Romance: Mail Order Bride "The Ideal Bride" Clean Christian Western Historical Romance (Western Mail Order Bride Short Shorties Series) (194 page)

Chapter 3

The following week, everything was organized for their wedding. The house looked even more beautiful than usual, with all the flowers and banners decorating it, and it seemed that even the animals on the ranch knew that something big and important was happening, because they were all on their best behavior. Noemie and Callaway welcomed her parents and all the other guests, and enjoyed a day of wedding bliss.

It couldn’t have gone better. Noemie wore her mother’s old wedding dress, which suited her perfectly. Her luscious hair was tied in a beautiful bun, with one big white flower placed right in the middle. She wore her veil only for the ceremony, choosing to remove it later on. She wanted to be able to see everything and everyone clearly, especially Callaway.

As she was gazing into his eyes, saying, “I do,” she considered herself the luckiest girl in the world. There she was, with such a permanent flaw, and there he was, the man who didn’t care whether she had that flaw or not because they seemed to go together perfectly.

It all felt like a beautiful dream, and Noemie never wanted to wake up. Fortunately for her, it seemed that she didn’t have to.

As the young newlyweds were dancing together, all the other guests freed the floor for them. They looked so blissful and very much in love. Noemie’s mother grabbed her husband’s hand. No words were said. No words were necessary. Love was in the air. Things were finally where they should be and it seemed that everyone was happy with where they were.

The guests danced well into the hours of morning, when it was time for everyone to go home. Noemie’s parents stayed for a few days longer, but not wanting to impose on the privacy of the newlyweds, they  decided to cut their visit short. After hugging both their daughter and their son-in-law tightly, they waved their goodbyes.

That night, as the couple was ready to retire, Callaway was lying in bed, watching Noemie brush her luscious long hair.

“You are so beautiful,” he suddenly said. It made her blush, as she returned her gaze in the mirror. “I’m  so lucky I found ya,” he continued, as he looked at her lovingly. “I never thought I’d meet someone who wanted the same things as me, or better yet, who didn’t want them.”

She knew what he was talking about, and somehow it made her a little sad. Everything was perfect, she honestly thought so, but being aware of the fact that she’d never hear a baby crying for her clenched at her heart. How could she not want children? How could any woman not want them when it was ingrained in them, when it came so naturally? But she knew that that path wasn’t meant for her. God Almighty put her on another path, and she had to do was comply. She didn’t know why this was happening, to her of all people, of all women, but she knew she had to cope. There was no other way. And in these moments, she remembered the wise words of her mother: “Whenever doubt strikes at your heart, little one, pray to Him. Pray with all your heart and He will reply, because He is watching and He is listening. He has a special mission for each and every one of us, and even though we might not understand it, we might find it too difficult to bear, trust in Him that He knows what He is doing. He will show you the way. He won’t leave you stranded. Just believe and pray with all your heart.”

Noemie knew it was so. It was just difficult sometimes to come to terms with the truth.

She smiled back at Callaway, this wonderful man who was looking at her so lovingly, who would hug her forever and make any kind of pain go away. She knew he’d pull down the moon for her, if only she wanted him to. She loved him with all her heart. And she doubted there could be anyone else in the world she could love as much.

Having brushed her hair, she joined him in bed, and they fell asleep, snuggled in each other’s arms. However, they weren’t able to sleep very well that night because something outside made the dogs bark like mad. Noemie woke up and saw a thin strip of moonlight coming in between the drapes. She elbowed Callaway gently when she heard how madly the dogs were barking.

“Callaway,” She whispered. “Call. Wake up.”

He was drowsy, but his eyes were open. “What is it?”

“I think someone’s on the ranch. A stranger,” Noemie revealed to him, though the dogs had known this well before she did.

“I’m sure it’s just a squirrel. Go back to sleep.” He turned around.

