Mail Order Bride 22 Book Boxed set: 22 Brides Ride West :CLEAN Western Historical Romance Series Bundle

by Faye Sonja

  This drew a couple of oohs.

  Faith’s voice came in Hannah’s direction then. “You know braille?”

  “Yes.”

  The news seemed to interest everyone standing around.

  This time, when the man spoke, there was a smile on his face and hope in his voice. “Very well, Ms. Coleman. They are yours.”

  And just like that, the murmuring around Hannah grew intense. Indeed, this day would be marked as historic, in the small town’s history. Faith Coleman, the unmarried and barren woman from Perry Lake, adopted five children right off the street. Amazing.

  * * *

  “This meal is quite tasty,” Mark told Hannah one morning, more than a week later over breakfast. Hannah had made a dish with onions, potatoes, and eggs in it. It was good, really good, especially when he pondered on the fact that she was blind.

  Hannah had forbidden Mark from touching anything in the kitchen, and if he did, he had to remember to put it back exactly where he found it. He couldn’t move anything in the home around, that way, Hannah would know exactly where everything was. She didn’t ask him for help of any kind and most of the day left Mark to his own devices, volunteering to help teach Faith’s new son, Charlie, how to ‘map’ his surroundings. And when she was home, she was always humming a song to herself as she cleaned. The tune, a classical piece that Mark couldn’t place, but was driving him crazy.

  It had been over two months since they’d married, and around two weeks since Mark had begun to try and learn more about his wife. Though Hannah wouldn’t give him an inch. It was like she’d shut down when she around him, even though Hannah had nothing but smiles and laughs for everyone else around her. She was sharing her happiness with everyone else but him. Oh, what he would give to see her smile for him again? “You look beautiful today.”

  Hannah wiped her mouth with her napkin. There was no smile, not even the faintest movement of her lips. “Thank you.” And that was all. “Might I be excused?” She prepared herself to get up.

  “No.” The one word had been a low command. Mark hadn’t used such command in a long time.

  Hannah paused. Her hands still on the top of the table. Shock was drawn across her raised brow.

  Mark sighed, trying to loosen the tension that was growing in his body. “Talk to me, Hannah.”

  Hannah readjusted herself in to the chair. “What do you want to talk about?” She asked cautiously.

  “Us,” Mark reached out and grabbed hold of her hand. He felt Hannah start to pull away, but she stopped. “I can’t go on living like this, Hannah. I don’t want to be a stranger in my own home. Now, I’ve tried to be nice to you, but you seem to not want me anywhere near you.”

  Hannah’s brows drew together. “You’re nice with all the women, Mark.”

  The line hit home, which only angered Mark. “Hannah, that was two weeks ago.”

  Hannah stood, taking her hand from Marks as she rose. “Well, it feels as if it were just yesterday to me.”

  Mark stood and walked around the table. “Woman!”

  Hannah squared her shoulders. “Don’t you touch me!”

  Mark squinted his blue eyes, searching her pale gray ones. “How’d you know I was going to touch you?”

  “I didn’t. I just wanted to make it very clear that I didn’t want you to touch me.”

  Mark was breathing heavily now. “Is that what you want? You don’t want me to touch you? Ever?”

  “That’s what I said.”

  Mark looked at his wife and his anger vanished. In its place, a sadness settled in. This was not how he’d imagined marriage, and a part of him wished now that they hadn’t wed. The woman in front of him was supposed to make him feel loved and at home when he was with her. But with her last words, Mark knew that was never to happen. This wasn’t home. This woman was one that he had hurt too deeply. Hannah wouldn’t forgive him. If her body language hadn’t confirmed it, her words surely did. “Fine,” he whispered.

  Hannah swallowed. “Fine, what?” she asked.

  Mark stepped back. “I’ll never touch you again.” Then, without saying anything else, Mark went towards his room.

  * * *

  5

  “Are We On A Horse?”

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  “ No one had ever touched her

  so sweetly before. No man

  had ever kissed her before. ”

  .

