The Widower's Bride: A Golden Valley Story (The Brides of Birch Creek Book 3)

by Laura D. Bastian

  “I can walk with them to the swing,” Grace said. “That will let you put young Milo to bed.”

  When she took a few steps, Lottie looked up. “How come you walk funny?”

  “I broke my leg when I was younger.” Grace patted her thigh. “It didn’t heal right.”

  “My momma broked her leg.” Lottie looked at Grace’s skirt then up to her face. “Then she got infeck-ted and too sick to stay my momma here.”

  “I’m so sorry you lost your momma,” Grace said. “I lost my momma, too. Only I was a little older than you. And I had a big brother to help take care of me.”

  “I’m the biggest,” Missy said. “So I’m a big help to Papa. Only I’m not big enough to carry Milo anymore. He’s growing like a weed.”

  Grace smiled at the phrase the little girl must have overheard somewhere. “I’m sure your papa is very happy to have your help.”

  “I a help too.” Lottie tugged on Grace’s hand and she turned to look at the three year old.

  “You sure are,” Grace said. “So how about you help me find where that swing is.”

  Lottie let go of Grace’s hand and started running. “It’s this way. Come on Miss Grace.”

  “You run on ahead,” Grace said, then looked down at Missy. “You too. I’ll follow.”

  Missy took off at a run, and before long was right beside Lottie. But instead of running past her to the swing first, she took her little sister’s hand and they ran the rest of the way together. Missy then grabbed little Lottie around the chest and hefted her up onto the wooden slat hanging from two lines of rope.

  Missy moved around to stand behind Lottie and began pushing the girl, which resulted in squeals of delight from both children. As she watched them, she reflected on how unfair life could be sometimes. The two sweet girls would grow up without their mother, and their dear mother would miss out on all the wonderful moments like this. She hoped their mother was able to look down from heaven and smile on the sight before her.

  Their poor father must be overwhelmed at it all. She had seen the same kind of trauma in her own brother when his wife had fallen ill and passed. If only there was some way she could help them.

  ***

  Jed followed the directions from Michael as he worked the bent piece of metal back into the shape he needed in order to continue plowing his field. When they finally finished the repair, Jed pulled out his wallet and paid Michael for the hard work.

  “I appreciate you doing this so quickly,” Jed said.

  “Glad I could help and that it didn’t take too much work. Hopefully it will last you many years now.”

  The two carried the plow to the back of the wagon and hefted it inside.

  “It’s much easier with another adult. Doing it on my own took a bit of time this morning.” Jed wiped his hands on his pants.

  “Having a partner is important.” Michael looked at Jed and glanced at his new house then said. “Did you meet Miss Grace?”

  “Not officially,” Jed said. “Saw her from the other room, but Missy seemed taken with her. Susan said she’s a boarder.”

  Michael nodded. “Yes. Arrived on the train yesterday. She’s a pleasant woman.”

  Jed climbed into the wagon bed to adjust the plow so there would still be room to load his supplies from the mercantile.

  “She also is good with children.”

  Jed met Michael’s eyes. “What are you getting at?”

  “Have you considered the option of sending for a wife to help you out?”

  Jed hopped down from the back of the wagon. “Not enough to actually send out a letter. I could see the merit in doing it, though.”

  “Miss Grace is here already. Maybe you could have a conversation with her today. See if she’d be amiable to come to an agreement.”

  “I don’t know,” Jed said. “I don’t think it would be fair to a woman to marry her just so she could take care of my children.”

  “Valid point,” Michael said. “But it still couldn’t hurt to ask. Or if you’d like, you could take your time courting her.”

  “I don’t have time for courting,” Jed said, his irritation at the conversation rising. “Nor the inclination. I loved Lizzie more than anything, and I wouldn’t want to hurt her memory with the thought of trying to court someone else. I don’t need a woman for a wife for myself. I need a woman to be a mother to my children. To help me keep them alive and well while I do what I can to provide for us all.”

  Michael nodded in understanding. “Lizzie was a remarkable woman. And your children are blessed to still have you. You’ll always have Lizzie in your heart and mind. But having an actual partner to help you would ease your burden considerably.”

  “Like I said,” Jed replied. “I don’t have time for courting. And I’m sure Miss Grace would rather not be saddled with an instant family days after arriving here in Birch Creek.”

  “Maybe you could hire Miss Grace to watch your children here while you plant your crops. Then you can come get them when you’re ready.”

  “That’s something to think on. I should head over to the mercantile and get the things I need. Susan invited us to stay for dinner. I hope you don’t mind.”

  “Not at all,” Michael said. “I might even have you help me carry a wardrobe to an upstairs room before you head home, if you’re willing.”

  “Be happy to.” Jed climbed onto the wagon bench and undid the brakes. He got the horses moving and drove the wagon to the mercantile to get what he needed so he wouldn’t have to stop there after dinner with the Clarks.

  CHAPTER TWO

  Once he’d paid for his supplies, Jed left the mercantile with the box of smaller items that hadn’t already been loaded in the wagon by Mr. Howard. Jed put them in the wagon, then turned and saw Michael closing up his smithy.

