Callie's Heart (4 page)

           
“Thank
you for my knitting yarn, embroidery thread, and material.”

           
“You’ll
make me a find home.
 
I have no doubt
about that.”

           
“Uncle
Ned thought stuff like that was frivolous.”

           
“Where
did you learn to sew and do all those things?”

           
Callie
sat up a little straighter.
 
The
schoolteacher in town taught me.
 
I
helped her with the little kids and she said she’d teach me to knit, sew, and
embroider, since I didn’t have a mamma to teach me the things girls need to
know.
 
She was a nice lady and still
teaches back home.”

           
“That
was mighty nice of her.”

           
“I
can’t wait to get started either.
 
After
I get dinner over and clean up the house, maybe I can sit by the fire tonight
and start the curtains.”

           
“I
don’t expect you to work every minute of the day.
 
You can do just about anything you want anytime of the day or
night even.”

           
“I’ll
take care of my duties first.
 
It makes
it more fun that way.”

           
Clint
laughed.
 
“Whatever you say.
 
You’ll have time tomorrow since I will be
going over to a ranch a few miles from home to break a couple horses.
 
I won’t be back ‘til supper time.”

           
“I’ll
pack you a lunch to take with you.”

           
“That’d
be right nice.”

           
Callie
smiled when she saw the house come into view.
 
They were home and she felt like it was home.
 
Clint had made her his wife and bought her all the stuff she
needed to make it a home for them both.
 
Before long, they’d have curtains at the windows, doilies, and cushion
covers, and it’d be right pretty.

           
She
jumped down as soon as Clint pulled the wagon to a stop and ran back to start
carrying in their stuff.
 
She couldn’t
wait to get supper started and go through her things.
 
She heard Clint laugh as she ran into the house, her arms
full.
 
He came in with a load and went
back to get more.
 
When he had
everything carried in, she shooed him out to the barn and quickly got the steak
frying and peeled the potatoes and snapped some green beans and set them on to cook
with a few slices of bacon.

           
While
she waited for the food to cook, she got the sewing basket Clint had bought her
and looked inside.
 
The thread was so
pretty in different colors and she couldn’t wait to ply needle to material.
 
She felt like a kid in a candy store.
 

           
She
moved back to the stove and then remembered to put on the apron he had bought
her.
 
She wanted to keep her wedding
dress on for supper.
 
It just seemed
fitting.
 
It had pockets and everything
and she knew it would come in handy when she washed the clothes and hung them
out on the line.
 
She could fill the
pockets up with clothespins.

           
When
Clint came in, she had the table set and everything ready.
 
She even baked a spice cake.
 
“I hope you’re hungry.”

           
“Starving.
 
The colt is doing fine too.
 
Healthy little thing.
 
What do you think we should name her?”

           
She
thought for a minute as he washed up and fixed a pot of fresh coffee, then sat
down at the table.
 
She sat across from
him.
 
“Dusty.
 
She’s darker than her ma and is going to be beautiful.”

           
“Dusty
it is.
 
You gonna say grace so I can
eat?”

           
She
laughed.
 
“Sure am,” she said, grateful
that he remembered.
 
When she finished,
she watched as he piled his plate high.
 
“I made a cake too.”

           
“Don’t
know if I’ll have room after eating all this, but it sure looks good.”

           
“It
is.
 
It’s a spice cake.”

           
He
groaned.
 
“You sure know a way to a
man’s heart.
 
Oh, and when I come home
tomorrow, I’ll have about a dozen chickens.
 
I got a small coop built on the side of the barn.
 
I thought you might like to have some fresh
eggs and we can have some chicken for Sunday dinner if you know how to clean
and cook them.”

           
“I
do, but you’ll have to kill them.
 
I
can’t hurt anything.”

           
He
laughed.
 
“I can and my mouth waters
just thinking about a fried chicken dinner.
 

“Are you getting the
chickens from the rancher you are going to be at tomorrow?”

           
“Yeah.
 
His wife has hundreds.
 
It’s part of my pay.”

           
“I
can’t believe that I’m this happy!”

           
“Good
and I hope to keep you that way.”

           
“I
was afraid when I left Uncle Ned.
 
He
wasn’t feeling good.
 
He’d been looking
peaked and lost a lot of weight.
 
I
asked him about it, but he said not to worry, he was just getting old and old
folks were like that.
 
I wish I could
know for sure if he is okay.”

           
“I’m
sure he’s fine.
 
Now, I’ll help you
clean the kitchen up, and then we can have a piece of that cake and coffee in
front of the fire.
 
Then you can work on
your sewing.”

           
Callie
jumped up and poured the hot water off the cook stove into the pan in the
sink.
 
