A Husband for Margaret Page 5

Tom and Jessica led them toward the assembly of guests who turned to watch. Joel and Charlotte followed. Doug and Bob dutifully took out handfuls of petals and threw them into the air as if they couldn’t get rid of them fast enough.

  One of her father’s friends began playing a sweet melody on his fiddle once they made it to the place where she would begin her wedding march. Margaret glanced at her father who patted her hand. She gave him a shaky smile. She still couldn’t believe this was really happening—and to her of all people.

  Tom and Jessica didn’t make it three paces to the preacher when a woman ran up to Margaret. “Thank goodness I got here in time!”

  Margaret frowned. “Do I know you?” she whispered, aware that Joel and Charlotte had begun their stroll.

  Doug and Bob glanced over their shoulders and gasped. “Miss Potter?”

  Ignoring the boys, the woman told Margaret, “You can’t marry Joseph. He’s supposed to marry me.”

  Margaret spent a good five seconds staring at the woman and wondering who she was and why she’d make such a wild accusation. The person up front stopped playing the fiddle and murmurs came from the guests. And still, she couldn’t adequately decide how to proceed. Miss Potter, whoever she was, didn’t help further the discussion either, for she stared right back at Margaret and crossed her arms as if the matter was settled. Finally, Margaret turned to Doug and Bob for help.

  “That’s the lady who wants to marry Pa,” Bob said. “But Pa didn’t want her.”

  Miss Potter gasped. “You can’t say that. Your pa thought I was taken with another gent. That’s why he left.”

  “That’s not what Pa said.”

  “What do you know? You’re just a child.”

  Margaret frowned. “Children know enough to know what their father wants.”

  Miss Potter smiled at her and used a tone that one would liken to a woman using with a child. “Children may think they know things, but a grown man does not disclose his most intimate feelings for a lady.”

  Doug scowled at the woman. “If Pa wanted to marry you, he wouldn’t have come here to marry Miss Williams.”

  “That’s telling her, Doug,” Bob agreed. “Pa doesn’t like you.”

  Margaret figured it was wrong, but she caught herself enjoying the way the two boys could stand up to Miss Potter. Surely if she was going to be their mother, she’d insist that they treat Miss Potter the respect due to an adult. But she couldn’t admonish the children. Not really. At least, not if she wanted to be sincere. This woman, after all, had barged in on her wedding and was threatening to destroy her perfect day. This was the one day in her entire life that was supposed to be absolutely perfect. And this rude individual was trying to interfere with it!

  Miss Potter narrowed her eyes at the boys. “You are in desperate need of a mother.” She turned her gaze to Margaret. “One who knows enough to put a stop to your ugly words. Really, if these were my children, then I would not tolerate such insolence.”

  Margaret shrugged. “Boys will speak their minds.”

  “Not when I’m around, they won’t.”

  Joel hastened over to them. “Is there going to be a fight?”

  Miss Potter cringed. “Women do not fight. They merely quarrel.”

  “What’s the difference?” he asked.

  “None,” Margaret replied. She turned to her father. “Let’s get this wedding underway.” She didn’t care who Miss Potter was. Joseph came to marry her, and by golly, she was going to marry him regardless of what Miss Potter or anyone thought!

  Miss Potter pulled her arm and spoke through gritted teeth. “He is to marry me.”

  By now Margaret’s temper was starting to come to a boil. “Get your hand off of me or I’ll...”

  “What? You’ll what?” Joel asked, practically jumping up and down with excitement.

  “Leave our ma alone!” Bob yelled out. “Pa doesn’t want you and neither do we!”

  Miss Potter glared at Bob. “You’re just a child. You don’t know what you want.”

  “When I was a child, I knew what I wanted,” Margaret snapped. “And I assure you, they know what they want too.”

  Joseph broke through the crowd that had gathered around them and jerked back. “Debra?” he asked in a tone that seemed to be the perfect blend between shock and horror.

  Well, that was all Margaret needed to know that the boys told the truth. Whoever this Debra Potter was, Joseph had no desire to marry her.

