Perfectly Matched (The Blue Willow Brides Book #3): A Novel (24 page)

Sarah blushed. “I’m sure. I’m only here to help out in the kitchen. Maybe another time?”

“I’m gonna hold you to that, my fair lady.” Chris followed her inside.

“Let’s go eat before the food gets cold. Come on!” Anna started up the steps.

Edward noticed that Chris couldn’t take his eyes off Sarah. She was comely and had a graceful way of walking and speaking. He knew all of that wasn’t lost on Chris, and if he had to guess, he thought his friend was already lovesick for her. Was that the way he looked to people when he was around Anna? Could be.

———

“I’ve eaten already, but I’ll serve everyone, then clean up afterward.” Sarah donned an apron as soon as they got to the kitchen and began to ladle generous portions of stew into bowls.

Anna sliced the corn bread and slathered it with butter.
She kept noticing how Chris’s eyes stayed on Sarah every time she was near, but she thought Sarah put on a good act of pretending not to be aware of his lingering looks.
He’s a man who’s set his sights on Sarah for sure
, she thought. Anna sighed. She was glad her new friend was finding a beau, and it appeared as though her other good friend Callie was happily courting Daniel. They were seen together everywhere.

“Are you sure you won’t eat with us, Sarah?” Anna asked as she took a seat at the table.

“There’s an empty chair right next to me.” Chris grinned, patting the chair.

“At least have a slice of Anna’s corn bread. It’s the best!” Edward clapped eyes on Anna. His compliment surprised her.

She murmured her thanks, then looked away. His compliment made her skin tingle. Catharine and Peter loved each other, and Catharine had been a mail-order bride, but they’d corresponded more than Anna and Edward had. She and Edward exchanged only a few letters, so Edward’s admission now filled her with renewed hope for a wonderful life with him.

“Oh, all right. Just one tiny piece,” Sarah said. Chris pulled out the chair next to him, and Sarah took a seat.

Daniel looked over at Anna. “Had any more donations lately?”

“As a matter of fact, two dear benefactors this morning. I’m so tickled that people are willing to help my cause. The telephone is turning out to be a great way for me to talk to people about it, otherwise I might not ever hear from them.”

“Telephone? How lucky you are.” Chris finished off his second helping of stew.

“Yes, thanks to my sweet husband, who’s given me his support.” Anna shot Edward a shy look.

“And I’m happy to do so.” Edward stood. “If you’re ready to leave, Daniel, I am. I’ve got lots to paint while you finish the cages.”

Daniel popped up, giving a bow to Anna. “I must say, supper was delicious. Edward’s been holding out on me.” He chuckled.

“Thank you, Daniel.”

Edward bent to give her a kiss on the cheek as he passed by on his way out.

“See you later, Chris. You and Anna be careful now.”

Chris nodded. “Don’t worry, I’ll take good care of your pretty little wife.”

The streets of Denver were less crowded now as Anna and Chris drove slowly down Colfax Avenue with the soft glow of the streetlights creating eerie patterns on the street. Since it was dusk, Chris drove slowly, and they both kept their eyes peeled for a stray or wounded dog or cat. Anna also made note of the cabs drawn by horses to see if the horses looked well cared for. So far, the ones they’d passed looked okay.

They made small talk as they went along, noticing the stares of curious passersby when they saw the writing on the wagon’s cover. “I wonder if we shouldn’t turn down one of the side streets, Chris,” Anna said. “I’m not sure at this time of the day if we’ll see anything on the main street.”

“Good idea,” he answered, and with a light touch to the horse’s reins, he guided him down a side street. It wasn’t long before they saw a limping dog on the sidewalk, but when he heard the wagon wheels rumbling toward him, he ran for cover. Chris stopped the wagon. “I’ll try to go after him. He looks injured.”

“No, let me, Chris. I sometimes have a way that seems to soothe an animal’s spirit.” Before he could answer, Anna climbed down quietly and moved toward the large planter that the dog hid behind.

“Come now, I’m your friend. I’m here to help you.” She took a couple of slow, cautious steps toward the shivering dog. She wanted to make sure that he wasn’t rabid and didn’t have any white foam coming from his mouth. But from what she could see, there was none. She stretched out her hand as she drew closer. “See, I’m not here to harm you.”

The small dog made whimpering sounds, which encouraged her to step closer. “Poor baby. You’re hurt. I want to help you.” The dog sniffed her hand timidly but stayed down. Carefully she stretched her hand out farther and touched the top of his head.

The hollow look in his eyes made Anna’s heart melt. That look was one of pain. Taking her time as the dog lay on the sidewalk behind the planter, she examined a wound on his leg. The bleeding on his front leg was from some sort of injury, but the wound wasn’t too deep. She couldn’t tell if anything was broken or not. She would have to carry him in her apron to the wagon—if he’d let her.

Anna heard footsteps behind her and turned to see Chris. “I thought you might need some help,” he said.

