The Widow's Mail Order Husband (Mail Order Brides) (11 page)

Rosa placed the plate she had prepared in front of Emily.  “Would you like milk or water, Miss Emily?”

Emily giggled as she always did when Rosa called her “Miss Emily”.  “Thank you Auntie Rosa, she said as she began to eat.
 

Dr. Williams came from the room where he had been treating Tom.  “I’d like to talk with Mrs. Hartness, please, Rosa.”

“She’s putting the baby down,” Rosa said.  “I’ll get her.”  Dr., the Senor?  Is he going to be all right?”

“Yes, I think he is, but he’s going to need a lot of your good food,” Dr. Williams said.

“I’ll get the Senora.  Dr., coffee is on the stove,” she said and hurried down the hall.

Mary came rushing into the kitchen.  “Is he all right?  Please tell me he is going to be all right.”

“He is going to be fine, as long as we can keep him free of infection.  He’ll need plenty of rest, Mary.  Here’s a souvenir for you.”  He handed her a lump of metal.  “It doesn’t look like much, does it?”

“This is the bullet?” she asked.

“That’s it.  We were fortunate it didn’t fragment.  It didn’t hit any major organs, and just fractured a rib,  He’s going to be really sore.  It’s gonna hurt a lot when he laughs, coughs or sneezes.  He is going to need to cough to keep his lungs clear.”  He finished his coffee and stood.

“Now I need to check on Rosa and Helen’s handiwork.”  He went into the other bedroom where Case Richards was sleeping under the watchful eye of Helen Williams.  After examining the wound, he and his wife came back out.  “I’m going to start referring all of my gunshot wounds to you, Rosa.  Great job.”

“Thank you, Senor Doctor” Rosa said, grinning.

We’ll stay until Tom wakes up, if everything seems okay, I’d like to move him to my place where I can keep an eye on him for a few days to make sure there’s no infection. 

Case said, “Doctor, the ranch hands told me they got all of the Kiowas they were after and that only leaves the two that skedaddled after Miz Hartness, here started shooting at them.”

“That’s good to hear.  We don’t need any more days like this one,” the doctor said. 

“Rosa, I want you to change Case’s dressings every day. Boil them before you use them again and don’t let anyone else touch them.  Spray them with this carbolic acid solution before putting them on the wound.  It’s important, so don’t skip any steps.  It’ll help to avoid any infection, and get him back on his feet as soon as possible.  I’ll be out to check on him in a few days.”

“Si, Doctor,  “I will take good care of him,” Rosa said.

Tom had been in and out of wakefulness for two hours when Dr. Williams told Mary, “I think we can safely move him now,  The sutures are holding and I’ll be able to take better care of him there than here.”

“You’re welcome to stay with us until he recovers, Mary,” the doctor’s wife said.

“I appreciate the offer, but I think the children need me here more than Tom does.  I’ll get in to see him as often as possible, but Emily has been through enough for now,” Mary said.
 

After the ranch hands carried Tom to the Williams’s wagon, Mary, her eyes glistening with fresh tears,  stood with Rosa and watched the wagon as it disappeared from view.  “Rosa, this is just about the hardest thing I’ve ever had to do.  I want to be with him, but I think Emily needs me here.”

“Senora, you are right.  The children need their mother.  Senor Tom is with friends.  It is as it should be,” Rosa said.

Two days later, Mary and Case, accompanied by a cowboy riding guard, rode into Grapevine.  Mary found Tom propped up in bed, looking a little thin from his ordeal, but his happiness at seeing her was open and obvious.  “I’ve missed you, honey,” he said in a gravelly voice.

“I missed you too,  Emily and Rosa send their love.  Emily even drew a picture for you.  She wants her Papa to come home.  I want you home too.  That big old bed is empty without you.  Rosa sends her love.

“Case is up and about.  Jonah is checking him out, and then he’ll be in to see you,” she said,

“Did you two come by yourselves?” he asked.

