“I’m sorry, Lily.” Seth wanted to gather her in his arms to comfort her but didn’t know whether she’d be receptive to his sympathy. To be let down by the people you love…Seth couldn’t imagine any of his family doing anything like that to one another.
“I haven’t heard anything from my family since then.”
“Did you write to let them know you were moving to Chicago to marry?”
“Yes, a brag letter saying I was marrying a wealthy businessman. And look where I am now.”
Lily put a hand over her mouth, horrified by her last outburst. “I’m so sorry, Seth, I didn’t mean to put down the fact…”
“I’ll take it as a compliment instead. You’re heading to a new life in Kansas, with your own horse, and a good friend who’s now your husband. That’s where you’re at now, and things have improved for you.”
“Thank you for reminding me of that.” Lily rubbed her wedding ring while she stared at it. “For your sake, I think we should take our rings off before we get to Clear Creek though. I’m sure you’d prefer to get an annulment without everyone knowing we were married.”
“Let’s wait until we get near there. The rings are safer on our fingers, don’t you think?” He was getting used to wearing it and wasn’t sure if he wanted to take it off—ever.
Chapter 11
Last night they had unloaded the horses to a pen for the night and found a hotel for themselves. Early this morning, they loaded the horses into a livestock car attached to a passenger train heading to Denver. Lily had spent the day staring out the window, absorbing the layout of her new home state.
“This is it, we’re coming into Clear Creek,” Seth looked out the window, then to her, then back out the window.
As the train slowed, her heartbeat increased. This could be my new home, where Seth’s family and friends live, where I’d shop and go to church. She squeezed her eyes tight, trying to control her runaway emotions, but started to hyperventilate instead.
“Lily, what’s wrong? Lily?”
She tried to take deep breaths to calm herself, but sobs took over as she cupped her hand over her mouth. Finally! I finally have a home and a husband, a place free of hunger and worry!
“Lily? Answer me! What’s wrong?” Seth whispered as passengers around them looked on in concern.
“Nothing! Things are finally going to be all right for me. It’s been years since I’ve not had to worry about what’s around the corner, or where I’m going to find a meal.”
Lily turned in her seat and wrapped her arms around Seth, tugging him tightly against her chest. “Thank you for bringing me here, Seth. I don’t know how I would have survived in Chicago…”
“Hey, dry your tears, you’re going to have a great life in Kansas. You’ll have plenty of Swedes around you to keep you happy now,” Seth whispered in her ear as he gave her a tight hug.
“Yes, I know I will, it’s just…”
“Overwhelming? I understand, but it will all work out.”
With a final chug of the engine and screeching of the wheels on the rails, the train came to a complete stop. People turned their attention from her crying spectacle to stand, gather their belongings, and join the line to depart from the train.
“Let’s let the others leave first, then we will stand. Look clear down to the end of the street,” Seth pointed to his left. “There’s the church, and the parsonage is on this side of it. That’s where I grew up and where my parents still live.”
Lily scanned the buildings down the street until she saw the small, white, wooden church with an open bell tower on the roof above the double door entry. The trees were few and far between. There was a significant contrast between Boston, which had been there for over a hundred years, to Chicago, around fifty years, and Clear Creek, which Seth had told her was established just a little over twenty years ago.
But of the three places, she liked the looks and feel of Clear Creek the best.
Clothing on both men and women walking on the boardwalks were more basic, useful, versus frivolous. Most men wore wide-brimmed hats here instead of fedoras, and some wore gun belts around their waists.
“Let’s get off now and unload the horses right away. There are pens south of the railyard where they can rest. Once they’re taken care of, we’ll go over to the parsonage, and you can meet my parents.”
Seth was anxious to get the horses unloaded because the train would be pulling out after a shortstop at the depot.
Seth waved at a man but didn’t go over to talk to him.
“That’s my brother, Angus,” Seth explained. “He’s the depot agent but busy right now with the train and passengers. We’ll talk to him later.”
