Romance: Western Mail Order Bride "Bethany's Love"-Clean Christian Historical Romance (Western Mail Order Bride Short Shorties Series) (150 page)

Chapter 3

Was this her mystery man?

He wore a rumpled suit and sported a fresh shave. His dark hair was lacquered in place behind his ears, and Nora noticed the mud on his boots before returning to his eyes, which were greener than the grass. His smile revealed a set of teeth the same shade as ivory, and Nora lightly bowed her head as she offered her hand.

“Nora Miller,” she said by way of introduction. “And you… you are Mr.---”

“Russell,” he said, offering the surname to finish her thought. “I smiled when you answered my letter.”

She almost returned his grin when she looked to his wagon and jutted her chin towards her bag.

“I brought some things,” Nora started. “Just give me a moment and I’ll--”

“That would hardly be the gentlemanly thing to do,” he said. “Please, allow me.”

He seemed happy to have a task, and Nora watched him tip the porter as he stored her suitcase for safety in a simple wagon and brushed his hands together as he stood before her.

“We’re all set,” he said. “Are you ready to ride?”

“I’m counting on you to lead the way, sir.” Her heart fluttered in her chest when he scrunched his nose and shook his head.

“No need to be so formal,” he said. “After all, we’re going to be married.”

For a single second, the entire venture seemed insane. Miles away from home on account of a few shared scribbles on a page. What if her mother was right? What if he was a mad man even as he glistened under the fresh light of the sun?

“Of course we… if I’ve said too much too soon please forgive me.”

It was strange to see a man so strong turn sheepish, and Nora took comfort in the blush spreading across his clean cheeks and dared to touch his smooth skin. He leaned into her palm, and she felt the breath on the back of his smile drifting over her palm.

“Not at all,” Nora said as she folded her arm under his. “Please lead the way,
Henry
.”

Looking as happy as a child on Christmas morning, Henry helped her up and furrowed his brow as he focused on her dress.

“Is something wrong?” she asked.

“Not at all,” he said. “You really are very lovely.”

“So are you,” Nora said. “I mean that.”

“Thanks for the compliment. And you have such a sweet voice.”

He urged the horse forward, and Nora smiled as she took in the lay of the land.

“So much space!” she declared.

“Must be a lot for a city girl to get used to,” Henry said.

The East 20s also stretched for miles. But it was one house on top of another as carriages crossed the pavement at all hours, and a patch of open air was hard to come by. Sometimes Nora made her way to the Hudson on foot and tried to imagine a wider world. But there were always barges and ferries blocking her view, and she returned home with a sag in her step. Was she destined to tread the same path until her hair turned gray after a life without love? Her students only provided so much comfort, and the thought of home without Emily seemed like a prison sentence without the possibility of parole.

“But then everything changed,” she said.

“Come again, Nora?”

She had not realized that she was speaking aloud when Henry’s smile gave her strength.

“I was wandering,” she started. “And then I picked up a paper and found your letter.”

“First time you’ve ever done that sort of thing?”

Maybe he had to ask. She pictured him wondering who was going to chance upon his sweet words sent to parts unknown. What if the wrong girl had decided to play a part and fleece him for all that he was worth?

“The only time,” she assured him. “You can trust me, Henry.”

“I like the sound of that.”

They fell silent as the wheels continued to turn against the path bordered by sheaves of long grass, and when Nora finally caught sight of a proud house on the horizon, she squeezed his elbow.

“Is this really all yours?” she asked in a breathless voice.

Henry brought the horse to a halt and winked with a smile.

“”No,” he said. Her face started to fall as he pushed one finger under her chin.

“Ours,” he said. “Do you like what you see?”

“Very much so,” she answered as he helped her down and led her up the steps of the wraparound porch. As soon as they entered the main room, Nora smelled freshly cut flowers and saw a bouquet of wild roses resting at the center of the table.

“Did you do this for me?” she asked as she fingered the stems and watched him lower her suitcase.

“Do you like them?” he asked. “I have so much more to show you.”

Sniffing the petals as she nodded her head, Nora felt his large hand at the small of her back and instinctively leaned into his touch as he grabbed her hand and guided her away from the scent.

“Your room,” he declared as he opened a door. It was clean and neat with an inviting bed and curtains billowing in the breeze. She fixed her stare on a box resting against the mattress when the sound of his voice echoed in her brain.

“
My
room,” she said. “Aren’t we going to share?”

“Yours until we make it official,” he said. “Of course I hope that happens sooner rather than later.”

Henry fell to one knee and reached into his pocket. He flipped the lid of a small velvet box, and Nora gasped at the sight of a silver band with a perfect diamond at its center.

“You honor me with your presence,” he started. “And your courage. I don’t quite know how, but I’m going to give you everything that you said you wanted in your letters.”

Nora fought back a few tears as the ring became one with her hand. Longing to kiss him, she joined him on the ground and cradled his chin.

“It’s like a fairytale,” she mused.

“Does that make me a prince?” Henry asked.

“My prince.”

Their lips met, and any doubts fell away as he eased her back to her feet and pointed towards the box on the bed.

“Open your present,” he said.

“Another one?” she squealed. “I could get used to this.

