ROMANCE: Mail Order Bride: A Sheriff's Bride (A Clean Christian Inspirational Historical Western Romance) (New Adult Short Stories)

by Nathan Adams

  He was silent for a moment and sighed, taking his hat off. “I couldn’t stop thinking about you. I couldn’t stop thinking about what you said.”

  “About what I said?” she asked softly, biting her lip.

  He sighed and ran a hand through his dark hair. “You told me that you wanted to be with me. I should have told you right then, I should have told you how I felt about you, but I was afraid. You were leaving, and I was afraid if I told you how I felt you might stay in Pikeville.”

  Her eyes widened and she reached out with a shaking hand to touch his face. “Levi, what do you mean?”

  He looked down and closed his eyes. “After you left, I sold everything. I sold my home, my animals. I even sold the school. I offered your mother more than your other suitor, and she called off the engagement and sent the money back to the man in Wyoming.”

  “Levi, you didn’t! You sold the school?” He nodded and offered her a weak smile as she cupped his cheeks. “Why would you do that?”

  “Because none of it mattered without you,” he whispered, turning his head and kissing the inside of her palm. “I wanted to be yours. I wanted to marry you and have a family with you because I knew that you were the one God wanted me to be with. I could feel it in my soul, but I needed to make it happen.”

  “You want to marry me?”

  Levi nodded again and looked up at her. “I knew from the day we met that we had something special, Anne,” he whispered. “I knew we had a future together, but I was too scared to tell you.”

  “Tell me what?” she whispered breathlessly.

  “I was too afraid to tell you I loved you.”

  Anne’s heart nearly leapt from her chest, and she threw her arms around Levi as best she could while still holding onto Grace. The child was nestled between the comfortably, giggling at the soft warmth that surrounded her. “Say it again,” Anne pleaded.

  “I love you.”

  She let out a sob of happiness and clung to him, her fingers tangled in his hair. “I love you, too,” she whispered, her chest aching with the love she felt for him. Anne had dreamed of falling in love with Levi or so long now that this seemed impossible. She’d wanted nothing but love from him, and it was hard to believe that God was finally answering her prayers.

  Levi kept his arms wrapped around her, holding her close and smiling softly. “Let’s start a life together,” he whispered, leaning in close so that their foreheads were pressed together. “Let’s start over somewhere new, somewhere better than Pikeville. It will be a place that we build together with love. We can raise Grace and show her the wonder of God’s land. Please, Anne, say yes. Say you’ll be mine.”

  Anne smiled softly and looked up at him, her eyes wet and shining with tears. “You silly man.”

  Levi’s smile faltered just slightly until Anne spoke again. “I’m already yours.”

  A grin spread across his face, and he pulled her close for a kiss. Their lips met, and stars exploded behind Anne’s eyes. The kiss was everything she’d ever imagined it would be. It was soft, warm and full of love. Levi held her in that kiss for a long moment until the need for air became too strong to ignore. When they finally parted, the others in the wagon train around them erupted into cheers. Anne could only smile at her one true love, hope filling every inch of her. Things were going to be OK. In fact, they were going to be better than OK. They were going to be perfect.

  Chapter Ten

  Perfect wasn’t even the word to describe Anne’s life. After they brought in the bandits, the ransom money was offered to the entire wagon train, though everyone ended up donating most of their share to Anne and Levi so that they could start their lives together.

  After they reached the town, Anne said her tearful goodbyes to Maggie and the rest of the women who’d become her friends. It was sad to see them go, but Anne knew that it meant she was going to start her life with Levi.

  They completed the perilous journey West, and eventually settled down in Colorado among the snowy mountains. They bought a small plot of land that was just big enough for them to grow their own food and keep a few cows. Levi was not a farmer, and he didn’t intend to become one. He was a teacher through and through and eventually found a job at a local schoolhouse.

  Anne stayed home with Grace, taking care of the child and raising her to love God. She cared for their small garden and animals, enjoying the freedom she felt when it came to her home. Levi never made her feel like she was less than him and was happy to let her do as she pleased with their small farm.

