“But if I mention it now, do you think he will be upset because he thought he was getting a woman with no children?”
Liz shook her head again. “No. Stop being negative Nelly. Just consider it tonight and pray on it and let me know in the morning what you decide. If you don’t want to, I want to write him a response. If you do, then you need to write a response to him. You will think about it tonight, won’t you?”
Minnie reached up and pulled on the lobe of her right ear, a habit she’d always had when she was thinking about something exciting. To Liz, it was another good sign and she held in a smile. Her friend’s life was about to change and she didn’t even realize how much.
If she decided to go.
All the way to the post office, Joe’s heart hammered in his chest. Almost three weeks after he placed the ad in the newspaper in South Carolina, he’d received a response. The woman sounded intriguing, not hesitating to mention her good traits. Her second letter was equally charming, though it sounded like it had almost been written by another woman. He shrugged it off and decided it was the best thing to happen to him in a long time. He was glad he’d given it a chance.
The letter he was going to post today would have instructions on how to board the train and get over to Reno so he could pick her up. The city was just beginning to enlarge and he had no doubt it would officially be a part of the United States very soon.
The only thing he’d been quiet about was Ruthie. From the start, he’d worried that any mention of a baby would keep a woman from responding. So he hadn’t mentioned his precious daughter. Whenever he thought about the fact that he’d neglected to mention her after Minnie responded, he felt a quick jolt of nervousness and shame. She sounded so perfect. Once he had sent his first letter without mentioning Ruthie, he was terrified to mention her now. What if Minnie backed out?
It was imperative that he get his daughter back from his brother and sister-in-law but he was determined to have Minnie come over from South Carolina. He needed the healing of his family.
As it was, the train ticket was for three days from now. He would soon have to confront the reality of letting Minnie know.
First, he would get to know her as a woman and a bride. Then he would let her know about Ruthie. Or perhaps he should confess and hope that Minnie would want children…especially his. He was confusing himself, which he hated.
“Can’t decide,” he mumbled to himself. “Can’t decide, can’t decide.”
Sally snorted below him and he laughed. “You always have something to say about it, don’t you, girl?” He leaned forward and slapped her on the side, something she loved and he knew it. “You’re a good girl, aren’t you? Not gonna let anything happen to me, are ya?”
Sally snorted, throwing her head up in the air as if nodding to his words.
He tried not to think too much about his deception and how his new bride would handle it. Her letter made it sound like she would be very open to children, which was a good thing.
Joe hadn’t taken Ruthie back to his ranch yet. He hadn’t been feeding her the way he was supposed to to begin with, he wanted the influence of a mother figure to help his daughter become a wonderful young woman, to eat right, take care of herself and so forth. He didn’t know how to do all the things proper young women were supposed to do. He was determined for her to be raised right and that meant the influence of a good woman.
He prayed that’s what Minnie was and that she wouldn’t feel pushed upon by having Ruthie come home.
Joe pulled up to the post office just five minutes later, sliding down from the saddle and throwing the rope over the hitch, more to keep Sally from following him inside than keep her from straying. He ignored the two steps that led up to the post office, taking them all in a single step.
His long legs carried him to the front doors of the building in only two more steps. He pushed the door open and went inside, marveling at how much cooler it was in the building. He wasn’t sure why it felt cooler, considering there were lanterns aflame all around the room.
He went directly to the clerk and set some paper money on the counter. “I need to buy a ticket to be sent to the East.”
The clerk looked up at him through narrow blue eyes as sharp as his long narrow nose. “You can’t buy a train ticket here, son.” Joe pressed his lips together to keep from smiling. He was fairly certain the clerk was at least ten years younger than his 35 years.
“Okay, where is the clerk that sells train tickets.”
The clerk leaned out the window toward him and pointed to the left. Joe looked over and saw a window like this one on the other side of the room. “That’s the one. You gotta go over there to buy a ticket.”
“And then I come back here to send it to the East?”
“Yes.” The clerk nodded curtly.
“Okay, Edward.” Joe leaned slightly to read the silver and gold name tag the clerk was wearing. Edward flushed as if not sued to hearing the sound of his own name.