Chapter 6
“No wonder you felt like your world was spinning out of control. Maybe you need to see if you can still adopt that child. Having one parent is better than having no parent at all. I can see how good you are with babies watching you with my own, you’d be good taking care of a baby of your own, Marian.
Were you adopting a baby or a child?” Marley asked her quietly.
“The adoption agency just told us that they were going to give us a child of our own. Jerry and I were so excited that I made curtains for the bedroom, and he made a small bed for the child, we didn’t care if it were a boy or a girl…
then he died…I never thought of going through with the adoption without him beside me.
Do you really think that I could adopt a child on my own?
How could I support myself and a child? Where would we live?
” Marian asked her and with each question, she came more and more alive.
“Those are questions you’d have to find answers for.
I’m sure that there are small houses here in town that you’d be able to buy with the money you have from selling the house you had back in the town you and Jerry were living.
I’m also sure that you have talents that you have that are marketable.
You sew…a friend of mine mends for the resale store and makes money.
There are dress stores in town that hire women to sew for them.
Are you good with numbers? Stores in town need bookkeepers to keep their books in order.
You can also watch other people’s kids while women work as nurses, teachers, in stores, and such.
It should be enough to buy your supplies, get you enough wood to keep you warm, and with the house you bought…
you’d have a roof over your head, food on the table, and a way to survive.
You and your baby or child would be all set.
On top of that…you are a good-looking woman.
There’s a shortage of women out west. I don’t think you’d be single very long.
There are a lot of good men that need a good woman to help them out here.
What do you think?” Marley told her and saw her stop in what she was doing at her words.
“You think someone would want me? Aren’t I too old for anyone to want for a wife?” Marian asked her. She seemed surprised that anyone would want her for a wife and be attracted to her as old as she was.
Marley started laughing. “Marian, how old are you? You can’t be any older then thirty years old.
That’s not old, why you’re still young enough to have children of your own.
Think about adopting that baby or child that you were going to take before and also realize that your life isn’t over… it’s just taking a turn.”
Marian smiled…she didn’t laugh, but it did put her to thinking about what she wanted to do. She found Marley easy to talk to. She didn’t judge, and she sure told her what she thought!
By the time Helen came to get her, they were talking up a storm as if they had known each other for years. Helen stopped to look at her sister-in-law as if she were a different person than the one she had dropped off this morning. “Marian…how are you feeling?” She asked.
“Good, really good. I’d like to stop and send a telegram on our way back to the store.
I also want to look around the town this afternoon.
I think I’m ready to move out of your house and look for one of my own.
I’m sorry for being such a pain in the ass for the last year, Marley has made me see that life doesn’t have to be over for me.
I will always love my ten years with Jerry, and he will always have a special place in my heart with love.
But he would want me to go on and make a new life for myself.
Marley helped me get all my mumbled feelings out of my mind this afternoon.
I can’t wait to come back and help her with the babies in two days and tell her of my search for a house and what my telegram reply says.
Thank you, Marley.” Marian told her and waved as they left.
Helen couldn’t believe the change in her sister-in-law.
Marian did send the telegram to the adoption agency.
Mrs. Adams, this is Marian Garrison. Stop. My husband died. Stop. I had to come to terms with his death. Stop. I am still interested in adopting a baby or child. Stop. Would you still allow me to adopt being a widow? Stop. Thank you, Marian. Stop.
She went into the general store and ate a sandwich with Helen and George and smiled.
It almost knocked George off the chair he was sitting on.
Then she worked around the store. When they weren’t busy, she left to walk up and down the town looking for a small house that she thought she might be able to afford and it wouldn’t be too far from the store, so she would still be able to help out George and Helen.
They had been very good to her after Jerry died.
She ran into Sheriff Tanner and mentioned what she was looking for.
“You know, Mrs. Garrison, I think I have a house that just might be what you’re looking for.
A man died over the winter and owned a house not too far from the general store.
He owned a little house that’s only three rooms. The house is made of logs, so it’s sturdy.
As far as I know, it’s in good shape. Let me show you where it’s at.
I even think it’s close to where one of my deputy’s lives.
” Owen took her over to the little house.
It was two doors down from where Chris and Heather lived.
She was outside with little Sarah. Owen took the time to introduce them to Marian.
“It’s so nice to meet my neighbors,” Heather told her and shook her hand. “I didn’t know the man who lived in the house the sheriff is taking you to. I did hear that he died. I did like all the flowers he had around his house, though.”
Marian laughed and smiled at the little girl just sitting on a quilt. “You have a beautiful daughter. She looks just like you. If I buy the house, I’d love to babysit for you if you ever need one.”
“I’ll keep that in mind. Thank you.” Heather told her and headed back inside to change her daughter’s diaper.
By then they had reached the empty house.
