A Headstrong Woman

chapter Two

Jonathon considered himself to be a perceptive man, seeing things for what they were and calling them as such. He evoked in others a sense of confidence he himself didn’t quite understand. He mused on this as he watched Elijah’s young wife pin laundry to the clothes line. She was tall and slender, so delicately turned that she looked as though a strong wind should bend her to the ground like a young sapling.

Elijah had shared his tumultuous thoughts with Jonathon over the few weeks he had been there and he found himself torn between understanding and compassion for the older man and frustration at him for how little thought he gave his wife. Whatever Elijah’s reasons for marrying the young woman, she deserved common courtesy from her husband.

Alexandria glanced up at him as though aware of his scrutiny and he noted how flat her eyes were as he nodded a greeting and stood; he should get back to his chores. It couldn’t be easy to realize that the man you shard your bed and life with wasn’t in love with you; he could remember how excited and full of dreams Emily had been when they married. He glanced back at Alexandria one last time. Her back was now to him as she worked; her long hair hung in a single braid down her back like that of a schoolgirl. Just how old was she anyway?

He entered the barn and moved toward a group of men who were moving a stack of crates Elijah wanted relocated. The men had easily accepted him and included him in their joking and talk. Oddly enough, though most were close to him in age and couple even older; he felt much older than them.

“I don’t know why the boss married her but he sure don’t take much interest in her now,” Sparky commented as he handed a crate off to Russ. Jonathon had noted the Sparky often surreptitiously watched the boss’s wife but never crossed the line into inappropriate familiarity.

“Well if he aint gonna pay her no mind I will,” Nick crudely joked.

“Hey now,” Sparky stood to his full height and glared at the stockier hand opposite him. Sparky was young, best Jonathon could tell, and quick tempered, though he usually brought it under wraps before it got him into any real trouble.

“Eli’ll have your hide if he hears you talking like that and I just might help him,” Russ added to the fray. Russ was closer to Jonathon in age perhaps a couple of years older than the others and seemed to have a level head on his shoulders.

“What Elijah don’t know won’t hurt him,” Nick countered. Nick was cocky to a fault and seemed to have little scruples if his behavior since Jonathon’s arrival was any indication.

“Your Ma not teach you how to treat a lady?” Jonathon was now standing behind Nick. Nick turned to him in surprise and seemed to size him up. The man visibly relaxed his shoulder and offered him an insolent grin.

“Oh no hurt in lookin and talkin, is there?”

“There is if it disrespects a lady,” Jonathon countered.

“Fine,” Nick hefted another crate and fell into a brooding silence.

“Need a hand?” Jonathon offered.

“Thanks; appreciate that,” Sparky offered a friendly smile.

Alexandria flipped her empty laundry basket upside down on the ground beside the line and turned to enter the house. She needed to alter her dress for church this Sunday; at least she assumed they would go. Elijah had been sporadic in attendance since their marriage but he had said something about going so she would plan as though they were.

She had lost weight since her move to the ranch and didn’t want it to be immediately obvious to her mother come Sunday morning. Her mother was always fussing that she was too thin as it was. Both her older sister, Catherine, and younger sister, Anna were well rounded in all the womanly places and more fashionable in height. Catherine had taken the men of their community on a wild ride before she had up and married a California business man who was in town on business. Alexandria suspected that Anna would do the same before she settled down.

Alexandria poked her head into Lillian’s room and noted that she was still sleeping soundly before she moved into the sewing room to alter her dress. It was one of her favorites; one she had always felt a little more confident in. Even this dress had elicited no response from her husband; his lack of response had made her realize that wedded bliss was not in her future. She had determined to be the best mother and to manage her house hold to the best of her ability and to be content with that. She would expect nothing from her husband therefore ensuring that she would be immune to being hurt by him or any man. It sounded good in theory but the pain that seemed to be perpetually below the surface mocked her new resolution as though reminding her that she had already failed yet again.

She had just finished sewing the last tuck into her dress when Millie tapped on the doorframe and entered the room.

“Alexandria, did you pick up the list I gave you on your last trip to town? I can’t seem to find the sugar,” the woman watched her expectantly. Alexandria closed her eyes and blew out a frustrated breath. She had tucked the list into her pocket and then promptly forgotten it when she started selecting material for Lilly some new dresses.

“I forgot them, Millie; I’m sorry. I’ll go find Eli and arrange to go to town,” Alexandria promised and she stood and went to search out her husband.

She found him and several men talking just outside the barn. She approached cautiously. She had asked him for little since their marriage and had spoken to him little more than necessary. She had attempted to establish lines of communication by asking him questions about how the ranch worked, but he had curtly reminded her that the house was her domain. She had given up after that and dreaded approaching him now.

“Eli,” she called cautiously.

He turned to her in surprise.

“Is something wrong?” he frowned down at her.

“I forgot several necessary supplies on my last trip to town and I need to go for them,” she announced; she was trying hard to keep her shoulders straight and chin high. If he would let her go to town by herself she could take care of it without bothering him; he refused however.

“Alexandria, this is a busy, working ranch and I can’t run off to town every few days. You need to ask Millie to show you how to make a complete list and …” Elijah stopped short when he realized that the men were watching the whole exchange and that Alexandria stood, head bent as though defeated. Elijah rubbed his hands over his face. She had made a mistake. Everyone made mistakes, himself included and his marriage to Alexandria the biggest of those.

