ROMANCE: Mail Order Bride: A Sheriff's Bride (A Clean Christian Inspirational Historical Western Romance) (New Adult Short Stories) (97 page)

Clean Western Mail Order Bride

By:
Samuel Grace

Chapter 1:

I didn’t care how the wind ripped through the valley this night—my son and I were done. My son, Thomas, wouldn’t see his ma get battered by a man anymore. I wouldn’t allow it.

I carried my son as we hurried through the train station while the rain poured and the wind howled. It wasn’t the best night to be out, but it was the only chance I had. I tried to cover my face so no one could see the bruises and ask questions. I simply didn’t have the time and couldn’t risk the delay as we escaped to what I hoped would be a life of freedom.

In hand I had a suitcase, filled with the letters written to me by David Copland. He and my husband were comrades in the war. They’d gotten close during the hard times and stayed good friends until the end. When my husband passed away from a gunshot wound, he told David to take care of me. He’d never come in person, but his letters hold power over my heart beyond measure. The tales he told captivated me. He and my husband braved everything together.

I was used to Jacob being a tough man, but those stories reminded me how strong he really was. After all, he joined the Union even though we were from the heart of the South. We moved up North as a family at the start of the war, and my son and I counted the days for him to finally come through the door and greet us with open arms. That day never came, and I had to muster up the courage to move on for the sake of my son.

To make things worse, his brutish older brother, Nathan, took his inner frustrations out on me. He’d been in love with me, but I chose Jacob over him. That never sat well with him. Once Jacob died, Nathan tried his hand at having his way with me. I prayed to God that He would keep me safe from Nathan. All we had was one another. The three of us were all that was left, and Jacob always thought Nathan would take care of me. Little did he know about the evil that lurked in his brother’s black heart.

Beatings were more common now than trying to sexually assault my body. I presumed this was because he got interested in another woman, but he liked to punish me for all of the suffering I put him through for not choosing him. He also was blaming me for Jacob’s death. I don’t know how it could be correlated, but somehow he’d worked it out that way.

The only thing that mattered now was that we were leaving. Thomas clung to me as I guided him through the busy station among the other people. This poor child. I had enough of him being subjected to the wrongs of our world at such an early age. I feared he would age well before his time because of all of the things he’d witnessed, but what could I do? I was only one woman, and no male figures he could accurately remember had ever shown him how to be a man. It was left to me to raise him to be better than his uncle and more like the good descent man his father was, the man my son would barely remember when he grew. Such thoughts brought tears to my eyes.

He whimpered a little. I knew he was aware that something was different. “Hush now, Thomas. We’re going to meet a friend,” I said after some hesitation. I wasn’t sure how to put it to him. I knew I was taking a chance following my heart to be with a man I’d never met, but there was no way to explain that to my 2-year-old son..

At first David’s letters were cordial and businesslike. But with each story, we started to open up to each other. Things changed. Suddenly I could feel his desire to be near me. I knew he hesitated—I thought because he was a descent man—but somehow I felt like in his last days my husband might even have suggested this to David. 

I held Thomas closer to me as we neared the train headed out West to Montana. I had never been to a place like it, but that’s where this retired military man had planted his roots. It was all I knew about him these days. Just a couple of weeks ago, his letters stopped coming.

I knew when they got here and had timed it down to the second. As pathetic as that sounds, it was all I had. It happened so suddenly that I feared the worst. Surely David hadn’t met the demise my husband had. I could only hope and pray. That was all that I had. If I got there and he wasn’t alive, I would only have my son and my faith to keep me stuck to this world.

Everything seemed to be going smoothly, though I was still worried Nathan would catch up to us. I didn’t let Thomas catch on to my fear. My heart pounded in my chest and sounded like a thousand galloping horses in my ears. My palms were clammy. I knew he had already caught on to the fact that we were gone. I only hoped I was right about my timing.

Thomas got giddy when he noticed the train—now in all its glory. To me, it sat there like a chariot to freedom, and to him, it was an adventure. We both had similar smiles plastered on our faces.

“Train! Train!” he shouted excitedly, bucking in my arms as if to hurry me along toward it.

Even though I was excited, I felt a pang of fear as we stepped forward. I couldn’t be certain why, but it didn’t stop me from moving on. “That’s right. But you know you’ve been aboard one of these before,” I said, smiling down at him.

He paused for a moment while he contemplated my words, but his excitement resumed. “Train!” he shouted once more.

I giggled, but it was cut short when I heard a familiar voice ordering people to move out of his way.

I turned around quickly and saw him standing there. Nathan had the ugliest scowl on his face.

My heart froze. I wished to God right now that He would deliver me and my son safely away. If we could just make it to that train, we would never have to look back on this again. We would be free—if I could just get to David.

