The Mistaken Mail Order Bride (12 page)

Clearing her throat, Caroline ventured, “To
be honest, I haven’t had a need to make coffee before. I’ve had it,
but I don’t know how to make it,” she clarified. “Where I came
from, we drank tea more than we did coffee.”

Ida’s eyebrows rose in interest. “Where did
you come from?”

“Charleston, South Carolina.”

“I haven’t heard of Charleston.” She smiled
and added, “But then, I’ve lived here my whole life. My parents
took one of those wagon trains before I was born. They came from
Germany. Mike’s family was on the same wagon train. Mike and I grew
up together. I think we always knew we’d get married.” She patted
her hair with a chuckle and then asked, “I heard you came to the
wrong town. Tell me, how did you end up marrying Eric Johnson?”

Caroline glanced at the lemonade and then at
the pitcher of water. It’d be terribly rude if she didn’t serve Ida
something to drink. But the lady had also asked her a question, and
her expression indicated she wanted Caroline to answer right
away.

Caleb spun the wooden top on the floor.

“I see you brought a darling little boy with
you,” Ida said. “I heard he isn’t yours.”

“Well, I didn’t give birth to him,” Caroline
replied. “I found him on the way here. He had no one to take care
of him. I could have put him in an orphanage, but I thought it’d be
best to give him a home.” She went to the pitcher of water and
poured Ida and herself a glass. “I couldn’t see putting a child in
a place where he wouldn’t have a mother and father. Since I was on
my way to get married, I took the chance my husband would be
willing raise him, too.”

“That reminds me, how did you end up
marrying the sheriff? I heard you weren’t supposed to get off at
this place.”

So they were back to that question. That
being the case, Caroline figured she might as well answer it. She
gave Ida a glass of water then sat down across from her. “When the
stagecoach stopped and the door opened, there was a handsome young
gentleman expecting a mail-order bride, and I assumed I was in the
right town.”

“Didn’t he tell you his name?”

“No, actually, and I didn’t think to tell
him mine. Caleb got sick while on the stagecoach, and my main
concern was getting him cleaned up and better so he could finally
sleep.” She glanced over at Caleb and smiled. “He’s such a
good-natured child.”

“Having ten children, I will say he’s
unusually quiet.”

“Oh, well, I think every child is different.
I know I was quieter than other children while I was growing up. I
especially felt shy around those I didn’t know or when I was in a
larger social gathering.”

“You had large social gatherings when you
grew up?”

Caroline took a sip of her water. “It was
part of growing up. My parents entertained prominent people in
society.”

Ida’s eyebrows furrowed. “You’re
wealthy?”

“No. Not anymore. The war took everything
away.”

“But you grew up wealthy?”

“Yes.”

Ida leaned toward her in interest. “What was
your life like?”

Caroline took another sip as she thought
over the best way to answer her. “Well, I grew up learning how to
present myself as a lady. I learned how to properly greet people,
how to host a dinner party, and how to dress in order to make a
good impression.” Letting out a chuckle, she added, “All were
useless lessons. My life here is nothing like what it used to be. I
have so much to learn about living in a place like this.”

“That must be hard for you.”

Touched by the lady’s kind tone, Caroline
swallowed the lump in her throat. “I knew there would be some
challenges out here, but Eric’s been so patient with me.” Again,
her gaze went to Caleb. “He’s been good to both of us. Eric’s a
good man. But I’m sure I don’t have to tell you that since you’ve
known him longer than I have.”

“No, you certainly don’t. We’ve been very
happy with him. The sheriff who was here before was awful. He
didn’t care if there were fights at the bars or people shooting at
each other in town. And there were other things he did that
shouldn’t be mentioned in front of a child.”

Though Ida shot Caroline a pointed look that
was meant to send a secret message to her, Caroline had no idea
what kind of things Ida was eluding to. But rather than risk
sounding stupid, she opted to nod as if she understood what Ida was
telling her.

After a moment, Ida motioned to the plate of
cookies. “These are for you and the dear boy.”

“Thank you. That’s very kind of you.”

“I wanted to bring over something to welcome
you to this town, but I wasn’t sure what you liked. I figured a
child would love cookies.”

“It’s a perfect gift. I appreciate your
thoughtfulness.”

“Would he like one?” Ida glanced over at
Caleb, who seemed to focus in on the top that was spinning in front
of him.

“I’ll ask.” Caroline stood up and went over
to him. She knelt in front of him and smiled. “Caleb, Mrs. Conner
brought some cookies over. Would you like one?”

Caleb looked up at her, but he didn’t say
anything.

She bit her lower lip, not sure if she could
convince him to eat one of Ida’s cookies, and she worried Ida might
think he was rude if he didn’t. “Caleb,” she began, “have you had a
cookie before?”

He shook his head.

“It’s a sweet treat,” she replied. “It’s
like the muffins we had this morning. Did you like those
muffins?”

He hesitated but nodded.

“The cookie will be like that.” She held her
hand out to him. “Would you like to try one?”

He glanced at her hand and then looked over
at Ida. Turning his gaze back to Caroline, he shook his head then
focused on the top.

Well, there was nothing else she could do.
Ida would probably be offended her gift had been turned down, but
there was nothing Caroline could do about it. She couldn’t make
Caleb eat something he didn’t want to. She rose to her feet and
went back to Ida.

“I’m sorry,” she told Ida as she sat back in
the chair. “I think he’s still full. We had a big breakfast.”

“What did you have?” Ida asked, her tone
pleasant.

Relaxing since it seemed Ida hadn’t taken
offense to Caleb’s refusal to eat her cookies, Caroline said, “Eric
made us oatmeal, and we ate the rest of the cornbread Lois brought
him shortly before Caleb and I arrived here.”

