Mail Order Maternity (Brides of Beckham Book 6) (3 page)

He walked the short distance to his house and went inside, getting himself a glass of water from the bucket sitting on the work table.  He sat down at the table, a rare thing during the day in the middle of the summer, and opened his letter, reading through it.  He read it once, his eyes widening at the idea of taking on a bride who was pregnant, before reading it through one more time.

He sat back in his chair and thought about what Esther Perry had told him.  She sounded pretty enough, and she was in the early stages of her pregnancy.  Would it be a good idea to take on a woman who had so recently lost her husband?  Who was carrying another man’s child?  He had no idea.

He’d sent his letter off a good three months before, though, and this was his first response.  Did he really want to have to wait another three months for a response?  Or was this girl maybe the one God wanted him to have?  Would a girl in the family way even be able to have marital relations?  He didn’t know anything about it, but he did know he wanted to be able to take his wife to his bed. 

Without having an answer to that question, he knew he couldn’t make a decision.  He hadn’t taken a minute off work yet since the growing season had started.  He could spare some time.  He went out to the barn and saddled his horse, mounted, and rode off in the direction of Samuel’s farm.  Samuel had six children.  He’d know what to do.  Or at least he could answer Thomas’s questions well enough that Thomas could make an informed decision.

He made the five mile ride to his brother’s house at a slow, leisurely pace.  He couldn’t quit thinking about what it would be like to be married to a woman who was pregnant with another man’s child.  And how would he feel about the child after it was born?  He thought he’d be able to be a father to it, but what if it was born and he felt no connection?

Instead of going to his brother’s house, he searched for him as soon as he crossed his own property line and was on his brother’s land.  He knew his brother would be in the field at this time of day, the same as he’d been.  Samuel was always where he was supposed to be. 

After a minute or two of peering across the rows of wheat, he spotted his brother.  He dismounted and tied his horse’s reins to the saddle before heading across the field to him.  By the time he’d picked his way through the field to his brother, Samuel had stopped working and was watching him.  Because Samuel had always been a man of few words, instead of greeting his brother, he simply nodded at him.

“Need some advice.”  Thomas was the more talkative of the two, but he didn’t waste words when they weren’t necessary.  After days and days alone on the homestead, it sometimes felt strange to hear the sound of any voice other than his own anyway. 

Samuel nodded.  “Sure.”  The two brothers were alike in both looks and temperament.  They were both tall, thin men with dark hair and eyes.  Samuel wore a beard and mustache, but Thomas was clean-shaven.  Victoria, Samuel’s wife, always said if Thomas ever grew a beard, she’d never be able to tell the two of them apart.

Samuel’s dog, Jasper, played around their feet as they stood in the field.  “You know I mentioned I might send for a bride?”

Samuel nodded.  “Mail order.”

“Yup.  Well, I did, and it’s been three months.  Just got a response today.”  He pulled the letter out of the front pocket of his pants and handed it to his brother to read. 

Samuel read through it, folded the letter, and handed it back.  “You want a pregnant wife?”  His eyes studied his brother’s face.

Thomas shrugged.  “Don’t know.  Trying to figure that out.  Can a woman, you know, when she’s pregnant?”  He was embarrassed to have to ask, but he needed to know to make the decision.

“Yup.  We did.”

“Does Victoria let her patients do that?”  Samuel’s wife, Victoria, was the midwife for the other women in the area.

“Sure.  Long as they’re healthy, it’s not a problem.”

Thomas stood staring off into the distance.  Now the question was did he even want to marry a woman who was pregnant with another man’s baby?  Would he feel like he was doing something wrong every time he touched her?  “You think I should do it?”  He valued his brother’s advice more than any other man he’d ever met.

“Can’t answer that.  You lonely?  Want a wife?”

Thomas nodded.  “Yup.”

“Then do it.  At least you know she can have kids.”

