ROMANCE: MAIL ORDER BRIDE: The Other Man’s Baby (A Clean Christian Historical Western) (New Adult Inspirational Pregnancy Romance) (31 page)

The Colorado Territory 1885

It was just another day on the farm. Thomas Baldwin watched from the porch of his cabin, as the sun rose over the shadow darkened mountains. He had been awake for hours, but the rising of the sun meant it was time to get to work. Today would be another blazing hot day of work in the summer sun.

Thomas had moved out west about ten years ago. At the time he was a strapping young man, tall with a husky build, brown hair, brown eyes, and an olive complexion that prevented him from sun burning while plowing the fields. He had followed the gold rush to the Colorado Territory looking to make a name for himself. Thomas had had high hopes of striking it rich and then returning to his home town of Philadelphia.

Instead, he found himself married to a young woman from the neighboring Cheyenne Tribe. Thomas had given up mining after he learned of his wife’s pregnancy. He bought a little piece of property and built a homestead, using the timber he cleared to build a cabin. It wasn’t anything fancy, but it had served his budding family well. Unfortunately his wife and infant child had contracted smallpox and his wife had passed away; but miraculously, Thomas’s infant son had survived. However, the smallpox had permanently damaged the use of William’s right leg. It was now crippled and as the child learned to walk, he struggled. Thomas had made a wooden brace to help give a little support to the child, but most of the time William preferred to crawl.

As the sun continued to rise, Thomas decided it was time to get to work. It was then that he heard the wails of his son, William, coming from inside the cabin. He was wanting his early morning bottle.

“Hey there little fella,” Thomas greeted the sobbing toddler as he picked him up out of the makeshift crib Thomas had built when the child was born, “Pa’s gotcha.”

Thomas grabbed the pre-warmed bottle from the kettle of boiling water that sat by the fireplace. Making sure the cow’s milk wasn’t too hot, he carried William outside and sat down in the old wooden rocking chair. As the child slurped his bottle joyfully, Thomas rocked gently humming the Cheyenne lullaby his wife had always sung. He never knew the words, but he had always found the melody to be soothing.

“I need to find you a ma,” Thomas said to the child, looking down at him with loving eyes.

Although his wife had passed away two years ago, Thomas still couldn’t bring himself to take another wife. His first marriage had been a bit scandalous, as far as his family in Philadelphia was concerned, Thomas had shamed them by marrying an Indian. In spite of his family, he had loved her deeply. It had been the kind of love that he never thought he could find again. Maybe instead of a ma for William, Thomas would settle for a nanny. He thought this to himself while he stared back out over the land. His small herd of cattle were grazing in the pasture and his two horses, Russ & Tuck, were eating away at the hay Thomas had thrown in their pins.

When William had finished his bottle, Thomas took the toddler inside to change his dirty cloth diaper and dress him for the day. The life of being a single father and a farmer was almost too much for Thomas to handle on his own. He usually ended up taking William to the fields with him. The problem was that it was difficult for Thomas to work the fields and watch the curious toddler at the same time. William was always on the move and there had been a close call or two when he had crawled directly in the path of Thomas’s plow horse, Tuck. Although Tuck was as calm and mild-mannered as they come, Thomas had barely gotten the old horse stopped before he had trampled right over the top of William.

After that day, Thomas had made a point of strapping the little toddler to the closest tree he could find. He made sure to leave enough lead for William to move around. Thomas felt bad about treating his son like a dog, but he constantly reminded himself that it was to keep William safe. Maybe when he was older he would be able to stay close by without getting squished, Thomas thought to himself. The day wasn’t getting any younger, so Thomas, having just finished wrestling a struggling William into his daytime clothes, picked up the toddler and headed for the barn. It was time to work.

The next day, Thomas decided to take William into town for supplies. It had been weeks since their last supply run and they were out of almost everything. He again wrestled the wiggling toddler into his clothes, hitched the wagon, and headed to town.

Once in town, Thomas parked the wagon and carried William into the store. He looked around for the food and farming supplies he needed. Thomas’s cooking abilities weren’t the greatest. He’d never needed to know how to cook until he moved out west. His wife had always cooked for him, but over the last few years he had figured out how to heat up beans and bake rock hard bread. Settling on more beans and flour, Thomas headed for the counter.

“Well Thomas Baldwin, I haven’t seen you in weeks!” exclaimed a woman from behind the counter. Her name was Patty O’Neal. She and her husband, Melvin, owned and ran the mercantile store in which he stood. She was a short plump woman with a booming voice and an incredibly kind personality. Patty had spent a few weeks taking care of William after Thomas’s wife had passed away. She and Melvin had offered to adopt William, since they had never been able to conceive a child of their own; however, Thomas couldn’t stand the thought of anyone else raising his boy.

