“Well, we are married,” he snapped. “And we’re going to stay that way. So, don’t be getting any ideas about my wife.”
“Tobias, I would never try to take another man’s wife,” Jeremiah said, crossing his arms in front of him, finally sounding both irritated and hurt. “You should know me better than that. You’ve known me all my life. We went to church together. Got in trouble together at school more times than I can count.”
“Yeah, I know,” he said, shaking his head, and taking a step back. “I’m sorry. I’m just a little wound up. We’ve had a rough start.”
“Hey, I get it,” he grinned. “How did everything with her ride on Gray Wind go yesterday? All I know is, you got to her before she got hurt.”
Tobias flushed, remembering his reaction might have been a little extreme. “I am fairly certain she will not be getting on such a large horse, ever again.”
“That’s good,” he nodded. “Maybe you should explain to her what happened to your first wife.”
“I don’t want to talk about Rachel,” he snarled.
“Okay, I’m sorry. Do you mind telling me where Sadie came from? Maybe I could get me a mail-order bride. There’s a definite shortage of single, marriageable women around here,” he said with a grin. “The ones that are around here, I’ve known since they were in pigtails. They’re too much like sisters to me.”
“You’ll have to ask Thad about it. He sent for her. I’m starting to really feel grateful to him for that,” Tobias whispered to himself as he turned to leave the butcher shop.
Chapter 9
Monday, May 3
Tobias had made his way to the kitchen right alongside his beautiful wife. Thankfully, this morning turned out to be one of Thaddeus’ early mornings. He was only sixteen, and there were times when he or Cade had to go in, and pretty much toss him out in the floor. This morning, however, he was in the kitchen before Sadie even made it there.
The moment Tobias seen him, he understood why he was up so early. His stomach had driven him out of bed. He was sitting at the table, already snacking on a biscuit left over from yesterday, with two more siting on a plate in front of him. He remembered mornings like that when he was growing up. There were just times when a teenage boy just couldn’t get full enough. He recalled times, sitting down at the dinner table, and eating two or three plates full of food before he would even start to slow down. Then he would still end up eating dessert, as well.
“Hungry, I see,” he said with a deep chuckle. Thaddeus looked like a momma lion guarding her cubs, the way he was protecting those biscuits.
“Ha, ha. I’m starving,” he grumbled. “Do you want help cooking breakfast, Sadie,” he asked in a much lighter tone.
“Just eat your biscuits, Thad,” she said, patting him on the shoulder as she made her way to the counter.
Tobias waited till Sadie went outside with the egg basket to collect eggs from the chickens for breakfast, before turning to his little brother. “Thad, I need the information for the mail-order bride service that sent Sadie out here,” he blurted, praying he didn’t have to offer a real long explanation. He didn’t want her to know what he was up to yet.
His little brother all but stuck his bottom lip out, and gave him a belligerent look. “You’re not sending her back, Tobias. The rest of us already love her. She’s wonderful.”
He shook his head like he thought his little brother had lost his mind. “I have no intentions of sending her back.”
Thaddeus continued like his older brother hadn’t even spoken. “Besides, how would you feel, if you found out years from now, you sent her away pregnant, and you had a child.”
“Thad, I’m not sending her away,” he said, taking a seat across from him.
“Then why do you want that information?” he asked in puzzlement.
“I wanted to see if they could help locate her mother. I want to bring her out her before she starves to death. Or ends up on the streets. From what Sadie told me, I don’t have much time.”
Thaddeus’ eyes grew huge. “She could starve to death?” he asked, looking down at the biscuit he held in his hand, then at the one left on the plate. “That would be a horrible way to die.”
“Yes, it would be,” he nodded. “They were almost out of the savings her father left them when he passed away. That’s the reason she became a mail-order bride. Her mother wanted her to get married, so she wouldn’t have to do something horrible to survive,” he added, wanting to avoid giving any more details than that.
Thad nodded his head in understanding. “Her mother didn’t want her to have to go to work in some saloon.”
“Yeah,” he said, giving his brother an annoyed look. “That was the part I was trying to avoid saying. I didn’t think it was necessary.”
“Oh, sorry,” Thaddeus said, finally feeling embarrassed, and blushing to his roots. But not embarrassed enough to stop him from eating, as he started on his last biscuit.
“Never mind that,” he said, waving his hand in front of him. “Thankfully, Sadie was an only child, but it leaves her mother out in New York, by herself. They didn’t have any other family.”
“Oh, we definitely need to move her out here with us,” Thaddeus agreed. “That will make Sadie very happy.”
“Don’t say anything to her yet,” he added with a very serious look. “We have no idea if we’ll ever find her, or what condition we’ll find her in. I don’t want her getting her hopes up.”
Thaddeus nodded his head in understanding, looking very serious himself, still chewing on what had to have been half of a biscuit.
“Do you still have the information?” Tobias asked, trying to prod his brother out of his early morning stupor.
“Sure,” he said, jumping up, intending to go for the information right then.
Tobias grabbed his arm. “Hang on. Wait till after breakfast. Then bring it out to the barn to me. I don’t want her to see you handing me anything. I don’t want her wondering what I’m up to.”
