A Husband for Margaret (3 page)

She took a deep breath and slowly
exhaled. Such was life. Not everyone was meant to be
happy.

“
Margaret?”

She turned her head so she could see
her mother standing in the doorway. “What?”

“
Today didn’t go as you
thought it would.”

That
was stating the obvious. Margaret bit back the sarcastic
comment. She shouldn’t let her foul mood affect her
behavior.

Her mother came into the room and sat
on the edge of the bed. “Sometimes life doesn’t turn out the way we
think it will, but it could mean that better things are at the
door.”

Rolling her eyes, Margaret stared back
at the ceiling. Like she needed a pep talk right now! What she
needed was to go back in time and warn Paul not to ride his stupid
horse.

“
I know this is hard for
you,” her mother continued. She reached out and lightly rubbed
Margaret’s arm. “I certainly didn’t expect a widower with four
children to come off that train either. It caught us all by
surprise.”

There her mother went again—referring
to the surprise. Margaret figured by now, her mother had done that
a good ten times. Mostly on the way home and now in her bedroom.
Well, she might as well add to it. “Yes, it was a surprise.” One
huge, gigantic, colossal surprise! She dared a look in her mother’s
direction. “Do you think I’m mean for not wanting to marry
him?”

“
I think you should get to
know him before making that decision.”

“
What’s there to know? He
wants a mother for his kids. Did you see how many there
are?”

She chuckled. “Of course, I did. I’m
not blind.”

“
I’m not heartless, Ma. I
feel sorry for him. I can’t imagine trying to take care of four
children all by myself. He does need a mother for them.”

She smiled. “He’s been married before
so he knows there’s more to a marriage than taking care of
children.”

“
Oh, I know. There’s having
a woman who’ll cook and clean and do his laundry too.”

“
Paul would’ve asked you to
do the same thing.”

Margaret groaned and threw the pillow
over her face. “I don’t want logic right now. I just want to wallow
in misery.”

“
I know.” She lifted the
pillow from her daughter’s face. “And I’ll let you enjoy every
second of it for the rest of today. But—” she gave her a pointed
look—“I expect you to wake up tomorrow with the notion that you
will at least get to know Joseph when you see him. Marriage isn’t
all about chores and children. It’s about the sharing of your life
with someone else.”

“
I knew you wanted
grandchildren, but I didn’t realize you wanted a whole lot of them
at one time.”

Laughing, she gently placed the pillow
back over Margaret’s face. “It’s more than children or
grandchildren. It’s about seeing my daughter happy. I think Joseph
is a nice man.”

“
He’s old.”

“
Thirty isn’t
old.”

“
He’s ten years older than
me.” She gasped and sat up. The pillow fell to her lap. “His oldest
child is seven. I was thirteen when that kid was born.”

“
That means you’re still
older and able to provide a stern look of authority over the
youngster.”

Grumbling, Margaret laid back in the
bed and returned the pillow to her face. She was beginning to wish
she hadn’t posted an ad at all. This was a mess. Her mother
wouldn’t be happy if she decided not to marry Joseph. But so what?
It was Margaret’s life, not her mother’s.

“
Give it a good night’s
sleep,” her mother advised.

Margaret felt the bed shift, notifying
her that her mother stood up.

“
Things always look better
after a good night’s sleep.”

When her mother left the room, Margaret
pulled the pillow off of her face and let out a sigh of
despair.

***

The next afternoon, Margaret glanced at
the clock above the fireplace and cringed. Joseph was due any
minute. She turned her gaze to the window and peered out of it.
There was no sign of him yet. She exhaled, relieved.

Her mother entered the parlor. “It’ll
be a nice day to go for a walk.”

Margaret turned from the window and
asked, “Will you come along?”

Her mother chuckled. “Of course not.
You need to get to know him, and that isn’t going to happen unless
you two can talk alone.”

Margaret fought the urge to groan and
sat down in a chair. She put her face in her hands. She had no idea
what she could say to him that might be of any interest. After all,
she had no experience with children. What in the world could she
possibly have to offer him? Well, except for being a mother to his
brood of offspring. She shuddered. Four boys. Not even a girl among
them! She knew absolutely nothing about boys—or men for that
matter.

“
He’s here,” her mother
called out.

She didn’t look up right away. Instead,
she listened as her mother opened the front door and greeted him.
This, she was sure, was going to be a disaster. The only saving
grace was that he didn’t plan to bring his children with him. She
looked up then, making sure no kids came running into the house. It
was just him. Good. At least that would make things less
awkward.

She cleared her throat and stood up.
“Ma thought it’d be a good idea if we went for a walk.” She glanced
at her mother and shot her a pleading look to join them.

“
I need to get down to the
mercantile,” her mother said. “Take your time.”

Margaret inwardly groaned. Too bad her
sister was in school because if she wasn’t, Margaret would ask her
to come along. It’d be much better if one other person was there to
help break the tension.

“
It is a nice day for a
walk,” Joseph said, offering a tentative smile.

Perhaps this wasn’t any easier for him
than it was for her. As strange as it was, that actually made her
feel better. “Alright.” She followed him out to the
porch.

“
Have a good time!” her
mother said.

Margaret knew her mother meant well but
was too nervous to respond. Instead, she shut the door and crossed
her arms because she couldn’t figure out what else to do with
them.

“
Where do you usually go for
a walk around here?” he asked.

“
Umm...” She debated whether
to go to the park or through town. “I think the park will be good
since the weather is nice.”

He nodded and followed her down the
porch steps.

