Mail Order Madness (7 page)

Susan’s left hand found Albert’s while her right hand joined with Lewis’s.  She bowed
her head while David said a quick prayer thanking God for sending Susan into their
lives.  Susan felt her eyes tear up as she listened to it.  His boys seemed so well
behaved and he obviously wanted a wife so badly.  If nothing went wrong, she knew
she’d agree to marry him on their trip back into town.

They passed the dishes very politely around the table with the older boys helping
the younger boys with their portions.  Susan was amazed.  She could easily take on
the boys if they were always this well behaved.

She took a bite of her mashed potatoes with the cream gravy.  “This is wonderful! 
Do you always eat so well?”

David nodded.  “Sadie is the housekeeper and the cook.  If you’d like to cook meals,
you can always let her know you’d prefer to cook a certain night, but she’s used to
cooking for all of us.  The ranch hands have their own cook and live in the bunkhouse,
so they never intrude on our family time unless there’s some kind of emergency I need
to know about.”

Susan took a moment to think about that.  She wouldn’t even have to cook?  And there
was a nanny for the boys?  What would she do with her time?  “What do you need a wife
for?  You have a nanny, a cook, a housekeeper.  Would I just sit around and file my
nails all day?”

He laughed.  “I do have four boys.  There need to be two women working together to
take care of them.  Caroline did a lot of charity work as well.
  And you’d do all the sewing for us and the mending.  Caroline used to say the sewing
itself was a full time job.
”

She nodded, thinking about the life she’d have as his wife.  She turned to Albert. 
“I hear you love horses.”

Albert turned his big brown eyes to her and nodded.
His whole face was lit up by his favorite subject.
“I do.  I want to train horses like my pa.  Someday I’m going to train the fastest
horse in all of Texas!”

“Not in all of the United States?”

“If it’s the fastest horse in Texas, it
is
the fastest horse in all of the US!”

She laughed.  “You’re not proud to be a Texan are you?”

Lewis poked her arm from her other side.  “Of course, he’s proud to be a Texan.  If
you’re not a Texan, you’re nothing!”

“Well, I think it’s a good thing I moved here then!”

The boys regaled her with tales of the Alamo among other stories from when Texas was
a republic.  She was amazed they knew their history so well.

She watched as the twins ate their meal.  They had horrible table manners, but she
expected that from two year olds.  She could work with them on that.

Once the meal was over, the boys all went into the parlor and she followed.  The parlor
was next to the dining room with an open archway in between.  David was right behind
her with his hand at the small of her back.  “Would you like a tour of the house?”

She turned and smiled at him over her shoulder.  “Yes, please!”

“This is the main parlor.  If we have guests over, we usually come in here with them.” 
He took her elbow and steered her down a hallway.  “This is our washroom.”  He opened
the door and she saw a small seat with a pull chain. “That’s our water closet.”  Next
to it was a large claw foot bathtub with two knobs above it.
  She assumed they were to adjust water.

He led her to the next room and it was another smaller parlor.  “What’s this room
for?”

He shrugged.  “We use it more as a family gathering room.  The boys play here a lot,
and Caroline used to do needlework in here.”  He ran his hand over the back of a blue
sofa that had seen better days. 

Susan liked this room better than the formal parlor at the front of the house.  The
furniture was older and the rug on the floor was faded, but it felt a lot more homey
than the formal parlor.  She could see herself sitting there with the twins playing
at her feet.  “I really like this room.”

He smiled.  “The boys love to play in here.”

She could see a box of wooden blocks in a corner of the room pushed up against the
wall.  There was also a bookcase along one wall with old worn books that had obviously
been read and loved.  Susan loved to read when she had time, so she liked the idea
of exploring them all. 

He led her up the stairs and showed her the boys’ bedrooms.  The two older boys shared
a room and the two younger boys shared a room as well.  The rooms were tidy, but not
spotless, just like a boy’s room should be.  She ran her hand over the dresser in
the twins’ room.  There were small beds that were low to the ground with quilts covering
them.  “Do the boys like sharing rooms?”

“It’s all they’ve ever known.  They don’t really need to share, because we have two
spare bedrooms, but I think it’s good for them to learn to get along at a young age,
and learn they can’t have everything they want when they want it.”

She nodded in agreement.  He showed her the two spare bedrooms which were perfectly
made up and ready for occupants.  He pointed to another room, and said “My room’s
through there.”  She just nodded and headed for the stairs to go back down. 

“Where do Sadie and Mrs. Hackenshleimer live?”
  She asked over her shoulder as she descended the stairs.

“There are two small rooms on the other side of the kitchen.  That’s their portion
of the house.  There’s another small bathroom over there for their use, and the family
uses the one on our side.”  He gestured toward the kitchen which she hadn’t seen yet.

“May I see the kitchen?”

“I don’t think you’ll spend much time in it, but sure.”  He led her through the dining
room, and she saw the table had been cleared off and the dining room cleaned.  Walking
through the door on the other side of the dining room, he showed her the kitchen.

It was huge, and had a small table for four people as well as a modern cook stove
with a coal bin beside it.  There was a sink with running water and cabinets lined
the walls.  “This is a beautiful kitchen,” she told Sadie who was standing at the
sink with her hands in dishwater.  “May I help you finish?”

Sadie shook her head and shooed them toward the door.  “This is my job.  You go have
fun with the family.”

Susan sighed.  “I’m used to doing dishes for a large family.  I’m happy to help anytime.”
  She didn’t want anyone to think she was afraid to get her hands dirty with household
chores.

“When I decide to go off and spend a week with my son’s family in a few months to
help when his wife has a baby, you’re more than welcome to cook and clean to your
heart’s desire.  For now, I’ll do the dishes.” 

