Ashes of the Heart

The next morning was a lazy morning for the three, who remained in bed until well after the sun was up, Steve and Bucky having arranged with the others to remain behind that day while the others worked. Bucky had even arranged for Iris to do that morning’s cooking in the bunkhouse, to give them a little more time alone together. A day or two was all the time they could really spare, and Steve found himself regretting that they couldn’t take the time for a wedding trip, all three of them get away from the ranch for a while… But Runa and Bucky were content, so he didn’t feel the lack as sharply.

When they finally came downstairs for the day, Runa made a simple brunch for them of fried eggs and bacon, before she set them all to work finishing unpacking and making the house cozy.

Iris knocked on the frame of the kitchen door after they had a quick dinner, Bucky’s arrangement with her requesting that she not disturb them until after dinnertime. Runa, who had finished putting her things to rights, called out for her to come in while she rolled out a pie crust on the counter. Iris stepped inside, smiling to see Runa looking so cheerful.

“So, it was a good night?” Iris asked with a grin, Runa flushing crimson and ducking her head, looking back to the pie crust.

“The best.” She managed finally, causing Iris to laugh.

“I’m glad of that. I don’t think I’ve ever seen you look so happy, although your wedding day comes close.”

“I’m so glad you were here for that. I’m so glad you are here at all. You and Titus being here still feels almost like a dream.”

“Titus and I are happy here.” Iris said, watching critically as Runa worked the pie crust. “I wish I had your knack for pies.”

“I wish I was as good as you when it comes to cooking. We’re going to miss you when you leave.”

Iris blinked at her. “Leave? What are you talking about?”

It was Runa’s turn to smile knowingly over at Iris. “Doctor Banner—Bruce—has been here for dinner twice a week since you arrived in town. He never came by that often before.”

Iris flushed. “He was here to check on you and Happy Sam.”

“He never came by that often before you arrived.”

“You weren’t sleeping on the ground then, either.”

“And what about those invitations to go on buggy rides?”

“He’s being kind.”

“Iris.” Runa turned away from her pie crust and looked at her friend seriously. “If that’s all it is to you, and you don’t think there is a possibility for more or that you could have feelings for him, I’d like you to tell him that. Bruce is a good man who is clearly fond of you, and while I’d take your side in just about anything, I don’t want you to hurt him. You might not mean to, but… Is his being kind and neighborly all that it really is to you? He likes you. He looks at you the way Steve and Bucky look at each other when no one is looking.”

“The way they look at you and you look at them when none of you are paying attention to one another.” Iris added quickly, before sighing. “I like Bruce, I do, but… I can’t leave you to manage on your own.”

“You can, and you will.” Runa said firmly, putting her hands on her hips. “Iris, you have a chance to be happy. You told me back in D.C. that you wanted to find a good man and get married someday, that you didn’t think you ever would because of how the Rumlows made us work. You have that chance now, and I don’t want to see you throw it away.”

Iris smiled softly. “When did you get to be so wise in matters of the heart?”

“Because I’ve been neck deep in them since I arrived here in June.” Runa smiled. “Bruce is bound to come to dinner tonight, if no one has need of a doctor. You should take him up on that buggy ride, if he offers again.”

“All right.” Iris agreed. “I will. Under duress.”

“Really?”

“No, not really.” Iris promised. “He’s very nice, and he’s rather handsome, so that’s a mark in his favor. And… I like how he treats me. I just worry about what will happen if he asks me to marry him and I have to leave you to do all the work yourself.”

“The plan is for Happy Sam to continue to learn how to cook, so he can take over the majority of it, once Bucky’s parents arrive. If they arrive. He hasn’t sent them the invitation to come out here yet, so we don’t know if they’ll come or not. We’ll still have some group meals, like Sunday dinner, and the holidays, but…” She sighed. “Honestly, if it was up to me, we would still all take all of our meals here in the house. It would be crowded, but we can fit everyone in. I’m going to miss having the big meals.”

“Runa, your husbands don’t want you to overwork yourself-”

“Overwork myself? How can I overwork myself when they’ve already put an ad out for a housekeeper?” Runa scowled. “It feels like they don’t want me to do anything and it makes me so angry.” She scowled, before sighing, looking back at her pie crust. “I want things to go back to the way they were.”

“Everything?” Steve asked from the door way. Runa looked over at him, startled by the intrusion, but she managed a soft smile.

“Not everything.” She amended, “I just… It feels like since we found out I’m an heiress that you want me to act like one instead of working around the house.”

“Sweetheart, that’s not why we don’t want you to do so much.” Steve protested, looking to Iris, who nodded and slipped out of the kitchen.

“Oh? Then why are you and Bucky being so stubborn about this?”

Steve moved to Runa, reaching to take her flour covered hands in his. “We nearly lost you. Brock carried you off, and for a few horrible hours we thought we’d never see you again.” He squeezed her hands, watching her expression soften at his explanation.

“But I came back.” She pointed out softly.

“You came back, but you were so hurt you could barely even walk. I… I knew the work was too much for one person back before that, you might have managed to get everything done, but you were falling into bed exhausted every night. Then when Wanda tried to take over for you she couldn’t manage it all, and that was a wake-up call. I realized that you were going to work yourself into an early grave if we let you, if things kept on the way they had been, and I didn’t like that thought one bit.” He bowed his head, touching his forehead to hers. “I want you to stick around for a long time. I know Bucky feels the same. We’re not going to let you work yourself to the point of exhaustion ever again, if we have to tie you to your rocking chair to prevent it.”