  Soon after they bought their home, they were married in the local church. A few members of the congregation showed up to congratulate them, but that was it. Their families were far away now, so they only had each other, but that was all they needed.

  Anne was soon carrying Levi’s child, and excitement pervaded every inch of their small home. Even little Grace seemed to understand that something was happening, despite the fact that she was barely a year old.

  Snow was falling from the sky in thick white sheets, completely covering their barren lawn. In the spring and summer, the grass was lush, green and full of flowers, but winter brought blankets of snow.

  Anne spent her entire life in the South before she moved to Colorado, and she wasn’t sure she was ever going to get used to the snow. She sighed and rubbed her growing belly as Grace played with a set of blocks by the fire place. Their preacher had been kind enough to offer them toys after they moved. It was a hard commodity to find in the local general store because they had a tendency to only keep the essentials around.

  She glanced up at the sound of a loud grunt as Levi pushed the heavy oak door open with his shoulder, wandering in with an armload of wood. Anne smiled and walked over to him, taking a few pieces from the top. “You shouldn’t strain yourself, darling,” Levi murmured worriedly.

  “You worry too much,” she said with a smile, taking the wood over to the fireplace and tossing it into the flames. “If you think a few small logs are too much for me to handle, then you’d have a heart attack if you knew what I did on a daily basis when you are not around.”

  “I already worry about you as is, and then you go and say things like that.”

  Anne chuckled and walked over to him, wrapping her arms around his neck and kissing his nose tenderly. “Don’t worry. The baby is fine. I’m fine, and so are you,” she said, rubbing his back.

  Levi pulled her close and began to sway with her, moving to a tune in his head. “I know. Sometimes I just have a hard time believing this is real. It seemed so far out of reach for so long, and now, here we are.”

  Anne smiled and nodded, looking up and him and standing on her toes to steal a kiss. “I know. But remember what you told me? Back in Pikeville?”

  “That seems so long ago. I can hardly remember.”

  “You told me that God had a plan and that I just needed to trust it. You were right. This was his plan,” she whispered, resting her head on his chest.

  “It worked out for the best, didn’t it?” he hummed softly, still swaying from side to side.

  “It worked out like a dream. I wouldn’t change it for the world.”

  Anne meant it. She meant every word of it. Everything she’d ever wanted came true. She had a family, and she had Levi. It was all she needed to be happy, and every day that passed she thanked good for the broken road that led her here.

  The End

  Return to the TOC

  Mr Louden's Baby

  Clean Western Mail Order Bride

  By: Samuel Grace

  CHAPTER ONE:

  "Johanna Holmes, get away from that horse this instant!" her mother's voice calls to her from the porch. "You'll muss your skirts. Come along. We are going to be late for church."

  Johanna turns, tucking a strand of her chestnut hair into her Sunday bonnet. She ignores her mother's supplication and gently strokes the honey-velvet nose of her faithful mare. "Oh, Pepper, how I wish I could just stay with you," Johanna whispers, placing her fo
rehead against the warm nose of her companion. The horse replies with a soft nicker, which elicits a smile from Johanna.

  Since arriving out West two years ago, her greatest moments of happiness remain in riding along the plains with the wind coursing through her hair. She did not find joy in much since she and her family had moved out here from Boston. They had taken a big chance by traveling to the frontier, and her family had suffered much. Many in town now scoff at the idea of three females on their own, but Johanna knows her mother's strength of mind and purity of faith will carry them through many hardships, as it already had. At least, their strong-minded nature was one thing they had in common.

  "Johanna!"

  "Fine! I'll be right there, Mother," she calls out. "I'll see you soon, Pepper." She gives her mare one last rub, wishing more than anything that it were not the Sabbath. Most days she could go and ride after finishing her chores but never on Sundays.

