Chapter 15
LAUREN
Large arms wrap around me while his nose roots around in my hair. Giggling, I reach back and smack his hip playfully. “You are acting like a little piggy, behave.”
“You smell so good, and I just want to gobble you up, but I have been slacking since the wood sprites showed up with a curvy distraction. I need to get the wagon loaded the rest of the way because I have a meeting on Thursday, and Harvey needs a load of coal.”
“Let me up so I can get your breakfast before you head out, then I have some rearranging in the cabin to do. I guess I should ask you about that first. Is there anything you wish me to leave alone?”
“Not a thing. Change whatever you want but remember, they’ll be here at midday to bring the stove. I’ll be back by then in case they need help getting it in the house. That thing looked massive.”
“I’m excited and worried at the same time. That stove is so lovely, I almost hate to use it.”
“You’d better use it, I need bread, woman!”
He starts to tickle me, only to stop suddenly. “Gown up, I need to see those ribs.”
“They feel much better, and the bruising is slowly going away.”
“I still want to see.”
Wiggling out of his arms, I sit up and turn my back toward him. Grant helps me raise the back of my gown; his long, warm fingers slide slowly up and down my sides.
“They do look better, but you look like a calico kitten with all these colors on you. Remind me this evening before bed to rub some more of that salve on them. I hate that I forgot to do it last night.”
“As you said, we had a very eventful day yesterday so you’re forgiven.
” I lower my gown back down and turn back once again, slightly startled at the man lying there, looking up at me.
I lean down slightly, running my fingers along his strong jawline, already feeling a slight stubble on the tips of my fingers.
His face and arms are darker than the rest of his skin from being out in the sun all the time, but those dark brown eyes don’t miss much.
“What are you thinking up there, Little Mouse?”
“That you’re not real. I’m really lying unconscious somewhere and I’ve made you and this entire event up in my head.”
“I am very real, Little Mouse, unless we’re both dreaming and if that’s the case, let’s just stay right here.”
“You are way too beautiful to be truly real. No man who looks this good can have a good heart too.”
“Oh, I have my fair share of flaws, but you’re easy to be kind to. As tempting as you are—and Lord knows I’d love to rip that gown off you and have my wicked way with you—life’s calling and I need bread.”
His smile has me laughing as I crawl over him, thankful that he at least has a soft pair of pants on instead of being naked when I can plainly feel the proof of his desire as I scramble over him.
“You are going to turn into a biscuit, Mr. Hayes. All those muscles and sleek lines are going to turn into fluff.”
He flexes the muscles on his chest, and I laugh. “Get up and out of here so I can get dressed. The man of the house gets fussy without bread. Or so he keeps telling me.”
Grant slings the blanket off and is lurching toward me just as I take off running.
I don’t make it two steps before he has me in his arms, swinging me around and around.
He’s acting like an animal, chewing on my neck when Blue crows out loudly.
Both of us laugh and Grant puts me down, pushing me gently toward the bedroom.
As I’m shutting the door behind me, I realize I’ve never smiled this much …
ever! Dressing quickly, I’m just pulling the biscuits out when I hear him come through the back door.
“I smell bread!” he yells out, and I roll my eyes, laughing before setting his plate on the table.
Grant reaches around me, holding my chair out, then settles next to me, attacking his food like he hasn’t eaten in ages.
The moment he’s done, he stands back up, kisses me on the cheek, then starts out the door.
“Be back in a few hours. If you need me, take the rifle and shoot it into the air. I’ll hear it.”
“I’ll be fine, but you be careful. I need someone to cook for on this new stove.”
I swear, when he leaves the house it’s like he sucks all the air and comfort out with him, and it suddenly only becomes four walls. Looking around, it takes me a few minutes to figure out what I want to attack in the cabin next and how I could make the most out of the space.
I walk out on the porch to gather water for the dishes, only to find two full water pails and the wood restocked on the back porch.
Such a little thing to some, but to me, it’s things like this that have me falling hard for him, and that’s terrifying.
My life has changed so many times, so quickly, and without my input or control.
If I allow myself to get too attached to him and he leaves me, or something worse …
I would never survive it. But the other option is not realistic, as yesterday proved.
I never once batted an eye when I saw Oren on the ground, but when I couldn’t locate Grant, my heart was in my throat.
No matter how I try to fight this attraction, I fear I’m already too far gone and too attached.
Once breakfast is cleaned up and the crates are moved from where we decided the stove was going to go, I turn to face the next big obstacle. Grant’s makeshift bedroom that is right in the middle of the cabin.
It took me a little bit, but I finally figured out how to fold the screen that I now realize is supposed to be in front of the tub. Maneuvering it back into my … no, our bedroom, I stretch it out, blocking the tub from the room, but also allowing enough room behind it to change clothes privately.
Then I pull all the remaining blankets off the bed and drag out the tick mattress. Taking it outside, I remove the matted-down straw, then fold up the now-empty bag and place it in the cellar in case we need it again.
Walking back into our bedroom, I try to decide where to put his trunks. I ended up pushing the two in here together on the back wall, which gave me enough space to bring his in and possibly include some pegs for coats and larger pieces on the other side.
His trunks proved slightly more challenging, as they were not only larger but also triple the weight. What feels like hours later, I am sweeping the entire area, amazed at how much larger the place looks now that it’s all opened up.
I move the table over, then position the rockers back from the fireplace a little, giving us a lot more room to simply move around. I’ve just sat down to take a break when I hear a wagon coming up the road. Walking out the front door, old man Harvey waves and I wave back, wondering where Grant is.
My thoughts must have conjured him up, because he appears around the corner.
“Right on time, do you need any help inside?”
