Emmeline's Exile (The Alphabet Mail-Order Brides Book 5) Read online

  She let out a squeak and made a break for the hallway, but as she dashed inside the bedroom door, she thought she heard Lawson chuckle.

  The morning dawned gray and rather miserable. Emmeline had researched the average weather in Wyoming before her journey—meaning she had asked Beulah—and had packed accordingly. She donned a thick, gray, woolen skirt with a blue blouse tucked into the waistband before breakfast that morning. Her thoughts were marred by the embarrassing events of the night before, but she knew that she would have to face her husband eventually. So, it was with her head held high and her back unusually straight, that she marched into the kitchen just after day break.

  Lawson was already up, feeding twigs and sticks into the embers of a dying fire.

  “Good morning,” he said, quite cheerfully, glancing up as she entered the room. “How did you sleep?”

  “Very well, thank you.” It wasn’t a lie. Emmeline had drifted off to sleep without a struggle and, though her dreams were a fractured mess of confusion, she could safely say that she had made it through the night without experiencing any of the old nightmares she had expected.

  Shortly after Wiggie had entrusted her with her mother’s letter, Emmeline had been plagued with dreams where she had groped alone in darkness. Her friends had had to shake her awake from them countless times when she was young.

  Lawson was nodding and getting to his feet. Emmeline couldn’t be certain, but she thought he was grinning at her. Something about his expression made her wonder just how much he had seen as she flew out of the room in her towel last night. Was he going to tease her?

  “Breakfast?” he queried as her stomach gave a low rumble, and she nodded, trying her very best to push aside her embarrassment.

  Lawson drew near to her for a moment, and she could make out his handsome features clearly as he passed her. Yes… his smile was rather suggestive… but on the whole, Emmeline found that she did not mind very much. He was her husband after all. She had more pressing concerns.

  “Have you already spoken to the town council about a teaching position for me?”

  Lawson was in the process of tugging a box of brown eggs, a jar of milk and a stack of rashers from the ice box.

  “My brother did,” he said slowly. “Before he left town. Said it was all organized. You should be able to hold classes as soon as you are ready.”

  Emmeline smiled. Teaching. She would be able to teach a class full of eager students as early as tomorrow morning if she liked. Could she be ready in time? She had brought many of her old lesson plans with her when she left New York. If she could spend the day organizing and gathering supplies.

  “Thank you,” she said. “I’ll get started today. Where is the schoolhouse?”

  Lawson looked up at her. “We—we had our reception there last night,” he said confusedly. “Didn’t you see all the desks in the corner? And the chalkboards?”

  Emmeline hesitated. “I—of course. It slipped my mind.”

  But Lawson’s head was cocked to the side, just like his horrid dogs’ had been on meeting her the night before. His curiosity could not have been plainer. To cover her mistake, she asked, “Perhaps you could take me on a tour of the town this morning before you go to work?”

  Lawson nodded, his mannerisms slow and measured. She could tell that he was very near to asking some new, prodding question.

  How very unlucky that her gentleman husband should also be an uncommonly sharp man. She’d been losing her sight for years while she worked at the school and even her closest friends had never questioned her on it. Granted, she’d made mistakes, but those mistakes had grown fewer and far between as she grew accustomed to her lack of eyesight.

  She needed to distract him. A vision of his mischievous grin flashed before her eyes and she smiled. He had rather enjoyed her embarrassing little show the night before. She could tell. Perhaps… if she used her feminine wiles on him… she repressed a snort with difficulty.

  Did she even possess any wiles? How did one go about using such a thing to an advantage? Well, there is no harm in trying. Look, he’s about to open his mouth and ask… get a move on!

  Emmeline approached Lawson on the other side of the counter, her hand guiding her along the wood, and reached directly across from him for the eggs, deliberately brushing his arm. He froze. Emmeline acted as though she hadn’t noticed.

  “Where is the frying pan?” she asked nonchalantly.

  “Lower shelf in the cupboard,” he answered. His voice still sounded confused, but now perhaps, it was for a different reason.

