Roberta: Bride of Wisconsin (American Mail-Order Bride 30) (2 page)

"I have a dress cut out and ready to sew. It's been a long time since I've hand sewn anything, but it will keep me busy on the train," Sarah said with a smile.

"Oh, and I'll help you! We'll get that dress sewn in no time. I cut one out as well, so we'll have two to work on. First yours, though."

"Oh, no! We have to do yours first. You get to your destination first, and I'll want something to do after you're off getting married and meeting your new family."

Bobbie made a face. "I don't know that I feel ready to get married. Hopefully he's just looking for someone to clean and cook. I can do those things." Well, she wasn't the best cook as they both knew, but Sarah had taught her a great deal over the time they'd lived together. "Well, I can clean. And I can usually cook."

"You're getting better. Why, I can't remember the last time the apartment was so filled with smoke we had to open all the windows to breathe!"

Bobbie laughed. "Sure you can! It was just last week!"

Sarah laughed. "It was not! It's been months and months."

Bobbie knew there was no one who could make her laugh like her friend could, and she was growing more nostalgic by the second. "Are you sure you can't just come to Wisconsin with me? No one would notice!"

"You don't think my future husband would notice if I wasn't on the train?"

"Well,
he
might, but no one else would!"

The conductor's call of "All aboard!" had the girls getting to their feet and clutching their carpet bags. "We can do this," Sarah said, straightening her shoulders.

"Together we can do anything."

*****

By Sunday night, the novelty of the train ride was definitely over, and the girls had finished both dresses, complete with hemming them. Knowing their time apart was imminent, they clasped hands and clung to one another on the train, both of them dreading the moment of parting.

"Next stop, Colby, Wisconsin!" called out the bored-sounding train conductor.

"I'll never have another friend like you," Bobbie whispered to her friend. "I don't know who I'm going to tell all of my deepest darkest secrets to."

Sarah laughed softly. "You'll be married. What secrets will you have?"

"I don't know. Something, I'm sure! I'll write all my secrets in a letter and mail them to you. Why, I'll write you once a week, rain or shine."

"And I'll write you every third Tuesday!"

Bobbie frowned. "Why only every third Tuesday?"

Sarah shrugged. "Just sounds like a good number to me!"

"Sometimes I wonder why other people don't see how sarcastic you are."

"Me? Because I'm very quiet around people I don't know well. It's when I really get to know someone that my real personality comes out, and then look out world!"

Bobbie laughed. "That's so true!"

Sarah's face grew serious. "Let's pray together before we say goodbye. One last time."

Bobbie nodded. She was happy to pray with her friend if it mattered so much to her.

"Heavenly Father, we come before You, two of Your loyal subjects, as we embark on new lives. We pray that You will help us remember to put You first in our lives as we meet our new husbands and learn to live in a new way. We are both afraid of what life is bringing us, and only by relying on You will we get through this next phase in our lives. Thank You, Lord, for sending Your Son to die for us. We pray all this in His name. Amen."

"Amen," Bobbie repeated. She turned to the aisle seat and hugged her friend tightly. "I'm going to miss you more than I can say. I look forward to your letters."

"I promise, you'll get one as soon as I can send it."

"Don't forget, we each promised to send a letter to Elizabeth Miller back in Beckham as soon as we arrive. She wants to know we're safe."

Sarah nodded. She'd gone to meet Elizabeth with Bobbie, and was thrilled to write the matchmaker. "I've got her address in my bag."

The conductor called out, "Colby, Wisconsin!" and the girls hugged one last time. "Goodbye, my friend. I'll see you soon!" Bobbie whispered, tears streaming down her face.

"God willing." Sarah took her bags and walked to the front of the train, disappearing from Roberta's sight.

Bobbie covered her face with her hands and wept. She could leave Massachusetts and everything she'd ever known so much easier than she could leave her friend. How was she going to face the unknown without her?

The older woman sitting in a seat across from Bobbie reached out to pat her hand. "There, there. Was that your sister?"

