A Bride for Blake

by Marianne Spitzer

  A Bride for Blake

  The Proxy Brides Book 43

  Marianne Spitzer

  Contents

  Acknowledgments

  Chapter 1

  Chapter 2

  Chapter 3

  Chapter 4

  Chapter 5

  Chapter 6

  Chapter 7

  Chapter 8

  Chapter 9

  Chapter 10

  Chapter 11

  Chapter 12

  Chapter 13

  Chapter 14

  Chapter 15

  Chapter 16

  Epilogue

  The End

  By Marianne Spitzer

  © July 2020

  This book is a work of fiction. All names, characters, places, and incidents are the product of the author’s imagination. Any resemblance to persons living or dead, events, locations, or organizations is purely coincidental. All rights reserved. No portion of this book may be reproduced without the written consent of the author.

  Created with Vellum

  Acknowledgments

  There are many people I would like to thank for their help and understanding while I wrote this book, but first and foremost, I want to thank God for all His blessings. I also wish to thank my family and friends for their patience and understanding when I disappear into my writing world especially my son, Lance, for his unwavering support. Last, but by no means least, I would like to thank my loyal readers who read my books and leave reviews. I couldn’t do this without you. You’re the best.

  The cover was created by the talented Virginia McKevitt. You can find her on Facebook at Virginia McKevitt, Author.

  Chapter 1

  Amalie heard the loud knock on their front door and heard her husband call out, “I’ll see who it is.”

  “It’s Blake,” Deke called again, and when Amalie heard the frantic voice of their friend and neighbor, she hurried to the front door to see what was causing the commotion.

  Blake was pacing back-and-forth in the parlor, shaking a piece of paper in his hand. He turned to Deke and said, “I can’t believe this. How could she?”

  Deke asked, “Believe what, and who is she?”

  Blake thrust the letter toward Deke and said, “Here, read it yourself.”

  Deke took the offered letter and scanned it quickly before returning it to Blake with a smile on his face. “Why are you so upset?”

  Blake threw up his hands and nearly yelled, “Didn’t you read it? I can’t believe my great-aunt would do this. Who decides that a man should get married and sends him a letter saying she’s found a wife for him and is going to bring her along when she visits? My great-aunt has never been out of New York. She’s getting up in years, and I don’t know why in the world she’s traveling here.”

  Deke shook his head at his friend and answered, “I wish I knew why you are so upset. Why don’t you sit down and explain it? I know you’ve thought about marrying. Is there something about the young lady you don’t like?”

  “Like? I barely know her,” Blake explained. “I met her once at a party when my parents took my brother and I back East to visit our grandparents when I was fourteen. This is all my great-aunt’s idea. Knowing my great-aunt, she will show up here with her butler, maid, the young woman, a pastor, and probably someone she’s found along the way who will tote a rifle and insist I marry the young woman immediately. Not to mention, they’ll have enough luggage to fill one of the bedrooms in my house.” Blake dropped into a chair near the fireplace and drew in a deep breath.

  “All right,” Deke said. “I’m beginning to understand. From your great-aunt’s letter, it sounds as if you knew the young woman. Your great-aunt seems determined that you marry. Maybe you should’ve married the schoolmarm before she ran off with that cowboy last summer.”

  Blake snorted, “Miss Lucille? There was no way I would marry that young woman, but now I fear whoever my great-aunt is bringing will be far worse. She’s a fancy socialite from New York who will hate every minute living on my ranch. I know the young woman will try and force me to move to New York, which is what my great-aunt wants. After my brother married last year, my great-aunt wrote to me several times, asking me to move to New York. She even threatened to withhold my inheritance if I remain here in Wyoming.”

  Deke nodded while trying to find something positive to say. “Why don’t you just see how things will turn out. You have that big house you built, and maybe your great-aunt will see that you’re happy here.”

  Blake stood and began pacing again. “I built a big house so I could marry and fill it with children. I don’t want to marry a socialite. I want to marry a girl who loves the country. One who’ll ride horses and won’t faint when a calf is born. Did you read her name? Who names a child with three first names? What am I supposed to call her? I can’t do this. I won’t do this. I think I’m going to sell my ranch and move to Montana before my great-aunt gets here.”

  “Calm down and take a seat. Before you run off to Montana, sell your ranch, and ruin your life, let’s address this sensibly and come up with an idea,” Deke suggested.

  Amalie took that break in the conversation to excuse herself, “I have to check on supper.”

  Deke smiled at his wife, and Blake nodded, “I’m sorry I interrupted your day. I needed to speak with Deke.”

  “It’s not an interruption,” Amalie said. “I understand.”

  Amalie hurried out the back door and toward the house that her brother-in-law, Nate, and her best friend, Faith, shared. They’d married a few months earlier, and Amalie was thrilled to have her friend living close.

  Nate saw Amalie hurrying across the yard and opened the door. “Is everything all right?”

  “Yes, or it will be if you, Faith, and I can work out a problem. Can I come in and talk to both of you?”

