ROMANCE: Mail Order Bride: A Sheriff's Bride (A Clean Christian Inspirational Historical Western Romance) (New Adult Short Stories) (81 page)

Chapter Four:

“I’ve found a suitable man for you to marry,” her father announced at dinner that night.

Caroline felt as if she had been hit square in the chest, her breath rushing out of her lungs. With wild eyes, she swung her gaze between her mother and her father, hoping that somehow they weren’t serious. Finally, she licked her dry lips and said, “Actually, that won’t be necessary. I’ve already accepted a proposal.”

Her father actually laughed. Caroline couldn’t believe that he laughed. The blood running through her veins felt red-hot and began to boil. If she had any doubts about her place in this family, then they had all been erased in her father’s laughter.

“Darling, you can’t be serious. There hasn’t been a young man who has asked for your hand. Now, let your father speak,” her mother said, dabbing the corners of her mouth with her napkin.

Caroline gaped at her mother, her mouth hanging open slightly. She had no idea how she was going to explain Elliot to her parents, but she was more determined than ever that she was indeed saying yes to him.

“Now, Caroline, Dr. Munroe has decided that he is looking for a wife, and I believe that he would be a very good match for you,” her father continued as if she hadn’t spoken.

“But, Father, I don’t want to marry Dr. Munroe.” Caroline clutched her napkin tightly in her fist as she stared at her father.

“You will marry him because he is the best choice for you,” her father said, cutting the meat on his plate.

“Don’t I have any choice in the matter?” Caroline asked.

“Of course you do,” her father said. “You have the choice to marry Dr. Munroe or to become a spinster. I’d say that of those choices, the former is truly the better choice for you.”

Caroline looked from one parent to the other, her pulse racing and her breath hitching furiously in her chest as she shoved back her chair roughly. “I will not marry Dr. Munroe,” she snapped, throwing her napkin down on the table. “I told you that I have already accepted the proposal of another man. His name is Elliot Reynolds. Pastor Danforth gave me the first letter from him. I’m going to join him in South Dakota as soon as I can.”

Her parents stared at her, open-mouthed with disbelief. Despite the fact that she had often been a spirited child, she had never questioned their authority before. She had to admit that she was somewhat shocked herself, but as the words came out of her mouth, she knew that everything she had said was true. In the back of her mind, she was already packing her things. If push came to shove, she would need to travel light so she could travel quickly.

“What are you saying?” her father demanded.

“Just what I said,” she replied. “I am going to marry Elliot, and I am leaving by the end of the week.”

“You will do no such thing,” her father said.

"There is nothing you can do to stop me,” Caroline said.

“Caroline!” Her mother’s voice, full of shock and despair, almost made Caroline falter, but she stood her ground.

“I am going to my room now,” she said. Turning on heel, she walked toward the doorway as fast as she could. As her footsteps echoed on the rough wood stairs, Caroline felt like a band was squeezing all the air out of her chest. She had never asserted herself like that before.

From the dining room, she could still hear her parents arguing about her behavior. Caroline knew that her mother was trying to calm her father down, but she also knew that her mother supported her father’s desire for her to marry Dr. Munroe.

Once she got to her room, she sat down at her writing desk and pulled out a sheet of paper. Hurriedly, she scribbled down the note that read:
Dear Elliot, I will marry you. I am getting on the next train. I hope that this letter reaches you before I get to the train station. If it does not, I will find you at the newspaper offices. Sincerely, Caroline.

She folded the paper and sealed it in an envelope. Then she stood and found a small carpetbag that had belonged to her grandfather when he traveled to Chicago from New York. She knew that she wouldn’t be able to fit much of her old life into its confines, but there was something freeing about the thought. Without a moment of hesitation, Caroline began to gather her things.

At the bottom of the bag, she packed some spare under garments as well as a spare nightgown. She added a pair of long johns, as she supposed that the winters in the mountains would be quite cold, maybe even colder than a Chicago winter. On top of those clothes, she laid two of her favorite dresses, one for practical everyday wear and one for church. They took up most of the room, so she decided she would have to travel in both her sweater and shawl on the train.

She then looked around her room and tried to decide what keepsakes and trinkets she wanted to take with her. She packed her Bible and a small book of poetry. She fastened the locket her mother had given her for her 10th birthday around her neck. Once she was ready, she slipped out of her door again and headed down the back stairs. No one was in the kitchen as she hurried out the back door with her bag.