  Assuming she was about to make a complete and utter fool of herself, Emmeline bent directly over—thinking all the while that her etiquette teacher would be positively mortified—and presented her backside to her husband as she groped in the cabinet for the pan. Don’t you blush. Don’t you dare. You’ll give away the game.

  Lawson was turning hurriedly away from her as she straightened up. “This do?” she asked, her eyes wide and as innocent as she could possibly make them.

  Her husband’s now-familiar blur, nodded its head. She thought she heard him swallow roughly. That was much easier than I thought it would be.

  Just for fun, and to test her newfound strengths, she came around behind Lawson, and—shocked by her own boldness—ran a hand over his lower back as she retrieved a spatula from the large jar beside him.

  His spine stiffened, but Emmeline acted as though she had not noticed and made her way to the stove. Here, she was presented with a problem. She had never done much cooking in her lifetime. The Wigg’s School and Foundling had always had a cook. She stared at the dials, and reached hesitantly for a match box on the side of the stove. Turn it until you hear the gas… then light the match and…

  She turned a knob on the front, feeling Lawson’s eyes on her, then struck the match.

  “Hold it here,” he said suddenly. She hadn’t realized he was behind her, and then his hand was covering hers, and he was guiding her, and when she looked down, she could see their hands twined together clearly, standing out from the blur. The flames sprang to life, and Lawson reached around to the front of her stomach and turned the dial lower. She shivered “Thomas Brittler had the whole town set with it,” he said, evidently taking no notice. “The gas, I mean. He’s the man who—.”

  “Runs the coal mine and the steel business,” she provided, rather ashamed to hear that her voice had gone all breathy and high-pitched. “I met his daughter yesterday.” Calm. Breathe. “The entire family was from New York. They were—rather well-known. Rather out of my reach, to be honest. I never imagined I’d meet them. They were always in the society papers!”

  “They’re wealthy, you mean,” Lawson offered. He stepped away from her and leaned against the opposite counter, bracing his hands behind him. Emmeline’s eyes were trying to bring his hands back into focus. She had never seen hands that could entice her so. She nearly missed his next words. “Good people though,” he said firmly. “Without Thomas Brittler bringing in more workers by the month, I wouldn’t have a business.”

  “No, I imagine that without it Buffalo Creek wouldn’t be quite so…” she shrugged, trying to find the right words. “Busy?”

  Lawson laughed. “It’s not the same town it was when I arrived here, that’s for sure.”

  Emmeline reached for the pan and started to cook breakfast, bending rather closer to the stove than was probably wise, just so she could make out what she was doing.

  “It’ll be ready in a few minutes,” she said, when she noticed her husband’s eyes on her.

  Lawson grinned. “I’ll just go check on the animals,” he said, but she could feel his gaze on her back as he made his way out the door.

  She relaxed as he left the room, and took the opportunity of his absence to try and make sense of the kitchen. She ran her hands over each counter, pausing to examine every item she found and carefully setting it back in its place. She opened the rest of the cupboards in the hutch and fumbled through them,
identifying what she could.

  A loud sizzle and pop from the stove reminded her that she’d just put eggs and rashers on, and she was hunting around to find a loaf of bread when Lawson came back in. He reached up onto the top of the hutch and handed it down to her.

  “There’s a bakery in town here. The man who runs it is only there Thursday through Saturday. He works the mine the rest of the week.”

  Emmeline nodded her thanks and loaded two plates she had found. “Do you ever work in the mine?”

  Lawson sat down at the spindly legged table beside the backdoor. Emmeline carried two plates over to the table and poured them both glasses of milk. “No. The pharmacy keeps me busy,” he murmured and he looked down. Emmeline saw a flash of gold and realized he was examining a pocket watch. “We best hurry too, it’s nearly time for me to open.”

  Chapter Six

  Their little tour of Buffalo Creek didn’t take long. He pointed out the post office, the mercantile and the Saturday produce stand, all of which were on Main Street. The saloon was one street over on Folsom Boulevard and the road to the mine led up over the hills.

