Train Station Bride Read online

  Jake pulled her into his arms. She laid her head on his chest and he rubbed slow circles on her back.

  “South Dakota’s a new start for you. Put it behind you.” He pushed her back in his arms to look her in the eye. “But I don’t want my wife pining all her life for some man not worthy to shine her shoes. I mean it, Julia. We’re married.”

  She nodded. “I want to start over. I’m going to do my best to be a good wife.”

  Jake pulled her back against his chest. She felt good there. Smelled good, too, even after a day like they’d had. Jake chuckled.

  “This is why I want sons. Went through worrying about this stuff with Flossie and Gloria. Don’t know if I could take it with a daughter.” He pushed her away from his chest holding her in a loose hug and smiled a lopsided grin. “That’s why I ordered Inga. She had eight brothers. I figured that was as good chance as any of having boys.”

  As quick as lightening, Julia’s face went from smiling and relaxed to a shy rosy pink color. She wants this. I want this. Ah, hell, might as well see if the kissing will make me want to hurry or dawdle. If he should put his silver on the nightstand before the deed so he wouldn’t have to face a woman he didn’t know, but had bedded. Or if by some stroke of luck, he would want to be in that bed every night. Jake tilted her chin up with his finger and touched her lips with his. His eyes closed of their own volition. Not because he didn’t want to see the rouge lined face of a soiled dove either. They just closed, as if any distraction would take away the pure pleasure he was feeling.

  Jake reached behind him and pulled a kitchen chair out. He eased down onto it and pulled Julia onto his lap as he did. He was thinking dawdling would do just fine as far as kissing his wife was concerned. Her head tilted back over his arm as he turned to deepen the kiss. Jake didn’t know how long they sat on the kitchen chair. Could have been months for all he cared. She seemed to be enjoying herself as much as he was and he figured now was as good a time as any to carry her upstairs. Jake broke away from her lips but stayed inches from her face.

  * * *

  It had been a long time since a man had kissed her. He was trembling as much as she. Julia sent a fleeting prayer aloft that he would find her as attractive as she found him. Maybe her morals were as loose as her mother claimed, she thought, as a sigh rolled up within her. Quit thinking, Julia. Feel and enjoy. This could have been Jacob Snelling. Julia touched the dark hair along his collar.

  “We can wait, Julia. Are you sure you want to do this your first day here,” he asked.

  He was giving her a choice. But did she really want to stop? She was aching in the pit of her stomach for a man she didn’t even know. Fear had turned to anticipation with Jake’s kisses.

  “I don’t want to wait,” she said.

  Jake eased her from his lap and stood up. “I’ll leave you to wash up and what not,” he said as he twirled his hat in his hand. “Be back up to the house in an hour or so.”

  Years ago, Julia had eavesdropped on Jolene as her sister and a married friend were talking. Jolene had described suffering the marriage bed dutifully. And that Turner was after her near every night. But she would put a stop to that, Jolene had confided to the woman. Her disinterest and their forthcoming child would slacken his lust. Jolene had laughed her throaty laugh. That or separate bedrooms would, Jolene had said. How her sister could have not wanted Turner’s attentions were beyond her.

  And Jake Shelling was a handsome man. Every edge was hard other than his brown hair. It looked like silk shimmering in the gaslight. He was tall. Probably a good foot or more taller than her. Somehow it was comforting to think of her husband as being taller than her father. His eyes were green, clear and direct.

  If her and Jake’s marriage were consummated, her father would have few rights. Just in case, contrary to Flossie and his own assurances, her new husband didn’t feel inclined to keep what was his, his.

  For a moment Julia let herself return to that moment that altered her life so drastically. So different than what she prepared for in the present. She could swear she smelled honeysuckle climbing the trellis behind the house. Turner’s attention that evening at the party of a friends’ had been too much of a lure. Too much of an affirmation that she too was attractive. Things had gone farther than they should have quickly. He had not spoken to another soul at the party once he had been introduced to her. His attention was like a drug. Addicting and never fully satisfying. Ten years was a long time to wait for her next kiss.

