The Mistaken Mail Order Bride Read online

  As Daniel went back to his house, Eric couldn’t help but think of how much grief someone could bring others when they let the desire for vengeance take over. Benny could have turned over a new leaf. He could have let the matter go. But he’d chosen to hold onto his anger, and by doing so, he’d paid the price. Not everyone paid for their choices immediately. Eric had seen men get by with doing wrong for years before they got what they deserved. But in Benny’s case, he’d quickly reaped what he’d sown.

  Suddenly feeling tired, he climbed into the wagon. “I’m going to take you home,” he told Enoch. “You must be tired.” God knew he was, and he hadn’t been all tied up in knots over the night’s events like Enoch had been.

  “Well, I’m never going to hurt another person for as long as I live,” Enoch murmured, tucking his chin to his chest, seeming far older than he really was.

  “If you take this opportunity to change your life for the better, then this will have been worth it,” Eric replied. “It’s not where we’ve been that matters; it’s where we’re going. Benny chose his path. You’ll have to choose yours.”

  From there, the two men rode in silence until Eric pulled the wagon up to Enoch’s home. To Eric’s surprise, Enoch turned to him and said, “I’m a new man this night, Sheriff. I’m never going back to who I used to be.”

  Sensing Enoch needed the assurance, Eric smiled. “I believe you, Enoch.”

  Seeming relieved by this small gesture of faith, Enoch got down from the wagon and went into his small home that had seen better days.

  Eric lifted the reins and urged the steeds on to Travis Martin’s property. He made his way up the dark, winding pathway, thankful for the small bit of moonlight that made its way past the tree branches to light his way. The tree-lined path eventually gave way to a small clearing.

  On the right was a cottage, which was surrounded by a group of fruit trees, and to the left were the barn and the wood building where Travis did his work. Even in the moonlight, Eric could make out how many repairs this place needed. In many ways, it was as if the world had forgotten all about it and was letting it fade into the past.

  Which was a shame, really. Travis had incredible talent but didn’t appreciate it any more than he appreciated himself.

  Shoving the thought aside, Eric set the brake and climbed down from the wagon.

  He’d made it to the door of the cottage when a voice called out from the building, “What can I do for you, Sheriff?”

  Eric turned from the cottage in time to see Travis step out of the doorway, noticing the light from the lantern hanging inside the building for the first time. Travis’ hat tipped forward so Eric couldn’t see his face.

  Eric had to admit when it was dark and Travis came out of that building, shoulders slouched and trudging forward, Travis resembled a bear. It didn’t help that Travis was taller than other men. Even Eric only reached his nose, and Eric was six feet tall.

  “What brings you here, Sheriff?” Travis asked, finally interrupting Eric’s thoughts of strong bears lurking among the trees.

  Eric blinked and shook his head to clear it. “Um,” he went over to the wagon, “there was a shootout at Abe Thomas’ place tonight. I need a coffin for Benny. As for the other man,” he reached the back of the wagon, “Abe wants his body burned.”

  Travis lumbered forward and came just shy of Eric being able to see his face. “I can make a coffin for Benny and have it ready in two days. As for the other man, I’ll burn him right away.”

  “Thanks.”

  Eric slid his arm under Benny to lift him out of the wagon, but Travis said, “I got them.”

  Eric backed away and watched as Travis lifted Benny as if he was picking up a potato sack. Big as a bear and as strong as one, too. Eric felt sorry for anyone who’d dare challenge Travis. That person wouldn’t stand a chance.

  Travis flung Benny over his shoulder and then picked up Gene and flung him over his other shoulder. Not looking in Eric’s direction, he said, “I’ll have the coffin and Benny ready in two days. Come at noon.”

  “Alright,” Eric replied. “As payment, I could have someone come out to do some repairs.”

  “That’s not necessary. Just send more of those goodies Lois makes.”

  “Lois’ foods don’t add up to the value of the work you’re doing with these men,” Eric argued, gesturing to Benny and Gene even though he wasn’t sure if Travis was looking at him.

