Mail Order Ruse (Kansas Brides Series #3)

by Barbara Goss

Doc Harris stopped by and examined her again. When he was done, he picked up his bag and turned to Chase. “May I speak to you, alone?”

  Chase grabbed Grace’s hand. “Grace is an equal partner in this,” he said.

  The doctor nodded.

  Outside of Chloe’s room, the doctor spoke in an almost whisper. “She’s going to be all right, but I have to warn you that this infection can sometimes turn into scarlet fever, and are both associated with the streptococcus group of bacteria. Chloe’s past the danger and will be running around in a few days. But any of you could easily come down with one of the two illnesses, or both.”

  “We were aware of the danger,” Grace said. “We were careful in our handling of her.”

  “It’s a chance a parent has to take,” Chase said, squeezing Grace’s hand. “We’ll watch for signs.”

  The doctor nodded and left them standing in the hall, holding hands.

  “Thank you,” Chase said.

  “For?” Grace asked.

  “Helping me nurse Chloe, despite the danger,” he said.

  “If everyone were afraid of illness there would be no one to nurse the patients,” Grace stated. “We took every precaution, including prayer.”

  “You prayed for Chloe?”

  “Of course. You didn’t?”

  “No.” He dropped her hand, turned, and prepared to go back into Chloe’s room when Grace grabbed his arm.

  “Don’t forget about the pact we made,” she reminded him.

  “I know,” he said. “I’ll do it. I promise.”

  Chapter 14

  Grace came down to breakfast dressed for church. She glanced at Chase who was sipping coffee. She put her hands on her hips and frowned at him.

  “You don’t look ready for church, Chase.”

  “I didn’t realize we were starting this week,” he said. “Chloe is still a bit under the weather and—”

  “Can I go, too?” Chloe asked loudly.

  As Doc Harris had predicted, Chloe was running around the house just three days after he had deemed her recovered. Dora and Grace had resumed playtime and everyone was thankful the child was back to normal.

  Grace still stared at Chase.

  “Maybe another time, Chloe,” Chase said. “Stay home with Grandpapa.”

  Just then, Graham walked into the kitchen, all dressed up.

  “Grandpapa is going to church,” Graham said.

  Chase got up from the table. “I guess I’ll be going upstairs to dress, then,” he said, walking from the room.

  “Can I go now?” Chloe asked.

  “Go ask your Papa,” Grace said, ruffling the child’s hair.

  The whole family, including Olive, squeezed into the carriage and headed for Christ Church.

  They all walked in together, and Grace tried to lead them to the front, but Chase shook his head and pulled her to seats in the very back row.

  After they'd been seated Chase whispered, “It’s best to sit in the back when you have a child with you, in case they make noise or something.” He gave her a sly smile, and it made her smile back.

  She was glad the whole family was in church. It mattered little where they sat. Going to church together was the perfect way to start their betrothal. As the thought crossed her mind, Chase took her hand in his, and squeezed it. Grace noticed Chloe, who was sitting between Chase and Graham, sat quietly, taking everything in around her.

  Grace looked up suddenly as an attractive older woman took a seat in the row ahead of them and gave Graham a coy smile. She noticed a twinkle in Graham’s eyes when he returned it.

  “Who’s that?” Grace whispered to Chase.

  “Pauline Manning. She’s a widow, too.”

  Grace and Chase exchanged knowing looks.

  After a moving service, the family walked out of the church and chatted with a few friends and neighbors outside.

  “It’s good to see the Easton family,” Reverend James Flannery said, slapping Chase’s back. “I hope this becomes a regular habit.” He smiled down at Chloe. “This isn’t baby Chloe, is it?”

  Chase nodded. “That’s Chloe all right. She’s about to turn five.”

  “She’s lovely,” Flannery said. “Have you met my wife, Mandy, and daughter, Maria, yet?” James signaled for his wife to join them. A lovely redheaded woman came over to them with a little girl about Chloe’s age. James introduced them to the Eastons.

