Daisy (Suitors of Seattle)

by Osbourne, Kirsten

  Amaryllis smiled. “Iris is going to mind him while I work.”

  Daisy raised an eyebrow at that. “Iris? You trust her with Amos?”

  “She’s fabulous with him. She’s fourteen now, so she’s old enough, and he likes her better than me even. I think if he didn’t need me to eat, he’d want to spend all his time with his Auntie Iris.”

  “I guess that shouldn’t surprise me. She was always good with animals. I can see where it would carry over to people. Has she given up on wanting to be a doctor yet?” Daisy fervently hoped she hadn’t. Her little sister would make the best doctor in the whole world.

  Amaryllis laughed and shook her head. “All of your talk about women’s rights made her believe she could do anything. She said she can’t settle for being a nurse. You’d be disappointed in her.”

  Daisy laughed. “How could anyone be disappointed in Iris?”

  Mary stood up, pressing a kiss to little Amos’s forehead. “We need to get our travelers home, but I knew you two would want to see each other as soon as possible.” She handed the baby to Amaryllis. “You’ll come on Saturday night?”

  “I wouldn’t miss it.” Amaryllis immediately started swaying softly with the baby in her arms.

  “What’s Saturday night?” Daisy asked.

  “We’re having all your sisters and your aunt and uncle and the Higgins over because you’re here.”

  Daisy sighed. “You didn’t have to do that for me.” She’d hoped to go around visiting everyone instead of having a big crowd of people around her all at once. She didn’t enjoy crowds much, and from what she’d seen of Eli, he didn’t either. She gave in, though, because it was easier than fighting over something so unimportant.

  Mary hugged Daisy. “I wanted to do that for you. You’re my daughter.”

  “Thank you, Mama.” Daisy knew the answer was the right one, but it wasn’t what she wanted to say. She looked at Amaryllis. “I’ll see you on Saturday night if not before.”

  “Oh, you’d better see me before!” Amaryllis grinned at her sister while cradling the baby. “We have so much to talk about.” She didn’t add that there wasn’t enough time to say it all, but she knew Daisy would understand.

  Fred looked over at Eli. “Those two girls could go to the same party and come home and talk for hours and hours about their experiences there. It didn’t matter that they’d been at the same place and seen the same exact things. No, they had to discuss everything and everyone in minute detail.”

  Eli helped Daisy into the back of the buggy. “Don’t jump down like that without my help again. I don’t want you hurting yourself or the baby.”

  Daisy smiled as she rested her head on Eli’s shoulder. “I’m all right, Papa.”

  Eli threaded his fingers through hers as he watched out the side of the buggy. Everything was so different here than back home. He wasn’t used to living in a city at all and couldn’t help but wonder how she’d adjusted so easily to country life. His early years in New York didn’t really count for him. New York had been very different than Seattle.

  The house Fred pulled up in front of this time was even grander than what Eli had expected. He’d known she’d come from wealth, but the extreme wealth he was seeing was shocking to him. He helped her down and grabbed two of the carpet bags from under the seat. Fred grabbed the other two while Mary led the way to the house.

  When the door opened four girls came pouring out the front of the house. Three of them were crying when they saw Daisy and throwing themselves at their older sister while the fourth, Jasmine, stood to the side. She nodded at Eli. “So, having a baby, are you?”

  Eli nodded. “Looks that way.”

  “Works for me. I love being an aunt. I get to give the kids noisy toys and then send them home with their parents.” Jasmine grinned, her eyes full of mischief.

  Eli watched his sister-in-law for a moment. Daisy had said she was a “demented nincompoop” and he’d seen her ask inappropriate questions, but he hadn’t seen the behavior Daisy had said Jasmine was capable of. He hoped he never did.

  When they went into the house, Daisy turned to Iris. “Where does Mama want us?”

  Iris led the way up the stairs. “She put you in your old room. Jasmine and Hyacinth are sharing while you’re here.”

  Daisy chuckled. “Poor Hyacinth.”

  “No kidding. I don’t know how she puts up with Jasmine.”