“Ms. Patty,” Thomas greeted her with a kind smile, “How have things been around here?”

“Fine, just fine. Had a shooting at the Saloon the other night, but Sheriff Halder said it’s nothing to be concerned with. Apparently a game of Poker ended badly and the poor fool who got shot died on the spot. Shame what gamblin can do to a man,” Ms. Patty carried on the conversation while she wrote down all of the supplies Thomas needed. All the while she kept taking quick glances at William. Apparently she wasn’t too thrilled with how dirty his clothes were.

“You know… a bath and a clothes washn’ wouldn’t hurt either of you,” said Ms. Patty staring them up and down.

“We do bathe,” replied Thomas looking over his son’s clothes. Although, he couldn’t disagree that they both looked as though they hadn’t had clean clothes in a while.

“You ought to find yourself a good woman. She could take care of the babe and clean clothes for the both of you,” Ms. Patty spoke as she took William from Thomas, “I hear there are some women back east who are trying to come out west and settle down. Maybe you should look into it. Send a list of your requirements and I bet within a week your new wife would arrive.”

“I ain’t lookin for a wife,” said Thomas with a little grit, “I had a wife, and she died. Couldn’t afford to take on another one.”

“Suit it yourself, but William here looks like he is wastn’ away. Needs a good meal and some clean clothes,” Ms. Patty looked up at Thomas, “I know you loved your wife, but she died two years ago. Isn’t it time you found somebody to look after you both?”

“I ain’t lookin,” repeated Thomas bitterly. He had intended this to be the end of the conversation, but Ms. Patty just couldn’t help but keep pushing.

“I know you say you ain’t lookin, but look at this little fella. He needs somebody to look after him while you work. Keepn’ a child tied up to a tree all day ain’t no way to raise him. William needs to be able to move around and play,” Ms. Patty persisted. She looked sternly at Thomas, “I’d be willing to write a letter for ya. Send it out straight away and see what comes next.”

“I guess I can’t disagree with ya on the tying William to the tree thing. Not even sure how you know about that, but then again there are enough old hoot owls in this town, I’m not surprised word got back to ya. In any case, I don’t need a wife, but I might just consider taking in a nanny,” and with that, Thomas placed the money he owed on the counter, took William back from Ms. Patty, and sidled out the door.

“I’ll get a letter for a nanny sent out today!” shouted Ms. Patty from behind him, “Bet you’ll have a woman in your house by this time next week!” 

While driving back out to the farm, Thomas couldn’t help but ponder over the conversation with Ms. Patty. She was right, and he knew it. He couldn’t keep raising William the way he had been. The boy needed the kind of looking after he couldn’t provide while he was working in the fields. Wonder if Ms. Patty would really be sending that letter she said she was going to send. In his heart he knew she would. She was a lady of her word, for better or for worse. Ms. Patty, bless her soul, was also the nosiest woman Thomas had ever had to contend with, even more so than his own mother.

Sure enough, a week passed and there came a knock on the cabin door one evening. Thomas opened it to find a small petite young woman standing on his front porch. Ms. Patty had sent a letter all right enough. Now he would have to either send the woman away, or take her into his home. He wasn’t sure about either idea just now, all he knew was this would be the start of something interesting.

“Are you Thomas Baldwin?” asked the woman politely. Thomas immediately noticed her British accent.

“Yes ma’am, that’s me,” Thomas replied slowly, “And uh… who might you be?”

“I’m Ruby McAlister. I received a letter saying you were looking for a wife,” the woman, Ruby answered nervously.

“For lands sakes! I don’t need a wife!” Thomas let out bitterly looking at the sky.

“Well you don’t need to shout at me!” exclaimed Ruby suddenly. She scrunched her face into a disapproving frown.

“What? Oh! No, I wasn’t shouting at you. It’s just, well, I didn’t send that letter,” Thomas explained nervously. “See this woman in town, well she is kind of a nosey old thing. She thinks I need a wife. She sent the letter and well, here you are.” Thomas realized how stupid he sounded and feeling frustrated, he jammed his large calloused hand through his hair.

“So… you don’t need a wife then?” asked Ruby questioningly.

“No!” answered Thomas a bit more rudely than he had intended to.

“Oh,” said Ruby disappointedly, “Well then…” she turned to leave.

“But… but I could use a nanny for my boy,” Thomas quickly added. He didn’t know why but he didn’t want her to leave. Something about her small frame, blonde hair, and ice blue eyes were causing him to feel intrigued.

