Barefoot Bride for Three (22 page)

With an ease Beth found unsettling, he stuck the huge ax into the chunk of tree he used as a chopping block. His reddish-orange hair flamed just as bright as she remembered. The hem of the kilt swung side to side as he strode over.

“Was waiting for the right one.” Trace slowed the horses to a stop. “The twins won’t like Beth giving away her baking to the lot of you.”

“Baking?” Gillis sniffed. His bright blue eyes crinkled, and a wide smile showed white teeth between his bushy moustache and beard. “Berry pies?”

Beth climbed off the seat and knelt in the back of the wagon. She touched the edge of a pie. Still warm, but not so hot she couldn’t pick it up.

“Trace said you lived with your wife and two brothers. We brought one pie each.” One by one, she placed all four on the wagon seat.

“Come visit any time you like,” said Gillis, licking his lips. He winked and lifted a pie in each large hand. “Lift your wife down so she can visit Pru, and we can have at these pies.”

“Not until dinner!” Beth shook her finger at both men. They pouted, grinned at each other like five year olds, and then nodded. Trace lifted her down and followed her into the house, carrying the last set of pies.

“Elliotts and MacDougals help each other all the time,” said Trace. “That’s why our homes are the same, Pa and Fin built them together.”

“Not quite the same,” whispered Beth. “
They
have a wooden door on their bedroom rather than a curtain!”

“Ah, but Nevin and Malcolm are a wee bit shy,” said Gillis, not bothering to pretend he hadn’t heard. He set his burden on the kitchen table. “They’re not like Simon and Jack.” He winked, then laughed when heat rose up her face. “About time those lads found some good luck.” He waited for Trace’s hands to be free before slapping him on the back, hard. “How ye been, old man?”

“You don’t want me to upset Pru by showing her how I can still grind your face into the mud.”

“She’s been moody the last few days. Mayhaps it would make her laugh. But warn me first. I wouldnae want to dirty me kilt.”

“If I’ve been moody, you’ve been a fair grump, Gillis MacDougal.” With a swish of soft fabric, Prudence entered the room. “Out of my kitchen,” she said. She made shooing motions to the two giant men.

“We’ve got our marching orders,” said Gillis. He shook his finger at his wife. “Don’t eat all the pie, my love. I’m already hungry.” He gently kissed her cheek and pushed Trace out the door.

“He’s always hungry,” said Prudence. She smiled at Beth. “Shall we have tea, or would you prefer black current cordial?”

“Cordial would be lovely.”

As Prudence filled two slender glasses, Beth spent a few minutes entranced by the picture quilts hanging from the parlor walls. She admired the rich ruby color of the cordial before sipping. The sweet berry tang erupted in her mouth. It was so good she drank more.

“I’ve never seen such beautiful art,” said Beth. “You must spend hours sewing.”

“I’m not physically strong, but I can work with my hands. I also tat lace.” She held up one hand to show the froth of white edging her cuff.

“It’s beautiful and finer than anything I’ve seen back East.”

Prudence beamed. “Would you like some? I have plenty to choose from.”

“Oh, I couldn’t.”

“Elizabeth Elliott, you brought my hulking husband four hot pies. That’s worth a few inches of lace!”

“Thank you,” said Beth. “I could use some to edge a special nightgown I’m sewing.”

“You wear nightgowns in bed?”

Beth remembered the deep kiss she saw Pru share with her husband in Patsy’s store. Beth needed another woman who could understand her life. Who else but the wife of her husband’s dearest friend?

“Not for long,” she whispered. She held her breath.

Pru’s face colored deep pink. “Gill is so eager some evenings I finally made one with a tie at the throat. One pull and I’m all his,” she whispered back.

Their eyes met, sharing understanding. One started snickering, then the other. They toasted each other and sipped. Pru offered Beth a seat on an upholstered sofa someone had hauled a long way west. They soon set their empty glasses on the table in front of them.

“This is lovely cordial,” said Beth. “I feel rather lightheaded.”

“Isn’t it grand? I fear Mrs. Jones adds quite a dose of spirits, but it is a treat.” She filled both their small glasses. They sipped contentedly for a few minutes.