Thomas looked down at the folded letter in his hands, wondering just what the right thing to do was.  He wondered how he’d feel if he died and knew his wife was pregnant and desperate enough she had to become a mail order bride?  He’d want a good man to marry her and take care of her.  He didn’t know the man she’d married, but he could do something good for him anyway.  “I’m gonna do it.”

“Good.  Stay for supper.”

Thomas nodded, and knelt on the ground and started pulling up weeds.  If he was going to stay for supper and get a good home-cooked meal, the least he could do was help his brother work for the rest of the day. 

He’d make the thirty mile ride into town the next day and send for his new bride.  He just hoped she was pretty enough to make up for the fact that she was pregnant.

*****

During the month since Charlie had died, Esther had made a point of visiting with Harriett every morning after she sold her surplus eggs.  Her father-in-law had taken the farm over and was working it as hard as Charlie ever had.  He’d hired a couple of men to work his own land while he worked his son’s.  If her mother-in-law was going to come for a visit, she always came in the mornings, so Esther made a point of being out of the house whenever possible.

On a Wednesday in early July, she made the walk to Harriett’s house with her empty egg basket as usual.  She still missed Charlie with everything inside her, but she knew she had done the right thing by responding to Thomas’s letter.  Her baby needed to have a father.

She was far enough along that the morning sickness had started.  Esther wanted to laugh at the term morning sickness.  It was more like all day long sickness.  It was morning, noon, and night sickness.  It was look at a small piece of food that you needed to eat to nourish your unborn child and get sick sickness.  She’d vomited more times within the past two weeks than she had in the rest of her life put together.

When she got to Harriett’s house, she knocked on the door with absolute confidence.  She knew now she’d be accepted immediately.  When the door was answered, she smiled up at the tall slim man.  “Good morning, Higgins!  Is she in her office?”  She loved visiting with Harriett.  As soon as she left her house for the day, she began anticipating the next trip to town to see her friend.

Higgins nodded and opened the door wide for her.  She walked back through the house and stood outside the closed door of Harriett’s office.  “Are you up for tea and cookies this morning, Mrs. Perry?”

Esther put her hand on her stomach and shook her head.  “No cookies for me this morning, but I’d love some tea.”  Tea was one of the few things she could drink that didn’t make her sick.

“I’ll bring it straight away.”

“Thank you!”  She opened the door to Harriett’s office without knocking, something she did on a regular basis, and saw her friend’s face go from sadness to a smile in seconds.

“I’m so glad you’re here.”  Harriett held up a letter.  “Look what we got today!” 

Esther stared at the envelope, not certain if the pounding in her chest was from dread or excitement.  She was ready to leave Beckham and start her new life, but she wasn’t ready to be married to a total stranger.  Maybe he’d said no.  “What does it say?”

Harriett shook her head.  “I don’t open other people’s mail.  You’ll have to see for yourself.”  Harriett offered the envelope to Esther.

Esther took the envelope from Harriett’s hand, almost afraid to see what was in it.  Had he rejected her and the baby?  She flipped it over and over in her hands.  Finally, she took her regular seat on the couch and opened the letter, reading it to herself. 

“Dear Esther, I was pleased to receive your letter.  I’ve enclosed a train ticket and some money for your travel expenses.  Please give the bank draft to Mrs. Long.  I’ll meet you at the station in Lindsborg, Kansas on Saturday, July twelfth at noon.  I’ll have a sign with your name on it, so we can recognize one another.  All my best, Thomas.”

Esther looked at the papers that had dropped to the floor when she opened the envelope.  She hadn’t even noticed them.  “I was almost hoping he’d tell me he didn’t want me because of the baby.”  Her eyes lifted to meet Harriett’s.  “I’m scared.”

Harriett sighed.  “You don’t have to go.  I can find someone else for him.”

Esther shrugged.  “I certainly can’t stay here.  My mother-in-law told me I can stay for two more weeks and then I have to get out.”