  “But I like what she cooks, especially her breads and pies.”

  “Well, if that’s what you want, I’ll arrange it for you.”

  “Thanks, Sheriff.” Then Travis turned and headed back to the building.

  Eric wondered if he should say more, but then he decided it was best if he didn’t. Travis was a man of few words, and Eric was better off letting him be. With a shrug, he went back up into the wagon and headed back to town.

  ***

  When Caroline woke up, it was just past dawn. She rolled over in the bed and realized she was still alone. Curious, she got up, put on her robe, and left the bedroom to see if Eric had returned at all during the night. But there was no trace of him anywhere, and his hat and boots weren’t by the door.

  Was it often like this? Should she get used to sleeping alone at night? She hadn’t slept alone since the war. In fact, there had been safety in numbers, especially when one didn’t know if the enemy would be coming that night.

  Caroline had forgotten what it’d been like to be alone. Well, she wasn’t alone, though. Not really. Caleb was in the other room.

  She hurried to get dressed, choosing the same dress she’d put on yesterday after her bath. Then she pinned her hair back. She almost pinched her cheeks to make them a nice rosy color, something she’d often done back for the balls, but then she decided against it. Eric wasn’t here, and even if he was, would it even matter?

  Out here, did gentlemen worry about a lady’s cheek color? She had such a simple dress and hairstyle. Everything about her matched the town. Simple. Plain. Ordinary. There was nothing that made her stand apart from the crowd.

  But her life was no longer back in South Carolina. She had more important things to focus on now. Keeping her footsteps quiet, she decided to check on Caleb.

  His door creaked despite her efforts to be silent. To her surprise, the boy was awake. He was staring at the ceiling, not making a single sound.

  “Good morning,” she greeted.

  He blinked and then looked over at her.

  “How are you feeling this morning?” she asked as she came into the room.

  He blinked again, but he didn’t say anything.

  She remained quiet for a moment, trying to figure out what she might say or do to make him feel more comfortable with her.

  Then Caleb’s eyes filled with tears, and she rushed over to him. She gathered him in her arms and let him cry. Her mother used to shush her when she cried, and she remembered thinking how unfair it was that she hadn’t been allowed to express her feelings. “A young lady always smiles, no matter how she’s feeling,” her mother would say.

  But Caroline knew there were times when a smile didn’t make things better. Sometimes, it was necessary to give in and cry. So she decided she wouldn’t tell Caleb it was wrong to cry. She might not know how he ended up in the streets all by himself, but whatever had happened to him had to have been horrible.

  Caleb had been crying when she’d found him on the street, curled up against a building in an alley. She tried to find out who his parents were. She’d even gone to the marshal to see what could be done about him, but he’d told her children were left behind when parents couldn’t take care of them. “Usually, we take them to the orphanage. Is that what you want to do with him?” he’d asked.

  But something about Caleb compelled her to take him with her. She wasn’t sure what it was. Maybe it was thinking back to Bee, who’d helped her and her friends when they lost everything after the war. Bee hadn’t had anything to her name, but she had the strongest will o
f anyone Caroline had ever known, and she’d said they would manage to survive. And they had. Bee’s determination had seen to that.

  The front door opened, and Caleb grew quiet. She wiped the tears from his cheeks and whispered, “I’ll be back.”

  She hurried out of the room. Caleb seemed so shy. She didn’t think he’d like it if Eric knew he’d been crying. For this reason, she closed the door almost all the way before she went over to the man she’d just married yesterday.

  “You look exhausted,” she said, thinking too late it did no good to come out and state the obvious.

  “It was a long night,” he replied with a weary smile. He hung up his hat and holster. “I had to make funeral arrangements for one man and have the other burned.”

  Gasping, she closed the distance between them. “Really?”

  “My job isn’t usually that exciting. For the most part, I help settle petty arguments. But, once in a while, like last night, someone will try to harm another person. I’m happy to say the innocent prevailed in this case.”