  “You on your way home now?” Jed called out to him.

  Michael nodded and Jed motioned for him to climb up onto the wagon.

  Once they’d reached the boarding house, Michael invited Jed to unharness the horse and allow it to move around a bit while they had dinner. Jed removed the yoke that attached the wagon to the horse, but left the harnesses on. He would need to be ready to get him hooked up quickly so they could travel the hour back to his place before it got dark.

  Jed and Michael then walked up the stairs to the boarding house and when they entered the front parlor, Jed was surprised to see his two girls sitting on Miss Grace’s lap as she read a book to them. Michael went into the main part of the house, probably looking for Susan, leaving Jed to gather his girls.

  Jed’s daughters both looked up and Jed could see the adoration in his girl’s eyes as they sat with Miss Grace.

  Miss Grace smiled sweetly at him, but didn’t speak to him before returning her attention to the book and continuing the story. It sounded like one of the fables he had heard told before and his girls listened in rapt attention. When she finished the story, the girls clapped their hands together with pleasure.

  “Read another one, please,” Missy said.

  “I would love to,” Miss Grace said. “But I think maybe your father has been waiting a little too long for his warm welcome from you.”

  The two girls looked up at her and she chuckled. “Go give him a hug.”

  The girls giggled in delight and jumped off her lap and hurried over to him. He bent down and hugged them both close to him.

  “We had a lovely time, Papa,” Missy said. “Can we make a swing at our house?”

  “I don’t see why not,” Jed said. “Remind me to do it after we get the crops in.”

  Missy nodded eagerly but before she could speak, Susan entered the room holding Savannah on one hip and Milo on the other hip. With his two girls hanging on his neck, he couldn’t get up quickly enough to go to her aide, but Miss Grace moved forward. She walked stiffly in the few steps it took to reach Susan and held her arms out for Milo.

  “Let me help you there,” Grace said. Milo went to her without any fuss at all and Jed w
atched the way she interacted with him. Grace glanced at Jed, then to the child in her arms and her smile warmed her face. “What a precious boy you are. Your papa must be so proud of you.”

  She looked at his girls too, pausing only a moment for a look at him. “And your girls are so well behaved and are learning so much already. It has been a wonderful day with you.”

  “Do we have to go home right now, Papa?” Missy asked.

  “We’ve been invited to join them for supper, but we’ll have to head home right after that. Tess will need milking.”

  Susan motioned to Missy and Lottie. “I came to tell you all supper was ready. Come on in and have a seat.”

  The girls ran ahead of Jed and he turned to Grace. “Should I take Milo off your hands?”

  Grace shook her head. “I would love to hold him still. Helps me ease my sorrow as I miss my nephews.”

  “You have family back east?” Jed asked.

  “My brother just got re-married. I thought it was time to let them have their own lives instead of caring for me. But I must say I didn’t realize how much I would miss those children.”

  “You seem to have a way with children.”

  Grace shrugged. “I try. But with your children, it is easy to love them. I don’t know if I’ve ever met any child as well behaved as Missy.”

  “She is an incredible little girl,” Jed agreed. “So much like her mother.”

  “I’m sorry for your loss,” Grace said.

  Jed nodded, knowing there really wasn’t a response he needed to give.

  “Susan mentioned you might need help with your children. If you want, I’d be happy to watch them. Susan said she wouldn’t mind if I watched them here as I help her with the cooking and cleaning.”

  “That’s nice of you to offer, but I live about an hour’s drive from here. I couldn’t bring them into town and still get all the farm work done every day. And I don’t want to send them away for days at a time.”

  “Oh,” Grace said. “I didn’t realize you weren’t in this area. I totally understand.”

  “Papa!” Missy’s voice called from the hallway that led to the kitchen. “You coming to supper?”

  Jed turned and looked at his daughter. “On our way.”

  Jed motioned for Grace to go ahead of him and she moved forward. Her limp was still there.

  “Here, let me take Milo.” When Grace adjusted the boy in her arms, and tried to pass him over, Milo whined and snuggled closer against Grace’s shoulder.

  “It’s okay, Mr. Owens. I don’t mind carrying him.”

  “I hope this isn’t prying, but can I ask what happened to your leg?”

  “I broke it at sixteen. Got knocked down by a horse and carriage in the streets, and the wheel went over the bone. Snapped it, and it didn’t heal right I suppose. Most times it’s just a minor irritant. But if I spend too long on it, it can pain me something fierce.”

  “Sounds miserable,” Jed said.

  “Better than some, worse than others. It is what it is and I try to do what I can anyway.”

  Jed considered her words as they walked the rest of the way into supper in silence. As they ate the meal, he watched closely at how his children interacted with Grace. She even held Milo on her lap and fed him food from her own plate without being bothered at all. She was definitely the kind of woman who would care for children without any difficulty.

  She probably wouldn’t be any help in the fields, but he wouldn’t need that. Her leg wouldn’t interfere with regular household chores or much with taking care of the house vegetable garden.

  As the realization hit him that he was considering Michael’s suggestion to take Miss Grace as a wife in order to care for his children, he was surprised that he wasn’t anywhere near as defensive about it now.

