A Christmas Proposal (A Wyoming Mail Order Bride Holiday 2)

by Annie Boone

  Then he reached in his coat pocket and retrieved a small box. Lillian almost couldn’t believe it when he got down on one knee.

  “Miss Lillian Spencer, will you do me the honor of becoming my wife?” he asked, cheeks and nose rosy from the cold.

  “Of course! Yes! I will marry you, yes, yes!” She urged him to get up from the cold, icy ground and threw her arms around his neck.

  “You’ve made me so very happy! I must be the luckiest man alive right now!” he yelled.

  Lillian laughed and held her hand up so she could admire the fabulous ring he’d just given her for saying yes. “Oh, I think I’m the lucky one!” she exclaimed.

  “Since you’ve agreed to be my wife, I think it’s time for you to meet my family. I wrote to my mother a few weeks ago and told her I was planning to propose to you. She and my father and my sister are here. They arrived last night and can’t wait to meet you. It will be a lovely Christmas dinner!”

  Lillian’s happiness dimmed just a little at the thought of having his family sprung on her this way. She felt herself getting angry. “What? They’re in Cheyenne? At your house?”

  He nodded, still smiling. He hadn’t caught on yet that this wasn’t making Lillian happy. “Yes, let’s be on our way so they can see how happy we are!”

  “Wait a minute, Dean.” Lillian put a hand on his arm to stop him and to hopefully show him her annoyance. “Your family arrived last night because you invited them and you didn’t think this was something I might want to know? I can’t believe you’d do this to me.”

  “Lillian, you’re angry about this? I didn’t mean it as an ambush or anything of the sort. I’m sorry it appears that way to you.”

  “It’s not an ambush, Dean, and I don’t think of it that way. I’m just very nervous about meeting your family. You knew that. I’m worried about what they’ll think of me. I’m worried I won’t fit in with them.”

  “You don’t have to fit in with them, my love. You fit in with me and that’s all that’s important to me.”

  Dean often talked of his family and she could read between the lines. He never spoke ill of his family, but she could tell by the stories he told that his mother was snobbish and his father was stern. She’d already determined that his sister was a meaner copy of his mother. Most importantly, they were all wealthy and she wasn’t. She hoped it wouldn’t be an issue, but she had a premonition that it would.

  “All right, then. Let’s get out of the cold and go see your family.” She smiled as pleasantly as she could, hoping he wouldn’t be able to see that it was a completely fake smile. She trembled inside but she was going to be herself. If that wasn’t good enough, then so be it.

  They eventually made it to Dean’s house on the edge of town. It was a comfortable and cozy place that was large for a single man. They were about to get out of the carriage when Lillian caught Dean’s hand. He looked back at her with a raised eyebrow. She had been going to remind him that she was nervous, but she just smiled instead. No need rehashing what had already been said.

  He leaned in and gave her a toe curling kiss. Then he looked her squarely in the eyes. “Make no mistake,” he said. “I love my family, but you’re the reason my life is happy. Nothing will change that. Come on.” He took her hand and they went to the door.

  Before he could open it, the front door opened. A young blond woman in a stunning blue velvet gown was standing there. “Come in out of the cold, you two,” she said politely. “I’ve been waiting for you to get here and so have Mother and Father.”

  “Lillian, this is my sister, Lola. Lola, this is my new fiancé, Lillian. She said ‘yes’!” Dean laughed and clapped his hands together.

  The two women shook hands and smiled politely.

  “What’s the commotion?” said a feminine authoritative voice coming from the hallway. “Is Dean back?”

  “Yes, Mother, I’m here. Please come meet Lillian.”

  Marie and Charles Brown came into the entry way just in time to see their daughter and son with a beautiful dark haired woman. “You must be Lillian,” Dean’s mother said as she gave her a rather formal hug. Her emerald green dress was exquisite and looked like it cost more than her whole wardrobe put together. She word a diamond necklace that was probably worth more than her parents house.

  Charles Brown nodded and smiled at Lillian. “Pleased to meet you, dear,” he said.