  “We’ll have to arrange a day to get our two girls together for a playtime,” Mandy said. “There aren’t many children in the area Maria’s age, and she’d love to have someone to play with, besides us big folk.”

  “Chloe would love that,” Grace said. “Wouldn’t you, Chloe?”

  Chloe nodded shyly.

  When Grace was sure the Reverend and his wife were about to move on to greet others, she said, “Chase would like to make an appointment to see you sometime this week, if you have an opening.”

  Chase gave Grace a playful frown and then nodded to James Flannery. “Yes, I would.”

  “Is tomorrow too soon? I’ll be here to receive a new shipment of hymnals, so I’ll be here at the church all day,” James said. “I’d love to sit and chat with you.”

  “Thank you. I’ll drop in around one, if that’s convenient.”

  “Perfect.” James and Mandy moved on to another family with a wave.

  For dinner, the family ate sandwiches, and no one complained. Everyone pitched in to clean up the few dishes they’d dirtied. When they were done, Dora took Chloe upstairs to play while Graham, Chase, Olive, and Grace sat in the sitting room.

  Graham took out his Bible.

  “Father…no!” Chase said.

  “Yes. It’s time to get back to normal, Chase.” Graham looked at Grace. “We always had Bible studies and prayer in the evenings, but haven’t since—”

  Grace noticed Chase pulling on his collar. Beads of sweat had formed on his upper lip.

  Graham continued, “We haven’t had devotions since the accident.”

  Grace reached over and covered Chase’s hand. “Maybe we could just pray tonight and inch into the full devotions.” She looked up and saw an expression of relief on Chase’s face.

  Graham led them in a prayer that included each one of them individually.

  “Dear Lord, please bless this family and help us to get back to normal living. We’d first like to thank you for Chloe’s recovery‒please continue to bless her. We thank you for Chase and Grace’s decision to marry, and we ask that you bless this union, Lord. We thank you for Dora and for her health. As always, we thank you for Olive Tinsberry who’s been a family member for almost ten years. Bless her Lord. In Jesus’ name. Amen.”

  Graham stood. “Olive, is there any more of that cherry pie?”

  “I think there’s one more piece, and it has your name on it,” she said.

  They walked into the kitchen.

  “Are you all right?” Grace asked Chase.

  “I’m fine. It’s difficult to do some things.”

  “I’m sure it is, so we’ll take things slow,” she said, patting his hand.

  Olive came back into the sitting room. “I was kidding Graham, I have quite a bit of cherry pie. Won’t you two join us? I’ll take some up to the girls.”

  Chase and Grace joined Graham at the table as Olive cut them each a slice and set it in front of them along with a fork. She left with two plates of pie, one for Dora and one for Chloe.

  “There's something I need to tell you both. I was waiting for the right time, if there is ever a right time for it, that is,” Graham said.

  “What now?” Chase asked.

  “I’m hesitant to tell you, especially, Chase, but if Emma and Ralph come for Chloe’s party, it will probably get out, anyway,” his father said.

  “What do Mary’s parents have to do with anything?” Chase sounded angry.

  “They told me things.”

  Grace could see Graham was struggling for a soft way to break some type of news to them.
Her only prayer was that whatever it was it wouldn’t send Chase back to sitting in the cemetery all day again. She’d noticed he’d gone from a three-hour visit to an hour visit to a once a day visit, and finally, to an every other day visit; he was healing.

  “When you and Mary first became betrothed and I met her parents, I asked some questions about Mary, of course. I wanted to know whom my son was marrying.” Graham noticed Chase becoming angry. “It’s all good, Chase. I found out she was adopted, but I wanted to know where she had come from, who she was.”

  Chase pushed his empty plate away. “She was from an orphanage in the East somewhere. What difference does it make? She was an orphan, like Grace.”

  “Yes, that’s what I learned. But after the accident, at the funeral, Emma was very talkative and told me much more, like that the orphanage was in Maryland,” Graham said.

  Grace had been playing with the pie crumbs on her plate until he'd mentioned Maryland. She swung her head up and stared at Graham.

