The Brides of Chance Collection Part 66

She nodded.

His gaze held hers. "You're something else, Lovejoy Spencer. Without you, Alisa and Tobias wouldn't be here."

"That's G.o.d's blessing, not my doin'. He listened to yore prayers."

"I'm talking to Him plenty these days." Daniel barely kept from adding on, And often it's about you.

A week later Lovejoy sat on the beautiful red and gold Turkish rug in Alisa's parlor. She and the girls played with dolls while Alisa and Miriam both nursed their sons in the bedroom. Delilah sat on the settee, sipping Lovejoy's special raspberry-lemon tea after hanging dozens of diapers on the clothesline.

"One, two, free, seben," Ginny Mae counted.

"One, two, three, four," Polly corrected in an exasperated tone.

"I's playing on the floor, so I don't have to say it."

Lovejoy tickled their cheeks with the tails of their braids. "The both of you are getting grumpy. Naptime."

"Do we get a tea party when we wake up?" Polly's eyes lit with hope.

"Are you offerin' to pick the pine needles and wash 'em up?"

The girls' braids danced as they nodded emphatically. On the way back to their cabin, both girls filled their little hands by stripping a fistful of pine needles from a low bough. Lovejoy had them rinse the needles in a pie tin she kept by the pump. "Now that'll do us just dandy. Pollywog, see if 'n you cain spy a rose hip. We could add that in."

Delighted that they'd helped, the girls galloped into their cabin, took off their gingham ap.r.o.ns, and scrambled onto the bed. In a matter of moments, they fell fast asleep.

Brewing the tea took hardly any time, but Lovejoy tried to get everyone to have either berries, something lemon or orange, or this tea each day. Pine needles and rose hips contained that same component as citrus and kept scurvy at bay. The pungent taste didn't much appeal, so she took to adding a wee bit of blackstrap mola.s.ses. Not only did it sweeten the drink, it also built up blood.

"Yoo-hoo!"

Lovejoy raced out of the cabin. "Tempy!"

"We come callin'," Eunice said as the sisters hugged. "Wanted to see the new babe."

"He's a grand little man-child." Lovejoy gave the three visitors a stern look. "Alisa's still catawamptiously chewed up. Best you all sing yore praises short and sweet. We cain visit more out by the bend in the crick."

Mindful of Lovejoy's edict, Tempy, Lois, and Eunice oohed and aahed over little Tobias, then came back out. Miriam accompanied them and promised to keep an eye on Polly and Ginny Mae.

As the MacPherson women settled on the benches by the creek, Tempy sighed. "We hoped we'd be taking you home with us today. I miss you."

"It does my heart good to see you, too. I been busy here, but thangs ought to settle down in another few days. I'll come back to the MacPherson spread, leastways till Delilah's child arrives. Even then, y'all are fairin' well. I aim to traipse back over here every couple of days and lend a hand."

"We understand," Lois said. "Day'll come, one of the Chance women'll come bail us out."

Tempy grabbed Lovejoy's hand and squeezed it. "Even if they never end up setting foot on our spread, we'd still want you to help them."

"Aunt Silk is fit to be tied," Eunice blurted out. "We got us a letter Asa Pleasant writ for her. She said you promised you'd stay with us."

Lovejoy added on, "Until I got you settled. I'd never promise more than that. Salt Lick won't have a healer if 'n I stay here."

"Widow Hendricks is doing fine," Tempy argued.

"Widow Hendricks is spry of mind, but her back and joints won't let her go on much longer." Lovejoy shook her head. "This don't bear no chatter. Facts is facts. Now let's us not waste our breath or time on that when you cain tell me 'bout what y'all been doin'."

They had a lovely visit, and when it was time to leave, Eunice and Lois decided to scamper ahead and peep in on the baby once more. Tempy lagged behind.

"It does my heart good to see you lookin' this happy." Lovejoy needlessly smoothed her sister's collar. "Aglow-that's what you are. Aglow with love. G.o.d be praised."

"And you!" Making a sweeping gesture, Tempy continued, "Scrumptious as a peach in that new dress and a ribbon to match." She waited a beat then added, "Seems Daniel's name tripped off your tongue quite a bit today. Are you falling in love?"

"Temperance MacPherson! What kind of nonsense is that?"

"He's the kind of man you can ride the river with."

"I'm not getting into the marryin' boat! I'm fixin' to go home, and I'll thankee to remember that."

After her sister left, Lovejoy sat back down on the bench and stared at the sunlight sparkling on the creek. Daniel Chance was a fine man. As Widow Hendricks would say, "a man you cain tie to." Well, he is that steadfast and dependable. Goodhearted. G.o.dfearing. But just because he's a man a woman could tie to doesn't mean I'm tying the knot with him. Like he said at the wedding-he's had him a bride already. He don't have a heart for marryin' up again. She sighed heavily. Don't reckon I need to think on it, anyway. I promised to go back home.

