Train Station Bride

by Bush, Holly

  It was near ten o’clock in the morning by the time the cabbie pulled up to the house on Market Street. She saw Turner’s carriage and her father’s as well. Everyone would want to be there, Julia thought to herself, to see the fat, clumsy one humiliate herself one last time before finally admitting her inability to raise, or even hold on to a ten-year-old girl. They would have a surprise.

  Julia took a deep breath and looked up at the grand porch of her parents’ home. She loved Jake desperately at that moment. Unwittingly he had given her the strength and the courage to face what would surely be ugly. She was no longer the embarrassment of this family. Nor the odd newcomer of Jake’s family. Julia was a family of one. Soon to be three. Herself and her daughter and Jake’s child. Nothing would stand in her way now.

  Julia opened the door of her parent’s home and lay her coat down over the velvet settee as if she had never left. Julia heard bits of conversation from behind the closed library doors. She went straight to Jillian’s bedroom. Jennifer was holding Jillian in her arms as they sat together on the bed. They both looked up at once.

  “Julia!”

  Julia marched to the side of the bed and stared at Jillian. Her heart was pounding. Her daughter was safe. Now wrapped up in a nightgown, under covers and safe. “You scared the life out of me, Jillian.” Julia’s lip trembled of its own volition. “Thank God, you’re safe.”

  Jennifer stared at her older sister. “Is it true? What Jillian told me?”

  “If she told you I’m her mother, it’s true.”

  Jennifer nodded slowly. “That’s what she told me.”

  “I don’t want to live with Aunt Mildred. I don’t want to be poor.” Jillian sputtered between tears. “But Mother was so mad. I never saw her so angry when Eustace told her I’d followed her here. That I wasn’t at Ramsey.”

  “Mother has little to say about this, Jillian. I told Miss Abernathy. You were there. I’m your mother, and I have the papers to prove it.”

  Jennifer slipped from the room.

  Julia sat down beside Jillian. “I won’t say I’m not angry with you. I am. Angry and afraid but I understand this has been overwhelming for you. It’s been for me, too.” Julia held her daughter’s hand. “I have missed you so much, Jillian. I’m not leaving without you.” Jillian looked up at Julia. “I know there’s going to be some angry words when I go downstairs. I don’t care. I’ll stay as long as it takes for you to understand. I’m never, ever going anywhere without you again.”

  Jillian stared out the window. “Mother is so angry I left school.” The girls’ lip trembled. “She said she should have expected this behavior from me years ago. That the apple doesn’t fall far from the tree.”

  “Never mind what your grandmother says.”

  “But you always made Mother angry and you would cry in your room for days. Now it will be me.”

  Julia took her daughter’s face in her hand. “No, it won’t. I won’t let it be that way. We’re going to go live with Aunt Mildred for a short while. We’ll find a house. A school for you. Friends. It will be hard, but we’ll be together.”

  “She says you’ll never leave if you come here. That . . . that you don’t know what you want, and you’ll soon be happy in your old room again,” Jillian whispered.

  Julia swallowed. How well her mother knew her. How much she’d changed. “I’ll stay in a hotel until I can convince you to come with me. I won’t stay here. If I have to get an attorney to get you, I will.”

  “You’d try to get Mother and Father thrown in jail?”

  “No, but they will learn quickly, I won’t back down. I intend to be your mother.” Julia’s voice shook. “And by God, if it takes until my dying breath, I will convince you to give me a chance.”

  Jillian lay back on her pillow. Julia rose and headed to the door. “I’m going to go speak to Mother and Father.” She didn’t doubt Jillian would resist but she intended to begin to set limits. “I would like you to get dressed and packed. We can still catch an evening train to Delaware.”

  Jillian watched her sister, her mother, sweep from the room. She was not the Julia of old. She rolled onto her side. Jillian had a lot of thinking to do.

  * * *

  Jennifer stood in the hallway and whispered as Julia emerged from Jillian’s room. “Do Mother and Father know you’re here?”

  Julia shook her head. “How have you been Jennifer?”