  Debra’s demeanor changed in an instant. “Joseph, how nice it is to see you. I came just in time.”

  He stood there for a moment as if he couldn’t believe what was happening and finally said, “Yes, you did.” He stood beside Margaret and put his arm around her shoulders. “You came in time to see me get married. Will you be having a seat on my side?”

  Debra pressed a hand to her heart before she let out a chuckle. “Oh, you must think I’m still entertaining the affections of Bernard Winslow. I assure you that I am not.”

  Out of the corner of her eye, Margaret saw Bob roll his eyes at Doug who snickered. She wondered about the exchange but gave it little thought as Joseph replied to Debra’s announcement.

  “I’m sorry it didn’t work between you, but I don’t see what that has to do with this wedding.” He gave Margaret’s shoulders a slight squeeze and glanced at her, “Shall we get this started?”

  “Yes,” Margaret agreed. She saw no reason to draw this whole thing out. After all, this was her day by golly, and she was going to enjoy it, even if it killed her! “Get on back up to the preacher and I’ll be there.”

  Looking relieved, Joseph quickly obeyed.

  Though she knew it was a bad example in front of the boys, she stuck her tongue out at an angry Debra. As she figured, Bob and Doug giggled at what she knew to be a childish display. Oh well. Maybe it would be good for them to know that even adults had their moments. She tapped them on the shoulders and said, “Go on ahead and my pa and I’ll follow you.”

  They went to stand in front of her.

  “Wait.” Margaret grabbed the baskets and handed them to Debra. “You may do the honors if you don’t want to take a seat.”

  Doug and Bob looked very happy to get rid of those baskets and marched down the aisle as the fiddler began playing the tune.

  “This isn’t over,” Debra hissed.

  “It is for you,” Margaret said.

  And that was all she would say to this horrible person who made it a point to come all the way to Omaha just so she could try to ruin her wedding day. The woman had a lot of nerve, but in no way was Margaret going to run off in defeat just because Debra Potter was no longer entertaining the affections of Bernard Winslow. Nope. For now on, she’d ignore the unwanted guest. She had much more important things to attend to. Like walking down the aisle. She followed her father’s lead, aware that Debra watched her, probably glaring and seething. But she’d give Debra no more thought.

  Instead, she turned her gaze to Joseph. Her heart sped up at the sight of him. So what if Debra was there, looming in the background? If nothing else, this was proof that Joseph meant it when he told her that it did matter to him who he married. And that made her feel pretty good. Other men might have felt that marrying her meant settling for second best but Joseph didn’t. As long as he didn’t, then who cared what anyone else thought?

  By the time she made it to Joseph, she could hardly hear what the preacher was saying. This was it. She, Margaret Williams, was actually getting married. The day she’d dreamed about since she was a little girl was finally coming to pass. True, the day had not included someone trying to stop it, but it was happening nonetheless—and that’s what mattered.

  She glanced at Joseph and saw him smile at her. The happy look on his face put her at ease, but only slightly. It was impossible to fully relax when people sat and watched everything that was going on.

  When the preacher began to speak, she made an effort to pay attention but couldn’t—not really. However, when he as
ked if anyone had any objections, she looked over her shoulder to see if Debra would intervene. Even Joseph took a moment to glance back. But she wasn’t there. A quick scan of the area assured Margaret that the woman was, indeed, gone. She wondered about it. Surely, Debra wasn’t going to leave them alone. In Margaret’s experience, people like Miss Potter didn’t give up that easily.

  The preacher spoke again, continuing the ceremony, so she dutifully turned her attention back to him. It puzzled her. Maybe it shouldn’t. Maybe it was in her nature to second guess everything and believe the worst, but she couldn’t get rid of the nagging feeling that she hadn’t seen the last of Debra Potter.

  What could Debra do at this point anyway? Joseph was getting married. Margaret snuck a peek at Jessica who smiled at her. So her friend didn’t think there might be a backlash from the incident that just happened?

