Mail Order Melody (4 page)

"My mother did her best to teach me everything I'd need to know," she said, not willing to say more.

He waited for a further explanation, but when he didn't get it, he changed the subject. "Were you an only child?"

"No, I have a sister. She's two years older than me. I have two
nephews who are twelve and ten. They still live in the town where I grew up in Upstate New York." She hadn't seen her family in two years. She had last seen them for Christmas. She couldn't even
begin
to express how much she missed them. "My sister's a widow," she added as an afterthought.

"I bet you're a fun auntie."

She smiled. "I try to be. I'm not very good with children, though." It was something she wanted to improve before she had a chance to have children of her own.

"You're not?" He thought about that statement for a moment, before asking a question that occurred to him. "You want children, though, don't you?"

"Yes, I really do. I think I'll be better with my own. I want at least a dozen!"

He stared at her in surprise before letting out a bark of
laughter
. "A dozen? Is that all?"

She grinned. "I don't want to be greedy." She was glad he took her words for what they were which was a jest. She did want
children
and would gladly take as many as God gave her, but she'd be content with just two or three if that's all she was blessed with.

He put his lips against her ear and whispered, "I'll be happy to help you make them."

She blushed furiously. "You're not supposed to say that to me." Did he not understand anything about manners or propriety?

"You're my wife. I can talk about how much I like your body and how much I want you." His arm that was around her shoulders squeezed her tighter. He hadn't expected to enjoy being with his wife nearly as much as he did. She was fun to tease, though, and he was happy to know that he'd enjoy time with her both in and out of bed.

When she didn't respond, he started to sing to her, a folk song that he really enjoyed singing. He didn't notice her cringe at his singing, and sang loudly and happily the whole way.

Eliza bought only the things she needed, and did her best to keep some of her face hidden by her bonnet so she wouldn't be recognized. She bought enough fabric for three aprons and two new flannel shirts for him. She also bought knitting needles and some
yarn
, planning to make him a scarf for Christmas. She had no idea what he really wanted or needed, and the holiday was only a few weeks away.

As they were loading their supplies, Calvin waved to a young couple in a farm wagon. When they stopped, he introduced her. 'This is my wife, Eliza. Eliza, these are our neighbors, Abigail and Stanley Bond."

Eliza smiled up at the other woman whose hand was resting on her swollen belly. She looked to be about midway through her pregnancy to Eliza's uneducated eyes. Eliza hurried forward. "It's so nice to meet you!"

Abigail smiled down at her shyly. "I'm happy to have a woman close by finally. We don't have many around these parts."

"That's what I hear." Eliza wondered how to request what she
needed. "Why don't you come over tomorrow afternoon for tea? I'll make us an afternoon snack." She hadn't had time to just sit and talk to another woman for years. Her conversation with Elizabeth in Beckham was the longest she'd had in a long while.

Abigail nodded, her face lighting up. "I'd like that a lot. What time would you like me to come?"

Eliza thought about that for a moment. "Let's say two? Would that be all right?" That would give her time to clean up after lunch and start dinner before the other woman arrived. She could also bake some kind of treat if she could find a recipe for one in her cookbook.

"I'll be there."

Stanley raised his hand in farewell as he drove off down the street.

Eliza turned to Calvin and smiled. "I haven't had a female friend in so long, I barely remember what it's like." She was all but bouncing up and down in her excitement.

Calvin couldn't help but wonder why she hadn't been around women, but he didn't ask. When she wanted him to know more about her past, she'd tell him. "You'll really like Abigail. I've never met a sweeter woman."

For a moment, Eliza wondered if he wished he'd been the one
to marry the younger woman, but she realized that he probably just admired her. He didn't seem the type to stray from his wife, even in his thoughts.

The whole drive home, Eliza thought about how she'd broach the subject of getting help with her chores from Abigail. She didn't really need the other woman to help her do them, of course, she just needed to be shown the correct way to do many of them. She was very excited to think about having a friend.

When Eliza didn't talk on the way home, Calvin again sang to her, obviously enjoying the sound of his own voice. She couldn't believe he couldn't hear just how bad he was. Maybe after supper she'd give him a treat and let him hear some real singing.

She fixed cornbread to go with the beans, finding a recipe for it in her new cookbook. While she cooked, she thought about how she'd sing for him that evening. Maybe while she was sewing his shirt, she'd break into song and let him hear her. She knew he'd admire her songs. He loved to sing so much how could he not?