  “Fine, Julia,” her sister said with wide eyes. “How have you been?”

  Julia could not stop a smile at her sister’s retort. “I’m doing well. I wrote to you. I don’t know if Mother gave you my letters.”

  “She read them to us.”

  Julia rolled her eyes. “She read them in order to edit what she didn’t want you to hear.”

  Jennifer stared at Julia but didn’t deny her charge. “You’ve changed.”

  Julia smiled and straightened her shoulders. “Yes. Yes, I have. I loved it in South Dakota, Jennifer.”

  “Where’s your husband?”

  Julia’s head dropped as she looked at her hands. No use hiding behind excuses any longer. She would rather Jennifer hear it from her than from their mother. “Home in South Dakota. When he found out I’d left a daughter, he made it clear I was not the wife for him.”

  “Oh,” Jennifer said quietly. “It seems men can do what ever they please before marriage, and nothing’s held against them. That’s not true for us.”

  Julia smiled softly. “Jake could’ve cared less I wasn’t a virgin.” She continued to Jennifer’s wide eyes, her voice cracking. “It was the fact I left my daughter in Mother’s care that bothered him. He, he didn’t think I’d make a fit mother for his children.”

  Jennifer grabbed Julia’s hands. “You love him, don’t you? Mother said you did, and that it would be your downfall.”

  “Jake’s love will never be my downfall, Jennifer. Just the opposite in fact. Jake’s love was the finest, most wonderful thing to ever happen to me. He loves his family, his sisters and their families so desperately he just couldn’t imagine why I’d done what I’d done.” Julia shook her head and looked away. “I can no longer understand either. Yes, Jennifer, I love him. And he loved me.”

  “Jillian is very upset, Julia. I didn’t know what to say. I had no idea either.” Jennifer looked away and back at Julia with determination. “Why did you decide to come back?”

  “Mother threatened to tell Jillian while she was at Ramsey. I know school was no hardship for you, but it was a nightmare for me and I think for Jillian as well. If she would have told her when I was not there, I don’t know what Jillian would have thought of me. Not that she thinks much of me now.”

  “I never cared much for Ramsey either, Julia. Jillian needs time to sort this all out. I do, too,” Jennifer said. “What has Jolene in such a tizzy? Dragging Turner home from the office when Mother sent her a message about Jillian. She was red in the face and barking at William, ordering Turner around. That’s when I came up here with Jillian.”

  No use sugar coating the family skeletons at this point. “Jolene insisted years ago that Jillian not be included in the division of the estate when Mother and Father were gone. She felt that if Jillian were, then any of her children should be as well. I imagine she’s here to guard her inheritance.”

  Jennifer schooled her features as any well-trained Jane Crawford offspring could. Julia could not decide what her sister thought of Julia’s speculation.

  Moments passed till Jennifer spoke. “That would be Jolene’s main concern, I imagine.”

  “Not to worry, Jennifer. Mother made it painfully clear when she visited that I would not receive my share if I did not come home. And I can’t imagine this is the homecoming she was imagining,” Julia said.

  Jennifer’s mouth dropped. “What will you do if you have no inheritance if you’re not going back to your husband? How will you live?”

  “I have a little over ten thousand dollars from Grandmother Crawford and the pin money fathe
r deposited that I never used. I had Mr. Flemming put it in a signature account. Would you like to see my passbook?”

  “You went to see old man Flemming? What did he say?”

  “He was none to happy. I told him I was entitled to the same conveniences and discretion as any depositor. When Jillian’s ready, we’re going to stay with Aunt Mildred until I can find a house for us. Won’t you come visit?”

  Tears filled Jennifer’s eyes. “Oh, Julia. You’ve been so brave. Coming back for Jillian. Seeing Mr. Flemming. Facing Mother. I could never do what you’ve done. Ever.”

  Julia squeezed her sister’s hand. “Yes you could, Jennifer.” Julia tilted her head at the panicked look on Jennifer’s face. “What is going on, Jennifer?”

  Jennifer shook her head and dried her eyes. “Oh nothing. Other than Mother thinking that Horace Bradford is my future husband.”

