The Bride’s Secret_A Western Romance Story

by Elliee Atkinson

  The Bride’s Secret

  Family of Love Series

  Elliee Atkinson

  GREENHOUSE PUBLISHING CO.

  Contents

  Copyright

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  A Personal Note From Ellie Atkinson

  Dedication

  About The Author

  THE BRIDE’S SECRET

  PROLOGUE

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  CHAPTER ONE

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  CHAPTER TWO

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  CHAPTER THREE

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  CHAPTER FOUR

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  CHAPTER FIVE

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  CHAPTER SIX

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  CHAPTER SEVEN

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  CHAPTER EIGHT

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  CHAPTER NINE

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  CHAPTER TEN

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  CHAPTER ELEVEN

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  CHAPTER TWELVE

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  CHAPTER THIRTEEN

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  CHAPTER FOURTEEN

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  CHAPTER FIFTEEN

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  CHAPTER SIXTEEN

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  CHAPTER SEVENTEEN

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  CHAPTER EIGHTEEN

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  CHAPTER NINETEEN

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  CHAPTER TWENTY

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  CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE

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  CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO

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  CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE

  *

  CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR

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  CHAPTER TWENTY-FIVE

  *

  EPILOGUE

  *

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  Also By Elliee Atkinson

  Acknowledgement

  If You Have Enjoyed This Book…

  Publisher’s Notes

  Copyright © 2016 - 2018 by ELLIEE ATKINSON & GREEN HOUSE PUBLISHING CO.

  This ebook is licensed for your personal enjoyment only. It contains material protected under International and Federal Copyright laws and Treaties. Any unauthorized reprint or use of this material is prohibited. If you would like to share this book with another person, please purchase an additional copy for each person. Thank you for respecting the hard work of this author.

  This book is a work of fiction. Any similarities to real or dead people, places, or events are not intentional and are the result of coincidence. The characters, places, and events are the product of the author’s imagination and are used fictitiously. All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise, without prior written permission from the author/publisher. The publisher does not have any control over and does not assume any responsibility for author or third-party websites or their content.

  Cover designed by Ms Melody Simmons. Author has the copyrights to this cover.

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  A PERSONAL NOTE

  FROM ELLIEE ATKINSON

  To My Dearest Lovely Readers,

  Those female characters within my stories are women who displayed strong faith of love, knowing what they want to pursue in the Wild West.

  They are constantly seeking and believe the true love really exists as they are often being looked upon as an inferior gender. Because of these social stigma, it motivates them to overcome challenges they may face while waiting for the man of their dreams to appear.

  Will these insecurities and stigma encourages them in believing true love despite the differences and challenges in social standing that they will face during this Wild West period?

  Read on to find out the answers!

  Thank you very much for your strong support to my writing journey!

  With Hugs, Kisses and Love…

  DEDICATION

  “I have learned not to worry about love; but to honor its coming with all my heart.”

  Alice Walker

  This Story Is Specially Dedicated To You, My Dearest Reader!

  It is with gratefulness and gratitude that I am writing to you this personal dedication.

  Thank you once again for giving me this opportunity to share with you my creative side of me.

  I hope you will enjoy reading this story as much I have enjoyed writing it!

  It is with such great support from you that keep us authors writing and writing, presenting to you with great and interesting stories.

  Have you checked out my other western historical romance books series?

  Click the link below to get started

  *** AMAZON USA ***

  Do you like what you have read?

  I would want to hear from you!

  Please do get in touch with me:

  https://www.facebook.com/EllieeAtkinsonBooks/

  ellieeatkinson77@gmail.com

  ABOUT THE AUTHOR

  Elliee Atkinson is the author of many mail order brides stories and her alternate name is Rosie Attwood. Using Elliee Atkinson as her new pen-name, she spins out American historical western romance stories for readers that appreciate the romance that happened in the Old Wild West.

  Elliee loves writing and reading romance. Her first western romance “Wild Montana Sky” by Debra Holland was inspired by the story perseverance and determination of the women from the wild west and how they overcome adversaries, fight for the love they deserved and desired.

  Many of her stories are based on her knowledge of the old west, although all the names, events, and places that may resemble or are similar to living people are only coincidental and fiction, of course.

  Elliee credits her wonderfully supportive partner and friend, Steven and her advance review reviewers for helping her to fine-tune her writing skills and allowing her creativity to explode.

