by A. Valentine
“And I her,” Father said. “Signing that contract was the worst mistake of my life. If I could change anything, I would have told Benson to keep his damned money.”
“Well, all’s well that ends well,” William replied.
“I see Abigail’s been reading you her Shakespeare,” Father said with a laugh.
“Most nights,” William agreed. It had become a treasured part of our evening routine, as my husband and I would relax in bed together, the lantern light just bright enough to illuminate the pages I read from.
“That’s what I miss the most, I think,” Father said. “I got used to her reading me Scriptures on the Sabbath. She does a better job than any preacher man.”
“You don’t have to miss it, sir,” William said. “My farm’s got plenty enough room that we could build another small house on it.” He shrugged his shoulders and gave me a sly little grin. “Maybe even set you up with another print shop.”
Father looked so surprised. “But I’ve no money to put toward such a project,” he said. “Benson’s lawyers wound up taking the house, you know. I am practically penniless.”
“The Lord works in mysterious ways, Papa.” The envelope Benson had tried to tempt William with had contained more than enough money for everything my husband proposed and then some. “All you have to do is say yes.”
“To be near my daughter once again is joy enough,” Father said. “More than I deserve. Of course I’m going to say yes!”
Chapter Twenty-Nine
“Nicholas Copernicus Abelwolf, get your hands out of that ink right now!” My oldest daughter has a voice like a martinet; the strident sounds of her outrage echoed through the yard with a power you wouldn’t believe a four year old could produce. “Mama! Nicholas is bothering Opa!”
“Shush, shush,” I heard my Father say. “Don’t bother your mother right now. She’s resting.”
“But Nick is going to make a mess,” Lydia protested. “He’s got ink all over his fingers.”
“Don’t worry,” my Father soothed her. “I know what to do. I’ve dealt with this before.” His tone brightened and I could imagine him smiling, not all that far outside my bedroom window. “I’ll tell you what. Let’s take care of your brother’s hands, and then we’ll all go see if any of those blackberries your Father planted are ripe enough to eat yet.”
“Those are for pies,” Lydia said.
“Always law and order with that one,” William said. He was snuggled in bed against me, one arm thrown carefully over my swelling stomach. Our third child was due to arrive soon, an exciting development that also left me more than a little exhausted.
“I wonder where she gets that from,” I teased him. Having relaxing moments with my husband was a rare treat these days; between the children’s non-stop adventures, helping Father establish the region’s newest print shop, and figuring out which two varieties of plums should be bred in order to create a truly pox resistant cultivar, we barely had a second to ourselves most days.
“Surely from you,” William laughed.
“I don’t think so,” I said, turning awkwardly to kiss him. My gravid form left me far from flexible. “Get on this side,” I laughed and tapped the bed. “So I can kiss you properly.”
“Your wish is my command,” he said, leaping deftly over me.
“Ugh,” I said, as he landing on the other side of the mattress. “You’re as wild as the children.”
“Even more so, probably,” William agreed cheerfully. He kissed me again. “There, is that better?”
“Much,” I said, and returned his kiss with one of my own. “Much, much better.”
William’s kisses grew more passionate. He started to reach for my breasts, stopping only moments before contact to ask “May I?”
“Clearly, you already have,” I said, rubbing one hand over my belly. “Go gently. This little one is doing cartwheels.”
He smiled. “I’m not going to upset the baby.” He pulled down the top of my chemise just enough to expose the swollen rounded tops of my breasts, placing a gentle kiss on top of each one. “Or his beautiful Mama.”
“Believe me,” I said, running my fingers through William’s soft golden hair. “You’re welcome to disturb me in that fashion any time you’d like.”
“You say that, but you know the children will come bursting through the door the minute we begin to…disturb each other.”
“Opa has taken them down to pick blackberries.” I smiled. “They should be gone for an eternity – maybe even an entire half-hour!”
William laughed. “You are incorrigible.” He kissed me again. “How did I get so lucky?”
“I ask myself that same question, every single day.”
Chapter Thirty
“You need to tell that husband of yours to come up with some other way of describing his findings than all these confounded charts!” Father looked up from his letter press tray, clearly annoyed. “I’m getting old, Abigail. I can’t even see eight-point type anymore.”
“Have Nicholas help you.”
“He’s too young.”
“He knows all his numbers now,” I said. “It’ll be good practice for him.”
“And what if he makes a mistake?” Father shook his head. “I know how William needs every detail of this work to be correct.”
“We’ll have Lydia proof it,” I replied. “You know nothing will get by her sharp eyes.”
“Never mind her eyes,” Father said. “It’s her ears I worry about. I unwrapped a peppermint and that child appears out of nowhere.”
“Children are like that, Papa,” I said with a laugh.
“You were the same way,” my Father said. “I remember.”