“That’s the idea, Nora.”

She tore into the box and gasped at the sight of an orange dress lined with ebony leaves and flowers. Nora pressed the gift just under her chin and turned around to see his expanding smile.

“It’s calico,” he said.

“It’s so special, Henry.”

“Put it on.”

Nora laughed when Henry backed away with his hands in the air.

“I’ll wait for you in the other room.”

Nora was left alone and looked at her reflection in the mirror. No one had ever presented her with such a gift, and she changed quickly to find him rearranging the roses as she uttered his name.

“It’s a perfect fit,” she said. “How did you know?”

“A lucky guess,” he said. “Come closer.”

Obeying the order, she let his hands move down her neck, and she felt her hair starting to spill through his fingers.

“You said it was a dull brown,” he said.

“That’s what my mother always called it.”

“The woman knows nothing of color,” he said. “And I like it looking like this.”

Nora leaned into his arm and savored his warmth as he guided her back to the porch.

“The barn is a few paces off,” he started. “Mornings are for tending to the livestock. Crops are farther away.”

“I want to see all of it,” Nora said. Henry leaned into her lips, and she wanted to live out the rest of her life around his kiss when he hurried her back to the wagon as he gripped the reins.

“A princess deserves a kingdom.”

Nora drank in the view of the rolling fields and listened to Henry ramble on and on about his best season ever when the wagon stopped and she just held his hand.

“Thank you for answering my letter.”

He tightened his grip and moved towards her lips.

“You don’t have to wander anymore,” he promised. “I’ll keep you happy. And safe."

They made their way back to the house, and Nora became acquainted with every corner. So many rooms were unfurnished, and when she asked why, Henry just shrugged his shoulders.

“You’ll figure out what to do with them,” he said. “To make it a home.”

She sat him down before the roses and wanted nothing more than to make him dinner when he patted his lap and asked if he could hold her.

“A good wife makes her man a proper dinner,” Nora said as she nuzzled his neck and felt his hands running up and down her back.

“Let me do it,” he said. “I’m a sad excuse for a cook. But if a sandwich is enough?”

“You are enough, Henry.”

They munched on bits of cheese between two crusts of bread. Did it really only take one day to fall completely in love? Nora brushed the crumbs from his lips and accepted his languid kisses until the need for sleep took over.

“To bed with you now.”

Henry carried her into the room and removed the dress. Hiding her body under the blankets, he fondled her hair and gave her one last kiss before he told her that he’d see her soon.

And Nora fell asleep with a smile on her face.

Chapter 4

Nora woke at first light to the sound of a rooster crowing. Slowly turning on her side as she stretched her arms over her head, she watched the plain yellow curtains swirling in the breeze. The picture was undeniably intoxicating, but she had to blink hard and fast for several seconds to remember where she was, but as soon as she shifted her gaze and saw the ring on her finger, her mouth expanded into a smile. She sat straight and pushed the blankets aside as she discarded the sheets in favor of the orange calico dress. Smoothing her hands down the skirt as she glanced at her reflection in the mirror, Nora started to tie her hair over her head when the memory of Henry’s voice declaring the he liked the way it hung over her shoulders flooded her mind. Maybe it was far from fitting for a rancher’s wife to go around looking like a schoolgirl, but she opted to go against the grain as she laced up her boots and left the room to meet the day.

There was no sign of Henry as she stepped towards the kitchen, and she imagined his large hands already hard at work as he baled hay and fed the livestock. No doubt he had left the house before the stars evaporated in the massive sky hanging overhead. What would happen when the man finally made his way into her bed to sleep at her side? Would she rise with him and see to it that he had his coffee and a proper breakfast prior to making his way into the fields? The idea caused her heart to skip a beat. For now, she would have a feast waiting for him when he left the land to look in on her.

As Nora cracked three fresh eggs and stirred them in a cast iron pan over the range, the sound of heavy footsteps startled her. Henry was early, and she wiped her hands with the nearest rag. The breakfast would prove a bonus; she intended to meet him with a smile.

“Henry, I--”

Her voice caught in her throat as she flung the door open, and Nora took a firm step back at the sight of two men attired in long dark coats with matching gloves and hats. The shorter man barged into the house and looked the room over a smirk.

“Excuse me,” Nora demanded as she tried to keep her voice from cracking as her heart flipped in her chest. “What business do you have here?”

“Where’s the man of the hour?” the small man asked. “Trying to spin dust into gold?” Snorting around the question, he tore off a hunk of bread. Crumbs scattered on the floor as he gnashed his teeth, and Nora’s blood boiled as she tried to wrench the stolen food from the man’s stubby hand.

“Think the better question is who are you, pretty lady?”

Slowly turning on her heel as her lip quivered, Nora faced the taller man. His long face was covered in a finely trimmed beard, and the sinister light in his eyes made her want to crush her palm to his cheek.

“You come barging in here and
you
presume to ask the questions?” Nora asked as she struggled to stay strong. Her eyes shifted ever so slightly towards the nearest window, and she wished for Henry’s return when a gloved hand found its way under her chin and forced her eyes into the path of his stare.

