The Unlikely Wife

by Debra Ullrick

  Selina stepped into his bedroom holding a tray. She set it on the stand next to him before reaching over and grabbing the extra pillow. The one meant for his wife.

  “Sit up a minute.”

  He raised himself up.

  As she placed the pillow behind him, Selina was mere inches from him. The verse he had read about temptation and fleeing it flashed through his mind. He closed his eyes to blot out the temptation before him.

  The bed dipped. He opened his eyes.

  “Here, sip some of this.”

  “What is it?”

  “Just drink it, Michael. I promise it will help break that fever of yours. Trust me.”

  He took a sip and pushed it away, frowning. “Does this have alcohol in it?”

  “Whiskey. Didn’t have moonshine or I’d have used it instead. Whiskey’ll have to do.”

  Not being a drinking man, he hated the taste of whiskey, but she asked him to trust her, so he decided he would. He’d seen enough of her doctoring skills to believe she knew what she was doing.

  “What else is in it?” He took another sip, cringing inside at the bittersweet taste.

  “Tea, ginger and honey.”

  Michael finished drinking the tea, feeling the warmth of it spreading into his body. Exhausted, he let his head flop back against the pillow.

  “Ready to eat now?”

  He didn’t have the strength to raise his arms, but he needed to eat to get his energy back. “Yes.”

  “Tell you what. Why don’t ya let me feed you so you can save your strength.”

  It had been a long time since someone had pampered him when he was sick, so he lay back and thanked God for the help and compassion Selina showered on him.

  Selina reached for the bowl and spoon on the tray and settled the bowl under his chin before she laid the spoon to his lips. He opened his mouth and let her feed him.

  Delicious was the only way he could think to describe the food. “What is that?”

  “Chicken ’n’ dumplins. Looks like I picked a right fine day to fix it, too. It’ll help ya heal.”

  She fed him one spoonful at a time. It didn’t take him long to fill up. Now all he wanted to do was sleep. His eyes drifted shut.

  The bed shifted. His eyes opened to a slit.

  Selina tucked the blanket around him and under his chin. “Sleep well, Michael.” She leaned down and kissed his cheek. Her lips felt cool next to his hot skin. “Iffen you need anything, you holler. Don’t you be gettin’ up, you hear?”

  He nodded and closed his eyes.

  Hours later, Michael woke up. His blanket was damp and he no longer felt hot. He let his eyes adjust to the dark room, wondering what time it was.

  In a rocking chair next to his bed, Selina sat sound asleep. How long had she been there?

  He took the opportunity to study her.

  Her hair, gathered to one side, flowed down the chair, revealing a sleek neck, a graceful, feminine one.

  His gaze slid to her heart-shaped face, her high cheekbones and her nice lips. The woman was not only beautiful, she was compassionate, nurturing and unselfish, as well.

  “Michael? You okay?” Selina asked through a sleepy voice.

  “I’m fine. I actually feel pretty good.”

  She sat up in the chair.

  “You were right. That stuff you gave me broke my fever. And now I need to get out of these wet nightclothes and sheets. They’re soaked.”

  “I’ll get you some dry clothes.” She lit the lantern next to his bed and then rummaged through his bureau and then the trunk at the end of the bed. She came back with a clean nightshirt, sheets and blankets.

  Michael tossed the blankets off. Selina whirled, turning her back to him.

  He stood, and she put her arm behind her back, offering him the shirt. “Soon as you get that other one off and this one on, I’ll make up your bed.”

  He smiled. Last night she had seen his bare chest and run her hands slowly over his arms. Now, she was bashful. He found it rather endearing.

  Michael slid the damp nightshirt off and put the dry one on. “I’m finished. You can turn around now.”

  She turned, reached for a pitcher and glass sitting on his night stand, filled it with water and handed it to him. “Why don’t you sit over yonder—” she pointed to the rocking chair she’d been sleeping in just minutes before “—while I make your bed up?”

