by Emily Woods
And yet they were approaching their destination and he’d be taking her to the Bowen Ranch that very day as soon as they arrived. Surely she could wait until that evening, their first alone since their wedding.
A wave of worry coursed through her, but she tried to tamp it down. Her little one. They deserved the chance to grow up in the West and feel the warmth of prairie breezes on their face and feel the rich soil beneath their young toes.
Were there a way to convince Albert to take the child as his own, she would do everything in her power to make it so. It didn’t seem as if that would be an easy task, but it was something she could hope for.
The train began to slow, and her anxiety rose as she walked back to their seats. Albert grinned at her, his hand wrapping tightly around hers in a show of comfort and excitement.
“We’re almost there. I can’t believe I’ll be back.” He said it in such a wistful tone that she had to ask.
“Why do you act so surprised?”
He frowned. “I probably should have told you before.”
The worry on his face made her hopeful in a strange way. Did he have something he’d kept from her as well?
“What is it?” she urged.
“When I left this place months ago, I was fleeing…well, a marriage.”
Her eyebrows shot up.
“It sounds a little worse than it was. She was a mail-order bride who ended up falling in love with my brother.” He laughed nervously. “I thought it best to leave to give them some space.”
“Did you care for her?”
“Honestly? No.” His smile confirmed his words. “She was very nice, but when I thought about marriage to her, it felt so—” He searched for the word. “—wrong.”
Della nodded. She could see that his words were true, and she believed him.
“Then I met you.” His eyes shone. “I think this is what it’s supposed to feel like.”
She blushed, also knowing what he meant. Her answer was interrupted by the attendant telling them they were arriving. The momentum of the train slowed, and Della tried to take hold of her thoughts and her emotions.
As they climbed down the metal steps, she looked around as if she could spot Albert’s relatives. He’d told her enough to know that his mother had the large house where his eldest brother Arthur and his wife Violet lived, Violet being pregnant, and then his other brother, Aaron, had previously been living in his cabin with his new wife—now Della knew she was the woman he’d almost married—Lulu. Where they would stay, she didn’t know, but she trusted that Albert would take care of everything.
“Ah, there.” He nodded toward a gruff-looking ranch hand who stood with a horse and wagon, waving his way. “Jack, you old fool,” he said, embracing the man, “good to see you.”
“You too, Al, you too. And who’s this pretty little lady?”
Della smiled, liking the man instantly, and dipped her head as Albert introduced her.
“Nice to meet you, Miss Della,” he said, then bent to pick up their bags. “Didn’t bring much here, did you?”
She shook her head and Albert went to help her up. Fearing where his hands may land and what he might feel beneath her dress, she quickly pulled herself up before he could help. A look of hurt flashed across his eyes, but it was gone as he climbed up beside her. Perhaps he brushed it off as her independence, but she couldn’t risk him finding out before she had a chance to tell him the truth.
As they drove through the countryside, she marveled at the beauty of Texas and took in all that Jack showed her, Albert adding a few things here and there. It truly was amazing and, as they crossed over to the Bowen Ranch territory, she felt a thrill of delight thinking that this was her new home.
When the wagon pulled up in front of the large house, Della felt a renewed sense of worry. What would his family think of her? Of their quick wedding?
Albert hopped down and reached up to help her. Sucking in a deep breath and praying he didn’t feel anything odd about her, she let him help her down and his smile grew wide. Hoping he was too distracted to notice, she quickly took his hands when she landed on the ground and squeezed.
His attention then turned to those who had gathered on the porch. “Looks like they are all here,” he whispered to her, pulling her against his side. “Here we go.”
Della took a deep breath and gripped his hand as they walked toward the gathering of family members. Here was her chance to endear herself to them, if possible.
Albert felt a deep sense of pride as he brought Della—his wife—before his family. On the way there, he’d wondered if it would be odd or strange to tell them of his marriage without first letting them know it had happened, but he’d decided that they could find out in person, at the same time.
“Mother, Arthur, Violet, Aaron, Lulu…” He looked down at Della, “This is my wife Della.”
“What?” Arthur said, his grin spreading like wildfire. “Congratulations, brother.”
“I’m so happy for you both,” Violet chimed in. Her stomach was distended in pregnancy and she had a soft glow about her as she smiled at them.
Aaron, more solemn, nodded and smiled. “I’m happy for you, brother.”
“As am I,” Lulu said. Albert noticed that she leaned in to Aaron a little, but he didn’t mind it. He was as happy as they were and that was what mattered.
“You’re married?” his mother said. She looked like she had more trouble believing what she’d heard than the rest, but he came toward her, taking her hands in his.
“I’m sorry I didn’t tell you before. It was…” He glanced back at Della with a grin. “…sudden.”
Della blushed and looked at them all. “I’m happy to meet you all. I’ve heard wonderful things.”
His mother’s eyes narrowed. “How did you two meet?”
“Why don’t we go inside and we’ll tell stories around the table? Perhaps a big meal?”