“Woman, you really think you can just walk out on me? Where you going with all my money?” he asked with a sneer as he approached.

No one seemed to be moving to help us. I always thought the one thing the North was missing was a little sense of morality. I could have just been thinking in the moment, but I was scared and alone with my son, and obviously this man wasn’t stable. I knew people heard that last comment about “his” money and assumed I had made my own bed with this situation. If only they knew he’d just confiscated all the funds Jacob left me.

“This ain’t your money,” I hollered back at him.

“You know it is, and you’re going to hand it over. You need to bring yourself back home and stop this nonsense,” he said.

He was a nasty man, and people seemed to finally get this. No doubt they finally saw the marks and bruises on my face. A few men seemed to be closing around us in the event he acted out.

“You need to leave this young woman alone,” a man said as he stepped forward. He wasn’t nearly as big as Nathan, and I feared for his safety.

“Get the heck out of my way,” Nathan said in a dangerous growl as he stepped forward and pushed the man.

He was moved aside easily, and I knew at that moment I was done for.

“Ma,” Thomas said in a quivering voice.

I held his hand tighter as I took a step back toward the train. I could feel the warmth of people behind us, though, and wondered why they hadn’t cleared a path. I was sick to my stomach thinking it was just to see a little domestic drama.

“You know Jacob would have your head for this, scaring up a widowed woman and her child,” I said defensively as I glared at him.

“Jacob ain’t here no more. I’m the one that’s responsible for feeding you, keeping you clothed and maintaining the roof over your head. I’m the one that makes sure that little waste of space gets to have an education. I even sacrifice my social life for you,” he said angrily.

“Nobody told you that you had to be in love with me,” I spat back. “I’m not holding you back. You are! You know you’re wrong for keeping that girl on the sidelines,” I said.

I could barely see straight. “And I couldn’t love a man that beats his woman.”

Women gasped, and men murmured among themselves—except for the ones who grabbed Nathan up. “I knew you hit that woman,” one of them said in a low tone.

Nathan was pulled away while he cursed and kicked. “I’mma find you and get my money back, Wendy. I hope you don’t forget because you’ve done it now,” he threatened as he was pulled off.

People were staring at us, and Thomas was clinging to me even harder as he felt the burden and pressure.

I could only stare back at them, wondering why they were treating us like some kind of circus act. Luckily, somebody had some compassion in his heart.

“OK, OK, break it up, and let the lady on the train,” one of the patrolmen said as he broke up the crowd. He looked over at me and frowned. “Are you OK, Miss? You look like he socked you a good one in your eye there. I hate to send you and the boy alone after something like that,” he said.

I nodded my head. “Everything will be fine. As long as he isn’t near me, we’ll be fine,” I said to reassure him, though my mind was drifting. I was worried about that threat. Would David agree to put me and my son up when a madman might be after us?

The patrolman nodded. “I won’t take up any more of your time then. You should definitely keep yourself nearby someone in case he comes looking for you. I’m sure he’ll be spending a few nights away from home, though,” he said with a smile.

I thanked him for his help and got on the train with my son. Once we were on board, I cuddled him close to me and draped my shawl over his shoulders to warm him.

“Bad man?” Thomas asked as he looked up at me with teary eyes..

I held him and rocked him as it naturally came to me. For a moment, I didn’t want to promise something I couldn’t even be sure of, but any peace of mind was better than none. “He’ll never hurt us again,” I said to him.

Thomas seemed content with that and fell asleep in my arms shortly afterward. I stayed wide awake, thankful that all eyes were finally off of me and my son. I watched as the train pulled off. Once it started moving—if only for a little while—I felt invincible.

Chapter 2:

It took a long time before we finally reached Montana. Along the way, I was able to spend time with Thomas in a way I hadn’t in a very long time. The journey was new to him. He liked seeing how the landscape changed as we traveled across the states. Every stop, I splurged on him, even if I shouldn’t have. Lollipops, trinkets, cards. He finally had what I only wished I’d been able to give him all this time.

Even though we weren’t poor folk, we had to live like them. Nathan never gave us much of an allowance. Instead, he used money to drink himself silly and invest in bad ideas. He once had a decent head on his shoulders, but he turned into something else after Jacob’s death.

The journey was finally over, though, and I was thankful that my bruises had healed well during the trip. Now I would be presentable to David. Even though Thomas was talking about a story inspired by this journey he made up, I found myself only occasionally tuning in to hear him. I felt a little bad about that, but I couldn’t help but wonder more fully now about what my experience would be like when I got off this train. After so long of traveling, the reality was setting in that I would eventually have to come face to face with David—or nothing at all. Worse yet, I could come face to face with another woman. It left me feeling anxious and petrified of a bad outcome. There were more of those than good ones.

