Chapter Eighteen
Angela couldn’t sleep, so she was sitting in a rocking chair in the parlor, holding a sleeping Opal in her arms. Being exhausted from giving birth, April had fallen asleep shortly after Joel had left. The other children were in bed as well. For the moment, she was pretty much alone.
Sep had been gone for almost eight hours. She tried not to give into the fear that something bad had happened to him. It took him a while to get to town. It wasn’t like they were only a couple of blocks away from this residence. And if he ran into trouble, then that would only complicate things. She hoped Joel and Owen got out there in time to prevent anything bad from happening. She didn’t know what she’d do if they gave her the news that Sep had been shot.
She wiped a tear from her cheek. She had to remain hopeful. Sep was a good shot. She’d seen his skill firsthand. He had quick reflexes. But…were they quick enough?
Little Opal stirred in her arms, bringing her attention back to her. At first, Angela thought the girl was going to wake up since it had been three hours since she last ate. However, the baby snuggled back into the blanket tightly wrapped around her and dozed back off to sleep.
Babies were such sweet things. Full of newness and innocence. They brought hope with them wherever they went. She was grateful to have Opal to watch tonight, or else she would have driven herself to distraction by worrying about Sep.
She smiled at the small bundle in her arms. She recalled the hope she’d had of having a family of her own – children who would call her ‘mother’ and come to her when they needed someone to comfort them. It was why she had decided to be a mail-order bride to begin with. She hadn’t planned to fall in love with her husband, but doing so had been a very pleasant surprise. Even better was knowing he loved her in return. She just hoped he would be coming back to her, alive and well.
Taking a deep breath to calm her nerves, she stood up and went to the window. No sign of Sep. She checked the clock. It was just after four in the morning. Soon the sun would be coming up.
She went to the kitchen, which was lit by a kerosene lamp. She drank the rest of the water she had poured into a glass earlier that evening. This had to be the longest night of her life. Wondering what was happening. Worrying that things wouldn’t go well for her husband. She closed her eyes and took a deep breath, held it, and released it. The action helped to settle her back down so she wouldn’t give into the urge to cry.
When she opened her eyes, she noticed the calendar on the wall. It was sewn onto a cloth tapestry, and it listed all of the months so a person could glance at it and know what day it was. She stared at the month of June for a long moment, knowing there was something she was forgetting.
She frowned and tried to remember what it was. There was something about the end of the month that she had told herself to remember before she left Indiana. She had been thinking about it while she was packing her things. The carpetbag she’d taken wasn’t all that big. She had been careful to only take what was absolutely necessary. Whatever she didn’t need for the trip had to wait until she was in Omaha.
She gasped, and all at once, a spark of anticipation shot through her. She had been expecting the women’s time of month to visit her at the end of June. That was why she hadn’t packed any rags with her. She figured she would make rags out of whatever old clothes she could find after she married. That, or she could go to the mercantile and get something there.
In all the excitement of falling in love with Sep, she had forgotten all about her cycle. She approached the calendar and counted back the days to the last time she’d had her flow. She should have started menstruating three days ago. She’d never been late before. One of the things she could depend on was getting her flow every twenty-seven to twenty-eight days. It never started at twenty-nine days. And right now, she was on day thirty-one!
Her enthusiasm was quickly diminished when she realized she might not be able to tell Sep that he was going to be a father. It seemed like a cruel twist of fate to finally have a child on the way that she had always hoped for without having Sep with her, too.
The front door opened, and she hurried out of the kitchen. She cried out with relief when she saw Sep and Joel stepping in through the front door. Sep had made it! He was still with her!
She ran over to him and hugged him, careful not to disturb Opal as she did so. “I’m glad you’re back.”
He hugged her in return. “I’m glad to be back, too. I missed you.”
“I missed you, too. I was afraid I wasn’t going to see you again.”
He cupped her face in his hands and kissed her. “I’m happy to say that everything’s alright. Deputy Barnes is now in jail. Joel had to tend to his wound, and I had to give my report to Owen before I could come back. I’ll tell you all about what happened later. Right now, I’m so tired that I can barely think.”
Since Sep, Joel, and Owen were all doing fine, she decided she could satisfy her curiosity later.
Joel took Opal from her. “You two should get some sleep. It’s been a long night, and I can tell you’re just as tired as Sep is. I’ll get two cots and a couple of blankets out here.”
After Joel left the parlor, Sep said, “Fred is back at the farm. After being cooped up all day in the house, he needed to run around.”
