Mail-Order Bride Ink: Dear Mr. Turner (12 page)

Now Eli laughed. “That’s a good description of Aideen.”

“Excuse me?” Pleasant said, not quite catching the name.

“Ay-
deen
,” he pronounced. “It’s an Irish name – ain’t that right, Lorcan?”

“Aye, as Irish as they come. She definitely has a mind of her own, Miss Comfort. And isn’t the wee bit embarrassed to let everyone know it.”

“A willful child?”

“Not at all,” Ada said. “We like to think of her as … independent.”

“She’s a smart little thing too,” Mr. Van Cleet added.

“I hope to have me some smart younguns,” Eli said.

Pleasant glanced at him and noted how the tips of his ears had gone pink. She tried to hide a smile but couldn’t quite manage it.

“What’s so funny?” he asked.

“Nothing at all,” she assured him as heat crept into her cheeks. If she wasn’t careful, they’d match Eli’s ears.

“Uh-huh,” he said in disbelief.

“Is someone blushing?” Lorcan asked.

Pleasant’s head jerked in his direction. “How did you know?”

“Yes, how did you know Deputy Turner’s ears are pink as rosebuds?” Mr. Van Cleet said teasingly.

“Cyrus!” Eli said as if scandalized.

Pleasant looked around the table. Everyone was smiling, sharing in Mr. Van Cleet’s teasing. She relaxed and sighed. “Your ears
are
pink.”

“I know. They always do that when I don’t want them to.”

Pleasant put a hand to her chest and giggled as more people came into the dining room for tea.

“You think it’s funny my ears give me away?” he asked.

“I think it’s rather adorable,” she said.

His ears went crimson. “Oh great – there they go again!”

“How can you tell?” she asked, still giggling.

“On account they feel like they’re on fire!”

“Somebody get this man a bucket of water!” Mr. Van Cleet called out.

“Cyrus, please …,” Eli begged before he started laughing himself.

Pleasant could hold back no longer. She laughed out loud, vaguely aware of Eli smiling as the others smiled as well. Pretty soon the whole table had joined her.

Then the unthinkable: “So,” Eli said through his chuckles, “ya wanna get hitched tomorrow?”

“
T
omorrow
?!” Pleasant croaked, and quickly cleared her throat. “I mean, we can’t.”

“Why not?” Eli asked innocently.

Pleasant studied him, the brightness in his eyes. Merciful heavens, was he actually becoming enamored with her already? Not that that was a bad thing – what bride didn’t want her future husband falling in love with her before they marry? But the thought of marriage itself frightened her. It would be so … final.

“Miss Comfort?”

“I … that is … my dress isn’t finished! In fact, it’s barely begun. Mrs. … oh, what is her name? The preacher’s wife. She and some of the ladies are meeting tomorrow at the church to work on it. You heard her say so yourself.” She sounded panicked, probably because she was. She really needed to calm down.

Eli smiled gently as a woman arrived at the table and began pouring tea. “Yer afraid.”

Pleasant could feel her lower lip vibrating like a violin string. “I am not afraid – d-d-don’t be silly!”

The newcomer studied her. She was of a generous build with curly blonde hair heavily streaked with grey, bright blue eyes and a very happy countenance. “This must be your bride, Eli.”

“Sure is, Sally,” he said.

Pleasant scanned the faces around the table – all of them staring at her.

“Don’t worry, honey,” Sally said. “Every bride’s shaking in her skirts before she gets hitched, especially mail-order brides. But let me tell you, there isn’t a finer eligible man around these parts than Eli. You’d do best to snatch him up quick.”

Pleasant couldn’t help but smile. “I’m glad you think so highly of him.”

The woman stuck out a hand to her. “Sally Upton. And you are?”

She swallowed hard. “Pleasant Comfort.”

Sally’s eyes widened and she stifled a giggle. “Pleased to meet you.” She turned to Eli. “Now don’t rush the poor child. Let her have her dress – every bride feels prettier in a real wedding dress. Getting married in some calico number makes it not seem so real.”

Eli glanced around the table. “Is that true?”

Ada smiled. “Oh, quite true. It’s much nicer to be married in a dress made for the occasion.”

He looked at Pleasant. “Then I guess I’ll hafta wait.”

She sighed in relief.

“Ya okay?” he asked.

“Yes, I’m fine, Mr. Turner.”

“And that’s another thing,” Sally interjected with a giggle. “Why are you two being so formal? You’re getting hitched, aren’t you? You should be addressing each other by your Christian names. What’s a few days between lovers?”

“Lovers!” Pleasant gasped.

“She means acquaintances,” Ada said quickly.

“No, I don’t,” Sally insisted. “In a few days they’re gonna be …”

“Very good friends!” Ada said, a little flustered. Lorcan almost choked, while Mr. Van Cleet shook with silent laughter as he studied the ceiling.