Noemie remained propped up in bed and kept listening to the dogs. She didn’t know them very well yet, but she knew that they wouldn’t bark at something insignificant for so long. No dog would. There was something else going on.

“Call?” she called to him. “I think we should see what’s making the dogs bark so loud.”

Callaway sighed. The last thing he wanted to do was get up from his warm and comfortable bed and go outside into the dark for something that’d turn out to be a chipmunk or a squirrel. But, he didn’t want to refuse her.

“OK, OK. I’m getting’ up,” he finally said and Noemie felt relieved. The dogs really worried her. She was afraid something bad might happen.

Callaway got out of bed and she joined him.

“Where do ya think you’re goin’?” He asked. “Stay here.” He instructed, as he left the room. She rushed to the window, which overlooked the patio. She knew that she’d see him the moment he left the house. Intently looking down, she could hear the dogs calming down. Still barking, but less. However, she didn’t see Call anywhere outside. Was he still in the house? Was he alright?

All of a sudden, a thousand bad thoughts infested her mind. What if there was a thief in the house?

What if he had attacked Call and was now coming up the stairs for her? Maybe she could make a run for it and get the help. Who lived in the house next door?

She peered through the bedroom door and into the hallway. It all seemed quiet. No noise that would suggest any wrongdoing. So, if everything was alright, where was Call? She couldn’t stop worrying and knew that she couldn’t just stay in the bedroom, waiting for him to return.

She pushed the door gently, until it was open just enough for her to squeeze through. She tried to make as little noise as possible, remembering not to step on the floorboards that she knew would squeak. As she approached the outer door, she could see a figure standing there. And that was all it was doing, just standing there, looking downward.

The entire house was dark, no lights were turned on, so she couldn’t be sure whether that silhouette belonged to Callaway or not. In any case, if she wanted to get out of the house and get help, she’d have to go past it, so there was no other way than forward. She took careful steps, one at a time, making sure to get near the person without him noticing her. When she was close enough, she could see the outline of Callaway’s face, illuminated by the moonlight and his soft curls fluttering in the night breeze.

She sighed with relief as she grabbed him gently by the hand.

“Call?” She called for him, and he shuddered upon hearing her voice. He seemed to have been miles and miles away, just stuck there on the doorway. Something wouldn’t let him move forward or backward.

Noemie had no idea what was going on.

“Call? Darling, are you alright?” She tried to push past him through the door, but he wouldn’t budge. He was frozen there, unable or unwilling to move – she wasn’t sure which one.

“Call, you’re scaring me…” Suddenly, the sound of her voice shook him and he returned to reality. He looked at her and then moved from the doorway, without a word. As if to show her something. She turned her gaze to the same place where he had just been standing, and to her surprise, saw a little wicker basket resting on their doorstep. At first, she couldn’t see clearly what it was, but then she jumped back as she noticed that something inside the basket moved. She grabbed Callaway’s elbow.

“What’s inside?” She asked, frightened.

He took a long pause before answering.

“A baby.”

His words hit her completely out of the blue. A baby? What would a baby be doing on their doorstep, at this time of night?

“A baby?” She repeated.

“A baby.” The tone of his voice was the same.

Seeing that he wouldn’t move, she approached the basket. Removing the white blanket that was hiding everything except the baby’s head, she revealed a little baby girl, dressed in a white cotton dress, a little cap and a pair of socks. There was nothing else in there. No food for the baby, no additional clothes, no note as to who she was or why she was left there – nothing. Absolutely nothing. She lifted the baby out of the basket. It smiled at her. Noemie expected the baby to start crying, to show some kind of dissatisfaction with the whole situation, but it was the opposite. The baby seemed to be happy to be there, held by Noemie who couldn’t help but smile as well.

Callaway was stone cold serious, still standing in the same place he was a few minutes ago.

“We’d best get her inside.” Noemie finally spoke, but there was no reply from Callaway.

Without waiting for him to come around, she took the baby into the kitchen and prepared some milk, trying to figure out a way to feed a baby without any bottles around. Finally, Callaway followed her into the kitchen.

