Chapter Twenty-Four
When Runa pulled the wagon to a stop in front of the house late that afternoon, both Happy Sam and Falsworth came from the stables; Falsworth to lead the wagon to where it was usually parked and then tend to the horses, Sam to help get things out of the wagon.
“It isn’t much today, thank goodness.” Runa smiled at them. “Oh, and Sam? There’s a parcel wrapped in brown paper in the back. It’s to be a surprise, so I’ll take charge of that.”
He and Falsworth smiled knowingly at that as Falsworth helped her down from the wagon. “Birthday gift for Steve?” Sam asked her. She smiled and nodded.
“It is, so I would appreciate neither of you saying anything about it.”
He carefully lifted the box out of the back of the wagon and offered it to her. “We’ll keep quiet.” He promised. “You go and hide that, Missus Rogers, and I’ll get the rest of this inside.”
“It’s Runa. Everyone calls Steve and Bucky by their first names, so there is no need to ‘Missus Rogers’ or ‘ma’am’ me.”
“Steve told us-” Falsworth started, and Runa shook her head.
“I’ll have a talk with him. I’m just… Steve said everyone on this ranch is supposed to be family, and family doesn’t ‘missus’ or ‘mister’ each other to death except in jest.” Well, Mister and Missus Rumlow had referred to each other as Mister and Missus Rumlow, but she had always thought that seemed odd. It was too formal, and life on the ranch certainly wasn’t that.
“We’ll try it out, after we get the go ahead from Steve.” Falsworth decided, “But it might be a hard bit of change.”
“Let’s hope it isn’t.” Runa smiled at them, before taking the paper wrapped parcel to hide it beneath the bed she and Steve shared. Then she paused, and took it into one of the two spare rooms, hiding it under the bed there instead. Then she went to the kitchen to begin preparing supper for the ranch, a bit of a spring in her step. He would be pleased with the gift. He had to be. She needed him to be pleased with her, what she was doing for him. If those were the only meager crumbs of affection he could give her, she would take them greedily. She had no other choice but to make the best of things. It wasn’t as if she could leave. Marriage was supposed to be until death parted them.
That and she didn’t have anywhere else to go.
After breakfast the next morning, she stopped Happy Sam from leaving for his chores immediately after the meal. “Could I speak to you?”
“Yes ma’am… Runa.” He said her name almost uncertainly, as if testing it out. She had spoken to Steve about the name issue after supper the night before, and he had reluctantly agreed to talk to the men about calling her by her given name instead of Missus Rogers.
“Do you think tomorrow morning you could kill a few chickens for me? Fryers? I’d like to make fried chicken for all of us for the celebrations.”
“I can do that.” He agreed, before hesitating.
“What is it, Sam?”
“Falsworth and I, we got to talking. It’s all right to leave the animals be for a few hours to go to church on Sundays, but we don’t feel right about going away for the entire day. With my bum legs I can’t join in the dancing anyhow-”
“Sam.” She stopped him. “If it’s your legs that are your concern, you can always ride in the buckboard with Steve and I. He told me that riding too long is hard for you, but I never realized the trip to town was a hardship.”
“Oh no, the trip to town and back is fine.” He hastened to assure her, “But there’s also the evening milking to do, and a few other things we want to keep an eye on. Falsworth said he’d stick behind with me, keep me company.”
She smiled. “Well, then I’ll fry up a chicken just for the two of you for your suppers, and make the peach cobbler you like and the chocolate cake he likes.” She was learning what each man preferred, and tried to sprinkle favorites through the meals she planned out.
Happy Sam grinned at the promise of fried chicken and sweets. “If it’s no trouble to you, we’d like that very much.”
“It’s no trouble at all. I’m going to be baking like a mad woman today and tomorrow anyway, a few more things won’t be any trouble.” She assured. “Which reminds me, could you get me about a half bushel of apples? I want to make pies, and Steve and Bucky both have told me the consequences will be dire if I try climbing to get at the fruit myself.”
He laughed. “I have to confess, I’d say the same. I’ll get the apples done before dinner. Is that all right?”
“That’s perfect.” She assured. “And I won’t need the chickens until tomorrow evening.”
“I’ll have them ready for you.” He promised.
~*~
Runa spent most of the next two days in the kitchen, preparing her pies and cakes for the sale, as well as the pies for Steve and the treats she had promised Happy Sam for him and Falsworth. They planned to go to town directly after dinner on the fourth, so Runa made certain that everything was prepared that morning.
Dinner was a simple affair, until Runa brought out the apple pies she had made and everyone wished Steve a happy birthday. The pies were heartily enjoyed by all, and when she stood to gather up the dishes, Happy Sam stood up quickly.
“I’ll take care of the dishes tonight, let you get an early start to town.”
She smiled. “Thank you, Sam.”
“And we’ll help carry things out to the wagon while Falsworth gets the team ready.” Dum Dum volunteered.
“I’ve got the cakes and pies packed into some of the old canning crates with muslin secured over the top to keep the bugs out. They’re on the work table, along with the basket I packed for our supper.” Runa informed them, hoping she could prevent Steve from going into the kitchen or heading out before she had given him her gift.
She was in luck; he had stopped to have a few words with Bucky, who was pressing a carving of a horse into his hands.
“Bucky, that’s absolutely lovely.” She praised as she approached and got a good look at the carving Steve was inspecting.
“It’s nothing much. Just a carving of Gingersnap.” He protested, though he looked pleased by her compliment.
“I’ll put it on the mantle where I can look at it every night.” Steve smiled at Bucky, who groaned, despite the smile on his face.
“Aw, Stevie, why do you got to go all sentimental on me?”
