Ana Seymour (16 page)

She bit her lip as the words came to her head. Husband and wife—to love and care for each other until parted by death, just as her parents had been. Tears sprang to her eyes. Her parents wouldn’t be at her wedding, but she knew they’d be with her in spirit Be happy, Jennie, they’d say. Seize this love that has come so unexpectedly and suddenly into your life. Loving each other will make you both stronger, not weaker.

I’ll try, she whispered, closing her eyes as the image of her parents’ dear faces came into her mind. I’m going to try my very hardest to make this work.

Reverend Calder had grown absentminded in his old age, which suited their purposes just fine. It meant that he didn’t question the suddenness of the wedding
or why it should take place in the Sheridan parlor instead of over at the church with the whole town in attendance.

He read the vows in a shaky voice and omitted any homily that would have prolonged the time he had to remain standing holding the heavy Bible in his hands. In fact, he rushed the last three or four lines, and seemed relieved at the end.

He stayed for one of the custard cakes Jennie had hurriedly prepared that afternoon before Dorie had arrived to help her dress and arrange her hair.

Neither Carter nor Jennie minded the minister’s perfunctory performance. They were too busy studying each other and letting the realization of what they’d just done sink in.

Carter was having trouble keeping his mind on the divine nature of the proceedings as he watched Jennie in a green taffeta dress with a tight bodice and scooped neck that had something soft and ruffly all along the top of her breasts. Several times he was at risk of being embarrassed by blatant signs of his arousal as he anticipated the moment when he could take her back to his hotel where they’d agreed to spend their wedding night.

Jennie had been up most of the night and had worked hard all day. She was exhausted, but at the same time exhilarated, as if she’d drunk a glass of champagne. Carter looked so handsome in a solid black suit and blue vest. And every time he glanced her way, his eyes held a special predatory,
proprietary
look that was so sensual it kept her cheeks constantly flushed.

The admission to herself last night that she was in love had opened the floodgate. By morning she’d been literally
singing
it. I’m in love. I love him. Jennie loves Carter. How long, she wondered, tapping her foot impatiently against the settee, would they have to sit here sipping cider and eating cakes and making inane conversation with Reverend Calder, the Millards and the silverheels? She wanted to be alone with him.

Dorie was their savior. “You men can sit here all night,” she said, jumping to her feet with a clap of her hands. “But the wedding couple’s leaving. They’ve got better things to do than watch you lugs gobbling pastries.”

Jennie and Carter both stood immediately. Dennis Kelly popped the entire cake he was holding into his mouth and joined them on their feet. He winked at Jennie, then turned to Carter. “I guess you know you’ve got yourself a special little gal, Jones. You make her happy now, or you’ll answer to us.”

“You’ll answer to a whole mine full of us,” Smitty added. Unlike Dennis, he’d concentrated more on the hard cider than the cakes, and was not thinking sharply enough to remember that they didn’t talk about Jennie’s job at the mine. But no one seemed to notice his slip.

Carter was unconcerned about being accountable to Jennie’s protectors. He slipped an arm around Jennie’s waist and tried to concentrate on saying the proper goodbyes while his thoughts had already raced ahead to what he wanted to do to her when he got her alone.

Jennie moved away from him to shake hands with the reverend and give embraces to each of the miners, leaving all three blushing. Then she hugged Dorie and held a hand out to be squeezed by Dr. Millard. At the end of the line, almost hidden behind the doctor, was Barnaby. He was the only one in the room who wasn’t smiling.

She put an arm on his shoulder and drew him against her. “Thank you for coming to my wedding,” she said to him.

He looked at the floor and nodded without speaking.

“Are you going to be all right heading off to school by yourself tomorrow?”

Another nod.

Jennie lowered her voice and leaned close to him. “You’re not sad about my marrying Carter, are you, Barneyboy?”

He looked at her then, his chestnut eyes wide and unsure. “I don’t know,” he answered, his voice on the edge of tears.

Jennie turned around and saw that the others were waiting in silence. She hesitated, then looked at Carter, her eyes asking for understanding. “I’m just going to tuck Barnaby into bed before we leave. I’ll be right back.”

She kept her arm around the boy’s back and walked with him out of the parlor and to the tiny room in back of the kitchen where he slept. When they reached his small cot, she sat down next to him. “Now, tell me what’s bothering you, honey. I thought you liked Carter.”

“Will we still be a family, like you said?” he asked just above a whisper.

Jennie hugged him. “Of course we will. We
are
a family. You and me and Kate and now Carter, too.”

“And the baby,” Barnaby added shyly.

“Absolutely, and the baby.”

“Carter’s such an important man. I wasn’t sure he’d want a family with bastards in it.”

