Western Kisses – Old West Christmas Romances (Boxed Set) (23 page)

Elizabeth nodded. “Let me help you pack. Are your things in your room?”

Julia was surprised that the society woman would be willing to help her pack, but she didn’t say anything about it, and instead, led her to the stairs and her upstairs bedroom. “Right through here.”

Elizabeth helped her carefully fold her things and pack them. “What will you wear to marry?”

Julia held up a dress she’d set aside. “I’ll pack this on top, and if he gives me time to change clothes before we marry, that’s what I’ll wear.”

“Most men find a way for you to bathe and change, but not all. If it doesn’t happen, don’t think less of him.”

“I thought that was probably the case. If he lives in the country, we’ll have to marry in town before we head to his farm. You don’t think he’ll want to spend a night in town, do you?”

Elizabeth shook her head emphatically. “If he’s like most farmers, he’ll need to get home to see to his livestock. Just driving to town is a hardship.”

“Sounds like you know a lot about farmers,” Julia said as she folded the last of her underclothes to put in the pile.

Elizabeth shrugged. “My father is a farmer. I know more than I care to about the lifestyle.”

Julia frowned at the younger girl. “If your father is a farmer, how did you end up living in that mansion?”

Elizabeth briefly explained. “After my sister moved to Texas to marry, I was the oldest child, and I understood then why she was always so frustrated with our younger siblings. When I ran into the former owner of the mail order bride business in town, we talked. Last year, when she decided to become a mail order bride herself, I saw her in the post office, and she invited me to have lunch with her. I thought she wanted me to be a bride, but instead, she asked me to take over the agency.”

“Do you enjoy running a business?” Julia wasn’t sure she would ever be able to be a businesswoman. She actually enjoyed keeping house.

“I do. I wanted to get away from my family, but my plan was to become a teacher. This suits me far better. I can still see my family when I choose, but I can stay in town when I want to be away from them.”

“Is your family that bad?”

Elizabeth laughed softly. “My younger brothers and sisters have been nicknamed ‘the demon horde’ by the good people of our church. They’re not exactly people you’d want to spend time with.”

Julia laughed. “Oh, my! No, I don’t think I would.”

They chatted as they finished the packing. Before she left, Elizabeth asked, “What time does your train leave tomorrow?”

“Eleven in the morning.”

“I’ll meet you there if you don’t mind.”

Julia was surprised. She hadn’t expected anyone to be there to send her off. “I’d like that a lot.”

After she closed the door, Julia smiled to herself. How odd that she’d find someone she liked as much as she liked Elizabeth. She had made an incorrect assumption about the other girl and never would have allowed her into her life if not for her business with her. The girl was just like she was in so many ways, though.

At the train station, Elizabeth took Julia’s hand in hers. “I need you to promise me one thing before you leave.”

Julia frowned. “What’s that?”

“Promise me that if Edward doesn’t treat you well, you’ll come back to Beckham. Or go anywhere really, since you do have some money of your own. I just don’t want you to stay in a bad situation.”

“I won’t.” She’d been mistreated enough by her mother. There was no way she was going to stay in a bad situation with a man.

When her train was called, she hugged her friend, thankful to have a place to come back to if everything didn’t work out well. “Thank you!”

“Don’t forget to write and let me know how you are!”

It was noon on a Monday afternoon in late September when Julia’s train pulled into the tiny station in Abernathy, Kansas. She was tired and more than a little grumpy after sitting up in a train for four days straight while traveling. It was certainly better than traveling by horse and buggy, because it was faster, but the constant motion of the train had left her sick to her stomach most of the trip.

She stepped off the train and stood on the platform waiting, wondering how she was going to recognize Edward. Only two other people got off the train, and one was a man, so it shouldn’t be terribly difficult for him to find her.

She stood quietly waiting, hoping he would hurry. Her train had arrived an hour early, which she was told was unheard of. She finally sat down in the waiting area of the train station, as if she were waiting for another train to arrive. She hoped he hadn’t forgotten her.

