A Husband for Margaret (14 page)

Grimacing, he consented, “You win.
Bob’s right. You win.”

“
Good.” She exhaled, feeling
her tension subside. Now that this matter was established, she
could go about her plan. “You don’t need to fret so much. I won’t
be that far away.”

“
Exactly what is the
plan?”

Her plan had been to tell Debra she
needed to make an emergency run to help her ailing mother, but when
Margaret caught sight of Debra heading their way and Doug and Bob
waiting outside the mercantile with a handful of candy, a better
one came to mind.

“
Get back to work.” She shot
Bob a meaningful look. “Get your pa back in there.”

“
I can do that without your
help,” Joseph muttered. Even if he agreed to it, it was evident he
wasn’t thrilled with the idea.

Bob stopped sucking on a piece of hard
candy and yelled out, “Mr. Lindon, Pa’s not working!”

Margaret saw that Debra was in hearing
distance. “Play along,” she whispered to Joseph. In a louder voice,
she said, “I just can’t take it anymore! I’m moving back home to my
parents.” She let go of Charles’ and Ben’s hands and threw her
hands up in the air. “You don’t need a wife. You need a
maid!”

Ralph stepped out of the mercantile and
called out, “Connealy, I’m paying you to work, not
gossip.”

Debra, Margaret noticed, had stilled
her steps and watched them with open curiosity.

“
Fine,” Margaret told a
bewildered Joseph, “I suppose you’re strapped to your job.” Then
she turned to Debra and gasped. “Oh, what a God send!” She reached
for Charles and Ben and hurried them over to the startled woman.
“I’ve decided you’re right. You can have Joseph. It’s ‘Hannah this’
and ‘Hannah that’. It’s enough to make a woman scream.” She glanced
at the children.

Bob stuck his tongue out at Margaret.
“We don’t want you anyway.”

Debra brought her hand up to her mouth
and gasped.

“
I don’t know what kind of
woman Hannah was, but she didn’t teach those children any manners.
They’ve been flippant ever since the wedding.” Margaret nudged
Charles and Ben toward the other woman. “I hope you mean it. You
know. About being able to discipline them and all. I give up.” She
wiped her hands and gave a loud sigh. “What a relief! I feel so
free.” She patted Debra on the back, purposely using more force
than necessary but not hurting her. “Good luck. You’ll need
it.”

“
Margaret-” Joseph
began.

“
Enough dilly dallyin’. I
need you to deliver those barrels for me. Pronto,” Ralph
ordered.

Margaret glanced at Ralph who winked at
her while Bob snickered. Debra was too busy watching Joseph to
notice the silent messages exchanged around her. Margaret hid her
smile. That particular kid was much too clever for his own good.
She didn’t know how Bob got Ralph to join in, but she could ask
later.

Joseph gave Margaret a wary look before
he stepped toward the mercantile entrance.

Debra made a move to get close to him,
but he edged away from her like a scared little mouse and scurried
into his safe hole—the mercantile. Margaret rolled her eyes. If
that was how Joseph and Hannah handled Debra—by always running from
her—it was no wonder Debra wouldn’t leave.

Bob yanked on Debra’s dress with his
sticky hand. Debra yelped but Bob didn’t let go. “We want the park,
new Ma.”

“
Yeah! We sure do!” Doug
chimed in. “Please take us.”

“
Please!” Bob
added.

Soon, Debra was surrounded by a chorus
of pleas to go to the park.

“
Better you than me,”
Margaret enthusiastically said and headed off down the
boardwalk.

She breathed a sigh of relief. Good.
Joseph hadn’t stopped her. The plan was still in motion and now she
could enact the next part.

Chapter Fourteen

Margaret made her way to Connie James’
residence but didn’t go up to the porch. Instead, she sat on a
bench nearby and waited for Jessica to finish her brief visit with
Mrs. Lonny. She rehashed exactly what she planned to say when
Jessica lured the woman out of her house.

