The Harvest Time Mail-Order Bride (Holiday Mail-Order Brides Book 14)

by Kit Morgan

  “I’m sure your brother wants to, son. But that ain’t the right way to take care of something like this. Benjamin’s already done what he can. Now let’s see if we can all do the same and not treat Charity any different than what we been doing. It took a lot of strength for her to tell us what happened.”

  “Yer right. I’ll hafta do somethin’ nice for her.”

  “You do that, son. I’m sure she’ll appreciate it.”

  Bella, silent all this time, watched Daniel leave the kitchen and head for the barn. “What will you do?” she finally asked.

  Ma folded her hands in front of her. “There’s nothing I can do, child, except love Charity the way I’ve been doing. She’s my daughter – I’m not going to love her any less because something bad happened to her. If anything, I’m going to love her more.”

  Bella’s mind reeled. Her family would have cast her out! “But she lie to your son.”

  “We don’t know what she did, and it’s for Benjamin and Charity to decide whether or not they want to tell us. The way I see it, Charity did what she thought she had to to protect herself and her child. Thank the Lord that boy of mine is honorable and willing to stick by her side and raise that baby no matter if it’s his or not. Wouldn’t you want Calvin to do the same for you?”

  Bella thought a moment. In her culture, it would be unheard of – the woman would be considered a complete disgrace to all. But she had to admit, if she were in Charity’s shoes, she would definitely want Calvin to show the same loyalty as his brother and see her through. What woman wouldn’t want a man like that? “Yes, I would.”

  “I know things are different where you come from, Bella, but in this family we stick together no matter what. Be kind to Charity, that’s all I’m asking you to do.”

  Bella nodded and tried to ignore the side of her that wanted to shun the girl for her disgrace. “I do my best.”

  “Good,” Ma told her. She got up and left the table.

  Bella sat and gazed out the window. Everything had been going so well up until now. How long would it take her to shake off the sudden feeling of trepidation? Alone in the kitchen, she got up and did the only thing she could think of to help get her mind off the situation.

  She rolled up her sleeves and started to cook.

  * * *

  By the time Samijo came to the house to prepare lunch, Bella had it well underway. “What are you making?” she asked.

  “Bread, zuppa … soup. It is all I could think of under the … under the …”

  “Circumstances?” said Samijo. “Yes, that was quite the news. Where’s Ma?”

  “She in sewing room making hats. I check on her once and bring her water, but she no want it.”

  “Thank you for doing that. I’m sure she’s still in a state of shock.”

  Bella nodded. “Where are twins?”

  “Charity offered to watch them while I make lunch, but it looks like you have everything under control.”

  Bella shrugged. “It just a little of this, a little of that. I can do better, but … I have trouble thinking after … after the news.”

  “Understandable,” Samijo stated and went to the stove. She picked up the coffee pot and shook it. “Maybe I better make a fresh pot in case anyone wants some. None of us usually do until after supper, but sometimes …”

  “You no upset?”

  “I’m surprised. Mostly surprised Arlan didn’t tell me. I guess he knew already.”

  “How long Charity been here?”

  “Long enough to know she’s going to have a baby if the incident that brought her here happened when I think it did.”

  “Could it be Benjamin’s?” Bella asked.

  “It could,” Samijo said with a sigh. “I guess none of us will know until later, if then.”

  Bella went to the stove and gave the soup a stir. What else did she expect her to say? Charity and Benjamin were married, after all – naturally they would have had relations. But she had to wonder – did Charity tell her husband about her predicament before or after? Her sense of right and wrong made her feel like giving the girl a tongue-lashing like some donna ole, old woman. But what good would that do?

  She’d have to work on putting herself in Charity’s shoes to keep from saying something she shouldn’t. It was none of her business. But the Weavers were her new family, so didn’t that make it her business to protect them?

  She stirred the pot again. Protect them from what? Charity was a nice girl and Bella liked her. But still …

  “I’ll set the table,” Samijo offered. “That bread smells good. Different. What did you do?”

  “Herbs. I put herbs in dough. That’s all.”

  “I’m looking forward to trying it. And the soup, what is it?”

