Mail Order Mistake Read online

  Malinda was confused. He never went anywhere after dinner. “Okay.” She cleared the table and washed the dishes, wondering where he could have gone.

  Just as she was drying the last dish and putting it away, she heard him come in the front door. “Why didn’t you tell me I still had eggshell in my hair?” he bellowed.

  She giggled and walked into the parlor where he was standing. “I didn’t think of it.” Just then she noticed the head of a puppy poking out from under his arm. It was just a tiny little ball of fuzz and she rushed to him, taking the puppy in her arms. “Oh! Where did you get him?” She buried her face in his fur to feel the soft fur on her face.

  He smiled at the sight she made standing there snuggling the puppy to her face. “There was a little boy giving them away in front of the sheriff’s office today. If I’d known you wanted a puppy, I’d have gotten her then.”

  “Her? A girl? What’s her name?” She couldn’t believe he’d run out and gotten her a puppy just because she’d mentioned she wanted one.

  “Well, that’s for you to decide, isn’t it?”

  She held the puppy in front of her face. “How big will she get? I need to know that before I can come up with a good name.” She studied the dog with interest.

  He shrugged. “I’m not sure. Her feet are big, though.”

  “I’m going to wait and see what comes to me. I can’t name her until I know her personality, and that won’t happen for a few days. Right now, I just want to call her Sweetheart.” She giggled as the puppy nuzzled her neck with her head.

  He laughed. “Puppy will work until you come up with something.”

  “Thank you.” Malinda’s eyes met Wesley’s and she moved in close to kiss him. He took over the kiss immediately, and they didn’t part until the puppy cried. “Oh, I’m sorry, baby. I didn’t mean to crush you!”

  She kissed the puppy’s head and carried her to the spare room where she made a bed for her with old blankets. The floor was hardwood and there was nothing for her to destroy. Malinda made sure she put her sewing up on the dresser so the puppy wouldn’t be able to reach it. She quietly closed the door behind her.

  “I think she’ll be fine in there overnight.”

  Wesley raised an eyebrow. “I figured you’d want her sleeping with us!”

  Malinda blushed. “I don’t want her seeing what we do in bed at night. She’s just a baby.”

  He laughed and slipped his arm around her waist. “Speaking of what we do in bed at night, I’m tired.”

  She laughed. “You haven’t even read the paper yet!”

  He wiggled his eyebrows. “I think I can skip that tonight.”

  *****

  After Wesley was asleep, Malinda sneaked out of bed and into the spare room. The puppy was curled up on the blankets she’d put down, sound asleep. She still had too much to do on the shirts to finish before the miner came back. She realized then that she’d forgotten to get the man’s name.

  She moved her needle as quickly as she could without stabbing herself in the finger. She didn’t think Wesley would appreciate it if she was full of holes when he got up the following morning.

  Malinda had all but the last shirt finished when it was time for her to fix breakfast. She stood up, stifling a yawn. She couldn’t be late with two meals in a row.

  When Wesley got up, he walked into the kitchen to find his wife setting the table. “Pancakes? My favorite!” He got the maple syrup down and set it on the table. “You look tired.”

  She shrugged. “I’m fine.” Putting the last of the food on the table, she sat down across from him. “Beatrice is coming over this afternoon. She wants me to teach her to bake a cake.” She put butter and syrup on top of her pancakes, stifling a yawn.

  Wesley nodded. “I can’t think of a better person to teach her. You have the touch when it comes to baking.”

  She didn’t mention the shirts she was working on and neither did he. She was certain he didn’t want to know when they’d be picked up, and she wasn’t about to volunteer the information. Sure, they’d reached something of an impasse over her working, but neither one of them was willing to rock the boat.

  She was too tired to eat, so she fed the puppy her pancakes one bite at a time under the table, trying to make it look as if she were eating.