“I’m glad you’re here to see the children growing up,” I said. “It means a lot to William and I both.” One of the mysteries that remained between William and I, even at this late date in our marriage, was who and where his family were. I knew him to count himself alone in the world, but just as spontaneous combustion didn’t really happen, children did not spring into existence without a parent or two along the way.
“I’m glad of it too. I’m glad you’ve lived long enough to have children. William is good to you.” He shook his head. “That Benson beast – when I think of what you escaped!”
We’d all learned the truth about Kitty Benson’s disappearance while her husband’s estate was being settled. Her bones, along with another set believed to be that of her would-be lover, were found locked in a stout leather trunk marked Benson Trading & Exchange, Limited.
“All’s well that ends well.” I tried to comfort Father. He spent far too much time worrying over what might have been, instead of enjoying what was.
“Shakespeare. That at least I did right.” Father smiled.
“You did a great many things right, Papa.” William walked up behind us, resting his hand on my shoulder. “You raised a strong girl into a beautiful woman. You did the best you could to protect her through the years. And now you’re here to guide and look over your grandchildren. Not every man gets so much.”
“I’m sure I don’t deserve so much,” Father said.
“You do,” I protested. “Every bit and more.”
William wasn’t the only one to find their way into the print shop. Nicholas toddled in as fast as his legs would take him, followed closely by big sister Lydia, who watched over him always like a mother hen.
“What’s going on in here?” she asked, looking at us all in turn, suspicion in her eyes. “Are you having peppermints without us?”
We laughed and assured her that no, we weren’t. Then of course, Father had to search for a candy to satisfy the treat. I took William’s hand and watched the proceedings with a smile on my face. Despite a rocky start, life had turned out pretty sweet after all.
A Mail Order Bride for the Lonely Widower
By: Tanya Rutherford
A Mail Order Bride for the Lonely Widower
© Tanya Rutherford, 2016 – All rights
reserved
Published by Steamy Reads4U
No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form, including electronic or mechanical, without written permission from the publisher, except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles or reviews.
This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, businesses, places, events, and incidents are either the product of the author’s imagination or used in a fictitious manner. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, or actual events are purely coincidental. This book is licensed for your personal enjoyment only.
This book may not be resold or given away to other people. If you would like to share this book with another person, please purchase an additional copy. If you are reading this book and did not purchase it, or it was not purchased for your use only, please return it to the seller and purchase a copy. Thank you for respecting the author’s work.
Warning
This book contains explicit content intended for readers 18+ years old.
If you are under 18 years old, or are not comfortable with adult content, please close this book now.
Chapter One
Anna got back home from her dull nine to five job at the office and kicked off her shoes. She’d bought them especially for work, when she was first awarded the job after her successful interview two years previously. She’d imagined that she’d get used to wearing them, that they’d ‘break in’ or whatever it was her mother told her. And yet, somehow, two years down the line, she still found them painful and almost intolerable to wear. The skirt and suit jacket too, weren’t exactly her style. The fabric itched at the back of her neck and her tights always seemed to end up hanging halfway down her legs by the end of the working day, to the point where she couldn’t wait to get changed and into something comfortable and relaxing once she got home. It wasn’t that she didn’t enjoy dressing up and wearing feminine clothing occasionally, just not itchy skirt suits that made her look about ten years older.
Arriving home at her small but cosy city apartment that Friday night, she immediately kicked off the heels at the door and then padded through to the bedroom to get changed. She didn’t have to go to work the next day, so she hung the suit up in the wardrobe and put it away, glad to get it out of her sight for the next two days until Monday. She tossed her shirt, bra and panties into the wash and then fumbled around naked, searching through her cupboards and closets until she found something clean and comfy to put on – her favorite onesie.
With it zipped up right to the top and feeling like a cute little teddy bear, Anna went back into the main living room/kitchen area and grabbed herself a can of coke from the fridge before carrying it over to the couch and sitting down. She wasn’t planning on doing very much for the next couple of days. The weekends were her time to herself. She didn’t really have many friends outside of the work environment, and she wouldn’t even call her work mates ‘friends’ more just…colleagues. They never saw each other on weekends or in the evenings but had a civil and friendly relationship during office hours. Anna didn’t really mind. She didn’t even know whether she had anything in common with the people at work and she wasn’t prepared to find out.
A couple of them had occasionally asked her to go for a drink with them, but Anna had been unsure whether she was being invited in just a friendly capacity or whether it meant more than that. She’d heard plenty of bad things about office romances and wanted to try and avoid them wherever possible. There were one or two guys who were relatively good looking, but the majority of them just weren’t her type at all, and then she had to cross off all the ones who were already married, or had a girlfriend, or ones who were gay. It didn’t leave her with many choices.
She did want to find a partner at some point; someone to fall in love with, settle down with, have a family with. The dream.