  THE BRIDE’S SECRET

  A WESTERN ROMANCE STORY

  by

  ELLIEE ATKINSON

  and

  Green House Publishing Co.

  PROLOGUE

  PROLOGUE

  Emily Whittaker took the rope from her brother, Ryan, and began to tie it up in knots. He watched her, holding a stopwatch to track her speed. She quickly formed three knots in the rope and he clicked the button when she was done with the third. She looked up at him anxiously, her blue eyes blazing. “Well?” she asked.

  “You beat your time by a second,” Ryan sounded impressed. “At this rate, you’ll be tying knots faster than people can see.”

  Emily laughed. “What a sweet thing to say!”

  He grinned. “What are brothers for?”

  “Usually, to pick on their little sisters,” Emily replied, setting about untying the knots. She’d tied so many knots in the last hour that her hands were starting to hurt.

  Emily and Ryan were part of the Max Keaton Traveling Rodeo. They traveled all through the western states, sometimes going to the middle of the country, but rarely going past Texas. Emily and Ryan demonstrated lassoing, tying knots and other interesting tasks any cowboy used on a regular basis. They specialized in tie-down and team roping.

  Physically, Emily and her brother were complete opposites. She with her blond hair and blue eyes and him with his brown hair and brown eyes... They were both fit and strong. They had to be to perform the sometimes di
fficult tasks they were told to do.

  “Isn’t it almost time for dinner?” Emily asked. Her stomach growled as soon as she said it and she chuckled. “I think my stomach is saying it’s time for dinner. We have a lot to do tomorrow.”

  Ryan nodded. “We do. I’ve already taken down most of our decorations. I helped David and Grace get their riding gear together and packed up. Did you hear where we’re going next?”

  Emily shook her head. “Max is going to announce that at dinner tonight. I do know the last thing they are gonna take down is the eating tent. We need a good breakfast in the morning.”

  “Well, let’s get on out there then.” Ryan stood up and held out his hand to her. She grinned, taking it and pulling herself to her feet. They went through the trailer, Ryan in the front. He opened the door and went down the wooden steps to the ground. Once there, he turned and waited for her. They walked together to the dining tent, which was already filled with people.

  Emily looked up at its roof, thinking about how much trouble it was to erect the tent everywhere they went. She didn’t have to put it up, so it wasn’t much of a big deal to her. The middle pole, the tallest one, jutted up into the sky, creating a high ceiling. She wondered why it had to be so big, so tall.

  The two of them stepped into the tent and looked around. There were six long tables, three on one side and three on the other. Each table was filling rapidly with other members of the rodeo. Ryan tapped on her arm and gestured toward the first table to their left. Several of their good friends were seated there, beckoning the two of them to come over.

  “Emily, Ryan,” their friend, David, nodded at them. “I hope dinner is good tonight. I’m starved.”

  “You have one hard job, David,” Ryan said. “I’m not surprised. I think we’ll get some pretty good sleep tonight, ya think?”

  “I do think,” David nodded again.

  Ryan and Emily sat down at the table. Ryan leaned on the table with his elbows. “So any of you know where we’re going next?”

  “Max should be here any minute to tell us.”

  Ryan grunted, glancing at Emily. She looked back at him with sincere eyes. They conversed with their friends until the owner of the rodeo, Max, came in the tent. Everyone turned to look at him. He crossed the tent to the other side, where a small table was. It had a stack of papers on it. He picked them up and turned around.

  “All right, these are the schedules for the next rodeo. We will be going to Wickenburg. It isn’t far. I expect it will take us about two days to get there. It’s a small town but a popular one for visitors, which is why we are going there. They have some reputable men living there who have accomplished some amazing feats. It should be interesting getting to know the locals. Lots of new opportunities.”

  Ryan bristled when Max looked at him. He knew the last sentence was meant for him. The opportunities Max was talking about were not the kind of opportunities Ryan wanted to be involved with. He glanced at his sister, whose face reflected how she felt about Max. He jostled her gently with his elbow. When she looked at him, she knew why he had done it and dropped her head, putting one hand on her forehead to hide her face.

  “We’ll set out in the early morning hours. Make sure you are ready to go at 6:30.” He walked around the tent handing out the schedules. They rarely changed, so most of the people in the tent didn’t look at theirs. They set it to the side and waited for Max to give the word that they could get their food.

  Emily’s stomach grumbled. The scent of the cooked food was in the air and she was hungrier than she thought.

