Mail Order Misfortune

by Kirsten Osbourne

  Jesse was shaking with anger as he stared down into her blue eyes. He knew she was right, but he didn't care. He wanted nothing more than to beat the other man to within an inch of his life. Finally, he nodded, turning to leave the churchyard with his wife and son trailing behind him.

  Anna kept her arm firmly around Ernie's shoulders as they walked to the wagon. "We'll talk when we get home," she whispered.

  Jesse said nothing as he drove them back to the ranch. His face showed that the anger hadn't left, and Anna noticed that the knuckles of his right hand looked a little skinned.

  When they got home, she sent Ernie upstairs to his room while she carefully used witch hazel on his knuckles. "I wish you hadn't hit him," she whispered. She wasn't telling the whole truth, of course, because seeing Jesse's fist connect with Mr. Hanson's face had been nothing short of glorious in her eyes. She had been thrilled to see it happen, and she was glad she'd been there to witness it. She was just as glad that no one else had witnessed it. She didn't want Jesse to get a reputation for brawling.

  Jesse stared at her in surprise. "He called you a harlot."

  Anna nodded. "He did. He's an evil old goat, but I still wish you hadn't hit him. I don't think violence solves anything."

  "Sure felt good!" Jesse said with a grin.

  Anna stifled a giggle. "I'm sure it did." She walked to the stove and served the beans she'd had cooking at a low temperature the whole time they were at church. "Call Ernie, and we'll have some lunch."

  While they ate, Anna questioned the boy. "Were you trying to scare Susie?" she asked.

  Ernie shook his head emphatically. "No, ma'am. I really did hear her say last week after the service that she's wanted a pet for a long time, but her ma won't let her have one because she's afraid that the twins will get hair all over them. So I saw that frog while I was playing before church today, and I stuck in my pocket to give her after church."

  Anna bit her lip. "And she didn't like it as much as you thought she would?" It was obvious the boy hadn't had a female influence in his life for a long time.

  Ernie sighed. "I'm not sure what I did wrong. I went up to her, and put the frog in her pocket and whispered, 'There's your pet.'" He looked at Anna with a confused expression. "Why did she scream?"

  Anna thought carefully about how to answer him. "Well, girls are a little bit nervous about frogs and lizards and such. They don't like snakes either. She wants a kitten or a puppy as a pet."

  "But her ma won't let her have one of those! So a frog should be perfect."

  Anna nodded. "I can see how you'd think so, but not really. Girls just aren't partial to frogs the way boys are. I'm sorry." She looked at Ernie who had his head bowed sadly. "Do you think Susie is pretty?" She knew there had to be more to the story.

  Ernie nodded. "I think she's the prettiest girl I ever saw, so I wanted to give her something she'd like, but I did it wrong."

  Anna smiled, her hand going out to stroke his arm. "You didn't do it wrong. You just didn't know she would be like that about the sweet pet you found for her. Don't worry about it, Ernie." Her eyes met Jesse's for a moment. "You know, next time you should get her a bouquet of flowers. I bet she'd like that better."

  Ernie's face perked up a little. "But men do that when they court a woman. I'm too young to court her."

  Anna nodded. "You are too young to court her, but you're not too young to take her flowers to apologize for scaring her."

  Ernie grinned. "I can do that. Thanks, Ma!"

  Anna stared at him for a moment, stunned. It was the first time he'd called her anything but Anna, and usually it was more of a 'hey you' type thing with him. She knew he wasn't even aware he'd said it, but when her eyes met Jesse's, she could tell that he'd noticed.

  After lunch Ernie ran out to play, and Jesse watched her clean up the kitchen. He'd been planning on working that day, but she'd been so kind to Ernie over his little mix up with Susie, and she'd rushed to his defense with old Mr. Hanson. He realized she'd done exactly what Deborah would have done in the same situation, and he was thrilled with her. She was proving to be not only a good wife, but a good mother.

  "Thanks for standing up for Ernie today. I appreciate it."

