[2016] The Precious Amish Baby

by Faith Crawford

  “You have done well to expand it,” Fiona said.

  “Thank you. What about yourself, Fiona. Do you have a family?”

  Her usual way of responding to such personal questions was to say no and then quickly change the topic. She never mentioned the loneliness of growing up in a poor children’s home or the longing for a family. But that evening Fiona did something she had never done. She told Derek all of it.

  Perhaps it was the darkness that surrounded them that made her feel safe enough to share her secrets. She also told him about Donald Newton, and to her surprise her voice was neutral, with no traces of bitterness.

  “What a cad! I could wring his neck!” Derek said, with feeling.

  Knowing what she did of his temper, Fiona though he could do it and chuckled.

  “It wasn’t entirely his fault. I was too gullible. I like to think that I’m wiser now,” Fiona said.

  A weighted silence sprung between them and she did not know the cause when they had been speaking so comfortably earlier.

  “It’s late. We should retire to bed,” Derek said, and got to his feet.

  Fiona scrambled to her feet too. They now stood close to each other. Derek lifted his hand and touched her cheek ever so gently. Then he bent and kissed her on the cheek. He turned then, and returned to the house. Fiona could not move. She touched her cheek, where he had kissed her.

  Chapter Six

  Derek found himself lingering in his office when he should have been out seeing to the smooth running of the ranch. The door was slightly ajar, so that noises wafted in from the kitchen where the girls and Fiona were. He found their voices pleasing, and he could not get enough of listening to Fiona's silvery voice lifting up his mood. For a reason he could not explain, joy flooded his being.

  It was not just her voice that drew him to her. It was her whole person. She had brought something to the house that had been missing ever since Eliza passed on. It felt like a home now, and every morning he was loath to leave Fiona and the girls even for a couple of hours.

  As if on cue, Fiona materialized in front of his office and smiled at him shyly from the doorway. She had full lips that were shaped in an upward curve so that she appeared in good cheer all the time.

  "You're a sight for sore eyes," he said to her, leaning back in his chair to admire her.

  She blushed furiously and kept her eyes downcast. Suddenly, Derek had an urge to bare his emotions. He of all people knew how short life could be, and one needed to grab happiness wherever you found it.

  "Come on in Fiona. There's something I wish to speak to you about," he invited.

  She sat on the chair facing him, but still would not look up.

  "Look at me Fiona. I promise I won't bite."

  That got a chuckle out of her, and he was glad when she faced him squarely. Then he noticed the worry lines across her forehead and wanted to reassure her immediately.

  "I want to thank you for the great work you're doing here. I haven't heard the girls laugh as much as they do when they're with you."

  "Thank you, Derek," she said.

  His name sounded so sweet coming from her lips. He ignored the pounding in his chest. He had never been that good with women, and more often than not they baffled him. But with Fiona it was different. She did not have the abrupt changes of mood many women were prone to, and when you asked her a question she wasn't coquettish. She gave a straightforward answer.

  He cleared his throat. "It's not just the girls though," he began. "I admire you so much Fiona. I find that I have deep feelings for you and I find myself thinking of you all the time. I go to bed and arise early just to catch a glimpse of you."

  He paused to give her time to take in what he was saying. Derek knew his mind, and at that moment he knew that he loved Fiona. He searched her face now and was encouraged by a softening on her features. Her hands, though, told of the discomfort of the conversation, for they hardly sat still on her lap.

  "I don't know how to respond," she finally said, her hazel eyes big and wide.

  "Oh, Fiona, tell me you feel something for me too, however little," he said, almost pleading.

  Her tongue snuck out of her mouth and licked her lips. She seemed deep in thought and then she looked up at him.

  "I feel something for you too, Derek," she said softly.

  Derek could have jumped with glee. Instead, he just sat there. He was grinning like a fool but he didn't care. Then, in one fluid movement he got up, went around the table and took Fiona by her hand. He pulled her to him and embraced her.

