Читать книгу The Bride’s Matchmaking Triplets - Regina Scott - Страница 14

Chapter Five

Caroline and Louisa accompanied Elizabeth back to the boardinghouse and helped her change the boys into fresh diapers. At just over five feet tall, with soft brown hair and warm brown eyes, Louisa gave off an air of competence and kindness no doubt earned from years helping her physician father and invalid mother. A good half foot taller, Caroline was more energetic; her light brown hair, sparkling hazel eyes and bright smile inspired confidences. Coming from a musical family, she had a natural presence. Each had spent time caring for the triplets before Elizabeth arrived, and both had gone out of their way to make her feel welcome in Little Horn, even though it was hard to get into town often from their ranches.

Today, they gathered on the floor, heedless of their pretty church dresses, and played with the boys as they chatted with Elizabeth.

“Look how big you’ve grown,” Caroline told Theo, who was crawling toward her with an eye to the sling that protected her healing arm. She carefully moved her arm aside as Louisa distracted him by clapping her hands.

“I can’t imagine a mother leaving them,” Louisa said as the boys converged on her. Jasper sat and began clapping along with her, off beat and grinning. “I pray for her every day.”

“That reminds me.” Elizabeth rose to fetch the drawings that Mrs. Hickey had found on the church piano. “These were left for the boys. Any idea who the artist might be?”

Louisa flipped through the pictures, then handed them to Caroline. As if determined to look as well, the boys headed back her way.

“Someone has an eye for detail,” Caroline said with a glance up to Elizabeth.

Had she noticed the picture with Elizabeth and Brandon holding hands? Elizabeth willed herself not to blush. “Is it possible the mother is still here?”

Caroline handed the pictures back to Elizabeth and frowned as if wondering the same thing, but Louisa shook her head. “She can’t be. Only a handful of people have moved to Little Horn in the last three months, my family among them. Everyone knows when there’s a stranger in town.”

“But no one is a stranger for long,” Caroline countered, giving Eli’s toe a tug as he scooted past her, following the pictures. “That’s one of the things I love about this town.”

“But if this is the work of the Good Samaritan,” Elizabeth protested, “why hide it? Why not come forward?”

Caroline and Louisa exchanged puzzled glances.

“Perhaps the person is shy,” Louisa suggested. “And doesn’t want the attention.”

“The Good Samaritan prefers to keep hidden,” Caroline agreed. “Someone even sneaked onto the Windy Diamond and folded the laundry when we had the triplets. Too bad the helper hasn’t returned since.” She let out a gusty sigh that had Louisa and Elizabeth giggling.

But Elizabeth kept wondering about the matter after her friends left. If the Good Samaritan could do kind acts for Louisa when she had been living in town and Caroline at the Windy Diamond, that meant the person had to have a horse and time to travel to and fro. Any member of the ranching families would likely be too busy, but how could anyone from the town families make it to the Windy Diamond and back without someone noticing?

And how had Jasper managed to get all the way to the bed and pull himself up on his chubby legs without her noticing? Now he balanced precariously, face alternating between a grin and a frown of concern. His brothers were positively bouncing as they waited their turn.

What would she do when the triplets went to the children’s home?

She shook the unwelcome thought away. They needed her now. That was what mattered.

She let them play awhile, taking a turn with each at holding their hands and letting them make halting steps around the room. But each step reminded her of others to come—the first time they walked alone, the day they started school, the year they rode a horse—steps she would miss. Oh, but she had to think of something!

She put the boys into the high chairs, fed them some of the canned fruit and vegetables she had been given and cleaned them up afterward. Normally, one of the ladies brought her dinner, but she hadn’t received a visitor since Caroline and Louisa had left.

She was just considering breaking into the canned peaches herself when a knock sounded on the door. She went to answer it eagerly, but instead of Mrs. Tyson or Stella, Brandon stood waiting on the landing. Gone were the brown frock coat and trousers, the starch-collared shirt. Now he wore a rough canvas coat, short-collared cotton shirt and dark Levi’s, making him look more like the easygoing cowboys and ranchers of his congregation than the proper minister.

“Miss Dumont,” he said with a charming smile, “I believe I have the honor of dining with you this afternoon. That is if the other gentlemen clamoring for your attention will allow it.” He peered around her at the babies, who gabbled a greeting.

The invitation reminded her of dinners with her aunt. Those seemed miles away and hundreds of years in the past now.

“It’s very kind of you,” Elizabeth assured him, “but you’ve seen what it’s like trying to take care of them, much less having a civilized dinner.”

He bent and picked up a wicker hamper she hadn’t noticed at his booted feet. “Mrs. Tyson anticipated as much. She made us a picnic. Would you like to eat in the field by the church?”

Would she! At times, the walls drew too close. Elizabeth shot him a grin. “If you’ll help me with the boys, we’d be delighted to join you.”

A short while later, they were spread out on the grass. All three boys were crawling about, exploring, while Brandon handed Elizabeth goodies from the hamper—sliced ham, corn rolls with fresh butter, newly picked apples and cider from the previous crop.

