Conner's Contrary Bride by Barbara Goss (accelerated reader books .txt) 📗

finished eating, Conner put everything back into the basket and leaned back against the tree, his hands behind his head. “This is what we do on Sunday: we relax. God said to remember the Sabbath and to keep it holy.”

“What’s the Sabbath?” she asked.

“It’s Sunday—a holy day.”

“Is that why Bertie isn’t at home?”

“Yes. On Sunday she spends her time with a lady she met at church, named Hazel White. She’s blind, and Bertie helps her on Sundays when her son visits his children in Russell, the next town over. He’s not living with his wife right now. They’re having problems.”

“Oh,” was all Elsie could think to say.

“I also wanted a chance to tell you something I should have told you before we married.”

Elsie looked up at him. What was he going to tell her? Her heart skipped a beat. She just knew he was would tell her something unpleasant.

Conner removed his hands from behind his head and placed them on his lap. “You are my second wife.”

“What? Where is she now?” Elsie asked.

“We were married for two-and-a-half years. She died giving birth to our daughter. I buried them in the church cemetery back in Missouri. Mary was a kind woman. I had a hard time getting over her death. After several years, I became lonely for companionship—besides Bertie’s, that is.”

“Missouri? What made you move to Hays City?”

“The town turned against me, so I moved here. Back in Missouri, my town thought as a doctor, I should have been able to save them both.” Conner shook his head and blinked back tears. “I tried—God knows how hard I tried. The baby came a month early and wasn’t in the birthing position but was coming out feet first. I knew there was a risk that the cord would wrap around the baby’s neck, but the infant just kept coming out. I tried to stop it and managed to do it with one hand, then I reached inside Mary to release the cord. So, I had one hand holding the baby’s legs so it wouldn’t fall out and the other was trying to slip the cord from its neck, but it wouldn’t budge, and Mary was screaming and crying. I didn’t know what else to do.”

“Finally, I took my hands off both of them to reach for my scalpel to cut the cord, but the moment I turned, the baby slid out and strangled. It happened so fast. I didn’t know who to treat first, Mary, or my daughter. Blood was streaming from Mary, and my daughter’s face was blue. I quickly stuffed a clean cloth on Mary’s bleeding, and then I tried to revive my daughter by breathing into her mouth and compressing her chest, but she wouldn’t respond. Before Mary died, she kept asking why the baby wasn’t crying. After I stopped trying to revive the baby, I did everything to stop Mary’s bleeding, and before she died she said, ‘Name her Ella, after my mother.’ I buried them together.”

His words puzzled Elsie. “Why did the town think you didn’t do everything in your power to save them?”

“I don’t know. I think her father had something to do with it. He was the mayor, and he told everyone it was my fault, and they believed him.”

Elsie squeezed one of his hands. “I’m so sorry. I believe that you did everything you could. I haven’t known you long, but I know you well enough to know that you could never do such a thing.”

“I loved Mary, and I loved little Ella.”

Conner stood and brushed off his pants. “So, now you know my sordid past, too.”

“I don’t blame you for not telling me sooner,” Elsie said. “It’s too sad a story for before a wedding.”

“Let’s take a walk. There’s a path that leads to the Smoky Hill River. It’s not a beautiful river but rather muddy-looking this time of the year with all the rain we’ve had this spring. When we come back in a few weeks, you’ll see it’s rather beautiful. There’ll be boats floating in with lumber for the lumberyard, and barges carrying in supplies.”

When they reached the river, several boys were there, throwing stones into the water. Conner and Elsie watched them for a while.

“So, Elsie, do you think you and I can make a go of this marriage?”

Elsie shrugged. She wondered if it was a good time to tell him her last secret. It seemed an opportune time.

“You know why I smile so much, especially at difficult times?”

Conner shrugged. “No, but you have a lovely smile.”

“It’s my way of holding back my worst fault… I have a terrible temper.”

“A temper? You?” Conner looked at her and laughed. “Why, you’re the sweetest and most mild-tempered person I’ve ever met.”

“Remember the children in town who laughed and called me names?”

“Yes, I remember.”

“One day they stopped and never bothered me again because I punched a boy in the mouth and broke his front tooth. His parents told my stepfather, and I got a beating, but it was worth it. No one ever called me names again.”

“I think you had that building up inside of you. It’s quite normal to explode,” Conner said.

“It was a good thing that when Frank attacked me, the only thing I could reach to hit him with was a high-heeled shoe. Had it been a hammer or something, I’d be a murderer.” Elsie hugged herself to stop the chill that ran through her. “I bottled up my temper each time Frank hit me or my mother, and I started smiling at him. It seemed to cool him down.”

“You want to know what I think, Elsie? I think God put us together for a reason.”

Chapter Six

Things were working out well with Elsie helping at the clinic and Bertie doing the housekeeping and