  “The bakery is just around the corner from here. He does coffee and scones on Friday morning.” Lawson pointed in the vague direction of the bakery. “And the houses you can see over there are all new construction. Thomas Brittler had them built for the miners.”

  Emmeline was nodding, and he was watching her eyes again. They were such a pretty shade of hazel. Like the sun glimmering through autumn trees that were just starting to lose their green. Everything about the woman was warm… and the way she had behaved this morning… well. He grinned. Two could play that game. Why was she taunting him?

  “The house on the hill there?” He indicated the white manor-house and the scattered outbuildings around it as they moved past the post office. “That’s Thomas Brittler’s place. His whole family lives up there. Four daughters and their husbands and children.”

  He saw Emmeline squinting in the direction he had shown her, as though the sun were in her eyes. Then she said, “A very grand estate.”

  “Yep,” Lawson agreed. “I can’t imagine having that much money. Enough to keep my family all together like that. It must be wonderful.”

  “Money isn’t everything this world has to offer, Mr. Aldridge,” she whispered.

  When Lawson pulled his gaze away from the Brittlers’ home, he saw that she was watching him. He grinned. “That’s true,” he said. “I do believe this world still has much to offer a humble pharmacist like myself.” He winked at her. She blushed and looked down at the hem of her skirts.

  “Well, well, well! If it isn’t my stubborn younger brother!”

  Lawson let out a groan as he turned about. Jason Aldridge was striding towards them down Main Street as though he didn’t have a care in the world.

  “Thought you were back in Cheyenne,” he grumbled, planting himself firmly in place and reaching for Emmeline’s hand. He tucked it into his elbow and frowned at his brother as Jason came to a halt, his hard eyes dancing between Lawson and Emmeline with every appearance of self-satisfaction. He ignored Lawson’s words.

  “So, Lawson, you finally took my advice for once in your miserable life.” He thumped Lawson hard on the shoulder with a huge hand. “Good man! Won’t you introduce me to your bride?”

  Lawson had no interest whatsoever in introducing Emmeline to his good-for-nothing brother. Jason could be charming when he wanted to be and he hadn’t yet had a chance to warn her about the man. But he sighed and said, “Emmeline, this is my brother, Jason Aldridge. He lives in Cheyenne with his family. I’m sure he’ll be heading back to them real soon.”

  “Thought I might stick around a while, actually.” Jason’s eyes were fixed on Emmeline’s face, and Lawson felt his hackles raise. “Delighted to make your acquaintance Mrs. Aldridge.” He stooped low and placed a kiss on the back of Emmeline’s hand.

  “Charmed, I’m sure,” she responded. “I take it, sir, that you are the reason I am here in Buffalo Creek in the first place?”

  Jason’s eyes sprang wide in surprise. Lawson could tell his brother hadn’t expected him to give his wife the truth of the matter. No doubt he had hoped to hold it over him as some sort of leverage he could use in the foreseeable future. Lawson was having none of it.

  “What brings you back to Buffalo Creek, Jason?”

  “Oh, a little of this, a little of that.” His brother shrugged his massive shoulders. The man was built like Lawson, but broader through the arms and back, and he wore his hair long and tied with a scrap of leather at the back of his head. His mustache was constantly bristling with some secret joke, as though he saw the flaws in everyone around him, but knew it was rude to comment. “How’s the schoolhouse coming?” he directed this next question to Emmeline and she smiled.

  “Lawson was going to drop me there after our morning stroll,” she said, her fingers tapping out a rhythm on his arm as she sank into thought. “I’ve a bit of organizing to do, but I was hoping to start classes tomorrow afternoon. We’ll do a meet and greet first, so that I can get to know the students and their parents. Good heavens, I should send out a notice this morning, shouldn’t I? Lawson, how would I go about getting word to the parents of the school children? Wiggie would typically make an announcement at breakfast, but perhaps I should just… visit their homes? How many school-age children would you say were in Buffalo Creek?”