It was exactly like Sheriff Tanner had mentioned.
It was a kitchen, and two bedrooms. The kitchen had a cookstove, table, and four chairs.
There was even a rocking chair in front of the fireplace.
All of the man’s pots, pans, dishes still sat on the shelves around the kitchen, but his supplies would need to be thrown away unfortunately.
Marian did notice a cellar door on the kitchen floor.
The sheriff pulled it up and saw that it did have wooden walls and a wooden floor.
Marian nodded, she liked that she wouldn’t have snakes to contend with when she went down into the cellar to get her supplies. It was small, but perfect for her.
The two bedrooms weren’t that big, but just right for what she wanted them for.
The biggest one had a bed in it, but the mattress smelled and she knew that she would throw it away and make a new one.
It did have a dresser, which was nice. The second bedroom didn’t have a bed or a dresser.
It must have been used as a storage room; it was pretty much empty.
Looking outside, she found a small smoke house that still had some meat in it.
There was still wood stacked against the side of the house.
There were no holes in the roof or on the porch or floor.
No wind blew through the walls, but it did need a very good cleaning.
There wasn’t room for a garden, a shed, or any animals.
Which was just as well, Marian didn’t know how to take care of any!
There were flowers planted all around the little house.
Marian liked the setting, even the big old oak tree that gave the backyard shade.
In looking the back yard over, she discovered that he had a washstand, rinse box, and several clothes lines to wash clothes.
She loved that. And it was big enough to make a play yard for a child as they got older or if she got a child that was old enough to need one.
“I like the house, Sheriff. How much do you think it will cost?” Marian asked him quietly.
“I have no idea. I do know that the man who lived here had a son. He lives in San Francisco. He wanted to sell the place so he wouldn’t have to come here and do it himself.
I think that if you sent him a telegram and made him an offer, he’d take it just to get rid of it. ” Owen told her and saw her smile.
“Let’s go to the land office to see how much it’s worth. Then, we’ll go make an offer on it. I have no idea of what it’s worth or how much the son is asking.” Marian told him.
“Me either. I’m curious to find out, too.” Owen told her and accompanied her to the land office. The lot and house were lower than they thought it might be. The sheriff was right, the son wanted to sell it as quickly as possible.
Marian went to the telegraph office and sent a telegram with an offer.
It was even less than the land office told her it was worth.
Owen smiled. Marian was proving to be a shrewd businesswoman.
The son jumped on the offer. No one had even sniffed at the empty house for the last six months; he wanted to be rid of it.
Marian went to the bank and sent the money by wire to him, and he sent the deed to her.
In less than two hours, she was a landowner.
She went back to the general store and announced it to George and Helen, and they almost fainted at the news.
“Marian! I can’t believe that you’ve hardly talked for almost a year and suddenly you’ve sent telegrams about adoption, and you’ve bought a house in one afternoon! What is going on with you?” Helen asked her wondering if she should take her back to the doctor.
“Marley made me see that I’m not the only one that bad things happened to.
She also made me see that life goes on and I needed to get on with my life.
I want to live with a child in my life. I still want to help out in the store with you and George.
You’ve been so good to me since Jerry died, but I also want to look around for a job that I can do at home while I take care of my new child.
” Marian told her and hugged them both. Then, she left to head to the resale store.
She needed to make a new mattress for her bed. She also needed cleaning supplies.
Carrie Miller ran the resale store. She sold Marian everything she needed to make her mattress, make up her new bed, and clean her little house. She also hired her to sew for her just like Heather did. Marian was thrilled and went to start cleaning and making her new mattress.
She took out the old one and started sewing the new one.
Heather came over and helped her. She was glad she got a job with Carrie sewing.
With two of them sewing, it didn’t take long getting it done.
She even helped her fill it with fresh grass and clover.
It took both of them to carry it back to her home.
Heather had to go back home to take care of Sarah, but Marian felt good about making a new friend.
Then, she started scrubbing the floors of all three floors and washing the windows.
It started to get dark, so she headed for the general store.
This would be the last night she would sleep at Helen and George’s home.
By tomorrow, she would be in her new home.
She also wondered how long it would take before she knew if she were going to be able to adopt a baby or child of her own.
Dinner was quiet that night, while Marian was more like her old self, Helen and George didn’t know how to treat the new Marian.
She told them all about her house and where it was.
She invited them to come and see it and also told them that she hoped to be all moved in by sometime tomorrow.
Everything was moving so quickly, Helen was in a state of shock.
She felt that she needed to talk to Doctor Flynn about Marian’s sudden change in moods.
Could she go from such a deep depression to being almost happy so quickly?
She went to see him even before Marian was up and moving in the morning.
“Helen what brings you here so early in the morning? Did Marian try to commit suicide?” Flynn asked her in alarm.