  That weekend at church, Mark didn’t preach, but he was there, or so Hannah had been told. She hadn’t been in his presence in days. Katherine had told her that Daniel had told her that Mark had taken residence in this place, a room at the local inn. That was their connection of communication. Mark to Daniel, Daniel to Katherine, Katherine to Hannah.

  Hannah sighed. She’d done this to herself. She’d let her anger and fear get carried away. Mark had tried to be friendly with her, but Hannah hadn’t let him. She’d been too nervous about being discovered for the fraud that she was. Ever since Hannah had told the town that she knew Braille, they’d all been questioning her, asking her to describe certain things, things a woman who’d been able to see just three months ago, before her accident would most certainly remember. They now suspected that Hannah hadn’t been able to see long before the train wreck.

  Hannah’s thought were interrupted by the clicking of a watch. Plenty of people wore watches, but his one in particular, Hannah could spot out of the crowd. It’s ticking was just a few seconds off. Strangely, Hannah felt like the noise was following her everywhere. She’d heard it outside of Faith’s house whenever she was over there to help teach Charlie and Hannah, and she even heard it whenever she was in town shopping. At first, the sound had simply been annoying, but now it was frightening. Was someone following her? Hannah tried to wave the notion away, but realized she couldn’t shake the thought.

  “Do you hear that?” Hannah asked Katherine who sat in the pew next to her.

  “Hear what?” Katherine asked.

  Hannah shook her head. Of course, the seeing people didn’t hear it.

  “I hear it,” Charlie said.

  Charlie sat on Hannah’s other side. He was only eight and had been blind for less than a year, but his hearing was already pretty keen. Hannah was surprised the lad had heard her whisper to Katherine.

  With the sermon’s closing, everyone stood up and began to file out of the church.

  “Mark,” Nancy’s voice carried to Hannah’s ears. Hannah suspected the woman wanted her conversation overheard. “I heard you were staying at the local inn. Let me know if you need anything at all.” Anyone listening could tell the woman’s concern was as fake as her nature.

  “If I need anything, Nancy, I won’t be calling you.” Mark’s words were harsh. There was a bitterness in his tone that went much deeper than Nancy’s annoyances. Hannah could hear it and she knew the reason. But, instead of staying and getting involved, she walked out through the open doors of the church and took the three steps down that led to the road.

  “Mark,” Katherine called. The woman stood next to Hannah.

  Hannah cringed. She wasn’t ready to deal with Mark at the moment.

  Apparently, Mark felt the same. Katherine’s next words were stern. “Mark, don’t you ignore me. You know I’ll make a scene.”

  Mark’s footsteps could be heard as they came closer to Hannah. Hannah’s heart began to beat rapidly. There was an unexplainable ache in it.

  “You called, Katherine?” Mark asked. The bitter tone was still there, but Hannah’s heart still flipped. She didn’t realize how much she missed hearing his voice. It had only been a few days. How could she miss him already?

  “You’re going home with your wife.” Katherine announced. “It’s not optional.”

  Mark sighed. “This is real nice of you, Katherine, but…”

  Katherine turned to Hannah then. “I’m leaving you with Mark. He’ll se
e you home.” Then Hannah felt her walk away.

  “This is completely unnecessary,” Mark said under his breath, to no one in particular.

  “Yes,” Hannah whispered. “It is.” Her throat felt tight as the words left her lips. Listening to Mark’s voice put an ache in her chest. She missed him. They had their issues, but she’d promised before God to love this man. Yet, even with that thought, Hannah wasn’t sure if their marriage would hold up in court. After all, she wasn’t who she’d led Mark to believe. Not even close.

  Still, this man was her last shot at a family. And she truly loved his family. Katherine and Daniel were so great to her, and Mark had never truly done anything wrong in the first place. He’s just hurt her feelings, and had apologized dearly for it for weeks now.

  Hannah’s hands flew to her cheeks as she shook her head. “I’m sorry,” she whispered. The words were thick with sadness. A fear of her welling tears made her want to run, but running was a hard thing to do when you couldn’t see where you were going.