She gave him another hug. “I’m so glad you’re here. I don’t know what I’d do without you.” Her voice cracked, so she had to stop for a moment to regain her composure.
He tightened his hold on her. “I love you, Angela. I’m sorry I made you worry so much. I really thought that by not telling you everything, I was saving you from worrying about me. Now I can see I only made things worse.” He pulled away from her. “I’ll give you all of the details after we get some sleep. And in the future if anything dangerous happens, I promise that I won’t keep it a secret.”
“I appreciate that, Sep, but I hope you won’t ever have to keep that promise.”
“You and me both.”
“Sep,” she said before Joel returned and interrupted them, “while you were gone, I counted the days on the calendar, and I realized I’m expecting a child.”
His eyes widened in surprise. “So soon?”
“Well, I was halfway into my cycle when I came to Omaha, and we’ve already been married for eighteen days. I should have gotten my flow three days ago and never did.”
“I’m not saying I don’t believe you.” He smiled. “I’m just shocked it happened right away. With my sister, it took a while.” He gave her a long kiss and held her against him. “This is a good way to end a very long and exhausting day.”
Joel returned to the parlor, folded up cots and blankets in his arms.
Sep released her and took one of the cots and a blanket so he could start setting it up. “Guess what, Joel? You’re going to be an uncle in about nine months.”
“Good,” Joel replied. Then, giving Angela a smile, he added, “There’s nothing better than a child in a home, but I’m glad you won’t be having this child today. I’m too exhausted to help another woman deliver a baby.”
She returned his smile. “There’s no danger of that happening.”
Sep finished setting up the cot and grabbed the other cot and blankets he was still holding. “Get some sleep. It’s been a long night. We all need to rest.”
Joel waved goodnight and headed for his bedroom.
Sep set up her cot, put it right next to his, and laid out the blankets for them. He took off his boots and hat and settled onto his cot.
She got into hers and held his hand. “I’m glad you’re here with me.”
He squeezed her hand. “Me too. There’s nowhere else I’d rather be.”
She closed her eyes, and finally relaxed, she fell to sleep.
***
A couple of days later
Angela found it difficult to believe that Natalie and Velma couldn’t decide which twin they should marry, so she asked Sep if he would take her over to Owen and Jenny’s home so she could pay them a visit. And sure enough, once she was having some coffee with them in the parlor, they confirmed what Sep had told her.
“This time around I decided I should get a husband that I liked,” Velma explained. “So I wanted a courting period.”
“Surely, you must have an idea of which man you prefer,” Angela said then sipped her coffee.
“We do,” Natalie began, “and that’s where the problem is. As it turns out, we both want to marry the same twin.”
Angela swallowed her coffee then set the cup down on the saucer, which was resting on her lap. “You mean Mark?”
Natalie nodded. “He’s a lot more outgoing and easier to talk to than Tony is.”
“Tony?” Angela asked, not recalling that name.
“That’s Anthony,” Velma said before she sipped her own coffee.
“His parents named him Anthony, but he prefers to go by Tony,” Natalie added. “I think it’s because he’s a down-to-earth kind of person.”
“Anthony is a much better version of the name,” Velma said.
“Oh, I don’t know. Tony has a certain charm to it,” Natalie replied.
Velma’s eyebrows rose up in a hopeful expression. “Does that mean you’ve taken a fancy to him?”
Natalie chuckled and shook her head. “No. I prefer Mark. I think his personality works better with mine.”
Velma’s face fell in disappointment. “But Tony is a farmer, and you’re a farmer’s daughter. You know what it takes to run a farm. I don’t know the first thing about it. My father owned a shoe factory. He ran a business. Mark and his father run a business together making buildings. I’m a better fit for him because I know what it takes to help a man look good in front of clients. I’ve attended etiquette classes, and I can be a good hostess at a dinner party if I need to. It just seems that this is a decision we should make with our heads. It’s better to be paired up with the man who is the best fit for us.”
“That sounds like a sensible approach,” Angela commented. “Why don’t you two do that?”
Natalie shrugged as her gaze went to her hands, which were folded in her lap. “I know it seems like the logical thing to do, but when I try talking to Tony, we don’t seem to have anything in common. There’s no sense of excitement in our conversations. Everything feels forced.”
“I don’t see how that can possibly be since you two discussed crops for an entire half hour the other day when he was here,” Velma argued.
