Jasmine Read online

  Lee smiled, kissing her softly. “So am I.” He knew he’d be even happier in a few hours when he had her in bed with him. He couldn’t believe it had all happened so quickly.

  “Ew.” The word came from the back of the wagon where the twins were sitting in the wagon bed watching them. “Let go of our new ma!” Jacob demanded.

  Lee looked at the boys without letting go of Jasmine. “She may be your new ma, but she’s my new wife, and that means I get to touch her.” He kissed her again knowing the boys were watching just to prove his point to them.

  The drive back to his ranch took over thirty minutes. Jasmine looked around at everything, happy that she would be staying in this beautiful state. When they pulled up to the ranch house, Lee helped her down and grabbed her bag to carry inside. “I’m going to give you a quick tour, and then I need to go and unhitch the wagon.”

  Jasmine followed him to the kitchen where she met Mrs. Banks. “I’m happy to meet you,” she told the older woman. “I’ve heard good things about you.” She wanted to be friends with the older woman who would be in her home five days per week.

  Mrs. Banks looked Jasmine up and down. “You’re going to need to be a lot stronger than you appear to deal with those boys.”

  Jasmine sighed. “I think the boys are perfect darlings. We’ll be fine.” She followed Lee from the room as he showed her the other parts of the house. The house was much larger than Eli’s with a parlor and a dining room right outside the kitchen. Their bedroom was on the first floor, but all the others were up.

  “How many bedrooms are there?” she asked curiously as she looked up the stairs. She wasn’t going to go up just yet. She needed to deal with her belongings first.

  “Just five,” he told her.

  She nodded. That wasn’t too many. The house was larger than her home in Seattle but not nearly as grand. Thinking about her house in Seattle reminded Jasmine that she’d only brought a few of her things. She would have to remind her mother to ship the rest.

  She put her bag on the bed in their bedroom and looked around the room. It was spotless. Mrs. Banks did a good job keeping it clean. She smiled when she saw the bed, stroking the covers with her hand. She caught Lee’s eye with a smile. “Do you want to show me your bed before you unhitch the team?” she asked.

  He laughed softly. “The boys are awake. They’ll be asleep tonight, and we’ll have some time to ourselves.” He kissed her, much harder than he had in front of the others. “I can’t wait.”

  She smiled. “I can’t either.”

  *****

  Jasmine unpacked her belongings before going to find what the boys were up to. She wandered through the house, familiarizing herself with it as she searched. They were too far from a school, so she was going to have to teach the boys at home, and she wanted to talk to them about getting started the following day. There was no way she was going to start teaching them on her wedding day.

  She climbed the stairs, which hadn’t been included in the short tour Lee had provided, and looked around. The boys shared one room that was neat and tidy, and there was a pillow with a round indention at the foot of one of the beds. She looked at it for a moment before smiling. The boys must have a pet. She approved heartily feeling that pets were good for children, because they taught them how to be responsible. She wondered if they had a cat or a dog.

  She went to the window of their room and looked out, spotting them outside playing in the dirt. Shaking her head, she realized that mandatory daily baths may be necessary in the house.

  Jasmine walked back down the stairs to the kitchen and leaned against the work table to talk to Mrs. Banks. She was an older woman with silver hair and a round body. She reminded Jasmine of their cook at home.

  “Is there anything I can help you with?” Jasmine asked, thinking the best way to get to know the other woman was to work with her in the kitchen. They needed to get along well for the house to run smoothly.

  “No thank you.” Mrs. Banks said nothing else as she continued to wash the dishes she’d dirtied while cooking.

  Jasmine was thrilled with how clean the kitchen was, and how up-to-date. There was running water, and she’d also noticed water in the bathroom. She’d be living in the lap of luxury after getting used to Eli’s house. There was nothing in her new house she hadn’t had in Seattle, but she would certainly appreciate it all a lot more now that she had lived without.

  “Are you certain? I enjoy cooking,” Jasmine said. A year ago, she would have laughed if anyone had told her she would ever enjoy cooking. Now the careful measuring and kneading were something she truly liked. She couldn’t wait to get into her kitchen and cook for her new family.

