by Zina Abbott
“But now Papa’s gone, and I’ve inherited the house and farm. By rights, it’s now Jenny’s kitchen, and she’s entitled to it. Perhaps you need to think about moving on with your life.”
Ah, there is the crux of the situation. Now there is no need for me to spare them from the responsibility and work of Papa’s personal care, Elm and Jenny want me gone.
Dahlia harrumphed. “Certainly, Elm. I’ll just spread the word out there that the spinster, Dahlia Greenleaf, is now looking for a husband and will entertain all reasonable offers.” Wearing a smirk of annoyance, she turned to her brother. “Tell, me, Elm. What am I entitled to? You know as well as I do, I’m too old to be considered desirable as a wife. It would be fine with me if I could accept a teaching job somewhere. Unfortunately, after being out of school so long myself, I would probably need to attend and be certified by one of those normal schools before anyone would consider me for the job of an old-maid schoolmarm. I know you inherited the farm. After all the years I put in nursing Papa, I don’t suppose there was anything available for me to inherit, was there?” Dahlia watched her brother shrug and turn his gaze to stare out over the garden plot.
“You know this farm barely brings in enough to pay expenses and keep one family fed and clothed. There’s nothing extra left for something like tuition to a fancy school. I was thinking more in the line of maybe you helping Ezra Wright out more days taking care of his Abigail. They say she has the cancer. The doctor doesn’t expect her to live much longer. If you were there often enough to attract his notice, he might consider marrying you after she’s gone. He’ll need someone to help care for his brood.”
Dahlia shuddered and turned away. Ezra Wright was a pleasantly mannered man. However, at ten years her senior and having three unruly sons, the prospect of marrying him did not appeal to her in the least. At the time of her life ideal for seeking a mate, she yielded to pressure from both her father and Elm to forego courting young men her age in order to take care of her parent during his final years. Why should she have to settle for being a second wife, expected to finish raising some other woman’s half-grown children?
Dahlia wanted to start a family from scratch with a man not mourning a dead wife. She did not wish a husband who married her primarily for practical reasons. “He’s nice enough, but I don’t care for that idea much, Elm. You don’t need to share that with Jenny or anyone else, please, because I don’t need that kind of gossip spread all over. It would be disrespectful to Mr. Wright. I gave up what I wanted to do while I did everyone else’s bidding these past five years. Now, I want something better for myself than a marriage of convenience to a widower with children.”
“I understand, Dahlia. I really do. I just thought I’d throw that out there. In the process of looking for something better, would you consider something daring, even if it means moving away from your family and friends?”
Dahlia slouched against the side of the house as she considered her brother’s question. Would it bother her to move away from her siblings and their families? Except for Elm and his bunch, she had seldom seen them except when they came by for a holiday dinner or to visit Papa. She rarely had gone to their houses these past years, especially once it became too difficult for Papa to travel. A covered dish of holiday food, long grown cold, and perhaps a short message passed along had been her interaction with Spruce and her sisters in recent years. She had seen more of them at Papa’s funeral, and the wake that followed than she had in the previous five years.
As for those who used to be her friends—between most of them marrying while Dahlia stayed single to care for her father, which meant she seldom attended church—they had become almost non-existent. The few greetings she had received at church the last two Sundays had felt awkward.
“I would consider moving away. After all, if we had the money for me to attend a normal school, it would mean I would leave home. I doubt I could find a teaching job in the area that would allow me to return and live here.”
Elm shoved a rolled-up newspaper in front of her, pushing it toward her as if he intended for her to take it.
“I bought the Kansas City paper when I was there a few days ago, Dahlia. Read through the matrimonial personals and see what you think. There are a couple of advertisements in there from agencies that help match up brides with men out West. I guess, for men looking to start a family, there aren’t enough women on the frontier to choose from.”
Dahlia laughed. “At one time, our farm was in the West and on the frontier, Elm. I remember Papa telling me he bought it right after the government moved the Indians off and opened Kansas up for settlement, and I was the first baby in the family born here.” She heard her brother chuckle in agreement, but she made no move to accept the newspaper.
“We’re considered settled now. However, the western part of the old Kansas Territory that is now Colorado, it’s still pretty wild in places. Even though they finally convinced that Chief Ouray of the Utes to leave the state and settle his people on a reservation in Utah Territory, it’s still considered the new frontier.”
Dahlia, turned to her brother, and she then looked down as she felt him grab her hand and press the newspaper into it.
“I’ve already got it turned to the page, Dahlia. The way one agency advertised its service, it seems like the men they represent come from all over. You decide on that one, it will send you anywhere you might wish to go, depending on whose marriage offer you accept. The one based in Denver and run by a woman also looks promising. I suspect most of the men she signs up are from Colorado and surrounding states. I’ve already got both of them marked.”
