Winning the Mail-Order Bride

by Lauri Robinson

  The old codger had come into some money last year. A lot of it from the way he talked and spent his money—on certain things. Like coffins. He said it was all in preparation for when his time came. He wanted to go out in style. Staying true to his word, he got a shave every morning and never went anywhere without wearing a three piece suit and his beloved top hat.

  Recalling all that gave Brett a clear insight. “You talked to Otis this morning, didn’t you?”

  “Of course. I talk to Otis every day. Even on Sundays. Of course, I pay extra in order to get a shave on a day his barbershop is closed.”

  “So you know that Fiona is here to marry the mayor,” Brett said.

  “I heard something along those lines,” Angus admitted. “If I was a few years younger, Josiah wouldn’t stand a chance with Fiona. I’d sweep her right off her feet. Those two little lads of hers too. I’d have myself a whole new family in one sweep.”

  “What if that wasn’t what Fiona wanted?” Brett asked. He’d asked himself that question several times lately and still hadn’t come up with an answer.

  “Well, to start with, I’d ask her.” Angus nodded. “That’s what I’d do all right, I’d just ask her. She wants to get married again. Wants to have a loving man to help her raise those boys, and maybe make a couple more. But she’s smart. I can tell by her eyes. If the right man asked her, she’d tell him the truth.”

  “What if that truth was that she wants to marry Josiah?” Brett asked aloud even though he hadn’t meant to.

  Angus chuckled. “I wander around this town every day. Don’t have much else to do. And I can tell you that the only reason Josiah Melbourne wants to get married is because of Donald Swift.”

  “Micah’s father?” Brett asked.

  “Yes. Poor Micah.” Angus shook his head. “A man’s gotta feel sorry for that lad. Even before he married that money-loving bride of his.”

  “Micah seemed happy on Saturday,” Brett pointed out.

  “Of course he did—it was his wedding day, and he’d accomplished what his da told him to do.”

  “Donald told Micah he had to get married?”

  “Sure did,” Angus said. “I heard it with my own two ears. The two of them were arguing over donating to the Betterment Committee. Micah didn’t think his father would approve of it, so Josiah wired Donald, asked him to come to town and talk to his son. Donald did, and he told Micah to make a large donation and to make sure he married one of the women. He claimed it would be good for business. That married men are more respectable and people believe they are more honest. Josiah agreed with every word.”

  “So Josiah thinks marrying Fiona will make him more respectable and trustworthy,” Brett repeated mainly for himself.

  “What’s more respectable than marrying a widow and helping her raise her children?” Angus asked.

  Brett had to nod in agreement. Yet at the same time he wondered about what the cost of that would be for Fiona and her sons.

  “The trouble that I see,” Angus continued, “is that until Josiah figures out he has to treat people the way he wants to be treated, he’ll never figure out that respect doesn’t just appear. It has to be earned.” Then rather abruptly Angus stopped walking and turned around. “The hotel is serving ham for lunch today. I best go have myself a plateful before it gets dried out. There’s nothing worse than dried-out ham. I’m sure you don’t need my help carrying those things back to her house, do you?”

  Having turned about when Angus had, Brett glanced over his shoulder. The river was only a few yards away, where Fiona wrung water out of a garment and, farther down the bank, Wyatt and Rhett chased each other around trees. Brett’s heart swelled at the sight of all of them.

  Afraid of being caught staring, he turned back to Angus, only to discover the old man was now several feet away, walking back to town with far more speed than he’d used while they’d walked toward the river.

  Brett turned back around. Fiona hadn’t noticed him, neither had the boys. He could turn around and follow Angus back to town. That was what he should do. They were fine. In no danger. He should go back to work and mind his own business.

  The rope was still in his stomach and started coiling up again. He glanced around. Nothing was out of the ordinary. The boys were running about, but not in the long grass or near the rock cropping. Fiona was standing in the shallow water. It wasn’t his favorite fishing spot—where he’d taken them yesterday. That was farther downriver. There wasn’t much of a bank here. The land just sloped into the water. There were also several large rocks. Other townsfolk used those rocks to wash their clothes just like she was doing.

