Mail Order Madness (5 page)

“Have you had any complaints?”
  Susan was truly startled by the conversation.  It was almost as if Harriett was
trying to tell her not to go.

“Well, I’ve only had the business for a few months, but so far, everyone has been
happy.”  Harriett paused as she studied the younger woman’s face, hoping she was listening. 
“I do ask that you send me a letter once you arrive to let me know you’re safe, and
another a few weeks after marriage.  I want to make sure you’re still happy once the
first meeting excitement has passed.”

“I’ll write as soon as I get there and again a few weeks later.  I’m not going to
be a victim for a
ny
man.”

“Many women feel like they have no choice once they’ve married.  They think they’re
required to stay no matter what.”  Harriett leaned forward in her seat, her face earnest. 
“I don’t want any woman I send out to be in a bad situation and feel like she has
no option but to stay, because you always have options.”

Susan nodded.  “I promise.”  She wasn’t sure whether she’d promised to get Harriett
to back off, or because she already knew what Harriett was telling her.  She didn’t
believe a woman should have to stay in an abusive relationship and never had.

Harriett looked relieved, and started to say something else, but it was cut off by
the conductor’s cry of “All aboard!” 

Susan hugged Harriett quickly.  “Thank you for the sandwiches and all your help. 
I’ll write as soon as I arrive.”  She figured she’d write the letter on the train
to make things faster.  As soon as she arrived in Fort Worth, she’d drop it at the
nearest post office. 

“Be safe.”

Susan grinned.  “I will!”  She took her things and stood in line for the train.  Her
first train ride.  What could be more exciting?

*****

Ten days later, Susan knew that riding on a train wasn’t anything to get excited about. 
She was tired, dirty and ready to get off.  The woman sitting across from her had
two young children, and Susan had slept with one of them across her lap.  She couldn’t
seem to get away from children anywhere.  She was ready to be married and living in
a home with no small children.

She looked down at
Johnny,
the sleeping young boy on her lap.  He was two, and had been motion sick during a
lot of the trip.  Susan knew she had some vomit on her shoulder.  She’d been so proud
of how she looked in her new pink dress when she’d left Beckham.  Now she wished she
could bathe before actually meeting Jesse.  What would he think of how she looked
when she got off the train?

“I’m sorry he threw up on you,” his mother, Sally, said softly as if she could read
Susan’s mind.  They’d been traveling together since St. Louis and had become fast
friends.

Susan smiled.  “I’m used to it.”  She’d already told Sally about being the oldest
of twelve children, so she knew the woman would understand. 

“You certainly have a knack with him.”  Sally cradled her infant daughter in her arms. 
“I think we’re close.  Are you nervous?”

“More disgusted with myself than anything.  I wish I could take a bath before
meeting Jesse
.”

“He’ll understand.  Ten days on a train will leave anyone worse for the wear.”

“I hope so.”  She’d been so sure of herself when she’d left Beckham, but every mile
the trains had taken her closer to Fort Worth, she’d become more and more nervous. 
She prayed Harriett had been right about Jesse having a bath ready for her when she
arrived, and she thought she’d try to stay downwind of her future husband until she
had that bath.

The conductor walked through the train car then calling out the next stop.  “Fort
Worth, Texas coming up!  Fort Worth, Texas!”

Susan took a deep breath.  “That’s me.”  She settled Johnny onto the seat beside her,
careful to make him comfortable before standing up and getting her bags from where
she’d stowed them under her seat. 

“I hope you find every happiness with Jesse.”

“Thank you.  I wish you were stopping here too!”
  It would have been so much easier to get off the train knowing she had a friend
living close by.

“You have my address?”

Susan nodded.  “I’ll write to you soon.  I promise.”  She stepped into the aisle of
the train and made her way out, stopping just before getting off to wave goodbye to
her new friend. 

She stepped off the train onto the busy platform and looked around.  There was no
one holding a sign with her name that she could see.  She moved a little still looking. 
Finally, she spotted him. 
Oh, I wish I’d had a way to fix my appearance before
meeting
him!
 

She raised her hand and waved and made her way through the terminal.  He matched the
description he’d given her exactly.  He was tall with dark hair and brown eyes.  “Hi,
Jesse!  Forgive the way I look
and smell
.  Ten days on a train is hard.”

The man smiled down at her and took her bag from her, putting one hand beneath her
elbow to guide her.  “Let’s find a bench to sit down and talk.”
  The serious look on his face had her frightened.

“Is something wrong?  You didn’t find someone else to marry did you?”  His face was
so serious, she immediately worried something had happened.

He found a park bench a block from the train station and invited her to sit.  “I’m
not sure how to even start….”

Susan sighed.  “Just spit it out.  Please.  Whatever it is, we’ll deal with it.” 
Susan had received bad news, and she found it easier if she just found out quickly
and then was able to make the plans she needed to make.  Prolonging things just drove
her crazy.

“I’m not Jesse.  I’m his brother, David.”

“Not Jesse?  Was he delayed at work?”
  Why would Jesse send his brother to meet her instead of coming himself?  Had he
decided against marrying her?

David sucked in a breath, his
Adam
’s apple bobbing as he fought for control.   “Jesse was killed two weeks ago in a
shooting in Hell’s Half Acre.”

“Killed?  Hell’s Half Acre?”  Susan was stunned.  She’d just traveled over a thousand
miles to marry a man who was dead?  She didn’t have money to get home.  She had enough
for a night or two at a boarding house, but then she needed to find a job and fast. 
Where could she find a job?

“He was doing a story of a murder in Hell’s Half Acre.  The Acre is an area in Fort
Worth where the brothels and saloons are.  He would never have gone there if he hadn’t
had to for a story.  He was really excited about meeting you.”  David spoke quickly.

