Genevieve: Bride of Nevada (American Mail-Order Bride 36) (3 page)

“No.
Absolutely
not.” Genny jerked upright and shook her head vigorously. “I won’t be killing anything. You want chicken, you better kill it yourself or have someone else do it. I won’t.” Her stomach turned at just the thought of having to kill a bird.

Stuart chuckled. “You have strong feelings about that. I guess I can manage that task. You let me know in the morning that you want to fix chicken for dinner, and I’ll see you get the birds—ready to cook.”

“Thank you.” She thought of the recipe for sloppy chicken she’d made before. Julia and Katie always asked for it when they had chicken. It was such a simple thing to do. Fry the chicken until just brown but not completely cooked, make cream gravy from the drippings, pour the gravy over the chicken and heat it all together in the oven for an hour.

“Nettie will teach you what you need to know.”

“I’m a willing student in most everything.”

Stuart cocked an eyebrow and looked over at her. “Even in the bedroom. Are you a willing student there?”

Heat invaded Genny’s cheeks, but she would not let this man embarrass her. She straightened. “I thought that wasn’t something to worry about.”

“We’ll be sleeping together. That could easily become something to worry about. I’m not a monk, but I’ll leave you alone. For now.”

She nodded but didn’t say anything. Inside, her heart rejoiced. A chance existed she could still have her own children.

He pulled up to the side of the two-story house.

A mangy looking dog slept on the small covered porch that sheltered a door she thought must lead to the kitchen. Stuart climbed down and came around to help her which was a good thing. Negotiating the steps up and down the buckboard was no easy task for someone not used to it. Or for someone who’s every muscle from the neck down screamed in pain.

She’d no sooner touched the ground when a tall man wearing a black hat and sheepskin coat just like Stuarts, came striding around the house and up to them. He had brown hair and deep blue eyes, just like Stuart.

“You must be Genevieve.” His gravelly voice was so unlike Stuart’s silky one, yet she knew at once who he was.

“I am. Call me Genny. And you must be Joe.”

She held out her hand but he pulled her into a hug.

“Genny, don’t let him scare you away,” he whispered in her ear before letting her go. “Were family now.”

He said the last by way of explanation for the hug.

The door opened and a stout, gray-haired woman came out, followed by a little boy with blond curls.

Billy.
He’s so little. I’d forgotten how small children are.

“Daddy!” he yelled and ran to his father as fast as his chubby legs would let him. When he reached Stuart, he bounced and held up his arms.

Stuart picked up his son and hugged him tightly.

She could tell that even a short trip to town caused the green-eyed child anxiety.

Holding his son, Stuart smiled wide. “Billy, this is Genny. She’s here to take care of you and Lucy.”

Billy put his thumb in his mouth and laid his head on his father’s shoulder.

Stuart patted his son gently on the back. “He’s being a little shy. He gets that way with strangers sometimes. It won’t be long before he’s talking your ear off.”

Genny smiled at the little boy. “I’m sure we’ll be great friends soon.” She turned to the woman behind her. “And you must be Nettie. I’m pleased to meet you.”

Nettie took Genny’s hand with both of hers.

“We’re mighty glad to have you here. Welcome. Come in now. I’ve baked a batch of cookies and a fresh pot of coffee is on the stove.”

Her stomach rumbled at just the thought of cookies and coffee. She placed her hands on her stomach. “Forgive me. That sounds wonderful. I haven’t eaten since I got on the train in Salt Lake City yesterday.”

“Why didn’t you say something?” Stuart shook his head with a sigh. “We could have had dinner before we set off from town.”

She looked over at her new husband. “You seemed like you were in kind of a hurry, and I was too nervous to eat anyway. Salt Lake City was the last time my stomach didn’t tie itself in knots just at the thought of food.”

Nettie put her arm around Genny’s shoulders.

“You come inside now, and I’ll make you a sandwich. That’ll hold you until supper. I made a special pork roast just for the occasion.”

“Well, you must be special,” said Joe. He leaned his shoulder against the side of the wagon. “She doesn’t make pork roast for just anybody.”

Genny laughed. She liked her new brother-in-law. He was friendly where her husband was stoic. Genny looked over at Stuart and something about his gaze, its intensity, gave her the feeling he wasn’t immune to her at all.

*****

When Genny met Lucy, she saw the baby sitting up playing in her crib. A prettier baby girl Genny had never seen. Her heart melted at the sight of the sweet baby. Lucy had soft brown curls covering her little head and the same deep blue eyes as her father and uncle.

“Well, hello Lucy.”

The baby looked up at Genny and grinned, revealing the cutest dimples.

“She’s just learned to sit up by herself,” Nettie said as she stood beside Genny.

No sooner had Nettie spoken than Lucy fell over.

Genny gasped.

“She’s still wobbly and can’t sit up for long but when she falls over, she just gets back up and sits again. She’s a very good baby. Aren’t you my sweet, Lucy?”

At the sound of her name the baby rolled on to her back and kicked and grinned.

Genny couldn’t stand it any longer. She had to have this baby in her arms. She reached over the top of the crib and picked her up.

“You are the sweetest little thing.”

She cuddled the baby and kissed her soft curls.

When she looked up she was surprised to see Stuart leaning against the door jamb, arms crossed over his chest. She hadn’t heard him come to the door. A soft expression covered his face as he watched Genny with Lucy. Was he thinking about how his wife would have looked holding their baby?

When his gaze connected with hers he straightened, the hard planes of his face returned. He pushed away from the door to stand with his thumbs hooked in his pockets.

“I’ve just met Lucy.” Genny walked his way, hugging the baby to her chest. “She’s absolutely the sweetest baby I’ve ever seen.”

His eyes softened again.

“She really is, isn’t she? I sometimes think it’s just because I’m her father that I think she’s so special.”

