Saving the Mail Order Bride

by Linda Broday

  “Tell me more about Hope’s Crossing. Who started it?” Nora wanted to learn everything about this place where she hoped to put down roots with Jack.

  “The town was Clay’s dream, and he laid down the first board. So far, we have a hotel, mercantile, bakery, telegraph, and livery. And the Mobeetie/Tascosa Stage Lines recently added us as a stop.” Tally nuzzled Willow’s cheek. “There’s something about holding babies that makes me all squishy inside. I love the sweet smell of milk on their breath.”

  “I know what you mean.” Nora agreed. “Willow makes my chest tighten. Her life is very fragile, and yet she fights so hard to live.”

  “It was a miracle you found her when you did.”

  “I say a prayer every day and try not to think about what might’ve happened.” Nora’s gaze followed Sawyer as he rose and walked out away from them, staring toward the direction they’d come. She went and put an arm around his shoulders. “Jack knows how to stay safe. He’s going to be all right. And Mr. Colby is with him. Clay Colby’s his best friend and won’t let anything happen.”

  Tears bubbled in Sawyer’s eyes. “But bullets can find him. I don’t want Jack to die. He’s my friend too.”

  “No, honey, he’s not going to die. Don’t even think that.” Yet even as she said it, she knew there was a very real possibility that she might never see Jack again.

  And that fear shook her to the core.

  * * *

  Careful and quiet, Jack moved toward a place nearby where he’d often hidden. If he could just make it there, he might have a chance. The posse was so close he could sometimes hear the soft snort of their horses.

  What had happened to Seamus Belew and Darius Guthrie?

  As soon as he’d known Nora and the kids were safe, he’d taken off.

  They were one less worry, but he missed them like he would miss breathing. He closed his eyes and felt Nora’s soft curves pressing against him.

  Ahhh, those curves that could make a man lose his mind.

  The best thing he’d ever done had been writing and sending for her. He’d saved her from a horrible fate, as well as saved himself from a lonely existence.

  Yes, Nora was a keeper, and he’d do whatever it took to get back to her.

  Between hiding and walking, Jack kept a steady pace and, two hours later, peeked through the branches of a scrub cedar at a tiny, rundown cabin surrounded by bluffs on each side. The bird chatter overhead told him it was safe to proceed. Inside, thick dust covered every portion of the dilapidated dwelling, assuring him that no one had used it in a while. Good. It would be his home for now.

  Until it was safe to leave.

  Rifling through a box holding a few canned goods, he found a can of beans and one of peaches. As the sun went down, he ate the beans cold and savored each bite of succulent, sweet peaches. Then as the darkness grew, he eased out to scout the area.

  A man needed to know where his enemies were.

  Jack found them about a mile from the cabin. Damn! They were too god-awful determined to get him. He wouldn’t be able to stay there after all. He’d have to leave before dawn.

  Later, he sat shivering in the night air under the ledge of an overhang of the bluff. Watching. Listening. Thinking.

  Someone had once said that it had to get dark enough before a man could see the stars, and damned if that wasn’t true.

  Now in the midnight of his soul, he saw every detail of Nora’s face—from her soft brown eyes to her beautiful smile. The vows he’d spoken had mostly been what she expected him to say. Would they have a forever kind of love that had true staying power and could weather any storm? Or was it the sort that faded over time when a person grew weary of the obligations that came from making a life with another?

  There in the darkness, Jack wiped his eyes and puffed out a ragged breath, letting his head sag against the wall of the bluff. In the quiet, he examined himself and found things he wasn’t proud of.

  The secret he still kept.

  The men he’d killed and the nights when he’d prayed to die.

  The irritation toward Nora when she’d only been doing what she thought was right.

  He could’ve shown more patience, more tenderness. An ache rose to hold her, to bury his face in her golden hair, to kiss her soft lips until she begged for mercy.

  Nora had shown in many ways how much she cared for him, and she’d even professed her love. Still, in the little time she’d known him, how could she really be sure?