As she started down the street in the fading daylight, she paused once to glance back at her home, which would be her home no longer. Then, taking a deep breath, she hurried on into her future, uttering silent prayers for help and safety with each step.

Chapter Five:

When Caroline disembarked from the train, she was tired, gritty and grateful. Pastor Danforth had readily agreed to give her traveling money, and his wife had agreed to talk to her parents. Caroline had spent the night with them, and in the morning, she had hurried to the train station.

On the train, she had spent much of her time with her Bible, reading passage after passage and praying for guidance. She had never been as impulsive as she had just been, and she needed the Lord’s guidance more than ever.

As she waited on the platform, she realized that she had no idea what Elliot looked like, save for the brief description that Pastor Danforth had given her. And she had no way of knowing if he had gotten her letter. Her stomach ached as the platform cleared out. The nerves that she had kept at bay now attacked her full force.

“Caroline?”

She turned at the sound of her name. “Yes, that’s my name. Elliot?”

Suddenly she felt shy, something she was unaccustomed to. When the man ducked his head in a quick nod, Caroline smiled. Elliot was tall, much taller than any of the men who had courted her before, and he was lean. His dark blond hair was cut short and awkwardly, nothing like the polished, combed men of her social standing in Chicago. He also had a rough growth of beard that made him look rugged. The men who had courted her in Chicago had all been clean-shaven. She had to admit that she liked the way he looked. The farther she got away from her old life, the more free she felt—the more like herself. Something that she had never known that she hadn’t felt.

“I just got your letter yesterday,” he was saying as she jolted from her thoughts and appraisal of him, her cheeks coloring. “I must admit that I’m a bit ill-prepared, but I’ve arranged for us to be married right away by the justice of the peace.”

“Oh!” Caroline’s mouth formed a perfect “o” as she stared at Elliot. She had not expected things to move so quickly, though when she took a moment to think about it, she was amused that she would even wonder at that.

Elliot ran a hand along the back of his neck. “I know it’s awfully sudden,” he said. “But I don’t have a chaperone for you, and it would be unseemly for us to live together without being married.”

“No, of course, I understand,” Caroline said hurriedly. A surge of something at once familiar and strange washed over her. “I can’t wait. That’s why I came here.”

The grin that flashed across Elliot’s face was so surprisingly brilliant that Caroline’s breathe caught in her throat. She smiled back at him, as he said, “Well, then, let’s go.”

Caroline noted that the wagon and horse that he led her to was simple but sturdy, and she had a flash of insight into how her life was going to be. Elliot took the carpetbag out of her hands and set it gently in the bed of the wagon. Then he put his hands around her waist and lifted her up onto the bench seat.  He was so gentle that her heart started to beat wildly in her chest. This was the man who was going to be her husband in just a short time.

“I took the rest of today off of work,” he said as the wagon pulled out into the busy main street. Caroline was touched, though she wasn’t sure why. Of course she should expect Elliot to take the day of their wedding off. That only made good sense. But she knew that her father had rarely taken time off work, so the fact that Elliot had done so on such short notice touched her. She also realized that she would gladly make her impulsive decisions all over again if it meant having a man as kind as she knew Elliot was and would be. She knew that she could tell a lot about a person’s character from their actions.

“And I’ll take you up into the hills on Saturday,” he said. “There are a few places that are especially nice this time of year.”

Caroline smiled at him feeling shy again. She wondered what he thought of her, sitting there beside him in her rumpled traveling dress. For a moment, her pride took over, and she wished that she had the chance to freshen up, but then she remembered all the verses she had read on the train about putting one’s pride away and looking toward the Lord.

“That sounds lovely,” she said. “I … I have to admit that I’m a bit overwhelmed to be here. Everything seems to be happening so fast.”

Elliot nodded. “I was surprised to get your letter, though I can’t say I’m disappointed. I feel we’ll be able to get to know one another much better if we’re face to face.” He fell silent for a few minutes. “Can I ask why you decided to come so quickly?”

Another flush rushed across her skin, and she looked away from him, intently studying the people walking in the street. This was a moment of definition, as Pastor Danforth would call it. She could go one of two ways: toward the truth or away from it. She knew in her heart where the Lord was leading her.

“Honestly?” she said. “My father was going to marry me off to some old doctor. I didn’t even know him, and I probably would have only met him once or twice before the wedding. My father only saw me as a pawn in his quest to consolidate his business power.”

