Mail Order Calamity (Kansas Brides Series #4)

by Barbara Goss

  Or was Peter the man with the scraggly beard? She hoped not.

  The man in the plaid shirt turned. She saw the shiny star on his chest and gasped. This might not be so bad, she thought, and she put on a confident smile.

  She alighted the train and stood in front of it for several moments, waiting for the man with the badge to claim her. She saw him move forward with a smile, which she immediately returned.

  “Sarah?” he asked.

  Now was the time to tell him the truth, but she evaded the question and simply smiled.

  “Hello, Peter.”

  “Everyone calls me Pete, except my brother, Alex, but I can’t tell you what he calls me,” he said with a laugh.

  He took her hand and led her to his buggy. “I suggest we head over to the town hall and get a marriage license,” Pete said.

  “Oh, couldn’t it wait a bit? I’m tired, hungry, and thirsty.”

  “Of course, we can. Let’s go over to Rusty’s eating-house, and I’ll get you a plate of the best stew you've ever tasted.”

  As he escorted her to Rusty’s, she had the feeling that she’d really like this man.

  Elaina studied Pete from across the table after he’d put their order in. He was tall, thin, and had a fairly muscular build. His hair was chestnut brown, and he had brown eyes to match. She loved his smile, his slight dimples, and prominent eyebrows. It was obvious he'd spent a lot of time outdoors because he was quite tanned. He’d been wearing a large-brimmed hat when he’d met her, which he laid on the table. She'd noticed that most of the men wore similar hats out there in the west.

  “So, how was your train ride?” he asked.

  “More pleasant than I’d expected. It certainly is a fast way to travel. I bet our grandparents would have loved to travel that quickly from place to place.”

  “That’s probably why most of them stayed in one area their whole lives,” he said.

  A man wearing a soiled white apron brought their dinners over, and Pete paid him. She wondered when would be the best time to tell him she wasn’t Sarah.

  She thought the stew was delicious‒or maybe it was because she hadn’t eaten anything palatable in days. “It’s very good, Pete.”

  “Rusty sure knows how to make a stew. It’s his best-selling dish,” he said as he dipped his biscuit into the stew. “A biscuit, Sarah?”

  She shook her head; now was the time.

  “Pete, I have a confession to make.”

  “Oh, no. Don’t tell me: you want to back out already.”

  “No, of course not. I just want to be upfront and honest with you.” She wiped her mouth with her napkin. “I’m not Sarah.”

  Pete dropped his fork onto his dish with a clang. “I escorted the wrong woman from the train?”

  “No, here's what happened: I needed to get out of town quickly, so my best friend, Sarah, gave me the ticket. I hope you don’t mind‒I was desperate.”

  Pete seemed to study her with a suspicious look. “What did you do? Why did you need to leave town?”

  She preferred his smiling face more than the weary one he was now wearing.

  “I had a man threaten to kill me if I identified him. You see, I saw him rob the bank, and since he was my sister’s fiancé…I had no choice.”

  Pete let out a whistle. “I suppose since I’ve never met either of you, it doesn’t matter all that much. I’m willing to go along with the marriage, if you are.”

  “I’m willing,” she said.

  “So, what’s your name? Seems silly asking that minutes before the marriage vows,” he said.

  “Elaina Andrews,” she answered. She’d be happy to change her name to Elaina Mullins because it would ensure the Fillmore men could never find her.

  After dinner, they walked to the town hall.

  “May I?” Pete asked, taking her hand.

  Elaina smiled and nodded.

  They filled out the paperwork and walked to the Justice of the Peace, who had a house just down the road from the courthouse with a big sign in front that read: Hiram Goodman, Justice of the Peace.

  They stood before the justice, holding hands as they repeated their vows. When the man told Pete he could kiss the bride, Elaina froze; she’d never been kissed before, except by her parents.

  Pete noticeably blushed before bending down to kiss her, barely touching her lips, which suited her fine. If she was this nervous after something like that light kiss, what might happen when it came time to consummate the marriage?

