The Mistaken Mail Order Bride Page 3

  “I got it,” the preacher said. “Had to get Lois to sign it since she witnessed the blessed event.” He set it on the kitchen table and chuckled. “I didn’t dare ask her to leave her home after all the fuss she made earlier.”

  “Well, she does pride herself on her pies,” Eric replied.

  “I can’t say it wasn’t worth the trip. She gave me a slice to take with me. She’ll be coming over to bring a couple of slices for you two when it cools.” He dug a fountain pen from his pocket and handed it to Caroline. “I always let the bride sign first.”

  Caroline took the pen and signed her name. Then she turned and handed it to the groom. The groom took the pen and pressed it to the line he was to sign on, but he didn’t write his name. She frowned. Had he changed his mind? Did he want to back out of the marriage?

  “You wrote Caroline Benton for your name,” he said.

  “Yes,” she replied. “Is that a problem?”

  “But you told me your name is Allison Jones.”

  “No. I said it was Caroline Benton.”

  “No, you didn’t. You never once said such a thing. Here. Let me show you.” He went to his bedroom and came back out with a piece of neatly folded paper. When he reached her, he opened it and showed it to her. “This is the last letter I received from my mail-order bride. Does this look familiar to you?”

  She had a sinking sensation she wasn’t going to like this. She accepted the piece of paper and skimmed the unfamiliar script. The color drained from her face. This was written by a lady named Allie, and what was more, she had addressed it to a gentleman named Eric Johnson.

  Caroline’s gaze went to the gentleman in front of her. “You’re not Charles Dunwick?”

  “No. I’m Eric Johnson, the sheriff of this town.” Eric glanced at the preacher, who seemed just as bewildered as Caroline felt. “I’m expecting Allison Jones to come out here to marry me. She was due here today on the stagecoach.”

  “I was supposed to meet Charles Dunwick today. He’s a blacksmith.” She hesitated to ask her question because she had the feeling she was about to find out something far more disturbing. “Mister, are we in Georgetown?”

  “Georgetown? No, we’re in Idaho Springs.”

  Chapter Three

  Eric watched as the color drained from Caroline’s face. He’d thought she was pale already, but her face went so white he worried she might faint. He hastened to pull up a chair and helped her sit down.

  “We’re in Idaho Springs?” she asked, her voice just shy of a whisper.

  The preacher nodded. “Georgetown is west of here. Maybe you got off the stagecoach too soon. What day do you think it is?”

  “July 3rd,” she softly replied.

  Well, that explained a big part of the problem right there. “It’s June 23,” Eric told her. “But I don’t understand why Allison Jones didn’t come here. That’s the woman I was expecting,” he explained, though it was unnecessary. He’d already shown her the last missive Allie had written him.

  “Maybe she made the same mistake Caroline did and got off in the wrong town,” the preacher suggested.

  “But what are the chances of that happening?” Eric asked.

  The preacher rubbed his chin thoughtfully. “If it happened once, it could happen again.”

  “This whole thing is my fault,” Caroline said. “If I’d paid better attention, I would have known better. I’m sorry, Mister Johnson. This is all my fault.”

  “First, it’s Eric,” he replied. “We don’t stand on formality out here. Second, it’s not entirely your fault. I didn’t think to ask you your name, nor did I think to tell you mine. I heard your southern drawl and just assumed you were Allie. She was supposed to be coming from Tennessee. It’s been a while since I’ve gone through there, but you sounded like you came from there. I just assumed you were the right woman.” He gestured to his bedroom. “And you were distracted with the poor child over there. I’m sure dealing with a sick boy wasn’t easy. To be honest, if it was me, I don’t know if I could have handled it. I have a lot of admiration for you for doing that, especially for a child you didn’t know.”

  “Maybe,” she began, “but I should have listened as the driver shouted out the name of the town.”

  “The driver didn’t call out the name of the town,” Eric told her.

  “Even so, didn’t you tell that stagecoach driver which town you were going to?” the preacher asked.

