A Husband for Margaret

A Husband for Margaret

Ruth Ann Nordin

Ruth Ann Nordin’s Books

Springfield, Nebraska

A Husband for
Margaret
- Smashwords Edition

Published by Ruth Ann Nordin at
Smashwords

Copyright © 2010 by Ruth Ann
Nordin

All rights reserved. No part of this
book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means,
electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by
any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in
writing from the copyright owner.

This is a work of fiction. Names,
characters, places and incidents are either the product of the
author’s imagination or are used fictitiously, and any resemblance
to any actual persons, living or dead, events, or locales is
entirely coincidental.

Smashwords Edition, License
Notes:

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Cover Photo images Copyright Getty
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permission.

Chapter One

April 1869

Two weeks after Tom and Jessica got
married

Margaret Williams adjusted her hat for
what seemed to be the hundredth time. She took another good look at
her reflection in the mirror before she glanced at her newly
married friend, Jessica. In no way, did she share the blond’s
outstanding beauty.

Jessica Larson lifted the pearl
necklace from Margaret’s jewelry box. “This will look nice with the
white ribbon in your hat.”

“
It’ll do.”

She turned so that Jessica could slip
it around her neck and fasten it. Afterwards, she spread Margaret’s
brown hair around her shoulders. “You look perfect!”

Perfect? Not quite. But she did look
pretty. At least, she thought so. Hopefully Paul Connealy would
think so. She wondered if it was wise to ask Jessica to join her
and her parents when he was due to come into the train station.
What if he saw Jessica and was disappointed when he realized he’d
be marrying Margaret instead? But Jessica was her dearest friend,
and there was no way she could face this day without
her.

Margaret’s mother knocked on her
bedroom door.

She glanced at the clock on her wall.
Was it time to leave already? Wiping her sweaty hands on the skirt
of her dress, she said, “Maybe posting an ad for a husband wasn’t a
good idea.”

Her mother opened the door while
Jessica offered a reassuring smile. “You’ll be fine. We’ll be
there.”

“
Will Tom be coming?”
Margaret asked. Maybe if Tom was with Jessica, Paul wouldn’t pay
her much attention. Then he wouldn’t be busy comparing Margaret to
her friend.

“
I already told you he
can’t. He’s planting corn. It’s busy this time of year.”

Of course. Just her luck. Jessica
should have married after planting season. But she couldn’t fault
her friend for wanting to marry sooner rather than later. Margaret
had been anxious to meet Paul. He seemed like a nice man from the
two letters he’d sent. Now that the day was here though, she had
the urge to hide back in her bed and forget this whole
thing.

Her mother came in and picked up the
two letters from the dresser. “You may need these.”

Margaret directed her gaze to her. “Oh,
I told him I’d be wearing blue, and that I’d be with my family and
friend.”

“
Alright.” The older woman
set them back on the dresser. “It’s up to you. Your father, sister
and I will be out front.”

Margaret nodded and picked up the brush
to make her hair look just a little bit better.

Jessica laughed. “I know what you’re
going through.”

She glanced at her friend. “You knew
Tom before you married him.”

“
Fine. So I don’t know
exactly what you’re going through, but you’re not marrying Paul
today. You’re going to meet him.”

“
Yes, that is
true.”

“
Everything will work
out.”

“
It’s easy for someone who’s
not in the situation to say that.”

“
Well, we already know he’s
got great taste. He had the sense to answer your ad.”

She chuckled. It was no wonder why she
wanted Jessica there. Her friend knew the right words to make her
feel better. “And he does sound like a nice man, don’t you
think?”

“
I sure do.”

“
He’s a farmer too. Is it
hard to be a farmer’s wife?”

“
I don’t think so. They work
hard, but then again, what woman doesn’t?”

Margaret nodded. Being married was good
for her friend. Jessica seemed to blossom under the love Tom gave
her. Did love do that to every woman? But did asking for a husband
in the unconventional way she had promise love? She glanced at the
letters. Paul seemed like the kind of man she could fall in love
with. But would he love her?

Things would be much easier if one of
the better men in Omaha would have simply taken note of her. Then
she’d at least know that she’d be marrying someone who loved her
already. She pushed aside a flicker of irritation and turned to the
door.

“
I suppose we should go,”
Margaret said.

Jessica smiled and gave her a quick
hug. “It’ll be fine. Try not to worry too much.”

With a slight eye roll, she joined her
friend and departed from her room.

***

Joseph Connealy grunted as his
three-year-old son jumped on his lap to slap one of his brothers
across the head.

The wounded brother, of course, let out
a high pitch wail.

Brother number three promptly smacked
the three year old, and the youngest brother barely stirred from
his slumber, proving that two year olds could sleep through
anything as long as they spent most of the night running up and
down the aisle.

A very tired Joseph barked out,
“Enough!” and the three boys immediately stopped their bickering.
Joseph had no idea the train ride would be this long. Sure, it
didn’t seem like it’d be much when he packed their things and
lugged them all to the station in Dayton. But now that they’d been
traveling for what seemed like years, he was ready to get off the
train, hand them to Margaret Williams, and hightail it right back
to Ohio.

