Mail-Order Groom

by Lisa Plumley

  “I guess you don’t know me as well as you think.”

  A sigh. “What’s wrong with you? Every woman likes to know how her man feels. Every woman likes to hear him say it! Why do you think that lowdown Roy got so many ladies to marry him?”

  Adam frowned. He didn’t want to talk about this. “Because he brings out their motherly feelings with that infernal baby face of his?” His frown deepened. “Leave me alone, Mariana.”

  But his partner, steadfastly, would not. “You married her, didn’t you? You was already half in love with her weeks ago, so why—” She broke off, gawking at him. “You don’t think Savannah believed all that claptrap I spouted about you, do you?”

  “I don’t know,” Adam said. “But she believed me.”

  “Sure, but you said a lot of things tonight,” Mariana sensibly pointed out. “What if she believed all the wrong ones? What then? Aren’t you gonna go after her or somethin’?”

  She gave him an aggressive poke. Adam glared at her.

  “No. I have a passel of sharpers to take to jail,” he said.

  Then he turned away and finally walked out of the room where he’d left his heart and soul and hopes…for now and forever.

  Dispiritedly Savannah carried another load of her belongings to the wagon. Above her, the moon rode high in the sky, lighting her path between the vehicle and her station. In the morning, she would tender her official resignation to the telegraph company. She would have to stop by the neighbors’, too, to make sure Penelope would be cared for after she’d gone. Most likely, Mr. Yarnell would also take her small flock of laying hens. His wife might like having the eggs to sell in town.

  With a weary sigh, Savannah trod back to the station. In the moonlight, the place already appeared deserted.

  The sight of it made her feel doubly sad. She’d truly loved living near Morrow Creek. Lately she’d even begun to dream that she and Adam might move into town someday, where she could take a less demanding post at the local telegraph station. After all, Grace Murphy had given her hope that they’d hire her. And Molly Copeland had allowed her to believe that working the wires needn’t necessarily be incompatible with having children.

  But now her last foray into Morrow Creek would not be to look for a small, snug house for her and Adam, or to attend any of the friendly get-togethers she’d shortsightedly been invited to tonight. It would be to withdraw her nest-egg savings from the Morrow Creek bank, where she’d stowed her money months ago.

  I’m leery of entrusting my savings to any bank or institution, she’d truthfully written in her letters. But she’d been even more leery of leaving her money lying around at her remote territorial telegraph station. So she’d deposited everything in the bank and hadn’t told a soul about it.

  Unfortunately that meant her departure was delayed until she could retrieve it. Even though Savannah didn’t have many hopes left about the possibility of successfully starting over, she still needed cash to move on.

  Mose left the station, sweating beneath the weight of her ornate costume trunk. He heaved it in the wagon, making its springs jounce. He wiped his forehead. “Are you sure about this? You’d be better off trying to get a good night’s sleep. You’ve been through an ordeal tonight, that’s for certain.”

  “I’m sure.” Fondly Savannah patted him. She was so glad he was safe after being in such danger. “If we get everything all packed up tonight, we can leave twice as quickly tomorrow.” Mose was right—neither of them was alert enough to capably drive the wagon right now. “Besides, I couldn’t sleep a wink anyway.”

  And staying busy keeps me from crying.

  No, she couldn’t say that to Mose. He’d only worry about her. So Savannah put on the most upbeat expression she could manage, then turned to go back inside. “Aren’t you happy? We’re finally headed to San Francisco, just like you wanted.”

  “I thought you liked it here,” Mose grumbled behind her.

  I did. Especially when Adam was here. But he’d only stayed because he’d pitied her, Savannah knew now. Not because he’d loved her. Not because he’d needed her, the way she needed him.

  “I’m ready for a new adventure.” She stepped inside with Mose on her heels, then surveyed the station. She didn’t have many belongings left. She’d be ready to leave very soon. “And I want to stay one step ahead of the angry Morrow Creek mob.”

  Trying to laugh at that, Savannah looked at Mose. Although he usually indulged even her poorest attempts at humor, this time he only crossed his arms and gave her a concerned look.

  “You’ve got those people all wrong,” he said. “They couldn’t do enough to help you tonight. They won’t judge you.”

  “That doesn’t matter. I will.” Not wanting to think about that, she hoisted a bundle of clothing. She headed outside.

  Arriving at the doorway, she nearly stepped on Adam’s toes.

  Startled, Savannah jerked backward. But she hadn’t dreamed him. Adam truly was there, on her doorstep, with his hat in his hands and his heart in his eyes. A short distance behind him, a saddled-up horse stood in the yard, its sides heaving as it recovered from what must have been an impressively fast ride.

  She looked up at Adam in shock. She felt her heart leap in her chest with all the irrational hopefulness that was her stock in trade. This situation was going to be troublesome. If she didn’t watch herself closely, Savannah knew, she would make a fool of herself all over again by begging Adam to stay.

  She’d never wanted anything more. To see him smile at her in the mornings over coffee, to feel him pull her close to him in bed at night, to hear her name spoken tenderly on his lips…

  But she couldn’t have any of that. Not anymore.

