Mail Order Merry (Brides of Beckham Book 19)

by Kirsten Osbourne

  For Clyde, she carefully carved a bison from pictures she’d seen in books back home. Never in her life had she seen a real live bison, because they just didn’t roam the streets of Beckham. She thought she’d done a good job when she was finished, though. And for herself she made a small artist’s palette.

  When she was finished with the four, she realized that Charlie would be there for Christmas, and she didn’t want her friend to feel left out, so she thought about her, wondering what she would like for her ornament. She decided to make her an ornament that sold well for her, a carving of Santa Claus. She worked for a little more than an hour on it, before looking up at a knock on her door.

  “Charlie said you’ve been up here all day.” Clyde stood looking down at her, a half-smile on his face.

  “Oh, I’m so sorry! Once I start working, I forget that there are people counting on me.” She set the ornament down; she was mostly done anyway. “I’ve been working on ornaments for the two of us and the children.”

  “Did the pine blocks I had brought in work out for you?”

  “Yes, they were perfect! I thought that was pine. I usually work with basswood, but the pine was perfect.”

  “Did you get the kitchen set up like you wanted?”

  Merry rubbed the back of her neck, nodding tiredly. “The kitchen is set up. I still need to work some in the children’s rooms getting their things out and spread around. I’d like to make curtains for the children, and thick quilts. It seems to be colder here than it is in Massachusetts, though that might just be my perception of things.”

  “Do you have the supplies you need to make them?”

  She shook her head. “No, not yet. I’m hoping we can go into town on Monday and get what we need. I assume the store’s not open on Sunday?” She hated the idea of them both losing half a day of work to go into town, but she didn’t see any other way.

  “No, it’s not. I can ask Colin to let us go in and pick out the things you need to save a trip to town though. He’ll do it. He’s been my friend for years.”

  “Then we can do it while we’re in town for church. That would be perfect.” She didn’t want to waste his time any more than she wanted to waste her own.

  “I’m starving. Did you think to feed me while you were up here making Christmas ornaments?”

  She made a face. “Charlie cooked. I’m sure it’s ready.” She left her workroom, but stopped and peeked into the baby’s room first. He wasn’t there. Charlie must have listened for him and took him down. She’d been so engrossed in her work, she hadn’t even noticed.

  Charlie had fixed a hearty beef stew, and Merry sat with the baby while Charlie served it. “Thanks for agreeing to me staying,” Charlie said softly to Clyde as she served his stew.

  He nodded at her. “Merry thinks you’re perfect for the job.” He didn’t have to add that he didn’t approve of his wife’s choice, because it was written on his face.

  Once everyone had been served and a mountain of biscuits graced the middle of the table, Clyde said grace over the meal. His eyes lit up as he saw that Addy was feeding her stew to the doll he’d given her. “Have you come up with a name for your baby yet, Addy?”

  The little girl nodded at him, and he saw Merry bite her lip as Addy answered. “Baby Ugly Hair.”

  He almost spit out the coffee he was drinking, choking a bit instead. “Baby Ugly Hair? You don’t like her hair?” What kind of child named her new doll ‘Baby Ugly Hair’?

  “Penelope had pretty hair, like Aunt Merry’s. And Mama’s.”

  “I see. I’ll have to find a baby that has pretty hair for you then. Do you think you could call her something nicer, though?”

  “I like Baby Ugly Hair,” Addy told him. She took another bite of her stew, and then fed a bite to the doll. “She just looks like a Baby Ugly Hair to me.”

  Clyde looked over at Merry, who seemed to be fighting not to laugh. “I’ll help you pick one out if you’d like?” Merry offered sweetly.

  Clyde shook his head. “No, I’ll go to the mercantile after church tomorrow and see what I can find.” It was personal now. He was going to find a baby that Addy would like if it killed him. Little Baby Ugly Hair needed siblings.

  After supper, while the two women did the dishes, he sat in the parlor watching as Joey banged two blocks together and Addy played with her doll. “Do you like it here so far?” he asked Addy.

