Her Sister's Wedding Page 4

  “If I didn’t have the space, this wouldn’t be much of a ranch,” he told her. “Come on in and I’ll introduce you to my mother and Lina before I put the horse away.”

  He hefted the trunk and carried it in with him, with the girls trailing along after him. Daphne came forward to greet them with a warm smile, clucking over them and taking the bag from Crystal immediately. The fact that there were two young women there rather than only one didn’t seem to faze her in the slightest.

  “This is my mother, Daphne, as I’m sure you’ve guessed,” Ernest said.

  “So nice to meet you,” Mandy said, and Crystal murmured the same.

  “Crystal is Mandy’s sister,” Ernest explained.

  Daphne’s eyes sparkled. “You’re here at last. I hoped that might be the case when Ernest didn’t return right away. It’s lovely to meet both of you. My poor dears, you must be exhausted. What a trying trip it must have been. I’ve got some supper ready for you, and hot tea, too, that’ll do you right up. I hope it’s warm enough in here for you…”

  She stopped and turned to Lina, who had come forward at last, eyes wide as she looked at the two newcomers.

  “Miss Mandy, Miss Crystal,” said Ernest, “this is my daughter, Lina.”

  Mandy stepped forward, a hesitant smile on her lips. She bent down to Lina’s level.

  “Hello, dear,” she said. “I’m so glad to meet you. Will you tell me a little bit about yourself?”

  Lina looked away from her immediately, and went to her father, taking his hand and hiding her face against the side of his trousers. Mandy stood up, her cheeks flaming from embarrassment.

  “Oh, dear. Is she shy?”

  Ernest put a hand on his daughter’s head.

  “She is, as a matter of fact. And – she doesn’t talk much, you know. I reckon she’s embarrassed.”

  “No?” said Mandy, her eyebrows raising a little. It was clear that she hadn’t heard of this. The Mail Order Bride agency had obviously been less than forthcoming; Ernest felt a surge of anger with them. Evidently, they had grown tired of trying to find a match for him and had stopped telling prospective brides about his daughter’s complications. “What do you mean, not much?”

  “Not ever,” said Ernest, and he knew his voice was rough from his irritation. Mandy took a step back, cheeks turning even redder, but he caught a soft, sympathetic exclamation from Crystal. She stepped forward, past her sister, and got down on her knees to speak to Lina.

  “That’s all right, Lina. We understand. Why, after our poor mother died, I didn’t speak for weeks, did I, Mandy?”

  Mandy shook her head. “No,” she said quietly.

  “See, Lina? We know how you feel – don’t feel bad, sweet girl.”

  Crystal’s eyes were full of sympathy and warmth. For a second longer, Lina clung to her father; then, suddenly, half stumbling in her haste, she ran to Crystal and flung her arms around her. Crystal clasped the little girl in her arms, while Ernest and his mother looked on in stunned disbelief.

  Lina had never been so open to strangers, ever. The sight of it caused Ernest a surge of emotion – and confusion.

  Unsure of what to do or what to say, and even more unsure of whether he should express what he felt, he said, “I’d better see to the mare,” and rushed back outside, leaving the odd little panorama in place inside the house.

  Once outside, the cold air braced him and made his brain start to function again. One thing he was absolutely certain of: as long as he had waited to find another mother for Lina, he had made the right decision to reach out.

  On the other hand, the woman that she had taken to was not the woman he was supposed to marry.

  The situation called for caution, he decided. Caution, care, and deliberate action. He would wait for a while before he and Mandy wed. That would be best. They deserved the chance to get to know each other before they made such a commitment, after all, especially if the agency didn’t even fully warn her of the – complications inherent in coming to Pepper Gulch.

  He thought of his daughter, arms wrapped around Crystal Chambers, and of the warmth and light in Crystal’s beautiful blue eyes.

  Yes, he decided. It was best to wait.

  Wait – and see.

