by Emily Claire
Karl is a kind man. He's not the romantic Irishman I always pictured myself with, but he's a good husband to me, and more importantly, he's a Christian. The local congregation is small, but everyone has been kind.
Roberta is in Wisconsin. We'd hoped we'd be close by picking states that were so close to one another, but I was on a train for almost a day longer than she was. I fear we'll never see one another again, but I try not to dwell on that, for fear I'll fall into melancholy.
I'm so sorry to hear about your mother. Whether you like it or not, I'll be praying for God to bring you peace about her passing.
I think you are making the best choice about being a mail-order bride. I think we'll all be better off when we have a man to share our burdens with us. That was God's arrangement from the beginning, as he showed us with Adam and Eve. Just remember that not all men are like your step-father. Give the man you marry the benefit of the doubt and treat him like a good man, instead of like you think he's evil.
Texas? Now that is a laugh. I hope you have a wonderful journey. Of course by the time you get this, the journey will be over. Please write and let me know when you arrive safely.
I'm sending this to general delivery in Coltonville, Texas, and when I next write our dear Bobbie, I will be sure to include your new location, so she can write as well. Have I mentioned yet that I miss you all so much? My husband is wonderful, but he's not my girl friends.
All of my love and prayers are going out to you.
Much love,
Sarah
She reread the section about giving her husband the benefit of the doubt and realized Sarah was probably right.
“Thank you for bringing this to me!”
“Must be good news, judging from the look on your face,” he said.
“Oh, yes! I’ve been so afraid I’d lose contact with my roommates. Some of us have been friends for years and years. When the mill shut down, everyone just scattered in different directions. It was terribly hard. It’s such a relief to hear from Sarah and I know she’ll get word of my whereabouts to some of the others.”
*******
On their first Sunday together, Gabrielle said she wasn’t quite up to joining him for church. He decided it wouldn’t be a bad idea to skip the meeting. While he seemed to have recuperated from his injury, he said it might be good to rest at home on this particular Sunday. She was relieved he didn’t seem concerned about her desire to stay at home.
*******
Later that week Boone came into the house from working in the barn and found her standing in the middle of the parlor, hands on her hips. She stared at one window and then moved to another, deep in thought.
After watching her for a moment, he finally gave up trying to figure out what she was doing. He moved to stand next to her, trying to see what she was seeing.
“All right, I give up. What’re you studying so intensely? Are you trying to find a home for another of my collections?” he asked.
Gabrielle laughed. “No, but I’ve got to admit I’ve never seen anyone with so many odds and ends.” She shrugged. “I guess we have the room for them, though. Anyhow, I’m looking at the windows. I love looking out and seeing the landscape, but I think this house could use some curtains. I’m just trying to decide what might look best. What do you think?” she asked, looking up at him.
“I like being able to see outside, too, but I don’t think it makes much difference to me one way or another.” He put his arm around her shoulder and turned her slightly, guiding her to a window near the front of the house. “I do like being able to see the road a little from here.”
Gabrielle felt a tingle move through her body at his touch, and hurriedly moved to another part of the room, hoping to distract him. “But can’t you imagine a bit of color brightening up this area?”
He stepped over to her and set his hand on her shoulder. “If you’d like some curtains, I’ll buy you some.”
Gabrielle moved back from his touch, hoping he didn’t notice that she was avoiding it.
Trying to cover up her reaction, she exclaimed quickly, “Buy curtains? Don’t be silly. I can make them. You know I worked at a textile mill, don’t you? I’m a great seamstress. I can make anything!” She blushed, realizing she sounded like she was bragging. “Well, I mean that’s what I’ve been told.”
“No, I didn’t know. You didn’t mention it in your letter. You can slow down on all this cleaning you’re doing, you know? You don’t have to be in a hurry.” He reached over and took her hand. “In fact, I believe there’s a lot more I’d like to get to know about you.”
Gabrielle jerked her hand away and crossed her arms, startled that he would touch her. “What are you doing?”
“I’m just trying to be friendly. Is there anything wrong with that?” he asked, innocently.
“I came here with the understanding that you wanted a wife in name only. Isn’t that what you advertised for? It’s certainly what I agreed to.” she said, bluntly.
“What? Well, I thought—.” Frustrated, he shook his head and turned away. “I’m going for a walk. I’ll be back.”
Boone walked over to his desk, opened a drawer, and took something out of it before leaving the house, closing the door quietly behind him.
Boone walked purposefully toward his barn. Once inside he sat on his workbench and opened the letters from Elizabeth Miller and Gabrielle that he’d brought outside with him. He read over them carefully.
Wisely, he’d chosen to save his notes from the letter he’d sent to Miss Miller and Gabrielle. He read over his choice of words. What was he thinking? At the time it seemed that it’d be so easy to have a woman in his home, to live together in peace as partners, or even as brother and sister would do.
