The Mail-Order Brides Collection

by Megan Besing

  Across the prairie, the train’s whistle sounded, and a shudder raced through Josiah Abbot as he stood on the platform. His soon-to-be bride was on that train. His stump ached, and he shifted his weight from his prosthetic leg. He lifted his bowler hat, slicked back his hair, and replaced the hat. “I don’t know about this, Wade. This might not have been our brightest idea ever. Why did I allow you to talk me into placing an advertisement for a mail-order bride?”

  “You’ve always liked my plans. Moving to Texas was a good one. The cotton has done well.”

  “If we hadn’t liked it here, we could have gone elsewhere. If I don’t like my bride, I’m stuck with her forever.” He wiped his damp hands on his pants.

  “You enjoyed her letters well enough.”

  “That’s true, but you can present yourself however you want to in a letter. She sounded sweet and gentle, a fine Christian widow, but how do I know that’s true? She might be a spiteful, hateful shrew.”

  Wade thumped him on the back. “I’m not sure she’d be able to hide a personality like that, even in a well-formulated letter. She’ll be fine. I’m not nervous about meeting Maude.”

  “Because you’re desperate for a mother for your little hooligans. I hope she can handle them.”

  “She told me she loves children and she’s good with them.”

  “Don’t believe everything you see in print.”

  “You mean the way you used your initials and your mother’s maiden name instead of your own?”

  “I was scared.”

  “Of what?”

  “I don’t know. The shield of anonymity gave me the courage to write that first letter.”

  “You’ll have to tell her she’s going to be Mrs. Abbot and not Mrs. Griffin.”

  Among other things.

  The engine chugged into the station and belched one last puff of steam as it stopped. Any moment now, she would appear on the step and walk into his life. His stomach clenched. “What am I going to do when she finds out about my leg?”

  “You should have told her before this. Besides, what do you have to be worried about? Your wooden leg is as good as any flesh and blood one. You do the farm chores yourself. There’s nothing you can’t do with it. Up until now, it hasn’t kept you from anything.”

  “But what is she going to think of me when she sees me, you know, without it?” Heat raced up his neck and into his cheeks. Good thing his beard hid the blush.

  “She’ll think you’re a brave man who made a great sacrifice for his country. She’s a fellow Virginian, so she’ll be proud of you and how you fought.”

  Blood whooshed in his ears. “What if she—”

  “Just stop it. Stand tall and proud. Be kind and loving, and everything will work out.”

  “Is that your plan?”

  “Sure is. No one can resist my charms. Libby couldn’t.” Wade tugged on his denim overalls.

  “Honestly, I never did understand what she saw in you.” Josiah managed to crack a smile.

  “Wait. Look. There’s movement inside. I think they’re coming.”

  A woman appeared on the train steps, her dress and her hair dark, as well as her countenance. She pinched her lips together as she scanned the few people gathered along the tracks. Then she turned. “Hurry up, Nora. Don’t be so poky.”

  So that was Wade’s bride.

  Josiah might just be sick to his stomach.

  A moment later, another woman, presumably Nora, stepped out of the train carriage.

  She sucked the breath from his lungs. Hair the color of maple syrup parted in the middle and pulled back. An oval face. Full, pink lips. A soft smile. A simple gray dress that accentuated her tiny waist.

  In other words, sheer perfection.

  His heart bucked in his chest like an untamed bronco. “I can’t do this. She’ll never have me. Tell her I couldn’t make it. That I’m terribly ill or something. Don’t let her know I was here. She’s not for me.” He strode from the tracks as fast as he could.

  He rounded the building and leaned against it for support. She was beautiful. Everything he had ever hoped for in a wife. Maybe more.

  Once she found out about his injury, she would want nothing to do with him. He’d seen it before his prosthesis. Stares. Questions. Pity.

  Nothing he wanted from his wife.

  Chapter 2

  Nora swooped down the steps behind Maude and almost ran into her when she screeched to a halt. Maude peered over her shoulder at her. “Wonder which ones are ours?”

