Lone Pine Bride (The Brides of Lone Pine #1)(35)

She held him tightly round the neck as a similar feeling hit her. She felt she wanted to stay in his arms forever. They were strong arms, safe arms, comfortable arms. They felt wonderful behind her back.

“We have to be convincing,” he muttered against her face.

His lips pressed against hers, she held him tighter and he shot across the threshold. Virtually dumping her on the ground he looked back at Lucille. “Is that alright?” he asked.

“It will do.” He didn’t like the kiss, Hannah thought, and she shouldn’t have responded so enthusiastically. After all, they were only acting. Outside Wilfred grinned at his wife.

“That is one marriage that is going to work,” he said, but Hannah did not hear him as she walked into the room. Beautifully furnished, flowers on the table, a welcome card on the dresser, clean and tidy. Small by the standards of the house in which she was brought up but large enough for a family. It was amazing but it wasn’t for her and she had to remember that.

Lucille walked in behind her to stand next to her while she looked round. “That’s tidier than when I last saw it,” she said. “It shows what a man in love will do for a woman.”

She picked up the card. “That’s a good touch. Shall I read it to you?”

“It’s private,” Monica said from the doorway.

“That’s alright. You can read it,” Hannah said, dying to know what he said. It was none of her business, of course, but he couldn’t say anything in front of the family.

“To my dear wife with love and affection, Seth. Not over sloppy but it will do. It’s got a heart at the end. That’s a good touch.” Lucille looked down at the table. “That’s a heart too.”

“Is it romantic enough?” Seth couldn’t resist asking.

“It’s okay. Do you think it’s romantic, Hannah?”

“I think it’s lovely.” But it’s not for me, Hannah thought.

“Did you make the card?” Lucille asked Seth.

“Yes.”

“Not bad. Where are we going to sleep?”

“Lucille!” her mother remonstrated once again.

“We’ll have to work it out,” Seth said. “But first let’s find some sturdy sticks for your father to use as crutches and then I’ll do something about his foot because it’s crooked and must be painful.”

“We’ll find them,” the boys chorused, making for the door.

“Thank you. Try the barn. There’s some there. I need to walk round the outside of the house again to check there are no cracks I missed. Is that alright with you ladies?”

“I’m hungry,” Lucille said.

“Do we have much food here?” Hannah asked Seth.

“I have plenty of food. I grow most of it. Potatoes are in the larder and there’s fruit in the back garden. When we’ve got Wilfred in I’ll just go and catch us a fish. I can do the meal.”

“No. I’ll do it. You just get the fish.”

“There are vegetables there too. Corn on the cob, carrots and peas.”

Seth went and Hannah ran after him. “How do you cook corn on the cob?” she asked.

“About twenty minutes in boiling water on the cooker.”

“How do you work the cooker?”

He grinned. “It’s a good thing Seth has a cook. I’ll do the meal when I get back.”

“No. I have to do it. I want to do it. Just come and show me how to work the cooker. I have to be convincing or you’ll never hear the end of it from your friends.”

She paused. “Except that won’t matter because it won’t be me here.”

“I’ll show you how to work the cooker,” he said. He followed her back into the house, they went into the kitchen and Wilfred swung up the path using the two sticks Lucas and Aaron had found for him. He stretched on the sofa and looked pensively at his foot which stuck out sideways, in the way Esmé’s had earlier.

“I don’t think that’s very healthy,” he said.

“I’ll do it in a few minutes,” Seth said, walking to the doorway of the kitchen. “Just relax and don’t put any weight on it.” He went back to Hannah. “I’ll light the fire. I’ve got wood in it already. Just give it a few minutes to heat the oven then put your pots on it.”

“Thank you.”

Hannah started to lift vegetables onto the table and Lucille walked in. Hannah looked at the food a bit helplessly. Did you cut them up? Did you put them all in the same pot? Did they need any particular preparation? She really was a dunce and should have put in a bit of practise at home.

“You don’t know how to cook, do you?” Lucille said.

Nothing got past this child, Hannah thought, and would it get around the community? But she hadn’t pretended with Seth so she wouldn’t with anyone else, that was, apart from the other Seth. “I don’t,” she said.

“How did you eat then?”

“We had a chef. Can you cook?”

“A bit. Take the green leaves off the corn and put the corn cob in a big pot.” She giggled. “You can’t eat the cobs, just the corn, but you cook the whole cob. Wash the vegetables and throw them in too. You could use that big pot over there so you don’t have so much washing up afterwards.” Lucille pointed. “You could even put the potatoes in. Take the peas out of their pods and then put in the carrots.”