  Anna smiled. "I couldn't have let that mean old goat hurt him. He's such a sweet boy." She certainly hadn't thought she'd be saying something nice about Ernie to his father two weeks before, but after getting to know him, she realized he was a good kid.

  Jesse smirked at her words. "That's not what you were saying when you were the schoolteacher."

  Anna laughed softly. "Well, he's better behaved now. It must be having a woman's influence in his life." She barely refrained from sticking her tongue out at him, but she knew it would be horribly childish.

  "Must be. Whatever the reason, I appreciate it. You've done more for him than I ever imagined you would when we agreed to marry."

  Anna dried the last dish and put it in the cupboard before turning to him. "What did you think I would do?"

  Jesse shrugged. "I'm not sure. I guess I thought you'd just do your cooking and cleaning and leave raising the boy up to me."

  Anna walked over to take the seat at the table that Ernie usually sat in. "Are you glad I'm helping with Ernie? Or do you wish I'd back off?" She didn't want to overstep her bounds, but she cared for the boy and wanted to help with him as much as she could.

  He thought about it for a moment, not quite certain how to answer that. "You know, I like that you're so gentle with him. I needed the help. I certainly needed the help with his clothes." He shook his head. "The housekeeper I had back East kept telling me that he was hopeless, and he was going to end up in jail someday."

  "That's terrible!"

  Jesse nodded. "I thought so, too. I figured you'd put up with him the same way she did, because you had to. I'm glad you're kinder to him than that."

  Anna nodded, her heart hurting for Jesse. "I wish you'd had someone else who could be a mother to him after Deborah died. What about your mother?"

  "She helped for a bit, but she was already sickly. She died within a year of Anna."

  "I'm so sorry. You've seen a lot of loss."

  He studied her for a moment, overwhelmed by her sweetness. He'd at least had the opportunity to love people, something she'd never really had. "I have, but I've had the opportunity to love a lot of people as well. I can't complain." It was then that he realized he couldn't. Yes, he'd lost the woman he loved, but he'd had her for years. He'd lost his parents, but he'd been raised by them and learned about life from them. They were good people. She had no one that she'd known her entire life except people in an orphanage. He suddenly felt very sad for her.

  She smiled, squeezing his hand, before changing the subject. "I made you a pair of pants and a new shirt. I used old ones as patterns. Would you be willing to try it on for me, so I can see how well it fits?"

  He nodded reluctantly. "I promise you, you'll wish you had Ernie trying things on again, because I just don't like it."

  She smiled. "Let me get them." Rushing to her sewing pile, she picked through the things there until she found the pants and shirt she'd mentioned. Her face was flushed and her heart was beating a bit faster than it should. She felt like something special had just transpired between them, but for the life of her, she couldn't put her fingers on exactly what it was.

  *****

  On Monday afternoon, Anna begged and begged until Ace finally agreed to let her ride around the corral on her own. He'd led the horse every single time afraid that her fear would get her thrown.

  Anna felt triumphant as she used her knees to guide the horse around the small corral, but she was shaking at the same time. She felt like she was so high up, and she knew she could be seriously injured if she fell. She couldn't imagine sweet Chili throwing her, but she just didn't feel like she was able to keep herself in the saddle well.

  She was making her way around the corral slowly for the third time on her own when she saw something speeding toward her ou
t of the corner of her eye. She gasped and lost her grip, falling to the ground and landing in the muddy corral. It had rained the day before and she found herself covered in mud.

  *****

  Jesse put Ernie on the back of his horse, and made up a reason to have to return to the house. That morning he'd 'forgotten' his nails, and this time he'd 'forgotten' his water. He carried fresh water out to work with him every day, knowing that even in October, the unforgiving Texas sun could cause dehydration.

  They rode back to the house, and as he got closer, he spotted something that scared him. His tiny little bride was on top of a horse in the corral, with no one close enough to catch the reins. He knew she couldn't ride. She'd admitted to him that she'd never even touched a horse. What was she thinking?

  He spurred the horse on faster, determined to get to her before she fell and hurt herself. He was less than one hundred yards away when she started and fell to the side, falling into the mud covering the ground of the corral.