“I’ll take you up on that,” Susan said with a smile.

She followed David out of the kitchen and back to the formal parlor where Mrs. Hackenshleimer
was sitting with the boys.  The twins were sitting on the floor playing with small
wooden trains while the older boys were sitting on the couch taking turns reading
a book aloud to one another.

Susan’s younger brothers went on a literacy hiatus during the summers and refused
to open books at all.  She was very impressed with the young Dailey boys and knew
she’d tell David that on the way back to Fort Worth.  She’d seen what she needed to
see.  She would marry him if he still wanted her.

She smiled over at David.  “Would it be okay if I went back to the boarding house
now?  I haven’t slept in a bed except for my thirty minute nap today in over a week,
and I’m exhausted.”

David nodded turning to Mrs. Hackenshleimer.  “I’ll be home in an hour and a half
or so.  Thanks for working late this evening.”

“It’s never a problem.” 

Susan smiled at the older woman.  “It was nice meeting you.”  She waved fondly at
the four boys.  “Thanks for having me over for dinner tonight,” she told them.

David opened the door for her and led her outside.  He signaled to the young man who
had unhitched the team earlier that it was time to get the buggy ready to return to
town.  He took her hand and helped her down the steps so she wouldn’t fall in the
setting sun.  She was amazed at just how beautiful the sunset looked over the Texas
prairie. 

“It’s beautiful here.”

He nodded.  “I can’t imagine living anywhere els
e
.”

She grinned at him.  “I noticed your boys were very proud of being from Texas.”

“Only because I raise them right, ma’am.”
  He winked at her as he said the words.

She shook her head and sighed.  “Will I always be considered inferior around here
because I’m not a native Texan?”

“Well, you can’t become a native if you weren’t born here, but you got here as fast
as you could, and that’ll have to do.”

The buggy was led in front of them and he handed her up.  He walked around and climbed
in beside her taking the reins.  “Thanks, Sam.  Go on to bed.  I’ll unhitch the team
myself when I get home.”

“Okay, boss.”  Sam tipped his hat to Susan before David moved the buggy away and down
the long driveway leading to the road.

David rested his arm across the back of the seat against Susan’s shoulders.  “So what
did you think of my boys?”  He said a silent prayer
thanking God
they’d been so well-behaved that evening.  Bribing the older two with a dollar each
to spend however they wanted had certainly worked.  He’d never seen the two boys voluntarily
pick up a book in their lives. 

She smiled at him.  “They were very sweet and well behaved.  I was expecting hellions
like my own younger siblings and was very pleasantly surprised.  You’ve done a good
job with them.”  She folded her hands together in her lap watching the darkened road
as they drove back toward Fort Worth.  “Would Mrs. Hackenshleimer stay on if we were
to marry?”

“Absolutely.  She knows the boys’ routine and I think it’s better if she sticks around
to help them with the transition.”

Susan breathed a sigh of relief.  She really didn’t think his boys would be a lot
of work, but knowing they wouldn’t be released into just her care immediately made
her feel a lot better about accepting his proposal.  “I think that’s good.”

He looked at her out of the corner of his eye, hoping against hope she’d made the
decision he so badly wanted her to make.  “So do you think you can join my little
family and be a mother to four boys?”

She bit her lip, wondering if she was making the right choice as she nodded.  “Yes,
I’ll marry you.”

With an excited yell, he pulled the buggy off to the side of the road and turned to
her.  “Thank you!  You won’t regret it.”
  He used the arm across her shoulders to pull her toward him.  “I think all engagements
should be sealed with a kiss, don’t you?”

Her eyes widened.  She hadn’t expected that.  “I guess….”

“Trust me on this.  I’ve been married before and you haven’t.”  He cupped her face
in his hands looking down into her green eyes in the moonlight.  His thumb traced
against her bottom lip. 

She stared up at him, enthralled by the look in his brown eyes.  She’d never been
kissed before, and being touched by a male who wasn’t a member of her family was completely
foreign to her.  His thumb against her lip sent a shiver down her spine that surprised
her.  Then his head was lowering toward hers and her lashes fluttered closed.

The first brush of his lips against her was as gentle as a butterfly’s wings.  His
lips just barely touched hers.  When his lips came back for a second brush against
hers they were less tender and more demanding.  He pressed them hard against hers,
his tongue tracing the seam of her lips and asking for entrance. 

She parted her lips to ask what he wanted, and his tongue gained access before she
could get any words out.  At the first stroke of his tongue against hers, she was
startled.  She hadn’t known
people kissed
that way, but then she opened her mouth further to give him access.  His kiss was
causing a tingling right down to her toes she couldn’t help but enjoy.

Her hands rose to his shoulders and clung to him.  It felt so very strange to be in
a man’s arms, but so good at the same time.  She’d worried about what her wedding
night would be like with a man she barely knew, but the way he was making her feel
let her know her worries were unfounded.  He knew exactly what he was doing and would
make everything right. 

After a moment, he lifted his head, his dark eyes staring down at her in the darkness. 
“I want to get married tomorrow,” he whispered.

She nodded.  “I thought today would be my wedding day, so that’s fine.”  Her mind
was sluggish and she tried to think.  “Are we going to marry at the courthouse?”

“It’ll be faster that way.”  He brushed her lips one last time with his before turning
and picking up the reins again.  “Do you mind if the boys attend the wedding?”

She shook her head.  “Of course not.  They’re well behaved, so I don’t see that being
a problem at all.”
  She could picture how sweetly they would sit with their hands folded in their laps
paying attention to the vows.