Mail Order Bride: JUMBO Mail Order Bride 20 Book Box Set
Page 82
“Sarah Walker,” he said, coming up close to her, “you get at my nerves.”
Ian lowered his head, nearer to Sarah’s, and added, in a whisper, “And… you get at my heart, too. Ever since the moment I first saw you, I’ve been intrigued by you, and your stubborn, naïve ways have haunted my mind—and, now, I fear I’ve fallen for you. And, I think that, perhaps, you’ve fallen for me too.
“You were blind to the truth about your sister and Russel for so long. But, tell me, are you going to be blind to the truth about us forever? Can you keep on averting our eyes from what’s right in front of you?”
Sarah turned and gazed into Ian’s dark brown eyes and regarded his handsome face and features. She was distracted by it again. But, this time, she did not regain her composure.
NINE
“I’m going into town to run a few errands,” Sarah called out to Caroline. “Would you like me to bring anything back for you?”
“Yes, yes,” Caroline replied, rushing in from the kitchen. She had an apron around her body, and wiped her hands on a towel before shoving one in her pocket and pulling out her change purse.
“I need a sack of flower,” she added, handing Sarah some money, “and two or three large onions.”
In the four months since Caroline and Russel were married, much to Sarah’s surprise, Caroline had become quite the housewife—and, she’d taken particularly well to cooking.
Granted, at first, Caroline had had her fair share of problems adapting to domestic life. On more than one occasion, she burnt a meal, spilled something, broke something, or had some other type of mishap in the kitchen. And, then there were the times that she miscalculated some other chore, such as when she didn’t sort the laundry thoroughly and wound up putting a red scarf in with Russel’s white shirts (which turned them all a lovely shade of pink); and the time she forgot to latch the chicken coup after feeding the hens, and the birds got loose and caused a great havoc.
But, over time, Caroline learned from her mistakes, and, though she continued to make them every now and then, she made them far less frequently.
And, all the while, as Caroline continued to learn and grow as a person, woman, and wife, Russel stood patiently beside her. He never wavered in his love for her; never criticized her for her mistakes; and never did anything to make her feel unappreciated or undervalued.
Indeed, a great love had blossomed between them—and, even Sarah could not deny it. She was highly impressed by the changes she saw in her sister and was, once and for all, completely confident in her life decision.
Now, as per Sarah… In the four months since Caroline and Russel were married—in the four months since Sarah’s late-night encounter with Ian in the barn—very little had changed in Sarah’s life… at least as measured by the most obvious standards.
The morning after the barn incident, Sarah snuck out after breakfast, to talk to Ian about what had happened the night before. But, when she arrived in the barn, she found him slumped over a water pail with a sour look on his face.
“I suppose you’ve come here to give me a hard time about passing out in the hay last night,” he coughed, looking up at Sarah. “Well, rest assured, this hangover is giving me a hard enough time! My head is pounding nonstop. My insides are churning… I don’t even remember how I got here—or when, or under what circumstances. The last thing I remember is having a shot of whiskey with Thomas Montgomery—and, then, next thing I know, I wake up here with a dire need to find this bucket.”
In that moment, Sarah realized that, while what had happened the night before stood out in her mind, Russel had completely forgotten about it. He must have been drunker than she’d thought and experienced a “blackout.”
“I’m not here to give you a hard time,” Sarah said, arching her eyebrows. “I’m here just check that you’re alive… And, you are. So, I guess I’ll be going.”
Sarah turned and walked away, and Ian buried his face in the pail.
After that day, interactions between Sarah and Ian became sparse. In fact, though Ian still came by the ranch often, Sarah did all she could to avoid him, including spending more time with Ralph, who, over the months, had developed a strong fondness for her. Sarah, however, did not return Ralph’s feelings. It wasn’t that she was incapable of love—or that he was unlovable—but, rather, that she had more pressing things on her mind… and, some of those things were the impetuses for today’s errands.
“Alrighty,” Sarah said, taking the money from Caroline.
