The Unlikely Wife

by Debra Ullrick

  Lights were on in the house. Michael must still be up.

  Anxious to see him in spite of how tired she was, instead of climbing the steps she hopped onto the porch. On her way to the front door, she passed the living room window and glanced inside.

  Jumpin’ crickets!

  She backed away from full view of the window and peeked inside.

  Michael and Aimee had their arms around each other. When they separated, Selina right away noticed the joy on her husband’s face, and her heart shattered into hundreds of tiny pieces.

  She closed her eyes and refused to let the tears stinging the back of her eyes fall. Her fears had come to life. She knew something like this would happen if Michael ever laid eyes on Aimee. Everything he said he wanted in a wife, Aimee was it, and Selina wasn’t.

  Well, he could have her. They could have each other.

  She quietly made her way back across the porch and hopped down. Where she would go this late, she had no idea, but she wouldn’t go back into that house ever again. She couldn’t. It hurt too much seeing them hugging and seeing the happiness on Michael’s face.

  Michael paced between the living room and kitchen, peering out the windows occasionally. With Selina gone, he hadn’t felt right about having Aimee in the house, so he had taken her to his mother’s to see if she could stay the night there.

  For the twentieth time, he looked at the grandfather clock. Doc said it would be late, but Michael thought he meant eight or nine, not midnight.

  Every time he prayed, deep in his gut he felt something wasn’t right. He’d waited as long as he was going to. He grabbed his jacket and rifle and one other thing from his dresser and headed down to the barn.

  When he stepped inside, he heard the muffled sound of crying. He strained to listen where it was coming from. Quietly he made his way to the ladder leading up to the loft.

  The crying grew louder.

  He climbed the ladder only as high as his head so he could peek around to see who it was. Laying on one of the blankets they kept in the barn was Selina, curled in a ball. Michael scurried up the ladder, rushed to her and dropped to his knees beside her. “Selina?”

  She curled up tighter, keeping her back to him. “Go away, Michael.” She sniffed.

  “What’s wrong, love?” He laid his hand on her arm.

  She shoved it away with one swipe.

  Fear clutched his insides. “Selina, what’s wrong?”

  “You know good and well what’s wrong. Now go away.”

  “No, I don’t know. And you’re scaring me. What’s wrong?” He dropped into a sitting position and pulled Selina onto his lap, cradling her stiff body against his.

  She twisted, trying to get away, but he held her securely without hurting her. His wife refused to look at him. “Let go of me,” she whimpered before going limp in his arms.

  Now he really was scared. Selina’s spunk usually rose to the occasion. So whatever had her upset must be huge for her to give up so easily. Whatever it was, he was going to find out. “I’m not letting go until you tell me what’s wrong.”

  She yanked her tearful gaze up to his. Even in the dark shadows of the barn the moisture in and under her eyes sparkled. Seeing her pain, his heart rent into pieces. He laid his thumb under her eye to wipe away the tears, but she brushed it off with a yank, too.

  Without warning, fire flashed through her eyes. She stiffened in his arms and tried to sit up, but he held her so she couldn’t move. “I’ll tell you what’s wrong, you no-good polecat.”

  “No-good polecat? What did I do?”

  “Don’t think I don’t know what’s goin’ on. I may not be the most learned person in this world, but I ain’t stupid, neither.”

  “I never said you were. What’s this all about, Selina?”

  “I saw you and Aimee huggin’.”

  That was what was bothering her? Relief replaced his fear and he laughed with the release of knowing that was it.

  “You think that’s funny? Well, I don’t.” Selina jerked upward, but he captured her around the waist and pulled her back onto his lap. She fought him, but he gently restrained her.

  “Selina, listen to me. Yes, you saw me and Aimee hugging. Do you want to know why?”

  “I already know why.” She squirmed some more. “’Cause she’s more what you’re wantin’ in a wife than me, and you couldn’t help yourself when you laid eyes on her.”

  “Oh, my love.” Out of pure joy, Michael laughed again. “You’ve got it all wrong. It’s you I want. When you saw us hugging, I had just told her that I realized I love you. That I’m in love with you.”

  She stopped squirming and looked up at him. “What?”

