He could not follow her logic, but that was nothing new. He struggled to understand even his brothers’ choices.
Drew was myopic, so focused on raising their brothers and sister after their father’s logging accident that his oldest brother sometimes forgot most of them were grown now and able to make their own way. His younger brother James was too spontaneous, leaping into action without considering the consequences. John had his head in the clouds, always dreaming, and Levi was young enough that he tended to think only of himself. They all saw the world as they wanted it to be. He saw what it could be. Was it any wonder none of them realized the problems looming over the farm?
“I appreciate your faith in me,” Simon told the woman in front of him as the rest of his family headed to accept a piece of Maddie’s no-doubt delicious spice cake. “But I must decline.”
He pushed off the wall to follow them, and she darted in front of him once more. She was short; the top of her head came below his collarbone. But her figure in the lavender gown was sturdy, solid.
“Please,” she said, her gaze turned up to his and her face pinched. “Hear me out. You need land. As your wife, I can bring you one hundred and sixty acres.”
About to brush past her again, Simon paused. She was right, of course. He’d already tried to convince Drew and James to file for their wives, to no avail. With Catherine four months pregnant, Drew didn’t want to chance making her travel to Olympia to claim the land the law allowed her as his wife. And James, the only other one of them besides Drew and Simon to have earned his patent, was determined to claim the bluff overlooking the lake for the town site they had planned to honor their father’s memory. That land was no good for farming.
So it was all up to Simon to find a way to gain the much-needed farmland, even if the family budget would not extend that far. He had even identified the property—a good stretch of flat acreage running above his claim, his mother’s and Drew’s. He’d prayed for guidance, but as usual, he’d heard no answer.
But to marry a stranger? He’d never planned to marry, despite the fact that he’d threatened Drew with courting Catherine when his brother had proven reticent to add the pretty nurse to the family. Simon tended to bump heads with anyone close to him, no matter how hard he tried. Perhaps that was why God so often remained silent. It seemed Simon’s role in life to spot the flaw in any plan, to point out the error in misconceived ideas. Love, and faith, did not grow in that environment.
Yet here stood Nora Underhill, biting her lower lip, gazing up at him as if he alone had the capacity to make her dreams come true. If it had been one of his brothers or Beth suggesting that he marry for the land, he would have told them they were being idiotic. But she had obviously taken a risk by approaching him, and he could only respect her for that.
“I’m not the most patient and tolerant of fellows,” he admitted instead. “You might call me a cynic. I doubt I’d make a good husband. I like things just so, and I can’t abide senseless frivolity.”
“I am not the least bit frivolous,” she assured him, waving both hands so that he caught a glimpse of the entirely frivolous hearts embroidered along her equally frivolous scalloped cuffs. “This would be a simple bargain. You would continue to live as you always have. I intend to stay in my room at the boardinghouse in Seattle. I’m a seamstress, and I should like to keep working.”
A practical consideration, he’d give her that. But any number of things troubled him about this bride bargain, the largest being her motivation. Why would a woman surrounded by bachelors need to approach him?
“And what do you gain from this marriage?” he challenged.
She drew in a breath as if for fortification. “Protection.”
Simon stiffened. “Protection? If someone is threatening you, Miss Underhill, tell me his name, and I’ll put a stop to it. And if you don’t wish to confide in me, I know a dozen men in Seattle who would be happy to oblige. You have no need to sell yourself in marriage to escape unwanted attentions.”
Color sprang to her cheeks, making them as red and round as the apples on the tree Ma had planted their first spring at Wallin Landing. He had to fist his hands to keep from reaching out to touch the no-doubt warm skin.
“That is very kind of you, Mr. Wallin,” she said. “But it isn’t a would-be suitor, I fear. It’s my brother.”
The concept of a brother harming a sister was so far from his reality that he could only stare at her.
“He doesn’t strike me, if that’s what you’re thinking,” she hurried to assure him. “He merely feels strongly that I should be sheltered from the world. And he has the law on his side. You see, my father’s will names my brother, Charles, my guardian until I turn five and twenty, which is nearly a year away. I believe Washington territorial law will allow me to wed without his permission.”
“So you’re running away,” he said, not sure why the thought disappointed him.
“I prefer to think of it as a strategic retreat,” she told him. Her little chin jutted out as if to prove she had some spirit. “Please believe me when I say that only a man of character and conviction can fend off my brother.” She glanced up at him. “You might say I’m buying courage for those one hundred and sixty acres.”
“And at the price of your future,” Simon pointed out, his mind still trying to grapple with the concept. “Even here, divorces aren’t easy to come by. They have to be approved by the territorial legislature. If you marry me, Miss Underhill, you’ll most likely be stuck with me. What if you find another fellow you truly love?”
She rubbed at the fancy embroidery on her cuff. “That’s not likely to happen,” she murmured. “I don’t seem the sort men fall in love with.”
And why not? She had a certain intelligence—she’d certainly thought through her surprising plan. She was industrious—look at her work as a seamstress. She might not be the prettiest member of the Mercer Expedition, but there was something sweet about that round face, those wide gray eyes. Surely any number of loggers and miners would cherish such a wife.
Of course, they didn’t need one hundred and sixty acres.
And soon. By his calculation, if his family was careful, they would just scrape through this winter with enough food for themselves and the animals. By next winter, Catherine and likely Rina would each have a baby. The members of their extended family would only increase from there. He needed time to clear the land and prepare it for spring planting. Winter was coming, and with it the Christmas celebrations. Every day counted. He’d been racking his brain trying to find a way to secure the claim.
Here was Nora, offering it to him. All he had to do was fend off her brother. If the man was half as controlling as she claimed, Simon looked forward to the confrontation. Any brother who denied his sister love deserved to be put in his place.
Still, marriage? Out here, a man took a wife to continue his line and raise children to help in taming the wilderness. It certainly seemed to him that’s what his father had done. But it didn’t fall to Simon to continue the Wallin name. He had four brothers to take care of that.
And it wasn’t exactly convenient to marry in Seattle. Even with Asa Mercer bringing his brides, there were still too many lonesome bachelors for every lady. He’d watched Drew fret over courting Catherine, seen James turn himself inside out to please his bride. But Simon wasn’t a man who changed easily. Just ask his family. They’d called him proud, stubborn and downright fussy on occasion.
She must have sensed his vacillation, for she laid a hand on his arm. “Please, Mr. Wallin? I don’t think I could be so bold as to ask a stranger. I know I can trust you. Maddie speaks so highly of all your family.”