  A memory popped into his head of Rachel on their wedding day. The sunlight shone on her reddish-brown hair, and her eyes sparkled like diamonds. He hadn’t known her long, but she excited him like no one else he’d ever met.

  “I love you, Jack.” She’d wound her arms around his neck and played with his hair, her breasts pressed tightly to his chest. “You give my days meaning, and I never want to live without you. If something happens to me, promise you’ll find someone else who fills your life with joy and loves you as much as I do.”

  “Don’t talk like that, Rachel. Nothing’s going to happen.” Yet it had. Oh God, how he’d loved her, even sobbing the words into her cold grave as he dug it.

  Now he couldn’t say the words to Nora, afraid of being unfaithful to Rachel. Yet here in the dark sky, he saw the truth written in the stars. Rachel had held his heart while she was alive, but he knew she’d be happy he found someone like Nora Kane.

  It was okay to love again. It was okay not to shrivel and die while he was still living.

  It was okay to love Nora.

  And he did.

  How quickly she’d stolen past his defenses and wiggled into his heart.

  Now, shivering and hungry, he was at rock bottom and knew the answers he sought. Wanting for the sweet, kind, funny woman shook him to the depths of his soul, and he saw the truth, stripped down and bare, on a pitch-black night when it was dark enough to clearly see.

  She was all of his tomorrows, his forever. His always. His life.

  Eighteen

  Nora rode into the town of Hope’s Crossing mid-morning the following day. Like Jack said, the town was a fortress. If he could just make it here, he’d be safe. The smell of new lumber filled the air, and everywhere she looked, buildings were going up. People rushed to meet them, welcoming Tally and shooting curious glances at Nora and Sawyer.

  An old man reached for the bridle of Tally’s horse. “Glad to have you back, Miss Tally.”

  “Happy to be back, Tobias.” Tally introduced the man as Tobias January, and the sweet woman with silver hair standing at his side as Belle.

  “Mama! Mama!” A blind girl with long blond hair came rushing forward, holding a stick out in front of her, feeling her way.

  “Violet.” Tally dismounted, helped Sawyer down, and rushed toward the girl with arms outstretched. The back of Nora’s eyes burned. Such a display of love between mother and daughter. This was what she was willing to do anything for. The baby in her arms wiggled and Nora held her close. Maybe Willow would belong to her and Jack like that one day. Sawyer stayed close beside her horse, staring at the throng of people gathering. Willow’s thin cry added to the noise.

  A tall man with light-brown hair rushed forward. He wore a dark frock coat and knee-high boots. “Let me help you, ma’am. I’m Jack’s friend, Ridge Steele.”

  “You’re the preacher.” Nora handed Willow to him and dismounted.

  “Depends on the definition. Me and the good Lord don’t see eye to eye much anymore.” Ridge’s amber eyes studied her. “I’m glad Jack found you, Miss Lenora.”

  “Just Nora, please.” She wearily pushed the hair from her eyes. “Jack and I married each other under the stars two nights ago. We feared the posse would stop us from making it to town, and they did try their best.”

  “That’s just as binding as any. I’ve given up my calling.” Ridge glance
d somberly down at Willow, surprise on his face. “Jack didn’t tell me you had a child.”

  Nora put an arm around Sawyer and told Ridge how they’d rescued the boy from outlaws, then found Willow. “Sawyer is old enough to decide where he wants to live, but our door is always open. And Willow…her parents are dead. We have no idea how to find her kin, so for now, she’s ours.”

  “She’s a sweet girl.” Ridge kissed the baby’s cheek before handing her off to Nora. “I’m sure you and the children are tired and hungry. I’ll show you to Jack’s house, where you can make yourself at home.”

  “That would be wonderful, Mr. Steele.”

  “No mister—just Ridge. We’re kinda informal here.”

  Sawyer squinted up at the tall man. “Are you gonna go look for Jack?”

  “I am, son. As soon as I can speak with Tally.”

  “I want to go with you. I have to find Jack.”

  “Sawyer, that’s too dangerous. Stay here with me.” Nora couldn’t bear to have the kid wandering around the prairie and run the risk of crossing paths with Bittercreek again. But she recognized she had no right to tell him what to do.

