Orphan Train Romance Series: Five Books in One! (Clean Western Historical Romances)

by Zoe Matthews

  “No, I don’t,” Craig said firmly. “But you seem to need some time. I don’t think we should start this marriage off in separate rooms. How about if we share my room and my bed, but I agree to not touch you until you are ready?”

  Amanda thought about his idea for a minute and then nodded her head. “Okay, as long as you can keep your promise. We probably should share a room for the children’s sake, so they don’t get confused, since we are married and all.”

  Craig wisely kept himself from smiling at her comment about the children. “I promise.”

  ****

  The rest of the evening was spent putting their new purchases away and getting to know their new home. Jeremy started to act like a regular boy as he ran through the house, outdoors around the house, to the barn, and back again. He was thoroughly enjoying himself. He was thrilled to see a black and white dog and spent some time playing with him. Craig explained to Jeremy that the dog’s name was Shep and he helped with herding the cattle when needed, but he was mainly a pet.

  Grace stayed close to Amanda as she put their purchases away, but seemed more relaxed as she watched Jeremy run in and out of the house. She started to talk a little bit to her new mom.

  That night, after the children were settled down and finally in bed, Amanda and Craig were laying side by side in his bed. Both were silent for quite awhile. Amanda then turned to Craig.

  “Thank you for marrying me to keep the children together,” she whispered in the darkness.

  “I married you for other reasons besides the kids,” Craig whispered back. “Remember, I’ve wanted to marry you for a long time.”

  “Why did you want to marry me so badly?” Amanda questioned. “I would think you would have given up after a while.”

  “When I first saw you, I knew you were the woman God had chosen for me,” Craig explained.

  “When did you first see me? I don’t remember it.”

  “It was at the barn raising the town had for the Powell’s when their barn burned down. Remember that?”

  Amanda did remember it. The event was almost a year ago. She hadn’t wanted to go and had only gone because Lydia had made her promise to come. She spent most of her time helping prepare food for the men who were building the barn. There was a dance that evening in the new barn, but Amanda remembered refusing to dance, even though Lydia had encouraged her. She did not remember Craig being there. Her first memory of him was running into him just outside the bakery next door as she was heading out to run an errand about a month after the barn raising.

  She remembered that day well. She had been in a hurry to go to the General store because she had run out of a specific color of thread and needed to get more to finish a dress that was supposed to be completed the next day. She was walking quickly and was not watching where she was going. She ran smack right into Craig’s chest.

  He had caught her as she stumbled and grinned at her as if he was delighted she had run into him. After a brief introduction, he immediately had proposed marriage.

  “I’ve had my eye on you, ma’am,” Craig had declared, and “I’ve decided you will make a fine wife.”

  Amanda had been appalled at his audacity in asking her to marry him so quickly after meeting and had practically ran to the General store to get away from him.

  “I thought you were so beautiful in that light blue dress you were wearing. Even though I worked hard on putting up that barn, I was also watching you. I got a black thumb from it, too.” Craig chuckled. “You had come to offer water to us men and I couldn’t keep my eyes off you. I swung my hammer to hit a nail and hit my thumb instead.”

  “So you wanted to marry me because you think I am pretty.”

  “I wanted to marry you because you are beautiful. But I also saw how you worked so hard on helping with the meal, cooking over that fire even when it was so hot that day. I saw you comfort a crying child, holding that child as he fell asleep in your lap. I saw you made an effort to talk to each woman there. You seemed to know just what to say to make people feel comfortable and welcome, especially the new family that had just moved into the area, the blacksmith family. I decided that day that you were the one I was going to marry.”

  Amanda was silent for a while and then reached out and found Craig’s hand. She whispered to her new husband, “I think I have changed my mind.”

  “About what?”

  “I’ve decided I don’t need some time.”

  Craig slowly turned to her and pulled her close to him. Amanda started to say something else, but stopped as he kissed her, letting her know through his kiss how much he cared for her. As he kissed her, she felt as if the ice around her heart cracked apart, leaving behind a new heart that was starting to heal.

  Chapter 10

  The next morning, Amanda woke up and saw that Craig was not in bed with her. He must have already started the day. She got up and quickly dressed. She decided to make her new family breakfast, but when she entered the kitchen, she saw a strange woman standing over the stove frying bacon. She obviously had Native American heritage. She had jet-black hair that was brushed smooth and braided down her back. She had on a colorful dress with bright blues, reds, and yellows in a fun design.

  “You must be Lily,” Amanda greeted the woman.

  “Yes, I Lily,” the woman spoke in broken English. “Welcome to Craig’s house, Craig’s new wife, Mrs. Parker. I cook breakfast for you.”

  Amanda started to tell her she could do it, but then stopped herself. She didn’t want to take a job away from someone. “Can I help?” she asked instead.