Of course, he wouldn’t do
that to the poor woman. They were his children, after all. But they
sure did need a mother in the worst possible way. And
he
needed them to have a
mother as well. He could only pray she’d be willing to marry him
instead of his brother.

“
Are we there yet?” Doug,
the seven year old, asked.

“
Almost,” Joseph mumbled,
closing his eyes. His head hurt.

“
But you said that an hour
ago,” Doug whined.

“
Compared to when we
started, we were almost there.”

“
And now?”

“
We’re even
closer.”

“
How much
closer?”

“
Five minutes,” he guessed.
At least, based on the itinerary, they should be ready to pull into
the Omaha train station.
Dear God, let the
itinerary be right. My sanity depends on it.

“
How long is five minutes?”
Bob, the six year old, asked.

“
I don’t know,” Joseph
said.

“
How come you don’t know?”
Doug asked.

“
I do know. I just don’t
know how to explain it so you’ll understand,” Joseph
clarified.

“
Is five minutes long?” Doug
asked.

“
No.”

Then Charles leaned his head back and
knocked his father in the jaw.

Joseph grumbled and rubbed the sore
spot. “Alright. Five minutes is long.”

“
Longer than an hour?” Bob
pressed.

The train finally—mercifully—began to
slow, and Joseph breathed a loud sigh of relief. God did answer
prayers!

“
We’re here!” Doug cried out
and jumped up on the seat.

“
Sit down!” Joseph yanked on
the boy’s collar until the lad obeyed. “The train hasn’t stopped
yet. And remember what I said. Stay with me. You can’t go running
off with all these people. I might lose you.”

Doug groaned but stayed
seated.

Bob shook a sleeping Ben. “We’re here!”
he yelled in his brother’s ear.

“
He’s not deaf,” Joseph
said, pressing his hand over his own ear to get it to stop ringing.
How a little kid could manage that high of a pitch, he’d never
understand.

“
I can’t wait to meet our
new ma,” Bob told Doug. “You think she can make
cookies?”

“
Course she can. All mothers
make cookies,” Doug said. “And pies.”

“
Ooh! Pies. Pa, is she gonna
bring a pie?”

Joseph shook his head. “She’s not even
expecting us. She’s expecting your uncle Paul. Now, I want you all
to be on your best behavior. If you act up, she might not want to
go through with this.” Good Lord, the last thing he needed was to
scare the woman off.

“
Don’t she know we’re
coming?” Doug asked, his eyes wide.

“
No.”

“
Why not?”

He glanced at the child who, in many
ways, looked just like his mother with his blue eyes and blond
hair. He was curious like her too. Joseph shrugged. “I don’t know.
I thought it was best this way.” Which wasn’t entirely true, but he
saw no sense in explaining that to a child. The situation was
complicated enough without trying to go into detail about it.
“Look, your uncle can’t be here.”

“
Cause he’s dead,” Bob
said.

“
Right. So I figured if this
nice woman is looking for a family to care for, who better than you
boys?” He
really
hoped she’d understand and be willing to go through with this
because if she didn’t... He glanced at his four boys who were busy
shoving at each other and laughing. One, predictably, got hurt in
the play and started bellowing. If she didn’t marry him, he might
go insane. There was no way he could keep raising these kids by
himself. One year was one year too many.

The train came to a stop and Doug
bolted out of his seat, nearly tripping a man who was walking down
the aisle.

“
Stay with me, boys,” Joseph
ordered.

Doug’s shoulders slumped as he returned
to the seat.

“
Take your toys.” He pointed
to the floor and seats which had
‘Kids
were here’
written all over it. “And watch
out for other people,” he added.

The other passengers struggled to
squeeze around the seven and six year olds who scrambled to get in
the aisle to grab the toy trains that had rolled under the seat.
Well, he couldn’t blame the boys for trying. He set Charles next to
Ben who looked as if he could easily go back to sleep. Except,
Charles wouldn’t let him. He sat on Ben’s face and
giggled.

Margaret Williams is going
to take one look at these kids and order me back on the train. I
just know it.

He grabbed the bag which contained
enough clothes and supplies for the kids and a change of clothes
for himself. Then he pulled Charles off of Ben and set him on his
feet next to Doug and Bob whose arms were full of toys.

“
Watch Charles so he doesn’t
run off,” he told Doug and Bob. With the travel bag in one hand, he
scooped a still sleepy Ben into his arm and motioned down the
aisle. “Go.”

The boys turned and, probably because
they were eager to be off the train, actually walked in single file
to get off.

Well, here goes nothing, Joseph thought
as he followed them down the aisle.

Chapter Two

Margaret’s heart beat refused to slow
down as people were quickly coming off the train. Paul would be
among them...unless he decided not to come at the last minute. And
if he did that... She didn’t want to think about it. Finding a
husband had been hard enough without something like that happening.
No. She would be positive. Paul would be coming off that train.
She’d marry him, and they’d start a life together. They’d have
children and grow old with their grandchildren coming to visit. The
plan was simple. There wasn’t anything that was going to mess it
up.