Usually, the mention of food would distract his mother and send her into a furry of bustling about, but instead she merely nodded, her eyes staying on Della as if seeking something. Albert felt his palms grow moist as his anxiety rose. Did his mother not like Della?
But the notion was absurd. He didn’t even know her. There was no way she could make such a snap judgement about her, his mother just wasn’t like that. Pushing those thoughts aside, he ushered Della into the house behind his brothers and sisters-in-law and prayed that things would smooth out quickly.
Violet and Lulu took Della between them and said they would show her to the room they’d stay in until Albert’s old cabin could be ready. He watched her go, her nervous glance causing him to smile encouragingly, before he turned to see both of his brothers staring at him.
“What?” he said as they advanced.
“You’re married?”
“That’s your wife?”
They spoke at the same time and Albert had to laugh. “Yes and yes.”
“But…how?”
It was Aaron who asked, and Albert had to laugh. “Do you think me so incapable of getting married?”
Immediately, he saw his brother flush, and he regretted his words.
“I didn’t mean—”
“No, I’m sorry. I didn’t mean anything by that.”
“I am curious,” Arthur said, rubbing his chin. “How did you meet? And why didn’t you write to us before hand?”
Albert noticed his mother listening in and directed them all into the kitchen. It would be better to get this out in the open now rather than later.
“We were married a little over a week ago and I met her…the day before that.”
“What?” his mother said, tossing a dishtowel on the counter and coming toward him.
“I know it seems…impossible,” he said, meeting their gazes one by one, “but I knew that she was the one I would marry mere minutes after meeting her.” He remembered the connection they’d shared in the restaurant and how he’d wanted to ask her what she’d been thinking.
�
�Then you know nothing of her,” his mother said. It was a statement, not a question, and Albert didn’t like the tone she used.
“I know that she hasn’t had an easy life and that she’s faced trials. I also know that, when I think about making her happy that makes me happy, and that seems like the most important thing to know.”
They stared at each other, and Arthur finally broke the silence. “Well stated, brother.” He clapped him on the back, knocking him forward a few feet. “She seems like a nice woman and I look forward to getting to know her better.”
Aaron nodded. “I agree. I’m glad that you have found happiness as we have.”
Albert looked to his mother, who hadn’t said anything, and felt his spirit dip when she merely shook her head and turned back to the stove.
“Don’t mind her,” Arthur said, pulling him aside as Aaron went to get the ladies for the meal. “She’s been in a strange mood ever since you left. She’ll get used to the idea of you being married, and she’ll come to love Della like a daughter as she has Violet and Lulu, I’m sure of it.”
Albert forced a smile and hoped that it was true.
The dishes were put away and Violet and Arthur had gone to bed while Lulu and Aaron remained to help clean up. They were just leaving and Della was ready to sleep, exhausted from being on the moving train as well as dodging the glares that Albert’s mother continued to send her way.
She excused herself to go to their room, hoping to make it into bed and feign sleep before Albert came in, but just as she’d gotten there, she realized she would need a glass of water since she always woke up thirsty in the middle of the night. Something she accredited to her pregnancy.
Slipping back down the hallway, she came to a halt at the kitchen door as she heard angry voices.
“I don’t understand. What is wrong, Mother?”
“It’s…that woman.” The way that Rose said it made Della’s skin crawl. Such animosity laced her words, she felt as if the temperature had dropped several degrees.
“That is not fair. You’ve only just met her.”
There were a few moments of silence with only the sound of feet shuffling before she replied. “There is just something…dishonest about her.”
Della’s stomach dropped, and she clasped her hand over her mouth. His mother knew. She didn’t know how, perhaps she noticed the small bump through her clothes, but she knew.
“That is completely unfair. You know nothing about her.”
“I—”
“No.” Della heard the anger lace his words. “I don’t want to hear it. She is my wife, and I will not stand here and listen to you talk about her this way.”
Della realized with sudden fear that he was going to come around the corner any minute. Not bearing for him to know that she’d overheard them, she made her way back to their room and slipped into bed. She’d get water later, when the kitchen was empty.
He stomped in a few moments later and she heard the sound of him undressing. When he climbed into bed, he let out a big breath and lay there motionless. She ached to reach over to him, but this was their first night in the same bed and before he could put his arms around her, she had some explaining to do.
Namely, the fact that his mother was right about her.
6
The next week went by quickly and, thankfully, without incident. Albert immediately began to work on fixing up his old cabin, telling her that he wanted to get them out of the big house as quickly as possible. The tension between he and his mother was evident, and she knew that he would almost kill himself if it meant they could leave more quickly.
In fact, it had been a bit of a blessing in disguise. She had hardly seen Albert all day and then, after their evening meal as a family, he would go to bed and fall into a deep sleep the moment his head hit the pillow. While she hated seeing him so exhausted, she was happy that they had avoided the obvious fact of becoming closer. She assumed that he wanted to wait until they had their own space.
