Loving Eliza (10 page)

That made John’s face harden.

“You better get a ring on her finger fast, brother.”

John gritted his teeth as he grabbed two cups from the cupboard and slammed them on the counter.

“Let me guess.  You’ve been trying to get her to marry you, but she keeps saying no?”

How could his brother know that?  John sighed but didn’t deny it.

“Is it because you’re mute?”

John shrugged.  Maybe.  Though for some reason, that didn’t seem right.  She treated him like Aaron did, as an equal.  So no.  It couldn’
t be that.  But what was the reason?  He sensed that she was hiding something.  But he had no way to ask until he learned to write his words out.

“Being mute is not a crime.  Don’t be with a woman who judges you on that.”

John nodded.  Of course, he wouldn’t.  It was bad enough to deal with it from people in town.  He refused to deal with it in his own home.

“Good.”

John poured the coffee in the cups and handed one to Aaron.

“Just in case things don’t work with Eliza, you should at least consider these ads.” Aaron pi
cked up the paper.  “It looks
like
there’s
some nice women in here.  Two especially caught my attention.”

He didn’t have the heart to search for anyone else.  He wanted Eliza.  No other woman would come close to her.

“I’m going to read these to you.  I’m not saying we’re going to write any letters today, but at least think about it.  Alright?”

Reluctant, he nodded.  Why not?  The best thing that could happen was he wouldn’t need to do it.  The worst...?  Eliza would marry one of the other men in town and leave him alone...to send another letter out requesting a bride.  That wasn’t something he relished.

“And to be fair, I’ll show this to Troy too.”

That part made him feel better.  John nodded and listened as h
is brother read the ads to him.

***

Two
weeks
later
, Eliza decided it was time to do some painting.  “It’s cooler outside than it has been.  This way,
we
won’t sweat as much.”

John thought she might be willing to
consider marrying him if he agreed so he quickly got to the task of covering the furnishings so they wouldn’t get paint on them.
  He glanced at her dress and thought it would be a shame to get paint on it.  She obviously hadn’t painted before if she thought her clothes wouldn’t suffer.

He went into his bedroom and dug out a trunk full of things from his past, including his mother’s old dresses.  He knew that he should throw out the clothes his parents wore, but he couldn’t bring himself to do it, especially not his mother’s things.  While he was rummaging around, he found her wedding ring.  It was a simple gold band.  He lifted it and tried to judge its size.  Would it fit Eliza’s finger?  He quickly shoved it into his pocket and retrieved a dress.  It’d be loose on Eliza, but it’d do the trick.

When he left the bedroom, he found Eliza ready to start painting with her brush.  He hurried over to her and showed her the dress.

She looked down at her green dress.  “I should change, shouldn’t I?  I didn’t think about making a mess.”

He smiled and tapped the side of his head.

She grinned.  “I know.  You’re always one step ahead of me, aren’t you?  Alright.  I’ll be back.” She set down the paintbrush, took the dress, and departed from the parlor.

Turning his attent
ion to the light green paint, he
dipped his brush into it.  B
y the time she returned, he had painted around the bare window.

He sighed at the sight of her.  She needed to eat more.  He’d forgotten his initial impression of her when she arrived in town.  Maybe he could convince her to eat more dessert.  That brown candy she made was sure tasty.

She
joined him with her own brush.  “This will look much better than the faded old white paint.  And since we already washed the walls, we can just get right to it.”

He watched her as she moved the brush up and down on the wall next to him.  She had a slight smile on her lips and her hair was pulled back into a bun for the task.  He wanted to stand there forever and stare at her.  She was the prettiest woman he’d ever seen, and despite her insistence that Daphne would suit him, he refused to believe that.  How could anyone come close to her now that he
got the chance to know her?  She was even better than he originally thought.

She glanced in his direction with an amused expression on her face.  “Are you going to help me or do you expect me to do all the work?”

Blushing, he turned his attention back to painting his section of the wall.

They worked in silence for a good hour before she decided to take a break.  He covered the paint and followed her out of the house, wondering where she was going.

When she realized he was behind her, she laughed.  “You don’t have to come with me.  I’m just going for a walk.”
Though she said those words, she stopped and waited for him to catch up, which he did.

He wanted to hold her hand.  She’d stopped doing that ever since they went to church, and he wondered why.  Of course, he couldn’t ask.

“I think you’ll like the way the rooms look when we’re done.  I never did like white walls.  I like color and variety.  White is boring.
”

He smiled.  For her, white probably was boring.  He likened himself to the white walls—easy to miss but serving a purpose.  She was definitely color—dynamic and intriguing.  Funny how he didn’t realize how empty his life had been before she came into it, but he supposed one didn’t realize how boring a white wall was until someone put some color on it.  He had
to admit that he liked
the
green
paint
she chose.

As they strolled along the path he had cleared along the tall grass in the prairie, she continued to talk.  “Sometimes I wish I could fly like one of those birds up there.  I try to imagine what it would be like to feel the air beneath me.  They look free up there, don’t you think?”  As usual, she didn’t wait for his response.  “When I was a little girl, I use
d
to run around my house and pretend I was a bird.  My parents thought I was ridiculous to want to be a bird.  But my pa would humor me and put me on his shoulders so I could stretch out my arms and fly.”

