Abe stared up at Phoebe in disbelief. He’d been milking the cow when she came in to announce the preacher had arrived, ready to marry them. And he was so shocked he couldn’t speak. Letting go of the teats, he rose to his feet and walked over to the entrance of the barn to make sure she was telling the truth, that the preacher was really there.
Sure enough, the old man, who’d been trying to get him to attend a church service every time he came into town, was waiting for him on the porch of the cabin. At the moment, he had his hat in hand as he talked to Phoebe’s mother.
Abe turned back to face Phoebe, who hadn’t moved from her spot. “I don’t understand,” he finally said. “Why did you tell him you wanted him to marry us?”
“Because I think we would both benefit from the arrangement,” she replied, her tone so matter-of-fact it was as if it was the most logical thing they could do.
“How does it benefit you to be surrounded by scraps of metal and to have someone watch you every time you go to town? You’re not safe here.”
“I’m safe with you.”
“You’re safe until someone kills me. The moment I’m gone, you’re vulnerable.” He glanced at the porch. “Your mother will be vulnerable, too.”
“I had time to think about it,” she began, her hands clasped in front of her, “and I’ve decided you’ll teach me and my ma how to shoot a gun. That way, we can protect ourselves if we need to.”
“You’ve decided I’ll teach you?”
He didn’t know whether to laugh or be impressed. While it was funny she assumed he’d jump at the chance to teach her and her mother how to shoot a gun, he had to admit she’d taken the time to plan out her argument.
“Maybe ‘decided’ isn’t the right word,” she said. “I know you might not agree to do it, but it would be the easiest solution to my problem. And if my mother and I stay here, that will take care of your problem.”
He furrowed his eyebrows. “I don’t have a problem.”
“Yes, you do. You have no one to help with the house or laundry, and you could use some help with the garden and cooking the meat. I’m not afraid to get my hands dirty. And best of all, I’m a quick learner.”
“Tending to the garden is one thing, but you haven’t seen how much goes into skinning an animal and preserving everything possible. The blood alone would make a lady with your background faint.” Even his mother, who’d grown up hunting animals, had claimed illness when it came to cutting the meat, which was why he’d learned to do it at an early age.
“You don’t know it’d make me faint,” Phoebe argued. “You need to give me a chance to prove myself. I can do it.”
He was ready to protest but caught the determined spark in her eye. He knew what that look meant. He’d seen it when his uncle had set his mind to something, and the only thing that had ever stopped his uncle was a gunshot in the chest.
So talking to her would be pointless. She had her mind set, even though she didn’t have the faintest idea what she was asking. Well, maybe that should change. Up to now, he’d withheld any of the harder chores from her. Maybe if he gave her what she wanted, maybe if she got to experience just how tough the chores could be, maybe then she’d give up on this idea of being his wife.
“Alright,” he finally said.
Her eyes widened in surprise. “Alright?”
She obviously hadn’t expected her argument to work, at least not so soon. For all he knew, she had other arguments ready to go, just in case he continued to fight her. If she was anything like his uncle, giving up would have to be her idea.
“Yes, alright,” he said. “When you see just how difficult things are, let me know, and I’ll release you from the marriage.”
“But you can’t release me from it. We’ll state our vows before man and God.”
“If I recall the ways of the white man correctly, a marriage isn’t final until its consummated, and I’m not going to do that until you prove you mean it, that you can do all the things you’re promising to. You know, making things easier for me around here.”
He could tell she wasn’t thrilled with the idea of delaying the confirmation of their marriage, but it was the deal he was making. She could take it or leave it.
In a move that surprised him, she straightened her shirtwaist and lifted her chin in the air. “I can do everything I said I would.”
Now his interest was piqued. “Then you’ll have no trouble setting a trap and skinning an animal.”
“Not as long as you teach me how to use a gun.”
“Don’t expect to be able to shoot your target on the first try.”
“And don’t expect me to skin the animal perfectly on my first try.”
He felt a smile itching to turn his lips up, but he quickly suppressed it. Yes, she was a lot like his uncle, and he couldn’t help but admire that about her. But he wasn’t going to let her win so easily. It took more than words to prove whether or not she would be able to do it. Talk was cheap. The white man talked big all the time. But whether or not they’d follow through was the important thing. It’d be interesting to see if she was one who honored her word.
“Since you’re determined to go through with this, lead the way.” He waved her toward the porch.