“You could come and stay with me.”

“But you’re about to leave as well!  You can’t take a pregnant woman with you.”  Esther laughed softly.  “I can just see the two of us getting off the train together to meet your future husband.  He’d be trying to figure out what’s going on.”

Harriett smiled at the picture.  “Well, it would make for an interesting story to tell.”

“My ticket is for the day after tomorrow.  I’ve already sold everything I can sell, and my things are packed.  I need to just go.”  She handed the check to Harriett.  “This is yours.”

“Did he give you enough for travel expenses?”

Esther counted through the cash in the envelope.  “It looks like it.”

“Good.  Do you want me to go to the train station with you?”

“Would you mind?  It wouldn’t hurt your leg, would it?”  She really didn’t want to go alone, but she didn’t want to put Harriett out either.  She wouldn’t do anything that would cause her friend more pain.

Harriett shrugged.  “Everything hurts my leg.  It’s better if I take a short walk at least once per day, though, so I’ll get the mail while I’m out and go with you to the station.”

“I’d like that.”  Harriett didn’t often talk about the pain she was in and had never explained to her what had happened, but Esther got the impression she’d lost her baby at the same time her leg had been injured.  “My train leaves at noon.”

“If you’re here by ten thirty, we’ll have plenty of time, even if the train is early.”  Harriett smiled at her friend.  “Did you have morning sickness again today?”

Esther nodded.  “I’ve barely been able to eat anything all day long it’s been so bad.”  She rested her hand on her uneasy stomach to punctuate her words.

“Did you talk to the doctor about it?”

“He just patted me on the arm and told me it’s the penalty for bearing children.”  Esther shook her head.  “You can certainly tell he’s never given birth or he’d be a lot more sympathetic.  His wife told me to sip slowly and start every day with toast.”

Harriett grinned.  “Have you been able to get everything you’ll need together for your journey?”

“I have most of it.  I should probably make myself a couple of new dresses, but I did that right before I married, and I’m just not worried about it.”  She shrugged indicating it was all she could do to keep putting one foot in front of the other.  New dresses were a dream.

Harriett shrugged.  “You’ll have plenty of time to sew after you get to Kansas.  You know you’re going to have to write to me, don’t you?”

Esther nodded.  “I will.  I promise I’ll write as much as I can.”  She wasn’t sure how her new husband would be about expecting her to help with the farm chores, or just wanting her to work in the house.

Higgins came in with the tea and they both took a cup after Harriett poured.  “I’m really going to miss you!”

“But in just a few weeks, you’ll be heading out yourself.”  Esther eyed her friend.  “Are you sure?”  She was more worried about Harriett doing well with her mail order placement than she was for herself.  There was just something about Harriett Long that made Esther want to try to protect her.

Harriett shrugged.  “I’ve been writing him for two years.  If I’m not ready, I never will be.  I’m honestly surprised he waited this long for me.  He should have told me to send someone else a long time ago.”  She stared off into space for a moment as if lost in thought about her new husband.

Esther smiled.  “He’s going to take one look at you and be thrilled that he waited.”

“I really hope so.”

“I can’t believe you’re so nervous after the number of brides you’ve sent off.” 

Harriett laughed.  “I’m great at picking grooms for other women!”

Esther wasn’t sure how to respond to that.  She set her tea cup on the table in front of her.  “I’m not sure I’ll come into town tomorrow morning.  I need to spend the time cleaning the house and getting my clothes packed for the trip.”

“I’ll see you Wednesday morning, then.”  Harriett stood up and walked with her friend to the front door.  “I can’t even express how much I’ll miss you.  Usually I feel a sense of accomplishment as my brides board the train for wherever they’re going.  With you, I’m feeling a sense of loss.”  She hugged Esther tightly. 

Esther hugged her friend back.  She’d never really had many female friends other than her sisters.  Harriett had been a godsend to her at a difficult time.  It was hard to let go.

*****