Mail Order Maternity (Brides of Beckham Book 6) (10 page)

“Have you written her?”

Esther’s eyes widened.  “I haven’t!  I got so distracted once I was here.  I’ll have to write her a letter and send it while we’re in town today.”

“Is that a problem?”  He was confused.  Was she required to write her for some reason?

“I promised her I’d write as soon as I got here because I didn’t want her to worry about me.”  She wanted to kick herself. 

“Write her today.  I’m sure it will be fine.”

Esther nodded.  “I hope so.  She’s supposed to leave soon for her own wedding.  She decided to be a mail order bride as well.”  Esther realized then that she knew a lot about Harriett’s plans for the future, but little about her present and nothing at all about her past.  How odd.

The drive passed pleasantly with her asking him questions about his upbringing in Kentucky.  He and Samuel were the only boys and had four sisters.  They’d decided to move West because of the offer of free land.  Samuel had only been sixteen when they left Kentucky, but they’d fibbed about his age when they went to file for his homestead.  He’d been doing a man’s work for two years and saw no need to wait until he was twenty-one to have his own land.

He’d saved every dime he’d earned before heading to Kansas and had a significant amount to start his life with, which is how he’d been able to afford the lumber for his house. 

“Weren’t you scared?  Leaving your parents at such a young age?”

He shrugged.  “Not really.  I had Samuel and Victoria with me.  The first night I ever spent alone was right here in Kansas on my very own land.  It was an amazing feeling for me.”  He looked down at her.  “Was it hard for you to leave behind everything you knew and come out here?”

She laughed.  “I was petrified.  I was even more nervous that my mother-in-law would try to take my baby from me, though.  She was so angry with me for marrying her son.”  She looked off in the distance.  “I never told her I was pregnant, so she won’t be looking for me.  You don’t have to worry about that.”

He stared at her in silence.  “Would she really try to take the baby?”

Esther nodded.  “She would.  She loved my husband and would do anything to keep his child close to her.”

“Your mother won’t tell her, will she?”

“No.  My mother knows how much she hated me.”

He squeezed her hand.  “Look, off in the distance.  Can you see it?”

She stared ahead of her and nodded slowly.  “What is that?”

“That’s where we’re headed.  It’s Lindsborg.  That’s the town the train brought you to.”  He was excited that they were almost there.

“It looks different.”

“That’s probably because you don’t have vomit on your eyelashes obscuring your vision now.”  He bit his cheek to keep from laughing as he said the words.

She turned to him and sighed.  “I still can’t figure out why you didn’t send me right back to Beckham.  How could you have married someone who was so disgusting?”

He shrugged.  “I’d made a promise to you and I wasn’t going to go back on it just because you were sick.  I did hope you’d be better looking after you got cleaned up, though.”

She grinned.  “And was I?”

“I couldn’t even tell you were the same person after the bath you took at the pastor’s house.  I’d never seen anyone so covered in vomit in my life.”  He didn’t add that after she’d cleaned up he’d thought she was the most beautiful woman he’d ever seen.

She stifled a giggle.  She could just imagine how excited he was as he stood there waiting for his bride, and then he ended up with a girl who was covered with vomit from head to toe and smelled accordingly.  The man was a saint for not leaving her right there at the train station.

Within minutes of seeing the city, he’d pulled up in front of the doctor’s house.  “I’ve never been here, but he’s the only doctor in town.  Victoria says he’s good.  She had to take one of the kids to him once.”

He held his hands up and lifted her down from the wagon.  Usually he just held her hand to steady her, so she was surprised when he just gripped her waist and set her on the ground. 

“I’m nervous,” she told him, staring at the collar of his shirt.

“Why?”

She shrugged.  “I’ve only ever seen one doctor in my life, and he was the one who delivered me and buried my husband.”

Thomas squeezed her hand.  “I’ll be right beside you.”

They walked to the office around the side of the doctor’s home and Thomas knocked on the door.  Within moments a man who looked to be in his sixties with stark white hair came to the door.  “May I help you?”

Thomas nodded.  “My wife is in the family way, and she had some bleeding.  She saw a mid-wife, but I’ll feel better if she’s checked out by a doctor as well.”

The doctor opened the door wide.  “I’m Dr. Simmons.”

“My sister-in-law says you’re a good doctor.  Do you know Victoria Wilson?”

The doctor’s eyes widened.   “Yes, of course.  She’s a good midwife and very skilled with medicine herself.  It’s a shame women can’t be doctors.  She’d have made an excellent nurse, though.”

Esther followed Thomas inside the small examining room and waited to find out what she should do.

“Were there any activities that precipitated the bleeding?” Doctor Simmons asked after waving them both to sit.

Thomas nodded.  “We’d had relations the night before.”