  He jumped down off his stallion and rushed to the corral, jumping over the fence and hurrying to her side. "Are you hurt?" he asked, carefully picking her up.

  "I'm fine. Jesse, put me down! I'm filthy. I'm going to have to wash both of our clothes now!"

  Jesse ignored her squeals and carried her into the house, straight to her bedroom. He carefully set her on her feet, undressing her down to her petticoat and putting her into her bed. He sat at the edge of her bed, ignoring her blushes. He didn't know whether they were because he'd seen her fall or because he'd undressed her, but he really didn't care. She had no business riding a horse without him there to help her. What was she thinking? "What were you doing, exactly?"

  She blushed, looking at the wall. "Well, I know you like to ride, so I thought I should learn."

  "Why didn't you ask me to help you? Ace is a good cowboy, but he's not the man I would have chosen to teach you to ride." He wouldn't have let anyone teach her to ride. She was too small. Her bones were so slight, he was surprised she didn't snap them in half sweeping. She had no business atop a horse.

  Anna frowned. "He's been a good teacher for me. I was doing just fine until you appeared out of nowhere riding so fast." She was angry now that he'd ruined her surprise, and she knew it was petty, but she'd wanted him to see her ride well, not fall off the first time he saw her atop a horse.

  He shook his head. "You sure you're not hurt?"

  She nodded. "I'm fine. I've been hurt much worse stabbing myself with a needle sewing."

  He got to his feet looking down at her. "Well, I want you to stay in bed for the rest of the day just to make sure."

  She stared at him in shock. "I can't stay in bed! Who do you think is going to cook and clean? Who's going to make your clothes?"

  He shrugged. "All that can wait until tomorrow. For today, I want to be sure you're not hurt. Stay there until I get home." He strode from the room, closing the door softly behind him, not giving a thought to her disobeying him. What was Ace thinking? He'd go give the cowboy a piece of his mind before he went back to work.

  Anna watched him as he left the room, and laid there for just a minute, confused. After a moment, she got to her feet. She had landed on her behind, and she knew she'd be sore for a day or two, but the ignominy was much worse than the injury. She would be fine, and she'd show him.

  She waited until she was certain he'd left the house before getting dressed to go cook dinner for them. She'd promised him fried chicken, and he'd wrung the neck of one of the pullets that morning so she could make it. She was excited, because she knew her cream gravy was something he would immediately love. As she dressed, she laughed to herself. He'd take one bite of the gravy and fall to his knees in awe of her, begging her to stay with him forever and be his real wife.

  She shook her head, wondering what her problem was. She'd fallen off a horse and landed on her behind, not on her head. She couldn't even say she'd been thrown. What was wrong with her anyway?

  Chapter Nine

  When Jesse walked into the house at five as usual, he expected to have to fix a meal himself. He was already thinking about frying some bacon and toasting some bread, making bacon sandwiches for everyone. He'd take Anna hers on a tray, showing her that he cared if she was hurt or not. He knew he was often cold to her, but she was proving to be a sweet and caring wife, if not loving.

  He stopped short just inside the door as the smell of fried chicken infiltrated his nostrils. His eyes scanned the room and landed on his sweet wife, out of bed and putting dinner on the table.

  Anna turned toward the door and smiled at Jesse. "Everything's done. Just wash up, and we'll be ready to eat."

  Jesse said nothing as he walked to the basin, trying his best to hold his tongue and not unleash the anger that was filling him up. What was she thinking getting out of bed when he'd clearly told her not to? What was wrong with that woman? Did she think she was invincible?

  Anna ignored the look on Jesse's face, knowing he was angry with her, but refusing to acknowledge it. "How was your afternoon? Are you done with the fences yet?" She asked him the same question every afternoon, because she knew he was getting close to finally finishing.

  He took deep breaths, and didn't answer her, instead sitting at the head of the table as he fought to control his anger.

  Anna sighed, looking down at her plate. Ernie sat between them not noticing any of the friction between the parents. He waited for a minute and finally said loudly, "Can I just pray so I can eat? This food smells too good to just look at it."

