Sweet Spouse Read online

  “Thank you for helping me,” she said.

  “You have to hang that up,” Miles said.

  Ellis chuckled. “That’s right, you’re a clever boy.”

  Miles beamed at her.

  “I’ll take you to the line. It’s behind the house.”

  Ellis smiled and let Miles lead her to the line even though she knew where it was. She put the basket with wet clothes on the ground. Miles passed pieces of clothing to her so that she could hang them up. Miles was a sweet boy, Ellis thought as they worked together. He was caring and willing to help. Those were good traits in any man.

  The back door opened and Ellis looked over her shoulder. Rox came out. She froze when she saw Miles. Her face was hard to read when she looked at Ellis again and she hesitated before she sat down on an upturned crate.

  Ellis carried on hanging up the clothes. She knew Rox was watching them. She hoped her little sister would come to help them—the child had been so distant since they’d arrived.

  When Rox didn’t make any motion to come closer, Ellis called over her shoulder.

  “You can help us, Rox,” she said. “It’s always fun to do the work together.”

  Rox shook her head. Her face was pinched, her lips jammed together. She looked just like Ellis’s mom had looked. Ellis knew that look all too well. It was resentment and anger.

  Ellis had hoped Rox would get better once she had some time to settle in, but her sister only seemed to get worse. Ellis didn’t know what to do about it. She was doing everything she could.

  When they were done, Ellis kneeled in front of Miles.

  “Thank you so much for helping me, today,” she said. The little boy beamed at her. “It’s a very gentlemanly thing to do, to take care of the women around you.”

  “My dad says a gentleman always thinks of other people,” Miles said.

  Ellis chuckled. “That’s right,” she said. “You can go play now, sweetheart.”

  Miles ran away and Ellis walked toward the door.

  “I thought I was your sweetheart,” Rox said.

  Ellis sighed. “You’ll always be my sweetheart, Roxy. You know that.”

  “Are you going to call Wes your sweetheart, too?”

  Ellis looked at her little sister. Rox was making life hard for everyone and Ellis was starting to think she was doing it on purpose.

  “Callings someone a sweetheart means that they have a good heart. And what Miles did today was very sweet.”

  Rox stood up, glared at Ellis, and stormed off. Ellis put down the empty basket and started after her.

  “Ellis,” Cyrus called from the back door.

  Ellis turned, looking at Cyrus.

  “Rox is upset,” Ellis said.

  “Leave her,” Cyrus said. “She’ll have to start dealing with this whether she likes it or not.”

  That went for Ellis, too. She had to deal with it whether she liked it or not, just the same. Ellis sighed and turned toward Cyrus. He smiled at her and she melted a little. She didn’t think she would be able to get used to his good looks and strong presence anytime soon.

  When Ellis reached Cyrus at the back door, she breathed in deeply. He smelled of earth and grass and sunshine. His tan skin was smooth. Ellis reached for him and touched his cheek with her fingertips before she could catch herself.

  She pulled away but Cyrus caught her hand and slowly leaned his cheek into her palm. Ellis’s breath hitched in her throat. It was the first time they’d touched romantically. Until then, any touches had been purely friendship.

  “She will come around,” Cyrus said, but his eyes said something entirely different than his mouth and Ellis got lost in the evergreen of his gaze.

  He slowly pulled her closer, as if he didn’t want to scare her. She closed her eyes. Cyrus pressed his lips against hers and Ellis sighed, melting against him.

  Ellis couldn’t say she loved the man yet. Love grew with time. But there was a definite attraction between the two of them and she found that she did care for him in a way that was very soon and very unexpected.

  When Cyrus broke the kiss, his green eyes smiled at her. He turned around and walked away from her, not saying a word. Anything he could have said might have broken the spell

  For the first time, Ellis felt that coming here was exactly the right thing to do and that Cyrus was the man she was meant to be with.