Bobbie shook her head. "No, that was my best friend. We've been friends since we started school together fifteen years ago. We're both going to be mail- order brides, but she's going to Minnesota, and I'm staying in Wisconsin."

"Oh, but at least you can still write! Where are you going in Wisconsin? I'm Bertha Berthelot, by the way. Go ahead and laugh. I can see you want to." She shook her head. "What I was thinking marrying a man with the last name Berthelot, I'll never know."

Bobbie smiled. "I'm headed to Superior. I'm Roberta McDaniel."

"Oh, that's wonderful. I live in Superior. I've been visiting my daughter who just had a baby in Sheboygan."

"Boy or girl?" Bobbie asked, happy to think about something other than how much she'd miss Sarah or about her impending wedding night.

"It's a girl. Her fourth. We were hoping for a boy this time, but it didn't happen. Maybe next time."

"Is she your only child?"

"Heavens no! I had twelve children, like any self-respecting woman should. Three died in infancy and are looking down on us from heaven now."

"How many grandchildren do you have now?"

Bertha counted on her fingers. "Twenty-two. My youngest three haven't married yet."

Bobbie's eyes widened. "Are you trying to single-handedly populate the Earth?"

"Of course, I am! Well, populate Wisconsin, at least. It's a beautiful state and one I'm proud to call home."

"I've enjoyed the things I've been able to see from my little window." Bobbie found it beautiful, but she wasn't sure she wanted to live there. She would miss the ocean a great deal. "I'm marrying Jakob Muller."

Bertha tilted her head for a moment, and then her eyes lit up. "Oh, yes! Jakob Muller, the lumber baron. His sweet wife was killed less than a year ago. I hope you can help his eyes lose their sadness."

Bobbie blinked a couple of times.
Lumber baron? Less than a year since he lost his wife?
She'd just learned more about her intended groom than she had from his advertisement and his letter put together. "I hope so as well."

"So what made you decide to be a mail-order bride? I can't imagine doing something so bold!"

"It wasn't so much a decision as a necessity. You see, I was the manager of a clothing factory back in Lawrence, Massachusetts." She went on to tell the whole story starting from when she realized the books were off until the rocks were thrown through the window of the factory. "I felt responsible for all the ladies who worked there, so I checked around, and went to see a matchmaker in nearby Beckham. She had just received a shipment of her first ever copy of a new newspaper she was putting out, called the
Grooms' Gazette
. I took fifty papers back to Lawrence to share with others from the factory."

"So all of you are going to be mail-order brides?"

Bobbie shook her head. "No, a few of us decided to be mail-order brides. Some are going home to live with their parents. Some have other plans. I wanted to make sure no one felt like she had no way to survive."

"Do you blame yourself for the fire?" Bertha asked, her brows drawn together. "You're not at fault, you know."

"I do blame myself. I feel like I should have seen what he would do. I thank God every day no one was killed in that fire. It could have been so much worse."

"I'm surprised it wasn't." Bertha leaned forward and patted Bobbie's hand. "You did a good job getting all of those women out of there."

"I suppose. I wish I could have found them new jobs, but it wasn't possible. I tried to get backers to build a new factory, but no one was willing to take on a factory managed by a woman. Especially not after the fire. I don't really understand, because we were making a tidy sum, but I guess I don't have to understand."

"It's still a man's world. I think women are making great strides, though. Why, I think we'll even be able to vote before too terribly long!" Bertha leaned forward, as if to impart a secret. "I've heard they're considering giving women the right to vote in Wyoming Territory right away!"

"Oh, they're probably just doing that hoping women will move there! It's almost all men right now." Bobbie grinned as she said it. She had no idea why they were giving women the right to vote, but she'd heard others, more politically savvy than she was, give that explanation, so she would as well.

Bertha laughed. "Can you blame them? I'm sure they're all missing the comforts that come with women being around."

"I'm sure." Bobbie yawned. She and Sarah had been awake most nights, not wanting to miss a moment of the little time they had left together.

