Read Online Tumbleweed Letters by Vonnie Davis - Free Book Online Page A

while a smile teased the corners of Standing Bear’s lips. What the hell did his friend find so damn funny?
    The meal was eaten in relative silence. Sophie Catherine sure knew how to make a tasty stew. Her dumplings were perfect. For dessert, she served a molasses pie. He hadn’t eaten this good since before his maw passed. What bothered him, though, was the way Standing Bear kept watching his wife’s movements out of the corner of his eye. He didn’t like it one bit. How soon could he get rid of him?
    After the meal, he walked outside with Standing Bear. “You don’t usually come by unless something’s wrong. Everything all right with you?”
    The Native stilled and stared off into the night. “Singing Dove has chosen another.”
    Cam clasped his hand on Standing Bear’s shoulder. “She made a foolish decision.”
    “I’d hoped she’d warm my teepee this winter. It’s good to have a woman in your bed, don’t you think?” He turned toward Cam.
    “Yes,” he choked out, wishing it were so. Would his wife warm his bed? Would she ever come to him?
    After he tucked in Eli, Cam found Sophie Catherine sitting on the vanity bench, brushing her hair. He handed her two packages wrapped in brown paper.
    “What’s this?” She set her brush down and fingered the packages.
    “Presents for my wife.”
    “It’s not my birthday. Nor is it Christmas.” A blush shadowed her fair face when she cast those green eyes on him.
    “A man doesn’t need an excuse to indulge his wife.”
    She fingered the twine, wrapping the ends around her finger. “Is that what you were doing with the cats? Indulging me? Where did you get them? With company here, I didn’t get to ask.”
    “Dora got them for me. Are you going to open your gifts or not?”
    She set the smaller of the packages on the vanity and undid the twine around the thicker package. “You went to her place, then?” Her voice held a tinge of irritation. Why was that?
    “Yes. You said she used cats to rid her house of mice. I figured she’d know who to get them from.” He stooped in front of her, so he could gauge her reaction. For some reason, her delight was important.
    “I see.” She folded back the stiff paper to reveal four cakes of soap. “Oh, my, store-bought soap.” She held a cake to her nose and sniffed. Her eyes drifted shut. “Roses,” she breathed. “I’ll use them sparingly, so they last.”
    His wife was thrifty, he’d give her that. “Use them. I told Mr. Thatcher at the mercantile to keep them in stock for you. Whenever one of us goes to town, we’ll get more.”
    “It’s a lavishness, so it is.”
    “It’s an extravagance I want you to have. I like how it makes you smell. I’ll benefit from it, too.” He took the soap and paper from her lap and rested the items on his thigh. “Open the other one now.”
    She undid the wrappings and gasped. “Oh, Cam, what have you done?” Her green eyes widened, and her hands trembled slightly as she picked up the combs.
    Relief whooshed from his lungs. “They’re mother of pearl.”
    She held them up to her hair and peered into the mirror, turning her head from side to side. “They’re beautiful, is what they are. I’ve never had anything so nice. I’ll be afraid to wear them.”
    “I hope not. I bought them so you could wear your hair down around me.” He reached out and curled a strand of hair around his finger. “Put them in. Let me see.”
    “You were too extravagant, Cam McBride.” Even as she admonished him, she smiled and her eyes twinkled with pleasure. “Beautiful things like these were made to grace lovely ladies, not someone plain, like me.”
    “What makes you think you’re plain?”
    She placed the combs in her hair and swept them back, securing them against her scalp. Then she shrugged. “I see how people look at me.”
    He saw, too. Saw how Standing Bear couldn’t seem to take his eyes off her. His friend’s fascination with his wife still rankled. “What should