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Far too long now. In the months she had been in Willow Creek, her heart longed for something she would never have. At least today she could pretend. Pretend she was home, and this was her life.
After putting the stew on when she got back inside, she washed every surface, sweeping the entire house before beating dirt from the rugs and fluffing the cushions on the chairs in the main room.
She had always hated cleaning Walter’s house. Hated cooking for him and mending his clothes and had loathed every second of the day she had spent in his presence. Here, she paid little attention to the pain in her back from leaning over to clean the floors. Lighting Ben’s stove and cutting vegetables and meat, then watching over the stew as it cooked made her feel useful in a way she had not felt in some time. Helping Betsey around her house did not feel the same as it did now. Most days she felt in the way, so spent the majority of her time outside, helping Aaron around their small homestead as much as she could.
Her spine made a few soft pops as she leaned to one side, then the other, stretching out her muscles. After storing the broom and dumping the dirty cleaning water, a satisfied smile curved her lips seeing how good the house looked now. The open windows had aired it out and she shut a few of them to keep dust from blowing in and ruining all her hard work.
Heading to the stove, she tasted the stew, adding more salt before looking out the window, wondering when Ben would be home, and how much longer she had to play out this little fantasy of living here instead of visiting before reality came crashing back in.
Everything in him stilled, his body going hot a moment later as fury raced through his limbs. Riding into the yard and seeing the door and windows open in his house had not been something he’d ever thought to see, not now at least. He knew they weren’t like that when he left home that morning.
Laying a hand to the butt of his pistol, he headed to the back porch. He didn’t own much worth stealing, but that didn’t mean he wanted someone taking it. His fury was near boiling point as he slung open the door, but all that pent up anger died the instant he saw Morning Dove standing by his stove.
She jumped, startled, as the door crashed into the wall. Her wide eyes locked on him and he hated he’d scared her…yet again, but it wasn’t hard to do. She was jumpy most days and made him wonder what sort of hell she’d lived in before arriving in Willow Creek with Aaron.
She was wearing her buckskin dress today, her hair braided into one long tail to lie draped over her shoulder. Her large, dark eyes were fixed on him and he only wondered why she was in his house for a moment before his gaze swept the room. Everything was clean.
He let himself relax and shut the door before removing his hat and hanging it on a nail in the wall. His fingers slid through his hair easily but he knew he more than likely had hat-hair, but there wasn’t much he could do about it.
Morning Dove looked away first. The scent of cooked beef registered a moment later. His house was clean and there was food on the stove, all while a beautiful woman stood staring at him inside his own home. A man could get used to that.
He cleared his throat. “Hey.”
She set the spoon she’d been using to stir whatever was in the pot down before turning her attention back to him. “Hello.”
Ben stared at her for long moments before looking around the house again. It hadn’t been this clean since Betsey moved out. “You do all this?” he asked, with a tilt of his head.
“Not all. Betsey helped.”
“Where is she? I didn’t see a horse or wagon out front.”
“She went home to get food.” Her cheeks turned pink as she looked away. “Your pantry is all but bare.”
He nodded. There wasn’t much he could say about that. It was true, after all.
“The stew is ready if you are hungry.”
He was. “I starving,” he said with a grin. “Let me go see to Cash and get cleaned up.” Morning Dove nodded and reached up on the shelf his few dishes were stored and grabbed a bowl. He hurried back outside. Cash was already by his small barn, giving him an accusatory look for leaving him standing in the yard.
He got him settled for the night and headed back inside the house and to his bedroom, again shocked to find it clean. The bed had been made, the dust wiped away and the floors swept. As happy as he was about that, the fact Morning Dove saw his place in such a sad shape left a sour spot on his entire day. If her opinion of him hadn’t been low before, it probably was now.
His clothes had been put away. He grabbed a shirt and clean pair of pants and washed in what little water was left in the pitcher by the dresser. His reflection still showed a few days' worth of stubble but he didn’t have time to worry about it at the moment. He’d shave in the morning.
Morning Dove was taking something from the oven when he walked back into the main room. She turned and saw him as she set it on the table.
“Come eat.”
He noticed only one bowl. His. “You’re not joining me?”
“I did not cook for myself.”
“So you did cook for me.” He grinned when she looked away, the corner of her mouth turning up.
“Only because Betsey asked me to.”
“Oh, my heart,” he said, grabbing his chest. “You wound me, Morning Dove. Here I thought you might actually like me and you only cooked because Betsey told you to.” He winked at her as he pulled his chair away from the table and sat down, her cheeks turning pink again. He’d never seen someone blush as much as she did, and honestly, it did wonders for his ego. Now he needed to get her to talk to him more.
The stew was filled with vegetables and thick chunks of meat. It was the best smelling thing to be set in front of him since the last time he’d eaten at Betsey and Aaron’s place.
