Mail Order Maternity (Brides of Beckham Book 6) by Kirsten Osbourne

the chance.  Esther had never been to a casual service, so she was surprised it was done that way.
    After they prayed and sang a second song, the men went outside to talk and supervise the children while the women hurried to put lunch on the table.  Esther found she liked the idea of eating with the women who would be her friends and fellow church members, because she wanted to get to know them all better.  Once the food was on the table, they called the men in and prayed again.  The men and children sat in the chairs the other families had brought, while Esther and the women sat at the table.
    “Does Samuel always do the preaching?” Esther asked.
    Victoria nodded.  “He’s the oldest, so all the others voted that he has to do it.  He always teaches like he did today, though.  He’s not a qualified preacher and refuses to do anything but discuss his views and the views of the others.”
    “It was strange,” Esther blurted out.
    The other women all laughed.  “It’s been a work in progress,” Mary told her.  “At first the men took turns trying to preach actual sermons and that was awful.  None of them felt comfortable doing it, and nothing they preached made very much sense.”
    Esther grinned.  “I can’t imagine Thomas preaching.”
    Bertha shook her head.  “He wasn’t the worst.  They were all really bad to be honest with you.  Then they decided to take turns just reading from the scriptures.  The children squirmed and wiggled, and we women got sick of that pretty fast, too.”
    “Then about six months ago, the men decided to try it this way.  It seems to work better than anything else we’ve done.”  Mary shrugged as if she was hopeful it would continue to work.
    “I guess there are no preachers in the area?”
    Victoria shook her head.  “There just aren’t enough people here to warrant sending a pastor.  We enjoy the way we do it, but it’s definitely different.”
    “I like the lunches afterward.”
    Mary nodded emphatically.  “We all get a little bit of Bible learning, but the important thing is we get to fellowship with each other.  We all need that more than anything.  Especially since there’re no schools or anything else.”
    Esther made a face.  “Do any of you ever go a little bit crazy wishing there were more people around?”
    Victoria laughed.  “When we first moved here, it was just us and Thomas.  I looked at my husband, his brother, my two little ones, and wheat fields for months on end.  I really thought I was going to end up in an asylum.  I was so happy to see Mary when she first moved here that I think I spent every other day at her place.  She didn’t even have a house yet, so I’d take her bread or coffee or anything I could think of just to have the company of another woman.”
    Esther smiled slightly.  “I think I’d have been the same way.”
    Bertha nodded.  “I would have too.  I’m thankful the others were already here when I arrived.”  She squeezed Esther’s hand.  “It’s even harder to be out here when you’re carrying, so if you start to go crazy, you come see me.  Or any of the others, of course.”
    Esther nodded.  “Thank you.  I’m doing okay so far, but I had MaryAnn with me for most of the week, which really helped out a lot.”
    “You really haven’t been here long enough to go crazy yet.  Winter is the worst.  When the snow starts to fly, you’ll find you want to get out and won’t feel like you should, especially with a baby on the way.   Everything you want to do will have to wait.  You’ll have to buy all the supplies you’ll need for the whole winter in the fall.  I don’t know what we’d do if we didn’t have Victoria.”  Bertha smiled at Victoria.  “She’s not only our midwife; she takes care of us when anything goes wrong.”
    Esther looked at Victoria with surprise.  “You handle all of the doctoring for the area?”
    “Only the minor things.  Broken bones, stitching up