  His intention had been to do exactly that but once she was in his arms he inhaled the flowery scent of her hair and felt intoxicated. She fitted perfectly in his arms, and he drew back a little and looked into her eyes. He lowered his head and kissed her on the lips. They were cool and as soft as he had imagined in his thoughts of her.

  Derek ran his hands through her hair in wonder. She had a place in his heart, and now he couldn't remember a time when Fiona had not been in the house.

  "Fiona, this is no game to me. I would like to marry you," he said, cupping her face in his hands.

  He felt her tremble.

  "Derek," she stuttered. "I would like nothing more than to say yes, but I fear we must be realistic."

  "What is more realistic than marriage?" he retorted. "Please say yes, my beautiful Fiona. If I were a man of words then I would craft the most beautiful words to express my love for you."

  Fiona gasped, but in her eyes there was unmistakable joy and hope.

  "What will people say?" she finally said.

  "They'll say that I'm lucky to have found love a second time," Derek answered firmly.

  "Ms. Fiona!" Harriet's voice called out.

  Fiona disengaged herself from his arms. He held her back. "You never gave me an answer."

  She smiled at him so lovingly that his knees felt like they would buckle from under his body.

  "I say yes, I will marry you," she said, and then fled out of the office.

  As soon as the door closed behind her, Derek sat down and mused over the question Fiona had asked about people's reactions. He had given her a flip answer but the truth was that he was worried too. Theirs could be a very cruel society and relationships between employers and domestic servants were frowned upon.

  That's why Derek wanted to marry Fiona as quickly as possible. For himself, he had no trouble with people speaking behind his back. It was Fiona he worried about. Women found it harder to accept rejection from society. The first thing he would do was to announce his engagement in the Colorado Weekly. He wanted to do everything right. Fiona would always walk with her head held high.

  Derek drafted the notice, and when he was done he slipped it into the pocket of his denim trousers. He would post it when he went to town later in the day.

  That evening over dinner he and Fiona were rather quiet. They kept glancing at each other, hugging their secret to themselves. Derek had decided to tell the girls about the engagement the following day.

  "Father, all of us would like to learn how to ride horses," Emily said.

  Derek frowned. Eliza had never learned how to ride and he didn’t think it was an appropriate pastime for girls.

  "I heard that last year, the county race was won by a lady," Fiona said.

  "Is that right?" he asked, his voice filled with amusement.

  She nodded. "I would like to learn how to ride, too. Or am I too old?"

  Harriet snorted. "You're not as old as Mrs. Irwin."

  Fiona threw back her head and laughed. Derek chuckled too. Mrs. Irwin was a good thirty years older than Fiona.

  "Alright, the four of you win. I'll check which mild horses we have that I can put at your disposal," Derek said. "But I warn you, horse riding is not for the faint-hearted. We can start the lessons after Aunt Meredith's visit."

  That night in bed, Derek thought of how his life had changed. While before he had gone through each day as if it were a chore to get through, now he savore
d every moment. The time spent with his daughters was precious, and he was slowly beginning to unravel their personalities.

  Harriet was the chatty one, the middle child, the one likely to blurt out what was in her heart. Emma was the baby. She needed a lot of affection and usually switched from following him to Fiona when she tired of him. Emily was the eldest and the enigma. She kept her thoughts to herself but had a funny bone and said things that usually had all of them in stitches.

  It was odd how he had lived all those years with his daughters without really knowing them. Each day he felt as if he had turned another page of a colorful, captivating text. They did more things together now and he owed that to Fiona. She instigated them in such a natural way that it seemed as if they had always done things that way.

  Just yesterday he had taken them and Fiona to town to do the weekly shopping.

  He had felt like they were all a family as they loaded the wagon and then returned to the mercantile to buy candy for the girls. He had loved Eliza but she had possessed a different type of personality to Fiona. To Fiona, life was like a giant adventure. She liked to laugh, a throaty sound at first which then grew in proportions and spilled out of her in quick bursts.