“No, you’re not the only one.” Genny glanced down at Lucy who caught sight of her father and started bouncing in Genny’s arms. “Looks like she wants you.”

Stuart met Genny halfway and Lucy put out her arms toward her father. He lifted her from Genny.

“Hello, sweet baby girl. How’s my Lucy today?”

“Babababa,” said Lucy, then she grinned and laughed like she’d just told him a funny story. Which, in her language, maybe she had.

Stuart lifted her away from him.

“She needs a dry diaper.” He held with his arms straight out in front of his body.

“Where are the diapers? I’ll change her.”

“Top drawer of that chest of drawers. The dirty diaper pail is next to the dresser.”

He nodded toward the piece of wooden furniture.

Genny walked over to the chest and found two stacks of neatly folded diapers, Vaseline, safety pins and talcum powder. From the bureau, she poured water onto one of the wash cloths next to the pitcher, and then she walked back to Stuart.

“Would you put her on the bed there, please?”

She pointed to the small bed in the corner of the room. Both children must share this room and that was Billy’s bed.

Stuart lay down Lucy and stepped back.

The baby started to kick.

Genny took over, just as she remembered in the orphanage. She unfastened the diaper pin and removed the wet cloth, cleaned Lucy and put on a new diaper. She dropped the dirty diaper in the pail and then picked up the dry baby, gave her a kiss on the cheek and held her out to her father.

“No, you keep her. I have to go back to work.”

“That’s fine by me. I’ll get to know Billy a little bit today. Maybe he’ll be, less shy without you there.”

“It’s possible. I’ll see you at supper time.”

Stuart smiled at Lucy, gave her a kiss on the forehead, then turned and left the room. His scent remained. Leather, sandlewood and man. Stuart didn’t say goodbye, which was fine, as least he said he’d see her later.

Genny went back to the kitchen and found Nettie.

“I see you’ve got our little princess.”

“Yes, and she’s all clean and dry.”

Lucy started to fuss.

“Ah, I wondered when she’d be letting us know she’s hungry. I’ve got her bottle ready here.”

Nettie handed Genny the flat glass bottle with a black rubber nipple. She hadn’t used one before and took a moment to figure out how to hold it, but soon she had it comfortable in her hand and Lucy was sucking greedily to get the milk within.

“After she finishes, I’ll give you a tour of the house.”

“I’d like that.”

Lucy emptied the bottle in no time and Genny put a towel on her shoulder before she put the baby up there to burp her. Lucy gave a loud burp and spit up just a little. Genny was glad of the towel.

Genny loved the house. As soon as she’d walked in, she fell in love. The structure was two stories and had three bedrooms. Stuart and Joe both had big bedrooms and then the children had a smaller room that they shared. There was a fourth bedroom but it was full of furniture and other things that were in use only irregularly and needed to be stored in between uses.

The lower floor had the kitchen, with a bedroom off of it for Nettie and Pete, dining room, parlor and a large office with two desks, one for Stuart and one for Joe. They shared everything in the house. Genny couldn’t help but wonder what would happen when Joe married. She thought that a new house would be built for one of the brothers and the other would stay in this house. If Genny had her way, she’d choose to live here. She liked the way the house was set up and it just felt…like home. She’d never had a place that she could call home. The feeling of contentment rose through her, like roses growing in a garden. Slow and steady.

*****

Supper was a family affair, where family meant everyone on the ranch. Genny met all the cowboys and Pete, Nettie’s husband, who was a handsome man just as slender as his wife was stout. Pete and Nettie teased each other incessantly. He referred to her as the old woman and she referred to him as the old man. Genny could tell they loved each other very much. They’d been with Stuart and Joe since the boys were young and their parents owned the ranch. Nettie and Pete’s three sons and one daughter had been raised with the MacDonnell boys.

“Where are your children now?” asked Genny.

“Well the boys have their own places, cattle spreads around Reno and Carson City. And Martha, we lost her about six months ago.”

Nettie’s eyes watered but no tears fell.

“Martha?” Genny’s gaze flew to Stuart and back to Nettie. “Oh, my God, I’m sorry. I didn’t know.”

“Don’t be sorry. My Martha was a wonderful, kind woman and she’d be pleased for the children to have a mother to care for her children.”

Genny’s eyes filled with tears. “Excuse me.”

She fled the dining room and went out to the front porch. Once there, she let the tears fall. How could Stuart have not told her that Martha was Nettie and Pete’s daughter? Or that Billy and Lucy were their grandchildren? How could Nettie be so nice to her?

She heard the screen door close softly behind her.

Boots sounded across the porch and stopped.

“I’m sorry. I should have told you, Martha was their daughter.” He paused before moving beside her and placing his hands on the porch railing. “Martha and I grew up together and I always thought she was just that kid who followed me around everywhere. Then when she was about sixteen, things changed. She wasn’t a child anymore. We courted for two years and married on her eighteenth birthday. We were very much in love and I don’t believe I’ll ever feel that way about anyone again. She was the sun in my life, with her curly blonde hair and green eyes that were always filled with mischief, just like Billy’s. She was a special woman.”

“Yes, I’m sure she was.” Genny kept her gaze focused on the mountains that were farther than they looked.

He placed a hand on her shoulder. “Come back in to supper.”

She nodded.

He turned and went back inside.

But she didn’t promise or say anything. How could she return to them? She’d embarrassed herself and there was no safety net here of Julia and Katie to bolster her courage.

“Just go in and hold your head up high,” Julia would have said.

“You didn’t do anything wrong,” Katie would claim.

Could she? Was she brave enough to face her new family? How could Nettie and Pete accept her as a surrogate mother to their grandchildren? How was she, a city girl who knew nothing about ranching, going to be able to compare to Martha, a woman raised on this very ranch?