The Accidental Mail Order Bride Read online

  She was too awake now to drift off to sleep. And worse, there was nothing she could do to pass the time. She didn’t dare clean anything while it was too dark to see what was outside. If she’d had the room in her trunk, she would have brought a couple of books to read, but since there hadn’t been room, she’d only packed what was necessary.

  That left her with nothing to do but wait for morning. And that meant she had to go through a very long and stressful night. She had a pocket watch, but she decided not to look at it. She didn’t need to watch each minute ticking away, each tick going slower than the last. It was bad enough she could feel how slow time was passing.

  There were a couple times during the night her head fell forward and she was able to drift off to sleep, but these moments were short in duration. She’d jerk awake and be searching out the room, her gaze going to the doorknob to make sure no one was trying to come in.

  By the time she noticed the sliver of light coming in through a part in the curtains, she jumped off the bed and opened them. She released her breath and nearly cried with relief. It was finally dawn. Still not feeling secure enough to part the curtains, she pulled them back together then returned to bed, this time lying down. It took a while, but she was finally able to go to sleep.

  Chapter Four

  Travis wasn’t usually an early riser, but that morning, he woke right after dawn. He sat up in the makeshift bed he’d made out of some boards and old drapes Lois hadn’t wanted anymore. The bed was uncomfortable, of course, and he was so tall, his feet dangled off the edge, but it’d worked well enough.

  What he ought to do was get some hay from the barn loft and stuff the drapes with it. Then he could sew them and give himself some cushion for this night. Sooner or later, he’d need to make himself a good mattress, but for now, this would work. As far as he was concerned, Eric owed him the materials for a good mattress after manipulating him into marriage.

  He rose to his feet and lumbered to the window. From this angle, he couldn’t see much of the cottage, but he did see that the kitchen window was covered with the curtains. It was also closed. The door was partially obstructed with a tree, but it was closed as well.

  Good. That worked to his advantage. Maybe he could get some work done outside without being seen. The hour was still early, and Allie had had a long day yesterday, what with coming into town off the stagecoach. If he was going to do anything outside, he needed to do it now.

  Careful not to make too much noise, he quickly got dressed then left the building. After he took care of the animals, he gathered enough straw for the bed and lugged that into the building. From there, he grabbed a basket and gathered ripe fruit from the trees and pulled up ripe vegetables from the garden. Allie would have some of the breads and muffins Lois had had Eric deliver to him a couple days ago.

  Travis put a couple of fruits and vegetables on the small table next to his bed then took the breadbox off the shelf. He opened it and removed a loaf of bread. He usually had snacks while out here. But now this is where he’d eat all the time. When Eric came out, he’d make sure to give Eric a list of items to buy for him and Allie at the general store.

  Later today or maybe tomorrow, he’d have to check his traps and see if he’d caught any fresh meat. Hopefully, he had. Allie would probably like a variety of food.

  After he ate, he pulled on a cloak, securing it around his head to hide his face, and carried the basket to the front door of the cottage. He set the basket down and hurried on back to the building, hoping she hadn’t heard him. He was a large man. Who knew if his footsteps boomed when he walked?

  Once he was safely back in the building, he released his breath, unaware he’d been holding it. His heart was beating so fast he thought it might jump out of his chest. He had no idea having someone else on his property, especially someone as pretty as Allie, was going to have this effect on him.

  Now whenever he left the safety of his building, he was going to have to worry she’d see him. Even with the cloak, he felt exposed. He never should have agreed to marry her. He should have insisted Eric either take her in and give her a suitable job or take her to Carl Richie to marry.

  In haste, he’d made the decision to marry her, and he was going to live with that mistake for the rest of his life. He groaned and sat down. The piles of cut up lumber of all shapes and sizes and other objects like metals and cloths pretty much took up one end of the building to another. He hadn’t realized how crowded the place was until this moment.

