Sarah: Bride of Minnesota (American Mail-Order Bride 32) (7 page)

Sarah had chosen to wear a light blue dress that was better for summer temperatures, but it was her prettiest dress, and she wanted to look her best on her first day of church in Minnesota. It was always best to make a good first impression.

She sat close beside him, holding his arm as he drove. She enjoyed feeling his muscles bunch under her fingertips, but felt she was doing something wicked by liking it so.

When he pulled up in front of the church, he smiled at her. "Remember, you can't go to the pastor and find another husband when I make you mad."

She laughed. "I wouldn't. Marriage is forever."

He hurried to help her down, and she clung tightly to his arm as they walked inside together. He helped her remove her coat, and hung it in the coat room before removing his own. "Are you nervous?"

She nodded. "Petrified. Believe it or not, when I'm not angry as soon as I meet someone, I'm a bit shy."

He laughed. "I don't believe it at all."

She spotted Mrs. Norman as soon as she walked in. The older woman was talking to two women who weren't much older than Sarah. She waved to Sarah to join them. "I think Mrs. Norman wants to talk to me," she said to Karl.

He looked around until he spotted their neighbor before walking in that direction. "Hello, Mrs. Norman," he said with a smile.

"Hello, Karl. Why don't you go talk to the men? I'll see to introducing Sarah around."

Karl frowned. He'd looked forward to introducing Sarah to all of the people of the congregation. It made him feel special to have her clinging to his arm. "Is that all right with you?" he asked her, hoping she'd say she wanted to stay with him.

Sarah nodded. "I'd like to meet some of the ladies of the congregation." It would be so much easier to cling to Karl's arm and hide behind him, but she wouldn't accomplish her goal of making friends here. Why had it been so much easier to make friends with Bobbie at her side?

"All right." With a forced smile for Sarah, he walked away from her, feeling like he'd just been passed over for her middle aged neighbor.

Mrs. Norman smiled. "Sarah, I want you to meet the two women who co-chair our relief society. This is Amelia Jones and Bella Adams."

"I'm Amelia," a red headed woman about Sarah's height said. "Mrs. Norman said you'd like to join the relief society."

"Oh, yes, ma'am. I'd love to be part of any projects you have going."

Bella smiled at her. "We're doing a quilting bee at my house tomorrow, and I'd love to have you join us. Everyone is bringing a sweet to share, and I'll provide coffee, tea and lemonade. Each lady has already helped to patch some of the squares, and we'll sew them together tomorrow and start on the quilting process."

"Oh, that sounds lovely. Could you maybe write down directions for me how to get there? I've been in town for less than a week."

"She's just a couple of streets over from us," Mrs. Norman told Sarah. "Come to my house directly after lunch, and we'll walk over."

"That sounds good. Thank you for that." Sarah was relieved she wouldn't have to arrive alone to a houseful of strangers.

Amelia smiled at her. "I'll introduce you to all the ladies tomorrow. And then we'll beg you to host us all. You have a bigger house, and we'll be more comfortable there."

Sarah nodded, a smile on her face. The entire upstairs was empty. They could get a lot of women into her house to do the Lord's work. "I'd be very happy to have all of the ladies over."

Karl talked to one of his friends, not taking his eyes off Sarah. Why was he upset that she was getting to know other people? He wasn't so selfish that he wanted all her time for himself, was he? He'd laughed at other men who were that way.

"You've got it bad, Karl," Joseph, the friend he was talking to, said to him. "You can't stop looking at her for even a moment."

Karl flushed. "Of course I can. But she's beautiful, why would I want to stop looking at her?" He was a bit embarrassed, but he was determined not to let his friend sway him. His wife truly amazed him, and he saw no reason to deny it.

Joseph laughed. "She's certainly not the ugly woman you kept telling everyone was coming." He looked over his shoulder at Karl's new wife. "Does she know you told everyone she was ugly?"

Karl nodded. "Yes, and she's already forgiven me for it."

"That's nice. You have a good wife there, Karl."

"I think so." Karl kept watching Sarah, wishing she was beside him instead of across the church. He usually enjoyed the time he spent fellowshipping with other Christian men before service started, but he couldn't today. He was too busy wanting Sarah to choose to be with him instead of talking to Mrs. Norman.

When the organist starting playing music, their cue to take their seats, Karl hurried back to Sarah's side without a word to his friend. "Let's find our seats."

Sarah looked up at him with a smile, her eyes meeting his. "I'll follow you."

He took her off to the side of the church, away from Mrs. Norman, so he wouldn't have to share her. "Did you meet new people?" he asked, once they were seated, trying not to let his jealousy show. Really, why should he be jealous of the older woman anyway? He knew she'd been kind to Sarah, and he should be pleased by that fact.

They shared a song book, and he held her hand as they sang. Her clear sweet soprano voice surprised him. He hadn't heard her sing, and he wanted to beg her to sing more. Everything about her seemed wonderful to him.