  Four

  Cyrus

  Wesley was old enough to start helping Cyrus in the fields. He oversaw a lot of chores around the house, but with Ellis and Rox there now, Cyrus took Wesley out with him every day. The boy was getting stronger and Cyrus wanted to teach him how to work a farm.

  “What do you think of Ellis?” he asked Wesley when they were in the field, harvesting corn.

  Wesley shrugged. “I like her. She’s not Mama, but she’s nice enough.”

  Cyrus nodded. No one could replace his Claire—the boys had suffered when she’d passed—but Ellis was kind and gentle and she was trying very hard to make it work.

  “And Rox?”

  Wesley was quiet for long enough that Cyrus wondered if the boy had heard him.

  “I think I still need to get used to having a sister,” he said, finally.

  Cyrus nodded. He had the idea that Wesley was being diplomatic, that he didn’t like Rox all that much. He could understand that. Rox was a handful. She had grown up spoiled and that wasn’t just going to change.

  “I see you’re trying,” Cyrus said. “I see that you’re making it work as best you can and I appreciate it.”

  Wesley smiled at his dad before carrying on with the work.

  They worked in the field until the sun set. During the summer months, they used every bit of daylight they could. In winter, there was so little to be had and the weather always made it harder to take care of the farm.

  Finally, they walked home. As soon as they stepped into the house they could smell the food. Cyrus and Wesley washed their hands before going to the kitchen, where Rox already sat at the table and Ellis was starting to dish up for them.

  “Where’s Miles?” Cyrus asked

  Ellis shrugged. “He’s here somewhere, playing.”

  Cyrus frowned. “He’s not ready for supper?”

  “I don’t think so. Let the child play. He’s only five, he should be able to play until he feels hungry.”

  Cyrus narrowed his eyes at his bride. She was a beautiful woman and he found he was falling in love with her, but more than once he’d realized they didn’t have the same views when it came to raising their children.

  “I want Miles to be washed up and ready for supper every evening,” Cyrus said. “If you could see to that, I would be grateful.”

  Ellis looked at him with cold eyes. “I don’t think that’s necessary,” she said.

  Cyrus shook his head. “We’ll talk about it later,” he said. He left the kitchen to find Miles. He would take care of his son being ready for supper if he had to. The Lord knew he’d done it long enough without Claire.

  When Miles was washed up and ready for supper, they walked back to the kitchen. Miles clambered onto his seat. Wesley and Rox were already sitting down, and Ellis had taken a seat next to Rox.

  “Can I talk to you in private?” Cyrus asked when he walked to the table.

  “The food will get cold,” Ellis said.

  “It won’t be long,” Cyrus said. Ellis sighed. She didn’t want to talk about it, he could tell, but she stood. Wesley made sure Miles sat down and Ellis and Cyrus walked to the living room.

  “Family time is important,” Cyrus said when Ellis turned to him. Her arms were folded over her chest and she looked annoyed, but he wasn’t going to let her body language scare him off.

  “Miles is five,” she said.

  “And I’m teaching him from the start that family time should be valued. It’s not negotiable. There’s enough time every day that none of us get to spend together. I don’t need to remind you how important family is, how much it hurts when
they get ripped away.”

  He knew that saying it might be looking for trouble, but it was important to him that his children grew up valuing the time they had together. He wasn’t going to compromise on that.

  “That’s not fair,” Ellis said. “Do you think I don’t know what loss feels like, that I haven’t suffered just as you have? But Miles is five. It’s not necessary to be so strict on the boys, to force them to be adults already.”

  Cyrus shook his head. He was getting angry but he wasn’t going to let it get the better of him.

  “I’m not forcing them to be anything other than well-mannered and respectful.”

  He had wanted to add that Rox had neither of those qualities but he knew his limits and it would only make the fight worse, not better.

  “I got them through with these rules,” Cyrus added. “It works for us.”

  “Maybe you think it works for you because you don’t know how to be a dad any other way. Now, I’ve worked hard on the meal and I would be glad if we can eat it before the kids finish all of it.”