  The excitement in her voice was palpable. Lawson had yet to hear so many words come out of the woman’s mouth at once. He grinned. If he could have afforded to, he would have kept the Pharmacy closed for the day and accompanied her to the schoolhouse. He could already tell he would enjoy hearing her plan out her lessons.

  Before he could answer her questions, however, Jason spoke. “Visiting their homes would likely do you good. It would give you a chance to meet everyone. I bet you could ask the mayor if he still has a list of students from the previous school teacher.” Lawson had been watching Emmeline’s face, and so it was almost a shock to him to recall that his brother was still present. He fought back the urge to tell him to get lost.

  “Do you think you could take me by the Mayor’s residence?” Emmeline was looking up at him, and her hazel eyes were bright with interest. “Is it too early for a call?”

  Lawson grinned at her. “Why don’t I take you over to the schoolhouse. You can begin setting things to your liking and then I’ll come back by around lunchtime and we’ll go visit the mayor together, how does that sound?”

  Emmeline’s free hand patted his own. “That sounds wonderful. Well, Mr. Aldridge,” and it took Lawson a moment to realize she was addressing his brother. “It was a pleasure to meet you. You must come round for dinner sometime before you leave town.”

  “It would be an honor, Mrs. Emmeline,” Jason responded. “How does next Monday evening sound?”

  “Delightful! We shall look forward to it.”

  Lawson choked back another groan as Jason turned his sleek expression onto him. “Wonderful. Until Monday night then, brother?”

  Lawson grunted.

  Jason chuckled and tipped his hat. “Be seeing you. It has been a pleasure, Missus.”

  Then he was gone, striding away down the street in the opposite direction of the schoolhouse, whistling through his teeth. Lawson snorted.

  “I take it that you and your brother are not bosom buddies?” Emmeline noted, tugging him forward.

  “That man has caused more trouble for me than a porcupine in a silk shop,” he said. “He never knows when to keep his nose out of other men’s business.”

  “Perhaps this will be a chance to change the tone of your relationship,” responded Emmeline cheerfully. “Come! I want to see the schoolhouse again.”

  Her enthusiasm quickly put grousing thoughts of his elder brother from his mind. She was bouncing as though she had springs attached to the balls of her feet, and Lawson could hardly manage to remain in a temper when she turned such a brilliant smile to
ward him.

  He was a bit late opening the pharmacy that morning. He hadn’t wanted to leave Emmeline’s side, but when she’d finally settled down with a pencil and several sheets of parchment to plan her week’s lessons, he decided she would flourish best if left to her own devices.

  He spent the morning in a haze, glancing at the clock every so often. The minute hand was moving so slowly he might have thought someone had tampered with the gears. He could not have only been at work for an hour? Two? Two and a half?

  Fifteen minutes before his usual lunch hour, Lawson finished with a customer that had been searching for a cure for boils and turned over the ‘closed’ sign. He wrote the time he’d be back on a chalk plaque beside the window and departed.

  Lawson found Emmeline behind the schoolhouse, contemplating the dirt beneath her feet.

  “Good Afternoon, Mrs. Aldridge.”

  His wife jumped so badly he thought her boots might have momentarily left the ground. Chuckling, he approached. “What are you doing?”

  Emmeline smiled at him. “Is it time for lunch already? Goodness, I’d lost track of the time.” Lawson felt a small blot of disappointment drop onto his good mood. He had hoped, strangely, that she was missing him as much as he had missed her, but he grinned and nodded and gestured her to his side.

  “What are you doing back here?” he asked again, tucking her hand back into the crease in his elbow and turning toward the path that led back to the front of the schoolhouse. He had to fight the sense of completeness he felt at attaching her there. It felt good to have her hands on his arm once more, however innocent the touch.

  “I came out the lower floor in the back,” she said. “I found a door in the school room that I thought must lead to a closet. I didn’t realize there was a cellar until I’d nearly tumbled down the stairs in the dark, and then I found this charming little garden,” she grinned and indicated the remnants of what had probably once been a pumpkin patch. Lawson felt his stomach leap as she gave his arm a squeeze.