Mail Order Misfortune Page 5

  Ernie nodded solemnly. "But, you still only love Ma, right?"

  Jesse nodded emphatically. "I still only love your ma." He made quick work of hitching up the team and drove to the house.

  He drove what was obviously his farm wagon, but she didn't ask if he had a buggy. She needed this marriage to be respectable but still have a place to live and work to do. She knew better than to antagonize him at that point. She climbed into the wagon without help, because he didn't offer any, and sat as far from him on the seat as the buckboard allowed.

  They didn't speak as they drove into town, stopping in front of a small house. The three of them went to the door, and it was answered by a short middle-aged man with silver streaking his brown hair and dancing blue eyes. He smiled at Anna. "Miss Simmons! I wasn't aware you were acquainted with Mr. Hoover."

  Anna bit back the 'unfortunately' that danced on the tip of her tongue. She was surprised to know that Mr. Hoover had taken the time to get to introduce himself to the preacher. He didn't seem the type to care much about his spiritual health. "Yes, we want to be married."

  The preacher nodded solemnly. "Of course." He took their wanting to marry in stride. "Come right in."

  Anna followed him into the house, knowing the other two would follow quickly behind. "Thank you for taking your time to see us today." She didn't expect Mr. Hoover to be polite, so she thought she should be to make up for him.

  The pastor turned around in the center of the room and looked at them both. "I'm afraid you're both new enough in town that I only know your last names." He looked at Anna. "Your Christian name is?"

  "Anna," she whispered. She wished he would hurry and just get it over with. As a child she'd dreamed of what her wedding would be like, as most girls did, and this was not it. She wanted it over and done with so she could get away from people and just cry.

  "I'm Jesse," Mr. Hoover said, his voice deep and strong.

  The pastor nodded. "All right. If you will join hands."

  Anna froze for a moment before offering her hand to Jesse. She had to learn to think of him as Jesse and not Mr. Hoover. He would be her husband; she couldn't refer to him formally forever.

  The ceremony was short and sweet. When he pronounced them man and wife and told Jesse to kiss his bride, Anna felt a moment of panic. She turned to him, raising her lips to his, her eyes searching his face. He leaned down and brushed a quick soft kiss just beside her lips, not touching hers with his own. What was wrong with him? She was fine to kiss when she was some random stranger in the schoolhouse, but when she was his wife, he couldn't kiss her? What kind of man had she married?

  Jesse straightened up, nodding his thanks to the reverend. "Thank you, Pastor. We appreciate your time." He took Ernie's hand and headed for the door, leaving Anna to trail behind them in his wake.

  Anna looked at the preacher for a moment, befuddled, before she half-ran after the Hoovers. "We have to stop at the Hansons' house to get my things," she reminded him. Mr. Hoover was the type to burn all her things if she hadn't picked them up by the time he'd specified.

  "You'll have to tell me where that is. I'm afraid I know where the church is, the mercantile, and the pastor's house. Everything else I need directions to." He hated to admit not knowing where something was, but he was new enough in town that he figured she'd understand. In another month, the excuse wouldn't be good enough, and he'd have to know how to do everything.

  She directed him the short distance down the street to Mr. Hanson's house, before jumping down. "I'll be right back." She was surprised when Jesse jumped down as well.

  "I'll get your things for you." He followed behind her, leaving Ernie in the wagon as they stepped inside the house.

  "Mrs. Hanson?" she called. "I'm here to get my things." She didn't want the older woman to be frightened if she was home alone. She genuinely liked Mrs. Hanson and wished she knew how to get her out of her marriage, but Mrs. Hanson seemed happy enough.

  Mr. Hanson came out of his study and glared at her and Jesse. "So is this the man you were whoring with in the schoolhouse?" he asked. His face was flushed with his anger, and he stood with his hands on his hips as if daring her to deny it.

  Anna blushed, rushing to her room and ignoring him. She was so thankful not to have to live under the odious old man's roof any longer. She heard. "Well? Are you the one she was kissing?" The word kissing sounded like a cardinal sin coming out of Mr. Hanson's mouth.

