Mail Order Becca (Brides 0f Sweet Creek Book 2) Read online

  After Casey set the table, Becca sent her off to round up Alex and Billy and soon they were all sitting down to breakfast.

  Becca’s eyes widened when after only ten minutes all three serving dishes were empty save a few crumbs. She thought for sure there would be some leftovers to make sandwiches for lunch but she was quickly realizing that their appetites were even larger than she expected.

  Alex drained his coffee cup and then he and Billy simultaneously pushed back from the table and began putting on their jackets and hats.

  “Thanks for breakfast. The last two meals have been the best I’ve had in a long while,” Alex complimented her.

  Billy nodded enthusiastically.

  Becca blushed at the unexpected praise of such a simple meal. “I’m glad you both enjoyed it.”

  “Billy and I will be checking and mending fences today so we probably won’t be back until suppertime. But I’ll send Billy back sometime in between to see if you need anything,” Alex said fitting his hat to his head.

  Becca appreciated his thoughtfulness but assured him they would be fine. She did ask him where the washtub was before he left. Billy quickly brought it in from the barn before they mounted their already saddled horses and followed the fence line to the east.

  “You think they would let me help?” Casey asked as they watched them ride off from the window.

  “I don’t know,” Becca answered honestly. “You could always ask I suppose. But today I could use your help. There’s a lot of work to be done but the house isn’t too big. I know we’re getting a late start but I think we can get most of it done before dark.”

  Casey turned from the window. “Where do we start?”

  Becca already had water on to boil she started while cooking breakfast and they continued to boil water throughout the day. First Becca pulled the linens from their bed and brought them downstairs along with Alex’s dirty clothes.

  When Billy brought the tub in earlier she had asked him about a clothesline. She couldn’t remember having seen one yesterday on the tour Alex had given them. Billy informed her they didn’t have one and that they had been using the front porch railing to dry their clothes.

  While they waited for more water to fill the wash tub, Casey dusted and cobwebbed and Becca swept behind her. They stirred up quite a big dust cloud causing them both to cough and sneeze before belatedly deciding to open the windows. It was still pretty brisk outside but the combination of the roaring fire in the hearth and the cleaning would keep them warm enough until they finished those tasks.

  After they finished the dusting and sweeping of both the downstairs and upstairs, they closed up the windows again and began on the laundry, the linens first. She didn’t want to hang them outside on the porch railing, so instead she searched the barn and came up with a spool of thick twine and strung a temporary clothesline inside.

  Soon the house was a maze of sheets and clothing hanging from their makeshift clothesline that zigzagged through the entire room. They were laughing and ducking underneath as they continued on with their other chores.

  Billy stopped by a few hours after their late breakfast to see how they were faring. He ducked under and around the sheets and clothes while looking around and remarked, “Hey this place looks really great.”

  “And it’s not even done yet,” Becca said as she stood beside him, pressing her moist brow against her sleeve, surveying their work so far.

  He asked if they needed anything and she assured him that they didn’t. He refused lunch saying they had taken hardtack, jerky and a dozen apples to snack on throughout the day. She watched Billy dawdle a bit before he casually offered to kill a chicken for supper. She remembered his fried chicken request the previous evening, laughed and replied, “Sure thing Billy.”

  Billy whooped and went outside. It wasn’t long before he returned with a chicken ready for cooking and headed back out to continue working on the fences with Alex.

  She and Casey continued their work indoors. Together they washed all of the windows, brightening the interior significantly. They needed all the light they could get now that winter was approaching. And then while Casey mopped both upstairs and down, Becca started supper – fried chicken, mashed potatoes and gravy, green beans and another double batch of biscuits.

  The shelves in the cellar were mostly empty but there were lots of dried goods though leaning against one wall. Several pounds of flour for biscuits and bread, bags of rice, beans and corn, a large bag of potatoes and a smaller bag of carrots. Becca couldn’t wait until next summer. She would pack the empty shelves so full of canned fruits and vegetables she would need to ask Alex to build even more shelves.