  They left the Goodman residence and walked a short distance to the constable’s office where Pete had left his buggy. He ducked his head into the office, gave orders to his deputy, and then returned to help Elaina into the buggy.

  “Do you live far?” she asked. She didn’t even know if he owned a home.

  “No, just about a two miles from town. I have an old farmhouse that’s been in my family for years. It’s in need of work, but we can fix it up together.”

  “Do your parents live there, too?”

  “No, they died a few years ago. Father died first and Mother followed just a few months later. They were so close, I think she died of a broken heart," he explained.

  Pete turned the horse sharply. Elaina could barely make out the tall house in the dark.

  “I should have left a lamp lit,” Pete said. “I’ll take you inside, get you settled, and then come out and take care of the horse.”

  He helped her from the buggy, leading her by the elbow along a path to the front door. She could make out that it was a two-story house, and that was about all.

  Pete opened the door. “Hey, do you have a trunk somewhere?”

  “No, I just have what’s in my reticule,” she said, holding up the extra-large bag.

  “I left secretly,” she said. “There was no way I could pack a trunk without my parents questioning me. I have a bit of money saved. I could buy some material and make some dresses. I do have one dress rolled up in my bag, along with a few personal items.”

  “We’ll figure it out, don’t fret over it,” he said. He sighed.

  She could tell by his tone that he wasn’t happy that she had no clothes. She didn’t know his financial status and hoped she wasn’t going to become a burden to him.

  He lit a few lamps and Elaina could see the sitting room. It was a good size, but the furniture was old and worn. She tried not to show her disappointment.

  “This is the sitting room,” he said. He pointed to the open stairway. “That’s the stairway going up to our three bedrooms. The kitchen's this way.” He lit another lamp and led her into the kitchen.

  He held the lamp high so she could see it. The room was a good size. In fact, the whole downstairs was just the two rooms, pantry in the kitchen, and a closet in the sitting room. Again, she tried not to show her disenchantment.

  She gazed around the kitchen and noticed it at least had a water pump, so she wouldn’t have to lug water in from the outdoor well. There was also an old stove, and a table and chairs, which had been set off in the corner.

  “I shopped, so the pantry's full. I’ll show you how to light the stove in the morning,” he said. “This is the back door. The outhouse is just to the left.”

  She nodded.

  He led her upstairs to show her the bedrooms, each of which had a meager amount of furniture in the form of a bed, dresser, and a chair. He opened the door to the master bedroom‒it had a bit more furniture than the other rooms, with a large bed, two dressers, a sofa, and end tables.

  “This is my…er…our room,” he said.

  Elaina froze. How could she complete the marriage act‒which was so personal‒with him, when he was basically a stranger?

  Her face must have shown her thoughts, for he said, “We can wait a bit for that part, if you want. I know it’s a bit awkward. We should get to know each other a bit first, don't you agree?”

  “I definitely agree,” she said.

  “I think we’d both enjoy it more that way, don’t you?”
/>   “Enjoy?” she said without thinking. She recalled hearing older women refer to what happened in the marriage bed as a duty.

  “God made it that way,” he said.

  “God?” She hoped she hadn’t married a religious fanatic.

  “You don’t go to church?” he asked.

  “We went sometimes, but not regularly.”

  “We’ll be going every Sunday, and every Sunday evening we’ll have Bible study and prayer.”

  “If you say so,” she said. Once more she was disappointed‒she’d married a fanatic.

  “I’ll show you where you’ll sleep until…well…until we adjust.” He led her to the room next to his. “I have a nightshirt I can lend you until we get you some clothes.”

  “Thank you,” she said.

  He left the room, came back with a striped nightshirt, and laid it on the bed. He took a lamp off the dresser. “I’ll light this so you can find your way to the outhouse.”

  “Until morning, then,” he said. “Sleep well.” He turned and went back downstairs.

  Elaina took the lamp and found her way to the back door and the outhouse. Once back in the house, she went up to her assigned room. She slipped on the nightshirt, which dragged on the floor, and climbed into bed.