  But Jake’s kisses were worth the wait. Not as much as his words, though. No one, no one, had ever defended her before. No one had made Turner bear any of the blame. Until Jake. His kisses made her feel wanted and beautiful. Jake had heard her tale and instead of being outraged that he’d married a woman like her, he’d managed to find a way to substantiate his reasoning for wanting sons rather than daughters.

  She slipped a sheer white, lace-edged nightgown over her head and pulled on the matching robe. Julia pulled the ribbon across her bosom and tied a bow. She looked in the mirror over a stand holding a razor and brush. The low-neck line of the gown and the bow brought her eyes to her bulging cleavage. Her best attribute as far as she was concerned. She dabbed cologne behind her ears and brushed her hair till it shone. I feel pretty; she thought and batted her lashes as she had seen Jennifer do. Julia was confident as she climbed the steps to Jake’s room. That confidence ebbed as she pulled back the covers of her husband’s bed and climbed in to wait. But she did not wait long.

  Chapter Seven

  “Come in,” Julia said to Jake’s knock.

  “You are quite a beautiful woman, Julia,” he said as stood in the doorway and stared unashamedly.

  Julia watched Jake’s Adam’s apple bob while he gawked at the bow of her robe. She shimmied down under the sheet. He wanted her; that was certain. She watched him as he slowly unbuttoned his shirt. His chest was broad and muscular. He was staring at her like Alred McClintok looked at his plate of shrimp. She squirmed as he pulled his pants down over narrow hips. Her one sexual encounter had been in the dark and the sun, while already set, still lit the room softly. She could see clearly.

  “Oh dear,” was all she could say.

  “I don’t want to do anything you don’t want me to do. Just say the word and I’ll stop,” Jake said as he pulled back the covers on his side of the bed.

  Julia dropped her lashes, oddly unafraid. Here she was far from home and family in the bed of a stranger, her new husband, and she was not the least bit frightened. He was a big man, in girth and depth, and it attracted her more than scared her.

  “I did like when you kissed me, Jake. Maybe we should start there.”

  Jake slipped under the covers and slid his arm under her neck. He settled her on his shoulder and touched his lips to hers. He kissed her ear, and she moaned and moved closer, her breasts to his chest, her knees at his thighs, her toes tickling his shins. Jake slowly pulled the ribbon of her robe open. He growled.

  This man was big everywhere. It was heaven, Julia thought. Big enough to keep her father or the bogeyman at bay. Big enough to drown in and feel dainty. She slid her fingers down his side to rest on his hip as he lightly kissed her neck and her shoulders. Julia felt his hand encompass her breast. A low moan rumbled from his chest and she quivered.

  Jake looked her in the eye. “It’s been a long time for me. I don’t think I can wait much longer.”

  “It’s been a long time for me, too.” Julia’s eyes opened at half-mast, struggling to focus on the man’s face before her as his hand kneaded her breast, and ran a calloused thumb over her nipple.

  Her husband inched the gossamer gown over her hips and rolled her onto her back. He slid his hand up a thigh and pulled her knee up and around his hip and eased into her with one, long, slow stroke. His eyes fluttered, and he hummed a contented murmur as he sunk into her body.

  They were like chocolate truffles and champagne, Julia thought. Two unrelated items, no one dreamed would go togethe
r. But they did. Edgy pings of bubbles against creamy softness. She opened her eyes and tilted her head back to see her husband’s face. Which was he? Candy or champagne? Both, she decided. He was staring at her, questions in his gaze. Julia put her hands on his cheeks, smoothly shaved, and kissed him, touching her tongue to his.

  Apparently it was all the answer he needed. Jake slid himself in and out of her body and ran his knuckles against the side of her breast and down to her waist. He linked his fingers with hers and held her hand against the pillow beside her head. The tide of completion seemed to rush at him, and his tempo increased. Julia met him halfway with every thrust. She trailed the palms of her feet over his calves, and Jake groaned and settled on her.

  As her breathing stilled, Julia ran her hands up Jake’s back. Maybe Eustace was right. Things were going to work out just fine. Had someone told her yesterday she’d be in bed with a giant man and loving every minute of it, she’d have sworn they were insane. The mousy, fat, spinster Crawford girl had made love to a gorgeous man. Her husband. A shiver of pleasure and surprise at her response to Jake’s touch trailed down her arms.