But the thought of leaving him left her close to tears.

Chapter 20.

Could you hold still a moment? I'm getting seasick watching you bob up and down."

Lovejoy let out a throaty laugh and pinned another diaper to the clothesline. "Got two babies here, each using a dozen of these a day. Better you get seasick than drown!"

Dan nudged the laundry basket aside with the toe of his boot. "I heard you're thinking of going back to the MacPhersons', but I'd like to discuss an alternative."

"Go ahead and talk." She scooted around him, bent, scooped up a diaper, and reached for the clothesline again. "Might be, you ought to close yore eyes if 'n I make you dizzy. Weather's a-shiftin', and I want these dry afore them clouds take a mind to sprout leaks."

"I've been thinking-"

"Think to tell Polly not to get her sister wet over at the pump."

Dan glanced over his shoulder. "Polly, cut it out and get away from there. Ginny Mae, step back. The last thing we need is for you to have muddy shoes."

"What's the first thing we need, Daddy?" Polly shouted back.

He gladly took that question as a segue. Hooking his thumbs through belt hoops, he looked at Lovejoy as he called back, "We need Lovejoy to stay and mind you girls while I deliver cattle to Fort Point. I want you girls to behave so I can ask her."

Lovejoy finally stopped working.

Polly and Ginny Mae dashed over. "Ask her, Daddy! Ask!"

He cleared his throat. "Mrs. Spencer, I'd-"

"You said you was askin' Miss Lovejoy, Daddy." Ginny burst into tears and grabbed hold of Lovejoy's skirts. "I want Lovejoy."

She stooped down and gathered the girls into her arms. "It would take a hardhearted woman to turn down a plea like that."

Daniel dared to reach over and slide a single fingertip down her cheek. "And you've got the softest heart of anyone I've ever met. You'll stay?"

"I'm honored you trust me with your treasures."

Daniel walked off feeling quite smug. His plan couldn't be working better. Day by day, week by week, he was going to court her with all the reasons she should become his wife. Lovejoy understood this message loud and clear: He trusted her with his beloved daughters. What better thing could a man tell a woman than that?

Covers rustled. The soft, wet sound of Ginny Mae sucking her thumb in her sleep. Polly mumbled a few garbled words, and Lovejoy smiled. Even in her sleep, Polly couldn't stay silent. With Daniel gone, Lovejoy could have slept in his cabin and left the connecting hall doors open so she'd hear the girls if they cried out, but she didn't. Accustomed to a pallet on the floor, she slept each night close by them just to relish these sweet sounds.

During the day she missed seeing Daniel. And his brothers, too, Lovejoy belatedly added. Except for t.i.tus, who stayed behind and couldn't stop smiling and humming. Having a strong, protective provider around was a novelty-not, she hastily reminded herself, that Daniel was her man. He was just, well...

No use hoping or dreaming his attention and help were caused by anything more than the fact that the other Chance men were involved with their wives and babes. It was natural that Dan and she became friendly on account of her minding his la.s.sies.

At nighttime Lovejoy filled her heart with the simple things mothers took for granted-how each of the girls said "amen" with such certainty at the end of bedtime prayers, the extra tight hug around the neck one last time before lying down, the way tiny toes curled under on a cold floor the next morning.

"Lord, Thou blest me with those gifts early on when I had little sisters. 'Specially my Tempy. I reckon I didn't appreciate them then, and I'm sorry. I 'spected I'd have a pa.s.sel of young'uns and would relish it all then. This time I know it's just a few nights, but I'm gonna fill up my heart with this."

She drifted off to sleep and woke the next morning to warm little knots of knees and elbows on either side of her. Opening her eyes, she whispered, "What is in my bed?"

"A Pollywog." Polly giggled.

"Pollywogs are wet little critters. I'm hoping yore not wet."

"I not wet, Miss Lovejoy." Ginny Mae wiggled around and trapped Lovejoy's braid beneath herself. "I a big girl!"

"Yes, you are. Dumplin', you're a-layin' on my hair. Since you got plenty of yore own, what say you let me have mine back?"

Asking Ginny Mae to move was akin to asking the ocean to have a tide. The child was in motion all the day long. No longer trapped, Lovejoy turned onto her back and gathered the girls in her arms. "How did I get me a pair of la.s.sies?"

"We snuck," Ginny Mae boasted.

"Daddy told us we could." Polly sounded quite proud. "He said you might be scared, sleeping somewhere new. We're 'posed to make you not be a-scared."

