laughing. He could see Willow giggling in the distance. Hunter laughed, and raised his gloved hand, giving them a wave in return. He couldn’t remember the last time anyone waved to him while he was working in the field.

  He had a smile on his face as he slapped the reins against the horse. It stayed there while he finished the row and turned the horse and reaper again. When he turned to look for Audrey, she and the children were gone.

  The sun was high in the sky when Hunter finished working the field. He wiped his face on the back of his arm.

  He unhitched the horse from the reaper and led him towards the barn. “Come on, Blue,” he said, giving a gentle tug on the reins. When he got inside the barn it was much cooler. He put Blue in a corral and placed a bucket with grain on the hook in the pen.