The train pulled to its final stop, and I felt it all hit me like a ton of bricks. This was it. Thomas and I stepped off the train, and we quickly made our way to a small map of the town. I traced it, finding his house before hailing down a wagon to take us there. We got in, looking at the vast difference between back home and here. The mountains were majestic, and everything had a different tone to it. Something was alluring yet very alien about this place.

“You don’t look like you’re from around here,” the driver said.

“We’re not. We just came from the Northeast,” I said.

“Well, you sound like a Southerner,” the man said with a chuckle. “War transplant, I guess.”

“You’d be right,” I said. I didn’t often speak very freely about that, but it didn’t matter much here. I knew that without even having to ask.

Our conversation turned to small talk for a bit, but other than that, the ride was quiet. Thomas didn’t say much. He was looking around at all the new things to see. I was more interested in thinking about what I might encounter again.

I didn’t have to think for long, though. After a short while, we ended up just outside of town in an area that was more gorgeous than anything I’d ever seen. There was greenery for miles, beautiful mountain peaks in the distance, herds of cattle grazing freely on the plains. I was awestruck. A quaint house sat off a bit down a dirt road that the wagon turned on, and I knew this was it. So many emotions and worries filled me. I was sure Thomas noticed because he took my hand and pumped it lightly. It was his turn to reassure me now. I smiled at him as the wagon came to a stop.

“Well, here we go,” I said. For a moment, I considered leaving Thomas. I didn’t want him to be any more frightened than he already had been, though, so I took him with me.  As I walked toward his door, however, I started to think it might have been a better idea. I could feel my body trying to turn back several times, but something kept me walking right up to that door.

With a deep sigh to prepare me for what had to be the most harrowing moment of my life, I knocked. Everything was quiet except for the distant noises of the cattle. Field hands, alerted to our arrival, were peeking out from the sheds and the barns now. There wasn’t an answer for quite a long time, but just as I was about to knock again, the door swung open.

I can’t describe to you how shocked I was to see what I saw. I had expected David to be very handsome. I had expected him to be very fit from his time in the military and his new occupation. But this was beyond all of that. Before me was a tall, thickly muscled man. He wasn’t dressed proper—just his undershirt, pants and boots muddied from his work—but that didn’t matter. His eyes were dark and mysterious, and he had thick locks that my fingers were dying to run through. David knocked me off my feet.

I stood there, numb and mouth agape. I was sure I looked silly, but my mind was lagging behind my actions. He seemed startled to see me standing there. A smile couldn’t help but settle on his face in response to my reaction.

“Well, there’s no mistaking it. You’re Wendy,” he said, leaning on the doorframe. “What are you doing here?” he asked, looking at me in disbelief.

I hadn’t prepared anything to say to him about this. Of all of the things I’d thought to say to him, why I had come wasn’t one of them. I didn’t want to say the wrong things and scare him off, but I didn’t have a choice but to wing it. “It’s been awhile since you sent your last letter,” I said. (I mentally slapped myself for that one. If that didn’t sound absolutely desperate, I didn’t know what did.)

He chuckled, and I was thankful he could tell I was just not myself. “It’s OK if you don’t really want to say right now. Why don’t you and your son come in so we can talk? It really is good to finally meet you in person,” he said smiling down at me and then over to a shy Thomas

Thomas seemed wary of David, but a hesitant smile spread across his face. With David’s acceptance, I asked the driver to bring in our bags.

I sat Thomas down, but he clung to my skirt, still not entirely sure about David.

David noticed his behavior and gave him a kind smile as he crouched down to his level, “Now then, what’s your name?” he asked, his forearm settled on his knee.

Thomas didn’t answer. Instead, he continued to stare at him with his curious blue eyes.

“Well, you’re mighty quiet. You know, that’s all right. I’m sure we’ll be good friends in no time,” he said, giving him a smile.

Thomas seemed to buy that, and it made him gravitate more toward David. A thin grin broke out across his features. I hoped that David was right and that Thomas would grow to like him. The last thing I wanted was my son to be uncomfortable.

I giggled, and David walked us inside. “You know, maybe we could go out back. There is plenty of field for him to play around in,” he said pointing out a large window.

Thomas was more interested in looking at all the trinkets. David had figurines that were made out of brass and copper. Many resembled trains or ladies and gentleman dressed finely. I had the feeling they weren’t something he’d pick of his own volition. “Someone has good taste in décor,” I said with a smile as I nodded to Thomas.