“Because it’s worth getting sentimental over.” Runa said for Steve, who looked like he wasn’t going to speak, before she looked to the man in question. “After you place that on the mantle, could you wait in the sitting room for me for a few minutes?”
Steve looked startled, but he agreed, Bucky taking the chance to make a hasty retreat, a slight frown on his features. Runa wondered at that, before sighing and going to fetch Steve’s present from where she had hidden it in the guest bedroom. She slid it out from beneath the bed and carried it into the sitting room, smiling at Steve’s look of surprise when he saw the sizeable package in her hands.
“What’s that?” He asked, startled.
“A birthday surprise.” She held the box out to him. Steve took it after a moment, sitting down in his seat and balancing the package on his knees before carefully untying the twine and pulling the brown paper open, revealing the signature hat box.
His eyes widened, and he looked up at Runa in surprise. “You didn’t need to do anything like this.” He protested.
Runa shrugged her shoulders slightly, “I wanted to.” Her smile faded somewhat at his reaction, “Do you like it?”
“I love it.” Steve assured her without even opening the hat box, setting it aside and standing up, “But I don’t deserve it after what I did, leaving you and running off like that. I know you think I was unfaithful, but I swear-”
Runa shook her head. “It’s all right. I… I believe you now. Let’s just… Try and forget that happened. Start again?” She suggested.
Steve gave her a bit of a smile. “I think I can do that, if you’re not going to hold that against me.”
“I won’t. Hold it against you, I mean. Just… Promise me you won’t run off like that again? We can’t fix what’s going wrong if we run away from our problems.”
He nodded. “We need to be able to talk to one another.” He agreed. “Talking… It isn’t exactly my strong suit.”
She smiled at that. “I’ve noticed.” He smiled down at her, before looking quickly back to the hat box. “This is… You have to tell me when your birthday is, so I can plan a surprise like this one.”
“You’ll have to wait a while. It was on June sixth.”
Steve looked back at her, startled. “June-? But you never said anything.”
She frowned. “Should I have? I mean, I had only just arrived, and I haven’t exactly had a birthday since I was twelve. It’s been… Just another day. I don’t really think about it much. Well. I did buy the lemon drops as a birthday treat, so I think on it a little bit, but not much.”
The look on Steve’s face was both incredulous and sorrowful. “Runa-”
She shook her head, stopping him. “It’s all right.” She assured. “If you want to start making something of it, we can do that next year.”
Steve nodded, before it looked like an idea came to him. “Wait here.” He ordered, before striding swiftly from the room. Runa looked after him in surprise, before gathering up the paper and twine, folding up the paper neatly, rolling up the twine. They could use both for something else later, she was sure.
Then Steve came back in, and she looked over to him with a smile, a smile that turned to a look of puzzlement when she saw the yellowed handkerchief trimmed in lace that was in his hand.
“I want you to have something.” He declared, stopping in front of her, “It belonged to my Ma.” He held the handkerchief out to her, revealing that something was wrapped up inside it. “My Da got it for her on their first wedding anniversary, right after they came to America.” He explained, letting her know how important it was. “It’s all I have left of hers, aside from that handkerchief and her bible.”
Runa paused in the process of unfolding the fabric. “I can’t accept it then, if it’s-”
Steve reached out and covered her hands with his as she tried to offer the small parcel back to him. He pushed her hands back towards her gently. “She would have been thrilled to know you, and glad I gave this to you.” He protested.
Runa bit her lower lip, before looking back at the small thing in her hands. She finished drawing back the fabric, and gasped at the beauty that had been hidden inside. It was a cameo brooch set in gold. The cameo was white, a woman in profile, wearing a beautiful flower crown upon her head, the raised flowers fading from white to a gorgeous rosy orange that reminded her of a sunset, the color the same as the background of the cameo.
“Steve, it’s beautiful.” She murmured as she looked down at the jewelry.
“A beautiful gift for my beautiful wife.” He said, causing her lips to curl in a soft smile, pleased by the words. He gently took the cameo from her hands, and then moved to carefully pin it at the low collar of her best dress, the one she had worn for their wedding and wore to church on Sundays.
“Thank you.” Runa said, thanking him for the words as well as the cameo, feeling elated that he thought she was pretty enough to actually say it. That, coupled with the memory of Bucky and Steve’s explanations and assurances that Steve had only run away from her because he was afraid, not because of anything she was or she had done… It gave her hope. More hope than she had possessed in a while, and sorely needed hope, at that.
“You’re welcome.” Steve smiled down at her, taking her hands in his once again. Then he leaned down and kissed her tentatively, but with increasing warmth until they heard a cough from the doorway of the sitting room. They drew apart swiftly, both looking to the doorway with wide eyes and seeing Bucky there. Bucky who wasn’t looking at either one of them, his eyes on the floor.
“Thought you two would like to know the wagon is loaded and the team is hitched up. The rest of us will head out, meet you there.”
“Thanks, Buck.” Steve managed, his voice catching on the words. He cleared his throat, looking down himself, releasing Runa’s hands. “Thanks. I’ll… I’ll just get my new hat and we’ll go.”
“New hat?”
“Runa got it for me as a gift.”
Bucky looked at her, smiling slightly, but his eyes went to the brooch between her collarbones. “And you gave her your Ma’s cameo.”
“I’d been thinking about saving it for Christmas, but… It was a good time to give it to her.”
Bucky nodded, smiling at Runa. “Looks good on you. Sarah’d be glad to see you wearing it.”
Runa couldn’t help but smile at the praise, at the affirmation that Steve’s mother would have been fine with this turn of events. “Thank you, Bucky.”
He inclined his head to her. “We’ll see you in town.” He promised. “I’ll tell the others you’ll be along in a few minutes.”