by Cyndi Raye
The café was the last place to try to get a job in the immediate area. Now she had other worries as well. It would soon be nightfall and they’d have to find somewhere to sleep. The thought worried her. At least she had her own wagon and horse. If they had to go to the livery and sleep in the wagon, at least they’d be safe there. Her life was full of options, but none that made her feel better. If she were to be found sleeping in her wagon, would the police arrest her for vagrancy? She had no job, no place to stay. Unless the café gave her a job.
When it was time to pay for the soup, Melody asked to speak to the owner.
“That’s me,” the woman who waited on her announced. “Name’s Doris Stauffer.”
“I saw the sign in the window and would like to apply for the position.”
“Can you wait on tables and do dishes?”
Melody smiled. “I can do whatever it is you need done. I’ll work hard.”
“What about the little one there. What will you do with him while you work?” The woman began to wipe down the table next to them while they talked.
“If I may bring him along, I’ll be sure to keep him occupied while I’m working. At least until I can find someone to care for him.” Melody’s hopes began to soar once again. Finally, something good was happening. She offered to start first thing in the morning.
“Sure, why not. I’ll be right back, my cook needs me.” The owner left, hurrying through the door to the kitchen.
Five minutes later, the owner came back to their table. By the look on her face, Melody already knew she lost the job before she ever had it. The look on the owner’s face was the same as everyone else. She stood. “Come along, Tommy.”
“I’m sorry,” she told Melody. “I’ll lose business if I hire you. I have to feed my family, too.”
Melody left the café, dejected and so down on her luck, she stood on the side walk holding Tommy’s little hand. What were they going to do? A tear fell and she brushed it away, trying to compose herself before Tommy realized how upset she was.
When she had stood in that courtroom early this morning knowing she would be called a whore and rejected by anyone who crossed her path, she hadn’t cared at the time. The most important person in her life was holding her hand, trusting her to keep him safe. Even though her reputation was now ruined, her son would be with her and not raised by a man who didn’t even want to claim him as his own. This was her focus. Her life. She would leave here and by going to the White Ranch, it would keep her from exposing little Tommy to these heartless people.
She had to find a place to stay for tonight. There was no sense in trying to travel in the dark. The White Ranch was four hours from here, not a short jaunt by any means. They’d have to stay in the wagon tonight and head out at the light of day after picking up their belongings at the hotel.
Melody searched for signs that led them to the livery. Since she had come to the city, she had it housed at the livery and that’s where it had stayed all this time. When they arrived at the stables, little Tommy was yawning. Melody picked him up and held him while he fell asleep with his head on her shoulder.
A friendly fellow was closing up. He was getting ready to douse out the lamp. “Sir, can you help us?”
“Why, hallo Miss. What can I do for you? My name is Don Welch.”
She didn’t enjoy telling stories but for the sake of her son she made up a lie. “My husband is terribly drunk and threatened to hurt the boy. I don’t want to go back home until he gets sober. May we spend the night here in our wagon, which is over yonder? I can pay you.”
Don Welch shook his head. “I swear these men don’t know what good they have in their lives and don’t appreciate nothing. The darn drunken lot of them. You go right ahead, Miss, I’ll leave one of the lanterns by the door on for you. Keep it down so you don’t rattle the livestock in here. They like it nice and serene.”
Relief spread through her body like a tornado over a Kansas prairie. “Thank you kindly, Mr. Welch. Here, let me pay you.”
Don Welch stepped back and put up a large hand. “No, ma’am, it’s the least I can do for you. I’m sorry you have to sleep outside your home. You may want to think things through before going back to a drunkard.”
Tommy stirred in her arms. “I certainly will, sir. Thank you.”
“Your welcome. I’m locking you in now, so you won’t be able to leave until I unlock the door at first light. I like to get here a half hour before it gets busy. That should give you and the boy some time to catch up on some sleep and your husband to sober himself up.”
Melody climbed in the wagon, which was now empty and placed her son in the corner. In the morning, she’d have to take the wagon and park it in front of the hotel to load up her and Tommy’s belongings. She shook off her shawl and placed it over him. His little body curled up in a fetal position. She leaned against the side of the wagon, placing a hand on Tommy’s back to let him know she was right there. At first light, Mr. Welch would open up and they’d have to leave.
At least they were safe for tonight. If Thomas knew they were sleeping in this wagon, he’d have the authorities take Tommy away. Even though he didn’t care what happened to them his threats were real. His heartless soul would call the police to get them out of his hair for good.
It was an awful, drastic feeling to be abandoned by the man you thought loved you and would be in your life forever.
Melody curled next to Tommy, listening to her belly growl. She hadn’t eaten anything today but at least they would have money to get to the White Ranch tomorrow. She’d stock up fresh water for the horse and some food for them to take along.
She had to be realistic, it was her duty as a mother to make sure her son was safe. This was no life for a child, to wander the streets of a city with her to find work. No one wanted her here. Not a divorced woman. She was shunned the moment she allowed the courts to call her a whore. Abigail had known she’d be treated badly, it must’ve been why she had made Melody promise to return to the ranch.
