The Mail Order Bride's Deception (9 page)

Chapter Nine

Sadie would be lying if she didn’t admit that she was a bundle of nerves.  It wasn’t that she considered herself shy around new people.  Certainly, she’d been around enough of them, men and women.  But from what she gathered about Aunt Betty, she was a decent woman—one who’d always done everything right.  Could such a woman figure out Sadie wasn’t the person she was pretending to be?

Releasing her breath, she finished brushing her hair then pulled it back into a bun.  After pinning the bun i
n place, she gathered her hat and slipped it over her head.  She took a step back and inspected her reflection in the mirror.  She looked very much like a lady, someone proper and decent, someone who would be a good match for a gentleman like Al.  But when she lifted her gaze to her face, the reality of who she was struck her hard.  Whore.  That was exactly the type of lady she’d been.  This dress, the taking of Hazel’s name, this matter of being a wife...  It didn’t change anything about her past.  About who she truly was.

“I don’t belong here,” she whispered then sat on the bed before her knees gave out.

She quickly brushed her tears away, silently demanding they stop.  She hated crying.  It seemed that most of her life, that’s all she’d done.  And she was tired of it.  All she wanted was to be happy.

“What’s so wrong with that?” she asked aloud.

But no one could answer the question, least of all her.

A gentle tapping at the bedroom door brought her attention to
Al who poked his head into the room.  “The horse and wagon are out front.  You ready?”

Forcing a smile, she nodded and rose to her feet.  Despite the slight shaking in her legs, she managed to cross the room so she stood before him.  She cleared her throat and took a deep breath.  “I’m ready.”

To her surprise, he slipped his arm around her shoulders and pulled her close to his side.  “You have nothing to worry about.  Aunt Betty will like you.”

“You can tell I’m nervous?”

“Don’t be embarrassed.  It’s natural to be nervous.” He gave her shoulders a light squeeze then kissed her cheek.  “I’ll get Gilbert then we’ll go to the wagon, alright?”

He released her and she slowly headed for the door.  She shouldn’t be surprised he detected her mood, but she thought she did a better job of masking her feelings than that.

She took her shawl from the hook and slipped it around her shoulders.  She really needed to get a handle on her emotions.  If she wasn’t careful, Al would suspect she wasn’t Hazel.  She was already pressing her luck by not consummating their marriage.  Not that she hadn’t tried.  But for some reason, he kept insisting they needed to wait until the time was right.  She didn’t understand that at all.  Since when did men need the time to be right to be intimate with a woman?

The door behind her shut
, and she turned to see Al holding a bundled up Gilbert.  This time when she smiled, she didn’t have to force it.  The two looked so cute together, and Al was such a good father.  It was refreshing to see a man who cared about someone other than himself.

“I’ll take him,” she said, holding her arms out to the little boy.

He handed Gilbert to her and they headed for the wagon.  After he helped her in, she settled the boy on her lap and tucked the hood closer around his face.  When he looked up at her, he shot her such a heartwarming smile that more tears sprang up in her eyes.  But these were tears of joy and they felt so wonderful compared to the other kind.  Truly, she wouldn’t mind this kind of crying.

“
He likes you,” Al said.

Her gaze shifted to Al.  “Pardon?”

“Gilbert’s taken a liking to you.”

“Oh, he’s just a bab
y.  He’s trusting of everyone.”

“
Well, there’s no denying he already thinks of you as his ma.”

“
I am his ma.” And that felt good to say.  She tucked a few errant strands of his blond curls back into the hood then wrapped him in a protective hug.  “I had no idea it could feel so good to be a mother.”

Al winked at her before he released the brake and led the horse forward.  “You’re a natural at it.”

Pleased, she turned her attention back to the boy and studied his expression as he took in the trees around them.  For him, everything in the world was new and fresh.  The future loomed in front of him, ripe with adventure and excitement.  It was easy to forget the past when she saw the world through his eyes.

