Mail Order Misfortune

by Kirsten Osbourne

  He couldn't believe she was such a little snob, and he wasn't going to deal with her any longer. His son was fine. He was just a boy. That woman was just going to have to learn how to deal with boys. Where had they found her anyway? Didn't they want women who knew how to work with children to teach?

  Once in the schoolyard, he grabbed Ernie's hand and started toward home. Just as he left the schoolyard, he heard himself say, "When we get home, I'm going to take a belt to your bottom like I should have done years ago, boy. You will not show that kind of disrespect to anyone, but most especially your teacher."

  He had no clue where the words had come from, but once they were out, he almost smiled. Yes, Ernie needed to be taken in hand. He'd never tell that little spitfire of a teacher he agreed with her, though. No way.

  Chapter Three

  Anna was nervous all through dinner, wondering what Mr. Hanson would say if he heard about her kissing Mr. Hoover. She wanted to kick herself. She still didn't know the man's first name, but she'd replayed that kiss in her mind a dozen times. What was it about him that made her want to kiss him, when she'd thwarted the attentions of several other men in her life?

  When nothing happened before bed, she breathed a little more evenly, no longer as worried.

  The week went by terribly slowly for her as she watched over her shoulder for someone to come and fire her at any moment. She spent a lot of time trying to figure out whose pink skirt she'd seen Monday afternoon, but she had no idea. Was it a small child who would tell her parents? Was it an older girl who would come to her? She had no idea. What would she do if she couldn't hold down the job? Mr. Hanson would have no problem kicking her out of his house into the street.

  She could always try to marry, but every time she met a man she was paralyzed with fear. Well, every time she met one except Mr. Hoover. What had come over her anyway? She still couldn't figure out why she'd kissed the man as she had.

  Ernie was better behaved than he had been, seeming to think before he acted out in class, which thrilled Anna. Maybe his father had realized how ridiculous he was being and decided to talk to him after all.

  She was feeling much better about her position by the time Saturday morning rolled around. If no one had said anything yet, surely they wouldn't. She was in her room grading papers when there was a loud knock on her door.

  "Miss Simmons, you need to come into the parlor right now!" Mr. Hanson's voice sounded even angrier than it usually did.

  Anna's eyes widened. Was this it? Had whoever had seen them finally told what they'd seen? She jumped up from her chair at the vanity she was using as a desk and hurriedly fixed her hair, before walking into the parlor. She forced herself to take deep breaths the whole way, worried that she would embarrass herself.

  When she arrived, she saw one of her students, Susie, who was only six standing in front of a man who was seated on the sofa. He was a big bear of a man and Anna wanted to hide behind the piano.

  Mr. Hanson captured her attention then, speaking in a softer, kinder voice than she'd ever heard from him. "Susie, why don't you tell us all what you saw on Monday afternoon?"

  Anna's heart sank. This was it. She was about to be fired, and she had no idea what she would do when that happened.

  Susie looked at Anna, her eyes filled with tears, and she told her story, her lisp more pronounced than usual. "I thaw thum pretty flowerth on my way home from thchool, and I thought they were tho pretty, that I wanted to take thum to Mith Thimmonth. I picked a whole bouquet. When I got back to the thchool, I thaw Mith Thimmonth kithing a man I'd never theen before, right there in the clathroom." She was crying loudly by the end of her little speech. "I'm thorry, Mith Thimmonth!"

  Anna smiled kindly at the little girl. "You have nothing to be sorry for, Susie." And she didn't. Anna was the one who'd made a mistake, not the sweet little girl with the blond pigtails standing in front of her.

  "What do you have to say for yourself, Miss Simmons?" Mr. Hanson's voice was as mean as she'd ever heard it once it was directed on her.

  Anna straightened her back. "I don't know what I can say. A man grabbed me and kissed me, and Susie happened along just then." She didn't add that she'd enjoyed the kiss, but she didn't think that Mr. Hanson really cared what had happened anyway. He wanted to punish her, and he would.