  “Can we eat yet?” she murmured under her breath.

  Max heard and looked over at her with a charming smile she knew was fake. “Yes, my dear. You can all eat. I had to hand out the fliers first. But go ahead. Time to eat.”

  CHAPTER ONE

  THE RODEO IS COMING TO WICKENBURG

  THE RODEO IS COMING TO WICKENBURG

  Elizabeth Samuels opened the door of the hotel and looked up into the eyes of her much taller brother, Allan. She pulled the door open wide so he could come in.

  “Good morning, Allan,” she said, smiling. “How are you feeling today?”

  Allan took off his hat, returning his sister’s smile. “I feel good. Better than yesterday.”

  Elizabeth nodded as she went around the reception counter and pulled some papers on the desk toward her. “Momma said you were having trouble yesterday. What was it?”

  Allan shrugged, leaning with one elbow on the counter. “The same. Feeling weak. Had to sleep for most of the day.”

  “You weren’t in pain, were you?”

  “No, thank the Lord. No pain. Just exhausted for no reason.”

  “Well, I’m glad you’re better today. Were you looking for Sue?”

  Her brother nodded, glancing around the lobby area.

  “What would make you think she was here?”

  “She said earlier she was going to come see Tom. She wanted to talk to him about something.”

  Elizabeth raised her eyebrows. “Oh? I wonder what it was. Tom isn’t here yet. I’ve been assigned the duty of organizing this reception counter and my goodness, I don’t know what the previous owners of this place were like, but organization wasn’t one of their best traits.”

  “So you haven’t seen either one?”

  Elizabeth shook her head. She pushed the papers to the side and leaned on the counter. “I’m sure Tom will be here soon. If Sue said she was going to look for him, they probably met up on the way.”

  Allan nodded. “So what do you think of this?” Allan slapped down a piece of paper on the counter. It was an advertisement for the rodeo coming to Wickenburg. She looked down at it and smiled.

  “I think it’s going to be wonderful. I can’t wait till they are here. It’s…” she looked at the advertisement. “It’s only three days till they get here. How exciting!”

  “I thought so, too. I want to show Sue and see what she thinks.”

  Elizabeth laughed. “Now you know Tom and Sue are going to want to go. We’re all going, I’m sure Chris and Riley will go, too.”

  Allan nodded again. Elizabeth and Allan’s older brother, Chris, was dating the daughter of a local resident, Riley. On a typical day in Wickenburg, Elizabeth and her brothers spent their days with their respective significant others. Elizabeth and Tom ran the Campbell hotel for Tom’s father, the doctor serving Wickenburg. Allan’s job was in the saloon behind the counter. Though the young man, always known for severe health problems, did not drink, he was an excellent listener for those who came in to talk, which happened more frequently than he expected when he first began working there. He was with Sue, Tom’s sister. Sue spent most of her time helping her mother with her two twin siblings, who were only 6 years old.

  “Did Mother tell you what Chris is doing today?” Allan asked.

  Elizabeth raised her eyebrows. “You must be talking about the wedding.”

  Allan grinned. “I am. It’s going to be… strange seeing Chris get married. We were all in such different places when we moved here a few years ago.”

  Elizabeth nodded, picking up the same stack of papers she was supposed to be documenting and tapped them against the desk to straighten them. “That is so true.” She spoke in a whimsical tone, remembering their first few months in Wickenburg. They had met their soon-to-be spouses within the first month and the relationships started almost immediately.

  Allan leaned on the counter, reading the flier. Elizabeth looked down at the papers, sorting them into two separate stacks. They were quiet for nearly five minutes before the door opened and the people they were waiting for came through, talking and laughing. Allan turned to look at them smiling. Elizabeth came around the counter to greet them.

  “Beth!” Tom met Elizabeth halfway and wrapped his arms around her in a warm hug. “How is my beautiful lady today?”

  “I’m doing well, Tom. Glad you’re here. I was afraid we would get business and I wouldn’t be able to make the
big breakfast for our guests.”

  “Well, you just go ahead and do that, dear. I’ll take care of the organizing Pa asked you to do.”

  Elizabeth smiled up at him when they pulled apart. “I did as much as I could. But the people that owned this place before didn’t know what they were doing. That was very obvious. You’ll see.”

  Tom gave a small snort. “Well, that’s great.” He turned to Allan. “Allan. Good to see you, my friend.”

  Allan smiled and they shook hands. “You too, Tom.”