Mail Order Anna (Brides 0f Sweet Creek Book 1)

by Sarah Banks

  What if he fell in love with Anna and lost her too? Jack couldn’t go through that again.

  Chapter Three

  The wedding behind them, they immediately left town. They had been traveling close to an hour before turning left off the main road, ascending a long, gentle hill. Two horses pulled the wagon, a brown one with three white socks and a white diamond on his forehead, the other speckled black and white. Anna had never seen a horse like the latter one before. Even though she was slightly terrified of horses, she found both animals to be magnificent.

  Anna took a peek at her husband. He silently stared forward, easily mastering the reins. Then she looked over her shoulder. Harriet sat in the rear of the wagon facing the opposite direction, with her legs dangling off the back of the wagon bed, her arm around the dog sitting by her side. She was afraid Harriet might fall out of the wagon but Jack didn’t seem concerned so Anna decided it must be safe. But she couldn’t help but look back now and again to make sure Harriet was still with them.

  The scenery was even more beautiful from the open wagon than from the window of the train. From the wagon she had seen a pair of squirrels chasing one another before racing up a tree, countless butterflies, fields of wildflowers, lots of birds, including one with a yellow breast. She had never been in the countryside before. The wide open spaces and surrounding nature and wildlife filled her with joy and a sense of peace she hadn’t felt in a long time.

  On her left were miles of fields and fence line. To her right, trees of different varieties, some with dizzying heights and a creek that followed the road almost the entire way. Now and again the creek would veer away for a few minutes before coming back close to the road. The air was cooler and damper close to the creek. She imagined a hot, summer day, escaping the oppressive heat for the shade of the creek, soaking their bare feet in the refreshingly cool stream. Were there parts deep enough to swim? She had always wanted to learn how to swim. Maybe Jack could teach her someday. She had heard that Colorado’s winters could be bitterly cold and their summers scorching hot. She imagined them spending their summer afternoons at the creek after the majority of their work was done for the day. They could have a picnic, swim and lay on the cool bank shaded by the trees. They would talk and laugh and maybe take a nap escaping the worst of the afternoon heat. Would they have the kind of family life she had only dreamt about?

  Finally they reached the crest of the gentle hill and the land leveled out again. The house finally came into view and the barn as well. The house was quite charming on the exterior. It was neither old nor decrepit. She hadn’t really known what to expect. There was a single white-petaled flower blooming into the otherwise bare flowerbed in front of the railed porch. The porch ran along the entire front of the house and held a porch swing that gently creaked in the wind.

  Anna loved the exterior of the property. She couldn’t wait to fill the flowerbed with every variety and color of flowers she could get her hands on. She didn’t see a vegetable garden but she knew there must be one and if there wasn’t, she would insist Jack plow one. She loved gardening but had limited space back east. The thought of working on her own vegetable garden every day after her morning chores filled her with happiness. She couldn’t wait to see the inside of the house.

  Jack stopped the wagon in front of the house and set the brake. The wagon bounced as Harriet hopped down to the ground. Anna rearranged her skirts and stood waiting as Jack came around the wagon and lifted her to the ground. His hands lingered on her hips for a moment. She could feel his eyes on her and she knew he wanted her to look at him but she continued to avoid his gaze. She was hurt and confused. She needed some time to sort out her thoughts and feelings and to figure out how to move forward and make the best of the situation.

  He sighed and dropped his hands. Reaching over the side of the wagon, he grabbed her bag. Anna followed him up the porch steps. The house wasn’t large or small. It was definitely smaller than her cousin’s four-story townhouse back east but bigger than the one-room cabins she had heard about.

  Inside, the house was dark and cool. Anna stood next to the open door and examined the interior. A small kitchen was just inside to the right, a table and three chairs situated near the counter, sink, cupboards and stove. The table was clear but the sink was overflowing with dishes that spilled out, covering over half of the countertop. There was a door next to the kitchen, a pantry perhaps? She pulled her eyes away from the mess in the kitchen area.

  Straight ahead was a small sofa, a chair and a rug positioned in front of the stone hearth. In the far right corner there was a stairwell between the fireplace and the door off the kitchen. Anna assumed the bedrooms were upstairs.

  Her eyes came back to her husband who was on one knee in front of the fireplace rekindling the fire inside the hearth. She glanced at Harriet who leaned against the kitchen table watching her. Anna smiled. Harriet smiled back.

  It was quite dim in the large room. The sun had begun its descent but the lack of light was mostly due to the windows being in need of washing.

  Jack got the fire started and the flames slowly grew, lightening the room considerably. Anna closed the front door and stepped further into the house near the center of the large room, between the kitchen and the living area. She spun around slowly.

  The house was newer than she had expected, built solidly but tastefully. It looked like a home albeit a bit dusty and dirty. Besides the sink full of dishes and the dirty windows, everything was in need of a good dusting and the floors were in dire need of a broom and mop. All the house really needed was a good cleaning and a woman’s touch. Anna could see herself living here contentedly. She stopped her slow spin and blushed as she realized Jack had finished with the fire and stood watching her.

  “I’ll show you around,” he said gruffly.

