The Mistaken Mail Order Bride (2 page)

“Oh good.” She smiled again. “Then you’re
the one I’m going to marry today. I was afraid I wouldn’t know you
when I came. There are so many gentlemen gathered here.”

Those
gentlemen
, as she put it, were slowly
dispersing for the same reason Mike did. All probably got just as
nauseous from the potent odor coming from the stagecoach. Only
those used to binging on alcohol stuck around.

“Yes, I’m the groom.” He held his hand out
to her and helped her down from the stagecoach while the man and
driver went to grab her trunk. Eric glanced at the child. “I don’t
recall you mentioning a child during our correspondence.”

“Oh, I didn’t.” The boy rested his head on
her shoulder and closed his eyes, finally looking as if he wasn’t
sick anymore. She rubbed his back then turned her attention back to
Eric. “I found him in Kansas on my way out here to meet you. I have
no idea who he belonged to. I searched around, but no one claimed
him. I didn’t have the heart to turn him away.”

“So he’s not yours?”

“No. I’ve never had a child, as I told you
in the missive.”

Yes, she had told him that. But the thought
was crossing his mind that perhaps she had lied to him. Granted,
she was twenty-one, but he’d heard of girls as young as thirteen or
fourteen having children. He studied her expression, trying to
deduct the honesty in her eyes. He was still learning to gauge a
person’s integrity by looking at them, but he didn’t detect any
deception on her part.

“Do you mind taking him in?” she asked when
he didn’t say anything. “All I know is that his name is Caleb and
he’s seven. He won’t tell me anything else. I think he’s
scared.”

“Did he willingly come with you?”

She nodded. “I think he was so hungry he
took a chance on me. Of course, after we got on the stage, he
wasn’t able to keep anything down.”

Eric’s gaze went back to Caleb. He didn’t
detect any similarities between the boy and the woman. For one, she
had white skin and his was a deep rich brown color. But if she was
his mother, then there should be something, like a facial feature,
to indicate they were related. There was nothing there. And that
further relaxed him. While he didn’t mind raising a child that
wasn’t his, he didn’t exactly want a wife who lied to people.

“Caleb’s welcome into my home,” he assured
his bride.

“Thank you,” she said, her expression so
grateful he was glad he’d agreed to her request.

Well, this wasn’t quite the fantasy he’d
envisioned from their correspondence. He’d entertained ideas of a
beautiful woman who’d make his heart race in anticipation. However,
she might make a good wife, given her sweet disposition.

“Caleb?” He waited for the boy’s eyes to
flutter open before he continued, “Do you feel well enough to
change clothes and get a quick bath?”

The boy stared at him but didn’t
respond.

Glancing at his bride, Eric explained, “I’d
hate to go to the preacher with you two in such a sorry state.” He
gestured to their clothes.

“Oh!” She glanced down at her dress as if
just noticing her soiled state. “I didn’t even think of how I must
look.”

“You won’t look like that for long,” he
assured her and picked up the trunk. “You got anything else?”

“No. My family lost everything after the
war.”

Considering she came from the South and he’d
heard of the poverty many were facing in that area, he had little
doubt she’d gone through much more than he ever had. And maybe the
same was true for Caleb. Caleb, after all, didn’t even have a
trunk.

“You think his parents abandoned him?” he
asked her, keeping his voice low so the people lingering nearby
wouldn’t overhear him.

“All I know is that no one I asked knew who
he was, and he wouldn’t tell me anything,” she replied.

“Well, let’s get the two of you cleaned up.
I’ll let the preacher know you’re here, and I’ll get some clothes
for him,” he nodded toward Caleb, “while you two clean up. Then
we’ll get married. We’ll have the doctor look at him in a day or
two. We have enough to do without rushing that one. Besides, he
seems to be doing alright now.”

“Yes, he is, and he wasn’t sick at all when
I found him in Kansas. It wasn’t until we were bouncing around in
the stagecoach that he became ill.”

He carried her trunk to his wagon just in
time for the judge to come running up to him. Sensing this was
going to be a serious conversation, he hurried to help her and
Caleb onto the wagon and then went around the side of the buckboard
so he could talk to the judge.

“I didn’t think you’d make it to town for
another week,” Eric told the man.

“I finished up everything I needed to
earlier than expected in the other town,” Judge Barnes replied. “I
hear you have two men in jail.”

“Yes. One was trying to take advantage of an
innocent woman and the other watched it happen. I don’t want anyone
to think that’s acceptable in this place.”

“Oh, I don’t blame you. You did the right
thing. My concern is the length of time you planned to keep them
there.”

“Actually, I was waiting for you to judge
the matter.”

“How long have they been there?”

“About a month.”

“Did any harm come to the woman?”

“No. She was rescued before anything bad
happened.”

“In that case, I think a month has been long
enough. I’d like them released today.”

“Today?”

Eric glanced over at his bride and the boy
she was softly singing to. He wasn’t familiar with the tune, but he
noticed the boy had a small smile on his face. Already, the two had
developed a bond, and he thought it was further evidence that,
despite her homely appearance, she’d be an excellent wife.

“Sheriff,” the judge spoke, directing Eric’s
thoughts back to him.

“Sorry. I didn’t mean to get distracted.
That young lady is my mail-order bride, and she just came in today.
I’d rather wait until tomorrow to release Benny and Enoch from
jail. I need time to get her and the boy settled in, and then I
need to get the preacher.”

“I’m a judge. I can marry you right
now.”

“I know, but I’d rather have a preacher do
it. She mentioned it being important in one of her letters. Said it
would feel like she had God’s blessings that way since her parents
aren’t alive to give it.”

