Winning the Mail-Order Bride

by Lauri Robinson

  Perhaps that was why. He was the kind of man who only lived in dreams.

  “They are very good boys,” Martha Taylor said. “Very well behaved. No squabbling or fussing whatsoever.”

  “And the fish they caught yesterday was as delicious as Rhett said,” Maggie Miller said as she stepped into the room.

  Brett had walked farther into the room in order for Maggie to enter. Fiona focused on getting her mind back in order as Maggie came closer to the bed, carrying a tray.

  “I told them they’ll have to catch more so you can eat some once you are up to it,” Maggie said. “In the meantime, Sadie made you some chicken soup, per Dr. Graham’s orders.”

  Fiona’s cheeks burned as Martha smoothed out the blanket for Maggie to set the tray holding a bowl and a vase with a flower on the bed. “Goodness, you’re all going to so much trouble. I—I don’t know—”

  “Oh, pish,” Martha said. “It’s no trouble. Why, we had a party while you were sleeping. Sadie and Rollie Austin cooked the fish Brett had taken there and brought it over here for supper, along with their boys. Maggie and Jackson joined us, and so did Otis and Dr. Graham.” Her green eyes glittered as she continued, “We haven’t had such a fun evening in ages. I was afraid our laughing would wake you long before it did.”

  “I wouldn’t have minded,” Fiona said honestly. If that was what it took to see her sons so happy, she’d get bit by a snake any day. Knowing the snake bite didn’t have much to do with it, she shook her head. “You are all being so kind. I don’t know how to thank you.”

  “There’s no need to thank any of us,” Martha said. “This is how things are done in Oak Grove. We look out for one another. Now, you eat this soup Sadie made before it gets cold. Dr. Graham said he’d be back in an hour or so to put a fresh poultice on your leg. You’ve slept through the last two he’s put on. He wants one kept on your leg for at least twenty-four hours.”

  Having never been ill or waited on, Fiona tried to think of something to say, but her mind was blank. For a reason she couldn’t explain, she looked at Brett.

  He smiled as he placed one hand on Wyatt’s shoulder and the other on Rhett’s. “We’ll leave so you can eat. Tell your ma you’ll see her later.”

  The boys did as he asked, and as the room cleared out, he too told her to eat. Grinning, she picked up the spoon. Although it was very tasty, she could only eat a small amount of the soup. Then, with the help of Maggie and Martha, Fiona took care of relieving her bladder and getting back into bed. That wore her out. She couldn’t put any weight on that leg, it was completely useless and throbbing painfully.

  “I’m sorry,” she said while lying back down. “I’ve never been so weak.”

  “You’ve never been bitten by a rattlesnake before,” Martha said. “And that is exactly why we are here. To take care of you.” Covering her with the blanket, Martha added, “You rest now. Doc will be here soon.”

  “I’ll go get things ready,” Maggie said. “Do you want a glass of water or anything?”

  “No...thank you, though,” Fiona answered.

  “Dr. Graham showed us how to make the poultice,” Martha said. “Just in case he has an emergency and can’t get back. So don’t worry—we have it all under control.”

  “I’m not worried,” Fiona replied. “I just don’t want to be such a burden to anyone.”

  “I won’t hear any such talk,” Martha said. “We are happy to help. All of us.”

  “But Maggie was just married the other day,” Fiona said. “And you have a husband, a family who need you.”

  A sadness filled Martha’s eyes. “It’s just me and Otis.” She sighed. “We had two babies. Girls. Millie and Beth. They would have been about the ages of your boys. Our Millie only lived for a few hours. Beth was born the next year and was a little over a year, fifteen months, when she died.”

  Fiona laid her hand on Martha’s arm. “I’m so sorry.”

  “So am I,” Martha said. “But I’ve accepted it. Things happen, and sometimes they are bad things. That’s just how it is and dwelling on it doesn’t help. A person needs to learn to put the past behind them and move on. That’s what we did. We packed up and moved on. And we are glad we did.”

