The Mail Order Brides of Last Chance

by Lucille Chisum

  Once more, Betsy turned silent, and Rachel noticed how uncomfortable she seemed. “So what is it you wish to talk about?” she asked, her tone soft and gentle. “Is everything going well with Stewart?”

  “Oh, of course.” Betsy smiled.

  “And your sister?”

  “Bonnie is also well. She’s with child, about two, or two and a half months now.”

  “Rather a bit behind me,” Rachel noted, and she cocked her head in curiosity. “But we should talk about you. You said you needed to talk?”

  Betsy nodded. “Well, yes.” She turned away, looking at the desk. “Actually, I was hoping you might be able to give me some . . . advice.”

  Rachel shook her head and laughed, and then she pushed back a lock of dark hair that had strayed and fallen over her forehead.

  “Advice? Me?” She laughed again, this time a giggle. “Well, I’m hardly a font of wisdom.” Rachel looked down at her belly. “Especially these days.”

  Then she saw the concern etched on Betsy’s face, and Rachel realized she needed to be comforted about something.

  That was part of the “job” of being Aaron’s wife and his de facto nurse—honing in on the needs of others was the most important thing, and Rachel knew she had a small gift for it.

  “I’m happy to help if I’m able to, though,” she said, softening both her tone and her manner. “What seems to be troubling you?”

  Betsy looked around, as if there might be an escape hatch that would allow her to leave the room without notice.

  “This is . . . difficult for me to talk about,” she began haltingly.

  Rachel simply nodded, so Betsy went on.

  “It’s just that . . . well, Stewart and I have been married for a few months now. And we would very much like to . . . to . . . start a family.”

  Rachel resisted the urge to grin. She thought back to the early days of her marriage with Aaron. The awkwardness of it, and the newness of it, being with him. And it pertained to everything, in fact.

  Then she remembered the rest of it. The fear and the uncertainty, wondering if Aaron would reject her. Would she be able to do this thing for him? To love him, and to start a family?

  “It takes time,” Rachel said finally. “It really is that simple.”

  Betsy shook her head violently, and suddenly she felt hot tears forming in the corners of her eyes. “Well, it doesn’t seem simple. Not in the least. Not any of it.”

  Rachel watched, waiting to see if Betsy would cry. Perhaps she needs that, she thought. Heaven knows there were many times I did when I first came here.

  Then she looked down at her belly. I am sure I have a fresh handkerchief here for her in the pocket of my dress if she needs it, she thought, and then she smiled to herself. If only I can reach it.

  Betsy reached up and wiped her eyes, one at a time. Then she sniffed, and finally she gathered herself.

  “Can you help me?” she asked desperately.

  Rachel smiled. “Perhaps,” she said gently. “But what is it you need help with?”

  “Well, it’s been three months,” Betsy said, struggling to keep the urgency from her voice. “And nothing’s happened!”

  For a moment Rachel thought she might lapse into tears, so she waited once more.

  “Might I ask a question, then?”

  Betsy shook her head, and Rachel saw fear in her eyes. “Um . . . I guess so,” she said, feeling as small as she’d ever felt in her life.

  “What would you like to know?”

  Rachel reached over and placed her hand gently on Betsy’s arm. Doing this required an effort that seemed formidable to her, but fortunately their chairs were close enough to make it manageable.

  “Are you happy?”

  Betsy blinked. “Happy?” Then she shook her head. “I don’t understand.”

  “It’s a simple question,” Rachel said. “Are you happy?”

  She blinked a second time. “Why . . . I don’t know,” Betsy said, hoping she didn’t sound as confused as she felt by the question.

  “I’m . . . not sure what that has to do with it?”

  Rachel laughed heartily. “Well,” she began. “Everything. And nothing.”

  Betsy shook her head, obviously baffled, and for a few seconds she had no idea what to do.

  “Whatever do you mean?” she finally asked.

  Rachel shrugged. “I had the same experience when I first came here, to Last Chance,” she said. “With Aaron. Doctor Jessup, I mean.”