It wasn’t too long before Jessica
rounded the corner of the block. Margaret stood and hurried to the
house next to Connie’s so that Connie wouldn’t see her. Jessica
knocked on the door, holding a quilt that Mrs. Lonny wanted to give
Connie. Even if Connie could grieve some people, she managed to be
popular. Margaret would never understand it, but then, this served
her purpose for this particular moment and she’d use it.

When Connie opened the door, Margaret
took a deep breath, straightened her shirt, and got ready for her
part. She slipped back onto the sidewalk and pretended to be
surprised to see Jessica and Connie.

“
Good afternoon, ladies,”
Margaret called out as cheerfully as she could manage. Without
waiting for an invitation to join them, she walked up the steps of
Connie’s porch and gave a contented sigh. “Isn’t it a wonderful
day? It’s just the right day for a nice stroll in the
park.”

Connie slowly took the quilt from
Jessica and said, “Where are those children?”

“
What children?” Margaret
asked, adjusting her hat. Folding her hands, she looked pointedly
at Connie and waited for her to respond.

“
The four boys you’re now a
mother to,” Connie reminded her, as if she couldn’t believe she had
to spell it out.

She laughed and waved her hand. “Oh,
those little hellions? I decided that Miss Potter can have
them.”

“
You what?” Jessica asked in
feigned horror.

Margaret shrugged. “It just didn’t work
out. I’m going to post an ad for another man. This time, if one
comes off the train with a child, I’m going to send him right back
home.”

Connie clucked her tongue and shook her
head. “I must say that is in poor taste. You made your vows, and
now you’re stuck.”

Margaret shrugged. “Vows are made to be
broken.”

Jessica sighed. “That’s
horrible.”

Connie nodded. “A woman doesn’t shirk
her responsibilities. It’s up to you to be their mother, even if
they aren’t as good as my Peter.”

“
Speaking of which,” Jessica
began, “how is he doing these days?”

“
Oh, he’s managing. You
broke his heart, you know. The poor man doesn’t come out and say
it, but he needs a good woman to cook his meals, clean his house,
and have his children.”

Margaret took that as her cue. “Where
could such a woman be?”

Connie narrowed her eyes at her.
“Certainly not you.”

Margaret scoffed. As if she’d ever be
with Connie’s son! She might have been desperate, but she wasn’t
stupid.

“
I heard that Debra Potter
is available,” Jessica chimed in. “She cleans Mrs. Lonny’s
place.”

Connie’s ears perked in interest. “Mrs.
Lonny let her clean her home?”

“
She sure did. I had tea
with her just a few moments ago, right after Miss Potter left that
house. They seemed to get along well.”

Connie seemed to consider Jessica’s
statement.

“
Debra Potter is dreadful,”
Margaret argued. “Any woman who follows a man across state lines
isn’t right in the head.”

“
Come now, Margaret,”
Jessica admonished. “Mrs. Lonny has nothing but good things to say
on her behalf, and you know how particular Mrs. Lonny can be. Why,
if she approves of Debra, then Debra would make an excellent
addition to someone’s family.”

Margaret and Jessica turned their gazes
to Connie at that moment, and Margaret wondered if Connie would
take the bait.

“
Mrs. Lonny’s opinion
carries a lot of weight in this town,” Connie said, studying the
patterns on the quilt.

“
That’s the truth of it,”
Jessica agreed. “She wanted that church painted a nice pearly white
and that’s the color it is today.”

Margaret shrugged. “I suppose Miss
Potter would make a fine wife and daughter-in-law to the right
family. However, this is not my concern. She is with Joseph’s boys
at the park, and I’m sure that she’ll be a wonderful wife and
mother to that chaotic group.”

Connie placed the quilt down on the
small table by the front door and grabbed her hat. “I hate to rush
you two young ladies, but I need to run an errand.”

“
Oh really?” Jessica looked
disappointed. “Well, I’m sorry about Peter.”

Margaret shot her friend a ‘that’s
overboard’ look, but Jessica ignored her and watched as Connie put
the hat on her head.