“Steve.” She smiled up at him, “I’m not going to work myself to death. I promise. But I don’t like splitting up the family at meal times. It’s the only time during the day where we can all sit and enjoy each other’s company.”

“When Bucky’s parents get here-”

“-If they come.”

“If they come,” He sighed, “It will be different. There are going to be more people on the ranch, and things are going to change. And what about when you fall pregnant? It’s going to be harder to keep up with everything around here, hard to cook for so many people.”

“Why don’t we worry about crossing that bridge when we come to it?” Runa asked softly. “I don’t want to borrow trouble.”

“All right. The two of us can talk to Bucky about it this evening, after dinner. See if we can get him to agree to try family dinners for a while longer. Try, mind you. The first time you look too worn out after a day of cooking things are going to change.”

“Then I’ll have to do my best not to show how worn out I feel.” She pointed out with a grin.

“Missus Barnes-Rogers, there are a good number of reasons why we don’t want you worn out at the end of the day, and only most of them have to do with your health. Some of those reasons are entirely selfish.” He pointed out with a grin of his own.

“Mm. Then I suppose I had better not let myself get worn out.” She moved to steal a kiss. “I can be selfish too.” She whispered against his lips.

“For a while I didn’t think that was possible, you to be selfish.” He murmured. “Unless lemon drops were involved.” He added after a moment of thought, causing her to laugh.

“Well, later tonight I’ll show you how selfish I can be when lemons aren’t involved.”

“I rather like the sound of that.”

“I thought you would.” They kissed again, sweet and lingering, before she drew away. “I have pies to finish. No more distracting me.”

“All right, no more distractions.” He promised, releasing her hands and stepping back. “I promise. Unless distractions mean I get to sample a bit of pie filling before you put the crusts on.”

“Steven Grant Barnes-Rogers, get out of my kitchen.” She laughed, making a shooing gesture. “You can have pie filling when it’s in the pie and baked, just like everyone else!”

“Well, it was worth a try.” He reasoned as he headed out of the kitchen, a spring in his step.

~*~

That night after supper, Runa sat in her rocking chair, looking out the windows at the world bathed in moonlight. Steve was sketching, and Bucky was working on a carving.

“I had an idea.” She said quietly, attracting the attention of the two men.

“What sort of idea, darlin’?” Bucky asked, looking up from his work, as did Steve.

“Everyone in town has been so kind to us, coming to help with the rebuilding whenever they could, and I know we’ve got a harvest dance we’re hosting next week, but… What if we did something else to give back to the community?” She looked to the two of them, “What if we donate the money for the new church building?”

Steve blinked. “It’s your money, you can-”

“-Our money.” She corrected him.

“Well,” Bucky said after a moment where Steve frowned and looked like he was going to make a rebuttal, but instead kept his silence, “What’s the point in having money if we don’t spend it? And spending it giving back to the community is a fine idea.”

“I agree with Bucky.” Steve finally said. “I know we’ve never really discussed finances with you, but maybe it is something we should talk about more often. The ranch pretty much pays for itself and returns a respectable profit. Now that the buildings have been rebuilt we don’t want to touch your accounts to run the ranch, but… Using some of that to help out others… I like the sound of that.”

“You know that I consider that money just as much yours as mine.” Runa pointed out.

“We know, but your family left all that to you.” Bucky pointed out, “We know that if we’re ever in need or if something happens, that the money is there… But we also want to support you and take care of you without relying on that.”

“It’s pride, plain and simple.” Steve gave a self-depreciatory grin.

“All right. I’ll give you that.” Runa smiled. “You two can take care of all the necessities… And I’ll occasionally give us something frivolous, all right?”

“Like that crate of oranges you ordered from Scott?” Bucky drawled.

Runa flushed, but held her head high. “Exactly like that.” She agreed.

“Thought we wouldn’t find out?” Steve asked teasingly.

“I was hoping you wouldn’t until Christmas, which is what most of those oranges are for! I always looked forward to an orange in my stocking.”

“Bucky still makes us hang up stockings every year.” Steve grinned, “I tried to tell him we were too big for it, but…”

“You’re never too big for Christmas.” Bucky said staunchly, causing Runa to laugh.

“And here I thought we were just going to hand out oranges to each other with gifts.” She countered.

“Gifts? What are those?” Bucky teased with a grin.

“We usually just give everyone a five-dollar gold coin at Christmas, and a bag of candy.” Steve ventured.

“Well, we can still do that, but Iris and I have been knitting scarves for everyone in the bunkhouse, and I was looking at ordering toiletry sets from the Montgomery Wards catalogue. With everything destroyed by the fire… Well, I know everyone has been making do, but it would be nice to give something nice to all of them. Everyone has been such an enormous help.”

“Between the scarves, the money, the kits, the candy, and the oranges, I expect everyone will be very pleased come Christmas time.” Steve smiled.

“So, I take it we’re getting scarves too?” Bucky asked.

“What makes you think you and Steve are getting anything?” Runa asked, unable to keep from grinning. “You’ll have to wait until Christmas to find out what you’re getting.”

“All right, all right.” Bucky grinned, looking back to his carving. “We can be patient.”