  Eric nodded, grateful for the man’s quick thinking. “Exactly. The driver likes to know where he’s going. He should have said something when you got out.”

  “Unless he was glad to get rid of her and the child,” the preacher amended. “I heard the boy got sick and couldn’t keep anything down.”

  “You did?” Eric knew it was a small town, but even he was surprised by how quickly news had spread.

  “Yep,” the preacher said. “Mike’s wife was telling everyone about it.”

  Eric groaned. “Why can’t Ida keep quiet for five minutes?”

  “She also heard the driver had never been more relieved to get rid of a passenger. I think he let Caroline off at this stop though he knew full well she wasn’t in the right place. If anything, I’d place the blame on him.”

  Caroline shook her head. “No, it’s my fault. I wasn’t paying better attention to the calendar.”

  “Don’t be so hard on yourself,” Eric said, hoping to offer her some comfort by patting her shoulder. “This situation happened, and there’s nothing we can do about it now.”

  “I could take Caleb and get back on the stagecoach,” she replied.

  “No, you can’t,” the preacher argued. “He already took off.”

  “So soon?” Eric asked.

  “I told you what Ida said,” the preacher said. “That driver was glad to be done with the vomiting child. He didn’t even clean the stage out first.”

  Eric sighed as he considered his options. Allie hadn’t shown up. Something, or someone, had delayed her, and it wasn’t like he’d be finding out what that was until the next stagecoach came in a couple of weeks with her on it…or if he received another missive from her before that.

  It’d be fair to say Allie might not even be coming. Perhaps she’d decided to stay in Tennessee. He’d heard of both scenarios happening. At the last minute, women got cold feet. Or maybe she met someone and decided to be with him instead. If Caroline came across a small child, what was to say Allie didn’t come across a charming man who’d swept her off her feet?

  At any rate, Caroline was here, and there was a child who needed someone to take care of him. It wasn’t the way he expected things to be, but everything happened for a reason.

  “Well,” Eric began, “this is the way I see it. Allie never made it here, but you did. You got off here. The stagecoach driver never said anything to stop you, and he’s long gone. He won’t be coming back for another month. Why don’t we stay married?”

  Caroline rose to her feet. “You really don’t mind staying married to me?”

  “Of course not.”

  Even if she wasn’t as attractive as he’d imagined Allie, he couldn’t deny she had one of the biggest hearts of anyone he’d ever met. She seemed like she was the type who’d go out of her way to please anyone, and there was no doubt she sincerely believed he was Charles Dunwick.

  “That’s good to hear,” the preacher said.

  Eric drew his attention back to the man, surprised when he saw the preacher wiping his brow, as if he’d broken into a sweat by worrying about their decision. He offered her a reassuring smile since she still seemed uncertain about the whole thing.

  “Things happen for a reason,” Eric told her. “I’ve always believed that, and I always will.”

  “Some people call it fate,” the preacher inserted. “I like to call it something else.”

  “As much as I hate to interrupt one of your sermons,” Eric said, “if you don’t leave now, you won’t get as far to the next town as you want.” He glanced
at Caroline. “Not that I don’t enjoy his sermons. I do. It’s just they can take two or three hours. Lois was right to urge him along.”

  “I have a lot to say, and I’m happy to say it.” The preacher went over to them. He shook Eric’s hand and gave Caroline a hug. “You two have a lot of good times ahead of you. Enjoy each and every day as it comes. When marriage gets hard, and it will at some point, just remember your vows. Till death do you part and forsaking all others. That’s the bottom line.”

  “Even when you’re saying good-bye, you can’t help but ramble,” Eric teased him.

  “I don’t mind,” Caroline said. “He’s giving us good advice.”

  “I like her,” the preacher told Eric, pointing to her. “She’s a smart one. Be sure to listen to her.”

  “I will,” Eric replied. “But if you want to get out of town today, you’re better off doing it now. Nighttime isn’t that far away.”