  Chapter 6

  With each day that went by, as spring crept closer to Pepper Gulch, Crystal found herself becoming more and more grateful that Ernest Flinn had allowed her to stay there with her sister.

  Not only had he allowed her, but he had also downright welcomed her. He was pleasant to her, just as friendly with her as he was with Mandy. And if his manner brought the occasional flush to her cheeks, well, that was only because she had so little experience with men. Especially nice men like him –

  No, she had to admit it to herself. She had never met anyone quite like Ernest Flinn. He was honest, and kind, and warm, and a wonderful father, and a dutiful son – he was also handsome, and that was probably the main reason why she kept blushing every time their eyes met.

  She probably shouldn’t be noticing things like that about the man who was going to marry her sister. Nor should she be preoccupied with when the wedding was to be—and why a date hadn’t been mentioned.

  Her romantic soul was louder than her practical brain, and it took some internal shouting to put the thoughts of Ernest’s smile away and concentrate on life on the ranch. To help herself focus, she threw herself into assisting Daphne Flinn with every chore that came up and spending as much time with Lina as possible.

  And there were plenty of chores to be done.

  As she hung out the laundry with Daphne on one sunny day about a week after their arrival, she couldn’t help shivering. It was bright out, but still frigid.

  “Will the clothes dry like this?”

  “They’ll freeze over first, likely,” said Daphne, with a chuckle. “But this is how it has to be done. We’ll bring them in and beat them in front of the fire after they drip dry for a bit, and that’ll knock the icicles off.” She glanced over at Crystal with a curious expression in her eyes. “I don’t suppose you’ve ever done it quite like this, have you?”

  “Oh, no. We always had clothes strewn all over our little apartment to dry. Especially in the winter – it’s cold in Charleston, too.”

  “Well, I’m glad you’re willing to learn some new skills, dear.”

  “Of course. I can’t tell you how grateful I am that Ernest allowed me to stay here, and that your little family has been so welcoming.” Even saying his name brought a slight blush to her cheeks. She told herself sternly to stop being so ridiculous and changed the subject. “May I ask about Lina?”

  Daphne was quiet for a moment. Then she said, “I guess that the agency didn’t tell your sister much about what she was getting herself into.”

  “I don’t think so, no. She knew that Ernest was a father, but there weren’t many details. We were in a hurry to pick up and leave, see, since she had lost her job – so she didn’t want to wait any longer than she had to.”

  “I can’t say I blame her for that. And Ernest is awful glad to have someone answer the application, too – to be honest with you, I think he was about ready to give up.” She shook her head and sighed. “My son is a good man, and I love him more than I love anyone on earth, except for Lina. He does his best with the hand he’s been dealt, but it always riled me that so few were willing to help him out. He’s gone through a lot of loss in his life.”

  “His wife…” said Crystal, hesitantly.

  Daphne nodded. “It was a terrible thing. He lost her – and he almost lost Lina, too. And then she recovered, but some part of her never came back. They thought at first that the fever had attacked her throat, somehow, and maybe that was why she wasn’t talking. But the truth is that she wasn’t even trying. That poor little girl went to sleep sick and when she woke up, her ma was gone forever. She just lost all desire to talk, I reckon.”

  Both women turned and glanced toward the porch, where Lina was playing with her dolls
. Even alone, she didn’t speak, though the sound of her humming drifted back Daphne and Crystal. “That’s about the most noise we ever get out of her, these days. Once in a great while she’ll say yes or no, if she feels very strongly about something, so we know she hasn’t forgotten how to speak. She’s taken to communicating in other ways, though – her little face is so expressive, you wouldn’t believe it, and she can tell stories just with her hands.” Daphne’s own face was full of love as she regarded her granddaughter. “Poor little thing…”

  “Is that why Ernest wrote for a Mail Order Bride?” Crystal asked. “Hoping that someone would be able to, well, bring her back?”

  Daphne nodded. “That’s exactly it. You’re a clever girl, Crystal – and kind, besides. Oh, don’t blush at that. I may not know you very well, but Lina is an excellent judge of character. She wouldn’t like you so well as she does if she didn’t know that you were kind and good.”