  He did as he was told and watched as she hurried to change his bedding. She really was a sweet little thing. He pulled his pocket watch out of his vest pocket and looked at it. Three in the morning. “Selina, why don’t you head on up to bed now? I’ll be fine.”

  “You sure? I hate leavin’ you to yourself.”

  “I’ll be fine. I feel a lot better. Go on and get some sleep.”

  She nodded. “Iffen you need me, don’t you hesitate to call me, okay?”

  “I won’t. Good night. Or should I say good morning?”

  She smiled and headed out of his room.

  Michael woke to the smell of bacon and coffee. Sunlight peeked through the windows. He checked his watch again. Eight-thirty. He groaned, unable to believe he’d overslept. Chores needed to be done. He dressed, then hurried out into the kitchen.

  Selina stood at the stove wearing her trousers again. He refused to let his disappointment show. “Morning.”

  She kept her back to him but turned her head. “Mornin’. Sit yourself down. I’m almost finished heatin’ things up. How you feelin’ this mornin’?”

  “Good. Just a little tired from working the last few weeks from sunup to sundown.”

  “I’m sure you are. I know I would be.” She poured him a steaming cup of coffee and handed him a plate filled with pancakes, bacon strips and scrambled eggs.

  “Aren’t you having any?”

  “Already ate.”

  “How long you been up?”

  “Long enough to do chores and fix you breakfast. I told Jess you probably wouldn’t work today ’cause you had a fever last night. He was mighty worried about you, but I told him you were doin’ all right. He said to tell you to stay home, that he would do chores today. I told him I took care of most of them and I would finish after I checked on you. He put up a mighty big fuss about that. But I didn’t let him stop me.”

  “I can believe that,” he whispered.

  “I heard that.”

  Michael smiled. “Just what time did you get up?”

  “Never went to bed after I left your room. I came in here and fixed me some vittles, then headed to the barn.”

  Michael was speechless. She spent all night sleeping in a chair, making sure she was there if he woke up and needed anything, and then she did all of his chores so he could sleep. “You’re something else, you know that?”

  Spoon in hand, she turned and looked at him, frowning. “What do you mean, ‘I’m somethin’ else’?”

  “Just what I said.”

  “Is being ‘somethin’ else’ a good thing or a bad thing?”

  “Depends.”

  “On what?”

  “On what the circumstances are. In this case being something else is a good thing.”

  “Oh, I see.” She nodded and smiled. “Then I’m glad I’m somethin’ else.”

  Michael chuckled. One thing for sure, there was never a dull moment with Selina around.

  He picked up his fork and started eating. “What are you doing anyway?”

  “Making you chicken soup for lunch in case I ain’t home.”

  He stopped his fork midway to his mouth. “Where you going?”

  “To Rainee’s. Yesterday she wasn’t feelin’ so good. I think that baby’s fixin’ to enter the world anytime now. I want to see iffen she needs my help.”

  “You think she’s going to have it today?”

  “I do. I feel it in my gut.” She faced him again. “You don’t mind that I go there and leave you alone for a spell today, do you? Iffen I thought you needed me, I’d stay. But, you said you were
feelin’ better, so…”

  “No, no. You go ahead. I’m going down to the barn to help clean up the harvester and stuff.”

  “You don’t need to do that. Jess said him and the boys would handle it. I really think you should rest. Give your body a chance to recover completely.”

  “We’ll see. I might just go down and help for a bit and then maybe I’ll meet you at Rainee’s and see how she’s doing.”

  Selina placed the lid on the pot she was stirring and set it off to the side. “Well, I’d better change my clothes and head on over there.”

  She was going to change her clothes. That meant she’d only worn the trousers to do chores in. He knew what she was up to. She was wearing dresses because she knew how much it meant to him. Well, if she could give up her stubborn ways, so could he. From now on, he’d try a lot harder to be a better, more understanding husband. He remembered the gift he had for her in his vest pocket. “Wait, before you go. I have something for you.”

  She stopped and watched him as he headed over to her. “Hold out your hand.”

  He placed the rock on her palm, wondering why he was so nervous all of a sudden.