He turned to the men. He could not be away from the ranch this afternoon; he would have to ask one of them to escort her. He eyed Sparky who was watching him; jaw clenched and anger radiating from his intense gaze. Elijah had already figured out that the young man was sweet on his wife. Russ refused to meet Elijah’s gaze and Nick actually looked rather amused by the whole exchange. Elijah, not certain that he completely trusted the man, kept a close eye on that one. His gaze landed on Jonathon, the only one whose expression remained impassive, nothing in his demeanor suggesting that he was wondering if Elijah knew that his wife was afraid of him.

“Jonathon, can you escort her please? I’m not comfortable with her making the trip alone.”

“Sure thing, boss, no problem,” Jonathon assured him before he turned to enter the barn.

When Elijah turned back to his wife it was to find her already half way across the yard. He excused himself and followed her. He caught up with her just inside the house where she was part way up the stairs.

“Alexandria,” he called and watched as she turned to face him; her expression was cautious. “I’m sorry I snapped at you. You’re just a child, you’ll get the hang of it,” he intended his statement to be helpful.

“A child?” Alexandria’s smile was brittle, “A child to raise your child; isn’t that ironic?” Alexandria turned, her back ram rod straight and continued up the stairs. Elijah propped his fist on the banister and dropped his head to his fist. What a mess he had made.

Alexandria entered her room, rage and hurt causing tears to spill over. A child! The man married her and then had the audacity to call her a child. If she was such a child why had he chosen her to be a glorified nurse maid turned prisoner? Alexandria impatiently splashed her face with water and blotted it dry. She had no use for tears and no time. Mr. Stewart would be waiting to escort her. She dressed quickly and efficiently in an appropriate dress and wrapped her braid into a thick configuration on her head before securing it. Her task completed, she stood before the mirror and raised her chin, squared her shoulders, and fixed her composure back in place. She didn’t want a near stranger being privy to her quiet anguish and she didn’t want to give Elijah any more power to hurt her. With determination she went to collect Lilly and exited the house.

The wagon stood ready; Mr. Stewart waiting.

“Eli asked me to pick up a few things while we’re in town,” Jonathon explained the choice of wagon over buggy.

“That’s fine,” she assured him as she set Lilly on the high seat and prepared to climb up after her.

“Here you go, Ma’am,” he quickly stepped forward to offer her aid over the wheel.

“Thank you,” Alexandria offered a polite smile and nod.

Jonathon circled the wagon and climbed onto the seat, he wasn’t certain but he suspected that Alexandria had been crying. He glanced her direction and then at the road ahead.

“I’m sorry to inconvenience you, Mr. Stewart, I’m afraid I bungled my first attempt at lady of the manor. Fortunately I am nothing if not tenacious; I’ll master it yet,” Alexandria attempted to make light of her very public humiliation.

“You haven’t inconvenienced me at all, it’s a beautiful afternoon to be out,” he assured her. “As for mastering the lady of the manor I assure you aren’t the first or the last newly wed to struggle with that. I came home one evening to find Emily sitting in the floor beside a burnt mess that should have been dinner.”

“Emily?”

“My wife, she died several weeks ago.”

Alexandria flinched at his words, “I’m sorry for your loss. I didn’t mean to cause you to…”

“No, no, you have nothing to apologize for; I brought her up. Actually it feels good to talk about her. I hadn’t realized until just now that I hadn’t and that makes me nearly as sad as losing her.”

Alexandria wasn’t sure what to say to that. Lilly, who had been watching Jonathon since they left the house, suddenly abandoned Alexandria’s lap for Jonathon’s.

“Lillian! Mr. Stewart is trying to drive,” Alexandria chastised as she attempted to reach for her step-daughter.

“She’s fine. I love kids,” Jonathon assured her as he settled Lilly more firmly in his lap. He placed the reigns in Lilly’s hands and kept his hands below hers. Lillian shot her new mommy a triumphant smile.

“Congratulations, Mr. Stewart, she doesn’t take to just anyone but when she does she’s loyal.”

“I’m honored; it isn’t everyday a pretty lady takes up with me,” he joked with a smile.

Alexandria thought back to the previous Sunday at church and it was her turn to smile, “You must not be aware of the stir caused at church Sunday.”

Alexandria watched him color but felt no remorse for her teasing.

“I’m not unaware, I simply wish to ignore it in the hope it will go away.” His expression was so woebegone that Alexandria found herself laughing. It felt good to laugh.

“I wish you luck with that one, Mr. Stewart. I’ve seen the young ladies around here when they are taken with a fellow; they are quite relentless.”

“Thanks for the warning.”

“You’re welcome. Where are you from, Mr. Stewart?”

“South Dakota.”

“So when your wife died you decided on a change of scenery?”

“I did,” he nodded.

“Do you have any other family?”

“I have an older half-brother Lewis, he’s married to Carol and they have Missy and Nate. I have an older sister Carol, she’s married to Frank and they have twin boys Matthew and Mark, and my brother-in-law keeps joking about a Luke and John,” he shared and watched her smile. “I also have a younger brother Theodore, though we all call him Ted.”

“No mother and father?” her eyes were lit with teasing.

“A mother, Dorothy, and a father, Nicolas,” he returned on a chuckle.

“Where do they live?”

“In the same community I did in South Dakota.”

“And you left them all?” her eyes were wide in disbelief.

“Had I not I would have been perpetually haunted; there were memories everywhere,” he shared quietly.

“I guess that would be hard,” she acknowledged. “I just can’t imagine being that far from my family. They are only a few miles away and I miss them more than I ever imagined,” Alexandria admitted.

“Schedule a standing dinner date for Sunday. Emily and I alternated our families every other Sunday so we could all stay in touch,” Jonathon suggested.

“I just might do that; thanks Mr. Stewart,” she offered him a wide smile.

“You’re welcome,” he nodded as town appeared on the horizon.