ROMANCE: MAIL ORDER BRIDE: The Other Man’s Baby (A Clean Christian Historical Western) (New Adult Inspirational Pregnancy Romance)

by Joyce Wright

  One last glance over my shoulder revealed that someone was in fact coming my way. For a moment I held my breath as I walked forward, thinking that maybe Walker had realized he had made a mistake. That hope quickly died as I realized the carriage heading my way was driven by a man of about 45 or 50 years old.

  “Need some help, ma’am?” The older man asked me.

  I stopped walking and looked from him to the town.

  “Are you heading to town?” I asked looking up at him where he was seated in the carriage.

  “I am, here hop in.” He said while standing and extending his hand to me so I could step on the carriage and take the seat next to him.

  “Franklin Carlisle at your service. I’m the doctor here in town.”

  “I’m Dahlia Lamb, a pleasure to make your acquaintance.”

  “Oh, Dahlia!” He said, his voice laced with recognition. “You and Walker, right?”

  I turned my head from our contact trying to figure out what exactly to say to that. My inability to come up with a good response resulted in me shaking my head no, the regret no doubt showing on my face.

  “Are you heading back to New York?”

  I paused for a moment at the amount of knowledge he obviously already had when it comes to me. As if knowing my thoughts he responded, “Sorry, small town.”

  “I was a little worried if Walker wasn’t rushing himself a bit too much, with it not being long since Victoria’s death.”

  “Victoria?” I questioned.

  “Well yes…” He paused.

  “He didn’t tell you about Victoria?” The disbelief showing on his face.

  I shook my head hoping he would continue.

  “Well, Victoria was his wife, she died about 6 months ago. She was giving birth to their first but the baby was just too early and there were complications. He lost both Victoria and the baby.

  My face dropped. I had no idea Walker had been through anything like that.

  “Come to think of it, you and her look a whole lot alike. You two could be sisters.”

  My mind immediately turned to the moment when I stepped off the train and the look he gave me which I took as disappointment. Could it have been more than that? Did he turn me away because I looked like his deceased wife?

  “Well I tell you what. I could use some help in my practice and being a widower myself, I could take you in and care for you. Being a woman without means in this part will land you in a great deal of trouble rather quickly. You think it over.” He said as he patted me on my knee.

  Chapter 5:

  The weeks that followed were not without tribulation. The good doctor was well respected within the town and he was quick to shower me with gifts and new dresses. He was also a bit quick to paint himself as my savior and had commented to some about taking me in after Walker had turned me away. What he was saying was not altogether untrue. He had taken me in after I was left without means but I couldn’t really blame Walker for his decision. I couldn’t begin to understand what he had gone through but I did not understand why he wouldn’t have mentioned it to me.

  I also missed a certain connection I felt towards Walker, one that I didn’t appear to have with Franklin. I knew that marrying him was what was best for my family, and he certainly provided a level of security I knew I needed. When he would touch me though, I felt more of a sickening feeling instead of one of lust. There was nothing really based on that feeling though. He was a good man who had helped me and taken me in when I had nowhere else to go. But his advances were unwanted, especially since we were not set to marry for another few weeks.

  I walked the streets of the city picking up items for the week. It was when I stopped in the bakery that I ran into Shirley Peters, who the town proclaimed to be loose at the lips. She was a large woman of both mouth and stature and you could see the mischief in her eyes when she started to speak.

  “Well Dahlia! I don’t believe I’ve made your acquaintance.” She beamed while holding out her hand as if I was supposed to kiss it.

  “I’m Shirley Peters, the Sheriff’s wife.” She said while shifting her load of packages.

  “Pleasure to meet you, ma’am.”

  “Now whatever did happen between you and Walker?” Her face showing insincere sympathy.

  I heard the woman across the bakery scoff as if picking up on that same insincerity, while Shirley just rolled her eyes obviously having not missed that response.

  “I knew that man was no good. Any man that will bring a woman all the way from New York just to throw her into the streets… My poor dear. Thank goodness for the good doctor, taking in someone like you after such a to-do.”

  My eyes no doubt giving away my shock at her words I managed to say nothing. If there is one thing I have learned is that being on the wrong side of the law is never a good decision. Even if it was the Sheriff’s mouthy wife it would most likely serve me better to keep my words from the air.

  “Alright Shirley, one pound cake.” The baker said interrupting our conversation.

  “Well then I guess I should be getting along.” She said while accepting her package from the baker.

  “I’m sure we shall meet again.” She said with her fake condescending smile.

  I continued to scan the items from behind the case when the woman from the back of the store made her way to me.

  “Don’t you listen to her. Everyone knows that woman puts her mouth to more use than half the town combined. And I don’t just mean with pound cake!”

  I laughed at her words and introduced myself.

  “Dahlia Lamb.” I smiled.

  “Margaret Long, but please, call me Maggie.” She said while returning my smile.