When Edward arrived in town ten minutes before the train was due, he immediately went to the mercantile. Trains were always late, and he wanted to get a fair amount of supplies before he picked up his new bride.

When he was finished, he was surprised to see no crowd waiting and the train already in the station. He rushed to the platform, but there was no one there. Finally, he went to the waiting area, hoping to find his new wife and saw her sitting quietly looking quite forlorn. He didn’t introduce himself right away, but looked at her, learning her. She had dark hair and dark eyes. She looked like she’d been a beauty when she was younger, but years and hard work had taken their toll. She wasn’t ugly, but she certainly wasn’t the sort of woman a man fell at the feet of, which suited him just fine.

He walked to stand in front of her, feeling a bit self-conscious. Her eyes drifted up to his. “Miss Allen?” he asked.

She breathed a sigh of relief. It was very obvious to him that she thought he’d left her there. “Edward?”

He nodded once briefly. “Yes.” He leaned down and took the carpet bag at her feet. “Is this all you brought?”

She shook her head. “There’s a trunk over against the wall.”

They walked over together, and he found someone to help him get it onto the back of the wagon. Once that was accomplished, he helped her onto the wagon seat, pleased that she hadn’t complained about waiting for him. “I was planning on going straight to the preacher’s house. He said he’d marry us anytime this afternoon.”

Julia nodded, staring straight ahead. It suddenly hit her at that moment that in a few hours, she’d be sharing a bed with this man who was a total stranger. He’d expect her to lie under him and let him do…
things
to her that she’d never done. Would she be able to allow herself to do that? Or would she run away screaming into the night?

He pulled up in front of the minister’s house and helped her down. “Do you think the minister’s wife will let me change into a different dress? I made a pretty one for our wedding.”

Edward frowned. He didn’t want to waste the time it would take for her to change clothes and make herself pretty for their wedding, but he knew that like most women, those things were probably important to her, and he didn’t want to tell her no. Not when they’d just met a few minutes before. “Can you do it quickly? It’s a long drive out to the farm, and I still need to do the evening chores.”

She nodded. “I’ll be fast about it.” She wished he hadn’t felt the need to make sure she hurried, but she understood that his animals were his livelihood.

He helped her down and carried her bag to the house for her. When he knocked on the door a young woman, in her late twenties opened it. “May I help you?”

“Pastor Johnson promised he’d marry my fiancé and me today. Is he in?”

“Oh, yes, of course!” She stepped aside so they could enter the house.

“Would you mind if my bride took a little time to change first?” he asked.

The woman nodded. “That would be fine.” She smiled at Julia. “Just come this way. You can change in my room.” She led the way to a small bedroom. “Would you like for me to redo your hair for you?”

Julia nodded. She didn’t really need the help, but she certainly wouldn’t turn it away. She knew she hadn’t slept more than ten hours during the four days she’d been traveling, and she was exhausted.

She changed quickly with the other woman’s help, and then she sat down while her hair was fixed. Julia tried to keep her head up, but all she wanted to do was sleep. She forced herself to focus on her soon-to-be-husband. She catalogued his features. He certainly wasn’t someone she’d call handsome. He had dark hair and brown eyes. She’d imagined a man with blond hair. He wore a straw hat that he’d only taken off when they’d entered the tiny house, letting her see his hair was all pushed down where the hat had been.

He was definitely acceptable to her, though. It’s not like there were other men beating down her door for the privilege of marrying her. Once her hair was finished, she stood up, tucking the dress she’d taken off back into her bag knowing he’d want to leave as soon as the knot was officially tied.

Back in the parlor, Edward waited with the pastor, tapping his foot impatiently. She’d said she’d hurry. How long did it take to change your dress?

When she came out, her hair looked like it had just been fixed, and her dress was much nicer than the first. Not that it really mattered to him.

Julia rushed to Edward’s side, facing the pastor with him. The service was short and sweet. Every wedding she’d ever been to had taken at least an hour, but hers only took a few minutes. When he lowered his head to kiss her, it felt strange. She’d only ever been kissed by one man in her life, but having another touch her seemed strange.