  While Becca had never done any canning before, she spent a lot of time in the kitchen over the years. All she needed was a bit of instruction from someone in town, perhaps even just a cookbook and she was sure she could figure out the rest.

  Casey set the table and then went to the barn to see if Alex and Billy had returned yet.

  Supper was keeping warm in the oven while Becca was taking down the now-dry sheets when Casey returned, followed by Alex and Billy. They stopped just inside the door and took off their hats, coats and gloves. Their cheeks were pink with cold. Becca was glad the house was warm and there was a hot meal waiting for them instead of having to come home to a cold, dark house and no supper.

  Becca set the half-folded sheets on the back of the sofa. She would have Casey help her make the bed after supper. The clothes were still a bit damp, in particular the denim, so she would leave them up overnight and take them down in the morning.

  “See, I told you it looked great in here,” Billy told his brother enthusiastically.

  Alex nodded. His eyes found hers. “You two have been busy,” he remarked approvingly. “You ladies did a wonderful job.”

  “Thank you,” Becca murmured, feeling a little thrill inside at his compliments. “We got most everything we wanted to get done in the house today, there are just a few odds and ends left.”

  There had been a lot of work to do today but Becca had no idea how she would be spending her days going forward. With winter fast approaching, she wouldn’t be able to do any gardening for a few months. The house was small and would be easy enough to maintain with a little work each day and there weren’t any children underfoot yet. Becca was used to the opposite, not nearly enough hours in the day for the amount of work there was to do. Perhaps she would see about obtaining some fabric if they could afford it along with some sewing supplies. She could make clothes for all three of them and maybe even some curtains for the windows. She knew they probably couldn’t afford furniture yet but a simple thing like curtains and maybe a new rag rug would really make this house homier. She might even have time to make Casey a dress or two before she had to return back east.

  Becca brought the platter of fried chicken from the oven to the table and then followed with the potatoes and gravy, green beans and biscuits. She smiled when she saw Billy grab a drumstick with one hand and a second with the other and begin dancing a jig around the kitchen table taking a bite of each.

  “Billy!” Alex growled before shaking his head. He looked at Becca apologetically. “I hope you didn’t have your heart set on a drumstick.”

  Becca shook her head and laughed at Billy’s antics. Even Casey was smiling and laughing.

  “Billy come sit down so we can say grace,” Becca said. They had forgotten both last night and this morning and she vowed not to forget again. She had so much to be thankful for.

  Billy returned to the table and they joined hands, thanking the Lord for their many blessings before everyone filled their plates.

  “It looks and smells delicious,” Alex said, digging in.

  “Becca, my birthday is two Saturdays from now,” Billy said, pausing between bites. “You think maybe you can make fried chicken again then?”

  “Of course Billy, I’ll make anything you want for your birthday as long as we have the ingredients,” she promised.


  “Oh now you’ve done it,” Alex warned her before Billy started to rattle off things he wanted to eat in addition to fried chicken.

  After he finished listing more food than their small table could possibly hold he asked her, “When’s your birthday Becca?”

  “The sixth of May,” Becca answered.

  Billy’s eyes widened. “Alex’s is on the eighth of May,” he said.

  “We should celebrate together on the seventh,” Alex suggested.

  “I like that idea,” Becca agreed with a smile. Birthdays had always been small affairs at the orphanage. They had to be with so many girls and several birthdays each month. They would celebrate each month’s birthdays on the first of every month. When her own birthday rolled around, for some reason Becca had always felt sort of melancholy. She couldn’t help but wonder if her birthday in the coming year would feel any different. She just thought it might. She had a spark of hope for the future that she had never really felt before.

  “What about you Casey?” Billy asked, his mouth full.

  Becca glanced at Casey. There were no remnants of the smiling and laughter that had filled the girl’s face a few minutes before.