  “Oh, then that’s good.” As much as she wanted to ask him how the men ended up dead, she didn’t. This was his business, and she was better off staying out of it. “You must be tired since you were up all night. Is there anything I can get you before you go to sleep?”

  “A glass of water will be fine, thanks.”

  Now, this was a task she could do. She hurried to pour him a glass while he took off his boots.

  “Aren’t you the least bit curious about how two men turned up dead?” Eric asked.

  She glanced over at him. “Well, yes, but I figure it’s none of my concern since I’m a lady.”

  “You’re also the wife of a sheriff, and you might as well know what you married into,” he said, sitting in one of the chairs at the small, round table in the kitchen. “Things like this happen once in a while, and you might as well be prepared.”

  She didn’t like the sound of this. Turning from the pitcher, she faced him. “Prepared for what?”

  “This area of the country can be rugged. Out here, men carry guns for more than just hunting. Sometimes they need to defend themselves. Now, I’ve done my part to clean up the lawlessness that was going on when I moved here. People are allowed to keep their guns in their homes for protection, and they’re certainly welcome to hunt. But if I find someone pulling out a gun in town with the intent to harm someone, I’ll take it from them and fine them. If they insist on this behavior, they lose the gun altogether. Ever since I’ve started doing that, things have gotten a lot better. But, last night, two men went up to someone’s home and tried to kill the people living there. Things got lucky, and the innocent people weren’t harmed. It’s not always like that, but thankfully, last night, it was.”

  She brought the glass of water over to him and set it on the table.

  He almost drank the entire glass in one gulp.

  “I didn’t realize you were so thirsty,” she said. “I’ll get you another glass.”

  “No need. This is enough.” He finished the rest of the glass and handed it to her. “Thank you.”

  “You’re welcome.”

  The glass felt warm from his touch, and for a moment, she was reminded of the feel of his lips on hers. This whole matter of being married was still so new she wasn’t sure how to adjust to it. How much would her life change now that she was a wife?

  “If you don’t mind, I think I’ll go to sleep,” he said, interrupting her thoughts.

  She took a good look at him, finally seeing how tired he was. “No, I don’t mind. Go on and get some rest. I can take care of things.”

  To her surprise, when he stood up, he kissed her. It was a short kiss, the kind of kiss a husband might give his wife as a greeting, and it made her skin tingle.

  “There’s some left over muffins on the shelf over there.” He gestured to a covered box. “Lois always felt sorry for me since I had no wife, so she made it a point to bake muffins. Feel free to have as many as you want. I’ve had enough to last me a lifetime.” He shot her a wry grin. “I made one comment about loving blueberries, and the next thing I know, she’s been making blueberry muffins every week. I don’t know if I’ll ever eat another blueberry for as long as I live.”

  She couldn’t help but chuckle as he made his way to the bedroom, grimacing as if he’d just been forced to eat a whole plate full of muffins. The poor gentleman. Well, she’d have to make sure she didn’t learn how to make muffins.

  She was ready to get Caleb when she realized he’d been watching her and Eric from his doorway. The boy was so quiet. If she hadn’t been sure he was alive, she might have mistaken him for a ghost.

  Hoping to set his mind at ease, she waved him toward her. “It’s alright. This is your home, too. You can come out.”

  After a moment, he took a step around the door.

  “Have you ever had blueberry muffins?” she asked.

  She hadn’t expected him to respond, but she felt compelled to ask the question anyway, mostly to fill in the silence that hung in the air between them.

  However, he surprised her by saying, “Don’t know.”

  She smiled. He’d spoken to her. Yes, it’d been two words, but he’d still spoken them, and more than that, he’d said them to her.

  “Well,” she replied with all the charm she’d been brought up with, “if you’ll have a seat over here,” she gestured to the chair Eric had been sitting on, “I’ll get some. Then you can decide if you like them. When we’re done, you can put on your day clothes.”

