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

by Zoe Matthews

  “I was thinking about something. You and Lydia married so quickly. You really didn’t have a chance to get to know each other, to court her like you might have with a woman who lived close by.”

  “At the time I didn’t mind that. I was glad my father arranged for Lydia to come. I just wanted to work on the ranch. I didn’t want to take the time to court a woman. When I first saw Lydia, the first thing I noticed about her was how beautiful she was. I have never regretted marrying her.”

  “Maybe you should take some time and court Lydia now. Spend time with her. Go riding with her. She probably needs that more than we need you around the ranch. Like I said, we have plenty of help and there are no major problems at the moment. Go spend some time with your wife. I promise you won’t regret it.”

  Clinton grunted, but he was seriously thinking about Devon’s suggestion. He might have a point. Would spending time with Lydia help her? Could something that simple make her smile again?

  CHAPTER 8

  The next morning, Lydia again got up and dressed to go riding. She had wanted to talk to Clinton the night before about her plan to learn to quilt, but he had come to bed after she fell asleep. Yesterday afternoon, she had gone to Emily’s house and expressed her desire to learn to quilt. Emily was thrilled and very excited to teach her. They agreed that in exchange for quilting lessons, she would help Emily with her children so she could work in her own vegetable garden since she was having a hard time getting out there with her young children.

  As Lydia walked into the barn, she saw that Comanche was already saddled. Next to her horse was the horse Clinton usually rode, also saddled. Lydia looked around for her husband and did not see him. She reached up to greet her horse, giving him a carrot to eat, but wondering why her horse was saddled for her. One of the first things Clinton had taught her when he was teaching her to ride was how to saddle a horse, since a ranch hand would not always be around to do it for her, and she needed to know how to do it herself.

  She heard footsteps behind her and turned. It was Clinton coming towards her. He was carrying a saddlebag.

  Good morning, Lydia,” he greeted her with his customary kiss to her cheek. “Are you planning on riding to the hills again today?”

  Lydia nodded. “Did you saddle Comanche for me? Thank you.”

  “I did.” Clinton swung the saddlebag on the back of his horse and started to secure it to the saddle. “Can I join you this morning?”

  “Do you mean you want to come with me?” Lydia questioned, confused. “Don’t you have a lot of work to do?”

  “I would like to come with you, yes,” Clinton said. “There is a lot of work to do, but Devon reminded me that we have many hands to do the work, and I should let them earn their pay.”

  Lydia was still confused that he wanted to come. He had not ridden with her since he had taught her to ride, unless it was around the ranch.

  “Yes, you can come,” she finally answered his question. She felt a glimmer of happiness that he wanted to spend some time with her, but she quickly shoved it down deep inside. She could not allow herself to feel happy. It seemed whenever she did, something bad would happen, like her mother dying, or her father dying, or losing so many babies. She sometimes wondered if she was going to wake up one day and find out that something happened to Clinton.

  “Mrs. Young packed us a lunch. We can spend all day away from the ranch if you would like,” Clinton said as he patted the saddlebag.

  “That sounds nice,” she responded. Clinton helped her into her saddle in his usual way and then swung into his own. His horse was actually an older brother of her own, with markings remarkably the same. He only lacked the white spot on his forehead. Clinton had named him Buck. He was an excellent cattle horse.

  They rode away towards the hills. It usually took about an hour to get to them, but they both let their horses run, so it did not take that long. When they arrived at the hills, Clinton allowed Lydia to get in front of him and she led him on the well-worn path to her favorite place.

  They had a wonderful morning together, and as they spent time with each other, Lydia started to feel strong feelings for him again. Clinton had spread a horse blanket onto some grass to sit on. At first, they just sat next to each other without talking, just enjoying nature and its silence. Soon they started to converse. Their conversation was just about the ranch, how his mother was doing, and how Clinton had read the latest letter from Jamie who seemed to be doing well in the West with her new husband.

  They walked around the hills exploring. Lydia told him about her mother and how she had made quilts. She expressed her desire to learn to quilt and make quilts to give away. Clinton loved the idea and even suggested she use a spare room to sew in and set up her quilts. The room he suggested was the room she had wanted to turn into a nursery and she became very quiet again, although she nodded her head in agreement to the idea. She felt tears fill her eyes and she turned to walk away quickly, not wanting Clinton to see her tears, but she felt his hand touch her arm.

  “It’s okay, Lydia.” Clinton pulled her into his arms and she cried as if she had never cried before. She cried for a long time and he held her, feeling the sorrow for all of her losses. After a while, her tears subsided, and she started to move away from his arms, but he would not let her leave.

  “You don’t need to grieve on your own, Lydia,” Clinton said quietly. “I wish you would allow me into your life more often.”

  Lydia felt confused at his words. “I have allowed you in my life. I married you didn’t I?”