  “Of course,” Nate answered, opening the door wider for Amalie to enter.

  Faith greeted Amalie and hugged her. “What brings you here at suppertime?”

  “Blake is up at the house, and he has a problem I think we can help him solve.”

  “What is it?” Nate asked.

  Amalie took the offered seat at the kitchen table and explained the situation, adding, “I have an idea that might work.”

  Faith looked eager to hear the idea, and Nate had doubt written across his face.

  Amalie said, “Faith told me that she received another letter from Eliza asking if she might come for a visit or better to live here close to us.”

  “That’s right,” Faith said. “She loves being a nanny, but her employer has been making a few unwanted advances and suggestions, but Eliza can’t find another job.”

  Nate looked between his wife and Amalie and said, “You’re cooking something up here. You want us to send for Eliza, and perhaps Blake will take a liking to her, and his great-aunt might stay away.”

  “No,” Amalie said. “I don’t think there’s time. His great-aunt’s letter mentioned coming before summer ends, which means she might have already made plans or left from New York. He needs a wife right away.”

  “I see where your mind is going. You think we can get the judge back in St. Louis to set up another proxy marriage like he did for you and Deke. Eliza marries Blake, great-aunt, and bride-to-be go home, and Blake stays here in Wyoming,” Nate said while tapping his fingers on the kitchen table.

  “It’s perfect,” Amalie said. “Blake and Deke are good friends, and you are Blake’s friend, too. You know he loves his ranch and doesn’t want to move to Montana. He’s just running from whoever his great-aunt is bringing out here.”

  “I agree,” Faith gushed. “This is so exciting. We have to do this, Nate. It will help Blake and get Eliza away from her employer safely. He can’
t make her keep working for him if she’s married to Blake, and they can always have the marriage annulled.”

  “I suppose it won’t hurt to suggest it,” Nate said, getting up from the table and grabbing his hat and Faith’s shawl. “Let’s go talk to Blake and Deke.”

  Amalie opened the back door to her house, ushering Faith and Nate inside, and they heard Blake speaking while he paced the parlor again. “Her name is Constance Olivia Beatrice Glavens-Bradshaw. Does that sound like the kind of girl that’s going to get up at dawn and milk the cow before making breakfast?”

  Before Deke could say a word, Blake answered his own question. “No, it doesn’t. It sounds like the kind of girl who expects a cook and maid. Can you imagine me living with a cook and a maid? I refuse. Well, I could see having a cook or housekeeper if they were needed, but it should be my decision to give those things to my wife. She shouldn’t come equipped with them. Then there’s the problem of my name. If you add Montgomery to her list of names, it’ll be too long for anyone to remember.”

  Blake stopped talking when he saw Amalie, Faith, and Nate standing in the doorway.

  Amalie stepped forward and said, “Blake, I hope you don’t mind, but I told Faith and Nate about your situation, and we think we may have an answer.”

  “I don’t mind at all. I’m willing to listen to anything right now that will help me keep my great-aunt from showing up with a bride in tow.”

  Nate began explaining what he hoped would be an answer to Blake’s problem and ended by saying, “It would give you a reason not to marry the woman your great-aunt chose, help Eliza start a new life, and once things settle down, the marriage can be annulled, and your life can go back to the way you want to live it.”

  Blake mulled over the idea for a few moments and said, “All right, I can see how that would work, but I have no idea when my great-aunt plans to arrive. Can this young lady travel here quickly? My great-aunt could already be on her way. She only said she’d spend the summer with me. Knowing my great-aunt, they are planning on making stops along the way to ensure the wedding is perfect and have already left New York.”

  Nate nodded his understanding, “We can go into town in the morning and send a telegram to the judge that married Amalie and Deke. He could send word discreetly to Eliza and summon her to his office and explain things. If she says yes, he could perform the ceremony immediately. While we’re waiting for an answer, you can see the judge here in town and fill out the necessary paperwork.”

  Amalie was pleased when Blake agreed and invited him to stay for supper, and perhaps she and Deke could answer any other questions he might have.

  Chapter 2

  St. Louis, Missouri

  Eliza Woodward blew a loose strand of hair from her face as she did her best to corral two-year-old Tommy and get him to the breakfast table before his father’s anger flared again. When the boy was finally settled at the table, her employer, Mister Richards, addressed her.

  “Miss Woodward, if you are unable to do your job properly, we may be forced to terminate your employment. If that happens, I highly doubt you will ever get a proper job as a nanny in this city again. Of course, there are other employment opportunities available, although none would be suitable.”

  His leer made Eliza cringe, and she knew he was speaking about more than her nanny responsibilities. The next time he tried to gain access to her room, she feared her refusal would lead to her termination.

  Missus Richards, oblivious to most of the activity around her, sipped her whiskey laced coffee and took a small bite of buttered toast.

  Before Mister Richards could chastise Eliza further, they were interrupted by the house butler.

  “Excuse me for intruding, Mister Richards, but I have an important message for Miss Eliza, and there is a carriage waiting for her out front.”