"And you done a fine job." She lay there and fingered the scalloped texture of their braids. Dan'l did the selfsame thing those nights when they got so sick.

"Do we getta go on the gathering walk this morning?" Polly's upturned face lit with hope.

" 'Course you cain. It's like I get to carry sunbeams with me when you come along."

Funny how something could become a habit in just a few days, Lovejoy thought as she tied Ginny's little blue gingham ap.r.o.n. Being a make-believe mama felt so right. Never one to be overly fanciful, Lovejoy reminded herself this was just a fill-in week, a pretend time. Once Daniel made it back, she was going to go back to live at Tempy's.

But I'm going to love every minute of this while I cain.

"Polly-my-wog, fetch me the brush. Yore hair looks like a haystack gone sidewise."

"Daddy says my hair is pretty as a princess's. Soft and light as a moonbeam."

"Just like Mama's," Ginny Mae tacked on.

"Then yore mama must've been comely as a china doll." Lovejoy took the brush and got busy. She'd gone through this routine each morning now. The first time, surprise speared through her that Daniel spoke of his wife to his daughters. He was always so closed-mouthed about that. By the third day, she understood it was a father-daughter ritual. For just a moment today, Lovejoy felt a pang of jealousy. Hannah had wed and loved Daniel and cherished these sweet babes. Oh, what I wouldn't give to have been blessed like that.

Practicality took over. If 'n Hannah hadn't been blessed like that, I wouldn't be a-havin' my turn with these girls now.

Once dressed, Lovejoy put on her sheath and slipped in the knife as the girls claimed their pails. Somewhere along the line, they'd each been given smallish lunch buckets. Before the walk was over, Ginny's would be dragging on the ground. That didn't matter. She looked adorable, clutching it in her chubby hand. Lovejoy slipped the edge of her gunnysack under her belt and stepped out into the morning, thrilled by the feel of a little hand in each of hers.

"Good mornin', Lord!"

Dirty and bone weary, the Chance men headed for home. Normally the married ones pushed to reach home right away; the single ones took an extra day or two of freedom. This time Daniel led the pack to get home.

"You'd think someone was holding a lit match to Cooper's tail the way Dan's racin' ahead," Paul teased.

It wasn't the first time Daniel had taken the brunt of some ribbing on this trip. He didn't mind, either. Fact was, he'd forgotten how good it felt just to hear a baby's first cry, to tease his brothers, to enjoy simple pleasures. In the past few months, life had turned around. He didn't have to haul himself out of bed in the morning. Lovejoy was right: Starting off by greeting each day and asking the Lord's guidance made all the difference.

Each of the men had a bedroll tied to his saddle, but the two horses that carried supplies on the way to Fort Point now bore packs with things the men had bought in San Francisco. Imagining Lovejoy's delight at what he'd gotten for her, Dan rode on.

When they reached the ranch, Gideon and Paul both vaulted out of their saddles and swept their wives into whirling hugs. Dan dismounted and immediately had a daughter wrapped around each leg. Lovejoy remained in the vegetable garden and simply waved at him. In the past this reception had felt empty-he'd keenly suffered Hannah's loss. This time he didn't mind. With the certainty of a man who'd found his mate, Dan knew the next homecoming he'd have Lovejoy in his arms.

After the men had taken long, hot baths and eaten a savory meal, the Chances remained around the table. Gideon started by handing a paper-wrapped parcel to Alisa. "t.i.tus placed this order. Hope it's all right."

Alisa murmured her thanks, opened the package, and let out a cry of delight as a sand-colored, merino wool shawl spilled into her lap. "Oh, it's so soft! Thank you!"

Miriam and Delilah both accepted dresses from their husbands with voluble delight.

Polly and Ginny Mae tore the paper off their package: a new children's game called Snakes and Ladders. Eager to play it right away, they danced about while t.i.tus read the instructions and Delilah arranged the pieces on the board.

While they were occupied, Daniel put a package in Lovejoy's arms. She gave him a stunned look. He grinned. "Go on ahead. Open it."

"It's for me?"

"Of course it is."

She looked bewildered. "Ain't niver gotten a present afore."

"Then it's well past time." He motioned for her to get started. The fact that she'd not experienced such simple delights bothered him. Daniel promised himself then and there that he'd make up for all the birthdays and Christmases she'd done without.

Lovejoy painstakingly unknotted the twine, wound it about her fingers, and tucked it in her pocket. "Cain use that later." Likewise, she unfolded the paper carefully. "This here paper's enough for letters and envelopes for months to come."

"Hurry, Lovejoy. We wanna play our game!"

Lovejoy gasped as the burgundy leather satchel came into view.

"When I fixed the latch on your other satchel, I noticed the tapestry was getting frayed." Daniel said the words in a low tone.