Well, there was no help for it now. Shrugging aside his discomfort, he moved to the fireplace and rekindled the fire. It had been a long day and fatigue pulled at his muscles. How nice it would be to stretch out on his bed and fade into sleep. A huge yawn made his jaw creak. Jillian was sound asleep. She hadn’t moved even when he laid her down. Maybe she wouldn’t notice if he stretched out beside her.
Completely innocent, of course. They were married, but it was an arrangement of convenience. There had been no mention of normal marital activities. David shifted uncomfortably. He hadn’t even thought about sleeping arrangements. Jillian would probably want her own room and certainly her own bed, but somehow the tiny room off the kitchen didn’t seem to fit the bill. He would come up with something.
The warm glow of the fireplace gilded Jillian’s hair and touched the circles under her eyes. She was fully dressed and twisted in what looked to be an uncomfortable position. The bulge of her pregnancy was more pronounced with her skirts caught under her. She would be sore in the morning if he left her like that.
Shoving himself from the comfort of the chair, David went to her and drank in her fragile beauty. How had he been so lucky, so blessed, to have such a woman answer his ad? He had told her that he wasn’t interested in love, but perhaps he had been wrong.
Bending over, David removed Jillian’s hat. His fingers, so good at repairing leather and roping cattle, felt clumsy and awkward as he fumbled for the pin holding the hat to her silky hair. Her boots were easier, although the tiny buttons resisted his efforts at first. That done, David took a deep breath and tried to move her into a more comfortable position. His face heated as his callused hands snagged on the stockings that covered her legs.
He had never touched a woman so intimately. There was just one more thing to do. David swallowed hard and leaned over one more time. The high neck of her dress was snug against her throat. With trembling hands, he unfastened the top three buttons. Her skin was so soft David was sure he would bruise it with his ham-fisted touch. A soft sigh escaped Jillian’s lips as she settled deeper into sleep.
Covering her with a spare blanket, David retreated to his chair. As tired as he was, he doubted he could sleep. It wasn’t the discomfort of the chair that kept him from slumber. No, it was his thoughts that kept him awake.
He had a wife, and that changed everything.
Chapter Six
Jillian woke with a start. Where was she? A coarse woolen blanket covered her from the neck down and the stale smell of unwashed sheets assaulted her nose. Bright morning sunlight streamed in through a window and seemed to reproach her for not being awake to greet it earlier.
Slowly memory returned. She had gotten married yesterday and the man was her husband. Oh Lord, what had she done? Easing from under the blanket, she stood. The bed was nestled in the corner of a very messy room. It seemed that every flat surface was covered by something. It would be a challenge, but for the first time in weeks, if not months, she felt rested and more like her old self.
But first things first. Slipping her feet into her boots, she didn’t bother buttoning them before hurrying to the door. She had yet to get used to the ever more frequent need to visit the privy. From the stories she had heard from other women, it would get worse. She stepped down from the porch to find the necessary pathway when she stopped and stared in wonder.
A deep blue sky arched above her head like an inverted bowl. Right before her, rugged mountains thrust up into that blue expanse as if carrying the weight of the sky. Everywhere else, rolling hills covered by a sea of grass undulated under a strong breeze.
She had grown up surrounded by the mountains of New England, but this was so much bigger. Her mind couldn’t seem to take it in. her body gave an urgent reminder about her purpose out here, but Jillian was reluctant to tear her gaze away. It felt like home, but even better.
When she was back in the house, Jillian pulled a fresh dress from her bag. As she undid the buttons of her dress, she thought about the man who had undone the first three. She was torn between embarrassment, and gratitude that he had made an effort to make her comfortable. She wished she had met him before Clarence had stolen her innocence. If nothing else, she had a second chance.
* * *
Twilight settled over the land as David pulled the saddle from the gelding and released it into the corral. He hadn’t slept much and his mind was fuzzy with weariness. Another cow had been bogged down in the mud beside the waterhole and he had spent the afternoon trying to pull her out.
Dried mud flaked off his clothes with every step toward the house. He had waded in up to his knees to rescue the calf that had tried to follow his mother only to become mired up to its belly. By the time David had reunited the two, thick mud covered him head to toe. He wanted nothing more than to shed the filth and fall into bed for a week.
He was three steps into the house before it hit him. The room was clean. David blinked the haze of exhaustion from his eyes. The clutter and mess were gone as was the smell of dust and dirty socks. Jillian stood beside the table with her hands clasped at her waist. Only the white of her knuckles betrayed her nervousness.
“Welcome home, Husband.” She approached shyly to greet him. “Supper is ready if you would like to wash up.”
To her credit, she barely flinched at the mud he was shedding on the freshly swept floor. “I should have thought to clean up before coming in.” David backed toward the door trying to minimize the damage. “I’ll be back.”
The horse trough stood on the far side of the corral and sheltered behind the barn. David stripped to his waist and dunked head and shoulders into the cold water. If she had gone to all that trouble to clean his house and make dinner, the least he could do was wash up. The memory of her quiet smile lingered as he hurried to rejoin her.