  Anna's eyes met Jesse's, hers filled with laughter, but he simply frowned at her before nodding to Ernie. "Of course, you can. I'm hungry as well, son."

  Ernie said a quick prayer, and before the 'amen' had died from Jesse's lips, he had a chicken leg at his lips. He took a big bite and smiled. "Good chicken, Ma!"

  Anna smiled at the name, realizing that he had only called her 'ma' for a couple of days, and had stopped calling her Anna entirely. She couldn't be happier with his easy acceptance of her, and genuinely wished his father would accept her just as easily.

  She looked at Jesse, and though anger still filled his eyes, he was obviously enjoying her chicken. When he took his first bite of her mashed potatoes and gravy, his eyes closed with delight. He said nothing, but his face softened. Maybe food was the way to a man's heart after all. She'd certainly heard people say that often enough.

  After the dinner dishes were finished, she reached for the shirt she'd been sewing for Jesse, and his hand stopped her. He'd moved faster than she'd ever seen a man move to get to her and prevent her from lifting the shirt, so she knew there was something on his mind. Jesse's eyes bored into hers as he said, "Ernie. Go on upstairs now. I need to have a talk with Anna."

  Ernie looked between them before shrugging. "Yes, Pa. G'night." He hurried up the stairs without looking back, obviously either oblivious to the anger the adults were showing toward one another or uncaring that they were angry.

  As soon as Ernie was in his room with the door firmly shut behind him, Jesse sat back down. "I don't appreciate you getting out of bed today after I told you not to. You're too little to do the kind of work you do, and you were injured when you fell."

  Anna sighed. "The only thing I injured when I fell was my pride. I've injured that before and I will again."

  "I told you to stay in bed!"

  Anna tilted her head to the side and studied him for a moment. "And you expect me to obey your orders without thinking? Like I was one of your cowboys or your son?"

  Jesse's eyes narrowed, but he nodded. "Yes, just like that. If I say you need to spend a day in bed, then you need to spend a day in bed. Don't you think I know what's best for you?"

  Anna shook her head. "Actually, no, I don't think that. I'm a strong woman, and I have a brain of my own. I knew how I was feeling after my fall. You didn't. I didn't hit my head, only my bottom."

  "I want you to promise me that the next time you injure yourself, or you're sick, if I tell y
ou to stay in bed, that you'll stay in bed."

  Anna glared. "If it doesn't make sense for me to stay in bed, then I won't stay in bed. Who would fix dinner if I just spent the day in bed pretending to be hurt when I wasn't? How is my work going to be done if I don't do it?"

  "It's women's work. It can wait 'til tomorrow."

  "And you would have cooked for yourself, I suppose?" Why couldn't he see that she'd done the logical thing? Why did he care anyway? It's not like she was his precious Deborah.

  "I would have! I can cook eggs!" Very rubbery inedible eggs, but he didn't tell her that. He wasn't about to admit that he was a terrible cook and have her ridicule him for it. That wasn't the issue at hand anyway. "Next time I want you to do as you're told."

  Anna shrugged. "I'm finding that I don't particularly like doing as I'm told. I prefer to do what seems reasonable to me. Now, if you ask me to cook something special for supper, that would be no problem. You wanting me to spend a day when I feel perfectly fine, in bed? That's not logical, and I won't do it. Ever. You don't care about me except as a housekeeper anyway, so what do you care that I didn't stay in bed? You'd think you'd use your brain and be happy that I disobeyed you and you got something decent to eat!" Her voice had risen to a level that she'd never heard from herself. Was she really the one shouting at him as if he'd lost his mind?

  "You promised to 'love, honor and obey' me, woman!" He pounded his fist on the table to emphasize his words.

  "And you promised to 'love, honor and cherish me.' I feel no love from you! You've told me love will never happen between us. At least I married you intending to fulfill my obligations!" She got to her feet and ignored the sewing she'd planned to do. She was so angry she didn't want to have to look at him for another minute.

  He grabbed her arm as she made to pass him, easily overpowering her and keeping her in place. "Why can't you just do things the easy way? Do you always have to fight me?"