Interview for a Wife by Ruth Ann Nordin
Chapter One
Lincoln, Nebraska
June 1880
The train pulled into the station. Deanne Grayson couldn’t believe she was doing this. Who in their right mind would want to be interviewed in order to get married?
Someone who doesn’t want to return to her parents’ home.
Terry was dead, leaving her a widow. She had seen the advertisement from a man wanting a wife in the Omaha newspaper while packing to go back to live with her parents. She was about to dismiss it when she thought of how much she didn’t want to return to Kentucky. If she could find a way to stay in Nebraska, why not do it?
The man who posted the ad was a widower with children. The ad said he needed a woman to assist him at the general store he owned and requested that she be a pleasant person who excelled at arithmetic. The ad ended by saying that if a woman was agreeable to such a business arrangement, he would be happy to interview her for the position.
It was a strange ad, now that she thought about it. At the time she’d decided to go, she hadn’t given thought to the “business arrangement” part of the advertisement. She’d only thought she should at least go to Lincoln and meet him.
After convincing the owner of her apartment to let her keep her things there for one more week, she hopped the first train that would take her to Lincoln. And that brought her to where she was now. As the train came to a stop, Deanne renewed her grip on her travel bag.
Nothing ventured, nothing gained.
She’d left everything in Omaha, just in case things didn’t work out. She took a deep breath and stood up after the conductor called out that it was safe to get off the train.
The station wasn’t as big as the one in Omaha, which made it easier for her to find someone who could direct her to Harvey’s General Store. After getting the directions, she left the station and headed down the boardwalk. Horse hooves clacked on the brick street as buggies and wagons passed along what had to be the business district of town.
She was glad to see there was a good selection of businesses to choose from. One thing she liked most about Omaha was the number of places to go. Her small Kentucky hometown hadn’t had much to it, which was why she’d become a mail-order bride. No prospects were for her all the way back there, and while she no longer had the actual desire to be married again, she did want to do more than sit at home all day. She never wanted to go back to the restless feeling that had plagued her while growing up.
She went down several blocks before she came to the general store. She saw the sign on the window that read:Wife Wanted: Apply Inside. That was good. He hadn’t found anyone to fill the position yet.
She opened the door, and the bell above it rang. She glanced up at it right before she heard someone coming out from the back. She turned her attention to a man with gray hair. He looked to be in his late sixties. Certainly, this couldn’t be William Harvey.
“May I help you?” the man asked her.
She stepped further into the store and cleared her throat. “Yes, I’m here for the ad Mr. Harvey posted in the Omaha paper.” She tried not to notice the way her voice echoed through the place. While there were a lot of items in the store, it was eerily devoid of people.
The man smiled. “I’ll let him know you’re here.” He hurried to the back.
She shifted the travel bag from one hand to the other. Well, that particular man wasn’t William Harvey. That was a relief. She hadn’t really wanted to marry someone older than her father. But she did wonder what kind of man interviewed for a woman to marry him. Why not just place a mail-order bride ad like Terry had?
She heard the muffled sound of two men talking from the back room before the old man came back out. “Bill will see you,” he told her.
“Bill?” she asked.
“That’s what we call William Harvey around here. I’m Archie Smith. I’m helping him until he can get a wife to work in this store.” He gestured for her to go with him to the back.
She hesitated to follow him. Couldn’t Bill just come out here? She didn’t know if she liked the idea of being alone with him, or with him and Archie, in a room in the back of this place.
The door behind her opened, and she turned in time to see a man, woman, and small child come into the store.
“I’ll help them while you talk with Bill,” Archie told her.
Feeling better about the situation, she nodded and went around the counter that led to the room. Now she didn’t feel so vulnerable. If Bill did anything he shouldn’t, all she had to do was cry out for help.