"Oh, you're tired! You sleep. You've been on a train for a long time." Bertha put a small pillow against the window and rested her head against it. "I believe I'll sleep as well. You remember me when we get to Superior, though. We need to keep in touch."

"I will." Bobbie closed her eyes. Maybe she could sleep the rest of the way to Superior and not worry about who her husband would be.

Jakob, Konrad, and Lukas drove to the train station in their buggy. Jakob wanted to impress his bride, because he wanted her to go through with the wedding and stay with them. The boys had done their best cleaning, but they were boys, after all. The house still needed a great deal of work, and he didn't want her to run as soon as she saw it. He really should have hired a housekeeper to come in as soon as Erna died, but there were so few women in the area, he hated to ask them to take time from their families.

"You will both be on your best behavior today, ja?"

"Ja," Konrad echoed, looking out of sorts as usual. The boy was not excited to meet the new mother he had written to. He wanted the house clean and better food, but he'd made it clear to Jakob, he didn't want either of those things coming because there was a new mother in their household.

"Ja," Lukas said, bouncing a little. He didn't want a replacement for his mother, but he was so excited at the prospect of not having to ever wash another dish that he was ready to have Roberta there.

"What do you think she looks like?" Konrad asked. "She didn't tell us in her letter."

"Does it matter?" Jakob asked. "As long as she can cook and clean, she can look like a troll for all I care." Of course, a little voice in his head told him that an ugly woman would be embarrassing to go out and about with. Erna had been a beauty, and although he wasn't a vain man, it would seem strange to go out with a woman who was less than pretty on his arm.

They sat watching as the train pulled in. "You boys wait here," Jakob said, jumping down from the buggy.

"But we want to see if she looks like a frog," Lukas said, making a face.

Jakob laughed and shook his head. "I will bring your new frog-
mutter
back in a moment, and you will see her then."

Jakob went and stood on the platform, waiting as the train emptied. Superior was as far as the line went, because there were no bridges to take a train across Lake Superior. Someday maybe there would be, but not today.

He saw an unaccompanied woman with medium-length blond hair in her early twenties get off the train, and he frowned. Was that his Roberta?

His Roberta? Where had that thought come from? She wasn't his at all. She was just a woman he would marry for the sake of his boys. Never would she be his. He loved his wife too much to ever let another replace her in his heart.

The woman looked confused as she looked around her. Jakob walked toward her, hoping he wouldn't make a fool of himself by talking to the wrong woman.

"Roberta?" he asked.

Bobbie looked up at the mention of her name, feeling nothing but relief. "Yes, I'm Roberta. My friends call me Bobbie." How did one greet the man she was to marry in a short while? A kiss was probably appropriate, but Bobbie made do with a handshake. "Jakob?"

"Ja. I am Jakob." He looked down at the two carpet bags in her hands. "Is that all you have?" She nodded, and he took them both from her. "Come. My boys are waiting to meet you in the buggy."

Bobbie followed him through the crowd of people, dodging a young couple who was obviously having a joyous reunion, kissing as only a young couple in love could do in public. "Did you have to come far to get me?"

He shook his head. "No. We live on the outskirts of town." He handed the two bags up to Lukas who held them in his lap. "This is Bobbie. Konrad, sit in the back beside your brother, so she can ride up front with me."

Bobbie watched as the boy jumped down and climbed up beside his brother. Jakob offered her his hand and she climbed up into the buggy, waiting for him to walk to the other side and climb in himself.

"
Vater
, she doesn't look like a frog-
mutter
," Lukas said from the back.

Bobbie whirled around and looked at the boy. "You must be Lukas. Why would I look like a frog-
mutter
?"

Lukas shrugged. "I don't know, but
Vater
said we must be kind even if you look like a frog-
mutter
."

Bobbie gave Jakob a look that had made her employees scramble back to work immediately when she'd given it to them. "Really? A frog-
mutter
?" What was a frog-
mutter
? Whatever it was, it didn't sound complimentary.