“Oh… the letter said you had a son who needed a mother. Well, I guess a nanny is similar to a mother, but we don’t have to be hitched or anything,” Ruby rambled this off and suddenly had a strange look on her face. It was as though she hadn’t meant to say that.

The pair stood quietly for a few minutes. Both felt rather embarrassed about the awkward situation, yet, neither of them could will their legs to move. Finally, Thomas felt his nerves relax and he began to ponder the situation.

“I can’t afford to pay you much, but I’d like it if you stayed and looked after the boy for me. I’d need you to do some cooking and cleaning if that would be all right. The cabin isn’t very big, but I’d be willing to expand it at some point so you could have your own room,” Thomas let the words roll off his tongue. He wasn’t sure exactly what he was offering, but somehow he didn’t seem to care.

“Oh…” Ruby replied again, “Well… I accept.” She held out her hand to shake on their agreement. Thomas shook her hand briefly and asked her to come inside.

“Thank you, but not now. I need to get back to town and fetch my things. I’ll start tomorrow,” and with that Ruby walked away briskly. Thomas had just noticed there wasn’t a horse or a wagon anywhere.

“Did you walk all the way out here?” he asked her before she was too far away.

“Yes, yes I did,” Ruby replied turning to face him.

“That’s quite a ways. It’s getting dark out. Would you prefer to stay the night and I can take you into town tomorrow?” offered Thomas not wanting her to walk back to town in the dark.

“That would be…” she started and then paused, “No, thank you, I must be getting back. I’ve walked much further in the dark. I’ll be fine. I’ll see you bright and early Mr. Baldwin,” and with that she disappeared into the darkness.

Thomas didn’t sleep that night. He lay in bed pondering over the scene on the porch. How stupid he must have looked, Thomas thought as he stared at the ceiling. Why had he agreed to take in a complete stranger? He didn’t even have a guest bedroom or an extra bed. They were going to have to share the open cabin. Maybe she can hang a blanket or bed sheet to make a sort of room for herself. She was a woman after all. She needed her privacy.

Just as the sun began to rise over the mountains, there came a knock on the cabin door. Thomas opened it to find Ruby standing there. She was surrounded by bags. What he had not expected to see, however, was a baby on her hip.

“Good morning,” greeted Ruby, bustling into the cabin with the child, “This is smaller than I thought, hmmm, well I guess we'll just have to make do. I’ll get to work straight away. Heavens these floors haven’t been cleaned in ages.” She began talking so fast that Thomas felt utterly confused. Ruby had said nothing about having a child. Finally, Thomas’s voice returned as his shell shock vanished.

“HOLD ON A MINUTE!” he exclaimed causing Ruby to jump.

“What?” she asked looking surprised by his outburst.

“You… you didn’t say anything about a baby!” said Thomas pointing at the child in Ruby’s arms, “I hired you to look after my baby!” Thomas’s voice broke. He realized how stupid he was sounding, but he couldn’t help it. The shock was too much. No way would this cabin be large enough for two babies.

“I didn’t realize it would be an issue,” replied Ruby slowly. She looked at the floor and squeezed the child closer.

“It… well… I guess I was just hoping my son would get the attention,” sputtered Thomas feeling like an even bigger idiot. What was it about this woman that suddenly had him so befuddled?

“I guess I should have mentioned her, Emma,” Ruby said, “If this isn’t what you wanted, then we can leave.”

“No, it’s just… it wasn’t what I was expecting,” Thomas’s head was swimming. How was he going to provide for two more mouths to feed? Then he decided he didn’t care. He needed a nanny and apparently she and her child needed a place to stay. Making up his mind he rattled out a brief, “You may stay.”

“Thank you, I promise she will be my responsibility. I can manage two babies,” Ruby tried to reassure Thomas. She sat Emma on the floor and walked over to Thomas. She looked into his eyes and he felt his heart leap. She was stunningly beautiful.

“I… I…” stuttered Thomas, “I guess I better get to work.” Then without another word, Thomas turned quickly and shuffled out of the cabin. He headed to the barn, his head racing with thoughts about what had just happened.

He must be crazy to allow this woman and her child to stay here. Even if she was working for him, what would the people in town think? Thomas’s mind just wouldn’t settle. He had never cared about what the people in town had thought. He had married a Cheyenne woman for hell’s sake! Then he felt angry with himself. Another woman would be living in the cabin he had built for his wife. Guilt started to rush over him.

Deciding he couldn’t dwell on his rash emotions. Thomas haltered Tuck, his bay Clydesdale, and headed out to plow the field where he planned to plant this year’s grain crop.