Opal (Orlan Orphans Book 3)

by Kirsten Osbourne

  "I can stay if it would help," Martha offered.

  "Oh, thank you! I don't really need help. Wait—Could you take her for a walk as soon as Ruby gets here? Maybe for about fifteen minutes? Then she can have lunch with us?" Opal smiled at Martha. "You're welcome to eat with us as well, of course."

  "Thanks, but I'll go home. I've eaten your cooking and Sarah Jane's cooking. I'll take hers any day."

  Opal didn't take offense. She knew she was a mediocre cook, and she was nothing compared to Sarah Jane. "I can understand that. I'd eat her cooking over mine as well."

  Martha went up the steps and resumed cleaning up there, while Opal started to mix the dough for the bread she wanted to bake. She decided to use some of the dough to make cinnamon rolls as well. It would be nice if the father and daughter thought of her while she wasn't around.

  It was about an hour later that Ruby knocked at the door of the house. Opal had just put two loaves of bread into the oven. "I'm just making sandwiches for lunch today."

  Ruby shrugged. "I like sandwiches."

  Martha came down the steps followed by Flo. "We're going to take a walk. We'll see you in a little while."

  Ruby watched the other two leave before turning her full attention to Opal. "Martha said you were thinking about marrying. I had no idea. Is that the little girl who was in the mercantile the other day?"

  Opal nodded. "It is. She wanted the flowers for her mother's grave." Opal briefly recounted all she knew of Flo and Nathaniel. "And now he wants me to marry him."

  "What do you want?" Ruby asked.

  "I don't know! He's nice enough, and I adore Florence, but I'm not certain that I'm ready to be anyone's wife."

  "Has he kissed you?" Ruby asked. "For me that's what told me that I was ready to marry Lewis."

  "How so? You'd been kissing David forever!" David had been one of the orphans back in New York. When Ruby had left, he'd promised to send for her.

  "Well when David kissed me, it was nice, but it didn't make anything happen inside me. You know?" Ruby stared at her sister as if trying to determine if she did know what she meant.

  "Oh, I know." Opal blushed. "Nathaniel's kisses make me want to drag him to the altar myself. I feel like my whole body is on fire," she whispered.

  Ruby nodded. "That's what I expected. So you can marry him. Marrying David would have been a huge mistake for me. I can't imagine how I would have done with him. His kisses left me cold."

  "Instead of on fire? Really? You always talked like you loved David."

  "I did, but it wasn't until much later that I realized I loved him as a brother. Not as a lover." Ruby blushed as she said the word lover.

  "I felt like David was a brother as well, but not Nathaniel. When he kisses me, it really moves me."

  "This is his house?" Ruby asked.

  Opal nodded. "I'd live here if I agreed."

  "There's no indoor plumbing, and you're used to that luxury. That's something to think about."

  "There is a water pump in the kitchen, which would keep me from having to haul buckets of water from the well." Opal shook her head. "His wealth isn't something that I want to factor into this. I can live on nothing. I just need to be certain he's a man I can respect and spend the rest of my life with."

  Ruby smiled. "And? Is he?"

  "I think so. Do you ever regret marrying so young? And marrying a man with two young boys?"

  "I don't. I feel like I made the best decision. I would do it again."

  Opal took a deep breath. "And you'll be my maid of honor?"

  "Does that mean you're going to say yes?" Ruby looked excited at the prospect.

  "I think I am. I know that he makes me feel things I've never felt. And I love his daughter with everything inside me. I don't want to say yes because I have no other prospects. There are enough cowboys in this town that it would be easy to choose from one of them. I don't think that would be a smart idea, though. I don't have feelings for any of them."

  Ruby laughed. "You sound so confused about the whole thing. When he kisses you, are you still confused? Or just ready to say yes to anything he asks you?"

  "Yes to anything," Opal admitted, hating to say the words aloud. She'd always thought of herself as a strong, independent woman.

  "Marry him. You should wear Mrs. Hayes's dress. I did. She won't mind if you do as well."

  Opal laughed. "All of us will go through that dress before we're done. It's a good thing we've always been able to share dresses, and we know there's no need to fit it to me." She turned to the stove, quickly frying some ham to serve with the bread she'd just baked for lunch.

