The Unexpected Bride Page 7

  Elthia’s breath hitched at the thought of what could have happened if Mr. Tanner hadn’t acted so quickly.

  Then she stared at Poppy’s rescuer. For all the man’s grumbling about her pet, he’d gone out of his way to rescue him from potential danger. The exact opposite of that sweet-talking, mean-spirited, snake-of-a-man Baxter.

  “Here,” he said, shoving Poppy at her, “take this furry handful of walking trouble. And I suggest you keep a closer eye on him if you want him to survive life on a farm.”

  She cuddled Poppy against her, no longer inclined to take offense at his comments about her pet. “Thank you and I will.”

  He seemed nonplussed by her gratitude. But he recovered quickly, returning to his original topic of conversation. “You’re the only chance left to keep the family together,” he said with surprising humility. “The kids need you.”

  For a moment Elthia thought she glimpsed something vulnerable in his eyes. Then it was gone, and she could tell he already regretted having dropped his guard.

  But it didn’t matter. He’d succeeded in snaring her with the only words that could have done the trick. Had it been mere happenstance or had he somehow guessed that she longed to be needed, yearned for it with an almost physical ache?

  Besides, if she married this man, it would be her choice and there was power in that. At least here, she knew her money wasn’t a factor, and she’d have the children to lavish her attention on. And Mr. Tanner, for all his faults and disagreeable personality, was infinitely preferable to a monster like Baxter.

  What was even better, whether he’d intended to or not, he’d handed her some leverage, some control over the situation. “You do make a compelling case.”

  Mr. Tanner’s self-assured manner snapped back into place. There was no sign he’d ever doubted the outcome of their talk. “Then you agree to abide by the terms of the contract.”

  Elthia held up a hand. “First, I expect you to view this as a business partnership, not a traditional marriage. I will agree to help you care for the children and do everything in my power to help you meet the expectations of the adoption judge. In return I expect you to treat me with respect, to tolerate Poppy, and to make it as easy as possible to obtain the annulment when the time comes.”

  She watched him nod his head, then narrowed her eyes. “The question is, how do I know I can trust you?”

  He flashed an I’ve-got-the-upper-hand grin. “You’ll just have to take my word for it.”

  She lifted her chin. “I’m afraid that’s not good enough. I have no intention of getting myself mired deeper into your scheme. I want binding assurances that I can painlessly extricate myself from this partnership when the time comes.”

  His brow drew down in a frown, and Elthia was pleased to see his expression lose some of its cocksureness.

  “What did you have in mind?”

  “If I agree to this, we’ll need to draw up another contract, one that spells out exactly what we are both committing to. I don’t want any ‘misunderstandings’ this time around.”

  He shook his head. “Uh-uh. If a paper like that fell into the judge’s hands, it would ruin everything.”

  She shrugged. It was a valid worry, but she would guard the good of the children as closely as he did. “As long as you abide by the terms, no one need ever see it. Once the marriage is annulled, I’ll return it to you and you can destroy it.”

  “How do I know you won’t use the document against me?”

  She flashed her sweetest smile as she turned his words back on him. “You’ll just have to take my word for it.”

  His grimace indicated he didn’t see the humor in her words. “I don’t have time to drag this out, so you’ll get your contract. Rest assured I’ll keep my end of our bargain.”

  The look he shot her as he shifted forward reminded Elthia she was no prize catch. “Remember what’s at stake here. If you betray me, you’ll regret it. Understand?”

  He hadn’t raised his voice. If anything, it had gotten softer. But the chill of his words sliced straight through her. She nodded, not trusting herself to speak.

  “Good. Then we’ll draw up that new contract today and the wedding will take place tomorrow as planned. I expect you to put on a good front for the kids. They’ve been through enough already. As long as you do your level best to be a proper mother to them, I’ll be satisfied.”

  Head high, she nodded. “It seems the needs of the children are the only thing we do agree on, Mr. Tanner.”

