MB02 - A Noble Groom (28 page)

“Maybe he’s dead,” offered Herr Mueller, vocalizing Carl’s suspicions.

Peter peered at Annalisa. “I need to have Herr Pastor write Matthias another letter to find out what happened.”

“I agree,” Carl said. “Even so, the letter would likely take months to reach Matthias. And you probably wouldn’t hear back from him until next spring.”

“And will you stay this long to help Annalisa?”

At Peter’s question, the eyes of all the other men turned upon Carl, burning into him like the sun that was beating down on his back. The sourness of horse and man sweat mingled with the sweet earthiness of cut hay.

He shook his head. “I can’t. I’ve already made plans to move to Chicago—”

“If you stay, I’ll let you marry Annalisa in the spring.”

Marry Annalisa in the spring? Carl glanced at her again. She had turned and was watching them. When her gaze collided with his, she ducked her head and resumed dressing the squirming infant.

“Although I didn’t hold out much hope for you when you first arrived,” Peter continued, “you’ve turned into a hard worker.”

Carl nodded his thanks. “I didn’t hold out much hope for myself either.” When he thought back to the man he’d been when he first arrived, he wasn’t so sure he could go back to being that man again. He’d been weak and arrogant and naive.

Could he even return to the same lifestyle? How could he live with everything he needed or wanted at his disposal, now that he knew how hard others labored for the things he’d always taken for granted, like a filling meal or clean clothes?

“Besides, I see the way you look at my daughter.” Peter grinned. “And I know that you would take her to your bed as your wife if you could.”

The others guffawed, and Herr Mueller slapped Carl on the back. He was just glad that his weeks having to live with Annalisa hadn’t brought about anything more than a few raised eyebrows and whispers. He supposed everyone else had been too busy dealing with the typhoid to worry about him and Annalisa.

Heat crawled up his sweat-drenched neck, and he avoided looking at Annalisa again.

“If we’ve heard nothing from Dirk or Matthias by spring, then the farm and Annalisa will be yours,” Peter said as if offering him a prize mare. “You’ll be free to do with her as you please.”

Idette and the other woman drew nearer with the buckets of water.

Could he really stay and take Annalisa as his wife? The thought sent a shimmer of wild anticipation through his gut.

“If your cousin is dead,” Herr Mueller said, spitting a glob of tobacco juice onto the hard, cracked field, “then why wait until spring? Why not have them marry now?”

Several of the other farmers nodded.

Carl’s blood pumped faster. If Dirk were dead—as he suspected—then Annalisa would need a new prospect for a husband.

Why not him? Did he even dare consider marrying Annalisa and staying permanently?

But Peter’s gaze narrowed on him, as if once again trying to solve a mystery. “What if Dirk shows up—next week, or next month? What will I give him if not Annalisa and her farm?”

The farmers were silent.

Idette approached the group, her face a mask of indifference. Her father reached for the bucket, but she ignored him and turned to Carl, holding the dipper to him first. She looked him directly in the eyes, and the intensity there told him she’d heard their conversation.

“Thank you,” Carl said. He took the ladle and lifted the tepid water to his parched lips. Some of the farmers’ wells had already dried up, and fresh cold water was becoming a rarity.

She didn’t respond, except that her eyes pleaded with him silently, as if she was begging him to marry Annalisa.

He could understand her urgency. She wanted to keep Annalisa safe from a marriage like hers. Every time he thought about Annalisa wedding herself to a stranger, possibly someone abusive like Leonard, he nearly went crazy.

But could he really marry Annalisa?

Idette moved to the next man, but not before she silently pleaded with him again.

Carl’s mind began to whirl like a freshly greased gear. “
If
Dirk comes,” he began, “he’d be a fool to expect any woman to put her life on hold for him. He would assume that any smart woman would think of her farm and her needs first.”

Peter started to retort, but paused, his eyes wide in thought.

Carl hurried to present a sound argument. “After these many months have elapsed with no word of his whereabouts, he’d expect you to do what’s necessary to ensure Annalisa’s well-being.”

Except for the slurping of the men taking turns drinking water, silence descended over the group.

Carl’s breath stuck in his chest. What was he doing? Why was he contemplating marrying Annalisa?

He couldn’t. Not when he’d already made other plans with Fritz and was ready to move to Chicago. Sure, he didn’t have anything solid lined up yet for a teaching position. He would probably have to wait until the following semester or even next year. Nevertheless, he needed to go where he belonged.

And he didn’t belong here among these men. Did he?

Peter eyed him again, this time from his dusty, sweat-encrusted hat down to his scuffed boots.

Carl resisted the urge to squirm. And what about his deception regarding his identity? How could he marry Annalisa without telling her the truth about who he really was?

Peter wouldn’t even be considering letting Annalisa marry him if he knew he was Baron von Reichart’s son. He’d impale him with a pitchfork instead.

“I don’t know . . .” Peter said.

“You’re right,” Carl said quickly. “It wouldn’t work.” There were too many reasons why he couldn’t marry her. But the biggest barrier between them was the fact that he was a sworn enemy of her family. Even if he’d been able to ignore the guilt of his deception over the past couple of months, how could he live a lie the rest of his life? Wouldn’t the guilt eventually turn his soul black?

And besides, he didn’t love her. He couldn’t deny that he was attracted to her and cared about her. But attraction wasn’t enough to base a marriage on.

When he’d stood beside his mother’s grave and realized she’d died of a broken heart, he decided he’d never marry a woman unless he was truly in love with her. He didn’t want to jump into marriage for the wrong reasons.

Did he have the right reasons for considering marriage to Annalisa?

Of course he wanted to help her save her farm and keep her safe from Ward when he came back from Detroit. And he enjoyed being with her and Gretchen and Sophie.