  Her boots were sitting several feet away from her, and that was enough to make him take a step forward, in order to tell her she shouldn’t do that. The water was too muddy to clearly see what was beneath it.

  He’d no sooner thought of what could happen when movement in the water caught his attention. It looked like a stick floating around the rock, but the way the rope in his stomach suddenly formed a knot told him that wasn’t a stick.

  “Snake!” Brett yelled and ran forward, his heart in his throat. “Fiona! There’s a snake in the water!”

  She spun around and, still running toward her, Brett saw the snake disappear under the swirl of her skirt. Her scream of pain shot through him like a bullet and gave him a bolt of speed.

  He arrived as she stumbled out of the water. As Brett swept her into his arms, he shook the folds of her skirt before he glanced at the river, where he noticed the snake skimming across the top of the water. Recognizing the diamond shapes on its back, he cursed beneath his breath.

  “It bit me,” she said. “Brett, it bit me.”

  “I know, but it’s going to be all right.” Holding her tight in his arms, he bolted up the bank. “Rhett. Wyatt. Follow us. Stay close.”

  The boys ran toward them. “What happened, Brett?” Rhett asked.

  “Ma got bit by a snake,” Wyatt answered his younger brother.

  Still running, with them at his sides, Brett assured both boys. “She’s going to be fine. We just gotta get her to Doc Graham. His house is next to Jackson Miller’s. We gotta run. Run fast.”

  “We can run fast, Brett. Real fast,” Rhett said, shooting forward.

  Without missing a step, Brett asked Fiona, “Are you doing all right?”

  “Yes, but it burns.”

  Brett held her tighter. “I know. But don’t worry. We’re almost to Doc’s place.”

  Rhett, running ahead of them, started shouting at the first sight of people, “Ma got bit by a snake!”

  Several people ran toward them, leaving their houses and businesses. Questions abounded, but Brett kept his focus on Nelson Graham’s house, hoping the doc was home. When the door of the doctor’s house opened, Brett barreled through the forming crowd to leap up the steps.

  “It’s was a rattler, doc,” he said. “I saw it.”

  “Bring her in here,” Nelson said, pulling aside a curtain to reveal a room with a waist-high table. “Where did it bite her?”

  “My calf,” Fiona said. “It’s burning and throbbing.”

  “Put her on the table, Brett.” Nelson then shouted over his shoulder, “Mrs. Miller, close that door please. Tell everyone to stay outside.”

  As Brett set Fiona down, he glanced through the curtained doorway to see Maggie Miller shut the door and then gather Rhett and Wyatt to her sides. Meeting his eyes, she then moved forward and pulled the curtain closed, keeping her and the boys on the other side. A heavy bout of respect for the young woman filled Brett. He then looked at Fiona. “Mrs. Miller will watch the boys—don’t worry about them.”

  She nodded and took a hold of his hand. “I’m scared.”

  He squeezed her fingers. Over the years he’d been injured plenty and seen many others hurt and
injured, and not a single time had any of those events affected him like this one. The fear in her eyes, the tears dripping down her cheeks, gutted him. At this moment, he’d gladly trade places with her. “No need to be scared. You’re in good hands.”

  “I haven’t had the pleasure,” Doctor Graham said, never looking up from his examination of her leg. “But I believe you must be Fiona Goldberg.”

  “Yes,” Fiona answered.

  “How bad is it, Doc?” Brett asked.

  “It’s a nasty bite,” the doc answered as he looked toward Fiona. “Did you get bit just the once?”

  Her swallow was visible. “I think so.”

  Nelson took a hold of her other hand. “There’s a fang in there that I’ll have to dig out, then I’m going to douse it with alcohol. It’s going to sting, but it’ll counteract the poison.”

  Tears fell from her eyes. “A fang?”