  Crystal finished pinning up her basket of wet clothing and wiped her red, chapped hands on her apron.

  “I reckon it’s just about time to go inside for a while and thaw out,” she said.

  Daphne smiled at her. “Go on with you, then. Take Lina in to warm up, would you? I’ve just got to go and feed the chickens.”

  Crystal nodded assent and headed for the porch, taking the empty baskets with her. As she approached Lina, the little girl looked up. There was such a light in her eyes and a joy in her expression that Crystal suspected that Daphne’s words were true; Lina really did like her a great deal. The very thought of it warmed her heart, and she held a hand out for Lina to take, pulling her up along with her.

  “Come along, dear. Let’s go inside and warm up. Maybe you can show me where the cocoa is kept, and we can make something hot to drink for your grandmother when she comes back in from feeding the chickens.”

  Lina followed along eagerly, putting her doll over her shoulder and patting its back as she went. Her manner was so serious and loving that Crystal couldn’t help but smile.

  “You take very good care of her, don’t you?” Lina nodded. “Just like your father and your grandmother take good care of you. I guess that must be where you learned it.” Another nod. “You must be so grateful for having such a good father – just like I’m grateful for my older sister. I thank God for her every day. She took care of me when I was young, you know. After my mother died, and then especially after my father died, too, she was always there for me.” She reached out and tweaked the girl’s hair a little. “Just like your father is always there for you.”

  Lina looked up at her very seriously. There was a question in her eyes, and her lips moved, just a little. Crystal held her breath; was Lina going to speak to her? Could it be possible?

  But no words made their way from Lina’s mouth, and after a moment she looked away and went to the pantry to retrieve the cocoa from the shelf. Crystal sighed, looking after her.

  There must be some way to get to her – some way to bring that small, missing part of her back. If extra love would do it, she would do her best to show as much love to the little girl as she could. Though she’d only met her a short time before, she knew that her heart was already attached.

  And that was another reason to be grateful that Ernest Flinn had let her stay on the ranch.

  Chapter 7

  Ernest led the way to the back fields, Mandy following along after him. She picked her way gingerly through the mud, though it was frozen and there was little chance that she would splash it anywhere. She was the type to worry about dirty clothes, Ernest thought – well, hopefully she would get over that. There was no avoiding getting dirty when you lived on a ranch, especially one in low-lying plains like his place.

  He stopped at the brow of the little hill and swept his arm out to show her the space below them.

  “Well, here it is. Everything you see, from here to those foothills over there, belongs to Flinn Ranch.” He shook his head in wonderment. “I never fail to get a chill when I look out over all that. It’s beautiful, isn’t it?”

  “Yes,” said Mandy dutifully, but when he glanced over at her he saw that she wasn’t even looking at the view. Instead, she was looking down at her feet, inspecting her boots for mud.

  Ernest frowned; he couldn’t help it, but he recognized that it wasn’t the best response, especially when she looked up and caught him. She frowned back.

  “Everything all right?” he asked.

  “I’m sorry,” she said, “I’m just not used to such – big spaces.” She didn’t sound sorry, though. She faced out at the plains and heaved a sigh. “It’s as though it goes on forever.”

  “Do you not like it?”

  “Did I say that I didn’t like it?”

  Ernest caught himself before he spoke again, and they spent an awkward moment in silence, both gathering each other. Then Mandy sighed again and spoke.

  “I’m sorry that I’m so out of sorts. I just – well, it doesn’t really matter why. You’ve been very kind to me, and to Crystal, too, and I’m grateful for that. I will try to do better, as we are to be married.”

  He wished that she didn’t sound so much like she was resolved to take medicine that she detested the taste of when she spoke about their marriage.

  “Right,” he said. “Well – we hardly know each other yet. We’ll give it a little time, give ourselves a chance to become friends first. I think that’s important, don’t you?”