He ate the supper she fixed wholeheartedly, obviously enjoying her cooking. She felt more comfortable with the meal she'd fixed today than the one from yesterday. She'd spend some time with the cookbook, learning how to make gravy and everything else she could. She certainly wanted him to be able to eat his fill every
night without worrying that her food was disgusting.

He started singing while she was doing dishes, and she wanted to tell him to stop because he was hurting her ears. She didn't, though. When he finished his first song, she broke into an aria from
Carmen
called "Habanera."
Carmen
was a relatively new opera, only twelve years old, so she was certain he wouldn't have heard it yet.

She continued to wash the dishes as she sang, her vocal range shown off beautifully by the French song. When she finished, she stood waiting for his reaction, expecting him to do as many other men had done and tell her he loved
her on
the spot.

Calvin waited a moment after she finished singing. "That was right pretty, but I don't know whatever that language was. Do you know 'Yankee Doodle?' That's one of my favorites."

Eliza gaped at him in shock for a moment. Had he really just asked her, one of the most well-known mezzo sopranos in the country, to sing "Yankee Doodle?" It took her a moment to find her voice. "No, I don't believe I know that one."

"Here, I'll teach it to you." He broke into song once more. Somehow she didn't run from the house with her ears covered screaming into the night. It was close, but she managed to control herself.

After the dishes, she sank into a chair and carefully took apart the shirt she'd ruined, knowing it would be the easiest way to get his size and make the shirt like the other had been. She didn't say anything as he continued to regale her with folk songs, making her wish she had something, anything, to wad up in her ears to block out the sound.

*****

When Abigail arrived the following afternoon, Eliza had tea and cookies made for the two of them to share. After they were seated, Eliza brought up the real reason she'd invited her over. "I am really hopeless when it comes to some of the household chores. I was hoping you'd be willing to help me learn to do some things. I'm making a stew for dinner, and I have no idea how to thicken it." She'd scoured the cookbook, but she couldn't find anything that would teach her what she needed to do.

Abigail smiled. "Oh, I'd be happy to help you." She took a sip of her tea, reaching for a third cookie. "I'm not always so greedy for sweets, but apparently the little one likes them."

Eliza smiled, happy to know the younger woman was willing to talk a bit about her pregnancy. "When are you due?" she asked,
eyeing the huge mound that was the other woman's stomach.

"Oh, not until March. I'm ready, though." Abigail patted her stomach lovingly. "I'm really hoping fora boy."

"That would be nice. Is there a midwife in the area to help you?"

Abigail shrugged. "Not really a midwife, but there's a woman who helps people have babies. She just hasn't had any formal training."

"Does that scare you?" Eliza couldn't imagine having a baby without a doctor or midwife right beside her.

"Not really. She's delivered over a hundred babies. I'm sure I'll do fine."

Eliza nodded. She'd still be frightened, but she didn't want to say that. She quickly changed the subject so she wouldn't blurt anything out about it. "Calvin seems to think I'm going to want to fix up the house somehow, but I can't see anything wrong with it. Do you know what he meant?"

Abigail gaped at her in surprise. "I'm sure he meant things like curtains and a table cloth. Your house would be so much prettier that way."

Eliza looked around and noticed for the first time those things weren't there. "Oh. I never thought of that." She'd been
surrounded by fine things for so long, she honestly didn't realize they were missing. Traveling from one hotel to another had taught her to appreciate wherever she was for the good qualities, but not to dwell on what was lacking. "I guess I'll need more fabric then, won't I?"

"If
you want help with them, I'm happy to come over."

Eliza smiled at the offer. "Why don't you teach me the few things I really need to do now, and then we'll maybe meet up every Wednesday for lunch so I can ask questions?" She was thrilled the other woman was willing to go along with her plan to get help. Maybe she could hide how inept she was from Calvin for a while longer.

Abigail nodded. "I'd like that a lot. Calvin is such a nice man. I'm glad he found you."

*****

That evening after the dishes were finished, and she'd completed his shirt for him, she wrote a quick letter to her sister just to let her know that she was safe and all right. Instead of sending it directly to her sister, though, she wrote to her sister's mother- in-law and asked her to pass the message along. She didn't want
to be found through her sister.

