“We need to do this for Eugene,” Doris told Dominic when they’d finished their plans. “He is alone due to the bad luck with his mail order brides and I think it is time to show him our appreciation for all he does.”
Once their husbands were informed, they went to check the mail. Coincidentally, Doris found the reply from Ruth, and she returned to the shop, waving the letter in excitement.
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
Dearest Doris, Noreen and Ellen
I am so looking forward to arranging the trip out to see you and meet my new husband! I did find his ad in the paper we have here, and I responded but will not mail it to him until I know you have this letter.
As soon as I hear from Eugene, I will write to you all and let you know the exact plans. It does look like I will be out there for the upcoming Christmas!
Sincerely,
Ruth
Doris, Noreen and Ellen were excited by the answer they received from Ruth, and they began to plan Eugene’s party.
“This is going to be an amazing time” Doris said to her sisters, and they replied in unison: “It certainly is!”
The plans were made, and all that was needed was a date, but for that the ladies had to await their next letter from Ruth.
Once the party food had been planned—which chocolate was prominently featured, of course—and they knew how long it would take to get everything ready, the agonizing wait for Ruth’s next letter began.
While Doris and Ellen were swapping ideas for new items for the holidays one evening, Eugene burst in the door with a huge grin on his face. “She answered!”
“What are you talking about Eugene?” Doris and Noreen asked in unison. “I got a reply from my mail order bride in the paper!”
He waved the letter around. “It is from someone named Ruth, she lives in Ohio!”
And then Eugene opened the letter with so much haste that he almost ripped it!
Dear Fire chief Eugene,
I saw your ad for a mail order bride, and thought I would write to you and let you know you sound like an interesting person that I would like to get to know.
I will be traveling west in a couple weeks to visit friends and I would like it very much if we could also meet. I will be arriving well before the holiday and as soon as I have an exact date, I will write to you so you will know when to meet me.
I am very excited to be visiting old friends, and at the possibility of gaining a husband as well.
It is truly a dream come true!
Cordially Yours,
Ruth
Doris, Noreen and Ellen all exchanged glances, and this made Eugene suspicious, but he just chalked it up to the excitement of the day.
“I am excited to have gotten a response from my last ad. I was beginning to think that I would be spending the rest of my time alone!” Eugene said. “It will be nice to have someone to spend the holidays with, if she can get here on time.”
The ladies nodded in agreement, knowing that if any of them spoke, it just might give their plan away!
“I am off to make my rounds,” Eugene said cheerfully as he walked out the door.
When he was gone, they all exhaled. “My goodness, that was close!” Noreen said.
“Now we wait for the next letter to Eugene, letting him know of her arrival plans,” Ellen added.
With that, Doris smiled. “Yes, this is definitely going to be an exciting holiday season for sure! Now, it is time to open the shop and think of some new treats for the new year coming up!”
The next week came and went with nothing terribly eventful happening. Eugene kept busy with Dominic, Isidore and Luigi with the plans and beginning construction on the expansion for the factory and the shop.
While on a break from the construction, the men were sitting eating their lunches, when Eugene decided to update them on his expected wife. They were well aware of his ad, but they’d all been much too busy to keep up with what was happening.
“Well,” Eugene said, “Ruth is planning on coming west before the holiday and is making her arrangements now. When she is through, she will write me with the date she is arriving.”
Then he smiled. “I have not been this excited in a very long time!”
The mail carrier arrived the next morning with letters for both Eugene and Doris and her sisters. Eugene opened his before delivering the rest of the mail to the chocolate shop.
He was shaking as he opened the sweet smelling letter, and with his heart racing he read Ruth’s reply.
Dearest Eugene,
It is with a very light heart that I write to you with my travel plans. I will be leaving Ohio by the end of the week, and I should arrive in San Francisco by the following Friday, as long as the weather holds and we are not delayed. I am so looking forward to meeting you and getting to know you before the holidays!
I Look Forward To Our Meeting!
Ruth
Eugene grinned and folded the letter before putting it in his pocket and delivering the mail to the chocolate shop. Noreen took the letter from Eugene, and could hardly wait for him to leave so she could open it and share the news with her sisters.
“Finally!” she exclaimed when Eugene went out the door to the construction site. “Here it is!” Noreen exclaimed and opened the letter.
Dear Noreen, Doris, and Ellen,
I am writing to give you the time when I will be arriving for our visit, and to meet my possibly new husband, Fire chief Eugene! I will be leaving for the west in a few days and should arrive next Friday in the afternoon as long as the weather holds. I am so looking forward to seeing you all again, and meeting Eugene. Have no fear, our secret is safe and he will not know of your involvement! It is merely a sweet coincidence!
Sincerely,
Ruth
P.S. Do you think you will have a place for me in your shop? I do have a lot of experience in baking, and candy making as well!
Noreen was expressing her excitement when her husband came in to check on the progress of the latest sweet inventions that the girls were working on.
“My, you ladies are certainly excited over something!” he said. “Maybe some sweet new treats for the shop over the holidays?”