The room in the back was larger than she’d expected. It also had a window large enough to offer plenty of sunlight through the place. Half the room was full of excess items that couldn’t fit into the main room of the store. A man who seemed to be in his mid-thirties sat behind a desk. He had dark wavy hair that reached just below his collar. He was clean-shaven, and he had a gentle expression on his face. She immediately felt better. He struck her as a respectable man, and he was only a few years older than her. Plus, he already had children. She might just manage alright in a marriage with someone like him.
“Archie didn’t tell me your name,” Bill said.
“My name is Deanne Grayson.”
His eyebrows furrowed. “I don’t recognize it. Are you new to Lincoln?”
“I’m from Omaha. I saw your advertisement in the paper.”
“So, if I marry you, will you move to Lincoln? I’m in no position to leave this place.”
“I’ll move here. There’s nothing keeping me in Omaha.”
He gave her a nod. “Alright. Since that’s the case, have a seat.” He gestured to the chair across from his desk.
So far, so good. Ignoring the pounding of her heart, she pulled out the chair and sat down. She put the travel bag by her feet and clasped her hands in her lap. This wasn’t much different from waiting for a response from the replies she’d sent out to men looking for a mail-order bride. The only difference was that she got a chance to see this particular man in person before he let her know whether or not he wished to marry her.
It didn’t occur to her just how little choices women were granted until this moment. She had to hope he would pick her out of the other women he interviewed, just as she had to wait for the postmaster to bring her a letter from a man who would be her excuse to leave Kentucky.
She released her breath. She couldn’t do anything about the way society was. All she could do was go along with it and pray this man wouldn’t be like Terry.
“I put the questions I had written down somewhere on this desk,” Bill said as he sorted through the papers scattered on it. “It’s just my luck that you happened to arrive when I was in the middle of going through my receipts.”
Since he smiled as he made the comment, she realized he was joking.
She relaxed. “If you tell me what the paper looks like, I can help you search for it,” she offered, noting that he did have a lot of papers all over the place.
“It’s one sheet, and I wrote on it with a pencil. I put the wordInterviewat the top.” He stopped sorting through the papers in front of him and pointed to the edge of the desk. “There it is. Can you give that to me?”
She got up and retrieved it then held it out to him.
He thanked her and took it.
She returned to her chair and put her hands back on her lap. The paper had been closer to him than it’d been to her. She didn’t know why he didn’t stand up and grab it. She pushed the thought aside. It wasn’t her place to question things. Maybe he was checking to see if she would be a helpful companion or not. The whole thing could have been a test. She was being interviewed after all.
He scanned the paper. “You’ll have to forgive some of these questions. They’ll be a bit personal, but I need to make sure the marriage will benefit both of us.”
“I figured the questions would be personal since you’re looking for a wife.”
“Yes, well, it’s still an unconventional way of doing things. A friend offered to match me up with someone, but I happen to know that the woman he has in mind wants children. The marriage would never work.”
She leaned forward in interest. “But you have children, don’t you?”
“I meant she wants children of her own. To answer your question, though, I have two of them. A girl and a boy. The girl is seven, and the boy is four. I had them with my first wife. She’s no longer with us. Providence took her home two years ago.”
“I’m sorry.” Of course, she knew he was a widower. He’d mentioned that in the ad. But she was at a loss on what else she could say.
“I’m sorry, too, but I don’t see any reason to dwell on things I can’t change.” He paused then added, “Most women want children of their own. I suppose there’s no point in wasting our time. If you wish for children of your own, this arrangement won’t work.”
“No, I don’t need to have children of my own.” She decided not to tell him it was because she was unable to have any. He didn’t need to know that. Though, the fact that it was even a concern to him made her curious about something. “You don’t wish to have more children?”
“I’m happy with things as they are.” His gaze went to the paper. “You appear to be in your late twenties. Is that correct?”
“I’m thirty-one.”
“Thirty-one? Have you been married before?”
“Yes, but, like your wife, my husband is no longer living.”
“Now I’m the one who’s sorry.”
He shouldn’t be. She wasn’t. But she bit her tongue on the thought.
“I take it that you and your husband lived in Omaha together?” he asked.
“Yes.”