  Elthia wasn’t feeling particularly triumphant. What had possessed her to let some softly uttered words convince her to agree to his ridiculous proposal? There were no signs of softness or vulnerability in him now.

  Had she escaped one untenable marriage just to find herself in another?

  Caleb wasn’t happy with the terms she’d laid out, but the important thing was that she had agreed to marry him. He’d just have to take this one step at a time.

  “Speaking of the children”—he reached down to help her up—“it’s time I went back in and checked on things.”

  After a slight hesitation, Miss Sinclare took his hand.

  As Caleb escorted her out of the barn, he noted streaks of orange had already begun to fan out above the horizon. The children would be rising soon, but for now he needed to regain his focus.

  Despite his lingering irritation over the way she’d shifted the balance of power, he again felt that unwanted tug of admiration for the surprisingly spirited Lady Privilege. True, she’d tried to buy her way out of this. But she was handling the idea of their impending marriage with more grace than he’d expected.

  It was a good thing she hadn’t realized that if he took her to court, which he wouldn’t have, he would be shooting himself in the foot. Even if he won, Judge Walters would never agree that such a marriage bargain was a legitimate response to his conditions. Caleb had mentally held his breath as they sparred, afraid she’d discover that hole in his argument.

  He squirmed, thinking of the way he’d manipulated her, using her sympathy for the kids as his trump card. But he couldn’t afford to be soft, not with all he had at stake.

  He had to be honest with himself though. When he thought she’d turn him down, a pinprick of panic had hammered its way up his spine. And not just because time was running out.

  Even though she was a pampered, totally-unsuited-to-his-lifestyle miss, something about Lady Privilege tugged at him, made him want to learn more about her, about what made her tick. She had grit, true, and it was fun to watch that nobody’s-gonna-walk-all-over-me fire when she got riled.

  Marriage to Lady Privilege—a not altogether unwelcome outcome. As long as he didn’t make the mistake of letting his emotions get involved, it might be interesting to teach her some of the finer points of the simple life.

  CHAPTER 6

  “So, tell me something more about the children.” Elthia ignored the dew dampening her hem and held thoughts of her upcoming wedding at bay. Best to focus on the children.

  He spread his hands. “What do you want to know?”

  She studied the rosy horizon. “How did their parents die?”

  Her would-be groom looked at her curiously. “You really didn’t read any of the details I sent Pembroke, did you?”

  Here we go again. “The only thing in the file on the children,” she said with exaggerated patience, “was a note about two girls, supposedly daughters of you and your wife.”

  He stopped in his tracks. “Wait a minute—you claim you were told I had a wife?”

  “Yes, of course. I wouldn’t have come out here otherwise. It wouldn’t have been proper for me to take up residence with a single man, no matter how innocent the situation.”

  His brow furrowed. “And you didn’t find it strange that there was no woman here to greet you when you arrived?”

  Elthia could tell he found her story hard to swallow. Why did what he thought of her matter so much? “I was told your wife was an invalid.” She shrugged. �
��I just assumed she was resting when I arrived and I would meet her eventually.”

  “And what about the six kids? Didn’t that raise your suspicions just a bit?”

  Her chin tilted up. “Peter called you Uncle Caleb. I assumed that the boys were visiting nephews.”

  “That’s an awful lot of assuming on your part.”

  Before she could respond, he raised a hand. “Let me get this straight. You thought I’d take in four visiting nephews when I had an invalid wife to see to and was looking for someone I could hire to help with my two girls.”

  He made her sound like a fool or a liar. Was that what he thought? “I’d just arrived,” she said, trying not to sound defensive. “It wasn’t my place to question your lack of common sense.”

  Looking up at the sky, he shook his head.

  She placed her hands on her hips. “Mr. Tanner, if we’re going to make this arrangement work, you’re going to have to stop questioning my story. I have no intention of spending the next three months listening to you cast clouds on either the honor of my intent or my understanding of the contract I signed.”

