Every move he made, he saw her. He could see her in the flowers that were along the path to the house, and in the sunrise he watched every morning as he did the chores. He thought about her as he milked the cow, and when he actually got to see her, his heart pounded inside his chest so strong he wondered if she could hear it, too.
With each passing day he wanted to be with her more and more, and that feeling terrified him. He had promised himself he wasn’t going to feel this way about anyone, but the more he saw her, the harder it was to not feel anything.
She is having a baby that I am not the father of. How could you feel this strongly about her? She came out here to marry you out of sheer need. If she had been in a different situation, you never would have had a chance with her.
Toby yawned and rubbed his eyes. He rolled over, his back to the fire. With thoughts of Jessie still running through his mind, he desperately tried to fall asleep. Whether he got any rest or not, the morning was coming, and he was going to have to do the chores no matter how tired he was.
He didn’t know when sleep finally claimed him, all he knew was it only felt like a few minutes before the rooster was crowing outside.
Chapter 8 – A New Start
Fall leaves crowned the tree line at the edge of the field now. Jessie walked slowly, a basked in one hand, the other hand wrapping her shawl around her shoulders. The air was getting chillier, and she rarely left the house without her shawl or a coat.
This morning, Jessie wanted to take a stroll in the field she had gone to with Toby a couple months before. There was a peacefulness there that she couldn’t find anywhere else. Toby was busy most of the time now, doing something out in the barn.
He spent almost all of this free time out there, working with the wood he had left over from the extra room he had built on to the house. It had taken him nearly a month to complete it, but was finally done. As soon as that project had been finished, he spent every spare minute he had in the barn.
Jessie missed Toby. She had grown used to the business like nature of their marriage, and was enjoying the companionship she found with Toby around. She still felt that twinge of emptiness in her heart every now and then, but for the most part she was happy.
After all, her baby was to be born in just over a month, and she would have her hands full. Every now and then she wanted to go out to the barn and talk to Toby while he worked, but he told her she wouldn’t want to be in that dirty old barn, breathing in the dust in the condition she was in, so she spent her days alone in the house.
In her free time, Jessie spent hours knitting things for the baby. She had made a scarf for Toby for the turning weather, but she hadn’t seen him wear it. Now she worked diligently on a baby blanket for her little one. It was a bright blue, like the sky had been the first day she had arrived in California.
Suddenly, she heard a shout, and turned. Toby was calling for her, and hurried to catch up to her.
“There you are Missy! I have been looking all over for you… come here, I want to show you something.” Toby reached for her hand, and Jessie looked at him in surprise.
She reluctantly agreed and hurried as best she could beside his lively steps. There was something different about him, something she couldn’t put her finger on, but something that made her heart pound.
Was it the way he looked at her? Normally, he would speak looking away from her, or just give her a glance when he finished. Now, he looked at her full on, gazing into her eyes. She felt vulnerable when he did that, but excited at the same time.
The hurried to the barn, and Toby suddenly turned to face her.
“Now, I want you to go in front of me, and I am going to cover your eyes. Don’t worry, there’s nothing in the way for you to trip on, just walk in a few steps, and stop when I say.”
“Toby?” She asked, but he shushed her and walked behind her, covering her eyes from behind.
They walked into the barn, and Toby stopped.
“Are you ready?” He asked, and she nodded.
“Look!”
He lifted his hands off of her eyes, and Jessie blinked, letting her eyes adjust to the darkness of the barn. There, right in front of her, stood the most beautiful cradle she had ever seen. It was carved out of mahogany, and stained with a chestnut stain.
“Oh Toby!” She cried.
“Do you like it?” He asked, concerned, then continued. “I wanted to make you something special for your little one, Jess.
Listen to me. This is hard for me to say, mostly because I don’t understand it myself, but I love you Jessie. I really do. When I was young, and I saw the pain my father felt when my mother passed away, I promised myself I wouldn’t fall in love.
I wanted to save myself that pain, until I met you. You changed everything for me, Jessie. You are so beautiful and so kind and so charming. I just couldn’t help it. I fell in love.”
Jessie felt her throat get tight as he spoke. She had never dreamed this is what he was doing out here in the barn, and the fact that he told her how much he loved her made her feel like she was on top of the world. All she had wanted when she came out here was to find love, and now she had.
“Toby I-“ She began, but he interrupted her.
“Don’t anything. I don’t want to hear you say anything. All I want is the truth. I know I haven’t been the kind of husband you deserve, and I know I wasn’t the man you thought I was when you moved out here, but I have to know… Do you love me?”
He looked anxiously into her eyes, and waited.
A smile slowly spread across Jessie’s face, and she had tears in her eyes as she nodded.
“Yes, I do love you Toby. I do!”
Jessie threw her arms around his neck and kissed him, and he gently lifted her up off the floor. She felt complete at last. Her child was going to be born into a home filled with love. A home that was happy. A home that was ready for a baby.
Toby paced back and forth in the living room. Jessie had gone into labor earlier that day, and now the doctor was in the room with her, and all he could do was wait for the news. He wished there was more he could do to help; this waiting was driving him crazy.