  “Jack needs me. I hafta go, Nora.”

  Ridge met Nora’s glance. “I tell you what. We’ll talk about it and that’s a promise.”

  Dozens of people rushed forward, all clamoring to meet her.

  One petite woman, who appeared in her thirties, stood out from the rest, wearing a necklace made of bullets and smoking a pipe. She introduced herself as Dr. Mary. “Let me take the newborn and check her out while you get settled in at Bowdre’s. My office is right over there.”

  Nora followed her pointing finger to a building that was only painted around the bottom, in yellow, as though done by a child. Maybe it had been—a blind one. Violet? She smiled. A large sign over the front said Doctor. “She’s hungry, and I ran out of milk.” Nora passed Willow into the doctor’s waiting arms and handed her the empty bottle. “I gave her sugar water this morning. It was all I had.”

  “Then lucky for us we have a herd of goats. I’ll get her fed in no time.” Dr. Mary cradled the infant and dropped the blanket back over her tiny face to shield it from the wind.

  “I’ll milk the goats for you,” Sawyer offered. “I’m a good milker.”

  “I’m sure you are, but we have plenty of milk left from this morning’s haul.” Dr. Mary must’ve seen Sawyer’s crestfallen face. “I can sure use a hand with some water, though. I’ll bet you can fill a pail of water from the windmill lickety-split.”

  Nora glanced toward the structure. She’d never seen such a tall windmill. Or one that sat in the middle of town.

  “Yes, ma’am.” Sawyer let a smile curve his mouth for the first time that day.

  “You’ll find plenty of pails sitting there at the tank,” the doctor said. “Bring one to my office as soon as you can.”

  Sawyer raced off toward the windmill. “Ridge, let’s wait for him,” Nora suggested. “Everything is so new here and I don’t want him to feel lost.”

  Ridge’s sudden smile softened his angular face. He’d looked like he’d been carved from a piece of granite until that moment. “Of course. He looks like a good kid and already has a strong attachment to Jack.”

  “That he does.” She laid a hand on his arm. “I don’t want him to go with you. Bittercreek is roaming around out there. I’m terrified for Sawyer’s safety.”

  “I won’t lie to him.”

  “I’m not asking that. Maybe quietly slip out. Please. It’s for his own safety.”

  “I’ve given him my word to think about it.”

  “That’s fair.”

  Some women came up and Ridge introduced them, although even a second later, she couldn’t recall their names. Nora liked their friendliness and promised to get acquainted as soon as possible. When Sawyer returned, they walked with Ridge to the house Jack had built.

  “He built this for you, Miss Nora.” Ridge opened the door of the pretty, wooden two-story dwelling that had rows of windows in front with empty flower boxes underneath. “He didn’t know you’d need a bigger place, but there’s plenty of room to add on.”

  “It’s lovely.” She could picture herself digging in the dirt, planting flowers.

  A smile plastered on her face, she stepped into a neat parlor and was struck by the warmth of the frilly curtains, the wallpaper, and the paintings on the walls. The sofa, settee, and rocking chair showed Jack’s care. The well-stocked kitchen had everything a new bride would need. They moved up the stairs to a small bedroom that would be Sawyer’s if he wanted it. It seemed made with a nine-year-old boy in mind.

  “Is this for me?” Sawyer ran his hand longingly over the bed.

  Nora’s breath hung in her throat, and she blinked hard. “Absolutely. All you have to do is claim it.”

  He glanced up at her, his face solemn. “I do want it—if you want me.”

  “Of course, we want you.” She pulled him into a hug.

  “Will you tuck me in like my mama used to do?” His voice caught. “I really miss that.”

  Suddenly, Nora couldn’t see for the tears blinding her vision. For all his grown-up ways, Sawyer desperately needed to feel loved again.

  When she could speak, Nora said, “I will tuck you in for as long as you want.”

  “Just for a while.” The gangly kid looked up through his shaggy hair. “I’ll get too big, and I don’t think I’ll need tucking in then.”