  Although she couldn’t imagine one child would ever replace another, Fiona also assumed Martha wasn’t much older than her. “You could have more children.”

  “Yes, we could. God willing.” Martha smiled brightly. “Until then, we’ve decided Oak Grove is our family. Everyone here. Old and new. Now, you just rest while I go help Maggie see that everything is set for when Doctor Graham arrives.”

  * * *

  Brett stood in the bedroom doorway doing little more than watching the two boys sleeping. It warmed his heart to see them resting so peacefully. They’d both wanted their own room, until it came time to go to bed. Then they’d decided to sleep together. He could understand why. They’d been worried about their mother all day and still were. He was too and had spent plenty of time thinking about what would have happened to Rhett and Wyatt if her injury had been worse.

  Josiah wouldn’t do right by these two boys. Others recognized that too. The town council meeting had been heated. Granted, that had kept Josiah busy for hours, but the meeting had broken up midafternoon. Josiah should have stopped by to see how Fiona was healing and how Rhett and Wyatt were doing.

  Brett sure would have. Even with all the women in and out, he’d checked on her several times. He’d also thanked Martha several times. He was very thankful Fiona was here. His heart had nearly dropped to his feet when he saw her shaking so hard back at Nelson’s place.

  Wyatt stirred and rolled over. Brett quietly pulled the door shut. He then glanced down the hall toward the other bedrooms on the second floor before turning toward the staircase. Fiona was downstairs—in his room. He liked that and wished it could stay that way. If things were different...

  Maybe that was what he needed to do. Make things be different.

  Brett followed the hallway to the stairs and was halfway down when he paused at the sound of women’s voices. Martha was talking to someone, but it wasn’t Fiona.

  He discovered who when he stepped into the kitchen.

  “Oh, Brett, there you are,” Martha said. “Joyce is here now. She’ll spend the night with Mrs. Goldberg. I’ve already explained everything to her.”

  “Mrs. Chadwick,” Brett said in greeting. He didn’t know the woman well, but her husband, Chester, worked at the hardware store and filled in as a deputy whenever Sheriff Baniff needed one. Chester also was a member of the town council. “How are you?”

  “I’m fine, Mr. Blackwell, thank you, and do call me Joyce. It is so kind of you to open your home to Mrs. Goldberg and her sons. All of us women appreciate that. It makes our job of taking care of her that much easier.” She lifted a basket off the table. “I brought along some quilting to do while Mrs. Goldberg is sleeping, and I promise, I’ll be as quiet as a mouse. You won’t even know I’m here.”

  Quiet or not, his house was full, and that was noticeable. “It’s right kind of all you ladies to take care of Mrs. Goldberg as you are.”

  “It’s the least we can do,” Joyce said. “How Josiah imagined he could sneak a woman into town and keep her hidden is beyond me. He didn’t have permission from the council to put her in that house, you know.”

  “No, I didn’t know,” Brett answered.

  “Of course he didn’t,” Martha piped in. “And making her and those boys live over there with nothing. Why, he should be ashamed of himself.”

  “Yes, he should,” Joyce agreed. “I plan on telling him so next time I see him.”

  Brett flinched a bit deep inside on behalf of the mayor. If Josiah thought the men had been hard on him, wait until the women of Oak Grove caught up with him. That could explain why he hadn’t stopped to check o
n Fiona. But if that was the reason, Josiah was even less of a man than Brett had thought. Adversaries should never keep a man from his woman.

  As that thought settled deep inside him, a thump sounded on the back porch.

  “That’s Otis. He’s come to walk me home. Will you be a dear and let him know I’ll be ready in a few minutes?” Martha asked him. “I just want to introduce Joyce to Fiona.”

  Brett nodded and made his way to the door. Outside, he visited with Otis for a few minutes about the weather, crops and a few other things that didn’t have anything to do with Fiona or Josiah.

  Brett remained outside after Otis and Martha left, in order to have a bit of thinking time.

