The Brides of Golden Valley Box Set 1 Read online

  “You made a poultice for her husband?”

  “He injured himself last week and it became infected. I just put together the herbs and a few other ingredients and gave it to him.” Joshua handed her the gloves they’d bought. “Here you go.”

  “Thank you.” Charlotte held them tightly to her chest, touched by his kindness. They had only known each other a day and he was already buying her presents. And helping neighbors like that? Charlotte wondered what other skills he had up his sleeves.

  Several employees took package after package out to Joshua’s cart and loaded them inside. The bags Joshua had brought from the house were gone. Whatever he’d traded or sold must have been pretty valuable.

  “One more stop at the church and then we can be on our way.” Joshua climbed up and helped Charlotte.

  “We’re just going to leave everything in here?” Charlotte stared at him in horror.

  Joshua raised his eyebrows. “Who would take it?”

  Charlotte gestured to the people on the streets. “Any of them could.”

  “You don’t have much faith in your neighbors, do you?”

  “Not after growing up in the city.” Charlotte glanced over her shoulder at the numerous packages.

  Joshua pulled the horses to a stop outside the church. “This will only take a moment. Why don’t you stay with the cart to make sure it’s safe and I’ll be right out?”

  Charlotte bit her lip before finally nodding. “All right.”

  Joshua hopped down and entered the church building. Charlotte glanced up at the sky, wishing she’d gotten herself a hat while she was at the store. Clouds piled up against the mountains, promising rain. So, Joshua had been right.

  Men walked past, some staring and others preoccupied with whatever their business in town was. Charlotte wondered where Eleanor lived. If she was close by or if she’d traveled in from somewhere else.

  Joshua came out a few minutes later holding a rolled-up piece of parchment. “One marriage certificate. Now we can be on our way.”

  Charlotte took it from him. “I didn’t need to sign it?”

  “No, it only required the witness’s and the priest’s signatures.” Joshua clicked his tongue, and the horses turned toward home. “Oh, I almost forgot.”

  He pulled a small package out of his shirt pocket and handed it to her. She untied the string and opened the wrapping. He’d bought her a couple of each of the candies. The man had to be some kind of saint.

  “Thank you.” She took one of the sarsaparilla candies and popped it into her mouth. “Would you like one?”

  “I bought them for you.” He laughed.

  “Which means they’re mine and I can decide what I want to do with them. Right?” Charlotte took a lemon candy and held it up to his mouth. His beard tickled her hand as he leaned forward and let her drop it into his mouth.

  “Thank you.” He made a face. “This is sour.”

  Charlotte laughed. “That would be the lemon. It’s not that bad is it?”

  “Try one.”

  She pointed at her mouth. “I already have one. I’ll try it next.”

  Thunder rumbled in the distance, and the smile dropped from Joshua’s face. He shoved the reins into her hands and knelt on the seat. “Hold the reins and keep going.”

  “Wait, what?”

  Joshua climbed into the back, shaking the cart with his weight. Charlotte panicked, but held tightly like he’d said. The horses seemed to sense the urgency and picked up speed.

  The sky darkened as they sped toward home, and it felt like an eternity before Joshua finally climbed back onto the seat next to her. He took the reins back.

  “You did well.” Joshua smiled at her and urged the horses to go faster. “Hold on.”

  Charlotte looked back and saw a large, thick blanket covering the packages. “Where’d that come from?”

  “It’s in a small compartment in the back for times like this. Now, please. Hold tight.”

  Rain began to fall as the house came into view. Charlotte leaned against Joshua’s shoulder to protect her face from the rain drops that pelted them. Thunder crashed nearby. Charlotte had always loved storms, but this was just too close. She only hoped Joshua could get them home safely.

  Joshua grabbed the last of the packages and ran for the house, already soaked to the bone. He feared the flour would be ruined from the rain, but he couldn’t worry about that quite yet. Charlotte took the packages from him and he ran back out into the rain to unharness the horses.