She couldn’t wait and hummed as
she and Clint worked together like they’d been doing it for years instead of
only a couple days.
 
Life was so good,
she couldn’t believe it, and she silently thanked her Uncle Ned for sending her
to Clint.

Chapter Four

           
By
noon the next day, Callie had the house cleaned, the clothes washed and hanging
on the line, and a roast in the oven baking.
 
She got her material out and spread it out on the table.
 
As she cut it for the curtains she was going
to make, she couldn’t help but remember her wedding day.
 
It had been perfect, except for her sleeping
in her room and Clint in his.
 
She felt
a little bad about that, knowing that a wife was expected to do her duties in
bed, but even though she knew what happened, she didn’t know what it was
like.
 
She didn’t have a clue as to what
went on in a marriage bed.
 
Her mother
having died before she turned one, then her Pa when she was a young girl, and
living with Ned, there wasn’t anyone to talk about it to.
 
Now, she felt inadequate as a wife, feeling
like she had let Clint down.

           
Of
course, he said he didn’t mind, but men wanted a woman to curl up to at night,
didn’t they?
 
Gosh, she wished she knew
what to do.
 

           
She
had just finished cutting out the kitchen curtains and had them ready to sew
when she heard someone yell from outside.
 
She ran to the door and saw a heavyset woman climbing down off a
buckboard.
 
She ran over to help
her.
 
“Hello,” Callie said, wondering
whom her caller was.

           
“Why
Clint married a pretty little girl!
 
I’m
so happy about that.
 
I just had to come
over and welcome you!”
 

           
“Thank
you, Ma’am,” Callie smiled.

           
“Oh
pshaw!
 
My name’s Gertrude Hinkens.
 
Just call me Gertie!
 
Everyone does.”

           
“I’m
Callie.”

           
“Nice
to meet you, Callie.
 
I got wedding
gifts here for you.”

           
“Oh
my goodness!
 
I don’t know what to say!”

           
“A
simple thank you and invite me in so we can talk.
 
There aren’t many women folks out this way and I am happy to have
someone to talk to besides men folk.
 
I’m the rancher’s wife where Clint is breaking horses today.
 
I just had to come over when he told me he
got hitched yesterday.”

           
Callie
watched her pick up a small basket and another larger one.
 
She walked to the door and held it open for
her.
 
“Let me get my material off the
table and we can have cake and coffee.”

           
“That
sounds good.
 
I never turn down food, as
you can tell.”

           
“I
love to eat too.”

           
“Well
I wish I could keep a figure like you got and eat all I want!”

           
“I
expect I’ll fill out more when I get older too.
 
Nothing wrong with that,” Callie said as Gertie pulled out a
chair and sat down and waited for her to put the material away.
 
When she set two cups of coffee on the table
and two generous slices of cake, Gertie set one of the baskets on the table.

           
“I
brought you some of my canned peaches, jellies, and tomatoes.
 
Thought you might like that.”

           
“Oh
how nice!
 
Callie lifted the lid and
took the jars out.
 
“My goodness, you
brought a lot.
 
I don’t know how to make
a garden yet.”

           
“I’ll
teach you all you need to know.
 
I plan
on coming over a lot if you don’t mind and I want you to come over to out place
too.
 
I have something else for you
here, too.”
 
She lifted the basked off
the floor and handed it to her.

           
Callie
lifted the lid on the basket and gasped.
 
“Oh my gosh, it’s a puppy!”

           
“I
thought you would like it and he’s young enough that you can train him.
 
It’s good to have a dog out here.
 
They make good friends too.”

           
Callie
picked up the little puppy and fell in love at first site.
 
It was white and black and its fur was so
soft.
 
“What kind is it?”

           
“It’s
a mutt, but its ma is one fine dog and so is its pa.
 
You’ll have to give her a name.”

           
Callie
hugged the shivering little puppy to her breast and laughed when it licked her
chin.
 
“How old is it?”

           
“Six
weeks and never been away from its ma yet, so it’ll be scared until it gets to
know you.
 
Give it warm milk a couple
times a day and some meat and it'll grow like a weed.
 
Don’t forget water too.”

           
“I’ve
never owned a puppy! Thank you so much for everything!”

           
“You’re
welcome.
 
Now let’s eat our cake and
drink our coffee.
 
You might want to get
an old rag and put it by the fireplace where he can stay warm.
 
He might have a few accidents, but you can
teach him to go outside.”

           
Callie
ran to her bedroom and took out her old buckskin shirt, brought it back and
laid it down in front of the fireplace, and laid the puppy down on it.
 
He curled up and fell asleep.
 
She went and sat back down at the
table.
 
“I can’t believe that my life is
so good.”