  Not that he needed it. He just wasn’t sure how comfortable he’d be sleeping with a strange woman in his house. Joyce wasn’t exactly a stranger, and she was nice enough, it was just out of the ordinary for him. He certainly didn’t feel that way about Fiona being in his house, though.

  He was still sitting on the stoop when the door opened some time later. Instantly jumping to his feet, he asked, “Is something wrong?”

  “No,” Joyce said quietly. “Mrs. Goldberg is sleeping. So are the boys. I just wanted to let you know that I’m going to lie down on the sofa in your parlor. I’ll hear if Mrs. Goldberg needs anything.”

  Brett reached over and held the door open. All his thinking was only making his mind go in circles. “I’ll head on up to bed too.”

  They bid one another good-night and Brett climbed the stairs. After checking on the boys one last time, he entered one of the extra bedrooms. There he pushed his suspenders off his shoulders, removed his shirt and boots, and lay down, expecting sleep to be a long time coming.

  Evidently it wasn’t, because the next thing he knew, he was pulling himself out of a deep sleep and wondering why. Stars shone outside the window and the house was quiet. He listened carefully to the silence. Something unusual had to have woken him, so he climbed out of bed.

  Down the hall he discovered Rhett had flipped around in the bed, was now lying with his legs across Wyatt. After easing him around, Brett covered them both with the sheet again and then left the room.

  The snores he heard walking down the stairs were coming from the parlor. Without glancing into that room, he continued into the kitchen. A muffled grunt had him moving faster toward the closed door of Fiona’s room.

  He found her sitting on the floor beside the bed. A sheepish smile said she wasn’t hurt, so he knelt down. “What happened? Did you fall out of bed?”

  “No.” She leaned her head against the side of the bed and sighed. “I feel so bad having everyone wait on me. I thought I could do it myself.”

  Not sure what she meant, Brett reached for her arm. “Let me help you get back in bed.”

  “No, I think I’ll just sit here a little longer.”

  Concerned, he asked, “Should I go get Doc?”

  “No. The throbbing will ease in a minute.”

  The smart thing to do would be to get her back into bed and go fetch Joyce Chadwick, but he’d been doing what he’d thought was the smart thing a lot lately, and it hadn’t all worked out very well, so he sat down beside her instead. “How bad does it hurt?”

  “Not that bad. It’s just the throbbing.” She sighed again. “And the weakness. My leg is numb from the knee down.”

  “It’ll get better soon.” He lifted a brow. “If you follow Doc’s orders.”

  The soft moonlight shining through the window made her slight smile appear even more hidden. “Following the doctor’s orders is what put me on the floor.” She gestured toward her shin. “The wrap came loose and the poultice fell off. I thought I could retrieve it myself.”

  Noting the bandage tied around her leg, he said, “It appears you did.”

  “Once I was on the floor.”

  “I’ll go get Mrs. Chadwick.” Brett started to push off the floor, but the warmth of her hand grasping his wrist stopped him.

  “No. Please don’t disturb her. I’ll be able to get up in a few minutes.”

  Understanding all she’d been through, how she’d taken care of herself and her sons during some very rough times, he could see why she didn’t like being beholden to anyone. Yet she had to know that there were times when everyone needed help. Not wanting to badger her, he leaned back against the bed and crossed his ankles. “I didn’t spend much time in Oak Grove while working for the railroad. The tracks in this area were laid down fast and we moved westward at a steady pace, but this town had a better feeling than many of the others along the line and wasn’t anything like the tent cities that followed the tracks. Oak Grove had a solid foundation. I knew it was a place I could call home. As soon as the line reached Denver and my commitment was up, I came back here, built my businesses and haven’t regretted it for a moment since.”

  “I wondered how you ended up here.”

  “It wasn’t my plan,” he admitted. “Denver was my destination. I’d heard it was a bustling city and was considering starting a lumber company out there, but I quickly discovered it was already too big for me. Seemed like everyone was a stranger there.”

  “Settling in new places isn’t easy,” she whispered thoughtfully.