  Betsy blinked. “You did?”

  “Oh yes,” Rachel replied, nodding. “I mean, it’s different for all of us, but it’s basically the same. Everything is confusing.”

  “Everything?”

  “Of course,” she continued. “All of it. Aaron, Last Chance, making a life here. I had no idea if it would all work out.”

  Betsy nodded. “But it did,” she said. “You two seem so happy together.

  Rachel laughed softly. “We are,” she said. “But we had to go through our struggles before we could be happy.”

  “Struggles.” Betsy thought back to the stories she’d heard, that Aaron had been a faith healer who was accused of misleading people. She sighed. “But I don’t know what that has to do with me.”

  “I understand,” Rachel replied. “And of course I wish to know nothing of the details of your life with Stewart, unless there is something specific related to a medical matter that you wish to talk about.”

  “No, no,” Betsy said, and suddenly she thought of the progress of her relations with Stewart. He, too, had thought himself a failure at first. But gradually they were getting used to each other, so that part of it was improving, and somewhat rapidly at that.

  “Everything is fine . . . medically speaking,” she said, blushing fiercely.

  “Good,” Rachel said, nodding and grinning as she saw the depth of her blush. “Then it won’t be much longer.”

  Betsy frowned. “It won’t?”

  “No. At least not in my experience,” Rachel replied. “If you focus on being happy, and on taking care of one another and being kind, you will soon be with child. God will provide.”

  She blinked. “He will? But . . . how?”

  Rachel laughed. “Why, in the normal expected ways,” she said. “I know it doesn’t make sense, but that tends to be how this sort of thing works.”

  “Oh.” Betsy shook her head. “I had no idea.”

  “Of course not,” Rachel said with a shrug. “How could you?”

  Betsy studied Rachel, who had her hands on her belly. She seemed like some sort of sage or mystic, and Betsy wondered how she had acquired that quality.

  Then the oddest thing happened. Suddenly Rachel lifted her hands with a start, and she shook her head and began laughing. Betsy looked at her in concern.

  “Is everything all right?”

  “Of course,” Rachel replied, rolling her eyes. “He does this every now and then.”

  “He?”

  “Yes,” she nodded. “I mean, I imagine him as a boy, anyway. I have my doubts that a girl could kick this fiercely.”

  “Kick?” Betsy blinked.

  “Oh yes.” Rachel motioned for her to bring her chair closer. “Here—place your hands here. I’ll show you.”

  Betsy’s eyes widened in terror, but Rachel didn’t hesitate for a second. She took Betsy’s hand and place it on her belly. Betsy looked at Rachel in alarm, but Rachel merely smiled.

  Then, suddenly she felt it.

  “Oh!” She pulled her hand back. “He kicked me!”

  Rachel grunted slightly. “He sure did,” she said. “And that was a hard one.”

  Betsy studied her. Some of the color seemed to have drained from Rachel’s face.

  “Are you all right?” she asked, suddenly alarmed.

  Rachel shook her head and grinned. “I think so,” she said, her tone more informal than Betsy was used to. “Just takes me a minute or two to recover from one of those.”

  “Should I
get Doctor Jessup?” Betsy asked.

  She shook her head again, this time more vigorously. “Goodness no,” Rachel said. “He’ll have a panic. It will take me hours to calm him down.”

  Then, suddenly, without warning, Betsy began laughing. It started as a slight giggle, but Rachel began laughing with her, and before she knew it neither of them could stop.

  Their laughter went on for several minutes, and when it was done they were both gasping for breath. Somehow Betsy felt lighter, and she looked at Rachel, grateful.

  “So that’s why you shouldn’t worry about it,” Rachel said, and Betsy realized that she understood. She nodded, and Rachel smiled.

  “Because it’s different for all of us,” she said, and then Rachel looked down at her belly, as if she was wary of another kick.

  “But sometimes it happens in the blink of an eye,” Rachel added, nodding downward. “Just like that.”

  Stewart waited for several days to buttonhole Dr. Jessup. He’d nearly completed the plans for the extension of the doctor’s office, with considerable help from the McCourty brothers, of course.