She headed for the barn entrance and had just passed him when she turned back to him. “You just wait and see, Abe Thomas. I’ll be the best wife you’ll ever have.”
Before he could respond, she left the barn and went to the preacher and her mother. Her mother looked much too excited about the wedding, and Abe wondered if he was only setting the poor woman up for heartache when Phoebe finally admitted she couldn’t handle life out here. He forced aside the thought. He’d done all he could to avoid hurting either of them. If Phoebe was getting her mother’s hopes up, then it was her fault.
Feeling more like a wolf heading for a trap than a groom about to take a wife, Abe trudged to the cabin. This was one of the most ridiculous things he’d ever done. Who ever heard of a man being married to a woman until she decided she’d had enough of him and left?
When he finally reached them, the preacher held out his hand toward Abe. “Congratulations,” he said, beaming from ear to ear.
Abe glanced at his hand before he shook it. “Isn’t it a little soon to congratulate me?”
“You’re right. I should wait until after the bride says ‘I do’,” he replied then chuckled.
No, he should wait a month or two from now and see if the bride had decided to stick around.
The preacher turned to Phoebe and her mother. “Would you like to go inside or do the ceremony out here?”
“Can we do it out here?” Phoebe glanced around and then motioned to the section of wildflowers by the garden. “Maybe over there? I think it’s pretty.”
Pretty? Those things grew like weeds all over the place. He had a heck of a time keeping them out of the garden.
“If it’s alright with you,” the preacher turned to Abe, “we’ll do it over there.”
Abe shrugged in response. What did he care? It wasn’t like this was a real wedding. They could do this in the barn for all he cared.
The preacher and Phoebe’s mother headed for the wildflowers. Not deterred in the least by his lack of enthusiasm, Phoebe took Abe’s hand and urged him to follow them. With a sigh, Abe forced his feet into motion. If it’d been anyone but Phoebe, he didn’t think they could have talked him into this. But since it was Phoebe, he found himself complying much too easily. It had to be those curtains. Something about those stupid things stirred up something inside him he didn’t like. And when she was holding his hand, it was more intense. Something inside of him liked all of this far too much.
Determined not to dwell on it, he forced his mind on all the work he needed to do in the garden. On second thought, he’d let her do it. Might as well get her started on her new life as soon as possible. There was no sense in delaying the inevitable.
“It does my heart good to join two people who are in love,” the preacher said.
Two people who are in love? Was the man daft?
The preacher smiled at him and Phoebe then added, “I’ve been marrying people for over thirty years, and I can always tell how a couple feels, even if they don’t know it.” Then, to Abe’s horror, the preacher winked at him.
Wishful thinking. That’s what the preacher was experiencing. It was only his desire to marry couples in love that made him believe he and Phoebe had such feelings for each other. Content with this line of reasoning, Abe gave in and listened as the man rambled on about staying together for better or worse, richer or poorer, in sickness and in health for as long as they both lived.
Abe wondered if the preacher had any idea how many white people broke these vows. There were several people he could think of off the top of his head who thought little of them. And even he was the product of such a thing. Had it not been for his father committing adultery, he wouldn’t even be here.
At one point, he thought to tell the preacher these words he made him and Phoebe repeat were pointless, that they meant nothing, that it was so much like the white man to promise something and not do it. But what good would it have done?
When the preacher finished, he said, “You may kiss your bride, Abe.”
It was on the tip of Abe’s tongue to say such formalities were unnecessary, but Phoebe stood up on her tiptoes and kissed him before he had time to protest. Thankfully, she had the sense to make it quick. It was embarrassing enough others were watching them, but it was even more annoying that a part of him liked it.
“Now, I’ll say congratulations,” the preacher said, turning to him and, once more, shaking his hand.
Abe resisted the urge to grumble under his breath that this was all a waste of time.
“Well, why don’t you come on in for some coffee and a piece of pie?” Phoebe’s mother asked the preacher.
“I would be honored,” the preacher said. He looked at Abe. “Maybe now you won’t mind coming to hear a sermon since you won’t have to come alone,” he whispered to Abe.
“You realize most of the people you preach to don’t do what you say,” Abe whispered in return, deciding not to keep quiet on this matter. He’d done good enough to keep silent through the vows.
“It’s my job to instruct,” he replied. “What people do with the instructions is up to them.” He gave him a friendly pat on the shoulder. “God doesn’t care how you came to be here, Abe. He’s not like them.”
