Page 24 of Mail Order Mother-in-law

He nodded before going out to hitch up the wagon. He handed his mother-in-law into the seat before walking around and taking the leads.

“How are you and Heather getting on?” her mother asked. “She seems afraid of you.”

Patrick frowned. “Heather is not afraid of me. We get along very well. It’s like we chose one another, and she didn’t come to me as a mail-order bride.”

“I see. She told me that she was shocked when she saw how big you are, and you’re careless with her in bed. Is that true?” Caroline asked.

“I will not discuss those things with you.” Patrick was hurt that Heather would say such a thing, and he prayed her mother was trying to stir up trouble as Heather had told him earlier.

Once they were in town, he pulled up in front of the Prewitts’ boarding house and helped her down. He walked her inside himself and introduced her to Amanda Bedwell. “Amanda, this is my mother-in-law. She’d like to have a room for a while.”

Amanda nodded. “We don’t allow men visitors here,” she said emphatically. “We serve three meals per day, and you do your own washing. For extra money we will clean your room for you.” She named a figure. “That’s our weekly rate.”

Caroline smiled and pulled some money from her reticule. “This should be enough for a month then.”

Amanda counted out the money and gave Caroline her change. “We’ll take good care of her, Mr. O’Brien.”

“Thank you,” Patrick said, heading for the door. Now to go home and figure out what his wife was hiding from him.

Chapter Nine

After her mother had left for the evening, Sally looked at Heather. “I thought your mother was dead.”

Heather shook her head. “I never actually said that. You assumed it, and I let you.” She sighed. “Let’s go in the parlor and I’ll talk. I will tell you that Patrick knew the whole story, but I didn’t want you to think less of me.”

Once they were both seated in the parlor, Heather spoke again. “My father died when I was young. Mother hired a farmhand to do all the things he’d done, and I finished school. Around the time I finished, Mother said she was sick. She started having the doctor come to see her every day. I had a man who wanted to court me, but I said no because I needed to care for my sick mother. It went that way for nine years. I spent my days cooking, cleaning, and doing all the shopping and laundry, while Mother languished in bed, complaining about how badly she felt.”

Sally’s eyes narrowed. “That’s hard to believe.”

Heather nodded. “I know. About three months ago, I walked into the house to see my mother standing beside her bed, stretching. She did toe touches and jumping jacks. She’d told me the week before the doctor said she’d be bedridden soon, and there was no way she would be able to continue walking all the way across the house to the table to eat, and she would prefer if I started bringing her meals to her bed.” Shaking her head, she said, “I started to question everything at that point. After a few weeks, I decided to catch the doctor alone, and see if she really was sick or just pretending so I would do all the work and take care of her.”

Sally nodded. “That sounds like a perfectly logical way to handle it.”

“The doctor told me there wasn’t a thing wrong with my mother. That I was allowing her to be ill by taking care of her. I asked a few more questions and told him I thought I was going to leave town, just to be sure she really could care for herself.” Heather hoped with everything inside her that Sally believed her. “After their visit, he suggested I meet with Elizabeth Tandy, the matchmaker who Patrick sent his letter to.”

“All right.”

“I went to town under the ruse of shopping, and while I was there, I went to see Mrs. Tandy. I didn’t tell her anything about why I was there, as I didn’t want people to think poorly of Mother, but I made it clear I needed to leave soon. Elizabeth handed me Patrick’s letter, and I wrote a quick response for the telegraph. I left the following morning. I left Mother a note saying I was leaving and not to try to find me because she wouldn’t be able to.”

Sally looked stunned, but Heather wasn’t certain if the older woman believed her. “Shortly after I arrived, I was telling Patrick that I’d left a note telling her little other than I was leaving. He convinced me that it would be the right thing to do to send her a letter, telling her that I was safe. I had no idea she’d follow me, so I gave the name of the town so she could at least correspond with me. I never heard back from her, but she showed up here this morning.”

Sally shook her head. “That lovely woman who was here today couldn’t be the woman you’re talking about. What about all the sweet stories about you picking berries and making jam together?”

“To my knowledge, my mother has never made jam in her life. The stories were about my grandmother and me when we made jam together. Mother just put herself into those stories, so she would seem like the perfect mother.” Heather sighed. “She told me the night before I left that the doctor had told her she only had one or two months to live, and I know the doctor said nothing of the kind.”

“My mother died shortly before Patrick was born. All I could think about was that I wished she’d lasted just another month, so she could hold her grandson for the first time.”

Heather frowned. “I’m so sorry for your loss, but my relationship with my mother wasnevera good one. I took care of her out of duty. I was very angry when I found she’d been lying to me for years, and there was nothing wrong with her.”

Sally frowned. “It’s just so hard to reconcile what you’re saying with the woman who spent the day helping us in the kitchen.”

“I understand. But…I also know what I lived through. I would like for everyone to believe me and realize that my mother is not who she says she is, but I have no idea how to make that happen. I suppose I could write the doctor…”

Sally frowned. “But how would we know if he was the doctor who treated her? You could have anyone write that letter back to you.”

“That’s very true. I do hope you’ll either believe me or give me a chance to prove I’m the woman I say I am. Mother’s truth will come out. She can’t keep up the pretense for long.”

Patrick walked in and shut the door behind him, and both ladies turned where they could see him. “Heather, if that woman is your mother, she’s nothing like you described her. Have you lied to me, or is she pretending?”

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