Matched in Minnesota (At the Altar Book 22) Read online

  “Is that so?”

  “Yes, it is. I’ll send you a card with my address soon.” Marissa refused to feel guilty about getting married. Maybe she should have told her mother before she’d left town, but it was all over with now.

  “Did you know you were marrying him before you left? Or do I need to go pack up your apartment?”

  “Everything is packed and gone. Janelle is going to sell my furniture for me.”

  “Isn’t that nice?” Her mother sighed heavily. “You could have told me.” And there was the first indication her mother was feeling left out.

  “I probably should have, but I didn’t want you to talk me out of it. He’s a good man, Mom, and I need to start over. I tried to tell you that after John died, and you wouldn’t listen.” Marissa knew her actions would seem crazy, but her mother would just have to deal with it.

  “I guess I wouldn’t. Send me that card, and I’ll call you in a few days.”

  Marissa knew that meant her mother would take a couple of days to get over not being told first and then all would be well again. “Sounds good. Love you, Mom.”

  “I love you too.”

  Marissa looked up as Aaron walked into the room. “I called my mom, and you were right. They want us to come over tomorrow evening for supper. Are you up for meeting your in-laws?” He rubbed the back of his neck as he asked the question, obviously having had a hard time explaining to his mother he was married.

  Marissa nodded. “Absolutely. Tell me about your parents.”

  Aaron sat down beside Marissa and shrugged. “They’re parents. Dad is an OB-Gyn, and he’s always busy delivering someone’s baby. Mom was a stay-at-home mother and always made sure the house was perfectly clean and there was a snack waiting for me when I got out of school. They both liked the idea of me becoming a professor, because they watched me get super-involved in history even as a teenager.”

  “Any brothers or sisters?” she asked.

  “Nope. Just me. Mom has been hinting that she wants grandkids, so I’d appreciate it if you didn’t mention that we’re not sleeping together. If you don’t mind that is.”

  “I don’t mind. It’s not something I’d really feel comfortable talking to my mother-in-law about anyway.”

  “I’m glad. It’s none of her business.” Aaron looked over at Marissa. “Do you want to do something together?” He wasn’t sure what they could do, but he’d be happy to spend time with her doing things.

  She was surprised, but she could tell the offer was hard for him. “Like what?”

  “We could watch a show. Do a puzzle. Maybe play the Oregon Trail game. I have the original card game!”

  “No way. I’m not dying of dysentery.”

  He laughed. “Do you realize that cholera was the biggest killer on the trail and not dysentery? So many people believe that silly game and that seventy-five percent of people on the trail died of dysentery. It was more like five percent of people who died from all causes on the trail.”

  “I had no idea. I thought people really were keeling over right and left from dysentery.”

  He shook his head. “Not at all. Cholera was huge though and killed more of the pioneers than anything else. The best estimate I’ve seen is about twenty-one thousand people died on the trail all together. So, if you were in a family of ten, two would expect to die along the trail. It was a long, hard journey, and people did die. Just not as many as the games make it seem like.”

  “Well, that’s good to know, I guess. I’m like eighth generation Arkansasan, so I know my ancestors didn’t go over the Oregon Trail.”

  He laughed. “I don’t think any of mine did either, and I have looked and looked.”

  “Tell me about Mary,” she said.

  His whole face lit up at her words, and he talked about many of Mary’s feelings about the trail and how nervous her mother had been with so many children. “The women realized rightly that the Oregon Trail and even settling out west meant more work for them. The men just had dollar signs in their eyes. They wanted a better income for their families.”

  “Did the women realize the danger involved in the journey?”

  “Definitely. Most were afraid of Native Americans, or Indians as they were called then. But that wasn’t the biggest threat on the trail. It was a minor threat when compared with wagon accidents, drownings, and cholera. The biggest killer was cholera.”

  “I don’t even know what cholera is!”

