****
Once they had arrived at Benjamin’s house, he helped Maybelle out of the carriage and then retrieved her luggage from the rear. When he came back around the carriage he saw that she was gaping up at the large, wooden home. He blushed a bit, wondering what she was thinking of his handiwork. He had shared with her the fact that he had built the home himself, with some assistance from his coworkers at the lumber mill.
“Your home is beautiful,” she said to him earnestly. “I have never seen anything like it before.”
“Thank you,” Benjamin said happily. “Please come inside with me. I have some friends to introduce you to. They are going to be hosting you at their house until we are married.”
Maybelle looked at him with much appreciation. “I never thought to mention that, but you are very wise to think of it. I am so glad that you did, because otherwise I don’t know what I would have done. Hired a maid, I suppose. But those must be difficult to come by out here.”
Benjamin nodded. “That is true. I have two friends who share a maid. Well, she moved on from one home to the next, as the need for her changed.” He led her inside his house.
Hannah and Daniel were sitting in his living room, along with Franklin and Louise. Maybelle looked upon them all with curiosity and pleasantness. “I didn’t know that there was to be a welcome party,” she said with a smile. “I feel so special now.”
Everyone stood from their places on the couch and they all took turns shaking Miss Fields’ hand. “This is Mr. McQueen, he is the sheriff in these parts. And this is Mr. and Mrs. Bishop. They are going to be hosting you in their home until we are wed.”
Maybelle smiled and greeted them all in kind. “It is so wonderful to meet all of you.”
“You must be incredibly tired from your long journey,” Hannah said to her. “We thought it best to greet you here in the place that will be your home, so you can see what it is like. Mr. Pickett built this home entirely for himself and his new family. I believe it will be a great place for you to live, in time. But do feel free to look around.”
Though she was clearly fatigued from her journey across the country, Maybelle did take some time to explore Benjamin’s house. She was impressed at how big it was, and how well decorated it was with furnishings and structures that he had also made himself. He had told her about his woodworking skills and there was no denying them. “I very much look forward to living here,” she told him after her appraisal. “It would be an honor.”
Benjamin smiled and blushed a bit. Everything was going so well with her thus far. There really was only one thing that was cause for concern. He looked at Daniel nervously, hoping that he might have a word with Maybelle before the other man could betray his secret shame.
Before very long, the group started to leave. Miss Fields’ bags were gathered back up and were to be placed in the back of Daniel’s waiting carriage. The gold miner was quite wealthy, which was another good reason for Maybelle to be housed with him for the time being. She would want for nothing while at Daniel and Hannah’s home. Benjamin felt a trifle jealous about that. What if she should decide that she preferred living in luxury? He would understand that feeling, but he would be heartbroken if she decided that she didn’t actually want to be with him on account of wealth.
Benjamin reminded himself that he must stop being so hard on himself. She had seen his home and professed to want to live there with him. She had come all of this way to be with him. It wasn’t like him to worry so much, but then the lack of concern in his early days had caused him to make a ruin of his life. He did well to worry at least a little. Especially on things of such importance as a new bride.
Before she left, he gently touched Maybelle on the upper arm. “I have something that I should tell you,” he said. “Something which I do not wish to keep from you any longer. Now that you’re here, you deserve to know. And from me directly. People in this town do tend to talk.”
The others were out of doors, preparing themselves for their journey back to their respective homes. Franklin had merely been there to oversee the initial meeting and to make Daniel feel more at ease in Benjamin’s presence.
Maybelle looked at him and smiled sweetly. She thought she knew the reason for this halting in the doorway, but she wasn’t exactly correct. Not yet anyway.
Benjamin gave a sigh. “I used to be a bandit, an outlaw. I was in the sheriff’s jailhouse for many long months – a year, or thereabouts. I stole from people. I stole from Hannah, actually. She will likely tell you all about it. She’s a good friend now, but she’s probably very grateful that I was placed behind bars.”
Staring at him now in shock, Maybelle didn’t know what to say at first. Her new friend – her prospective beau – was a criminal! She didn’t know why he had failed to mention this earlier, but she also had a pretty good idea why he might have kept it a secret. “You tricked me,” she said in a disappointed tone. “You should have told me!”
“I know,” he replied. “I wanted to, only… I didn’t want such a thing to keep you from coming here and being with me.”
“So, you lied to me? You omitted something of vital importance, Mr. Pickett. And here I was wondering why Mr. Bishop didn’t quite seem as pleased as the others…you’re a thief. I have come all of this way to someday marry a thief?”
She was having a nervous fit now. Benjamin regretted telling her, but he had not wanted to tarry any longer. Now he wasn’t sure if she would ever forgive him. Maybelle stepped outside to join his friends at their carriages and make her departure. Benjamin tried to follow behind her, but she stopped him by spinning around and stopping in her tracks.
“You have said enough to me for the day, Mr. Pickett. I need to get some air and get settled. I have much and more to think about now that you have given me this bit of information. I bid you farewell until we should meet again.”
With that, she rushed to Daniel’s waiting carriage and within moments, they were gone. Benjamin was unsure if he would ever see her again. After all that he had been through, after so many months of getting to know one another, Maybelle might very well have changed her mind about him.