  The ceremony continued as uneventfully as it had in her dreams. She and Joseph said their vows and kissed. In one instant she went from being Margaret Williams to being Mrs. Joseph Connealy. Doug and Bob ran over to her and gave her a hug.

  “We’re sure glad you made that woman go away,” Bob said.

  “Alright,” Joseph said. “We have to walk back down the aisle. Then you can talk to her all you want.”

  She followed Joseph’s lead and stepped forward, accidently bumping into Doug who jumped in front of her.

  “You have to watch where you’re going,” Joseph told him with a chuckle in his voice.

  “Oh, Pa. Doug is clumsy,” Bob replied. He looked at her. “You get used to it.”

  “I’m not clumsy,” Doug said, narrowing his eyes at his brother.

  “Fight later.” Joseph pointed down the aisle. “Right now, walk.”

  They stopped their bickering and obeyed.

  As they passed her parents, Margaret saw that Ben and Charles had gotten fidgety on their chairs, so she decided they might as well get up. She might not be familiar with children, but from what she did know, she suspected they had a hard time sitting still for any length of time. She motioned for Charles to join Joseph while she picked up Ben.

  She smiled and told Joseph, “If we’re going to be a family, we might as well walk down the aisle together.”

  He returned her smile and nodded before they continued past the guests.

  Chapter Seven

  Margaret thought the day went well despite Miss Potter’s arrival. She wanted to ask Joseph about the woman, but the guests surrounded them during the potluck lunch. She kept expecting the woman to pop up again, which she never did. Even so, she couldn’t fully enjoy the day. It was a strange thing really, for as soon as the vows were said and everyone started to go home after wishing them well, it occurred to her that this was the beginning of her life with Joseph. And that meant this wedding day led to a wedding night.

  Why the thought hadn’t occurred to her sooner, she didn’t know. Perhaps it was the thought of being a mother right away. Or maybe it was because she was too busy thinking of the wedding day and making sure everything was as perfect as could be. Either way, it was on her mind now, and the closer evening came, the harder it was to push it aside.

  Her mother had explained the facts to her and advised her to relax. Relaxing, after all, helped to ease a woman’s body so it wasn’t as uncomfortable for her first time. Now, if she could just will herself to relax, then things would be fine. But that proved to be a futile endeavor. In fact, the more she tried to relax, the more tense she became.

  At least the process of taking her things to her new home distracted her enough so she didn’t insist on staying with her parents. It also helped that this was the home she used to admire as a child. Even if she was apprehensive about being a wife, the house was absolutely charming—more so than she remembered. She did so want to live in it.

  The walk to the place was a mere three blocks from the one she grew up in. Her father and Joseph carried the bulk of her clothing and grooming supplies, and all she carried was a travel bag, which didn’t weigh much at all. She didn’t realize she had so little possessions to her name. Was that all her life was summed up in? Two armfuls and a travel bag’s worth of contents? Just what had she been doing with her life up to that point? Wearing clothes and brushing her hair?

  One moment she was a girl dreaming of house and home and suddenly she was a woman with those dreams fulfilled. And even though she wanted to properly enjoy this moment, doubt nagged at her. Was she ready for this?

  Before she knew it, they stopped at the front door. Bob opened it up and barged through with the other children in tow. She was beginning to understand that even though Bob was the second child, he was the one who took charge and spoke his mind whenever he felt like it. Doug was more reserved but took his duties seriously. As for Charles and Ben... They were still too young for her to determine how they would be.

  Her father followed the children and set her things in the parlor.

  Joseph asked her to wait at the doorway, ran inside the house to place the things he carried down, and headed back over to her. “I want to carry you over the threshold.”

  Her father chuckled as he walked past them. “I’ll leave you to yourselves.” He gave her a hug. “I’m proud of you, Margaret. You’ll make a fine wife and mother.”

  “Thank you, Pa,” she said, partly startled since she wasn’t used to hearing such sentiments from her father. But the words meant the world to her, and she was glad he said them.

  Once he bounded down the porch steps, Joseph turned to her and smiled. “Are you ready to enter your new home, Mrs. Connealy?”