  “Now, listen to me. You don’t have to . . .” Julia stopped when she heard her mother’s voice calling Jennifer.

  “Has Jillian settled down, Jennifer?”

  “You have to tell me, Julia,” Jennifer whispered. “You must before Mother knows you’re here. Who is Jillian’s father?”

  Julia looked her sister square on. “Our dear brother-in-law, Turner Crenshaw.”

  Julia thought certainly her sister would faint dead away. But Jennifer held her ground, and Julia watched the emotions on Jennifer’s face change from shock to sympathy to horror before her eyes. Julia smiled and kissed her sister’s cheek.

  Jennifer’s hand came to her face as she watched Julia walk to the top of the staircase and call down to the lion’s den.

  “Jillian will be fine, Mother.”

  “Julia!” Jane Crawford shouted. “What are you doing here?”

  The library door swept open as Julia came down the steps. She met every gaze head on. Jolene’s and her mother’s distaste. Her father’s shock and Turner’s embarrassment. “Let’s talk in the library. Shall we?” Julia said as she walked among them to the open door of the library. “We wouldn’t want the servants hearing any of this.”

  Although Julia kept her chin high, her heart shook. Never before had she seen her mother so angry. The hard lines of her face were near cracking. She followed Julia inside. William Crawford dropped into a chair. Turner leaned his arm on the mantle piece, looking outside. Jolene eyed her with a contempt so clear, Julia looked away. Her mother wasted no time going in for the kill.

  “You don’t actually think we’ll allow you to take Jillian, do you? You couldn’t hold on to her for the span of one day.”

  “Actually I do intend to take Jillian as soon as she agrees. And she will agree. I am her mother, after all,” Julia said stiffly.

  “You gave your rights up as a mother the day you walked out the door to South Dakota,” Jolene spit out. “The most embarrassing thing you’ve pulled yet, Julia. Mother and I barely, and I mean barely, have people convinced you’re still visiting relatives. Surely someone will see you here, and then what will we say?”

  “I could care less what people think, Jolene,” Julia said evenly. “And I gave up my rights; mistakenly, I might add, the day I agreed to Mother’s outrageous plan, ten years ago. I am here to reclaim them.”

  “Julia, darling,” her father began, “don’t you see how uncomfortable this will make things for all of us? I want you to be happy, but you must know that but this wild plan of yours is just well, crazy. Jillian said you intended to live with Mildred and then buy a house.”

  “That’s exactly what I intend,” Julia replied. “And Father, although I imagine you did it unconsciously, the only person’s happiness you were concerned about was Mother’s. Otherwise she made your life a living hell.”

  Her father’s jaw dropped. Jolene screamed about Julia’s lack of respect and wit. Jane Crawford had yet to say a word.

  “And what, pray tell, dear, do you intend to live on?” Jane Crawford smiled at Julia coldly. “A woman far past her prime with a child yet. No man will go near you.”

  Julia’s lip trembled. “I’ll find employment teaching or something. I have the inheritance Grandmother Crawford gave me to hold Jillian and I over until then.”

  “Teachers are always unmarried, dear. Chaste,” Jane said.

  “Then, then I’ll find something.” Julia could feel her resolve weakening in the face of her mother’s manipulations. Till my dying breath . . . One day at a time . . . Julia heard Flossie and Eustace’s words in her head and squared her shoulders. “I’ll scrub floors if I have to.”

  Jolene rolled her eyes. William Crawford leaned back in his seat and crossed his legs.

  “Your daughter is accustomed to fine things, Julia. She’ll not adjust easily and she’ll blame you for her misfortune.” Jane Crawford stared at Julia. “If you truly loved her, then you’d leave her here for your father and me to raise. If you truly loved her.”

  Jolene’s eyes widened. “If she’s entitled, then my William is entitled, too.”

  Jane Crawford turned an icy glare to her eldest. “Did I mention anything of an inheritance, Jolene? Raising her is an altogether different issue. In any case, Turner will soon be asked to run as lieutenant governor.” She tilted her head and looked at Julia sympathetically. “I can hardly imagine you’d want to hurt his chances, would you? He’s always had a special place in your heart, hasn’t he?”

