Instant Prairie Family (Love Inspired Historical)

by Navarro, Bonnie

  “But, Ma! We just gotta—”

  “Did your ma just tell you no to something?” Will’s voice caught them both up short. He stood just inside the kitchen door with an armload of wood for the wood box.

  “Yes, sir,” Tommy answered, his head down. This was not the first time they had had this discussion.

  “Then I expect you not to argue. Understood?” Will’s eyes glued his small son to the spot until Tommy nodded.

  “I’m sorry, Ma,” he mumbled, glancing up at her and then away.

  “It’s okay to be excited about the snow, Tommy. You just need to get your father’s permission before I can let you go out,” she reassured him, pulling the boy into her arms and squeezing him close.

  “Your ma’s right,” Will said, surprising Abby with his use of the title. He usually referred to her as “Auntie Abby” even though the boys had long since adopted “Ma.” “I’m going to go get the cattle in from the south pasture right after lunch. I don’t want you boys out there until I get back. The wind feels right for a whiteout.”

  “Aww, Pa. But I want to go sledding,” Tommy whined.

  “I think we’ll have more than enough snow and winter to get you out sledding at least once or twice before spring comes,” Will reassured Tommy, finally glancing at Abby and sending her a wink.

  She almost dropped the dishes she was carrying to the table. He hadn’t winked at her since the first month she was there—before they had been forced to marry. Could his returning jovial attitude be attributed to her leaving come Saturday? The thought brought unexpected tears to her eyes and she turned back to the stove in order to disguise her distress. How could he look forward to her departure while she dreaded it worse than the hangman’s noose?

  Somehow, Abby managed to keep from rushing out of the room during lunch. She even pretended to pay attention to Tommy’s detailed stories of sledding in years past. Willy interrupted more than once to correct his little brother. Will kept sending her puzzled looks, but as soon as they finished lunch he headed out with Jake to bring in the straggling herd.

  With dinner already made, she cleaned and dusted all the rooms upstairs, including Will’s. She normally didn’t go in there since it made her feel as if she was trespassing on his private sanctuary, but today she had wanted to make sure that the house was perfect when she left. His clothes and room had his lingering scent and it calmed her nerves about the snow. She could barely see across the barnyard to the outline of the barn. Abby returned to the kitchen and began to pace. They had been out for more than three hours. Where were they? Wasn’t it past time for them to have returned?

  She had been watching the snow come down harder and the wind howling at the windows and the chimney. What little dim light there had been during the day was now fading to darkness, and her worry grew exponentially. Were Will and Jake still out in one of the fields or had they both gone into the barn? She wanted to believe they were snug and warm with the cows in the sturdy building, but her fears whispered that they were trapped out in the snow.

  “I’m sorry, Lord. I just don’t want anything to happen to him... I mean them,” she amended for the hundredth time. “What would I do without Will? What would happen to the boys? God, You know what they’ve already suffered. Don’t take their father, as well. Or their cousin.”

  “Why are you out here again, Ma?” Tommy stood watching her from the doorway.

  “I’m...um... I was just checking on dinner.”

  “It smells just fine. I want you to read another story to me. The one about the little boys.”

  With one more look over her shoulder toward the back door, Abby forced her trembling legs to carry her back to the living room with the boys. She sat and read for the better part of an hour but couldn’t remember any of it. Even as she read, her ears were cocked, listening for any sound that would alert her to Will or Jake coming into the kitchen. She set the book down and had read three pages of the next one when the back door opened.

  She was off the couch, almost upending Tommy in the process, and was halfway into the kitchen, before either boy could react. “Hello?”

  Jake stood just inside the kitchen door, his coat covered in a layer of snow and ice. He took his hat off and even his hair underneath was wet from the thick snow. “It’s miserable out there. That wind could freeze a man solid!” he exclaimed as he pulled his boots off.

  “Where is your uncle?” Abby rushed to the stove, pulling the hot water forward to boil once more.

