Mail Order Bride- Illinois

Chapter 11

Jonathan had spent most of the day working on the fences. The d*mn things were always in need of repair. If Jonathan didn’t know better, he’d say someone was deliberately damaging them.

Then out of nowhere old Buzz found him, and told him Abby needed him at the house. Abby had never called him to the house before so it must be serious. Jonathan just hoped it wasn’t the baby, thinking that may be the case he urged his horse faster. However, the sight when he got to the house brought him up short.

Abby and his brother James were sitting at the table talking and laughing. James had his hand on her belly. Jealously surged out of nowhere and kicked him hard in the gut. Abby hadn’t smiled at him like that in months.

“James what are you doing here?” Jon asked harshly from the door. Even though he hadn’t seen his brother in about ten years he wouldn’t have mistaken him for anyone else. All the Smith boys had the same dark hair, with grey eyes. They all had tall lanky frames, but most importantly Jonathan recognized the scar on James’ eyebrow. The one he’d gotten from falling out of a tree when he was ten years old. James also had a scar from the war up on his forehead. James wore his hair long, but you could still peaking out if you looked close enough. All the smith brothers were scarred from the war, only Jonathan’s were in his mind.

“So no how are you James? It’s good to see you James?” James asked trying to charm him. Jonathan let out a laugh,

“Well of course all of that, but still it’s not like we have kept in touch, so it makes me worry about why you are here.” Abby got up,

“I’m going to start on the laundry, excuse me.” Abby says as she gets up and walks away.

“Jon are you going to let your pregnant wife do the laundry?” James asked worriedly.

“Who else is going to do it?” Jon asked perplexed.

“You really are an a*s aren’t you?” His brother asked him, leaving Jon clueless.

“You going to tell me what’s going on?” Jon asked getting back on target.

“What? does something have to be going on for me to visit my big brother?”

“If it was Jaime or Jimmy no, but with you definitely.” Jonathan said with brutal honesty. James was the baby brother, who momma spoiled relentlessly, and he happened to get himself in some trouble. When they were kids that usually meant Jonathan had to beat up some random big kid cause James was running his mouth. When James got older he got into cards, and he wasn’t very good at it. James started cheating. There were several saloon fights that all the Smith brothers had to bail their little brother out of. Jon just hoped this wasn’t one of them as it was just him, and James tended to piss odd a lot of people.

“Look I just need a place to hide out for awhile.” Jonathan let out a heavy sigh.

“D*mn it James, we will talk later. If you are staying here why don’t you go help Abby with the laundry. I got work to do.”

“What me?” James asked surprised.

“Yeah you just called me an a*s for not helping her, and since you are hiding out here it looks like you get to help her.”

“Fine,” James sighed as he stood up. The Smith men headed outside,

“This conversation isn’t over, we will talk more tonight.”

“Yeah, yeah,” James muttered as he headed off to the side of the house where the clothes line was located. Jonathan headed back out to the fencing. Jonathan was just wrapping up when he found a cigarette butt.

“You shouldn’t be here,” Jonathan said to the inanimate object. Jonathan decided to scout the area, and look for anything else out of the ordinary.

Abby was hanging up the clean clothes on the line with James beside her. She was really enjoying having his companionship today. James was around her age, and the farm was pretty isolated. The only companionship she really had was Buzz and Jonathan. Buzz was more of a father figure, and Jonathan was getting more distant by the day. Abby had wanted to approach the ranch hands, but Henry had made that situation awkward. So Abby decided to leave the situation alone.

“So how long are you going to stay James?”

“I’m not sure,” James said on a sigh.

“What’s going on?” She asked him.

“What do you mean?” James asked trying to sound innocent.

“You haven’t seen each other in over ten years if I remember right.”

“Jonathan told you that?” He asked seemingly shocked.

“Jon told me you came back from the war to a ruined farm and then you went your separate ways. Which doesn’t make sense to me, a family should stick together. But then again what do I know? My family basically sold me.” While James seemed to be shocked that Jon had told her Of their family past he seemed to be more curious about her own.

“What do you mean? Sold you?”

“My parents farm was going into foreclosure, they sold the farm and sent out an ad for a mail order bride.”

“That’s rough, no male courted you?”

“Nope, my fiancé died in the war.” Abby said with no emotion.

“Oh I’m sorry.” James said realizing he broached a delicate topic. Abby just shrugged it off.

“Don’t be, we never loved each other, our parents set up the match,” Abby replied as she finished up the laundry she put everything in the basket. Abby picket up the basket, she looked up and saw Henry. She realized Henry her so called dead fiancé had heard. Abby realized she didn’t care what he thought. Abby simply addressed him as who he was to her now, a ranch hand,

“Henry, what do you need?”

“Buzz needs me to pick up lunch for the men in the back forty.” Oh shoot, it was past lunch time. Abby lost time talking to James.

“It’s not ready yet, we had a visitor, give me a bit to get it ready.”

“No problem,” Henry said as Abby went ahead and took off for the kitchen leaving the men behind. Abby hadn’t talked to Henry since she first saw him that night she got here several months ago, now she’s seeing him two times a day. Ugh could today get much worse.

Abby worked quickly and efficiently. She always tried to give the men working in the back pastures as much as possible. They are gone from sun up to sun down. The other men generally are able to stay close to the house and are able to come to their bunks to get what they need if they desire it. She returned out to the main room with a saddle bag filled to the brim of food.

“Here you go, will you please let the men know lunch will be later as well?” She asked Henry.

“Yes ma’am,” he said curtly and walked off. Abby returned to the kitchen to start lunch and James followed her.

“What was that?”

“What?” She asked without looking up.

“The tension between you and the farm hand.” Abby looked up at James bewildered,

“I honestly don’t know what you are talking about. There’s no tension because I truly don’t know him, sadly I don’t know any of the hands other than Buzz. I don’t have time.” Abby was cutting up some ham, it was simple ham sandwiches today.

“Speaking of time, will you be here for Christmas?” It was time to put James in the hot seat, while she hadn’t technically lied, she didn’t want to have too. So it was time to find out what trouble James got himself into, especially if it involved her family. That’s all Abby had, her family.

“No I don’t plan on being here that long.” Abby nodded.

“When are you leaving then?” She asked him. James evaded the question.

“I’m not sure, I have to talk it over with James.” Abby gave him a look,

“Okay I’ll talk it over with Jonathan.”

Abby did in fact talk it over with Jonathan later that night. Jon told her that James had gotten himself in trouble, and he needed to lie low. When Abby told Jon that she wasn’t comfortable with James staying here. Jonathan told her that she was going to have to accept it, James was family, and Jonathan wasn’t going to kick out family.

Abby exploded at him, stating “if family is defined by people you haven’t seen or talked to in ten years than you need a new definition.” The couple didn’t talk to each other for two days.

James settled into the ranch as if he had lived there his whole life. Abby got over her reservations of James after the first week. James charm soothed her worries, and as time went on life settled into an easy pattern. James was Abby’s biggest helper. James would help Abby with cooking, laundry, and other household chores. While most men would view them as women’s chores, therefore beneath a man’s time. James however, was one of the youngest siblings, so he was usually helping his mother in the kitchens.

Neither Abby or Jonathan apologized for the argument over James. Abby didn’t feel she was in the wrong for Jonathan putting his family in possible danger. Jonathan refused to apologize for helping out his family.

The couple only talked in front of company, to show everyone that nothing was wrong. Abby wasn’t mad at Jonathan any longer, she just refused to apologize.