  “Your point is taken.” The preacher put his hat on his head and tipped it in Caroline’s direction. “It was a pleasure to meet you. Next time I come through, I look forward to seeing how you’re doing.”

  “Thank you,” Caroline replied, offering a curtsy.

  Eric couldn’t help but think of how much different she was from others here. Even Phoebe wasn’t as prim and proper as she was. He hoped the townsfolk would accept her.

  For the moment, though, he pushed the worry aside. After the preacher left, Eric turned to his new wife. Caroline. He was going to have to get used to thinking that name instead of Allie’s.

  “I take it you’ve seen the place,” he said.

  “Yes. It’s quaint.”

  “I suspect it’s considerably smaller than what you’re used to.”

  “It is, but I like it. You keep a clean house, and it’s always a blessing when there’s no mice scurrying around.”

  At that, he grinned. “You had that trouble back in…” He paused. “Come to think of it, I don’t know where you’re from.”

  “I’m from South Carolina.”

  “You had mice scurrying around your home in South Carolina?”

  “I did after the war.”

  She lowered her gaze, and he sensed some pain behind her masked expression. He’d heard the war had hit women and children the hardest. Taking a moment to think over his question, he ventured, “Is that what brought you out here?”

  She nodded, though she continued staring at the floor in front of her. “All of my friends did the same. There are so few men back there. We held on for as long as we could.” She shrugged but swallowed the lump in her throat. “It was a different world from the one I grew up in.”

  If he was right, it was too painful for her to talk about it right now. In time, however, maybe she’d tell him more. In the meantime, she needed to get settled into her new home, and he had to do his part to help her with the transition.

  Which reminded him…

  “I need to get Caleb those clothes,” he told Caroline. “Let me do that now before I forget again. Why don’t you lie down and rest while I’m gone? That trip must have tired you out.”

  “I haven’t put my things away yet. Maybe I should do that first.”

  “Caleb’s still asleep in our room. I don’t know much about children, but I’m guessing he’ll need someone he trusts nearby when he wakes up. Go ahead and take a nap.”

  She glanced at their bedroom, bit her lower lip, and then nodded. “You’re right. I should take a moment to rest. So much has happened. Most of this feels like a dream.”

  He couldn’t blame her for feeling overwhelmed. All he did was bring her home, and the reality of it hadn’t sunk in for him yet. “We have plenty of time to take care of your clothes. I’ll be back after I see Ida Conner about getting some old clothes for Caleb. And don’t make anything to eat. You had a long and exhausting trip up here. When I return, I’ll take you and Caleb out to the restaurant. It’s nothing fancy, but it’ll do.”

  She seemed relieved, and he was glad he made the suggestion. With a smile, he told her he’d be back soon and headed out.

  He wasn’t all that surprised when a few people gathered around him on his way to Mike and Ida’s home. Being the sheriff, they all knew who he was, and by default, that meant they knew his business.

  “Is it true?” Daniel asked. “Did you get the wrong woman?”

  “Shouldn’t you be minding the general store?” Eric replied, not bothering to slow down despite the growing crowd of ten people around him.

  “You let Benny out of jail,” Daniel said, keeping step with him. “You should know the first thing he’s going to do is return to his store.”

  “So that leaves you free to follow me?”

  “It leaves me free to find out what’s going on. Come on, Sheriff. We’re all curious about her.” He gestured to the others, who voiced their agreement.

  Eric sighed. “I’m busy right now. Can’t you ask me about her later?”

  “If you make us wait, we’ll be forced to come up with all sorts of stories about her,” Hank said, “and you know if that happens, someone’s likely to think it’s the truth. Then that bride of yours will be tainted by a lie.”

  Eric finally stopped and turned to everyone. They were mostly men, though a couple of women made it into the group of busybodies, even one Eric never thought would engage in gossip in a million years. “You, too, Anna?”

  The middle-aged woman shrugged. “Sometimes I get bored now that my children are all grown.”

  He groaned. “Alright, fine. You want to know, I’ll tell you. But I’m going to make it quick, and I won’t go into details. Deal?”