He could hear Jessie making noise in the other room, and he prayed she would be ok. He couldn’t shake the fear of losing her out of his mind no matter how hard he tried, and he wouldn’t feel better until he knew she was ok.
After what felt like hours, the doctor finally appeared in the door. Toby turned quickly, though he stayed in the middle of the room.
“You should be very proud, Mr. Mathews,” the doctor said as he wiped his hands on a towel.
“You have a new son. Mother and child are both just fine, would you like to see them?”
Toby hurried into the room to find Jessie holding a small bundle in her arms. She looked up and smiled as he came into the room, and he kissed her. He reached out and took the little baby in his arms, and kissed his son on the forehead.
Jessie smiled at the sight, and laid back on the pillow. She had never been so happy in her whole life, and she knew no matter what happened next, she was going to be ok. She had her son, she had Toby, and she had love. Everything in life was absolutely perfect.
She wouldn’t change a thing.
THE END.
Included with this purchase is a collection of Christian Michael Mail Order Bride short stories. I do hope you take the time to read them! Enjoy!
Cowboy For Christmas
Mail Order Bride
CHRISTIAN MICHAEL
Bianca Cassidy tried to put on a brave face for the well-wishers in the receiving line. The shock was only just starting to wear off. As much as she tried to control them, her eyes kept straying to the two large wooden caskets lined up neatly beside each other. And the small one next to them.
God, what am I going to do?
“Thank you for coming, Mrs. Casey. I really appreciate it.”
“Oh my dear! You poor thing!” the little rotund woman sniffled into her lace handkerchief. “T
o lose your family like this!”
Yeah, you’re really not helping me out right now!
But of course, she couldn’t say that out loud. Bianca just nodded and hoped her smile didn’t appear too pinched. She wished it was over. She was ready to go to her room and shut the door and bury herself under her covers.
An orphan. That’s what I am now. And I don’t even have Little Betty anymore. And those two vultures! How dare they just waltz into our house like they own it and think to stay! Oh for shame!
Her aunt, Jessy and her greedy cow of a husband, Gerald, had moved into her house like they owned it, without so much as a by-your-leave. When her parents were still living Jessy and Gerald wanted nothing to do with them, believing themselves too good to mess with “common-folk” like May and Jim. But all that had changed when Papa had been lucky enough to strike a line of gold in the mines just two months ago. Overnight their fortunes had changed and there was now talk of getting an education for Bianca – and a good husband- and raising Little Betty up right and in style. Her parents were generous souls who gave to everyone in need in the town, even when they had little. When they became wealthy, they gave even more generously than before. Everyone loved them.
When Jessy and Gerald heard of the news, they had become like flies in honey with mama and papa. And the poor souls had swallowed their sap, never questioning why the two vultures were all of a sudden proud to call them family. Bianca knew better. She also knew that Jessy and Gerald would soon try to marry her off to some poor fellow far away so they could keep all the money for themselves. She had heard them talk about it just the night before.
At twenty-one, Bianca knew that she was pretty much on the shelf. When they were poor, no man wanted anything to do with her even though she was widely regarded as a beauty. When they became rich, all the eligible men began to flock to their door. But Bianca refused to let her head be turned by some man who was just after her new money. She was a practical soul. She knew that they did not truly want her. And as soon as she realized Jessy and Gerald were planning to stay, she had gone to Mama’s hiding place and took the “rainy day” cash the woman had stored in the little cubby under the floor. She hid it in her bodice and sneaked to her room; there she was astonished to find four thousand dollars in her hands. It was more than enough to last a life-time if she was careful. She could even live a little lavishly if she wanted to. Bianca had furtively hidden the funds in the bottom of her trunk under some old papers so that no one else would ever be the wiser.
Now as she stood with Jessy and Gerald at the funeral, she was glad that she had taken the money when she had. No doubt, the Vultures would go through the rest of Mama and Papa’s money in no time at all. And their plans for Bianca probably did not include any mercy or generosity.
I wish they were still here. Oh why did you even have to go to that place, Papa?! If you hadn’t, all of you would still be here now.
When Papa had struck gold in the mine that everyone had thought to be useless and dry, he had gone out and bought it that same day. Since no one knew the value hidden in it, he had gotten it for the price of dirt. Then, when he began to mine the gold, the cave’s value had soared and many people wanted to buy it from him. Rather than selling, he instead took up position as an overseer of the mines and hired others to do the work for him.
The day Bianca saw him for the last time, he had gone over to speak to the foreman about opening up another cave, connected to his own, that had just been discovered. Mama and Betty had gone with him because they were going to go shopping later for the annual town Fall Picnic and Dance. Bianca had opted to stay home because of a headache.
When she woke up from her noon nap, and discovered no one was home, she decided to go to town herself to join her mother and sister in shopping. On the way, she saw several people milling towards the mines on the edge of town. When she heard the dreaded words “cave in” fall from the lips of several people, she had thrown caution to the wind and made her horse gallop there a frenzy.