Melody felt like a failure. As a wife, a mother and provider.
She fell asleep with a heavy heart. Curling an arm around her son, she vowed to make a better life for them, somehow, some way. Even if she wasn’t able to see what the future would bring.
All she knew was she had to try.
Chapter 3
Adam sat on the grassy bank staring at the trickling water flowing downstream in the creek. His two brothers, Luke and Samuel, sat close by. Samuel was spread out on his back, watching a butterfly land on a tree limb while Luke sat with elbows on knees, breathing heavy as if he had wrestled more than the rest of them. The three of them always seemed to wind up in a wrestling match at any known time. It had become a habit since childhood.
Adam rubbed his jaw, the dark stubble of a beard beginning on his chin. He hated shaving but did so for Sunday church meetings.
It was one request his Ma always made so Adam obliged. He loved his mother more than anyone or anything. She had raised him and his two brothers after their Pa had died over ten years ago.
“A penny for your thoughts?” Luke, the oldest, asked, grinning.
Adam shrugged, picking up a piece of grass to place between his teeth. “You always say that. I was thinking about Ma and how we’ve kept this secret from her for the last ten years or so.”
Luke nodded. “A secret that will never be spoken aloud. I know sometimes my wife is suspicious there is something going on between the Youngs and our ranch, but I can usually avert her questions. She is so close to Ma, I’m afraid if I told her she would not be able to keep it to herself. I can’t afford to upset Ma.”
“More like devastate her. Thanks for not telling Abigail, Luke. I guess it’s my turn now to bring home a wife. The cabin is almost ready for a bride.” Adam stared hard at the landscape beyond the creek. The thought of getting married didn’t make him happy, it saddened him because the one he truly wanted belonged to someone else.
Samuel’s laughter was meant
to tease his brother. “Adam’s getting married!”
“Shut up, Samuel. You’ll be the next one!”
“I don’t want to ever get married. Ma can try all she wants but I’m staying right here enjoying my life on the ranch without a crazy woman to follow me around day and night.”
Luke grinned. “You may find it’s not so crazy after all. Especially when you have someone to sit on the porch watching the sunset at night, or making sure you’re well fed before leaving for work.”
Samuel laughed again, a little louder. “You are crazy! I’ve got that right now! Why, Ma makes the best breakfast in the whole land! And for the porch sitting, you can forget that, I’d rather be sitting on a bale of hay in the barn playing a game of poker with the men.”
Adam grinned. “He got you there, Luke.”
Luke sighed. “It ain’t the same. Adam, you’ll find out soon enough. Ma just received a letter the other day about your new bride. Did she give it to you yet.”
“Yeah, she did but I haven’t read it.”
Luke frowned. “Well, what are you waiting for? Read it and get prepared. Your cabin will be done by this weekend at the latest. You better find out when your supposed to get to Wichita Falls to meet her on the train if she’s coming the way my bride did.”
When his Ma offered him a parcel of land to build a cabin for his new mail-order bride she ordered, Adam knew it was a matter of time before the deal was sealed. He did agree to have a mail order bride, solely for the fact he knew it was time to settle down. Watching Luke these last few months made him realize he wanted more from life than to ranch. He wanted a woman by his side, someone to spend late nights with star gazing or taking long walks hand in hand.
Adam longed for the days when his best friend would spend the summer. Melody. Sweet Melody. She was everything he had wanted in a woman, in a bride. Sadly, she belonged to someone else.
Not being able to ever claim Melody as his bride made Adam realize he may as well settle for a mail order bride that his Ma had picked out. If he wasn’t able to be with Melody, he guessed a second choice would have to work. He hated to think that way but Melody was the only woman he had ever wanted as a wife.
She had the sweet laugh of an angel. Placing his arms across his knees, Adam heard in his mind her zealous laugh when they would ride, how her hair was set free and the long auburn waves tumbled down her back. She’d push them up under her hat when they got back to the ranch but she loved riding astride, racing over the meadows and through the valleys, claiming she felt as free as the wind here on the prairie.
He knew his Ma rode like the dickens too, so she really wasn’t ever able to reprimand Melody. Even her parents had chosen to let her be free during the summers she spent on the ranch. He flat out missed her. The last five years had been so dull except for the times she came to visit Rusty.
She had showed up one time after she had married that rich city lawyer, her belly so big he had made a point to follow her around in case she tired out. He remembered wishing it was his child. After Tommy was born they came to visit and he held her son in his arms. The boy cooed and Adam wished he had fathered the baby.
Later, after Tommy learned to walk, Melody often showed up because her husband was in the city working and she wanted to teach her son what life was like on a ranch. Adam pretended she came to visit him. Except he had to accept the fact she was a happily married woman. But a man could dream.
Melody lived a half hour away in a small town called Cooper’s Ridge. It was a slow growing town but nothing like the city of Dallas.
Melody and Tommy would stay at the ranch now and again since her husband was working on becoming a partner at a law firm in the city and was never home. But then he always showed up at the ranch to fetch her, to whisking her back home to Cooper’s Ridge for a weekend jaunt until he headed back to the city, leaving her alone once again.