  Mr. Hanson took a deep breath. "So you're trying to tell me a man you'd never met walked into the schoolhouse and grabbed you and kissed you without you inviting him to?"

  Anna thought carefully about his words, not wanting to lie. "Yes, that's exactly what I'm telling you."

  Mr. Hanson glared at her. "You are dismissed from your position, Miss Simmons. You have until the sundown tonight to retrieve your belongings from my home and to get anything you may have left at the schoolhouse. Good day." He turned and left the room then, obviously not caring that he left a little girl and her father as well as Anna in the room.

  Susie was sobbing by that point, seemingly over guilt at having told what she'd seen. Anna knew her first priority needed to be to the child. She dropped to one knee and opened her arms, and Susie flew into them. "I'm tho thorry, Mith Thimmonth!"

  "I know, Susie. I know. No one is angry with you." Anna realized as soon as the words were out of her mouth that they were true. She wasn't angry with Susie. She was angry with Mr. Hoover for kissing her in the first place, because she hadn't asked to be kissed, but she wasn't mad at Susie.

  When Susie had quieted, Anna stood up. She looked at Susie's father, who had been quiet through everything that happened. "I'm terribly sorry this happened, Mr. Johnston."

  Mr. Johnston shook his head sadly. "All I really wanted was for him to tell you it was inappropriate for you to be kissing in the schoolroom where any of the children could walk in on you. I had no idea he'd fire you."

  Anna smiled ruefully. "I knew as soon as I realized someone had seen me that this would be the result if it came to Mr. Hanson's attention." She shrugged. "I guess I need to figure out what to do next." She had some money saved, but not nearly enough. "Is there a boarding house in town by any chance?"

  "No, ma'am. Wiggieville doesn't have anything as fancy as that."

  "I was afraid you'd say that." She rubbed the back of her neck. "I think I'll walk over to the mercantile and see if there are any job postings there." They followed her to the door. "I look forward to seeing you at church tomorrow," she told Susie.

  Susie smiled at her, putting her hand in hers. "I'm glad you're not mad at me."

  "Why would I be angry with you? You did nothing wrong," Anna said.

  Anna watched the two walk off down the street toward the farm Anna knew they had just outside of town. She walked the other way down the street toward the mercantile. Surely there was some type of bulletin board there like there was back in Beckham.

  She entered the store and waved to the owner of the mercantile, Mr. Stemmons. She'd seen him at church several times, so she felt as if she knew him. She walked to the back of the store where he was working. "Do you have a 'help wanted' bulletin board here?" Her voice was soft, as it always was when talking to someone she didn't know well, but she was proud that she was able to get the words out.

  "Well, I have one, but it's just for people looking for cowboys and such. You lookin' for work?" He eyed her skeptically, obviously wondering why the teacher would be looking for work in the middle of the school year.

  She blushed, nodding. She didn't want to admit she'd been fired, but she knew it would be all over town any minute. "I am. Do you know of anyone?"

  He nodded. "Actually, I do. There was someone in town lookin' for a housekeeper just the other day."

  "Do you know where it was?" She didn't want to get too excited about the prospect, because someone could have been hired, but the idea of working there was more than she'd had an hour ago.

  "Sure. They live out at the old Kyle Ranch. Just take the road headin' west, and walk for about a mile. It'll be the first house you come to once you're out of town o
n the left side of the road."

  Anna nodded, happy that there was at least a possibility of her getting a job. She needed to have something lined up before the end of the day. She knew she could always go begging to Julia again, but she didn't want to do that. She'd rather find something without her friend's help.

  "Thank you, Mr. Stemmons."

  "Anytime." He watched her leave his store and walk toward the west with a bemused look on his face. If he were twenty years younger, and unmarried, he'd be chasing after her himself. Why didn't she just pick a man and marry him?

  Anna looked around her at the now green grass as she walked toward the old Kyle Ranch. When she'd first arrived, everything had been brown from drought. It was amazing what a transformation a few weeks could make.

