The Bargain Mail Order Bride

by Ruth Ann Nordin

  They’d spend the rest of the day panning for gold until it was time to eat. From there, he would tend to the horses again, and she’d tend to the cabin. He’d go back to the barn loft to sleep, and they started the routine over the next day.

  There were only two days when the routine varied. One was the day Juliet washed the clothes and bedding. He was surprised when he realized he missed having her beside him as he retrieved the pay dirt from the stream. With her being around so much, one would think he’d welcome the chance to be alone. He’d always welcomed it before. But he found that time passed slower now when Juliet wasn’t around. And honestly, he didn’t know what to make of his new feelings.

  The other day their routine was disrupted when Caroline brought Allie Martin and three children out to his place. He and Juliet had just returned from the stream, and he caught sight of Caroline’s wagon as it stopped in front of the barn. If it hadn’t been for the trees, one of them would have noticed him and Juliet as they were making their way back up from the stream.

  He set the wheelbarrow down and pulled Juliet further into the trees.

  “What’s wrong?” Juliet asked, sounding more surprised than offended that he’d touched her.

  He quickly released her. He didn’t make it a habit of touching her. Indeed, he didn’t care much for anyone touching him after everything he’d been through with Lydia. And for all he knew, maybe Juliet didn’t like to be touched, either.

  “I’m sorry,” he replied, keeping his voice low. “We have some visitors. Caroline’s here with her son, and she brought Allie and the two girls Allie is caring for with her.”

  Juliet gasped, and her hand went to her hair. “She did? Why?”

  “Women like to visit other women so they can gossip.”

  “How am I going to get into the wig and dress with them already here?” Juliet asked as she peered around the tree to see them as they approached the cabin.

  “I’ll get them into the barn,” he told her. “You can sneak into the cabin then.”

  “Thank you.”

  He went back to the wheelbarrow and brought it to the cabin where Caroline was knocking on the door. Seven-year-old Caleb stood quietly by her side. The eight and six-year-old girls were running in circles around Allie who stood a few feet away from the door.

  “Juliet’s indisposed at the moment,” he called out to Caroline before she could knock on the door again.

  Caroline put her hand down to her side and turned to face him. “I hope we’re not interrupting anything. I thought it might be nice if Juliet got a chance to meet Allie and the children.”

  He supposed he should have expected them to come out sooner. Poor Travis had a group of women and children coming out to his place all the time since his marriage to Allie.

  To his dying day, he’d never understand women. They seemed to enjoy spending time in idle chatter that never accomplished anything. His mother had moaned often about being lonely, and Lydia had gone to town almost every day—even spending a few nights at a time there—just to have a flavor of social activity that was lacking all the way out here at the cabin.

  Juliet had been the first woman he’d come across that didn’t need the constant companionship of other women. She, instead, seemed to be more like him in that she was content to work with her hands in silence. At least, he assumed she was content. She hadn’t voiced a single complaint. Surely, if she wasn’t content, she’d let him know it. His mother and Lydia, after all, hadn’t been shy about telling him their grievances.

  But that wasn’t important. What was important was the fact that they got along well enough, and it was nice to be around someone who was happy for a change.

  Turning his attention back to Caroline and the group she’d brought with her, he said, “Juliet isn’t in the cabin. She had to tend to some personal business, but she’ll be back soon. In the meantime,” he directed his gaze to the children, “would you like to see what gold looks like before it’s melted and turned into coins?”

  Caleb’s eyes grew wide in interest, and he looked up at Caroline.

  With a smile, Caroline rubbed his back. “Yes, that would be interesting.”

  That went easier than he’d expected. He led the group into the barn.

  “Does water really make gold?” Lilly, the eight-year-old, asked him as he picked out the gold pan Juliet had been using.

  “No, it can’t,” Caleb told her. “That’s impossible.”

  “Caleb’s right,” Carl agreed. “But water sources, like a stream, can carry gold flakes or nuggets which like to settle in the dirt around rocks.” He scooped a couple handfuls of the pay dirt from the bucket and put it into the gold pan.