  “I said…” He gazed down at her tenderly, willing his eyes to show the depth of love in his heart for her. “I love you, Selina.”

  “You—you do?”

  “That’s what I said.” He tossed her own words back at her with a hint of humor and a small smile.

  “Oh, Michael, you mean it? You ain’t in love with Aimee?” Her eyes searched his.

  “Now, how could I be in love with her when I’m so madly and completely in love with my wife?” He held on to her securely with one arm and pulled out a little cloth sack from his vest pocket with the other. He reached for her left hand and slipped the gold band with blue sapphires and diamonds onto her finger.

  She gazed down at it. “A wedding ring? For me? It’s so beautiful.”

  “So are you.” He cupped her chin and with a voice husky with love, he said, “And now, my love, I’m going to prove to you just how much I really do love you.” His lips touched hers. She surrendered her lips to his in the sweetest, most passionate kiss he’d ever received.

  Nine months later, Michael paced the floor of their house. From their bedroom a loud cry pierced the air. He rushed inside.

  “Here, Michael. Take your son.” Doc wrapped a blanket around him and handed the baby to him. “I have to deliver another one.”

  “Another one?” Michael swallowed hard. Twins? Selina was giving birth to twins? Shocked to the essence of his being, all he could do was stare into the face of his son until he heard another cry. His attention flew to Doc. “Another boy?” he asked.

  “No. This one’s a girl.”

  Michael gazed over at Selina. Their eyes joined as their hearts and bodies had so many months before. Contentment wrapped around him like the blankets around his children. Children.

  He was a father.

  And a husband.

  Michael thanked God that He hadn’t answered his prayers the way Michael thought He should. That the Lord knew what was best for him and had blessed Michael far beyond any desire he’d ever had the day God sent him a very unlikely wife in trousers.

  * * * * *

  Dear Reader,

  Difference isn’t always easy, is it? Yet those differences make life interesting. How boring life would be if we all looked, acted, dressed and talked alike. If every bird, tree, flower and scent resembled one another. I’m so glad God made His entire creation unique. Those diversities make for such a fun, interesting life, don’t you think? Yet how many times do we reject those differences based on appearance only? Look at what Michael would have lost out on if he had rejected Selina based solely on her outward appearance. He almost did. I’m so glad he was a Godly man who honored his vows even though Selina wasn’t what he’d desired in a wife. Or so he thought. But God knew differently. He knew what Michael really needed. Michael learned that outward appearance does not represent the heart and soul of a person, that God cares enough about people to send His best, and that God’s ways and God’s plans are unfailing.

  Thank you for reading my story The Unlikely Wife.

  Debra Ullrick

  Questions for Discussion

  Is there someone you have judged by their outward appearance as Michael had Selina? Please explain.

  Like Selina had done with rich folks, have you ever clumped a certain type of people together and deemed th
em all alike based on your personal experiences?

  How would you deal with finding out the person you thought you loved was really a stranger? Do you feel Michael handled the situation with Selina well?

  How would you have handled Selina’s different ways?

  What do you think it would be like not to be able to read or write?

  What talents do you have that others would never guess you have, like Selina and her doctoring skills and artistic ability?

  What are current stereotypical male and female social rules or standards?

  If you were stuck with someone you couldn’t get along with, what would you do differently than Michael did?

  What would you do if you loved someone who didn’t love you back?

  Would you change who you are to please another? If so, where do you draw the line at changing who you are to please someone?

  What options do you think were solutions to Selina and Michael’s ill-conceived marriage? Divorce? Annulment? Something else?

  Michael had a fantasy woman who he thought would make him happy. In what way is the experience of love often different in real life than in movies and books?

  Michael was scared to fall in love because of what he’d witnessed in Haydon’s first marriage as a young boy. Is there anything you experienced in your childhood or youth that now affects the decisions you make? The way you live?

  When Selina fell through the roof, Michael had to assess his true feelings for Selina. What crisis have you experienced in your life that changed your view of a situation?

  What was the funniest thing Selina did, and why?

  ISBN: 9781459219977

  Copyright © 2012 by Debra Ullrick

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  This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places and incidents are either the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously, and any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, business establishments, events or locales is entirely coincidental. This edition published by arrangement with Harlequin Books S.A.

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