“A sack of flour and two or three large onions… Anything else?”
“No, that’s it,” Caroline said. She eyed her sister up and down, then added, “And, if I were you, I’d stay away from the baker’s shop. You look like you’ve put on a good deal of weight—probably from eating so much sugar—and, I’m starting to worry about your health and vigor.”
Sarah rolled her eyes at her sister and tried to ignore her comment. But, despite how she acted on the outside, Caroline’s words had deeply affected her. Sadly enough, over the past few months, Sarah had not overindulged in sweets. Cookies, cakes, and pies were but a few of the many foods that now made her sick to her stomach, particularly in the mornings.
Caroline was right, though. Despite not eating any sweets, Sarah had gained weight over the past few months—though she’d hoped, against the odds, that it had gone unnoticed.
No bother, Sarah made her way to town and completed all of her errands, including getting the items Caroline had requested. She returned to the ranch approximately five hours later, and, after she gave Caroline the flour and onions, she told her sister that she needed to talk.
Caroline recognized the urgency in Sarah’s voice and stopped what she was doing to converse with her sister.
“For months ago,” Sarah said, taking a seat at the kitchen table, “after your wedding, I came back to the ranch and wrote a letter to our parents, explaining everything that had happened.
“I’ve been awaiting their reply for a couple of weeks, and have been regularly going to post office to check for a letter from them. And, that, was one of the errands and I had to run today—and, lo and behold, when I stopped by the post office, there was, indeed, a letter waiting for me.”
Caroline took a deep breath and waited for what she was certain was bad news.
“Relax, sister,” Sarah said with a smile. “Surprisingly, they have given their blessing to your marriage and harbor no ill feelings.”
Caroline smiled and sighed a huge sigh of relief.
“They also were kind enough forgive me for lying to Patty and running away to chase after you,” Sarah went on. “And, they said I’m welcome to come home whenever I want… They even offered to pay for my train fare.”
“That’s wonderful,” Caroline said. “Or course, I’ll be very sad to see you leave. But, if you want to return to Philadelphia, I fully support your decision.”
“It’s not that simple,” Sarah said, shaking her head.
“Since I sent them my letter, circumstances have changed, significantly, and I’m no longer sure they’ll still have me.”
“But, sister, nothing has really changed that much, now has it?” Caroline asked with a pleasant grin.
Sarah furrowed her eyebrows. “Another one of my errands today was to visit with the town physician,” she said. “I had my suspicions about something, and needed him to confirm it… Remember, how you mentioned my weight gain this morning?”
Caroline nodded.
“Well,” Sarah hummed, “it didn’t happen because of sweets. It happened because… I am with child.”
“What?” Caroline inquired as her jaw dropped.
“I’m pregnant,” Sarah said, matter-of-factly.
“But, how—” Caroline started to ask. But, then she realized the ridiculousness of her question.
“Does Ralph know?” she asked instead.
“Ralph?” Sarah repeated. “Why would I tell Ralph?”
“Why not?” Caroline prodded
. “I mean, he has a right to know that he’s going to be a—”
Caroline stopped speaking abruptly, and her eyes widened as if she’d just seen a ghost.
“Wait a minute,” she picked up. “Ralph isn’t the father?”
“No,” Sarah answered, bowing her head. “Ian is. We had an encounter in the barn the night of your wedding. He confessed his love to me, and I… I… I couldn’t resist his advances. I tried to talk to him about it the next day—but, he was hungover and didn’t remember a thing from the night before. So, I let it be.”
“Oh my,” Caroline said, raising her hand to her mouth. It appeared as though she was trying to cover up a startled expression. But, soon enough, Sarah realized that she was, in fact, trying to hide the fact that she was giggling.
“You think this is funny?” Sarah asked in a huff. “I’m unmarried and pregnant, and our parents will likely disown me because of it. And, you—my sister, my best friend—sit there, laughing?”
“I’m sorry, Sarah,” Caroline said, letting her hand down.