  He smiled and explained, and they talked late into the night. Aaron was surprised at how much he enjoyed teaching her about his favorite subject and how interested she seemed. It was just after midnight, when he realized the time. “I had no idea it was so late. I enjoyed talking to you.” He rarely was able to talk to anyone for an extended period, and he was thrilled she’d made things so easy for him.

  Marissa nodded. “Thanks for answering all of my questions. I must seem stupid to you, but I never learned any of those things in American history.”

  “It’s a period of time that’s glossed over. For instance, you’ve heard of the Pony Express?” At her nod, he asked. “Do you have any idea how long the Pony Express was active?”

  “Fifty years?” she asked. She honestly had no clue, but she’d heard the words often enough that she was certain it was active for a long time.

  “Eighteen months.”

  “Months? Are you serious?” she asked, utterly shocked by his statement.

  “Yup. It was only eighteen months from the time it started until it stopped. And the riders were always pre-teen boys. They would actually advertise for orphans, because if the boy died, they didn’t want the family being angry.”

  “I had no idea.”

  “Most people don’t. There are really interesting stories from the old west. A lot of American history is just brushed under the table, because no one wants to admit our country was once as bad as many others. What we did to the Native Americans was nothing short of genocide, and people watch cowboy and Indian movies, and they think they know what really happened. We stole their land, and we killed them, forcing them onto reservations.”

  She nodded. “I think people are becoming a lot more aware of that as a whole, but they still think the Native Americans were the bad guys. It makes me really sad.”

  “Me too.” He got to his feet and held his hand down for her. “Maybe having a wife won’t be terrible after all.”

  Marissa shook her head. “You make me feel so good about myself.”

  “Hey, you’re the prettiest wife I’ve ever had.”

  She laughed. “I am guessing you’ve never married.” No one would have married him if they hadn’t been tricked into it. She still wasn’t certain what Dr. Lachele had been thinking matching the two of them up. Or matching him up to anyone for that matter.

  “Yup. You’re the first. Don’t you feel special now?”

  He walked her to the door of her bedroom. “May I kiss you goodnight?” He wasn’t sure where the words had come from, but he wanted nothing more than a kiss from her. Hopefully she’d agree and not leave him standing there feeling like an absolute idiot.

  “I’d like that,” she answered honestly. At least she now knew that her initial fear upon seeing him was not true. He wasn’t a player. He had barely looked at her.

  Aaron smiled and leaned down gently touching his lips to hers. When she moved closer and deepened the kiss, he was a little surprised, but pleased. His hands went to her waist and he pulled her even closer to him, feeling his body come alive at her touch. After a minute he lifted his head. “Whoa. You pack a punch, lady.”

  “Good. I want you to think about that tonight. Dream of me and not of Mary.” She went into her room and closed her door behind her, completely out of breath. If he’d kissed her for much longer, she’d have been begging him to make love to her.

  Instead she was going to bed alone to reflect on her wedding day. She was married to a crazy man who lived in the nineteenth century. And she didn’t mind even a lit
tle bit.

  Marissa was up early the following morning, finding that sleeping in an unfamiliar bed was harder than she thought it would be. She took a quick shower before going to the kitchen to make breakfast. She wasn’t sure if the professor was up yet, but if he wasn’t, she’d wake him. He needed breakfast whether he liked it or not.

  She put together two ham and cheese omelets, and set the table, adding buttered toast and putting a jar of raspberry jam on the table. She’d noticed a coffee pot and made a big pot of coffee for them. When it all looked just perfect, she went to the study and peeked in. Sure enough, he was poring over one of his journals and taking notes by hand.

  “I made breakfast,” she told him, opening the door so the smells would waft into the study.

  He got to his feet and followed her out into the dining room. “Are you always going to feed me?” he asked.

  Marissa shrugged. “Unless you annoy me too much.” She took her seat and waited to start eating until he’d taken his. “Do you usually go to church on Sundays?” she asked.