“Will there be anyone you’ll miss if you move here?”
“No. My family is in Kentucky, but I have no desire to go back there.”
“May I ask why?”
She wiped her hands on her skirt. What was the best way to word things? “I prefer to be appreciated for who I am rather than what I can do.”
“That’s understandable.”
She held her breath, wondering if he would ask her more about her past, but fortunately, he changed the subject.
“A lot of this business involves being able to do arithmetic,” he said. “Sometimes there’s a line of customers, and it’s important to be able to add and subtract accurately and quickly. The faster customers can get what they want and leave, the happier they are, though you have a couple who will talk all day if you let them.” He chuckled. “Like Archie Smith. Ever since he had that grandson, he’ll spend an hour bragging about him. But most people are busy and just want to be on their way. Some people put the amount on their account. In cases like that, I’ll need you to tally up their debt until they come by to pay it off. A lot of them will pay you with cash, and they’ll need change back. That’s why I need someone who is quick with adding and subtracting.”
“I can be quick,” she replied. “Arithmetic was my favorite subject in school. I’m good at it, too. I rarely make an error.”
“Mind if I test you?”
“No.”
He paused for a moment then said, “A customer comes to you with items that cost $1.20, $0.05, $0.06, $0.25, and $0.35. What is the total cost they need to pay?”
$1.91.”
He blinked in surprise.
“I don’t think I was wrong,” she said.
“No, you’re not wrong. It’s just that I didn’t expect you to give me the answer so fast.” He paused. “Let’s try another amount. $0.13, $0.24, $0.22, $0.12, and $0.08.”
“$0.79.”
She caught the way his lips curled up and knew she’d been right, once again.
“A box of matches is $0.50,” he continued. “A pound of soap is $0.05. A pencil is $0.04. A pound of oatmeal is $0.04. A loaf of bread is $0.06.”
“If a customer buys all of that, then they’ll owe $0.69.”
“What if they give you $0.75?”
“I’ll give them $0.06 back.”
“What if the customer gives you $1?”
“That one is too easy. It’s $0.31.”
She noted the amusement in his eyes. “Alright. A customer wants two pounds of salt which is $0.02 a pound, one pound of tea for $0.24, three pounds of cheese which is $0.13 a pound.”
She took a moment before answering, “$0.67.”
“I’m glad that one wasn’t too easy,” he said. “I was beginning to think you weren’t human.”
She chuckled. “I’m very human. I just love arithmetic.”
“I can see that. It’s an excellent quality, and it’s one that I need. Can you read and write?”
“Yes, I can do that, too.”
“Good because you’ll need to mark down what you’re selling and how much money you made in each transaction. I’ll handle the other aspects of bookkeeping. You’ll work out there.” He pointed to the front of the store. “I’ll work from here. Does that make sense?”
Her heart sped up. This had to mean he was going to give her the job. Or rather, marry her so she could do the job.
“There’s only one more thing I need to get out of the way,” he went on to say.
Noting the cautious tone in his voice, she straightened up. “What is it?”
“Since you’ve been married before, you’re acquainted with the more intimate parts of a marital life.”
Her eyebrows furrowed. Where could he be going with this? When she realized he expected her to say something, she replied, “Yes, I am.”
He backed up from the desk but didn’t stand up. Surprised, she rose to her feet to see how he had managed to do that. As soon as she saw that he was in a wheelchair, her face warmed, and she hurried to sit back down. She didn’t know if her curiosity had just embarrassed him or not. She supposed it depended on how sensitive he was about being in a wheelchair. His pants were cut off and sewn just below the knees. Given that, there was no way he could walk.
He wheeled himself over to her. “I thought you should see why we won’t be able to have the kind of intimacy we both had in our previous marriages.”
By the way he said that, she knew he wasn’t sure she’d be agreeable to the arrangement. He didn’t know what her marriage had been like. He assumed it was a good one. Everyone assumed she’d been happy with her husband. And she had been, up until the time it became clear that she was barren and couldn’t give him a child. After that, things were never the same between them.