  She turned around and walked back to the kitchen without letting Cyrus finish. He put his hands on his hips and took a deep breath, trying to handle his anger. Ellis had challenged his parenting not once, but twice, and he resented that. He was a good father. He’d had to do it all by himself after Claire passed away and he had done a good job. He knew it.

  He didn’t need a snobbish woman from the city—one who wasn’t even a real mother—to tell him that he was doing it wrong.

  Cyrus walked slowly back to the table and sat down. Ellis had dished up for everyone but him. He picked up his plate and walked to the stove, dishing food for himself. When he returned to the table, Ellis didn’t make eye contact with him. She ate quietly.

  Wes and Miles chattered away but Cyrus and Ellis and Rox stayed quiet.

  Cyrus noticed Rox sneaking glances at him. How much did she know? he wondered. She was sharp and he didn’t understand her. Still, it didn’t matter what she thought of him.

  Cyrus knew he was a good father, and he had done everything he could do to pull the boys through, to survive. He would just have to find his stride with Ellis. Together, they would be able to work it out.

  He just had to keep trying. If he tried his best, and she did too, they would be able to make it through.

  It was hard starting a family with three kids already part of the picture. Cyrus remembered what it used to be like with Claire, how they had gotten to know each other before starting a family, how they had been sure they agreed on everything, and if they didn’t, how to compromise.

  That wasn’t the case now. Ellis wasn’t his Claire.

  But he had married her and he was set on making it work. He owed her that much for giving up her life in Baltimore and coming this far out of her comfort zone.

  Five

  Ellis

  Supper went well, considering. When Cyrus had told Ellis how serious he was about family time, she could respect it. She didn’t like how he brought up her parents’ passing, though, and she had been nervous that the rest of the evening would be strained.

  It had started out strained but it had gotten better.

  After supper, the kids had cleared the table again—it was a good routine for them—before getting ready for bed. Ellis had tucked them in. Rox tried to avoid Cyrus if she could but the boys seemed to like Ellis. She wished that Rox would be more open toward Cyrus, but maybe the girl just needed time.

  Since they’d arrived, Rox had been foul-tempered, doing only as she was asked and nothing more. She was permanently sour and when she did play with the boys it often turned into an argument.

  Again, Ellis hoped she just needed time.

  Ellis walked to the living room where Cyrus sat in the dim light, staring at the fire he had built. Ellis sat down in the chair next to him.

  “How are you dealing with life out here?” Cyrus asked after a moment of silence together.

  Ellis breathed in deeply and nodded. “It’s very different from my life back in Baltimore,” she said. “And I’m still not used to the balance of hard work but a slow life out here. But I think I’m doing well.”

  Cyrus nodded. “Very well.”

  He reached for her hand and she let him take it. She liked that they were touching more now. With Cyrus’s warm skin on hers, she felt giddy. She had come out here for a man. She hadn’t dared hope to find something that was leading to love.

  “What was life like for you?” Cyrus asked. “I know you told me some in your letters, but I’d like to know more.”

  Ellis stared at the flames that licked around the logs.

  “Well, we had maids and a cook, so there weren’t exactly any chores to be done. We spent our time embroidering or making music, singing, that kind of thing.”

  Cyrus nodded. “It’s a very different life out here.”

  Ellis agreed. It was still hard for her. The more Cyrus asked her about her life, the more she noticed the contrast between her past and the life she led now. She knew Cyrus thought she and Rox were spoiled. Still, she tried so hard to fit in, to make it work. It wasn’t easy but she was trying.

  Ellis knew she’d grown up very privileged. Her parents had had so much money there hadn’t been need for any of them to work at all. Thinking back, she could barely remember her father ever not being at home.

  “When my parents passed away, my uncle took control of my parents’ money. He told me that he would take care of the finances until I wasn’t grieving so much anymore. He would give me time to clear my mind. But then, when enough time had passed and I was fit to take care of the money again, he refused to give it to me.”

  “That sounds like theft to me,” Cyrus said.

  Ellis nodded. “It was. But there was nothing I could do.”