She heard the bitterness in her voice and couldn’t look up at Elliot. They themselves were virtually strangers, and she had just shared something that cut to her core. Finally, Elliot said, “So, you ran away.”

Looking down at her fingers, knotted together in her lap. She couldn’t really argue with him, but she did need to correct him on one point. “I didn’t run away,” she said softly. “I ran, but I ran to you.”

Chapter Six:

The fever started the day after the wedding. Elliot had woken early to go to work, and Caroline had risen with him to start his breakfast. When she’d started to make an omelet, he had seemed surprised that she knew how to cook. Hanging around the kitchen had served some purpose other than irritating her parents, she realized. He had gone out to the stable to check on the horse, cow, goat and chickens, but when he came in, he had nearly collapsed.

Thus began Caroline’s marriage. She felt like she was jumping straight into her wedding vows of sickness and health. Yet she was thrilled to find that she didn’t mind a bit. She thrived on taking care of Elliot. Cooking and cleaning felt natural, even after being served her whole life.

After a week of the illness seeming to wreak havoc on Elliot’s body, Caroline woke early to find him sitting up in bed. Although he was in an upright position, his skin was cold and clammy to the touch, and his eyes were glassy.

"Elliot?" Caroline asked, reaching out to touch his arm tentatively.

He stared at her with a blankness that ran straight to her core and fear blossomed in her chest. There was no denying the fact that he was getting worse. Whatever he had was unrelenting. As she stumbled out of bed, she realized that her head felt a little thick. But she couldn't think of herself at the moment. She had to go into town to find the doctor. There was no way she was going to let Elliot die. They had just found each other, and she wasn't going to let that go. She didn't let the fact that she wasn't feeling well or the fact that she didn't know where to find the doctor stop her.

After she dressed hurriedly, she got Elliot a drink of water, coaxed him to get back under the covers and rushed out of the house into the warm late-spring morning. Even though it was only a mile to town, she decided to hitch up the horse because the muscles in her legs felt so weak.

Caroline paused outside the barn, leaning her head against the rough wood of the door. She let her gaze drift to the mountains out in the distance and remembered Elliot’s promise to take her there. She knew that they wouldn’t be going that Saturday, as Elliot would need to continue to rest, but Caroline felt an inexplicable tug to go there. Something deep in her bones told her that there was something there that she needed.

Taking a deep breath, Caroline pushed the door open and stepped into the dim light of the barn. When she got back with the doctor, she would need to take care of the animals. That could wait, though. For the time being, her only focus was going to be Elliot.

Luckily, the horse was a calm animal, so she didn't have any trouble fitting the harness on and hooking it to the wagon. Hoisting herself up on to the wagon took a lot more effort than she had thought it would. She remembered the way Elliot had lifted her up to the bench seat the day she'd arrived. The feel of his hands on her waist, the way he had smiled at her, his gentleness. All those things were the reason she was heading into a strange place to find a stranger to care for a husband she barely knew.

"Come on," she said to herself and the horse. "We've got a job to do."

The horse walked forward, and Caroline clutched the reins. If she had been feeling better, she mused, she would have thrilled in the fact that she was doing so many new things. As it was, all of her energy was focused on keeping herself upright and the horse on a straight, forward path. If only her parents could see her now, she thought. Her parents. A pang of guilt and regret washed over her, but she shook it off. When Elliot was better, Caroline intended to sit down and write a long letter explaining everything, describing Elliot and her new life and asking them to come visit when they had the chance.

When she got to the edge of Rapid City, she pulled up alongside the first wagon she saw. "Excuse me?" she called, her voice coming out in a scratchy rasp. Her throat ached, and her eyes watered with sudden tears.

The woman in the next wagon turned, startled. When she looked at Caroline, her eyes narrowed. "What do you want?" the woman asked.

"Can you tell me where to find a doctor? My husband is very sick," Caroline replied.

The woman's mouth thinned into a hard line as she studied Caroline, but then she gave a quick nod. "Dr. McGillium has an office just up the road, a quarter of a mile on the right side of the street. He has a shingle hung out front. He'll help your husband. And if you don't mind my saying, you should have him take a look at you while you're at it. You look like death warmed over."

"Thank you," Caroline said. As she pulled away from the woman, she started to giggle. She had just thanked the woman for commenting on her hideous appearance.

By the time she pulled up to the doctor's office, she was feeling worse. As she climbed down from the wagon, she swayed on her feet. Somehow she managed to make it to the office door before she swooned. The doctor had just opened the door when Caroline fainted, everything going dark.