  He shrugged. “When I remember I do. I’m a member of the church where we got married. The late service is at eleven, and we could go if you wanted, but I think we’re entitled to a weekend without.”

  She grinned. “Maybe a weekend without wouldn’t be so bad.” She spread the jam over her toast and took a bite. She knew how to get him to talk now. “If we were on the trail, what would we be eating for breakfast?”

  He answered quickly between bites of breakfast. “You’re a good cook!” he said, seeming to be surprised. “I wonder if you’d have been able to cook such wonderful meals over a campfire.”

  “I don’t know, to be honest. My mother always cooked when we went camping, and she never let me try. Not that I tried to force it. I loved hiking and fishing, so that’s what I’d do while she made meals.”

  “That sounds fun to me.” He explained the traditional roles people had on the trail, and she listened raptly. The more he talked about the subject, the more interested she became. She had to wonder if he’d have done as well with a woman he couldn’t interest in history.

  After breakfast, he told her they’d want to leave around three for his parents’ house. “Mom likes guests there by four so there’s time to socialize before supper.”

  “That works for me. Is there a place for me to set up my computer? I already took some time off to pack up my house and come here. I’m going to need to get back to work tomorrow.”

  He pursed his lips. “I have an extra desk in my study, or you could use the desk in your room.” He wasn’t sure which he wanted her to choose. If she worked in her room, she wouldn’t disturb him as much, but he found he was enjoying her company, which was a complete surprise.

  “Would you mind sharing your study?” she asked. She usually worked in pajamas unless she had errands to run, but if he didn’t mind, then she didn’t.

  “I wouldn’t mind. I’ll clean out the drawers after we finish up here.” He had no idea what was in the drawers of that other desk. Probably Oregon Trail journals. That’s what was piled everywhere else.

  “I’ll clean the kitchen while you do that, and then I’ll get everything set up.”

  “I’m not great with computers, but I could help if you needed me to.”

  “No, thanks,” Marissa responded. “I’ve been setting up my own computers for a long time. I don’t mind.”

  True to his word, she heard him banging around in the study while she loaded the dishwasher and ran it. When the kitchen was as clean as it had been the previous day when she’d arrived, she walked into the study to see what he was doing. He had piled a big stack of pamphlets on the floor, and he was clearing out yet another drawer.

  “I don’t need a ton of space,” she told him. “I use a laptop for work.” It would be nice to have the entire desk to herself, but she wasn’t sure he could make that happen.

  “Okay. I still want you to have use of the desk. You should be able to put things in the drawers without dodging all of my journals.” He should have thought to clean out the desk before she arrived.

  She smiled, leaning against the doorjamb and watching him work. She found she liked it when his t-shirt pulled tightly over his shoulders. He was very sexy in a nerdy kind of way.

  When he’d finished, she got her laptop from her room and set it up, getting the wi-fi password from him. “So, how’s Mary today?”

  “I’m done with Mary’s journal. I was surprised with how it ended, but I shouldn’t have been. Perhaps you’d like to borrow it? I don’t want to spoil what happened for you.”

  Marissa grinned. “I would love to borrow it.” It was hard to believe that less than twenty-four hours before she’d been planning to force herself to read some of the journals, and now she was interested enough that she was looking forward to it.

  “Today I’m reading about Malcolm Bentley. He was a doctor on the trail, and the only one in the wagon train he joined. So, he’s being called on anytime someone gets sick. They have only been out of Independence, Missouri for a day, and he’s already been called to deal with a young man shooting himself in the foot.”

  She laughed. “Did accidents like that happen often?”

  “All too often,” Aaron told her. “People were as careless then as they are now.”

  She took the little pamphlet he offered her and began reading about Mary. She found that Mary wrote about the journey, but she also wrote about her hopes and dreams and what it was like on a wagon train. Fascinating.

  Five

  By lunchtime, Marissa was completely engrossed in the journal and didn’t want to put it down until it was done. She didn’t even think about food until Aaron mentioned he was hungry. “I can go pick something up? Or do you want to make something?”

