Double Wedding: Sweet Historical Mail Order Brides of Lowell (2 page)

CHAPTER THREE

George sat on the bench seat of the wagon waiting for the train. The big clock on the side of the station building said it was quarter to two. The train carrying his possible future bride would be rolling into town shortly. His future bride. Possible future bride, he corrected his thoughts.

They’d arrived in town an hour ago, not wanting to be late. Both he and Molly ran errands about town, but George finished and sat on the buckboard staring at the tracks.

He felt a hand on his knee and looked down into Molly’s excited face.

“She’s almost here.” Molly whispered. He patted her hand then climbed down to stand beside her.

“Have you thought about how we’ll introduce her to folks?” he asked.

Molly’s eyes grew huge and her mouth drew into a circle, “Oh, I didn’t think about that.”

“Well, I’ve been thinking.” George had been contemplating this as he sat waiting. While he was coming round to the possibility of marrying a woman who answered a newspaper advertisement, he didn’t want others to know. “Pa had an aunt back east. We can say she’s a friend of Aunt Prudence’s that you’ve been corresponding with and she’s come for a visit.”

Molly clapped her hands, the merriment back in her eyes. “That’s wonderful.”

Just then, George heard a faint whistle and turned his attention to the tracks at the horizon. Billows of white smoke appeared above a black steam engine barreling toward town.

He looked down at his Sunday best and brushed dust off the trousers. He hoped he and Molly looked presentable enough for their visitor. He took Molly’s arm and helped her up onto the platform as the wail of the train whistle became deafening. George had often been in town when a train stopped, but never this close to the train station and certainly not on the platform. He thought for sure he’d never hear again when the train blew its whistle and also steam out the sides as it pulled into the station. He grabbed Molly and pulled her away from the dangerous plume of steam.

Finally, it was quiet for a moment before everyone started to hustle about. The conductor stepped out of one of the passenger cars and helped people off the train. Molly was squeezing his arm with both of her hands as she raised up on her toes for a better view. A few men and an older woman got off the train. George let out his breathe in relief when the woman hugged someone waiting for her on the platform. For a moment, no one else got off the train. Then when he was about to turn around, he saw a gloved hand pass a carpet bag to the conductor. The conductor placed the bag on the platform, smiled and raised his hand to assist a passenger.

A woman descended to the platform. She was dressed in the height of fashion. At least, George figured it was, as her clothes were far finer than any he’d ever seen. Then the woman turn toward them and he felt as if someone had grabbed his heart and stopped it from beating. She was beautiful.

He tried to stop staring at her so he could see who else was coming off the train. Molly started waving her arm above her head and calling, “Annie.” The woman slowly raise her hand and gave a tentative smile. That’s when George saw the pink ribbon flower on her straw hat. His mouth went dry. What had he agreed to? How could he possibly ask a lady as beautiful and fragile as she looked to milk a cow or muck out a stall?

Nebraska Territory 1866

CHAPTER FOUR

Annie handed her carpetbag to the conductor waiting just outside the car door. She pulled at the bottom of the shirtwaist on the periwinkle blue dress she’d bought specifically for this trip. It was the finest dress she’d ever owned. She’d thought about waiting and not wearing it until the wedding. But this first meeting was just as important as the wedding. So she’d changed into the beautiful, bright blue dress with its black braided trim at the last stop.

Taking a deep breath to steady her nerves, she exhaled and placed her new pearl buttoned boot down on the ornate iron step. Annie accepted the conductor’s help to hand her down and began looking for the brother and sister who were to be here to meet her. She only knew that they were nineteen and twenty-five and very close as they’d lost their parents at an early age. She hadn’t thought to ask more about what they looked like. She hoped they would recognize her hat the way she described it.

She scanned the people on the train platform. Her breath caught. There, near the engine. Even from the distance of two train cars, Annie could feel the intensity of the man’s gaze. It felt like he looked right into her soul and was melting her very insides. There was a woman holding onto his arm, obviously his wife. He was the most handsome man Annie had ever seen. Too bad he wasn’t the man she had come to meet. She pulled her gaze reluctantly away and started another scan of the people on the platform. Then the woman at his side waved her arm and called out, “Annie.”

No. Annie’s heart leapt up into her throat. She couldn’t be so lucky. That man couldn’t be George. Could he? Maybe there was another woman named Annie getting off the train behind her. Not wishing to get her hopes up, she stood rooted to the spot for a moment. Then she gave herself a mental shake. Was it really so hard to believe that something good could happen for her? Annie raised her hand near her face and gave a small wave.