  "Yes, I am. She's a beautiful girl. You can't blame me for kissing her." Jesse looked Mr. Hanson up and down. "I'm sure you've kissed at least one pretty girl in your life." He wasn't about to let the man insult his wife, whether he had feelings for her or not.

  "I can and I will. I can't believe you had the gall to try and kiss her right there in the schoolhouse."

  "I can't believe you'd fire a woman and turn her out into the street before hearing the entire story. I kissed her in the schoolhouse. She had nothing to do with it." Jesse wasn't worried about the half truth, because he knew Anna would never have initiated the kiss. She hadn't fought him off, though. He knew for a fact she'd enjoyed it just as much as he had. He forced his mind to stop thinking about that kiss. Now that she was his wife, it seemed to be all he could think about. How soft she'd been in his arms when he'd held her. How sweet her lips had been beneath his own.

  "She should have had the morals to slap your face and walk away. Instead, she let you kiss her. She has no right to be a moral guide for the children in our community."

  Jesse snorted. "You're an old bigot. I'm glad she's got somewhere better to go now." He'd never met anyone he'd disliked on first meeting quite as much as he did Mr. Hanson. Burying a fist in his face seemed like a wonderful idea just then, but he didn't want to upset Anna more than this visit already would.

  "Did you marry the jezebel?"

  "Yes, I did, and if I ever hear you talk about my wife that way again, I will personally hunt you down like the weasel you are." He strode off in the direction Anna had disappeared to and stuck his head in the only open door. "You ready, sweetheart?"

  Anna's eyes danced as they met his. "Sweetheart?" she mouthed. At his shrug, she pointed to her trunk and picked up her carpet bag. "It's right there, darling." She'd heard the entire exchange between the two men and couldn't believe Jesse had come so readily to her defense.

  He raised an eyebrow but said nothing as he hefted her trunk over one shoulder and led the way out of the house, hoping she'd follow closely behind him and not say anything else to that odious man.

  Anna stopped at the door. "I hope you find a new teacher quickly."

  Mr. Hanson stood sputtering for a moment before yelling after her, "I will. And her last name won't be Simmons!"

  Anna ignored him as Jesse put his hands at her waist, and gently lifted her into the wagon, carefully tucking her skirts around her like he was infatuated with her. As soon as they were away from the house, she looked at him. "Thank you for standing up for me."

  He nodded. "I may not be in love with you, but you're still my wife, and no man needs to be talking badly about you." He gave her a funny look. "What did he mean by the next teacher not being named 'Simmons?'"

  She laughed softly. "This is a crazy story, but the woman who came out here to teach and ended up married to my fiancé had the same last name as me. That's how the confusion happened."

  He shook his head. "That's crazy."

  She smiled as she looked out the other side of the wagon. He may not know it yet, but he was going to make her a very good husband.

  They drove home in silence, and when they reached the ranch, he carried her trunk inside, leaving her to get down herself. "I'll be back at five for supper. Have it waiting for me." He walked off without looking back even once. So that was how it was going to be. He'd do his job, and she'd do hers, and they would have as little contact as possible. She could handle that.

  Anna watched him go, her stomach growling loudly to remind her she hadn't even had lunch yet. She looked down
at Ernie who didn't look at all pleased to have her in his home. "Did you eat lunch? I'm hungry!"

  Ernie shook his head. "No. You came around lunch time." He eyed her warily, as if he wasn't certain what to think of her being in his house.

  "I did, didn't I?" She walked toward the large kitchen at the back of the big ranch house. "Let's see what we can find to eat that doesn't need to be cooked for hours."

  She ended up making them each a bacon sandwich on toast, while she cleaned the kitchen, which looked as if it hadn't been cleaned in the two weeks the Hoovers had been in Texas. Once she was done, she located a pork roast in the cellar, which she put into the oven and she peeled carrots and potatoes to go with it. Ernie sat at the table the whole time, eating his sandwich and watching her, as if he were worried she'd do something wrong. She had no doubt that he would run to his father if she did something that he didn't think was right.