  Once Louie and Minnie found shelter under the small overhang of the house, Joshua sloshed through the mud to make sure everything was holding up. The only thing that could be a problem was the cellar. He would need to get a better cover for that. The board he’d been using would probably warp under this amount of rain.

  Joshua looked up and caught Charlotte in the window staring out. She gestured for him to come inside, her eyes wide. Was the roof leaking? Joshua ran—or tried to run in the mud–around the side of the house and burst through the door.

  Charlotte stood nearby holding out a towel. “Take off your muddy shoes and then go change. I can heat up some water to make us some tea.”

  He was too cold to argue, so he kicked his shoes off and trudged to the bedroom. His fingers were freezing and unwilling to cooperate as he unbuttoned his shirt. By the time he was finally changed into warmer clothes, the teapot whistled on the stove. He walked into the kitchen and wrapped his arm around Charlotte’s waist.

  “Everything is done outside.” He kissed her cheek before pulling away to get down two mugs. “Have you noticed any leaks?”

  She shook her head. “Not in the ceiling. There might be some coming in from the windows.”

  He took the mug of tea from her and set it on the table. “I’ll look at those before I sit down.”

  “All right.” Charlotte unwrapped the flour and turned it over. “It’s dry. I guess your tarp worked.”

  “Leave it out just in case there’s any moisture.” Joshua ran his fingers along the windows. There was a little water that seeped in, but judging by the storm, he was lucky. The rest of the windows were dry, but then they weren’t facing the worst of the storm.

  He lit a few more candles to help brighten the room, then went back to the kitchen to help put away their supplies. The salt, sugar, flour, and beans would need to last until they could find other items they could trade.

  Charlotte gasped as she opened the fabric. “This is beautiful. And so soft.”

  “I’m glad you like it. We’ll have to store it until we can find a sewing machine, but I knew it was the perfect color for you.” Joshua set the spices in a cupboard and turned to find her still staring at the fabric. “Was I wrong? Did I pick a color you don’t like?”

  She shook her head. “No. That’s not it at all. It’s exactly what I would have chosen. I just . . . I’m not used to having anyone buy me something so extravagant. Thank you.”

  “Of course.” Joshua unwrapped the needle and thread next. “We can fix my shirt with this.”

  “Oh, that reminds me.” Charlotte wrapped the fabric back up and set it aside. “I noticed you have quite a pile of laundry in the bedroom. If you show me where to wash them, I can do that once the storm stops.”

  Joshua turned away, embarrassed. He’d meant to have those cleaned before she came, but clearing the land left him exhausted every night. “There’s a large metal tub and a washboard outside, and I have soap somewhere around here.”

  Charlotte nodded and opened several cupboards before she found it. “Here we go. All set.”

  “Thank you for being willing to help. I should have had them washed already.” Joshua unwrapped the beans and put them in the cupboard.

  “It’s not a problem. I can help.” Charlotte opened another package. “This is a lot of wrapping. What do we do with it all?”

  Joshua shrugged. “I’ve never actually bought this much stuff at once, so I’m not sure. Maybe we can burn it.”
/>   Charlotte smoothed it out. “It’s good paper. We could use it to write letters. Or wrap gifts. Or I guess we can burn it if you’d like.”

  “We can keep it for you to write on if you’d like. Do you have many people you write to back home?” Joshua asked.

  “My parents and perhaps a few of their servants. Having paper handy would be nice for that.” Charlotte opened the last package and set the salt with the other ingredients. “Would you like some lunch? I can make . . . something.”

  Joshua sorted through the wood and found a smaller block. Perfect. He found his knife and sat down, ready to whittle. “Beans and potatoes sound good. Do you have any of the potatoes left from this morning?”

  “Actually, yes. There are two more.” Charlotte pulled out the beans and stared at them. “Where do I get the water from?”

  Joshua stood and grabbed a bucket, then set it outside the door where the rain continued to fall. “That should fill up in a few minutes.”

