Mattie. How could she have forgotten about Mattie?
Tracy sighed against his lips, pulling back from Andy. “Mattie’s up. I need to get dressed.”
She rolled away from him, silently thanking Mattie for the interruption. If she had stayed in bed with her husband much longer, there would be no question of whether she could leave or not. She would have to stay.
Andy propped himself up on his elbow and watched his new wife gather her clothes for the day. He waited to see if she’d remove her nightgown in front of him. He’d already gotten a tantalizing glimpse of her bare thigh when she’d climbed from the bed.
She looked over her shoulder at him. “Would you turn your back please?”
Andy smiled. At least she was being polite to him. “No, I really don’t think I will. You’re my wife, and I have every right to see you unclothed.”
Tracy blushed. “You get dressed first then, and I’ll wait.”
He chuckled at that. “I’m not wearing anything under this sheet. You sure you want me to dress first.”
She squeezed her eyes closed tightly, and sat on the bed. “Yes, please.”
He laughed out loud. His hand rubbed her back through her nightgown. “One day, you’ll be happy to see me naked.”
“Please hurry,” she suggested. “I need to start breakfast.” She wasn’t about to comment on his statement about seeing him naked.
He rolled from the bed, and dressed quickly. He didn’t have any more time to torment his wife. He needed to get dressed and get the cow milked. When he was fully clothed, he leaned down and kissed her one last time. “I’ll see you at breakfast.”
As soon as the door closed behind him, Tracy jumped up and pulled her clothes on. She couldn’t believe he’d been so brazen in front of her. What was he thinking? He had suddenly turned into a different man than the sullen man she’d married. She wasn’t sure if she liked him this way.
Once she was dressed, she went into the kitchen and started a fire in the stove, putting the frying pan on the top with a little bit of butter to melt. She quickly mixed up everything she needed for pancake except the eggs, and as soon as Mattie was in the house with the eggs, she added three. “Good morning, Mattie. We’re having pancakes this morning.”
“Oh! That sounds lovely.” Mattie flew into Tracy’s arms and hugged her tightly. “Ma used to make pancakes for breakfast every Sunday morning. She said they were the only thing that would fill us up enough to sit still through church.”
Tracy laughed. “I’m excited to meet everyone at church. Tomorrow’s Sunday…isn’t it?” She couldn’t believe she’d lost track of the days, but she’d been on the train so long.
Mattie giggled. “Yes, it is Sunday. I want you to meet my friends.”
Tracy smiled at the girl. No one had ever looked up to her the way Mattie did. She was going to have a hard time saying goodbye to her. “I can’t wait to meet them.”
Mattie set the table and put the butter and syrup on while Tracy made the pancakes. She made a pot of coffee for everyone who drank it, knowing she’d probably drink coffee and milk both. She couldn’t meet Andy’s eyes again that morning, but it was for a different reason than the previous morning. She would tell him that night there couldn’t be a repeat of that morning in bed.
After breakfast, she jumped up to start the dishes, mentally going over everything she would have to do that day. She wanted to finish cleaning the downstairs of the house before starting on the upstairs the next day. She wanted to get all the windows washed and the walls scrubbed. Tracy knew Mattie was going to be her little helper.
She had just put the stack of plates into the dishwater to wash when Andy put his hand on her shoulder. When she turned to see what he wanted, he leaned down and kissed her senseless. The kiss was hard,
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