  “It doesn’t matter,” Casey said, pushing her food around on her plate. “I won’t be here anyway.”

  Alex and Billy exchanged a look.

  Casey pushed her plate away. “I’m sorry, I’m not all that hungry, please excuse me.” Casey got up from the table, grabbed her jacket and went outside.

  Becca followed but when she stepped onto the porch Casey was nowhere in sight. She heard Alex come up behind her.

  “It’s dark out Alex,” Becca said. “I’m worried.”

  “She just needs a few minutes to herself,” he said quietly. “If she isn’t back by the time we finish supper, I’ll send Billy out to find her.”

  Becca nodded and she and Alex returned inside.

  The mood at the table had changed and they finished their supper in silence. Casey reappeared while Becca was doing the dishes. Her cheeks were pink from the cold and her eyes were red and puffy. It was clear she had been crying.

  “Casey,” Becca began.

  “I don’t want to talk about it,” Casey said quietly. “Please? Let’s just finish the dishes and then I can help you make the bed. Then I think I’ll go to bed. I’m tired.”

  “Alright,” Becca sighed. They would talk about it but for now Becca would give her the time and space she needed. She wanted more than anything to tell Casey she could stay but it wasn’t entirely her decision. Although she would give anything if Casey could stay. Becca cringed to think of where she might be right at this very moment if not for Casey’s idea to answer an ad for a mail order bride. Her money would have run out by now. She would probably be cold, tired, hungry, scared and alone. Instead, the opposite was true and she had Casey and her husband to thank for it.

  After the dishes were done, they made the bed and returned downstairs. Billy had already gone to the barn for the night. Like the previous evening, Alex read more of yesterday’s newspaper while drinking a cup of coffee before heading out to the barn to check on the animals. Casey sat on the sofa, staring quietly into the fire.

  “Do you think if I write the girls a letter that it would get to them now that you’re no longer there?” Becca asked, leaning against the arm of the sofa.

  Casey turned and nodded. “Maybe. Right after you left, I told all of the girls that you had promised to write in a few weeks but that Miss Templeton would never give them the letter if she saw it first. They’re nothing if not resourceful.”

  Becca silently agreed. “Do they know you’re with me?”

  “Only Lizzie and Grace. I needed their help escaping. They promised to keep it a secret.”

  Lizzie and Grace were two of the older girls still at the orphanage. The loyalty between all of the girls brought tears to Becca’s eyes. They often bickered like sisters but when it really came down to it, they were there for each other, like a family should be. Becca missed them dreadfully.

  Upstairs, she retrieved some wrinkled paper and a pen from her valise and brought it to the kitchen table. She turned the lamp low as not to keep Casey from sleeping and started to write the girls a quick letter telling them about her train trip west, the town of Sweet Creek and her new home with Alex and Billy. She was careful not to make any mention of Casey. She ended the letter which had quickly turned into three pages with a promise to write again. She knew the girls would love to hear about her adventures so she promised herself that she would write at least twice a month. She wanted to spark the girls’ imagination. She wanted them to dream of the future and a better life.

  Becca set aside the letter to post the next time they were in town and gathered up her writing supplies. Alex still hadn’t returned. Casey had been laying on the sofa quietly for so long that Becca thought she might be sleeping. When she checked, Casey’s eyes were closed but her lashes were wet in the firelight. She was sure that Casey wasn’t sleeping but it was obvious that she still wasn’t ready to talk. Becca softly bid her goodnight and went upstairs.

  She wanted to talk to Alex about Casey. To see if there was anything she could say or do to convince him to let Casey stay. She would think about it a little while longer before approaching him.

  Becca changed into her nightgown and slipped under the cool, crisp sheets. She buried her nose in the pillowcase inhaling its clean scent. She left the lamp burning low for Alex. She assumed he was just checking on the animals like usual but fell asleep waiting for him. It had been a long day.