  “My mama’s cabbage soup. I use cabbage brought from town and leftover bacon from breakfast. It go good with the bread.”

  “I can’t wait to try it. Thank you for cooking, Bella. I’ll check on Ma, then go fetch Charity.”

  Bella nodded, but didn’t say anything.

  “Unless you’d like to. That would give me a few minutes to make sure Ma’s recovered from the shock.”

  Bella looked up from the pot, her jaw tight. She wasn’t sure she was ready to face Charity. But why not? No one else in the family seemed to be having a problem with her. Not much, anyway. Why was she? “I can do that.”

  “Thank you. Besides, it will give you a chance to see the cabin – Charity can show it to you as well as I can.”

  Bella smiled and set the spoon on the worktable. She took off the apron she’d found earlier and hung it on a peg near the stove. “I go now.”

  “Thank you. I’ll make a pot of coffee and take some to Ma. The men won’t be in for a while yet.”

  Bella nodded, then went upstairs to fetch her shawl.

  When she came back down and went outside she realized she wasn’t quite sure how to get to Arlan and Samijo’s place. All she knew was that it sat on the other side of one of the orchards. But wasn’t there a field as well? Cutting through an orchard and a field was no problem, but which direction? She studied the orchards surrounding the barnyard and spotted a faint path through one of them. That had to be it.

  She took to the path and soon found herself surrounded by apple trees. She stopped a moment and took a breath of sweet fall air. Apples lay here and there, decaying or half-eaten by … whom? Deer, raccoons, foxes? She should ask Calvin what sort of wildlife frequented the farm and surrounding area. She hadn’t seen a lot of wild animals, not even during her journey west.

  She pushed the thought aside and continued through the orchard. She soon reached a field and spotted the cabin on the other side. It was much smaller than the farmhouse, and Bella wondered if Arlan and Samijo would have to add onto it when the twins got older.

  She reached the porch, knocked on the door, and Charity answered, one of the twins in her arms. “Oh, hello,” she said. “Does Samijo need help?”

  “No, she send me to get you.”

  “Already?”

  “I make lunch. It … all done.”

  “You did? How kind.” She spoke softly, as if trying not to say anything more to upset anyone.

  As well she should, Bella thought, then stiffened. Stop it! What if it were you?

  “Would you like to come in?” Charity asked. “I could use some help with the twins.”

  Bella gave her a single nod and stepped inside as Charity moved out of the doorway.

  The cabin was cozy and quaint, and Bella felt her heart pinch with envy. It must be nice for Samijo to have her own house to take care of. But then, what right did Bella have to compare her living situation to the other woman’s? That was a bad habit of her father’s – he was always comparing their hovel to someone else’s. But one shack was no better than the rest, unless you counted how many leaks were in the roof. Poor was poor, no matter how you sliced it.

  “If you carry Justin, I’ll bring Jason,” Charity said.

  “What
you want?” Bella asked.

  “I beg your pardon?”

  “What you want, a boy or girl?”

  Charity stood stock still and stared.

  “Baby. You want boy or girl?” Bella repeated.

  “I … hadn’t thought much about it yet. Whatever the good Lord gives us will be fine with me.”

  “I would want to give my husband a strong son. Men, they like sons.”

  Charity slowly nodded. “Some men, yes.”

  “What if Benjamin want a son?”

  Charity studied her a moment, then looked at the twins. “He hasn’t made a preference.”

  “Pref … ah-since?”

  “I mean, I don’t think it matters much to him.”

  “What if you have other man’s son?” The question was out before she could stop herself, and she cringed.

  Charity did too. She swallowed hard. “That remains to be seen. Now if you don’t mind, we should be getting along.”

  Bella stood a moment, unable to move. An apology was on the tip of her tongue – why couldn’t she get it out? She certainly owed her one for asking such a question. And why did she feel angry? What was wrong with her?

  Charity walked over to a cradle near the kitchen table. “He’s in here.”

  Bella followed and picked the baby up, blanket and all. She swallowed hard. “These are fine sons,” she said, still not able to say she was sorry. It was as if a part of her wanted to punish Charity. But why? What happened was between her and her husband. It had nothing to do with her.