  They wanted to get it built before Christmas, but that felt optimistic; more than likely it would have to be completed in the spring, unless Colorado produced one of its ever-welcome winter lulls.

  But he had a lot more on his mind. And Stewart had the strong feeling that the doc was the only one who could help.

  Finally, near the end of the week, Stewart saw his opening. The office waiting room had emptied out, making it one of the few days when Aaron Jessup wouldn’t be seeing patients well into the evening.

  Still, Stewart was patient, and he gave the doctor plenty of time in his office after the patients were gone. He knew Dr. Jessup liked to use that time to catch up on his paperwork, which was an important part of making accurate diagnoses.

  Then, just as he entered the hallway, Stewart heard the sound of rustling papers. He knew that sound meant the doc was about to leave, which also meant it was time for him to seize his opportunity.

  “’Scuse me, doc?” he said softly, rapping gently on the office door. “Got a minute?”

  Aaron Jessup shook his head, and he pushed his chair back suddenly and nearly fell over. This was Stewart’s fear, for he knew the doctor tended to become so immersed in his work that any interruption would completely startle him.

  “Oh!” he said finally, when he’d managed to balance the chair.

  “Stewart! I didn’t know you were still here.”

  Stewart nodded. “Just finishing up the plans for the office,” he said. “I had something I just wanted to show you, if you happen to have a minute.”

  Aaron looked around, slightly panicked. He tried to order everything in his mind—the chart he’d been finishing, the report he still needed to write, and how he would fit all of this into his schedule for tomorrow.

  Then he shook his head, and Aaron laughed at himself. He’d done more than enough for one day, and all of the rest of this could easily wait until tomorrow.

  “Sure,” he said, rising from his chair. “Does this have to do with the new office?”

  Stewart blushed, and Aaron frowned. He’d never seen the boy blush before, and he automatically wondered what was behind it. He started to ask Stewart about it, but something made him hold back.

  “Well, sorta,” Stewart said. “It’s right down the hall, actually.”

  That made Aaron even more curious about whatever was driving this. He hadn’t noticed anything during his rounds, and the office extension was still in the planning stage.

  Moreover, Stewart was usually quite shy about discussing just about anything. He knew the young man was close with his wife, Betsy, which was as it should be. But most everyone else could barely get a “howdy” or a “hello” out of him, at least as far as Aaron knew.

  He got up from his chair, and Stewart nodded down the hall. Aaron followed, and then Stewart turned into the lone unused examination room, which made the whole thing even stranger.

  What in the world is this boy up to? Aaron wondered. He’s never done anything like this that I know of.

  Stewart stood aside once he’d entered the room, and Aaron followed.

  Then he saw what all this was about—at least in part. Perched on the wooden examination table was a small crib, also made of wood, that Stewart had obviously built himself.

  “I just wanted to show you this,” the boy said shyly. “I made it myself.”

  Aaron blinked, trying to hide his level of surprise, which bordered on shock. He had no clue at all what to make of this, and only the barest idea of how to approach it with Stewart.

  “Why, it’s wonderful, Stewart,” he said, hoping he didn’t sound as confused as he felt. “It looks like you put a lot of time into it.”

  “Oh yeah,” Stewart replied, managing a slight grin. “Hard to work in the time, what with Christmas coming at all. But hopefully I’ve done it justice.”

  Aaron nodded vigorously. “I should say so,” he said, grinning as he shook his head. “And more than that by far, I think . . . although I know little about how such things are constructed.”

  “It’s simple,” Stewart said with a shrug. “You just have to make the time, and have patience.”

  The doctor nodded a second time. “That is the case with most things,” he said, studying the crib more closely. “But you certainly have done an excellent job, at least from what I can tell.”

  “Thank you,” Stewart said, nodding, and then he fell silent.

  Aaron waited for more, but no words were forthcoming. Whatever this was about, he would have to pry it out of the boy, or at least find a way to get him to open up a bit. Which wouldn’t be at all easy to do.