  Six months ago, Julia would have acquiesced. Her mother’s pleas for Jillian’s love and Turner’s appreciation would have been more than enough for Julia to agree to anything. Not so anymore. “He did once have a place in my heart,” Julia said and stared at Turner. He looked at her red-faced and swallowed. “But not any longer.”

  Jane Crawford pulled the tight skirt of her silver silk gown under her as she sat down beside Julia. “No room in your heart? Your heart taken by another? Where is your farmer now, Julia?”

  Chapter Seventeen

  Jake’s trip on the train had been exhausting. He’d never been to a city as large as Boston and was glad he shoved a gun in his bag. It was teeming and crowded and smelled. And Julia was here somewhere, all alone. Jake towered over the other men shouting for carriages. He elbowed his way to the front of the line and climbed in the next one to stop over the roar of protests. Damn it all. Here he was, a long way from home in a city filled with suits and ties and poverty, and he barely understood why.

  He didn’t love Julia anymore, Jake had told Flossie. She’d laughed and then pointed out the obvious. She’s your wife, Jake. Love or not, are you going to let her face them alone? And that was the only reason he was here, damn it all. He didn’t desert family. He didn’t leave them alone in their time of need. Jake reasoned he would help Julia get her daughter and take her back home. If he lived a loveless life, it was no more or less than he’d expected when he’d ordered Inga Crawper.

  Jake had sat at Flossie’s kitchen table yesterday morning telling her all the reasons he didn’t love Julia. He missed her, he admitted, but that wasn’t love. His sister had let him rant and rave without a word. Flossie’s calm demeanor scared Jake. When he finally ran out of words, his sister just stared at him. He had to prompt her to speak her mind, something he’d never had to do before.

  “Then why you going to Boston, Jake? Why go a thousand miles if you don’t love her?”

  It was the same question that had plagued him. The answer hadn’t revealed itself in the sunset or the blank wall of his kitchen. A picture of Julia, frightened, facing her parents and that no good son of a bitch Turner Crenshaw came to mind. Julia didn’t think of herself as strong or courageous. Jake knew better. But facing that crowd of jackals would scare anyone.

  “She needs me, Floss.”

  Flossie stood and stuck a roast beef sandwich in his bag as if she’d anticipated his visit and plans. “Then get yourself to the train station.

  Jake gave the driver the address Flossie had given him. The cabbie looked at the address, and then up and down at Jake. Jake fixed him with the meanest scowl he c
ould produce. The cabbie shrugged and yawed his horses. Jake was dressed just fine for anything in South Dakota but he was wondering if his dungarees and sheepskin jacket were right for a fancy house in Boston. Don’t that beat all, he thought to himself as he straightened his string tie. Here he was worrying about how he looked. He didn’t give a damn about how he looked. But he sure didn’t want to embarrass Julia or her daughter.

  Jake refused to let himself be cowed when the driver announced they’d arrived. He climbed out, all the while taking in the huge two story stone structure, and the accompanying buildings that Julia called home. She must have thought his house was a hovel, like her mother had called it after having grown up here. This was a mansion, with trimmed gardens and a front porch longer than his bunkhouse, built to house twelve men. Julia fussed about his house like it was the finest thing she’d ever seen, painting and papering and fixing. Why, he wondered, as he walked up the gleaming painted steps.

  A plump black woman, rubbing her hands in an unconscious motion, answered the door. Her eyes darted to a door closed on her left as shouts resounded from within. “May I help you, sir?”

  “I’m looking for my wife. Julia Crawford Shelling. Is she here?”

  The maid’s eyes rounded and she grabbed Jake’s arm, pulling him inside and closing the door. “You must be Mr. Jake.”

  “Just Jake is fine. Are you my wife’s friend, Eustace?”

  “That I am, indeed, Mr. Jake. You gotta get in there with her.”

  Eustace pleaded with her eyes. The worry was clear in her words. “Is Jillian here, too?” Jake asked.