  Mister Richards lifted his hand and snapped his fingers. “Give me the message. Nothing important happens in this house without my approval.”

  The butler nodded and handed the message to Mister Richards while Eliza tamed her anger. If someone sent her a message, she should be able to read it.

  “Have you done something improper, Miss Woodward,” Mister Richards asked.

  “Me, Sir?” Eliza stammered. “No, I am certain I have not.”

  Mister Richards shook the message in his hand. He said, “According to this message, you have been summoned to the office of Judge Alexander Evans immediately. I believe this is quite irregular. You are instructed to go alone except for an attorney if you so wish.”

  Eliza shook her head, confused by the summons. “I have no idea why I would be required to see a judge or bring an attorney. I don’t know any attorneys.”

  “You need to leave for his office immediately. I could send our family attorney with you, but I don’t see the need to spend the funds. Please ask the judge’s secretary to send a report to my attorney so we can be certain you have not done anything to besmirch this family. Hurry now and return immediately,” Mister Richards instructed before returning to his breakfast.

  Eliza nodded, retrieved her coat, and rushed out to the waiting carriage. She stared back at the house before she climbed into the carriage, wondering if she would have a job or home after meeting with the judge. Maybe someone had falsely accused her of something. But, if they had, wouldn’t the police have arrived to arrest her? Her stomach fluttered as she felt the carriage lurch forward, leading her to an uncertain future.

  Twenty minutes later, the carriage stopped in front of a large brick building in the business section. The driver jumped out of the carriage and assisted Eliza to the boardwalk. She trembled slightly as she made her way to the building in search of the judge’s office.

  When she found the correct office, she carefully opened the door and smiled at the young woman behind the desk.

  “Excuse me,” Eliza began. “I received a note to meet Judge Alexander Evans as soon as possible. My name is Eliza Woodward.”

  “Of course, Miss Woodward. The judge is expecting you. Follow me, please.”

  Eliza followed the pleasant secretary to an inside door where the young woman knocked and announced Eliza.

  “Please come in,” said the man seated behind an enormous mahogany desk in the center of the room. “I’m Judge Evans. I’m pleased you could arrive promptly.”

  Eliza walked and stood in front of the large desk and said, “I don’t understand, sir, I mean your honor. Have I done something wrong? My employer didn’t believe that spending the funds necessary to have his attorney accompany me, so I am here alone. I’m utterly confused.”

  “Please, Miss Woodward. Have a seat and don’t concern yourself. You are by no means in any trouble or difficulty other than what you experience at your residence from your employer.”

  Eliza’s face blushed furiously, and she stammered, “I haven’t made a complaint. I still don’t understand.”

  The judge nodded, “Your situation was brought to my attention by two friends of yours. Amalie Sperling and her sister-in-law Faith Sperling thought you might be the perfect candidate to help a friend of theirs in Wyoming.”

  “Me?”

  “Yes,” the judge said as he smiled. “Let me explain. I take it you are aware of how Amalie Sperling escaped the clutches of a notorious saloon owner when she married her husband, Deke, by proxy.”

  Eliza nodded her understanding.

  “It seems a friend of the Sperlings, a Mister Blake Montgomery, is also in need of a wife via proxy marriage since time is of the essence. Amalie suggested you might be willing since your employment situation is becoming more difficult to put it politely. I can marry you by proxy today. I’ll have someone escort you to your residence to collect your things and keep you safe from your employer, have a room available at the hotel tonight with meals paid. You’ll be aboard the train for Cheyenne in the morning.”

  The confusion racing across Eliza’s face said more than her words. Still, she finally spoke, “I understand what you said, an
d I know how and why Amalie and Deke married. This would be a way for me to leave my employer’s residence before I am fired and lose my reputation in town, but are you sure this Mister Montgomery wants a wife?”

  “I received a detailed telegram from both Mister Montgomery and Nate Sperling. When I marry someone, I never anticipate that they will not stay together for life, but if this marriage turns out to be more than you can bear or dangerous, you are free to apply for an annulment and mention me in the paperwork. I will help see that you receive the annulment quickly.”

  Eliza sat for a moment, stunned at the proposal. It was an answer to her prayers. A way to get away from Mister Richard’s household and save her reputation, but to travel to Wyoming married to someone she’d never met. Yet, he was a friend of Amalie and Faith’s. It couldn’t be a bad thing.

  “All right, I accept, your honor. What do I do now?”

  “Nothing, my dear. My wife and daughter are waiting outside my office to act as witnesses. Once you’re married, I will have a guard escort you back to the Richard’s house to gather your belongings and take you to the hotel.”

  Eliza nodded, and the clerk who had been sitting quietly in the corner, taking notes of the entire conversation rose and quickly escorted Missus Evans and Grace into the office.”

  Grace hurried to Eliza's side and asked, “You’re getting married the same as Amalie. Is your future husband also a famous bounty hunter?”

  “Grace,” the judge shouted as Eliza’s face paled. “That’s enough.”