Nora couldn’t quite bring herself to call it a road, since two tracks through wispy, greening grass was all that marked their route. Perhaps someday it would be a real road with neighbors living on both sides. She could almost picture pastures filled with animals and friends waving from front porches. Oh, she hoped it would be so.
For now, though, she was happy they’d been able to purchase two sections of land and have enough money left over to buy cattle and the supplies needed for a house and barn.
She turned slightly on the seat and stared at the man beside her. “J.B.?”
“Yes,” he answered in the familiar husky rumble that caused a delighted shiver to slide down the length of her spine.
“Remind me what Mr. Bruce said about our closest neighbors.”
J.B. leaned against the back of the wagon’s seat and nudged the brim of his hat upward with his left index finger. “Well, let’s see. I think he mentioned something about a coven of witches. Or maybe it was a gang of outlaws.”
She swatted his arm, drawing out his laughter. “I know that is not what Mr. Bruce said.”
“Is that so?” J.B. lifted his right eyebrow in a mock question. “Since you were so antsy to sign the paperwork and get on our way, I thought you didn’t pay a bit of attention to a word the man uttered.”
Nora tossed her husband a disparaging look. “I heard most of your discussion.”
“So, you weren’t completely enthralled watching people pass by the land office window? If it was summertime, you would have caught a mouth full of flies from the way you stared at those Indians walking down the street.”
Nora scoffed at him. “Well, it just surprised me to see them. That’s all.”
“I reckon you better get used to the idea of seeing them in Pendleton since the reservation runs right up to the edge of town.” J.B. pointed to a coyote as it loped through the grass in the distance. His gaze swung back to her and he gave her a long hungry look then grinned again. “Have I mentioned how pretty you look, Mrs. Nash?”
“Hmm,” Nora said, tapping a finger to her chin, pretending to be searching through her memory. “I don’t believe I’ve heard a single word of what might be construed as a compliment. Please, sir, tell me your thoughts on the subject.”
His grin widened into a teasing smile. “I’m not sure I should.”
She fussed with the white leather gloves she’d tugged on that morning. Much to her delight, J.B. had hauled water up from the river they’d camped near last night and helped her heat it so she could take a bath and wash her hair. After almost a month on the Oregon Trail, and time spent on a train before that, it felt incredible to wash away all the grime and dirt and be completely clean.
While J.B. bathed, Nora had dried her dark brown hair by the fire. She spent far longer than she should have fashioning it into a high chignon, leaving several tendrils to curl around her face. She’d dug through a trunk and found one of her favorite spring dresses. With an iron heated over the fire and the back of the wagon serving as an ironing board, she did her best to press the wrinkles from it. In spite of his fussing that they were wasting time, she noted the look of admiration in J.B.’s blue eyes when she pinned on a hat that matched her gown and tugged on the pristine gloves. She’d even snagged a lacy parasol from the trunk before J.B. insisted it was time for them to get going.
Dressed in their Sunday best, they’d driven the few miles into Pendleton where they’d gone directly to the land office, looked at the land available, and made their choice for two sections north of town. Nora had taken great pleasure in walking along the one street in town and looking in the shop windows as she and J.B. made their way to the hotel where they enjoyed a meal in the dining room. With a promise to return tomorrow for supplies, J.B. had helped her onto the wagon’s high seat after they’d eaten. After one last glance around Pendleton, they headed to the edge of town and began following Mr. Bruce’s map.
Now, though, as they neared their newly-purchased land, Nora scowled at her husband in mock annoyance. In truth, J.B. had mentioned several times since that morning how much he liked seeing her in a “frilly dress,” as he called it. She didn’t think it would hurt anything if he wanted to tell her again, though.
At her glower, he chuckled and shifted the lines to the team into one hand then settled an arm around her shoulders, pulling her against his side. “You look like a vision of springtime in that dress, Nora. I’m glad you talked me into letting you bring that extra trunk of clothes. You could sure do better than this ol’ trail-weary cowpoke.”
Nora glanced down at the cream-colored gown dotted with lavender flowers, trimmed in purple velvet ribbons and creamy lace. She’d purchased the gown from the best dressmaker in Omaha last spring. Tired of being in mourning for what seemed like years on end, she’d been so glad to wear something cheerful.
Thoughts of her deceased loved ones threatened to put a damper on what was a splendid day. Determined to focus on the happiness bubbling inside her, she shifted her thoughts back to her husband.
“You look quite handsome yourself, J.B.” She brushed a hand over the leg of his wool trousers and glanced at the fine cut of his suit coat. Although he’d worn a tie while they met with Mr. Bruce at the land office and at lunch, he’d yanked it off as soon as they were on the outskirts of Pendleton.
“It’s getting warm out, isn’t it?” J.B. asked as he shrugged out of his suit coat and tossed it into the wagon which still had the canvas cover over the top of it.
Although J.B. had offered to take a room in the hotel in town until he could get a house built for her, Nora told him she could continue sleeping in the wagon. She’d rather save their money. Besides, after traveling in the wagon for weeks on end, she could make do in it a while longer.
“It’s such a pleasant day,” she said, looking around again. “The weather is as beautiful as the land.” Nora glanced at the rolling hills dotted in sagebrush. With her head cocked slightly to the side, she listened to birds tweeting in the trees, adding a sweet melody to the jangle of the mules’ harness and the creak of the wagon as they continued on the bumpy trail.
Nora closed her eyes and inhaled a deep breath. She smelled warm earth and springtime, a little dust kicked up from the mules and the wagon wheels, sweat from the animals, and the spicy fragrance of J.B.’s shaving soap. That scent made her scoot a little closer to him and savor another long breath.
“I’m proud of you, darlin’,” J.B. said, giving her a pleased glance when she opened her eyes. “I couldn’t have asked for a better traveling partner than you, and I sure couldn’t have found a better wife. I’m still not certain what I did to deserve you.”
“You had sense enough to fall in love with me and ask me to marry you,” Nora teased, removing her bonnet and carefully setting it on a box behind the seat. She turned back to J.B. and leaned her head against his shoulder. “I knew the first time I set eyes on you I’d found the man I would marry.”
“Then you chased me down and refused to let me get away. Wasn’t there a rope involved? I’m pretty sure I was hog-tied and dragged to the altar at the church.”
Nora raised her head and glared at him. “I don’t recall it happening that way. It was a warm, lovely spring day, quite like this one, when you rode onto our ranch, looking for work. Papa and I were out in the corral with Billy and Buster. I could tell you were tired and a little broken when you rode over to the fence and sat there on the back of Ned, looking defeated, yet hopeful. You were the most handsome man I’d ever seen.”