After the ceremony, he shook hands with the minister and handed him some money. He took her carpet bag and escorted her to the wagon. After helping her up, he ran around to the other side, slightly annoyed with her for taking so long to get ready. “We’re going to have to hurry to get home. That took longer than I’d expected.”

She couldn’t believe he’d complained that she changed out of a dress she’d worn for over four days. “I’m sorry if you think it took longer than it should have. I’d been wearing the same clothes since leaving Massachusetts and was feeling like something that just climbed out from beneath a rock.” She faced straight ahead as she said the words, refusing to look at him.

He sighed. “Let’s not start our marriage off on the wrong foot. Tell me about your family. Were you an only child?”

She shook her head. “No, I wasn’t. I had a brother, but he died of polio at the same time as my father, and that’s when Mother was afflicted as well. I’ve been nursing Mother since 1870.”

He stared at her in disbelief. “Sixteen years? That’s a long time to be devoted to someone.”

She shrugged. “She was my mother. She died in her sleep just days before I answered your advertisement. I had to get away from the house I’d grown up in. Away from all the people who knew me.”

“What was your mother like?” he asked, hoping he could draw out the conversation and learn something about the stranger he’d just agreed to love, honor, and cherish.

Julia thought about that. “Before she was ill, she was wonderful. She taught me so much about how to be a good wife. She spent as much time as she could with me every day. After, she changed. Part of it was losing her husband and son so close together, but part was simply being bedridden. She had always been active, going on long walks and spending time outdoors. After, she couldn’t really be moved. I tried to get her to move downstairs, where I could help her into a wheeled chair and take her outside, but she refused. She became a recluse after that and expected me to do the same.”

“She didn’t let you have friends?”

“No, she didn’t. I was engaged to be married when my family fell ill. The doctor isn’t certain how it skipped me, but I’m thankful it did. Within a month, we knew that she needed me to care for her. My fiancé agreed to wait for a year, but one year became two, and then he moved on. He couldn’t keep waiting. He’s married to a sweet girl we grew up with, and they have four children together.” She shrugged as if she didn’t care that he’d moved on, but she still did.

“I’m sorry.”

She shook her head. “I’m fine. It was a long time ago. His oldest boy is thirteen now.” She stared ahead for a moment. “What about your wife?”

“We were married young. I was twenty, and she was eighteen. We never had any children. When we moved here eleven years ago, we were going to make a fresh start. We’d lived in New York City, and we both had to work all day in factories there to survive. We decided to take advantage of The Homestead Act of 1862 and move out here where we could have land.” He sighed. “I loved working the land, but she hated feeling like she was isolated from the world. She wasn’t happy from the day we moved here. Six years ago, she caught fever, and I couldn’t get her to a doctor in time.”

“I’m sorry.” She knew the words were inadequate, but she had no others for him. She wanted to let him know that she truly understood the grief that came with losing someone you loved, but how?

“I’m sure it was almost a relief for her to get off this prairie. As much as I love it is just how much she hated it.” He didn’t look at her as he spoke about his dead wife.

She nodded. “I won’t try to take her place.”

He turned to her then. “You are taking her place in some ways, but I’m happy that you understand I’ll always love her.”

“I do.” She didn’t add that she still loved Joseph. They’d do fine together if neither of them ever expected anything else from the other.

They drove the rest of the way in silence. She wanted to talk to him, but had no idea what to say. He was a virtual stranger to her, and she was going to his house as his wife. What had she been thinking? Nothing had forced her to do this. By her own actions, she was here, and she was going to have to make the most of it.

She hadn’t seen a house in at least thirty minutes when he pulled onto a dirt road and stopped in front of a small house. It wasn’t small enough to call a cabin, but it wasn’t much bigger. She could tell he’d added on to it at least once, so maybe he would again as their family grew.

He helped her down from the wagon and carried her trunk inside, while she carried her carpet bag. He put the trunk in front of the bed in the small bedroom. Everything else was in the main room. There was a cook stove with a work table on one wall, along with a small basin and a water pump. She was relieved that she’d have water in the house and wouldn’t have to carry it from a well.