After the service, he kept her anchored to him with an arm around her shoulders. He introduced her to many of his friends, trying to ignore the guilt he felt for keeping her with him. She should be allowed to meet the women of the congregation so she could make friends, but
—
he wanted to show her off first. She was a beautiful, intelligent, hard-working woman. How could he not want to show all of his friends and acquaintances how special she was? Obviously she didn't mind, because she didn't protest.

When they left to go home and have lunch, he drove from the church, a slight frown on his face, still a bit annoyed she'd chosen to spend the time before the service with their neighbor.

Sarah could feel that something was wrong with Karl. She reached out, her hand going to his arm. "Are you upset with me?" she asked softly.

Karl shook his head. "No, of course not." Really, he was upset with himself for being upset with her, so it wasn't completely a lie.

"Are you sure? Because you seem upset." She didn't want to press him, but she wanted to take care of it if they had a problem. She couldn't bear it if they had a big fight over something just after their first time at church together.

"The only thing that's upsetting me is you calling me a liar and saying that I'm really upset when I tell you I'm not."

She felt as if she'd been slapped, taking her hand from his arm. She didn't know what she'd done to upset him, but she didn't dare ask again. He was acting much too prickly for her to get a real answer out of him anyway.

She remained silent the rest of the way home, wondering what the right course of action was. He was angry, so she needed to know what she'd done, but she didn't want to make him angrier by pressing him on it. Silence seemed to be the only answer.

When they got home, she hurried to the kitchen to heat up the stew. She didn't even know if he'd still want to go for a Sunday drive, and if he did, she wasn't sure she wanted to go with him with the mood he was in. She wasn't used to people giving her the cold shoulder, and she certainly didn't like it from her husband.

Once she'd heated it, she went to his bedroom and knocked on the closed door. "Karl? Lunch is ready." She didn't wait for an answer but instead walked to the table and poured them each a glass of milk.

He came out of his room and sat down at the table, and she felt like she needed to walk on eggshells around him. His anger seemed to be coming off him in waves.

He took her hand and mumbled a prayer, and they ate their meal in silence. When she finished, she went to the sink and washed the few dishes. She could feel his eyes on her. "We don't have to go for a drive if you don't want to," she said, her voice soft and a bit timid.

"You don't want to go?"

"I do want to go, but if
you
don't want to go, we don't have to."

He sighed. "I want to go."

She nodded, not turning to look at him as she finished with the dishes. "I'll get a couple of quilts then, and we'll go."

He watched her leave the room, wondering what her problem was. She'd seemed so happy before church, and she'd been upset since. The woman was moody, and that's all there was to it.

When she came out of her room with the quilts, he took them from her, carrying them outside. He helped her into the wagon before running around to sit beside her. She industriously tucked both of the quilts around them, and she sat close to him to share body heat.

He drove east toward the lake, planning to take a lakeside road north so they could see the lake on one side and she could see some of the Minnesota countryside as well. He pointed out the lake as soon as they were within sight. "That's Lake Superior."

"It's beautiful!" She'd had no idea there was such a large lake so close to them. It made her miss Massachusetts, reminding her of the beautiful ocean she'd left behind.

"I'm sorry," he said softly, changing the topic and surprising her.

"For what?" she asked.

"For getting annoyed with you at church today." He hated admitting what he'd been feeling, because the emotions had been
—
well, conflicted and strange. He wasn't a man who ever expected to feel jealousy.

"Would you tell me what I did so I know not to do it again?"

He sighed. "Nothing really. I just
—
I wish you'd chosen to stay with me before the service and not wanted to be with Mrs. Norman instead." The words sounded stupid even to him. It was not enough to get upset over
—
and yet he had.

Sarah gaped at him. "She was introducing me to the relief society, trying to help me make friends here in town. Surely you don't object to that!"

Karl felt like a heel. "No, I don't object, but I wish it would have waited until next week. I was excited to introduce my beautiful new bride to my friends, and instead, you were with Mrs. Norman."

"But you introduced me after church." In truth, they'd only spent about fifteen minutes apart. How could he object to that?

"I'm not saying my feelings were right. I'm simply telling you what they were." He looked over at her for a moment. "I'm sorry I got upset."

"Why didn't you tell me what it was when I asked earlier? Why did you wait?" That had been the hardest part for her. If he'd just told her why he was upset as soon as they left church, she'd have been saved a lot of conflicting emotions.

"Because I didn't want you to think I was being stupid. I should have told you though. Will you forgive me?"

She nodded. "Of course, I will. I'm very proud to be your wife, Karl. I hope I didn't make you feel otherwise."

He thought about her words and realized that had been the root of his problem. Yes, he'd wanted to introduce her around, but he was worried she was embarrassed to be seen with him after he'd told everyone she was ugly. "I
—
I did worry about that."