  “She’s just a better person than the rest of us, I guess.” Daisy walked into her old bedroom and sat on the edge of the bed. She was tired after the long trip, and she wondered if anyone would be offended if she took a quick nap.

  Iris sat beside her. “How are you feeling?”

  Daisy smiled. “Sleepy. I barely know I’m expecting, but Eli keeps watching me like he’s waiting for my head to break open any second.”

  Iris giggled. “At least you know he cares.” She squeezed her older sister’s hand. “I’m glad you found a good man.”

  “He is a good man.” Daisy stretched. “I’m tired. That trip really drained my energy.”

  Iris eyes her a little worriedly. “Baby’s fine, though?”

  “He’s kicking constantly.” Her hand went automatically to her stomach, and she rubbed the small mound.

  Iris stood and went to the door. “You sleep then. I’ll let everyone know that you needed to rest.”

  Daisy sighed, nodding. She didn’t want to frighten Eli by taking a nap, but she truly couldn’t keep her eyes open for another minute. “Just tell Eli I didn’t sleep well on the train, but I feel great.” She frowned. “He’ll worry.”

  Iris smiled at her sister as she curled onto her side. She left the room quietly, closing the door behind her.

  *****

  Eli was starting up the stairs with their bags when he saw Iris shut the door at the top of the stairs and come down. “Daisy’s going to take a nap. She said she didn’t sleep well on the train.”

  “Is she okay?”

  Iris grinned. “She’s the picture of health. She seems to be really happy.” She eyed him as if she were sizing him up.

  Eli turned and went back down the stairs. “Where should I put these then?” he asked about the bags in his hands.

  “Put them in Papa’s study. He won’t mind, and Mama will complain that you’re messing up the house if you put them anywhere else.”

  Iris indicated a door just inside the front door. “Through there.”

  Eli knocked cautiously and set the bags into the room when there was no response. He had no idea what to do with himself while his wife slept. “You’re Iris, right?”

  “Yes, I’m the baby.” She made a face. “Always the afterthought.”

  Eli laughed. “Daisy has said nice things about you. You’re one of her favorites.”

  “Really? Tell me, does she have six favorites, and one not so favorite?” Her eyes sparkled with laughter.

  “I guess all of you feel the same way about the last sister?” Eli found the young girl’s smile infectious. He’d never had a sibling, but he’d take this one home with him if he could.

  “Well, everyone but Jasmine, of course.”

  Eli laughed at that. “So where should I go while Daisy is sleeping?” he asked, suddenly feeling comfortable with this sister of Daisy’s.

  “We can go into the parlor and sit and talk to Mama and act all proper or we can go out to the garden, and I’ll show you the tree where Lily was sitting on a branch when she threw her shoe at her husband.”

  Eli held his arm out for his sister-in-law wanting to hear all the stories she had to tell. Daisy hadn’t exactly hidden her life from him, but he had a feeling he’d get truthful answers from the young girl beside him.

  Iris gripped his arm, and they went out to the back garden where she told the story of how Lily had thrown her shoe at Rose and had missed hitting Daniel instead. He’d laughed out loud when she told him about how Lily had fallen out of the tree on top of him.

  “And Daisy? Did she hav
e a lot of beaux that she brought out here?” He found himself very jealous of any man Daisy had ever so much as taken a walk with.

  Iris gave him a look of surprise. “Daisy? Beaux? She’s always been so shy. I’m sure that’s why she went to Aunt Harriett and asked to be a mail order bride.”

  Eli hadn’t thought about that before. He just knew he was married to an amazing young lady. Why she’d chosen to give up her comfortable life and travel so far to marry was beyond him. “Why didn’t she just wait to meet someone at church or something?”

  Iris sighed. “Mama thinks that we need to marry as soon as we turn eighteen. I don’t know why, because I think it’s ridiculous, and I’m not going to marry before I finish medical school. Daisy was eighteen and a half before she got fed up with Mama and went to talk to Aunt Harriett.”

  “What does that have to do with anything?”