  When she looked down at it, her eyes widened. “Oh, Michael. That’s so purty. What kind of rock is this?”

  “An opal. When I saw it, I thought of you and the hidden beauties you spoke of.”

  As she examined the pearly white rock her eyes grew wider and her smile broadened. “Just look at them shiny pinks and blues and greens. They sparkle like broken glass in the sun.” She looked up at him and hugged the rock to her chest. “Thank you, Michael. I’ll treasure this for the rest of my life.”

  She reached up, kissed his cheek and smiled before heading up the stairs.

  Seeing the pleasure that small gesture had given her brought a smile to his face. Sure didn’t take much to please her. And for some reason, that pleased him.

  Selina knocked on Rainee’s door and Esther answered it. “I came to see how Rainee is today,” Selina said.

  Concern wrinkled the corners of Esther’s eyes.

  “Somethin’ the matter?”

  “She’s in bed. Says she’s not feeling very well.”

  “Is that Selina?” Rainee’s voice sounded from her bedroom. “Send her in, please.”

  Selina followed Esther to Rainee’s bedroom and the rich brownish-red four-poster bed with spindly posts and light purple bedding.

  “How you feelin’ today. Any better?”

  “No. I believe my time is here.” Rainee rubbed her hand over her rounded belly. “I am so glad you are here. I feel much better already.”

  “Well, don’t you fret none. Back home I helped Doc birth over a hundred babies.”

  Haydon stepped into the room, looking all nervous and worried. “I sent Smokey to get Doc. Do you need anything? Can I do something? Do you need another pillow? Something to drink?”

  Selina smiled to herself, knowing things were the same everywhere.

  Two hours and lots of contractions later, Selina shooed Haydon out of the room. Doc still hadn’t shown up, but this baby wasn’t waiting for him any longer.

  She checked and saw the baby’s head crowning. “Okay, Rainee, push.” The second Selina saw the cord wrapped around the baby’s neck she ordered Rainee to stop pushing. Her cousin had died because of the very same thing. Well, she wouldn’t let Rainee or this baby die. She’d helped Doc back home enough to know what to do now.

  “I am not sure I can stop,” Rainee lamented.

  “Rainee, you have to,” Selina said calmly. “Draw in a deep breath and listen to me. You have to stop pushin’.”

  “What is the matter?” Rainee asked, fear running through her voice.

  As much as Selina didn’t want to tell Rainee what the matter was, Rainee needed to know how important it was for her to stop pushing. “The cord is wrapped around the baby’s neck.”

  “Dear God, no.”

  “Don’t panic. I can unwrap it, but you have to stop pushin’, okay?” She had to get it unwrapped as fast as she could to save not only the baby’s life, but Rainee’s, too.

  “Okay. I shall try.” Rainee stopped pushing, her breathing came hard and uneven.

  “You’re doin’ good, Rainee. Now, be ready to push as soon as I tell you to, and don’t stop until I say it’s okay, ya hear?”

  “Y-yes.” Rainee gasped for air.

  Holding on to the slippery head as best she could, Selina ran her hand under the cord and carefully slid it over the baby’s head. Selina silently praised God that the cord had stayed attached and in one piece. If it had broken, Rainee could have bled to death. “Okay, now push, Rainee. And don’t stop until I tell you to.”

  Rainee pushed and pushed and in moments the baby was in Selina’s hands.

  The doctor burst into the room and without asking took the baby from Selina. Within seconds, the baby howled. Selina went to Rainee’s side and dipped a cloth into the cool water and blotted the moisture from her face and neck.

  “Thank you, Selina.” Rainee reached for her hand and gave it a weak squeeze.

  “You’re welcome.”

  Knowing Rainee was in good hands with Doc Berg, Selina washed up and then slipped out of the room. Her nerves were plumb worn out just thinking about what could have happened to Rainee if that cord had broken. That thought set her body to shaking again.

  Michael sat on his mother’s porch swing with his niece Rosie. Yards away from them, Emily visited with her grandmother, who was watching the girls while Rainee had her baby.

