Mail Order Motherhood (Brides of Beckham) Read online

  Mary knew she’d been dismissed again and got even angrier. “I need you to fix me a bath and take it up to my room for me.”

  Clara looked at her. “The tub is leaning against the side of the house, and the stove is hot. You may use any pots you like.”

  Mary stood over her, looking down at her. “You really aren’t going to ready a bath for me?”

  “Albert told me that I’m not allowed to let you cause me extra work. I wasn’t planning on carrying any water up the stairs today, so that definitely qualifies as extra work.” Clara stood up and walked over to the window. “It’s starting to snow harder. I hope Albert and Clarence make it back all right.”

  Mary stood there trying to figure out if the other woman was really not going to help her. “I need a bath.”

  Clara nodded. “You probably do after your travels. You’re welcome to take one, or take a spit bath if you prefer. I’m not carrying water for you, though. You may be able to talk Albert into it this evening, but I doubt it.” She shrugged to indicate she really didn’t care whether the other woman got a bath or didn’t.

  “You know that you’re the new person here, not me. Albert loved me when we were young, and I’m sure it won’t take him long to realize he loves me now.”

  Clara shook her head. “Really? It doesn’t matter who he loves. He’s married to me.” She turned and walked toward her bedroom, unwilling to let the children see how angry she was at the other women. She stopped before she reached the door. She couldn’t leave Robert and the girls with Mary. The woman seemed unstable.

  Instead, she got her mending basket down and started darning the stockings in it. Mary sat down across from her. She’d obviously given up on the ideas of bathing and eating. “What are you doing?”

  Clara raised an eyebrow. “I’m mending socks.” Had the woman never seen anyone work before?

  “Why not just buy new ones? Is Albert poor?”

  Clara blinked. “Out here it’s not that simple. We make the most of everything we have. I would have thought it was the same in Texas.”

  Mary shrugged. “It was for most. I was a merchant’s daughter. If I had a hole in my stocking, I got a new one.”

  “Well, I mend ours. I like to get the most for my money. Just because I have money today, doesn’t mean I’ll have it tomorrow. Anything could go wrong, so the smart thing to do is to always be frugal.”

  “You really believe that?”

  Clara nodded. “I do. You’re welcome to help me if you’d like. I have plenty of stockings that need to be mended.”

  Mary shook her head. “I don’t do that type of work.”

  Clara studied the other woman carefully. “What type of work do you do?”

  “I can cook when I feel like it. I had servants to do everything else.”

  “Servants? Really? Why don’t you have servants now?”

  Mary flushed. “My husband wasn’t good with money. There was nothing left when he died.”

  “Which is why I’m frugal with my money.” She continued darning the sock. “You should find something to do. Being idle will make you crazy.”

  Albert and Clarence stomped into the house. Clara looked at them. “Is everything okay? That storm is getting bad.”

  Albert shook his head. “It is bad. We got the cattle enough hay that they’ll survive if the blizzard doesn’t last too long. It’s going to be a bad one, though.” He stomped off his boots and hung his coat and hat while Clarence did the same.

  Mary went to Albert. “Clara is being extremely unkind to me.”

  Albert’s eyes met Clara’s. “How is she being unkind?”

  “She won’t let me eat.”

  Clara bit her lip to keep from yelling at the other woman about her untruth. She knew both girls had listened to every word, though, so she wasn’t going to argue. “Is that so?” Albert asked.

  “It is. I told her I was hungry too.”

  Albert shrugged. “I’m sure you’re welcome to make yourself something to eat or to wait for lunch. I know my wife won’t withhold food from you for long.”

  “She won’t even get me what I need to cook for myself or ask either girl to do it, and they won’t help me unless she tells them to.”

  Albert looked at the girls, who were both watching with wide eyes to see if they’d be punished. He smiled at them. “Good girls.” His eyes met Mary’s. “If you’re that hungry, I suggest you get your own food and cook it. Or just have some of the bread Clara made yesterday with butter on it. That wouldn’t kill you.” He thought of all the jam sandwiches he’d eaten with his children after Sally died. He thanked God for the hundredth time he had never married the worthless woman.