Chapter Seven
Six months later …
Jillian rubbed impatiently at her lower back but the nagging ache refused to go away. She already lumbered around the house like one of David’s cows, she didn’t need any more disruptions to her day. Between trips to the privy, swollen ankles, and a stomach that resembled an over ripe watermelon, she already had trouble getting through her day.
David was a sweetheart about it though. Jillian smiled as she set the table. He had begun helping with some of the housework soon after she moved in. His awkward attempts at sweeping and washing dishes generally made more work for her in the end, but considering the state of his house when she first arrived, it was an effort he had never made before.
Pausing beside a window, Jillian searched the horizon for his familiar form. It was too early for him to come home, but she couldn’t seem to stop watching and hoping. She did well enough during the day by herself, but there always seemed to be something missing until he walked through the doorway.
Jillian rubbed her soothingly over her belly, her skin was stretched so tight it seemed that some of the baby’s kicks would poke right through. It wouldn’t be long now. A small cradle stood beside the fireplace waiting. David had surprised her with it a few days ago.
Sometimes Jillian thought her husband was even more eager for the baby than she was. And it wasn’t even his child. It didn’t stop the wonder from showing on his face when felt the baby moving. For herself, Jillian felt something very different when her husband’s hand rested on her belly. Something she had never expected to feel.
Love.
* * *
David rode into the yard. The sun was high overhead and he hadn’t expected to be home for hours yet, but something pulled at him. He glanced down at the clump of wildflowers clutched in his hand and nearly dropped them into the dust of the yard. Instead, he swung down from the saddle and took a deep breath.
He had come to a decision in the wee hours of the morning. Jillian had come to him looking for a safe refuge for her and her baby. David had merely been looking for someone to keep house for him. She had done all that and more.
The baby would be born soon and David
couldn’t wait. He had long ago ceased to think of it as another man’s child. It seemed like his own child already, even though he had never touched the mother in that way.
Not that he hadn’t wanted to.
David pushed that thought away and stepped into the house. Jillian stood beside the table as she had that first night but this time her hands rested on the swollen mound of her stomach with no sign of nervousness. Instead, a warm smile of welcome spread across her face.
“You’re home early.” Jillian crossed the room with a rolling gait. “I’m glad you are though. I have something to tell you.”
“Me first.” David thrust the wilted flowers into her hands. “Jillian, I know we agreed that that neither of us was looking for love or romance, but I’ve changed my mind. Over the months I have come to know you and well …” pulling off his hat, David ran his fingers through his hair. “Well, I just want you to know that I love you and would like to ….” His face heated until if felt as if it would burst into flame. He was messing this up.
Jillian placed a slender hand on his arm and David looked up to meet her eyes. “Oh David, I can’t tell you how happy I am to hear you say that. I have loved you for months, almost since that first day. That was what I wanted to tell you. I want this to be a real marriage, a real home, with a husband and wife who love each other and a whole passel of children.”
“Children?” David looked down at her belly and touched the hard bump with reverence. The child within moved against his hand. A burst of warmth flooded his heart. “You want more children?”
Jillian laughed, the sound shivering over him like a caress. “Well, after this one comes, anyway.” She laid her hands over David’s. “Will you be the father of my children, David? All of my children?”
Raising his eyes to meet her earnest ones, David could only nod. Then he did as he had longed to do for weeks, he pulled her into his arms and held her close. He closed his eyes and savored the feel of her heart beating against his. A spasm rippled across the hard mound pressed between them and Jillian gasped.
“I think you will get your chance, a little sooner than we thought.” Jillian pulled away and laughed although her face had gone pale. “My dearest husband, I think you may need to ride for the doctor.”
THE END.
Love Never Fails
Mail Order Bride
CHRISTIAN MICHAEL
Chapter 1 – Mary Needs a Mother
The rain pattered against the window of the schoolhouse, and Jason twisted his hat in his hands. His daughter, Mary, sat on the bench beside him, letting her legs dangle freely. She swung her feet carelessly back and forth.
“Mary sit still,” her father said in a low voice.
“But why Papa? I’m so bored!”
“Because you need to act like a lady.” Jason would have continued his speech, but the door to the back of the school opened at that moment, and he stood to greet the teacher.
“I’m sorry to keep you waiting, Mr. Shoats, but I’m afraid the weather made travel a little difficult.”
“It’s quite all right Mrs. Johnstone. I trust you have a ride home in the rain?”
Mrs. Johnstone smiled and nodded, then turned to look at Mary.
“I have some cookies left over from lunch in my bag. If you want to go wait in the coatroom you may have them. I will only be a minute with your father.”
“Yippee!” Mary shouted as she leapt off the bench and ran down the aisle.
“Mary! You must walk while indoors! You –“ Jason sighed and shook his head.
“I’ve been trying my best to teach her some manners, but it’s hard when she’s in school all day then has to wait at my brother’s shop while I finish up. I know Jack doesn’t have to time to teach her while he’s trying to run the store, and a stable is no place for a little girl.”
Mrs. Johnstone held her hand up to stop him.
