The Mistaken Mail Order Bride (4 page)

Caroline’s gaze went to the gentleman in
front of her. “You’re not Charles Dunwick?”

“No. I’m Eric Johnson, the sheriff of this
town.” Eric glanced at the preacher, who seemed just as bewildered
as Caroline felt. “I’m expecting Allison Jones to come out here to
marry me. She was due here today on the stagecoach.”

“I was supposed to meet Charles Dunwick
today. He’s a blacksmith.” She hesitated to ask her question
because she had the feeling she was about to find out something far
more disturbing. “Mister, are we in Georgetown?”

“Georgetown? No, we’re in Idaho
Springs.”

Chapter Three

E
ric watched as the color drained from Caroline’s face. He’d
thought she was pale already, but her face went so white he worried
she might faint. He hastened to pull up a chair and helped her sit
down.

“We’re in Idaho Springs?” she asked, her
voice just shy of a whisper.

The preacher nodded. “Georgetown is west of
here. Maybe you got off the stagecoach too soon. What day do you
think it is?”

“July 3rd,” she softly replied.

Well, that explained a big part of the
problem right there. “It’s June 23,” Eric told her. “But I don’t
understand why Allison Jones didn’t come here. That’s the woman I
was expecting,” he explained, though it was unnecessary. He’d
already shown her the last missive Allie had written him.

“Maybe she made the same mistake Caroline
did and got off in the wrong town,” the preacher suggested.

“But what are the chances of that
happening?” Eric asked.

The preacher rubbed his chin thoughtfully.
“If it happened once, it could happen again.”

“This whole thing is my fault,” Caroline
said. “If I’d paid better attention, I would have known better. I’m
sorry, Mister Johnson. This is all my fault.”

“First, it’s Eric,” he replied. “We don’t
stand on formality out here. Second, it’s not entirely your fault.
I didn’t think to ask you your name, nor did I think to tell you
mine. I heard your southern drawl and just assumed you were Allie.
She was supposed to be coming from Tennessee. It’s been a while
since I’ve gone through there, but you sounded like you came from
there. I just assumed you were the right woman.” He gestured to his
bedroom. “And you were distracted with the poor child over there.
I’m sure dealing with a sick boy wasn’t easy. To be honest, if it
was me, I don’t know if I could have handled it. I have a lot of
admiration for you for doing that, especially for a child you
didn’t know.”

“Maybe,” she began, “but I should have
listened as the driver shouted out the name of the town.”

“The driver didn’t call out the name of the
town,” Eric told her.

“Even so, didn’t you tell that stagecoach
driver which town you were going to?” the preacher asked.

Eric nodded, grateful for the man’s quick
thinking. “Exactly. The driver likes to know where he’s going. He
should have said something when you got out.”

“Unless he was glad to get rid of her and
the child,” the preacher amended. “I heard the boy got sick and
couldn’t keep anything down.”

“You did?” Eric knew it was a small town,
but even he was surprised by how quickly news had spread.

“Yep,” the preacher said. “Mike’s wife was
telling everyone about it.”

Eric groaned. “Why can’t Ida keep quiet for
five minutes?”

“She also heard the driver had never been
more relieved to get rid of a passenger. I think he let Caroline
off at this stop though he knew full well she wasn’t in the right
place. If anything, I’d place the blame on him.”

Caroline shook her head. “No, it’s my fault.
I wasn’t paying better attention to the calendar.”

“Don’t be so hard on yourself,” Eric said,
hoping to offer her some comfort by patting her shoulder. “This
situation happened, and there’s nothing we can do about it
now.”

“I could take Caleb and get back on the
stagecoach,” she replied.

“No, you can’t,” the preacher argued. “He
already took off.”

“So soon?” Eric asked.

“I told you what Ida said,” the preacher
said. “That driver was glad to be done with the vomiting child. He
didn’t even clean the stage out first.”