  “I don’t want to take my eyes off the page. Would you mind picking something up?” she asked.

  He got to his feet. “What sounds good? We have Chipotle’s, Potbelly, Culver’s, Wendy’s, Arby’s, and Chick-fil-A off the top of my head.”

  “Would you do Chipotle’s? I have the app. I’d never had them until the trip up here, and I love how I can choose exactly what’s in my burrito bowl!”

  “There’s an app?” he asked.

  “Yup. Let me order for us. It’ll be ready when you get there, and I’ll even pay for it in advance.”

  “I’ll give you the cash,” he said, feeling the need to pay.

  “Don’t worry about it. Joint money now and all that.” She pulled up the app and quickly ordered her burrito bowl. “What do you want?”

  He gave her his order and she tapped it into her phone. “Do you want to go with me to pick it up?” he asked.

  She shook her head. “Nope. I want to read my journal.”

  Aaron was pretty sure he’d created a monster as he headed for the door. He’d had visions of his wife always going out to get meals for them. But nope. She was reading Oregon Trail journals, and he was fetching the food. Somehow the roles he’d expected them to have had been flipped on their heads. He wasn’t sure how he was going to manage, but he’d have to put on a brave face.

  He grabbed the food and took it home, finding she was right and it was extremely easy to do it that way. Maybe having a wife wasn’t the worst thing in the world.

  They ate at the table, and she put the journal down and left it on her desk. “I don’t want to ruin it.”

  “Good move. The books in that room are worth a great deal of money.”

  “I had a feeling that was the case. Why is there no map of the trail up on the wall in the study? How am I supposed to understand exactly where the trail went?” She really would have expected him to have a map, so he could follow along as he read the journals.

  “I have a map in my classroom at the university. I guess we could go over there and look at it if you really needed to.”

  “Need?” she asked. “Probably not. It hasn’t quite reached that level yet. But tell me when you have time for lunch tomorrow, a
nd I’ll bring food to your office and then you can show me the map. See how accommodating I am?”

  Aaron narrowed his eyes at her. “You’re not going to let me put you on a shelf, are you?”

  Marissa blinked. “Put me on a shelf?”

  He sighed. “When I first decided to contact Dr. Lachele, I decided what I really needed was a wife I could put on a shelf in the spare bedroom, and I could just get her down for departmental parties. It would have been perfect.”

  “That’s not even worth a response, you know.”

  “I know.” He shook his head. “I guess I wasn’t really expecting a living, breathing wife though, which is ridiculous.”

  “You wanted a robot? Or a Stepford Wife? Or are those things the same? I never really saw the movie, and I get confused sometimes.”

  “I never saw it either. Maybe we should watch it together some time.”

  “Not until I’m done with Mary’s journal.”

  He shook his head. “We’re going to need to leave for Burnsville in an hour or so.”

  She looked startled for a moment. “Do I need to change? Will they expect me to be dressed up?”

  He shrugged. “I don’t care if you change or not, but Mom will be in a dress, and Dad will be in a suit. That’s just how they roll.”

  “Oh, great.” Marissa frowned. “I’ll make it work.” As soon as she’d thrown away the trash from their meal, she hurried into her room and found a dress. She wasn’t sure it was the right thing to wear, but it was the only dress she had if you didn’t count her wedding dress.

  She changed, fixed her hair, and applied makeup. When she walked into the living room, Aaron was waiting for her, wearing a suit and tie. “Do you always dress like that when you’re going to see your parents?”

  He shrugged. “Only if I’m going for supper. They’ve always dressed for supper for some absurd reason. So, I go along with it.”

  “Your parents don’t have maids, do they?”

  “Just one is live in. Why?”

  Marissa felt like she was in way over her head, and she turned to go back to her room and hide. Aaron caught her arm as she headed away from him. “Where are you going?”