That caught Holder’s attention. “Carl’s in love? I didn’t know Banker Strong had a daughter.” He spent too much time alone in the barn with the animals or in this cabin.
Fred smiled and shook his head. “Nah, she’s Manny’s wife. Carl’s got it in his brain that she’s his twin. Won’t leave the girl alone now.”
“Huh? Manny’s back. Glad he’s married so he won’t lure Carl out to go drinking.” Holder had never liked spineless Manny Strong.
“No worries that way. Manny’s living and working at the Hoffman farm. With that nice-looking wife and all those chores, he should stay busy. Problem is that Carl’s over there a lot, so you can’t count on him helpin’ Ma.” Neither Fred nor Holder knew how to control their grown brother, who had acted like a child since the beating.
Holder needed to think and wanted to do it alone. “Give me a day or two, Fred. Lydia left a hole that needs fillin’, it’s true. Didn’t reckon on another wife for me. What Ma and the girls need, now that’s something different for me to think on.”
The next few days found Holder more often at his mother’s two-story farmhouse, built not too far from his own cabin. When he’d married Lydia, Holder’s father and brothers helped him build the small home so he and his bride would have some privacy. A recent immigrant, Lydia had been pleased at the snug home he provided. Now both she and Holder’s father had passed away.
Spending the next few evenings with his children increased Holder’s loneliness. Alone in his cabin he could read or whittle. Here, surrounded by people, he felt his wife’s absence. The sight of the twins intensified that feeling. He couldn’t bear having them live at the cabin. After watching his mother for the last two days, however, he could see that she no longer felt well enough to manage them.
He wished Fred were there to talk to, but Manny had arrived during the afternoon with news that the red man snatched Carlene. Fred rushed off to organize a posse and hadn’t returned.
Funny that no one in town could find the sheriff. Could there be something to the idea that the red man, who Carl feared, and Sheriff Redmond were one and the same?
While his oldest child got her sisters ready for bed, Holder knocked on his mother’s bedroom door. At her weakly voiced “Come in,” he pushed open the door and moved to stand beside her bed.
Looking down at a face that seemed whiter than the pillow it lay against, he worried about what plagued her body. As he stared, she tried to sit up, making her pronounced abdomen more obvious. Why does it look like that?
Picking up her hand in an unusually affectionate gesture, he shared his plans with her, speaking in German since she preferred her native tongue. “I’m thinking it’s time to bring another woman here. Girls are needin’ a ma and I would do better havin’ a wife again.”
She gave him a small smile, the lamp light revealing the sad look in her eyes. “It’s time.” Then she closed her eyes. Leaning back against the pillow, she turned her head away from him and sighed.
Determined now to follow through with his plan, he sat at the library table in the small parlor. From Fred, he knew the name of the matchmaker. He would find out the cost of train fare and enclose with a letter. Deciding to address the letter to the matchmaker rather than a future bride, he quickly wrote down what he required in a wife.
November 30, 1887
Dear Miss McKinley,
I write you to ask for a wife since our Pastor Nillson’s sister-in-law found a husband with your help. It’s time I had a wife and want your help to find her.
It might be that, from my letter, you know I’m just a farmer. I read and write, but I am not a man with much learning. I work hard and provide well. Tell my bride I am tall, blonde, and don’t make the small ones cry.
I must have a bride who is a woman full grown, no young girl. She must know how to clean and cook. I don’t want a widow with kids so don’t send one.
My mother is ill. Nursing her must be a part of life for my bride. Please send someone who can take care of sick people.
We need a wife here quick. The family are waiting on her to come. Her help is needed.
Sincerely yours,
Reinhold Sittig
Reading over the letter, he hoped it gave the matchmaker a good idea about the kind of woman he needed. He didn’t specify looks since he didn’t care about the woman for himself. He just needed to get someone out here to raise the kids and nurse his mother. Holder had the same needs as most any other man and a bride would help with that. Still, he didn’t need spend time with her.
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About Marisa
Marisa Masterson and her husband of thirty years reside in Saginaw, Michigan. They have two grown children, one son-in-law, a precious new granddaughter, and one old and lazy dog.
She is a retired high school English teacher and oversaw a high school writing center in partnership with the local university. In addition, she is a National Writing Project fellow and a regular contributor to the Sweet Americana Sweethearts and Sweethearts of the West blogs.
Focusing on her home state of Wisconsin, she writes sweet historical romance. Growing up, she loved hearing stories about her family pioneering in that state. Those stories, in part, are what inspired her to begin writing.
Find her on Facebook, in the Chat Sip and Read Community, Sweet Wild West Reads, or on her Facebook page.
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A Keeper for Christmas
This book is a work of fiction. The names, characters, places, and incidents are all products of the author's imagination and are not to be construed as real. Any resemblances to persons, organizations, events, or locales are entirely coincidental.
The book contains material protected under International and Federal Copyright Laws and Treaties. All rights are reserved with the exceptions of quotes used in reviews. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage system without express written permission from the author.
A Keeper for Christmas ©2019 Marisa Masterson
Cover Design by Virginia McKevitt
http://www.virginiamckevitt.com
Editing by Amy Petrowich
1st Ed. – 11/2019
A Keeper For Christmas (Spinster Mail-Order Brides Book 12) Page 9