He slowly lowered himself to his couch and buried his face in his hands. What was he to do now?
****
Maybelle was curiously quiet during the entire trip to Daniel’s home. Hannah looked over at her and noticed that she was slumped back a bit in her seat, staring out of the window as though deep in thought. Hannah chalked it up to fatigue and decided not to question it. As soon as they got to their house, she showed Maybelle around and urged her to get some rest, which Maybelle gladly did.
Hannah and Daniel were fairly well to do for a couple that lived in Coloma rather than a large city. It was difficult to imagine Daniel living happily within one of the mansions in New York, for example. She smiled a little at the very idea. Still, Benjamin had been correct when he surmised that their home would be the most comfortable for Maybelle before their nuptials.
Their guest slept for the remainder of the day and all through the night. It wasn’t until morning, as Hannah was getting ready to go off to work at her jewelry shop that Maybelle emerged from her room. She appeared sleepy still, but rested. She greeted her hostess with a smile. “Good morning,” she said to Hannah. “Are you on your way to your store?”
“Yes,” Hannah replied. “As a matter of fact, I am.”
“Would you mind if I came along with you today? I know that you most likely think it’s best for me to have a look around town during the day while everyone is at work, but I have some things to discuss with you and I feel that it will be a safer place…your shop, I mean.”
Hannah looked upon Maybelle with some minor bafflement, but she didn't see why the woman couldn’t come along with her. “Okay,” she said with a smile. “Though I can’t promise that it will be very exciting for you. And, of course, any jewelry that you like is on the house… within reason, to be sure.”
The two ladies went off to town and
Hannah, after unlocking her shop, showed Maybelle around. She admired all of the displays of Hannah’s handmade gold jewelry as well as the ones that had been made by the blacksmith in town. “These are all so lovely,” she mused. “I can see why you had no problem settling in here.”
Hannah was flattered. “You won’t have trouble either. I can tell.”
Maybelle suddenly appeared doubtful. “I thought so, too…but then Mr. Pickett confessed to me something most dreadful.” She sat upon a dais in the shop and Hannah leaned against the counter, regarding her with a worried expression, raising her eyebrows and nibbling at her lip.
This could only be one thing. Benjamin had feared Miss Fields’ judgement and now he was receiving it. Hannah felt sorry for him. She tried to think of the best way to dissuade Maybelle from giving up on him without meddling in their affairs. “Yes, Maybelle, he was a bandit,” she said finally. There was no use in trying to hide it or lie about it. “But I truly believe that he is a good man. In the time that I have gotten to know him, he has proven himself to be truly changed now. He is honest and devoted to his work, his friends and to this town. As soon as he was freed, he sought only redemption, both from those whom he had harmed and from God himself. And I would know. I am the one he stole from. Well, tried to. I am the one he was caught stealing from.”
Maybelle gaped at her, astonished. “No! But you are so calm and friendly with him. How can that be?”
“It took a lot of prayer and forgiveness,” Hannah explained. “At first, I was so frightened and upset by what he and his bandit partner did, that I vowed I that I never wanted to look upon him again. But I am friendly with the sheriff’s wife and she does all of the caring for the men in the jail there…she trusts him with her life. There was a thief in the jail who attacked her and tried to escape, and Benjamin stepped in and selflessly saved the day. So she has seen first-hand how he truly is. He hasn’t done anything to make me believe he isn’t a fully transformed man.”
Maybelle was skeptical. “It seems that he might have done those things because he was sorry to have been placed in jail, not because he’s actually a good person.”
Hannah was sorry that she felt that way. “Well, for now, you are staying with my husband and me, so you need not worry yourself about it. But I promise you that he is indeed a changed man. He is kind, protective and he will love you so much, if only you would give him the chance. You have plenty of time to get to know him, though. You certainly shouldn’t feel like you have to rush into anything in the slightest.”
That satisfied Maybelle for the time being. She stayed with Hannah in the jewelry shop until it was time for them to return home, thinking that it was better for her to keep the other woman company instead of being alone with Daniel. When they had returned to the house, Maybelle helped Hannah cook a hearty dinner. She was happy there with her hosts, and she hoped that she would be a worthy guest. She was feeling mighty awkward about everything, but she decided that she would try to give Benjamin the benefit of the doubt for the time being. She couldn’t very well avoid him the entire time she was there in Coloma. After all, he was the very reason for her being there, and it was incredibly generous of him to have paid for her passage. Although now she did wonder if he had paid for her ticket by legal means or if he had somehow stolen the money that was used to get her there.
“I cannot marry a man that I do not feel I can trust,” she told herself. She was grateful for the fact that Benjamin had not proposed to her yet. At this time, if he had, she didn’t know what she might have done.
****
Over the coming weeks, though Maybelle was polite enough, but she did her utmost to maintain her distance from Benjamin. He came to call on her a few times and they spent some time chatting about the things they had brought up in their letters. He was nervous around her and she did not much want to talk to him, so they made for a rather awkward pair.
“I have been spending a lot of time with Mrs. Bishop in the shop,” she told him one day. “It must be so exciting, to have one’s own business.”