  “He went out to find the last cow. Foolish heifer. Gerty never comes when we call her. She’ll freeze out there, but will she follow the others to the shelter of the barn? No, she needs a special invitation. Uncle Will said to get the others in and bedded down for the night while he went out looking for her.” Jake stepped out of his snowy boots and handed her the bucket of fresh milk.

  “Could he be lost? How long has he been out there? What if—”

  “Abby, Uncle Will knows this land better than anyone. He saw Gerty up on the north side of the pasture but wanted to get the rest in so if he had to coax her, he wouldn’t have to do the same for all the others. Cattle can be some of the dumbest animals, but when they want treats, it’s amazing how they learn to beg.” Jake hung his coat and hat in the cellar stairway, letting the water drip onto the earthen floor beneath instead of Abby’s clean kitchen floor.

  “Are you sure your uncle’s all right out there? Maybe we should go out and look for him.” She handed Jake his mug of spiced tea and crossed over to the window, peering out into the fading day.

  “He’ll be in pretty soon. It’s milking time for Gerty and she’ll come along easily if he offers those sugar cubes he has. The rest of the chores are done. Don’t worry, Abby. He’ll be fine. I’m going up to change.”

  Abby stood in the kitchen waiting for what felt like an eternity, but Will still didn’t come in. Too frantic to stay inside any longer, she pulled on her boots and long winter coat, hat and gloves. She trudged out, fighting the wind that whipped through her clothes as if she were dressed in her summer dress. How cold must Will be by now? He’d been out for hours. What if he had gotten hurt?

  She would only check the barn, hoping he was there. She knew better than to stray too far from the house in this weather. Everything seemed to look the same with the snow and wind in her face. At the barn door, she had to shove with all her might to get the big wooden beam out of its place to open the door. Stepping inside, she realized that if the door was closed from the outside Will couldn’t have possibly been inside. Logic told her she should turn around and go back to the house, but the peace and relative warmth of the barn drew her in. Pulling the big door closed behind her, she ventured in, never having been inside in all the time she had been on the farm. While Will and Jake slept out here, Abby felt as if it was their private domain and she had chosen not to trespass. Now that she was out there, she wondered what she might find, even in the muted light.

  Honestly, large animals spooked her. She liked the horses Will owned, but even those she preferred to see from afar, up atop the wagon on the way to church. In the dusky light of the barn something moved toward her. As her eyes adjusted to the scarce light, she saw that the cows weren’t in stalls but were all around her and one was behind her, about to bite her. It nibbled at her hat and its tongue, moist and rough like sandpaper, scratched her neck. Shrieking, she fled to the ladder in the middle of the aisle. Tripping over her skirt, she battled her way up the ladder as if she were being pursued by a band of warrior braves. Only once she was up in the hay loft did she turn to see the cow happily munching on her hat, the scamp.

  Afraid to come down for fear of the large animals, she sat on the edge of the loft and wondered how she could get out of this mess she had made. She should have at least told the boys where she was going. What if Will came in before she was able to get back down? He’d have all the
right in the world to say that she was not suited to be a farmer’s wife, and send her back on the next train just as he wanted to.

  Pushing back from the edge of the loft, she looked around. It was full of hay for the winter, but there was a pallet still set out in the far corner with a pillow and a blanket. She sat down and plumped up the pillow. The now familiar smells of livestock, hay and Will wafted up to tease her nose as well as a crinkling sound that puzzled her. She lifted the pillow up completely. There were letters under the pillow. Her letters, all addressed to F. W. Hopkins. They were creased and worn at the edges as if someone had read and reread them. Why would Will have them here? Had he been trying to find a reason in the letters to send her packing earlier?

  Thud! Something hit the door of the barn, causing her to jump and scatter the letters. She collected them again and hid them back under the pillows. Determined not to let the bovines get the best of her, she prayed for courage and breathed deeply. If the boys could come and play in the barn with all the animals and show no fear, then so could she. Armed with a false sense of valor, she pulled her skirts up above her knees, glad no one was around to see her folly, and then she struggled down the ladder.