  Jake rolled on his side and propped himself on one elbow beside her. “Are you cold?”

  Julia smiled shyly. “Not at all.”

  He trailed a finger down her cheek and twisted it in her hair. “That was pretty wonderful from my point of view.”

  Her lashes dropped half way. She was desirable, a vixen, a temptress. “Perfectly wonderful. I think we may suit admirably, Mr. Shelling.”

  “No question about that, Mrs. Shelling. No question at all,” Jake said and stared at her.

  * * *

  Julia awoke as the sun streamed in her window. Jake was not there. They had slept together all night. She washed and rooted through clothes for something cool and suitable for life on a farm. She had nothing. Julia pulled on the plainest dress she owned over one petticoat. It was white eyelet with flounces of ruffles with a high neck and full sleeves that narrowed to tight cuffs. Julia struggled with the eight covered buttons on each wrist. She brushed out her hair and pulled it into a matching ribbon. She pinched her cheeks and went down stairs. Jake walked in the backdoor as she entered the kitchen. Flossie was at the table, rolling out bread dough.

  “I’m sorry. I didn’t realize you were here already. What time is it?” Julia asked.

  “Nearly eight o’clock.” Flossie looked up from her kneading and smiled. “I got here about six-thirty. Wanted to let you sleep in your first day since I imagine that traveling will wear you down. I just went ahead and started, hope you don’t mind.”

  “Were you up early as well?” Julia asked Jake as she seated herself.

  Jake smiled. “Sunrise. I wanted to let you sleep.”

  “Oh,” she said. She had awoken in the middle of the night as Jake kissed her neck and cupped her breast. Their lovemaking had been frantic, leaving them both panting. She had fallen back asleep sprawled across him.

  Jake poured himself a cup of coffee, walked to her and kissed her on the lips. Her face heated with a blush. She couldn’t look at Flossie. He kissed her again and then pulled out a chair and pushed it close to straddle it beside her.

  “Want some coffee?” he asked.

  “I’ll get it.” Julia said and stared at her husband. He looked smug. And cocky. And adorable for a man twice her size. She grinned, plopped her chin on her hand and rolled her eyes.

  “I’m right here. Still in the kitchen if you two hadn’t noticed,” Flossie said.

  Without turning from Julia’s face, Jake answered his sister. “We know.”

  Julia dropped her head and cleared her throat. “I’ve never made bread before. Would you teach me, Flossie?”

  Jake lowered his voice to a whisper. “I’ll teach you anything you need to know, Julia.”

  “I’m talking to your sister,” she said.

  “I know,” Jake said with a smile.

  Flossie looked from her brother to her new sister-in-law and back. “I guess taking the time to get to know each other fell by the way side.”

  “We got to know . . .” Jake began.

  Julia jumped from her chair. “What do you do next, Flossie?” Julia said and pointed at the bread dough.

  Flossie looked at Jake, cut off mid-sentence by his wife. “We’re going to let the dough rest for awhile. Thought maybe you’d like some help unpacking and cleaning.”

  Jake rose slowly. “I’m going out to the barn. Holler if you need me.”

  It was all Julia could do to look Flossie in the eye. When she did, she realized Flossie was staring. Julia glanced away absently.

  “I didn’t think I’d live to see the day. My brother mooning over a woman and in front of me yet,” Flossie said.

  Julia looked at her hands. “I would hardly call it mooning.”

  “Well, something’s different about him. Kissing you and trying to make us both uncomfortable. Jake Shelling doesn’t tease or kid. Other than with Millie or Danny. Something’s different.”

  Julia looked at her slack-jawed sister-in-law. “He’s always serious then?”

  “Not anymore apparently.”

  “None of my clothes seem appropriate for life here. I sew a fair needlepoint stitch but never made any clothes. Should I ask Jake if I could buy some fabric or cut down the clothes I have?” Julia asked.

  “Having been married some years now, I’d get to Snelling’s store and pick out anything you want. Chances are good right now that Jake’d buy every bolt Snelling had in stock,” Flossie said. “Harry and I have to go into town tomorrow. Want to ride along?”