But Anna wasn’t entirely sure that dream actually existed. Certainly not for her, and certainly not in that office she worked at.
So, being cautious about getting drawn into a disastrous office romance, and only seeing potential in one or two of the guys anyway, she had avoided all requests to go out for drinks after work, even if there was a group of people going. Partially, that was her own anxiety beginning to kick in, and part of her felt as though she was using the office romance thing as an excuse. She’d always found it difficult to socialize in large groups and occasionally felt crowded or stressed in crowded bars and clubs, so the majority of the time it was just easier to say no.
This did mean, however, that it was especially hard for her to make actual friends outside of work, even girlfriends. She missed having someone to just pop out to the mall with and do some shopping, or to talk about guys, or have movie nights. She’d lost touch with everyone from college after they all graduated, got jobs and settled down with their partners. Anna had done the first two, but had spectacularly failed in the latter.
Now, at 28, she was starting to doubt her choices in life and wished she’d settled down with her long term boyfriend at college when she’d had the chance. Perhaps they’d still be together now with a couple of kids. He’d always wanted to go in that direction but she’d been reluctant to commit, wanting to put her career first and focus on that, and had broken it off. She’d dated one guy since, for about six months, but that was it. It was hard to establish relationships with her schedule. It was hard to even meet anyone in the first place seeing as she never went out. The only people she interacted with were her work colleagues and the cashiers at the store where she bought her groceries once a week.
Anna sighed and took a sip of her coke. She turned on the television, switching off her mind a little as she changed channels and tried to find something to watch. There was a documentary on about adopted kids and she ended up leaving it on. She’d considered adoption before now, but it’d be hard to fit a child in with her schedule without someone else to support her. Her dreams of having a family were on hold, probably indefinitely, seeing as she was never going to actually meet someone to settle down with.
She watched the adoption programme, ending up with tears in her eyes. She’d always been really soppy when it came to things like that. Then she changed channels and found a movie to watch, getting up to make herself some food and continuing to watch it from over in the kitchen while she cooked up something simple.
The rest of the evening passed by in a similar, relaxed manner and she went to bed around eleven thirty, tired after a full week at work and looking forward to a lie in.
Every Saturday was the same for Anna. Saturday was her shopping day. She would wake up around ten and laze in bed for half an hour or an hour, until she was really hungry and couldn’t wait any longer. Then she’d get up and go through to the kitchen and make herself some breakfast while writing down a list of things she needed to get from the store.
After breakfast, she would shower, get dressed and head out to the store. She had such a routine going that she even knew some of the staff by name, because it was the same people that worked every Saturday. She recognized them, smiled at them. She wandered around the aisles picking up everything she needed, and always bought a state newspaper at the counter on the way out so she could try and keep up with everything going on.
When she got back home, she would unpack the food, make herself a cup of coffee, then sit down and read the paper. Because she’d had a late breakfast, she normally skipped lunch on a Saturday in favor of having an early dinner around 5.
That Saturday was set to be no different to any other.
Everything had gone exactly the same as it always did, and Anna settled down with her newspaper, curled up on the couch with some quiet music on in the background, and she started to read.
She had almost finished the paper when she saw it. She’d gotten right through all of the main headlines and stories and articles, and was at the back near the sports pages. That was the point where she normally folded it up and put it down, as she wasn’t that interested in sports.
&nb
sp; The adverts page.
She nearly always had a glance through it, just to see if anyone was selling anything cheap that she might be interested in, although she’d never actually ordered anything. This one time someone was advertising for a housemate in an apartment closer to her workplace than the one she was currently occupying. She’d been tempted to contact them, but again, her social anxiety had gotten the better of her. What if they had nothing in common? What if they were horrible?
The same thoughts ran through her head as she stared and stared at the words of the advert now held directly in front of her eyes, her hands gripping the newspaper tightly and somehow unable to tear herself away even though she told herself she was stupid for evening considering it.
‘Wife Wanted’ said the little headline at the top in capital letters.
Chapter Two
That had definitely caught her attention, but then the rest of it even more so:
34-year-old widower seeks new wife to help raise my son.’
There was a phone number and e-mail address underneath.
She giggled slightly as she re-read it. It was very forward of the man, asking for a bride straight away like that. Why didn’t he just ask for a nanny? But then, she supposed, he wanted a partner too…someone to live with him, take care of him, like his previous wife had. A part of her felt a little sorry for him too. He’d lost his wife. That must have been hard, especially if they’d just had a kid together.
Anna sighed and folded the newspaper in half, tossing it onto the coffee table. Who was she kidding? There was no way she’d ever have the confidence to reply to an advert like that, let alone go along and actually meet the guy and marry him. Marry a complete stranger? What if he was a psychopath? Even if he wasn’t, he probably wouldn’t like her anyway. He probably had loads of replies from much prettier, more confident girls whom he’d much rather make his wife.