“What I most want is someone whose company I can enjoy. I don’t need the intimate moments in order to be happy,” she said.
“I’d like companionship, too,” he replied. “I miss having someone to talk to. I have friends and I have my children, but it’s different being married to someone. There’s something about marriage that brings you closer to a person than you can get with anyone else. You really do feel as if you’re one with them.”
She wouldn’t know the feeling, but she smiled as if she did.
“You’re the best lady who’s come by to see me,” he continued. “I think our marriage would be a good one. If you don’t have any doubts about marrying me, I’d like for you to be my wife.”
She wondered how many other women he had talked to, but she decided not to ask him about it. What did it matter? He had chosen her. That meant she could stay in Nebraska.
Since this was, thankfully, going to be a marriage where she wasn’t going to be required to try to give him a child, she said, “I’d be happy to be your wife.”
“Good.” He smiled. “I can take care of the arrangements for the wedding. Given my situation, I prefer something small and informal. Will that bother you?”
“No, I don’t mind small and informal.” She had no one she was bringing to the wedding anyway. Like the first one, she would be by herself. “I will need to return to Omaha to collect my things, but everything can fit in one trunk.”
His gaze went to the travel bag by her feet. “Are you returning there today?”
“No, I have a ticket for tomorrow. I wasn’t sure if I was going to be interviewed right away, so I thought it best to stay overnight. I was planning to find an inn after this.”
“I can’t have you stay at an inn. I’d offer you a room at my house, but people would assume the worst and I want to protect your reputation.”
That was understandable, especially in light of the fact that she’d be working in this store. People needed to feel comfortable doing business with her.
“I’m sure Henry and Marsha Willard will see to your accommodations tonight,” he said as he wheeled himself over to the door separating this room from the main part of the store.
She rose to her feet and followed him. “I can’t impose. I have enough money to stay at an inn. My husband had some money saved.” It wasn’t enough to let her live in Nebraska for the rest of her life, but it was sufficient for a few months.
“It’s not an imposition,” Bill replied. “Henry and Marsha are my uncle and aunt. They offered to help my new wife in any way they could. When you marry me, they’ll be a part of your family. Also, they’re taking care of Amber and Vernon. Those are my children. They stay with them while I’m here at the general store. My wife used to watch them while I was here. After she died, Marsha volunteered to watch them for me during the day. They come home with me at night. It will probably be good if you meet them.”
Up to now, her main concern had been whether or not she’d get to stay in Nebraska. Now a wave of apprehension washed over her. She’d had so little interaction with children. She didn’t know what to do with them. She supposed they should be treated like anyone else, except they were bound to need proper moral instruction given their age.
“Will they mind that I’m going to be taking over the role of their mother?” Deanne asked.
“I don’t think so. I do my best to do the job of two parents, but I don’t have the soft touch a woman does. I held off on another marriage because I wasn’t ready to be with someone right after losing Jennifer, but I’m ready now. I think the children will like having you around. I don’t foresee there being any problems.”
She took a deep breath and slowly released it. The reassuring tone in his voice helped to soothe her nerves. “Alright. I’ll be happy to stay with your aunt and uncle, and I’ll do my best to give your children the care and nurture they need.”
“You might as well think of them as your children. As far as I’m concerned, once we marry, that’s what they’ll be.”
Yes, she supposed he was right. And that actually came as a relief. People would stop giving her pitying looks or ask why she didn’t have any children. The fact that Bill had children was going to save her a lot of grief.
“I’ll tell Archie we’re leaving, and then I’ll take you to Henry and Marsha’s,” he said.
She almost asked him if he wanted her to push his wheelchair, but he wheeled himself into the main part of the store before she could say anything. Her cheeks warmed from embarrassment. She must not think of him as an invalid. She didn’t like it when people thought something was wrong with her for not being able to have children. That being the case, she wouldn’t think he was less of a person because he was in a wheelchair.
She hurried to retrieve her travel bag then followed him.