As far as the Ladies Aide Society they wanted to start, well, that was something the brides had been talking about for months. Washington Territory would soon be a state and women should have the right to vote. Saloons and houses of ill repute were numerous and all of the women worried about the families of the men who spent their money over the bar instead of honoring their responsibilities. They’d all seen children running barefoot, filching food from the crates at the wharf when no one was looking; children who should be in school.
No, it was their duty to try and do something to improve the lives of women less fortunate and they were no longer going to shirk it. In her mind, Ethan should have been proud of her for wanting to take a stand against inequality between the sexes. Instead he was critical of her ideals.
Sighing, she placed the brush on her bureau and climbed into bed. Perhaps it wasn’t in her future to be a wife and mother. Perhaps she really was going to be an old maid. Well, if that was the case, she was going to be a damn good one. She still had money from the sale of her shop and she knew Hugh would help her if it wasn’t enough. Maybe she would forget the whole idea of getting married and open a shop of her own again. There was something to be said for being your own boss she told herself, punching her pillow and turning out the lamp. Who needed a man anyway, especially a big, bossy one? Maybe when Ethan finally decided to show up again she would just tell him that she had made a decision and no, he wasn’t good enough for her. Maybe she would tell him she would only settle for a man who wanted to be her partner, not her master.
Silent tears fell as she admitted she loved Ethan. Was it so wrong to want her husband to be to a man who valued her opinion and stood behind her? Martha wanted a wedding that was not rushed as the others had been, not that they all weren’t lovely in their own way, but she wanted something special. Many of the others were married now. Effie and Grace who came west to save their friend weren’t even mail order brides, just loyal friends of Amelia’s and they’d both married. Molly’s wedding was lovely if you didn’t count the cake that was beautiful but nearly inedible. Charlotte’s wedding was planned and executed within hours when she married Marshal Hadley.
Suzanna and Dalton’s wedding was close to perfect considering it was nearly disrupted by a political brawl. She wasn’t sure Ellie’s wedding to Clayton Ferguson would ever take place and she wasn’t sure about her own either. Jane and Doctor Martin seemed to spend a lot of time together, but, as she was his nurse, that was understandable. So far Jane had given no indication that they were any more than friends and associates. In fact, Jane was making arrangements to send for her children from back east on her own even though the good doctor had offered to pay for it. Martha had a feeling he wouldn’t appreciate Jane going behind his back when he’d offered to help, but Jane was adamant.
Oh, the whole world seemed to be in a muddle. Things hadn’t turned out at all as she’d hoped and now tomorrow she was joining the others to search for a vacant building in town for their headquarters. Maybe she’d keep her eye open for a small building suitable for a dress shop. Ethan had a few too many conditions for her taste. Obey him indeed. Or what, she huffed, tossing restlessly?
He’d spank her. Turn up her skirts and slap her bottom as though she were a child until he gained her repentance or compliance, whatever the case might be. It was too much to ask and far too embarrassing. Despite her feelings about the practice, she knew a number of men spanked their wives and, in her opinion, it was something that should be discussed at one of their meetings. Goodness, even dear Duncan, the Jordon patriarch was known to toss Tempest’s skirts up and redden her bottom. It was appalling, barbaric.
Obviously all men weren’t like that. Martha knew for a fact that her dear friend Charlotte had only been spanked once by her marshal husband and that was because she asked for it. Of all the idiotic notions, but Charlotte insisted she’d done the right thing and it had made their marriage stronger. Martha had given Charlotte a very heavy cast iron skillet for a wedding present and they’d laughed about it, but Martha doubted it would ever be used for anything other than cooking.
It seemed a very long time ago that Charlotte advised Martha that most husbands spanked their wives from time to time and that if Martha was worried about it, she should get herself a heavy skillet in case Ethan ever went too far. Ethan and she laughed about it and he promised to buy her one before they married. Not surprisingly, he never did. Apparently he rethought his stance on spousal discipline after Effie and Suzanna nearly perished.
Tired and disheartened, Martha finally fell asleep dreaming of satins and lace, buttons and bows and cast iron skillets.
Stevie MacFarlane
Hi, I'm Stevie MacFarlane. I live in a small rural community in Upstate NY, and I have been writing off and on for about twenty years in my spare time, although there wasn't much of that with a husband, five children and an assortment of supposedly domesticated pets.
Over the course of my life I have been a waitress, social worker, cook, sewing machine operator and a fine die cutter. I swear I had no idea what I was doing, but apparently the ability to take a wire finer than a strand of hair, sharpen it and feed it through a wire die, was enough for them to keep me on. I also worked for a very short time in a meat packing plant where I got to stand in front of a machine that spit boxes of frozen chicken at me, that was fun!
Then there was the plastic plant I enjoyed for a spell. The heat and smell were bad enough, but the excess hot plastic needed to be pulled off the parts and put into a grinder. I believe they called this byproduct 'spew' or some such thing. I was not quite fast enough to separate the parts and still get the excess into the shredder, (picture Lucy in the chocolate factory) so I just tossed it behind me until they came to break me for lunch. By that time I had a mountain of twisted plastic taller than me! Needless to say, I just turned in my gear and went home.
So I must say that I enjoy what I'm doing now. Of course, being retired gives me more time to let the characters in my head entertain me and hopefully, you as well. I would love hearing from you at [email protected] and thanks for stopping by.
Visit her blog here:
http://steviemacfarlane.weebly.com/
Don’t miss these exciting titles by Stevie MacFarlane and Blushing Books!
Amelia: The Marriage Market, Book One
Grace: The Marriage Market, Book Two
Effie: The Marriage Market, Book Three
Suzanna: The Marriage Market, Book Four
Changing Her Mind
Little White Lies
The O’Malley Brides
The Not-So-Lucky Bridget O’Malley
The Perfectly Naughty Bride
A Sweet and Sassy Match, Sugar Babies, Inc. Book 1
Match Me if You Dare, Sugar Babies, Inc. Book 2
Matched for Keeps, Sugar Babies, Inc. Book 3
The Last Match, Sugar Babies, Inc. Book 4
The Trouble With Abby
A Timeless Woman
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