  Johanna gathers her skirts and turns toward her awaiting family. Her mother and younger sister, Sara, wait in the front yard of their humble home wearing their Sunday best in preparation for the day's services. Johanna falls into step with them, and they head in silence down the path toward town. Up ahead Johanna can see some of the other citizens of Neiman's Hollow walking along toward the main building where services are held.

  Johanna feels glad that her mother was not haranguing her with questions on this day, as she was prone to do. Taking in the surrounding prairie, Johanna tucks her chin down and keeps her eyes on the road, feeling a mixture of annoyance as well as guilt for feeling so on the Sabbath. She knows she is supposed to turn her heart toward God on this day, above all others, but it just did not make sense to her. The expectation did not fit her own understanding.

  What was it about sitting in a stuffy building in scratchy, uncomfortable clothing while listening to Pastor Harkin's dull voice give the sermon? Why did that indicate fealty toward the Almighty? It made no sense. Johanna had always been devoted to her evening prayers and to being the best person she could be, or at least, try to be. She knows there are enough instances when she fell short. There were just times when she felt as if the world around her conspired to make her existence nothing but boredom.

  "Good morning, ladies." The voice of Mr. Andrews, his hat covering his balding hair, as Johanna already knows, interrupts her thoughts. "Do you care to allow me to escort you?"

  "Well, of course, Mr. Andrews," Mother purrs, placing a gloved hand to her throat. "It would be an honor."

  "The honor is mine," Mr. Andrews replies. "To accompany three such becoming ladies."

  "It may not be prudent for me to say, as I am her mother and might have a biased eye, but our Johanna is becoming more beautiful with each passing day. Would you not agree, Mr. Andrews?"

  "Indeed, I would agree." He tips his hat toward her with a sparkle in his eye.

  Johanna takes a breath in an attempt to keep from rolling her eyes. Mr. Andrews is the shopkeeper of the general store in the center of town. Mother had been hinting that Johanna was soon approaching marriageable age and should start to consider some of the gentlemen, as they would surely begin to come calling. Mr. Andrews name had been mentioned within such a context. Johanna thinks him far too old and that he looks like a goldfish.

  The idea of marriage makes Johanna's skin crawl, especially because she’s seen her mother's life turn out the way it did. Her mother had been a fine lady in Boston before they moved. Her father wanted them to move out West after his business took a downturn. She balked against it, but he had the final say, and at last they moved. But fortune did not smile upon them, as her father fell to a calamitous accident within the first weeks after arriving. Her mother had little knowledge of how to run the farm, and so, in addition to grieving her father's death, the majority of the caretaking fell to Johanna. She welcomed the workload as it gave her a distraction.

  "We'll need to hire a boy for the farm," Mother had said a little while after the death of her father.

  "I can do it," Johanna had insisted. "I don't mind it, Mother."

  "Nonsense. Tending a farm is no kind of work for a young lady. We'll find a way to hire a boy. Maybe Finnegan's young man? He's nearly 12. He can lift."

  "Mother, I can do it! We have little money as it is. I can care for the farm."

  But her mother had continued to insist that they needed to hire someone to come around. She constantly nagged Johanna about the unladylike behavior, but it did not go unnoticed that she never did take the steps to hire the Finnegan boy. Johanna was glad of it and suspected her mother had granted her a small mercy.

  Up ahead, the buildings of Neiman's Hollow come into view around the bend of the road. More of the town's people stream toward the large building at the far end. Everyone arrives by foot, as it would be irreverent to harness one's animals on the day of the Lord. Johanna tries not to cringe as Mr. Andrews somehow manages to find his way walking alongside her. She only hopes that he would not sit next to her during the service.

  Johanna tries her best to keep her heart and mind focused on the pastor's words through the course of the service. She wants to have a pure mindset about the services keeping her mind on God. Sometimes it just seems so difficult. Sunday just seemed to drag on. With the weather as lovely as it is, Johanna wishes she could be galloping through the meadow on her beloved mare. It is then that she feels closest to her creator. She does her best not to fidget throughout.

