The Marriage Bargain

Edward tossed his dirty clothes into a pile by the bedroom door. His cabin wasn’t grand, but it wasn’t small. If he’d built it himself, it would not have had two bedrooms, but the house was part of the deal when he’d bought his blacksmith shop from the previous owner. As soon as he was old enough, he’d moved out on his own to escape the stepmother his father had brought home shortly after his dear mother had died. She’d given no affection to him or Jane. Time and again he’d wished his father had never married her. Finding work as an apprentice to the town blacksmith had given him a purpose and place in life.

Eventually he’d nurtured a vague hope of one day having a family of his own. But over the years, he’d found it safer to retreat alone at night into the sanctuary of his home. His mistrust of women in general was based on years of watching his father’s wife take advantage of his father. Her sweet facade had quickly faded after she’d convinced his father to marry her. She’d never truly loved him and had been horrid to Edward and Jane. Nothing they did was ever good enough for her. She’d settled into their home as mistress and ordered them about in her aloof manner, as though she felt them beneath her care or attention. Jane had been too young when she married, but until Wesley had whisked her away to Santa Fe, Edward had thought it was for the best.

Edward stripped the linens from the bed and added them to the pile by the door. A small crate from the back porch would suffice for his personal items. He put his shaving cup and brush in and then tossed in the small mirror from the top of his chest of drawers. He pulled a rag from his back pocket and took a swipe at the dust on top of the furniture.

Backing up in the doorway, he took a last look around. Not what he’d have done in normal circumstances for bringing home a wife, but it was the best he could manage in the half hour she’d allotted him. He stowed the small crate in a corner near the stove and gathered up the laundry. He tossed it onto the workbench on the back porch and headed back into the front room.

A light rapping sounded on the door, and his breath caught. He was doing this for Ellen. She needed a mother. Life might be upside down, but that little girl would always have a home with him.

He lifted the latch on the door and pulled it open. Lily stood in the street at the bottom of the porch steps. She must have knocked and backed as far away as she could.

He dragged his palms down the sides of his pants. “Hi.”

Pink color soaked into Lily’s cheeks. She really was a beautiful lady. At this moment, she must be just as nervous as he was. “Hello.”

Edward stepped through the doorway. “Did you get everything packed?”

“Everything I’ll need until we can move the furniture.” She didn’t look at him.

He reached inside the cabin and took his hat from the peg by the door. “Okay. I’ll go get everything, then.” He pushed the hat onto his head and walked down the porch steps.

She hesitated. “Would you mind if I took a look inside first?”

“Inside the cabin?”

“Yes. I want to see how much space there is, so I can decide what to bring and what to leave behind.”

“Oh.” He took the hat off again. “That makes sense.” He shrugged his shoulders and lifted an arm to invite her up the steps. He heard a thump and turned to see the door of the livery open. Jim Robbins stood in front of his place and made no effort to hide his interest in the goings-on at Edward’s house. Edward turned and looked up the street. Mrs. Winters was sweeping the sidewalk in front of the post office. He pivoted and saw Will Thomas in the doorway of the lumber mill.

Edward put his hat back on and took Lily by the elbow. “It seems we’re being watched.”

She followed his gaze and saw the obvious interest their neighbors were showing. She giggled like a schoolgirl. It was a light sound, like water over rocks in a stream in summertime. “You’d think there was a fire or something.”

He chuckled. “One would think so.”

“What should we do? Wave? Or ignore them.”

He drew in a breath. “Do you trust me?”

“I believe I’ve proved that already. After all, I did marry you less than an hour ago.”

Mr. Croft walked by on the street and tipped his hat. He made a show of greeting Mr. Robbins when he arrived at the livery.

Edward leaned in close. “What goes on here will affect us all. How well your business does, and how well our marriage is accepted. All of it could have consequences for us and for Ellen.”

Lily looked over his shoulder and nodded. “I’d say this town is very interested in us at the moment. I hope it will fade in time. Quickly, would be my preference.”

“Then I say we do our part to keep the busybodies from having anything to talk about.”

“How do you propose to do that?”

“By living the part of a normal married couple.”

Lily’s eyes grew wide.

He gave her elbow a slight squeeze. “What I meant to say is if we give every indication of being a normal married couple, when we’re outside the cabin, no one looking will have any reason to question our relationship. The best way for them to concentrate on someone else is for there to be nothing to see here.”

“I think I see what you mean.” Her face relaxed.

“Good. So we’re agreed?”

She nodded.

“Here we go, then.” Edward leaned close and, with one hand behind her back and another behind her knees, he scooped her off her feet.

Caught unawares, she gave a tiny yelp and wrapped her arms around his neck. She whispered close to his ear. “What are you doing?”

“I’m carrying you across the threshold.” He climbed the steps and walked into the cabin. He turned in the doorway and kicked the door closed with his foot.

Lily laughed. “I think I may have married a deranged man.”

Edward laughed and set her on her feet. He put the distance of the room between them. “Not deranged.” He closed the shutters across one of the front windows. “But never happy to be the center of attention.” He closed the other shutters and dropped into a chair at the table.

Lily stepped to the cabinet next to the stove and looked out of the window that faced Main Street. “Then why did you make such a scene? Mr. Winters has joined his wife on the sidewalk, and they’re talking to Mr. Croft. Mrs. Winters is smiling and looking in our direction.”

“Close the shutters.” Edward leaned back in the chair and stretched his legs out in front of him.

“It’s the middle of the afternoon.”

“I know. But if you don’t want them walking by on this side of the street and trying to peek in the window, you’ll close the shutters.”

Lily swung the shutters closed. The dim interior of the room was lit only by the fire. He marveled again at how gracefully she moved.

He went to the stove and set the coffee to warm. “Why don’t you sit by the fire? You’ve got to be bone tired.”

A slight shrug of her shoulders was the only response.

“It’s not the day either of us planned.” He opened a tin of cookies Mrs. Dismuke had brought for Ellen. His niece might not want him to share her treats, but he’d deal with her later.

Lily sat on the edge of a chair facing the fire. “Nothing has gone like I planned for most of my life.” He watched the back of her head as she shook it slowly back and forth. “I’d so hoped things would be different in Pine Haven.”

Edward poured two cups of coffee. “Do you drink coffee?”

“Yes.” She didn’t turn away from the fire. Her shoulders slumped forward.

He brought a cup to her and set the tin of cookies on the table by her chair. “This might help you.” He retrieved his cup and sat on the bench in front of the fire facing her.

She sipped the brew, and her face twisted. “Oh, my.”