  Nora shrugged and stifled a nervous giggle. Only one man remained on the platform, the one in the overalls. His companion must have boarded the train.

  The lone man approached them. “Are you Mrs. Green and Mrs. Palmer?”

  Maude peered down her nose at him. “We are. If you could direct us to the men who were to meet us, we would be most grateful.”

  He held out his hand to shake Maude’s but dropped it to his side when she made no move to reciprocate. “Which one of you is Maude?”

  Maude answered with a sniff. “I am.”

  “I’m Wade Yates, your husband-to-be.” His grin stretched from Cuento to Dallas. Maude sucked in her breath. “You’re Wade?”

  “Yes, ma’am, I am. Very pleased to make your acquaintance. You must be exhausted from such a long journey. Let me take your bags. The preacher’s wife is opening her home to you ladies so you can refresh yourselves before the ceremony.”

  Nora stepped from behind Maude, a colony of butterflies whizzing about in her stomach and laughter on her lips. “Excuse me, sir. I’m Nora Green, J. M.’s intended.”

  Wade cracked his knuckles and cleared his throat. “Well, um, you see, Mrs. Green, um, well, it’s like this. He isn’t coming.”

  She stumbled backward, her breath catching in her throat. “What do you mean, he isn’t coming?”

  “See, he’s real shy, and after he sent you the train fare, he changed his mind about having a wife. He likes the seclusion of his ranch and decided to keep everything just the way it is. He’s awful sorry and sends his apologies.”

  “He’s not going to marry me?” She slumped.

  “Afraid not.”

  Maude’s shrill voice pierced Nora’s fog. “Where is she going to go, then? What is the gentleman prepared to do for her?”

  “I’ll speak to him about getting you train fare back to Virginia.”

  “That won’t do me any good. I have no home there anymore. I’ve lost everything.”

  “Family?” Wade scratched his eyebrow.

  Nora shook her head.

  He brightened. “You can stay with Maude and me.”

  Good heavens, did he know what he was suggesting?

  Maude shook her head with such vigor her little hat should have flown off her head. “She will not stay with us. I’m not sure I’m going to marry you.”

  Nora’s fingernails bit into her palms. “You have to wed him. What else will we do? Everything is gone to the debt collectors.”

  “Hush.” Maude spit the words at Nora. “He doesn’t need to know our business.”

  “If you’re to be his wife, he does.”

  “I’m not marrying him.”

  Nora focused on Wade. “Could you excuse us for a moment, please?”

  “Certainly.” With one nod, he backed away. “I’ll get your trunks loaded into the wagon.”

  Maude stomped her foot. “You will leave them where they are.”

  Behind her stepsister’s back, Nora pointed to the trunks piled against the station and motioned for him to take them. He slunk away. She grabbed Maude by the upper arms and swung her around. “Be reasonable. Since my groom deserted me, you have to marry Wade.” She swallowed around the lump in her throat.

  “What did you do to upset your intended? What did you say that made him change his mind?”

  “Nothing. I can’t imagine why he did this. All was well. After he sent the train fare, I sent him the telegram informing him of our arrival.”


  “Well, that’s it then. You didn’t write him a letter. You got what you wanted and snubbed him.”

  “You didn’t write a letter to Wade.” In fact, Maude made Nora pay for the telegram. “Whatever the reason, the fact remains that we are two destitute widows with no options. If you don’t marry Wade, we don’t survive.”

  “We’ll get jobs.”

  Nora laughed. “Doing what? There isn’t a hotel here or anything.” The town, as far as Nora could see, consisted of the train depot, a church, a general store, a livery, and several scattered homes. That was about it. Up until two years ago, Maude had slaves who fulfilled her every command.

  Maude paced the small platform as the train chugged out of the station. “I can’t believe you put us in this situation. You’re forcing me to marry a man who is ugly, backward, and—”

  “You don’t even know him.”

  “And if I agree to take you in, you must help in the running of the home and the raising of the children. I will not have you be a burden on us.”

  Nora sighed. “Fine. What other choice do I have?”

  “Apparently very little. And neither do I, thanks to you.”

