Jakob opened the door and bellowed his wife's name. "Bobbie! Our guests are here!"
As soon as he used the familiar nickname, Sarah began crying again. She couldn't help it. Jakob looked at her, taking a step back.
Bobbie walked into the room, looking as lovely as Sarah remembered, and Sarah said nothing as she rushed to her friend. She didn't wait for any words to be spoken, but instead she pulled Bobbie into a hug.
"Sarah? How?"
Sarah pulled back and saw Bobbie's face mirrored her own. "I realized about six weeks ago that it must be you Jakob had married. At first I couldn't believe it, but—How many Robertas could have been mail-order brides going from Massachusetts to Wisconsin in November?"
Roberta shook her head, her eyes still streaming. A handkerchief appeared before her and she took it, not looking at Jakob who gave it to her before drying her face delicately. "You knew six weeks ago that we were this close? And you didn't tell me?"
Sarah shrugged. "I couldn't tell you until I was sure! And I wanted to surprise you for Christmas. Surprise!"
Bobbie grabbed her, hugging her again. "I can't believe you're really here! And—we're sisters!"
"We are!" Sarah waved Karl and Simon forward. "Bobbie, this is my husband, Karl, and our—well, how do you want to be introduced, Simon?"
Simon grinned. "Favorite boy you took in off the streets?"
Sarah frowned at him. "You were never on the streets." She turned to Bobbie and explained quickly where Simon had come from. "I hope you don't mind!"
"No, of course not!" Bobbie leaned forward and whispered, "I don't have a present for him!"
"I made an extra for you to give him," Sarah whispered back.
"It's nice to meet you, Simon," Bobbie said with a smile, as if she hadn't just been rudely whispering in front of him. "And you, Karl."
Karl looked between Bobbie and Sarah. "I have a feeling we're going to be arranging a lot of trips across the bay, Jakob."
Jakob smiled at Bobbie. "As long as it keeps my wife happy, I will do anything."
Sarah smiled at her new brother-in-law. "I think I'm going to have to like you after all."
Jakob didn't respond. Sarah wasn't even certain he'd heard her. He had eyes only for his bride.
Sarah looked at Bobbie and saw that she was looking at Jakob with the same loving expression. "Well, I don't have to ask if you're happy, Bobbie."
"I'm married to a kind, loving, Christian man. How could I be anything but happy?"
There was a loud yipping sound, and Sarah turned just in time to have a puppy pounce on her shoelaces. She laughed, squatting down to greet the dog. "What's his name?"
"Squirt," Bobbie said with a grin. "He was the runt of a litter and the boys found him all but frozen. We found a cat to nurse him, and he's grown beautifully."
A boy ran into the parlor, and grabbed Squirt around the neck. "Sorry, Frog-Mutter. I tried to catch him, but I couldn't."
Bobbie shook her head. "This is my youngest, Lukas, who refuses to call me anything but Frog-Mutter."
"Why?" Sarah wasn't certain that she wanted to know, but she couldn't not ask. It was like a carriage accident, where you couldn't look away, even when it was all you wanted to do.
"Because she doesn't look like a frog," Lukas said by way of explanation before running out of the room.
"That—doesn't make sense to me," Sarah said, still confused.
"Get used to it. Nothing makes sense in this household."
"I heard that!" Jakob said.
"Don't you have horses to take care of?" Roberta asked.
Jakob shook his head at his wife. "Come help me, Karl. We will leave these women to their crying."
Simon followed along with the men, obviously not wanting to put up with the crying either.
"Let me show you to your room," Bobbie said, suddenly remembering her job as hostess.
Sarah followed Bobbie into the small room and smiled. "This looks lovely, Bobbie."
"I stayed here for a while when I first got here. It's a good room."
"I have letters from Hope and Poppy with me. I decided to wait to read them until we were together." Tears sprang into her eyes again. "I just can't believe we're really together!"
"Why were you on a train so much longer than I was?" Bobbie asked. "That's the only thing I don't understand."
"There's no train that goes over the lake," Sarah explained. "Instead of having me arrive with you and rowing me across the bay, Karl had me go to Minneapolis, and then up to Duluth. If he'd realized we were traveling together, he would have chosen the much cheaper option of having me come through Superior and rowing me across the bay."
Bobbie shook her head. "It's amazing, isn't it? All of our friends I've heard from are happy. Maybe Bob Brown burning that factory to the ground was a good thing after all. I certainly wouldn't go back to the way things were. I'm happy with Jakob and the boys."
"And I'm happy with Karl and Simon. Oh, there are days when they both make me crazy, because I love them so much, but most days? I'm happy to be with them both. My life is so much better here."
"Mine too." Bobbie sat down on the bed and patted the spot beside her. "Let's see your letters!"
Sarah pulled the two letters she had from her pocket, handing one to Bobbie. She knew her friend would have no qualms about reading it. It was from their friends after all.
The letter Sarah had kept was from Poppy.
My sweet Sarah,
I hope you’re staying warm in Minnesota. If you can believe it, I will soon be somewhere even colder…ALASKA! Not long after you left Lawrence, I responded to an ad in The Grooms' Gazette. I am now married to Matthew Turner, a fine doctor who is taking me to Sitka in the morning.
Don’t be alarmed, and please don’t tell Roberta as she will only worry, but ours is not a typical union. It’s a marriage in name only, which is a tremendous relief to me. You see, the group that wanted to send Matt to the wilds of the north requires their people to be married. I wouldn’t have thought it possible, but he’s even less interested in the bonds of matrimony than me!
I will write again when I am settled so please continue to send letters to my mother’s address. I’m desperate to hear news from you!
Love, Poppy
For a moment, Sarah considered not handing the letter to Bobbie because of what Poppy had said about not telling her, but she wasn't telling her. Poppy was.
They traded letters and she read the words of Hope, who had moved to New Jersey.
Dear Sarah,
You sound so happy—I couldn’t be more pleased for you. I’m happy too, almost blissfully so. Right now, the seamstress is finishing my wedding gown, and I’m to marry Roscoe Edwards as soon as it’s done.
I can’t even begin to explain how I feel. I had anticipated a life of civility, perhaps even friendship, but I’ve fallen in love, which is so much more than I dreamed about. He’s a good man, if an unusual one, and I believe I will be happy with him for the rest of our lives.
I will write you again soon and tell you all about the wedding. Congratulations on your new happy life, and I know that once the people of Minnesota come to know you, they will adore you.
Take care,
Hope
Sarah smiled as she finished the letter, content now that she knew the friends she considered the closest were happy. She put her hand on her belly, and smiled, thinking of the secret she carried there. "One more thing I want to tell you..."
Bobbie looked at her friend's hand and her face lit up. She leaned forward to whisper, "Me too!"
Sarah laughed. If anyone would understand the significance of her touching her belly, it would be Bobbie. No one knew her like Bobbie. "I'm so glad I have you back!" She wrapped her arm around her friend and hugged her once more.
Jakob and Karl found them like that a minute later. Karl shook his head. "I think we're about to see a whole lot more of each other."
Jakob nodded. "That's a gut thing!"
T
o read the other books in this unprecedented series, go to http://www.newwesternromance.com/for a complete list.
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