  “I expect you were friends with your first wife before you married her.”

  The last thing he wanted to talk about with Mandy Chambers was his dead wife.

  He looked away from her.

  “Yes,” he said, uneasily. “We knew each other for a very long time. Grew up together, really.”

  “I suppose that’s the best way to find someone to marry,” she said quietly. “I imagine you two met and fell in love right away. You probably looked into her eyes and she looked into yours – and somehow, you knew that it would be perfect, your life together…”

  Now Ernest was irritated.

  “That’s not a very sensitive way to put it, considering that she died not five years after we married,” he snapped. Mandy took a step back, eyes wide.

  “I’m so sorry,” she said. “I just – I didn’t even think.”

  It was true that her expression had seemed very far away. But Ernest didn’t think that her lack of thought was much of an excuse for her lack of feeling. All of the magic of his land had disappeared from his own thoughts, and he was simply sorry that he had tried to bring her out here, to show her something that mattered to him, to try to get to know her…

  It was a botched attempt, for certain. And the thought of trying again later on was not appealing.

  He turned away, and his shoulders slumped.

  “Let’s head on home before it gets any colder. The clouds are coming back – looks like we’re due for some snow this afternoon.”

  The clouds were rushing back, as a matter of fact. The walk home was silent, the atmosphere between the two of them just as cold as the air around them. Ernest railed within himself; they had been here for a week, and it seemed that every time he tried to get to know Mandy, something went terribly wrong. They hadn’t been able to have a good, honest conversation about anything, though he had tried every day. He had suggested that they wait for a bit to get married, and she had agreed eagerly – too eagerly, he thought sourly. Maybe she was having second thoughts, now that she was here. Maybe she was worried about Lina. The thought of that made his stomach churn; he could not, would not marry someone who did not care enough for his child.

  Maybe writing for a Mail Order Bride had been a mistake after all.

  Once they arrived back at the ranch house, Mandy went her separate way immediately, with hardly more than a murmured excuse that she was tired from the walk. Ernest headed for the barn to check on the horses, still arguing with himself over the whole situation. It began to snow, thick and fast.

  If only she were easier �
�� if only he could understand her – if only it was Crystal who had answered the application for a bride, and not Mandy.

  But that in itself was a big part of the problem, and he knew it. In the week since they had arrived, even as he struggled to give Mandy the attention she deserved, Crystal was the one who kept coming to his mind. When he looked to the future, when he thought of happiness, when he pictured his upcoming wedding day, somehow Crystal was always there.

  When he and Mandy got married, he thought gloomily, he would have to ask Crystal to leave. He couldn’t feel like that about someone who was not his wife; he certainly couldn’t have her around all the time. But it would be difficult to separate from her, he already knew that. Difficult on Mandy’s part to be separated from her sister, but difficult for Ernest himself, too.

  He spent the greater part of the afternoon working in the barn, trying to distract himself from the situation. It did not work. He was no more settled in his mind as he hung up his pitchfork and put on his coat than he had been when he first started working.

  But the first thing he heard when he left the barn and headed for the house was the sound of a shout – and then of laughter.

  The snow crunched underfoot. Though it had only been snowing for a few hours at most, there was already a good layer, nearly a half foot deep. It was powdery and feather-light, and the glow of the snow in the hastening twilight gave an otherworldly look to the scene.

  Crystal and Lina were playing outside. They were both bundled up against the cold, though it appeared that Crystal was swathed in an old coat of Ernest’s – evidently, she didn’t have a coat of her own that would withstand the snowball fight that was happening. As he stood and watched, he saw his daughter scoop up a double handful of snow and pack it tightly, letting out a joyful screech as she threw it at Crystal. Crystal gave a cry of mock fear and fended it off, then ran after Lina. They chased each other around for a short while, and then disappeared behind a tree, from which shouts of laughter emerged. Ernest shook his head and smiled; he hadn’t seen his daughter so animated and joyful in a very, very long time.