Benjamin regarded her thoughtfully. “Yes, indeed,” he said. “I have always thought about opening my own carpentry shop or some such thing, but I think it might be far easier for me to stay at the well-established mill for the time being. It’s not a business of my own, but I think I’m making a good deal of difference in the lives of the people here.”
Maybelle eyed him a little and he couldn’t help but feel as though he was auditioning or applying for some position. It seemed as though she was sizing him up to see what she really thought of him.
“If you like, I can put in a good word for you at Ephraim’s general store, like I promised in my letters to you,” he went on. “I think the old man would be happy to have some help and your lovely company.”
That got a small smile from her. “I would like that. Thank you.”
Benjamin went to Ephraim’s shop as soon as he had some free time from his work. The two men talked it over some and it was agreed that Maybelle could work there as Ephraim’s assistant seamstress. The older man was still leery of Benjamin. It seemed that the stories about his thievery and time spent in jail stayed with Ephraim no matter what Benjamin did to try and redeem himself in his eyes. He worried a little that the same could be true for Maybelle, though he truly hoped he was mistaken. She had never known him when he was the way that he used to be. At this point, even Benjamin didn’t recognize the man that he had been before. It seemed like a tale from some distant lifetime that someone had told him in passing. It didn’t seem like he possibly could have done such mad and hateful things. But conversely, he couldn’t lie to himself and make it not so. He really had been a crooked bandit and a blood-thirsty criminal. At least in the eyes of the law. In truth, he had never wielded a weapon against anyone.
When he announced to Maybelle that she had been given a job making clothing for Ephraim, she was positively overjoyed. She jumped up and nearly gave him a hug, but stopped herself just short of doing so. It broke his heart to know that this still had not fully mended her affections for him. Though she was polite, even friendly towards him at times, there was still a layer of coldness that stood between them. She refused to get close to him for fear of getting hurt or finding out that there was some dangerous and dark side to him that she had not bargained for.
Benjamin eventually found other activities with which to fill his days. If he just sat around, pining for Maybelle, he would surely snap. She wanted to remain aloof until she felt more comfortable about the idea of being with him. So be it, he thought. There were surely other important things to be done in town. He was the man to do them, or at least help with them. Maybe, in that way, he could prove himself to Maybelle Fields.
Word soon got around about the necessity for an orphanage to be built in town. The church believed that it would be best if it was built right next door them, so they could run it themselves. But they needed men that were willing and capable to construct it.
Benjamin was unsurprisingly first to volunteer. “I can make such a structure,” he offered. “It should not be unlike building my house. I have the skills and experience.”
Thomas smiled at him. “It never crossed my mind that you should have to apply for this, Benji,” he said. “I brought this task specifically to you, because I knew you would jump at the opportunity. I’ll make sure your lady friend is brought up to speed on your involvement as well.” He winked at him.
Benjamin got started right away on this new project. Whenever he wasn’t working at the mill, he was busy designing and working on constructing the new orphanage. All of the building’s plans were drawn up solely by him. All of the lumber was sawed to precision and carefully sanded by him as well. He took on this new task with great care and enthusiasm. Maybelle soon noticed that he wasn’t hanging around her as much as he used to. She wondered, sadly, if he had lost interest due to her somewhat aloof behavior. As much as she was loath to admit it, she grew sadder by the day and began to miss him
dearly. She had upended her life to be with him, and now she might have completely missed her chance.
****
“Oh, I promise, he isn’t trying to avoid you,” Hannah informed Maybelle the following morning after she had had a bit of a crisis of self-doubt. “He has a new task that he has taken on for work. It’s tied to the church, and I think it is the loveliest thing I’ve ever heard about.”
“What is it?” Maybelle asked, her interest piqued. She had feared that he had simply left or had ceased to even think of her. If he was doing something special for the church maybe that did prove that he was a good and devoted man…
Hannah fixed her with a smile over her store counter. “Benjamin is building a beautiful orphanage for all of the little ones in town who don’t have parents or a home.”
Maybelle’s blue eyes widened in surprise. How perfectly sweet of him! “Is that so?” she asked Hannah, sounding calm somehow in spite of her shock and relief. Perhaps it really was true and Mr. Pickett was truly a reformed bandit, deserving of her affection and trust after all. “Is he simply being paid for it as part of his work?”
Hannah shook her head. “From what I hear, he leapt at the chance to do something nice for the kids, and for the church. He was amazed when he was told that he would get paid extra for completing the work. He has been working day and night on this, and that’s why he hasn’t been around as much lately.”
Maybelle could tell just from the way she spoke that Hannah was trying to console her. Had it been that obvious that she missed Benjamin spending time with her? Even though she had treated him as less than a friend at times, she still longed to see him every day. After all, he was her reason for being there.
“I feel that I must make an effort to get to know him better now,” she said. “I fear that I have grossly misjudged him.”
“I should say so,” Hannah agreed. “But I will not judge you. After all, nearly everyone in town has had reason to not trust him in the past. How is Ephraim handling the changed Mr. Pickett?”
Annie: A Bride For The Farmhand - A Clean Historical Western Romance (Stewart House Brides Book 3) Page 14