Ida’s eyebrows furrowed. “Eric made the
oatmeal?”

“Well, he was teaching me how to do it. He’s
a wonderful husband, don’t you think? I doubt many gentlemen would
have patience for a lady who needs to learn how to cook. It makes
me appreciate him all the more.”

“It sounds like you’re happy with him.”

“I am.”

“Will you write to the man you were supposed
to marry and tell him what happened? Surely, he must be worried
about you.”

In all the excitement over the past couple
days, Caroline hadn’t even thought to do that. Ida was right, of
course. Caroline owed it to him to write the missive. “Yes, I’ll
let him know what happened.”

A moment of silence passed between them, and
not knowing what else to do, Caroline picked up one of the cookies
and gestured to the plate. “Help yourself.”

“Oh, I made lots more, so I already had
some. Children gobble them up so fast it’s scary. I barely managed
to get out of the house with these.”

Caroline chuckled at her joke. “Since you
have ten children, I can imagine they don’t last long.” She took a
bite then added, “It’s good.”

To her surprise, Ida patted her hand and
stood up. “I don’t want to keep you. Having children myself, I know
you’re busy with Caleb. I just wanted to welcome you here.”

Caroline put the rest of her cookie on the
table and rose to her feet so she could walk Ida to the door.
“That’s very kind of you.”

“Think nothing of it. Around here, we’re one
big family. If you need anything, just holler.”

Caroline opened the door for her. “Thank
you, and of course, I’ll be happy to help you in any way I
can.”

Ida waved to Caleb and called out a cheerful
good-bye before she turned and left.

As Caroline shut the door, she glanced at
Caleb and said, “Well, that was nice of her. I didn’t expect
someone to come by to welcome us. Would you like to continue our
game of jackstraws?”

He nodded and turned toward the sticks.

***

When Caroline opened her eyes the next
morning, she saw that the sun was up much higher than she’d
expected. She glanced over at the spot next to her and saw Eric
wasn’t there. Sitting up in bed, she struggled to get her bearings.
From outside the bedroom, she heard Eric talking, and after a
moment of listening to him, she realized he was talking to
Caleb.

Just what time was it? She got out of bed
and put on her dress. She was brushing her hair when there was a
knock at the door.

“Caroline, are you awake?” Eric asked from
the other side.

“Yes. I’m brushing my hair. You can come
in.” Actually, he could come in whenever he wanted, but she
suspected he was asking because Caleb was up.

He opened the door, and her gaze went down
to the tray he was holding. On it was a vase with a flower, a glass
of orange juice, and a bowl of oatmeal. “I thought I’d surprise you
with breakfast in bed. Or,” he shrugged, “lunch.”

“Lunch?” she asked. “Is it that late?”

His smile softened. “It’s almost noon. I
didn’t want to wake you this morning because you didn’t have much
sleep last night or the night before that.”

She caught the sparkle in his eye and
blushed at his meaning. Now that she knew what went on between a
husband and wife in bed, she found she anticipated nighttime, but
there was no way she could say that aloud. It just didn’t seem like
the kind of thing a lady would admit.

“Since Jerry agreed to handle any issues
that come up in town, I thought I’d let you sleep in and serve you
lunch in bed,” Eric said. “After that, we’ll go to Abe’s place, and
I’ll introduce you to Phoebe.”

“I’m sure I’ll have a lovely time,” she told
him as she finished pinning her hair up. She went over to the bed
and settled on it. If he went through all this work just for her,
she wouldn’t say no. “Do you really think she’ll be willing to help
me learn how to cook so you don’t have to make the meals all the
time?”

“I’m sure she will.” He placed the tray in
her lap and gave her a kiss. “And if she doesn’t, I’ll ask Lois if
she’d be willing to help you. I just think you’ll enjoy spending
time with her more than Lois.”

“Well, the people in this town have been
very kind. After Ida Conner stopped by, Lois came over to give us
those rolls and two loaves of bread. First, I got to marry you, and
we have such a sweet boy to raise. Then the people in this town are
coming by to make Caleb and me feel welcome. When I left South
Carolina, I was so scared. I had no idea what I was getting myself
into. So many scenarios went through my mind.”

“Really?” He sat beside her. “What kind of
scenarios?”

She shrugged and dipped her spoon into the
oatmeal. “Silly things now that I think about it.”

With a playful nudge in her side, he
encouraged, “If you can’t tell me, who can you tell?”

“Alright,” she relented. “I imagined all
sorts of things, but the one that gave me the greatest pause was
the thought the gentleman had lied to me in his missive. I thought,
what if he was a lot older? I know some ladies prefer older
gentlemen, but I had no desire to end up with someone who could be
my father’s age. Then I thought, what if he had a lot of children
he didn’t tell me about? I don’t mean just one or two. I imagined
he might have ten or more, and he was too afraid to tell me because
I wouldn’t make the trip to marry him. And then I thought he might
be an outlaw looking for a lady to join him and help him rob
banks.”

The last comment made Eric laugh. “An
outlaw?”

Chuckling, she said, “It was a slight
possibility.”

He leaned toward her and kissed her. “You
ended up with a childless sheriff instead. I’d say you’re
safe.”

She giggled. “Yes, I am.”

“I’ll leave you in peace to eat your lunch.
I promised Caleb I’d show him the livery stable. I have a horse
there. Lois said I could borrow her buggy.”

“That’s nice of her.”

“Yes, it is. Lois has always been that way.”
After giving her one more kiss, he got off the bed. “We should be
back in a half hour, give or take a few minutes.”

“I’m looking forward to it.”

Smiling, he left the room.

Chapter Ten

E
ric caught the sound of metal pieces clanging together as he
led the buggy onto Abe’s property.

“What was that?” Caroline asked,
instinctively pulling Caleb closer to her.