RNWMP: Bride for Theodore (Mail Order Mounties)(7)
“I’m not sure I’m going to feel up to it. I feel a cold coming on. I’m sure Jess would do it though.” Mom stood, rubbing the back of her hand against her forehead. “In fact, I think I’m going to go and rest. You two have supper without me.”
She walked into the small bedroom and shut the door, leaving Theodore alone with Jess. “I…I’m sorry I was rude to you earlier,” he said, hating that they were alone. He wanted to throttle his mother, but he was an officer of the law, and that would never do.
“It’s all right. In your shoes, I have no idea what I would have said. Please know that I had no part in her scheme. I truly thought you knew that I was coming.”
Theodore watched her as she put the food on the table, feeling worse by the minute. “I believe you. Mother is…well, she doesn’t seem to follow the same rules that the rest of the world does. She didn’t mean to hurt either one of us.”
“Oh, I’ve known Miss Hazel forever and I absolutely adore her. I know she wouldn’t hurt me for anything.” Jess sat down and put her napkin in her lap. “Would you mind saying grace for us, Mr. Hughes?”
He nodded, bowing his head and saying a simple prayer. He took a bite of his chicken and dumplings before saying another word. “These are wonderful. They’re even better than Mom’s, but don’t tell her I said that.”
“Oh, of course not. She thinks she taught me to make chicken and dumplings, but the truth is I’ve been making them for years.”
He grinned. “You surprise me.”
“Oh? How so?”
“I remember you as a little girl with your hair in braids and scabs on your elbows. You followed me home from school one day, and you didn’t seem to even know where you were. You were a little bit spooky.”
She laughed gaily, trying to hide the hurt. “I’m sorry. I was daydreaming and just ended up following you, I guess. That was a strange day.”
“It was.” He didn’t bother to mention how many times he’d caught her following him at recess. “So what do you do back in Ottawa?”
“Until your mother talked me into quitting my job so we could travel the world together, I was a teller at a bank. Now I suppose I’m unemployed, but I did get to see Boston.”
“Mom wrote that she was going to travel the world with a companion, and the next thing I knew, she was coming here. Why didn’t you continue traveling?” he asked, taking another big bite of the dumplings. He hadn’t been lying when he said they were better than his mother’s. He’d never eaten anything that tasted quite so wonderful.
She smiled. “Well, we got as far as Boston, and we were both staying in a hotel for the first time in our lives. We were way up on the fifth story, and the view was amazing. Anyway, your mom decided we needed to go to a play, and she called to see what was in town. So we went to see a play. While we were waiting to be seated, she struck up a conversation with a stranger.”
“I’ve asked her to stop doing that! In this modern age, you never know what can happen. Maybe it was safe to do that when she was a girl, but it scares me nowadays. And in Boston of all places!”
“I know! Anyway, this stranger told Miss Hazel that she matches up women from the East with men from the West, and sends them off to marry as mail-order brides. The next thing I knew she told me I was going to marry you. I tried to talk her out of it. Mrs. Tandy tried to talk her out of it. But you know your mother. She wouldn’t listen. I finally told her I’d agree if she got your permission, which is why I thought you knew.”
“I wondered why she worded her letter so strangely. She said, ‘Do I have your permission to bring my traveling companion with me when I come to visit you?’ Of course I said yes. I’m not an ogre!” Theodore shook his head. “We’ve both been fooled by her.”
“Your mother is a force to be reckoned with. Everyone is afraid of her.” Jess took a sip of her water. “They all kowtow to her.”
“Not you.” He could see that her character was made of stronger stuff than that. She was…special.
“No, not me. Though I did let her talk me into coming out here with her. Maybe between the two of us, we can convince her to give up and let us go about the rest of our lives unencumbered by a spouse.”
He smiled. “Maybe I should introduce you to my friends. Five Mounties live here, not just one.”
“That sounds good to me. I don’t fancy the idea of going back to Ottawa.” She knew she’d never marry anyone else, but if he wanted to introduce her around, she wouldn’t say no.
3
Jess woke the following morning, and felt the sadness wash over her in waves. She was close to Theodore once again, but he’d rejected her. Proximity didn’t matter at all. He had no desire to even be around her, let alone marry her.
She got out of bed, washed her face, and dressed quickly by the thin light coming in through the closed drapes. She hoped she hadn’t slept too late, because she needed to get breakfast made. She went into the kitchen and started a fire in the stove, mixing up enough pancake batter to feed a small army.
As soon as the batter was mixed, she removed bacon from the icebox, and she sliced off piece after piece. If she had the bacon done before anyone was there for breakfast, she could easily make a few pancakes at a time.