  They nodded and looked at him expectantly.

  He resisted the urge to groan again. He really should have reconsidered moving to a small town. In a larger area, it was a lot easier to have some privacy. “The woman who came off the stagecoach wasn’t the one I was expecting. I don’t know what happened to Allison Jones, but Caroline Benton came here instead. Since Allison isn’t here, I figured I’d marry Caroline. That’s all there is to it.” Realizing they might make the wrong assumption about Caleb, he added, “It’s true she brought a child with her. No, the child isn’t hers. She found him all alone on the way here. He had no one to care for him. We’ll raise him as our own.” After a moment of silence, he finished, “That’s all.”

  Then he turned and continued walking to the door.

  “I heard that new wife of yours isn’t very pretty,” Hank said.

  Leave it to Hank to point that out. The man had been so picky in his youth that, at sixty-two, he had a tendency to rehash all the things he regretted, one of them being the fact that he never got married and had children.

  “But she’s got a caring heart,” Eric argued. “A pretty face isn’t much good if you’re married to a harpy.”

  Relieved he’d finally reached the front door of Ida’s home, Eric pounded on it. He hadn’t intended to use so much force, but it unnerved him the people were still hovered around him. Why couldn’t they all just go home and mind their own business?

  Ida opened the door, and Eric was surprised to see even more of the townsfolk gathered in her kitchen. “Sheriff Johnson! Just the man we were talking about. I bet your ears are burning.”

  His gaze swept the kitchen, and he counted seven ladies, who were all waiting for him to speak. “Would you mind giving me a couple of clothes that would fit a seven-year-old boy?”

  “I heard the wrong woman came,” Ida said, successfully dodging his question.

  “Yes, but since the right one didn’t come, we figured we might as well get married.”

  “And she came with a child,” Ida said, her eyebrows raised in interest. “Is it hers?”

  After a moment, he decided he might as well satisfy everyone’s curiosity. Word was going to spread through town anyway. Might as well get it over with. “He’s an abandoned child she found in Kansas. She brought him here so he could have a home. Unfortunately, he has no other clothes than the one
s he wore on the stagecoach, and there’s not enough time for her to sew some. Do you have any clothes you’re willing to spare?”

  “Well, sure I do. Come on in, and I’ll get them.”

  Ida waved him in, though he didn’t know if he could possibly squeeze in the small space. Yes, Ida and Mike had a lot of children, but they were all crammed in together. It made Eric wonder how the two could possibly manage to find the privacy to conceive them all.

  Finally, Eric said, “I’ll wait out here.”

  “Alright.” She squirmed past a couple of women on her way out of the kitchen, leaving him all alone to contend with the onlookers.

  “There’s really nothing to it,” he told them. “Caroline seems like a kind and decent woman. I think we’ll get along just fine. I just hope the rest of you treat her with respect.”

  “Oh, we wouldn’t dream of being anything but respectful,” one of the women sitting on a kitchen chair spoke up.

  Seeing the others nod, he reminded them, “You weren’t exactly welcoming when Phoebe Durbin arrived.”

  “That’s different,” one of the men, who’d been standing behind him, called out. “Phoebe went to marry Abe. Caroline’s your wife.”

  Eric turned to face him. “It doesn’t matter whose wife she is. The fact that she’s a human being should be enough to give her respect.” Then, thinking of the stigma Abe faced in town, he added, “The fact that Abe’s human should be enough to give him respect, too.”

  While a couple of people had the nerve to look ashamed, some only stared at him as if they had no idea what he was talking about. He didn’t know whether to be encouraged or dismayed. Some were listening, and others refused to hear him.

  “No one is saying Phoebe deserved what Enoch tried to do to her,” Hank said, breaking the awkward silence that had fallen around everyone. “What Enoch did was wrong, and yes, I’ll be the first to admit Benny should have done something to stop him. You were right to put them both in jail.”

  “Right,” another man called out. “We don’t like lawlessness of any kind. We want this to be a decent town with decent folk.”