  Squeezing her fingers again, Brett used his other hand to wipe the hair away from her forehead. “Every critter loses a tooth now and again. That old snake won’t be biting anyone else until he grows a new one. He should have thought twice about biting you.”

  The hint of a smile that fluttered over her lips increased his heartbeat, but then so did the commotion that started on the other side of the curtain—just in a different way.

  A shout from Maggie Miller saying, “You can’t go in there!” filled the room as the curtain shook.

  “Get out of my way!” A thud sounded and then a rending rip that was followed by a clatter as the curtain fell from its rod.

  “Josiah!” Doc Graham shouted. “Stop right there!”

  “I will not!” Josiah’s face was beet red as he stormed forward. “What’s going on here?” Waggling a finger at Fiona, he continued, “I’m tired of finding you at the river with Brett Blackwell every time I turn around!”

  Brett would have rounded the table, but Fiona squeezed his hand harder. “He wasn’t—” she started.

  “Josiah, Brett may have saved Fiona’s life,” Nelson said, pushing Josiah backward. “Now get out so I can do my work.”

  “What were you doing down there with her?” Josiah shouted.

  “She was washing clothes,” Brett shouted in return. He would have grabbed the mayor by his shirt collar but couldn’t release Fiona’s hand. Her hold said she needed him and that was far more important. “If you’d provided her with the supplies she needed, she wouldn’t be lying here now.”

  Another man entered the room and grabbed Josiah by the shoulders. Spinning the mayor around, Jackson Miller demanded, “You owe my wife an apology, Josiah. And those two little boys!”

  “What did he do to Rhett and Wyatt?” Brett asked furiously.

  “Gentlemen!” Doc shouted. “This is not the time or place! Mrs. Miller, step in so you can help me. Brett, you see to Fiona’s sons. Jackson, rehang that curtain, and, Josiah, you get out before I send for the sheriff and have you arrested for destroying my property. Now, out! All three of you!”

  Brett wasn’t about to go anywhere until the pleading in Fiona’s eyes melted the anger inside him. Even hurt, her first worry was her sons. He gave her hand a final squeeze and then let it loose. As he walked to the end of the table she was lying on, he grabbed Josiah by the back of his suit coat. Hoisting him up, he hauled Josiah over the crumpled curtain. “You heard the doc. Get out,” he said, giving Josiah a solid shove, sending him in the direction of the door.

  “You’ll hear about this, Brett Blackwell!”

  Brett didn’t give Josiah’s threat an ounce of concern as he gestured for Wyatt to open the door. He had plenty more that he’d like to say to Josiah, but none of it should be said in front of children. Brett scooped Rhett, who’d glued himself to his leg, into his arms.

  “I’m charging you for these repairs, Josiah,” Jackson said as he gathered up the curtain. “And you will apologize to my wife for pushing her and those little boys out of the way.”

  Josiah glanced at each of them and then out the door, where a large crowd stood, and then back again.

  Brett had half a mind to plant his foot on Josiah’s backside, but the arrival of Sheriff Tom Baniff made it unnecessary. A commonsense man who was highly respected, the sheriff gestured for Josiah to join him on the stoop, and then he pulled the door shut.

  Brett laid his free hand on Wyatt’s shoulder. “You boys all right?” he asked, including both of them in a glance.

  They nodded, and Wyatt asked, “Is Ma all right?”

  “She’s going to be fine,” Brett said. He had to swallow against the lump that formed in his throat as a muffled scream came through the curtain Jackson was putting back in place. He and Jackson made eye contact, and Brett had to swallow again. “It’s just one little bite.” He’d never heard his own voice shake, but he knew it was. “Doc will have her fixed up in no time.”

  Chapter Ten

  Fiona had never known such agony, and though the hand holding hers wasn’t nearly as strong or comforting as Brett’s hand had been, she was incredibly thankful for Maggie remaining at her side through the slow and painful procedure. The doctor was very kind and explained things as he went along, but the pain had her wanting to tell him to hurry up and get it over with.