  “She met with the orphanage people, since at the time, the Somervilles had lived in Delaware,” Graham said. “They didn’t move out here until Mary was about four. She told me the name of the orphanage. Mary’s mother loved talking and she gave me more details than I’d hoped for. I didn’t pay much attention then, though.”

  “Where is this going?” Chase snapped.

  Graham continued, “Last year I started thinking it was time we brought this family back to life. Our loved ones aren’t coming back, and it does no good to continue to mourn. This house felt like a tomb, full of people who had no spark for life, and that wasn’t healthy for either Dora or Chloe. So when I helped Emma and Ralph move to Hays, she showed me the letters she had from the orphanage. It seems she’d kept in contact with the nuns there for years.

  “Because of something she’d said at the funeral, I slid one of the letters into my pocket. When I got home, I read the letter.”

  “What does this have to do with anything?” Chase asked.

  “Emma had let it slip at the funeral that Mary had a younger sister. She’d wanted to adopt them both, but the youngest one was so sick they didn’t think she’d live long, and Emma thought better of adopting her.”

  Chase swung his head around and stared at Grace. “It was you!”

  Grace shrugged. “I have no idea. As far as I know, I don’t have any family.”

  “What’s going on, Graham? Just tell us, please,” Grace said. “Was Mary my sister?”

  “I wrote to the orphanage. In fact, I wrote several letters until, finally, my letters were answered by someone who knew something. A Sister Maria Theresa told me that Mary’s sister had lived and was still at the orphanage. I explained my situation, and she—”

  “Oh, my goodness!” Grace exclaimed. “It was Sister Maria who showed me the ad for the mail order bride and talked me into answering.”

  “I don’t believe you did this!” A red-faced Chase yelled at his father. He stood and walked out, slamming the door behind him.

  “Are you telling me Mary was my sister and Chloe is my niece? I have a blood relative?” Grace asked with a smile. She knew Chase was upset, but her mind was stuck on the fact that she had a living blood relative in Chloe.

  “Yes. I’m sorry about Chase. I had to tell him.”

  “Just when we were on the right track, too,” Grace said.

  “I’m sorry.”

  “I’m not. I have a blood relative for the first time in my life, and I adore her. I had a sister! Oh, how I wish she were alive so I could meet her. You have to tell me all about her.”

  “I will, but now, I’m worried about Chase. I’ll go and see if I can find him and talk with him.”

  “I’m worried, too,” Grace said. “What will you say to him?”

  Graham shrugged. “I’ll think of something. Trust me.”

  “If you don’t have success, he’s going to see Reverend Flannery tomorrow, maybe he can help,” Grace suggested.

  “You know, you’re right!” he said. “I’ll sneak up there earlier and let the reverend know what’s going on with Chase.”

  Chapter 15

  Chase walked reluctantly into the church. He wasn’t sure why he was there, except that he’d promised Grace. He hadn’t spoken to her at all since the night before. Instead, he’d gotten up early to get his ranch work done so he could make this appointment.

  He wasn’t angry with Grace, since none of it was her fault. His father had duped them both, but he was upset with his father for meddling in his life.

  He walked down the hall to Flannery’s office and knocked. The door opened right away and James was there to welcome him.

  “Have a seat. It’s so good to see you, Chase.” The reverend sat behind his desk, brought papers out of a drawer, and set them out in front of him.

  “Bear with me, Chase,” he said as he paged through his notes. “I’ve thought about you often and prepared some notes to share if I ever got the opportunity.

  “First of all, let me say, I don’t have all the answers, but what I do have is experience in losing a loved one. I can honestly say I’ve been there. Losing a loved one is probably the most painful part of living. One thing is definite: we all have to die one day, and sometimes, when someone dies that I don’t know well, I think, well that person got it over with and we still have to think about doing it someday. Sometimes the thinking about it is worse than the actual act of dying.

  “When Mandy and I lost our darling, sixteen month old son, Adam, we didn’t feel like living anymore. It hit us hard. It nearly ruined our marriage because we shut each other out instead of sharing our grief.