  The two of them worked together, setting everything on the table just as the door opened. Opal turned, expecting to see Martha and Florence come in the door. Instead, she saw Nathaniel. "I wasn't expecting you!"

  "Oh, I always come home for lunch. Is there enough?"

  Opal bit her lip. "I can fry up a bit more ham. It's no problem."

  Ruby hugged her sister. "Instead, I'll go back home and eat there. I'm glad we got a bit of time together."

  Nathaniel eyed Ruby. "Aren't you Lewis's new wife?"

  Ruby nodded. "I'm Ruby. I'm also Opal's twin sister."

  Nathaniel looked back and forth between the two of them. "You sure don't look much alike."

  "My sister is much prettier than I am," Opal told him, repeating her words from the night before. "I'll talk to you soon." She waved at her sister who left the house, heading back toward town.

  "I didn't mean to chase her away," Nathaniel said, looking around. "Where's Florence?"

  "She's with Martha. I wanted to have a few minutes to talk to my sister in private, so they went for a walk."

  "Oh, I see. Did you and your sister get everything talked out?" he asked.

  "We did." Opal looked him in the eye. "I've decided to marry you."

  He gaped at her for a moment, surprised that she would just casually announce it like that. Then he let out a whoop and scooped her up into his arms, swinging her in a quick circle, his mouth crushing down on hers as soon as he put her back on her feet.

  Opal wrapped her arms around him, clinging to him. "I guess you're happy?"

  He just laughed, holding her tight.

  Chapter Six

  The door opened again, and this time it was Florence and Martha. Martha saw the two of them embracing and smiled. "I'm going to go back to the house now. Is there good news for me to share?"

  Opal blushed. "Tell them I'm getting married."

  Florence looked between Opal and her papa, finally letting out a squeal. "We're going to be a family!"

  Nathaniel reached down, pulling her into the hug he was sharing with Opal. "We sure are."

  Martha softly closed the door, leaving them alone.

  "When?" Nathaniel asked. "I don't want a long engagement. I think Monday is plenty long enough."

  "You're going to make Edna Petunia mumble again," Opal told him. "Do you know what she's like to live with when she's mumbling?"

  "No, and you'll only have to live with her for two days of it if we marry Monday. If we wait 'til next weekend, you have to put up with a whole week of it."

  Opal laughed. "The way your mind works truly amazes me."

  "I'm an amazing man." He glanced at the table. "And I'm hungry. I'll convince you to marry me tomorrow while we eat."

  "Tomorrow? I thought you wanted to marry on Monday!" Opal protested.

  "Monday it is! Great idea." He filled his plate and winked at her.

  Opal looked at Florence who had settled herself at the table, but was watching the two adults with wide eyes. "When is Monday?" she asked, buttering a slice of bread for herself.

  "Not tomorrow but the next day," Opal told her.

  "That's soon. And then you'll live here, and I won't have to sleep alone anymore."

  Nathaniel looked slightly embarrassed by that. "No, Florence. Opal is going to share my room with me." He looked down at his food as he said it, avoiding Opal's gaze.r />
  "She is? That's strange." Florence seemed to be sad about her father's announcement. "I don't snore. I think she'd rather share a room with me."

  Opal blushed. "Married couples sleep in the same bed."

  "Weren't you married to Mama?" Florence asked.

  Nathaniel wasn't sure how to respond to that question, so he stayed quiet.

  Opal cut up a piece of ham for Florence, trying to figure out what they weren't telling her. "Here you go." She slid the pieces from her own plate to the little girl's, applying herself to her sandwich. "Edna Petunia will bake a cake to celebrate our engagement," Opal told them. "I'm sure we'll have it with supper since Martha is going home with the news."

  "And then you'll cook all the time, Opal?" Florence asked, getting excited for the wedding again.

  "Then I'll cook all the time. I'll make sure to have Sarah Jane help sometimes, so I can get good at it." Truthfully, Opal knew she was a decent cook. She just always felt as if she was lacking when compared with Sarah Jane's skills.