Reluctantly, Dahlia unfolded the paper and stared at the page, her eyes drawn to two of the advertisements circled in pencil. She caught a few words but did not feel like studying them closely. She folded the paper into a smaller square and stuffed it into her pocket before she looked over at her brother. “I’ll read it over later, Elm, when I can find some time alone and I don’t have two containers of garden produce that need to be bottled. I promise, I’ll give your suggestion some serious thought.”
Elm’s concerned expression transitioned into one of relief. “I would like to see you married to someone you will be happy with. You can use the rest of Papa’s writing paper for your letters. And—” Elm sucked in a deep breath and let it go. “You do have a valid argument about deserving some sort of an inheritance. All our siblings do, but you, most of all, considering all the care you gave our father. It’s just that, there’s nothing Papa left but the farm and animals—barely enough to support Jenny and me. However, if you decide to write to one of these agencies and it does look like a good prospect is going to ask for your hand, get yourself some fabric and anything else you need to make a nice traveling outfit, plus a wedding dress. I don’t know if you’ve got your heart set on a white wedding dress, which I hear a lot of young girls want, but maybe you should consider pink. You’ve always looked good in pink.”
With one eyebrow raised, Dahlia studied her brother. You’ve paid attention to what color looks good on me? She reveled in this moment of closeness, a rare occurrence with her oldest brother. Always the serious one, Elm seldom spoke of anything personal. Yet, he had been mindful of her enough to bring her a newspaper—not just to get rid of her as an inconvenience, but because he knew she needed to broaden her options to find a satisfactory future. She smiled and patted his forearm. “I don’t want a white wedding gown, Elm. I’d rather have something I can wear afterward as my best dress.”
“You’re a pretty woman, Dahlia. Even as your brother, I’ve always realized that. Get whatever lace, buttons, and trim you need to make your dress and travel suit fancy. I suppose you’ll need a new hat.” He stopped and shrugged. “Put it on the bill at the mercantile. I know you’ll make something nice but not take advantage. And, if Jenny says anything after you bring the fabric home and start working on your new clothes, let me know. I promise, I’ll set her straight. You deserve more than what is available to give
you, but I can manage that much.”
“Thank you, Elm.” Dahlia reached down to lift the vegetable-filled bowl to prop it against one hip so she could use her free hand to grab the bucket. “I better go inside and get these cleaned and prepared for bottling. I’ll see if Jenny has anything she plans to make for dinner. If she doesn’t, I’ll slice some beef to have with fried potatoes and snap beans.”
“Thanks for all you’ve done, Dahlia. I honestly think both you and Jenny will be happier if each of you has your own family and your own kitchen.”
Dahlia turned to face her brother before he could escape her. “Elm, Jenny does understand, doesn’t she, that when I’m gone, everything will be up to her? It won’t matter if she has morning sickness or not—breakfast will still need to be cooked and cleaned up. Little ones with wet or dirty diapers will still need to be changed and dressed, even if the smell makes her want to retch.” Dahlia lifted the arm holding the bucket and motioned in the direction of the garden. “The vegetable plot still needs to be planted, weeded, watered, harvested, and preserved if your family wants enough to eat all winter. She will need to see to it herself, no matter how she’s feeling.”
Her brother stared at her a few seconds and then nodded. “She grew up on a farm. She knows how it is.” He heaved a sigh. “I need to get a few more hours in harvesting that corn before dinner.”
Dahlia followed her brother until he turned one way to walk to the field. She turned the other direction, toward the back door to the kitchen. She looked at the empty table with the dried drips of mush where Sarah had eaten her breakfast and then turned her gaze toward the unwashed dishes sitting in the sink. She would need to wash them up so she could use the sink to soak and scrub the vegetables. She wondered if she would find Jenny resting on the couch with Sarah playing on the rug nearby, or if the two of them had retreated to the bedroom she shared with Elm so Jenny could coax Sarah into joining her in a morning nap.
Would her sister-in-law, who wants her own kitchen, be willing to return to the table and help cut vegetables to go into the bottles? Probably not.
Dahlia swiped dried mush drips with a damp cloth in an effort to remove them. She heard the newsprint in her pocket crackle as her skirt brushed against the table edge. She found the thought that the advertisements for marital services being the answer for finding a good marriage prospect—even for a woman her age—intriguing. She must study the ads closely before she decided, but she could not ignore the thread of excitement coursing through her.
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Acknowledgements
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This is part of the Sweethearts of Jubilee Springs series, earlier books written by some of the authors who blogged for the Sweet Americana Sweethearts blog. I wish to thank the other authors in the series for their insight, suggestions and support as we worked together.
I also wish to thank Linda Carroll-Bradd of Lustre Editing for copy editing this book to help it be as error-free as possible.
Any errors you find are those of the author. I appreciate receiving a private message regarding any grammatical, punctuation or spelling errors so that I may correct them. My contact information is at the end of the book.