But Gabrielle! He chuckled, realizing he’d finally remembered her name. She was unaware of how beautiful she was. He’d been stealing glances at her while she worked. Tall and beautiful, she moved gracefully and with purpose. He never expected his mail-order bride to be so beautiful. He was a man, after all. How could he not be drawn to her pale skin which contrasted so strikingly with her dark brown hair? When the sun shone on it at certain angles, he could see auburn in it. And those eyes! Each time he looked into them, it was hard to look away.
He reread the letters and sighed loudly. He was a man of his word. He’d proven himself as such, both as a businessman and in all of his personal dealings.
He’d need all the resolve a man could muster. He knew right away that he’d not be strong enough in and of himself to follow the ridiculous stipulations they’d both agreed to. He sat quietly and then bowed his head.
*******
Boone came noisily into the house, so as not to startle her. Her bedroom door was closed, so he knocked gently. When she invited him in, he found her sitting on the bed, writing some sort of letter.
He wondered if she was writing Elizabeth Miller, asking her for a way to get out of the marriage. Surely not. They were getting along, weren’t they? At least until he’d tried to touch her.
He liked the way she looked sitting atop the bed. He looked away briefly, before asking, “Gabrielle? Would you please come out here and sit with me? Let’s talk about what happened.”
The sound of her name on his lips brought a smile to her face. She set her items down as she stood up and moved out of the room. “Well, okay, but I’m sitting over there.” She pointed to a straight-backed chair, and sat down. The only other place to sit was the sofa, so Boone walked over and made himself comfortable.
She looked at him expectantly, waiting for him to start the conversation.
He leaned forward on the sofa, his knees spread apart slightly, and rested his forearms on his thighs, interlocking his fingers.
“I want to apologize to you. I don’t want to blame my concussion, but I’ll admit I guess I sort of forgot about the details of our agreement. I went out there and reread the letters, the one you sent to Elizabeth Miller and the one she sent to me. I’m willing to stand by wha
t we both agreed to, but I need to ask you a question.”
He thought she looked relieved. “Thank you. I accept your apology. After all, you’ve been through a lot and you haven’t really done anything wrong,” she said compassionately. “So, what’s your question?”
“Well, you’ve been here several days now, enough I think, to realize how you feel about our situation. I want to give you a chance to change your mind.” He stopped talking. Boone cocked his head to one side and raised his eyebrows, waiting for her answer.
Gabrielle seemed flustered. “Change my mind? Does this mean you’re not happy with me? Have I not pleased you with all I’ve been doing? I’ve been working my fingers to the bone. Just look at these hands!” She thrust her hands out in front of her body, in his direction. Quickly, she opened her mouth to continue on, but Boone waved his hand in the air.
“Whoa, whoa, whoa!” he said, trying to get her attention.
Gabrielle stood up, furious. “Don’t say ‘whoa, whoa, whoa’ to me like that. I’m not one of your precious horses!” She crossed the room quickly and hurried down the hallway to her bedroom in the back of the house, mumbling as she went. “Change my mind. How does one change their mind about such a thing as this?”
It felt good to slam the door once she’d stepped into her bedroom. She sat down hard onto the bed and folded her arms across her chest. How dare he? Does he want me to leave? Has he made his commitment so lightly that he could just decide he doesn’t want me here anymore? Does he think that if I don’t give in to his affections that it would just be a matter of “changing my mind”?
Gabrielle’s pride stung. She’d worked hard to make his house into their home and knew she’d done a good job of it. He’d told her he liked what she’d been cooking and was grateful to have ‘woman food’ as he’d called it. She’d had no idea that he wasn’t pleased with her. Not a clue.
She thought about her options, then smirked. She had no option but to stay and make the best of it. If he wanted to file for an annulment, then so be it, but she’d stay and try to find work and a place in town before she granted it. Surely they needed a seamstress somewhere. If not, well, she could find something.
She resolved herself to stay put and show him how useful she was until he told her it was time to go. She’d been on her own a long time and would do whatever it took to take care of herself. Everything, of course, except allow a man to touch her in a romantic way.
She left her room, determined to finish cooking the dinner she’d planned and not allow Boone to see how upset she’d been.
She passed his bedroom and noticed he wasn’t in it. Nor was he in the kitchen or the sitting room. Apparently he gone back to the barn. She set her hand to peeling and boiling potatoes to go with the roast she already had cooking.
He came in at dusk and washed his hands before making his way to the table. “Gabrielle, this smells so good! I could smell it outside and had to keep myself from running in to eat.”
“Thank you,” she said stiffly, heaping generous portions onto his plate.
She waited, knowing his routine. He would pray before they ate.
Boone bowed his head. “Dear Lord, we thank You for this bounty of good food. I thank You for the hard-working woman whose hands prepared it. We pray Your blessing on our marriage. Amen.”
When he had finished, he looked into her eyes. The anger from earlier was no longer etched onto her face.
“I’ll be going into town tomorrow for supplies. Would you make me a list of things you’d like?”
When she nodded, he continued. “I’d be pleased for you to go with me, if you’d like.”
Her face lit up. “Oh, I’d love that! I’m not used to just seeing the same old… that is, I mean, I’m used to seeing a lot more people than just one person day after day—.”