Jennie felt a tug on her heart and once again wished she could march over to school and stuff soap into the mouths of every one of those boys who had bullied Barnaby. “I told you to forget about that ugly name. Carter’s happy to come live here and be part of our family.”

“You asked him?”

Jennie nodded. “I wouldn’t have married him if he hadn’t wanted that.”

Barnaby sat back on the cot with a look of relief. “He’s not so…stiff anymore as he used to be when he first came around here.”

Jennie smiled. “When he first came with those papers you wouldn’t let him in the house.”

“But he wasn’t mad about it, was he?”

She gave him another hug of reassurance. Every now and then Jennie remembered the differences in their upbringing. She’d been raised by two strong parents who had never let her have a moment of doubt that she was loved. Barnaby had had no one, which meant that he was constantly worried about trying to please everyone else. Tonight she’d been too busy to pay much attention to him, but she noticed now that
he’d donned his best suit and all by himself had found some kind of grease to slick back his unruly hair.

“Carter thinks the world of you, Barnaby, and I do, too. You were the only family I had tonight to see me properly wed, and I was so proud of you. You looked so handsome.”

Barnaby beamed with pleasure, but he said, “Carter looked handsome, too, Jennie, and you look like a princess.”

She laughed. “Why, thank you, Barneyboy. Now, I’m going to have to stop calling you that, because you practically aren’t a boy anymore.”

His eyes slid away from her. “I don’t mind if you call me that, Jennie. I kinda like it. It reminds me of your ma.”

She smiled and said, “Well, then I shall continue to call you Barneyboy until you’re a grandpa. How about that?”

He giggled. “Maybe not that long.”

She stood. “So are you feeling all right now?” At his nod, she leaned over to give him a kiss on the forehead, then stood. “I’ll see you after school tomorrow.”

“All right, Jennie.”

His eyelids were already drooping and she had a feeling that without her prompting he would likely fall asleep in his good suit, but she didn’t want to take any more time. It was her wedding night. And Carter was waiting.

T
hey were oddly shy with each other as they mounted the hotel stairs to Carter’s third-floor room. It would seem that since their relationship had run the gamut from a veritable shouting match to incredible passion, it should not be so disconcerting to face each other as man and wife. But both had been nearly silent since they’d left the house amid shouts of good wishes from their wedding guests.

“So Barnaby was all right after your talk?” Carter asked.

“He was half-asleep already when I left him. He just needed a little reassurance that he still would have a family left after all the changes.”

“He reminds me of myself as a child.”

Jennie couldn’t imagine that the self-confident Carter had ever experienced the feeling of insecurity that Barnaby had; however, even as the thought came to her, she realized that she did not know a lot about his childhood. She’d told him about her parents and growing up first in the mountains and then in Vermillion, but he’d spoken little of his life before coming
West. “He’s had a tough life,” she said. “And things still aren’t all that easy for him. He’s been upset lately by teasing from the boys at school. He says sometimes he wishes he could live alone in the mountains like we used to.”

“Teasing is one of the hardest things for a child to deal with. But sometimes it can make you try harder because you want to show that you’re better than your tormentors.”

Jennie was surprised. He sounded as if he had experience with the subject. “Barnaby tries hard in everything.”

Carter nodded. “I’m looking forward to spending more time with him.”

Jennie felt a wave of happiness. Carter would be so good for Barnaby, and it was a relief for her to feel that she’d have help raising the boy. This was how it was supposed to be in a marriage—this feeling of no longer being alone to fight life’s battles. She gave a squeeze with the hand Carter had tucked in his arm. He responded by looking down at her with a smile.

They’d reached the door and Carter released her hand as he fumbled in his pocket for the key. “Do I carry you over the threshold?” he joked, and Jennie realized that he was nervous, too. Perhaps for the first time in his life.

“Well, it’s not as if…” She blushed. “We have been through this before, Carter.”

He leaned over to give her a quick kiss, then managed to get the key in the door and open it “Sweetheart,
you’re wrong. Neither of us has ever been through this before.”

He pushed open the door and stepped back for her to walk through. A lamp was already lit on the nightstand. The bed was tended with fresh linens with the feather comforter puffed high. A bouquet of wildflowers tied with a ribbon lay on one pillow. Jennie turned around with a pleased smile. “You were expecting company tonight, I see.”

He reached to pull the shawl off her shoulders. “I was expecting the company of my beautiful, desirable…
wife.
”

She felt his words all the way down to her toes. “Wife,” she murmured. “I don’t think I can quite believe it.”

He placed his hands on each side of her slender neck and tipped her head up toward him gently with his thumbs. “I’ll make you believe it, sweetheart,” he said in a husky voice, and then he kissed her.