“No, it is about a friend of ours who is coming from Ohio to visit, and maybe stay here if she likes it,” Noreen replied.
“Hmm.” Dominic looked at them all, still sensing that something fishy might be going on.
“So, what are the plans for the new holiday treats?” he finally asked.
Noreen hadn’t put much thought into it with all the excitement about Ruth coming out, so she decided to stall him.
“Well, we have been pretty busy with discussing the recipes, but we haven’t actually made anything to try!”
Then she paused. “Tell you what,” Noreen added. “Come back before closing and we will have something ready for you to try.”
He went off to the construction site to meet the other men, so that they could discuss how things were going and do what was needed to keep things on schedule.
The next ten days went by slowly for the sisters, and especially for Eugene, who would come in the shop every morning and count down the days until Ruth’s arrival.
“Seven more days!” Eugene sang as he entered the shop, and Noreen giggled at his anticipation.
“What is so funny missy?” he said, trying to act indignant.
“Oh . . . nothing.” Then Noreen smiled and headed off for the kitchen before she spilled the beans about her friend.
Finally, it was the end of the month, October 31, and everyone was awaiting the arrival of the stagecoach. Eugene and the girls each had their own reasons, but neither knew those of the other!
Eugene asked Noreen, “Why are you three here waiting for the stage?”
“Oh, we have a friend coming in for a visit that we haven’t seen since we left Ohio,” Noreen said.
“We know why you are here, Eugene,” she added. “After all, you have reminded us every day of you
r mail order bride!”
Eugene laughed. “Was I that obvious?” he asked.
Eugene, Noreen, Doris, and Ellen sat and waited for the stage to make itself known via the echoes of the horse’s hooves on the plank road. The sun was beginning to set when the stage was heard approaching the station.
Eugene and the girls shook with anticipation as it approached. The driver got down and tied the horses to the rail.
He opened the door of the stage and lowered the stairs before helping the only passenger to the ground. Noreen stepped forward since she knew what Ruth looked like. Eugene, too nervous with excitement, decided to take a moment to go check out the stables for fire prevention and try to calm himself.
“Hello, my long lost friend!” Noreen exclaimed as she hugged Ruth. “These are my sisters, Ellen and Doris, and we are all happy you could come!”
Ruth looked around, and they could see the disappointment when she did not see Eugene.
She sighed. “Where is he? Is he not coming?”
Finally, when Ruth looked ready to cry, Doris chimed in. “Oh no, he is here. He couldn’t sit any longer he was so wound up with excitement, so he wandered off to inspect the stables.”
Ruth was relieved at hearing this, and she decided to simply wait there until he made an appearance. It didn’t take long before he came out of the barn door, and immediately spotted that there were now four lovely ladies at the station!
Eugene sprinted across the street from the stable, and hurriedly introduced himself to Ruth.
“Hello, my name is Eugene. I am most pleased to meet you!”
He showed her the letter he carried with him, to prove who he was when she met him. Noreen came over to introduce her friend, and she made believe this was simply one amazing coincidence.
“Oh!” Noreen said, “I was going to introduce you to my friend from Ohio, but I see you have already met!”
Ruth giggled. “This is an amazing happening, you see, because I am also Eugene’s mail order bride!”
The ladies acted happy to learn of this “surprise,” and Ruth took a room in the ladies' section of the boarding house where Eugene also stayed.
They saw each other frequently in the next two weeks and finally he decided to ask her to marry him. He took her out on a romantic dinner at the best eatery that they had, and they talked about their relationship.
“I have fallen in love with you in the short time you have been here, and I can see us spending the rest of our lives together,” he said shyly.
She gasped and said “Eugene, I feel the same way as you do!”
“Then there is only one thing I can do for you.”
Eugene got down on one knee while reaching into his pocket, and finally he asked her the question he’d been waiting to ask forever.
“Will you marry me, Ruth?”
He withdrew a small box from his pocket and opened it to show her a modest but lovely engagement ring.
“I have been saving this ring; it was given to me by my mother long ago.”
He took the ring from the box, and showed it to her. “I feel I will be spending the rest of my life with you, and I wish you to wear this ring to show everyone you are going to be my wife.”
Ruth gasped and held out her hand as he slipped the ring on her finger.
“It is beautiful!” she said “Yes! I will be your wife till the end of our days!”
Eugene then stood up in the dining room and made an announcement.
“I would be honored if everyone here would welcome Ruth as my wife to be!”
He got a resounding round of applause and congratulations from the other patrons who had watched this scene unfold.
His assistant chief happened to be there, and he proclaimed loudly, “It's about time!”
Ruth was still in a state of awe from the turn of events when he escorted her back to her room at the end of the date.
He kissed her shyly on the cheek. “I will see you in the morning, my beloved.”
Ruth bid him good night, and went inside for the night.
The next morning, Ruth couldn’t wait for the shop to open so she could share the news with her friends and thank them for getting her to make the journey to San Francisco.