  “No help. I do.” Lily continued with her work. Amanda saw that a pot of coffee had been started and she helped herself to a cup.

  “How long have you been working for Craig?” Amanda asked after the silence became too long.

  “Not long, two year.” Lily held up two fingers. She looked over Amanda’s shoulder, so Amanda turned and saw Jeremy standing in the doorway.

  “Come sit down, Jeremy.” Amanda invited her new son. “This is …. What is your last name?” she questioned Lily.

  “Husband’s name is John Sitting Horse.”

  “This is Mrs. Sitting Horse,” Amanda introduced her to Jeremy.

  The young Indian woman shook her head. “Children call me Lily.” She smiled at the boy. “Welcome. Breakfast done soon.”

  Jeremy sat down at the kitchen table. “Is Grace still asleep?” Amanda asked. Jeremy nodded sleepily, staring at Lily as she started making some pancakes. Amanda figured he probably had never seen an Indian woman before. There probably weren’t too many living in New York.

  “You didn’t need to get up so early,” she told him, touching his arm with a pat.

  They both heard footprints walking behind them and Craig entered the kitchen through a door that lead to the outside.

  “You are both up early,” Craig said when he saw them as he hung his black cowboy hat on a peg obviously meant for that purpose.

  “I got up to make breakfast, but Lily beat me to it,” Amanda explained. She smiled at Craig and blushed as she remembered the night before, realizing that her heart had chosen her new husband.

  Craig smiled back, letting her know he knew where her thoughts were. He leaned over to give Amanda a soft kiss good morning.

  “I got up so I can do my chores. I figured I had better get up early so I can get them all done. I need you to tell me what you want done,” Jeremy said.

  Craig and Amanda looked at each other and Craig sat down at the table.

  “Jeremy, it’s true you will have some chores around here. It is good to learn how to work. In fact, I plan to pay you for some of the work you do, but you will be doing other things too. School is almost out for the summer, but you will be going to school in the fall when it starts up again.”

  “I get to go to school?” Jeremy asked as if he didn’t quite believe his good fortune.

  Craig nodded. “You will also have time to do fun things,” Craig explained.

&n
bsp; “Fun things, like what?” Jeremy asked this time with interest.

  “Have you ever gone fishing?” Jeremy shook his head. “There is a pond and river close by that is full of fish. I can teach you how to fish. You can also swim in the pond and I can teach you how to swim if you don’t know how. After school starts, you’ll make friends and you will have time to do things with them.”

  “Wow, I am going to like it here better than I thought,” Jeremy shouted with glee.

  “I have a question for you, Jeremy.” Amanda looked over her shoulder to see if they had time before breakfast was ready to have this conversation and saw that they did. The bacon was done, but Lily was still working on the stack of pancakes.

  “How did your sister hurt her leg?”

  Jeremy slumped in his chair and was quiet for a few moments. “We were going to town, ma, pa, Grace and me. Something spooked the horses and it had started to rain hard. They started running and pa couldn’t control them. The wagon flipped over into a gully that had water in it. Pa and ma were pinned under the wagon in the water. I guess they drowned. I was thrown clear so I wasn’t hurt too bad. Grace was pinned under the wagon too since ma had been holding her, but she lived because her head wasn’t under the water.”

  “I’m so sorry you had to go through all that, son,” Craig told him, putting a hand on his shoulder.

  Jeremy wiped some tears away and looked up. “I don’t remember much. I got hit on the head and it knocked me out. It was a while before someone came to help us. Ma and pa were dead by then. Grace was crying. We never saw ma and pa again. I don’t know where the people buried them. They took Grace and me to a doctor. He put a bandage on my head because it was bleeding.” Jeremy stopped talking long enough to lift his brown hair up off his forehead and showed them an angry looking jagged scar at the top on the right.

  “The doctor said Grace broke her leg but he couldn’t do anything about it. He just wrapped it up. We were both taken to the orphanage. We were together for a while at that orphanage, but then we were moved to another one. They wouldn’t let us be together.

  “Grace couldn’t walk on her leg for a long time and then she started to try, but I think it hurts her some, because she doesn’t try a lot.”

  “Thanks for telling us, Jeremy,” Amanda told him. “I am sure that was hard to think about and remember.”

  “Breakfast ready,” Lily said as she placed plates of bacon, eggs and pancakes on the table. Soon they were all eating and enjoying the good food. Amanda made sure to set some food aside for Grace when she woke up.

  After breakfast, Craig asked Jeremy to get dressed so he could take him to the barn and show him some chores that he could do.

  “What an awful experience those two have had, losing their parents like that in an accident,” Amanda said to Craig after Jeremy had left.

  Craig looked at her. “I bet Grace’s leg just wasn’t set right. I bet the doctor that treated them just didn’t want to do anything about it because they were orphans and there would have been no money to pay him.” He slammed his fist on the table.

