Emmitt helped her step out of the carriage and escorted her to the front door. The pair was immediately greeted by Pally who seemed more excited and energetic than usual.
“Pally, this is Rachel. She is going to be staying with us.”
Rachel had never had a pet before but knew to put her hand out to greet Pally who gently licked her palm. I hope you like my dog.
“Well this is home,” Emmitt declared as he proudly raised his hands in the air. “I hope you will enjoy it. There is tea to be made in the kitchen. It’s the one thing I make decently myself. Would you like a cup?”
“That would be lovely,” Rachel said as she suddenly realized that she was very, very thirsty.
“Make yourself at home Rachel. We have so much to discuss,” Emmitt said with a smile as he walked away into the kitchen.
Rachel smiled back and began looking all over the room. Taking a moment to notice the smell of the house, the perfect arrangement of the furniture, the pictures on the wall and on the mantle. Her gaze focused on the mantle and she became fixated on a framed photograph of a woman, quite beautiful indeed, and wondered whom it might be.
“Please have a seat. You must be exhausted from your travels,” Emmitt said as he suddenly appeared in the room, laying two full teacups down on the coffee table that separated them.
“I suppose Rachel that it is my turn to talk. I want to make this as smooth of a transition as possible for the both of us.”
“Of course,” Rachel responded, not yet knowing what exactly he meant by this.
“There is a bedroom down the hall that you will stay in for… It is a fine room. I would like greatly to get to know you Rachel.”
“I look forward to getting to know you as well Mr. Townshend.”
Rachel became overwhelmed with confusion. She had never had her own bedroom before and she certainly wasn’t expecting to have one on her wedding night.
“Well it is getting quite late. Let me show you to your room.”
As Rachel lay awake in bed that night – a smallish one that reminded her of those designated for the younger ones in the orphanage – she could not help but wonder whom this room had been meant for. She was relieved to not be so close to Emmitt yet. Husband or not, they only met that day. She was quite happy to start things off slowly. But her room seemed odd to her. Not many men have an unoccupied furnished bedroom, painted pink no less. And who is the woman in that photograph?
***
December 2, 1886
Rachel awoke the next morning to a mild whispering from down the hall. Always the inquisitive one, she tiptoed down the hall listening more intently as she came to see Emmitt speaking directly to the picture of the mystery woman on the mantle.
Over breakfast that morning, cooked by Emmitt, Rachel informed him that she would be happy to take over the cooking from now on. She felt it was the least she could do after seeing the vast farmland that he was to tend to daily.
“Did you sleep well?” Emmitt asked.
“Oh yes. I quite like my room, and the rest of the house is lovely as well. However, I feel I must ask you something. What makes you certain that you would enjoy having me as your wife? Surely there are other women from around here whom you would take a liking to.”
The questions were blunt and completely unexpected by Emmitt. He had answers but was unprepared in this moment to have such a discussion. It was only breakfast time and they still had not yet known each other for a full day yet.
“Well… How can I explain?” he wondered aloud.
Rachel could sense his unease and immediately regretted bombarding him with these questions so early in the morning. Not everyone is ready to be as honest as I am.
“I don’t mean to make you feel as though you owe me an explanation Mr. Townshend. It’s just that we only agreed on so much with my coming here and…”
“Rachel,” Emmitt interrupted. “I want to be married. It is true that there are many nice women in this town, most of whom I grew up with and watched as many of them married the men I grew up with. I responded to your desire to find someone away from where you were. I need to be here in this town, but I wanted to find a wife that would not remind me of the girls in this town.”
“Am I really that different from the women in this town or the woman in that picture?” she asked.
“I don’t know what to say,” he moaned. He had not told her about Margaret and naively hoped that it would not have come up so soon.
“Well Mr. Townshend…”
“Please call me Emmitt.”
“Well Emmitt, I think we both know what we have been looking for though I am unsure if we have found it.”
A sudden lump in Emmitt’s throat threatened to choke him.
“Oh, I see,” he croaked.
“I am here for as long as you will have me. I will be the wife you desire to have on your arm at gatherings and church. But there is one thing I must tell you.”
“And what is that?” he asked.
“I do not believe in love.”
Rachel took a deep breath before going on to explain. “So you must understand that while I am prepared to be your wife, live here with you in this house and share in your life, I cannot say that I am in love with you for I am not. You are a kind man I am sure but I am not going to fall in love with you.”
The lump in Emmitt’s throat was swelling and he could feel tears forming in his eyes. He nodded, excusing himself from the table with as much of a smile that he could muster. He made his way into his bedroom, closed the door behind him and collapsed to his knees.
