His Unexpected Mail-Order Bride (Historical Sapphire Springs Book 1)

by Angie Campbell

  “I don’t know what you are talking about,” Tobias answered without looking up.

  “Really? Is that what you’re really going to use as your defense this morning?” he snorted back. “Where’s Sadie? Why isn’t she fixing breakfast this morning?”

  “Still in bed, asleep,” he said with a small smile Ezekiel almost missed when he still didn’t look up from his plate of eggs and bacon.

  “Is she okay?” he asked, finally provoking him enough to get him to look up.

  “Of course, she is. Why would you suggest otherwise?” Tobias snapped back, staring his brother in the eye.

  “You have to ask after what you did last night?” Ezekiel asked, sitting back in his chair to cross his arms over his massive chest.

  “I didn’t do anything wrong last night,” Tobias growled. “I have no idea what you are even talking about.”

  “Sure, you do. You pretty much forced yourself on her.”

  “No, not even close,” he snarled, sounding like an old bear somebody had poked in the eye with a stick.

  “You carried her down the hall like a sack of potatoes,” Ezekiel stated, raising an eyebrow.

  “If she had truly resisted, I would have stopped,” Tobias snapped “You should know me well enough to know that. I would never hurt a woman, especially not her. She didn’t offer any resistance at all. I did not force her,” he growled, barely resisting the urge to punch his brother in the nose.

  Sadie picked that moment to enter the kitchen. Both brothers could tell by the look on her face, she had heard the largest part of their argument. After all, they hadn’t exactly been whispering. Tobias had gotten loud enough to raise the roof off the rafters.

  The immediate, dead silence was deafening after the last couple of minutes of shouting. Sadie and Tobias stood staring at each other, flushed to the roots. Ezekiel shook his head and turned toward the back door. “I have work to do. The fence around the north pasture needs repairs. I’m going to take a couple of ranch hands with me, but I’ll leave you Wilson. I remember you saying something about needing to send him into town for supplies. I’ll see you both at lunch time. I hope,” was mumbled under his breath as he stepped out onto the back porch.

  Sadie watched as the back door slammed shut behind Ezekiel, then turned to face Tobias. She wondered if he had heard what his brother had mumbled on his way out the door. She just hoped he didn’t bring up what happened last night. As much as she had wanted it to happen, she didn’t think she was ready to talk about it.

  “I’m sorry I over slept,” she said, blushing prettily.

  “No apology needed,” he grinned warmly. “I deliberately let you sleep in. I know I didn’t let you get much sleep last night,” he said, testing the waters.

  “I don’t want to talk about that,” she said, dropping her head and walking over to the sink.

  “Why not? We’re married,” he snorted, giving her back a dirty look.

  “Yes, we are,” she sighed “But I still don’t really know where I stand with you. Have you eaten breakfast, yet?” she asked, trying to change the subject.

  “Yeah, I ate. Those are my dishes on the table,” he growled. “Just remember what I said last night. Stay away from the men in town.”

  Sadie waited till she heard the door bang closed behind him before she spun around and dropped into one of the chairs. She was so emotionally raw from all of it, that when Cade walked in and asked how she was feeling, she promptly burst into tears.

  “Hey now, it can’t be all that bad, can it?” He knelt down in front of her to take her hands in his.

  She shook her head, refusing to look up at him. “I really hoped our getting married on Saint Patrick’s Day was a good omen, but I guess I was out of luck.”

  “Just hang in there. He’ll come around.”

  “He doesn’t want me to go to town for supplies,” she sniffled, wiping her eyes with her fingers. “I’m supposed to send one of you. What does he think I’m going to do?”

  Cade gave her a guarded look. “He’s been married before.”

  “I know about that,” she huffed, giving him a dirty look. “Thaddeus told me. What I don’t know, is what happened to her, and what it has to do with me.”

  Cade sighed, standing back to his feet. “It’s not my place to tell you. You’re going to have to ask Tobias about it.”