  Forcing herself to be strong, Savannah raised her head. But her whole body still quivered with hopefulness. Drat it all.

  “You’re going to want to do something with that horse, Mr. Corwin,” she told him. “It’s unconscionable to leave the poor creature standing there all tired and wet and hungry.”

  He turned his hat in his hands. “This won’t take long.”

  Because he wasn’t here for her, Savannah realized with a pang of despair. Likely he was here to collect his things.

  “I’m not stealing all these things, if that’s what you’re wondering about.” Proudly she gestured toward the loaded wagon. “Whatever you’ve left here is still here. I’m no thief.”

  Somberly Adam nodded. She didn’t think he believed her.

  “I know Roy Bedell told you about me, and some of that is true,” she went on, admitting it for the first time. “My parents really were the ‘Ruthless Reeds.’ I really was on the stage. But I left that life behind me. For good! Only it just keeps…”

  Her voice broke, forcing her to stop. Adam blinked down at her. He sighed. She realized he must be feeling impatient.

  Doubtless, again, he didn’t believe a word she said.

  Why should he? Nobody else ever had.

  “It just keeps following me,” Savannah made herself say. “My past, I mean. But that needn’t trouble you. I’m sure I can give you an annulment or just sever our ties somehow, before I—”

  “Please don’t do that,” Adam said. He sounded hoarse, too.

  Before she could reason out why, Mose shouldered past both of them. “I’ll just take care of that horse,” he announced.

  He hurried into the yard. In the moonlight, he caught hold of the horse’s bridle. He led the creature toward the barn.

  “You needn’t do that, Mose!” Savannah called out, her heart aching. “Mr. Corwin won’t be staying.”

  With that painful truth said, she looked at Adam. She could not imagine what he’d come here for. Desperately she reviewed their conversation so far and could arrive at no explanation.

  “Now then.” Deliberately, Savannah pushed past him to add her bundled clothes to the wagon. Adam trod silently after her. “I’ve already assured you that your belongings are safe, even near me. I’ve already told you I’d be willi
ng to set you legally free from our marriage. I’ve even admitted everything about my past—and if that doesn’t make you want to run, I don’t know what will.” She gave a humorless chuckle. “You have no further obligation to me, Mr. Corwin. So if there’s nothing else—”

  “There is something else,” he said.

  With her gullible heart still pounding, Savannah watched as Adam set his hat atop a crate of cookware in the wagon. With his hands free, though, he seemed not to know what to do with them. They shook, curiously enough, as he fisted them at his sides.

  “I’m sorry, Savannah,” Adam said in a rough voice. “I’m sorry for everything I did. I’m sorry I misled you. I’m sorry I lied to you. I’m sorry I let you believe I was the man you’d been waiting for. I wasn’t that man—that man you were dreaming of and hoping for. For a while, I thought maybe I could be, but—”

  He hauled in a raspy, painful-sounding breath. Then, in a move as deliberate as any he’d ever made, Adam took her hand. He wrapped her fingers in his, then squeezed tightly.

  “—but you deserve better than that,” Adam said fervently. “Better than me. All I ever wanted was to protect you, but I did it the wrong way. You needed the truth, and I didn’t give it to you. I’m sorry. But now, if you’ll give me a chance… Maybe now I can make up for that.”

  Confused yet desperately encouraged, Savannah gazed up at him. His hand felt undeniably at home wrapped around hers. All the deepest parts of her yearned to be with him. But she didn’t dare. Adam didn’t understand about her, didn’t truly know…

  “You told me one time that all you wanted was for me to believe you—to believe you first, before anyone.” Seeming to steel himself, Adam looked her in the eye. “So that’s why I’m here. To give you a chance to tell me what I need to know.”

  Disconsolate, Savannah looked away. “You mean about my past.”

  It had come to that. Again. At least Adam was giving her a chance to deny all his worst fears about her. But she couldn’t.

  “It’s all true,” she said. “I told you a minute ago. It’s—”

  But Adam only blinked. “Not about your past. I figured that out tonight, yes. But if what you’ve been through is what’s made you the woman you are right now, then I’m grateful for it.”

  Dubiously she stared up at him. “Grateful?”

  “Because it’s brought you to me,” Adam said. “I can’t be sorry for that!” He smiled. “If you hadn’t been trying to start over, you wouldn’t have been here for me to find you. If you hadn’t been hopeful enough to try to love someone, you wouldn’t have helped me, even though I didn’t deserve it.” With an air of wonder, Adam shook his head. “You put a dream within my grasp, Savannah. A dream I didn’t even know I had.” He swore. “When I woke up to find all those hopes within my reach, I just…took them. I’m a flawed man. That’s true; I can’t deny it. But I—”

  “What hopes?” she asked. “What dream? I don’t understand.”

  “You.” Smiling more broadly, Adam released her hand. He cupped her face in his palms instead. “You were my dream. Haven’t you guessed by now? I love you, Savannah. I’ve loved you nearly from the first moment I saw you. I love your smile and your warmth and your wonderful, impeccable manners—”

  She snorted. “They’re far from impeccable. Just ask Mose.”