Adam had to put her out of his head. She was married and happy. Her life now was in the big city of Dallas where she had finally moved to. It was a far cry from ranch life. She had come back once for Luke and Abigail’s wedding reception, without her husband. Melody had been too quiet and he wondered if something was wrong. But before he got a chance to talk to her, she was gone. He remembered how his heart dropped to the ground when he found out she left without saying goodbye, something she never failed to do before. It made Adam realize he wasn’t an important part of her life any more.
“You still thinking of Melody?” Luke asked, trying to keep his voice low so Samuel didn’t hear. It had only been a few weeks since he saw her last. It was eerie how his older brother read his mind at times.
“I can hear you, even though you don’t think I can.” Samuel sat up, scooting closer to the others.
“I don’t want you making a joke of this,” Luke told the youngest brother. “Adam cares a lot for Melody.”
The three sat along the bank, quiet for some time. Adam was glad Samuel stayed silent and didn’t crack any more jokes. Luke was right. He cared way too much for Melody to have Samuel or anyone make a mockery of his feelings.
Even so, it was time to move on. No sense wishing for something he’d never have. She was simply out of reach. “I think it’d be best if I went ahead and got hitched. I’ll read the letter later tonight.”
Samuel tried to lighten the mood. He was the joker of the three. “Come on, Adam, read it out loud so we can all have a good laugh!”
Adam turned. He pounced on his youngest brother and before long the three were back to wrestling for the next half hour. After all, they still had time until the fences on the lower end had to be checked.
<><>
Adam stared at himself in the small square mirror above the three drawer night stand in his room. He rubbed his jaw, wondering if he would continue to shave each week or let himself grow a beard like some of the farmers did. He grinned. It didn’t much matter either way. He guessed once he got hitched, his wife would demand he be clean shaven to go to church, too.
If he were to be honest with himself, Adam didn’t really care either way. If he had to marry a mail order bride, then he’d conform to whatever she wanted. He’d try to make her happy, even though she would never get his heart. It already belonged to someone else.
Adam sat on the edge of the bed unable to get her out of his head. He still wondered what Melody was doing now. Was she serving her husband dinner, laughing and teasing like she had done here whenever her and Tommy came to the ranch? Did she look up at him like she did Adam, her beautiful eyes filled with laughter and sunshine?
He shook himself. Enough of this torture! It didn’t do him any good to rehash the past. Melody was happy right where she was, in the arms of another man. Adam swiped the back pocket of his pants, pulling the letter out.
Dear Mr. White,
I’ve just received word from matchmaker extraordinaire Miss Addie of Wichita Falls that you would be honored to choose me as your mail order bride. According to the rules and regulations bestowed upon me, I am told we are to be married immediately upon my arrival in Wichita Falls. I’ve read the contract and agree to the clause where we have three months to annul the marriage if, and excuse my boldness, we do not consummate the marriage.
My dear husband to be, I can safely say when we become married, I have no intention of any type of annulment on my end. I will be happy to stay married to you for life because my vows I take seriously. I am a lady, I assure you, just very forward and modern. I’m sure once you get to know me, you will ascertain the same thing. It is my understanding you are looking for a bride who will share life on the ranch with you. I will be honored to be that bride.
Yours truly,
Your future Mrs. White
Adam grinned. She sure was outspoken, although she never mentioned her name. Still, he rolled his eyes, folded the letter up and placed it on the top of the night stand. Adam stretched on his back, placing both hands behind his head. She wasn’t Melody, would never be like the woman who stole his heart.<
br />
But it was time he let go. He picked up the letter, taking out the photo and staring at it, but all he saw was Melody’s sweet face. He closed his eyes and still her beautiful face would not go away. If he could get through one night without seeing her in his mind, maybe he would be able to make a future with this mail order bride. Was it fair to keeping thinking of Melody when he should be dreaming of a future with his mail order bride? He needed to purge another man’s wife from his mind completely.
It was hours until Adam’s eyelids became heavy. He stared out the lone window for the longest time, watching a dark sky as it filtered the clusters of stars, making the night appear brighter than usual as a full moon peeked from behind the barn. Her face danced in his dreams that night, even though he swore he’d try to forget her.
Was he kidding himself? It felt as if he had loved her since forever.
<><>
Mr. Welch called from inside the barn, disturbing her sleep. “Miss, it’s morning, time to be on your way.”
Tommy groaned next to her, causing Melody to open her eyes. “I’m so sorry,” she cried out, sitting up so quickly it made her feel dizzy. She focused her eyes on Tommy, who still lay curled up, his little fists rubbing the sleep from his eyes.
“Mommy?”
‘I’m here, son. Time to get up.”
He hopped onto her lap for his usual morning hug. It didn’t seem to matter where he had spent the night as long as he woke up with his mother close by. His sleepy smile had Melody returning it with one of her own, even if there wasn’t much to smile about. “We must get moving, son.”
“Where are we going? I’m hungry?”
“We’ll eat after we load up our belongings.” She didn’t want to go back to the café where he had eaten the night before, not knowing how they would be treated. Some folks in this city were plain mean to a divorced woman. She wasn’t going to subject Tommy any longer.
