A Husband for Margaret (2 page)

She took a deep breath as the station
filled up with a sea of unfamiliar faces. “I didn’t realize it got
this busy,” she whispered to Jessica.

Jessica shrugged. “Me neither. My pa
once said that it was the hub of railroad activity, but I thought
he was exaggerating.”

“
I’m bored. When is he going
to get over here?” Margaret’s thirteen-year-old sister
asked.

Margaret glanced at her parents. “Why
did we have to bring her?”

Her mother sighed. “This young man
you’re going to marry should meet everyone in the
family.”

“
But all she’s done since we
left the house is complain,” Margaret said.

“
Your sister has a point,”
her father told Charlotte. “This is a big day for Margaret. Be
good.”

Charlotte rolled her eyes but stopped
whining.

Jessica nudged Margaret in the side.
“Maybe that’s him. He looks like he’s searching for
someone.”

Margaret turned her attention to a good
looking man holding a child. “No. Paul doesn’t have any children.”
Her gaze swept the room. A part of her got dizzy from the swarm of
people buzzing around them.

To her surprise, a boy ran over to her.
“Are you Margaret Williams?”

Her eyebrows furrowed. “Uh...yes. Do I
know your parents?” She didn’t recall ever seeing him before. Not
that she made it a habit of being around children.

The boy waved to someone in the crowd.
“Pa! She’s over here!”

Her eyes grew wide.
Pa? She’s over here?
Whatever did that mean? Paul made it clear that he had no
children. So who was this child and why did he pick her out? She
glanced at Jessica who looked equally uncertain about
this.

The man holding a child saw the boy and
motioned to two children before heading in their direction. As soon
as he reached them, he said, “Doug, I told you to stay with
me.”

“
Sorry, Pa,” he replied,
appearing to be appropriately contrite. “I saw the blue dress and
hat. It’s her.”

A knot twisted in Margaret’s stomach.
This couldn’t be Paul. He decided not to come. She just knew it!
Even her parents and sister seemed apprehensive about
this.

The man focused on Margaret and offered
a smile. “Pardon me, but are you Margaret Williams?”

“
Well...” She took in the
four boys who stared at her with a mixture of hope and curiosity.
The knot grew tighter. Just what did this man and these kids want
with her?

“
Yes, she is,” Jessica
finally said.

The statement startled Margaret so she
gave a slight jerk. Clearing her throat, she added, “Yes.” She took
a deep breath. Something wasn’t right. Did Paul lie to her? “I’m
her.”

“
My name is Joseph Connealy.
I’m Paul’s older brother. You see, Paul was going to come
but-”

Oh great. Here it came. Margaret braced
herself for whatever excuse he’d give her.

“
Paul’s horse got spooked
and he fell off.” He glanced at the children. “I’d rather not go
into detail, but we had to bury him two weeks ago.”

It took a moment for his words to sink
in, and when they finally did, her countenance fell. So Paul
couldn’t come, even if he wanted to. She supposed she should feel
better. It wasn’t like Paul rejected her or anything. He died.
There was no way he could come now.

Joseph cleared his throat.

Breaking out of her thoughts, she
directed her attention to him.

“
Anyway, my wife passed away
a year ago, and I knew Paul was coming out to meet you so I thought
maybe you’d be willing to marry me instead.”

The first thing she did was lower her
gaze to the children. There were four of them—if she counted
right—and they were all staring at her with wide smiles on their
faces. She couldn’t be sure, but it seemed as if they had rehearsed
this moment.

“
What adorable boys,”
Jessica said, breaking the awkward silence. “What are their names?”
she asked Joseph.

“
This is Doug,” Joseph
began. “He’s seven. That is Bob, and he’s six. Then Charles is
three, and Ben is two.”

“
Those are fine names,”
Jessica replied. “It’s a shame they had to lose their
mother.”

Margaret caught Jessica’s
sad expression and knew her friend was pleading with her to marry
this man. Margaret broke eye contact with her friend and glanced at
her family who looked equally sorrowful over his story. She wasn’t
sure what she should do. True, Joseph losing his wife who left him
with four boys was heartbreaking in its own way, but there
were
four boys
he
was asking her to be a mother to. Being a mother right away wasn’t
something she anticipated when she posted the ad. And even if these
boys seemed well behaved and friendly, she didn’t know the first
thing about being a mother. Not really. Though her sister was
considerably younger than her, she didn’t raise her
sister.

“
Oh, do it,” Jessica
whispered in her ear. “Those poor boys need a woman to care for
them.”

Margaret gave her friend a ‘hush’ look
before she studied the boys who remained quiet and still. She
wasn’t sure what to make of them. They just kept smiling at her,
and as innocent as they seemed, she sensed that she was being set
up for something. Surely, kids didn’t behave this well on a regular
basis. She wiped the sweat off her forehead. Was she really up for
this?

“
Maybe you should think
about it,” her father told her. “After all, you didn’t plan to
marry Paul today.” He looked at Joseph. “We were going to arrange
for the wedding first. We figured we’d wait a week.”

A flicker of disappointment crossed
Joseph’s features but he nodded. “That’s fine. What do you think,
Margaret?”

She swallowed the lump in
her throat. A week. In that time, she could possibly adjust to this
situation.
Maybe.
She examined the four boys.
Or maybe
not.
Then she looked at Joseph who was a
handsome man who obviously cared for his children and would
probably make a good husband.
So
maybe.
Then one of the kids named Bob or
Doug—she couldn’t remember which—sneezed into his hand before he
wiped it on his brother’s shirt. She cringed.
Or maybe not.

“
Well,” her father
interrupted, “we don’t have to make a decision right now. We should
give Margaret time to think about it.”