Al took them down the path, and instead of taking them down the way that led to town, he went in the opposite direction.  “Do you go to Aunt Betty’s often?” she asked, wondering how many times Gilbert had been this way.

“More often than not, she comes over to my home, especially after I found Gilbert.”

Her eyebrows furrowed.  “Found Gilbert?”

“You remember what I told you about him in the letter I wrote you?”

She wanted to say no because she didn’t read any of the letters he sent Hazel, but she knew she couldn’t.  Not without giving herself away.  How did he end up with Gilbert?

“Um...of course,” she finally replied.  If Hazel hadn’t been so ill, Sadie was sure she would have told her what she knew about Al.

They came upon another twist in the path
, and he took a left.  “We’re almost there.”

Gilbert squirmed in her arms so she set him up, allowing him to get a better view of their surroundings.

“I’m glad you can hold him while we go on these trips,” Al said, motioning to the boy who babbled in contentment.  “He was getting bored having to lie down in his bassinet all the time.”

“He’s curious about the world.  Everything is brand new to him,” she commented.  “Everything must be exciting for him.”

“It probably is.”

Up ahead a cabin larger than the one Al owned came into view.  “I’m guessing that’s Aunt Betty’s house?”

“It is.  There are a few houses around the area, but they’re easy to miss when you consider all the trees.”

Gilbert continued his happy babbling as they came up to the house with two stories to it and a large porch.  Out front, a dog barked a greeting but stayed by the two girls who were playing.  One was pushing the other on a swing that hung from a sturdy tree limb.  An older boy, who was whittling something from where he sat on the porch, glanced up then hurried into the house.

“Aunt Betty’s got four children still living with her.  The others are already on their own,” Al explained.

“How many children does she have?”

“Ten.”

Her jaw dropped.  “Ten?”

“She jokes that all her husband has to do is look at her and she’s expecting again.”

“Usually, I’d say that is silly, but considering she has ten, I think he should stop looking at her.”

He chuckled and pulled the horses to a stop.  “Seeing as how he’s always talking about how pretty she is, I don’t think that’s going to happen any time soon.”

She waited for him to come around to her side of the wagon and let him help her down.

“Is this your bride?” a young girl called out as she ran up to them.

“Yep,” Al replied.  “She’s the best thing that’s ever happened to me.”

Sadie detected the pride in his voice and looked at him, a flicker of guilt threatening to emerge from the place she had successfully pushed it down.  He was really paying the high compliment to the woman he assumed Sadie was, not to the person she really was.  Hazel would deserve the praise, no doubt.  She didn’t think he’d sound so happy if he knew the truth about her.

Pushing aside the unease, she returned his smile then looked at the girl.  “Al is a wonderful husband.  No woman could ask for a better one.”

He placed his hand on the small of her back and kissed her cheek.  “Thank you.”

The front door of the cabin creaked open and a plump woman waved to them.  “Don’t be a stranger, you two.  Come on in and make yourself at home.”

“Guess who that is,” Al said, turning his gaze back to Sadie.

Though there was no one else it could be, given the woman’s cheerful demeanor, Sadie decided to answer him.  “Aunt Betty.”

“She can’t wait to meet you,” the girl chirped.

“I’ll bring in your cloth and sewing kit.  You go on in,” Al told her.

Taking a deep breath, she nodded and followed the girl to the cabin.  She walked with her up the steps and glanced back in time to see Al picking up a crate from the back of the wagon.  Then her gaze went to the boy and other girl who watched her.  Did they figure out she wasn’t really Hazel?  Did children have a sixth sense about these things?

“What a pleasure it is to meet you!”

Sadie’s attention went to Aunt Betty who embraced her.  “Al told us all about you.  Well,” she chuckled and patted Sadie’s arm, “only what you told him in the letters of course.  I hope you don’t mind.  He was so excited when he finally got a reply, he came right over to tell me that he found the woman he’d be spending the rest of his life with.”

