Leora: Bride of California (American Mail-Order Bride 31)

by Kit Morgan

  He sucked in some air and sighed heavily. “My mother and Mrs. Rutherford don’t see eye to eye. And Mother does not suffer fools – as evidenced when she dumped an entire bowl of punch over Mrs. Rutherford’s head at the town dance last year.”

  Leora’s hands flew to her mouth as she gasped, then started to giggle.

  “Yes, I thought it was rather amusing too,” Mrs. Drake said in recollection. “Did she ruin your wedding?”

  “No, she didn’t,” Theron said in exasperation. “Is that why you’re here?”

  “No, that is not why we’re here. We traveled to meet your new bride. And since we’re in California we might as well go to San Francisco and visit Lorcan and Ada,” she turned to Leora. “They’re good friends of the family – they moved there about a year ago.”

  Leora smiled, unsure of what to say at this point.

  Theron stared at his mother a moment, his face calmer. “You’ll give them my best, won’t you?”

  “Of course.” She looked at Leora again. “Lorcan’s blind, but he and his wife Ada get along all right. That’s what a good woman will do for a man.”

  Leora quickly looked at Theron. Was that an insult? She wasn’t sure.

  Theron, on the other hand, had his own ideas. “Mother, I’m married now and as much as I know it pained you that you had no hand in selecting her, it is done nonetheless. I know you have the best intentions in mind as always, but that’s the end of it.” He came around the desk and put his arm around Leora. “Now get to know your new daughter-in-law while you’re here. I think you’ll like her very much.”

  “I already like her,” Mrs. Drake said and smiled at Leora. “Now I just have to figure out what to do with the girl I had lined up for you.”

  Theron’s eyebrows shot up. “You actually found someone?” He turned to Leora. “Where I come from women are still fairly scarce.”

  “She’s not exactly a local, but a definite prospect,” Mrs. Drake said. “No matter – I’m sure I can find someone for her.” She sighed. “Well now, what do you two have planned for the day?”

  “Er … placing an order from a catalogue,” Leora said sheepishly.

  Theron smiled and tried not to chuckle. “It’s a normal work day for me, Mother. Leora was kind enough to offer to help out.”

  “Finally going to clean up that corner now that you have help?” his mother asked.

  Theron smiled. “Believe it or not, yes.”

  Mrs. Drake crossed the room and stared at the chaotic stacks. “Oh, thank Heaven. He writes home about it, you know,” she told Leora. “I think it gives him nightmares. Then again, he was always piling things up at home as a boy. Just not an organizer. Takes after his father that way.”

  “Mother, either stay and help Leora or join Father at Mrs. Pleet’s. That is where you’re staying, isn’t it?”

  “Of course – we wouldn’t think of staying anywhere else. We love Mrs. Pleet.”

  “Well, then,” Theron said. “I was just about to get started. Would you like to help?”

  “Heavens, no. I’ll go find your father so I can bring him by and introduce him to his new daughter in-law. Then we can talk about what to make for supper tonight.”

  Leora blanched. The thought of serving this woman cabbage soup didn’t set well. What was she going to do?

  “I’ll be back in a few hours with your father. I’m happy for you, dear, for both of you.” She kissed Theron on the cheek. “Please don’t let our visit upset you. I know we didn’t send a wire to let you know we were coming, but we wanted it to be a surprise.”

  “Well, it worked – I’m surprised. Not overly, mind you, but still surprised.” He leaned over and returned the peck. “I’m glad you’re here. It’ll be nice to sit down to supper with you and Father tonight.”

  Mrs. Drake smiled, tears in her eyes. “Yes, it will.” She turned and left the church office.

  Leora stared after her, her mouth half opened. “Is there something I should know about your parents?” she said, giving him a sideways glance. “You acted oddly when she first showed up.” Perhaps she shouldn’t have asked, but she had to know. The last thing she wanted was to be put into a situation where she was expected to choose sides, which was exactly how her new husband and his mother had made her feel.