  Up to now, he’d taken comfort in the things. It was from these things he made stuff people could use, and sometimes a few came to collect some of the pieces for their own projects. It’d been enough to give him a decent living. They either paid him in money or food, and he hadn’t had a need to go to town.

  He’d been very comfortable with this arrangement. His world had been good. Predictable. Safe. Just the way he wanted it. But in one day, all of that had changed, and he was too afraid of what the changes meant to even think about them.

  He rose to his feet and gathered some lumber. There was one chair in the kitchen that was loose. He’d been meaning to fix it, but he never got around to it. He hardly ate in there, so it kept slipping his mind. Being that she was a woman, however, Allie probably would spend a lot more time in the kitchen than he ever did. And that meant she’d need good chairs.

  He might not be able to change their situation, but he could make her life easier. Once he had all the lumber he needed, he gathered his tools and got to work.

  ***

  Allie’s eyes flew open, and she sat straight up in bed. Something woke her, but as she tried to figure out what it was, she didn’t hear anything. That didn’t mean she could lower her guard, though. She got out of the bed, lowered the wick on the lamp until the flame was out, and checked all the rooms. Nothing was unusual. The cottage was as depressing as it’d been the day before.

  None of the locks had been tampered with, and that made her feel better. But only slightly. She proceeded to unlock the windows and open them. Everything was quiet. A look out at the building didn’t tell her any more than it had yesterday. Travis was probably still in there.

  That was good because she needed to relieve her bladder. The only place to do that was in the small wooden outhouse. Thankfully, it wasn’t anywhere near the barn or building, so she didn’t need to pass those on her way there.

  Forcing aside her unease, she unlocked the door and opened it. She was about to take a step forward when she noticed the basket full of apples, cherries, berries, tomatoes, cucumbers, red peppers, and onions.

  Surprised, she remained in the doorway for a long moment. There was only one person who would have brought this to her. Her gaze went back to the building. Was that what had woken her up? Had she heard him bring the basket to the door?

  She bent down and picked it up. It was heavy. There were a lot of fruits and vegetables in here. Probably enough to last her a couple weeks. With another glance at the building, she brought the basket into the kitchen and set it on the table. She picked up one of the apples and inspected it. Then she chose to inspect a cucumber. If the rest of the basket’s contents were in as good condition as the apple and cucumber, then it told her something important about her new husband.

  Unlike the condition of his property which required a fresh coat of paint and tidying up, he was careful with his food. He even laid out the food so it was attractive to the eye. She couldn’t help but note the appeal in the arrangement, especially with the assortment of colors. Surely, a man who took such care in doing this and bringing it to her door couldn’t be as bad as she’d originally feared.

  After a moment, she decided she had to relieve her bladder or else she’d be dealing with a mess she’d rather not clean up. So she left the cottage and found the outhouse close by. The anxiety she’d had earlier was partially replaced with a new curiosity.

  Just what did that basket mean? Did it mean he wanted to talk to her? Did it mean he wanted to learn about
her? Not everyone could write. Maybe the only way he could get a message to her was by sending her things like that basket. So maybe it was up to her to reply.

  Once she took care of her needs and brushed her hair to make herself more presentable, she decided to go to the building. The sunlight helped immensely in calming her nerves. There was still a spark of the fear she’d experienced all through the night, but in the day, it was easier to push those fears to the back of her mind. And despite her restless night’s sleep, she did feel better about everything this morning. Things often looked better after sleep, anyway. So maybe that was it.

  She stopped in front of the building, and taking a deep breath, she knocked on the door.

  She couldn’t be sure, but she thought she heard something fall to the floor. A long moment passed with no sound from the other side of the door. No one called out to her. No one approached the door. Biting her lower lip, she knocked a second time, making sure she did it louder so he had to hear her. But again, there was no response.

  She thought about calling out to him, but a cool breeze swept across her, giving her a chill, so she thought better of it. Maybe this wasn’t a good idea after all. Maybe she was better off staying in the cottage. Or at the very least, she should stay to her side of the property.