  Nathaniel's hand reached out and took Opal's squeezing it. "We'll see you at church in the morning."

  Opal frowned at that. "Do you usually go? I don't recall seeing you there."

  "I don't usually." He shrugged. "I've had a hard time with things like that since I came to Texas."

  "You're not from here?" Opal asked, wondering why she didn't already know that. She'd just agreed to marry a man who was a virtual stranger to her. "Where did you live before Texas?"

  Nathaniel gulped down the last of his milk, standing up. "I was born and raised in Kentucky. We moved here while Stella was carrying Florence." He leaned down and kissed Opal before going to Florence and kissing her forehead. "I'll be home a little early tonight, so we can go to your house for dinner."

  He put his cowboy hat on his head as he left.

  As soon as he'd left, Opal looked at Florence. "The only thing we have to do this afternoon is get your dress made. Think we can have it ready for you to wear to the wedding on Monday?"

  Florence smiled happily. "Oh, I hope so. I'll look like a princess in it!" She twirled around the kitchen, holding her skirt out as if she were dancing with a prince.

  "You certainly will!"

  *****

  Opal had just finished the dress when Nathaniel got home that evening. Florence ran to the door wearing it. "Look what Opal made me! Don't I look like a princess?"

  Nathaniel laughed and dropped to one knee. "You do look like a princess. I'd better lock the door so your Prince won't ride his horse right into the house to get you!"

  Florence giggled. "Princes don't ride horses into houses, Papa! Princes are smart and always have good manners."

  Nathaniel grinned at Opal. "And I'm not letting a prince show me up. I'm going to go kiss my beautiful bride in greeting, so she'll know I have good manners, too."

  Opal stood and watched him walk toward her with a smile on her face. She raised her lips to meet his, her hand going to the back of his neck to hold him in place just a second longer.

  "We should really start walking," she told him, after she'd pulled away. "Edna Petunia will have dinner ready any minute." She hated being late for anything, and it made her a little crazy when she was late because of circumstances beyond her control.

  "Will they wait for us?" he asked.

  "Probably. Depends on Cletus's mood. If he's hungry, Edna Petunia will sometimes serve supper without everyone being there."

  He grinned. It sounded just like the cantankerous old woman to do that. "Let's go then!" He headed for the door, not bothering to change his clothes. He felt like he should be well-dressed in her presence, but really? She'd seen him in his work clothes only, and she'd agreed to marry him. Why dress up?

  While they walked, Florence talked about everything under the sun. They were almost to the house when she let out a loud gasp. "I didn't change back to my work dress, Opal. What if I spill something on my special princess dress?" The horror in her voice made Opal want to laugh.

  "We'll get some towels from Edna Petunia, and we'll cover your dress, so there's no danger of that. Don't you worry about a thing." Opal was proud the little girl wanted to wear a dress she'd made for the occasion. She wasn't a great seamstress, but the dress had turned out nicely, and Florence looked quite pretty in it.

  As soon as they were inside, Opal asked Edna Petunia for a towel to cover Florence's dress while they ate. "She's worried she'll mess it up, and she won't be able to wear it for the wedding."

  "There'll be plenty of time to wash it before the wedding," Edna Petunia told Opal. "I'm thinking a fall wedding would be nice. We could have pumpkins as part of the centerpieces. It'll be lovely."

  Opal smiled. "We already set the date."

  "You did? Well, September or October would work. Even November would make me happy. What were you thinking?"

  "Monday."

  Edna Petunia's eyes widened. "Monday? Do you girls have any idea what you're doing to me? Mary Sullivan deserves to be canonized. I swear the woman is a saint! And she's not even Catholic! Why if only one of her daughters had any respect for her, she'd have been able to plan a wedding. With eight of them, you'd think it would happen. But no. I have fifteen daughters, and I bet not one of them will let me plan a wedding." She looked toward the dining room and bellowed at the top of her lungs. "Katie! Get in here!"

  Katie all but ran into the kitchen. "What did I do?"

  "I want you to promise me you will give me at least six months to plan your wedding. Do you hear me? Six months! Or if not six months, you have to give me time to plan a nice reception, and you have to pretend you weren't already married for the reception. Promise me, Katie!"