  Mary sighed. “So you support her not fixing a meal for me? Or even getting me the ingredients I need?”

  “I support my wife. No other words need to be spoken.”

  “I want you to take me to town.”

  Albert laughed. “I can’t even work on the range in this storm. There’s no way I’m driving to town and risking both of our necks.”

  “I want to go now.” Mary’s voice was just short of a yell.

  Albert sighed. “Be my guest. Town is about eleven miles from here. You can walk that in a day or two. You’ll be dead before you get there with this weather, but you’re welcome to go.”

  He walked to where Clara was sitting at the table with her sewing. He pulled out the chair and sat across from her. “I’m done working at least for today and probably for tomorrow as well. Anything broken around the house that I need to take a look at?”

  Clara smiled at him. Since the last storm, she’d been working on a list of things for him to do when the next blizzard hit. She hadn’t thought of it the first time, and he’d made her crazy with his constant pacing and wanting to go out and work. He couldn’t stand his hands being idle and made himself crazy when he couldn’t work.

  She jumped up and went into their bedroom to get the list for him. He took one glance at it and burst out laughing. “You really need all this done? Or are you just trying to find busy work for me?”

  “All of it needs to be done.” She smiled sweetly. “Today if possible.”

  He shook his head. Some of the things on the list were silly and some were useful. She’d actually put, “Read a book to Robert” on the list. Yes, it was something he rarely did, and something he should do more often, but something he needed to do that day? “I’ll get to it. How long until lunch?”

  “It’ll be ready around noon. You have some time.”

  He stood up and walked toward the stairs. “I’ll start on moving the dressers in the kids’ rooms so you can sweep behind them. Will you be ready to sweep when I get everything moved?”

  “I can be ready whenever you are!” she called. He stopped and turned around, going to get the broom to carry up the stairs with him. She watched him go, smiling happily. She was going to keep him busy during this storm if it killed her.

  Clara turned to Clarence. “Get started on your schoolwork. You should be able to do a weeks’ worth every day you’re off. Then you can have some free time in the evenings.

  Clarence nodded, going to the shelf to get his books. “Yes, ma’am.”

  Robert had followed Albert up the stairs. Clara noticed that anytime Mary was around he wanted to be close enough to touch either her or Albert. She’d always considered children the best judges of character. What did Robert know that she didn’t?

  Mary sat at the table with her and watched her work. “I’m bored. There’s nothing to do here.”

  Clara nodded. “When the children tell me they’re bored, I find them some chores to do. Would you like some chores, Mary?”

  Mary sighed. “No, I don’t want any chores.” She watched everything Clara did. “Why did you give Albert a list of things to do? You shouldn’t be ordering him around.”

  “Because he gets restless during storms. Staying busy is good for him.”

  Natalie stood then, stretching. “I finished my schoo
lwork, Mama. Is there anything I can do to help you?” Natalie wasn’t usually the kind to offer to help, but she always did the chores she was given. Clara had a feeling that Natalie was tired of the way Mary was treating her and trying to show her how to be helpful and do chores.

  “I’d love it if you went upstairs and swept after the furniture is moved.” She smiled at her daughter. “Thank you, Natalie.”

  “I’m happy to help you, Mama. You do a lot for me.” Natalie kissed Clara’s cheek on her way to the stairs.

  Clara watched her go with a smile. Moving had been very good for Natalie. She was a lot more focused on the things she needed to do now that she spent all her time at home with her family.

  Mary snorted. “Did you talk to them all at breakfast and tell them to be perfect around me?”

  Clara shook her head. “I didn’t.” She never once looked up and kept to the task at hand.

  When Gertie finished her schoolwork, she jumped up. “I’m going to go help too.” She ran up the stairs to join Albert, Robert, and Natalie.