  "There is something I wished to speak with you about," her mother says as they step out of the building at the end of the services.

  "Yes, of course." Johanna turns with a polite smile, ever aware of her manners.

  "I wanted to ask you: Mrs. Ferrington is looking to hire a girl. There seems to be a unique situation arising within her family."

  "Oh?" Johanna replied attempting to put off the question. "What would that be?"

  "Ah, there she is." Her mother waved to the well-dressed woman standing with her parasol a short distance away. They approached her through the visiting crowd. The woman considered herself one of the town's upper crust in any sense that it had one. Her husband ran the post office in the center of town, next door to Mr. Andrews’ shop.

  The women greet each other by folding their gloved hands over each other’s.

  "Please," her mother says, "explain to Johanna the opportunity that you have come up with."

  "Of course," Mrs. Ferrington begins, "my young nephew is coming from the East to stay with us for an extended amount of time. He hopes to take over the Dawson's old ranch."

  Johanna's heart sinks at the words. Regardless of the circumstances, she had secretly dreamed of one day owning the ranch herself. It became abandoned when the Dawson brothers traveled farther West. Owning the ranch was a fanciful idea, of course, for a young lady to dream. She did her best once more to keep the serene smile on her face.

  "His situation is a bit unique," Mrs. Ferrington went on, fluttering her hand around her neck.

  "In what way?" Johanna's mother asks.

  "You see, he has recently become the guardian of his sister's child. An infant boy. He does not have the means or the ability to care for him in the proper way. Once he arrives, I was hoping to make the offer to hire Johanna to be a nanny to the poor child. Heaven knows the situation requires a woman's touch. That much is certain."

  "Sara is still in school for the time being," her mother chimed. "I have every confidence that Johanna would be a perfect fit for the job."

  Johanna tucks her head down to hide the sudden flush in her cheeks. She had little time to herself, as it was for taking care of the farm. The idea that now she had been volunteered to care for someone else's squalling child made her simmer with anger. She did not speak again but stood in silence while her mother and Mrs. Ferrington planned out the details of her life.

  CHAPTER TWO:

  The sun peeked over the horizon, as Johanna approached the barn. She had already milked the cow and taken the milk back to the kitchen to be made into
butter later that day. Now she needed to harness Pepper and lead her out to the pasture. Already she realizes that she would have little riding time, if any, in the afternoon. This was the day she was to meet Mrs. Ferrington's nephew and his ward.

  Johanna smiled as she approached her mare, already peering over the stable door.

  "Good morning, Pepper," she chimed, taking the harness off the nail. "Perhaps we could run away together, just you and me and the open prairie. What do you say?"

  The horse gave a short snicker of impatience, clopping her foot down.

  "All right, all right," Johanna laughed. "You don't like being confined, either, do you?"

  She harnessed the horse and led her out to the pasture, careful to avoid the puddle that formed in the rut as the gate swung open. After letting the horse out into the pasture, she stands at the fence and watches her four-legged friend prance in the grass. Her mother and sister would be awake soon. She needed to gather the eggs and get back inside to help make breakfast. She did not look forward to the day’s events, but she knew she still had chores to do.

  Johanna twisted her fingers together as the carriage pulled up to the front of Mrs. Ferrington's home.

  "Now you will be on your best behavior, young lady."

  Johanna turned her head away from her mother's scolding. She had grown used to her speaking as if Johanna were an errant child.

  "Let's hope this experience will be good for you. After all, it will do you some good to build some kind of maternal instinct."

  "Of course, Mother," she said with a tight smile.

  "Please, don't take me wrong Johanna. I only want what is best for you. You are so strong-spirited. It is unbecoming of a young lady."

  Mrs. Ferrington stepped out onto the porch wearing her second-best dress, black silk with her pearl brooch pinned at her throat. Even just seeing that much fabric made Johanna feel claustrophobic, though she felt glad that her mother had insisted she wear her pressed gingham. She felt domestic in it at least.