Everything was still a blur in her mind. The only thing she remembered clearly was seeing Papa, Mama and Betty lying prone and lifeless on the ground and Dr. White’s old and cloudy blue eyes misting with tears when he saw her. Bianca didn’t scream or cry or anything. She had slowly and unsteadily made her way over to them. She sank to the ground and placed her head and arms on Papa’s chest for the last time and lay there until the undertaker came to take them away.
Now here I am. All alone. Without a clue what to do.
The funeral was over; the crowds were gone. The bodies of Mama, Papa, and Little Betty had all been laid to rest in their graves. She was back home, in her room. And the Vultures were downstairs. Bianca slowly pulled off her clothes and dressed in her regular woolen dress and stockings before getting into bed. She needed to sleep. When she woke, she would face her future again.
That evening, Jessy, Gerald and Bianca all sat down for dinner. Jessy rang the bell for the servants to bring in the food. It was an aspect of life Bianca was not used to. Even after they had money, they lived humbly. Mama had hired a maid to help her cook and clean but she had also done a lot of the work herself. And she served the food to her family by herself as she had always done. Jessy though, loved to play Lady of the Manor. She lorded herself over the maids and demanded that they wait on her and serve her. Gerald had already set plans in motion for a contractor to come and discuss building a grand home for them because he absolutely refused to live in the “hovel” that Papa had built with his own hands, any longer than necessary.
Over dinner, Jessy pushed some ads under Bianca’s nose.
“Here, Be-Be dear. Take a look at these. Gerald and I think it is high time you are married. Why you are twenty-one now – almost twenty-two! You are an old maid and no one here wants to marry you – trust me, we asked – you’re too old for their tastes.”
Bianca nodded silently. She refused to rise to Jessy’s baits. What was the use anyway? The two of them wanted to get rid of her and marriage would be an opportunity to escape. As she perused the ads, she saw that they were all for mail order brides.
It’s not enough that I be married, they want to ship me across the country!
“We hired an agent to help you select a man,” Gerald said as he wiped his chin of gravy. “He will be here tomorrow.”
Select a man? As if I am choosing a horse?
“You should be grateful, girl” he continued. “We’re settling quite a sum on you – one hundred dollars, in fact – so that, if you’re lucky, your age won’t be too much of a deterrent.”
If you’re lucky, you mean? If I am out of the way, and some other man’s property and burden, you will have free access to Papa’s money after all.
Bianca smiled calmly, but inside she was seething.
“When will this agent be coming by?”
“He will be here tomorrow morning” was Jessy’s reply.
“Then, if you will excuse me,” Bianca said, pushing away her plate -she suddenly did not have much of an appetite - “I will like to get an early night and go through these ads before he comes.”
Mr. Renault, a wiry man, appeared at the front door at the stroke of nine the next morning. Bianca swallowed her nervousness and rose from the settee to greet the man as he was shown in by one of the new servants. She waited patiently while Jessy gushed over the man before inviting him to take a seat.
“Now, Ms. Bianca, your aunt here tells me you want to be a mail order bride on the frontier. That’s very courageous of you. Very courageous. We need young women like you to stand up with those brave men to settle the new lands we have acquired. ‘From sea to shining sea’ indeed!”
Bianca smiled politely and murmured what she hoped sounded like an agreement.
“Yes,” Mr. Renault coughed into his palm, “let’s begin then, shall we?”
As he spoke, the man began to place several small photographs on the table, explaining a little about each man: where they were, what they did, what k
ind of woman they were looking for and so on.
Many of the men were downright unpleasant to look at. Even through the black and white photos it seemed like some of them had never seen bathwater in their lives! Others were old enough to be her father or worse, grand-father. There was even one family looking for a young bride for their seventeen-year-old son! There were only three men in the stack of some fifty photos that were even mildly attractive. Of the three, only one, at twenty-seven, was close to her age, and that was the man she chose. His name was Jonah Cassidy.
At least I won’t have to change my last name. I will always be Bianca Cassidy.
But there was no other term for the entire charade. It was a business transaction pure and simple. The man was willing to pay one hundred and twenty-five dollars for a suitable bride – according to the agent’s discretion – to be paid to the family of the bride for the “loss of their daughter”. The agent would be paid the hundred dollars that was to be her “dowry” and Jonah Cassidy would gain a wife.
And, dear Lord in heaven, I have gained – perhaps “been saddled with” would be more appropriate – a husband.
Jessy told the agent that Bianca would be ready to leave in two days’ time and would arrive in Louisiana in two weeks.
Two days?! That’s all the time I get?!
The two days flew by in a whirl. Bianca packed everything she wanted to keep in her trunk, including a doll that belonged to Betty, and May’s porcelain hair combs, an anniversary present from Jim, which she had gifted to Bianca on her eighteenth birthday (because eighteen was the traditional age for young women to marry). She also took Jim’s Bible; it was old and worn and well-loved. He had read from it, for them, every night after dinner and had counseled the family on how to live according to it.
[2016] Widow Finds Love Page 3