  “Great, ask Tobias,” she huffed sarcastically. “Tobias doesn’t talk to me. Last night is the most he’s talked to me since we got married. And that was only so he could tell me to stay away from all the men in town,” she growled, waving her hands in the air over her head in frustration. Her mind immediately went to what happened after, and she turned red from embarrassment. She ducked her head, avoiding eye contact.

  Cade stepped back, trying not to let her hear him chuckle. He knew what that blush was about. They all did, but he didn’t want to embarrass her any more than she already was.

  She shook her head and rose to her feet. “I have a list of supplies I need picked up from town.”

  Cade nodded, understanding her need for a change of topic. “That’s fine. Wally and I can go into town as soon as breakfast is done.”

  “I’d really like to go,” she sighed forlornly. “I would like to get some fabric to make a couple of new dresses,” she said in explanation. “I don’t know how he expects me to get things like that, if I’m not allowed in town.”

  “I’m sure you’re allowed in town. He just doesn’t want you deciding to run off with another man,” Cade said with a chuckle.

  Sadie just looked stricken for about two seconds before bursting into tears again.

  “Okay, that was my enormously, obviously, failing attempt to make you laugh,” he said, patting her on the shoulder. “I won’t be doing that again.”

  *******

  After finally eating breakfast with the rest of his brothers and Sadie, Cade went looking for Tobias. He found him in the barn. “You need to let Sadie go to town. She has some things she needs for herself. I don’t want to be responsible for picking them out. I don’t figure any of the others do, either,” Cade huffed, doing his best to school his features so Tobias didn’t detect his humor.

  “I never said she couldn’t go to town,” Tobias answered, not bothering to turn around, as he continued with the task of feeding the horses still in their stalls.

  “Well, that’s the impression she got after what you told her last night.” Cade crossed his arms over his chest, eyeing his brother. Despite he and Sadie’s obvious argument last night, he seemed to have a lighter spirit this morning. Things were definitely still rocky, but there was finally some hope shining through.

  “I never said she couldn’t go to town. I only said one of you had to deal with picking up supplies,” he answered, finally turning his head enough to look at his brother, before going back to his task. “What does she need to go to town for, anyway?”

  “She wants fabric to make herself some new dresses. And you need to explain to her what you meant, because she’s in there crying her eyes out, as we speak.”

  Tobias spun around and gave his brother a dirty look. “You know, you could have just said that.”

  “Well, I just did,” Cade said, rubbing a hand over his mouth to hide his huge grin.

  “No, you wrote a book first. Next time, just get to the point,” Tobias snarled, stomping toward the barn door.

  “Hey, where are you going? There’s work to be done,” he said, barely holding back a chuckle.

  “Then get it done,” Tobias snapped back. “Have Wilson help you. I’ll get any supplies we need from town.”

  “Well, where are you going?”

  “To take my wife to town,” Tobias snarled. If he had turned back, it would have been to find Cade nearly bent over double and red faced from holding in the laughter. Tobias could deny it all he wanted, but he was already in love with his beautiful, new wife.

  *******

  Sadie jumped and spun around to see who was coming
in the back door. When she saw the scowl on Tobias’s face, she spun back around, not wanting him to see how red her eyes were, from crying.

  “You need to be ready to leave by the time I get the horses hitched to the wagon,” he huffed, just wishing she would look at him.

  Sadie gasped and had to fight not to start crying again. “I thought one of your brothers was going to take me.”

  “If you’re going to go, I’m going to be the one to take you.” He stormed back out the back door, much the same way he had entered it not a full minute before.

  Sadie stood there in a state of shock wondering what this meant. Did it mean he genuinely cared, or was he afraid someone else would try to take her away from him. Currently, she felt more like a piece of property, and less like a wife. So far, the only time she had felt like more than a possession was last night, while she was in his arms. Last night she had felt loved.

