A Headstrong Woman(7)
“I don’t know why the boss married her but he sure don’t take much interest in her now,” Sparky commented as he handed a crate off to Russ. Jonathon had noted the Sparky often surreptitiously watched the boss’s wife but never crossed the line into inappropriate familiarity.
“Well if he aint gonna pay her no mind I will,” Nick crudely joked.
“Hey now,” Sparky stood to his full height and glared at the stockier hand opposite him. Sparky was young, best Jonathon could tell, and quick tempered, though he usually brought it under wraps before it got him into any real trouble.
“Eli’ll have your hide if he hears you talking like that and I just might help him,” Russ added to the fray. Russ was closer to Jonathon in age perhaps a couple of years older than the others and seemed to have a level head on his shoulders.
“What Elijah don’t know won’t hurt him,” Nick countered. Nick was cocky to a fault and seemed to have little scruples if his behavior since Jonathon’s arrival was any indication.
“Your Ma not teach you how to treat a lady?” Jonathon was now standing behind Nick. Nick turned to him in surprise and seemed to size him up. The man visibly relaxed his shoulder and offered him an insolent grin.
“Oh no hurt in lookin and talkin, is there?”
“There is if it disrespects a lady,” Jonathon countered.
“Fine,” Nick hefted another crate and fell into a brooding silence.
“Need a hand?” Jonathon offered.
“Thanks; appreciate that,” Sparky offered a friendly smile.
Alexandria flipped her empty laundry basket upside down on the ground beside the line and turned to enter the house. She needed to alter her dress for church this Sunday; at least she assumed they would go. Elijah had been sporadic in attendance since their marriage but he had said something about going so she would plan as though they were.
She had lost weight since her move to the ranch and didn’t want it to be immediately obvious to her mother come Sunday morning. Her mother was always fussing that she was too thin as it was. Both her older sister, Catherine, and younger sister, Anna were well rounded in all the womanly places and more fashionable in height. Catherine had taken the men of their community on a wild ride before she had up and married a California business man who was in town on business. Alexandria suspected that Anna would do the same before she settled down.
Alexandria poked her head into Lillian’s room and noted that she was still sleeping soundly before she moved into the sewing room to alter her dress. It was one of her favorites; one she had always felt a little more confident in. Even this dress had elicited no response from her husband; his lack of response had made her realize that wedded bliss was not in her future. She had determined to be the best mother and to manage her house hold to the best of her ability and to be content with that. She would expect nothing from her husband therefore ensuring that she would be immune to being hurt by him or any man. It sounded good in theory but the pain that seemed to be perpetually below the surface mocked her new resolution as though reminding her that she had already failed yet again.
She had just finished sewing the last tuck into her dress when Millie tapped on the doorframe and entered the room.
“Alexandria, did you pick up the list I gave you on your last trip to town? I can’t seem to find the sugar,” the woman watched her expectantly. Alexandria closed her eyes and blew out a frustrated breath. She had tucked the list into her pocket and then promptly forgotten it when she started selecting material for Lilly some new dresses.
“I forgot them, Millie; I’m sorry. I’ll go find Eli and arrange to go to town,” Alexandria promised and she stood and went to search out her husband.
She found him and several men talking just outside the barn. She approached cautiously. She had asked him for little since their marriage and had spoken to him little more than necessary. She had attempted to establish lines of communication by asking him questions about how the ranch worked, but he had curtly reminded her that the house was her domain. She had given up after that and dreaded approaching him now.
“Eli,” she called cautiously.
He turned to her in surprise.
“Is something wrong?” he frowned down at her.
“I forgot several necessary supplies on my last trip to town and I need to go for them,” she announced; she was trying hard to keep her shoulders straight and chin high. If he would let her go to town by herself she could take care of it without bothering him; he refused however.