  Derek fell asleep with the echoes of Fiona's laughter in his mind.

  Chapter Seven

  Fiona critically examined the chunk of beef that the butcher had cut out for her. It looked alright, though she still did not trust her skills in buying meat. They hadn't eaten many meat dishes at the poorhouse or at the boarding house. Still, Fiona thought, sniffing at the meat, as long as it was not stinky she reckoned it was fresh.

  Aunt Meredith was due to arrive in three days and Fiona wanted to make sure that they had everything they needed to make tasty dishes for the visitor. Besides, Fiona had wanted to escape the house this morning. Ever since Derek had announced their engagement to the girls and Mrs. Irwin the atmosphere in the house had been awkward.

  The warmth she and Emily had shared had all but disappeared and now the girl treated her as if she were a stranger. Harriet seemed alright, if a little withdrawn. The only person who seemed happy about the engagement was Emma.

  "Will you be my new mama?" she had whispered into Fiona's ear.

  "I will try my very best," Fiona had whispered back, tears filling her eyes.

  "Shall I wrap it up, Ms. Fiona?" the butcher asked.

  "Yes, that would be just about right," Fiona answered, jolted back to the present.

  She left the butcher’s and then popped into the general store for a bit.

  "Good morning, Ms. Fiona," Mrs. Gilford said in the brisk manner she had of speaking.

  Fiona liked the town of Peak's Point. It was fairly small with one dirt main street and shops on each side. Everybody knew each other and she was starting to feel as though she too now knew most of the residents. At the back of her mind was the nagging fear of whether they would treat her with the same friendliness once she had moved from being the housekeeper to the mistress of the house.

  Mrs. Irwin's reaction to the engagement had opened Fiona's eyes to the possible reactions from other people. Just this morning, Fiona had called her to the larder so that together they could take note of what needed replenishing.

  "I expect as the new Mrs. Burk you don't really need my help," she had said, and then turned her back on Fiona.

  Fiona had stared at her back, agape with shock. She had blinked several times before she took in the cook's unfriendliness. She sighed as she got into the back of the wagon. Her nerves were tight with tension and her shoulders ached from the strain of appearing at ease with her new position.

  In the quiet of the night, regret seeped into her mind. She loved Derek, but she longed for the simplicity that had existed in the household before the engagement announcement. The wagon bopped up and down over the rocky ground as it returned to the ranch.

  The engagement notice was in the newspaper today. Derek had rushed to her that very morning to show it to her, and while the sight of her name printed so solemnly on the paper excited her she also felt a stab of fear. Why could they not quietly marry without making a fuss of it?

  The coachman guided the wagon to the back of the house. He unloaded her packages and carried them into the kitchen. Mrs. Irwin was nowhere to be seen and Fiona was glad of that. She busied herself packing the dry in the larder and the meats in the cold room. Fiona was tying the onions in traces when Mrs. Irwin's girlish voice called sharply from the kitchen.

  "Ms. Brown, you're wanted in the drawing room."

  Any other time Fiona would have enquired further, but the look in Mrs. Irwin's face did not invite queries. She wiped off her hands on her dress and crossed the dining hall into the kitchen.

  "Ah there you are, my dear Fiona," Derek said when he saw her.

  He stood up and came to her side. "I want you to meet some good neighbors of ours. They are Mr. and Mrs. Lewis, and their ranch is right across the ridge. Sir, Madam, meet my fiancée, Fiona Brown."

  The lady, Mrs. Lewis, appeared to have something stuck in her throat. She clutched at it and her eyes widened so that they looked perilously close to popping out of their sockets. The mister looked as though he would rather be elsewhere. They mumbled their greetings and avoided looking at Fiona. Heat emanated from her feet and rose up, claiming every part of her body.

  She wanted the ground to open up and pull her in. Derek, sensing her discomfort, placed a protective hand on her shoulder. Then he continued speaking as if all was dandy.

  "Fiona has been wonderful with the girls and we look forward to her joining the family," he continued happily.