  Julia smiled. “Yes, I would enjoy that.”

  Flossie gathered a bucket and rags and together they gave Jake’s house the scrubbing it needed. Soon Julia’s white dress was covered in dirt. Her last nail had broken and cobwebs were stuck in her hair. Julia thanked God when Flossie announced they would take a break from cleaning and put her things away. Julia pulled her trunks down the hall from Gloria’s old room to Jake’s. Flossie did not say a word on the room adjustment but marveled over Julia’s lace gloves and dresses. They arranged some of Julia’s wardrobe in Jake’s tiny cupboard. The fanciest they left in her trunk for storage. As Julia and Flossie went down the steps Julia realized there were still buckets of dirty scrub water in the hallway, yet to be dumped. Clean walls met dirty with a clear demarcation.

  “Lordy, is it that the time already,” Flossie said as she looked at the watch pinned to her dress. “The kids’ll be hungry, and Harry will have a fit if I’m not home soon.”

  Julia’s stomach growled. “Hurry home then. You’ve been a great help.”

  “We didn’t get anything ready for supper,” Flossie said.

  “I’ll manage,” Julia replied with a smile.

  “Pick you up early, like about seven o’clock in the morning, Julia. Harry hates to head to town late in the day when it’s crowded,” Flossie said as she went out the door.

  Julia waved goodbye to Flossie. She pulled back a curtain hanging in the corner of the kitchen where Jake said shelves were filled with supplies. Certainly there would be something here she could make. She gathered more potatoes in her arms than she could carry and headed to the sink. Potatoes slipped away as she hurried and hit the floor with a thud.

  Julia rinsed what she still held and put them in a pot on the stove to boil and stoked the stove as Flossie had shown her. She lugged the heavy buckets of filthy water to the door of the kitchen but could get no further. Julia filled the sink with tepid water from the warming reservoir on the back of the stove and unbuttoned her cuffs. She struggled with the buttons on the back of her dress and swore she would only have dresses with front buttons now that she had no maid. She stood at the sink, dress around her waist, in her silk chemise and washed.

  * * *

  Jake came up from the barn to get a cool drink and see if Julia still looked as pretty as he remembered from that morning and as tempting as she had the night before. His bride was a
s soft as newborn chick down and all woman that was for certain, every curvy indent, every rounded bit of flesh. Jake had been scared to death he’d crush her when they made love. She was such a little thing, tucked under him, mewing soft sounds of pleasure. He was thinking it would only get better with time and familiarity. If it could.

  He stopped dead in his tracks at his screen door. Julia stood in front of the sink, hair pulled up except for a few tendrils stuck wet to her back. Her dress was to her waist and she was running a washrag over her neck. Her skin was as pale as the shiny fabric of her underclothes. Julia tilted her head from side to side and hummed softly. Jake turned quickly when he heard his foreman hollering to him. He slammed the kitchen door open prepared to ask his bride what in the hell she thought she was doing standing near naked within a hundred yards of his randy group of farmhands. She turned as the door swung open. He took one fierce, angry step inside even as the sight of her stirred him.

  “What in the hell . . .”

  “Be careful,” Julia shouted

  Jake charged into a bucket of water in front of the door. Water sloshed everywhere and the bucket flew end over end hitting a kitchen chair and knocking it over.

  Jake grabbed for the door handle as his feet began to go out from under him. Julia ran to him and kicked an errant potato straight at him. He bent and grabbed his shin where it hit. His muddy boots slipped in the water and sent Jake careening to the floor. He lay still on his back, the wind knocked out of him.

  Julia dropped down on her knees beside him.

  “Oh, dear. Jake, are you all right?”

  It took a moment to get his breath. He could already feel a knot growing on the back of his head. “Julia, everyman jack could have seen you standing at the sink practically naked.”

  Julia’s head popped up to the door. “Does your head hurt? I heard it smack,” she asked as she returned her attentions to him.

  Julia leaned down close and was running her hand through his hair, bringing her magnificent breasts swinging loosely within inches of his nose.