The Widows of Braxton County (7 page)

“You’ve been busy.”

“I’ll make it up to you, I promise.”

Kate laid a hand on his knee. “I know.”

He rested the back of his head on the trunk of the tree. “God, I was nervous that night. I was so afraid you’d think the only reason I wanted to marry you was—” He stopped.

“Because of the baby?” she asked, finishing for him.

“Yes.” He picked up her hand and, raising it to his lips, kissed her wrist. “I do love you, you know.”

She nodded. “I love you, too.”

Suddenly feeling shy, Kate looked around the orchard. “I’ve tried to imagine you playing here as a child—climbing trees, snitching apples.” She nibbled on her cheese. “You never say much about your childhood, but I’ve shared everything about mine.”

“Yours was more interesting,” he said with a shrug. “My memories are mostly about working with my father. He had me driving a tractor as soon as my legs were long enough to reach the pedals.”

“You never say much about him. Why?”

Joe sat forward and drew his knees up to his chest. “He was a hard man,” he said thoughtfully. “I guess maybe that’s why soft words don’t come easy to me. I never heard them much when I was a kid.”

Kate looked at him with surprise. “But your e-mails were always so expressive.”

He gave a rueful laugh. “It’s one thing sitting at a computer, typing out a bunch of words. It’s different when a pretty woman is right next to you, looking at you. Maybe that’s what I should do . . . leave little love notes lying around the house for you to find.” He winked at her. “Just don’t let Ma find them first, okay?”

Remembering his passionate e-mails brought the blood to Kate’s cheeks. Joe might have trouble expressing himself in person, but his messages had been very specific. Some were enough to scorch her eyeballs, she thought with a smile. No, it wouldn’t do for Trudy to read them. Another thought occurred to her and she lost her smile. Though she was reluctant to ruin the moment, she still felt a need to ask the question.

“Do you think we rushed into this?” she asked in a hesitant voice.

“Our marriage?” He leaned forward. “You’re not having regrets, are you?”

“No,” she reassured him, “but it did happen awfully fast. The e-mails, your weekend trips to Des Moines, then the baby.” She pressed her fingertips to her eyelids. “Should we have taken things a little slower?”

Taking her wrists, he pulled her hands away from her face and looked at her intently. “Baby, I was half in love with you before I ever met you.” He gathered her in his arms. “Then the first time I saw you—” He paused. “I didn’t stand a chance. You were pretty, smart, funny . . . I never thought anyone like you could fall for a guy like me.” He drew back. “Being with you makes me a better man.”

Kate looked up at him. “You’re pretty special just as you are.”

“Ahh no, I’m not,” he teased, “I’m just a dumb farmer.”

She arched an eyebrow. “I hardly think that. You have to be intelligent to run a place like this.”

“I love you.” He hugged her close. “Our son will run this farm someday.”

“Joe—” Kate began, then jerking away.

“Don’t say it,” he said and pulled her against him. “We’ll have another child.” He released her abruptly and knelt in front of her. “I have an idea. If we have a good yield this year and the markets stay firm, what do you think of taking a cruise this winter? Maybe to the Caribbean? I can get away then.”

She flung her arms around his neck. “That would be great,” she exclaimed. “But I thought money was tight.”

“Don’t worry about it. I’ll figure out a way to pay for it.”

Kate smiled as visions of warm nights, moonlit skies, and the soft ocean waves filled her brain.

Joe leaned forward and drew a finger down her cheek. “Who knows? Spending that much time together is bound to have results,” he said, wiggling his eyebrows.

Kate felt as if she were wrapped in a soft glow. Maybe it was the wine, or maybe it was Joe’s promises. Whichever one, she didn’t care as she collapsed happily into the arms of her husband.

Chapter 10

Early fall 2012, the Krause family farm

T
he hope Kate held for establishing a bond with her mother-in-law after Trudy’s revelations withered and died. The more attention Joe paid to Kate, the more Trudy’s resentment simmered. Within a few short weeks, the snubs had returned. Joe’s attitude shifted. The night in the orchard was forgotten as the strife seemed to drive him away. He spent less and less time with both women. Kate fretted, but felt powerless to resolve the situation. It took all of her strength to finally make the phone call that she’d been avoiding.