  It wasn’t ten minutes later, and Tobias came back in ready to go. Sadie jumped up from the chair where she still sat contemplating her situation. “That was fast. I figured you would be gone longer.”

  “Cade had already gotten started by the time I got back out there. I helped him finish,” Tobias said in the closest he’d come to a conversational tone with her since they had married. He had decided while he was outside to try and have a pleasant day with her today. He knew if they had any chance of making their marriage work, he was going to have to start showing her a little of the feeling he held in his heart, and less of the thoughts he held in his head. He had to constantly remind himself, it wasn’t her fault what his first wife had done.

  “Oh. Well, I guess I’m ready then,” she said, walking toward the door.

  “I thought you would want to change your dress,” he said, a little puzzled. “I can give you a few more minutes.”

  “I really don’t have much to choose from. I have this dress and one other for work around here,” she shrugged, blushing to her roots, even though she knew she had nothing to be embarrassed about. “Then the one dress I save for Sunday to wear to church.”

  When she turned back toward the door once again, he stopped her with a hand on her arm. “Are you telling me, you only have three dresses?” he asked, sounding incredulous.

  “Yes,” she whispered, dropping her head. “That’s what I’m used to. My mom helped me make a couple new ones before I left to come out here. The everyday dresses I had at the time were way too ragged. It was embarrassing enough coming out here with so little.”

  Tobias put a gentle hand under her chin and lifted her eyes to meet his gaze. “You have nothing to be embarrassed about. I wish you had said something sooner.”

  “That was really difficult when you were doing your best to ignore me,” she said, tears in her eyes.

  “Please, don’t cry. In the future, if I’m being difficult, and you need something, you have my permission to ask one of my brothers for help,” he said with a self-deprecating grin. “They’ll be happy to knock some sense into me, for you.”

  She gave him a watery smile and sniffled. “Thank you.”

  “Will you tell me where you came from? Tell me what brought you out here?” he asked, turning her toward the door to lead her outside.

  “Are you sure you want to know?” she asked, giving him a shy smile. “It’s kind of boring.”

  He shook his head. “Oh, I doubt anything about you could bore me.”

  When they reached the wagon, they both fell silent for the time it took him to help her up in the seat and then follow her up. He turned it toward town, then tried again. “Will you tell me, please.”

  “Well, I came from New York,” she started.

  “That much I did know. That’s all Thad told me before I came to pick you up at the Stagecoach that day. He didn’t say anything about family you might have left behind, or if you had any family at all.”

  “All I have left is my mother,” she said, tears filling her eyes. “I was an only child, and my father died two years ago.”

  “I’m sorry. I don’t want to make you cry, but I really want to know,” he said, giving her an encouraging smile.

  “It’s alright,” she said with a sniffle. “I just miss my mom.”

  “So, she’s in New York, with no family left near her?”

  “Yes,” she said, bursting into tears for the third time that morning, and it wasn’t even past eight yet.

  “Sadie,” he said, wrapping an arm around her. “Please, tell me what’s wrong.”

  “When my father was alive, we were used to a better life style. Not rich by any means, but better,” she said, wiping her eyes with her fingers. “He worked at a bank. He had built up a pretty good savings before he died. My mother and I had been living off that savings for the last two years. That’s why I came out here with so little. We’ve been trying to make it stretch. At first, we tried to find work. There just wasn’t anything. At least not anything that didn’t involve my losing all my moral standing,” she added with a blush. “It was my mother’s idea for me to become a mail-order bride. She even went to Mrs. McBride’s with me. I don’t know if I could have gone through with it if it hadn’t been for her moral support.”

  He gave her a concerned look, already trying to work out a way to bring her mother out here with them. “Are you saying she’s almost out of the money she needs to live on?”

  “Yes,” she said, sounding like she was about to burst into tears, yet again. “At least we didn’t have to use any of her savings for me to get out here. You sent… Well, Thaddeus sent enough for me to make the new dresses and pay for my train ticket, then stage fair. I even had a little money left to eat with on the train. When I got off the stage, my last meal had been almost sixteen hours before. I thank God Thaddeus sent me as much as he did.”

