Not Quite A Mail Order Bride (Mail Order Brides) Read Free Page B

[Author’s note: Hetty, their housekeeper and nanny had a small house near the main house.]
     
    “Won’t they come back here when they know you’re home?” she asked. “You don’t want them to see their mother like this. You have to tell them, but they can’t see her until after I get her washed and dressed.”
     
    “Oh God, how can I tell them their mother is dead and they can’t see her?” He completely broke down again.
     
    “Would you like for me to go over there and tell them?” Sarah asked.
     
    “No, that is my job to tell them. I’ll go do that in a few minutes,” he said.
     
    “Luke, you’re not alone in this. We’re your friends. We were her friends too. Let us help. I’d like to wash her and get her dressed in one of her pretty dresses. Would that be all right with you?” Sarah asked.
     
    “Yes, of course, Sarah, if you would please. First, just give me a few more minutes alone with her.”
     
    “Any particular dress you would like for her to wear? I was thinking of the blue one with the yellow flowers. Is that okay with you?” she asked.
     
    “That one will be good. Now if I could…?”
     
    Sarah and Jed left the heartbroken and heartsick man alone with the body of his beloved Clara.
     
    In the other room, Jed embraced Sarah. “I don’t know if I could handle the loss of you. Just so you know, you are my whole life and I could never do without you.”
     
    “Let’s hope you don’t have to, my darling.” She kissed him. “The hard part is going to be telling the boys. Neither is old enough to understand the concept of death. To be without a mother at their age is going to be extremely difficult.. I don’t envy him the job of telling them.”
    She sat on the sofa, with Jed beside her. She was not looking forward to the job of bathing and dressing Clara. It was just something neighbors and friends did for each other. Life on a ranch was a hardship and there were many deaths to cope with. It eventually became a part of their life.
     
    Luke came out of the room. He had washed his face, but his eyes were still red. “I’m going to tell my sons about their mother,” he said. “Sarah, would you see to Clara for me, please? I’d appreciate it.” He left the room and the house.
     
    When Luke returned, he said,  “The boys are going to stay with Hetty tonight,”
     
    “Jimmy is too young to understand, but how is Will?”
     
    “He cried, but Hetty is comforting him. I don’t think he totally understands. I told him his mother was in heaven now and he wanted to go see her. It was the hardest thing I have ever had to do including burying my brother. I just don’t understand the ways of a God that will take the most important thing in mine and my two boys lives. It doesn’t seem right.”
     
    “Clara is ready now. She looks beautifully serene,” Sarah said. “Do you want us to stay tonight,” she asked.
     
    “No, that is not necessary. You go on home and hug your children extra tight. You never know what tomorrow will bring. I’ll be all right.”
     
    “John and Grace will be out tomorrow. I assume you’ll want to have services?” Jed asked.
     
    “Yes… no… I don’t know what I want. I’m going to put her next to Will. She came out here to marry him and now she’s joining him a lot sooner than we all thought. I will be put next to her and all three of us will be together..”
     
    “Luke, don’t talk that way. You have to be strong. You have to be both mother and father to your sons,” an alarmed Sarah said.
     
    “Yes, well, right now, I’m not sure I’m up to the task,” he replied.
     
    “”Listen to yourself, Luke. You have to go on. It’s what Clara would have wanted. She trusted and loved you and she gave you two sons. Now it’s up to you to take care of them for her,” Jed said, as he embraced him “Luke, even though you’re just a few years older than I am, you’ve been sort of a father figure to me. I’ve modeled myself after