  “Oh my, it’s so nice to meet all three of you. I’ve heard so much about you all. And Merry Christmas, of course,” Lillian said. She felt like her insides were going to explode, but she felt Dean take her hand and squeeze it gently and she started to feel better.

  “Let’s go into the sitting room,” he said easily.

  “Dean, I was looking in your cupboard for some Scotch. I couldn’t find any. You know I like my Scotch,” boomed Charles.

  “Sure, Father, right this way,” Dean answered. “It’s in my office. You know I’m not a drinker, but I did get a bottle just for your visit.” Then he left the room, leaving Lillian by her lonesome with his mother and sister.

  She led them to the main sitting room. “How was your trip from California?” she asked.

  Marie sat on a sofa and leaned back dramatically. She placed a hand to her forehead. “Exhausting. So many people to deal with, too.”

  Lola took a seat beside her mother, sitting silently. She didn’t even look at Lillian. She wondered why she was ignoring her since she was sitting directly across from them.

  “So where are you from, dear?” Marie asked.

  “Chattanooga. In Tennessee.”

  “Oh really? What is it your parents do?” she asked, suddenly interested.

  “They used to farmer and raise pigs. They sold the farm a few years ago and moved into the city where my father works for a law firm.”

  “He’s a solicitor? Fabulous!”

  “No, ma’am. He’s not a lawyer yet, but the lawyer’s aid. He is working on his studies,” Lillian explained.

  “Oh, I see,” Marie said, clearing her throat. “Then how is it you came to be here, in Cheyenne, with my son?”

  Lillian made a note not to fidget. She realized she was tapping her foot on the thick carpet nervously and she really needed to stop. “Well, it’s a bit of a tale, I’m afraid. I agreed to marry a local Cheyenne rancher by mail. I came here to meet him and eventually marry him. When I got here I found that he had already met another woman. Instead of going back to Chattanooga I decided to stay here. Then I met Dean.”

  Lola snickered. “A mail order bride,” she mumbled. What she’d said was barely audible, but Lillian did hear. Marie elbowed her daughter, but that didn’t eliminate the girl’s look of disdain.

  Lillian managed to keep her wits and pretend she didn’t hear. Just as she was about to ask about Christmas traditions in their family, Dean and his father entered the room. That’s when Lillian became even more uncomfortable. She didn’t run in the kind of circles they did. Many of the things they spoke about, either she didn’t understand or she didn’t agree. She spent a lot of time nodding and simply wishing she was somewhere else.

  Dean tried a few times to draw her into the conversation but she could tell he was struggling a little bit, too.

  Mr. Brown was drinking fairly heavily and was becoming increasingly loud. Marie admonished him several times to keep his voice down, but he paid her no mind. Lillian wasn’t accustomed to being around people who were drinking and watching someone become intoxicated was a new experience for her. It wasn’t an experience she was going to want to repeat.

  She considered going to sit with Lola, but the girl had an unwelcoming scowl on her face. Clearly she wouldn’t be welcome within five feet of her. Lillian knew she hated her, but for what, she hadn’t a clue. So she stood with the adults and left the moody teen to pout by herself.

  “Where are you from, little missy?” Mr. Brown asked Lillian. She had already supplied an answer to this question with Marie. So
she answered it again for Charles.

  “Chattanooga, Tennessee.”

  “Not much in those parts, is there? What banks are there?” he asked.

  “Father, don’t bother her with questions like that,” Dean said, accidentally marginalizing her. She knew he was just trying to protect her, but ended up making her background sound unimportant. Lillian looked at Dean and gave a weak, but thankful smile.

  “I would imagine that Chattanooga is smaller than San Francisco, sir, but it was an excellent place to grow up. And the bank my parents use is the Tillman Bank and Trust,” Lillian said.

  “I don’t recognize that bank,” Charles Brown said.

  “Well, honestly, Mr. Brown, I don’t know much about it. You see, my family didn’t have the need to do much business with the local bank. We don’t have very much money, so our exposure to the banking world is limited.”