  Theron ran a hand through his hair, mussing it. “It’s a long story. I wouldn’t want to bore you with the details.”

  A flicker of determination flashed across her face. “That pile in the corner is likely to take me all day. I’d love to be entertained while I work.”

  Theron blew out a breath and shrugged. “All right, the short version. My parents are … shall we say, a little different.”

  “Different how?”

  “I don’t really know how to explain it. My father is the town doctor where we come from, and I have to admit he’s very good at it. My mother works with him.”

  “What’s so bad about that?”

  “My father was educated at Harvard,” he continued, ignoring her question. “My mother, in a small schoolhouse in a town called Nowhere. It’s up in Washington Territory – well, Washington state now. None of this is unusual, but when you put them together they make quite the pair. My mother sees something she wants and goes after it. She’s very adventurous and speaks her mind. My father, on the other hand … well, he’s the thing people go after, sometimes at great cost.”

  She cocked her head to one side. “I don’t understand.”

  “It’s like I said before – he’s very good at what he does. The people she mentioned earlier, Lorcan and Ada, sought my father out years ago when Lorcan first went blind, hoping he could help.”

  “But your mother mentioned that this Lorcan is still blind. Your father wasn’t able to help him.”

  “Oh, he helped him all right. He … taught him things. It’s almost as if the man can see. Schools for the blind have wanted my father to come teach for them, but he won’t leave his practice. Others started to come, wanting him to do things for them, too. Write books, teach. It was like living in a circus.”

  “Is that why you left?”

  He nodded. “Yes. My parents were hoping I’d take over the family practice and become a doctor. But I like what I’m doing here.”

  “And they don’t approve?” she asked. She was learning a lot about him and liked it.

  “It doesn’t matter if they approve or not,” he said. “What does is that I’m fulfilling my calling.”

  “Calling?” she whispered. “So that’s why you became a preacher?”

  He nodded as he pulled her into his arms. “And I’ve never regretted a single moment of it.”

  “But what about your parents?”

  “What they do with their lives is their business,” he said. “I’m happy that my father is able to help so many people. I’m just not as happy with some of the people who seek that help. He’s glad to give it, mind, but I remember a time when someone threatened Mother’s life to try and force Father to help them.”

  Leora gasped. “That’s horrible!”

  “It was frightening. I was just a child. They were outlaws camped outside of town. My father would’ve helped them regardless – they didn’t need to resort to violence …”

  Leora could only stare. There was something in his eyes that told her there was more to the story. But she decided not to press him for it – at least not now. She wiped her hands on her skirt, squared her shoulders and turned to the corner. “Looks like I’d better get to work.”

  Six

  They worked until noon, when Theron’s parents showed up on the front porch of the parsonage. Leora had been so intent on organizing the piles in the corner that she’d lost track of time, so Theron had left the office to go make sandwiches. She washed the dust and ink from her hands, dried them, then walked over to the worktable where Theron was preparing lunch. “Should I make some soup?”

  He smiled. “No, this is good enough for my folks.”

  She looked at Th
eron’s father sitting at the kitchen table next to his wife, thumbing through a book. He was a handsome man, simultaneously intense and gentle. He didn’t talk much but instead studied his son, brows knit together in concentration as if having a conversation with himself. Mrs. Drake, on the other hand, looked around the kitchen as if mentally picturing where she would put things.

  Leora felt a twinge of panic. What if they wanted to stay awhile? What if they didn’t go on to San Francisco right away? The thought made her nervous and she dropped a knife.

  “Careful,” Theron warned. “Don’t hurt yourself.”

  Theron’s father watched them a moment, then looked at his wife and took her hand. Leora witnessed their eyes softening, and smiled at the tender exchange. “I’m all right.”

  Theron gave her a single nod then turned to his parents. “I could make us some tea.”

  “Whatever you want to do, dear, but water is fine with us,” his mother said.

  Leora brought the plate of sandwiches to the table and set it down, then went to a nearby hutch where she knew the dishes were kept and pulled out four plates.