The railyards were quiet compared to Chicago’s, and the horses unloaded without any problems. The horses would rest in the railroad corral until Seth and Lily could lead them to the horse ranch.
The afternoon temperature was warmer than she’d felt in a few weeks and she relished the feel of the sun on her face. There was no snow here, only fall-dried grass and a few leafless trees.
Seth pointed and told her about stores and places as they walked to the church; Taylor’s Mercantile, Clancy’s Café, the Paulson Hotel. His brother, Fergus’ photography studio. His sisters-in-law’s place of businesses, Daisy’s pharmacy, and Pansy’s doctor’s office.
“My brother, Cullen is the postmaster, and he and his wife Rose, live above the library. Besides taking care of the library, Rose writes romance novels.”
“Will we meet all of your family today?”
“I think we’ll just meet my folks today. We need to get back to the ranch.”
Lily wished she could have taken a bath somewhere before meeting Seth’s parents, but Seth brushed off her worries, saying it wouldn’t matter to them and walked on, apparently anxious to see his parents and introduce her to them.
Seth rapped on the front door twice before turning the knob and walking into his childhood home. Lily followed, not expecting him to go in without bidding to enter.
“Ma? Da? You home?” Seth called, walking through the living room to where the kitchen must be.
“Seth! Glad you’re home!” a muscular woman with faded red curls met Seth before he stepped into the dining room and gave him a big hug. “What happened to your face? You look like you walked into someone’s fist.”
“Ma...”
“Well, glory be, son, who’s this lady with you?” Seth’s mother asked excitedly while grabbing Lily’s hand. “Welcome to the Reagan household. I’m Kaitlyn Reagan and so pleased to meet you. And you are?”
Seth warned her his mother was a whirlwind of talk and motion, but Lily was still taken aback by her exuberant manner.
“Ma, this is Lily, who I met in Chicago. She needed help, and I came to her rescue, so to speak,” Seth said as he removed his hat, and pulled off his gloves.
“As you should, son.”
“Nice to meet you, Mrs. Reagan, I…”
“Oh, you’re Swedish! The Hamner family, ranchers near town, are Swedish too. You’ll enjoy talking with them.
“Come in the kitchen. Your Da is home having his afternoon coffee and biscuits.”
Seth smiled and shrugged his shoulders as Lily was pulled through the door by his mother. Seth’s father was an older version of Seth.
“Patrick, meet Lily, Seth’s…” Mrs. Reagan caught sight of Seth’s wedding ring, and she stopped talking, her mouth agape as she looked from her son to Lily. Oh, no. They forgot to take off their rings!
“You got married?!” his mother plopped down on one of the kitchen chairs.
“Calm down, Ma, I married Lily to help her escape a dire situation in Chicago.”
Lily hastily added, “I answered a mail-order bride advertisement, but it turned out the man…” Lily looked at Seth, not sure how they should explain her situation. What would his mother and father—a pastor for heaven’s sake—think of Seth finding her working in a saloon?
“Lily worked in a te
xtile mill in Boston but lost her job. Lily responded to a mail-order bride advertisement placed by a Chicago, business owner. After they corresponded, the man sent Lily a train ticket, and she arrived the same day as I did, so we met briefly at the train depot before her escort showed up.
“But instead of wanting a wife, the man wanted a singer and…uh ‘special hostess’…for his saloon. Turns out, he’d used this scheme to get others to his…establishment in the past.”
Lily felt a deep blush creep up her neck to her hairline when Seth told his parents what she had stupidly walked into.
“She escaped from the saloon one night and hid in a pen of horses in the middle of Union Stockyards. I found her and…” Seth stopped in mid-sentence. He almost said, brought her to my hotel room!
“Why did you go to the horses, dear?” Mrs. Reagan interrupted.
Lily looked at Seth, but he waved his hand to go ahead and answer his mother’s question. “Seth said he was going to the Stockyards to look at the horses the next morning. I spent most of my life working on a stud farm in Sweden, so I felt safe hidden in a pen of mares.”