  Perhaps after dinner he could bring it up to her. And if she wasn’t interested, it wouldn’t make any difference to him on an emotional level. But if she did say yes, that would solve so many immediate problems as well as ease his mind on how to best care for his children. This wasn’t something he really had an idea on how to proceed. The first time he’d proposed marriage, he had imagined it would last forever and he had been hopelessly in love with the girl. Now, he faced a completely different woman and circumstance. He didn’t know Grace well enough to even hint at the words he was going to ask. Not in the way matrimony should be.

  He just couldn’t raise his children alone. Being here with other adults to shoulder the responsibility had driven home how inadequate he had been. And he hadn’t seen his children this happy since before Lizzie got hurt.

  He had to do something to keep this spark in their eyes, and if Miss Grace was the one that had helped his girls feel something again, then he would do what he could.

  ***

  Grace looked at Jed, who sat next to her, when he leaned over as if he had something to say.

  “Miss Grace,” Jed said, “I wondered if you might be willing to have a word with me about my children after the meal is over, in private?”

  “Of course,” Grace said. Maybe he had thought about the offer she’d made to watch his children. She wished there was something she could do to help ease his burden, but the distance of his farm would make things difficult in that regard.

  As the meal drew to a close and Grace encouraged the girls to help Susan clean off the plates, she passed Milo over to Jed and stood to clean off some dishes as well. Jed stood and placed the boy on one hip and grabbed the board the bread had been sliced on to take it in to be washed.

  After they put their things in the kitchen, Jed motioned for Grace to step onto the back porch. He still held Milo, which meant her hands were not occupied and she wished she had something to keep her from fidgeting. He seemed nervous and that in turn worried her. Had she done something he had disapproved of in regards to his children? She was used to taking charge of the young ones and her brother had always found it helpful.

  She opened her mouth to apologize at the same time he spoke. “I know this sounds crazy, and I understand if you say no. But would you consider marrying me?”

  “I’m sorry?” Grace said. “What?”

  “It wouldn’t be a regular marriage. I wouldn’t expect anything from you, except for you to care for the children. And the house. I would provide for us and I have quite a good spread of land. It’s already cleared and there is a decent sized house on it. Lizzie and I worked so hard on that farm that I just can’t give it up, but I can’t do this on my own. My children need a mother. And though I’ve only known you for a short time, I can already see you are wonderful with them. They wouldn’t give you any trouble beyond what a child normally does.”

  “I don’t imagine they would. You and Lizzie raised them very well.” Grace studied Jed in the light of the early evening.

  “I wouldn’t suggest marriage just for the raising of the children, but since we would be out there on our own, I wouldn’t want any talk of your reputation being damaged. Though I give you my word, I won’t ask for anything in that regard.” Jed rubbed his jaw as if slightly embarrassed about needing to bring that up. “I’d imagine it would be a bit like what you probably did as you cared for your brother’s children.”

  She hadn’t considered anything like this. But his proposal really wouldn’t be all that different from what she’d done helping her brother. “How many rooms does your house have?” Grace asked.

  “Two,” Jed replied. “Then the main room where the kitchen and table are. We could either have the children move into the room with me, and you could have their room. Or we could build on another room for you.”

  Grace nodded as she considered that. She’d only spent a few hours with the children, but she had grown fond of them in that time. It would be easy enough to get along with them, and Jed seemed to be kind and respectable. Susan had shared a little of what she knew about Jed and his late wife Lizzie. Theirs had been a union of love and devotion. If she were to marry Jed, it would be for convenience.

&n
bsp; And this was something she was used to. He would be almost like a brother and they could work together to raise his children and make sure his farm could continue on.

  “Would I be free to come and visit Birch Creek on occasion?”

  Jed nodded. “We come at least once a month. Sometimes more. In the winter it might be longer between trips, depending on the snowfall.”

  “How do you feel about education? Can I teach your girls to read and write and do arithmetic as well as Milo?”

  “I would love for them to be educated. Lizzie was beginning to teach Missy her letters.”

  Grace studied Jed for a moment, and the peaceful feeling in her middle helped her nod. “I will marry you and help care for your children.”

  Jed’s body relaxed just a little and she realized he’d been nervous. It was understandable, given the permanency of marriage. She would be united with him from this point on until the end of their lives.

  “There are still a few hours until dark. I know this is incredibly sudden, but would you be willing to marry me now? We could go to Reverend Morrison and have him perform the ceremony. That way I wouldn’t miss another day of planting the fields and garden.”

  “If the reverend is willing. That would be fine by me.”

  “Thank you, Miss Grace. Words can’t adequately express how much this means to me. I know a marriage of this type wouldn’t be first choice, but I believe we can help each other.”

  Grace nodded. She’d watched him as he’d talked with her, and she knew there was no interest in her physically. She was aware she didn’t have all the feminine beauty men desired. She did have a gentle disposition that would serve her well as a mother or teacher to these children. And she knew she would feel incredible love for those three young ones. She could live a life with that kind of love. And though it wouldn’t be romantic love she would receive from Jed, she knew they would be kind and respectful to each other and develop a familial type love.