  “Well, Mama kept pushing Daisy telling her she should marry, and finally Daisy went to Aunt Harriett’s house and told her to make her a match. She wanted a man who would be good to her and hopefully love her one day, but more than anything, she wanted Mama to stop nagging her.”

  Eli frowned. “So she didn’t want to marry?”

  “Oh, I think she wanted to marry. She just didn’t want to have to go through the process of courting and finding someone to marry. It was too hard for her to talk to men.”

  He hadn’t noticed an overwhelming shyness about Daisy, but of course, he’d seen her and kissed her immediately. She’d been a bit shy, but she’d warmed up to him immediately. He wondered if things would have been different if he hadn’t grabbed her from the train platform and kissed her the way he had. “She misses everyone here.”

  Iris nodded. “We’ve always been a tight-knit family. It’s strange to know that I can’t just walk across town and talk to her like I can my other sisters.”

  “I think she should stay here until the baby is born.” Eli blurted the words out without thinking.

  “Why? She looks healthy. Is there something wrong that we don’t know about?” Iris looked at him in confusion. “She seems so happy with you. It’s like she’s finally Daisy in her own right and not just one of the flowers anymore.”

  Daisy had mentioned to him that she hated being just one of the flowers. Now that he’d seen her home in Seattle and met more of her sisters, he thought he understood. “Both the midwife and the doctor say that she’s fine, but I’d like her to get checked out while she’s here. I don’t want anything to happen to her.”

  Iris looked at him in surprise. “She said you were really worried. What do you think’s going to happen?”

  He shrugged. “I’m probably being silly, but I’m afraid she’s going to die in childbirth.”

  “Why do you think that?” Iris’s voice was calm and intelligent. She wasn’t telling him he was being silly, she was just trying to reason with him about his fears.

  “I don’t know. I knew a lot of boys who lost their mother that way when I was a kid.”

  “Daisy’s healthy and strong. I guess it’s possible, but I don’t think it’s anything you need to spend a lot of time worrying over.”

  “She works so hard. She has a garden, and she cooks and cleans and…I just wish she’d slow down a little. It can’t be good for her to work that hard while she’s expecting.”

  Iris studied him for a moment. “Well, you know I want to be a doctor, right?” At his nod, she continued. “I’ve been reading a lot about women and what they should do while they’re expecting. It seems that new studies are showing that the more active a woman is, and the harder she works during her pregnancy, the easier childbirth is for her.”

  Eli shook his head. “That makes no sense to me at all.”

  Iris shrugged. “It’s almost like a woman is in training for childbirth. If you were training a horse for a race, would you make him rest for nine months or would you have him exercise every day?”

  “I’d have him exercise, but I’m not training a horse. I’m hoping my wife doesn’t die!”

  “It’s really the same concept. She can’t just rest for nine months. She needs to be on her feet and moving like she always is.” Iris was watching him earnestly as she spoke. “Would you like to borrow my medical journal about it?”

  Eli raised an eyebrow. “How old are you?”

  “Fourteen.”

  “Why do you have medical journals?”

  Iris grinned. “Because my sister is the town librarian.” Her eyes twinkled as she said the words.

  Eli followed her reasoning, which frightened him a bit. “I see.” He thought about it for a moment. “No, I don’t want to read your medical journal. I do want Daisy to go to the doctor while we’re in Seattle for another opinion, though.”

  Iris shrugged. “You’re wasting time and money, but if it makes you happy, I’m certain the doctor will see you.” She led him toward the back of the garden to the bench in the middle of her section. The English irises were blooming all around them. “This is my section of the garden.”

  “It’s pretty here.” Eli sighed. “I wish I could be certain she’d be okay. Do you think she’ll stay here until after the baby’s born?”

  “No, I don’t. Why would she? If she’s happy with you then she’ll want to stay with you, not come back to Seattle where she wasn’t happy at all.”

  “Why was she unhappy here?” Eli didn’t understand what was better for her in Montana. He wanted to, though.

  Iris thought hard about the question. “She just never felt like she was an individual. She’s in a family with really strong personalities. She and Hyacinth both kind of fade into the background.”

  Eli frowned. “But she’s smart and good and caring!”

