“We’ll see to it,” Teddy grinned, walking across the porch and kissing her cheek. “Maybe Darwin will even have found us a sidesaddle as well.”
Amanda smiled, relieved at Theo’s agreement. Perhaps this weekend trip to town would turn out well after all.
Chapter 11
“Thank you for driving us to town, Rosa,” Amanda said as Theodore handed her down from the wagon.
“I am happy to come,” Rosa smiled, handing Christina to Teddy. “I needed to come, and it will be nice to see Olive and the family.”
Teddy offered a hand to Rosa, but she ignored it, hopping out of the wagon with a flurry of skirts.
“What will you do today?” Rosa asked, looking between the two newlyweds. “You bring horses to come back, but how you will fill your time?”
“I’m looking forward to visiting with the Hampton’s,” Amanda said. “Tell Olive we’ll be along shortly.”
Rosa grinned, giving Teddy a wink as she took Christina and headed into the boarding house.
“Is there something you wanted to do before you see Olive?” Teddy looked down at his petite wife, curiously. “Do you need to go to the store?”
“No,” Amanda shook her head, gazing up and down the street. “I just wanted a minute to look at Needful. It isn’t much, but it feels nice to be back in a town.”
Teddy scowled, not liking Amanda’s comment. He knew that adjusting to life on a ranch would be difficult, but she was a smart, plucky, young woman and would soon adapt. “You don’t like my place?”
“No. I mean, yes. I like it just fine, but I’m used to the hustle of a big city with shops and people. I just need to see that I’m not alone.”
Teddy’s scowl deepened. “I’m sorry if you’re lonely.”
Amanda laid a hand on Teddy’s arm. She was making a mess of things and knew it. “I’m not lonely,” she sighed. “I just need a little connection now and then. I love working with Rosa; she’s very patient, and Christina is a joy. I, I guess I just need a little noise now and then.”
A group of rowdy cowboys came galloping up the street as Amanda finished speaking and she crowded in close to Theodore who wrapped an arm around her protectively. “Maybe not that much noise,” she grinned as the fast riders disappeared out of town.
“Why don’t you go in and visit with Olive and the girls. I’ll take the horses and wagon to the livery and bring our bags in once I’m done.”
“Thank you,” Amanda stretched toward Theo, kissing him on the cheek. “I think this is just what I needed.” A break from her ineptitude might give her the strength to carry on.
Teddy watched Amanda walk into the boarding house, listening as old friends greeted her. Was he ever going to be enough for the beautiful woman God had dropped in his lap? Something squirmed in his belly, reminding him that he was no one from nowhere. What right did he have to love a girl like Amanda?
Climbing back up into the buckboard, Teddy turned the wagon in the street, driving it and the two horses tied to the back toward the livery. He hoped that this trip to town would bring him closer to his little wife, but now he was worried they would never be on the same page. He was wide-open spaces; she was big towns and shops. Could they ever truly be one?
***
“You look like you’ve been suckin’ lemons,” Darwin Rivers greeted, as he ducked out of the big barn smiling at Teddy. “Somethin’ on your mind?”
Teddy stepped down from the wagon, letting Darwin take charge of the horses and harness while he untied Pepper, and a pretty palomino, called Pal, he’d brought for Amanda to ride.
“I don’t want to talk about it,” he growled, giving the black-haired hostler a hard glare.
“Women troubles,” Darwin said, shaking his head. “Only thing that can make a man that surly, is women troubles.”
“There’s no trouble,” Teddy snapped," matching stride with Darwin as they led the horses to the corral. “I just brought Amanda into town for a couple of days to give her a break. She ain’t used to the kind of work a woman has to do on a ranch.”
Darwin nodded. “She’s kind of delicate.”
Teddy paused, running the reins of both mounts through his fingers. “She’s citified, is all.”
“So was Ruth,” Darwin smiled, his eyes sparkling with love. “She didn’t know nothin’ about being a wife, or cookin’ or housework.”
“Yes, but Ruth wanted an adventure. Your wife is bright, cheerful, and interested in everything. Mine is more a delicate flower.”
“Teddy, just because she wasn’t raised on a ranch and isn’t used to this new life, doesn’t mean she can’t grow into it. You’ve only been married a week. You need to give it time.”
“You think so?”
“Yes. Give it time, let her get to know you, love you. Love can overcome a heap of troubles.”
Teddy felt a smile flash across his face. Darwin’s wife, Ruth, had grown up in a fancy house, with pretty things around, and she was content to live in the little house by the big barn. Maybe what the other man was saying was true.
“You think she can love me?”
“She married you, didn’t she?” Darwin offered a cheeky grin. “If she didn’t want to be married and live in Texas, why did she come?”
“She didn’t like her mother’s new husband,” Teddy stated the fact boldly. “What choice did she have?”
“If her Mama has money, and she wasn’t happy here, she could have turned around and lit out on the early stage. She didn’t. She chose to stay and to marry you. You must have made some kind of impression on her.”
“You think so?”
“Teddy, be patient. Give the girl a chance to adjust to Needful. She’ll come around.”
Teddy smiled, feeling hope wash through his heart. Time, he could do that.
“Thanks, Dar,” he grinned, turning to strip the saddle from Pepper’s back.