  When she had dinner in the oven, she turned to the table and shooed Ernie off so she could give it a good cleaning. She then grabbed a broom and swept the floors before getting down on her hands and knees and scrubbing them. She had woken up that morning a single teacher with no prospects, and here she was now, cleaning her kitchen, a wife and a mother. Life was odd in how it threw things at her.

  When Jesse got home at the end of his day, he stopped at the well to splash water over his hands and face, something he hadn't done after work since his wife died. He'd always cleaned up for her before going into supper, and he felt he should afford his new wife the same courtesy, whether he wanted to or not. As his wife she deserved his respect, even though he'd never be able to love her.

  When he stepped in the back door, the smell of the meat roasting brought a smile to his face. His stomach let out a loud growl, reminding him that he'd skipped lunch again. He walked into the kitchen and stopped in surprise. Everything was sparkling. It looked like even the stove had been blacked. How on earth had that tiny woman done so much work so quickly?

  The table was set, and she was standing at the stove stirring something. "I'm just finishing up the gravy. Go ahead and sit down and serve yourself, and by the time you're done, I'll have the gravy on the table."

  Jesse collapsed into the chair at the head of the table and sniffed appreciatively. "Dinner smells good."

  Anna turned from the counter and smiled. "It should taste good, too. I'm a good cook." She poured the gravy into a bowl and set it on the table. "Let me call Ernie, and then we'll be ready to eat." Her cooking was one thing she had a great deal of confidence in, and she was happy to be able to say she did it well.

  Ernie was still obviously upset as he walked into the kitchen, his eyes downcast. He took his spot at the side of the table and fixed his plate. Anna waited until both men had fixed their plates before fixing her own. "I thought you must like pork roast, because I saw some in the cellar," she said.

  Jesse nodded. "I've been trying to figure out how to cook one. I've had to throw three away just this week. It'll be nice to have someone around to do the cooking." Whatever he thought of her, whatever else she did, he was thrilled to have a woman who could cook in the house.

  Anna looked between the two males. "Who cooked for you back East?"

  Jesse shrugged. "After Deborah died, I hired a housekeeper, and she did all the cooking and cleaning." He didn't add that she had been ready to quit when they decided to move, because Ernie had been so out of control.

  Anna sighed. "So I'm not taking your wife's place, I'm taking the housekeeper's place." She watched Ernie out of the corner of her eye as she said the words. "I understand." She was hoping that hearing those words would make Ernie feel better about her being there.

  Ernie perked up. "That's right. You're just taking old Mrs. Jenkins's place. Not Ma's." He gave her a look that told her it made him feel superior to say so, but she didn't mind at all. She was happy he'd understood what she was trying to say.

  Jesse raised an eyebrow at Ernie. "You'll treat her with the same respect you treated your ma with, though. Won't you?" He understood Anna's purpose in the words, but he needed to know his son would be respectful.

  Ernie nodded reluctantly. "Yes, Pa." He looked back down at his plate, but he didn't seem nearly as upset as he had earlier.

  "Are you going to pray for us?" Anna asked, looking at Jesse.

  He nodded, and they all bowed their heads for his simple prayer. As soon as he'd finished, he stuck his fork into the pork roast and took a huge bite. He almost moaned with pleasure. His new wife really could cook. In fact, he'd never had a woman cook so well in his life. "This is good."

  She smiled. "I cooked a lot in the orphanage. It was one of my favorite chores." She'd always begged the other girls to trade with her when they were on cooking duty.

  "Orphanage? You were raised in an orphanage?" Jesse asked with surprise.

  She nodded. "My pa died in the last battle of the War Between the States, but I was already on the way. My ma died of a fever a few weeks after I was born. There weren't any relatives who could take me in, so a neighbor found me and dropped me at the orphanage."

  "Where was that? Here in Texas?" he asked. Her accent didn't seem quite right for Texas.

  She shook her head. "No, I was raised in Beckham, Massachusetts. I've only been here two weeks longer than you two have." It was strange to realize she was married to a man who knew so little about her, but the circumstances were odd all around.

  Jesse stared at her for a moment. "You came out here to teach?" he asked.