“He’s hurt all right. We need to get him to the wagon. I think I can lift him. I’ll check the wound better once I’m home. It doesn’t appear to be too serious, though.” Anna continued to stroke the dog’s back, and his whimpering ceased.

“Let me carry him. He seems docile enough.” Chris knelt down beside the dog, petting him to let him take in his scent. “There now, fella.” He spoke softly, then in a quick movement scooped up the dog and carried him to the waiting wagon. “Anna, will you open the door for me?”

Anna quickly stepped to the back of the wagon and opened the door. Chris had placed some straw and old, raggedy blankets on top of the floor of the wagon. Gently he laid the dog on a blanket, then turned to her. “I think he’ll be okay while we drive through a couple other streets, don’t you?”

She gave the dog a scratch behind the ears. “Yes, we must get moving. I promised Edward I wouldn’t be out too late.”

Daniel dropped Edward off at home, where he found Anna in the kitchen, tending to another dog with Cricket curiously looking on.

“You’re home.” Anna looked up but stayed seated on the floor with the dog’s leg in her lap. A bowl of water and peroxide was next to her. “We found this poor fella limping down the street. I’m cleaning his wound.”

Edward knelt down for a closer look. “He must’ve gotten hit by a speeding stage or wagon, but it doesn’t look too bad. Want me to help?” He was really tired from painting the walls and sweeping up the floor of the shelter, but he’d help if she needed him.

“I think I can manage.” She continued dipping the cloth into the warm water.

“Once you clean his wound with peroxide, I have some ointment that you could put on it. But I believe you should cover it. Was he the only stray you found tonight?”

“
Ja.
And he had no collar. I’ll introduce this new boarder to the others and get them settled for the night.” She squeezed the water out of the rag then swabbed the wound with peroxide.

“So what are you going to call this dog?”

“Hmm . . . What do you think of Scruffy? He looks a little rough around the edges.”

Edward laughed. “I think it’s a good name for him.”

“How did it go at the shelter tonight?”

“It went well. Daniel finished the cages while I finished painting. Tomorrow I’ll take you over there and you can see for yourself how it’s shaping up.” He stood. “But to tell you the truth, I’m pretty tired. I’m going to go wash up. Oh, and thanks for feeding everyone with your stew and corn bread. It was really good.”

Her eyes traveled up until they met his.
How could any woman have such beautiful blue eyes?
The smile she gave him made his heart lurch. She titled her head to one side, staring up at him.

“What?” he asked when she continued to stare. Cricket began sniffing him and rubbing against his pant leg.

“You do look a little worse for wear, Edward.” She snickered. “You’re doing so much for me, and if I forgot to tell you, I truly appreciate all your hard work to help with the shelter, especially after you’ve worked all day. Maybe I can give your shoulders a rub later.” Her enticing look was full of promise.

“Sounds wonderful.” He resisted the urge to sweep her into his arms and apologize again, and instead left to get cleaned up. He wouldn’t want to have her subjected to his smelly and dirty clothes, but later he would make things right. While he was painting he’d spent some time praying for guidance for his marriage and his strict habits. It was crystal clear that he needed to tell her he was sorry.

As he stripped off his clothes, stained with paint and perspiration, he regarded his body with approval. The efforts of exercising with Daniel were beginning to become apparent.
He had more muscle tone, and he figured that was the reason he was able to work the long hours that he and Daniel had been putting in lately. Would Anna even notice? Probably not—there wasn’t
that
much difference.

He hurriedly washed and donned clean long handles because he wanted to be wide awake when she came to bed. He didn’t have long to wait.

He lay in bed watching her as she took her time to wash her face then her slender arms. The scent of the lavender soap she used tickled his nose. The moonlight outlined her curvy silhouette—ample breasts and long legs that ignited a fire in his veins, threatening to undo him.
Stay steady, Edward.

“Anna?” He spoke just above a whisper.

“Mmm?” she answered as she untied her chemise, kicked it to the side, and slipped on her nightgown. She picked up her brush and ran it through her long hair while the moonbeams shone through the window, illuminating her with an angelic appearance. Only one light burned next to the bedside, and the embers in the fireplace had almost all burned out. She couldn’t be more appealing than she was at this moment, sitting in front of the dressing table.

“Before I tell you how beautiful and desirable you are, I want to repeat that I did not mean what I said before. You remember—that you were the cause of my troubles. I know that’s not the truth, and even if it was, it’s worth it all to have you in my life. I mean that, and I’m trying to change.”

Anna stopped her brushing and laid the brush aside. She didn’t walk, he was sure, but glided like the angel he knew her to be to his side of the bed. Kneeling with her arms propped up on the mattress, she gazed lovingly into his eyes.

“I knew that, Edward, but I must admit, I wanted to hear you say it. You
have
changed! Think about it. When I first
arrived, you didn’t even want me to have Baby, and now you’ve come to not only accept the dogs but also help me with them. I’d say that’s a huge improvement. And let’s face it, I’m not perfect.”

He took her hands in his, holding them to his lips. “Near to perfect, though. I don’t deserve you.”