Her head tilted back and her eyes closed. His lips were soft and dry and so tender it almost brought tears to her eyes. Her arms fell limply to her side and she stood, swaying slightly, lost in the sensation of his kisses on her mouth, cheeks, eyes, forehead. He kissed every inch of her face without moving his hands from their place on her neck. Her knees threatened to buckle.

“That’s so…so nice,” she said. Then as he dropped his hands and pulled away she added, “No, don’t stop.”

She opened her eyes. He was watching her with
that teasing smile, his own eyes warm. “I’m not stopping, darlin’. Not until morning, maybe not then.”

She smiled back at him and gave a sigh of happiness. The prospect of a long night with him was so enticing. Her stomach was already jumping as she remembered the feeling she’d had the last time they’d made love. He’d hardly touched her tonight, but the mere memory coupled with his restrained kisses had her passion already triggered. “Until morning?” she said archly.

He took her hand and led her over to the bed, where he picked up the bouquet of flowers and handed them to her. “I wanted roses, but these were the best I could find in Vermillion.”

She sniffed their delicate fragrance. “These are lovely.”

“Not as lovely as you,” he said, then laughed softly. “I suppose the Harvard lawyer ought to be able to come up with a better line than that one.”

“No, I thought it was just fine.” She smiled at him, her heart swelling.

“Aw, sweetheart,” he said, then he moved next to her and took her in his arms.

Jennie let herself melt against him, totally eager for the physical sensations that would match the emotions she’d been holding on to all day. She already knew that this time would be sweeter, more special than their night in Virginia City. This time she had finally allowed herself to admit that what she felt for Carter was nothing short of love—the real thing. Till death us do part.

He still hadn’t said that he loved her, but she
sensed a new reverence in the way he held her. She could tell that he, too, realized that this night was something extraordinary. He kissed her again and again, sensual kisses that made her begin to ache with wanting. Then with murmured endearments, he undressed her, slowly, extending his kisses to each part of her body as he uncovered it. Halfway through the undressing, she glanced over at the lamp. He saw her hesitation, but he said in a husky voice. “Do you mind the light, sweetheart? I want to see you.”

And looking at the intensity of his eyes, she realized that she wanted to see him, too. She shook her head, and he smiled and resumed his disrobing of her.

When she stood naked, he went down on his knees and pressed his cheek against her soft stomach, then turned his head to kiss her there. She held him to her for a long moment as the swells of passion moved over her body. Just when she’d reached the point that she was no longer sure if she could remain standing, he got to his feet and lifted her onto the bed. Then he quickly divested himself of his own clothing and lay beside her.

They needed few preliminaries. She was wet and aching for him, and he was hard and needy. He kissed her mouth again, then down to her neck and her breasts, and, as he tugged a taut nipple into his mouth, he arched and entered her. She cried out.

“I haven’t hurt you, have I?” he whispered.

“No…no…” She sighed as she kissed him and moved in an age-old rhythm that started slow, then became more urgent. His mouth seized hers and suddenly their coupling became fast and frantic as they
drove toward completion. It spiraled at her with such amazing force that she cried out again and softly bit the thick cord of his neck before giving herself up to the waves of feeling.

The sensation drained out of her slowly, leaving her body with a delicious lethargy. Carter lay heavily on her, still breathing fast Neither spoke for several long moments. Finally he said, “That, my darling wife, was incredible.”

She gave a happy laugh. It
had
been incredible, and what was more, she was liking the sound of that phrase that she’d never in her life expected to hear addressed to her.
My darling wife.
“I thought so, too,” she said shyly.

He rolled off her and stretched out to turn off the lamp, leaving the room lit only by moonlight. Then he lay back down next to her, took her in his arms and pulled the sheets up around them. “Happy?” he asked her.

She nodded and nuzzled his shoulder. “So am I,” he said, sounding almost surprised. “It’s such a simple thing, really,” he went on as if talking to himself, not to her. “All the scrambling, the struggling, the working to get ahead. When all along it’s really just this simple.”

She was a little confused at his rambling. “What is?” she asked.

He kissed her, thoroughly, before answering, “Happiness. This is what it’s all about.”

She wasn’t sure precisely what he was referring to—the passion they’d just shared or the marriage or something else entirely. But she was too happy herself
to question it. “Who would have predicted we’d end up together this way?” she asked.

He chuckled. “Not I. The first few times I met you, you kept wanting to throw me out on my ear.”

“You deserved it.”

“Mmm.” He kissed her again.

She could feel his body stir against her leg.

“Somewhere along the line I must have decided it was easier to marry you than to close you down.”

“I’m glad,” she said, giving a little gasp as his kisses trailed down to her breast.

