by Sarah Thorn
Chapter Three
When they turned into the long driveway that would lead up to the house, Robin couldn’t help leaning her head out of the window to look around her. The farm was quite vast. She could not see any other homes in the surrounding area.
“This is beautiful! Do you have anyone helping you take care of the house? As in housekeeping and cleaning?”
“We have a lady from town that comes in every now and then to help,” Victor responded. “But mostly we do the cleaning, cooking and maintenance on our own. We aren’t helpless children.” He smiled to let her know he was joking. She smiled back at him.
“I’m very glad to hear that!” She almost said that she hadn’t come to be a mother but bit back her words before they got out. “Now there will be more hands to add to the duties.”
“I like the sound of that.” Joe said. “Do you have any objections to any particular type of housework?”
Cathy and Robin shook their heads. Joy didn’t respond as she and Ben were talking under their breath about things they liked and disliked. It was obvious from the looks on their faces that they were enthralled with each other and apparently had a lot in common, as well. The other four ignored them, amused.
“We are perfectly willing to continue helping,” Victor said. “I must say Joe has become quite a cook over the years. He makes some delicious dinners.”
“I do hope you’ll continue to do that,” Robin said, looking at Joe. “I am a good cook, too. Perhaps you can teach me a few things.”
Joe smiled. “I would love to do that.”
Cathy, who was across from Robin, sitting next to Joe, saw the house through the window and her eyes opened wide. “Your house is enormous!” She exclaimed, prompting Robin to turn around, leaning her head out the window again. Her eyes grew wide when she saw the house. Joy broke from her conversation with Ben to look out at the house, as well.
“It certainly is!” She said, turning a smile to the men. They smiled back.
“We’ve done some revisions. Made it bigger over the years.”
The carriage stopped in front of the house. Ben got out first and held out his hand to let Joy step down. They all got out, and the women stood gazing up at the large house while the men got their bags from the back. Cathy was clutching her sewing bag to her chest, slightly intimidated by the size of the house. She would never have expected a farm house to be so big. The city had houses this size but on her trips to nearby cities and towns in Virginia, she had never seen a two story farmhouse that spread out so much. She could see where there were additions made.
“Do you all work here on the farm?”
Joe nodded at her, placing her bags on the top steps of the porch and opening the front screen door and then the solid wooden door behind it. “We all have our chores here on the farm, yes. We grow wheat and sell it in town. Shall we go in? Victor will give you a tour of the house while I prepare dinner but first let’s take your bags to your rooms.”
“That sounds wonderful!” Robin said, stepping up onto the porch.
The women followed the men into the house, looking around with wide, curious eyes.
“Follow us. You will have three rooms to yourselves until we decide to formally marry. We thought it would be a good idea for you to learn more about us before we continue.”
“Where is your baby?” Cathy asked.
Victor peered down the hallway next to the stairs before starting up them. “She is probably in the nursery with Hannah. It’s probably about time for her to take a nap.”
“I would love to see her.”
Victor nodded and gave her a smile. “You will. But let’s let her sleep for now, shall we?”
Cathy grinned. “Of course.”
Robin took the stairs before the others, moving up them at a rapid pace, her hand sliding along the railing. “I do hope the room I have has a nice view. You have a lot of land here.”
Victor hurried after her, catching up quickly and moving past her a little. “I hope you like it. We have not used some of the rooms up here for more than storage.”
“What were you storing in them?” Robin asked, allowing him to pass her and then following him as he went down the small hallway to the first door.
“Ben makes furniture. Did I tell you that before?”
“No.” The ladies smiled at Ben with admiring looks.
He smiled back. “I haven’t made anything new in a few months,” He said. “But for a few years, I was working on something, at least, every day. I hope to start a new piece soon.”
“What do you plan to make next?” Joy asked, her soft voice happy and excited.
“I’m not sure. Perhaps a baby crib.”
Joy blushed furiously, causing the others to laugh. “Oh.”
“Come along. Let me show you to your room.” Joy followed Ben to a door just down the hall to the left and Victor gestured with his head to show Robin, which room was hers. Joe was last to come up the stairs, and he smiled at Cathy with that joyless smile he had given her before. It made her feel bad that he was obviously resigning himself to something he wished he hadn’t signed up for. Her room was the first after the stairs ended, the only one to the right of them. She opened the door because Joe was still carrying her bags and peeked inside.
The room was fairly plain, with a neat looking bed, made up nicely with two fluffy looking pillows and a white stitched quilt. A dresser for clothes and a table at which she could brush her hair and apply make-up also took up space in the room. There was a large red shaggy rug on the floor, which she liked very much. She also noticed the men had taken the time to put a bouquet of flowers in her room. They were red roses and brightened the place up quite a lot.
She nodded in approval, going in and sitting on the edge of the bed to test its firmness. It felt comfortable under her. She smiled at him. “I like this, Victor, thank you.”
He nodded at her. “I will let you get settled in. Meet me downstairs when you are done?”
“I will do that.” She nodded back.
He left the room, giving her another smile before he closed the door.