Cover © Robyn Echols
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My books that are part of a Sweet Americana Sweethearts multi-author series:
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Grandma’s Wedding Quilts:
2.Kizzie's Kisses by Zina Abbott
Running from hostile Indians attacking Salina, Kansas in 1862, feisty Kizzie Atwell runs into freighter Leander Jones traveling the Smoky Hill Trail.
(Also Book 2 in my Atwell Kin series.)
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Sweethearts of Jubilee Springs:
3. Aaron’s Annulment Bride by Zina Abbott
Believing she’s unworthy to be any man’s wife, Andrea Dalton marries Aaron Brinks so he can get title to a mining company house. But now she wants an annulment. Can he convince her to stay?
6. Cat’s Meow by Zina Abbott
Catherine Everett loves tall, lanky miner, Harold Calloway. She wants to marry him, but there is one “meowly” little problem.
7. Bargain Bessie by Zina Abbott
Bessie Carlson, a confirmed spinster, meets Zeb Jacobson, a successful Monarch Bend rancher who is NOT pushing forty.
11.Dead-Set Delphinia by Zina Abbott
Delphinia is dead set on being married within a week before her father can track her down. Bennett is dead set on continuing to muddle through life on his own.
15.Evasive Eddie Joe by Zina Abbott
Cowboy vs. the miners – who will marry the bride?
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Zina Abbott’s Independence Day 1881
Zina Abbott’s Collection 1 of her first three books in the
Sweethearts of Jubilee Springs series.
Zina Abbott’s Harvest Dance 1881
Zina Abbott’s Collection 2 of her fourth and fifth books in the
Sweethearts of Jubilee Spring series.
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Lockets & Lace:
0.0The Bavarian Jeweler by Zina Abbott
The Lockets & Lace series prequel:
The back of her locket read, “My heart is always with you.”
19.Virginia’s Vocation by Zina Abbott
Will Virginia’s vocation fill the empty spaces of her heart?
(Also Book 1 in my Atwell Kin series.)
3.Otto’s Offer by Zina Abbott
Will Otto’s offer still stand when trouble from Libby’s past catches up with her?
(Also Book 3 in my Atwell Kin series.)
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Other Zina Abbott Books
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Escape from Gold Mountain
Threatened by two unscrupulous men, he never wished to abduct her. Can he help her escape?
Nissa
Book 3 in the series, The Widows of Wildcat Ridge
Two romances. Following the mine disaster that killed most of the men in town, two women—one a widow with two children, one never married—wonder if they should plan a future in Wildcat Ridge
Diantha
Book 14 in the series, The Widows of Wildcat Ridge
Two romances. Following the mine disaster that killed most of the men in town, two women—one a widow with two children, one never married—are determined to stay in Wildcat Ridge. Will their decision mean they face a future without love?
Charlie’s Choice
Prequel to the Atwell Kin series:
Charlie, it would be easier to stop the flow of the great Missouri and Kansas Rivers than to prevent the Americans from coming to Kansas. Will Charlie stay with the white Americans, cling to the past with the Kansa tribe, or try to straddle both worlds?
Millwright’s Daughter
The past held her future hostage. He risked future to save hers.
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Christmas Stories
A Christmas Promise
The gift of second chances and a promise for a brighter future in this novelette set during Christmas in 1873 Wyoming.
Too Old For Christmas
In 1854 Columbia, California, Sean Flood meets the widow Ona McNair on one of the worst days of his life, and then he meets the widow’s two sons. At nine years of age, the oldest has been told he is too old for Christmas. Sean knows exactly what he wants for Christmas that year.
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Eastern Sierra Brides 1884 series
Big Meadows Valentine
A Resurrected Heart
Her Independent Spirit
Haunted By Love
Bridgeport Holiday Brides
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About The Author
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Zina Abbott is the pen name used by Robyn Echols for her historical novels.
The author currently lives with her husband in California near the “Gateway to Yosemite.” She is a member of Women Writing the West, Western Writers of America, and American Night Writers Association. She enjoys any kind of history including family history. When she is not piecing together novel plots, she pieces together quilt blocks.
Please visit Zina Abbott on her Website.
Follow her on Facebook and Twitter.
Visit and follow her Amazon Author Page.
Please sign up for her Newsletter to stay informed of upcoming releases and special offers.
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Sweethearts of Jubilee Springs books
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Sweet Americana Sweethearts Blog Authors:
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1.Perfectly Mismatched by Linda Carroll-Bradd
To escape her family’s shame, socialite Aurelia Northcliffe is running to a new home and a new name. She runs into Prosperity Mine Manager Declan MacNeill who prides himself on following rules to the letter.
2.Ellen’s Lesson by Patricia PacJac Carroll
She's a blond, blue-eyed beauty. (Well, not exactly.) He's a handsome, prosperous gentleman from a good family. (Yeah, not so much.) With their letters at odds, what will Tyler and Ellen do when they meet and discover the truth? It's a mail order bride mess.