  Once Wesley was gone, she hurried through the breakfast dishes and rushed back to finish the last shirt. Finally, after an hour of sewing, it was finished. She glanced at the clock and saw that it was only ten. She couldn’t make leftovers from the night before for lunch like she usually did, so she quickly put on a pot of beans. There was a bit of cornbread left from the night before, and that would have to work.

  She stumbled back to her bedroom and curled up under the covers, exhaustion finally taking over. She needed to remember not to take on more jobs than she could handle. The puppy curled up on the floor beside the bed to sleep, keeping guard over her mistress.

  *****

  Wesley was startled by how quiet the house was when he got home for lunch. He saw there were beans boiling on the stove, but there was no sign of his wife. He walked through the house calling her name, and finally found her curled up in bed under the covers. He was always surprised by how young she looked when she was asleep. He stood for a moment, looking down at her, and then went into the kitchen to dish himself up a bowl of beans. He’d let her sleep until he needed to go back to work and then wake her, giving her as much time as he could to get some much needed rest.

  He hated that she felt the need to get up during the night to sew when he really did make enough money for them both to live on. Sure, there wasn’t’ enough for a lot of extras, but he could cover the necessities.

  He finished his beans, rinsed out his bowl and then tiptoed into the bedroom. She was still sound asleep. He sat down on the bed beside her. “Malinda? I’m about to go back to work.”

  She sat up abruptly. “I’m sorry! I’ll get your lunch.” She felt the panic rising in her. She should have been awake to get his lunch when he got home!

  He smiled stroking her cheek. “I already got it. I’m perfectly capable of dishing up my own lunch. You just need to wake up. You said your friend Beatrice was coming over today.”

  She nodded, fighting the overwhelming exhaustion. “She is. Thank you for waking me.” She struggled to keep her eyes open.

  “I let you sleep as long as I could. I’ll see you at dinner.” He kissed her gently before disappearing out the door.

  She rushed to put her hair up and get dressed. She was still in her nightgown! What must Wesley think of her?

  By the time Beatrice arrived, she’d washed her face, fixed her hair and gotten dressed. She was just finishing the lunch dishes when she heard a knock on the door. Wiping her hands on her apron, she rushed to the door. Beatrice stood there, smiling at her. “Oh, thank you for coming!”

  “It’s no problem.” She held up the crate she held. “I’m going to impose on you to show me how to bake a chocolate cake. They’re my husband’s favorite.”

  “I’d love to. I told Wesley you were coming to learn how to bake a cake, so I was planning on showing you how to make one this afternoon anyway.”

  “You didn’t want to tell him I was coming over so you wouldn’t be alone with that miner?”

  She shook her head. “He’d insist I stop sewing for people then.”

  “Maybe miners aren’t the kind of people you should sew for. There are a lot of ladies in town I’m sure would love to have you sew for them.”

  Malinda shrugged. “I’m sure most of the women in town already know how to sew for themselves.” She looked through the ingredients Beatrice had brought with her and automatically started mixing the batter for the cake. “You have enough for two. Do you want to make them both?”

  Beatrice nodded. “I wanted to leave one here for you and your husband. You said he has a sweet tooth.”

  “He does! We’d like that, if you don’t mind.” Malinda knew Wesley would be thrilled
to have a chocolate cake for dessert that evening.

  “It’s the least I can do after all the baking lessons you’re giving me.”

  They had just poured the batter into the pans when a knock came at the door. “I’d better go deal with him,” Malinda said to Beatrice as she hurried to the door.

  She opened the door wide and the miner came in, smelling even worse than he had the previous week. “I have your shirts ready for you.” She led him down the hall to the spare room.

  “Oh good. I tries one on first, if yous don’t mind.”

  “Of course not! I’m sure you’ll find they fit.” Malinda waited outside the door while he changed, exchanging looks with Beatrice.

  When the door to the spare room opened again, the miner was wearing one of the shirts she’d made. She wished she could tell him he needed to bathe before he wore them, but she knew that would be inappropriate. “How does it fit?” She looked at how the shirt fell over his shoulders and was happy.

