“Is it going to hurt us financially?” Trudie asked, thinking of the money she still had stashed away. She was happy to give it to him if he needed it, but for now, it was nice to know she had a nest egg.
“Not really, because we’ll make up for them, but I hate losing a heifer. They’re the foundation we build our entire herd on, and having even three die is always a blow.”
She nodded, wishing she had the right words to say to him, but the real problem between them was she never had the right words. Gone were the days when their light-hearted teasing filled the house. Now they were barely talking. They had to get past that.
Chapter 8
On their way to church the next day, Trudie kept up a light-hearted chatter about her week and how spending time with Marion had gone. “I think she’s going to be fine on her own after another week. I hate it though, because I really enjoy spending time with her.” Perhaps she could teach Marion to do spring cleaning, and then they could do both houses together. It would be much nicer than working alone.
When Doug didn’t really respond, she simply kept talking, growing uneasy with the constant silence between them.
“I made a pie for the potluck today. You know you need to choose my dish as the best there.”
“Uh huh.”
Finally, they arrived at the church, and Trudie was happy to be able to escape to go and talk with the other women. One after another, they came to her and introduced themselves. “I didn’t expect Doug to marry so soon,” one young woman who had introduced herself as Carolyn said.
“Why not?” Trudie asked. She genuinely didn’t understand the women of that town, all trying to outcook the other for Doug.
“He never talks,” Carolyn said. “It must have been awful on your wedding day, trying to get him to talk.”
Trudie shook her head. “Not at all. He talked nonstop for days.” And he had, but then he’d stopped.
“Really?” Carolyn asked. “Several of the young ladies in town cooked for him and tried to capture his attention, but he didn’t speak enough to any of them. No one felt like she’d ever be special to him.”
Trudie looked over at Doug, who was surrounded by a group of men. Everyone was again talking but him. Was it really possible that Doug just didn’t say much? It was hard to believe after their first few days together, but she supposed anything was a possibility. “How odd.”
“I think it’s odd if you can get him to speak more than one or two words at a time,” Carolyn said.
“Well, I can definitely do that,” Trudie said. She thought about the conversation she’d had with him that morning. She’d wanted him to say more, of course, but truly, he’d been down right eloquent compared to what the other women were saying. Maybe she needed to talk about things that interested him more. Food was at the top of the list. Since they’d quit talking about food all the time, he’d quit speaking. Perhaps she could get him to tell her about the orphanage where he’d grown up or about ranching. He obviously had a very deep interest in his ranch.
All during the service, Trudie thought about what Carolyn had said. Other women had cooked for him and shown an interest in him and he hadn’t been willing to speak to them? It was crazy.
As soon as the service was over and everyone divided up for the potluck, she cut a piece of her cherry pie and took it to Doug. He ignored all of the women with outstretched hands, holding plates toward him, and he took her pie. One bite was all it took.
“Sorry, ladies. My wife is the best cook in all of Colorado. You need to stop trying, because she’ll always win.” The smile he gave her was reminiscent of their first couple of days of marriage, and she longed for the days right after she’d met him. She missed the man she’d first married, because he seemed to have disappeared from her.
On their way home, she talked to him about making her chicken pot pie for supper. “I thought it would be a good thing to teach Marion how to make. And her husband said he’d love to go out on the range with you again.”
Doug nodded. “They’re good people. I’m just ready to have my wife back in my house all the time.”
She frowned. “I thought it would be easier to teach Marion to cook on her own stove, the one she’d be using to prepare meals. If you’d rather I had her come to our house every day, I’d be happy to do that.”
“Thank you for being willing, but it’s all right. You’re almost done, right?”
“I’ll be done teaching her by the end of this week. Does that work?” She really hated that she was displeasing him by being gone, but helping others made her very happy. They’d figure it out eventually, she was certain.
He nodded. “It does. I am still calving right now, so there’s not much time I could spend with you anyway.”
“Would you want to spend time with me if you could?” she asked. She had no idea where the words came from, and she regretted them immediately. They made her sound downright pitiful.
He looked at her in surprise. “Of course, I’d want to spend time with you. Do you think I don’t like to be around you?”
She shrugged. “I’m just not sure of my footing sometimes.”
“Before the Marches come over, we’ll have to go up to the bedroom. I’ll show you where I want you to be.”
She shook her head. “Oh, there’s no doubt in my mind where my footing is in the bedroom.”
“That should tell you what you need to know.” He wasn’t sure why his lovemaking didn’t let her know how much he cared for her.
And maybe it should, but Trudie