  “So, Dean, dear. I see you’ve not bothered to redecorate the receiving rooms of the house. I thought you would have done that by now,” interjected Marie. Lillian wasn’t sure if she was trying to change the subject, was oblivious to what had just been said, or wanted to make everything worse by pointing out another shortcoming.

  “For Pete’s sake, Mother. What does it matter about the decorating of the receiving rooms in this house? And Father, who cares what bank is in Chattanooga or if Lillian’s parents have piles of money in it or not? It’s Christmas. Can’t we just celebrate? Enjoy the day?” Dean was clearly agitated and it was taking a toll.

  From the corner of the room, Lola stood. “Father, I think Dean’s girlfriend ran away from her family,” she said.

  “Lola, why would you think that?” Charles Brown replied. Oblivious to the fact that they were talking about Lillian like she wasn’t even in the room.

  “Because she’s a mail order bride!” Lola cried out.

  Lillian looked at her with wide eyes. What was she trying to do?

  Mr. Brown was clearly shocked at this news. He asked loudly, “Is that true, son? You have a mail order bride?”

  Dean looked angry. “No, Father, I do not have a mail order bride. She came here as a mail order bride to another gentleman. That match did not materialize and I am more than grateful that it did not.” Dean was doing a good job of defending her, but his family was a difficult crowd to please.

  Marie interjected, “She was let go by her betrothed, Charles. For another woman. So, not even a clever plan to deceive another man by becoming a mail order bride worked out for her.”

  “You both have the wrong idea about this. Lillian did answer an ad and come here to marry another man. She believed it was her best way to thrive and she took that chance. I applaud her sense of adventure and the courage it took to leave her family for something better,” Dean said firmly.

  “Well, else will we get to know her if we don’t ask her questions?” Charles replied to Dean’s support of Lillian.

  “You’re missing the point…” Dean trailed off.

  “So, then Lillian. Where do you work?”, Charles asked.

  With her chin up, Lillian said, “I work at the Mountain View Inn. I wait tables.”

  “A mail order bride that waits on tables in a seedy inn. What a catch, Dean,” said Lola sarcastically from he other side of the room.

  Lillian had had enough and she spoke up, “I can see I’ve caused a mess, but I make no apologies to you or anyone for who I am or how I grew up. I’ll be in the kitchen. Excuse me.”

  She fled into the kitchen, where their Christmas dinner was being prepared. Dean had a cook and a handyman to help him keep his house in order. It happened that the two were married and lived in a guest house at the back of the property.

  This day had started out so perfectly. Now it would be a bad memory forever. Christmas was ruined and perhaps her future as Mrs. Dean Brown was lost. The man she loved deeply came from a family that wouldn’t have her. It was too much to bear.

  She heard angry shouts coming from the main room. She wanted to leave, but she needed to hear what they said.

  “You cannot marry someone who’s not in your class of people! She’s beneath you. She has no money and she works a menial job. She has no education! How are you to love and respect someone who can’t have a formal conversation with you?” Mr. Brown hollered.

  “I don’t like formal conversations. They’re a bore!” Dean yelled back. “And I’ve had more intelligent conversations with Lillian than I’ve ever had with you!”

  “She’ll never be a part of this family!”

  “You won’t tell me who to marry and you won’t tell me how to run my life! I love her and I’m marrying her no matter what you think! Your short-sighted snobs and I’m embarrassed by you.”

  “Like your father said, she’ll never be welcome in this family!” said Marie with passion and conviction. “You should be sensible, Dean, and break this off now.”

  With that, Lillian asked Mr. Steward, Dean’s household help, to take her back to the Mountain View. She needed to get away from this terrible scene.

  She took off the ring she had so recently received. She held the most beautiful piece of jewelry she had ever seen in her hand. She looked at it realizing the promise it symbolized was not meant to be. Then she placed the ring on the kitchen counter top, wiped away a tear, and walked out the back door behind Mr. Steward.