“You’ll fit right into the horse ranch Seth manages then!” Mrs. Reagan clapped her hands to show her excitement.
“What does this have to do with you getting married during your week in Chicago?” Pastor Reagan finally spoke for the first time since they’d walked into the Reagan home.
Seth looked like a little boy—be it over six feet tall—when his father asked that pointed question.
“The saloon owner and his cohorts kept trying to grab Lily, to force her back to the saloon—that’s why I have a black and blue jaw—so I suggested a marriage of convenience as a means of protection while we were in Chicago.”
“You must be an accomplished singer if he wanted you back. Where else have you sung, dear?” Lily was a little taken aback by Mrs. Reagan’s change of subject. Was this her nature?
“I sang in the church I attended in Boston.”
Seth spoke up before his mother asked her next question. “Lily wanted to live among her countrymen again, so that’s why she chose the mail-order bride ad in Chicago. I told her about the Swedish settlements around here, and our marriage arrangement gave her safe passage to Kansas,” Seth patiently explained to his parents.
“What is the plan now, son?” Pastor Reagan asked, then took a sip of coffee while looking between the two of them. Then Lily noticed he raised an eyebrow at his wife, and she answered back with a nod.
Seth opened his mouth, then closed it before turning to look at Lily. “We haven’t made any definite plans. I need to get the horses out to the Straight Arrow Ranch and catch up with things there. Lily…”
“I’d like to see the ranch, and your community, besides the Swedish settlement when Seth has time to take me there,” Lily spoke her wishes. “And Seth bought me a mare for my so-called ‘wedding present,’ so I need to get her settled somewhere so I can take care of and ride her.”
“Oh, my stars! Your surprise made me toss my manners aside. Please take off your coats and sit down. You need food after your long trip,” Mrs. Reagan shot out of her chair to reach for two cups from a shelf beside the stove.
Lily was used to Seth taking off her coat and waited for him to do so now, then he pulled a chair out for Lily to sit. Seth carried their coats to hang on a coat stand by the front door before sitting next to her.
Mrs. Reagan sat coffee and plates of cookies, or what the Irish call ‘biscuits,’ on the table in front of them. Lily bowed her head a few seconds to give a word of thanks then took the biscuit.
“That’s a lovely blue ensemble you have on, Lily.” Mrs. Reagan smiled at her just as Lily was ready to take her first bite. She set her biscuit back on the plate, so she didn’t talk with her mouth full.
“Thank you. Seth bought these for me, and I truly have never had any clothing as nice as this,” Lily said smiling at Seth.
“He has good taste. Blue looks good on you,” Mrs. Reagan commented, but then went silent. Seth said his parents were very talkative and outgoing. Were they shocked or disappointed with Seth marrying her to help her? Oh no. Did they think she was after his money?
“I intend to pay Seth back for all the things he bought me after I find a job in Kansas,” Lily rushed to appease his parents’ minds. “He bought me clothing because I literally escaped from…the saloon with nothing but the dirty dress I wore.”
“A man provides for his wife, so you shouldn’t have to work to pay him back,” Pastor Reagan pointed out.
“But we’re not really…married, sir.”
“Your job as his wife is to take care of the house and children,” he replied.
Where had she seen that quiet look of determination he was wearing? On his son. What was Pastor Reagan’s meaning?
“We don’t plan to take up housekeeping as a normal couple, Da. In fact, I’d like Lily to stay here with you, so she’s properly chaperoned.” Seth looked back and forth between his parents, waiting for them to agree.
Lily saw silent communication occurring between Seth’s parents again.
Mrs. Reagan cleared her throat. “Well, if you’re not going to stay married, it would be best for Lily to live in town.”
Seth sighed and nodded to agree with his ma. Did he want to be rid of her now that they were in Kansas?
“Then Lily can meet and marry someone else,” Mrs. Reagan said to her son, then turned to her. “There are several bachelors in town looking for ‘new blood,’ so you’ll have your choice of husbands and can remarry in no time. There are three in our congregation alone I could introduce you to—one who is the son of Swedish immigrants, too.”