  She shrugged. “The house is big. Our house at home was small.”

  “Do you like small houses better than big ones?” he asked. He wished he had a better understanding of what she needed.

  “Not really. It’s nice to not have to share with a stinky boy.”

  He held back a chuckle. “I hope you don’t think I’m a stinky boy?”

  “Oh, no, you’re just a stinky uncle. There’s a difference.”

  “So I’m stinky?” It was all he could do not to laugh at the little girl. She obviously had no idea how offensive her words were.

  She shrugged. “I suppose if you take a bath, you’ll smell better.” When he didn’t answer, she looked up at him. “Did I hurt your feelings? I didn’t mean to.” Addy came over then. “Would holding Baby Ugly Hair make you feel better?”

  Clyde grinned down at the little girl. “No, you hold Baby Ugly Hair. Are you sure there’s no other name we could give her?”

  The girl shrugged. “Maybe we could call her Bob, but that’s the only other thing that would work.”

  “Bob? That’s a boy’s name.”

  “Her hair is so ugly she should be a boy.”

  Clyde shook his head. “Baby Ugly Hair it is.” He wasn’t about to call a doll in a dress Bob. It just didn’t work for him.

  Merry came into the room then, saving him from any further conversation with the headstrong, toddler. “Time for all good children to be in bed.” She scooped Joseph up in her arms and blew on his neck, eliciting a loud squeal from the baby.

  Charlie came in behind her. “You too, Addy. Time for bed.”

  The two women carried the children up the stairs together, leaving Clyde looking out the window. It seemed strange to have the extra woman there when he should be alone with his new wife, but the fact was, he wouldn’t be alone with her anyway, because of the children.

  When Merry came back down, she sat beside him. “Charlie went to bed. She’s still exhausted from her journey.” And she wanted to give us some time alone together.

  He turned toward her on the sofa, smiling at her. “You know if we’d courted normally, we’d be used to sitting in parlors together, kissing when no one was looking?”

  She smiled at that. “But we didn’t court normally. Not that I would complain if you wanted to kiss me a bit.”

  “Oh, you wouldn’t?”

  She shook her head. “I kind of like it when you kiss me.”

  “No one is going to sit in our parlor with Addy and kiss her. She’s my little girl, and I’ll beat them off with a stick if I have to.”

  “My dad always said that about me, but it never happened. For some reason he was fine with Carole dating, just not me.”

  “I think it was probably because Carole was older, but for whatever reason, I’m glad. He saved you for me.”

  That wasn’t exactly how it had happened, but Merry didn’t tell him that. “What time do we have to be in town for services in the morning?”

  “Not until ten. We won’t leave here til about quarter after nine.”

  “Oh, that’s later than I expected. Good. I’m not great at getting the children ready yet.”

  “I’m sure Charlie will help.”

  Merry nodded. “She will. I’m glad you agreed to let her stay.”

  “It sounds like she’ll make your life a lot easier, and that’s what I care about.” He moved closer to her, putting his arm around her shoulders. “And kissing you. I care about kissing you.”

  Merry obediently lifted her lips to Clyde’s, her hands going to his shoulders. They’d had so little time alone
together and kissing hadn’t happened much. After only twenty-four hours of marriage, it wasn’t anything unusual, though. At least not in her mind.

  Clyde lowered his head and kissed her softly, one hand cupping her cheek. “I’m glad you were the one to answer my letter. I can’t imagine being married to anyone else.”

  She sighed. “I’m glad I did too. I feel like I’m not quite the wife you need yet, but I’m doing my best.”

  “We’ll figure it all out together.” He kissed her once more, quickly. “You run up to bed, and I’ll join you in five minutes.”

  Merry hurried up the stairs to change, a smile on her lips. He was a gentleman, always thinking of her needs first. What more could she ask for?