Eric sighed as he considered his options.
Allie hadn’t shown up. Something, or someone, had delayed her, and
it wasn’t like he’d be finding out what that was until the next
stagecoach came in a couple of weeks with her on it…or if he
received another missive from her before that.

It’d be fair to say Allie might not even be
coming. Perhaps she’d decided to stay in Tennessee. He’d heard of
both scenarios happening. At the last minute, women got cold feet.
Or maybe she met someone and decided to be with him instead. If
Caroline came across a small child, what was to say Allie didn’t
come across a charming man who’d swept her off her feet?

At any rate, Caroline was here, and there
was a child who needed someone to take care of him. It wasn’t the
way he expected things to be, but everything happened for a
reason.

“Well,” Eric began, “this is the way I see
it. Allie never made it here, but you did. You got off here. The
stagecoach driver never said anything to stop you, and he’s long
gone. He won’t be coming back for another month. Why don’t we stay
married?”

Caroline rose to her feet. “You really don’t
mind staying married to me?”

“Of course not.”

Even if she wasn’t as attractive as he’d
imagined Allie, he couldn’t deny she had one of the biggest hearts
of anyone he’d ever met. She seemed like she was the type who’d go
out of her way to please anyone, and there was no doubt she
sincerely believed he was Charles Dunwick.

“That’s good to hear,” the preacher
said.

Eric drew his attention back to the man,
surprised when he saw the preacher wiping his brow, as if he’d
broken into a sweat by worrying about their decision. He offered
her a reassuring smile since she still seemed uncertain about the
whole thing.

“Things happen for a reason,” Eric told her.
“I’ve always believed that, and I always will.”

“Some people call it fate,” the preacher
inserted. “I like to call it something else.”

“As much as I hate to interrupt one of your
sermons,” Eric said, “if you don’t leave now, you won’t get as far
to the next town as you want.” He glanced at Caroline. “Not that I
don’t enjoy his sermons. I do. It’s just they can take two or three
hours. Lois was right to urge him along.”

“I have a lot to say, and I’m happy to say
it.” The preacher went over to them. He shook Eric’s hand and gave
Caroline a hug. “You two have a lot of good times ahead of you.
Enjoy each and every day as it comes. When marriage gets hard, and
it will at some point, just remember your vows. Till death do you
part and forsaking all others. That’s the bottom line.”

“Even when you’re saying good-bye, you can’t
help but ramble,” Eric teased him.

“I don’t mind,” Caroline said. “He’s giving
us good advice.”

“I like her,” the preacher told Eric,
pointing to her. “She’s a smart one. Be sure to listen to her.”

“I will,” Eric replied. “But if you want to
get out of town today, you’re better off doing it now. Nighttime
isn’t that far away.”

“Your point is taken.” The preacher put his
hat on his head and tipped it in Caroline’s direction. “It was a
pleasure to meet you. Next time I come through, I look forward to
seeing how you’re doing.”

“Thank you,” Caroline replied, offering a
curtsy.

Eric couldn’t help but think of how much
different she was from others here. Even Phoebe wasn’t as prim and
proper as she was. He hoped the townsfolk would accept her.

For the moment, though, he pushed the worry
aside. After the preacher left, Eric turned to his new wife.
Caroline. He was going to have to get used to thinking that name
instead of Allie’s.

“I take it you’ve seen the place,” he
said.

“Yes. It’s quaint.”

“I suspect it’s considerably smaller than
what you’re used to.”

“It is, but I like it. You keep a clean
house, and it’s always a blessing when there’s no mice scurrying
around.”

At that, he grinned. “You had that trouble
back in…” He paused. “Come to think of it, I don’t know where
you’re from.”

“I’m from South Carolina.”

“You had mice scurrying around your home in
South Carolina?”

“I did after the war.”

She lowered her gaze, and he sensed some
pain behind her masked expression. He’d heard the war had hit women
and children the hardest. Taking a moment to think over his
question, he ventured, “Is that what brought you out here?”