  “—and I feel beyond lucky to have had any time with you at all, much less to be asking for more now. But that’s what I’m doing.” Deeply, Adam inhaled, fixing her with a somber look. “So when I said before—that I want you to tell me what I need to know—I meant this: Do you love me, Savannah? Because that’s all I need to know. Everything else will turn out in the end.”

  “You—” Savannah hesitated “—don’t think the worst of me?”

  “Of you? I never could,” Adam swore. “Never, Savannah.”

  “And…you love me?” Disbelieving, Savannah realized what she’d heard a second ago. “You really love me? Me?”

  “More than anything else,” Adam told her. “I love you.”

  “Oh.” Reeling beneath the impossibility of that, Savannah went on staring at him. She could scarcely breathe for the rush of hopefulness that struck her. “I love you, too, Adam.”

  The words hung between them, tentatively spoken, as fragile as the moonlight. Fearful that he would not believe her, again, even about such a momentous truth, Savannah said it once more.

  “I love you, Adam. I do!” she cried. “I’m sorry I didn’t trust you more, but I was scared and confused, and I—I—”

  She hesitated, despairing of a way to fully convince him. But as it turned out—wonder of wonders—she didn’t have to.

  “I believe you,” Adam said with a smile in his voice.

  Then he pulled her all the way in his arms and kissed her. Surrendering at last, laughing, daring to finally reach out for the new future she truly needed, Savannah kissed him back.

  “But nobody ever believed me,” she said. “Why you?”

  Tenderly Adam stroked her cheek. As though unable to imagine they were finally together, he shook his head. “Why me? That’s simple. I believe you because I know you. Because I love you. Because, even though I’m not the man you wanted—”

  “Stop right there.” Savannah laughed, then kissed him once more. “You’re the man I needed. I won’t hear another word to the contrary.” Just to make sure, she kissed Adam again, with all the love and happiness and wonder that were in her heart.

  Which was only fitting, really. Because all that love and happiness and wonder were theirs to share, brought into being by the unlikely combination of trust and coincidence, caring and daring and a tiny dose of necessary etiquette. And that reminded Savannah of something else—something she hadn’t reckoned on.

  “Are you willing to stay here in Morrow Creek?” she asked Adam, holding his hands in hers. “Because I’ve been running for a while now, trying to start over, and I’m starting to think—no place will ever feel right to me until I own up to who I am and go on from there. I don’t want to compel you to do anything, of course, but with you by my side, I just might have the courage to stay here and try to hold my head high…no matter what.”

  “I’ll do anything you want,” Adam assured her. “Anything.”

  Happily Savannah agreed. She sighed. Near her, someone else did, too. Mose, she saw. He wiped a tear from his cheek.

  “I’m powerfully glad you two got that settled,” he said.

  “Why, Mose!” Savannah smiled at him, overcome with affection. “Does that mean Adam has your blessing at last?”

  Gruffly her friend nodded. “I’m not the only one.”

  Indicating as much, he angled his chin toward the road leading from Morrow Creek. To Savannah’s surprise, an array of the town’s residents came up that path even now, driving wagons and buggies and riding lone horses. In the summertime moonlight, their faces seemed friendly, if concerned for her well-being.

  Adam noticed their approach, too. “I guess you left a mite too quickly. Everyone kept asking me about you tonight.”

  “They did?” She stared as her visitors approached. “Truly?”

  Adam nodded. “You made a lasting impression, Savannah. On me, on everyone in Morrow Creek…on everyone you touched.”

  Savannah could scarcely believe it. But as Grace Murphy became the first to reach her and offer her a warmhearted hug, she started to accept it. Especially when Grace spoke up.

  “I’m so admiring of your adventures on the stage!” she exclaimed. “If you would come talk to the Social Equality Sisterhood about it, I’d be very grateful, Savannah.”

  “And to my book club!” Sarah McCabe put in. “Maybe even the schoolhouse. I’ve heard you can do magic tricks. I know the children would be absolutely thrilled to see them demonstrated.”

  “And to my bakery,” Molly Copeland added with the friendliest smile of all. “The place could use a bit of sophistication. I’m betting you could provide it, Savannah.”

 
They didn’t want her to leave, Savannah realized in utter amazement. They wanted her to stay.

  As she joined hands with Adam again, preparing to begin their honest future together, Savannah realized that she wanted exactly the same thing. She wanted to stay. For good this time.

  Under these circumstances, she reckoned cheerfully, the only polite thing to do was to graciously agree, then fix a time for all those meetings she’d been invited to. But her heart suddenly felt too full for etiquette and propriety.

  Instead, to her chagrin, all Savannah could do was nod.

  Seeing her face, Adam waved his arm toward the small but welcoming station. “Everyone come inside and sit a spell! It’s late, but Savannah and I want to welcome you properly.”

  Relieved, Savannah smiled at him. Once again, Adam had shown her another wonderful, undeniable truth. The two of them, together, made a perfect match. In the Territory or anywhere else, it just didn’t get any better than that—better than her mail-order groom…and the love they’d found together.

  ISBN: 978-1-4268-7618-9

  MAIL-ORDER GROOM

  Copyright © 2010 by Lisa G. Plumley

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