“I’ll make a law-abiding citizen of you yet,” he murmured, starting to focus attention once again on an erect nipple.

“I wouldn’t count on it, Counselor,” she said, but her voice was no longer steady.

He lifted his head and smiled at her. “Well, at least I’ll have fun trying.”

They hadn’t quite fulfilled Carter’s prediction of making love all night, but they’d come close. Somewhere a couple of hours before dawn, both had fallen into an exhausted sleep, so that when they awoke, well into midmorning, they’d had to scramble to get dressed and off to their respective duties. Carter had work piled up at his office, and Jennie had to get to the mine. She didn’t have time to tell Carter the story behind her job there, so she decided not to mention it until they had a chance to talk that evening.

They’d given each other a long kiss before they left the room, then a shorter one in the hotel lobby, and had reluctantly parted for the day.

Jennie walked all the way to the mine by herself singing. Winter had definitely arrived—it was cold, but she thought it was a beautiful day. Today she thought the entire world was beautiful. By the time she arrived, her silverheels had told the other miners about her wedding. There were one or two long faces on the men who had developed an infatuation for their pretty cook, but most offered their congratulations.

Though she was busy, the day seemed to pass slowly as Jennie waited for evening when she would see Carter again. When she got back from the mine, she made a blackberry pie, his favorite, then raced through the rest of the supper preparations so she’d have time for a bath.

It felt so domestic and so
conventional
to be busy planning for her husband to come home from the office. She’d spent a long time rejecting such a life for herself, but now that it had happened, it felt simply grand.

The silverheels had offered to fix their own supper if she and Carter wanted another night alone at the hotel, but she turned them down. She was ready to begin her new life with Carter at Sheridan House, and she wanted to be sure that Barnaby didn’t feel neglected. As Carter had said, as long as the two of them would be able to retire behind the door of her bedroom to privacy each night, they’d be fine.

She was bathed and combed and primped, the meal was ready, the silverheels had come down from the mine, and still he wasn’t home. The anticipation of seeing him again was building up a tension that had her considering walking downtown to meet him. She
wandered from the kitchen to the front hall and looked out the pane of glass next to the door. But it wasn’t Carter she saw coming up the front walk. It was Lyle Wentworth.

She opened the door to let him in, trying to keep her temper even. After all, he’d helped Kate. He’d stayed with her when Jennie herself could not. And it wasn’t Lyle’s fault exactly that he’d been raised to be such a spoiled brat that Jennie had found him impossible to tolerate since before he’d graduated to long pants.

“Hello, Lyle,” she said. “When did you come back to Vermillion? How was Kate when you left her?”

He removed his hat and gave her one of his supercilious smiles. How
could
Kate stand the man? she wondered. “I just came back today. Kate got your wire yesterday about the wedding. She was worried.”

“I’m sorry to hear that. I thought about not telling her until the baby was born, but the way news seems to travel in this town…” The emphasis on the statement was obvious, but Lyle didn’t have the grace to look embarrassed.

“I told her I thought it was a good thing, on the whole,” he said briskly.

Jennie was surprised. “Well, thank you.”

“For one thing, it will make this all easier to deal with. There’s finally a man in the household I can talk to.”

Behind Lyle, Jennie saw the man of the household coming up the walk. Some of the excitement over seeing Carter again this evening had dimmed with
Lyle’s words. “What is it you want to talk about, Lyle?” she asked.

“About helping you girls get your lives straightened out.” He seemed oblivious to Jennie’s rising anger, but Carter was obviously aware that something was wrong the minute he walked in.

“What’s going on?” he asked.

“Lyle’s here to help us get our lives straightened out,” Jennie said brightly.

“The girls’ lives, not yours, Jones,” Lyle clarified.

Carter gave him one of the smiles that he usually reserved for opposing attorneys. “That’s big of you, Wentworth. But now that Jennie’s my
wife,
I can’t see as how you would have any business at all with her life or mine.”

“Or Kate’s,” Jennie added.

Lyle’s lips thinned. “It doesn’t appear to me as if you’re doing such a good job of handling things, Jones. You let your wife go traipsing off to spend all day up at the mine doing heaven knows what all alone with dozens of miners.”

Carter hid his shock well, but shot Jennie a questioning glance. She gave an inward groan. “Lyle,” she said wearily, “what business is this of yours? Why don’t you just go away and leave us alone?”

“If Kate would agree to go away with me, I would,” he said. “But she’s determined to come back here to live. So until I can convince her otherwise, I’ll just have to see to it that things go smoothly around here.”

Jennie could tell that Carter was still puzzling over what Lyle had said about her job at the mine, but he
put his own questions aside to say, “Listen, Wentworth, whatever your association may be with Kate, you have nothing to do with Jennie or with me.”