Mail Order Mix Up (19 page)

“I’ll tell you what.  If more come, and there’s no room, we can take one.”

She squealed and ran around the table to hug him.  “Do you mean it?”

He sighed.  “I can see nothing would make you happier, so yes
that would be okay.”

She sat back down and enjoyed her meal.  “You know a gift like that is better than
diamonds, don’t you?”

He nodded.  “But it would be so much easier just to give you diamonds.”

She laughed.  “I never promised to be an easy wife, did I?  I really don’t remember
that being in the vows.”

Chapter Ten

That week set a pattern for the following month
s
.  Every morning Ellen went to Malinda’s to help her with her cooking skills, although
Malinda was learning rapidly, and it was obvious Ellen was no longer needed.  They
both enjoyed spending their mornings together, so neither of them put an end to it. 
Malinda seemed happier in her marriage than she had, and she confessed to Ellen she’d
told Wesley a lot more about her thoughts and feelings.

Every afternoon, she went to the orphanage, and spent time with the children.  She
cooked, cleaned, and changed diapers.  She found she was in her element there, and
other than spending time with Patrick, it was her favorite thing to do.

She’d been working
at the orphanage
for a little over four weeks when she heard a knock on the door.  She didn’t see
anyone else, so she went to the door.  There, on the ground, was a baby who
was
obviously
a new
born.  She looked both ways, and didn’t see anyone, so she picked it up.  On a note
pinned to the small blue blanket wrapped around it were the words, “Please take care
of my little boy.  His name is Jonathan.  His father died, and I can’t support him. 
Please find a family who will love him.”

The baby was sound asleep, and Ellen carried him inside.  One of the older boys had
left the previous week, so she knew there’d be room for him.  She took him to
Ida
and showed her the note.

Ida
shook her head sadly.  “I don’t know what we’ll do with him.  There’re no beds left
in the baby room.”

“But one of the boys left last week!  Surely there’s room for him.”

Ida
sighed.  “It doesn’
t work that way.  If a baby had left, we’d have room, but it was one of the teenage
boys.  If we’d gotten a boy over three, he could have bunked in with the older boys,
and everything would have been fine.  We have no room for a baby boy.”  She made a
face.  “I guess we’ll have to wire the orphanage in Denver to see if they have room.”

Ellen shook her head.  “There’s no need.  I’m taking him home with me.”
  Patrick had said she could take home the next child who couldn’t stay at the orphanage,
and she was going to take him at his word.

“You can’t take a baby home with you.  You’re newly married.  You need time alone
with your husband.”

Ellen bit her lip, considering what the other woman was saying.  “You’re right.  We
do need time alone.  So I’ll take Angela as well, and she can be his n
urse
.”  She wasn’t sure how Patrick would react to her bringing home two of the orphans,
but Angela would be a huge help to her, and would free up another bed in the
orphanage
. 

“What will your husband say?”

Ellen shrugged.  She really wasn’t certain.  “It’ll be fine.”

She stood looking down at the tiny child in her arms, and she knew it really would
be okay.  He had already agreed to take in the next child the orphanage couldn’t hold,
and she was bringing home someone who would take care of the new baby.  How could
he complain about that?

She went and found the teenager in the kitchen.  She was watching over the pot of
rabbit stew they were having for supper.  “Angela?”

Angela looked up and saw the baby in Ellen’s arms.  “We got a new one?  Where are
they going to put him?  There’s no room!”  Even though her words were negative the
young girl automatically reached for the baby.
 

Ellen watched the younger girl’s face as she took the baby in her arms and cradled
him against her.  “His name is Jonathan.”  She reached out and stroked her finger
down the cheek of the sweet baby.

“What happens now?” Angela asked sadly.  “Are they seeing if the home in Denver has
room for him?”
  She stared down at the baby, as concerned for him as Ellen was.

Ellen shook her head.  “They were going to, but I thought I’d take him home with me.”
  She watched the younger girl’s face to see what her reaction would be. 

Angela’s eyes widened.  “What will Mr. Harris say?”

“He told me I could take home the next child who couldn’t be kept here.”

“So the orphanage is going to lose you?”  Angela sighed.  “We’ll really miss you around
here, Mrs. Harris.  You’ve been great.”  She stared down at the baby, seeming upset.

Ellen understood how she felt.  The two of them had become very close during the time
she’d volunteered at the orphanage.  “Well, I have an idea that would make it so I
could take him home with me and still work here some.”  She looked at the red head
as her eyes lifted.  The tears shimmering there gave her hope the girl would like
the idea.  “I was hoping I could hire you to be his nurse.  You could help me with
him, and I could still have time for the orphanage.  Of course, I have to talk to
my husband about it, but I think it would be the perfect solution.”

Angela’s face lit up.  “Me?  You want me to come live with you in your big house?”

Ellen nodded with a smile.  “That’s exactly what I want.  Would you mind?”
  She could already tell by the girl’s face that she loved the idea, but she asked
anyway.

“I’d love to!”

Ellen left Angela sitting at the table cooing over the baby as she stirred the pot
on the stove.  “I’ll get one of the other girls to take over here, and we can go upstairs
and get your things together.”

Angela looked at her with a look of trepidation.  “Aren’t you going to talk to Mr.
Harris first?”

Ellen shook her head.  She knew talking to Patrick first would be the right thing
to do, but she didn’t have time.  There was no room for the baby in the orphanage,
and she needed to get diapers and milk for him before it was time for him to sleep. 
“No, there’s too much to be done today.”  One of the other teenagers, a girl named
Madeline, walked into the kitchen.  “Maddy, would you mind taking over the supper
preparations?  I need Angela upstairs.”