  “I’m sure. Why don’t you go sit somewhere and do your needlepoint? Isn’t that what fine ladies are supposed to do all day?”

  Jasmine studied the other woman for a moment, wondering why she didn’t like her. “I’m sure some ladies do that, but I’ve been cooking and cleaning my sister’s house for months while she was pregnant. I don’t mind hard work.” Maybe she hadn’t done hard work her entire life, but she’d certainly learned a lot about it in the time she’d been in Montana. Daisy had needed her, and she’d done all she could to help.

  Mrs. Banks shooed her from the kitchen. “Not in this house. That’s my job.”

  Jasmine left, wondering what the older woman’s problem was. She wasn’t trying to take her job. She was thrilled to have someone to help cook and clean while she got down to the serious business of mothering the boys. She also liked the idea of doing some of the housework, though. Maybe on the woman’s days off she could feel like the house was actually hers.

  She walked outside to find the boys in the yard with a bucket of soapy water scrubbing a pig of all things. Never one to let her imagination run away from her when a direct question would work just as well, she walked up to them. “Why are you washing a pig?”

  Jacob looked up at her, smiling sweetly. “This is Hamm. He’s our friend.”

  Jasmine blinked a few times, trying to sort through that answer. “And you bathe all your friends?” They’d named their pig friend Hamm? Why did they have a pig friend?

  Joseph giggled. “Only the ones who are pigs.” He looked up at Jasmine. “You don’t think we should wash Hamm?”

  “I didn’t say that, Joey. Why did you name him Hamm?” Ignoring the bathing thing, that was the burning question in her mind. What kind of sick children named their ‘pig friend’ Hamm?

  “Papa said the only things we were allowed to name him were Hamm or Bacon, because that’s what he’ll be when he grows up, so we chose Hamm.” Joey shrugged as he said the words. “We love him, though, and Papa will never really make us eat him.”

  Jasmine’s eyes widened. The pig was small, still a piglet, but would Lee really eat him? After the boys had obviously gotten attached to him, she hoped not. They didn’t seem to bathe themselves often, but they bathed their piglet. “How often do you bathe Hamm?”

  “Every day!” Jacob told her. “Papa says pigs are filthy, but not Hamm. He can’t ever call Hamm filthy again.”

  “That’s a very valid point.” She shrugged, moving on to another subject. “We need to start learning tomorrow. I’m going to look through the lesson books your father left out for me. Have you had any lessons at all yet?” She didn’t know if they knew an A from a Z or a two from a six. She hoped they did, but if they didn’t, she’d just start at the very beginning.

  Joey shook his head, his mop of white-blond hair flying as he did. “Mrs. Banks tried to teach us once, but she told Papa if he ever asked her to sit at the same table with us again, she would leave immediately, and there was no one else for a hundred mile radius who would come work for him.”

  Jacob looked up from scrubbing Hamm. “What’s a radius?”

  Jasmine took a deep breath. She wasn’t overly fond of the way Mrs. Banks had treated her, and she could already see she didn’t like the way she treated the boys. She may have to talk to Lee about
replacing the older woman. “We’ll talk about that when we do your arithmetic. Starting tomorrow, we’re going to do lessons every morning. When we’re done, you can play.”

  Both boys nodded slowly, obviously not liking the idea much. “Yes, Ma.” Joey was the one to respond so politely. Jacob just stared at her as if she’d grown horns.

  “Try not to get too dirty. We’ll be having supper soon.” At least she thought they would. Mrs. Banks hadn’t exactly been full of helpful information. She hoped she would be better as she got to know her.

  Jasmine hurried into the house and opened the lesson books. The boys were smart. She made some quick notes on a piece of paper and tucked the papers into the books. There. She would be ready to start teaching them first thing in the morning. As soon as she’d assessed what they knew, of course.

  She looked around her at the house. There was nothing that needed to be cleaned, and the boys were content bathing Hamm. She needed to find something to do to keep from going crazy. Wandering into the bedroom, she picked up a half-finished apron. She’d still need it, she knew, because Mrs. Banks took two days off every single week. Before meeting her, Jasmine had dreaded the days she’d have to do for her family. Now? She was looking forward to them. The sooner the better as far as Jasmine was concerned.