  Thankfully, the cattle were happy to ignore her. They all seemed to be more interested in a trough of oats. Strange, it hadn’t seemed to be that full before.

  Abby sighed with relief as she made contact with the door, sure she would escape safely now, except the door wouldn’t budge. It was as if she were pushing on a solid wall. Had the snow drifted against it so quickly? Panicking, she shoved harder, again and again, until her foot slipped on something slippery and smelly. Crying, she pushed off the floor and once again made her way to the ladder.

  For the first time since entering into the barn, she heard the wind howling outside and shivered. It was much warmer in the barn than out in the weather, but it was still cold. The heat from the animals helped, but she couldn’t start a fire or the whole barn might burn down. What if she had to stay the night out there? She crawled back to Will’s pallet and wrapped his blanket around her shoulders. It would keep her a little warmer while she thought of another way to get out.

  * * *

  Will pushed the kitchen door closed with his boot and dropped the last load of wood into the wood box. He’d brought in enough to hopefully last for days if need be. If it were up to him, he wouldn’t be going out into the wind again until chore time tomorrow. What he really wanted was a nice cup of Abby’s hot tea and her sweet smile to warm him all the way to his frozen toes. He’d asked God to intervene and keep him from sending Abby away and it had snowed. Maybe God had a message here.

  Strange, the kitchen remained quiet and Abby hadn’t appeared as she normally did every time the door opened. Dinner was on the stove and the water was boiling, but there was no sign of his wife.... His wife. Could he really ask her to stay? Would she be willing? After the snowfall today, maybe she would see the dangers of the prairie and change her mind. But he had to at least try.

  Footsteps sounded on the stairs and he peeled his gloves off quickly, shedding his coat and hanging it in the stairwell to the cellar as he crossed the kitchen to greet Abby, except it was Jake who descended the stairs.

  “So you finally came out of the cold.” Jake chuckled. “I bet Abby’s glad to see you’re safe.”

  “I haven’t seen Abby yet. Is she upstairs?” From the doorway he could see the boys were playing blocks on the front-room floor, but Abby wasn’t with them.

  “No, she’s not upstairs. She was in the kitchen when I came in. And she was powerful worried about you.” Jake grinned, like the Cheshire cat.

  “Well, maybe she’s down in the cellar. I’ll go look.” Will had turned around and was headed back to the cellar when he remembered what he had wanted to talk to Jake about. “Jake, next time you go out to the barn, especially in this cold, remember to shut it up well.”

  “I did. I made sure the doors were secure before I came in.”

  “Then why did I find Gerty back in the yard while I was bringing in more firewood?”

  “I don’t know. I haven’t gone back out since I came in an hour—” But Will didn’t wait for Jake to finish.

  “Boys, have either of you seen your mother?” His voice must have conveyed urgency because both boys popped up from the floor and looked at him strangely.

  “She put on her coat and hat after Jake went upstairs. Then we heard the door open and close a whole bunch of times. I think she was bringing in firewood,” Willy reported.

  “Maybe she went to go sledding,” Tommy volunteered, blissfully unaware of the dangers of being out too long in a storm.

  “I brought in the firewood,” Will said, “and I didn’t see her at all. Jake, go check back upstairs. Boys, I want you to stay here. I’m going to go back out to the barn. Jake, did she say anything to you? Did you tell her where I was?”

  “I told her you were looking for Gerty but not to worry because you’d be in in a little while. Do you want me to go out to the pasture?”

  “No. I’ll check the barn first. Then, if she’s not there, we’ll go looking. But look for her inside first. And pray, boys. Pray that she’s safe and out of the storm.”

  His heart pounding as if it were going to explode at any time, he retraced his steps through the kitchen, not even bothering to button his coat correctly and pulling his new knitted cap, compliments of his missing wife, haphazardly over his head. His fingers were still numb from being out so long, but he shoved his wet gloves back on his hands as he rushed across the slippery barnyard.

