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hand. “What’s mine is mine, and I keep and care for what’s mine. Got it?”
    “If you’re questioning my honor, sir, you needn’t. Crawfords keep their word,” she said.
    Jake eyed her. She was shaking like a leaf in a windstorm, but she spoke her mind anyway. He had to give her credit for that. “Neither do Shellings. And you’re a Shelling now. And don’t call me ‘sir.’ I’m Jake. Always have been.”
    She nodded. “Please call me Julia.”
    He gave a short snort, released the brake on the wagon and slapped the horses with the reins in his hands. “I intended to.”
    They rode the distance home without speaking another word. Jake could not believe his second attempt into matrimony had ended like this. He had yet to marry a woman of his choosing. Jake stole a glance at his new bride and couldn’t stop himself from wondering what had brought a beautiful woman like her to the prairie of South Dakota to marry Jacob Snelling and wait on his mother. Jake pulled the wagon up in front of the house.
    * * * *
    Julia stood in the wagon. A brown, weathered house sat a short distance away from a barn and several low flat buildings. Silos rose up from behind. As far as Julia could see lay swaying crops in the fields. The sight was magnificent and terrifying at the same time. Beautiful like a picture Julia had seen in a book and so vast and endless that she felt tiny, insignificant and overwhelmed.
    “Does all this land belong to you?” she asked. Her husband had jumped down from the wagon and now was holding out a hand to help her down.
    “Does now. Didn’t always.”
    “When did you buy it?” Julia asked.
    “My parents bought it in ’71. Went to me and my sisters when they died. I gave Flossie her share in cash when she got married. Her and Harry bought a farm just south of here. I gave Gloria a piece of land east of this when she married Will. So what’s left is mine. And yours now.”
    Julia’s face paled. There was more information in that clipped speech than she cared to know at this moment. His parents were dead. He had two married sisters who lived nearby. And he was willing to make her part of what was his. Julia didn’t want to imagine what his sisters were like. Or their reaction to his marriage. Would they be bossy? Would they point out the fact that she didn’t belong here? Didn’t have the right to their inheritance? Just as confusing was his acknowledgement of that right. He had said it was hers as well. She turned full around slowly and viewed the land. It was the only solid thing she had ever owned. Julia looked at the ground below her feet. Julia Shelling was a landowner. And her yellow shoes were square on it.
    “Come in the house. Out of the sun. Slim’ll get your bags,” her husband said as she noticed a group of men milling about one of the other buildings.
    “That would be nice. It is rather hot.”
    “You’ll have to get used to the heat. And the cold. It’s either hot as hell or colder ’en hell,” he said and looked down at her dress. “No use wearing all those layers. You’ll die of heat exhaustion before the week’s out.”
    Julia gave him a weak smile. He had no idea how appealing it would be to go without a corset and four full petticoats, but then he would notice that her figure was no slim hourglass. She swallowed when it occurred to her he would know eventually. When they went to bed.
    Julia walked through her new home. At first she saw little until her eyes adjusted to the dimness. When all was visible, she realized there was little to see. Two chairs in front of a fireplace. No paint or wallpaper on the walls. No pictures. No pillows. No curtains. Absolutely nothing to remind her of her Boston home.
    Julia followed Jake into the kitchen and was pleased to see at least this room had the makings of a normal room. A large wooden table with six chairs, a stove and sink. A pie case full of cobwebs. But the sun shone brightly through the windows, and Julia was glad