The young man sat back down with a nod. “Okay.”
Just in time too, because the second his rear end hit the chair, the door opened, and Sadie came back in carrying the eggs she had collected. She eyed the two still sitting at the table, wondering what they were up to. “It won’t take me long and I’ll have everything going. Do you want more biscuits with the eggs and bacon, this morning?” she asked Thaddeus, sitting her basket on the counter.
“Sure, that sounds great,” he answered, hopping up from his chair. “Do you need help?”
Tobias stood up, doing his best not to look at his wife too closely. “I’m going to go ahead and get started. I’ll be back in an hour for breakfast. Thad, why don’t you go and milk the cow, so Sadie doesn’t need to. I’m sure that would be a big help,”
Sadie nodded her head. “Yes, that would be a great help. I’m still not comfortable with milking Miss Daisy. I don’t think she likes me much.”
“It’s not that she doesn’t like you,” Thaddeus grinned. “She can sense that you are nervous. It makes her nervous, too.”
*******
Tobias pulled the wagon to a stop, eyeing the broken fence. From the look of things, that ornery, old bull had been charging it again. “How much longer did you say it was going to take for John Wilson and his group to get the rest of the new barbed wire fence up? I’m getting tired of having to fix these wooden ones, after Festus gets done with them. Maybe the barbed wire ones will stop him.”
Ezekiel shuddered, nodding his head. “I know it would stop me. I wouldn’t want to run into that stuff.”
Tobias nodded his head, shooting his brother a deceptively, serious look. “Well, there’s some hope then. You’ve got about as much good sense as that ornery, old bull does,” he said, never showing even a hint of a smile.
The younger man slapped his knee and chuckled. “Wow, someone’s feeling on top of the world this morning.”
Tobias just shook his head. “Well?”
“Well, what?
” his brother asked, giving him a confused look.
He just sighed, trying not to let himself get irritated. “How much longer is the fence going to take?”
“Oh, I think he said it should take about two more weeks.”
He nodded. “You did say this pasture was empty, for now, right?”
His brother chuckled, his grin growing huge. “Yeah, Festus has been moved over to the far end,” he answered, pointing to the south.
“Good,” he grumbled, finally hopping down from the wagon.
“You’re still afraid of old Festus, aren’t you?” Ezekiel chuckled.
“I’m not afraid of that old bull,” he denied, turning red. “I just don’t like him much.”
“Sure, you’re not,” his aggravating brother chuckled again.
He sighed, deciding it was best just to let it go. “Come on. Let’s get this fence fixed. I’ve got to go into town, and send a wire.”
“Who are you sending a wire to?” Ezekiel asked, hopping down from the wagon with his brother.
“To a Mrs. McBride,” he answered, not wanting to reveal anything else.
“Who is Mrs. McBride?” he asked, crossing his arms to give his brother a hard look. If Tobias was up to what he was thinking he was, he might just try his hand at beating some sense into him.
“Don’t worry about that right now,” he said, turning back to the wagon, to start unloading supplies. “We need to get this done. I’ve not got time to talk.”
“Well, you’re going to make time,” his stubborn brother declared. “Or I’m just going to keep standing here.”
“Fine,” Tobias growled, turning to toss the lumber they had brought with them down by the broken fence. “If you must know, she is the lady that sent Sadie out here.”
Before he knew he was going to do it, when Tobias turned back, Ezekiel punched his older brother right in the mouth. He was so shocked, he just shook his head, and stood there staring back at him, at first. That shock was probably what saved Ezekiel’s hide.
“What was that for?” he grumbled, rubbing his jaw, still wondering what was going on.
Ezekiel growled, stepping closer to his idiot brother and cracked his knuckles, like he was thinking of punching him again. “Why would you need to send a wire to the lady who sent Sadie out here? And I would think very carefully, before I answered, if I were you.”
“Don’t get the idea you’ll get away with that a second time,” Tobias snarled at his brother, before finally sighing. “How else I’m supposed to find Sadie’s mother, and have her sent out here before she starves to death.”
“Sadie’s mother could starve to death?” Ezekiel asked, forgetting his anger fast enough, he didn’t even think to relax his hand from the fist he still had it in.
“Yeah,” Tobias nodded. “Were you thinking I was going to try to send her back, like Thaddeus was when I asked him for the information to contact the lady?”
“Well…”
“I know. I haven’t exactly given you all a reason to think I wouldn’t try to.”
“You know, married life seems to agree with you,” Ezekiel grinned. “You’ve been happier the last couple of days, whether you’re ready to admit it or not.”
“Now you just sound crazy,” he snorted.
“You’re seriously going to try and deny it?”
“I’m just trying to make the best out of what I’ve been handed.”
“Right? That’s what you call sleeping with her every night? Just making the best of it?”
“Don’t get too excited,” he said, glaring back at him. “I’m just trying to give her that baby she wants. Then I’ll move her back to her room.”
“Why?” his brother asked, throwing his hands up in the air. “You’re trying to spite us, and you’re spiting yourself.”
