Interview for a Wife by Ruth Ann Nordin
Chapter Four
“Your bride just got off the train,” Archie said as he bounded into the back room where Bill was filing the receipts he’d just recorded for yesterday’s purchases.
“Is she here?” Bill asked.
“Not yet. I just got word from Preacher Thompson’s wife that they’re bringing Deanne’s trunk over,” Archie replied. “It sounds like Deanne is still at the train station.”
Bill’s eyebrows furrowed. “She didn’t run into any trouble, did she?”
He shrugged. “No one said anything was wrong.”
Bill slipped the folder into the drawer then backed up from his desk and wheeled out of the back room. “Will you keep watch over the place while I go to the station and make sure everything’s alright?”
“Will do.” Archie went back behind the counter.
Bill greeted a couple of the patrons who were shopping in the store as he left.
At times, it frustrated him to no end that going anywhere in the wheelchair was much slower than walking. And even more frustrating was the fact that he couldn’t go directly into the train station since there were no ramps. He had to ask a boy who had nothing better to do than sit on a step and eat candy if he’d go into the station and find Deanne for him.
The boy went in, and soon, Deanne came out with the boy. Her gaze locked with Bill’s, and she hurried down the steps.
“Is something wrong?” Bill asked her.
“I can’t find my purse,” she replied. “The string broke, and it must have rolled under the seats.”
“Did you have anything important in it?”
“Just some money, a pocket watch, and a letter. There’s nothing in there I absolutely need.”
“Well, don’t worry about the money. I have enough to take care of things. As for a pocket watch, we can get that for you later.”
She glanced back at the train station and sighed. She probably realized, just as much as he did, that there wasn’t going to be sufficient time to find it before the train left, especially with people getting settled into their seats.
“Is the letter important? We can ask the station manager to have someone search for the purse and send a note to the store if it’s found.”
She hesitated. “No, I don’t care about the letter.”
“Then everything will be fine,” he assured her. “As long as there’s nothing you absolutely need, then you might as well let it go.”
“Yes, I suppose so.” After a moment, she relaxed. “What a way to start our marriage, huh?”
He chuckled. “If this is the worst of it, we’ll do just fine. Since your trunk is being taken to the store, we might as well go to the preacher’s. Then I’ll take you to my aunt and uncle’s. You can start work tomorrow.”
“Please let me start work today.”
Surprised, he asked, “You want to work today?”
“I’ve been looking forward to using my arithmetic skills. I haven’t had a chance to apply myself to anything that really matters in years. I want to help out.”
He was sure she had been useful to her first husband, but she probably felt like she’d had no purpose after he died. Bill struggled for the longest time to feel like his life had any meaning after Jennifer died, and having the store to run helped a lot in that regard.
“Alright,” he agreed. “We’ll go to the store after we get married.”
Noting her relief, he told her which way they needed to go and started wheeling his chair in the direction of the preacher’s house.
***
“The ledger is right here,” Archie was telling Deanne an hour later after she and Bill married. “You write the items that were purchased, the total, and whether someone paid cash or will pay later on here. Sometimes the orders get to be big. The people who don’t live in town like to get enough to see them through for a few months. So in that case, I list everything on a piece of paper from this stack over here.” He patted the blank sheets of paper that were next to a couple of pencils.
“You just need to tuck the paper into the ledger when we close the store,” Bill told her. “I’ll file it away the next day.”
“That sounds simple enough,” she replied as she mentally made a note of everything they were telling her.
“It is,” Archie said. “Unless you have a few customers at once. Then it can get complicated.”
“If you get overwhelmed, ring the bell, and I’ll come out and help,” Bill added.
She saw the small bell next to the candy on the counter. Oh. So the bell wasn’t for sale. It was such a cute thing she thought it might be a toy for a child.
“It might be best to put the bell by the ledger and papers,” Bill told Archie.
“Good idea.” Archie hurried to move it.
She felt a smile tug at her lips. If she guessed right, the two men got along very well. Being with them made her feel at ease. It’d been a long time she’d felt that way around anyone.
The door opened, and a couple who appeared to be in their early twenties entered the store. A young child was holding the woman’s hand.
“That’s Pete and Ada Kelly, and that’s their boy, Fred. Ada’s a good friend of my daughter’s,” Archie whispered to Deanne. “Now, Pete doesn’t hear, so we have to use our hands to talk to him. I only know a few words. Thankfully, Ada helps me by signing to him.” He drew away from Deanne and waved to the couple. “How’s it going today?”
“We’re doing fine,” Ada replied. Letting go of Fred’s hand, she made gestures with her hands while she continued, “We came for some fabrics and buttons. Fred needs new clothes already.”
“That’s impossible,” Archie said in surprise. “Didn’t you just make that boy some new pants and shirts?”
Ada signed to her husband before answering Archie, “Yes, but Fred’s already too big for them. See?” She bent down and showed them the hem of the pants which was above his ankle.
“It’s not fair they grow up so fast,” Archie told Deanne and Bill.
Bill indicated his agreement then told Ada, “You’re in luck. We just got a new shipment of fabrics in the other day.” He pointed around the corner. “They’re over there. Before you go, though, I want to introduce you to my wife, Deanne. We just got married.”