Esther stared at him.  Did he still think that caused it?  “I think the bleeding was caused when I ran through the fields.  I was searching for my husband and starting to panic.  Within a couple of hours, I realized I was bleeding.”

“I see.”  Dr. Simmons looked between the two of them.  “If I had to make a guess, I would think it was caused by the running.”  He looked at Esther.  “I’ll need to examine you.  Why don’t you get undressed while your husband and I talk for a moment?”

Thomas followed the doctor out of the room and stood with him outside the door.  He was embarrassed by the subject, but he wasn’t willing to do anything to hurt his new wife.  “You don’t think it was the relations?”

The doctor shook his head emphatically.  “I’m of the opinion that relations are good for a woman who is expecting.  How far along is she?”

Thomas shrugged.  He should know that, shouldn’t he?  “I think about three months or a little more.”

“So she’s started her second trimester?”  At Thomas’s nod, Dr. Simmons continued.  “Most women feel more inclined toward relations during their second trimester.  I wouldn’t be afraid of that if I were you.”  He turned toward the examining room door and knocked softly.  “Are you ready?”

Esther was lying on the bed under a sheet when Thomas peeked in.  “I’d rather you wait out here,” Dr. Simmons said as he shut the door in his face.

Thomas was left to pace the hall, wondering what was going on behind the closed door.  He wished he could have been by her side for the exam, but it sounded as if it was going to be a very intimate exam.  He wasn’t sure how he felt about another man, even a doctor, seeing his wife without her clothes, though. 

Finally after several minutes had passed, the doctor opened the door and looked over his shoulder at Esther.  “Go ahead and get dressed.  I’m going to spend a minute talking to your husband.”  He turned to Thomas.  “She’s in perfect health.  She said she had a hard time with morning sickness, but that’s passed.”

Thomas nodded.  “So she’s okay?”

Dr. Simmons nodded emphatically.  “There’s nothing wrong with her, other than being a little underweight, but that was caused by the morning sickness.  She’s going to be just fine.”

Thomas breathed a sigh of relief.  “And the baby?”

“Baby seems to be fine as well.  Victoria is as knowledgeable about childbirth as I am, if not more so.  You didn’t need to come all this way to see me.”  The doctor knocked on the door again.  When Esther called out, he opened it.  “You’re ready to go.”

Esther smiled and nodded at the doctor.  “Thank you.”

Thomas stuck his hand into his pocket for some money.  “How much do I owe you, doc?”

Once they’d settled up, Thomas led Esther out of the office and into the fresh air.  “Feel better now?” Esther asked with a grin.

“I do!”  He stroked his hand down her arm.  “Thank you for humoring me.  This daddy thing is new to me, and I need to learn as I go.”

Esther laughed softly.  “I know.”  She looked around the small town, not nearly as big as Beckham.  “What now?”

“Are you hungry?” he asked.

She grinned.  “I’m pregnant and couldn’t eat for several weeks because of morning sickness.  I’m ravenous!”

Chapter Seven

They left the wagon where it was and walked the short distance to the restaurant.  Esther was intimidated by the pristine linen tablecloths and the perfectly arranged tables.  The maître d led them to a table in front of the windows, and they each ordered a glass of water.  While they were waiting they perused the menu.

After a moment, she closed her menu.  “Will you just order for me, please?”

He nodded and closed his menu as well.  “I’d be happy to.” 

They each had chicken, a salad, and a potato.  The food was good, but certainly not good enough for the prices they’d charged.  Esther never wanted to eat there again.  She was happier feeding her family for a week on the amount of money they spent on the one meal.

Afterward, they walked back to the wagon, and he drove them to the mercantile.  While he was talking to the shopkeeper to get the order for the community, she looked through the different fabrics.  She found two that she liked for herself, and found some plain white linen for the baby’s first clothes.  She had found scraps at the homestead, and she would use them to sew another quilt for the baby before he arrived. 

She picked up a length of flannel for diapers and some thread and walked to the front.  The money in her purse would be more than enough for what she needed. 

Thomas looked down at the small pile in front of her.  “Do you have enough?” he asked in a whisper.

“I should.”  She’d checked the amount of cash she had, and it should be enough with a little bit left over.

“The doctor wasn’t as expensive as I expected,” he explained.  “You can get more if you need it.”

She smiled and rushed off to find a length of blue fabric.  It would be perfect to make him some work shirts from.

When she got back to the counter with the cloth for Thomas, he handed her a pencil and a piece of paper.  “For your letter to Mrs. Long.”

She smiled and gave him the money she had with her, before walking to the end of the counter to quickly write a letter to Harriett.  She hoped her friend hadn’t worried too much about her.  Hopefully she’d understand how hard it was to mail something with as far out of town as they lived.