  Extremely tired, she dozed off quickly, but was abruptly awakened by a knocking on her bedroom door, and her heart began to pound.

  “Elaina?”

  That was Pete’s voice. Should she pretend to be asleep? He may have changed his mind about consummating the marriage.

  His knocking became insistent. She pulled the covers up to her chin and called out, “Come in.”

  Chapter 3

  Pete stood in the doorway. He set the lamp down on the floor behind him, so while the hall was bright, he was just a shadow.

  “Yes?” she asked, huddling further under the quilt.

  “I forgot to tell you: I have to be in the office by nine, so if you aren’t up before eight, I’ll have to wake you so I can show you a few more things.”

  “All right,” she whispered.

  “Goodnight,” he said.

  “Goodnight.”

  The sun streamed into her room. She was glad her room faced east because her bedroom at home had also faced the sunrise. She crawled out of bed and cringed at the coolness of the floor. There was a fireplace on the opposite wall, but it looked like it hadn’t been used in ages, as it was filled with cobwebs instead of logs. She tiptoed to the window to locate the sun and was pleased to see it wasn’t too far over the horizon.

  She quickly put on the same dress she’d worn the day before, brushed her hair, and pinned it up before heading downstairs

  She was surprised to see that Pete was already up and bringing wood in through the back door.

  Pete set the wood down on a rack by the door and they exchanged cheerful good mornings.

  “Are you ready to learn how to fire up the stove?” he asked.

  She looked at the rusty, old stove and nodded. She yearned for the shiny, modern stove her parents had had in their kitchen. This one was dull and had the word "Majestic" written on the top, though it looked anything but. It had an oven, a drawer, an ashbin, and a vent duct at the top, going outside.

  “What’s this?” she asked, pointing to the metal rod propping up the oven door.

  “Oh, I have to fix that. The spring on the oven door's busted. The rod's braced to keep the oven door from falling open. If you’re baking, remember to move the rod with a towel when you go to open the oven‒it gets pretty hot.”

  “I’ll try to remember.” Baking? She hadn’t had much experience in either cooking or baking. Her mother had always done all that. Once, she'd let Esther and her make cinnamon rolls after she'd taught them how. After that they'd lost interest and never baked again.

  “Here's where the wood goes,” he said, pointing. He threw a few logs in and showed her how to light it. “You have to give it a chance to really warm up, so you have to get up early.”

  “I’m usually an early riser,” she said.

  Logs! Her mother’s stove cooked with coal. She suddenly dreaded the thought of cooking, especially on that antiquated stove.

  “Come: I’ll show you the root cellar.”

  Pete walked out the back door and behind the house, and Elaina followed. He opened two wooden doors near the ground, and she looked down to see a set of rickety stairs going down, under the ground. And to make matters worse, he'd just motioned for her to follow him down.

  She shivered when she got down to the bottom, noting the cooler temperature.

  Pete lighted a lamp that was hanging on the wall. “Now, you shouldn’t leave the doors open for too long or the cool air will escape. Find what you need quickly, return up the steps, and close the doors,” he said, grabbing a jar of peaches. “You can buy canned fruit and vegetables at the general store until you learn how to can them yourself.”

  Good grief! She hadn't been prepared for all of this domestic work. She’d helped her mother can every fall, but she'd never done it alone.

  He put the lamp out, hung it back on the wall, and they began the climb back up. When they reached the top, he closed the cellar doors. “Now I’ll show you where the eggs are.”

  He led her around to the back of the barn to the chicken coop. There was a fenced-in yard around it for the chickens to strut around in.

  “Every so often one of the hens gets out. I think one must jump on top of another, or something. I’ll have to make the fence higher,” he said. “You open the gate,” he said, demonstrating, “then you open the coop and collect the eggs. If the hen's sitting on her nest, you have to nudge her off, like this.” He tapped a fat brown hen. She squawked but got off the roost. He collected four eggs in total by the time he was done.