When he realized she had stopped talking, he
turned his gaze to her.  To his surprise, she wasn’t looking at him like she often did to see if he was even paying attention to her.  Instead, she had her head bowed and a frown
on her face
, as
if she was sad.  He tapped her o
n the arm.

Finally making eye contact, she shrugged.  “I miss my parents sometimes.  My life would have b
een different if they had
lived.”

He made a motion for her to continue but she didn’t.

They reached the creek that ran along his property.  It was the only section of his land that had a row of trees on it.  The rest of the place was mostly prairie grass, though he did have four trees spread around his house.

He found a bunch of yellow flowers grouped together close to the creek, so he gathered a couple of them and brought them to her.

A smile crossed her face as she took them.  “Is this your way of trying to make me feel better?”

No, it hadn’t been.
  He just wanted to show her that he had yellow flowers nearby.  He planted some close
to his house too
.  He didn’t plant
them near her home.  There was no sense in making her
too
comfortable there.  If he did that, she might never think of his house as hers.

“Thank you,” she said.  She sat next to the creek and put the flowers on the ground next to her so she could wash her hands.

He settled next to her and also washed his hands.  Deciding to press his luck, he inched toward her, trying to be subtle about it so she wouldn’t notice.
  When she finished and sat back, he joined her on the grass, happily noting that they were just a couple of inches from touching.  He liked this.  Just sitting next to her and enjoying the late morning under the shade of the tree.
  He wished they could stay there forever...without anyone or anything coming between them.

She collected the flowers and placed them on her lap.  “How many days do you think it’ll take to paint the rooms?”

Since he could now count to ten, he held up seven fingers.

“A full week?” She sighed.  “I guess that’s right.  At least if we want to do a good job.
  For some reason, I thought it’d go faster than that.”

He shook his head and grinned at her.

“I know.  I need more patience.  Things worth doing shouldn’t be rushed.  Did anyone ever tell you that r
edheads have a terrible time
waiting?”

She had to be kidding.  She had no trouble waiting to marry him.
  His gaze shifted to her hands.  It was hard to judge the size of her ring finger from looking at it.  He reached forward and touched her hand.

“John.”

He recognized the warning in her voice, so he quickly plucked a nearby white flower with his free hand and held it in front of her.

She didn’t look convinced that his actions were innocent, but he pressed forward and opened the palm of her hand so it was facing up.  He placed the white flower in it and collected two of the yellow flowers and put one on each side of the white flower.  As he smoothed the flowers out, he took one of the petals and wrapped it around her ring finger.

“What are you doing?” she asked.

She didn’t sound annoyed, though there was a hint of hesitation in her voice.

He rubbed his fingernail against the part of the petal that marked the width of her finger.  Then he glanced around for a distraction.  Finding the squirrel sniffing around the tree across from them, he nodded toward it.

Success!  She looked at the critter.  “What is it?”

He yanked the petal from the flower and let her hand go.

“I don’t understand.  What is so important about the squirrel?”

He shrugged as he slipped the petal into his pocket.

“Sometimes I don’t know what to do about you.”

Holding his hand up, he pointed to his ring finger.

She shook her head and rolled her eyes.  “When are you going to give up?”

He noted a hint of amusement in her tone instead of the usual exasperation, so he decided to press his luck.  Wra
pping his
arms around her
, he knocked her over so that they both landed on the grass.

After a startled shriek, she wiggled so that she could face him.

He held onto her
and threw his leg over hers before she could get up.

“Too bad those people in town can’t see you now.  Just look at the way you take advantage of a poor, unsuspecting woman!”

Shrugging, he gave her a wicked smile and kissed her cheek.

“Oh John, you can’t be serious.” Despite her attempt to look stern, she also laughed.  “You’re not playing fair.  You know I’m not strong enough to get away.”

He raised an eyebrow.  She wasn’t even trying to get away from him.  That meant there was hope, right?  Even if she protested, she seemed to be enjoying it.
  Noticing that a strand of her hair was close to her eyes, he reached up and brushed
it away.  Noting the softness of her skin,
he let his fingers linger at her cheek.

“I never met anyone more determined than you.  You’re much too stubborn for your own good.”

It was true so he didn’t deny it.  Instead, he let his fingers drift to her pink lips. 
He’d never kissed a woman before, but he’d seen other men do it. 
It looked simple enough.  And if it was so simple, why did he suddenly worry he couldn’t do it right?

She wasn’t fighting him.  In fact, her hands stayed on his arms.  It was a very pleasant feeling—one he wanted to enjoy forever if she’d let him.  He closed his eyes and kissed her.  His movement was stiff.  He knew it was, but he didn’t know how to relax when his heart was beating frantically against his chest.  But he liked the
kiss so he leaned forward
for another one.

Her lips were warm against his, and she returned his kiss, almost seeming hesitant but still willing.  He let his lips linger on hers, never wanting to leave the sweet bit of heaven he’d suddenly discovered.  He thought he’d like to kiss a woman some day, but he had no idea just how much he’d like it.  This, he decided, was the most wonderful experience he’d ever had.

Reluctant
,
he pulled away from her. 
His gaze met hers and he sensed the uncertainty in her eyes.  He pointed to his temple.

“What am I thinking?” she softly asked.

He nodded.