She laughed. “I’m not sure you deserve all the anxiety that I seem to cause you, but we’ll iron out our differences one piece at a time. That’s what married folks do. Just focus on the promise we made about always communicating.” She stroked his face tenderly. “I understand you much better now that Ella told me about your father. I’m so sorry your childhood was marred by alcoholism. How terrible that must have been,” she said softly.

His heart filled with the knowledge that she could so easily overlook his inadequacies and flaws. That was one of the lovely things about her personality. Another woman would have packed her bags the first time he produced his list. Edward knew he was a lucky man to have found not only a wife full of compassion for people and animals, but one with spontaneity—a desirable trait—and one so understanding.

“It was terrible, but I’m learning to put some of it behind me now, and you’ve taken my mind off that.” He wasn’t surprised that Ella had revealed their past and was glad that she did. But he wasn’t ready to talk about it. Not yet.

“Come to bed, Anna,” he whispered huskily, then gently pulled her to lie across him. “I’m ready for my shoulder rub.” He touched his lips to hers with a lingering kiss full of desire.

She gave him a lopsided grin and said, “And I’m ready to give it, kind sir.”

Anna’s dinner party had taken place instead of the literary circle meeting, and tonight the discussion was lively. Edward was teased that he and Anna had been too busy being lovebirds to read the required chapters—which was true. They’d both fallen into bed every night exhausted from the work of getting the shelter in operation. But Edward took their teasing good-naturedly.

“You know we’re not the only two lovebirds in this room,” he said, shooting a glance over to Daniel, who sat close to Callie. “Are you two courting or what?”

Callie’s face flushed bright pink, and Anna tried to shush her husband. Daniel took Callie’s hand in his and gave it a squeeze obvious to everyone.

“We are for a fact courting, and I have to say I’m enjoying getting to know one of the kindest ladies in Denver.” There was guffawing from the men and clapping from the ladies around the room.

“Oh, Daniel,” Callie murmured. “You’re sweet to say that.”

Chris let out a whistle. “For goodness’ sake, you two.” He smiled at them.

Waldo walked over to Edward and Anna. “I just want to thank you again for finding that money, Edward. We’re all very proud that you did what you could to apprehend Calvin. Who knows where he is now, but he still has to face the law when he’s found. The sheriffs in other counties have been notified to be on alert for him. But the main thing is that people’s money was restored—well, all but five hundred dollars.” He paused, giving Edward an intense look, then glanced at the group. “In case you hadn’t heard, Edward donated his own five hundred dollars that wasn’t accounted for so the books would balance. I’m very grateful, Edward.”

Edward nodded. “I’m sorry that I was part of the problem, but I’m glad to be a part of the solution.”

Waldo clapped him on the back. “All of us make mistakes at one time or another, but we aren’t always privy to what those mistakes are.”

“Still, I’m much obliged for the second chance. Not many would do that after their bank was robbed.” Edward was aware of Anna’s eyes resting on him. He wanted her to be proud that he was her husband, and if looks said anything at all, hers said she was. There was applause from everyone, which made Edward grateful for his friends.

“We’re happy to have Waldo join our group tonight, and I wanted to ask you all about allowing Sarah Holbrook to join us as well,” Anna said.

Callie looked around the group. “Any nays?” There were none. “Any yeas?” All spoke or nodded their agreement, with Chris being the loudest of the group.

“Sarah will bring much to our group. She’s very well read,” Chris declared.

“Then, please, Anna, go ahead and invite her. I believe that ends our lively discussion of Tom Sawyer for the evening.” Callie rose, indicating that it was time to break up the meeting.

With the discussion over for the night, everyone retrieved their coats. Waldo stepped next to Edward, who was helping Anna into her coat. “Edward, would you consider another part-time job? Say, maybe once a week—an hour of your time?”

Edward was surprised by the question. “You know that I’d be no good at working as a teller at your bank.”

“No, no. That’s not at all what I meant. I have a friend at Union Station, and he mentioned they needed someone to
keep the correct time for the station’s tower clock. Naturally, I thought of you.”

Anna’s face brightened when Edward glanced at her before answering. “I’d have to talk it over with Anna. You know I’m helping her out a lot in my spare time.”

“That’s true, but the shelter is ready for use, and I have Chris and other volunteers who will help me now. You don’t have to ask me. I think it’s a fine idea.” Anna grabbed his arm affectionately and gave it a squeeze.

He smiled down at her. “Then I guess I can say yes, Waldo, if you’re sure about this.”

“As sure as the sun rises! I’ll give you my friend’s name when you’re at the bank next. I believe he’s anxious for you to start.”

Edward held out his hand and shook Waldo’s. “Thanks for putting in a good word for me. I’ll make it up to you somehow, Waldo.”

Waldo gave him a genuine smile. “No need to, son. As I said, everyone needs a second chance. I’ll say good evening now.”

“Good night, Waldo,” Anna said, and Edward nodded.

They hurried home with the cold air nipping at their noses, eager to enjoy sitting by the fire.