Natalie’s eyes grew wide in disbelief. “Was that only half an hour?” Her gaze went to Angela. “I could’ve sworn it was longer than that. I thought it was at least an hour.”
Angela did her best not to chuckle, but it didn’t work. Her laughter came out all the same. “I’m sorry. I know this isn’t funny. I haven’t met either of these men, so I don’t know what they’re like. But maybe if you married Tony, then things would get more,” for lack of a better word, Angela said, “exciting between you two.”
“If I thought that would happen, I would take the risk,” Natalie replied. “But I just don’t think it’s possible. The only thing he’s interested in is the farm. There seems to be nothing else he ever thinks about.” She looked at Velma. “You don’t seem to have a hard time coming up with things to talk about with him.”
Velma sipped her coffee again then said, “No, I don’t. He just sits by me and tells me all about different crops he’s planted, how he rotates them, when he lets the ground rest, and other things I never want to know about farming. I never know how to answer him. But when Mark talks about establishing relationships with his clients and how he decides on which businesses to buy supplies from, I know exactly what he is talking about.”
“Are you telling me that you’re not the least bit interested in Tony?” Natalie asked her.
“That’s exactly what I’m saying.” Velma gave her a pointed look. “That’s why I say you make a better fit for Tony than I do. I make the best fit for Mark.”
Angela could see there was no easy solution to the situation. In fact, it was worse than what Sep had told her. She surely didn’t have any advice to give them, either. It was looking as if she was the lucky one who’d been in the livery stable that night when they were rescued. She and Sep just seemed to fall in love right away. There were no awkward conversations or wondering if they were a good fit. They got along as soon as they married.
Natalie looked over at Angela. “Are you happy with the man you married?”
Angela nodded. “I’m very happy with him. He accepts me, scars and all.” She touched her face. “Because of him, I didn’t feel the need to wear a veil today.”
Natalie smiled. “You don’t need it. You have a pretty face.”
“Not everyone agrees, but I’m glad you think so, and from the moment Sep saw me without the veil, he had no trouble with my imperfections. I think that’s what love is about. It’s seeing the person for who they are in their heart instead of what’s on the surface. Sep’s done that with me. I know that when he looks at me, he doesn’t see the scars. He sees me as I really am. And to make things even better, I’m going to be having his child come March.”
“Congratulations!” Natalie replied. “You have everything you wanted when you came out to Omaha. I think that’s lovely!”
“It is lovely,” Velma agreed. “And we’re very happy that you’re doing so well. It is nice that you two make an excellent match. That’s why it’s important that Natalie and I make the right decision. I want for us to have the same kind of marriage you have with Sep.”
Angela didn’t doubt that Velma meant those words, but she did worry that Velma was so focused on the practical side of marriage that she might possibly miss the emotional component to it. Marriage seemed to have so many layers to it. When Angela answered the mail-order bride ad, her only thought was having children. Having been married to Sep, she understood marriage was much more than that. It was more than what the man did for a living, too. It was about the sharing of two lives. It was about coming together to be one family. But how could she adequately explain that? Natalie seemed to understand that, but she got the impression Velma didn’t.
Sep, Owen, and Jenny came into the room, and the women brought their attention to them.
“We hope we’re not interrupting,” Jenny began, “but supper is ready. The children are already seated and ready to eat.”
Angela and the two women got to their feet and set their cups down on the tray, which was on the table. Since Angela was the closest to the tray, she picked it up and let Natalie and Velma follow Owen and Jenny out of the room.
“What did I tell you?” Sep asked with a knowing look.
Angela smiled. “You are right. They’re having a much more difficult time of picking a husband than I ever believed possible.”
“All I can say is that I’m glad you accepted my marriage proposal the night we met.” He placed his hand on the small of her back and gave her a kiss. “I can’t imagine being as happy with them as I am with you. You were the best choice there.”
She kissed him in return. “Every day I’m thankful that you chose me. You had no idea what you’re getting yourself into, you know.”
He shrugged. “I could say the same thing about you. You didn’t know what I was like when you married me.”
He was right, she supposed. But there was no doubt that fortune was on her side that night when he found her at the livery stable.
“All I know is that I love you, and I wouldn’t trade you for anything,” he said.
“I feel the same way about you, Sep.”
Owen called out to them from the kitchen, so Sep winked at her. “We better get in there before they come looking for us.”
He gave her another kiss and then led her out of the room. One thing she would enjoy most about this evening was knowing that when it was done, she would be going home with him. Truly, there was no better man for her than Sep Wilson.