  “There’s no need for that,” Mrs. Drake said. “We can just as easily eat off napkins.”

  “No trouble,” Leora said as she brought the plates to the table. She hoped the woman wasn’t going to counter everything she did.

  “Well, if you insist. I was just trying to spare you the dishes.”

  Leora smiled at her, one plate held in midair. Maybe she was wrong about Mrs. Drake. She set the plates out, then fetched some napkins.

  “Go ahead and sit down, dear,” Mrs. Drake said. “You must be famished after all the work you did this morning.”

  Leora nodded. “I am a little hungry.” She was also nervous. She understood about Theron’s parents and why he felt the way he did about them, but she wasn’t sure how she felt about them yet. His mother did indeed speak her mind, while his father practically dripped with seriousness. She wasn’t sure how to act around the pair.

  She sat next to Theron and waited for him to say the blessing, but it was his mother that took it on. “Oh Lord, thank You for this food and may You bless it to our bodies. Amen. Oh, and thank You for bringing Theron such a lovely bride, but You know You’re going to have to help me with the other one.”

  Leora caught the look on Theron’s face out of the corner of one eye and noticed his lip twitch. His mother must have noticed too. She smiled at him, shrugged and grabbed a sandwich. There wasn’t exactly great tension between them, but there was some. Leora just wished she knew more about it.

  “How was the wedding?” Dr. Drake asked.

  “I’m sure Mother told you,” Theron said. “A bit crowded, is all.”

  Dr. Drake eyed his wife. “No, your mother hasn’t said a word about it.”

  Theron glanced between his parents. “Really? In that case, it was fine. Nothing out of the ordinary. Reverend Wingate officiated.”

  Dr. Drake looked between his wife and son, then fixed his gaze on Leora. “And what do you say?”

  “Me?”

  “Yes, how was your wedding?”

  “It was… fine, just as Theron told you.”

  “No it wasn’t,” Mrs. Drake said. “She was there.”

  Dr. Drake’s eyes widened a fraction before he turned to his wife. “You don’t say? She didn’t happen to bring a punch bowl with her, did she?”

  Theron pressed his lips together and snorted. Leora took a quick look at his mother, who sat, her lips pressed just as firmly as she glared at him.

  “Well, it’s nice to hear that Mrs. Rutherford is … her old self,” his father said.

  “Very much so,” Theron said. “But don’t worry, she won’t be bothering us. I’ll see to that.”

  “You’d best see to it before Sunday comes,” his mother said.

  “Why is that?” asked Leora. Was there something else about Mrs. Rutherford she ought to know?

  “Because if that harpy has her way, no one will show up for services,” Mrs. Drake said.

  Leora gasped. “Why would she do such a thing?”

  “Because she has to have her way,” Mrs. Drake informed her. “She’s also the type to do it by any means necessary. If you haven’t noticed, I don’t like her.”

  “Does anyone around here?” Leora asked. “Seems to me she has everybody bullied in this town.”

  “Very observant,” Mrs. Drake remarked.

  “It’s a little hard not to be when the woman brings more than twenty people to your wedding.”

  Theron gave her a look that clearly said did you have to mention that?

  “Well, that settles it then,” Mrs. Drake said. “We’re not leaving.”

  “Yes, we are,” said Dr. Drake firmly. “Lorcan and Ada are expecting us. Theron and his new bride can handle Mrs. Rutherford.”

  “Maybe so, but we should still help,” his wife argued.

  “If Theron needed our help, don’t you think he’d ask for it?”

  Theron sat back in his chair with a smile. At least his father was on his side.

  Leora kept quiet – this was exactly the sort of thing she wanted to avoid. But was Mrs. Rutherford really that bad? She had a very strong feeling that once Theron’s parents left, she was going to find out.

  * * *

  The rest of the meal passed in silence, then Leora did the dishes while Theron spoke with his parents in the parlor. They would spend the night at Mrs. Pleet’s, join Theron and Leora for breakfast, then take the noon train to San Francisco. There they would spend some time with their friends Lorcan and Ada, then do some other traveling before coming back to stay a few days with the newlyweds for Christmas.

