Roberta: Bride of Wisconsin (American Mail-Order Bride 30) by Kirsten Osbourne

Author:Kirsten Osbourne [Osbourne, Kirsten]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Historical, Romance, Fiction, Forever Love, Victorian Era, Western, Thirtieth In Series, Saga, Fifty-Books, Forty-Five Authors, Newspaper Ad, Short Story, American Mail-Order Bride, Bachelor, Single Woman, Marriage Of Convenience, Christian, Religious, Faith, Inspirational, Factory Burned, Pioneer, Wisconsin, Matchmaker, Widower, Independence, Problems, Deceased Wife, Two Boys, Single Father, Family Life, Differences, Loveless Marriage
Goodreads: 27826541
Publisher: Unlimited Dreams Publishing
Published: 2015-12-18T05:00:00+00:00

Chapter Seven

Life was different for Jakob and Bobbie after the picnic. They continued to have their separate rooms, but they both looked forward to spending time together in the evenings.

During the day, Bobbie worked hard to get the sewing done. By the end of the first week, she presented him with three pairs of work pants and four new shirts. She had even made him several pairs of socks.

He looked down at the garments in disbelief. "It would have taken Erna a month to do this much sewing. And she would have ignored all the cleaning to get it done so quickly."

"She didn't use a sewing machine, though. The sewing machine makes everything much faster."

"She said it slowed her down!"

"That's because she didn't take the time to learn to use it properly. I had to learn in the factory where I worked. I made sure I was the fastest at everything, so I would never have to worry about losing my job."

"And then a fire destroyed everything?"

"I was the manager of the entire factory by then," she said. "I managed it for two years before it burned."

"What happened? How did it burn?"

She frowned. She had deliberately not told him the full story, because she didn't want him to get angry about it. "I found discrepancies in the books. We were missing some money, and I couldn't figure out why. No one had access to the office but me. I was starting to believe one of the girls was stealing from the factory, but no matter what I did, I couldn't get the cash on hand and the books to balance."

"So do you think one of the women did it to hide the fact that she was stealing?"

"No. I know who did it." Bobbie frowned down at the scarf she was crocheting for Konrad for Christmas. "I called the owner of the factory in and he told me that he knew about the discrepancy before I could tell him why he was there. He was the one taking the money." She sighed. "He said he was going to close the factory. I was trying to figure out how I was going to tell over one hundred women they were losing their job when I heard a crash and screams. Someone threw stones through the window and deliberately started the fire."

"The owner? He destroyed his own property?"

"Yes. I don't understand why he did it, but I know it was him." She sighed. "I felt responsible for everyone there. I'm the one who found a matchmaker and suggested that we could all become mail-order brides. It was a frightening time for a while. Some of the women were married and able to do without the extra income, but there were a great many of us who had nowhere to go and no way to support ourselves."

Jakob shook his head. "I wondered why a woman would marry a total stranger. That makes a lot of sense to me now."

"People become mail-order brides for all sorts of reasons, but a lot of us jumped at the chance, because it gave us somewhere to go.

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