“Dear Harriett, I’m so sorry I forgot to write immediately.  My morning sickness was horrible on the train, and it’s been hectic since I got here.  Thomas is a good man and I’m happy to be married to him.  He treats me very well.  I hope your marriage is as good as mine.  I’ll write when I have more time.  I’m standing at the counter of the mercantile so I can mail this before I leave town.  Best wishes, Esther.”

Esther folded the letter and quickly scrawled Harriett’s address.  She walked back to Thomas.  “Where is the post office?”

The shopkeeper looked up.  “You must be new around here.  I’m the postmaster.”

“Oh.”  She handed the man her letter, wishing there was a separate post office so she would feel more comfortable putting it in someone else’s hands.  “What do I owe you?”

She handed him some change and turned to watch as Thomas picked up a large wooden box full of goods and walked to the wagon with it.  She followed him out, got onto the seat by herself and waited for him to finish loading the wagon.  She’d enjoyed the brief time shopping, but she was ready to go home and spend the day with her new husband.

The trip went much faster than her first trip out to the homestead and she was thankful for that.  When they arrived, she immediately began preparations for supper.  When Thomas brought their supplies into the house, she looked at him.  “Do we need to deliver the goods to the others today?  Or will we wait?”

He shook his head.  “I’d like to do it after supper if you feel up to it.  I don’t want to have to unload the wagon and then reload it tomorrow morning.”

She nodded.  “Okay.”  She’d planned to make pancakes for supper because they were quick and easy, but instead switched to bacon sandwiches which were even quicker.  She didn’t want to be caught out on the road after dark living in such an uncivilized area.

Once the meal was over, she followed him out to the wagon.  “Are you sure you feel up to going?” he asked.  He searched her face for any sign of tiredness.

She sighed.  “Please don’t start that again.  I know the doctor told you I was the picture of health.”

He smiled and helped her into the buggy.  “He did.”  He thought about the other thing the doctor had told him as well.  Knowing that women were more accepting of their husband’s advances during their pregnancy made him smile.  He’d test the doctor’s theory once they were home that night. 

It was full dark by the time they pulled into the yard that night.  Everyone had been thankful for their deliveries and every single woman had invited her in for tea and cookies.  After the second house, she started smiling politely and shaking her head.  Even with the extra hunger pregnancy brought on she couldn’t eat
that
many cookies!

It had been nice seeing the other women’s homes.  Samuel and Victoria lived in the largest house by far.  The main part of the house was wood, but they’d had to use sod to add on over the years.  It had given the house a very unique look.

The other two houses were made from sod only.  Esther was thankful for the wood house she lived in.  She would have been thankful to have a sod roof over her head if it were the only option, but the wooden house felt far cleaner than the sod would have.  She’d have had no idea how to clean a sod house. 

She was yawning when she walked into the house to ready herself for bed while Thomas unhitched the team and put them in their stalls for the night.  They’d had a busy day.  She rushed to change into her nightgown and climbed into bed.  She was excited that Thomas would be willing to touch her again.  It had seemed so strange to her that he was lying beside her in bed every night, but refusing to touch her, because he was afraid he may hurt her.  She didn’t want their relationship to hinge solely on sexual relations, but she knew they were important for their marriage to succeed.

When she finally heard Thomas’s footsteps on the stairs, her heart started beating a little faster.  She needed to feel like she was loved and wanted by him.  He opened the door slowly and stripped silently.  Once he was settled on his pillow beside her, she rolled to him resting her head on his shoulder.

His arms went around her and he stroked her back affectionately.  After a moment he closed his eyes and fell asleep.  She stared at him startled.  What had just happened?  They finally had permission from the doctor to make love and he fell asleep? 

She rolled to her side facing away from him and squeezed her eyes shut.  She’d never felt so rejected in her life.  What was wrong with her that her own husband wasn’t interested in her? 

*****

Thomas woke early the following morning and saw his beautiful wife’s head on the pillow beside his in the predawn light.  He blinked a couple of times in surprise.  Had he really fallen asleep without making love to her?  He must have, and now he wanted to kick himself for it.  She’d made it clear that she was willing and he’d slept.  It had been a long tiring day, but that was no excuse.  He’d have to find some way to make it up to her.

He got up and went down the stairs to milk the cows, frustrated with himself.  Would he ever be the kind of husband his beautiful new wife needed?

Esther woke alone and got out of bed, stumbling down the stairs to fix breakfast.  If all her new husband wanted from her was to have a cook and cleaning woman, then she’d be the best cook and cleaning woman he’d ever seen.  It certainly wasn’t what she’d expected when she married him, but she’d do what needed to be done.

She whipped up the batter for French toast, holding the bowl against her stomach.  She fried bacon while she waited for him to come in the house, and as soon as he stepped foot inside, without meeting his eyes, she dipped the first pieces of bread.  When she’d made a huge platter of toast, she sat down across from him and he prayed for them both.  She was surprised to hear him pray for guidance in how to become a better husband.  Why did he think he was lacking?

