A Bride for Adam by Barbara Goss (speld decodable readers .TXT) 📗

“What do you mean, Adam refused,” Rhea said.

“He’s in love with the sea and refuses to leave it.”

“You need to talk to him again,” Rhea said.

“It’s very difficult to argue with someone by telegraph. He’s somewhere in Portugal.”

“Can you catch a ride on a clipper and beat him to his next destination?” Rhea sounded desperate.

“No, I have a better idea,” Sam said. “I’ll fire him.”

“Fire him?” Rhea gasped.

“He’ll have no choice but to come home, and we can discuss this in person. I’ll tell him to bring the ship into Philadelphia immediately and have Isaac take over his clipper.”

“And if he agrees with our plan? What then as far as our shipping business goes?”

Sam laughed. “He’s still fired. What good would it do for Greta to have a husband if he’s across the ocean?”

“In the part of Greece where I came from, a single brother always marries his brother’s widow. At least, they did when my grandparents were married,” Rhea said.

Greta couldn’t bear to hear anymore. She fled up the stairs and went to her room. They were forcing Adam to marry her. How humiliating. Of course, she’d always loved Adam, but she didn’t want him that way. And he’d refused!

Greta wasn’t sure what had caused Adam to change his mind, but it seemed that Adam couldn’t turn back to Philadelphia with merchandise due in London, as it was already late due to mechanical problems. It would be months before he could return to Philadelphia and Texas.

Before she knew what was happening, Greta was standing at the altar in church, repeating her marriage vows to the minister’s son. A proxy marriage was also done in London when Adam landed there, and she was married to Adam Sutherland by proxy.

Greta’s belly had become pronounced, but Rhea had a seamstress make her a wedding dress that hid her stomach. The Sutherlands had the doctor take residence in the home so he’d be ready to deliver the baby at any time. She still had two months to go before the baby was due, but they made her live as if she were walking on hot coals in the Sutherland home. All Greta heard over the last two months was, “Don’t walk in the yard, the ground is uneven.” “Go up the stairs slowly, dear.” “Be careful,” “Slow down.” Greta began to wonder if the baby moving so energetically inside her body was hers or theirs.

Despite the fawning by Seth’s parents, she felt alone. Carrying a fatherless child was somewhat scary.

Rhea was a good, godly woman, and Greta loved her for her kindness, but she even wanted to name the baby. Her grandmother told her to ignore that request and name the child herself.

Rhea had been raised in the Greek Orthodox Church, but when she met Sam, she joined the Methodist Church in Philadelphia where they’d married. Not only had she joined the faith, but she’d embraced it. In Fort Worth, they’d joined the First Christian Church on Main and Houston. It was the oldest church in Fort Worth. They’d already outgrown the present building and planned to build a larger church. It was in that church that Greta had first seen Adam and had fallen head over heels for him. Now, she hoped he’d stay at sea. A forced marriage wouldn’t sit well with him. He wasn’t like Seth. He was headstrong and controlling like his mother. Seth’s memory became sweeter as time went by.

About five o’clock one Monday morning, Greta awoke in pain. She knew immediately why, and she threw on her kimono, tiptoed to Rhea and Sam’s room, and knocked on the door.

“Yes?” Sam called, groggily. “What is it?”

“It’s Greta. I think it’s time.”

Before she’d finished her sentence, the door flung open, and Rhea escorted her back to her room while Sam woke the doctor.

At Rhea’s prompting, the doctor examined her. It was uncomfortable having to be examined physically while in such pain. She was careful not to cry out when the pains became severe, lest Rhea panic and insist the doctor examine her yet again.

Finally, at three the next morning, the baby took her first breath, and cried until the doctor wrapped her up and laid her in Greta’s arms. When she stopped crying, she stared up at her mother.

“Bethany,” Greta said to the baby. “Bethany Rose.”

Rhea looked disappointed. “We’d hoped for a boy.” She shrugged. “She’s beautiful, but why Bethany?”

“Beth for Seth,” Greta said.

“Oh! How perfect!” Rhea nudged her husband. “Why didn’t we think of that?”

 “Wait until Adam sees her,” Sam said.

“Any word on when he’ll come home?” Rhea asked.

“He’s in Bermuda, so it shouldn’t be too much longer.”

“Sam, tell me and Greta what’s going on with Adam. We have a right to know.”

Sam shrugged. “When I fired him, he agreed to the proxy marriage. Now, he claims he’s commissioned merchandise that needs to be delivered before he can bring the clipper to Philadelphia. When he’s done, he plans to take a train to Fort Worth.” Sam hesitated while glancing at Greta. “He said we can come to some sort of agreement when he gets here. He doesn’t want to stop sailing.”

“What?” Rhea said. “We need to find something to keep him busy and happy here in Fort Worth, then.”

“Like what?” Sam asked.

“The house we built for them is nearly finished—they could move in. We could buy him a business.” Rhea rubbed her forehead. “He needs to stay here and bond with his new family.”

Bethany began to fuss, and Rhea asked to hold her. She rocked the child and talked to her. “You are the princess of the Sutherland household.”

Chapter Three

Bethany was already walking, and Adam still hadn’t arrived. Sam was furious. Greta heard him yelling one morning as she came into the dining room.

“How dare