  “If gold is in water, why are you going through that mud?” Lilly asked, a skeptical wrinkle creasing her forehead.

  “Gold is heavy,” Carl said. “It settles to the bottom of the stream and gets trapped in the dirt.”

  He poured water into the bin and dipped the gold pan into it. From there, he proceeded to show them how to pan the gold. He had just succeeded in finding the first gold flake when Juliet came into the barn.

  He’d gotten so used to seeing her with her dark hair that the sight of her in the blonde wig almost made him drop the pan into the water. Fortunately, he managed to hold onto it. It wouldn’t do to arouse Caroline or Allie’s suspicions. Part of his job was helping Juliet keep up her charade, whatever that charade was.

  Caroline followed his gaze and smiled when she saw Juliet. “Your husband is showing us how he finds gold from the dirt in the stream. I’ve heard of gentlemen panning, but I’ve never seen it done.”

  “One of my brothers mentioned how hard it is to find gold,” Allie added. “He spent a year searching for it and only found a hundred dollars’ worth. He said it wasn’t worth it.”

  Carl had a difficult time arguing with Allie’s brother. He might have even voiced an agreement except this was his livelihood. Even if this wasn’t making him rich, it was enabling him to put food on the table and feed the horses.

  Caroline turned back to Carl. “Do you mind if we talk to your wife for a short time?”

  Carl hesitated to say yes since the implication, of course, was that they were going to talk to Juliet without him around, which meant he wouldn’t be able to sit nearby and listen in on their conversation. So far, he and Juliet had been getting along. Would Caroline or Allie say something to change that? Surely, Caroline and Allie wouldn’t try to turn her against him. It wasn’t like he had done anything to personally upset them, not like he had with Phoebe by tricking her into marrying Abe.

  “No, I don’t mind,” Carl replied, hoping he’d made the right decision.

  Not that he could prevent Juliet from talking to them if that’s what she wanted to do. But he supposed it was a kindness on Caroline’s part to pretend he had a say in the matter.

  Carl cleared his throat. “You can talk wherever you want. I’ll stay in here and keep panning.”

  “We can go the cabin,” Juliet told the women. “I can make the children something to eat.”

  At this, Janice, the six-year-old girl who’d been quiet up to now, smiled and asked Allie, “Can we eat something?”

  Allie returned her smile. “Yes, but it’s only right we help.” She looked at Juliet. “We don’t want to impose.”

  “You aren’t imposing,” Juliet assured her. “I’d be happy to do it.”

  “Can I stay here and look for gold?” Caleb asked.

  It took Carl a moment to realize the boy had directed the question to him. He glanced over at the three women and two girls. If he was Caleb, he might not want to be stuck with all of them, either. Letting him stay out here would probably be doing the poor boy a favor.

  Carl nodded that it was fine with him and held the gold pan out to him. “Sure.”

  “We’ll bring out something for you gentlemen to eat,” Caroline promised before the group headed for the cabin.

  Forcing aside his curiosity over what th
e women were going to tell Juliet, Carl turned to Caleb and helped him pan for gold.

  ***

  “Poor Caleb has no boys his age to play with,” Caroline told Juliet as Juliet added butter, milk, and vanilla to the brown sugar in the pan. “The boys in town are either too old or too young. I can’t help but feel sorry for him. He doesn’t have anyone to really talk to at school since the teacher is strict about the boys and girls staying separated from each other.”

  “What a silly rule,” Allie replied as she put the remaining butter and vanilla back on the shelf. “I don’t see what the harm is.”

  Caroline shrugged. “Growing up, I didn’t mingle with boys, either, but I thought it was something only the wealthy did. I thought out here, the situation would be different.”

  “No, it was the same where I grew up when I went to school,” Allie said.

  This was the first Juliet had ever heard of such a rule, but then in her small Texas town, her and her four brothers made up half the students in the schoolhouse.

  “I don’t care what Mr. Willoby says,” Lilly spoke up from where she stood next to Juliet. “I’ll talk to Caleb.”