  His expression sobered. “All right, I’ll give you that much. I won’t say another word that hints at doubts on my part.” Then he pointed a finger at her. “By the same token, you are not to give the kids or neighbors the slightest idea that you intended anything other than marriage when you arrived here. Agreed?”

  Elthia noted he hadn’t said he believed her, only that he would stop voicing doubts. Fair enough. And the concession he asked for was to her advantage as much as his. Making this story common knowledge would only make her seem laughable. “Agreed. So long as I don’t have to outright lie.”

  Mr. Tanner leaned against the barnyard fence and, with a gesture, invited her to join him. “You asked about the accident. It was Tom and Della’s anniversary. They’d gone to the theater to celebrate. There was a fire—neither of them made it out.”

  Elthia’s stomach lurched, and her hand flew to her mouth. “How horrible! Oh those poor sweet children. I’m so sorry.”

  He nodded grimly, accepting her disjointed reaction, then moved away to check the level of water in the nearby trough.

  She watched him in silence, unable to find any words to adequately express her sympathy.

  He returned to her side, propping a foot on the bottom fence rail and resting his arms over the top. When he didn’t say anything, Elthia decided it was up to her to break the silence. “Tell me a little about the children,” she said softly. “What was their life like before the accident?”

  He stared out over the pen. “Truth is, most of what I know, I know from letters my sisters sent me. What family I have left, other than the kids, are in Indiana, and I don’t get up there much.”

  Why did he live so far away? Was it due to what he’d called his time as a drifter? But now was not the time to ask.

  “Tom and Della owned and operated a restaurant,” he continued, “and I believe the older kids helped out.”

  Pushing away from the fence, he indicated they were to move toward the house. “The move to this place, so far from Indiana and out in the country with nary a neighbor in sight, was a bit of an adjustment for the kids.”

  Elthia pulled her gaze from Poppy, who was sniffing in the grass for something, and wrinkled her forehead. “So why did you move them? I mean, there’s nothing really wrong with this place, but as you said, it is foreign to the children, and they’re already facing painful changes in their lives.”

  His jaw tightened. Then he smiled crookedly. “I thought it best to give them a fresh start where they wouldn’t be haunted by painful reminders.”

  Mr. Tanner’s moods both confused and intrigued her. “What about Zoe? Has she always been such a solemn child?”

  He glanced sideways at her, as if surprised she’d noticed. “Zoe is hard to read,” he said. “But as you’ve apparently noticed, she never smiles.”

  There was frustration and worry in his voice. Elthia felt another of those little tugs of sympathetic admiration.

  Focus on the children. Keep probing. “Josie has a different look than the others. Is there a reason for that?”

  Caleb paused. Lady Privilege had managed to surprise him yet again. She certainly had picked up on a lot in the short time she’d been here.

  He motioned for her to have a seat on the steps of the back porch. “Josie is actually my brother Tim’s daughter. He worked on a merchant ship and at one point got quite sick while in port in Italy. Josie’s mother is a lady he fell in love with while recuperating there. When she died in childbirth, Tim brought Josie back to Indiana and asked Tom and his wife to take care of her for him while he was at sea.”

  Her sympathetic “Oh” and the brief touch of her hand to his arm was oddly comforting.

  Caleb stared out across the yard. “She’s been part of Tom’s family ever since. When Tim’s ship went down in a storm two years ago, the arrangement became permanent.” He leaned back. “Any other questions?”

  She nodded. “Peter seems a bit, well, adversarial.”

  He shifted and rubbed the back of his neck. “You noticed that too, did you?”

  “It’s rather blatant.”

  He tried to ignore the stab of guilt. “I’m afraid Peter’s carrying a chip on his shoulder. He didn’t want to move away from his friends and doesn’t like country life.”

  He started to stand, but it seemed she wasn’t done with her questions.

  “You mentioned sisters. How many siblings do you have?”

  Caleb settled back and met her gaze. “Full of questions, aren’t you?”