“That curiosity is a good thing. He seems like a smart kid, so I’m sure Jacob was really proud of him,” David said as he finally took a seat at the kitchen table. He looked across at me for a long time. I could feel my heart in my throat as he examined me. I wondered what he thought. Was I pretty or just some desperate, washed up widow looking for someone to pay my child’s way through life? I hoped the latter wasn’t the case.

Before long, he finally spoke. “You’re awfully beautiful, Mrs. Reins,” he said lacing his hands as he got a bit more settled in his seat.

His words made me feel warm inside, but I was also very nervous. “Why thank you,” I said kindly, though I knew I was mumbling a little.

He nodded in response and was quiet for a time. “I suppose the biggest question at hand is what we need to get to the bottom of then,” he said.

I nodded hesitantly. “I know I might seem a little odd to you, coming up here unannounced, but I … ” I stopped short as I felt the explanation caught up in my throat.

David gave me a worried look. It seemed as if his deep eyes were trained on my soul. “Whatever it is, your words are safe with me, as God is my witness.”

I knew David was a man of God. He was good and sturdy, and maybe I was just being silly by not expressing myself. “Back home, my husband’s brother is causing me and my son all sorts of trouble. Each day, the kindness you’ve shown me sees me through,” I said quietly.

David listened to me intently before asking a question. “Brother—that Nathan fellow that Jacob was always talking about?” he asked.

I wanted to explain everything fully, but I was hesitant. It was still difficult to come to terms with the fact that we were going through this. I was also mildly uncomfortable talking about it in front of Thomas. I knew he was still a baby, but he’d surprised me before with things he’d repeated. I pushed my worries aside for the greater good. I wanted this to work, and that meant getting over my fears.

I continued with what I was saying. “I am talking about Nathan. He’s a wife-beater and a jealous man. Honestly, I don’t like admitting this all to you after I just showed up, but I don’t know what else to do. He’s still mad at me for not marrying him. I never felt anything for him. I loved Jacob, but that made him angry. He was always used to getting what he wanted, and Jacob was kind of the underdog. I guess it just rubbed him the wrong way when Jacob won me,” I said looking off worriedly. “I don’t want you to think I’m just a huge mess coming to you. I just … ”

“That’s enough, Wendy,” he said in a gentle but firm voice.

I was startled out of my insistent rambling and explaining.

“I told Jacob I would take care of you and your boy. I’m not going to turn you away or ask questions. I heard enough about Nathan from Jacob. There’s a reason why he left you in my care. The only issue is I just have my own reservations,” he admitted.

I nodded to him. “I know. I just couldn’t bear to see the one good thing in my life stop cold like that. It may sound silly, but it was the light of my day,” I said honestly, though I felt like I was being a bother. Here I was making it difficult on him. I knew he had reservations, but for some reason, I wanted those to go away. I wanted something new to begin. I worried often that my desires were being fueled by my loneliness. I was missing real male companionship. Jacob had been gone from me long before he passed away. His training and traveling for the military made this difficult for the both of us, and the likelihood I would receive word from him was shaky. I often didn’t receive letters he’d promised he’d sent, and then I was given the harsh news of his death.

It was these thoughts that made me wonder if David thought I didn’t really love him. I’d never seen him before in my life, but I knew the connection was deeper than what many might think it was. I knew David was made for me. His words were worrisome, and I started to get a little desperate for him to see that it was more than loneliness pushing me.

“But the letters,” I said as I pulled my suitcase onto the table. I opened it and removed a small box where I stored every conversation.

He gave it a curious look, brows rising in surprise. “You kept every single one,” he said in disbelief.

“I would have never thrown away the memoirs of my husband or the great talks we’ve had. They’re dear to my heart,” I said. I gave him a serious expression as I looked up from them. “You can’t tell me that in those letters there wasn’t something there,” I said.

He looked down. “Wendy, I’ll be the first one to tell you that you’re an amazing woman. I just think you need some time to clear your head. I don’t mind that one bit, and I’m definitely not going to let Nathan terrorize you if you feel like that’s what’s happening. I will do everything in my power to make sure you and Thomas are safe. It’s what Jacob would have wanted,” he said.

At his words, I was quiet for a moment. “But is it what you want?” I asked.

He gave me a look that could have been taken in many ways. Surely the feelings were mutual, but now I worried. What little history we had was connected by Jacob, and it made it difficult for either of us to make the steps we needed to be honest with ourselves.

He stood up. “Tonight you can make yourself at home in the spare room with your son. If you want, he can have his own space, but I figure you want him nearby,” he said.

Just like that, the conversation ended. I could tell we were both just hiding behind our true feelings, but what could I do? I knew in the end I wanted to marry him. I wanted to be with David. I had planned to ask him to accept me as his wife all along, but in light of everything, I worried. I feared it wasn’t the path God might be intending for me. How could we come together when we were pushing each other apart?