She nodded, though she continued staring at
the floor in front of her. “All of my friends did the same. There
are so few men back there. We held on for as long as we could.” She
shrugged but swallowed the lump in her throat. “It was a different
world from the one I grew up in.”

If he was right, it was too painful for her
to talk about it right now. In time, however, maybe she’d tell him
more. In the meantime, she needed to get settled into her new home,
and he had to do his part to help her with the transition.

Which reminded him…

“I need to get Caleb those clothes,” he told
Caroline. “Let me do that now before I forget again. Why don’t you
lie down and rest while I’m gone? That trip must have tired you
out.”

“I haven’t put my things away yet. Maybe I
should do that first.”

“Caleb’s still asleep in our room. I don’t
know much about children, but I’m guessing he’ll need someone he
trusts nearby when he wakes up. Go ahead and take a nap.”

She glanced at their bedroom, bit her lower
lip, and then nodded. “You’re right. I should take a moment to
rest. So much has happened. Most of this feels like a dream.”

He couldn’t blame her for feeling
overwhelmed. All he did was bring her home, and the reality of it
hadn’t sunk in for him yet. “We have plenty of time to take care of
your clothes. I’ll be back after I see Ida Conner about getting
some old clothes for Caleb. And don’t make anything to eat. You had
a long and exhausting trip up here. When I return, I’ll take you
and Caleb out to the restaurant. It’s nothing fancy, but it’ll
do.”

She seemed relieved, and he was glad he made
the suggestion. With a smile, he told her he’d be back soon and
headed out.

He wasn’t all that surprised when a few
people gathered around him on his way to Mike and Ida’s home. Being
the sheriff, they all knew who he was, and by default, that meant
they knew his business.

“Is it true?” Daniel asked. “Did you get the
wrong woman?”

“Shouldn’t you be minding the general
store?” Eric replied, not bothering to slow down despite the
growing crowd of ten people around him.

“You let Benny out of jail,” Daniel said,
keeping step with him. “You should know the first thing he’s going
to do is return to his store.”

“So that leaves you free to follow me?”

“It leaves me free to find out what’s going
on. Come on, Sheriff. We’re all curious about her.” He gestured to
the others, who voiced their agreement.

Eric sighed. “I’m busy right now. Can’t you
ask me about her later?”

“If you make us wait, we’ll be forced to
come up with all sorts of stories about her,” Hank said, “and you
know if that happens, someone’s likely to think it’s the truth.
Then that bride of yours will be tainted by a lie.”

Eric finally stopped and turned to everyone.
They were mostly men, though a couple of women made it into the
group of busybodies, even one Eric never thought would engage in
gossip in a million years. “You, too, Anna?”

The middle-aged woman shrugged. “Sometimes I
get bored now that my children are all grown.”

He groaned. “Alright, fine. You want to
know, I’ll tell you. But I’m going to make it quick, and I won’t go
into details. Deal?”

They nodded and looked at him
expectantly.

He resisted the urge to groan again. He
really should have reconsidered moving to a small town. In a larger
area, it was a lot easier to have some privacy. “The woman who came
off the stagecoach wasn’t the one I was expecting. I don’t know
what happened to Allison Jones, but Caroline Benton came here
instead. Since Allison isn’t here, I figured I’d marry Caroline.
That’s all there is to it.” Realizing they might make the wrong
assumption about Caleb, he added, “It’s true she brought a child
with her. No, the child isn’t hers. She found him all alone on the
way here. He had no one to care for him. We’ll raise him as our
own.” After a moment of silence, he finished, “That’s all.”

Then he turned and continued walking to the
door.

“I heard that new wife of yours isn’t very
pretty,” Hank said.

Leave it to Hank to point that out. The man
had been so picky in his youth that, at sixty-two, he had a
tendency to rehash all the things he regretted, one of them being
the fact that he never got married and had children.