“Why don’t we start with friends?” Eli suggested. “Call me Eli, like we talked about the other night.”

Pleasant noticed her breathing was erratic. What was the matter with her? It wasn’t as if they were going to marry that very minute. And even if they were, would that really be so bad?

She fidgeted in her chair. “Eli,” she echoed.

“Pleasant” came out a whisper, the adoration in his eyes hard to miss. She noted again how handsome he was. Everyone spoke highly of him, and he’d shown her nothing but kindness since her arrival. What woman wouldn’t want to marry a man like that? Yet she felt so afraid …

“There, that’s better,” Sally said. “You two should have been on a first-name basis from the beginning in my book.

“Now that that’s settled,” said Mr. Van Cleet, “why don’t you serve the rest of the tea?”

“Oh! Yes, of course, Cyrus – coming right up!” Sally hurried over to a cart with plates of cookies, cakes and pies.”

Pleasant took a deep breath and let it out slowly. Part of her wanted to bolt from the hotel and run out onto the prairie. If she felt like this marrying Mr. Turner – correction,
Eli
– then what would it have been like being forced to marry Rupert Jerney?

“Sally’s right in that we don’t stand too much on ceremony around here,” Mr. Van Cleet said. “You can call me Cyrus if you want. I can’t wait to introduce you to my wife Polly.”

Pleasant smiled. “I look forward to meeting her.” She studied the dining room – tables were filling up fast. “Does the whole town come here for tea?”

“Just ‘bout,” Eli said. “It’s what ya might call a tradition.”

Pleasant noted the newcomers were all glancing her way. “I recognize a few of them.”

“Ya see Lena and Fina over there?” Eli pointed. “That’s their husbands they’re sittin’ with. I’ll introduce ya later. Might as well meet the neighbors.”

She nodded, surprised that Mr. Adams, a blacksmith, would take time out for afternoon tea. Clear Creek, it seemed, had its own sort of civilization.

“We make more money from teatime than from guests staying at the hotel,” Cyrus laughed. “But more and more folks stay here every year.”

“Really?” Pleasant asked. “How many did you have last year?”

“Twelve,” Lorcan said proudly.

Pleasant’s eyes fluttered. Twelve?! Merciful heavens, what a reminder that she was in the back of the beyond! Her pampered life in big, bustling Savannah flashed before her eyes. This was another world, and in many ways a much smaller one. Maybe that’s why she feared marrying Eli Turner – it wasn’t so much
him
as
here
.

“Are you all right?” he asked, concerned.

She stared at him as tears stung her eyes. She’d made her choice; she would have to live with it. And though Clear Creek was small and isolated, the people were friendly (mostly) and Eli was nice. Besides, truffles could be found a few days away – make that a week or more, but still …

“Yes, I’m fine.” Deep down, though, she knew she wasn’t – yet.

* * *

A
fter tea
, they rode out to Eli’s place. Pleasant felt a shiver of excitement at the thought. She would finally see where she was going to live! She hoped she hadn’t ruined things by trying for the past few days to picture what the house looked like. After all, Eli Turner wasn’t going to have a ranch house like the ones at the Triple-C. But she was excited all the same.

Eli rode his horse alongside the Cookes’ wagon and made comments about Sally Upton’s cookies, cakes and pies. Pleasant made a mental note to ask Sadie and Belle if they had any of her recipes. Eli obviously liked the woman’s cooking, and she wanted to learn to make all the things he liked. She was determined to be a good wife, even if it did mean days of drudgery now and then. After all, one didn’t have to do laundry every day.

“Well, this is it.” Eli brought his horse to a halt, and Colin did the same with his team. Pleasant suddenly noticed that everyone was looking at her. She shrugged, unsure of what they wanted.

“Aren’t you going to look?” Sadie asked.

Pleasant was so busy watching everyone else watch her that she hadn’t noticed the little cabin on the other side of some trees. Merciful heavens, was that
it? Maybe it was just a large chicken coop or something. “Um … where is it?” she asked hesitantly.

“Right through them trees,” Eli kicked his horse forward.

Pleasant made a show of craning her neck to see. Lord have mercy, but that had to be it. There were no other buildings other than a loafing shed. The man didn’t even have a barn! She looked at him atop his horse, at the animal’s small shelter, then spotted an even smaller structure with hay piled in it. “Heaven help me,” she muttered.

“I know it ain’t much,” Eli said. “But it’s roomy enough inside for two.”

Pleasant nodded numbly. She was speechless, which was a good thing – she was afraid of what she might’ve said. It was exactly the one-room cabin everyone had promised. And she’d have to make the best of it. This was the life she’d chosen over one of loveless luxury with Rupert. “I … can’t wait to see the inside,” she said with a forced smile.