  “You may not care to hear this, but I know Walker and he is a fine man. Losing your wife and child will turn the best of men cold. I thought maybe having a wife and a new start would do him some good, but I’ll admit I was a bit surprised to see the resemblance the two of you share… or shared.” She shook her head correcting herself.

  “He never told me he lost his wife, I only heard of it from the doctor.” I explained

  “Oh my, that won’t work at all. What is it with men?” She asked, bringing the smile back to my face.

  “Well if you ask me, which of course you didn’t, I think he just needed a little more time to figure himself out. The two of you would have made a fine couple. And to think, all those kind things he was saying about you since having you on the ranch.”

  Maggie was the type of woman I could spend a lot of time talking to. She was honest, funny and didn’t seem like the type of woman to take much of the false pleasantries from the mouths of women like the sheriff's wife. But to say that her words did not affect me would have been a lie. I had thought that my mind had wandered when I felt a connection between myself and Walker. I had wanted to ask Maggie what she had meant when she said he was speaking of me, but what good would that have done me? Walker was only a small chapter of my life that had already been closed.

  Chapter 6:

  That night I prepared dinner for Dr. Carlisle and cleaned up around the house. I had hoped he would make good on his offer to allow me to help out with the patients he sees but he quickly had changed his tone letting me know I was only needed at home and not at his practice. Cooking for Dr. Carlisle has been not without tribulation and I am finding myself trying harder and harder for some sign of approval from him.

  “Was everything to your liking?” I asked as I cleared the dishes from the table.

  “Not bad.” He said rubbing his now enlarged stomach.

  When I returned to the table to finish clearing the dishes he grabbed onto my arm stopping me from my task.

  “You know, Dahlia, you really are a pretty little thing.” He said as his fingers traced up my arm and then stopped on my waist. Easily overpowering me he spread his legs in his seated position to allow my body to slide plush against his.

  I wanted so badly to not feel the way I felt in that moment. I wanted to feel the b
utterflies I felt when I was with Walker and our skin accidently touched. I wanted to feel want or lust, or anything, anything other than the fear that presently coursed through my veins. It was not a fear of being harmed, but a fear of knowing that this is what my life would feel like for the rest of my days.

  I tried again to pull away from Dr. Carlisle as his hand started to roam up my waist and to my bust.

  “Now Doctor, we aren’t married yet!” I said in a teasing manner but prayed he would take the hint and back off.

  He dropped his hands suddenly.

  “You know what, girl? You’re lucky I took you in. I see why the rancher sent you away.”

  I stood there shocked at his words. It scared me a bit how quickly his tone and mannerisms could change. Before I could react to his words he stood from the table and retired to bed.

  Chapter 7:

  I awoke the next morning conflicted. I had come to Texas to help my family with the only sort of monetary help I was able to provide. I entered into my situation knowing that it would not be easy and it was foolish to believe that I would find a forever type of happy for myself when I entered into a mail-order marriage. I was in fact lucky that the doctor took me in after the rancher sent me away and I had better make sure I keep the doctor happy so I don’t end up on the next train back to New York. Sure, I was settling for a little less in my life than I wanted but I was willing to make that sacrifice for my family. With my new sense about me I put together a lunch for the good doctor and would be taking it to his practice in hopes that he had forgiven my block of his advances last night. I dressed in one of my new dresses he had purchased for me and happily made my way through the streets of our fine city. The sun shone brightly and the heat immediately made me think of Walker working on his ranch. Immediately I shook my head as if to physically block those thoughts from my mind.

  Turning the corner towards Dr. Carlisle’s office I wasn’t paying enough attention and ran smack dab into the chest of a passerby.

  “I’m so sorry!” I said, immediately crouching to pick up the lunch I was carrying for Dr. Carlisle that now littered the road.

  “Dahlia please, it was certainly my fault.”

  I knew his voice before our eyes met, it was Walker. He crouched next to me and helped me pick up the items from the ground and somehow I wanted to stay in that moment; afraid to face him and the words that would come from my mouth.

  We stood in a brief awkward silence and so many words passed through my mind I couldn’t determine what the right ones were to say.

  “I’m sorry, there’s so much I need to say.” He started.

  His face looked full of regret and I knew if continued I would be lost in him. If he said he had made a mistake and wanted me back I would be crushed; there was no turning back from this decision. If he said that he was sorry but had made the right decision, I would still be crushed just for different reasons. I made the decision quite quickly that not knowing what he would say next was the best decision.

  “I made a m…”

  “It all worked out for the best regardless.” I interrupted while giving him the fakest of smiles.

  His face fell immediately upon my words and part of me, a very big part, wanted to take them back.

  “I’m glad you have found your way, Dahlia Lamb. Truly I am.” With that he tipped his hat and went on his way.

