Chapter 14
Cassie wondered about the papers in Red’s pocket as the church service wound down, the general store was put back to rights, and she and Red prepared to head for home. He lifted her onto his horse, and she waited for Buck to settle into his gallop before she asked.
She awoke when Red swung off the horse in front of their house. He was still holding her.
She insisted she could walk.
He just nodded. “I know you can, Cass, honey.” He carried her inside and set her on a chair.
“Thank you, Red.” She didn’t admit it, because it made her feel like a burden, but she was secretly glad she hadn’t needed to use her shaky legs. She sat on the chair, letting her head clear for a few seconds. Then she remembered… “What was it Wade tore up?”
“Let’s see.” Red pulled the wad of paper out of his pocket and smoothed the pieces on the table beside her.
Tears burned sharply. “My family portraits and the painting of the countess.” She forced herself to say what Griff would have wanted to hear. “It’s…it’s only portraits. It’s all frivolity.”
Red arranged the mangled pieces on the flat surface. “They’re not frivolous. We’ll fix ’em. They won’t be nice like before, but we’ll remember what your family looked like, and that’s the real point of portraits, right?”
How lovingly she’d cared for those paintings all of her life, and her mother before her, so that there was never any damage to the canvas and no sunlight faded the color.
But what Red said about remembering lifted the dark sorrow from her heart.
Griff’s voice, accusing her of childish longing for unimportant things, muted.
“You’re exactly right. The portraits are important.
” She smiled up at him as he bent near her shoulder, arranging the portraits.
Red knew why they were important, and that reason wasn’t lost because of wrinkled paper, nor was it frivolous.
She felt immensely better and began helping him put the pieces together like a jigsaw puzzle.
Red produced another paper from his pocket and bent over her shoulder to smooth it out on the table.
They had copied all her ancestors’ names out of her old family Bible.
As they worked on the torn portraits, Red asked, “Did you mean it about the Bible, Cass? You weren’t just being brave?
It’s a beautiful old book. I’ve never seen one so big and grand.
If you want to keep it, we can think of something. ”
“It’s not even in a language we can read.
” Cassie shook her head. “Of all the things we might save from my past, I think the Bible is the least important. And Mr. York seems to think he might get more from it than even the mortgage price. I like your Bible better. Maybe there’s a place in it for my family’s names. ”
Red glanced sideways at her and smiled. “There is. I got this Bible new, so I’ve never written in the pages set aside for that kind of thing.”
The smile warmed Cassie’s heart as their gazes held for a long moment. Then Red turned back to the tabletop. The portraits began to take shape in front of them. “These folks are your mother’s parents, right, Cass? And the oil painting is the countess?”
“Yes, my grandfather was one of the original executives who began building the railroad.” Cassie pointed to a stern-looking man with a slight twinkle in his eye.
“My grandmother was one of the finest hostesses in New York. Mother always said I looked just like her, and she looked like the countess. I barely remember them. They came to visit us in Illinois several times, but Grandfather died the year after my father, and Grandmother a few years after that.”
“Do you know stories of your ancestors, Cass?”
Cass looked up from her scraps. She’d been enjoying making her grandparents emerge from the mess. “Oh, yes. Mother talked about them all the time.”
“I can see our children putting these portraits together just like this and you telling them about their heritage. We’ll do it as often as we can.
We can tell them about my ma and pa and my brothers and sisters, and your great-grandma the countess too.
We’ll hand down more than portraits to them, Cass.
We’ll make sure they know where they came from. ”
“‘They’?” Cass said, her voice faint.
“Sure. I want to have a big family. Don’t…” Red’s voice faltered as he looked away from the work he was doing. “D-Don’t you?”
They stared at each other before Red straightened, his cheeks turning as red as his hair.
Cassie knew what a big family meant. It meant she was going to have to really be married to Red.
Her first reaction was dismay, but after she had a second to think about it, she knew she’d agreed to a real marriage when she took her vows.
And when he’d almost kissed her before Wade barged into the service, she’d wanted him to.
Yes, she’d be willing to have a big family if it would make Red happy.
All she said was, “I hope they all have red hair.”
Red smiled and rested one hand on her shoulder. “That’s fine for the boys, but I hope the girls are all as beautiful as you. I’d like to stay and help you get the portraits finished, but I’ve got chores waiting.”