Susan knew she should grieve Jesse, but frankly, she’d never met the man.  She was
grieving the life she had imagined having with him.  Finally, she collected her thoughts. 
“I’m sorry for your loss.” 
But what am I going to do?

David nodded.  “Thank you.”  He paused for a moment, looking at the girl beside him. 
He’d come planning to ask her to let him take Jesse’s place, but the shock on her
face made him wonder if that was smart.  “Let’s find you a boarding house for tonight,
and we’ll talk about some options for you.”  He stood and picked up her bag.  “I made
arrangements at a small boarding house to the south of town, because I live down that
way.  My buggy is this way.”  He led her through the streets to the buggy parked in
front of a lawyer’s office.  “I had to talk to him about
Jesse’s affairs this morning
.”

Susan wondered if there was enough to pay her fare home for a brief moment, but then
decided no matter what, she was staying.  Surely there was someone somewhere who needed
a cook or maid.  She wasn’t above working for a living.  “Okay.”

He helped her into the buggy, and she stared straight ahead, wondering what she could
possibly say to the man sitting beside her.  “I have a proposition for you if you
want to hear it.”

She turned to him quickly.  “A job?”
 
Oh, please have a job for me.  I don’t want to go back and live with ‘the demon horde’.

He shook his head.  “No, more of an arrangement.”

She sighed.  “I need a job.”  She turned to face the front of the buggy again.

“Well, maybe not.  You see, after Jesse told me he’d sent off for a mail order bride,
I decided I’d do the same thing.  I was about to send off for a wife myself.  Would
you be willing to marry me instead of Jesse?”

Her eyes widened.  “I don’t know anything about you.”
  Of course, she’d met him and she’d never met Jesse.  She already knew him better
than she ever knew his brother who she was planning to marry.

“Honestly?  I’m a lot like my brother.  I’m a Christian.  I’m twenty-eight years old. 
I’m a rancher.  I inherited our parents’
spread a few years ago.”

Susan’s mind worked rapidly.   Would it be so bad to just marry him?  Sure, she’d
planned to marry another man, but he was dead.  She couldn’t marry him, and since
she’d never met him, she wasn’t exactly in love with him.  The man beside her was
handsome, and seemed intelligent enough.  “Why haven’t you married already if you’re
twenty-eight?”

“I did.  She died in child birth two years ago.”  His voice sounded hollow.

She looked over at him.  He’d had so much loss in his life.  His parents, his brother
and his wife?  “The baby?”

“The babies were fine.”

Babies?  “Twins?”
  She had younger brothers who were twins.  Did she really want to deal with two year
old twins?

“Yeah.  Both boys.”

Boys.  Could she be an instant mother to two boys?  It certainly wasn’t the situation
she’d wanted, but she was good with children.  “Are they well behaved?”

He shrugged.  “They’re two.  I don’t really know if there’s another way to answer
that.”

She sighed.  There really wasn’t.  Two year olds were just two.  They had their good
moments and their bad.  “Would it be okay if I met them before I make my decision?”

He looked surprised, but nodded.  “Of course.  Why don’t I pick you up at the boarding
house and have you over for dinner tonight?”  He pulled the
buggy
to a hal
t
and jumped down.  “I’ll be here around five if that’s okay.”

She had no clue what time it was, but guessed it couldn’t be much past noon.   She’d
have time to
eat lunch,
get a bath and maybe even a nap before going out there.  “That sounds fine.”

He carried her carpet bag to the house and knocked on the door.  A woman who looked
to be in her sixties came to the door.  “Ah, Mr. Dailey.  Is this the lady you told
me about?”

“Yes, ma’am.  This is Susan Miller.  Susan, this is Mrs. Duckworth.”

Susan smiled.  “It’s nice to meet you.”

“Come in.  Come in.”  Susan stepped inside, but was surprised when Mrs. Duckworth
stopped
David.  “Not you.  This is a ladies’ boarding house.”

He nodded.  “Okay.  I’ll leave her with you then.  I’ll see you at five.”

“Five,” Susan agreed.  As soon as he’d closed the door behind him, Susan looked around. 
The house was clean and the furniture of good quality, although worn.  “Is it possible
for me to take a bath?”

Mrs. Duckworth nodded.  “I was going to insist.”

Susan laughed.  “I’ve been traveling for ten days.  A little boy vomited on me on
the train.  Repeatedly.”

Mrs. Duckworth
made a face
.  “I can smell that.”  She tu
r
ned and led the way up the stairs.  “I’ll show you your room, and then bring the tub
up for you.”

“Thank you so much.  I promise, I don’t usually look or smell this way.”

“I’m happy to hear it.”  Mrs. Duckworth smiled at Susan.  She showed her the room. 
“Your first two nights have been paid for.  We’ll work out what to do after that.”

The room was small, but adequate. There was a single bed, dresser and a small mirror. 
“This will be perfect for me.  Thank you.”

Susan waited until Mrs. Duckworth had left the room before collapsing on the bed and
burying her face in her hands.  How could her perfect wedding day have dissolved into
the kind of mess she was facing?

Chapter Three

By the time David returned at five to take her to dinner with his family at his ranch,
Susan had bathed and washed her hair, eaten lunch and taken a nap.  She was dressed
in her new lavender dress with her hair back in a tight bun that she hoped made her
look older than eighteen.  She wanted the boys to immediately see her as an authority
figure, because if she decided to marry David, she needed to have their complete respect
from the first day.  It wasn’t terribly important with the twins being so young, but
she wasn’t going to risk making a weak first impression.

She waited for him on the front porch, amazed at how hot it was.  She’d never felt
heat anything like what she had felt since stepping off the train.  There was a slight
breeze, but not really enough to cool her down as she sat in the rocker watching for
David.