  While she gathered the muffins and two plates, Caleb went over to the table and sat on the chair. She offered him another smile before she served them both their first official breakfast in their new home.

  Chapter Seven

  Later that day after he was rested, Eric arranged for Hank to make Caleb a bed. After that, he and Caroline took Caleb to the doctor, thinking it best to make sure the boy was in good health as soon as possible. He hadn’t expected Caroline to be anxious while they waited for the doctor’s analysis. She kept clasping and unclasping her hands and fidgeting next to Eric the entire time the doctor did his examination. At one point, Eric put his arm around her shoulders, hoping it’d help calm her down, but for some reason, it seemed to make her all the more worried.

  “It’s a routine exam,” he whispered while the doctor asked Caleb to cough.

  “I know,” she whispered in return. “But I can’t help it. He’s been through so much already. I don’t think he could handle being sick.”

  She was sweet. There was no denying it. He didn’t know if she’d always been blessed with a big heart, but there was no doubt having gone through the war had made her care deeply for others. Hard times had different effects on people. For some, it made them bitter. For others, it made them better. And for Caroline, she’d definitely come out better for it, though he thought it was a shame she’d had to go through the war at all.

  Caleb glanced their way, but the doctor tapped him on the shoulder. “We’re almost done. Keep your eyes on my finger.” The doctor moved his finger to the left then the right then up and then down. With a smile, he turned to Caroline and Eric. “He looks fine.” He smiled at Caleb. “You did good, young man.”

  Caroline visibly relaxed and hurried over to the boy.

  The doctor pulled Eric aside, and Eric glanced over at Caroline to make sure she was distracted. If there was anything bad—if the doctor didn’t want to alarm her—then Eric didn’t want her to overhear.

  “What happened to Caleb before your wife found him?” the doctor asked.

  “I don’t know. All I know is that she found him on the street,” Eric said, keeping his voice low. “He hasn’t said anything except his name and age, and she couldn’t find anyone who knew him.”

  The doctor let out a thoughtful sigh. “Something horrible happened to him. He’s too somber and quiet. I don’t see any signs of abuse, so I think whatever occurred happened to someone he cared about.”


  “That would explain why he didn’t have a mother or father with him.”

  The doctor looked at Caroline, and Eric followed his lead, noting the way Caroline hugged him. Caleb leaned into her and let her rub his back.

  “He was obviously raised by someone who took good care of him,” the doctor said. “He doesn’t have trouble trusting your wife. Maybe it’s because she’s a woman. If it was his mother who took care of him, that would explain his attachment to her.”

  That was one possibility. Another was the fact that Caroline had had her own share of sorrow and loss, and Caleb might have picked up on it. Or, of course, it could have been a mixture of both possibilities.

  “Have you seen him around other children?” the doctor asked.

  Eric turned his gaze back to him. “No. He just came in yesterday with Caroline.”

  “Well, that’ll come in time. You’ll want to put him in school come September.”

  Eric hadn’t thought of that, but the man was right. School would be a good way for Caleb to be around other children, and he’d have a chance to learn the basics of writing and arithmetic.

  Eric almost didn’t ask the doctor his next question but knew it would come up at some point with one of the townsfolk so he might as well get it over with. “You don’t think the fact that his skin color is different from the other children around here will disqualify him from going to school, do you?”

  “You’re the sheriff,” the doctor replied. “I’d say that’s up to you. As I recall, you came here to make life better for all people.”

  Eric should have expected that kind of answer. And the doctor was right. When Eric came here, he was determined to give everyone a fair chance. And no one was going to get it if he waited for others to step in and do the right thing.

  “Since that’s the case,” Eric began, “then I say Caleb can one day be a doctor if that’s what he wants to do.”

  The doctor smiled. “That’s the sheriff I know.” He gave him a pat on the shoulder. “Don’t let anyone sway you from your principles. A man either stands for something, or he falls for everything.”