"Dear Beulah, I wanted to let you know that I've married and settled in Missouri. I don't want anyone to find me here, so please, have your mother-in-law send any correspondence for you. I've married a sweet man named Calvin Simpson, and I wish with all my heart that he either loved to sing a bit less, or he could hear when he misses every single note. He has a nice voice, but he can't carry a tune in an airtight bucket. He's a good man, though, and I'm happy to be his wife. I wish I was closer to you and the boys, but I have no real choice in the matter. Give Gavin and Jack- son my love. Watch out for them and for yourself. There are bad people in this world. All my love, Eliza."

When she finished the letter, she got it ready to mail.

"Who are you writing?" Calvin asked as she set the letter on the table to be mailed.

"My sister, Beulah. She'll worry if she doesn't hear from me." Of course, the real reason she was writing is so she could make certain her sister was safe. She was the worrier, not the other way around. She wished she could be with her sister and make certain she was always safe.

"You said she's in upstate New York, right?" He'd never been that far east, having been raised in Ohio.

"Yes, with her two boys." Eliza wasn't willing to give even him a lot of information about her family, because she was so worried something would happen to them. She needed them to be safe.

He nodded, watching her carefully. There was something she wasn't telling him, but he had no idea what it was. She was a good wife to him, and at the moment that was all that mattered.

Eliza stood and stretched. "I'm going to get ready for bed," she told him. "You do work on Saturdays, don't you?" She'd never known anyone other than a teacher who took Saturdays off work, but she had to ask.

"Yup. Of course I do. I take Sundays off for the Sabbath, but that's the only time."

"Give me a few minutes to get ready." She left the room quickly, hurrying up the stairs.
She was always worried he'd come into the room while she was washing up and putting her nightgown on.

After cleaning up, she slipped between the sheets, already quivering with anticipation. Every night when he climbed into bed beside her, he'd kiss her and stroke her and do everything he could to make her feel like the most beautiful woman alive. Tonight would be no different she was certain.

Calvin walked slowly up the stairs to their bedroom, making certain to give her enough time to change, but knowing he was
going to do things a bit differently that night. Every night so far, he'd turned down the lamp before getting undressed and going to bed. Tonight, he was going to leave the light on and look at her lovely body as he touched her.

He knocked on the door and went in, moving to the water bowl. He pulled his shirt out of his pants without looking at her, but he knew she was watching him. He could feel her heated gaze on his skin. He removed his shirt, dropping it to the floor as he made use of the water in the bowl. When he unfastened his pants and dropped them he heard her gasp, but he didn't look her way.

Finally he turned to walk over to the bed and found her staring at him, her eyes glued to his erection. He expected to see a bit of fear in them, but not his sweet Eliza. No, she was looking at him with appreciation. There was no doubt in his mind then that she wanted him just as much as he wanted her. He wasn't going to stop tonight unless she asked him to. He wanted to be inside her, and she knew him well enough now to know he wouldn't hurt her. He said a quick prayer that she wouldn't ask him to stop.

Eliza was surprised that he hadn't turned off the light, but she enjoyed the view of his long, lean body the glow from the lamp afforded her. She studied every inch of his bare skin, pleased to finally be able to look at him. She watched as he climbed into bed
beside her, holding her breath as he moved to the middle of the bed as always and pulled her against him.

He hadn't been overly appreciative of her voice, which had surprised her, but she knew what her man wanted. She got onto her knees on the bed, and pulled her nightgown over her head, tossing it to the floor. Being that bold went against her nature and everything inside her, but she didn't care. He had been good to her, hiding her from her fears and being gentle when she'd messed up. She would give him the gift he'd been waiting for a week and a half early.

Calvin stared at her pink-tipped breasts, swallowing hard. He wanted to touch her. He
needed
to touch her. He got to his knees facing her, his hands reaching out to stroke down the sides of her breasts and over her slightly rounded stomach. "You're so beautiful."

She smiled, her hand stroking his cheek. "I'm a little rounder than most men like."

He shrugged. "I think you're perfect just the way you are." One hand stroked her breast, the thumb teasing her nipple. The other went straight down to her knee and gently moved up toward the juncture of her thighs. "I have to touch you."

Eliza nodded, her hands going out to grip his shoulders.

'Touch me anywhere."

He took her at her word, his hand going up to her core, one finger gently toying with her nub. "Spread your legs for me a little, sweetheart," he mumbled, his lips going to the side of her neck to distract her from what his hand was doing between her legs.