“I will have to get her recipe.” Beth smiled at Prudence. “Thank you for inviting me. You’ve got more color today than when we met in the mercantile. Are you feeling better?”

“The heat and dry air are good for my lungs. I have more energy too,” she said, blushing, “to do what one does to become a mother.”

Beth returned Prudence’s hopeful smile, pleased the other woman was just as honest and open. “That should make your husband very happy.”

“Yes and no. His mother died in childbirth. He thinks I might as well.”

“What do you think?”

Pru looked out the window, blinking hard. “I think I can have a baby. But I’m not strong enough for the West. I thought I was, but I was a fool. And now it’s too late. I’m married to a wonderful man whose life is in Montana Territory.”

“Wouldn’t he move East to care for you?”

“He would do anything for me. Anything.” Pru raised both her eyebrows. “Can you see Gillis in a stuffy Boston parlor? That big, hairy, orange man with his booming voice and Scottish accent?” She shook her head. “Gillis needs to live here, where he grew up. I’ve had this cough so long I know it will never leave. Even if we moved East, I’d only live a few years longer.” She turned away, quickly blinking.

Beth said a silent prayer while her new friend settled herself. “If there’s any way I can help, anything at all, I’ll do it for you.”

“Thank you.” Prudence took a deep breath. “I have a younger sister, Amelia. She’s four years younger than I and much smarter.” Prudence shrugged. “My sister doesn’t do silly things like run away to find adventure, marry the first handsome man who asks for her hand, and follow him into the wilderness.”

“Is she married?”

Pru shook her head. “Amelia’s face was burned when she rushed in to rescue a child from a neighbor’s burning home. It took a long time to heal. She thinks she’s hideous to look at, that no man would ever want her. She has some scarring on one side of her face but so do many others.” Pru smoothed her skirt. “I know she wants children, but she won’t look for a husband.”

“If she takes the Bride Train, she’s bound to find one.”

Pru shook her head. “She refuses to show her face to strangers. In any case, she says she won’t leave one home before knowing she has another.”

“I can understand that. My stomach was in knots every minute until Trace first put his arms around me. Only then did I feel safe.”

“You’re much taller than Amelia. She’d be even more frightened. I suggested she marry Gillis’s younger brother, Nevin. She’s eighteen, he’s nineteen, and neither one of them are likely to marry otherwise. He won’t go East and she won’t come West without a husband. Gillis said they could marry by proxy. I suggested Amelia bring a companion with her on the train, an older woman, one who knows more about the dangers a young, shy woman would face. Perhaps a widow who wishes to come West for a better life.”

Beth thought of all the nights she curled in the corner of the rail car. At first it was fun to chat with the other women but as brides left the train, the car filled up with others. Some of the men thought the women were eager for men. Beth always kept a few hat pins within easy grasp. With a companion, they could sleep in shifts, one protecting the other.

“Having a friend would have made my journey far more pleasant,” said Beth. “Is Nevin like Gillis?”

A ladylike snort emerged from Prudence. “Pardon me, but when you meet Nevin, you’ll see why I laugh. All they have in common is their father’s bright blue eyes. Gillis is big, red, loud, and hairy. Nevin has a lot of his mother in him. Dark hair, and little of it, unlike my bear of a husband. Nev is quiet but solid.”

“If your sister is shy, she may prefer that type of husband.”

“Amelia’s only shy with strangers, but yes, Nevin would suit her.” Pru played with the lace on her sleeve. “If someone tried to hurt me, Gillis would rage and roar, killing them with whatever was close at hand. Nevin would first make sure I was safe. He’d fade into the forest and go after them, knowing Ross would stay and keep us safe. Only when he’d found them, faced them with what they’d done, and helped them leave this world, would he return.”

“I can see Trace reacting like Gillis, and Simon like Nevin. And Jack?” Beth looked at the floor for a moment. “Jack’s a charmer. Once he made sure I was safe, he’d go after them. He’d find a way to get close without them discovering who he was. I can see him setting them up, maybe forcing them into a draw, and killing them openly. No one would know why except the two of them.”