  “Yes, but I know you hold part of yourself back from me. I don’t think I have ever seen you truly happy, except for the first time you found you were expecting. I know you have had many losses in your life, but it isn’t healthy for you to hold so much inside. I know I wasn’t your first choice in a husband, but life hasn’t been too bad here, has it?”

  “You have been a very kind husband. I have been happy here and I have grown to love the ranch.”

  Clinton looked frustrated. “But I wasn’t your first choice in a husband. I have often wondered, would you have married that other man in Chicago if your father hadn’t died and if he hadn’t lost his tailor shop?”

  “I don’t know,” Lydia admitted. “It didn’t work out that way, so I will never know, but I have not regretted marrying you. My father knew things about that man that I did not. I think the main reason he hadn’t paid off the loan to your father was so he could have an excuse to get me away from Richard.”

  Clinton continued to hold Lydia and for a while they were both silent with their own thoughts. Then Lydia felt Clinton’s hand tilt her face up towards his.

  “May I kiss you?” he requested with a husky voice.

  Lydia nodded and Clinton wiped her tears away from her cheeks with his thumbs. He then kissed her tenderly on her cheeks and then softly on her mouth. Lydia let her arms go around his neck and pulled him tightly to her. He rested his forehead on hers for a moment and then she took his face gently between her hands and kissed him back. She encouraged him to kiss her passionately, which he did, and she melted against him as he did so.

  She had almost forgotten how powerful his kisses were. When Clinton kissed her, he always made her feel like she was the only woman that mattered to him. She always knew how he felt about her. She remembered his first real kiss. It happened on their wedding day in front of the minister, Clinton’s family and a few ranch hands. He had started the kiss out as a chaste one, but almost as if he couldn’t help it, he had turned it into a passionate kiss, and that one kiss had started the bond between them as husband and wife.

  For the first time since her latest miscarriage, she felt like everything would be all right. She may never be a mother, but she was married to a man who loved her very much. She decided right then to never take that gift for granted again.

  CHAPTER 9

  Lydia was in the garden weeding the bean plants and she was pleased with how the vegetables were doing. She heard a hors
e enter the ranch yard and stood up to see who would be visiting. They did not get many unannounced visitors. It was Mr. John Peterson, a man from town that worked for the mayor. Lydia walked over to greet him.

  “Hello, Mrs. Byron,” Mr. Peterson returned the greeting. He did not get off his horse. “Is your husband around?”

  “No, he is out on the range somewhere. Is there something I can help you with?” Lydia asked.

  “I am just going around giving a message of an event that will be happening in a few days.” He reached down and handed her a folded sheet of paper. Lydia accepted the paper. “I have a lot of places to visit, so I need to go.” He turned and rode his horse out of the yard down the lane.

  Lydia walked up to the porch and sat down on a rocking chair in the shade. She opened up the paper and saw these words:

  WANTED: Homes for 18 orphan children!

  A group of orphan children from the Children’s Aid Society of New York will arrive in Maple Grove, Texas.

  These children are intelligent and well disciplined. There will be both boys and girls of various ages. A local committee of Maple Grove will help assist in selecting families in which to place these children. Applications will be accepted on Wednesday, May 24th at 10:00 a.m. in the Town hall. The children will arrive on Friday, May 26th, and will be available to meet in the town hall.

  Come see and meet these children and hear the address of

  Mr. Thomas Carver, the children’s placing agent, along with his wife,

  Mrs. Darlene Carver.

  Lydia folded the paper and slipped it into her apron pocket to show Clinton later. She thought it was peculiar that a group of orphan children were being brought from New York to their town in Texas, but she did not think it was something they could consider. It might be fun to go into town and watch the proceedings, though.

  She decided to take a break from her gardening and went inside for a drink. Mrs. Young gladly gave her a glass of cold lemonade she had prepared. Lydia took the cup and went back outside to sit in the rocking chair.

  She had almost finished her cup of tea when she saw Clinton ride Buck into the yard. He saw her and waved, climbed off his horse, and tied him in the shade of a nearby tree. He ran up the stairs and sat next to her.

  “How has your day been?” he asked her after giving her a quick kiss.

  “It’s been a good day. We had a visitor from Maple Grove.” She pulled out the paper about the orphan train. “He dropped off this advertisement.” She gave it to him and then sipped down the last of her lemonade. She waited for him to read the paper. Mrs. Young came out with a tray of more lemonade and small cakes to share.

  “Thank you, Mrs. Young,” Clinton nodded to the housekeeper. He started to ask her about his mother and talked to her for a while about her care. When the housekeeper finally left, Lydia asked him what he thought about the information about the orphan train.

  “It’s an interesting idea,” Clinton answered her. “I wonder if there will be enough families to take in that many children.”

  They sat in silence for a few moments and then Clinton picked up the paper and read it again.