  She didn’t appear intimidated by his directness. “If I’m going to be part of this family, I’d like to know as much about it as I can.”

  He supposed he couldn’t fault her for that. “Fair enough. There were six of us—four boys and two girls. You already know what happened to Tom and Tim. My brother Owen is also gone—he died of a fever when he was fourteen.” Unfortunately he himself had only been twelve at the time, and Aunt Cora hadn’t been able to take him to Indiana for the funeral.

  He ruthlessly tamped down that memory and focused again on her question. “That just leaves me, Annie, and Lizzie.”

  “I’m so sorry about your brothers.” Her tone was warm, her expression sympathetic. “I have a brother, so I can only imagine how awful I would feel if something happened to him.”

  She had a brother? He had assumed she had taken this position because she was more or less alone in the world. What kind of man would let his sister undertake something like this?

  As she reached down to absently pick up her pooch, he could see another question forming on her lips.

  A noise from inside the house saved him from whatever else she planned to ask. “Sounds like some of the kids are up.” He stood, effectively ending the question-and-answer session.

  Caleb opened the door and let Miss Sinclare precede him inside.

  As he’d expected, Zoe was already busy with the breakfast preparations. Her hair was neatly braided, and a crisp apron protected her dress. There were no lingering traces of sleep in her expression. Despite his encouraging her to sleep late and let him handle breakfast, it appeared she’d been up for a while.

  He was torn between frustration at his inability to get her to relax and admiration for her willingness to do so much.

  Hopefully, Miss Sinclare would help lighten her load.

  “Mornin,’ Zoe,” he said, laying a hand lightly on her shoulder. “Here, let me help you.”

  “No thank you.” Her tone was as stiff as her demeanor. “I can manage.”

  “Of course you can.” He reached over and plucked the sticks from her hands. “But I don’t mind helping.”

  Relinquishing the job of stoking the stove, Zoe grabbed a kettle and marched to the sink. Her youthful arms worked the pump with fierce energy.

  Caleb stared at her back, frustrated by his inability to get through to her. “Zoe, you don’t have to
keep trying to do it all anymore. Miss Sinclare is here to help now.”

  He actually doubted Lady Privilege would be much help with the chores, but he was hopeful she’d be able to help his niece in other ways.

  Zoe merely shrugged. “Miss Sinclare said she wasn’t good in the kitchen, and I figured everyone would still want breakfast this morning.”

  Elthia watched the byplay between Mr. Tanner and Zoe with growing sympathy. Zoe’s defensiveness and stony reception of her uncle’s concern would frustrate a saint.

  And Mr. Tanner was no saint.

  She pushed her glasses up on her nose, ready to do what she could to defuse the tension. “Your uncle is right, Zoe. I may not be good at cooking, but surely there’s something I can do to help.”

  Zoe stiffened and her lips compressed. “Thank you, but like I told Uncle Caleb, I can manage.”

  Elthia had no reason to doubt that. Zoe was obviously much more capable of the task than she herself was. Elthia had been taught something about running a household but only if that household came staffed with a full complement of servants.

  However, the contract Mr. Tanner held required she fulfill certain responsibilities to this family. Time she started rolling up her sleeves and getting to it.

  “I’m glad to hear you’re such a good cook, Zoe, especially since I’m not. But I’d be glad to lend a hand. And maybe you can teach me something about cooking as we go.”

  The girl flashed her a condescending look. “Perhaps another day when we have more time.”

  Realizing she’d been dismissed by a twelve-year-old, Elthia forced a smile. “Very well. I’ll look in on our patients then.” She turned and walked past both Zoe and Mr. Tanner.

  She was looking for a way to make herself useful, to earn her keep, she assured herself. The fact that it would give her some time to compose herself was only a side benefit.

  She was still trying to absorb the full impact of what she’d agreed to. Could she truly make a go of it here? Convince the adoption judge she was a real part of this family?