  ***

  She couldn’t feel more relieved to be out of that house. Her heart was breaking but she had to keep her head up until she was alone.

  She would not tear a family apart. Even though the proposal was everything she wanted, she’d be a spinster before she broke up a family. Even a family full of brittle snobs like the Brown family. She cried on the way back to the inn, and by the time she got there she was sobbing.

  Daphne met her at the door with a huge smile. The smile faded when she saw Lillian’s red face.

  “What on Earth? Did the idiot not propose?” she followed Lillian, who walked past, and they went up the stairs together.

  “No. He proposed. I accepted,” she sniffled.

  “Then what happened?”

  “His family came for Christmas and for the proposal. They hated me,” Lillian bawled.

  “Shhh,” Daphne said, grabbing her and opening her door. She saw her to the bed and sat with her, rubbing her hand. “What did Dean say?”

  “He defended me to the end, but I can’t be the reason for a family to fight like that. They’ll never accept me and I won’t be miserable and feel inferior all the time.”

  “They don’t matter, Lillian. The man loves you. Marry him.”

  “I can’t. I don’t want to be a part of that. I want my family to be happy together.”

  “I see,” Daphne said. “Why don’t you get some sleep. Things may look different tomorrow.”

  Lillian looked at her skeptically, but she quickly undressed and put on her night dress. Then she slipped under the covers and prayed for sleep.

  Chapter Eight

  Dean did not come after her that Christmas night. He hated that he had made the decision to stay and try to work out his issues with his parents. He got the information from Mr. Steward, his helper, that he had taken Lillian back to the Mountain View. Then he found her engagement ring on the counter top as she had left it.

  He knew that she had overheard the cruel and overbearing things his family had said. He was embarrassed that they would act so horribly to her. He was tormented that he had not stood up to them at the first sign of discord. He had promised Lillian that she was the most important thing to him, yet he had not fought hard enough to defend her. She must think he was weak and all talk. He had to make it right.

  The next few days, Dean tried to reach his beloved. Daphne staved him of each time, promising that he’d see her soon. He owed Lillian a big apology and an explanation. He intended to give her both as soon as she was willing to hear it.

  Daphne was still trying to keep Lillian from fleeing b
ack to Chattanooga. Lillian believed there was nothing left for her in Cheyenne. She knew she would be miserable to see Dean without being his wife.

  The next day, Lillian decided to go back to work. She needed the funds to travel back to Chattanooga and working was the way to get what she needed. She had refused to let Dean pay for her lodging. While she didn’t regret being responsible for her own expenses, it would have been nice to have been able to build a little next egg. She could use it about now.

  While she cleared a table, Dean came through the door.

  “My love,” he said, breathless. He went to hug her, but she backed away. “I’ve missed you so much. We’ve got to talk. I have much to say to you.”

  “Look, Dean,” she said as calmly as she could. “We’re really not compatible. It was a bad idea for us to try to be together. We’re from different worlds. I don’t see how this can work. I won’t be responsible for discord in your family.”

  “You’re more important to me than that. If I have to make a choice, my choice will be you.”

  “That’s easy to say, Dean, until you actually have to do it. Your job, your livelihood is in the family business. Not only would being with me cause you to lose your family, you’d lose your income, too. I won’t be the cause of that.”

  “Let’s talk about this. I know we can work something out,” he said desperately.

  “I can’t talk about it,” Lillian said. “I’m going back to Chattanooga. I’ll have enough money in two weeks, to get there. I’d like not to see you again. It’s just too painful for me. Will you at least stay away from this place until I’m gone?”

  “But, Lillian. I love you.”

  “And I love you, but I cannot be married to a man whose parents hate me.”

  With that, she turned and went back to work.

  Broken, Dean left the inn. He knew she would not give in. So, he didn’t come back either, as she requested.

  Over the next two weeks, Lillian hustled at the restaurant, trying to pour her sorrow into her work. She scrubbed tables harder, she walked faster and was even cheerier to the patrons.