She glanced back once and
saw her mother watching them from the parlor window.
“I need to go to the mercantile” my left
foot,
Margaret thought. Her mother had done
her weekly shopping two days ago. Reluctant, she turned her
attention to Joseph. She couldn’t bring herself to look at him as
they strolled down the sidewalk that led to the park. Clearing her
throat, she got ready to speak. She had to tell him the truth, and
the sooner she did it, the better.

With a heavy sigh, she said, “I’m not
the kind of person who believes in wasting her time. I agreed to
meet with you today because my parents insisted on it. But to tell
you the truth, I don’t think I have what it takes to raise four
boys. I mean, if I was their mother, it would be different. I’d be
able to get used to them one at a time. This whole thing with all
of them at once... Well...” She shrugged. “It’s too
much.”

There. She said it. Stopping, she
waited to see if he would want to continue the walk—and listen to
her go into more detail on her decision—or if he’d want to stop
wasting his time with her and find a woman who would be happy to
take on him and his children.

“
It’s been nine years since
I courted a woman, so I’m a bit rusty at this. But I got a chance
to read your letters, and I thought you sounded like a woman I
could get along well with.” He shifted from one foot to the other.
“It’s true I could use a mother for my children, and I do want her
to be good to them. I also want a woman who’ll make a good
companion.”

She lifted her head and took
a good look at him. So it did matter to him who he married. Then he
wasn’t just hoping to
settle
for her. That made her feel better about
everything. “Well, I suppose we could talk.”

His body relaxed. “I like your
straightforwardness,” he admitted with a smile.

As they resumed their stroll down the
sidewalk, she replied, “I don’t see the point in not saying what I
mean. Too many people can take advantage of someone who’s afraid to
say no.”

He chuckled. “That’s especially true of
children. And don’t think saying ‘no’ once is enough.”

“
I don’t know the first
thing about children. My sister might be eight years younger than
me, but I didn’t do much with her.”

“
I wouldn’t expect you to do
everything yourself. I didn’t realize how much work it is to take
care of them until my wife passed away.”

As they crossed the street, she asked,
“How did she die?”

“
She got sick and never
recovered.”

There was a hint of sorrow in his
voice, so she ventured, “You must have loved her.”

“
I did. We grew up together.
I think we always knew we’d get married.” He looked at her. “I
don’t mean to ramble on about her. I am interested in learning
about you and having you learn about me.”

Maybe her mother was right. Maybe he
did know there was more to a marriage than taking care of the
children. “What do you want to know about me?”

He put his hands in his pockets and
studied the ground for a moment. “I read the letters you sent Paul.
When he told me he was coming out here, he showed them to me,” he
quickly explained, as if he expected her to be upset.

“
I assumed you read them if
you knew I was looking for a husband.” As soon as she said those
words, she wished she could take them back. She sounded desperate.
What woman worth marrying had to post an ad for a husband? None of
her friends had to stoop to such measures. They had men to choose
from. How she wished the same had been the case for her. Refusing
to look at him in case he picked up on the frustration and shame in
her eyes, she added, “I just figured you had to find out about me
that way. You don’t seem like the kind of man who searches through
the paper looking for a wife.”

“
It never occurred to
me.”

Of course not. He was
gorgeous.

“
You see, I assumed that all
the ads were men looking for women,” he continued. “So Paul
happened to find your ad and told me about it. I thought he had a
good idea, so I went and looked through the other ads but didn’t
find any others.”

Her cheeks grew even warmer, something
she didn’t think possible since she was embarrassed enough as it
was. No other woman in the country had the problem she did.
Terrific. Wonderful. Perfect. She crossed her arms and tried not to
groan.

“
When your first letter
came, he brought it out for me to read, and I thought he’d do well
to marry you,” he said.

She examined him to determine whether
he was just telling her this so she’d agree to take on the task of
raising his army of children, but he seemed sincere.

He shrugged and glanced at her. “In
fact, there was a part of me that envied him. He saw your ad first.
It wouldn’t have been right to intervene, so I stayed out of
it.”

“
Really?” she asked in a
hopeful tone. She wanted to slap herself for saying that. Could she
sound even more eager for a man to be interested in her if she
tried?

He grinned. “Is that so hard to
believe?”

She decided not to answer that in case
she made an even bigger fool of herself.

“
I didn’t want Paul to die.
It’s a shame a man has to go before he has a chance to live and see
what life has to offer. I thought you’d make him happy.”

Her unease was starting to ebb. She
realized that they had already traveled half the length of the
park. Spotting a bench, she asked, “Would you like to sit for
awhile? It’s such a nice day that it’d be a shame to hurry back
inside.”

He nodded and waited for her to sit
before he sat beside her. “I’m sorry I didn’t write. I wanted to
ask if you’d allow me to come in Paul’s place, but I knew that I’d
get here before the letter did.”

“
I understand.” Paul’s death
was unexpected. Who could have seen it happening, especially when
he was twenty-two? He should have had many more years left. “I’m
sorry that happened to him. He seemed like a nice man from what I
read in the letters.”

“
He was.”

“
It must have been a rough
couple of years for you. First your wife...then your brother...”
Here young people were dying, and she spent her time complaining
because she didn’t have a group of men wanting to court her. In
reality, her problems were insignificant. At least she was alive to
have those problems. And here was a man who’d seen more than his
share of sorrows. Though the task of taking on four boys still made
her head spin, she figured he could use some help with them. A man
trying to support children while being the sole parent had to be
rough. Praying she wouldn’t regret this, she said, “I’ll marry you,
Joseph.”