  Anna nodded and followed him to the door next to the kitchen, Harriet and her dog following behind.

  Jack opened the door to what Anna thought might be a pantry but was actually a small bedroom. He stepped aside and she slowly walked into the small room. A double bed dwarfed the right side of the room. Next to the bed sat a single nightstand with a small kerosene lamp. On the left side of the room there was an adequately-sized wardrobe and a washstand. The washstand held a bowl and pitcher, a small oval mirror hung above. Her eyes went back to the bed, covered in an old but pretty quilt. Anna blushed as she thought of sharing this bed with her husband.

  “This’ll be your room,” Jack said quietly from behind her.

  Anna turned to Jack, meeting his eyes for the first time since they had taken their vows nearly an hour and a half ago. She quickly realized that not only did he not intend on having any children with her but he also didn’t plan on sharing her bed.

  Jack brushed by her as he entered the bedroom, her skirts catching and dragging along his pant legs. She couldn’t help but inhale his clean, masculine scent of soap, earth and leather. He set her valise on the bed. She followed him back into the main room.

  “Harry and I sleep upstairs. There are a couple of beds, a few trunks, some old furniture up there, not much else,” he explained. He didn’t offer to show her the upstairs but he did quickly show her around the exterior of the house, the privy, the smokehouse, the barn and the cellar.

  Anna was relieved to find that the privy was clean at least. The smokehouse was well-stocked but the cellar was nearly bare. Jack had only walked past the barn and not offered to show her inside. She did learn there were plentiful eggs and milk and that it was Harriet’s job each morning to feed the chickens and collect the eggs and to milk the two cows each morning and evening. The tour ended back on the front porch.

  He ran his hand through his hair. “We’re pretty low on supplies. I should have picked up a few things while we were in town today but I was running behind and didn’t remember until it was too late. Make a list of what you think we need and I can go into town sometime in the next couple of days.”

  “I’d like to go too,” Anna said.<
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  He nodded.

  “I need to put the wagon away and see to the animals,” he said. “I’ll be a half hour or so and then we can see what we can put together for supper.”

  “Don’t worry about supper, I’ll find something,” Anna said confidently.

  Jack nodded and fit his hat back on his head. She watched as he jumped back in the wagon, released the brake and drove it to the barn.

  Harriet looked as if she might like to stay behind with Anna, but she eventually followed after the wagon, casting a curious look over her shoulder at Anna as she walked away, her dog trailing behind her.

  Anna scanned the property. She wondered how much of this land belonged to Jack. There were no other structures visible in any direction as far as she could see. The land was vast and beautiful.

  She would need to ask Jack to put up a clothesline as soon as possible if she was to do laundry each week. And to plow a small plot near the house so she could start a vegetable garden in the next few weeks.

  Anna looked forward to planting as many vegetables as she could manage and a few flowers too. She thought about what her days might be like. She would make breakfast for her new family before starting her morning chores like cleaning, laundry, baking, churning butter or making soap. Then she would make lunch and spend the afternoons gardening and maybe taking walks around the property or wading in the creek. In the evenings she would cook supper with fresh vegetables from her garden and set the table with a pretty vase of flowers. After supper and dishes, she would work on her sewing or maybe read in bed. She hugged herself with excitement. She loved it here already.

  Anna went back into the empty house. It was odd being inside an unfamiliar house all by herself. She smiled when she realized that this was her house now too.

  The first thing Anna did was take off the too-big ring Molly had loaned her for the wedding. She wrapped the gold band inside a clean embroidered handkerchief and tucked it carefully inside her drawstring purse. She would return it to Molly when they met for lunch.

  Anna closed the door to her new bedroom. She would unpack later. After supper she would start her lists of everything that needed to be done to get this household running smoothly. But now it was time to put supper on the table and she wasn’t going to be able to make anything until she did at least a few dishes.

  Forty minutes later Anna finished setting the table with dishes that she had just washed. She had washed just enough to cook and serve the meal. The remaining pile would have to wait until after supper.

  She placed a tiny plate of butter on the table and a mostly empty jar of honey. It wasn’t much but at least Harriet would be able to have a taste. Anna looked forward to filling the cellar with all of the items she wanted to make: butter, jam, honey, canned fruits and vegetables of all kinds. Her mind was buzzing with details of everything that she wanted to do in the coming months. She couldn’t wait to start her lists.

  The front door opened and Harriet walked in, followed by her father. Harriet was wide-eyed, her nose twitching like a bunny as she walked over to the table.

  “What’s that smell?” Harriet exclaimed.

  “Harry,” her father started.

  Harriet turned to her father and protested, “I didn’t mean it in a bad way. It’s a good smell.”

  “Then use the appropriate words so Anna doesn’t think you’re insulting her cooking,” he said, hanging his jacket and hat.

  Properly chastened Harriet turned back to Anna. “I’m sorry Anna. What I meant to say was it smells delicious. What did you make?” She asked excitedly.

  Anna smiled. “Nothing fancy, just a simple supper of fried ham, beans and biscuits. Did you wash your hands?”

  Harriet scrunched her face but didn’t have to be asked twice. Her father took her jacket and hat before she hightailed it out the front door.