“That hard to look at, am I?” he grinned, teasing her. “It’s all right. I can’t imagine what it must have been like to live in a crowded city all my life. So, you’ll come with me, then?”
“Yes!” she said eagerly.
“Good. I’d like you to pick out whatever you want for curtains. I won’t have any objections to anything you do here. It’s your home now, too. You can choose whatever you need to make yourself comfortable, especially if it involves beginning your own collections, if you’d like.”
She looked at him like he’d lost his mind.
He laughed. “Kidding. I’m just kidding!”
He took several bites of food, making little grunts and sounds of appreciation as he ate.
“Gabrielle, would you mind telling me what it is you thought I meant when I asked you about changing your mind? I’ve a suspicion that maybe I didn’t express myself very well.”
His large brown eyes were tender toward her.
She swallowed her mouthful of food and nodded hesitantly.
She put her fork down and sat up straight in her chair. She looked as though she was ready to receive bad news. “You were saying that I’d had enough time to decide whether or not I like being married to you, weren’t you?”
“I was afraid that’s what you thought. Will you allow me to explain it differently now?” he asked.
Gabrielle winced slightly, and bit her bottom lip on one side. “Okay,” she said.
“What I meant to ask was whether or not you’d like to change your mind about the terms of our agreement. You know, about being married in name only, as partners.”
Gabrielle’s jaw dropped, and her mouth fell open as she looked at him questioningly. “You weren’t asking if I wanted to change my mind about being married, but rather about the conditions of our marriage. Is that right?”
It was his turn to nod now.
Boone took a deep breath and let it out slowly. “I didn’t know how hard it would be. I had no idea you’d be so alluring and so, so—.” He searched for the right words.
“So what?” she asked, sincerely curious.
He looked at his empty plate and said convincingly, “So good at being a wife.”
She blushed at his compliment.
“I like everything you’ve done here. You’re taking good care of me, even though I haven’t done anything to deserve it. I just thought you might want to change the agreement, that’s all. So, that’s why I was asking.”
Gabrielle stood slowly and reached over to stack his plate and utensils on top of her own plate. She moved them from the counter to the sink, obviously thinking about how she would respond to what he’d told her.
There was a kettle on the stove, already filled with hot water. She prepared to wash the dishes. He stood, as if to help, but she gestured, making it clear that she wished him to remain seated.
“My mother married my step-father when I was a young teenager. He wasn’t a good man, Boone. I’m not saying you’re anything like him, please understand that. But, the reason I wanted the marriage I agreed to, the kind that you also said you wanted, was because I… well, I just don’t need, or want, romantic affection. I’ve known this for a long time, and I’d always planned to remain unmarried.”
He spoke quietly, “Yet you chose to marry anyway. Why?”
Her voice was strained. “I assure you that it was through no choice of my own. My plan was ruined, and I was devastated.” Efficiently, she finished washing the dishes.
Boone stood and unfolded a small towel next to the wet dishes. She stepped aside to let him dry what was there.
“Hot cocoa?” she asked, reaching for two cups.
“Yep. Why don’t you fix those and we’ll take them out on the porch?”
She smiled at him. “To watch the sunset together?”
He laughed, nodding. “Just as promised in my letter. I guess we could call that my proposal letter, couldn’t we?”
Moments later they sat in rocking chairs on the porch. The sky was filled with puffy cloud waves of red and purple hues, which grew more vivid as they watched in silence.
“You realize, don’t you, that it wasn’t really my
first choice to make this move to Texas and marry you, don’t you?” she finally asked.
He responded gently after taking a sip of his drink. “Yes, I do. And you’re wondering what my reasons were for seeking a wife who didn’t want anything more than companionship, aren’t you?” he asked gently.
“I am,” she spoke hesitantly, as though she might not be sure she really wanted to know.
“I was married before. Her name was Amanda, and we were married for seven years before she died. I didn’t want to marry ever again after that. But, these last months have shown me that I need someone else around me.” Boone’s voice was pained. It wasn’t easy for him to talk about Amanda, even though so many years had passed since her death.
“When I got the idea to look for a wife, I really thought hard on it. I realized I had no interest in romance. I wanted a friend, but more than just a part-time friend. I wanted someone to share my life and, to be honest, I really didn’t think I’d find a woman who’d accept a marriage in name only. I prayed about it for a bit and then I felt compelled to talk to Clyde Williamson. He said he’d write to Elizabeth Miller on my behalf. Neither one of us really expected she’d find someone willing to marry under those circumstances. Did you know that Clyde’s letter and your letter arrived in her mail on the very same day? She believed it wasn’t a coincidence. She believed we were supposed to find each other.”
A feeling of relief washed over Gabrielle. “I think I believe it, too.”
Boone was content with their conversation. They understood one another, as far as he was concerned.
They watched the sunset. Gabrielle marveled at the darkness of the clear night sky and the brightness of the stars.
She shivered as she felt a chill in the air. Folding her arms across her chest, she rubbed her arms.