  She sat down with her sewing in the parlor off the dining room. It was a nice little room that would be good for entertaining. Maybe she could have some ladies from church over for tea one afternoon. She knew that Daisy and her friend Clara would both come if no one else. And honestly? That seemed like enough to her at just that moment.

  Jasmine glanced out the window again, watching as the boys nailed two pieces of wood together. She wondered idly what they were making. Maybe a pen for Hamm? Or even a treehouse?

  She smiled at the idea of building a treehouse. Her sister Lily had always been in trees, but Jasmine had never taken the time to climb them. Lily said the view was better from higher up, so she’d always climbed as high as she could.

  Jasmine looked up as Lee came into the room, sitting beside her on the small sofa and brushing her lips with a soft kiss. “I missed you,” Jasmine told him. “I like it when you touch me.” She wrapped her arms around him, holding him close. The boys weren’t there to watch, so she could touch him if she wanted to.

  He shook his head and laughed softly. “Now that we’re married, I think you’re supposed to tell me that you don’t like it when I touch you.” At least that’s what his first wife had done. How he’d managed to father the boys, he’d never know.

  Jasmine smiled, pulling his head down for another kiss, this time, touching his lips with the tip of her tongue. “I won’t lie to you, even if I’m supposed to. Your kisses make me tingle all over.” She wound her arms around his neck and brought his head down for another kiss, this time slipping her tongue into his mouth and exploring as he'd taught her.

  Lee gathered her against him, not willing to push her away again. He loved touching her, and he wasn’t about to stop. There was a loud throat clearing from the doorway of the parlor, and he looked up. “Is dinner ready, Mrs. Banks?”

  “Yes.” Her face showed definite signs of disapproval as she looked down at them both. “Perhaps you should save that sort of display for the bedroom after the children are in bed?” She didn’t wait for a response as she turned on her heel and marched back toward the kitchen.

  Jasmine looked at Lee in wonder. “Why do you keep her around? She’s so…disapproving.” She stared after the other woman in shock. Why would anyone pay a woman like that to stay around? Jasmine was thinking about giving her money to go away.

  Lee sighed. “No one else is willing to work here because of the boys.”

  “That’s ridiculous. The boys are wonderful. Why would anyone complain about them?” She truly believed the boys just needed to be loved. What more could they ask for in life?

  He shook his head. Eventually she would realize that she was being asked to parent hellions. Until then, he’d let her keep her illusions. “Are you hungry?”

  “Oh yes. Starving. I barely picked at my lunch because I was so nervous about the wedding. I’ll do my best not to eat everyone’s share.” She followed him into the dining room, wondering what Mrs. Banks had cooked. She’d loved the food their cook at home had made, and looked forward to being fed by a woman who cooked for a living again.

  He sat at the head of the table, and she sat to his right. He looked at her in surprise. “You’re supposed to sit at the foot of the table. You’re my wife.”

  She shrugged. “No, thank you. I want to sit close to you.” She saw no reason to sit all the way across the table from him where she’d have to raise her voice. She didn’t ever want to be that far away from him again.

  The boys rushed into the room, both with dirt and grime all over their hands, and they sat down at the table. Jasmine looked at them and shook her head. “Clean hands before you eat.” She pointed toward the kitchen, letting them know to go there and wash up immediately.

  Jacob started to protest, but Joey kicked him. “Yes, ma’am.” They both trooped into the kitchen to wash their hands. As they left, Jasmine heard Joey say, “It’s part of having a ma. We’ll get used to being clean.”

  Jasmine’s eyes met Lee’s as she burst into laughter. “Have I mentioned how wonderful I think the boys are?” She was so happy to finally be a real part of their lives. She felt like she’d waited years to be allowed to live with them all.

  Lee just shook his head. “I guess someone needs to think that.”

  “And that someone is me.” Jasmine waited until the boys had both returned, and then looked at Lee. “Are you going to pray for us?”