  “Well, you don’t go to school,” Allie said. “I teach you and Janice at home.”

  Lilly thought over her reply then added, “If I were at school, I’d talk to him.”

  “Under ordinary circumstances, I’d tell you not to disobey your teacher,” Allie began, “but considering you and Janice are the closest thing Caleb has to friends, I would encourage you to do it. You’d just have to be careful you didn’t get caught.”

  “I would be careful.” Lilly glanced over at Janice who was jumping around the cabin. “She wouldn’t be.”

  “I wouldn’t be what?” Janice asked.

  “Careful,” Lilly replied.

  “I can be careful,” Janice said.

  “No, you can’t. You speak without thinking.”

  “I can think.” She glanced at Allie. “I can think, can’t I?”

  Lilly groaned and rolled her eyes. “Children. They don’t pay attention.”

  This comment made Juliet chuckle. Yep, that was exactly the kind of thing an older sibling would say about the younger one.

  “Yes, Janice, you can think,” Allie replied. “Let’s not fight. This is supposed to be a nice visit, remember?”

  “They’re sisters,” Juliet said. “They’re prone to arguing.”

  But it was a harmless argument. In fact, seeing the girls brought up some of the better memories she had of her brothers. If only their arguments had stayed harmless. The love of pleasure and money made them grow up, and it was hard to remember how things used to be. She turned back to the pan, blinking back the tears in her eyes. Her parents would be ashamed of them if they’d lived to see how things turned out.

  Lilly let out a long sigh and glanced at the door. “Can I go out and play? This candy is taking a long time to make.”

  Janice stopped jumping around the cabin and went over to Allie. “Can we go outside?”

  Allie’s gaze went from the children to Juliet and Caroline. “It’s probably best if they go out and play. They get restless if they stay in one place for long, and we had a long ride over here. Alright,” she told them, “but stay near the cabin. I don’t want you running off into the trees. People can get lost out there.”

  “We will!” Lilly promised and hurried out of the cabin, Janice on her heels.

  Caroline shut the door before she told Allie, “The girls seem to be doing well, all things considered.” She looked at Juliet. “Their father was the one who killed Carl’s first wife.”

  Juliet stopped stirring the candy and stared at her in shock. “He was?”

  Caroline nodded. “He’s no longer alive. Their mother is in jail because she helped plan the murder. My husband brought Lilly and Janice to Allie and Travis because they are out of town. That way, they don’t have to deal with the gossip.”

  “That’s awful,” Juliet whispered, thinking that the two girls might have to leave this town when they grew up because of something their parents did. Surely, they’d have to if they wanted any peace. “Do you think they’ll be alright?”

  “Everyone knows the girls aren’t to blame,” Caroline said. “It’s just that we don’t want them thinking less of their parents because of it.”

  “We can’t put it off forever,” Allie added. “Sooner or later, we have to tell them about their parents.”

  It was on the tip of Juliet’s tongue to ask what the girls thought right now since their father was dead and their mother was in jail, but she didn’t know if she should. She hardly knew these women, and she was practically a stranger in this town. Was any of this really her business?

  “We were going to introduce you to a friend of ours,” Caroline began, changing the topic. “But we weren’t sure if it was wise to do so or not.”

  “Why not?” Juliet asked.

  “Well, there’s some unpleasant history between Carl and his half-brother,” Caroline replied.

  Eyes wide, Juliet almost dropped her spatula. “Carl has a half-brother?”

  Caroline nodded. “He didn’t mention Abe Thomas?”

  Juliet shook her head.

  “In that case, it’s definitely best we didn’t bring Phoebe with us,” Caroline said with a glance at Allie. Caroline’s gaze went back to Juliet. “Phoebe and Abe are both nice people, but Carl and Abe don’t get along. There’s a dispute over who has the right to the stream.”

  “Oh?”

  “Abe’s uncle and mother sold the stream to Carl’s father,” Caroline said.