  In that moment my mouth went dry, all the moisture in my body finding their way to my eyes as I blinked away the tears I wanted so badly to let fall. I had not prepared myself for seeing him again and while I knew it would be hard I didn’t expect to feel such an overwhelming sense of loss. I blinked away the tears and took a moment to collect myself before I continued to walk the short distance to Dr. Carlisle’s office.

  Chapter 8:

  I walked into the small two room office to find it empty. Being that it was lunchtime I didn’t expect the doctor to be seeing any patients and walked into his office/ exam room without knocking. Much to my shock I found the doctor, his pants down around his ankles and a woman. I couldn’t have determined who the woman was if I had tried. I covered my mouth with my hand when an audible gasp escaped my lips.

  He turned his head just enough to take in the site of me, but didn’t stop. I immediately ran from the office.

  The tears that had been lying behind my eyes even prior to seeing the doctor now streamed down my face with a relentless pace. It occurred to me in that moment that I truly had nowhere to go and no one to lean on. Maggie was a friend but I barely knew her. What I really wanted was to go back to Walker and tell him I had lied, but I didn’t even know if he wanted me back. Maybe it was my fault for not giving into the doctor last night, but what left the biggest impression on me was the fact that no regret or fear and shown on his face when I had caught him there with God knows who. I eventually found my way back home and truly wanted to be anywhere else in that moment. When the doctor came home he didn’t mention anything of what had occurred earlier in the day. His attitude was so nonchalant that it actually made me question for a moment if I had seen what I thought I had seen.

  When we laid down to go to sleep that night his words let me know that everything was exactly how I had seen it when he let me know that from this moment on I was never to bring myself unannounced to his office. He also said in so many words that what a man did when his wife was not around was his business, and his alone. He was openly telling me he would lay down with another woman after we were married and I had no say in this? I didn’t realize that when I signed up to be a mail order bride that I was signing myself up for a life of unhappiness. How had I gotten to this point and how was I supposed to continue on knowing what I now knew? I tried to sleep that night and what disturbed me was the reason behind my inability to sleep had nothing to do with a feeling of sadness about what Dr. Carlisle was doing. Despite my best intentions I felt no romantic feelings for him and the hope I had been holding on to that those feelings would grow, was now entirely diminished. What bothered me more than anything was something I had seen when I walked in that room and found him with that woman. Like a dream you cannot quite place, I saw something on the wrist of the woman who was laying across his desk that looked so familiar to me, yet I wasn’t able to place it. I had to keep reminding myself to focus on that, instead of thinking about my encounter earlier that day with Walker.

  Chapter 9:

  The next day I continued my usual routine of cleaning, shopping and cooking. I wasn’t really sure how I was supposed to respond to such a situation with my soon to be husband so until I figured it out I decided to go through the motions. My weekly stop at the bakery unfortunately resulted in me running into the same ill mannered Sheriff’s wife and I did my best to steer clear of her as much as possible. I looked over the display case with far more intensity than necessary in hopes that she would not want to disturb me.

  “Oh Dahlia!” She exclaimed as if we were the best of friends reuniting after an extended period of time.

  “Mrs. Peters.” I responded a bit more coldly than intended.

  “How are you?” Her voice held so much sympathy you would have thought I’d just buried my entire family.

  “Quite well, thank you.”

  “That’s right sweetie, you just put on a brave face.” She said while her arm extended to pat me on my shoulder.

  My eyes nearly leapt from my face as I took in the sight of her bracelet. That same blue topaz and pearl piece I’d seen dangling from the wrist of the woman that was with the doctor. Honestly the piece was quite ugly but it was also rare, and judging by the recognition now showing on her face she was the one I’d walked in on.

  “Excuse me.” I said while setting my things down on a random shelf and walking out of the bakery.

  I had absolutely no idea what to do with this information. If the doctor turned me away I would have nowhere to go and no means of helping my family back home. My fear for my family was the only thing keeping me in the presence and good graces of the doct
or.

  I returned home early that day just in an attempt to clear my head a bit. I was surprised when the doctor arrived home earlier than normal.

  “Good afternoon, what brings you here so early today?” I said in greeting.

  “I thought I made myself pretty clear last night that you were not to meddle.” His words became more venomous as he walked aggressively towards me. I backed up until I bumped into the kitchen table and then backed myself into the chair taking a seat.

  “What do you mean?” I asked.

  Without a response the doctor brought his hand to his shoulder and swung with all of his force hitting my face with the back of his hand. As soon as his hand made contact I flew backwards in my chair landing on the floor stunned.

  “You say anything to anyone, you so much as mention my business to others… and you won’t be around to tell about it.”

  With that he left the house. I allowed myself only a few minutes of shock before I got up and attempted to right my kitchen. I picked up the items that had fallen from the table and glanced at myself in the mirror. The entire right side of my face had already begun to swell and the red imprint was turning different shades of green and blue.