  Lee nodded. He and the boys usually just fell on the food as soon as they were all seated, but he knew the right way to do things. All of them bowed their heads for the brief prayer. “Now can we eat?” Jacob asked, obviously annoyed by all the delays.

  Jasmine took his attitude in stride. “Of course.” She picked up a bowl of mashed potatoes and gave each of the boys a generous serving, before adding carrots and meat to their plates. “Enjoy!” She added a portion of everything to her own plate while Lee watched her.

  She took a bite of the mashed potatoes. They were lumpy and tasted like glue. The carrots were terrible, only half cooked and still raw in the center. The pot roast was burnt around the edges. It was easily the worst meal she’d ever eaten in her life. She waited for someone else to mention how awful the food was, but they all ate it like it was normal.

  She picked at her food, and finally turned to Lee. “Is the food always this bad?” How could they all eat it like this?

  He frowned down at his food. “This is the best meal she’s cooked in weeks.”

  Jasmine shook her head. “I can’t let my family eat this way. I’ll start cooking tomorrow.” None of them would eat another meal that woman had cooked if she could help it.

  He looked at her, hope filling his eyes. “You work that out with Mrs. Banks.”

  She sighed. “The woman hates me.”

  He shrugged. “Mrs. Banks hates everyone. That’s just her way.”

  “I’ll deal with it tomorrow. Today’s my wedding day, and I’m going to only do things that make me happy.” She reached over and squeezed his thigh under the table, pretending that she didn’t know it was improper. She loved touching him, and it didn’t much matter what was proper or improper. He was a good man, and he was hers to do what she wanted.

  The boys had no table manners at all. She’d never eaten with them before, and she was a bit startled. She’d start on that tomorrow as well. Tomorrow was going to be a big day. She watched as Jacob used Joey’s shirt as a napkin. Really? Not even his own shirt? She made a mental note to add that to their school lessons.

  After dinner, she cleared the table, seeing that Mrs. Banks had left for the night. She washed the dishes they’d eaten from quickly and put them up. Obviously Mrs. Banks did the dishes she cooked with, and usually did t
he men’s dishes in the morning. Finding her workload eased up some would hopefully make the older woman happy.

  When she finished the dishes, Jasmine went into the parlor where Lee sat with the boys, talking to them. She saw by the clock on the mantle that it was only seven. She was disappointed. She wanted to get the boys to bed so she could begin her wedding night. He had no excuses for not letting her see his chest tonight.

  Instead, she settled down on the couch next to Lee and listened as he read from Lewis Carroll’s Alice in Wonderland. She’d read it before, but she always loved to hear it.

  Chapter Four

  As Lee read aloud, Jasmine moved closer to him on the sofa, and watched the boys. They were stacking wooden blocks on the floor, and she knew they wouldn’t notice her. She put her hand on Lee’s thigh, rubbing his hard muscle through his pants. She liked the way he felt. How would he look without his pants covering his muscles?

  Lee jumped a bit, but he continued reading, not saying anything. Jasmine smiled. She wondered what she could do that would break his concentration without the boys noticing. Her smile filled her face at the game she devised to play. She put her head on Lee’s shoulder, kissing him gently through the flannel of his shirt, her hand still caressing his thigh.

  When that didn’t make him falter, she gently bit his shoulder, letting him feel her teeth through the fabric. She used her free hand to pull his shirt from his pants and slid her hand under his shirt, rubbing it over the hard muscles of his stomach. He worked hard every day, and she could feel it in his muscles. She stroked her hand up to feel the dusting of hair on his chest, liking how it felt between her fingers.

  She explored a little more, finding his tiny nipple and pinching it lightly. Her eyes traveled to his face, and although he’d not faltered in his reading, his face was turning red. She smiled, knowing she was getting to him.

  He finished the chapter he was reading and jumped up. “Time for bed boys.” He looked at Jasmine, his eyes glazed. “Why don’t you get ready for bed as well, dear?” Lee wasn’t going to wait any longer. As soon as the boys were tucked into bed, he was going to pounce on her. Not that he thought she’d complain at all.