  Fiona plastered a smile on her face. She could not bear it a moment longer.

  "It was a pleasure to meet you, Mr. and Mrs. Lewis. Now if you'll excuse me," Fiona said.

  "One moment," Mrs. Lewis said, her lips compressed it into two thin lines. “Be a dear and take the dirty cutlery with you."

  Fiona's jaw dropped.

  "You are the housekeeper, aren't you?"

  Fiona stiffened her back. "Yes, I am, and a very good one at that."

  "Well then, Mr. Burk is a lucky man indeed," she said, acidly.

  With as much dignity as she could muster, Fiona picked up the cutlery and left the room. Once in the privacy of the dining room she placed the dishes on the table and laid her hand on her heart, pounding relentlessly against her chest.

  A wave of exhaustion gripped her at the thought of fighting such battles every day. And then their voices reached her, angry and loud.

  "This is preposterous, Mr. Burk! Elizabeth would turn in her grave."

  Fiona did not wait to hear Derek's reply. She fled to the safety of the kitchen where she found Mrs. Irwin. For the first time, she saw pity in the other woman's eyes.

  "I love Mr. Burk and the girls," Fiona wept. "But I won't do it. I can't marry him."

  Mrs. Irwin's eyes shrunk and she glared at Fiona. “Why don't you grow some backbone, girl?"

  Chapter Eight

  "Look, Fiona, this was bound to happen," Derek said, pacing up and down the length of the office. "Not everyone will be happy for us. We must ignore such people and continue with our lives. One day it will all be forgotten."

  He saw the jut of her jaw, a sign he had come to know signified that Fiona had no intention of backing down.

  "I will always be known as the housekeeper who married her employer," she said.

  "Does it matter so much what people say about you or us? I truly don't see what concern it is of theirs what we choose to do with our lives."

  Derek was genuinely perplexed. He loved Fiona and she loved him back. That was all there was to it.

  "People gave me a wide berth yesterday in town. I don't want to become a pariah in this town," Fiona wailed.

  She had dark bags under her eyes and he could tell that she had been under a lot of strain. But Derek was growing impatient. It was all unnecessary as far as he was concerned.

  "I never thought I would find love
again after Eliza passed on. But I did and I must tell you, Ms. Brown, I have no intention of letting you get away," he said, in a playful tone to lighten the mood.

  She gave him a small, sad smile, which frightened him. He felt afraid to ask the question in his mind. Shrieks rang out from the hallway. Derek spun around and ran out of the office, his heart racing. The front door was flung open and outside he could hear more shouting.

  He stepped out and with relief he saw that Aunt Meredith's carriage had arrived. The girls had surrounded it and Derek hurried towards the doors, a wide smile on his face. Aunt Meredith was unlike any sixty-year-old person he knew. She made them all laugh and it was rare to see her down in the dumps.

  "Aunt Meredith, how wonderful that you're finally here," Derek said, as he helped her down.

  She was a little on the plump side, and as she huffed her overly large, wide-brimmed hat slipped from her head to reveal more gray hair than black.

  "Come back, you little rascal," she said to the hat, and the girls erupted into delighted giggles.

  She smoothed out the skirts of her dress as soon as she had stepped down, then took Derek's hands into hers.

  "What a pleasure it was to read of your engagement. I must say I was a little affronted that I had to learn about it from the newspaper," she scolded.

  Derek felt a wave of shame. He had been in such a hurry to make Fiona his wife that he had forgotten all about Aunt Meredith.

  "I'm sorry, Aunt Meredith, I truly am. There is no excuse that I can offer. However, Fiona lives right here with us and you'll get to meet her soon."

  Aunt Meredith raised an eyebrow. "Is that appropriate, living under the same roof while unmarried?"

  Derek laughed and then Emily spoke up.

  "She's our housekeeper, Aunt Meredith."

  Aunt Meredith did not bat an eyelid. "Well then, I look forward to meeting her. Now, come here girls and give your Aunt a squeeze."