  “Come on in, Ma!” Bob called out from where he sat on the couch in the parlor. “We checked for vermin.”

  “Yep,” Doug agreed from beside Bob. “There’s nothing to make you scream.”

  She chuckled. “That’s always a good thing.”

  “You ready?” Joseph asked.

  She nodded and let him pick her up. Her cheeks grew warm. He was solid and strong, and she rather enjoyed being in his arms like this.

  “Don’t drop our new ma!” Bob warned as Joseph crossed the threshold.

  Charles watched them as he sat beside a sleepy Ben who was lying on the floor in front of the couch.

  “It looks like someone’s had a busy day,” Margaret commented, pointing to the two boys who looked exhausted.

  “We should get you all down to bed,” Joseph agreed before he set her down.

  Her heart fluttered with a strange nervous excitement. Did he take her innocent statement to mean that she was eager to be alone with him? That wasn’t what she meant, but he was already across the room and lifting Ben. She wiped her hands on her dress. It was no big deal really. Every wife did this. She recalled how happy Jessica looked a week after she married Tom. Her other friends seemed just as happy. That meant that this was a good thing. They didn’t have to say it. It was in the way they talked and acted.

  She continued to repeat this to herself, assuring herself that her nerves would be settled soon enough. While Joseph took the youngest two to their beds, Doug and Bob helped her with her items. They surprised her because she didn’t expect them to be concerned with making sure all her things were put away where they belonged.

  But when Bob mentioned that they wanted to make sure she was in a good mood so she’d make them lots of cookies and pies, she realized this was really a set-up. Amused, she made a mental note to start in on those treats once she was able to go to the mercantile to buy the items she’d need. She couldn’t blame the boys. Didn’t all children enjoy dessert? She paused as she placed her extra pair of shoes under the bed. Actually, adults enjoyed the sweets just as much. Children, it seemed, were just more obvious about it.

  Joseph entered the room and waved to Doug and Bob. “Time for bed.”

  The knot in her stomach tightened. Once they were in bed, then there was nothing stopping her husband from... She took a deep breath to settle her nerves. There would be nothing to stop him from doing what husbands h
ad been doing with their wives since people existed. She wondered if other women experienced the same mixture of curiosity, excitement and apprehension as she was at this very moment.

  Well, one thing she knew for sure was that she needed to get out of her clothes. She decided she’d do that while Joseph was putting Doug and Bob to bed. She had a hard time going through the simple task because her hands kept slipping on her buttons, but she didn’t want him to come back and catch her without her clothes on. Of course, that was ridiculous. He was about to be intimate with her, and they weren’t going to have clothes on anyway. Still, she couldn’t bring herself to stand naked in front of him, so as soon as she threw her clothes onto the small chair by the window, she slipped under the bed covers and waited.

  She heard the sound of his footsteps across the hardwood floor in the hallway before he entered the room. Without thinking, she pulled the cover up to her chin and gripped the blanket as if her life depended on it. All of her efforts to assure herself that she’d be fine went right out the window.

  Joseph offered a soft smile and closed the door behind him.

  She inhaled and slowly exhaled. For some reason, this room didn’t seem so small when the boys were in here.

  “All things considered, I think the day went well. I’m sorry Debra came. That wasn’t something I enjoyed.”

  She gathered that much, and though it was on the tip of her tongue to ask more about the rude woman, he took off his tie, signaling an instant change in mood. Suddenly, it seemed any mention of Debra just wouldn’t do for the rest of the night.

  He started to unbutton his shirt. “You’re a good woman, Margaret. I’m glad you agreed to marry me.”

  He took his shirt off and she wondered if he was going to fully undress in front of her, a prospect which intrigued her as much as it terrified her. But he dimmed the light on the kerosene lamp until the room was dark. She heard him shuffling around and swallowed the lump in her throat. Alright. This was it.

  He lifted the blanket and sheet and slid in next to her. She jerked when he reached for her, and he chuckled. “I promise it’s not scary.”