  She was still puzzling over that when they left the cabin, and when they got back to the house, and all the way through lunch.

  Eleven

  Calvin watched Benjamin stab a pile of hay with a pitchfork. He brought up a good amount, walked to a nearby stall, tossed it in, and repeated the action until each stall had a portion. “So did ya even think about tellin’ me?”

  Benjamin sighed. “Look, it was something Charity and I have wrestled with this last couple of weeks.”

  “What’s there to fight with?”

  “Wrestle,” Benjamin corrected.

  “All right. wrestle. But what about it? Don’t ya trust me?”

  “We had to make sure, Calvin. Neither of us were sure she was with child until a week ago. Then we wanted to wait until the right time came along to tell Ma and the rest of ya.”

  Calvin picked at a bale of straw. He pulled out a piece and absently chewed on it. “Ma woulda busted a gut if ya’d kept it to yerselves much longer. The baby part, anyway. She coulda done without the other part.”

  Benjamin speared the pile of hay with the pitchfork and let it rest there. “We had to let her know. It’s better this way. No surprises.”

  “I’d say what ya said at breakfast was a surprise.”

  Benjamin sighed. “I did what I had to do and now it’s done. Everyone knows.”

  Calvin came away from the post he was leaning against to stand before his brother. “I still wish ya woulda told me. I’d’ve gone with ya.”

  “Gone with me where?”

  “To wherever it is that Pittman snake is. We could teach him a lesson or two.”

  “Yeah, then get ourselves arrested. That’s why I didn’t tell ya. Yer too much of a hot-head, Calvin – shoot first, ask questions later. Ya’d do well to keep it in check. Otherwise that pretty new wife of yers might get caught in the crossfire.”

  “Bella ain’t gonna get hurt. I wouldn’t let nothin’ happen to her.”

  “No? What about if’n you let something happen to you? Did ya ever stop to think about that?”

  Calvin stood, stunned. He hadn’t, actually. He was always too ready to jump into a fight and let his fists do the talking for him. How many times had he done just that over the years, with his brothers or someone else? Finally he nodded. “Marriage ain’t all that easy, is it?”

  “No. That’s for sure. Ya can count on it to be anything but.”

  “That ain’t real encouragin’,” Calvin complained.

  “It’s not meant to be. It’s meant to knock some sense into ya. Yer married now, we both are. Things hafta change around here if’n we’re gonna take care of our women.”

  Calvin stared at him in silence for a moment, then asked, “What’s it like?”

  “What?”

  “Knowin’ yer wife’s carryin’ another man’s child? Ain’t ya mad?”

  “Well, first of all, I don’t know that – it could still be mine. But course I’m mad – mad at the dog responsible. It ain’t Charity’s fault, Cal. No more than if it happened to Bella. Would you turn her away knowing what happened and knowing ya’d already been with her? Could ya?”

  Calvin’s brow furrowed. “I don’t rightly know.”

  “Neither did I at first. I felt cheated. I yelled at God.”

  Calvin’s eyes went wide. “Ya yelled at the Almighty? Did He yell back?”

  “Close enough,” Benjamin muttered, turning toward the barn doors. “C’mon, we got work to do.”

  Calvin wasn’t ready to drop it. “What’s Sheriff Riley gonna do?”

  Benjamin didn’t stop walking. “I already told ya – he contacted the law back east.”

  “And?”

  Benjamin stopped and turned to him. “Spencer hasn’t heard anything yet.” He let go a heavy sigh. “I love my wife, Cal, and I ain’t gonna see her hurt no more. She’s been through enough with what happened to her ‘fore marryin’ me. Do me a favor and don’t bring it up. She’s my wife and I’ll handle it.” He turned and started off again.

  “Ya still shoulda told me.”

  His brother stopped once more. “No, I shouldn’ta, not until Charity could handle it.”

  Calvin caught up to him. “But didn’t ya at least wanna tell me?”

  Benjamin chuckled as he shook his head. “Of course, we tell each other everything, don’t we?”