“No darling.  We had a cowboy riding guard.  No need for you to worry.  Besides, they told me this was the end of the Kiowas in our area.. 

“In a way, I feel sorry for them.  I don’t know where the rest of them will go,” she said.

“Honey, they broke away from the reservation in  Fort Sill.  They’ll be going back there,” Tom said.  “They’ll break out again, because from what I hear, the reservation isn’t the best place to live.”

“I talked to Jonah.  He said I can take you home the next time I come in, if you’re good.  You better be good or I’ll kill you myself,” she laughed.

“Yeah, I know you’re bad.  I heard about you shooting one who was trying to scalp Case.”

Mary’s hand flew to her mouth.  “Oh my God!  Is that what he was trying?  Scalp Case?  I didn’t believe they really did that.  I thought it was just something you read about in Ned Buntline’s books.”

“It happened all right, not as often as in his books, but it happened,” asserted Tom.  “You saved ole Case’s life, not to mention his hair.”

Two days later…

“Jonah, once again, I don’t know how to thank you.  You saved Tom’s life.  I wish there was something I could do, but I’ll always be grateful,” Mary said.

“Just name your next baby after me, he said with a grin.  I’m just glad I was there.  Now, I think he’s past the danger of infection, unless he does something to open the wound again, so, nothing strenuous.  No heavy lifting.  He’s not even to lift his saddle.  No galloping for at least a month.  I’ll want to see him in a week, Case too.

After a slow ride home, Tom walked gingerly into the kitchen.  “Sit down, Tom, don’t even think about picking Emily up.”  Mary knelt in front of Emily.  At eye level, she said, “Emily, Papa’s not well yet.  He can’t pick you up, much as he’d like to.  You can next to him on the davenport.  Will you help take care of him till he’s well?”

“Uh huh,” said Emily.

After four weeks, Jonah permitted Tom to have mild activity.  He still had a lifting restriction.  His most strenuous activity was the long walks he took with Emily and Mary.

Feeling exasperated, one day after Emily had yelled at him for trying to pick Matt up, he said, “It’s like I have three Mamas.  I can’t do anything without one of you yelling at me.

“It’s because we love you, Senor Tomas,” Rosa said.

“I know, but it’s still frustrating,” he said.

It had been six weeks since he had been shot.  The walks around the ranch with Mary and Emily helped Tom regain his wind.  He was now allowed to ride, although the ban on galloping and lifting was still in effect.

Watching Mary get ready for bed one evening, he said, “This is what I miss most of all.  Not being able to touch you and hold you has been hard for me.”

Mary pulled the last piece of clothing over her head, and stood
naked before him.  She looked at him thoughtfully, then to his surprise, she got into bed without putting her gown on.  She lay on the bed and patted the spot next to her.  He took her into his arms, and kissed her.  Then he kissed her deeply, his tongue touching hers, traced its outline, then explored the interior, noticing her breathing had become heavy,  He had quickly reached a state of arousal, as he had been doing so frequently lately.

He kneaded her breasts, rolling the nipples between his thumb and forefinger.  When he took the breast in his mouth, she moaned softly.  His hand ventured lower, traced a path around her navel, down and through the wiry growth guarding the entrance to her delights.  His hand felt the moisture generated by her body.  Instead of pulling back as they had been doing, Mary said, “Lie back darling,” and she pushed him gently back on the bed.  “This one’s on me,” she said.

She straddled  him, clasped the symbol of his manhood, and moved it around the folds outside her vault.  Elevating herself slightly, she guided it inside and then lowered herself taking the full length into her body.  She began moving up and down, slowly, each time uttering a low moan as she took the full measure of his manhood into the depths of her body.  As she moved on his shaft, slowly, then faster and faster still,  She could feel his member swell as she plunged herself onto it.  Slowly, her passion built until it climaxed.