Oh my God, what have I done? How could I have been so foolish? The mail-order bride shows up and she doesn’t believe in love. One would assume that a woman who presents herself as a mail-order bride would at least want to be in a marriage where love was a possibility.
***
December 13
In the days that passed Emmitt and Rachel began a routine. They ate meals and drank tea together. They played card games and told each other stories about their lives. The sting of Rachel’s proclamation had dulled and Emmitt found that he became more comfortable with his lowered expectations. He felt that, despite his undeniable attraction to her, he was developing a strong bond of friendship with Rachel. She had even taken it on herself to sort through his clothes, discarding anything she thought too worn out.
On her second day at the house Rachel had agreed to attend the township’s annual Winter Party with Emmitt. Never one to go back on her word, she fully intended to be good company and present herself at her best for Emmitt’s sake. This was to be the first time she would meet his friends, with the exception of the priest and the lawyer. It would also be the first time Emmitt’s friends would hear about his having a new wife.
Rachel had now been at the house for nearly two weeks and despite the lack of romance between her and Emmitt, she too had learned to appreciate his company. At times she found herself missing him as she tended to the house chores while he was working away on the farm.
The Winter Party it turns out was the biggest event of the year in town featuring dinner, dancing, and games for the children. Again, Rachel felt completely foreign in this setting. It seemed to her that she was the only person being introduced to anyone and that everyone else seemed to know everyone there. I guess this is what a small town is like.
“You’re here with Emmitt right?” asked a pretty blonde woman about Rachel’s age.
“Yes I am. My name is Rachelle”
“Nice to meet you Rachelle. My name is Catherine. I’ve known Emmitt since he was only four feet tall,” she laughed.
“Oh my. Tell me Catherine, was Emmitt as kind to girls then as he is now?”
Rachel was planning to find out as much as she could about her husband tonight. He often spoke of the people about town and told fond stories of growing up with this one and that one. She assumed she might discover something new about Emmitt from this Catherine.
“Well he used to tease me a
nd pull my hair,” Catherine explained between sips of her drink. “My mother told me it was because he liked me but everyone knew he only had eyes for Margaret. Even when they were just children.”
“Oh really? Who is Margaret? Is she here?” Rachel was excited thinking this Margaret could really shed some light on the man Emmitt came to be.
“Oh no, you haven’t heard?” asked Catherine.
“Heard what?”
Rachel could see the blood rushing to Catherine’s face as her eyes began to well up. Catherine’s eyes darted around the room looking for help and to see where Emmitt was at the moment. He was playing a game that involved throwing snowballs at icicles.
“Could Margaret not make it to the party here tonight?” Rachel asked.
Catherine figured there was no way out of this and took a deep breath before saying, “She died over a year ago.”
“Oh no. That is awful,” Rachel responded. “Did she have a husband or children?”
It pained Catherine to say it but the words rushed out of her mouth like a crashing wave.
“Margaret was Emmitt’s wife.”
***
December 14
Rachel spent the rest of the previous night piecing together the pieces to the puzzle. Her husband had been married and widowed. The woman on the mantle was Margaret. He then took to ordering a mail-order bride that would be unlike his late wife and be unlike any of the women in this town.
Some women would find this deceitful, she thought.
Luckily for Emmitt, Rachel saw herself as unique among women and in light of this information she felt that she understood him in a new way. She had already found him to be kind and charming, but to find out about this pain and his desire to escape it through her, she felt needed, wanted and loved.
How could I deny giving this man the love that he wants to give me? I care for him deeply and want to be with him as a wife. Is that not what it means to be in love?
Over dinner that night Rachel was compelled to tell Emmitt something she had not told anyone before.
“Emmitt, I have something I need to tell you. I have never felt this way about another person before. It is not something I understand really.”
“What are you saying Rachel?”
“I’m trying to say that I think I… I would be pleased to call you my husband”
“To call me your husband… Is that to say that you would be pleased to be my wife by title and for appearance?” Emmitt asked. He was assuming that this was an attempt of Rachel to put even more of a distance between them romantically. They still had their separate rooms and had not shared any physical affection with one another since their brief kiss after being pronounced husband and wife.
“I feel that I have been guided here by God,” she began. Her voice was shaky but she continued to speak. “I think that God brought us together for a purpose. For the purpose of us falling in love together, over time, and fulfilling each other’s lives.”
Emmitt choked back a lump in his throat. Pally sat up from under the table as if he was anxiously anticipating big news.