  “So . . .” Aaron began, “Why have you built it?”

  Stewart shrugged, and then he blushed. Was Betsy pregnant? Was that what this was all about?

  “Just something I felt like I needed to do,” he replied, which of course told Aaron nothing. “A lot of it was about Christmas.”

  Once again, Aaron waited, but the boy remained silent. The Christmas gambit felt like a bit of a dodge, but it was hard to be sure. This may be more difficult than I thought, Aaron thought.

  “So you said this has to do with the addition?” he asked.

  They boy nodded awkwardly. “In a manner of speaking,” he said. “Yeah.”

  Aaron smiled. “Well, I’m afraid you’re going to have to explain this to me. I’m a little lost.”

  Stewart took a deep breath, gathering his thoughts. He’d thought this was going to be easy once he’d come this far, but instead it was proving more difficult than he’d imagined.

  “I . . . well, part of the reason had to do with your wife,” he said.

  Aaron frowned, confused, and Stewart panicked a bit, thinking his statement might be taken the wrong way.

  “What do you mean?” the doctor asked. “Now I really am confused.”

  Stewart smiled shyly. “Well, if you must know,” he began. “She said something about . . . I kind of don’t remember the word. Has something to do with kids.”

  Aaron cocked his head. “You mean a medical word?” he asked. “A medical term?”

  Stewart nodded enthusiastically. “Yeah, kinda,” he replied, and suddenly Aaron had an idea of what this might be about.

  “Was it pediatrics?” he asked softly, trying not to intimidate the boy.

  “Yes!” Stewart said, looking relieved to have heard the word. “That was it.”

  Aaron smiled. “So what did she say about it?” he asked.

  “It had something to do with the extra offices,” Stewart began. “Something about what they were to be used for . . . I think.”

  “Ahh,” the doctor replied. “Well, that makes more sense now.”

  “It does?” Stewart said. “Well, that’s good, because I wasn’t quite sure about it.”

  Aaron smiled again. “We really haven’t figured out what the new offices are to be used for,” he explain
ed. “But I think I know what Rachel has in mind now.”

  This time it was Aaron who frowned. “Pediatrics, you mean?” he asked, looking confused.

  “Yes,” the doctor said, and then he rolled his eyes. “At least that’s what she seems to have told you. She hasn’t discussed the specifics with me yet.”

  “Me neither,” Stewart said with a shrug. “It was just something she mentioned.

  Aaron nodded. “Yes.” Then he paused. “Well, just so you know, pediatrics refers to medical care specifically for children and infants.”

  Stewart’s eyes widened, and Aaron realized the boy had no familiarity with this at all. And why should he, he thought. It probably seems utterly foreign to him.

  Sure enough, Stewart’s next words confirmed Aaron’s suspicions.

  “You mean they actually have that?” he asked in wonderment.

  Aaron grinned. “Well, not a lot of it,” he said. “It is very specialized. And not many believe in it.”

  Stewart blinked. “Well, it sorta makes sense to me,” he said. He thought of the pleasure Aaron and Rachel would have with a Christmas baby, but also the hard winter that could follow.

  “How so?” The doctor asked, curious about Stewart’s thought process. The boy paused, obviously taking Aaron’s question quite seriously, and then finally he spoke.

  “I’ve just heard stories,” he said. “You know, about children getting sick and dying. Particularly in a harsh winter.”

  Aaron nodded, saddened by his words. “I know,” he replied. “It happens all across the prairie.”

  Stewart shrugged, and then he grimaced. “They say it’s God’s will,” he added.

  “That’s true,” the doctor replied, nodding again. “But that doesn’t mean it has to happen.”

  Stewart frowned, looking confused once again. There was a sincerity about the boy that was quite engaging, and he understood why Betsy had fallen for him. Aaron had the feeling he had a strong soul, and a good heart as well.

  “What do you mean?” Stewart asked.

  Aaron took a deep breath. “Well, that’s what pediatrics is about, even though it’s very new,” he explained. “It’s about trying to save more children, and keep them healthier when they do come into the world.”