Jakob gave her a look that showed his embarrassment. "I'm sorry. The boys were curious about how you would look."

"And do I look good enough to satisfy their requirements? Should I rub grass on my face to make it green like a frog's? Is that what they want?"

Jakob laughed. "I think they just wanted to scare me about meeting you."

"I see. And did it work?"

"Not at all. You're not bad to look at." Jakob refused to compliment her. He didn't know her at all, and didn't know what she wanted from him.

Not bad to look at? "I'm glad your breakfast hasn't come back up at the sight of me. That would be hard to wake to every morning, wouldn't it?"

Jakob wondered if he should talk to her about their sleeping arrangement before the wedding, but he decided against it. "It would at that. Ja, I'm glad you're not a hideous creature." He drove through the streets toward the small church he and his family had attended since they'd first moved to Wisconsin. His parents had died shortly after he married Erna, so they no longer went there, but there were a great many people there who remembered him as a teenage boy.

"Where are we going?" Bobbie asked, already so irked with the man beside her she wanted to jump out of his wagon and see if there was anyone else looking for a bride. Surely there would be someone in this place who needed to marry.

"To the church. We're getting married today, aren't we?"

Bobbie frowned. "I suppose we can since I'm not hard to look at."

Jakob realized then how rude he'd been to her. "Maybe we should start over, ja?"

"I believe it's a bit too late for that, Mr. Muller. I think I've made a mistake."

At her words, Lukas cried out, "No! You have to stay with us.
Vater
promised we'd have a new
mutter
."

Bobbie took a deep breath. She'd promised to marry the oaf, and she'd never been one to go back on her promises. "You're right. I promised to marry him, and I will. How long will it take to get to the church?"

Jakob guided the buggy to a stop. "We're here."

Bobbie looked out at the church, and found it to be a quaint, old-fashioned church that looked as if it could be used for a schoolhouse as well. She took a deep breath, saying a silent prayer that she was doing the right thing. But how would she know? If the heavens opened up and a deluge fell before she got into the church, maybe that would help her know that she was doing something wrong.

She chuckled to herself. That would never happen, and she knew it. She looked down at her dress, feeling more than a bit disgusting. She'd been able to wash her hands and face at least once a day on the trip, but she hadn't been able to have a real bath since she'd left Lawrence.

She waited as Jakob came around the buggy and helped her down. "Come. I will introduce you to the pastor."

Bobbie was surprised by just how strong his German accent was when he spoke. "How long have you lived in America?" she asked softly.

He flushed. "I moved here with my parents and my brother when I was a teenager." He hated when someone brought up his accent. He knew it was strong. He didn't need anyone drawing his attention to it.

"You came from Germany?" she asked.

He nodded, not meeting her eyes. "Follow me." He turned and walked to the church as if he was angry, and Bobbie was uncertain what she'd done wrong.

"He doesn't like people to notice his accent," Konrad, the older boy, whispered.

"But, how could I not notice?" she asked. "It's as plain as the nose on his face."

"Yes, of course, it is. He doesn't want you to mention it, though. He's an American now, and he wants to be rid of the accent."

"Well, then he should work harder at getting rid of it, shouldn't he?" She shook her head, following her future husband into the church. If he was going to always be so prickly, she wasn't sure she could live with him.

Jakob was talking to the pastor when she walked into the building. "This is Bobbie. She has kindly agreed to be my wife."

The pastor nodded at her. "I'm Pastor Ingram," he said softly. "You're a Christian?"

Bobbie nodded. "Yes, I am." She hadn't always been what she'd call a Christian now. Her parents had never been devout, although they'd always taken her to church as a child.

"Good. Well, are you ready to marry, child?"

Bobbie shrugged, closing her eyes for a minute. Everything about the man irritated her. He was handsome, but that was about the only thing in his favor, and at that moment, she wished he was ugly, so she could stop the tingling in her stomach when she looked at him. She was certain that must have something to do with his looks.

"Yes, pastor, I'm ready."

"Boys, stand beside your father, please."