“
Peter will be fine,” Connie
said as she walked onto the porch and shut the door behind her.
“Things work out for the best.” She patted Jessica’s hand. “Don’t
you trouble yourself. You made a mistake, but there’s nothing to be
done about it now. I hold no ill will toward you and neither does
he.” Turning to Margaret, Connie asked, “Which park did Miss Potter
go to?”

“
The one right across from
my house,” Margaret replied. When Connie appeared as if she had no
idea what Margaret meant, she added, “It’s the one closest to the
mercantile.”

“
Oh! That one. A lovely
spot.” Connie patted both women on the shoulder. “I don’t mean to
keep you. Go on ahead and do whatever it is you two do.” Then she
bounded down the steps and walked toward the park in long,
purposeful strides.

Jessica tapped her foot on the porch.
“I don’t know whether to feel sorry for Connie or
Debra.”

Margaret rolled her eyes. “They’ll be
fine. In fact, they’re going to be very happy. A pair could not be
more happily matched.”

“
But it’s Peter that Debra’s
supposed to be marrying.”

“
He’s already married to his
mother. This will be an extension of that. I’m telling you Jessica,
Peter will like this too. Now, he’ll never have to choose between
his mother and another woman again. They’ll work together and
decide what he’ll do. It’s perfect.”

“
I suppose you’re
right.”

“
I am.” Margaret tried to
decide when she should head on over to the park to make sure the
final pieces fell into place. “I think I’ll go around this block
two times and head on back home.”

“
You’re not picking up any
grocery items like you originally planned?”

“
No. I opted for a change in
those plans,” Margaret replied. “Thank you for coming through,
Jessica.”

“
Now we’re even,” Jessica
said, smiling.

“
Even.”

Then, without a look back, Margaret
headed for the sidewalk.

Chapter Fifteen

By the time Margaret made it to the
block the outskirts of the park, she didn’t know whether to be
amused or upset. Joseph had taken it upon himself to hide behind a
large tree so he could watch Debra try to talk to Connie while the
four boys gave her a hard time. Ben and Charles were crying. Debra
held Ben in one arm and bent to pat Charles on the back. Margaret
didn’t see Doug or Bob right away but quickly noticed that they
were in a tree not too far from where Debra sat. She hoped those
two knew what they were doing. She made them promise to stick to
trees with low branches, and this one seemed safe
enough.

But she had more pressing matters to
attend to with the man hiding behind another tree. She glanced
around and saw that the mercantile wagon was conveniently parked
down another street. She shook her head and quietly snuck up behind
Joseph before she tapped him on the shoulder.

He jerked around, looking like a kid
stuck with his hand in the cookie jar. “It’s not what it looks
like.”

Crossing her arms, she glared at him.
“Really?”

Straightening up, he cleared his
throat—probably trying to save the last shred of male dignity he
had left—and said, “I wanted to see what you had
planned.”

“
Um hmm,” she replied, not
believing him.

He sighed. “Fine. A part of me doesn’t
trust Debra with the children. I want to make sure they’re
alright.” He glanced over his shoulder at Doug and Bob who were
calling out to Debra as they swung from the low branches and kicked
at each other. “You’re fine with them being in a tree like
that?”

Margaret shrugged. “If they fall, the
most they’ll get is a couple of bruises.”

“
Hannah wouldn’t let them up
there, but I always thought that they should. Boys need to climb
and feel a sense of danger.”

“
Are you avoiding the
topic?” She lowered her arms, feeling some of her annoyance settle
at the compliment he’d given her, even if it was a roundabout
one.

“
I really am curious about
what you’re going to do. You never told me what it is.”

She studied him, trying to determine
his level of sincerity.

Debra shrieked when Bob kicked Doug and
Doug fell to the ground, wailing and clutching his arm.

Margaret forced back the laugh as
Charles clung to Debra’s dress and Ben grabbed her hat and flung it
to the ground. Ben stopped crying and giggled. Connie rushed to
retrieve the hat as it blew across the grass. Bob ran off from the
tree before Debra could reach Doug who continued to howl as if he
were mortally wounded.