Sarah shook her head. "You're a good man, Karl, and a handsome one. How could I be embarrassed to be seen with you?"

He shrugged, staring straight ahead. "Do you really think I'm handsome?" He felt his heart flutter a bit at the thought. It was strange how badly he wanted to be as attractive to her as she was to him.

She laughed. "How could I not?"

He relaxed a little at her words. He'd been very worried about how she viewed him. "So you still don't want to tell the pastor to introduce you to other men in the area?"

Sarah rested her head on his shoulder, wondering how he could be so thoroughly confused. "Of course not. I'm keeping you, Karl, and you can forget about trying to get away."

Grinning at her words, he drove straight out of town and kept following the lake front.

Sarah enjoyed the peaceful drive. She liked the countryside the best. She'd been raised in the city, but she'd always been a country girl at heart.

"Do you mind if I turn the room I'm sleeping in into a sewing room
—
after I'm done using it, of course." As soon as she heard the words come out of her mouth, she regretted saying them. She felt funny mentioning the time when she would share his room. It just didn't seem to be something she should talk to him about.

"I don't mind at all. I don't know what its intended use is. Maybe it would be better if we made one of the upstairs rooms a sewing room, though. We'll want to use that as a nursery once we have children."

She blushed at the thought of having children with him. "We'll have plenty of time to switch things around before then. Don't you think?"

He shrugged. "Probably. I just don't want you to get too comfortable in there, because you'll want the babies closer than upstairs
—
all fifteen of them."

Sarah shook her head. "You are one crazy German."

"And you are a feisty Irishwoman. I think that's what I like best about you!"

She laughed. "And here I thought you liked my cooking."

Karl patted his belly. "I can already feel my pants getting tighter since I married you. I do like your cooking."

He stopped the wagon in front of a farmhouse. "We should probably head back toward home. The sky looks like it might storm." He wished their afternoon could go on forever, though.

She nodded, reluctant to go back. "You're right. Thank you for agreeing to this today. I've enjoyed myself a great deal."

"I'm glad. I want you to be happy here."

"I'm sure I will be." She chattered with him about her plans for the house. "I want to make curtains this week. And I'm going to make you some new clothes. Do you have anything in particular you feel like you need most? Or should I start with whatever I feel you need?"

"I need socks and pants."

"Socks? I probably have just enough yarn for one pair, but then I'll need to go to the store for more. I already have fabric to make you some pants."

When they got back to town, Karl helped her down. "Are you going to cook dinner? Or is there enough stew left?"

"I need to cook something. There's just enough stew left to send for your lunch tomorrow." She hurried into the house to get started on dinner while he took care of the horses.

*****

Sarah hurried through her chores the next morning, baking a big batch of cookies to share with the other ladies that afternoon. She wanted to have the curtains at least for the front parlor finished before she left. Karl had sheets hanging over the windows for privacy, and she hadn't messed with them, but she would be happy to take them down. She didn't like the way they looked at all. She was going to slowly transform the house into a place she could be proud to call her home.

Once she had finished her lunch, she put her cookies into a basket and covered them with a napkin, carrying them next door to Mrs. Norman's house. She knocked on the door, and the older lady opened it immediately.

"I'm glad you decided to go today to get to know all the ladies," Mrs. Norman told her. "It will be nice for you to have friends here."

Sarah nodded, feeling a pang for her old friends. How she wished she could see them all just one last time
—
Bobbie more than anyone. Bobbie had been a part of her life for so long, she felt empty without her. "I'm glad I'll be able to get to know everyone."

As they walked to Bella's house, Mrs. Norman pointed out which houses belonged to members of the congregation. It was only a ten minute walk, and Sarah was glad, because the wind was cold. She wore a coat, and had a scarf covering her face, but it didn't seem to be enough to ward against the cold wind coming in off the lake.

Bella opened the door before they had the chance to knock. "Come in!"

Sarah stepped inside, looking around the small house. Now she knew why they wanted to use her house for the ladies. It was much bigger than this one. "Thank you for inviting me!"

"Oh, of course!" Bella introduced Sarah to the five women already assembled. "We're making a quilt for a new family who just moved to town. They have a couple of young children, and not nearly enough covers to keep them all warm at night. Each time we meet, we have a goal in mind, choosing different people as the beneficiaries of our time."

"That will be nice," Sarah said, handing her basket of cookies to Bella and taking a seat in the circle. "How often does the group get together?"

"At least three times per week," Amelia, who was seated beside Sarah, told her. "There's so much need in the community. On Wednesday, we're going to knit socks for the bachelors in the congregation. They each get a pair from us every year for Christmas."

"Where are we meeting?" Sarah asked.

Amelia exchanged a glance with Bella. "We were hoping we could meet at your house. You have the most room."

Sarah nodded immediately, briefly wondering if she was being accepted so quickly simply so she could lend her house. "I'd be honored to host everyone. What time?"