  At least Leora might get a few private days with her new husband. She began to feel a little jealous of Lottie and Sam’s train trip west – at least they got some sort of a honeymoon. All Leora got was a cluttered corner full of papers, one she planned to tackle again once she got the dishes done. The project was going to take her more than a day to finish.

  Theron’s parents bid them goodbye and headed back to the boarding house. There were other people in town that they wanted to visit and had already been invited to dinner by several families. “Your parents are very popular,” Leora commented as they watched them walk down the street to Mrs. Pleet’s.

  “They always have been,” he said, a hint of weariness in his voice.

  “Does your mother hate Mrs. Rutherford?” Maybe it was too personal a question, but again, if she was going to have to face this woman alone, she wanted to know exactly what she might be getting herself into.

  “My mother doesn’t let anyone push her around, especially the likes of Mrs. Rutherford. There’s no love lost between them, that’s for sure.” He turned to her. “You aren’t worried about her, are you?”

  “Mrs. Rutherford?” Leora said and fought the urge to twist her hair, a bad habit she had when she was nervous. “Of course not.”

  “You’d tell me if she pushed you around?”

  “She won’t bother me.” I hope, she added silently.

  “Well then, I guess I have no need to worry. Let’s go back to the office and finish our work.” He turned and headed back into the house.

  Leora took a deep breath and let it out slowly. She wasn’t sure which she dreaded more: getting back to work on the mess in the corner, or her first real run-in with Mrs. Rutherford.

  Back in the office they each settled into their tasks. Leora tackled the chaotic corner, while Theron put together his sermon for next Sunday. He finished; she didn’t. “I told you that might take awhile,” he commented as they locked up the office.

  “That’s all right. I’m sorry I interrupted you so much, but I wasn’t sure what a lot of your papers were, exactly.”

  “I have a confession to make,” he said with a smile.

  “What?”

  “When I first moved here, I was carrying half of those boxes in my arms and ….”

  Her eyes widened. “And what
?”

  “I tripped.”

  “Oh no! Did you hurt yourself?”

  “Only my pride – I wasn’t alone. Anyway, it was raining, so my friend and I scrambled to get everything picked up and stuffed papers into boxes willy-nilly. Unfortunately, it’s not the first time that’s happened.”

  Leora gawked at him a moment. “You mean I’m cleaning up more than one spill?”

  “I’m afraid so.”

  “But you seem so neat with everything else.”

  “True, but we all have that one weak spot. Call it a flaw in my case, but to me it was never a priority. I know it needed doing, but I’ve always had more important things to do. Or at least more urgent ones.”

  She thought about it. Her days had always consisted of the same thing. Work, eat, sleep, repeat. There wasn’t a need for much prioritizing, except maybe when it came to having the chance to read. Speaking of which … “Do you take time for yourself?”

  “What do you mean?”

  “You know, to read in the evenings, play a game, take a walk.”

  “Of course, why do you ask?”

  She furrowed her brow as she pondered his answer. Her life really had been dull – lack of money and energy did that to a person. But still, some of the other women she’d worked with managed to take walks in the evening, or go to the park on their day off. All she ever did with her spare time was re-read The Pirate’s Peril and Other Adventures.

  “There are various amusements in town throughout the year – festivals, dances, plays, that sort of thing. With the holidays coming, there will be no shortage of extracurricular activities. Which means you and I are going to be quite busy.”

  “With what?” she asked as they reached their front door.

  “Oh, let’s see. There’s the Christmas play, gift baskets for the poor – you’ll be in charge of that – and then of course the quilting will start this week …”

  “Quilting?”

  “Yes, a group of ladies make a Christmas quilt every year and raffle it off for charity. They meet in the church twice a week.”

  Leora’s heart warmed, even as a tremor of fear crept up her spine. “Will I be in charge of that too?”