Her grandmother picked up on the second ring.

“Hi, Gran,” Kate said with forced brightness.

“Well, you’re still alive.” The snarky tone made Kate’s jaw clench. “I haven’t heard from you in so long that I was beginning to wonder.”

“Um . . . sorry. I’ve been under the weather.”

“Really, Kate, is that an excuse to ignore me?”

“I lost the baby,” Kate blurted out.

Silence met her confession.

“Are you still there?” Kate finally asked.

“I’m here.”

“Aren’t you going to say something?” Kate crossed her fingers and made a wish for kindness.

“What do you want me to say?”

Kate uncrossed her fingers. “That you’re sorry for my loss?”

“I knew no good would come of this. Didn’t I tell you not to expect children at your age?”

Kate’s grip on the phone tightened. “I’m not that old . . . Dr. Adams said that I can still have children,” she said defensively.

“And we both know that doctors aren’t always right.”

The veiled reference to her mother’s illness and death shook Kate’s confidence. What if Dr. Adams was wrong and there’d be no other pregnancies? What would that do to her marriage?

Her grandmother continued. “I think your wisest choice would be to realize your mistake and come home where you belong. You can’t handle the life you’ve chosen.”

“I love my husband.”

“You barely know your husband,” her grandmother replied swiftly. “You married in a rush and now this. It’s a sign that it’s not meant to be.”

Gran’s words reminded Kate of her first morning in her new home and the conversation she’d overheard between Joe and Trudy. She shoved the thought away.

“I don’t believe in signs,” Kate answered stubbornly.

“Maybe you should.”

“Give it up, Gran. I’m staying with Joe.”

“You’re just like your mother.”

Here we go.
Kate ground her teeth and waited for the tirade she’d heard a hundred times.

“She wouldn’t listen to me either, and look where it got her. Married to a worthless man who was dumb enough to get himself killed and leave her alone with a baby to support.”

“My father wasn’t worthless and it wasn’t his fault he died,” Kate said in a small voice. “It was an industrial accident.”

“Right. And your mother could’ve been set for life if she’d done what I told her and sued that company.” Her grandmother sniffed. “But, oh no, she had to do it her way and wound up with nothing.”

Kate drew a weary hand across her forehead. “There’s no point in dredging up the past. I need to focus on my future, and my future is with Joe.”

Her grandmother switched tactics.

“What about me? What about my future?” she asked in a whiny voice that set Kate’s nerves on edge. “The doctors are worried about my heart, and my arthritis is so bad I can hardly get up in the morning.” She gave a long-suffering sigh. “We were the ones who took you in after your mother died, and this is the way you repay me?”

The guilt Kate had suffered since childhood began to creep in. She shoved it away.

“I’m sorry that you’re not feeling well, but your home health-care aides are there to help you.”

“Them?” she sniffed. “I don’t trust them to clean my bathroom floor.
I know
they’re stealing from me.”

Kate stifled a groan. The malpractice settlement they’d won after her mother’s death had disappeared. Spent long ago on worthless crap. And unless the aides had an abnormal desire for plastic figurines of Elvis, her grandmother didn’t have anything worth taking.

Her grandmother’s voice weakened. “I guess if you won’t help me, I can go to the county home. God knows, I can’t afford to go to somewhere nice.” She sighed again. “I’ll at least get fed three times a day. Never mind that all their food smells like cooked cabbage.”

“Gran, you’re not going to the county home,” Kate said, exasperated.

“Why?” Her voice sounded brighter. “Am I going to move in with you?”

Kate almost dropped the phone. Her grandmother and Trudy in the same house? No way. Her life wouldn’t be worth living.

“Sorry, Gran, my cell phone is dying and I didn’t hear that last part,” she said in a rush. “I’ll call back later.”

Kate hit the end button and chucked the phone onto the couch. Scrubbing her face with her hands, she shuddered.

Would she never be free of mean old ladies?