“
Yes,” Margaret quickly
said. Her eyes grew wide when she realized they might misunderstand
her to mean that she’d marry Joseph and take on the responsibility
of four—four!—boys. “Yes, I’ll think about it.”

It wasn’t the answer he wanted,
Margaret realized when she looked from the boys and back to their
father, but in no way was she prepared for this. Beside her,
Jessica smiled at the boys. Had this been Jessica, Jessica would
have married Joseph right away—if for no other reason than to be a
mother to the children. Well, there was no doubt about it. Jessica
was, and always would be, better than Margaret. Margaret simply did
not have it in her to embrace this right away...if ever.

Her father turned to Joseph and the
boys. “You all must be tired after the long trip. Let’s go find
your luggage and get you settled into a motel. I can’t have you
sleeping under the same roof as my daughter unless you’re married
to her.”

Jessica shook her head. “You can’t
confine children to a motel. I know! They can stay with Tom’s
parents. They have enough room for all of you, and since they live
on a farm, there’s plenty of room to play.”

“
A farm?” one of the older
boys asked. “Uncle Paul had a farm. Are there horses out
there?”

“
There sure are,” Jessica
replied.

“
I don’t know,” Joseph said.
“There’s a lot of us.”

Jessica laughed and waved her hand.
“The Larsons are used to a lot of people. Why, there are five kids
in that family, except most of them are grown up and have their own
places. And they are planting beans and corn. If you want to do
something in return for food and lodging, I’m sure they could use
the extra help.”

Joseph relaxed. “If we can earn our
keep, then it’d work. Doug and Bob used to help their uncle in the
fields.”

She clapped her hands and laughed.
“Then it’s settled.”

One of the boys jumped up and down. “We
get to stay on the farm! Can we ride horses too?”

Jessica nodded. “After all the work is
done, Bob.”

It was official. Jessica was better
than her, Margaret thought. She even knew which kid was which. No
wonder all the men wanted to be with Jessica instead of her.
Jessica was more likeable, more attractive, more... Well, just more
everything!

But she couldn’t compare herself to
Jessica. No matter how tempting it was, especially at times like
this.

“
We got to meet Tom’s
parents at the wedding,” Margaret’s mother told Joseph. “They adore
children. They have a couple of grandchildren. I believe their
oldest son has twin boys.”

“
Richard has two boys and
one girl. The twins are three and the girl is only five months
old,” Jessica clarified. “Tom’s sister, Sally, just found out she’s
expecting her first child.”

“
No older kids?” one of
Joseph’s boys asked Jessica.

She shook her head. “I’m afraid not.
But you’re seven and Bob is six, so you already have someone close
to your age to play with.”

As much as Margaret liked her friend,
she was starting to wish she hadn’t brought her along. The boys
were already falling in love with her. She sighed in despair. It
was a sign. Paul’s death, Joseph coming out with a bunch of kids,
and Jessica getting along wonderfully with them... It was all a
sign. And it pointed to one conclusion: Margaret wasn’t meant to
get married. Most women married and went on to lead very happy
lives. But not every woman got married. And apparently, Margaret
was doomed to be one of them.

As she watched the two older boys
animatedly talk to Jessica who led them all to the luggage area,
she knew there was nothing she had to offer children. Joseph would
just have to find another woman in the area, go back home or post
his own ad for a wife. Because nothing was convincing her that she
was the right one for him and his children.

Margaret rolled her eyes. Why fight
fate? She was just meant to be single forever, and she was sure
that before long, Joseph would realize it too.

Chapter Three

Margaret picked up the
letters Paul had written her and read them in the privacy of her
bedroom. Why did he have to fall off his horse? Why did he even
have to ride a horse?
Because that’s what
farmers do.
Riding horses is part of their
job.
With a heavy sigh, she settled back on
her bed and stared at the ceiling.

It didn’t seem fair. In fact, the more
bad things happened to her, the more convinced she was that she was
cursed. Paul seemed like a nice man. He’d made her laugh with some
of his comments, so he obviously had a great sense of humor. Her
big worry had been that he’d see her with Jessica and find her
lacking. Not once did it occur to her that he’d suffer a fatal
accident. She knew she should feel sorry for him. He was dead after
all. But the selfish part of her couldn’t help but wonder why he
couldn’t have been more careful on the dumb animal.

Why me?
Of all the men out there, why did the one who actually wanted
to come out and marry her have to die? Well, she supposed that
wasn’t entirely true. His brother had come out asking to marry
her.
Because he has four boys who need a
mother.
It had nothing to do with
her.

She picked up Paul’s second letter and
read the part where he told her that she sounded like someone he
could enjoy being married to. He liked how sensible she was. He
hadn’t seen her but already liked her because she was straight
forward. What other man had taken the time to find out anything
about her? None.

It was enough to make her want to cry,
even though she wasn’t one to give into tears. Tears were far too
impractical because they didn’t solve anything.

Giving another heavy sigh, she rolled
over and stared out her window. She didn’t feel like meeting Joseph
tomorrow but knew she would. He came all the way out here. It
wouldn’t be right to not open the door when he came. But did she
really have to marry him just because he arrived? She had no idea
he was coming. He didn’t even write to let her know for goodness’
sakes! She didn’t owe him anything. Just because Jessica would’ve
married him, it didn’t mean she had to.

Surely in good time, he’d find a woman
like Jessica and get her to take on the responsibility of four
boys. Margaret was certain that most women would readily agree to
it. He wouldn’t have to wait long before he found one. Maybe she’d
offer to help him find one. Yes, that would work. Then she wouldn’t
have to feel guilty when she told him there was no way she could
handle four children. It was one thing to have one child at a time
and slowly adjust to a full house, but being thrown into it all at
once was way too much of a shock.