“Who am I to argue with a woman’s logic?”
The judge smiled. “Alright. You do what you need to, but I want you
to release those men before sundown.”

“I’ll do it soon.”

The judge nodded, and Eric decided he’d
better not waste any time. Between getting their bath ready,
finding the preacher, tracking down someone who had clothes for a
little boy, and releasing Enoch and Benny, he’d barely have time to
get married, let alone make sure his new family had something to
eat.

He figured having a wife would make things
busier for him, but he didn’t quite expect to feel rushed this
soon. With a deep breath, he hopped up into the wagon and released
the break.

“I don’t want you to take this the wrong
way,” he told her as he urged the horses forward, “but after I take
you to your new home, I have to head right back out to take care of
a few things. You think you can handle getting the bath ready for
you two on your own?”

“We’ll be fine,” she assured him. “I’m glad
you’re as kind in person as you sounded in your letters.”

His face warming from the compliment, he
smiled at her. “I could say the same about you, especially for
taking in a little boy. No child should go without the comfort of a
good home.”

“No, he shouldn’t.” She rubbed the boy’s
back, but she smiled at Eric, and Eric couldn’t help but be glad he
ended up with her after all.

Chapter Two

O
nce Caroline Benton was done helping Caleb wash up, she
wrapped him in a clean towel and assured him he’d soon have some
new clothes to wear. Then she quickly bathed and put on one of her
dresses. It wasn’t anything as nice as what she used to wear when
she was on the plantation, but that life went up with the fire the
Union soldiers had set to the house. Had her family’s former slaves
not taken her in, she didn’t know what she would have
done.

Her gaze went to Caleb, who was sleeping on
the small couch. He hadn’t been as fortunate as her. Even if she’d
chosen to stay in South Carolina, she would have had a place to
stay, as poor as it was.

She crossed the distance of the small room
of the cabin and tucked the blanket more securely around him. The
air was cooler up here in the mountains. While they weren’t all
that high up, they were around the base of them. The group of trees
that hung over the cabin just on the outskirts of town blocked out
most of the sunlight, too.

The man she was about to marry had a nice
little place. Before the war, she never imagined she’d end up in a
cabin far removed from civilization. But the war had changed
everything, and it took so many lives, including that of her
parents and older brother.

For better or worse, this was her new life.
She didn’t think her soon-to-be husband was all that pleased with
her looks. She’d told him in their correspondence she wasn’t as
pretty as most young ladies her age. But despite her warning, she’d
noticed the flicker of disappointment that crossed his features all
the same. It was the same look other gentlemen had given her when
her father introduced her to them at balls.

At least her intended had been able to make
a quick recovery of his initial reaction. Not all gentlemen were
able to do that. Since he was marrying her, he’d give her a chance
to show him she wasn’t all that bad. Yes, she had a lot to learn
about taking care of a home, but as long as she was willing to do
it, that had to count in her favor.

And he’d seemed like he understood the
situation when she’d warned him of it in the letters they’d
exchanged. She’d taken great care in selecting him for this very
reason. She wanted to do everything possible to increase her odds
of a happy marriage.

The few young ladies she knew who’d chosen
to answer mail-order bride ads rather than live in continuous
poverty said they weren’t all that concerned with whether they’d be
happy or not with their husbands. Caroline couldn’t blame them. The
condition they were in left little thought to the pleasantries
they’d once enjoyed. But even as desperate as her situation had
been, she still wanted love.

Such foolishness,
Caroline,
one of the ladies had said as
they wrote their letters for the ads they’d chosen to
answer.
Happiness doesn’t put food on the
table, clothes on your back, or a roof over your head. What good is
being happy if you’re cold and hungry? I’m tired of it myself, and
I won’t go back to this hard life. I’m marrying the richest man I
can find.

Caroline couldn’t blame her childhood
friend, Matilda, for feeling that way. Nor could she blame the
other five ladies who’d agreed with her. They’d all lost loved ones
and were forced out of their homes.

Her new home, however, wasn’t so bad. She’d
been prepared for a cabin. It had two bedrooms. One was
considerably smaller than the other, and it didn’t have a bed yet.
They’d have to rectify that soon. Caleb couldn’t spend his life
sleeping on the couch or the bedroom floor. To be fair, her
intended hadn’t expected her to bring him. But she couldn’t leave
him all alone. She’d seen enough people dying to last her a
lifetime. She wasn’t going to let the same happen to this little
boy if she could help it.

The door to the cabin opened, and her
intended came into the room. He hadn’t been what she’d expected.
She was sure he’d said he was average height, but he was taller
than her by a good six inches. He did, however, have brown hair and
a slender frame. She couldn’t be sure if he had mentioned his eye
color in the letters, though she had expected them to be gray. They
were a deep, warm brown instead.

She was probably thinking of someone else
when it came to the eye color. As for height, that was relative.
What one person considered tall, another considered average.
Besides, he was a handsome gentleman, especially when he smiled.
And he’d been willing to take Caleb in, which meant he had a good
heart.

“I’m sorry to leave you alone for so long,”
he said. “Things took longer to deal with than I expected.”

“You didn’t take long at all,” she assured
him, the butterflies in her stomach fluttering around in nervous
excitement. It was to be expected, she supposed. Except he didn’t
seem the least bit nervous about this whole thing like she was. She
cleared her throat and tucked a strand of dark hair behind her ear.
“Caleb fell asleep right after the bath.” She gestured to the couch
where the boy was wrapped up in a blanket.