  “Yeah. I guess that’s why this makes me feel kinda … I dunno, left out?”

  “I didn’t tell ya for your own good, not to mention Charity’s. Now let’s not talk about it no more.”

  Calvin watched Benjamin pick up a saw from his tool box and take off for one of the orchards. He sighed as he grabbed a wheelbarrow and followed. Up to now he and his brother had shared everything immediately. There was never any holding back or waiting. But now things were different – this time Ben had kept something from him for weeks. If he’d kept the news about Charity’s ordeal from him and the rest of the family for this long, what else was he keeping from them?

  It was a good question, and Calvin was determined to find the answer.

  * * *

  Lunch was a quiet affair, too quiet as far as the men were concerned. Ma prayed over the food, but didn’t say much after that. Samijo ate before the men came into the house and was upstairs with the twins. Charity sat next to Benjamin, looking as if lightning might strike if she so much as opened her mouth. And Bella … Bella stared at Charity as if daring her to do it, just so she could watch her fry.

  Calvin eyed his wife cautiously. She had an unfamiliar frown on her face and ate her food with mechanical, jerky movements, as if it was all she could do to sit at the table. Maybe he should take her upstairs and kiss her senseless to relieve her tension. Truth be told, she looked angry. But why?

  “You still hungry?” Calvin asked. “The soup is might fine.”

  “I know. I make it.”

  “Ya did?” Good grief, how did he not know? Come to think of it, he couldn’t remember anyone mentioning it. He, like his brothers, had just assumed Samijo had prepared lunch. “It’s real good, darlin’.”

  She tore her gaze from Charity to look at him. “Thank you. I make the bread too.”

  “That explains why it tastes different. Thank ya, darlin’. Are ya still gonna make supper?”

  “No,” Charity said quietly. “I am.”

  “I help you,” Bella offered.

  “No, thank you. I can handle things myself.”

  B
ella sat straighter in her chair, as if Charity’s refusal rankled. Calvin glanced between the two of them. What was going on? Had they had some sort of fight?

  “We’re all lookin’ forward to supper, Charity,” Arlan said, breaking the tension. “What’s on the menu?”

  “Chicken and dumplings.”

  “I like those,” Daniel remarked without his usual enthusiasm.

  Calvin glanced around the table and could stand it no longer. “Will somebody just say it?” Benjamin glared at him, but he ignored it.

  “Say what?” Ma asked. “There ain’t nothing to say.”

  “Yeah, there is,” Calvin insisted.

  Charity’s eyes filled with tears. “Yes, why don’t you say it, Calvin? Just get it out!”

  Calvin swallowed hard, but before he could speak, his wife did. “You should not have kept secret .”

  “Bella,” Calvin warned. “That ain’t what I was gonna say.”

  “I sorry, but where I come from, this … this great disgrace.”

  “Ohhhh,” Daniel groaned. “That there ain’t right.”

  “I’m glad she said it,” Charity blurted. “I know some of you are thinking it.” She leveled a stare at Bella. “Despite how nice you may act.”

  “Charity,” Ma warned, “you stop that right now. How can you even think such a thing about us?”

  Charity choked back a sob. “Because … because …” She shook her head, got up from the table and ran out of the room.

  “Charity!” Benjamin called after her. He followed, but not before stopping next to Calvin and smacking him on top of his head. “That’s for upsetting my wife!” Before Calvin could react, he was stomping up the stairs.

  “That’s tellin’ him, Cal.” Arlan grumbled. “Now ya got ‘em both upset.”

  “What’d I do? I was just tryin’ to get everything back to the way it was before they told us all that. I almost wish they hadn’t.”

  “Well, ya can wish in one hand, spit in the other and see which fills up first. They did, and they can’t very well take it back, can they?”

  “Stop it, both of you,” Ma ordered. “We have to pull ourselves together and be strong for that poor girl.” She turned in her chair to Bella, who sat on the other side of Calvin. “You’d best apologize for that remark you made. I understand things are different where you come from, I’ve told ya that before. But around here we support each other. Benjamin and Charity are gonna need us, all of us, and that means you too.”