“No, Lily’s not going to…” Seth started to protest, then stopped. What was Seth about to say?
“What, Seth? Don’t you think Adolph Bjorklund would be a good match for Lily? He’s a nice man, and he owns the butcher shop in town.”
“Uh, no, I just think it’s a little early to push Lily into matrimony again so soon…because…we were just married.”
“Son, she needs a husband and home as soon as possible. If you’re not going to be her husband, why wait?”
What was his mother up to? Pushing Seth to release Lily immediately from their vows? And why did Pastor Reagan give a definite nod to his wife?
Do I want to be free, or do I want to stay married to Seth?
“Hello?” a quick tapping sounded on the back door before a young dark-haired beauty walked into the kitchen. “Pastor Reagan?”
“Miss Swisher, please come in. Sorry, I was detained in returning to the church office.” Pastor Reagan stood up and waved his palm up to Lily. “Miss Agnes Swisher, I’d like to introduce you to the newest member of the Reagan family. This is Seth’s bride, Lily. They were telling us about their honeymoon in Chicago before they go home to the ranch.”
Chapter 12
He knew what his ma was doing, acting like she’d take Lily under her wing and get her hooked up to a man in record time. He and his brothers had caught on to her little trickery at an early age, although they liked to play along to see how far their ma would take her charades.
His ma was a good judge of character, and she either liked or disliked a person almost immediately. She was always polite to everyone, but her family knew how to read her reactions. It pleased Seth that his ma liked Lily. For some reason, it was vital to him. And yes, it irritated his pride when she suggested Adolph Bjorklund as a husband for Lily. Especially since they would be a good match…but dang it, Seth married her first!
Seth didn’t expect his father would be the one to seal their “marriage”—at least temporarily—by blabbing to the town gossip he and Lily had just returned from their honeymoon.
Of course, Agnes throwing a fit didn’t help matters.
“Oh no, Seth! How could you humiliate me by marrying this stranger?! You were courting me!”
Oh Deuteronomy, as Seth’s da would say. Seth and his folks all rolled their eyes at Agnes
’ remark because it wasn’t true. Miss Swisher had been chasing Seth since she started wearing long skirts. He only talked to her now because it was the polite thing to do, but he’d never called on or courted her—by choice anyway.
It amused Seth to see Lily’s eyes change from bright blue to envy green after the woman’s proclamation. Maybe Lily was starting to have feelings for him…like he was having for her?
Seth was relieved when his da announced, in front of the three women, he and his son needed to hitch up their horse and buggy for Seth to take his bride home. The air was too thick with jealousy in his ma’s kitchen, which was flattering, but embarrassing at the same time.
But Da had some wisdom to pass on before he passed on the reins of the loaned horse and buggy.
“When your mind believes what your heart already knows, I’d like to perform a renewal vow for the two of you. It can either be in front of the whole congregation or privately.
“What time are you coming back in for your horses?” his father jumped to another topic.
“To give the horses and us a rest, I’ve decided to come back tomorrow morning after chores, why?”
“Your brothers and their wives need to know what’s going on with you and Lily. Plan to stop at the parsonage for a quick lunch tomorrow, and we’ll have a family meeting then.”
“Thank you, Da. They do need to know our situation.”
“You need to think of your ‘situation’ as a marriage, Seth. You’ve said your wedding vows. Now you need to commit to them.”
While Seth drove the horse and buggy home, his father’s words were making him reevaluate the original purpose of marrying Lily. He couldn’t deny there was a spark of interest when their eyes first met at the train station. Was their chance meeting fate’s way to help Lily, or was it to bring them together as mates for life? He really liked the woman sitting next to him and could see her there for many years to come.
They stopped at the mercantile to pick up groceries while they had the use of the buggy. Mrs. Taylor was full of questions, but Seth only answered with vague answers about Lily visiting the Reagan family, not letting on that he and Lily were married.
Grooms with Honor Series, Books 4-6 Page 30