“Yeah, so you’ll be seeing her pretty face around here instead of my old one,” Archie added.
The group laughed at his joke before Deanne offered a greeting. Ada returned the greeting then moved her hands so fast that Deanne couldn’t even fathom what she was signing to Pete. Pete, in turn, signed back just as fast. After a moment, Fred joined in.
Deanne took a deep breath and turned her attention to the ledger. If she had to keep watching that, she might get dizzy. She couldn’t imagine she’d ever be that fast with signing if she had to do that. She supposed she better learn some of the basic words to sign since Pete was going to be one of the customers she’d need to assist.
“We can help Pete and Ada with this purchase,” Archie told Bill. “I’ll show Deanne how we calculate the fabrics.”
Bill glanced her way. “Do you feel comfortable out here without me?”
Despite her apprehension, she assured him she’d be just fine. She had to get used to this job sometime, and now was as good a time as any.
As he wheeled himself to the back room, she followed Archie and Ada to where the fabrics were.
***
After Deanne helped Bill close the store, Henry came over with another man, and they put her trunk on the back of Henry’s wagon. She ate dinner with Bill, his children, and his aunt and uncle. She mostly listened as they talked.
She never was good around a lot of people, and though one might think it was silly, she considered any group larger than two to be a lot of people. They seemed happy since they did a lot of laughing and talking. They were talking so fast that she could hardly keep up with the conversation. She hoped they didn’t think she was boring. Or worse, she hoped they didn’t end up deciding they didn’t like her.
The ride in the wagon out of town was surprisingly much more subdued than dinner had been. Amber spent the majority of the thirty-minute ride singing a song she’d learned earlier that day. Deanne didn’t mind. She was just glad that listening to Amber and telling the girl she enjoyed the song was enough to please her.
It turned out the fields and fenced-in-pasture of the farm went untouched. At one time, this farm had probably had a lot of animals and crops on it. She had no idea how long it’d been since anyone tended to the land out here, and she didn’t feel it was her place to ask. All Bill had told her was that he was selling it so he could move to town. Considering everything, that was the best decision. She’d do the same in his position.
Henry helped her down from the wagon. She turned to help the children down, but they jumped down from it and ran for the barn before she could blink.
“They like to check the cats,” Bill said as Henry set the wheelchair on the board walkway that led to the ramp that went to the porch. “The cats take care of the mice. They’re useful to have out here.” Henry put an arm under Bill’s thighs and another under Bill’s arms before he helped him down from the wagon.
Deanne turned her gaze away. She probably shouldn’t worry about being caught staring at them, but she wasn’t sure if she was allowed to watch this part of things. If she’d been around someone who had been in a wheelchair or who had to deal with some other physical condition in the past, she might know how to act. Unfortunately, unless she was using math around Bill, she couldn’t completely relax. The work at the store was safe. It gave her something tangible to focus on. This whole thing of being his wife outside of the store was going to take some time to get used to.
If Bill noticed her uncertainty, he didn’t show it. He unlocked the wheels and said, “Ladies first.”
Her cheeks warm, she hurried up the ramp, thinking too late that there was no way he could catch up to her. She would have probably been better off going at a slower pace. She hoped she didn’t make him feel self-conscious about not being able to move as fast as she could.
She turned and waited for him as he made his way up the ramp.
When he reached her, he gestured to the door. “It’s not locked. You can go in.”
“Oh.” She went to the door and opened it.
“I don’t know if you have to lock doors in Omaha, but out here, you don’t. It’s a quiet community. We all take care of each other. The poor sheriff has little to do. I think the biggest excitement he’s had all month is helping one of the ladies in town get a cat down from a tree.”
She relaxed at his easy-going manner.
He wheeled himself into the house, and after a quick debate, she followed him.
“Henry will bring your trunk in,” Bill said. “Your bedroom will be upstairs. It’s the biggest one up there. It’s the second one on the right. Amber and Vernon sleep up there, too, but they’re in a different room. I sleep down here on the couch.”
She glanced in the room closest to them and saw the blanket and pillow that had been neatly placed on the couch. A dresser had been set up across the room. The chairs and table one usually found in a parlor had been removed so he could have plenty of space to move around in the wheelchair.
“There is a bedroom by the kitchen,” he continued, “but it’s easier to move this chair around this room. I’m using that other room as a parlor. If you want to have any women to come and visit, you can visit there.”
She doubted she’d have friends, but she chose not to say anything. He didn’t have to know how socially inept she was. He had married her because she was good with adding and subtracting. He didn’t marry her so she could entertain visitors. At least she didn’t think that would be part of the arrangement.
“Do you want me to entertain guests in our home?” she asked.
“Whether or not you want to do that is up to you,” he replied. “My main concern is how you’ll be with the children and how well you can handle the job at the store.”
She relaxed. Good. She hadn’t misunderstood him. She smiled. “I can handle those things, though it’ll probably take me time to adjust to being a mother.”
He smiled in return. “It took me time to adjust to being a father. When you first hold a little one and realize you’re responsible for them, it scares you. No one is born knowing how to be a parent. It’s just something that comes from the heart.”
