“I do. I’ve always enjoyed it a great deal.”
“Then by all means, let’s play chess once the dishes are done.” He had no feelings for her other than admiration and friendship, but perhaps love could grow from that. When he’d received the telegram that she was coming, he’d been determined to choose to love her. Now that she was here, he was happy for friendship that may build into more. Even if it didn’t, he had what he’d wanted. A companion who could help in the store and keep his house for him. What more could a man ask for?
When Toria set out the following afternoon, it was more to explore Creede than for any other reason. She knew that Mortimer didn’t find the place to be perfectly safe, but she’d head over toward the telegraph shop and Beatrice’s house anyway. She could see her new friend, learn a little about the town, and perhaps meet some new people along the way.
She knocked on the door of Beatrice’s at precisely one-thirty, knowing her friend had said that was when the baby napped.
Beatrice opened the door, a big smile on her face. “Come in! I have some friends here, and we’re all having tea and cookies. You must join us!”
“Oh, I couldn’t interrupt your time with your friends.”
“Yes, you can. You’re my friend, too. Come into the kitchen.”
When Toria walked into the kitchen, she saw three ladies sitting at the table. “This is Toria. She married Mortimer from the mercantile yesterday. She’s a mail order bride from Massachusetts.”
Toria was embarrassed that she’d been introduced as a mail order bride, but she fought the urge to explain why she was there. There was no shame in what she’d done. “It’s nice to meet you all.”
A fresh-faced young lady with a Scottish lilt to her voice said, “I’m Millie. My brother is the pastor at the church in Bachelor, which is the next town over. These are my friends, Sophia and Marta. Sophia just married the man who runs the livery, and Marta is recently married to a rancher outside town. Sophia and I were on our way to see Beatrice this morning, and we ran into Marta at the mercantile. We had to bring her along.”
Toria nodded. “It’s nice to meet all of you.” There were only four chairs around the kitchen table, but Beatrice brought in another. “Thank you.”
Beatrice hurried and got a cup of tea for Toria, along with some cookies. “Mortimer told me this morning that you’ve changed how I’ll be paid. That’s going to be much easier for me, so thank you.”
Toria smiled. “He’s also asked me to help you with the baking. Well, not help you with it, but do more so he has more to sell because your cookies are in such high demand.”
“It will help me out a lot if you take on some of the baking. It was all right until Sally started walking, but now she’s into everything. I have half a mind to use a bedsheet to tie her to a chair so she’ll stop escaping!”
The others laughed, knowing that was something sweet Beatrice would never do. “You might need to use a couple of chairs on their sides to pen her into the parlor,” Marta suggested. “Now that my youngest is crawling, I’ve had to do that a time or two. I trip over her otherwise!”
As Toria sat back and listened to the women talk about their days and their struggles, she came to a conclusion that had never even occurred to her before. Women all over—whether in the west or the east—went through the same basic struggles. As soon as she realized that, she felt as if she was part of the group, and she enjoyed the conversation a great deal more. Knowing she was just like them and they were just like her made all the difference in the world.
Chapter Four
After a lovely visit with her new friends, Toria walked the short distance to the mercantile. Mortimer glared at her as she walked in. “Where have you been?”
She frowned. “I walked down to Beatrice’s and had tea with her and some other ladies. You told me last night you didn’t mind if I went to her house for tea anytime.”
“Yes, but you should have told me. I forgot something after lunch, and I went up to get it, and you weren’t there. I was worried.” He hadn’t really forgotten anything. He’d wanted to spend a few more minutes with her, which was what had upset him. When he’d gotten upstairs she was gone. “Please let me know when you’re leaving—even if you just write me a note—so I know where you are and when you should be back. The kidnappings are too recent in our past for me to feel like you’re safe.”
Toria rubbed the back of her neck. She wasn’t used to having to check in with anyone, but she had wanted to marry, and having someone worry about you was supposed to be one of the good parts of marriage. “I’m sorry, Mortimer. I’ll make sure I leave you a note the next time I leave impulsively.” She’d spent the morning doing her laundry, and she’d made bread and put a pot roast in the oven. She’d needed some time to just breathe in the fresh air. “I didn’t mean to worry you.”
He nodded. “I’m sorry I got upset with you. We hadn’t discussed you leaving a note before, and there’s no way you would have known I’d get so nervous.”
She smiled at him timidly, hoping they were all right now. She didn’t want there to be tension in their burgeoning friendship. It was odd to think of their marriage as a friendship, but at this point in time, that’s all it was. He had no feelings for her, and she had no feelings for him. Hopefully that would change, but right now, there was nothing. “If you want to invite John to supper tonight, I’ve made plenty.”
Mortimer smiled. “Thank you. I’ll ask him.”
Toria spent a few minutes wandering around the store, looking at the displays and thinking of ways things could be set up better. “I made the list of things I need for baking for you,” she told him after she’d walked around the entire store, making many mental notes. She handed him the sheet of paper.
“If you want to, go ahead and gather these things up, and I’ll have John deliver them. That’s one of his jobs around here. He makes the deliveries.”
Toria loved the idea that she could buy just about anything she wanted. Even when she’d worked at the store in Beckham, Mr. Penuckle had always been stingy about what she could take. Even if she was offering to purchase it at full price and not use her discount, he would get angry saying they needed everything for real customers. He’d never been pleased when she’d purchased anything.