  She retreated back to the cottage and went inside. With a glance at the building, she saw it was just as it had been before. No one seemed to be in there, though she knew full well there was.

  Her gaze went back to the basket where everything had been carefully laid out in a beautiful display. Just what kind of man had she married? Was he a monster, or was he a man who possessed an eye for beauty? She didn’t know what to think.

  Well, either way, she supposed it didn’t matter at the moment. Right now, she had work to tend to. This cottage wasn’t going to clean itself. Picking up the bucket from yesterday, she dumped out the dirty water, cleaned it out at the well, and filled up it up with clean water.

  Then she returned to the house with it, only pausing once to glance at the building. This time she saw someone moving around inside. But the image was only there for a second. She hurried back into the cottage and started to work.

  ***

  It wasn’t until around nine when someone knocked on the cottage door. Allie had been so focused on wiping down the parlor walls that she almost fell off the chair. Was it him? Had Travis come over?

  There was another knock followed by a female voice asking, “Allie, are you there?”

  Relaxing, Allie stepped down from her chair and put the rag in the soapy bucket. She hurried to the door, excited by the prospect of talking to someone after the long night and morning by herself.

  She’d thought for sure she wouldn’t want to see Caroline for a long time, given that it was Caroline and Eric’s idea to marry her to Travis. But the time alone had eased her disappointment over the new change of plans.

  She opened the door and saw Caroline, Caleb, and another woman.

  “How are you doing today, Allie?” Caroline asked.

  “Alright,” Allie replied. All things considered. She gestured for them to enter. “Come on in.”

  “Thank you,” Caroline went in with Caleb, followed by the new woman. “This is my friend, Phoebe Thomas. She’s married to Abe.”

  “It’s nice to meet you,” Phoebe told her.

  “It’s nice to meet you, too,” Allie replied.

  “We came to help you clean this place,” Caroline said.

  “Oh, you don’t have to do that,” Allie protested.

  “Nonsense,” Caroline argued. “We want to. It’s the least I can do after taking the gentleman you were supposed to marry.”

  Noting the sincerity in Caroline’s voice, Allie smiled. “I was delayed, and the mail didn’t go out right away when I was in Missouri. I’m sure Eric didn’t think I was still coming.”

  “No, he didn’t. I had a friend who was supposed to marry a gentleman, but she fell in love while traveling on the train and married another one instead. Sometimes people never make it to their destination.”

  “And sometimes a woman thinks she’s going to marry someone who wasn’t expecting her,” Phoebe added. “A man wrote a mail-order bride ad pretending to be Abe.”

  Allie’s eyes grew wide. “No!”

  Phoebe nodded. “He was Carl Richie.”

  “So, that’s why you married Abe?” Allie asked.

  “Abe wasn’t all that excited to marry me at first,” Phoebe replied, “but it worked out.”

  “And what about Carl Richie?” Allie asked. “Why did he do such a thing?” It seemed like a horrible thing to do to an innocent woman.

  “It’s a long story,” Phoebe began, “but suffice it to say that Carl thought if Abe got married, he would be so preoccupied with his wife that he’d forget about the stream and land their father left Carl in the will.”

  “That’s awful,” Allie said. “You were nothing but a pawn.”

  “It seems like it’s all going to work out anyway,” Phoebe assured her. “Carl’s wife is dead now, and he has no children. The will stipulated that if he doesn’t have a child by the time he’s thirty, Abe gets the stream and the land around it.”

  “My husband is still looking for the person who killed Carl’s wife,” Caroline inserted. “He has a list of suspects, but until he has proof, he can’t do anything.”

  Allie glanced from one woman to another, thinking this story sounded stranger than her marriage to Travis did. Maybe she wasn’t as bad off as she’d thought.

