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“I can. But I do like it when we’re able to do something on our own. She keeps asking me if you’re a gentle lover.”
“Oh, pickle juice! She just can’t keep her nose out of our business. Maybe it’s time for me to build her a little house near ours but where she’s not living with us.”
Heather laughed, shaking her head. “It’s all right. She’s not hurting anything.”
“Are you sure?” he asked.
“I’m positive. After spending my entire life with my mother, I think she’s a delightful change.”
“All right,” he said, staring straight ahead. “What did you tell her about me being a gentle lover?”
“I believe I let that question go unanswered,” Heather said, shaking her head.
“Maybe next time she asks, you tell her a story about us making love…doesn’t have to be true. She might stop asking personal questions.”
“My only worry would be she would take that as an invitation to ask even more questions I don’t want to answer!”
Patrick nodded. “I think you’re right. She’d want to know way too much that I’m just not willing for her to know.”
“Yes!” Heather laughed softly. “Some things are better kept between you and me.”
He pointed out different things along the way. “If we had a whole day, I’d drive you up to the overlook on the other side of the lake where you can see for miles and miles. There’s no way we could make it there and all the way back for supper, though.”
“That’s all right. We have our entire lives to see it.”
At her words, Patrick put his arm around her shoulders. “I like the idea of spending my whole life with you. I’m not sure I’m supposed to feel so strongly about my mail-order bride so soon, but…I do.”
Heather snuggled closer to him as they drove. Thankfully, they’d already driven through Clover Creek on their way to the lake, and there were few other wagons out on the road.
When they finally reached the lake, Heather sat spellbound. She’d never left the area around Beckham before. “I always wanted to see the ocean, but there was never an opportunity to go. But this lake…it’s so beautiful. I want to just sit here and stare at it all day. It makes me wish I had the ability to paint, but I know I’d never be able to do it justice.”
He nodded. “I think the same thing every time I look at it. The lake, surrounded by the mountains…It’s this perfect little valley we live in. I cannot imagine ever living anywhere else, so I hope you grow to love it as I do.”
“I’m already getting there. I’m surprised at just how genuinely kind all the people seem to be.” She shook her head. “And there is a doctor here! I won’t have to worry when the time comes for me to give your mother a grandchild.”
He chuckled. “I notice you’re not having a baby. You’re giving my mother a grandchild.”
She grinned at him. “I knew you’d understand what I meant!”
On the drive home, they chatted about different things they wanted in their lives. They both wanted many children, and they both wanted the ranch to be successful.
“Do you want to do anything besides be a mother and take care of the house?” he asked, not wanting to act as if her aspirations weren’t real as well.
“No, it’s all I’ve ever wanted. I’ve been a caregiver for my mother for a very long time. I like the idea of doing that for people who will eventually be able to do things on their own.” Heather hoped she didn’t sound cold and unreasonable. There was no way to describe all that she’d gone through and done for her mother.
“I can understand that. There’s a good school in Clover Creek as well. It wasn’t too far for me to walk there when I was a boy. I’m sure the children will love it.”
“And you’re able to keep schoolteachers?” she asked.
“Yes, of course. Why wouldn’t we be able to? There’s always someone wanting to teach.”
She laughed. “We went through new teachers all the time. I went to a country school with a family with a lot of kids, and they were always pulling pranks on the teachers. It got to the point the district would only hire men for the position because women were run out too quickly.”
He shook his head. “That’s terrible!”
“It is! We called the kids in that family the demon horde. Their older sister is the matchmaker who sent me here.”
“Our school isn’t like that at all. Most of the teachers are from one family and have been for years. The children are mostly well-behaved, and if there’s trouble at school, the parents deal with the children.”