As soon as she moved her legs apart, his finger moved down, finding her center, and gliding gently inside. She was so tight around his finger, he almost groaned, wanting desperately to feel her gripping his manhood the same way she gripped his finger so tightly.

Eliza let out a low moan as his finger slid inside her. She'd never even dared to touch herself there, and this man, whom she'd only known for a few days, had his finger inside her. Her lips found his and pressed hard, her tongue venturing out to trace his lips.

Calvin slowly moved his finger in and out of her tight core, wanting nothing more than to end this torture. He needed her. Would she understand that? He broke the kiss, staring into her eyes as he added another finger to the first, still moving them both inside her. "I need you," he whispered.

She nodded slightly, her hand moving down his body and gripping his manhood in her hand. "I need you, too." As soon as
the words were out, she wanted to take them back, but she knew she couldn't. He needed to know that she was as aroused by their touching as he was.

He removed his fingers from her body, surprised by how wet they were from her moisture. Moving backward he pressed his back against the headboard of the bed and pulled her astride him, one of her thighs on either side of his. He carefully guided her down until the tip of his member was pressing inside her, just a bit.

Eliza stared at him with wide eyes. She hadn't expected him to pull her down over him, and she wasn't certain exactly what he wanted her to do. "I don't know how," she told him, wanting more of him inside her, filling the ache that spread through her entire body.

The sweat stood out on his brow from the effort it was taking to control his lust. "I'll help you," he murmured. "Press down and take me inside you." He wanted her to have control over the pain of her first time, and he wasn't going to force his way into her.

She put her hands on his shoulders to help leverage herself, and slowly let herself sink down onto him, the pain brief but sharp. Once he was fully embedded inside her, she leaned forward and kissed him. "I feel so full. It's strange," she whispered,
wondering if she was supposed to talk about it, but not knowing the protocol for having relations with her husband for the first time.

He gripped her bottom tightly, wanting her to take her time to get used to him inside her, but not too long. He wanted to tell her to relax and scream at her to move at the same time. She felt so good around him, but it was an exquisite torture. "You're so tight."

Her eyes widened. Was she hurting him? She hadn't considered it could be painful for him as well. "I'll get off. I don't want to hurt you." She started to move her hips and pulled mostly away from him, letting out a gasp of pleasure as he slid most of the way from her body.

He pulled her back down onto him, shaking his head. "No, it feels good. It feels...God, I can't describe it. So good."

She looked into his eyes, and realized that what she was seeing wasn't pain but lust. She liked that she could bring him to that state. Leaning forward, she pressed her face into his neck, nipping at it gently. "I like how it feels when you're moving inside me," she whispered, embarrassed at the confession. "Do I have to stay still?"

He groaned at her words, wishing she wasn't quite so innocent, but thrilled at the same time that he was her first. "No, we
need to move that way for me to spill my seed inside you."

Her eyes widened with surprise. "I didn't know."

He smiled, stroking her cheek. "Now you do." He moved his hand back to her hip and slowly guided her up and down, showing her the movements she needed to make to help them both find completion.

Eliza was surprised by just how good it felt to having him moving in and out of her. Her breathing was labored, and she could feel something tightening in her stomach. She needed something from him, but she didn't know what. She moved faster atop him, wanting to reach whatever elusive feeling was just out of her grasp.

Calvin held tight to her, letting her have her way. He kept a tight rein on his passion, not wanting to finish before she found completion. Watching her, he held her tightly as she threw her head back and panted, calling his name.

He gripped her hips and forced her to move a few more times until he finished, his seed spilling from his body inside her. He pulled her closer to him, her face going to the crook of his neck and his arms holding her tightly. He was still inside her as he stroked her back, trying to tell her without words just how much she'd pleased him.

She didn't know how long she sat with him that way, completely surrounding him, collapsed onto his hard body. Finally she slid upward, detaching herself from him and fell to the bed, lying on her side. "Why didn't you tell me it would feel so good?" she asked, immediately regretting the words. She shouldn't speak so freely, should she?

He laughed softly. "I had no idea it would feel like that." He moved down and pulled her against him, hugging her tightly. 'Thank you."

Eliza kissed his shoulder, pillowing her head. She was exhausted. "My pleasure." She giggled at her own words, not believing she could enjoy a physical act quite so much. Why, it was better than singing!

Calvin held her close as she fell asleep in his arms. All he could think about was doing it again. Maybe he'd wake her early in the morning. She wouldn't mind, would she?