  Charlotte set the beans down and picked up the needle and thread. “I guess I’ll sew while I wait.”

  “My shirt is soaked, though.” Joshua pointed at the sopping pile of clothes on the floor in their room.

  She sighed and muttered as she went to pick them up. Joshua heard the words husbands and dirty clothes. He chuckled to himself as he slowly chipped away at the wood in his hand. There was something different about Charlotte. She didn’t seem to hold to many of the customs of high society that he’d grown up with. She was more down to earth.

  And he loved her for it.

  Charlotte brushed past him and dropped his clothes in the sink. She squeezed each piece of clothing out and set them aside, then opened and shut cupboards until she found his twine. She continued to mutter while she tied one end up on a nail in the wall of the living room.

  It took a moment to realize she was building a clothesline. Joshua stood and brushed off his pants, then took the twine from her hand to string up in the kitchen. Except there was nowhere to hang it. Joshua grabbed a nail and hammer from the back porch and added a nail in the wall across from where Charlotte had attached her side.

  “Is that good?”

  “Yes, but make it tighter or the clothes will drag on the ground.” Charlotte waited for Joshua to secure it before hanging his pants on the line. “Can you tighten it a little more?”

  Joshua pulled the twine until it was straight so he could have some slack, and then wrapped the excess around the nail in the wall. “That should hold for now.”

  “Perfect. Now that we have that done, the clothes can dry so I can sew your shirt later.” Charlotte strode across the living room and opened the door to check the pot. “Looks like the rain is letting up, but I have enough to soak the beans. We’ll have to fill it up a little more to boil them, though.”

  Joshua slipped on his boots and took the pot from her. “I can go fill it the rest of the way. How full do you want it?”

  Charlotte leaned close and pointed to a spot about three quarters up. “That should be enough.”

  Joshua shielded his eyes as he went out on his back porch to get water from the milk can. He scooped the water into the pan, and shut the door, shivering from the rain. It had calmed, but there was still a drizzle coming down. Joshua handed off the pot to Charlotte and took off his muddy boots just inside the door.

  Charlotte frowned at the water and mud running off of them, but didn’t say anything as she walked into the kitchen. Joshua had been meaning to get a rug or something to protect the floor and hadn’t gotten around to it. He sighed. Whittling would have to wait. Joshua went into the bedroom and took the weaving loom out from under his bed. He ran his fingers along the worn frame. This had been his mother’s and his father had insisted that he take it with him. Now he was glad he did.

  He took it into the living room where the twine had been left. As he set up the loom to begin weaving, he could hear his mom’s voice inside his head, telling him each step. Joshua jumped when Charlotte put a hand on his shoulder.

  “What is this?” Charlotte touched the wires.

  “Just watch.” Joshua slowly wove the twine around each wire, allowing his fingers to get used to the movement again. In, out, in, out.

  Charlotte left his side and went back to the kitchen. Pots rattled as she found what she wanted, and Joshua had to admit he loved having her there. He stopped only long enough to help add kindling to the stove, then went back to weaving.

  “What are you making?” Charlotte asked, breaking the silence.

  “You’ll see when I’m done.” He grinned.

  Charlotte sighed. “You can’t give me a hint?”

  Joshua shook his head. “It would ruin the surprise.”

  The rug was finally turning into something instead of just bits of twine. He would need to go back into town sometime soon to replenish his supplies, but this was worth it.

  “Can I at least help?” Charlotte sat next to him, leaning her chin against his shoulder.

  Joshua shook his head again. “This is actually done. But I can help you start another one if you’d like.”

  He snipped the loose strings and slid the rug off the loom. It was a little small, but it would at least keep the mud off the floor. And the twine would help keep the water off it as well. He stood and picked up his muddy boots, then set the rug where they’d been sitting. The gasp behind him made Joshua smile. She liked it.

  “You made a rug. That’s wonderful!” Charlotte set her shoes next to his. “Thank you. This is perfect.”