“I don’t mind,” Sadie assured her as she followed her into the cabin.  T
he aroma of biscuits, a cherry pie, and a roast made her mouth water.  “It smells good in here.”

“Ma’s known for her good cooking,” an older girl—probably sixteen—said as she hurried to set the dining table.

“I love it.  It’s my passion in life,” Aunt Betty said, her smile growing wider.  “Besides taking care of my family, of course.” Her gaze went to Gilbert and she rubbed his back.  “You’re getting bigger all the time.  Before you know it,” her gaze went back to Sadie, “he’ll be walking all over the place.”

Would he?  Sadie had no idea when babies started walking.

“He’s already taken a liking to you,” Aunt Betty continued.  “I told Al that if Gilbert took a liking to the woman who came up here to marry him, then he’d better get her to a preacher right away.  Babies don’t lie.  They know who the good ones are.”

Did that mean Sadie met her approval?  But how could the woman know anything about her, other than what was in the letters?  And just how much had Hazel written?  Too bad she hadn’t been able to
read Hazel’s letters when she found them in the house.

“Al told me you aren’t familiar with sewing,” Aunt Betty said, drawing Sadie’s attention back to her.

“I can do simple patterns,” Sadie replied.  “But I can’t make a shirtwaist or a skirt.”

“Would you like to learn?”

“You wouldn’t mind teaching me?”

“Mind?” her daughter called out as she set a plate on the table.  “She’d be in heaven.”

“Missy is right,” Aunt Betty agreed.  “I love to sew, too.”

Sadie couldn’t help but be in awe of this woman who had so much enthusiasm.  Was there anything she didn’t love doing?

Gilbert yawned and the woman chuckled.  “Would you mind if he takes a nap in the other room?  I still have a crib for when my older children bring the grandchildren over.”

With a nod, Sadie handed Gilbert to her.

As Aunt Betty carried the boy to another room, Missy set down the last plate and walked over to her.  “Was it scary to leave Atlanta?”

“Oh, well…” Did Hazel
look scared when she found her sitting alone in the restaurant?  Sadie didn’t think so.  She had seemed worried, perhaps.  But not scared.  “I wasn’t scared,” she slowly ventured, “but I did wonder what kind of man I had agreed to marry.” And that was true.  Sadie did wonder what Al was like the whole time she was on her way up here.

“You chose a good one.  He’s wonderful.”

Sadie caught the wistful tone in the girl’s voice.  Missy was in love with him.  “How old are you?”

“I’ll be sixteen next month.”

Feeling a little better, Sadie relaxed.  She was still a child.  She had no doubt Al saw her that way.  And she had no doubt that Missy would outgrow her schoolgirl infatuation and fall in love with someone else.  But Sadie could see why the girl felt the way she did.  Al was a good man—a decent man.  It’d be hard not to love him.

“You sure go through
a lot of trouble for us,” a man said as he stepped into the cabin.

Sadie turned and saw a large man close to Aunt Betty’s age carrying a crate into the cabin.  Al followed close behind, carrying another crate.  Thankful for the change in topic while the men set the crates on the floor by a chair, Sadie looked at Missy.  “Is that your pa?”

“Yes.  He’s a bear of a man, isn’t he?” Missy leaned closer to her and giggled.  “We nicknamed him ‘Bear’ for that reason.”

Sadie thought the nickname suited him just right.  He was as big as one
, and he had thick, dark hair and a beard that were starting to gray.  When he hurried over to say hello and shake her hand, he had a nice, strong grip.

“It’s a pleasure to meet you, Hazel,” he said, just as friendly as Aunt Betty had been.  “Name’s Nel, but people call me Bear.”

Forcing a smile at being called Hazel, she returned the greeting.  “Nice to meet you, Bear.”

“I got your cloth and sewing kit on the chair in that room,” Al told Sadie, patting the small of her back.

“Thank you,” she replied.