“I don’t think your predicament is funny. I’m just in shock to learn that you, of all people, would engage in such free-spirited, illicit behavior. It challenges everything I thought I knew about you. And, frankly, it makes me find you a lot more interesting.”
Sarah couldn’t help but smile at her sister’s candor.
“You’re being silly,” she said, shaking off her anger.
“Again, I’m sorry,” Caroline said. “And, please, let me do whatever I can to help you—including offering you one piece of crucial advice.”
Sarah looked at Caroline expectantly.
“You’ve got to tell Ian,” Caroline said, “as soon as possible.”
“I know,” Caroline replied, bowing her head again. “I know.”
TEN
“Whatever it is, Sarah, I don’t have time for it right now,” Ian said as he loaded a large metal canister onto the back of his small, single-horse carriage.
“The larger carriage we usually use to carry the milk to town lost a wheel this morning, and I had to break our shipment down into two smaller loads.
“This is the second of them, and the milk has been sitting out in the sun for a few hours now. So, I don’t have any time to spare. I’ve got to get it to town before it spoils. And, then, after that I’ve got another very important errand to run in town.”
Sarah thought about turning around, going back into the house, and waiting to have this discussion with Ian some other time. But, in the end, she couldn’t allow herself to do it. She’d already waited long enough, and she feared that, if she kept putting it off, she might never tell him.
“What I have to tell you can’t wait,” Sarah said, standing her ground.
Ian loaded the last of the canisters onto the cart, then rolled his eyes.
“Fine,” he muttered under his breath. “Just say whatever you have to say.”
“I’m pregnant,” Sarah replied.
Ian stopped what he was doing crouched down into a semi-sitting position, and placed his elbows on his knees. He rubbed his hand over his brow and took a very deep breath.
“And,” Sarah went on, “you are the father.”
“You know,” Ian said, still massaging his forehead, “the day after the wedding, when I woke up in the barn, I woke to the happiest, most pleasing images. But, I assumed they’d come from a dream, not from memories, and I opted to ignore them.
“But, then, given how you’ve opted to ignore me over these past few months, I came to believe that, perhaps, some of those images did come from memories. And, I feared that I’d done something to offend you or cause you to lose interest… But, in a hundred years, I would have never imagined that we actually—”
Ian stopped speaking and took another very deep breath.
“Apparently, however, we did,” he went on a moment later. “And, now, we are in a position where we must do something about it… We must get married.”
“What?” Sarah said, jerking her head back. “What type of marriage proposal is that? I tell you that I’m pregnant, and, in an instant, you insist that we marry?”
“It’s the right thing to do,” Ian said softly.
“No, it’s not,” Sarah hissed. “It is no good to marry someone out of obligation, rather than love… And, I’m not going to do it. So, to answer the question you never even asked me, Ian Sawyer, NO, I will not marry you.”
“Don’t be so hasty in your decision,” Ian said. He looked at the canisters, then looked up at the sun. “I really must get this milk to town and take care of my other errand. But, think about what I said while I’m gone—and, when I return, perhaps you will have changed your mind. Or, perhaps, I can offer you something to persuade you.”
With that, Ian jumped behind the reins, slapped the horse into motion, and headed off toward town. Sarah stood there and watched as he rode off, aggravated by how he’d responded to the situation.
A few moments later, Sarah went back into the house, and she went to the kitchen to do some chores. But, no sooner than she got there, she turned right back around. She didn’t need to wait for Ian to get back to tell him her decision. She’d already made her mind, and no amount of time, or nothing he could say or do, would change it.
Sarah went back outside, climbed onto Russel’s soundest horse, and followed after Ian. She was going to show him that, no matter what he thought, she was her own woman.
Given Sarah’s condition, she rode to town at a much slower pace than Ian, and arrived in town much later than he did. By the time she got there, he’d already unloaded the canisters at the general store, and Mrs. Willows’ shop boy was transporting them, one by one, into the cold cellar for storage.