Both women sat for a moment, thinking as they sipped.

“I do apologize. This is not a subject for afternoon tea, is it?” said Prudence.

“We aren’t silly misses in a stuffy parlor back East. We’re surrounded by miles of treacherous mountains and worse miners, the only brides within fifty miles. Whatever we say stays between us.”

“I do like you, Elizabeth Elliott.” Prudence lifted the half-empty bottle from the table. “More cordial? After all, we are celebrating your wedding.”

“Yes, please!”

After filling their glasses Prudence tilted her head and looked at Beth.

“I want Amelia to find a husband who cares for her no matter what. I think she and Nevin are right for each other.”

“What do they say?”

“Nevin is agreeable. In fact, he’s rather eager to meet her.” She hesitated a moment. “You see, because of Amelia’s face, she doesn’t judge people by their looks. Nevin and Ross are sensitive to that. But, while Ross rebels, flaunting his differences, Nevin withdraws.”

“They are dark like their mother, Sunbird.”

“Yes.” Pru twisted her damp handkerchief around her fingers. Her eyes moved around the room, not settling.

“There’s something else, isn’t there? Please, you can ask me anything,” said Beth.

A flush rose from Pru’s snug collar. “Do you mind if I undo this top button? The men won’t return until I ring the dinner bell.”

Beth nodded and flicked open her own tight collar. Since marrying Trace, she rarely wore anything constricting. She’d even debated whether to wear drawers under her petticoats but decided on decorum. Trace had snorted but not refused her. Good thing, as she was learning to do as she chose no matter what he said.

“That’s better,” said Pru, waving her hand in front of her face. Like Beth, she’d opened more than one button. “Gillis says you’re a good wife to the Elliott men.” She caught Beth’s eyes. “Not just Trace, but his brothers.”

Beth knew this would happen but not when. A flash of heat hit her from both embarrassment and arousal from recent memories. She was now the one smoothing her skirts with trembling hands.

“You knew this, yet you invited me into your home?”

“MacDougals and Elliotts have stood beside each other since they met in 1844. My in-laws raised four Elliotts in Texas. The ones I’ve met are decent men. I will not deny myself the friendship of another woman who does not care if she ruffles the feathers of those biddies in town. We are friends?”

“Friends.” Beth exhaled the breath she hadn’t realized she’d held. “And thank you. From our one meeting, I thought you wouldn’t be too judgmental, but one never knows.”

“Given the choices you had to make, I believe you chose well. You certainly look happy with Trace.”

“I am, when I’m not trying to knock his head off his stubborn, manly shoulders.”

The two young women shared a relieved laugh.

“When I die, will you help Amelia?”

“Oh, Pru, don’t say that.”

“I want to have a baby.” She rested her hand on her flat belly. “Some nights I lie awake worrying I might not be able to raise my child because of my cough.”

“Accidents and sickness can happen anytime, to anyone.” Beth gently touched Prudence’s knee. “You must have heard that Trace’s parents died of a spring fever when he was sixteen and the youngest only ten. We have no control over what God sends us. Since you know you are ill, you will take better care of yourself.”

Prudence’s expression lightened. “Thank you for that. But if Amelia marries Nevin, my baby will have a mother and maybe an aunt as well. My only concern is that my husband will be without a wife.” She raised her chin and looked Beth in the eyes. “If I sicken, before I die, I want Amelia to promise she’ll try to share herself with Gillis and Ross. Once she meets them, I know she’ll care for them as much as I do. But she needs to know that someone else, someone wonderful like you, does the same.”

The cordial reduced Beth’s reaction to Pru’s statement. She heard the words yet did not feel shocked.

“Do you share yourself with your brothers-in-law?”

Pru shook her head. “I told Gillis I would if he wished, but Nevin said no.” A flush rose on her cheeks. “I love my husband very much. But I also love his brothers. They are so different yet they all attract me. Nevin and Ross have lovely, smooth copper skin. Sometimes I watch them. The way their muscles move when they work hard. How their long fingers run along the flanks of their horses.”