  “Yes, thank God for that,” he mumbled under his breath, shaking his head. He had to have sent it out of his own stash, or I would have noticed.

  By the time they had reached town, Tobias had made a decision. As soon as he got back to the ranch, he was going to ask Thad for the information to contact Mrs. McBride. He was going to get Sadie’s mother out here with them. Before she starved to death. He wasn’t going to ask Sadie if he could avoid it. He didn’t want to get her hopes up, just in case they didn’t get to her before it was too late.

  *******

  Tobias opened the door to Harris General Store, then stepped back and motioned for Sadie to enter ahead of him. “Hello, Mrs. Harris,” he greeted the older woman at the front counter. “How are you doing on this fine April morning?”

  “Well, if it isn’t Tobias Townsend and his young bride,” she said, stepping around the counter. “I’m doing wonderful today. How about you all?”

  “We’re doing pretty good. We have some supplies we need to pick up,” he said, handing her the list Sadie had wrote out earlier. “Sadie was wanting to get some material to make her some new dresses, as well.”

  “Well, if you want to, go right ahead and start looking at the fabric over there and I’ll get David to start filling this list. Then I’ll be right over there to help you.”

  “Thank you, Ma’am,” Sadie said with a nod of her head.

  Once Mrs. Harris and David came out of the back of the store, she headed to the front where Sadie was already looking at a bolt of fabric. Tobias stopped her when she went to pass by him. “Make sure she gets at least enough fabric for three dresses. At least one of them needs to be a Sunday dress. If she shows interest in more than that, get it all. Make sure she gets anything else she needs. Don’t worry about the cost. She came out here with three dresses. If she fusses with you, set it back and get it while she’s not looking.”

  “What about shoes and bonnets?” the older woman asked with a huge smile.

  “Whatever she wants, or you feel is needed that she’s not asking for. I’m going to leave it in your capable hands. You know, I know nothing about women’s clothing.”

  “You know something, Tobias Townsend?” she asked
with a very motherly look. “This is the most I’ve heard out of you at one time in the last four years. That young lady is going to be good for you yet.”

  “I think you are right, Mrs. Harris,” he said with a grin. “I think you are right.”

  He watched as she finished making her way across the store, then turned back to where David was already laying out some of the supplies on his list.

  “Good morning, Tobias. Did you enjoy your trip in this morning? This weather sure is nice for this time of year. It’s usually still a little on the cold side, this early in the morning.”

  “Yeah. Lots of Easter lilies along the road. Sadie really enjoyed them.”

  “She sure is pretty, your Sadie.”

  “I quite agree with you,” Tobias said with a smile as he watched his young wife. “I’m going to head over to Miller’s. I should be back before they are done, but if I’m not, would you mind telling Sadie where I’ve gone?”

  “No, I think I can do that for you,” David said with a grin. “You have a good day, now.”

  “You, as well,” Tobias said on his way out.

  *******

  “Good day, Mr. Miller,” Tobias said with a nod of his head. He already had what he needed and was turning to leave when Jeremiah, the owner’s son, walked in.

  “Hello, Tobias,” Jeremiah said with a friendly smile. “I just saw your wife over at the general store. She is quite fetching. You really got lucky.”

  “Stay away from my wife,” Tobias snarled, wanting to punch the other man in the face.

  “Hey, take it easy, Tobias. I just said she was fetching. I haven’t got any plans of trying to run off with her,” Jeremiah said, taking a step back.

  Tobias took a step forward with a snarl. “I was told you wouldn’t mind marrying her yourself.”

  Jeremiah nodded his head, raising an eyebrow. “What man interested in marrying wouldn’t. She’s very beautiful, but I said that when she first got here. Before you were married. I had heard you really didn’t want to marry her.”