Once Sarah posted her horse, she noticed Ian coming out of the specialty shop next to the general store. He had a small parcel in his hand… and a beautiful blonde woman beside him.
Sarah was shocked to see him with the girl, and she rushed over and hid behind he milks canisters to eavesdrop on them.
“You know, Ian,” the blonde said, “I really have missed you these past two years. We sure did have some splendid times together.”
“Indeed we did, Lucy,” Ian replied.
Just then, it hit Sarah. The beautiful blonde beside Ian was his former fiancé, the one who’d abandoned him after the drought—and, his meeting her must have been that other “very important errand” he had to tend to.
But, as disturbing as this revelation was, what happened next was even more disturbing. Lucy pressed her body against Ian’s and kissed him on the cheek, close to his lips.
“Perhaps, there’s still hope for us,” Lucy said, smiling invitingly as she pulled away.
Sarah’s jaw dropped, and her heart skipped a beat. Ian had proposed to her no even two hours earlier, and, now, here he was in town, making time with another woman. He has some nerve, Sarah thought, leaning closer to better hear the rest of the conversation.
When she moved however, Sarah did not consider the girth of her belly, and she accidentally knocked over one of the canisters. The white milk came pouring out, and it stirred both Ian’s and Lucy’s attention. Sarah leaned back and scurried off, away from the spilt milk, just as Ian scurried toward it. He’d already delivered the product and was no longer responsible, but he want to pick it up before it made a great mess for Mrs. Willows and her attendant.
Sarah managed to get away from the scene before Ian saw her. But, just as she rounded the corner and thought she was in the clear, she ran into… Ralph.
“Sarah, I’ve been looking all over for you,” Ralph said, greeting her with a sincere, yet solemn smile. “I ran into the town physician earlier today, and he congratulated me on my ‘impending bundle of joy.’ I was very confused. But, after a moment, I put two and two together and figured it out… You’re pregnant, aren’t you?”
Sarah bowed her head and looked away from Ralph.
“I don’t care, Sarah,” Ralph said, bending done and trying to
look her in the eyes. “Whatever situation, you’ve gotten yourself into, I’ll help you. I know the child is not mine—there’s no way it could be. But, I can understand why Doc Peters would think it was. Everyone in town knows how much I care for you.
“And, trust me, I do care for you—and, that’s why, if you’ll have me, I’d like to marry you. We can raise your child together, and no one will be the wiser that it is not mine.”
Sarah looked up at Ralph and shook her head in confusion.
“I can’t take this right now,” she said, crying. “I can’t take any of it.”
With that, Sarah ran off, got back on her horse, and went back to the ranch.
Back at the ranch, Sarah decided to sit on the porch and take in some fresh air and collect her thoughts. She simply could not believe all that had happened. She’d had two men purpose marriage to her in one day. Yet, neither of their proposals were all that appealing.
One came from a man whose heart, clearly, still belonged to another. And, the other came from a man whose feelings Sarah knew she could never reciprocate.
Sarah sat on the porch mulling over both proposals for well over an hour, when she saw Ian’s carriage approaching on the horizon. As soon as he parked it, she got up and stormed into the house, leaving the door ajar behind her.
“Why did you run off of the porch like that?” Ian said, standing in the doorway.
“I don’t want to be bothered with you, Ian,” Sarah said, sitting down on the couch. “Please leave.”
“Alright,” Ian said, stepping into the house. “But, first, please allow me to give you something.” He held out his hand, and, in it, was the parcel he’d carried out of the specialty store.
“I don’t want it,” Sarah said, turning her head away.
“But, don’t you want to know what it is?” Ian asked.
“Not really,” Sarah replied. “Perhaps you should give it to Lucy.”
“Lucy?” Ian repeated. “How did you know—”
“How did I know you were with her earlier?” Sarah interrupted. “I saw you Ian. I saw you on your ‘very important errand’ with her… Remember that canister of milk that fell? It was me that knocked it over, when I saw her kiss you.