  “You’re going to be bedridden for a few days, Mrs. Goldberg,” he said. “Have to keep all weight off this leg and keep it clean. The bite wasn’t a deep one, but I had to make a fairly deep incision to get the fang out.”

  Sweat had started streaming down her face and Fiona couldn’t stop trembling. Unsure what to say, to do, she looked up at Maggie and then had to squeeze her eyes shut at how the other woman’s face was covered with tears. What would happen to Wyatt and Rhett? What if she died? Who would—

  “You’re going to be fine,” the doctor said. “Brett got you here in plenty of time. You’re sweating and shaking because of the poison. That’ll subside, I promise. Just stay calm and breathe in and out nice and slow.”

  “What can I do for her?” Maggie whispered.

  “Just what you’re doing, Mrs. Miller,” he answered. “I’m almost done.”

  Trying to follow his orders, Fiona focused on breathing in and out but had to hold her breath in order to squelch a scream as pain once again flared in her calf, shooting fiery agony up her leg.

  “I’ve put a poultice on,” the doctor said. “I’m sorry, but it’s going to continue to hurt for some time, and the swelling will continue to make your leg throb. There’s nothing I can do about that. Once we take the poultice off, we can cover it with a cool towel, but that won’t be for hours.” He patted her hand. “The good news is, you got bit on the leg, which means although the next couple of days are going to be painful, you’ll then be on your way to a full recovery.”

  As relief washed over her, Fiona whispered, “Thank you.”

  “You’re welcome,” he said. “I have something for the pain I’ll give you now. And just like you tell your sons, I’m telling you to get some rest. Just go to sleep.” He was looking at her with a friendly and consoling smile. “That is what you tell your boys when they are hurting, isn’t it?”

  “Yes, it is,” she answered.

  “And it works, doesn’t it? They wake up feeling better.”

  She nodded.

  He smiled again, then looked at Maggie. “There are pillows and blankets in that closet.”

  Maggie squeezed her hand before she let it go. “I’ll be right back.”

  Fiona closed her eyes again but opened them a moment later when the doctor told her to open her mouth. He fed her several spoonfuls of a bitter and thick liquid that stuck in her throat.

  “I can’t give you any water right now,” he said. “It might make you throw up and we don’t want that.”

  She was too busy trying to swallow to answer, and then Maggie arrived a
nd placed a pillow under her head and covered her with a thin blanket.

  “I’ll let your boys step in for a moment,” the doctor said. “Just so they know you are all right.”

  Fiona was still shaking. Try as she might, it wouldn’t stop. Knowing that might frighten the boys, she gathered the edge of the blanket in both hands, hoping that would help, before she nodded to the doctor.

  Her heart started to race, and she found it harder to breathe when the curtain parted and Brett walked in carrying Rhett in one arm and holding on to Wyatt’s hand with his other hand. She’d found him handsome before, and caring and kind, but today, after how he’d come to her rescue and how he was providing her sons with such care, she couldn’t imagine a more wonderful, perfect man. A fresh bout of tears formed and all the blinking in the world wouldn’t stop them from slipping out of her eyes.

  Rhett’s bottom lip started to shiver as he asked, “Are you cold, Momma?”

  He hadn’t called her momma in some time, and that was enough to make more tears fall. Pinching her lips to gain enough control to speak, she nodded. “I guess I have a case of the shivers.”

  “Her dress got wet,” Brett said to Rhett as he put him down to stand beside her. “That must be why.”

  The way he was trying to ease Rhett’s fears also touched her deeply. “That must be it,” she said. “I’ll warm up soon.”

  “You’re gonna be all right, aren’t you, Ma?” Wyatt asked. “Brett says you are.”

  “He’s right,” she answered. “I’ll be fine in no time at all.” The realization that might not have been the case if not for Brett had her pinching her lips together again to hold in a sob. Her children wouldn’t have had anyone if that had happened. That thought was unbearable and she squeezed her eyes shut.

  The moment she felt the warmth, she knew it was Brett’s hand atop of hers. An overwhelming desire to feel his arms around her, holding her, had her clutching the blanket even harder.