  “Caleb,” Caroline said, turning to the boy, “why don’t you go see Travis? We have a lot to talk about, and it’ll only bore you.”

  Caleb nodded then headed for the building. Allie watched him as he went to the door. He wasn’t the least bit afraid of Travis. In fact, his steps were certain, as if he wanted to go there. He knocked on the door, and after a moment, the door opened. Allie strained to get a glimpse of the man she’d just married, but all she could make out was a tall silhouette before Caleb slipped into the building. The door closed behind him, successfully removing any other glimpse she might get of Travis.

  “Have you seen Travis yet?” Caroline asked her.

  Allie shook her head. “Not yet.” Then her gaze went to Phoebe. “Have you seen him?”

  “Only a little bit,” Phoebe said. “He had his hat low over his eyes. I couldn’t make out much more than his mouth and chin.”

  “I’ve seen his entire face, and he looks like a normal man. Well, except for the scars.”

  “Abe said he got those scars from a childhood bout of varicella,” Phoebe said. “Travis once told him he couldn’t stop scratching, and it was the scratching that left the scars.”

  “Really?” Caroline asked, surprised. “I didn’t know that.”

  “It’s not something Travis talks about,” Phoebe replied. “He’s terribly self-conscious about his face because of it.”

  “Does he know about the rumors in town?” Allie asked.

  Caroline let out a frustrated sigh. “I really wish people would stop such nonsense. Travis is not the monster they make him out to be. Why, would I trust my child to see him if he was?”

  Caroline had a good point. There was no denying that. If Caroline had thought there was anything to the rumors, she would have at least gone into the building with him.

  “We can talk more while we help you clean,” Caroline said.

  “Yes,” Phoebe agreed. “I can see this place needs a lot of work, and it’ll go faster if we do it together.”

  Allie smiled at them. “I do appreciate the help. I admit that I was overwhelmed when I first saw how dirty it was.”

  Phoebe returned her smile. “Men don’t see things the way women do. As long as a rodent or bug isn’t somewhere, they figure it’s clean.”

  Allie shuddered. Good heavens, but she hadn’t thought about rodents!

  “I’ll get fresh water,” Caroline said as she picked up the bucket.

  �
��And I’ll start the laundry,” Phoebe added, picking up a washboard and large metal tub.

  That left Allie with cleaning more walls. Thanking them for their help, she hurried to continue with the chores.

  Chapter Five

  Travis watched the flurry of activity around the cottage as Caroline and Phoebe went to the well.

  “You don’t need to be scared,” Caleb said from behind him.

  Turning from the edge of the window, Travis looked at the boy, who seemed to be able to see him despite the hat he’d carefully pulled low over his forehead.

  “They want to help,” Caleb added then went over to the chair Travis had been working on. “You’re almost done.”

  Though Travis wasn’t used to children, he saw no harm in talking to this one. Caleb was just as different from the others in town as he was, except Caleb didn’t have a face and body marked with scars. He only had dark skin. The others in town, Travis included, had white skin. There was one exception. Abe Thomas was half-Cherokee and half-white. But Caleb was black.

  And that would make him stand out. Just as Travis and Abe stood out. It was an unfortunate thing since people had so much trouble accepting those different from them. The last thing Caleb needed was more people treating him like an outcast. He needed someone who could accept him as he was, and Travis could be one of those few people who wouldn’t make him feel unwelcome in this town.

  He went over to the chair, noting the way Caleb ran his hand down the rough edges. “I’m only halfway done. I haven’t sanded out the rougher parts or painted it yet,” he said.

  Caleb glanced up at him. “What does sanding do?”

  “It makes the wood smooth.” He retrieved two pieces of sandpaper and handed one to him. “This is how you do it.” He ran the paper along one of the legs, and bits of the rough part of the wood fell to the floor. “Don’t mind the mess. That’s normal. I just sweep it when I’m done.” He stopped sanding and ran his fingers along the leg. “That’s smooth. Want to feel it?”