  Nora stood beside Maude inside the little white clapboard church. Even in May, the heat and humidity bore down on her. Sweat trickled between her shoulder blades. The freshening they did at Pastor Miles’s house lasted all of ten minutes.

  The reverend intoned the marriage ceremony. She should be standing in front of the church beside J. M. This was her chance to start over. No more debt. No more widowhood. No more cares. Someone to lift the burden of day-to-day living from her shoulders.

  How could J. M. have done this to her? Didn’t he realize the predicament he put her in by not carrying through on this promised marriage? Without Maude, she’d be forced to…

  No sense in wondering. Living with Maude was an acceptable solution for now. Nora’s temples throbbed, and her tongue stuck to the roof of her mouth. There would be time enough to figure out the future. Right now, a bath and a cool glass of water would be worth more than gold.

  “I now pronounce you husband and wife.” Pastor Miles slapped the small book shut.

  Wade took Maude by the hand. “Guess that’s about it. Are you ready to head to the ranch?”

  Sweat beaded on Maude’s upper lip. “You would think a town would have a hotel and restaurant for weary travelers.”

  “Sorry about that. This village is new, cotton farming just opening up around here since the war. The men have been busy getting their operations going. Just trying to make a living off the land. There hasn’t been time for much else. Not even marrying.” Wade had the audacity to wink at Maude.

  “What are you doing? Stop the tomfoolery, and let’s get going. This heat is even more intolerable than at home.”

  Wade clucked to the horses, and they bumped their way to their new place of residence. A familiar ache settled in Nora’s chest. Where were the woods and rivers of Virginia? The live oaks dripping with moss?

  They drove along fields bursting with cotton plants, as far as the eye could see across the prairie. Here and there, a small cabin broke the monotony.

  No one spoke the entire journey to Wade’s farm. Didn’t the newlyweds want to get to know each other? The silence stretched on. Guess they had no intention of it.

  The trip came to a merciful end when they rolled up to a cabin planted in the middle of a field. A long front porch ran the length of the single-story house. Brick chimneys rose on either end. As Wade pulled the team to a stop, four children spilled from the house and down the porch steps. Three young boys in britches that didn’t quite reach to their ankles toed the dirt with their bare feet while one little girl, the smallest of the children, clung to her brother’s shirttail, her thumb in her mouth.

  “Children, come say hi to your new momma.” Wade hopped from the wagon and held out his hand to help Maude. She climbed down on her own.

  The children shuffled forward. Wade nudged the tallest, who bowed. “How do, ma’am?”

  “That’s Charles, followed by William and James. And the littlest there is Alice.”

  Maude patted each of them on the head and then marched into the house.

  “Boys, this here is Miss Nora. She’ll be staying with us for a while. Now help me get these trunks inside.”

  With a good deal of groaning and complaining, the boys pulled the trunks from the wagon and lugged them to the house. Nora bent in front of Alice, peering into the little girl’s wide blue eyes. “Hello, sweetheart. How old are you?”

  Alice held up three fingers.

  “Oh my, aren’t you a big girl? And such pretty yellow curls you have.”

  A grin broke out on the toddler’s face. She pointed to the house and spoke around the thumb in her mouth. “Momma?”

  “That’s right. That’s your new momma. She’s here to watch over you and take care of you. And I’m going to help her. How does that sound?”

  Alice stood still and sucked her thumb all the harder.

  Maude flung open the cabin’s door. “Nora? Nora! Get in here right now. I need you to clean up this kitchen. It’s a disaster.”

  Nora closed her eyes and drew in a deep breath. It was Virginia all over.

  Chapter 3

  Morning sunlight streamed through the just-washed kitchen window. Josiah clutched his coffee, steam rising from the mug. Since he hadn’t slept well last night, he downed it and poured himself a second cup.

  How had Nora taken the news that he wasn’t coming? Had she been angry? Distressed? His stomach clenched. Yes, it was cowardly for him to desert her. But this way was better. Once she realized what the war cost him, she would leave him. Or stay with him out of pity, which he would refuse to allow. This way, he didn’t put her in a position to decide. He took the preemptive strike.

