next day, he was still thinking about Bella’s pink cheeks when he pulled his horse to a stop in front of the relay station he shared with Thomas and his new wife, Josephine. He dismounted but left the horse tied to the porch.
Josephine and their closest neighbor, Hazel, were sitting at the kitchen table peeling potatoes. They looked up as he came through the door.
His sister-in-law’s mouth pulled into a big smile. “It’s about time you got home. I was beginning to really worry about you.”
Philip shut the door and hung his coat on a peg. “I was delayed by my future bride.” He’d walked halfway across the room when the door opened again and Thomas entered.
Hazel demanded, “What future bride?”
Over the past year, Hazel had become motherly toward the two young men. Then when Josephine had arrived a few months earlier, Hazel had treated her as family, too. Hazel didn’t hesitate to ask her question.
Philip turned and stared at his brother. “It seems I’ve posted a mail-order-bride ad in Colorado and Bella Wilson felt the need to answer it by arriving by stage out at the Turnstone relay station.” He had the satisfaction of watching Thomas’s face pale.
“Um, Bella Wilson?” Thomas ran his hand through his hair and looked over Philip’s shoulder at Josephine.
Philip turned in time to see her shrug her shoulders.
“Don’t look at me. I’ve never heard of her,” Josephine said before studying the wood pattern on the table.
Hazel frowned. “I thought I told you two to answer each and every letter and apologize for misleading those young ladies.” She looked between Thomas and Josephine.
Thomas walked around Philip. He headed to the coffeepot. “We did.”
Philip followed him. “Well, Bella didn’t write a letter. She simply came, much like Josephine did.”
Shock filled Josephine’s voice. “She’s a Pony Express rider, too?”
Hazel laughed. “Here I thought you were the only woman gutsy enough to pull a stunt like that.” She held out her cup for Thomas to refill.
“No, she arrived by stage but didn’t have enough money to continue on to Dove Creek. John got a kick out of sending me into the house for my special delivery packages.”
The other three people in the room stared at him with open mouths. Finally, Josephine spoke. “Did you say packages? As in more than one?”
Philip took a cup down from the cupboard. “Oh, did I forget to mention that she has two children in her care, too?”
Thomas raked his hand through his hair. His face looked miserable.
Josephine’s eyes grew big in her heart-shaped face.
Hazel whistled low and muttered, “Two children.”
Philip took a sip from his warm coffee. It felt good to make them squirm a little. Josephine’s gaze sought out her husband’s.
Thomas finally found his voice. “How old are they?”
“Four and six,” Philip answered.
Josephine gasped. “I can’t imagine being all alone with a four-year-old and a six-year-old. The trip out here must have been so hard.” Regret filled her voice.
Hazel shook her head. “Boys or girls?”
Philip walked over to the table and sat down. “Boys. Caleb and Mark. They are nice enough little boys. I believe I’ll adopt them after the wedding.”
Thomas pulled out a chair. “So you are going to marry her?”
“She has no other place to go and I can’t let those young’uns go into an orphanage because their aunt can’t take care of them.” Philip palmed the cup in his hand, rolling it back and forth as he looked at each person sitting at the table.
Hazel finally snapped. “Philip Young, you stop feeding us a smidgen at a time and tell the whole story. Is Bella their mother or aunt?” she demanded.
He laughed and then told them everything that he knew about Bella and the boys. He finished with “They are staying out at Ma’s until the wedding day.”
Thomas nodded. “And when is the big day?”
“Day after tomorrow. I’m going to sleep now and head back sometime tomorrow. By now, Bella is overwhelmed with our rather large family.” He pushed back his chair and yawned.
“Can just anybody come to this wedding?” Hazel asked with a grump. “Or do they have to have a special invitation?”
Philip walked around the table and gave her a big kiss on the cheek. “It wouldn’t be the perfect wedding without you there, Hazel. I expect you to come with me.”
A flush filled her cheeks. “Well, if you insist.”
Josephine laughed and shook her head. “Go to bed, Philip. Hazel and I have to decide what we’re going to wear.”
“If we all go, who’s going to man the relay station?” Thomas asked.
“Looks like you are going to miss the wedding of the season.” Philip turned toward his bedroom. “Serves you right, too.”
“You don’t like shindigs anyway,” Hazel reminded Thomas, picking up her cup and heading to the washtub with it.
“No, but I love Ma’s cakes.”
Philip laughed. “I’ll eat an extra piece for you. If the boys don’t eat it all up.” He closed the door to his bedroom and leaned against it.
Would this be the wedding of the season like he’d told Thomas? Or was it all just a mockery of what a marriage should be? He walked to the bed and sat down.
His worn Bible lay on the side table. Philip picked it up. Lord, I hope I’m doing the right thing by Bella and the boys. He leaned back on the pillows and opened it up. Maybe he’d find the answer between the pages.
* * *
Bella put her face in her hands. She wasn’t sure how much more pampering she could take. The outhouse probably wasn’t the best place to get her thoughts together, but it was the only place she could be alone, away from all the questions and prying eyes.
Philip had been gone since early yesterday and during that time she’d met most of his brothers and his stepfather, and had been bombarded with wedding plans. Rebecca, Fay and their close friend Emma, who had come to the family as a slave to another couple, thankfully the Young men had made it possible for her to have freedom now. Each lady had their idea of what Bella’s wedding should look like. The barn was decorated with white streamers and wooden planks stretched across barrels for seating. Pine branches hung from the rafters and the scent of their needles filled the barn, covering up the animal smells that normally lingered there. The added greenery and yellow ribbons tied to them gave the barn a fresh look.
What Bella had thought