“Nope, I cleared that whole corner out so that they could work, but we may need to move the rockers out of the way for them to get it in. I’ll do that now.”
It doesn’t take the three of them long to get the stove in and in place. Grant works on the vent hole while the other men run the piping outside. Before he leaves, Mr. Harvey shows me how to light the stove and adjust the temperature. When Grant walks out with the other two men, Harvey turns to me.
“I think that’s it, young lady. You sure got the place looking nice in here. You settling in alright?”
“I am, thank you for asking.”
“Oh, I almost forgot, Beatrice sent this with me. I should have known better than to stick it in my pocket.”
I unwrap the small package, finding a set of needles and a crochet hook. “Oh, these are wonderful. Would you please hug her for me? This was so thoughtful.”
“Well, hugging might get me smacked, but I’ll sure try.”
“She also sent a crate with scrap cloth and some yarn. I’ll have one of the men set it on the porch before we leave. Good luck with the stove and I am sure you will get years of good meals from it.”
“Thank you again.”
Grant came in a little after I heard the wagon leaving. “My goodness Lauren, the place doesn’t even look the same with the bed and that screen missing. You should have waited for me to move those trunks.”
“After I moved them, I got a little worried that I’d overstepped by just assuming you wanted us to sleep in the same bed.”
“I will take any excuse to hold you in my arms and now you can’t kick me out, because I no longer have another bed to go to.
So, no complaining if I snore too loud, it’s all your fault.
I still need to tend to the animals, but I’ll return in a little bit.
Harvey brought some soup from the inn, so if you want to heat it up for supper, that’s fine with me; you’ve worked hard enough today. ”
“Are you sending a messenger pigeon to town or something. How would he know to do that?”
“No, but that sounds like a good idea; keep me from riding back and forth. The inn was having a fundraiser and I saw the flyer when we were leaving, so I placed the order and then asked Harvey to bring it with him.”
Following him out the back door, I bring in the food and the crate that Beatrice had sent. Just as I’m getting the bowls out of the cupboard, he comes in, hands and face freshly washed, and I realize I could use a good bath myself after everything today.
I shake my head, watching as he digs into his food, but I guess if I were his size, it would take quite a bit to fuel all that mass. He must have seen me looking because he wipes his mouth off on one of the towels.
“I have been thinking.”
“Is that a bad thing?”
“No, Little Mouse … but I’m curious.”
“About what?”
“What’s your dream home?”
“Oh my, I never really thought about it.”
“Lauren, if money were not a problem, what features would you like or not like in a home?”
I sit there for a moment pondering. “No ladders! When I was a kid, I can’t tell you how many times I almost fell off that ladder in the middle of the night, half asleep, needing to pee.
A close water source, like a well, would be nice for two reasons.
No breaking ice in the creek in the winter, and no lugging multiple heavy pails up slick banks.
Off the top of my head, that’s all I’ve got. ”
“There must be more than that. What about a porch or other outdoor features?”
“Normally, I don’t pay much attention to such things, but when I was little, I traveled with my dad to the neighboring county.
I don’t recall why right now, but we stopped at this house to water our horses, and I remember thinking it was the most beautiful thing I had ever seen.
It wasn’t rare to see a one-level home, but this one had a wraparound porch with big double doors open to let the air in.
It had windows in what looked like every room, with pretty, painted shutters surrounding them.
And even though all that was beautiful, it was the stone walkway around the house that led into the garden, with an arched trellis over its entry, that I remember the most. The house was not huge, but it looked like a home, with laundry hanging in the breeze and flowers neatly tended in pots all over the porch. Why?”
“Just curious. I have lived in several homes in my lifetime and I’ve liked things in each and things I didn’t like, so I was just wondering.”
“Since we are on the subject, what did you like the most about all of those homes?”
“Reggie’s parents had a fireplace in the great room that was as wide as the room.
You could place a log taller than I am in it, and it would burn for days.
Mom hated the cold, so when Dad built our townhouse, he had a fireplace placed in each room.
I can remember people constantly commenting on how nice and warm our home was compared to others’ when they visited.
I stayed at an inn once that had built-in wardrobes with drawers that could be locked in the bottom, which I thought were very nice.
It also had removable metal pieces for hanging clothes, rather than everything being folded.
I’m not sure how they made those. But I think my favorites were the places that had running water fed from cisterns. ”
“Like we have here in the cabin?”
“They were more advanced because it even worked in the kitchen. Where does all the water go when you’re done? I don’t know, but I need to inquire about that innovation because not having to haul water for the dishes would make your life a lot easier here at the cabin.”
“I felt really spoiled doing the laundry in the bedroom tub. Most of the time, my fingers were practically numb from washing them in a cold creek. Being able to heat the water up seemed to make the clothes cleaner a lot quicker too. Speaking of laundry, I need to do that tomorrow before it gets out of hand again. I also need to rearrange the clothes in the trunks and air out some of your nicer clothes. But I feel sticky all over, so I’m going to heat up some water and wash off before bed. ”
“Do you want to take a bath in the tub?”
“I do, but it’s late and I’m mentally and physically exhausted for some reason. I’m just gonna grab my nightgown then wash off.”
“Alright then, I am going to go ahead and turn in for the night. Morning will be here quickly. Lock the doors before you come to bed.”
Grant gets up, kisses the top of my head and heads into the bedroom. I hear the creaking of the ropes as he climbs into the bed, and before the water is hot enough to use, soft snores can be heard throughout the cabin, and I smile.
Washing off quickly next to the fire, I check the doors, then tiptoe into the bedroom. Grant is sleeping on his back with one arm out like he is reaching for something, and the other thrown above his head. I stand there, watching his chest rise and fall, just admiring what to me is perfection.