After breakfast, he kissed her cheek, and she started work on the dishes, having a big day in front of her.  She needed to bake fresh bread, and the laundry needed to be done.  She usually did the laundry on Mondays, but because they were out it was all piled up and waiting for her.  She wasn’t looking forward to the day ahead, but she’d do it all with a smile. 

Today was one of those days she wished she had a friend close by she could talk to.  She wished there was way to talk to Harriett and get an immediate answer, but she knew that was just a dream.  If she hurried through her work, though, she might have time to write her friend a lengthy letter and ask for advice.

By the time Thomas got home for lunch, all of the dirty clothes were on the line and she was taking the first of the loaves of bread out of the oven.   Thomas took his place and she sat across from him at the table.  He took her hand for the prayer and she bowed her head.  While they ate, he talked about how well the wheat was doing.  “I think harvest is going to be early this year.”

“When is early?”  She knew about corn farming, but nothing at all about wheat farming.  She’d heard that many people in the area grew both, but Thomas and his friends only grew wheat. 

“In a week or two.  I really have wanted to try to grow winter wheat, but I’ve never harvested in time that I could have the fields ready for September planting.  This year, with the early yield, I think I can do it!”

Esther wrinkled her brow.  “You’d grow wheat through the winter?”

He took a bite of his sandwich.  “Most of the farmers in Kansas who grow wheat grow winter wheat.  The winter wheat is different, because you plant it in September and then it’s dormant through the winter.  Most of the rainfall we get in Kansas is through the winter and spring, which is better for the wheat to grow.  So I want to start growing winter wheat.”  His eyes danced as he talked about it, which surprised Esther, because he was such a quiet man, she’d rarely seen him get excited about anything.

“Will that be enough time between crops?”

He shrugged.  “I have no idea, but we’re going to find out!  It would be wonderful if we could get two crops in this year.  I’ve never done it before, but I’m sure I can do it.  I’ve been planting earlier and earlier in the season every year hoping I’d be able to make the switch.”

She knew the work involved in two crops in a year, but she also knew it would be good for them financially.  “Is there anything I can do to help?”

He shook his head.  “You do plenty.”  Thomas stood and kissed the top of her head as he ran out the door.  She could almost see the dollar signs dancing in his eyes, and she really didn’t blame him.  The more money they made this year, the easier things would be as they started their family.

She worked hard that afternoon, getting the floors scrubbed and finishing up her work early so she could make a special dinner.  She felt that she was little more than a cook for Thomas, so if that’s all she could be for him, then she needed to be the best cook he’d ever known.

She made a cake with whipped cream for frosting before making chicken and dumplings for dinner.  Knowing they were his favorite she made them as often as she could.

As she worked she thought about the situation and had decided she’d make no more advances toward her husband.  If he was interested in having relations with her, he knew where she slept.  She wasn’t going to be rejected again. 

*****

Thomas hurried toward the house at the end of the day.  He was running a little later than usual and knew that Esther would worry if he wasn’t on time.  He’d put in a long day, but he was excited to be able to spend time with his wife.  If she hadn’t been there he knew he wouldn’t be in a hurry to go home.  He thanked God for her every day.

Rushing into the house, he found her putting dinner on the table.  His mouth watered from the smells coming from the kitchen.   “Dinner smells wonderful!”  He rushed to the basin to wash his hands. 

“I hope you’re hungry, because I made a lot.”

He looked down at the chicken and dumplings in the bowl she placed in front of him.  “Did you kill the pullet yourself?”

She nodded, not looking at him.  She’d wanted to surprise him with his favorite meal, and the only way she could was by taking care of the chicken herself.  Her mother had done it all the time, so she’d watched, and it wasn’t very hard.

She put a plate of fresh bread and butter on the table and sat down across from him.  “I wanted to surprise you with your favorite meal.”

His eyes met hers and he grinned, taking her hand in his.  “Thank you.  I want you to know how much I appreciate the little things you do for me.  You really are a good wife.”

She nodded, filling up with sadness.  She may be good at some of the parts of being a wife, but obviously she wasn’t good at all of them.  “You’re welcome.”

If he noted the sadness on her face, he didn’t say anything about it.  Instead he bowed his head and prayed, thanking God for their meal.  He ate four full bowls of the chicken and dumplings and sat back patting his belly when he was done.  “That was wonderful.”

She stood and pulled the cake from the counter where she’d had it resting under a bowl so he wouldn’t see it.  It was a chocolate cake with whipped cream for frosting, and although she’d never used whipped cream for frosting, her mother had told her it was a great alternative when you didn’t have enough sugar.  She sliced the cake and took him a piece, grabbing a small one for herself.