  Anna used to help her mother cook when she was younger than Harriet. She enjoyed it and her mother had said that she had a knack for it. Several years later, Anna found herself doing a fair portion of the cooking in both her grandfather’s and cousin’s homes. She couldn’t wait to cook for her new family. If Harriet was impressed with a simple meal of fried ham, beans and biscuits, then she would surely love the other recipes Anna had collected and perfected over the years including her peach pie.

  Anna took the fried ham out of the warming oven and added it to the table along with a plate of biscuits and a pot of beans. It was a simple meal but Anna was so hungry she was as excited to dig in as Harriet.

  Harriet quickly reappeared and they all sat down to supper. Jack sat at the end of the table facing the door and Harriet on his right, so Anna took the seat on his left, her back to the kitchen counter, facing the fire.

  Harriet grabbed two biscuits and a piece of ham with one hand and dug the spoon into the beans with the other. Anna cleared her throat.

  “Shall we say Grace?”

  Harriet froze and glanced at her father before looking back at Anna.

  “We don’t do that,” she said simply.

  “Well, we do now. It’s important to me that we thank the Lord for our blessings.”

  Harriet looked at her father again. Jack nodded and Harriet released the spoon and set the food that was already in her hand on her plate.

  Anna reached across the table and held Harriet’s small hand, still cool and damp from its recent washing, in her left hand and Jack’s hand in her right. She blushed. Every time she came into contact with her husband she felt a peculiar feeling inside of her. So far it had happened when he kissed her, he helped her down from the wagon, when he brushed by her earlier and now holding his hand. She couldn’t explain it.

  She had to concentrate to say a quick prayer of thanks. Neither Harriet nor her husband participated in any other way than holding her hands but Anna figured it was a start.

  Supper was a quick affair. Anna thought she had made enough so there might be at least some leftovers, but there weren’t any, not even a bean. Although she was very hungry, having eaten very little today, they acted as if they were starved. She felt a flash of sympathy for them.

  Anna left the table with Harriet licking the honey jar, getting equal parts on her hands and face as in her mouth. She started water for the dishes.

  “Supper was delicious Anna, thank you,” Jack said quietly, standing up from the table. Harriet nodded behind him enthusiastically.

  “Of course,” Anna replied softly, blushing.

  She turned back to the dishes while Jack settled in the chair next to the hearth after picking up a book from the mantle. Anna felt as if he was watching her but every time she turned around, he didn’t appear to be. She did notice he had put on spectacles to read. He looked very studious with the firelight flickering off the lenses while intently flipping through the pages, very different than the farmer from earlier.

  She brought a warm rag to the table and handed it the Harriet who sheepishly set the honey jar aside and wiped her hands and lips before leaving the table. Anna removed the rest of the dishes and wiped the table clean of crumbs and stickiness.

  Harriet joined her father in front of the fire, lying down on the rug next to her dog. Anna stopped her cleaning in surprise when Jack started to read aloud from the book of adventure stories he held. She loved that he read aloud after supper.

  She had only planned on washing the supper dishes tonight and tackling the rest of the dishes the following day but in a little over an hour she had gotten through most of them. Anna cleaned as quietly as she could so that she could listen to the story, sometimes pausing when they got to an exciting part. She didn’t want to miss a detail. Jack had a wonderful reading voice. By the time Anna left the kitchen, the only dishes that remained were a few pots and pans that needed to soak overnight before she attempted to get them clean.

  Anna was tired but it was still a bit too early to retire, so instead she retrieved her new notebook and a pencil from her valise. She had purchased them with a small portion of the money Jack h
ad sent along for incidentals. She had most of the money left, minus the amount she had spent on meals. She sat at the table and began to make her lists, titling each page before filling them out.

  Anna loved to make lists. She made lists of the food she needed to buy, the cleaning that needed to be done, vegetables she wanted to plant in her garden, food she wanted to can and preserve, clothing she planned to sew. There were so many things she wanted to do. She was a bit overwhelmed but making the lists settled her and gave her a good idea of where to start. She was excited for the upcoming day so she could start on her first task.

  She was happily working on her lists for quite some time before she realized Jack was no longer reading aloud and had been staring at her.

  Anna blushed.

  “I don’t think there are enough food supplies to make it until Wednesday,” she said, tapping the pencil lightly on the table.

  He nodded, setting aside his book and pulling off his spectacles. “I should have picked up a few things today,” he admitted. “Maybe we can go tomorrow instead. It might be for the best. That way you can take stock of the kitchen and cellar to see what we need.”

  Anna nodded. “I’ve already made a pretty long list. But I’m sure more items will come to my attention as time goes on.”

  “I have quite a few things to do in the morning since I was gone most of today,” he said, standing. Jack placed the book back on the mantle along with his spectacles. “We’ll go tomorrow afternoon.”

  “Alright, I’ll be ready.”

  They stood staring at each other for a moment before he cleared his throat. “Well, it’s getting late, I’d better see to the animals. If I’m not back before you go to bed, goodnight.”

  “Goodnight,” she replied softly.

  Anna watched him leave the house before pushing her chair back. She quietly walked over to the sofa.