But was that enough?

“We’ll give it a little more time,” Peter offered.

Carl turned to the windrow, to the piles of hay that still needed loading. He jabbed his pitchfork into the bundle of alfalfa, ready to get back to work and forget about the discussion about marrying Annalisa.

“I can only stay until after the harvest,” he said. “I’ll help Annalisa prepare for winter, but then I must leave.”

Annalisa hugged Idette good-bye and pressed her hands against her sister’s thin cheeks, grateful for once that her beautiful face wasn’t marred with the bruises and cuts that had become all too common.

Idette stood back and looked at Sophie’s sleeping face, peeking out from the sling Annalisa had sewn for carrying the baby. With both hands free, Annalisa was able to keep Sophie under her watchful eye and yet undertake the many tasks that needed doing during harvest.

“You must come visit soon,” Annalisa said, wishing she knew a way to bring the smiles back to her sister’s face.

Idette shook her head. “Len doesn’t want me visiting.”

“Maybe when we have our barn raising?”

Idette shrugged and then glanced sideways at the men.

The sky had continued to darken, and the air had grown heavy with the scent of rain. They’d finished the day early, allowing time for everyone to return home and pray for a steady downpour.

She couldn’t bear to think about what would happen if they didn’t get more rain soon. Without the usual rainfall, the wheat and oats had brought her only half of what they’d earned last harvest. And now she would need a strong crop of corn and potatoes to have a chance at paying off her loan.

If the remainder of her crop suffered, she might as well pack her few belongings and give the farm to Ward.

But she couldn’t let that happen, not after she’d worked so hard the past several years to make sure they could keep the farm. Somehow she’d have to find a way to earn the remainder of her loan money.

“I overheard Vater,” Idette whispered. Then she glanced at Leonard, who was congregated with the other men. He’d kept Idette so busy throughout the day that she’d had little time to socialize with the women. “He was planning your marriage to Carl.”

Annalisa’s heartbeat careened to a halt. She looked over to where Carl stood. His shirt was plastered to his back, outlining the muscles he’d developed over the summer. He said something to Uri and then shoved the boy playfully as they loaded the back of the wagon with tools and supplies.

Since the barn fire, she’d tried harder to keep from caring about him, had tried to tell herself Carl would be safest if he left Forestville and all her problems.

But was Vater ready to make other plans?

With each passing day she’d begun to believe Dirk would never come. Perhaps now, after all these weeks, Vater was ready to let go of Dirk’s coming too and listen to what the neighbors were saying—that something must have happened or he would have arrived by now.

“What did Carl say to Vater’s suggestion?” she whispered, hardly daring to breathe, not sure if she should admit to herself just how much she loved him and wanted to be with him.

“He didn’t agree to it.” Idette glanced around warily. “But I could tell he wants to.”

“Do you think so?”

“You need to convince Carl to stay.” Idette lowered her voice. “Maybe you can conceive his baby.”

Annalisa gasped. “Idette! How could you say such a thing?” She couldn’t look at Carl lest he see the mortification rushing over her. “It would be wrong. I cannot even think of it.”

“You
must
find a way to keep him here,” Idette said. “Otherwise he’ll leave after the harvesting is done—”

Leonard grabbed Idette’s arm and yanked her away from Annalisa. Somehow he’d managed to approach them without their knowledge, and now he pressed his lips together, and his eyes were dark with displeasure. “Don’t you have work that needs to be done?”

Idette flinched but didn’t say anything.

Leonard nodded toward the children, who were running in circles near the barn, chasing each other and laughing. “I told you to watch the children and keep them from being too loud.”

Annalisa spotted Gretchen, her little legs barely able to keep up with the older children in their game of fox and geese. But she was breathless and laughing and happy.

Idette’s features hardened, but still she didn’t say anything to her husband.

“Stop being idle,” he said under his breath. His grip tightened around Idette’s upper arm so that his fingers whitened. “Go do as I’ve told you.”

Idette glanced at the children, and then she waited a moment before pulling herself out of her husband’s grip and starting toward the children. She walked with slow, defiant steps.

Leonard’s jaw flexed. Swiftly, without warning, he shoved her so that she was left with little choice but to move faster, except that she stumbled, tripped on the hem of her skirt and fell to her knees.

She gave a muffled cry of pain and cradled her wrist, which she’d used to brace her fall.

Carl stopped his bantering with Uri. His narrowed eyes went from Leonard to Idette and back again. Anger crowded out the playfulness, leaving his expression as cloudy as the evening sky.

All the fear and anguish Annalisa had harbored for her sister over the past months rose to taunt her. She started toward her sister, but Leonard was at Idette’s side in two strides.

He wrenched her up as if she were nothing more than a swathe of hay and pushed her forward again.

The other farmers had paused in their conversations to watch. And although none of them said anything, the censure on some of their faces said they thought Leonard had been too harsh with his wife—especially publicly.

“She’s easily distracted from her work,” Leonard explained with a tight smile. “And I’m always having to direct her and keep her on task. It’s very annoying.”

Vater frowned at Leonard. She’d heard him have sharp words with Leonard over Idette on several occasions, but that hadn’t stopped Leonard from treating Idette the way he wanted. After all, a man could discipline his wife however he saw fit, including the use of physical force. Everyone knew the German common law allowed it.

Annalisa wanted to chase after Idette and hug her. But she had the feeling she’d only be causing more trouble for her sister if she did so.

Carl approached Leonard with lightning flashing in his stormy eyes. “Your wife’s a very hard worker. In fact, she worked harder than any of the other women here today.”

Leonard’s fake smile disappeared. He crossed his arms and raised his brows, revealing cold eyes. “Are you telling me you were watching my wife today?”