  My, she had been beautiful. Just about the most gorgeous creature he’d ever beheld. To have such a woman for his wife…Well, it was a dream beyond his reach. Some Union soldier saw to that.

  He left his cup on the table and pulled the coffeepot to the back of the stove before thumping out the door, across the porch, and down the step he’d fixed yesterday morning so his new bride wouldn’t trip.

  He may have been brave enough to face an army of Yankees, but he wasn’t brave enough to face a single woman. A one-note laugh escaped his lips. Some kind of man he was.

  Even this early, the sharecroppers were in the fields, hoeing the weeds between the green rows of cotton plants. He had plenty to support a wife and family. But he’d die a lonely old man.

  In the distance, a horse and rider approached. Despite the glare of the morning sun, Josiah couldn’t mistake his visitor. Wade. Josiah shuddered. Wade would give him what for. And with good reason.

  Wade reined the horse to a stop in front of the house and slid from the mare’s back. “Good morning to you.”

  “Congratulations on your new bride. I’m assuming you went through with the wedding.”

  “Of course. I need a mother for my children, so I had little choice but to do so.”

  “How is married life?”

  Wade shook his head. “Well, I’ll tell you, Maude isn’t quite all I thought she’d be. She hasn’t taken much interest in the children. But maybe that will change once she’s rested. She retired early last night with a severe headache, complaining of fatigue.”

  Josiah wagged his eyebrows. “You don’t say.”

  “Don’t start on that. At least I had the fortitude to go through with the ceremony. And by the way, you are missing out. Nora is another story altogether. Beautiful.”

  “I saw that part.”

  “Not only that, but she is so good with the children. She’s staying with us for the time being, since she has no husband here and no home to go back to. I overheard the two of them talking, and they lost everything in the war. Anyway, Nora took right over as soon as she entered the house. So far, she’s charmed Alice and gotten the boys to hold their forks right and not tal
k with their mouths full. And she’s cleaned the kitchen so it shines.”

  “Quite the list of accomplishments in a short amount of time.” Josiah rubbed his aching head. Maybe he had done the right thing. A beautiful, loving woman such as Nora wouldn’t look twice at a man such as him.

  “She’s everything she said she was in her letters and more. Maybe I should have married her and not Maude. But I didn’t know that when they first stepped from the train. And I thought you might change your mind about her. Any chance of it?”

  “Not a one. She’d take one look at me and run home to Virginia screaming.”

  “Now you’re exaggerating. She’s not the type to do such a thing.”

  “You haven’t even known her twenty-four hours.”

  “Long enough.”

  “Is that all you came for? To taunt me with the woman who might have been my wife?”

  “That’s your fault. But no, it’s not. Just wondering if the town is still putting on that play. I’d like to take Maude and introduce her to some of the ladies around here. Maybe she’ll feel settled if she makes a few friends. Sunday mornings are fine, but the play will allow her more time to interact with the other women, few as there are.”

  “Yes, it’s still scheduled for Saturday evening.”

  “And what do you want me to do about Nora?”

  “What did you say to her?”

  “That you’re shy and stay on your farm all the time.”

  “Good. Don’t tell her anything else about me. And whatever you do, don’t tell her who I am or where I live.” If she met him and found out what he’d done, he’d die of shame.

  Nora rubbed her aching lower back as she poured another pot of warm water into the metal tub in the middle of the kitchen. Time to see that four rowdy children had their Saturday evening baths. Whether they liked it or not. And it was a not with William, Charles, and James.

  The large tub and shimmering water beckoned to Nora. Maude had complained every day since they’d been here of some ailment or another that kept her from caring for the house or the children. What a good soak would do for Nora’s sore muscles.

  Maude sailed through the kitchen, the hem of her skirt skimming the swept and scrubbed floors, her hoop bouncing as she went. Her headache cleared up in time for her to attend the play tonight. She pulled her best white gloves up to her elbows. “When we get home, we expect all the children to be tucked into bed, sound asleep, and the house to be put to rights. I don’t know how late we’ll be.”