Two days later, Kate felt the house pressing in on her. Joe had been withdrawing even more and new lines of worry etched his forehead. The more she tried to be a partner, the more short-tempered he became. Now she had to deal, not only with Trudy’s resentment, but with Joe’s coldness, too. Was he falling out of love with her because she’d failed to give him a much anticipated child? She had to prove to him that she had value.

She found Trudy out in the garden picking green beans.

“Where’s Joe?”

“In his office,” she said without looking up. “Where did you expect him to be?”

Kate ignored her short remark and hurried off to find Joe. He was sitting at his desk, staring at the computer screen. Frown lines snaked across his face and Kate longed to wipe them away.

“Hi,” she said, trying to capture his attention.

He stayed focused on the screen. “Is dinner ready?”

“No.” She sauntered over next to him and leaned against the desk. “I’ve something that I’d like to discuss.”

He groaned. “I’m not taking you to Flint Rapids.”

“That’s not what I wanted to discuss.” She took a deep breath and let it out slowly. “I know you’re worried about the farm and I’ve an idea that might help.”

Pushing away from the desk, he tilted back in his chair. “You have an extra forty thousand lying around?”

“No.” Her gaze dropped to the floor. “I turned my savings over to you when we got married.”

He reached out and squeezed her knee. “I know and I appreciate it. I was teasing.” Smiling, he rocked back in his chair. “So, what’s your idea?”

“Umm . . . well I’ve always been good at handling money and I thought maybe I could help you with a budget and investments—”

Joe rocketed out of his chair and Kate slid off the desk. “Who’s been talking to you? You think you know more about the markets than I do?”

She backed up. “No . . . no, that’s not what I meant at all. My savings came from the investments I’d made, and I did fairly well.”

“That doesn’t make you an expert on farming.”

“I never said it did,” she tried to keep her voice reasonable. “I know I don’t know much about money when it comes to farm management, but I could learn.”

“No, you can’t. It takes years. You think you can waltz in here and tell me what to do?” He took an angry step away from the desk.

“I don’t want to
tell
you anything—I want to help you,” she pleaded.

He kicked his chair across the room. “I don’t need your help. Go back to the house where you belong.”

Kate whirled to hide her hurt and hurried to the house. Slamming the back door, she studied the key rack hanging next to it.

“Which keys are for the car?”

“The set with the red tag,” Trudy answered from across the kitchen.

She grabbed them and started out the door.

“Hey, that’s Joe’s car,” Trudy called out.

“And I’m his wife, in case you didn’t notice,” Kate said, picking up her purse from the counter and hurrying out the door.

She didn’t calm down until she was almost in Dutton. Reason had set in once her temper cooled. She let out a long, shaky breath and thought how she had handled it all wrong. When she walked into the office, it was obvious that Joe was troubled. But instead of waiting for a better time, she’d steamrolled ahead and made the situation worse. When would she learn to pick her moments?

Another thought struck her. Joe never talked about the miscarriage. She had been so wrapped up in her grief that she’d been oblivious to his. After promising herself to be more understanding, she began looking for a spot to turn around and head home when a sign caught her eye.

KRAUSE HARDWARE.

In spite of her resolution to be more patient, her defiance still simmered. After parking the car, Kate got out and strolled into the store. A little bell from above the door jingled.

Long aisles stretched to the back of the store and the air smelled of turpentine and fertilizer. Hoes, rakes, and other yard implements hung along one aisle while another held cans of paint, racks of brushes, and sandpaper. A sales clerk, a tall dark man, stood behind the counter, waiting on a customer. The clerk wore a navy shirt with
KRAUSE HARDWARE
embroidered on the pocket.

“Here you go, Ed,” he said, handing the customer a gallon of paint and a couple of stir sticks. “If this isn’t enough, give us a call and we’ll have it ready and waiting for you.”

The customer gave a curt nod and with an “excuse me” to Kate, headed out the door.

After watching the man exit the store, Kate looked back at the clerk and tried to think of a reason for wandering into the store.

The excuse fled her brain as she found herself staring into the same green eyes as her husband’s.