“I have never been in a place like this and I have never met a man like you before in my life. You are everything I could ask for and more.” Rachel became emotional and started to lightly weep.
Emmitt stood up suddenly, and he was unsure of why himself. He was overjoyed and could only think to put his right hand over his heart before declaring his own feelings to Rachel.
“If this is true and you now feel you could love me…” he paused “Love me the way a wife should love her husband. Then I intend to win your heart deservedly from this day forward.”
Rachel was breathless and felt a rush of blood run to her head. She thought she could literally feel her heart expanding and filling with love.
“Rachel, I will devote all of my efforts to winning your affection throughout our marriage as I would have if it were the beginning of a traditional courtship.”
Rachel stood up took two steps forward around the table, her elbows bent outwardly and fingers entangling each other, towards Emmitt as if she were about to explain more. Before she could say anything Emmitt too stepped forward until their faces were inches away from one another. Looking each other in the eye, Rachel inhaled softly as Emmitt leaned in and kissed her lips. Though it was only for a moment, time stood still for these lovebirds. For that moment all the built up tensions disappeared and Rachel immediately thought I am home.
***
December 15
Sweat dripped down has forehead faster than the tears trailing down his cheeks. He was burning up one minute and shivering as his bones felt like ice the next minute. His heart raced, his muscles ached, and the room was spinning faster than his mind was racing.
Oh God, what is happening to me? Why now?
“Are there any more blankets that I can get for you?” Rachel asked trying to hide the panic in her voice. She been up nearly all of the night before taking care of Emmitt as he became ill with what he initially said felt like the flu.
The only audible sound that Emmitt could make at the moment was a pained heavy breath. Pally laid at the foot of the bed softly whimpering as if to remind Rachel that she needed to be nursing Emmitt back to health. I’m trying Pally, she thought to herself.
Fearing that every moment was bringing him closer to death, Emmitt found himself thinking of his late wife and hoped that she had not suffered in her final moments. He thought of his parents’ final days of old age before each of them passed on. He thought of his sister and her children. He knew that Angela was being taken care of properly by her loving husband.
“I’ve brought you some tea,” Rachel whispered as she placed it on the nightstand next to his bed.
Suddenly the room became still and Emmitt’s eyes became focused clearly on Rachel. I would have loved the chance to make her a happy wife and raise a family of our own, he thought to himself.
“Ra… Rachel.”
“What is it dear? What can I do?”
“I need to… see my… sister.”
“Where can I find her?”
“My neighbor,” gasped Emmitt. “He can send a… a message.”
Rachel rushed on foot to the neighbor’s house following the glow of a lantern coming from its window. She quickly explained Emmitt’s request the man who answered the door. He assured her he would be contact them right away and tell them the urgency of the matter. Rachel had never felt such urgency before. She had never had so much fear for a loved one, or even someone she would refer to as a loved one for that matter.
Please God, let his sister arrive soon to help nurse him to health. I cannot bear to lose him. Not now.
***
December 16
There was a knock at the door bright and early in the morning. Rachel opened it to find a familiar looking older woman, much older than Emmitt, with a look of surprise on her face. It took her a moment but Rachel realized that this woman standing before was the same woman that she spoke to on the train a few weeks ago.
“Hello, I am Angela Brown, and I am here to see my brother Emmitt Townshend,”
“It is nice to meet you. I am Rachel. Please come in.”
Angela stepped in, took off her coat and immediately handed it to Rachel to hang up on the wall. Having married up into a wealthy family, Angela was used to being catered to by servants and had grown accustomed to making assumptions about whose role it was to serve her.
“Are you the new maid my dear?” asked Angela in a sweet voice. She did not intend to be demeaning in any way. It just came naturally.
Rachel was so taken aback by this question that she briefly wondered, am I the maid? Surely she had taken up some duties around the house, which if Emmitt’s fortunes were to increase, could be left to a maid. But this was not the main purpose for bringing her here. In fact, he probably could afford to have a maid, come to think of it, if he chose to. Rachel quickly regained her composure though to answer Angela honestly.
�
��Oh no, I am not the maid” she said smilingly.
Angela felt slightly embarrassed by her assumption but immediately became suspicious of the young woman who opens the door to greet visitors in her baby brother’s house. Angela prided herself on being a real socialite around town and was friendly with all of the largest families and business owners. It had been years since she met a stranger here before.
“You look familiar dear,” said Angela. This was not entirely true but she assumed she must have met this girl at some point before and wanted to be reminded of whom exactly she was.
[2015] Cowboy for Christmas Page 10