Chapter 10
Thursday, May 13
Tobias and Sadie had just finished eating lunch at the café, where he had promised they would eat when they came into town for supplies. He held the door open, and waited for her to exit, thinking about how beautiful she looked today. She gave him a shy smile, before stepping out onto the boardwalk to take his arm. She wore one of her new dresses, she had made from the fabric she had gotten from Harris’ General Store. It was a peach color, trimmed in white, and brought out a rosy glow to her cheeks. He wondered at how she seemed to grow more breathtaking with each day.
He smiled down at her, giving her a reassuring pat where her hand rested at his elbow. “Did you want to go to see if Mrs. Martin had any dresses already made you could use for every day. I still need to check in with Mr. Tagert to see if he has that order for Thad ready.”
She gave him a hurt look, tears welling up in her eyes. “Do you not like my new dress?”
He gave her a soft smile, wondering how long it was going to take for her to be as comfortable with him as she was the day they met. “Yes, Sadie, I like your new dress. You look beautiful. I just thought you would like to get some everyday dresses that were already made, so you don’t mess up your lovely dresses while you are cooking and cleaning.”
She shook her head, giving him an unsure smile. “No, I would rather make my own dresses. I like to sew. I find it soothing.”
“Oh, well in that case, do you need more fabric?” he smiled. “You can go to the general store while I’m checking on Thad’s clothes at the tailors. If sewing your own clothes is that important to you, I’m not going to take that away from you.”
She gave him a bright smile, nodding her head. “That would be wonderful. Thank you.”
“Good,” he smiled back, walking her down the boardwalk a little way, to cross the street in front of the sheriff’s office.
Once he made sure Sadie was safely inside the general store, with Mrs. Harris watching over her, he turned to make his way back across the street, then toward the tailors.
He had only made it past the door to the café, when Michael Bayheart walked out and tipped his hat. “I see your brothers were right to set you up with that beautiful, young lady. You seem more like the old Tobias Townsend that I remember. The one from before you married Rachel Jones.”
“What are you talking about, Bayheart?”
“Oh, come on, Tobias. You know me better than that,” the man frowned. “Whatever happened to you calling me by my first name?”
“That was before you ruined the reputations of two innocent, young girls,” Tobias snarled, crossing his arms over his chest.
“Innocent?” he snorted. “I didn’t ruin anyone’s reputation. They done that themselves, when they made sure the whole town heard they had been with me.”
“They were only trying to make you follow through.”
“Follow through with what? I never touched either one of them.”
Tobias snorted. “Are you trying to claim they made it up?”
“Yep,” he replied, propping himself against the side of the building. “Did it ever occur to you, before Miss Smith tried to force me into marriage, all the fathers in this town trusted me around their daughters, and most of the mothers were shoving those same daughters in my path on a daily basis. It’s because I’ve never touched an innocent.”
“Maybe you just never got caught before Miss Smith,” Tobias shrugged, starting to doubt his own judgement.
Michael chuckled and shook his head. “I can see you are starting to see the truth, like your brothers.”
“What about my brothers?” he asked with a scowl.
“They never believed all that mess.”
“Yeah, I know. We had a few arguments about it,” he said, furrowing his brow. “How did you know they set me up with Sadie?”
Michael chuckled. “Knowing how you believed I was such a defiler of innocent, young women, they asked me to be here to meet her, to make sure you didn’t tell her, immediately, you were sending her back the next day. They figured you would do exactly what you did, to keep it from getting around town that you were putting her back o1n the stagecoach the next day
.” He chuckled again and shook her head.
Tobias managed his own chuckle over that. “I guess they know me about as well as one would expect. I’m also grateful they went through the trouble of such a convoluted scheme.”
“Yeah, they were worried you were never going to get over what Rachel done. You do know, she was messed up, long before you married her?”
Tobias nodded. “That’s what Cade keeps telling me. As a matter-of-fact, Jeremiah said the same thing a while back, as well.”
Chapter 11
Thursday, May 20
Tobias left the general store turning toward the butcher shop. Before he made it teen feet, he was stopped on the boardwalk.
“Hello, Mr. Townsend,” an older woman said, stepping into his path.
Tobias startled a bit, giving her a confused look. “Oh, good day, Ma’am,” he said, moving to walk around her.
“Would you give me a moment of your time, please?” she asked, moving with him.
“I’m sorry, do I know you?” he asked, thinking he should be recalling her from childhood memories somehow.
“It’s doubtful, Mr. Townsend. We’ve never actually spoken.”
“Then what could you possibly need to speak with me about?” he asked, trying not to let his frustration show.
“Well, your first wife, that’s what.”
“My first wife? How did you know my first wife?” he asked, giving her a deep frown. “How do you even know I was married once before?” he asked after a second thought.
“I used to work for her father, as a maid. He hired me not too long after Rachel turned ten. I was there when his wife left him and went back east to live with her sister. I was dismissed about the same time you and Rachel got married.”
“Okay, so what about Rachel? I can’t see how there would be much to say at this point,” he said, this time not bothering to try and cover his frustration.
“I’m guessing you knew before it was all over, that she never wanted to marry you.”
His Unexpected Mail-Order Bride (Historical Sapphire Springs Book 1) Page 9