  “You can come out after I leave and fetch some more. You might need them for baking. Here’s the butter churn,” he said.

  “Pete,” she said hesitantly, “I hope you’re a patient man. I haven’t much domestic experience, but I’m willing to learn.”

  “Well,” he said. “I hope you learn quickly or we won’t be eating.” He turned and walked with her to the barn. “Here are the milk cows.”

  Elaina rolled her eyes.

  “Oh, no worries‒I milk them before I leave for work,” he said. “I’ll always leave the pitcher of milk on the counter. Whatever isn’t used has to be taken down to the cellar, but it still has to be used the same day or it’ll spoil.”

  Elaina was completely and totally frustrated, all she could do was simply nod.

  “Oh, I almost forgot the outhouse. You have to toss lime in it once a week. The lime's in the shed over there.” He pointed. “On second thought, I'd better keep that job‒the lime container's probably much too heavy for you."

  “Anything else?” Elaina said wearily.

  “Just the garden.” He motioned for her to follow him. He walked to the far side of the barn and there was a neat, well-tended vegetable garden. “It’ll need weeding now and then, and watering if we don’t get rain.”

  After Pete had left for work, she sat down and cried. What had she done? This was dreadful. How could she get out of this marriage? She missed her family and wished she could jump on a train and go home.

  Thankfully, Pete had said he’d grab breakfast in town since it had grown late by the time he’d showed her all of her duties. She sighed.

  She fried herself an egg, burning it because she had no idea how hot the burner could get. She wished she had a slice of toast, but there wasn’t any bread that she could see. She'd probably have to make that, too. She sat down and wept some more.

  What had she expected? She hadn’t thought that far ahead into the scheme, as her main objective was to escape Frank Fillmore's reach.

  She stopped crying and dried her eyes with the back of her hand when she heard a buggy pull up in the yard. Pete had ridden a horse to work. Who could it possibly be? She went to the front window and watched an attractive woman climb dow
n from her buggy and walk up to the front door.

  She opened the door when the woman knocked to find a pretty brunette who greeted her with a wide smile.

  “Hello, I’m Amber Turner. My husband told me Pete had married, and I’m here to welcome you to Hunter’s Creek.” She held out a covered dish.

  “Please, come in,” Elaina said. When Amber came in, Elaina guided her to the sofa. “I’m Elaina Andr—Mullins. Would you like some tea?”

  “I’d kill for a cup,” she said.

  “Well, you could start with one of those chickens,” Elaina said.

  “What?” Amber asked.

  Never mind‒I was just being silly. I’ll be right back.”

  The stove still had a blazing fire inside, so she filled the teakettle, set it on the burner, and searched the cupboard for the tea. She finally found some in a metal tin.

  She fixed the cups and waited for the water to boil, which it did rather quickly, since the kettle had been sitting on the stove all morning, though not directly on a burner. She poured the tea into a teapot she found in the cupboard and carried it out to the sitting room.

  “Here we are,” Elaina said, setting the tray down on the side table.

  “This is a nice, quiet, piece of land, and just far enough from the road for privacy. I like it,” Amber said.

  “The house is old and needs a lot of work, but Pete says we'll spruce it up together.” Elaina poured their tea.

  “It'll be fun. If you need any help, just ask. When the baby comes, we’ll get a nanny, so I’ll be able to help.”

  “You’re going to have a baby?” Elaina asked. “How wonderful! When?”

  “Not for several months yet. I also have a maid. I’m not very domestic, either.”

  Amber studied her and then asked. “Were you crying before I came?”

  “How did you know?”

  “Your eyes are red as radishes.”

  “I’m just overwhelmed, is all. Maybe a bit homesick, too,” Elaina said.

  “Is there something I can do?”

  “Pete gave me a long list of duties this morning and I don’t know how to do half of them. The rest is just frustrating me. Where will I find the time to do all the things he wants to be done?” Elaina burst out into tears again and while it was embarrassing to cry in front of a stranger, she just couldn’t restrain herself.