  Joshua took an old cloth and wiped up the water that was still on the floor. “I’m glad you like it.”

  “Can you show me how to work the loom now?”

  Joshua hung the rag over the line, then finally nodded. She would need to learn sometime. “Once you get the hang of this one, we can look at getting a bigger one that will do a lot of the weaving for you.”

  “Sounds good.” Charlotte sat next to the loom. “So, what are we making?”

  Joshua chuckled. “We should figure that out before we start. We could make another rug for the kitchen. That way your feet won’t get so sore on the hardwood floor.”

  Charlotte beamed. “I like that idea. Especially after standing there for the last hour cooking. I had no idea it could be so exhausting.”

  “All right. Attach the twine here and slowly move in and out.” Joshua kept his hand on hers as she wove the twine, making sure she put it in the right place. As she became more sure with her movements, Joshua slid his hand up her arm and rested it on her shoulder, content to sit and watch her work.

  “Have you ever thought of making rugs or whatever and selling them in town?” Charlotte started on the next line.

  Joshua shook his head. “I haven’t gotten the loom out since I moved here because I didn’t have a reason until now.”

  Charlotte raised her eyebrows. “You didn’t need a rug until now?”

  “Well, I guess I did.” Joshua caught the smile on her face. “You keep me on my toes, Charlotte Hale.”

  She paused, her eyes widening. “Uh . . . sorry. My full name just hasn’t been spoken out loud since we were married. It shocked me.”

  Joshua laughed. “Well it is your name, so hopefully you will get used to it.”

  “I do like it.” She smiled at him and went back to work.

  “I would hope so.” He stood and went to the kitchen to check on the food. The beans Charlotte cooked smelled much better than when he made them. Maybe there was something to her insistence that they buy herbs. He stirred the beans and grimaced when he found that some had burned to the bottom of the pan. Perhaps teaching her to weave when she was supposed to be cooking wasn’t a good idea.

  He glanced out the window to check on the horses and Betsy. Poor things were soaking wet even under the overhang. “Charlotte, I have something to discuss with you.”

  Charlotte looked up from the loom and stopped what she was doing. “Did I do something wrong? Does the food taste bad?”

>   “I haven’t tasted it yet, but it smells delicious. But that’s not it.” He gestured outside. “The animals have no shelter. I’d been planning to save the rest of the pelts for a new bed for us, but I think we need to buy a plow to make the clearing of the land go faster. They need a barn before it gets cold again.”

  “That makes sense to me. They need a place to sleep.” She stood and met him at the window. “What if we made other things we can sell? It’s summer, so we could set up a table somewhere in town and sell rugs, or jams, or your figurines. That way we can use that money to buy the supplies for the barn.”

  Joshua wrapped an arm around her and pulled her closer. “I don’t know that we can make enough to sell, but it is a possibility. With the fourth of July coming up, they’ll have a festival, so perhaps we could sell them there. I’m not sure we’ll be able to find enough berries to make jam, but it’s an option.”

  Charlotte frowned. “Where would we look?”

  “There are different bushes up in the mountains that might have berries ready by now. Gooseberries, chokecherries, and I think boysenberries.” Joshua kissed her cheek. “We can go up there sometime if you’d like.”

  “That sounds fun. Maybe we can go this weekend? Make a picnic out of it?” Charlotte moved away from him and grabbed a spoon to stir the beans.

  Joshua tapped on the countertop. It would be a whole day away from working on the house, and he needed to get things planted or they would have nothing for the winter. “Let’s see how much we can get done before then. If I can pick up the equipment tomorrow, we should be able to get away. If not, I will need to work so we can start the barn.”

  “All right. We’ll do that.” Charlotte scooped out a spoonful of beans and put a hand under it as she brought it up to Joshua’s mouth. “Taste.”

  “I had some when I stirred it before. I like the spices you added.” He reached for the cupboard to pull out bowls. “Shall we eat now?”