  *****

  The schoolhouse was full the following morning, and although there were a few familiar faces, Merry felt like a bug in a glass. Several young cowboys approached her, hat in hand, introducing themselves, so they could in turn be introduced to Charlie.

  Merry did her best to remember to introduce her friend as Charlotte, knowing the male version of her name would be off-putting for some gentlemen. She was relieved when they could finally sit, and they could pay attention to the sermon. The pastor had a soothing voice that Merry found made her want to fall asleep.

  After the service was over, Merry and Clyde left the children in Charlie’s capable hands and walked to the mercantile to do the shopping they needed to do.

  While Merry was picking out fabrics for curtains and quilts, Clyde stood looking at the dolls. There were two who had the same shade of red hair as his wife, but he called her over anyway. “I need to make sure the hair color is right.”

  Merry laughed. One of the dolls looked a great deal like Penelope had, but he’d said he didn’t want help picking a doll out. It was his gift to Addy, so she simply stood and let him compare the doll’s hair color to hers.

  “This one then,” he said, picking the doll that didn’t look as much like Penelope.

  She bit her lip to keep from telling him that he should choose the other. “I’m almost done picking out fabrics. Maybe I’ll make a quilt for Baby Ugly Hair to match the one I make for Addy.”

  “Baby Ugly Hair isn’t going to need a quilt, because Addy’s going to love this baby the best,” Clyde told her, striding confidently to the register. “Thanks for opening up for us today, Colin. I know you don’t like to do business on the Lord’s day.”

  Colin just shrugged. “I don’t prefer to, but I see no reason for you two to have to make another trip into town tomorrow with a storm coming.”

  “Storm?” Merry asked. “Do you think there’s a storm coming?” She looked out the glass windows at the front of the store but saw nothing there that would make her think a storm was coming. “Should we get more food?”

  “Not sure, but I think so,” Colin responded. “Take a few more minutes and get what you think you’ll need. I’ll wait.”

  Merry rushed through the store grabbing the things she knew they were missing, and some extras, not knowing how long the storm would last. Five minutes later she put everything on the counter in front of the merchant.

  Colin quickly wrapped up the purchases and put them on Clyde’s account. “We’ll see you next Sunday if not before.”

  Clyde nodded. “Sounds good.” He put his arm around his wife’s shoulders, feeling proud that she was his. They walked past Mrs. Margery Black, and he met her eyes for the first time in five years, nodding at her. She may have moved on to another man, but he’d found another wife. One who suited him so much better than she ever could have.

  When they got to the sleigh, Charlie was standing holding Addy’s hand, little Joey in her arms. There were men in a circle around her, talking to her and trying to get her attention.

  Charlie looked at Merry with wide eyes, and Merry smiled back. She wasn’t going to rescue her friend, because Charlie had made it clear she was looking for male attention. Every woman needed to learn at least once in her life that you shouldn’t ask for anything that you don’t really want.

  Clyde loaded their things into the sleigh and helped Merry in, before taking the baby from Charlie and handing him to Merry. Then he lifted little Addy in beside her aunt. “Are you ready?” he asked Charlie softly.

  The girl nodded emphatically. He could see she was overwhelmed by all the attention she was receiving, and he knew it shouldn’t amuse him so much, but it did. He helped her into the sleigh, and she immediately took Addy onto her lap.

  “Did you meet anyone interesting?” Merry asked softly as they drove out of town.

  Charlie shrugged. “Who could tell them apart? There were so many of them!”

  Merry laughed. “Obviously no one caught your eye then, or you’d have singled him out.” She was sure she’d have gravitated to Clyde in a similar situation.

  “Probably.” Charlie hugged Addy. “I’m glad I had the children with me. I don’t know why holding Joey made me feel safer, but it did.”

  “Maybe because he was a bit of a shield between you and your ardent admirers?”

  “I can’t wait until the Christmas party at church,” Clyde said. “They’ll be fighting over who gets to dance with you.”

  Addy looked at Charlie, who seemed more than a little panicked at Clyde’s words. “And you have yellow hair instead of pretty hair like my mama and Aunt Merry. If you had pretty hair, they’d really like you.”