  She enjoyed her walk, even though she was fretting about a new job, because she had time to think. She was glad she wouldn't have to deal with Mr. Hoover any longer. Her experiences with him had been more than she could handle anyway.

  When she got to the ranch, she saw a cowboy, getting off of his horse and putting it into the stable. She walked up to him, barely able to raise her face to mumble, "Is the owner of the ranch around?"

  The cowboy nodded. "Out behind the house fixin' fences. You want me to take you to him?"

  "Yes, please," she whispered. She hated being around men she didn't know. Mr. Stemmons was easy, because she'd talked to him frequently at church, and he'd always been kind to her, but this man made her feel almost paralyzed with fear.

  The man nodded, studying her closely. "You got business with him?"

  She nodded. "I'm inquiring about the housekeeper position."

  "Oh! Yeah, he needs a housekeeper bad." He started walking in the direction of the house, and she followed along behind him.

  "How long you been in Wiggieville?" he asked, obviously trying to put her at ease.

  "Just a month."

  "A month? How come I ain't metcha yet?"

  "I've been teaching here. Do you go to church? I've been there every Sunday."

  "You're the teacher? I've heard some...stories about you." The man sounded like he was trying to withhold a laugh.

  She wasn't about to ask. He stopped walking, and she looked up, noticing immediately a man with dark hair and broad shoulders bent over a fence with a tool in his hand. She did notice his bottom as well, but she didn't mean to. He was a very sexy looking man.

  "Hey, boss? There's a lady here, wantin' to talk about bein' a housekeeper for ya."

  Jesse smiled. He had given up on the idea of hiring a woman to cook and clean for him, and he knew that he was desperate. Why, he'd even thought of sending off for a mail order bride, just so he'd have someone to cook and clean for him. He turned, the smile fading from his lips when he saw Miss Simmons standing in front of him. "What are you doing here?" He didn't want to even talk to her, especially if there was a woman there willing to be his housekeeper.

  Anna frowned. "I could ask you the same thing!" She folded her arms over her chest. "I can't work for you! You're not married, and it wouldn't be proper at all." Why hadn't she thought to ask the name of the man needing a housekeeper before she'd walked all the way from town.

  "Why would I hire a little spitfire like you? I need someone who knows how to cook and clean, not a little hoity-toity school teacher." He looked her up and down as if he didn't think she had any idea how to work.

  "I know how to cook and clean. I'm very good at it actually. I just can't work for an unmarried man. It wouldn't be proper. Even if he is the one who got me fired from my job."

  He grinned, looking like he was trying not to laugh. "How'd I get you fired? I didn't do anything." Why would she blame him for whatever had gotten her fired? From what he'd seen she was always flying off the handle about something. How could it be his fault?

  She was so angry with him, she couldn't see straight. She forgot all about having an audience and walked closer to him until she was all but standing on his feet. "You're the one who grabbed me and kissed me in the schoolhouse. Did you forget we were seen?"

  His eyes widened. He had forgotten. She was without a job and it was his fault. "Well, you shouldn't have let me kiss you then, should you?" He was just being belligerent by saying the words, knowing he was going to have to help her find a solution.

  She was so angry she couldn't contain it another minute. She kicked him. She'd never done anything violent in her life, but she kicked him as hard as she could, and it felt so good, she did it again. "I hate you! You come here with your disobedient, out-of-control child, walk into my school and kiss me, getting me fired. Now I'm in a strange place, where I know no one! What am I supposed to do? You've cost me my job and lost me my place to live!"

  He looked at her, feeling more attracted to her than he had to any woman since Deborah's death. "I can't hire you. You're right, it wouldn't be proper." He looked over and realized one of his cowboys was watching their exchange. He waved him away. "Get out of here. This is private!"

  Anna took an immediate step back. "You're not going to try to kiss me again are you?" Her heart was already beating faster, just at the idea. She hated herself for liking the idea as much as she did.