  “She’s a young woman with seven sisters who all have flower names. I’m the youngest, and everyone knows me as the one who thinks she can be a doctor. Rose is the oldest who all the boys wanted to court. Lily is the tomboy. Amaryllis is the bookworm. Jasmine is the joker. Violet is the artist. Daisy…she’s the shy one. And Hyacinth? How do I describe Hyacinth? She’s not shy, but she doesn’t talk much. It’s like she spends all her time living in her own head.”

  “I think I understand.”

  “Seattle will be a place Daisy wants to visit, because she loves all of us, but she won’t want to move back here. Not even temporarily. She’s happier in Montana, where she’s Daisy, Eli’s wife, soon to be mother. She’s a person in her own right.”

  Eli looked at the young woman beside him. She showed a lot of insight for a fourteen year old girl. “Thank you.”

  Iris shrugged. “No thanks necessary. Just make my sister happy.” She stood up and stretched. “I’m going to head back to the house. You’re welcome to sit out here or come into the parlor where the family will be.”

  Eli nodded, still thinking about her words. “I’m going to sit out here a little longer.” He looked around the garden. It was huge. It seemed to be laid out in little sections. He could see that each section had a different flower. Iris had called this her section. A grin crossed his lips as he saw the Irises in bloom. Yes, each daughter had her own section of the garden.

  It wasn’t long before Mary came out and joined him on the bench. He looked at his mother-in-law warily, wondering if she was going to insist he not sleep in a bed with Daisy in her home. She’d been so domineering in Montana, and he kept waiting for her to act the same now that they were in Seattle.

  “Daisy seems very happy,” Mary said.

  Eli nodded. “I feel like we have a good life together.” He wondered if he should mention his concerns about her pregnancy. “I’m worried about how hard she works, though, especially now that she’s expecting.”

  “I am too. Would you object to her seeing our family doctor while you’re here in town?”

  “Not at all. I was hoping to set that up.” He couldn’t believe he was actually agreeing with his mother-in-law about something. He’d never expected that to happen.

  Mary smiled. �
��Good. We’ll see what he recommends. At the very least, I’m going to send one of her sisters back with you to do the hard work until the baby is born.”

  Eli hadn’t thought about that. “One of her sisters? You’d let one of them go?” He loved the idea of having someone there to help her.

  “Of course, as long as I knew two would be together taking care of each other. I have no problem with that.” She leaned back, glad to have found that her son in law went along with her thinking. “It’ll have to be Jasmine. The others are still in school.”

  Eli made a face. Daisy wasn’t exactly fond of Jasmine. Would the younger girl cause problems? He didn’t care. If she would come and help with the heavier work on the ranch, then she was more than welcome.

  “That sounds wonderful. Thank you.”

  *****

  Daisy woke up to the sound of the bedroom door opening, and she rolled to her side and peered at Jasmine. Why would she wake her? Her voice was slurred as she asked, “Huh?” She rubbed her eyes.

  Jasmine sat on the edge of Daisy’s bed and hugged her sister. “I always thought you didn’t like me as much as the others. Mama told me I’m going home with you. I’m so excited!”

  Daisy blinked rapidly. Jasmine thinks she’s going home with me? What? “You are?” What happened while I was sleeping? Is this one of Jasmine’s tricks?

  “I am. I liked Montana for the short time we were there, but more than that, I like knowing that I’m the sister you want to take back with you.” Jasmine hugged Daisy again before rushing out of the room.

  Daisy sat with her back against the headboard and stared at the closed door. What had just happened?

  *****

  Daisy touched up her hair and went down the stairs to find Eli sitting with her younger sisters and her mother in the parlor. She took a seat beside Eli on the couch, her eyes going to his to see if he knew anything about what had happened upstairs. He kept his gaze averted.

  She looked at her mother who was making some sort of list with Jasmine sitting beside her, while Hyacinth sat on the floor off to one side of the room, leaning against the wall dreamily, and Iris and Violet whispered to one another. “I think six work dresses will be enough for you. Do you have a good apron?” Mary asked Jasmine.