  Addy wasn’t certain why her words elicited the laughter they did, but she didn’t complain. The whole way home she kept asking if she was funny. The answer was always yes.

  Chapter Seven

  Merry finished up the ornaments on Monday and had them ready to hang on the tree whenever Clyde was ready to find one. She was pleased with her work, but she was also pleased with the relationship she was building with her new husband.

  On Tuesday, she and Charlie gave the house a good cleaning, deciding they’d spend the afternoon working on the new quilts while the children napped.

  Clyde seemed distracted when he came in for lunch that day. “I don’t have much time,” he told Merry, hanging his coat and hat by the door.

  “Why not? Is something wrong?” Merry asked.

  “It looks like we’ve got another storm coming in. We had a bad blizzard just a couple of weeks ago, and now it looks like another. We need to get the herd moved to another part of the ranch where they’ll have more of a chance to get out of the harsh weather.”

  “Will they die?”

  He shook his head. “Rarely. They grow a thicker coat during the winter, and they’re really good at burrowing through the snow to get to the grass underneath it to eat. I just like to make it a little easier on them by moving them to a wooded area, so they’ve got a bit of cover. The range they’re on now has no trees at all, so they don’t have any protection. They don’t need it, but for my own peace of mind, I want them to have it.”

  “I think that makes sense.” Merry walked to him and kissed his cheek. “Lunch is ready.” She’d made a thick hearty chicken soup, worried about how cold it was outside and the number of hours he spent out there. She could warm him up with the soup.

  “Sounds good.” He wandered into the kitchen, sitting at his spot at the head of the table.

  “So you really think the bison will be all right?” Merry asked, a little worried about him and his livelihood.

  “Oh, yeah. We lost one sick animal during the last storm. We’d already been watching her, because we knew she was ill.”

  Merry nodded. “Eat your soup. I want you warm before you go back out there. I worry about you getting ready for a storm. Are you sure you won’t get caught out in it?”

  “I take every precaution I know to take. There’s no need to worry about me. I’ve been doing this for a long time now.”

  “I suppose so. I just haven’t been your wife that whole time.”

  He took her hand and kissed it softly, ignoring Charlie and the children. “I’m glad you’re here with me now.”
/>   *****

  Before going in for the evening, Clyde made sure that he’d given the horses extra hay, strung a rope between the house and barn so he could milk the cows, and spread extra hay out for the bison to eat in case the storm lasted longer than they expected.

  He was late getting into the house, weary from the day. The first thing he saw when he walked in was the baby taking steps while hanging onto the sofa. It was the first time he’d seen the boy move on his own. Merry had told him repeatedly that he did, but Clyde worked most of the hours the baby was awake, so he’d not gotten a chance to see him moving that way yet.

  After shedding his outerwear, he sat down on the sofa and carefully picked the boy up, holding him under his arms. He’d never held a child so small. Addy was sitting with her doll, holding her as she watched him with her brother.

  “What did you do all day?” he asked, softly. “Huh?”

  “He doesn’t talk yet,” Addy told him, her voice filled with an air of superiority that was seldom heard from people older than five.

  “I see. What does he do then?”

  “He eats and poops and crawls and makes messes. He’s boring.”

  Clyde shook his head. “So you don’t like having a brother?”

  “He’ll be better when he’s bigger and I can boss him around. That’s what you get to do when you’re the oldest.”

  “Really? I was the youngest so I never got to boss anyone.”

  “Well, now you get to boss Aunt Merry, cuz she’s smaller than you.” Addy smoothed down her doll’s skirt, not looking at him as she talked to him.

  Merry stepped into the room then. “I hope your uncle won’t start bossing me around just because he’s bigger than me. That wouldn’t be nice at all.” She walked over to Clyde. “We waited for you for supper. Are you hungry?” She sat beside him, resting her head on his shoulder as she made faces at the baby, and he cooed back at her.