She also hadn’t found the right time to tell him about the child. Every day was a new risk and she realized this, but she couldn’t find the time. He was either exhausted or focused on the work ahead of him.
As for herself, she had occupied her time in the garden mostly, finding she was adept at working with plants from her small education at the home. Violet was too exhausted most of the time and Lulu spent more time with the washing and mending, so that left her to the garden, something she didn’t mind.
Now, as she sat on the ground pulling out weeds from around a tomato plant, she hummed a tune her mother used to sing to her when she was a child. Deep sadness at the reality that her mother wouldn’t ever meet Della’s child welled up inside of her. She knew she was more emotional with the babe inside of her affecting her as it did, but it seemed deeper than that.
Della had become pregnant because of a man’s sinful act, and yet she didn’t hate the child. How could she? It wasn’t their fault. They were simply the result of something terrible. In fact, she had considered how it was like what God did—He brought beauty out of the ashes, joy from sorrow. He would redeem the terrible thing with something as beautiful as new life.
Tears streaked down her cheeks and she brushed them away with the back of her hand. She was being foolish, she knew that, but she couldn’t help it. The emotions were genuine and she was alone in the garden. If she couldn’t cry now, when could she?
Just then, she heard footsteps coming her way. She sniffed, wiping at the tears again, and refocused her attention on the weeds, hoping her large brimmed hat would conceal her red-rimmed eyes.
“May I have a word?” The question came out sounding harsh and abrupt.
Sniffing again, Della looked up into the cold eyes of Rose. She towered above her, making the glare on her face seem twice as menacing.
“What would—”
“I know all about you.”
The words stole the breath from Della.
“I know that you’ve tricked my son into marrying you and I know that you’ve got a secret you’ve not shared with him. It’s obvious to anyone with eyes.” Her stare flashed angry and hurt, and Della began to understand.
Rose was acting in anger toward her not out of a dislike but more so out of the fierce, protective nature of a mother. And why shouldn’t she demand the truth from her? Della felt the shame down to her toes.
“What I don’t understand,” she continued, “is how he fell in love with a harlot such as yourself.”
Della’s cheek flamed red and she took a step back at the angry words. This was more than she could take. While she had made allowances for Rose, she couldn’t bear the anger and near hatred that came off of her. Then again, she had lied to her—to the whole family, and even to Albert—which meant she could hardly expect kindness.
“I…” She didn’t know what to say.
Rose took a step forward, but before she could make any more angry accusations, Della turned and fled. She rushed down the hill toward where their new cabin was and didn’t stop for a long time. She’d been ready to tell Rose everything, but that would hardly be fair to Albert. Not to mention, the animosity that Rose held against her would likely be long in leaving.
Now, though, there was no excuse. She had to tell Albert. She’d waited far too long already, and she had to tell him quickly before she lost her nerve. It wasn’t fair, none of it was, but she could hope and pray that he would understand she hadn’t meant to trick him.
The thought brought her up short, her view of the cabin just down the last small slope, causing her to pause for breath. She hadn’t meant to trick him…had she?
She thought back to the day in the alleyway when he’d saved her from a terrible fate. She’d considered him like a knight in shining armor. And then he’d proposed and, rather than tell him the truth, she considered the life he could give not only her but her unborn child as well.
Perhaps a small part of her had wanted to keep him in the dark so that he would take her away from the
problems she’d faced in the East.
No matter what, she still had to tell him the truth, even if that meant opening up about the fact that she had purposefully kept the truth from him. It was the right thing to do. The only thing to do.
Albert looked up from the slat he was nailing in place to see Della walking toward him. She was pink-cheeked and breathing hard. Without thought, he dropped his hammer and rushed toward her.
“What’s wrong, my love?” he said.
He immediately felt guilty that he’d been away from her so long these last few days. A fire had ignited within him at his mother’s sour attitude when it came to Della. He’d thought about confronting her, asking her to soften up—to get to know the woman—but he’d not even had the patience for that.
“I…” She took in a deep breath, pushing a strand of hair from her eyes. “I’m fine. Just rushed here.”
His eyes narrowed. “It was my mother, wasn’t it?” He felt the familiar anger rise up in his chest. His mother had never been like this, but he’d learned from his younger brother that she’d shifted her attitude when he left. They had conjectured that she’d taken offense to his leaving without truly resolving things, but he found that hard to believe. Her anger seemed wholly directed at his wife. “What did she say?”
“No. I…” Della pressed her lips together and her eyes searched for the answer in the distance. “I mean, she did talk to me, but…”
“Della…” He took both of her hands and stood in front of her, taking up her whole view. “What is it?”
She searched his eyes for a long moment, so long that he worried as to what she would say when she broke her silence.
“I just wish we could get along better.” Tears flooded her eyes and he pulled her toward himself. She halted with a six-inch space between them. “Wait.”
“What is it?” he asked, reaching up to up her face in his workworn hand. He was careful not to rub his calloused fingers too hard against her cheek.