“Oh, let me help, Red. I want to share the work with you.”
Red hesitated, no doubt considering how tired she was. It made her feel like such a burden to him. He was always making excuses as to why she didn’t have to help.
“I’ve been thinking, Cass. I want you to help, but I haven’t been taking the time to teach you.
I want you to milk Rosie and feed the chickens and Harriet, but I don’t want you to start without me.
I know you’ve been trying to do these things to save me time, but at first, it’s gonna take more time because learning always does.
Now, I’ve got to water Buck and Rosie before anything else.
Remember…don’t start without me.” He shook his finger in her face.
“Promise me. Not even with the chickens. There’re a couple of things I want to show you about them I didn’t get to before. ”
“I’ll wait, Red.” Taking direct orders was the safest thing in the world.
“And don’t start a fire in here yet. I don’t have time to do it, but it’s tricky. I’ll teach you how to do that too. It’ll be chilly for a while, but we’ll just have to wait for a fire even if that makes dinner late.”
She nodded. “I’ll sit and work on these portraits until you’re ready for me.”
“Yes, that’s a good idea.” Red bent quickly to his Bible and opened it to a paged lined but with no writing. “And put your family names in here. I’ll hurry. I should be ready to milk Rosie in fifteen minutes. I’ll call out when I’m back from the stream.”
Cassie smiled at him, her heart soaring.
Red grabbed his hat from a nail beside the door. He glanced back as she sat still smiling at him. His hand faltered as it reached for the wooden peg that latched the door shut. Something passed over Red’s face that transfixed Cassie. He stood there frozen for a long minute.
Suddenly, he jammed his hat crookedly on his head, took two broad paces toward her, and lifted her out of her chair by her shoulders. He kissed her hard and quick, then set her back in the chair and left without looking back.
Cassie sat dazed, feeling his strong hands on her shoulders and his warm mouth on hers.
It was over so fast that she hadn’t really felt anything while he was kissing her.
But after he left, she started tingling until her whole body was buzzing with the pleasure of Red’s abrupt kiss.
She forgot all about her grandparents’ portraits and her ancestors’ names and sat daydreaming.
She wanted him to do it again. They’d have a lot of children because Muriel had explained what caused babies, and kissing led to that cause, and Cassie had liked Red’s kissing very much.
She almost hummed, she was so happy thinking of the future and all the kissing she and Red were going to do.
He was wrong to kiss her like that, and it wasn’t going to happen again! Not until he was sure Cassie wasn’t doing it out of a need to be submissive.
Red rode the buckskin to the spring, berating himself for his rough treatment of his sweet, kindhearted Cassie. He pegged Buck there and went back for Rosie, who was her usual cranky you’re-late-milking-me self. Rosie didn’t like not being milked until the afternoon on Sundays.
He tied Rosie so she could drink, led Buck home, and went back for Rosie.
Rosie was cranky about being dragged home. “I know I’m hurryin’ you, girl, but I’m afraid Cassie will forget her promise and start helping in some dangerous way or other.”
Rosie jerked her head and almost pulled Red over backward. He turned and thought he saw skepticism on her long face. “All right, the truth is, I just want to get back to her. I want to hold her again, gently this time, not like the ham-handed ox I was earlier.”
Rosie mooed loudly, and Red realized what he’d said.
“Well, I didn’t mean any offense to oxen, of course.
That’s your family, I know. But I’m not supposed to act like one.
And anyway, I can’t kiss her again.” Red glanced back as if maybe Rosie could give him some advice. “I can’t. It’s too soon for her.”
He wanted a real marriage in every way with Cassie. Almost like watching a flower unfold from its bud, Cassie was blooming. It was as if she’d hidden her real self to be a perfect wife for Griff.
Cassie didn’t even realize how Griff had used her.
Griff had abused his position of trust to marry her.
Then he’d squandered her wealth and left her at the not-so-tender mercies of the men in Divide.
The things she’d said about Griff calling her unclean and the money Griff had spent on foolishness made Red so mad, he wished Lester Griffin were here so he could beat some sense into him.
But if Griff were here, then Red wouldn’t be married to Cassie. His breath caught on the delight of having her waiting for him in the house.