  Clara stood to mix the cornbread and get lunch finished. She shivered a bit as she looked at the snow blowing outside the window. She was glad the house was as sturdy as it was, and she could feel no drafts. She looked over her shoulder at Mary who was still sitting at the table doing nothing. “Do you want to mix up the cornbread? You said you don’t mind cooking.”

  Mary glared at her. “With the way I’ve been treated today? You really think that I’m going to help you cook?”

  Clara shrugged and put the ingredients into the bowl, mixing them against her stomach. She’d get it done in no time. She and the girls did a good job in the house, and she didn’t care if Mary helped or not.

  Clara slid the cornbread into the oven and stirred the beans. She’d made more than usual because with Mary there, and having not eaten breakfast, she was sure they’d run out.

  By the time lunch was ready, she’d set the table and the rest of the family was back downstairs. “Just about ready,” she told Albert when he came down, Robert still clinging to his leg.

  While they ate, Albert laughed about how dusty it was under the furniture. “You really did need that job done. I thought you were just having me do busy work, so I wouldn’t be in your way.”

  Clara laughed softly. “There was a little of that mixed in, but those are jobs that are difficult for me to do, so while you’re not working, I’d appreciate the help.”

  Mary wouldn’t look at anyone throughout the meal; she just methodically shoveled food into her mouth. Finally, when she was finished, she leaned back in her chair. “I need you to take me to town as soon as the weather is clear enough.”

  Albert shrugged. “I’ll do it if I can. The first day or two after a blizzard are busy with seeing to the cattle and making sure they’re all right.”

  “So your cattle are more important than I am?” Mary asked indignantly.

  Albert laughed. “My cattle are my livelihood. From what my girls tell me, you won’t even raise a finger to bathe yourself. Why would I worry about you?”

  Clara hid her grin. She loved that Albert was defending her. She loved it even more that the girls had made sure he knew how the other woman was treating her. Clara was nothing but kind, but she wouldn’t go out of her way to do what the other woman wanted her to do.

  After lunch, the girls jumped up to wash the dishes immediately. They’d always been good about doing their chores, but that day they were exceptional. She knew it was because of how Mary was treating her, and she couldn’t help but smile at them as they worked.

  Clarence settled in at the table to do some more schoolwork, while Albert went to the barn to get some tools he needed to complete one of the jobs she’d asked of him. “Skip that one if it means going outside in this,” Clara suggested.

  “I’ll be fine. This isn’t my first blizzard.” Albert leaned down to press a quick kiss to her lips, making her realize that he really did care for her, if he’d kiss her so openly in front of the other woman.

  Clara returned to her sewing, ignoring the other woman and her sullen look. She just didn’t care to pay attention to her, when she was being so rude to her.

  Mary watched everything she did that day, as if she were trying to find something to complain about, but there was nothing. Clara worked from the time she got up in the morning until she went to bed, and she wasn’t going to worry about what the other woman thought about her.

  The snow had stopped the following morning, and Albert was thrilled. “That was a short one. We may not have lost any cattle at all.” He practically skipped out of the house with Clarence behind him.

  Mary again wasn’t up in time for breakfast, and Clara didn’t put a portion aside for her. She wasn’t going to do anything like that for someone who wasn’t helping out at all.

  That evening during dinner, Albert told Mary he’d take her to town the following morning. “Where are you planning to go?” he asked politely.

  Mary shrugged. “I have nowhere to go, but I can’t stay here with people who mistreat me.”

  “How have you been mistreated exactly?” he asked.

  Mary glared at him. “I’ve already told you. No one will get a bath ready for me. No one will fix me a meal.”

  “You’re eating a meal now,” Albert pointed out logically.

  “Yes, I am, but no one saved any breakfast for me.”

  “And no one will here. If you want to go to town, you need to be ready right after breakfast in the morning. I have some friends I’ll introduce you to if you’d like.” He didn’t add that he was hoping they could make each other miserable.

  She nodded regally. “Maybe one of them can use a wife or a lady’s companion.”