After Konrad and Lukas had moved to stand beside Jakob, the pastor went through the wedding vows. When Bobbie was asked if she'd take Jakob as her husband, her mind screamed not to do it, even as she said, "I do."

Jakob felt as if he was betraying Erna as he repeated his vows after the pastor. When the man said, "You may kiss the bride," Bobbie stood still. She had forgotten about the kiss. She didn't want to kiss him for the first time in front of others. At the moment, she never wanted to kiss him.

Jakob leaned down and brushed his lips across her cheek, and Bobbie wasn't certain if she should be happy or offended he didn't want to kiss her lips. What was wrong with her that he didn't want to kiss her? The man was making her crazy, and she'd only known him for a matter of minutes.

"You're married. I need your signatures," Pastor Ingram told them.

She signed her full name, Roberta McDaniel, and sighed. That was the last time she would ever get to sign that name. No, she was Roberta Muller now. Like it or not, she'd married the man, and she was his for the rest of her life.

Jakob took her elbow and led her out of the church. "It's lunch time," he said. "Why don't I take you to the restaurant here in town, and then I'll take you home, and the boys back to school. I let them take the morning off so they could come here and meet you."

"And then you'll go back to work?" she asked. Surely he didn't expect her to consummate the marriage in the middle of the day! She planned to ask him for more time before she had to do that with him anyway. Why, forever might be just long enough.

"Yes, I'll drop the boys at school, and then you at home. I'll show you around before I go back to work. I need to be there. I shouldn't have taken a whole morning off anyway."

Bobbie shook her head. He was actually begrudging the few hours he took off work to pick her up at the train station and marry her? She couldn't wait until he was off at work, and she had a little time to herself. She would sit right down and write a letter to Sarah. That's what she'd do. She had to let her friend know how difficult her new husband was.

Taking a deep breath, she knew she couldn't do that. She couldn't let Sarah think she was unhappy, because it would make her feel like she needed to do something about it, and there was nothing to be done. She'd made her bed, and now she must lie in it.

"That sounds nice. I am a bit hungry." Her stomach growled then, as if to prove her a liar.

Jakob gave her a knowing look, but said nothing. He drove quietly through the streets, and stopped in front of a small restaurant. There was a sign at the front proclaiming, "Inga's Diner."

There was a tall blond woman who seated them after introducing herself as Inga. She pointed to the menu for the day, written on a chalkboard. "Pick what you want. I'll be back."

All of them looked at the chalkboard. Konrad started reading things off, rejecting them all. "I don't think I want the roast beef or the fried chicken. The chicken and dumplings sounds good to me, but maybe I want the pork chop with a baked potato. No, I think I'll have the chicken and dumplings."

Bobbie thought that was odd, but she said nothing. Instead she chose her own meal and sat quietly as she waited for the owner of the restaurant to come back.

Jakob leaned back. "I think I'll have the fried chicken. Inga's is the best. She makes it with mashed potatoes and a thick cream gravy. I have never tasted any that was so good."

Bobbie frowned. "I was going to get the chicken and dumplings, but you make the fried chicken sound delicious. I think I'll have that instead."

Lukas looked at her. "Do you make delicious fried chicken, Frog-
mutter
?"

"Are you always going to call me 'Frog-
mutter
?'"

"I might need to," Lukas said with a grin. "I like how it sounds. Don't you?"

Bobbie shook her head. What on earth had she gotten herself into? "I make an all right fried chicken. I've never been a great cook, but my best friend, Sarah, has been teaching me to cook."

Jakob was surprised at how sad she looked when she said the friend's name. "Where is your friend now?"

"She's on a train on her way to Minnesota. She's marrying a man there."

"You both became mail-order brides at the same time?" he asked.

"Yes. We worked in a factory together, and it burned to the ground," she said, omitting a great many of the details about what had happened. She was certain he wouldn't care that she'd managed the factory or that the owner had burned it to the ground. "Almost half of the women from the factory decided to become mail-order brides. We had nothing else to do."