  He nodded, his greasy hair bobbing beside his head. “Fits just fine.” He had the other shirts in his hand and held out several coins to her. She looked down and saw there were seven.

  She blinked and counted once more. “Seven dollars? We agreed on just six.” Not that she was complaining, but she didn’t want to take more than he meant to give her.

  “I pays for what I likes.” The man didn’t say another word as he left by the front door.

  Malinda looked at Beatrice with a shocked look.

  “He pays for what he likes!” Beatrice said with a giggle.

  “I guess he does.” She walked to the jar where she kept her savings and dropped the coins in on top of the others.

  Beatrice smiled as she looked at the jar. “You’re building up quite a savings there.”

  Malinda nodded. “I know. I’m really relieved to have it.”

  “Does it bother your husband that you work?”

  Malinda shrugged. “I think it does some. I think it bothers him more that I feel like I need to work than the fact that I do work, if that makes any sense at all.”

  “It does make sense. Men are raised to believe they should be the providers. When their wives work, it hurts their pride.”

  Malinda frowned. “I don’t want to hurt his pride, but I don’t want to leave my children in the position I was in when my father died.” She hated making Wesley feel like he was less than what she needed. She wondered what the right answer could possibly be.

  “Which was?”

  “Two weeks after my father’s death, my sister and I had run out of food. There was no money to be found. A banker came to our house and told us we had three days to get off our property and we had to leave everything but our clothes behind.”

  Beatrice gaped at her. “Is that how you ended up out here?”

  Malinda nodded. “We were thankful to be able to become mail order brides. We lived with the marriage broker in our town, and when we got our letters, we left. I still write to her every week.” She felt a smile cross her lips as she talked about Harriett.

  “Wow. I had no idea, Malinda. It would be hard enough to lose your father, but to be left penniless as well. No wonder you worry so much about money!”

  “We don’t need any of the money I make to live on. Wesley makes plenty. If something happens, though, we’ll need it. We have nothing saved for a doctor’s appointment or anything else that could happen.” Well, they hadn’t had anything saved. She looked at the jar and felt some of the panic leave her.

  “Not many people do.”

  “I know, but it scares me. I want to have enough that we’ll get by if something happens.”

  “I think that’s smart.” Beatrice checked the cake in the oven. “I think it’s done.”

  Malinda removed the first cake and put the second into the oven. “I don’t have any jobs lined up right now, so I’m going to take a day or two to rest. I ended up working through the night last night to get the miner’s shirts done.”

  “You should have told me! I’d have left as soon as he did, and we could have put off baking for another day!”

  Malinda shook her head. “No, I enjoy your company. I’m going to whip up a batch of cornbread to go with the beans I fixed for lunch. And then at dinner time, we’ll be set. That way I can nap for a bit before Wesley comes home.”

  “Will he mind?”

  “You know, I thought he would, but when he got home for lunch and I was sleeping, he served himself and didn’t wake me up until it was time for him to leave to go back to work.” She smiled. “He didn’t say a word about me sleeping through lunch.” She was married to a good man.

  “Good. It sounds like he really cares about you.”

  “He does. I haven’t been a very good wife to him, but I think I’m getting better.”

  “Oh, I don’t believe that at all!”

  Chapter Nine

  Malinda pulled on Lady’s leash. “Lady, stop that!” Lady was once again sniffing at a man on the street. She’d grown a lot in the month since she’d come to live with Malinda and Wesley. She was going to be a big dog.

  Ellen grinned at her as she pushed Jonathan’s carriage. “She’s a handful isn’t she?”

  Malinda laughed. “She is.” She looked down at her nephew in the baby carriage. “I can’t believe you and Patrick adopted a baby.” She smiled at the sleeping baby boy. She loved being an aunt.

  Ellen shrugged. “I couldn’t let him be sent from orphanage to orphanage. Besides, it gave Angela a place to live as well.” The smile on Ellen’s face told Malinda she was thrilled to have both of them, not just Jonathan.