“What are you doing?” he asked, all serious.

“Feeding the poor thing. It must be starving,” she replied without even looking at him, tending to the milk.

“Whose baby is it?” His question seemed ridiculous.

“How am I supposed to know?” she asked, though she wasn’t annoyed. She was too busy with the baby.

“What are we gonna do with it?” he kept asking.

All of a sudden, she stopped. She had no answer to his question. She didn’t know.

“I don’t know, Callaway. I honestly don’t know.”

“We should give it back,” he stated, as if it was the most natural thing to do.

“Yes,” she replied, though part of her didn’t agree. “And we shall. But not now.” She turned to the baby and gave her some milk carefully. The baby giggled happily. It was the sweetest sound Noemie had ever heard.

“Alright then,” Callaway said. “I’ll leave you to it. I gotta get up early, so I’ll go back to bed. G’night.” He left the kitchen without waiting for her to reply.

She didn’t even notice he had left the room. She was too focused on the baby and the new feelings that were being stirred inside of her.

She stayed up with the baby until it fell asleep, and this was exactly how Callaway found them both the following morning: nestled on the little couch in the parlor, both soundly asleep. He tried to walk past them without waking them up, but the baby heard him and started crying, waking up Noemie as well.

“Oh, you’re up,” she said. “Let me make you some breakfast.” She started getting up from the couch with the baby in her arms.

“Nah, it’s fine.” He kept looking at the thing in her arms uncomfortably. “I’ll grab somethin’ on the go. Can’t stand the noise anyways.” He kissed her on the forehead quickly and left the room.

Noemie was left all alone with the crying baby. Nestling her in her arms, the baby eventually calmed down and went back to being content, smiling all the time.

“Why are you smiling so much?” Noemie caught herself saying out loud to the baby. “I wonder what your name is?”

The baby cooed and giggled again and Noemie’s heart fluttered. What a beautiful little thing to have! Someone who depended entirely on her, who needed her for everything. Her heart swelled with joy at taking care of this little sweetheart, even if only for a short time before they found the baby’s mother.

The day passed quickly, and by the time it was dinner, Noemie realized that she hadn’t seen Callaway all day. She assumed he must have been very busy at the ranch, must have skipped lunch to do more work. It never even occurred to her that the baby might have been the reason for his skipping lunch.

Noemie made a special dinner and left the baby with Rose, hoping to have a nice dinner with her husband. However, when he sat down to have dinner, he didn’t seem to be in his usual cheerful mood. He seemed moody and silent.

“Is everything alright?” she asked during dinner.

“Yeah, why?” he answered, as he was about to bite off a piece of chicken.

“Well, you aren’t very chatty tonight.”

“Tired,” he replied with his mouth full.

“Well, I had a great day,” she chirped. “The baby kept smiling at me, and it was so much fun having her around. I fed her and washed her clothes, now she’s all nice and clean…” She talked, but Callaway wasn’t listening too intently. Finally, he wiped his mouth with a napkin, signaling that he was done.

“Noemie…” he said seriously, and she knew that something bad was coming. His tone of voice was too serious for it not to be something bad. “It may not be a good idea to get attached to the baby so much.” He was choosing his words carefully and Noemie immediately remembered the riding incident and how her parents told her about her problem.

“What are you saying?” she asked. “I’m not doing anything. I can’t just leave the baby on its own. It’s a baby. It needs someone to take care of it.” She tried to defend herself.

“I’m not sayin’ anything, just… don’t get too attached to it. Give it to Rose to take care of it, until we find out who’s it is.”

This angered her. When they find out who the mother or the father were, they’d have to give it back. Her heart screamed no. She didn’t want to give the baby back. She had already gotten too attached to it, but she wasn’t ready to admit that to Callaway, maybe not even to herself. Callaway’s warning was unnecessary. She was already way past that line.