  He shook his head, but waited for the cowboy to get out of range. "Look, I do feel responsible for you losing your job. I can't hire you, because people would talk." He took a deep breath, wondering if he was doing the right thing, but having no idea what else he could possibly do. "How 'bout marrying me instead?"

  She stared at him in shock. Had he really just offered to marry her? They'd only met once before. "I...I don't know how to even answer that, Mr. Hoover. You're a stranger to me." A stranger that she enjoyed kissing.

  "I'm not asking you to share my bed. It would be a business arrangement. I'm not ready for a real wife, but I do need someone who can cook and clean for me, and I need help with Ernie. You'd do everything a wife does except share a room with me. The house is big. There are plenty of bedrooms. You'd just pick one and it would be yours."

  "So you're asking me to be your housekeeper, and help you raise your son, but with the cloak of marriage to protect my reputation?" It truly wasn't a bad idea if they could keep from killing one another...and keep their hands off each other, of course.

  He nodded. "Yeah, that's pretty much it."

  She thought about it for a moment. It's pretty much what she'd thought she'd be getting with Tom, but she wouldn't have to share his bed. "What happens if one of us falls in love with someone else?"

  He shrugged. "I have no idea what we'd do then. I really don't. We'll both have to try not to let that happen, and if it does, we'll cross that bridge when we come to it." He knew he wasn't endearing himself to her with his answer, but he didn't know what else to tell her.

  She sighed. She wanted to know she'd have security, but this sounded like the best offer she'd get. Being a wife without the bedroom duties sounded wonderful to her. She stepped toward him and held out her right hand to shake. "I'll do it."

  He grinned, happy with her agreement. He didn't realize he'd been holding his breath until she agreed. His hand swallowed hers as he shook it. He felt a rush of electricity shoot through him as soon as he touched her, but he ignored it. He didn't have feelings like that for women any longer. He'd married Deborah, and he'd promised to be true to her. He would still be true to her. "I guess we could get married next Saturday?" he suggested.

  She frowned. "I have to have everything cleared out of the house where I live today. I've not only lost my job, but I've lost my home."

  He shrugged. "Well, let's hope the preacher is around to marry us then." He strode toward the house, planning on finding Ernie and heading into town. It was the only right thing to do after all.

  Chapter Four

  Anna followed along behind Mr. Hoover, not certain where he was going, but refusing to go into the house with him, because it wouldn't be proper with them both being unmarried and no chaperone around. She stayed on the front porch, sitting in a porc
h swing that was there. She knew it must be from the previous owners because Mr. Hoover didn't seem like the porch swing type to her at all.

  A porch swing was more of a finishing touch on a house than something a man would do. It was comfortable though, and she liked the idea of doing some mending on the porch when it was cool outside. It was October, and she still found the weather much too hot for her tastes. Didn't it ever cool off in Texas?

  She frowned. She still didn't know the man's first name. He'd kissed her, and she was about to marry him, but she didn't know his name? What was wrong with her?

  He came out of the house a moment later with Ernie in tow. Ernie glared at her. "You're not my mother!"

  She stood up, looking at the boy. "I never said I was, but I will do my best to feed you and make sure you wear proper clothes and act right." What else could she say? She knew he didn't want a new mother, but she was stepping into that role, and he was going to respect her.

  Ernie was obviously upset at the prospect of her marrying his father, but he said nothing more, just looking down at his feet.

  Mr. Hoover looked at her. "You ready? Let's get this over with." He gestured to the swing. "Wait here while I hitch up the horses."

  Jesse strode off to the stable, wondering if he could possibly be doing the right thing. He needed to get some help with his son, but was marrying the right way to do it? And he was attracted to her, whether he wanted to be or not. He didn't need her to constantly be around. What was he thinking marrying again anyway? And her? She was the last woman he should marry.

  He took a deep breath to calm himself, realizing Ernie was standing there looking at him. "Son, I'm not marrying her because I love her. I made her lose her job. I'm giving her another one." He wasn't certain if the words were for her benefit, his, or Ernie's.