  She woke up as the bed dipped, Alex sliding in next to her. She blushed when she noticed his bare chest in the lamplight. He hadn’t yet doused the wick.

  “Sorry. I didn’t mean to wake you,” he said softly.

  “It’s okay. You’re freezing,” she remarked as his cold arm brushed against hers as he pulled up the covers. “What were you doing out there for so long?”

  “Thunder finally foaled,” he answered with a smile. “Mother and colt are doing just fine.”

  Becca wished that Alex would have woken her. “That’s wonderful,” she replied, giving his arm a shy squeeze. She knew how preoccupied Alex had been with the impending birth. He seemed very fond of all of his animals, especially the two horses that had accompanied them from Ohio, Thunder and Lightning.

  Alex nodded. “Billy’s going to stay up and keep watch over them until morning just to make sure they’re doing okay. It’s freezing outside but it’s a lot warmer in the barn.”

  She nodded.

  He turned to her. “I thought Casey might like to name the foal,” he said, his eyes locked with hers.

  Becca felt herself fall a little in love with her husband at that very moment. “I think she would love that,” she whispered.

  Alex smiled. “It was Billy’s idea.”

  She wondered if now was the right time to bring up the possibility of Casey staying but when Alex’s fingers entwined hers, all thoughts of Casey vanished.

  Alex’s thumb brushed over her wedding band again, like he had done the previous night. She wondered if he was going to kiss her again and she was not disappointed. His hand slid up her arm and his lips touched hers. Her mouth softened and opened underneath his. His hands caressed her and their kisses grew much more intense than the previous night. She gave into the urge and reached out, lightly brushing her fingertips against his chest. A few seconds later Alex groaned and gently pushed her away. Breathing heavily, it took her a moment to get her bearings.

  Why did he push her away? She wondered. Becca looked down, avoiding his eyes. Did she do something wrong? Perhaps she shouldn’t have touched him and yet, the noises he had made sounded as if he had enjoyed her tentative caresses.

  He reached up and brushed his thumb across her cheek. She leaned into his hand. The light was still burning softly and even though she was embarrassed, Becca forced her eyes to meet his.

  “We’d better stop,” he whispered.


  “Why?” She asked, genuinely bemused.

  “Because, kisses like that lead to babies,” he explained with a grin.

  Her cheeks burned as she understood what he meant. She wanted to be intimate with her husband eventually, but she wasn’t quite ready yet and Alex seemed to sense it.

  “Oh,” Becca replied, moving onto her back and staring at the dim ceiling. Alex reached over and turned the lamp off, submerging the room into darkness.

  They lay together in silence for a few minutes. She knew he wasn’t sleeping, she would recognize the soft, even breathing from the night before.

  He turned to face her and for some reason she felt like he could see her in the dark. Then she looked over and realized that her own eyes had adjusted and she could see the faintest outline of him.

  “Have you ever thought about having children?” He asked her.

  She looked back at the ceiling and thought a moment before answering, “Not really. But then again I never thought I would get married either. I had the girls at the orphanage. My entire life was there,” she told him. “I thought it always would be.”

  “Why did you have to leave?”

  “Miss Hall died,” she said simply. “She ran the orphanage. I knew immediately upon hearing Miss Hall’s fate, what my own would be. Miss Templeton was named her replacement which wasn’t unexpected. She had been there longer. She and I grew up together but she never liked me.” Becca was silent for a moment. “I thought I would be there forever. I had accepted my lot in life and even came to embrace it. I love those girls. All of them deserve a family, love and happiness. I wanted to make a difference in their lives. After the funeral, I was given three days’ notice.” She laughed hollowly. “Three days. I tried to find a suitable position but she wouldn’t give me any references. I had so little time. And barely any money. It was Casey’s idea to answer an ad for a mail order bride. I never even knew such things existed. She gave me hope again. So here I am. I know I’ve only been here two days but for the very first time I’m dreaming of the future and—” Her voice broke.