“Easy there, little fellow,” Brandon cautioned when Jasper showed every intention of climbing into the hamper after a bright red apple. “You probably need to wait a few months before you try one of those.”

“Less time than you might think,” Elizabeth said, reaching for the baby and pulling him back. Jasper wiggled in her arms, and she distracted him with a bit of ham. “He’s already grown four teeth, and two more are coming in.”

Brandon peered closer at Jasper’s brother who was also making for the hamper. “Eli’s sporting a mouthful as well. The ladies better start watching where they put their fingers.” He turned the baby in the opposite direction, and Eli headed toward Theo, who looked a bit alarmed.

With a cry of triumph, Jasper seized a black beetle and brought it toward his mouth. Elizabeth snatched it away. The baby pouted a moment, then set off hunting once more.

“Maybe a picnic wasn’t such a good idea,” Brandon ventured, tugging Eli off Theo, who promptly snuggled up against Elizabeth.

“It would have been the same at the boardinghouse,” Elizabeth reminded him, leaning over to detour Eli from a patch of daisies that didn’t deserve his tough love. “They’re at the age when they want to move, to try everything. I hope your plans for the children’s home take that into account.”

“I’ll see what I can do.” He popped a piece of ham into his mouth with one hand while tugging Jasper back onto the quilt with the other. “The Lone Star Cowboy League agreed to fund the endeavor, so I’ll be starting work on the project tomorrow.”

Elizabeth smiled at him. “Oh, Brandon, that’s wonderful. Congratulations.”

He shrugged, gaze on the baby attempting to scale his long legs. “The triplets convinced them more than any words from me.”

She liked how he didn’t take too much credit for the feat. “What’s the first step?” she asked, rubbing a hand on Theo’s back. He lay his dark head against her skirts and breathed out a happy sigh.

Brandon picked up Jasper and settled him across one knee, jiggling it up and down as if the boy was riding a horse. Jasper crowed with delight. “David McKay and I are going to plan out each step so we know exactly what should be done, when and by whom.”

“I’d be happy to help,” Elizabeth offered. “After being a governess and now a nanny, I’m beginning to have a good idea of the situation needed to raise children in groups.”

Brandon leaned back, letting Jasper splay out on his belly. “Oh? What would you suggest?”

“Easy line of sight.” When he raised a brow, she hurried on. “Think about it. Particularly with the triplets, would you want walls and corridors to separate you while you’re doing your chores? The person running the children’s home will still need to cook and clean and wash, you know, all while watching over the children.”

He nodded, capable hands holding the baby. “That makes sense. We may have to knock out a few walls or add others to make that happen. What else?”

“Fireplace screens,” she told him. “Ones strong enough to keep a toddler from tumbling into the flames.”

Brandon winced. Jasper, watching him, furrowed his brows.

“And really,” Elizabeth couldn’t help putting in, “you must give the children at least a few toys to play with. I’m sure they will have chores and schoolwork, but every child needs time to just dawdle.”

“Dawdle.” His voice was thoughtful. He peered closer at Jasper. “What do you think, little man? Do you like to dawdle?”

In answer, Jasper bounced up and down in his grip, ready to ride again.

Somewhere near at hand, a door slammed, and a woman’s voice echoed across the grass, hard and angry.

“I don’t care what Pastor Stillwater says. Tug Coleman is a low-down, hard-hearted old codger, and I won’t help him one more moment.”

Brandon sighed, a significantly less happy sound than the one Theo had made, then set Jasper back from him and rose. “Excuse me a moment.” In three strides, he was around the corner of the parsonage.

Elizabeth shook her head. So this was the life of a small-town minister—settling disputes, moving civic projects forward. Somehow she doubted he’d learned such skills at Harvard. Ministers there had been lofty-minded individuals, bent on the contemplation of scriptures and their learned interpretation. When did Brandon even have time to plan his sermon?

Just as they had the last time she’d been on the lawn, the bushes at the end of the grass rustled, and all three babies paused in their crawling to watch. So did Elizabeth. She’d been relieved to find Little Horn remarkably civilized after the stories she’d read about the Texas frontier. But the church was at the end of the street, and all around it grasses waved toward the hills and stony outcroppings in the distance. Had some animal crept closer, lured in by the thought of making the babies its next meal? She reached out and gathered Jasper and Eli closer to Theo.

“Who’s there?” she demanded. “If you’re here for trouble, go on, scat!”

The bushes rustled again, with more conviction this time, and Elizabeth was certain she caught sight of blue jeans and a pair of wide brown eyes. They had a visitor, and a shy one at that.

She softened. “It’s all right. I won’t hurt you. Are you here to see the triplets?” She held out one hand. “Come on, then. We’d be happy to meet you.”

As if emboldened by her speech, a boy of around four or five squeezed past the greenery, followed by an older girl. Both had brown hair, the girl’s close to her face, the boy’s curling down over his forehead. The shape of their thin faces said they were siblings. Jasper, Theo and Eli immediately wiggled as if determined to get closer to the newcomers.