Maddy shook her head.  “No, ma’am.”  She walked to the stove and immediately started
stirring, looking over her shoulder in wonder.

Ellen took the baby from Angela and followed the girl out of the room and upstairs. 
She hadn’t spent much time in the upper floor of the house, always working in the
kitchen and on cleaning the main rooms instead.  “Which room is yours?”

Angela opened a door with
ten beds lining the walls.  She walked to a bed on one end of the room and knelt down,
reaching for something under the bed.  She pulled out a small wooden crate that obviously
was what she used as a dresser.  One more reach under the bed, and she took out a
rag doll that looked as if it had seen better days.  Removing her apron she put her
spare dress, nightgown and underclothes, which was all she had on top of the apron. 
She added the doll, and then used the ties from the apron to wrap around the clothing
to keep it all in a tight ball.  “There.  I’m ready.”
  She shrugged in embarrassment.  “The doll is all I have left from my time with my
parents, so I want to keep it.  I know it’s childish.”

Ellen had thought she had little when she’d left their little farm in Massachusetts,
but watching this young girl with everything she owned tied up in an apron, she knew
she’d grown up wealthy compared to her.  They walked down the stairs and spoke with
Ida
.  “Tomorrow’s Saturday, and I’m not going to be here.  I’ll take a couple of days
to get the children settled in my house.  I should be
here
Monday afternoon, though.”

Ida
nodded.  “I’m glad you’re taking them home with you.  We hate having to turn any
children away.”

Ellen nodded.  “I do understand, and we certainly won’t be able to take in all of
the children, but we can help today.”  She cradled the baby close to her as she walked
out of the house with Angela trailing behind her.

“I’m looking forward to staying with you and Mr. Harris,” Angela told her.

Ellen smiled.  “You’ll like it there.  You already know Alice, and Mrs. Smith is nice
as can be.”  She looked at the younger girl for a moment.  “How
do
you know Alice?”

“She lived on a farm right along the path we took to town when we needed supplies. 
She and my mother were friends
, and s
he wanted to take me in when my parents died, but her husband said they didn’t have
room, so I came here.”  She sighed.  “I’ve always thought of her as another mother.”

Ellen wondered if Patrick had known any of their history.  Surely he would have agreed
to let Angela live with them if he’d know
n
how close she was to Alice.  She opened the door and led Angela into the kitchen
where Alice was preparing dinner.  “We have an extra for dinner for a while.”

Alice turned and saw Angela, her arms immediately stretching out to hug the young
girl.  “You’ll be staying here?”

Angela nodded, wiping away a tear.  “Mrs. Harris is going to adopt the new baby left
at the orphanage, because there’s no room.  So she brought me to be his nurse.”

Alice smiled warmly.  “Mr. Patrick is certainly in for a surprise when he gets home.”

Ellen grinned
at the baby sleeping in her arms
.  “I need to go to the mercantile to see if I can get some things for him.  The only
thing I’m worried about is a cradle.  How will we find a cradle on such short notice?”

“They sometimes have them in the mercantile,” Alice told her.  “Not often, but there
are a couple of miners who make furniture and sell it so they’ll be able to eat and
keep working their claims for just a little longer.”

“I’ll go check.”
  She carefully handed the baby to Angela and knew that Alice and Mrs. Smith would
get her and Jonathan settled in while she was gone.

“Have the gardener drive you.  That way if you do find what you need, you’ll be able
to bring it home with no problem.  Tell him to take the wagon and not the buggy, though.”

Ellen nodded.  “I’ll do that!”

She was home an hour later with a new cradle, diapers, and fabric to make some clothes
for the baby.  She’d also picked up several bolts of cloth to make new clothes for
Angela. 

Glancing at the clock, she saw that Patrick was due home any minute.  She paced nervously
in the foyer as she waited for him.  How would he react to her just bringing home
two of the orphans without really talking to him about it first?
  Would he be angry, or would he just accept it?

Patrick opened the door, and she rushed to his side to kiss his cheek in greeting. 
“You’re home!”

He laughed softly.  “I’m home at this time every night.”

She bit her lip.  “Well, it’s not every night I’m waiting to talk to you when you
arrive.”
  What was the best way to tell him?

He raised an eyebrow and looked at her.  “What’s wrong?”

She took his hand and led him into the parlor, sitting on the couch and drawing him
down beside her.  “Nothing’s really wrong, but I’m afraid you’ll be angry because
of something I did today.”

“What did you do?”  He looked at her with curious eyes.

“I brought home two of the orphans.”

He sighed.  “Two?  I thought we’d decided you could bring one home, but only if the
house became too full.”

She bit her lip.  “I know, but I felt I needed to.”  She briefly explained about Jonathan
being left on the doorstep, and how she
and Ida had
felt they needed a little more time alone before they added an infant, so she’d brought
home Angela to take care of the baby.

He shrugged.  “Okay.  Well, what’s done is done.  You only brought one to keep, and
the other is here to help.  I can understand that.”

“You’re not angry?”
  She felt the relief wash over her at his mild reaction.

He shook his head.  “Honestly, I’m surprised you were able to wait as long as you
did before you brought one home.”
  He took her hand in his.  “We’ll talk about a salary for Angela after dinner.  Where
are they anyway?”

She threw her arms around his neck and hugged him tightly, kissing him.  “Thank you
so much!  You’re the best husband ever!”

He laughed.  “Well, I don’t know about that.  I mean, I never came home on time, and
practically ignored you the day after we married….”