Odell has anything planned for supper?â
âFix anything you find in the larder. We eat mostly ham and beef, chicken if we can keep the coyotes from getting them first, and fish if Steve can catch any. Thereâs canned and dried fruits and vegetables. Odell made a hill for the potatoes, but Iâm told it rarely gets cold enough to freeze, so they might be in the pantry.â
âWhere do you keep milk, butter, and eggs?â
âRight now itâs cold enough to keep everything in the pantry. I donât know what he does when it gets hot. What else do you need to know?â
âI think thatâs enough for now. You can go back to whatever you were doing before I arrived and leave me to get acquainted with everything.â
âI have to ride out in about an hour. Weâre getting a shipment of longhorns ready to take to the fort.â
âIâll be okay. Iâm used to being in a house by myself.â Not that sheâd ever been alone very often. Noah had been so jealous, heâd forced her to work in the mercantile so he could keep an eye on her. Sheâd had to go to the store with him in the morning and stay there until he left in the evening.
âIf you do need anything, ring the gong. Someone is bound to hear it.â
âWhat time do you expect supper?â
âHow about six? We like to get to bed early so we can make an early start.â
âIâll expect all of you then.â
Jared lingered, like there was something he wanted to say.
âDid you forget something?â
âI just wanted to say weâre glad to have you here. I mean for more than the money. Itâll be nice to have a womanâs touch to the place.â
âI didnât come here to change anything.â
âWe could use a little change. We get in a rut when itâs all men.â
âWell, I wonât change anything for a while yetâ¦except the food so Steve wonât starve.â
They both laughed, but neither sounded quite natural.
âIâll leave so you can settle in. Where do you want your box?â
âBring it in here.â
Jared was back in moments with the box, which he placed on the end of the counter. âIf you find you need anything we donât have, make a list. In a few days we can go into town and pick up everything.â
He stood there for a long moment, as though he was waiting for her to say something. When she didnât, he nodded and left the room.
Laurie let out a big breath and felt her whole body relax. Her first day as Noahâs wife had been more stressful, but at least she had known him all her life. She just disliked him. She was certain she would like Jared and Steve, but she knew nothing about them or the four men that worked for them. They might be uncomfortable or resent having a woman in the house.
She was uncomfortable. She had only agreed because she doubted sheâd ever have a better chance to establish her independence. Sheâd certainly never have a better chance to use the money without anyone demanding to know where it came from. She had to make this work.
But something else unsettled her. Jared was attracted to her, and she was attracted to him .
Her father had been afraid the soldiers attracted by her charms would lead her to do something that would ruin her. Thatâs the reason he gave for forcing her to marry Noah at seventeen. She had been prepared to be a dutiful wife, but it was clear on their first night together that Noah was repulsed by her bodyâs opulence rather than attracted by it. Heâd never come to her as a husband. Heâd been certain her opulence was proof she harbored a carnal appetite that he said was disgusting in a lady. As a consequence, sheâd spent years attempting to expunge any trace of physical desire.
Now her release from that purgatory was followed almost immediately by a physical attraction so strong it scared her. If it was
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