“Never known Russell to bring home the girls from the saloon,” the tall man sneered. “Then again, you don’t actually look like a working girl. Except for the hair.”

The man tried to take one lock between her fingers, and Nora winced at his touch and smashed into the smaller man’s portly chest. His tobacco tinged breath wafted down her neck, and Nora’s soul dropped to the pit of her stomach as she read the intentions in their cruel eyes.

“I’m not a working girl,” she weakly protested. “I’m going to be his wife.”

Holding out her ringed hand, her fingers trembled as the small diamond sparkled, and the man at her back grabbed her wrist and released a sharp whistle.

“Wonder how he managed that?” he said. “Got any ideas on the matter, Davis?”

Davis nodded his head as he bared a mouthful of yellow teeth, and he pulled Nora closer as his tongue flicked across his lips.

“Makes no difference to me,” he started. “Might be a way that he can start to settle some of his debts.”

“What are you going on about?” Nora asked. She nearly repeated the question when Davis tore the ring from her finger. She watched with wide eyes as he narrowed his eyes on the diamond and stuffed the ring into his breast pocket.

“We’ll take this right here and now,” he continued. “Wonder what else we might find.”

Davis’s voice trailed off as he leaned close for a kiss, and Nora started to go limp when the sound of the door opening again brought her back to life.

“Henry?”

Her voice was frail as she spoke his name and saw him with dirt on his clothes and mud caking his boots. His nostrils flared, and Nora tried to break free from Davis when his friend captured her waist and backed their bodies into the wall.

“It’s been far too long,” Davis said as he straightened his collar and extended his hand.

“Not long enough,” Henry hissed as he batted Davis’s hand away and pushed past him. He was almost at the wall, his eyes ablaze, when Nora’s captor pulled a small dagger from his side pocket. Flinching and feeling the tears filling her eyes as the tip of the blade made contact with her neck, Nora prayed that this would prove a dream, a nightmare fueled by her mother’s warnings.

“Now, now hold up, Turner,” Henry said. “You don’t need to do that.”

“Don’t we?” Turner challenged. “Feels like the first thing in a long line of months that has your attention.”

Nora whimpered as the blade threatened to slice her skin wide open, and Henry balled his large hands into tight fists as he hung his head and muttered under his breath.

“Fine,” he said. “You have it. But let her go.”

Turner giggled like a greedy child into Nora’s burning ear, and Davis slapped Henry’s heaving back as he grasped his elbow and forced the rancher to meet his gaze.

“Now what would be the sense in that?” Davis asked. “This is a little thing called leverage. You want that we should waste this fine lady tossed right into our laps?”

She stopped squirming as Henry slowly lifted his head and clenched his jaw. Nora held her breath as Henry took a step back and reached into the nearest drawer. He pulled out a bound burlap satchel and handed it over with a light groan.

“Here,” Henry said. “It’s nearly one hundred dollars. Does that buy me the right?”

“Right to what?” Davis asked.

“To get Turner’s filthy hands off of her.” Henry did not pose it as a question, and Davis carefully counted the bills and pocketed the currency along with Nora’s ring as he twirled one finger into the air.

“Stay of execution,” he said. “Let the girl go.”

“But she feels so soft,” Turner whined.

“Now is not the time,” Davis said. “Our boy here has to be happy so he can keep up with his payments.”

Trying to make sense of the words she was hearing, Nora gasped when Turner followed his friend’s orders and pushed her away from his body and the blade. She stumbled forward and tried to latch her fingers around the air. Henry caught her as she started to fall. He gathered her in his strong arms and held her tight as he took a step back and pressed his palm to the back of her head. Terrified to look up, she buried her head in his shoulder and felt his kiss on the sweat-soaked strands of her hair as he intensified his embrace and scoffed at the intruders.

“You’ve made our point,” Henry sneered. “I’ll thank you to leave my home now.”

“But it’s not exactly yours now, is it?”

Nora looked away from Henry’s chest and watched Turner pocket his knife as Davis moved towards the eggs turning black and rubbery in the pan.

“Not much of a cook now is she?” Davis teased. He pulled a handkerchief from his other pocked and seized the handle. Dumping the ruined eggs to the floor just beside the scattered crumbs, the man dropped the pan with a great crash and stared hard as Nora shivered and Henry squeezed her arms.

“But if you keep us in the green, you can have her. We’ll see you again next week. Looking forward to it.”

“Agreed,” Turner said. The men surveyed the room one last time before stalking off. Nora was only able to exhale once she was sure that they were gone, and she started to fall to her knees.

“Easy,” Henry said in a low voice as he kept her on her feet and managed to cradle her face in his hands.

“Henry, what is this?”

Unable to finish the thought, she still wound her arms around his neck and sighed as he picked her up and carried her back to the bedroom.

“It’s alright now,” he promised. “You just need to lie down. I will stay with you, Nora.”

She let him unlace her boots and felt the heat from his body melding with hers as he tenderly stroked her face and laid light kisses on her brow. Henry curved his arm around her waist and traced random shapes into her sides through the pattern on the dress when she suddenly stopped his hand and gripped his wrist.

“What was that, Henry?” she asked. “What am I in for with you?”