  "No, I came out here to be a mail order bride." She took a sip of water, before continuing. "I'm terribly shy, and I was nervous about coming here, so I sent a telegram to the man I was supposed to marry and told him I'd be two weeks late. I wanted more time to get ready. The woman who was coming here to teach school had the same last name as me, and she arrived on the stage I was supposed to be on. Somehow, she ended up married to my groom, and when I got here, he was married, but the town needed a teacher." Her eyes met his for the first time since she'd started her story. "I hate teaching, but I'd done it back East, so I was qualified. It was better to take her position as a teacher than try to find something else." She didn't add that she'd been petrified that she would have nowhere to go once she arrived in town and realized what had happened.

  "That's crazy. Why didn't she tell him that she was the teacher and not his bride?"

  Anna shrugged. "She said she kept trying to tell him, and he kept kissing her, and it muddled her brain." She hadn't understood that when Julia had first told the story, but she certainly did now. After kissing Jesse in the schoolhouse that day, she understood what it meant to have a truly muddled mind.

  Jesse shook his head. "Did they even apologize?"

  "Yes, they did. It was an honest mistake, and really, I found Tom to be very intimidating. I don't think I'd have been able to marry him anyway. I'm extremely shy."

  "You don't seem at all shy to me," he told her.

  She blushed. "Well, you made me angry from the first moment we met. I was more of a fishwife with you than I've ever been with a man."

  "I can understand that." He looked down at Ernie for a moment, wishing he knew how to explain how much his son had changed since his mother died. "We're all going to church in the morning. We go every Sunday. I'll work when we get home, though. I have a lot that needs to be done to get the ranch in shape. I purchased it sight unseen from an older couple, and the man hadn't really kept things up in a couple of years. I'd like it to be how I want it before winter rolls around."

  She nodded. "I won't say anything about you breaking the Sabbath. I understand things like that need to happen sometimes." She sighed. "I'll probably try to get some laundry and mending done tomorrow as well. It looks like there's a lot that's been neglected since you arrived." Anna's words sounded like a complaint, but her tone of voice didn't. She truly didn't mind the work, because she was glad to have it.

  He nodded. "And we spent months on the trail before we got here. There are a lo
t of clothes that need to be mended." He nodded at Ernie. "He's outgrown almost everything he owns. He's going to need new clothes. I don't think his pants can be taken down any more."

  "I enjoy sewing. It will give me something to do while he's in school." Anna smiled at Ernie, hoping he'd smile back, but he didn't. He just continued to stare through her.

  "I hate school," Ernie moaned.

  "I don't blame you, but school is good for you. It will help you learn to get along with others, and you can learn how to ranch on the weekends. Do you want to be a rancher like your pa someday?" She knew he did, and she was ready with an answer if he said 'yes.'

  Ernie nodded emphatically. "I do. It's all I've ever wanted. I think I'll be a really good rancher. I should be able to stay home with him all day to learn how to ranch instead of sitting in a schoolroom learning stupid things I don't need to know."

  "Well, don't you think there are things you can learn in school that will help you to be a better rancher? When your pa is offered money for his herd, don't you think he has to use arithmetic to decide if it's a good deal or not? What about reading? What if there's a new feed to give cattle that will make them grow up bigger and stronger? Should he keep up with that so he can keep up with the rest of his industry? I think he should."

  Ernie thought about it for a moment. "Well, yes."

  "He has to be able to read well and do arithmetic to make that work. So you need to learn both of those things, don't you?"

  Ernie sighed. "You tricked me."

  Anna smiled. "I didn't trick you. I reasoned with you. They're two different things."

  He played with his food for a moment before taking his first bite. He'd obviously been reluctant to eat it, because she'd cooked it and his father had liked it. After the first bite, he ate quickly, washing it all down with water as fast as he could. When he'd cleaned his plate, he jumped to his feet. "May I be excused?"

  Jesse nodded, watching as his son ran from the room. "He's trying really hard not to like you."

  "I can see that. I wish I could convince him that I'm not out to replace his mother. I know he had a good mother, and that he loved her. I don't need to be that mother." She almost felt sorry for the boy, knowing he missed his mother as much as he did.