  Malinda smiled. She’d liked Angela when she’d done her hair for the wedding. “She’s a sweet girl. I’m glad she’s not living in the orphanage anymore.” She looked around. “Where is she today? I just realized she wasn’t here.” In the week since Ellen had taken in Angela and Jonathan, Malinda hadn’t seen her without the two.

  “She decided to stay and spend time with Alice.”

  “That’s right! She knew Alice before she was an orphan, right?” Malinda had heard the story, but wasn’t clear on the details.

  Ellen nodded. “They’re very close.” She eyed her sister. “Are things better for you now?”

  Malinda shrugged. “In some ways. We’ve stopped talking about the money I make, and if I keep all the housework and cooking done up, he doesn’t care if I do it.” Of course they were both very careful not to mention her working.

  “Have you finally explained why you’re so worried about money?”

  Malinda nodded. “Yeah, I told him after our last fight about it.” She wished she’d told him from the beginning. Opening up about it made her feel a lot better.

  “Are you happy now?”

  Malinda shrugged. “I think so. I mean, I really love Wesley and can’t imagine being married to anyone else. He’s a good man.” She kicked at a rock as she pulled Lady back from the street. “I just still spend a lot of time worrying about money.” She’d never tell Wesley that, of course, but she had to be honest with her sister.

  “I thought you’d saved up a good amount?”

  Malinda shrugged. “I’ve saved up some, but not nearly enough to get by if something happens to Wesley.” And that was her biggest fear. Something would happen to him, and she would be left destitute.

  “I don’t know why you can’t just trust that we’d take care of you if anything happened.”

  “I don’t either! I wish I didn’t spend all my waking hours afraid for tomorrow. I know I need to get over it, but I just can’t seem to get past the worry. And I wonder if I’ve made a mistake by marrying Wesley. I don’t want to be married to anyone else, because I care about him, but…..I’m still scared.” She watched as Lady relieved herself for the fifteenth time since they’d left home.

  Ellen shook her head at her sister. “You need to just let go of your fears. If Wesley ever realized just how worried you were about money, I think he’d be devastated. He’s not a pau
per, and he works hard.”

  “I know.” Malinda sighed as she looked down at the dirt street. “I just don’t know how to stop worrying.”

  “Maybe you could start by trusting your husband?”

  Malinda jerked around and saw Wesley standing behind her on the boardwalk beside the dirt street. She was mortified. How long had he been there? How much had he heard?

  “I’ll see you at home.” Wesley turned and walked toward the sheriff’s office without saying anything else.

  Malinda looked at Ellen. “What have I done?” She wanted to cry, but it would do no good. Crying only worked when you were three.

  Ellen shook her head. “Malinda, you’ve got to tell him you love him. The money doesn’t matter. You would never have been happy with Patrick, despite the money, because he’s not the man you love. Wesley makes you happy. He’s the only man who ever could.”

  Malinda sighed. “I know he is, but I keep messing up! I worry about money, and then he finds out, and then I’m in trouble again. Why can’t I just keep my mouth shut?” She couldn’t believe she’d said that in front of Wesley. What was wrong with her? She had to find a way to stop saying things like that and make him realize he made her happy. But how could she do that while she was still so worried about money?

  “It’ll all work out. You and Wesley belong together.”

  “I think so.” She spotted Beatrice walking toward them. “Oh Ellen, have you met my friend Beatrice?” Malinda had been so busy with sewing every spare moment she had, she hadn’t gotten around to introducing two of her favorite people.

  “I haven’t had that pleasure.” Ellen smiled at the younger woman.

  “Beatrice, this is my sister, Ellen, and my nephew, Jonathan.” She kissed the other woman’s cheek in greeting.

  Beatrice smiled. “It’s nice to meet you.” She looked at Malinda, her eyes dancing. “I have something to tell you. I was on my way to your house.”

  Malinda looked at her friend. “You’re expecting again!” She was thrilled for her friend.