  “No, it’s not, and that’s why I like Oak Grove. We don’t have any strangers. Newcomers become a part of the community the minute they arrive. If they want to, that is.”

  The back of her head rested against the bed, and keeping it there, she turned slightly to look at him. “I want to become part of the community. I just...well... None of this has turned out like I expected it to.”

  “That’s not your fault.” Unable to stop himself from placing blame, he added, “Josiah should have told others of your arrival. If he had, you’d have been welcomed from the moment you stepped off the train.”

  She turned away from him and stared toward the window. “I’m afraid I’ve made a mistake, Brett. A big one that I can’t change.”

  The sorrow in her whisper made his chest burn. “Everything can be changed, Fiona.”

  She shook her head. “Sam,” she said heavily. “My husband. Wasn’t a bad person. He’d lost jobs before and always found a new one, but after the refinery closed, rather than looking elsewhere for work, he and the Morgan brothers sat around complaining about how Rockefeller had forced the refinery to close. Sam and the Morgan brothers blamed Rockefeller for all their troubles, and that’s why they tried to rob the train. They knew he was on it.” She pinched her lips together and drew a deep breath.

  “I pretended I didn’t know that. Said I couldn’t imagine why Sam had tried to rob that train. But as soon as I heard he’d done it, I knew why. He and the Morgans had been talking about getting back at Rockefeller for ruining their lives for months.”

  Brett had heard of John Rockefeller and how his newly formed Standard Oil Company was forcing small oil refineries out of business across the nation. People needed lamp oil and Rockefeller wanted to be the only one to sell it. Even Abigail White had written an article about it in the newspaper. Telling people to stock up on oil now because the price was sure to go up again. “People don’t always think about how their actions affect others,” he said quietly.

  “No, they don’t.” After another long sigh, she said, “Sam made so many promises. Things will be different next month, or next year. They never were. That’s all Wyatt and Rhett know—broken promises.” She closed her eyes and laid a hand against her forehead. “And I’m afraid I’m following in his footsteps.”

  “How so?”

  “I promised them things would be different here. Our lives would be different. But it’s not turning out at all like I imagined.”

  The sob she’d smothered had him twisting toward her. He gently grasped her elbow to remove her hand from her forehead and then wrapped both of his hands around her much smaller one.
“You’ve only been here a few days, and what happened, your getting bit, was an accident. A pure and simple accident that certainly wasn’t your fault.”

  “I’m not talking about the snake bite, Brett.”

  He’d assumed as much and was inclined to tell her his thoughts on her situation. “Not all the men in Oak Grove are like Josiah, Fiona. Matter of fact, I’d say none are. Most every other man in this town would have done things differently.” Broaching what he really wanted to say was harder than he’d thought it would be. “Josiah may have invited you to come here to marry him, and you may have agreed to that, but you have the option of changing your mind.”

  They were facing each other and the way she was looking at him was making it hard to breathe. And to think. The desire to pull her close and promise her he’d change her life for the better was the strongest he’d ever known.

  “May I ask you a question?”

  His heart was pounding so hard he barely heard her. Giving his head a quick shake to clear it, he answered, “Of course.”

  “How many bottles of tonic did you buy from Maggie?”

  The question was so strange, it was a moment before his thoughts cleared. “Is your leg hurting that badly?”

  “No,” she said. “I’m just curious if—”

  “If what?”

  “If you are a drinking man.”

  “Not so much,” he answered. “I have a beer over at the Wet Your Whistle now and again, but to be honest, I’ve never even tasted Maggie’s tonic. I bought several bottles from her just so I had a reason to talk to her.” It was odd how he hadn’t realized certain things before. Things he did now. “She’s nice and all, but I couldn’t see myself being married to her, so I didn’t buy any more after that. The bottles were still full when Josiah confiscated them.”

  Her brows knit together as she frowned. “Josiah confiscated them?”

  “Yes. He claimed she couldn’t sell them because she didn’t have a permit, so he rounded up all the bottles he could that she had sold. Can’t say what he did with them. I never asked, but I suspect he destroyed them.”