The woman broke into a run. Annie barely had time to brace herself before being engulfed in a bear hug.

“Oh, Annie. I’m so glad you’ve come.”

The man slowing made his way toward them. Annie noted the hat pulled down over sandy-colored locks and those magnetic eyes that she could now see were hazel. Her insides went all warm when his shirt pulled and stretched across well-developed shoulder and arm muscles. Annie couldn’t help wondering what it would be like to be held by those strong arms. She felt her face heat up and ducked her head to get her blush under control.

“Molly, let the woman speak.” His voice was deep and rich and slid up Annie’s spine like a warm breeze. He tipped his hat. “Ma’am, I’m George Pulaski and this here is my sister, Molly.”

How exactly did one greet the man who had proposed marriage via a letter? Not knowing quite what else to do. Annie bobbed a curtsy and held out her hand. “How do you do? I’m Annie Singer.”

His large callused hand fit nicely around hers. The warmth of it sent sparks racing up her arm.

CHAPTER FIVE

He’d been a bumbling fool. Fawning over the woman with her city clothes… He flicked the reins. City manners, and oh so proper English. She’d even curtsied! He flicked the reins again. There was no way a city woman like that would get dirty and do all the work needed to help on a farm. George snapped the reins a little too hard this time. The wagon lurched and he threw out his arm to prevent his two passengers from flying off the seat. He pulled his arm back just as quickly. Even through his heavy flannel shirtsleeve and her dress bodice, his arm burst into flame where it connected with her body.

And that was another thing.

Molly was supposed to be sitting in the middle next to him. But she jumped down at the last minute to say hello to a friend. One she’d talked to just before the train arrived. When she climbed back up, she’d said, “Annie, just scoot over, will you? No sense me climbing over you again.” What was he supposed to do? Make a big fuss out of it, right there in the middle of town?

So he’d been pressed hip to hip with Annie the entire ride home. As if that weren’t enough to keep his mind wandering from the road, her fancy hooped skirts kept tangling up with his legs. Why would any woman wear a hooped skirt out on the prairie? Alright, it looked mighty pretty on her but that was beside the point. What was the point again? George shook his head. The point was the woman didn’t belong on the prairie. That much was obvious.

Annie asked him questions about the town as they road through. George tried to answer but his throat was dry and no sound came out. Luckily, Molly jumped in and answered Annie’s questions. It wasn’t long before Annie and Molly were deep in conversation like old friends. Which was just fine with George. He didn’t want to be too friendly if he was going to have to send her back on the next east bound train. He’d have to think about that. With both women occupied and the horses knowing the way home, George took the opportunity to watch Annie out of the corner of his eye. He found himself staring at the gentle curve of Annie’s neck and the delicate lobe of her ear. And heaven help him, the rise and fall of her breasts as she spoke.

He sighed with relief when the homestead came into view. “Here we are.”

CHAPTER SIX

Annie looked to where George pointed. “Oh, it’s beautiful.” And she meant it. Annie would have loved the place if it had been a one bedroom shack as long as there were no brick buildings with tiny closed up windows and tall chimneys belching coal dust.  But the little white house with the front porch and the red barn next to it were just as she’d imagined. The home sat in the middle of wheat fields. She knew she would love it here.

Annie was delighted with the inside of the house as much as the outside. Molly showed her around inside while George tended to the animals. The walls of the main room were whitewashed to give a light airy feel. Two rocking chairs and a small table sat in front of a fireplace and a large eating table took pride of place on the other side of the room. Through the doorway at the back was a kitchen complete with a cast iron stove and indoor water. Annie pulled the handle of the pump at the sink and found it much easier to use to draw up water than the one at her old boarding house. She cupped her hands and laughed at the sweet taste of the water.

Molly then showed her through the doorway on the other side of the main room to the left of the fireplace. “This will be the bedroom you share with my brother after you get married. It’s yours until then.”

Annie took in the crocheted lace trim on the bottom edge of the buttercup yellow curtains and the wooden chest of drawers with the interlocking hearts in the center of the top drawer face.

“My Pa made that dresser for my Ma the year before they caught the fever. I hope I can be in love as much as they were after so many years of marriage.”

Annie could only nod in agreement. A sudden lump had lodged in her throat. Would George be able to love her that much in ten years? Would he be able to love her enough soon for them to start off with a good marriage? He had been so quiet since they’d met that doubts buzzed around in her head again.

“Molly? You said this would be my bedroom until the wedding. Where are you and George sleeping?”