Abe caught Phoebe watching the exchange between them and grew uncomfortable. “I need to get back to the cow,” he told the preacher. “She doesn’t like it when I make her wait too long to milk her.”
Without waiting for anyone to respond, he went back into the barn.
***
“Abe’s never been one to express his feelings,” the preacher said as he hung up his hat on the hook by the door.
Phoebe led him and her mother to the kitchen table. “You two sit, and I’ll get everything.”
While they took a seat, she glanced out the window, and sure enough, Abe was still in the barn. Taking a deep breath, she smoothed her sweaty hands on her skirt then retrieved the coffee cups. Her hands shook, and she prayed no one noticed. It’d taken considerable effort to get through the ceremony. But she’d done it.
She’d convinced Abe to give her a chance to prove he’d benefit from having her out here. And she was going to prove it. Just wait until he realized how serious she was. Sure, she grew up in a more civilized place, but that didn’t mean she couldn’t handle it out here. It was just a matter of determination.
She managed to pour coffee into three cups without spilling it, which was good considering her hands shook. Then she cut a slice of the fresh peach pie and put it on the plate for the preacher.
“Ma, do you want one?” she asked, looking over at her mother, who was still talking the poor preacher’s ear off about Phillip and his family.
“I don’t like to spoil my supper, so I’ll just have a small piece,” her mother replied.
Phoebe nodded and cut out a small slice for her mother.
“Phillip married in a church,” her mother was telling the preacher. “But back in Cincinnati, that was an easy thing to do. There are a lot of them there. It’s not like out here where we have to wait for someone like you to come in. A church wedding is nice, but I have to say watching my daughter marry outside with the sunlight streaming through the trees and lighting up the area around us, was a breathtaking sight. I can’t recall a time I’d seen anything so beautiful.”
“This is a beautiful territory,” the preacher began, “though it does have its hardships. I’ve seen my share of tragedy.” He sighed for a moment, as if reliving one or two events from his past. But then he smiled again and continued, “I’ve also seen some miracles. Not all of them are big ones. Most are small. So small, in fact, it’d be easy to mistake them for common occurrences.”
Phoebe placed the cups in front of them.
She was ready to bring them their slices of pie when the preacher made eye contact with her and said, “Abe getting married was nothing short of a miracle. That poor man hasn’t had anyone who’s cared anything about him since his ma died five years ago. He lost his uncle when he was only ten. It was just him and his ma after that, and she was weak so he had to grow up fast and take over the care of this place. It’ll be nice for him to have someone to help him.” He smiled at Phoebe. “Don’t let him fool you. He wouldn’t have married you if he didn’t want to. There’s no making Abe do anything he doesn’t want to. I don’t care how much someone argues with him. That boy is as stubborn as a mule.”
“It’s because he’s stubborn that he’s managed out here as well as he has,” her mother said after she took a sip of her coffee.
“Yes, it is,” he acknowledged. “It’s the only way anyone can stick it out this far from civilization. This kind of life isn’t for the faint of heart, I’ll tell you that. You two are brave ladies to be out here.”
“I don’t know if being brave has anything to do with it,” her mother said. “We had no money, and my son was struggling to make ends meet. Phoebe answered a mail-order bride ad to find someone who could support us. When we first came here, we thought we’d made the trip for nothing. It turned out another person posted that mail-order bride ad on Abe’s behalf, and Abe didn’t know about it.”
The preacher glanced over at Phoebe as she set the plates full of pie and forks in front of him and her mother. “Why would someone do that?”
Since he seemed to be asking her the question, Phoebe answered, “I think it was so Abe would stop arguing with Carl Richie about the stream over there.” She pointed in the direction of the stream and land. “I suppose Carl thought Abe would have more important things to worry about if my mother and I were here.”
“Well,” he began as he picked up his fork, “sometimes when man does something out of selfishness, God turns it around for good.”
“That’s what I’ve been thinking about this whole thing,” Phoebe’s mother said. “Nothing happens by accident.”
“No, it doesn’t. You two are here for Abe, and I have no doubt you’ll be good for him. Every man, no matter how strong he thinks he is, needs people in his life who can accept him as he is.”
Phoebe’s gaze went back to the window. Abe was still in the barn. She had a nagging suspicion he was going to stay in there until the preacher left. And that was his right. He wasn’t the type who easily welcomed people into his life, and given what she knew, she couldn’t blame him. She only hoped, in time, he would allow himself the freedom to love her.