throat. And the next
time she saw him, she’d be walking down the aisle to be his wife.
It was happening much too fast. But what could she expect? When she
posted the ad, she knew it’d be a week after the man got there that
she’d be marrying him. It wasn’t like any of the other bachelors in
the area were asking to court her for a good year before they
wanted to be her husband. Nope. She was left to unorthodox methods
to secure her future.
But did that really matter? The point
was she was finally getting married. Jessica was right, of course.
She needed to learn to stop second guessing everything. Things were
going to be fine. Nothing bad was going to happen. She was going to
meet Joseph and the boys today and get ready for her wedding
tomorrow. Then the next day, she’d get married and have a family. A
house full of boys and a man to take care of.
She wiped her hands on her skirt. Five
men. Sure, it was a lot—a lot more than she expected—but she could
do it. She could. At least, she was sure she could.
“ Come on.” Jessica prompted
her forward. “I’m going to be in the house. That means only good
things will happen in there.”
Margaret chuckled and put
her foot on the first step. Here goes
nothing.
Chapter Five
The front door burst open and two boys
came barreling toward Margaret. “Ma! Ma!”
She turned to see who in the world they
were talking about for a split second before she remembered that
she was going to be their mother in two short days.
Joseph showed up in the doorway,
holding the youngest in one arm and held the door open with his
free hand. “Doug, Bob, remember what I said.”
Doug and Bob immediately stopped
bouncing around her and clasped their hands behind their
backs.
“ We’re glad you’re here,”
one of them said.
“ Thank you,” she replied and
tried to remember who was the oldest. “Bob?”
“ No, I’m Bob,” the other
said.
She gave them a timid smile. “I’m
sorry. I’m afraid I’m not very good with recalling
names.”
“ That’s alright.” Bob took
her hand and led her up the steps. “Sometimes we forget things too.
Don’t we, Doug?”
“ Sure do,” Doug said as he
took her other hand. “I forget to put my toys away all the
time.”
“ Shh...” Bob told his
brother. “You know what Pa said.”
“ Oh, right.” Doug’s cheeks
grew pink. He peered up at her. “We won’t forget to be good
today.”
Bob groaned.
They made it to the front
door.
“ Here she is, Pa,” Bob
unnecessarily stated.
“ I see that.” Joseph moved
aside so they could enter the house. He smiled at Margaret. “I’m
glad you came.”
Margaret’s face flushed. He really was
a good looking man. She wondered why none of the women back at his
hometown were lining up to marry him as soon as he became
available.
“ We’re glad too,” Doug
said.
“ You already said that,” Bob
replied.
“ So?”
“ It’s fine.” Margaret
squeezed their hands. “I don’t mind hearing it again.”
Doug grinned at her. “We miss having a
ma.”
“ Do you make cookies?” Bob
asked.
She nodded. “From time to
time.”
The boys giggled.
Joseph sighed but smiled at her. “They
don’t care much for what I can make.” He motioned to the couch.
“Would you like to sit? I can get you something to drink if you
want.”
“ Oh, I’ll do that,” Jessica
intervened as she brushed past Margaret to get inside the
house.
Margaret glanced at her friend. In all
the excitement, she forgot Jessica was behind her.
“ Besides,” Jessica added as
she took off her bonnet, “this will be a good excuse to see Jenny.
I’ll be back.” She patted Margaret on the shoulder. “Enjoy
yourself,” she whispered.
Margaret turned to Joseph and smiled.
Every time she was near him those crazy butterflies wrecked havoc
on her stomach. She didn’t know how she was supposed to get used to
being around him.
“ Will you have a seat?” he
asked.
“ Have a seat!” Bob pulled