She was waiting by the door when Doris came to open the shop, but she decided not to tell Doris yet. Ruth waited until Noreen and Ellen showed up for their morning gossip session before Noreen went off to the bake shop on the other end of town.
Once they were all there, it was obvious that she was bursting with some sort of news.
“Since we are all here,” Ruth began, “I have some wonderful news to tell you!”
She picked up her hand and asked, “Do you see anything different?”
All three started giggling like schoolgirls and said in unison, “He asked you to marry him!”
“And I said YES!” was Ruth’s reply. “Have you set a date yet?” asked Noreen.
“No, not yet.”
“The holidays are coming up, so what about a Christmas wedding?” asked Noreen.
“Well, we will see,” Ruth said. “We haven’t talked about that yet, but I am sure we will be doing that today!”
The ladies, of course, were all talking at once, trying to interject plans for the coming nuptials. But once the first customers came in they realized it was time to go to work, and they decided to postpone the conversation until an official date was set.
Ruth was training with Noreen to work in the bakery at the other end of town, since she had experience with breads and other amazing baked edibles.
Their talk of the day was filled with suggestions for decorations and guests to invite and food that should be made for the wedding. They discussed where it might be held since they were thinking of Christmas, but it wasn’t official yet.
Dominic, Luigi, Isidore and Eugene were taking a break to rest from the construction of the addition to the chocolate shop and the factory and have a little gossip session of their own.
“So, Eugene,” Dominic said “Have you made plans for a wedding date yet? Or will you be waiting for the girls to let you know?”
“Well, things have been so busy here I haven’t given it much thought,” Eugene replied. “But I was figuring Ruth might like a Christmas wedding, so I will leave the planning up to her and her three friends.”
Luigi finished the sandwich he was eating. “You know, my sister Gina is here in the United States now, I think she is now in Colorado. She came here to be a nanny for a couple she met in Italy and since she was single, they asked her to come live with them.
“Her job is about over, and I was thinking of inviting her to come here to help out in the chocolate shop because she has a very talented hand, and she will definitely bring new ideas with her.”
Dominic looked up. “Yes, I think that would be a great idea! Maybe we can find her a husband as well!”
As they stood to go back to working, Dominic made another point. “Then our families will once again be all in one place!”
With all the excitement over the impending wedding, Doris, Noreen and Ellen failed to recognize that they’d neglected a critical element of their plan.
“Oh my!” Doris said, looking around at the shop, which was rapidly filling with customers. “We have been so busy with all the excitement of the upcoming wedding, we have forgotten about the surprise party for Eugene!”
“You know, you’re absolutely right!” Ellen agreed. With that, they started making some special things for his surprise party, and preparing a cake quickly became the top priority.
When they told Ruth about it, she instantly wanted to help. “We had started planning this before you came out here,” Noreen explained, “and everything was put on a back burner with all the excitement of your arrival.”
Ruth thought about the logistics, and then she came up with a plan of her own for Eugene. “I think I can help get him to the shop for the surprise, just let me know when you want to have it.”
“Let’s pla
n on this Saturday, then!” Doris replied. "That will give us enough time to make some nice treats and a cake for him without him finding out.”
Doris told Dominic about her plan that night, and he was in total agreement.
“Eugene is an amazing fire chief, dedicated to his work and the safety of others and he deserves a nice surprise! I may even have a present for him that we can give him for the fire department,” Dominic said.
The ladies, including Ruth, worked in secret to make this an amazing birthday celebration for Eugene.
Saturday night came, and Ruth got Eugene to go out for an after dinner walk. It was a nice night, and she was still learning the town, so she decided a guided tour by her favorite guide was the best way to do it.
They walked arm in arm, musing about their Christmas day wedding, and Ruth paused.
“Let’s go in, it looks like our friends are still here so maybe we can surprise them!”
Eugene hesitated for a minute, but finally he said, “Ok, let’s go visit!” Eugene opened the door to the semi-dark store, but when he saw the lights in the back he and Ruth walked to the rear of the store.
As Eugene and Ruth stepped into the back room, all six of his friends jumped out and yelled “HAPPY BIRTHDAY!”
It gave him quite a start, as he was not expecting this at all. Eugene jumped at the sudden shock, then laughed at his thoughtful friends' actions.
“Wow, I never expected anything like this!” Eugene exclaimed.
“We know it had been a tough and busy year for you,” Noreen said. “But you need to be honored for your continuing improvements to the fire department and keeping us all safe.”
They enjoyed the cake and the other treats, and then Ruth realized she needed to reveal her surprise for him.
“I’ll be right back” she said, and with that she left for the storage room.
She returned with a big box she could hardly carry. Ruth carefully sat it on the floor, and Eugene admired the fine wrappings and red ribbon decorating it.
“Oh my! I wonder what this could be,” he mused before opening the box.
But that was just the beginning. When he opened the box, a small spotted puppy jumped up and started licking his face.
Christmas Miracles: Mega Mail Order Bride 20-Book Box Set: Multi-Author Box Set Page 81
