The Unexpected Bride by Debra Ullrick Page A

looked Rainee directly in the eye. “You have my word, Rainee. I promise I won’t say a thing to anyone.”
    “And neither will I.” Katherine’s chest heaved. “Now I understand why such a sweet beautiful woman such as yourself ran away.”
    Ran away? Oh, no. Her insides flushed with terror. Now that they knew she had run away, would they send her back, regardless of what her brother had done to her? Would they betray her like her Aunt Lena had?

Chapter Eight
    T he ache in Rainee’s stomach disappeared when nothing more was said about her running away. Too bad that had not been the case with her father’s sister, Aunt Lena. Before she ran away to Aunt Lena’s, she had asked Mr. Pennay, her father’s lawyer, if anything was written in the will about Ferrin being her legal guardian, and he had assured her nothing had been.
    When Ferrin came for Rainee at Aunt Lena’s house, even after she had shown the strict socially proper woman the welts on her back and hands, her aunt still forced her to go back with Ferrin when he lied and said he was indeed her legal guardian. Aunt Lena said it was not proper for her or anyone else to go against a father’s wishes, and if he said he was her legal guardian, then he was—pure and simple.
    It never ceased to amaze Rainee that, even when a person’s life was at risk, people still maintained the rules of propriety. That was just one more reason why she detested those rules.
    Today, she had broken two of those rules, and it felt delightful.
    After Rainee, Leah and Katherine let out three ofRainee’s dresses, they started preparing the evening meal. While Katherine worked on the Lefsa, a traditional Swedish flatbread made from potatoes, Leah helped gather ingredients, peel potatoes and fry the Korv. Korv, Rainee learned, was Swedish for sausage. Rainee baked the pies and made the soup, enjoying every moment of being helpful.
    Rainee opened the oven door to remove the pies. Heat drove into her, but with a lighter dress on and no restricting corset, the heat did not bother her like it had back home.
    After her parents had died, during the hottest part of the summer, Ferrin had forced her to wear heavy garments with layers upon layers of undergarments. He also had limited her water and food supply to one serving a day, all because he said it gave him great pleasure watching her suffer. Why? She did not know. But suffer she had.
    Often, her stomach cramped until she doubled over. Her skin prickled like someone was stabbing it with needles, and her head swam with dizziness.
    For fear of getting another beating, she had to force her fatigued body to move.
    If it had not been for Jenetta coming to Rainee’s aid repeatedly, she would probably be dead by now. But Jenetta had sewn two large pockets into one of her undergarments, big enough to hold a jar of water and some cheese or fruit.
    Jenetta’s husband, Abram, left a covered bucket of water inside the woodshed, along with a few vegetables he had picked fresh from the garden and managed to sneak inside the shed.
    Rainee closed the oven door. The scent of fresh, warm pie crust and sweet huckleberries satiated hernose. With any kind of luck, she would never go hungry or ever endure another vicious beating again—even if she had to move again to Mr. Bettes’s.
    Katherine hung up her dish towel. “Leah, will you please ring the dinner bell?”
    “I will get it.” Rainee wiped her hands on her apron and stepped outside.
    The breeze penetrated her wine-colored dress, kissing her flesh with its coolness. She patted her damp face with her apron and took a brief moment to enjoy the sensation of freedom the lightweight dress and breezy outdoors created. It was heaven on earth.
    She reached up and gave the rope several tugs and winced at the loud clanging noise. Hurrying back inside, she helped put the food onto the table.
    The door creaked.
    Rainee turned, only to find Haydon standing inside the door, gawking at her.
    Her gaze dropped to