  “Okay. Just tell me when you want to stop.” She followed Ridge into the hallway, and Sawyer went back downstairs to wait.

  The house was perfect, but the bedroom she would share with Jack took her breath. The largest wooden, four-poster bed she’d ever seen stood between two large, curtained windows and was covered with a beautiful quilt. A dresser, washstand, wardrobe, and small table with two chairs completed the furnishings.

  Tears threatened. If everything had gone according to plan, they’d already have made love and slept in this bed countless times.

  Nora’s chest tightened. She blinked hard and opened the spacious wardrobe that only held Jack’s clothes. “I won’t be needing this for a while. I lost all my clothes in the stage wreck.”

  “Jack will see that you have everything you need as soon as he’s able.” Ridge stared out the window. “Jack’s a very lucky man. We both started writing to mail order brides at the same time, but I’m still looking for one to accept my invitation to come west.”

  The longing in his voice deeply touched her. From Jack, she knew Ridge was an outlaw too and that Hope’s Crossing was once a hideout before they’d decided to stop their lawless ways and get respectable. All appeared to want better. They yearned for wives and children, to be able to walk free.

  “Ridge, life is full of surprises.” Nora laid a hand on his shoulder. “You never know what’s around the next bend. I never expected to find a man like Jack. Lord, I was so scared on my way here, but I’m very happy I took a chance.”

  “Not sure I’ll ever find a woman to settle down with. So far, none seem desperate enough.” He colored a deep red. “I didn’t mean that you were desperate, ma’am.”

  “No need to explain.”

  He shrugged. “Some people were born lucky, I guess. I have too much to atone for.”

  “Don’t we all?”

  “I’ve saved the best for last.” Ridge’s eyes twinkled as he led her from the room and down the hallway to a closed door at the end. “Are you ready, Miss Nora?”

  Anticipation buzzed inside her. “Yes.”

  Whatever it was must be very special.

  Ridge opened the door and stepped back to allow her to enter. She sucked in a breath, astounded at the large porcelain tub and toilet. She hadn’t had indoor plumbing since leaving Buffalo and had despaired of anyone west of the Mississippi having anything more than an
outhouse, let alone a real bathing room.

  “Oh my! This is amazing.” She ran her hand over the bathtub. “When I asked Jack if the town had a bathhouse, he just smiled and said no, but we’d manage fine. That man!”

  “He wanted to surprise you. He ordered books and studied how to put in a bathing room. Jack has always liked innovations.”

  She’d married some kind of man. Jack was no ordinary outlaw. “He certainly did surprise me. I assume there’s hot water?”

  “Absolutely. You have only to turn the knob.”

  She could have a hot bath! Nora clasped a hand over her mouth, already envisioning the treat. “I can’t wait. But I have no clothes to put on except what I’m wearing.”

  “Tally will fix you up.”

  “Ridge, surely you jest. I’m two sizes larger than Tally.” Why couldn’t she have been born petite?

  “The mercantile has plenty. We’re always prepared for visitors, and Jack has an account.”

  They returned to the parlor, where Sawyer waited. “Ridge, are all the men in town wanted?” she asked.

  “Most are. Clay got amnesty last year. He and Jack both wrote letters to the governor requesting freedom, and Jack had to swallow a bitter pill when he didn’t get it.” Something shifted in Ridge’s amber eyes. Disappointment? Pain? Envy?

  “I’m glad Jack tried.” She’d help him find the courage to keep fighting for amnesty. “What about you?”

  “I’m waiting. All of us here want to be free, Miss Nora. It’s a hell of thing to be hunted down like a mad dog. And just because we took justice however we could. We’re not murderers. The ones who died by our hand needed to be killed, only the law doesn’t see it that way.”

  Nora was beginning to understand the things that Jack couldn’t bring himself to say.

  A loud commotion of people hollering and laughing sounded outside the window. Ridge moved the frilly curtain aside. Nora glanced out.

  “Luke Legend.” Ridge turned to her. “He’s the man you and Jack passed letters through. Luke was once an outlaw too but, like Clay, is free now. Want to meet him?”