About ten minutes later, after she had explored the room, opening the drawers of the dresser and gazing at the pictures hung on the walls, she heard a knock on her door.
“Come in.” she called out.
Cathy opened the door and put her head in. “Robin,” She said. She pushed the door open more and Joy followed her as she came in.
Robin and Cathy sat on the bed while Joy stood in front of them.
“What do you think, Robin?” Cathy asked.
Robin shrugged. “It’s a nice room and a nice house. The men are very nice, too.”
“You don’t seem overly thrilled.”
Robin shrugged again, a look of resignation on her face similar to the one Cathy had seen on Joe’s face.
“Oh Robin, you don’t look happy.”
Robin sighed. “Well, you know I thought ahead and didn’t get my hopes up too much. The men back home were unattractive on the outside and the inside. Here, well, these men seem to be attractive both on the inside and the outside but…I don’t know if I am going to be happy here.”
“I hope you are!” Joy said, her soft voice still excited. Her face was bright and glowing with new love. “I am very excited and happy to be here.”
Robin looked at her. “That’s because the man you were assigned to is very attracted to you and you feel the same way about him.”
Joy blushed and lowered her eyes. “Yes, I suppose that’s true.”
Cathy smiled at her and took her hand. “I am so glad for you, Joy. You two are a very good match.”
“I wish we could say the same,” Robin grumbled, laying back on the bed abruptly and spread her arms out from side to side. “I was really hoping for a change when I came here. But I don’t know if I’m going to find my happiness here.”
“Do you want to go see the baby?” Cathy asked. She herself was very excited to meet the little one.
It was the first thing she’d wanted to do, but she didn’t want to push it when the men were bringing up the bags.
“Where do you think they will be?” Robin asked. “They were supposed to give us a tour.”
“I’m sure we’ll find them. I gather they didn’t wander far off. I wouldn’t be surprised if Ben were waiting at the bottom of the stairs for Joy.”
She and Robin laughed while Joy blushed even harder.
“I wouldn’t be surprised if he was waiting outside the door!” Robin stated, laughing more. Joy’s face was a bright red.
“Oh stop!” She said without much force. That made the other women laugh harder.
“Oh, we are only teasing you, Joy. Let’s go.” Cathy stood up, and the other women followed her. Joy went out first with the others behind her. Cathy looked up at Robin. “I’m sure everything will work out okay, Robin. We have to give this a chance. We just got here. Besides, if…if Victor turns out not to be the one for you, perhaps…perhaps we could switch.” She tried to hide a smile. Victor was a handsome man. Joe was a handsome man, too. She was fine either way though she felt Joe would probably be more pleased to have Robin on his arm than her. That left Victor’s desires out of the equation, however, and she had no idea how either men felt about either of the woman they had chosen. It was all up in the air at that point.
“We’ll see,” Robin said bluntly. She wasn’t about to leave. One way or another, she was determined to make this work.
Chapter Four
Joe stood in front of the counter cutting potatoes into smaller portions before he set them in the stove to cook. When he opened the stove, it let out the smell of the roast he was cooking, and he breathed it in. His brothers were both sitting at their newly-acquired table, one that was big enough for the six people. He was glad they had gotten rid of the old scratchy beat up one they had previously had. It was older than all three of them and needed to be burned so that it would never be used again by any unlucky people.
He finished what he was doing and went to the table to join in on the conversation between Victor and Ben.
“It’s obvious you made a good decision with this, Ben.” Victor was saying. Joe nodded as he sat.
“That is true,” He said. “You look like you really care for Joy, and you have only just met her.”
Ben’s smile revealed his feelings. It made his eyes crinkle. “I do find that I already care quite a lot for her,” He said.
Victor nodded. “That’s wonderful, brother.”
“How about you? What do you think of Robin?” Joe asked, turning to look at Victor.
His brother didn’t answer right away. He turned his eyes so that they were focused out of the window next to the icebox. “I’m not sure. I think it may take some time to get to know her. She seems…very energetic.”
Joe nodded. “I thought so, too. She’s quite pretty.”
“They are all pretty,” Victor said. “Your Cathy is a nice-looking woman.”
Joe made the same move as his brother, looking out the window to avoid looking at either of them. “I suppose she is. She seems quite reserved.”
“You’ve just met her,” Ben said.
“You didn’t seem to have any trouble with that,” Joe said with a smile for his younger brother. “I notice that you have already taken to holding her hand wherever you go. And that’s only from seeing you here around the house. That says something, you know.”
“Yes.” Ben nodded. Once again, his cheeks flushed with a light red color. “I am happy Joy is here. I think she’s probably the most beautiful…no, she is the most beautiful woman I’ve ever seen.”
“Someone’s got it bad.” His brothers laughed, teasing him. He just smiled at them.
“Well, I, for one, am happy for you, Ben. I’m sure we will be able to work things out with our own future wives.”