She hoped her heart would tell her what to do because the thought of being a mother still frightened her. She took a deep breath and exhaled it. “Do you mind if I check out the rest of the house?”
“Please do. I’d go with you, but I think I’ll only slow you down. The wheelchair doesn’t work so well through most of the rooms. The only places I can easily go to are the kitchen and the room where I sleep.”
The poor man. She couldn’t imagine being so limited in where she could go. She’d taken the ability to walk for granted.
“Do you want a glass of water or something?” she asked. “I can bring something back after I find the kitchen.”
“I’ll get it later. Go on and make yourself at home.”
He wheeled himself into the room he was using as a bedroom. Taking that as her cue, she turned down the hall and checked the little room that he had converted into a parlor. The chairs were close together, and there was a table in the middle of the room. It had curtains that were just as pretty as the ones in the room he was sleeping in. She went to the kitchen and found that the same type of curtains were in there, too. She even saw other things that his first wife had brought into the home. There was a pretty cabinet with china dishes. The walls had been painted a pleasant peach color. There were even cute little animals that had been painted along the walls.
He had kept the things his first wife had added to this home. It was sweet that he had cared so much for her that he didn’t get rid of her things. She experienced a slight twinge of jealousy, but she forced it down. Her first husband hadn’t cared one way or another about her. She hadn’t married him knowing if he would love her or not, but toward the end, he had so much contempt for her that she was happy to throw out everything that reminded her of him. The last thing she ever wanted to do was remember Terry.
She took a moment to calm her emotions before she checked out the mudroom and then went up the stairs.
She made it to the second bedroom just as the door opened downstairs. She heard the excited children tell Bill about the cats. Then she heard Henry call out that he had her trunk.
She returned to the top of the stairs and yelled out, “I’m up here!”
Amber ran up the stairs ahead of him, but Vernon trailed after.
When Amber reached her, she said, “I’ll tell you where you can put the trunk.”
Surprised the girl assumed she didn’t know where to put a trunk, Deanne followed her into the larger of the two rooms.
“There’s a spot right here,” Amber said, pointing to a vacant place in the corner.
There wasn’t much to the room. The bed was made with a couple of pillows and clean bedding. There was a dresser with a large mirror above it and a basin with a washbowl. A neatly folded washcloth and bar of soap was next to the basin. Other than that, it was bare. Though it did have nice decorative curtains.
Henry came into the room.
“The trunk can go here,” Amber said.
He glanced at Deanne to make sure that was alright. When Deanne nodded, he put the trunk down in that spot. “I’ll take this pitcher and fill it with water,” he told Deanne as he retrieved it.
“The water from the well is cold,” Amber said after he left the room.
“Cold water doesn’t bother me,” Deanne replied.
“I hate it. I like to wait until I get to Aunt Marsha’s to wash up. She heats water up for me,” the girl said. “Vernon likes the warm water, too.”
Deanne glanced at the boy as he climbed onto her trunk. She wasn’t sure what he planned to do with it until he jumped up and down on it.
“Vernon, that’s not nice,” Amber admonished, putting her hands on her hips. “This is a nice trunk. You don’t want to ruin it.”
“It’s fun,” Vernon replied as he continued jumping.
Amber rolled her eyes. “Kids. What are you going to do?” She went to the trunk and pointed to the floor. “Get down right now!”
Vernon grew stiff and then hurried to obey.
“It’s time to get to bed,” Amber told her brother. “Come on. I’ll help you.”
As Amber and Vernon left her bedroom, Deanne wondered if she should be the one making sure Vernon got ready for bed. She was their mother now. Surely, making sure children got ready for bed was a mother’s job. Wasn’t it?
Henry returned to her room with the pitcher of water and an empty glass. “This should see you through the night and morning. I usually take care of Amber and Vernon, so I’ll do that tonight. Then you can start on that tomorrow. I’ll be here at 6:30. Bill and I made sure there’s plenty of food in the kitchen for you to make breakfast. Bill and the kids used to come out to my place to eat breakfast, but Bill thought you’d rather cook here in the mornings.”
“Yes, I would.” While she was relieved she didn’t have to go through the trouble of figuring out how to get children ready for bed tonight, she did want to do everything that was expected of her tomorrow.
Henry wished her a good night and went to the next room. She listened to him and the children while she put her things away. It took a while to realize he was telling them a story. Amber asked a lot of questions about it, but Vernon remained quiet.
As she put her brush and pins out on the dresser, Deanne’s exhaustion caught up to her, and she found herself yawning. What a day it’d been.
But she’d made it to Lincoln. That was what mattered. Though she’d lost her purse, it could have been worse. She’d much rather be in this house with Bill and his children than on her way back to Kentucky. At least here, she might be happy. And if not happy, then content.
She closed her bedroom door so she could get ready for bed. Once she was in her nightgown, she slipped under the covers.
She heard Henry go downstairs and say something to Bill. Then the front door shut, and he took the wagon to his home.
Her eyelids drooped, and she felt sleep sneaking up on her. She had gone through enough for one day. Tomorrow would take care of itself. She closed her eyes, and before long, she was fast asleep.