  Katie looked from Opal to Edna Petunia, her eyes wide. "I promise?"

  Edna Petunia engulfed Katie in a hug. "And that's why you'll always be my favorite!"

  Opal bit her lip, trying not to burst out laughing. Edna Petunia was in full form tonight, and nothing was going to stop her. "I'm going to wear Mrs. Hayes's wedding dress. What do you think of that, Edna Petunia?"

  "Well, it's nice to finally have some say in the wedding of my second oldest. Why, you and Ruby had better be the exception in this house. I will not tolerate everyone getting engaged and then married just a few days later. It's unacceptable! Do you hear me?"

  Opal smiled at the older woman as if she didn't think she'd lost her mind. She realized then that Nathaniel was still behind her, and she turned around, whispering, "Go get Cletus. He's the only one who can calm her down when she gets this way!"

  Nathaniel had no idea what was going on, but he headed for the back of the house and the older man. As usual, he was sitting in the informal parlor with a book in front of his face. "Cletus, Edna Petunia is upset and she's saying some crazy things to Opal. Opal asked me to come and get you."

  Cletus sighed, putting his book down and getting to his feet. "Did you two tell her you were getting married before fall? Because that's the only thing that I can think of that would make her act like a crazed woman."

  At the embarrassed look on Nathaniel's face, he sighed. "You did, didn't you?"

  Nathaniel shrugged. "I don't want to wait 'til fall to get married. I want to marry on Monday."

  "Monday? Oh, she's probably losing her mind. I'll get in there before she starts throwing dishes. I don't want to lose the china that's been in my family for generations. Why, we had it back in England before we immigrated. No point in letting the old bat ruin it."

  "No, there's not." Nathaniel trailed behind Cletus, following him to the kitchen. He was interested to see how things would play out.

  Cletus walked into the kitchen with his hands raised, as if to show that he was unarmed. He wrapped his arms around the spunky old woman and pulled her against him. "There there, Edna Petunia. You have thirteen other girls to give you a respectable amount of time to plan a wedding. You can make a beautiful cake for this one, right? That'll be nice."

  Edna Petunia glared at Nathaniel over Cletus'
s shoulder. "Get that man out of my kitchen. He's forcing my baby girl to marry him when she's not ready."

  "But—" Nathaniel started.

  Opal grabbed his arm and pulled him out. "She's gone off her rocker again. She didn't meet me until I was seventeen. I've never been her baby girl. She just wants to plan a big wedding, and it makes her angry that we're not letting her do it. She's being stubborn."

  "Should we give her more time?" he asked, feeling guilty for marrying Opal so quickly.

  "No, it's fine. We have a right to marry whenever we want to."

  Florence pulled at Opal's sleeve. "Is she mad at me as well?"

  Opal turned and pulled Florence into her arms. "Of course not, Florence. She's only mad at your papa and me, because we decided to marry so fast. She thinks we should take more time."

  "She's really upset," Nathaniel said.

  "I happen to know that she was only engaged for a few days herself. She's just being silly."

  "Really? When did she marry? Do they have children of their own?"

  Opal shook her head. "They got married just a little over a year ago. She was way too old to even think about having children. That's why she was so determined to adopt so many bastard girls."

  "I see. So she's really just throwing a temper tantrum. I won't get too upset then."

  "Oh, you shouldn't. I knew this was going to happen. I shouldn't have had you two come to dinner tonight. I'm sorry."

  "You have nothing to be sorry for! I'm just pleased we're going to marry soon."

  They went into the dining room to join the rest of the girls for supper. "She's losing it."

  Evelyn grinned at Opal. "Wedding must be soon. Within the week?" she asked.

  "Monday."

  "I figured. You having it here?" Evelyn asked.

  "No idea." Opal looked at Nathaniel. "Do you want to have the wedding here? Or at the church?"

  "I hadn't really thought about it." He took her hand in his, gazing into her eyes. "Do you care either way?"

  "Not really. I guess I always thought I'd have a church wedding, but Ruby was married here, and it was really nice." She shrugged. "It really doesn't matter either way."