Eli dismounted as Colin brought the wagon to a stop again, set the brake and hopped down. “I must say, Eli, I can’t wait to see what you’ve done with the place.”

Eli dismounted, tied his horse to a hitching post in front of the tiny house, then grinned. “Well, I did have help.”

“Help?” Pleasant said.

“His sister Emeline,” Belle explained. “You know how bachelors are.”

“No, I’m afraid I don’t,” she admitted.

“Oh, that’s right,” Belle said. “You and your brothers had servants. Around here, bachelors do what they can to clean up after themselves and cook, but … well, with no one around to see it, they can get a little slack. Hopefully Emeline has pulled the slack out of Eli’s home.”

Harrison and Colin helped the women down, then headed for the house. Eli was already at the front door and had it wide open, a welcoming smile on his face.

“After you, ladies,” Colin swept a hand toward the entrance. Belle and Sadie entered, smiles on their faces.

Pleasant’s expression was more one of trepidation as she slowly entered the humble dwelling. But though humble on the outside, the inside was something else entirely. “Oh my,” she whispered. “How charming!”

“I hafta admit, my sister does know how to decorate,” Eli said. “It didn’t look nothin’ like this a month ago. Your job’ll be to keep it nice. Lord knows I try and I fail.”

“Rather a hard task when all you do is eat and sleep here, old chap,” Harrison said. “And sometimes have barely the time for that.”

“You should’ve seen the original ranch house my brothers and I were raised in,” Colin added. “It wasn’t much more than this.” He glanced upward. “The roof is good?”

“‘Course,” Eli told him. “Levi and I worked on it. Been through a few good rains already and ain’t leaked one bit.”

Pleasant’s eyes drifted to the ceiling as well. “Oh dear – a leak would be bad, wouldn’t it?” She glanced around at the sparse furnishings. There was a beautiful tablecloth on the small kitchen table tucked into one corner, near a brightly painted hutch, a little worktable and a cook stove. The opposite side of the cabin had a fireplace, a sofa, a rocking chair and a cozy rug between the sofa and fireplace. A trunk stood against the wall on one side of the fireplace, a small bookcase full of books on the other.

But it was the curtains that really gave the place charm – blue-and-white gingham trimmed with matching ruffles, very frilly for a bachelor like Eli but perfect for Pleasant and her tastes. She also noticed teacups hanging under a shelf on the wall near the table, with a matching teapot and saucers on top.

His sister obviously had good taste and had done everything she could with the space allowed. It was hard to imagine Eli being responsible for all the delicate feminine touches. Pleasant would have to thank his sister later.

“Well?” Eli said. “What do ya think?”

“It’s small, but very charming.” Pleasant glanced around again and notice a bed tucked into the back corner of the room. “Oh my. We don’t have a separate bedroom?”

“Not yet. I ain’t got ‘round to buildin’ us an upstairs.”

Pleasant looked up again. “Upstairs? How does one get upstairs?”

Eli walked over to the bed and pointed at the ceiling. “There ain’t no staircase yet, but there will be. Don’t worry, there’s enough room in the attic for a bedroom. I’m sure Levi’ll help – he’s real handy with things like that.”

“I would imagine Chase is too,” Belle said.

“Couldn’t ask for better neighbors,” Eli agreed with a smile. “I never woulda had this place up as quick as I did without their help.”

Pleasant let her eyes wander around the room some more. It was a far cry from the huge plantation house at Comfort Fields. But then … she closed her eyes and reminded herself of the life of misery she’d escaped from. Better to be in a one-room shack with a kind man than have all the luxuries in the world with an awful one. Now if she could just keep remembering that, she’d be fine.

“There’s a smokehouse out back, and a root cellar too,” Eli said proudly. “Would ya like to see ‘em?”

Smokehouse? Root cellar? Good heavens, Pleasant had never seen either type of structure in her life. “Certainly,” she said, figuring that she’d better know where everything was.

Eli smiled and motioned the group toward the front door. “Follow me, everybody.”

They went outside and walked around the house to the back. There was a small outbuilding Pleasant hadn’t noticed before, having been hidden from the road. “Which one is that?” she asked.

“That’s the smokehouse. I don’t have nothin’ in it yet, but I will.” He pointed to his left. “I thought we might put a pigpen over there …”

“Pigs?” she squeaked. She didn’t care for the beasts unless they were cured, baked and served on a platter. “You want to keep pigs?”

“Sure, why not?” he asked with a happy smile.

She studied her surroundings, and noticed there were no animals on the place other than his horse. “You have no livestock? No chickens? Nothing?” Good. She hoped it stayed that way. Especially when it came to pigs – yikes!

“No, I was waiting for ya to come along before I got any. That way ya can take care of ‘em!”