  Juliet thought back to the day she met Carl, and she remembered him mentioning a man who sold the stream to his father. “Well, if they sold the stream to his father, then it is rightfully Carl’s,” Juliet replied.

  “Yes,” Caroline agreed. “There’s a will that supports that. In my opinion, the difficulty really stems from the fact that Carl and Abe have the same father.”

  Juliet wasn’t sure if she should ask for details. The matter was a personal one, and it wasn’t like she was forthcoming with items from her past. If she was smart, she would advise Caroline to stop. After all, if Carl wanted her to know about his father, he would tell her about him. Up to now, all he’d told her was that his father swore there was gold in the stream. Beyond that, he hadn’t mentioned him. And there had to be a good reason for that. But there was another part of her—that part which wanted to understand him better—that prompted her to keep listening to Caroline.

  “I only know what Phoebe and Eric told me,” Caroline continued. “Abe’s mother and her brother were already here by the time Carl’s parents arrived. There were stories of gold being through this area, and because of that, Carl’s father went to purchase the stream from Abe’s uncle. That’s how Carl’s father met Abe’s mother. Abe’s uncle did the initial deal with the stream and land, but Abe’s mother upheld the sale after his uncle died. So really, both of them sold the land.” Caroline cleared her throat. “Anyway, Abe’s mother was his father’s mistress, and that’s how he became Abe’s father. It’s not surprising Carl and Abe don’t like each other, given those circumstances.”

  “No, it’s not,” Juliet agreed.

  “The situation is a delicate one. So I hope you can understand why I didn’t bring Phoebe with me. It has nothing to do with Phoebe not wanting to meet you. She asked that I tell you hello on her behalf.”

  Since there wasn’t really any other way to respond, Juliet said, “Tell her thank you and that I say hello in return.”

  “I will.”

  Done with the brown sugar candy, she removed the pan from the cookstove and poured the candy on a plate. Her family had their share of problems, but one thing she could say about them was that her brothers stuck together. Of course, they were sticking together while robbing people of their money. They weren’t exactly noble. But hearing about Carl and Abe, she realized that everyone had their share of problems.

  “I al
so hope,” Caroline began, “that you won’t think less of Phoebe because of everything going on between the men.”

  Surprised this should be Caroline’s concern, Juliet glanced over at her. “Why would I? She had nothing to do with what Carl’s father did.”

  As far as Juliet was concerned, Abe and Carl didn’t, either. It seemed to her that their father was the one who created the problem. Her parents didn’t have much to provide for their children, but they had been faithful to each other. She’d hate to think of how things might have been if her father had taken a mistress. Well, knowing how her mother was, she probably would have shot him. Her mother wasn’t the type to tolerate that sort of thing. Which made her wonder…just what kind of woman had Carl’s mother been?

  “Caroline, do you know anything about Carl’s mother?”

  Caroline shook her head. “She was already dead by the time Eric and Travis came to this town, and Abe never met her.”

  That was a shame. Knowing something about her might give her further insight into the situation. But then, she had no right to be putting her nose in where it didn’t belong. If Carl wanted to tell her, he would. And if he didn’t, that was his business.

  Picking up the plate, she said, “The candy’s ready. I’m sure the children are anxious for something sweet to eat.”

  Caroline chuckled. “I think children are always anxious for something sweet.”

  So were Juliet’s brothers, even though they were all grown up. With a smile, she replied, “Well, let’s not keep them waiting,” and led Caroline out of the cabin so the children could have the treat.

  Chapter Nine

  Carl tried to get lost in panning for gold while the women talked to Juliet. At the moment, Caroline and Allie were gathered around Juliet as she gave the children candy right outside the barn. Even Caleb, who had seemed to be enjoying the lesson Carl had been giving him on panning for gold, had left to get some of it. That left Carl all by himself.

  And though he was used to being alone, it wasn’t such a comforting thing when a group of people were laughing and talking a short distance away. Lydia never had anyone out here to visit. She’d always gone to town. So this was a new experience for him, and quite frankly, he didn’t know what to make of it.