  A pair of hands covered her own. The pressure of something touched her forehead. When she felt the whispers of Mark’s voice across her nose and mouth, Hannah knew he’d brought his head down to her. “It’s okay, Hannah. Let’s get you out of here.” His hand then moved to pat her hair before ushering her towards their wagon, hiding her face from the crowd.

  Mark walked over to his horse and paused. He hadn’t planned on riding with company. Admittedly, he’d almost skipped church all together. He wasn’t in the mood to deal with his nosy congregation, and certainly wasn’t ready to see Hannah, knowing she wanted nothing to do with him.

  Mark climbed up on his horse. Then looked down. “Reach up to me, Hannah.”

  Hannah silently obeyed. She was so small, Mark could have lifted her with one hand, but he didn’t. He plucked her up off the ground and sat her on his saddle facing the road. Her long black hair that flowed down, danced across his face. On instinct, he inhaled deeply into the soft dark shades that he knew would smell like a sweet warm pastry in a bakery window. Cinnamon and Sugar.

  “Are we on a horse?” Hannah’s body was very still against Mark’s.

  “Yeah, you’ve been on a horse before.” Mark swore that she’d said so in her letters.

  Hannah sighed. “Of course. It’s just…”

  “Yeah?”

  Hannah shook her head. “Never mind.”

  Mark tightened an arm around her small waist, holding her tight… “You won’t fall. I won’t let you…”

  On those words, Hannah’s body, which had been stiff only a moment ago, softened, leaning back into Mark’s strong hold. She wrapped her arms around the arm that held her. Once Mark could tell she was comfortable, he started a slow trot in the direction of their home. Any faster, and he was sure it would scare Hannah. At this pace, Mark knew it would take them awhile to get to the house, but he didn’t mind. There was no hurry. Hannah was letting him hold her, touch her, the very thing she said she never wanted him to do again. Maybe it was a good thing he’d gone to church after all. God. He may not come when you want him, but…

  “How long do you think it’ll take us to get home?” Hannah asked.

  “Why? Anxious to get away from me?” There was only the slight hint of annoyance in his words.

  But what came next was the last thing Mark expected. Hannah rubbed a small hand over his forearm in a comforting manner. “No, I like you holding me.”

  Mark sighed as he brought his head down next to her, holding their faces closely. Ear to ear. Cheek to cheek. “And I like holding you,” Mark responded. Only a woman could shred a man’s heart into a million pieces one day, and then make it whole the next. Hannah’s one sentence seemed to lift a heavy weight off his chest. Mark felt as though he could breathe again. He hadn’t lost her. He wasn’t sure just who Hannah was, but he knew that he wanted her. It was that simple. She was his wife to have and hold; to hold the way he was right then.

  “I never should have told you not to,” Hannah’s voice was broken. Mark felt one of her tears hit his cheek. “I was just upset and jealous.” The tears were really coming now.

  If Mark hadn’t already been holding her, he would have been by now. Instead, he just tightened his hold on her. “Hannah, you have no reason to be jealous.”

  Hannah sniffled. “I heard that Nancy was pretty.”

  Mark almost responded with, ‘not as pretty as you’, but knew it was just a line. It was a line he would have told any other woman if she’d made Hannah’s comment. But, Hannah wasn’t any other woman. She was his wife. What he said to her had to not only be true, but special.

  Since the day at the Baseball field, Mark had learned to curb his tongue. No more off handed flirty comments to anyone. From now on, the only woman he’d make feel good, the only woman he wanted to see smile, would be Hannah. “Hannah, you’ve got something that Nancy could never have in a million years.”

  “What’s that?” Her voice was so faint that even with Mark’s head right next to hers, he had to strain to hear her.