  Michael wondered how things were going with Rainee. In a few minutes he’d go and see, but for now he was just enjoying the sunshine and spending time with the bubbly child sitting next to him.

  “Did you see what I made, Uncle Michael?”

  He glanced down at his niece and the doll she held up for him to see, all wrapped in a handmade, large-stitched and slightly crooked quilt.

  “You sure did a nice job on it, Rosie. It’s very pretty.”

  “It sure is.” She toyed with the quilt around her doll for several long moments before she looked up at him. “Aunty Selina’s favorite color is blue, you know.”

  “Yes, I know it is.” Did he ever. That was why he had ordered blue-patterned china, and had their…his…bedroom decorated in blue.

  “Mine’s pink. And that’s okay. ’Cause Aunty Selina said it was.”

  “What do you mean Aunty Selina said it was?” Michael couldn’t wait to hear this one.

  “Well, when she came to visit Grandmother, she really liked the blue squares Emily had picked. Made me feel a little sad. Like I didn’t choose a pretty color or something. But then Aunty told me God made all different kinds of colors for us so we could each have our favorite. That He made each of us different, too. And that I was perfect and just right like I am.” Rosie’s little chest puffed out.

  “You sure are, munchkin.” He kissed her on top of the head.

  “Know what else she said?”

  “No. What else did she say?”

  “She said that it was okay to like different things and to be different. I like that.” The smile beamed like the bright sunshine around them. “You wanna know why, Uncle Michael?”

  “Yes, I do.”

  “’Cause, I always wanted to be like Emily, that’s why. She’s so smart and pretty. Always does things just right and I don’t. But after Aunty Selina told me that, I know it’s okay to not do things the same way Emily does. Doesn’t mean I’m not as good as Emily, just different. And that’s okay.”

  Out of the mouths of babes. “It sure is.” This was a lesson he needed to learn, too. It was okay if Selina was different. He just needed to learn how to live with those differences.

  Sitting here, listening to his niece chatter on, the desire to have children of his own overpowered his emotions. He glanced over at Haydon’s house. He couldn’t sit there any longer, wondering how things were going.

  He excused himself and went to Haydon’s.
When he stepped inside, Selina was closing Rainee and Haydon’s bedroom door. One look at the worry lines on his wife’s face and her tired eyes sent concern rushing through Michael. Concern not only for his wife, but also for Rainee. He went to her side. “You’re trembling. Is everything okay in there?”

  Selina nodded. “Everythin’s fine now. It was a good thing I was here, Michael, or things could’ve been really bad for Rainee. Doc Berg only just arrived a minute ago.”

  “What do you mean? What happened?”

  “The cord was wrapped around the baby’s neck.”

  Michael gasped.

  “Iffen that cord had broke, Rainee could’ve bled to death, just like my cousin.” She shuddered.

  “Thank God you were here to help.” Michael opened his arms and Selina sank against him. “Thank you for saving them.” He hugged her to his chest.

  “No. Thank the Good Lord. All I did was what He told me to do.” She stepped back from his arms, and he wondered why.

  “I think you need to go home and get some rest, Selina. You’ve had a long night and day.”

  “I’m fine.” She slumped in a nearby chair.

  “You don’t look fine. Your eyes are barely open and you look like you could fall asleep any second. I’m taking you home. Now.”

  She yanked herself up straight in the chair. “I ain’t going home just yet. I need to be here to help Rainee.”

  “Yes, you are going home. Rainee’s fine, the baby’s fine. But you’re not. Besides, Doc Berg is with her now. There’s nothing else to be done here.”

  “I said I was fine. Just tired is all.”

  “All the more reason for you to go home and get some rest.”

  “Michael’s right.” Haydon stepped into the living room. His hair was rumpled and he looked like he’d aged ten years. “Doc Berg is finished. He said Rainee and the baby are doing well and that you did a very good job.” Haydon stepped up to Selina and clasped her hands. “Rainee told him the cord was around the baby’s neck. Doc said you saved my wife and son’s lives. How can I ever thank you enough, Selina?”