“I wonder, Victor…” Joe pursed his lips for a moment and tapped one finger on the table as he thought. “Suppose you end up getting along better with Cathy than I do and I with Robin better than you do. Did you notice that Robin likes to cook? That in itself is more compatible with me than I’ve seen her with you. You don’t like outgoing women. I am that way myself, and I appreciate like-minded people. Also, did you notice how Cathy was the one who asked about Minnie? I didn’t get the impression that Robin was interested very much. Would you consider switching?”
Victor laughed. “Switching? What a concept. I wonder what the women would think of that. Do you think they would feel rejected and hold resentment to either of us if we tried to do that?”
Joe contemplated the thought for a moment. “I suppose it might stir up a bit of trouble.”
“Let’s give it some time and see what happens.”
“We don’t want to give it too much time.” Joe said. “That will just mess with feelings even more. We should decide tonight.”
“I agree.” Victor nodded. “Especially because the little one will inevitably become attached to the woman who takes the best care of her.”
Joe nodded. “All right, let’s see how dinner goes and we will discuss it later tonight.”
“Sounds good to me.”
“Where is Hannah, by the way?” Joe asked. “Did you check on her when we returned?”
“Of course, I did. Minnie is asleep and will probably only be up for only about an hour tonight. Hannah said that she is not yet sleeping through the night and takes frequent naps during the day.”
“Will she stay to show Robin how to care for her?”
“I’m assuming she will. She didn’t say anything about leaving right away.”
“Did you notice that Cathy has a limp?” Joe asked them. They both raised their eyebrows at him.
“I hadn’t noticed,” Ben said.
“That’s because you weren’t looking at Cathy,” Victor said, smiling at Ben. He turned his eyes back to Joe. “Do you have a problem with that, my brother?”
Joe looked uncomfortable. “Not really. I’m just…”
“Are you disappointed she isn’t perfect?” Victor was a little irritated by his brother’s question. Cathy’s limp was barely noticeable, and he didn’t think it took away from her attractiveness in the least. “She seems to have a very affectionate soul from the little I’ve seen of her.”
Joe nodded. “Yes, she seems very nice. I was just wondering if you had noticed it.”
“I did.” Victor nodded. “Did you see how brash Robin is? You are right that she is outgoing. It makes me wonder how she will be with Minnie. Babies take patience and a lot of love. I wouldn’t want Minnie to grow up with a mother who doesn’t truly love her.”
“I don’t think that Robin wouldn’t love Minnie.” Joe found himself feeling a bit offended and felt the need to stand up for Robin. “I doubt that she would do any harm to the baby.”
“We still don’t know anything about these women, other than what they wrote to us in their letters,” Victor said.
“I think you should both stop bickering about the women and just settle yourselves to getting to know them. It already sounds like you want to switch. You’ll be deciding tonight; I have no doubt.” Ben said.
Robin, Cathy, and Joy took the stairs quietly and followed the smell of the cooking food to find the kitchen and dining room. Robin resisted the urge to knock on the door before pushing it open. If this was going to be her home, she wasn’t going to be knocking on the door to go in the kitchen.
She pushed it open, and the three women entered the room. The men stood up from the table to greet them.
“Hello!” Victor said, directing his eyes toward Cathy. She felt her heart thump a little bit but moved her eyes from him to Joe and then Ben.
“Hello, fellows,” Robin said. “We are ready to eat!”
There were smiles all around, and the men showed the ladies where they were to sit.
“I will serve you dinner tonight if you’d like.” Joe said. “We are having a roast with potatoes, gravy, peas and biscuits.”
“And smells delicious, too.” Joy nodded at Ben, who was holding the back of her chair to sit in.
Cathy woke abruptly to the sound of a baby crying. With her eyes half-closed and forgetting where she was, she threw back the cover and slid out of the bed, murmuring, “I’m coming, Lila. It’s okay, little one, I’m coming.”
As soon as she got to the door of her room, opened it and stepped out into the hallway, she remembered that she was not in her sister’s house any longer and that it wasn’t baby Lila who was crying. More fully awake and aware that she was not back home, she looked in the direction of the nursery. The sound of the baby crying was now muffled, and she could hear whimpering and soft talking. She went to the door of the nursery and pushed it open.
Hannah, whom she had not met the night before, was sitting in a rocking chair, holding a tiny baby, feeding her with a baby bottle. She looked up when Cathy came in and smiled. “Hello,” she whispered. “You must be here for little Minnie. I’m glad to help you learn how to care for her.”
“I know how to care for the little ones,” Cathy whispered, coming over and leaning down to peer into the tiny baby’s sweet pudgy face. “I took care of my sister’s children for years.”
“I’m so glad to hear that. Would you like to take her now?” When Cathy backed up, Hannah stood and transferred the baby and bottle to her.
Cathy thought about how good it felt to have the child in her arms. “Hello, little sweet one,” She whispered, bouncing the baby lightly in her arms. She moved her upper body from side to side, swinging her.
“Please sit. Your back will get tired very fast.”
Cathy sat. “Yes, as my sister’s babies got older, it became much more difficult to stand and rock them. I had to take care of them frequently, as my sister suffered from an illness right after having her second child, Lila. I cared for Lila every night until she was two years old. That’s how old she is now.”
“I do hope your sister is well now.”