  “Why would someone not treat a child?” Amanda wondered with anger and frustration in her voice.

  “That scar Jeremy showed us on his forehead? It looks like it should have been stitched but wasn’t. Those kids didn’t get the care they should have gotten.”

  “Do you think we can do anything about it now?” Amanda wondered.

  “I think we should take Grace to Dr. Collins in town and get his opinion. Maybe there is something he could do, or he would know a doctor that could.”

  “That’s a great idea,” Amanda said enthusiastically. She watched as Craig finished the last of his pancakes. “What should we do today? Is there anything I need to do?”

  Today is Saturday,” Craig answered. “Let’s use this day to let the children rest and let them get used to us. We can spend time together as a new family. Tomorrow we can all go to church and Monday morning we will take both kids to Dr. Collins for checkups and for his opinion about Grace’s leg.”

  And that is what they did. It was a great day for each of them. Craig took Jeremy to the barn to show him how to do some simple chores and Shep followed them around. Jeremy showed a lot of interest learning how to care for the horses. Amanda spent time with Grace, reading to her out of the new book she had picked out and playing simple games with her.

  After lunch and after Grace had rested, Craig took all three of them to the pond he had told them about. They were able to walk as it wasn’t too far away from the barn. Craig and Amanda sat by the pond and talked and enjoyed getting to know each other while Jeremy and Grace played nearby.

  Craig told Amanda about his childhood. He told her how he never knew his mother. His father was a drunk, and although he never beat Craig, he didn’t take care of him very well. There were days when his father was sober and he would work at a nearby farm or ranch for some money, but those dry spells didn’t last very long. When Craig was 15, he was tired of living that kind of life and ran away, joining a cattle drive. He told Amanda how he spent the next 15 years working at various ranches all over Texas and the surrounding states. He talked about how he saved up his money. A few years ago he was finally able to purchase this farm, as the previous owners had sold it for lower that it was really worth because they were so anxious to go to Oregon.

  Craig then asked Amanda about her childhood and her marriage to David. She briefly told him about her stepfather, how hard he worked her and her mother and that she believed her mother finally died of exhaustion when Amanda was 16. She then told him the story of how she met David and her eventual marriage to him.

  When the children were tired of playing by the pond, they went back to the house. After dinner, Amanda read to her new family out of a book she had brought, and then she put the children to bed. Later, Craig and Amanda enjoyed more time together.

  Chapter 11

  The next day, the family went to church. Amanda was glad that Craig took them and went into the church building with them. She had always gone to church faithfully every week, but had never seen Craig there. He seemed comfortable though, like he had been in church before.

  Reverend Watson gave a great sermon on taking care of the orphans and the poor which Amanda felt was a fitting subject since quite a few of their town had taken children in. After church, they lingered for a while and Amanda was able to talk to her friend, Lydia, and some of her other friends.

  Amanda learned that Lydia and her husband, Clinton, had ended up taking two boys who were brothers, even though they had originally planned to adopt a baby or toddler. When Amanda was introduced to the boys, she could tell that they were happy with their new parents. Clinton was also happy with them, already acting like a proud father as he told a story of giving the boys their first horse riding lesson and how well they did.

  Lydia expressed surprise at the sudden wedding, but then commented, “It’s about time. You two are perfect for each other. I was wondering how long you would keep rejecting Craig’s proposals. He was sure patient with you,” she teased.

  “It seems as if the entire town knew about his proposals, even though I tried to stop them,” Amanda commented with embarrassment.

  While they were talking, Grace had stayed next to her side, but Amanda noticed that Jeremy was talking to one of Lydia’s boys, Joseph. After questioning them, she learned they were friends in the orphanage and were the same age. Amanda was glad to see Jeremy had a friend. She and Lydia made plans to get the boys together soon.

  ****

  Monday morning was chaotic. Grace, for the first time, showed reluctance to walk at all. She wanted to be carried everywhere. Amanda didn’t know if she was insisting to be carried because she knew someone would or if her leg hurt too bad. Jeremy was not happy about having to go to the doctor and took off running when he was told of the plans. Craig let him run, but when he could see the boy was running too far and getting close to the field with a large bull in it, he went after him o
n a horse.

  Eventually, they were all in the wagon on their way to town. Craig gave Jeremy a good talking to about running away and how dangerous that was on a farm where he was not familiar with places and animals he needed to avoid. Amanda held Grace close as she whimpered all the way into town, responding to the tension from her brother.

  When they finally arrived in front of the doctor’s office, Craig jumped down from the wagon and went inside to make sure the doctor was there and willing to see them. He came back out with the doctor’s wife, Mrs. Pamela Collins.

  “Why don’t you and Grace come inside while the doctor spends time with Jeremy,” Mrs. Collins suggested to Amanda. She thought it was a good idea, and after Craig helped her down from the wagon and placed Grace into her arms, she followed Pamela into her home.