Carefully, she moved her legs beneath her until she was stretched out on top of him, bearing her weight on her knees and elbows.  Moving her hips, taking him in, she coaxed him to completion.  When he had emptied himself into her, she rolled off, kissed him, patted him on the shoulder, and with a grin on her beautiful face, said, “Not bad for an old shot up cowboy.”

Dr
. Williams Office…

Dr. Williams told Tom, “It’s been a slow process, and you’ve taken care of yourself. You can return to normal activities. You’re going to be sore as you begin using muscles that haven’t been stretched in some time, so ease into it.”

“Thanks, Jonah. I appreciate it. We’ll have you and Helen out for dinner soon. Rosa will love cooking up one of her specials for you.” They shook hands and parted.

Outside, Tom let out a loud, “Yeeee Hawww” startling his wife and a few others on the street.  “Come on, darlin’, I’ll buy you lunch to celebrate.”

After turning in their order, Tom reached across the table and took both of Mary’s hands in his and said, “Honey, I want you to know having you in my life is the best thing that has ever happened to me.  I love you, Mary Hartness.  I do.”

“You really know how to make a girl cry” she said.  “I love you too.  You have given me a life I had given up on having.  I was convinced I would die an old maid school teacher, and now, here I am, with a wonderful husband, a son and a daughter. I’m truly living my dream.  We have a beautiful life together.  I couldn’t ask for more.

“Tom, I think it’s time we sold the house in Hagerstown.  I  don’t see any purpose in keeping it any longer.  We might as well sell it and close the bank account that has been holding the rent money since I left.  We can probably find some use for it, maybe buy some more land.  What do you think?”

“It’s up to you, Mary.  It’s your property, you do whatever you want with it.”

It’s our property, Tom.”

Several months later…

Spring roundup and branding time on the Lazy H had Tom putting in long hours in the saddle.  Mary heard him stomping the trail dirt from his feet onto the porch.  Wearily, he hung his sweat stained Stetson on the peg by the back door and came into the kitchen.  Sniffing the air, he said, “Something smells good.”

“That would be me,” Mary said, as she put Matt on the floor and moved to greet him with a kiss.

“You’re going to get dirt and who knows what else on you,” he said.

“So?” she asked, and held her face up for his kiss. 

“You’ve had a long day,” she said.

“All branding days are long,” he answered.  We’ve been gathering and branding strays all day.  We culled out strays belonging to James.  I’m going to drive them over tomorrow.  Our herd is in real good shape.  We’re going to have a bunch of yearlings for market this fall.”

“We have something to show you, don’t we, Emily?” Mary said.

“Uh huh,” Emily said.  “We have a ‘sprise Papa.”

Mary picked Matt up and stood him against the wall.  “Are you ready, Emily?”

“Uh huh,” said Emily as she moved a few feet away from Matt.  “Come here, Matty,” she said as she held her arms out.  “Come to me, Matty.”

Mouth open, and arms extended from his body, Matt took a tentative, wobbling step toward his sister.  “Come on, Matty,” she said.  He took another, teetering, almost falling, but continuing on to his sister’s arms. 

“Yay,” cheered Mary.

“Papa, did you see? Matty walked.  Me and Mama teached Matty how to walk,” Emily said proudly.

“I saw it,” Tom said, and picked up both his children and held them in his strong arms.  “How did you do it,” he asked.

“Mama held him, and he walked to me,” Emily said.

“That was a good idea,” Tom said.  He kissed her and nuzzled her neck.

“Papa, your face scratches,” she giggled.

“Give Papa a hug, Matty,” Tom said.

Matt responded by wrapping his short, chubby arms  around Tom’s neck and said, “Uhhhhhh.”

Rosa had watched the action, wiping her hands on her apron standing next to Mary.  She hugged Mary, and said, “dinner is ready.”  With Matt in his high chair between his Mama and Papa, Emily sat between Tom and Rosa, the Hartness family bowed their heads while Mary said grace.  Mary fed Matt as she ate.