“I sleep in the loft so you don’t need to worry about me. And this was George’s room. He won’t mind giving it up for his bride-to-be.” Molly smiled and danced out of the room.

Annie blushed as she thought about sleeping in the bed that belonged to George. “But where will George sleep?” she asked again, following Molly back to the kitchen. Annie hadn’t seen any other bedrooms.

“Oh, he’ll sleep in the hay loft in the barn. He does that often enough on warm summer nights.”

“I can’t have George sleep in the barn because of me.” Annie jumped nearly out of her skin when George’s rich voice answered from behind her.

“It’s not a problem. I sleep out there often enough in the summer as I’m sure Molly’s told you. Besides, it wouldn’t be proper for me to be sleeping in the house just now.”

Annie was silent in shock as much by his quiet sudden appearance as by the dizziness she felt from his warm breath upon her neck. She skittered out of the doorway to allow him to enter the room.

George stood there for a minute looking at her. She was so confused. In his letters he’d been so lively. And yet in person he’d alternated between ignoring her and staring deep into her soul like he was now. Annie was having trouble creating an accurate account of him. That job was made even harder when he looked at her like that and all she wanted to do was drown herself in his eyes.

He broke their eye contact and Annie almost staggered. She turned and straightened jars on the shelf next to the sink to give herself time to recover.

George spoke to his sister. “Do you need any more wood put by for the stove?” Molly must have shaken her head. ”Then I’ll wash up at the pump outside and be right back.”

Before Annie could get her emotions fully under control, he was gone.

Helping Molly set the table, Annie smiled to herself. If she was going to be this affected by a handsome man, it was a good thing that man was going to be her husband. She hummed a tune as she finished her chore. All doubts, about coming across country to marry a man she’d only met through his letters, vanished.

CHAPTER SEVEN

Molly and Annie rode in the buckboard with George riding his horse alongside. Annie wore her second best dress. The navy one that had been her Sunday dress in Lowell. She rubbed her thumb back and forth over the Bible in her lap hoping its comforting presence would calm her nerves. In the two days she’d been with Molly and George, several close neighbors stopped by to meet her including Molly’s beau, James Moore. But today she’d be meeting the entire town.

Before she could wear a hole clear through the cover of the Good Book, they reached the church. People milled around in the yard. They waved and hailed George and Molly as they came into view. Annie plastered a smile on her face. She had never been one to seek out attention but had the feeling today, she would be the center of it whether she wanted to or not.

George tethered his horse and handed first Molly then Annie down from the wagon. With her nerves strung so tight, Annie mis-stepped getting down and George had to catch her. She felt heat sizzle where his hands touched her waist and she knew she blushed furiously. Taking a moment to drop her head and push an escaped curl back into her bonnet, Annie got herself back under control.

Annie was introduced as a friend of Molly and George’s great aunt back east. Even though it was a white lie, Annie noticed it was not said once they entered the church. She could understand not wanting to let people know she had answered an advertisement. And it was probably just as much to protect her reputation as George’s. But she was glad they weren’t starting their lives together with a lie told in the Lord’s House.

Service was lovely. The church didn’t have the marble alter or stained glass of her old church, but it made up for it in the warmth of the congregation. A young man played the fiddle and a woman, with a voice that could get her in any choir back east, lead everyone in singing the psalms.

As happened on the ride from the train station on that first day, Annie somehow found herself seated between Molly and George. Since there were not enough song missals for everyone, Annie shared one with George. It was wonderful to hear his voice ring loud and true. Annie sent god a silent prayer of thanks for sending George into her life. He was everything she could have hope for in a husband. She also said a prayer of thanks that Molly was friendly and seemed happy that Annie was here to marry her brother.

As they sat there listening to the pastor’s sermon on miracles and trust, George took her hand in his and placed it on his knee. She looked at him out of the corner of her eye and caught him smiling. Little bubbles of excitement ran up her spine when his thumb traced circles on the sensitive skin between her thumb and forefinger. She lost track of what the pastor was saying as she enjoyed the moment. That was until she heard the pastor say her name.

Annie felt the heat rise in her face. She had done more blushing since she’d been here than in her entire life. But her blush made the pastor’s smile grow wider. “George, please stand with your fiance so we can all add our good wishes.”

George stood and gave her hand a small tug. When Annie stood next to him, George wrapped his arm around her waist and smiled down at her. The congregation broke into applause. Tears of joy threatened to spill, but Annie didn’t want to ruin this moment.

They sat down and the process was repeated for James and Molly. Annie was almost as happy for her new friend as she was for herself. A smile lit both women’s faces throughout the rest of the service.