  “I have an idea,” Clinton said as he set the paper aside. “Would you be interested in taking one of these orphan children, a baby or a young child? Since we can’t….”

  “Are you being serious?” Lydia interrupted him. “I’m not sure I want to raise someone else's child. These kids could come with many problems. What if the child comes with some type of problem we can’t handle?”

  “I don't think that will happen if we got a very young child or a baby. It looks to me like most of these children’s parents have died or something like that. They just need a new home, a new family.”

  Lydia started to think about how this could be her only chance to be a mother. Maybe Clinton was right.

  Clinton changed the subject and started to talk about other things. He asked her about her quilting and expressed a desire to see her first small quilt she was making. He wanted to know about the garden and if she thought they would need to hire a young girl to help with the canning of all the vegetables in the fall. While they were talking, Lydia was thinking about Clinton’s suggestion. Suddenly, she had a peaceful feeling inside, and she knew this was the right thing to do, to take a child.

  “I’ve been thinking about it, Clinton, about taking a baby. I think it’s a great idea. Let’s see what we need to do to adopt a child.”

  It was worth it to see the smile spread across his face. Even though they never talked about it, she knew he was as disappointed as she was that there would not be a child.

  “Tomorrow is Wednesday, the 24th. Let’s go into town and apply for a child and see what happens,” Clinton suggested and Lydia agreed.

  ****

  Lydia and Clinton went into town the next day. It took over an hour to get to Maple Grove, so Lydia only went when she really needed to, since it usually ended up taking the whole day to go to town and back. They made plans to meet with the Town Council and then go to the General store for some supplies. Clinton needed to drop off some tools at the blacksmith that needed fixing. He was hoping to do that first and then pick them up when they were ready to head back to the ranch.

  Applying for one of the orphan children was surprisingly easy. The men on the council knew them and, although they asked some general questions, they almost immediately gave approval for them to adopt a baby. They did warn them that there were only a few children under the age of two available, and since young children tended to be placed first, they should plan on the possibility of taking an older child. Clinton was open to the idea, but Lydia was adamant that she wanted to take only a baby or young child. She did not care if it was a boy or girl. She just wanted to be a mother.

  Lydia had a great day with Clinton. After the meeting, they did the shopping that they needed to do. Clinton encouraged her to purchase a few things she might need for a baby because she had given away all the clothes and items she had made and purchased after the last miscarriage to a neighboring woman, but something held Lydia back. She was afraid if she purchased anything, things might not work out, and she would be left with baby items that she would again need to give away. She told Clinton that they could purchase the things they needed after they adopted the child.

  They ate at the local boarding house’s restaurant because the tools that Clinton needed repaired were not fixed yet. A few hours later, they were heading back to the ranch. Lydia had enjoyed this day immensely and she started to feel close to her husband again.

  CHAPTER 10

  Two days later, Lydia was in the Town hall, sitting next to Clinton. Many chairs had been arranged in rows and a small stage had been set up in front with some chairs in a row on top. Lydia was surprised there were so many people there. She looked around and was amazed to see some prominent people of the town, each holding a pack of papers like those that they had, so she knew they were going to adopt, too. She saw the reverend, the mayor, the doctor, the general store owner and all their wives.

  She saw her dear friend, Amanda, and greeted her with a hug. She was glad to hear Amanda had been given permission to adopt a young girl. Lydia had felt bad when she heard about the tragic death of Amanda’s husband a few years ago, although she hadn’t been able to be much of a comfort since at the time she had been bedridden with a pregnancy that she had ended up losing. She watched as Amanda sat next to Craig Parker and wondered about their relationship with each other.

  Lydia noticed that the hall quieted as the doors opened and a tall thin man and heavy-set woman walked into the room leading a group of children. She grabbed Clinton’s hand without thinking as she watched the man and women direct the children to sit on the stage. As she looked at the children that were available, she saw, like they had been told a few days before, there were only two babies. All the other children seemed to be older than two years of age. She felt a distinct disappointment.

  The mayor stood and introduced the man and woman as M
r. and Mrs. Thomas Carver. He explained that this couple had been with the children on the train ever since they had left New York ten days ago. The mayor then announced that Mr. Carver had some instructions to give, allowed the man to take his place, and sat down in the front row next to his wife.

  Mr. Carver stood and began to speak. “I welcome you all and am thrilled with the interest and turnout we have this afternoon. This is truly a wondrous event for the children and for the town of Maple Grove. I want to thank the Town Committee for their part in helping these beautiful children find new homes.

  “I know that everyone is anxious to begin so those that have been approved can be matched with a child, but I must go over some ground rules and procedures. There are two key points.

  “These girls and boys are hoping to find a new home. We have eighteen children available between the ages of six months and fourteen years of age. We are hopeful that all eighteen will be placed right here in Maple Grove, but if that doesn’t happen, we will continue on to the next town until they are all placed.