  “Like you, we sought help through a minister in Selena. We finally realized that we weren’t healing; we were in an artificial place where the pain hurt too much to bear. What we didn’t do is face the loss and move on from it. It wasn’t easy to do, but doing it brought us closer together.”

  Chase listened to his words, but he’d heard all of it before. He’d hoped Flannery could tell him something different this time, something to remove the guilt he felt about possibly being with another woman.

  “I know that you still grieve, Chase. Don’t be ashamed of your grief‒it’s part of the healing process. You may have had to grieve longer than most people, but that’s because you’re a sensitive, caring person.”

  “Everyone wants me to stop grieving, but just I can’t. I want to move on, and just when I think I can, I’m hit with a memory, or I feel guilt at the thought of being happy again while my beloved wife is six feet under the ground,” Chase said.

  “Until death do us part is part of your marriage vows, and God allows you to move on. You’re still alive, Chase.

  “I got to know Mary very well. She and Mandy had women’s Bible studies together. She was a wonderful woman, and that got me thinking: what would she want you to do with your life now that she’s gone?”

  Chase shrugged. “I don’t know. We never talked about it.”

  “Think of what kind of person she was,” James said. “Wouldn’t she want you to be happy again? I think she’d be pleased that you’ve grieved a decent amount of time for her, and I think she’d be displeased that you aren’t moving forward. She loved you and she’d want you to move on and be happy. She’d also want Chloe to have a mother.

  “Put yourself in her place. Had it been you who’d died, what would you have wanted her to do afterward?” James asked.

  Chase thought about it, then shrugged again. “I suppose I would want her to find happiness and a father for Chloe, but I’d not want to be forgotten. I’d want Chloe to know who I was, of course.”

  “You shouldn’t feel any guilt in loving again. There is no measuring the love you had with Mary against the love you’ll have with…is her name Grace?”

  Chase nodded. “I hope to marry Grace if I can just get over the guilt of doing so.”

  “Grace seems like the perfect match for you,” he said.

  “I found out last night tha
t she's Mary’s sister. Can you believe it? My father meddled, found out Mary had a sister, brought her here under false pretenses, and—” Chase stopped talking because he suddenly realized he had no clue what he was going to say next. And…what?

  “And?” Flannery asked. “And that made you stop caring for Grace?”

  “No. I don’t feel any differently toward Grace, but I do feel differently toward my father.”

  “Had he not meddled you’d never have met Grace. How perfect is that? God has given you a gift, Chase. Not Mary, but the next closest thing. Mary would be so happy to have her own sister take her place, I know she would,” Flannery said.

  “I never thought of it that way, but I think Mary would approve. Chloe is family for Grace, and a family member is something she’s never had. I’m happy for Grace, and for Chloe, because she adores Grace,” Chase said.

  “Ironically, back in the early Jewish culture, the rule was that when a woman’s husband died it would go to a brother of the husband to marry her. How perfect is your situation when compared to that?

  “So, when's the wedding? I can book it for you today, if you’d like.”

  “No,” Chase said, “I’ll need to talk to Grace about it, and I still have to overcome a few mental obstacles, but you’ve helped me in every area except one: why would God have taken Mary from me?”

  “Briefly, because Adam and Eve sinned in the garden. Before that, there was no death, no sorrow, no bad people, and no sin. Since then, people die. Is it God who causes the death? No, certainly not. Rather, it’s our own sin, and we don’t know why he doesn’t do something to stop people's deaths, except, perhaps, it is their time. He may allow people to die to save them from something worse, or he may think they’ve served enough time on earth and deserve peace. Don’t ever think God took your wife‒He didn’t. He simply allowed it. Someday, maybe, we’ll understand and have all the answers.

  “Remember: Mary's not in your past‒she’s in your future, as are all our deceased loved ones that have been saved. We’ll meet them again, in Heaven. Your wife and my little son are not dead. Their bodies are gone, but their souls are alive and with us always.