  Cyrus scratched his head.

  “I’m sorry,” Ellis said. “You don’t need to hear my sad story.”

  Cyrus shook his head and smiled sympathetically. “Don’t apologize. I understand you better for it.”

  They sat in silence for a while. What did that mean, that he understood her better? Was she difficult to understand?

  Ellis wondered exactly what Cyrus thought of her and Rox. She should have left it alone, but she couldn’t. Suddenly, she needed to know.

  “I know you think I’m spoiled,” she said. “Rox and I.”

  Cyrus hesitated. “I wouldn’t say spoiled, exactly,” he said. “But hard work builds character.”

  Ellis narrowed her eyes at Cyrus.

  “What’s that supposed to mean?” she asked.

  Cyrus frowned. “What?”

  Ellis was getting angry. “Are you saying I don’t have character because I’ve grown up with more money than you have?”

  Cyrus sighed. “Don’t get upset with me. You asked.”

  Ellis shook her head, trying to make sense of what she was feeling. There wasn’t much besides anger and resentment.

  “I can’t believe you suggested that I don’t have character.” Her voice was rising. Ellis had never been very good at controlling her temper.

  “Calm down, Ellis,” Cyrus said. “I’m not trying to insult you.”

  “Well, you just did. And don’t tell me to calm down. You have no right to judge me. You don’t know my past. You don’t even know who I am. Not really.”

  Her voice was getting loud enough for the children to hear, but Ellis didn’t care. She was furious. Who did Cyrus think he was?

  “This isn’t necessary,” Cyrus said, his voice rising now, too. “You can’t walk in here and expect nothing to change. Yes, this life is different, but you chose it. I didn’t hold a gun to your head and force you to say I do.”

  Ellis felt like crying. “I had to come out here, dammit! I had nowhere else to go.”

  She knew it sounded like he was just an out for her, but it was true, and her rage was out of control now. She got up and stormed out of the room, leaving Cyrus behind.

  It felt like forever b
efore Cyrus came to the bedroom. Ellis had gotten changed into her nightgown but she couldn’t sleep. She sat on the bed, feeling like her world had finally shattered no matter how hard she’d tried to keep it together.

  Cyrus sat down on the mattress and put his hand carefully on her knee.

  “I don’t want to fight,” he said. “And I don’t want to go to bed angry. I’m sorry for what I said. It came across very wrong.”

  Ellis nodded.

  “We still have a long road together, don’t we?” she asked.

  Cyrus nodded. Ellis took a deep breath and blew it out with a shudder.

  “I’m sorry, too,” she said.

  Cyrus took her hand and squeezed it.

  “I’m going to get ready for bed,” Cyrus said. “Will you check on the children?”

  Ellis nodded and got up. She walked with the candle to the children’s room. She pushed the door open and held the candle above her head. Miles was twisted in his blanket. Wesley lay sprawled over the bed, one leg hanging off the edge of the mattress. And Rox was… gone.

  “Cyrus!” Ellis ran back to their room. “Rox is gone!”

  Without waiting for him to reply, she started running through the house, searching for her sister. Where could the girl have gotten to? With every empty room, she became more and more hysterical. By the time she found Cyrus in the boys’ room, she started sobbing.

  “What are we going to do?” she cried. Panic grabbed hold of her and she shivered.

  “We’ll find her,” Cyrus said and pulled her against him for comfort. His chest was broad, his arms warm as they wrapped around her.

  Six

  Cyrus

  Cyrus led Ellis out of the boys’ room, doing what he could to calm her so that she wasn’t hysterical. She was panicking and seeing someone like that made it easy to get swept along. He didn’t want to wake the boys if Ellis was losing her mind with worry and panic.

  It didn’t take too long—she seemed to find herself again rather quickly. As soon as she calmed, he walked to the children’s room. He sat on Wesley’s bed and carefully shook the boy by the shoulders. Wesley came out of a deep sleep with a grumble. The boy rubbed his eyes and blinked up at Cyrus.