“No explanation needed, Mr. Shoats. It’s quite all right. I know that you have a lot to do with the stable and trying to keep a roof over your heads, but Mary’s manners aren’t what I wanted to talk to you about. It’s her schooling.”
Jason looked down at the floor, nervously twisting his hat in his hands as he listened. He hated these discussions with the teacher. Always had, even before it was just him and his daughter. Now, without the support or help of his wife, he felt even more pressured by the teacher.
“What about her schooling? She’s here every day, and I hear her reciting her lessons at the dinner table…”
“She may recite something, but they certainly aren’t her lessons.” Mrs. Johnstone replied curtly, and a pang ran through Jason’s heart as the teacher continued.
“She is falling behind in her reading to be honest, and I don’t think she’s even trying. She seems to have lost all interest in schooling or any academic subjects at all for that matter.”
“Well, she has been through a lot-“ Jason began, but once again he was cut off by Mrs. Johnstone.
“I am sorry for your loss, Mr. Shoats, and I can only imagine what losing a mother can do to a child, but that was months ago, and your daughter isn’t getting any better in her studies. Now, I am afraid she is going to hold up the class if we don’t do something about this.”
Anger welled up inside of Jason, but he held his tongue. The last thing he needed to worry about right now was making the teacher mad and getting his daughter expelled.
Life had been a struggle the past few months. His wife, Lucinda, had passed away with fever. He had done everything in his power to help her recover, and in spite of taking her to every doctor in the area, she finally succumbed to the illness.
Jason had worked long hours at the stable, trying to catch up on the doctor bills and keep himself and his daughter fed and clothed. The payments for the house were due to the bank, and he didn’t have time to help her in school. In fact, Mary had been spending the afternoons after school with her Uncle Jack in his little shop while Jason finished up his work at the stable.
Suddenly, their conversation was interrupted with Mary poking her head into the room.
“Papa! The rain’s letting up! Can’t I go out and play in the puddles? Please Papa! Please please please please please!”
Jason turned to face his daughter, and said firmly, “Honey, I have to talk to your teacher right now, I need you to wait out in the other room, and I’ll be right there.”
He struggled to keep his voice low, trying not to yield to his frustration, although he felt right at his wit’s end at this point.
“But Papa! This is taking forever! I’ll be right outside! Please Papa! Please?” Mary was running around in circles by the door, waving her arms around and yelling.
Finally, Jason couldn’t keep his voice down any longer.
“All right!” He yelled, “But stay right outside where I can see you out the window. And don’t get all muddy, you hear?”
“Yay! Thank you, Papa!”
Mary turned and ran out the door, completely undeterred by her father’s outburst, and began jumping in every puddle she could find.
Jason watched her go, then took a deep breath in before letting it back out slowly.
“I’m sorry for that, she gets excited, and forgets that she has to wait her turn.” Jason turned back to the teacher, hoping she didn’t mind the exchange.
The teacher just looked at him and shook her head.
“Look,” Jason continued, “I know Mary needs to learn some manners, ok?”
“What the girl needs,” Mrs. Johnstone sighed. She hesitated for a moment, then said in a lowered tone, “is a mother.”
Jason exhaled sharply, sat down, and looked out the window. He sat there a second, watching his daughter jump from puddle to puddle in the rain as he still twisted his hat in his hands.
Finally, he nodded.
“Yes, indeed she does.”
Chapter 2 – Alone in the World
Amy Anne sighed and put the towel over the rack in the kitchen. She listened to th
e clamor in the other room, but didn’t pay much attention to what was actually being said. She figured they were all talking about some picnic or garden party or something like that.
The youngest child in the family of 5 children, Amy Anne never felt like she fully belonged. She wasn’t a blood relative to the sisters in the other room, she had been adopted by this wealthy family when she was just a child.
They had been kind to her, but they hadn’t let her forget the fact she had been adopted, or that their mother and father weren’t her mother and father. Amy Anne’s adopted parents knew nothing of this talk, and had always treated Amy as their own, but regardless of this Amy Anne still felt that she was alone in the world.
Suddenly, the voice of her sister Jane called into the kitchen.
“Amy Anne! We are talking of having a garden party! What do you think? We should invite all of the young ladies and gentleman in town… especially the eligible young gentleman!”
She heard laughter in the other room, and her other sisters chide Jane. Amy Wiped her hands on her skirt, and walked to the doorway of the parlor.
“A garden party? But we just had a party last month. If we throw them too often they will begin to expect it, and the house will always be filled with strangers!”
“I should think you would know well what it would be like to be a stranger in this house.” Katherine said, and the other sisters laughed. Amy Anne smiled and tried to laugh along with them, as she always did, but she felt a twinge of pain in her heart.
“Even still, I don’t know that we can justify another party so soon. What would Mother and Father say?”
“Our parents wouldn’t mind. After all, they are away on holiday for at least a couple more weeks, and we may as well enjoy the space while we have it.” Katherine snorted, then added, “after all, we need to find ourselves husbands. Father’s not going to want to keep paying for all our whims as we age.”
[2015] Cowboy Saves a Widow Page 37