  He laughed. “No one here needs a lady’s companion. Men want wives though, and there just aren’t enough women.” He shrugged. “I’m sure even you can find a husband. Just make sure they don’t see your personality until after they’ve said ‘I do.’”

  “I can’t believe you just said that to me!”

  “I can’t believe no one’s said it before.” Albert stood up and walked to the door, shrugging into his coat. “I’m going to go make sure the horses will be warm enough through the night.”

  Mary watched him go with venom in her eyes. She looked at Clara. “I notice he didn’t invite you to go with us.”

  Clara shrugged. “He’ll probably take Clarence as well.”

  The girls worked on the dishes while Clara got her sewing. She wasn’t going to listen to anything else the venomous woman had to say to her.

  Chapter Seven

  The following morning was tense. Clara had one of the girls wake Mary well before breakfast to be sure she was ready to go on time. Clara didn’t want to spend another minute with the other woman under her roof.

  As soon as breakfast was over, Albert sent Mary up the stairs to get her things. “We need to leave in fifteen minutes. Be ready.”

  Clara watched her go, happy that she was finally going to be out of her house. It seemed as if she’d been there for years, even though it had only been a few days. Clara couldn’t help but wonder how much like her sister Sally had been. She’d probably ask him once Mary was gone, but she hadn’t been willing to broach the subject with her there.

  Clarence helped hitch up the team and ran back into the house to be sure Clara knew he was going with Albert. Clara fixed a lunch for them and smiled as she waved them off. The back of another woman’s head had never looked quite so good to Clara.

  *****

  Albert made sure Clarence sat in the front seat of the sleigh between him and Mary. “He should sit in the back. He’s making it crowded up here, and he just a child,” Mary protested.

  Albert shrugged. “I don’t want him to get cold in the back. He’s sharing our body heat this way.”

  “What do you care? He’s not even your son. He’s just the son of that terrible woman you married.” She shook her head. “I can’t believe you married her anyway
. I’m sure you’d have waited for me if you’d known I was coming, but couldn’t you have found someone better? It’s almost insulting!”

  Albert looked at her with surprise. “You think I would have waited for you instead of marrying Clara? What have I done to make you think that?”

  Mary laughed. “Don’t deny it, Albert! You loved me.”

  “That’s true. Loved. Past tense. I stopped loving you the day you told me you couldn’t wait for me. It didn’t take me long to realize that Sally was the one I’d loved all along. Sally was everything you weren’t. She was a hard worker, sweet and loving. You…you’re poison to everyone you see or touch. I’m so glad to get you out of my house.” Albert drove staring at the road ahead of him, wondering what Clarence thought of the conversation he was having with Mary. “My new wife is a better wife than you could ever dream of being. She puts the children and me before herself in everything. I’ve never met such an unselfish woman in my life.”

  Mary looked at him and gasped as if offended. “Are you calling me selfish, Albert Hanson?”

  “Well, I didn’t say it in so many words, but you are one of the most selfish people I’ve ever met. You think of no one but yourself. You came here without giving me notice to try and take over my life. I didn’t want you here, Mary. Even if Clara hadn’t been here, I’d have wanted to toss you out on your ear.”

  Mary sputtered for a moment, staring at him over Clarence’s head. “Clara doesn’t hold a candle to me or my sister.”

  Albert laughed aloud. “Have you ever heard the expression, ‘Pretty is as pretty does?’ Clara was attractive to me when she arrived, because she has a pretty face. Now? She’s the most beautiful woman I’ve ever met, because she has a good attitude about everything she does. She told me not to buy her anything for Christmas, but she stays up late every night making special gifts for the children. I don’t know what she’s done for me, but I’m sure she’s done something that will be wonderful, because it’s who she is.” He shook his head. “I almost feel sorry for you. You expect every man in the world to fall at your feet because you have a pretty face. It’s not going to happen, because you don’t have the personality and work ethic to back up that pretty face.”