  Just as he had left it, the barn door was shut from the outside. He hefted the beam and set it on the ground. Pulling the door open, he peered into the darkness of the warm barn. Only the moos of the cows greeted him. He lit a lantern and hung it from its peg. “Abby! Abby, are you here?” he yelled out, knowing the panic in his voice betrayed his feelings more than anything else. Rustling above him over by his pallet drew his attention to the loft.

  “Will!” Her voice floated down to him above the din of the animals. “Are you all right?”

  He pulled the barn door closed behind him, latching it from the inside this time, and raced over to the ladder as if the barn were on fire. He wanted to shake her silly for scaring him so bad but then he wanted to kiss her silly in relief. He was halfway up the ladder when her face peered out over the edge.

  “Are you all right?” they both asked at the same time. She giggled and then sat back as he reached the top rung, putting him eye level with her.

  “What are you doing out here?” he demanded, out of breath from his climb.

  “I...I was worried about you and wanted to make sure you were okay. I couldn’t stay inside any longer and came out, hoping you were in here. Then one of the cows tried to eat my hat and I got scared and climbed up here. When I came back down, the door was stuck and I couldn’t go back to the house. I’m sorry. You’re probably cold and hungry and here I am—like such a fool—making you come back out in the cold and worrying you....” He could see her shaking and wanted to hold her tight, to promise her she would never be frightened again.

  “Shush, don’t worry, Abby. I’m so glad you’re all right. You are all right, aren’t you?” He pulled off his glove and caressed her cheek. Even with numb fingers, he felt her warm, silky skin and the moisture of fresh tears. She nodded, looking down below them instead of into his eyes. He’d do anything for this woman. If she couldn’t be happy on the prairie, he’d leave. They could find somewhere else to live, he didn’t care where, as long as they could be together.

  “Don’t worry about anything. We’ll move South, where there aren’t any snowstorms to scare you. I can sell the land or maybe leave Colin to sell it and take what we have. Texas is always warm, they say. We can start over. It won’t be as nice right away and we’ll have to work hard, but—”

 
“What are you talking about?” Abby stared at him as if he were out of his mind. He grinned. How foolish it must have sounded.

  “When you weren’t inside the house and I knew you could be out in the storm, I was so scared. I had promised to take care of you, protect you. You could have been hurt or worse....” He couldn’t force himself to even finish the thought. “I realized no piece of land is worth losing you, Abby. I want a real marriage, and I’ll do whatever it takes to prove to you that we can make it work. If you want me to move back to Philly, I’ll do it. I’m just sorry I held you at arm’s length for so long.” He drew a ragged breath, wondering if it was already too late for them.

  “But I don’t want to leave here! I don’t know why you think I do. I love the prairie that goes on and on forever. I know it’s a dangerous place, but God is just as able to keep me safe here as He is in Philly or in Texas.”

  “You don’t want to leave here?” Will asked, afraid to hope.

  “No, I don’t want to leave you, or the boys or the farm. I have come to love you all. This is my home, my family. I—”

  “You still want to stay with us? Even now that you’ve seen how the winter storms can be? And this is just the start. There will be more storms.”

  “Yes. I want to stay.” Abby nodded but turned away.

  Joy exploded in Will’s chest, squeezing the breath from his lungs. She wanted to stay. She wanted to stay! Had she really said she loved him? Or just his family? It didn’t matter. He could be patient. He’d learn to court her. He’d bring her flowers and tell her how lovely she was to him. Why had he waited so long?

  “I know that you didn’t want a wife either time you married and I...” She swallowed and he saw her struggle with some hidden emotion. “I don’t understand the way it is between a husband and his wife. I guess I was too young when I lost my own parents and my sister never took the time, not that her marriage was a good model. Anyway, I guess I never will be a woman to attract a man’s attention in that way, but—”