  Mark placed his lips to Hannah’s ear. “Your beauty radiates from within. Your soul shines brighter than any smile I’ve ever seen.” Mark watched as his words made her smile and knew at that very moment that he loved her. He loved Hannah. He’d would die just to see that smile on her face. No woman’s smile had ever touched him so deeply. Just a simple thing it was, and yet, Mark could hear sweet music playing in his ears. It was like tiny bells and angels singing.

  A moment later, they arrived at their home and Mark didn’t want to let her go. Hannah felt so right in his arms. But, alas, he hopped down and then helped Hannah down off the horse. Mark’s arms were still around her once she hit the ground. Hannah’s smile had fallen a little. Her brows drew together. Her gray eyes were looking towards his chest. “I’m almost afraid to ask, but I have to know. Have you used that line on women before?”

  Mark shook his head. Then said, “No”, once he realized Hannah couldn’t see him. At times, it was so easy to forget that she was blind. “I’ve never said that anyone else before.” Mark tipped her chin up and placed his forehead against hers. “It wasn’t a line. It came from my heart and was completely inspired by you.”

  Hannah smiled again, wrapping her arms around Mark as well. They just held one another, their heads pressed together, their lips only an inch apart. “Do you really think I’m beautiful?”

  Mark smiled. “Is the lady fishin’ for a compliment?”

  Hannah laughed. “Perhaps. But, only one of those original ones. I like those.”

  Mark’s grin grew brighter. “From now on, my compliments are only for my wife.”

  “Promise?”

  “Promise.”

  Gladly, Hannah tipped her head up and kissed his lips. Mark kissed her back and Hannah had to pull away in order to breathe. Mark then stepped back, took hold of her hand, and led her into their home.

  * * *

  Hannah jumped at the sound of a crash. Faith had dropped Charlie off at her home a few minutes ago. Today was Hannah’s day with the boy. Normally, Hannah would go to Faith’s house, but today, Faith had to run around town to do fittings. The dance was this weekend. Every mother and daughter team needed to make sure they looked their very best.

  But Charlie’s arrival had come before Hannah and Mark was quite ready for him. Mark volunteered to watch the boy while Hannah finished getting dressed. She wasn’t so sure that was a good idea. “Mark?” She called.

  The sound of another crash made Hannah put down her hairbrush. Leaving her shoes off, Hannah went towards the common room in the house. “Mark?”

  “I’m here. Be careful where you step. I’m not too sure what I dropped.”

  Hannah panicked. “What do you mean?”

  “I’m blindfolded.”

  Hannah was confused. “What? Why?”

  A child’s laugh came from next to Mark.

  Hannah placed her hands out, searching for either one of them. “What’s happe
ning? Where are you?”

  Charlie volunteered to explain. “I was trying to teach Mr. Bishop how to map out his home like you taught me.”

  Hannah smiled, still searching. “Well, he doesn’t sound like he’s very good at it.”

  “He ain’t.” Charlie said.

  “He’s not,” Hannah corrected.

  “He’s not.” Charlie agreed.

  “I think you’re close now,” Mark said, breaking into their lesson.

  Hannah’s hand touched something and then it was gone. But then it was back. A hand. Mark had his hands stretched out towards Hannah, searching for her. Hannah shook her head as her fingers climbed up his arms and landed on his shoulders. “What is wrong with you?”

  There was a smile in Mark’s voice. “I just wanted to see the world how you see it.”

  Hannah shook her head again. “You’re silly, Mr. Bishop.”

  Mark’s hands moved up Hannah’s shoulders and went to her hair. They combed through her long strands. Hannah liked the feel of his hands. When Mark began to bring her head towards his, she put a hand on his chest. He was trying to kiss her. “Charlie is in here,” she hissed.

  “So? He won’t know the difference.” Mark said just before Hannah’s lips touched his.

  Charlie laughed. “Yes, I will,” Charlie said, reminding the room that he was there.

  Hannah’s hands went to mark’s face and slipped the blindfold off his eyes. “I need to finish getting ready. You need to clean up this mess that you created.”

  Mark’s hands went to his sides. “I think you look amazing, Mrs. Bishop.”