A Sweet Mail-Order Bride for the Distant Rancher: A Western Historical Romance Book

by Lydia Olson

  “Yes, for our wedding,” he told her.

  Her lips pursed in a thin line, likely at the condescension in Milton’s tone. “I’m aware that we are to be wed. I just was not aware that it would be so immediate that you would greet me with my bouquet.”

  “Did no one tell you?” Milton asked, there was a slight tone of worry in his voice. He had assumed that the marriage agency would have taken care of all these kinds of things. It seemed that they had not.

  “No,” Jane said simply.

  Milton frowned. He did not think it should matter. After all, Jane had come here to be his wife—so what if they married before her designated timeline? However, he felt bad nonetheless. He could tell that she was upset. “As you’ll be staying at my residence, it wouldn’t be proper for you to be there, especially with no chaperone, without us first being married.”

  He thought it might be better if he explained it to her, but that only seemed to make the lines around her mouth deepen as she frowned.

  “We might be able to hold off for a day or two but…” Milton trailed off. He didn’t wish to hold off. He was ready to marry and get back to work. The ranch was surely suffering in his absence.

  “No,” Jane said. “Of course, we will marry today. It was silly of me to think otherwise.”

  Milton said nothing. He was sure that whatever he said would be the wrong thing. He wasn’t sure why she would think otherwise, and frankly, it did seem silly to him.

  He looked around. He’d been so lost in thought that he hadn’t noticed if Jane had come off the train with a chaperone. He imagined she had. They would need the chaperone as a witness to their marriage, and while he didn’t want to appear as if he were rushing such an auspicious occasion, he was. He wanted to head back to the ranch. He would need to get Jane settled before he started back to work, and he could already tell that he was likely not going to get all those things done.

  “Did you come with a chaperone?” he asked abruptly.

  Jane nodded. She searched off in the distance. “Mrs. Smythe is over near the gate,” she told him. “She wanted to give us a few minutes alone so that we could get better acquainted.”

  “We should gather her and your things, so that we can get to the church in time.”

  “Of course,” Jane said. She gathered her skirts in her hand and began walking toward her chaperone. He was glad to see that she was so quick to bounce back from upset. It boded well for their future.

  Milton followed her. He felt a bit nervous about marrying, but he knew that it was the right thing.

  “Wait!” Jane said. She stopped abruptly, and Milton almost ran right into her back.

  “What is it?” he asked. He sounded frustrated, but he couldn’t stop himself. He was ready to continue onward.

  “My trunk …”

  “I’ll gather your things from the train once we get your chaperone,” he promised.

  Milton could see Jane’s face fall a bit, and he knew there was something more to it. A part of him wanted him to just let it go. If Jane wasn’t going to be forthcoming with him then he wasn’t going to press. After all, they were on a timeline here.

  “What is it?” he asked. He did not want to upset her. This was day one, and he thought that their future would be best served if they did not have any sort of animosity between the two of them.

  “My wedding dress …” she said.

  Milton was surprised, but he did not know why. Even he knew that women often thought long and hard about their weddings and that included their dresses. It would stand to reason that Jane would bring something with her, but Milton did not see the point in it. They were going to have a small ceremony, and he thought that the dress that she had on was fine enough.

  “It was my mother’s dress,” Jane said. “I always thought that I would wear it. She passed several years ago and having the dress…” she trailed off and looked away. It was clear that she had a great deal of emotion around her mother and the dress.

  “I’ll get the trunk, and you’ll be able to change at the church. I’m sure that your chaperone will help you dress.”

  Jane’s face lit up. Her gray eyes sparkled, and she clapped her hands together. “Thank you so much,” she said. Before Milton could stop her, Jane threw her hands around his neck. Milton was surprised by the physical affection. He wasn’t sure what he should do, so he stood there awkwardly.

  “It’s not a bother,” he said. He clapped her lightly on the back before distancing himself. He was a bit concerned about the feelings that Jane seemed to invoke in him even now. There was something about her that tugged on the strings of his heart, and while he would never be a soft man led by his wife, he could see himself giving into Jane. “We should get going.” His voice was gruff.

  “Thank you again, Milton,” Jane said.

  He nodded but spent a moment studying her. Jane had told him that she had joined the marriage agency to take control of her life by choosing her own husband. He recognized the vagueness in her answer, but he had let it go. He couldn’t stop wondering about it though. Jane was a sweet woman. She was lovely, and already he could tell that she was kind. She would have easily been able to find a husband.

  It doesn’t matter, Milton thought, we both have reasons for going about marriage this way, and as long as we are both honest with our intentions, this will work well. Milton had hope. He wanted this marriage to work.

  Hopefully, Jane feels the same way, he thought. Because if she didn’t, their marriage was going to spell disaster.

  Chapter Five

  The wedding was quick. So quick that Jane felt that if she had blinked, she would have missed it. She tried not to be too disappointed. She had entered into this union knowing it was more transactional than anything else. She didn’t even know her husband, which was an odd thought.

  Milton might not love her, but so far, he has shown her nothing but kindness. She could tell that he was ready to get on with things. Milton was not a man who was good at hiding his thoughts, and Jane could tell that he was antsy to continue onward. Yet he still allowed her time to get herself ready. Wearing her mother’s wedding dress had been important to her, and despite his desire to speed things along, he’d given her the time to prepare herself.

  Now, they were heading to their new home. Dusk was starting to fall, and the two of them were alone sitting together in silence. It was the first time that they had been alone, and though they were now husband and wife, things felt slightly stiff and awkward.

  “Are you hungry?” Jane asked, as she tried to find a way to break the tension between them. She was absolutely famished. They hadn’t had anything for lunch and now that her nerves had settled a bit her stomach was rumbling. She had expected Milton to mention something, but he hadn’t. Her father was not a man who ever wanted to be hungry. If he had had to wait a whole day to eat, he would be letting every one of them know his thoughts about it.

  “I suppose I could use supper,” he said.

  “I can cook!” Jane told him excitedly.

  “You don’t need to cook,” Milton said. “I have someone who leaves meals for me. She also cleans the house and does some small things around the ranch.”

  Jane felt disappointed. She loved to cook. It made her feel useful, and it was the way that she showed affection. She did not care to take work away from anyone, but it was her job as a wife to take care of her husband and his household.

  “Perhaps I could take over the cooking,” Jane said. She thought that it was best to tread lightly so as not to offend Milton. They barely knew one another, and she did not want to upset him, especially this early on in things. “It would be nice to have a hot meal.”

  Milton said nothing at first. He simply continued to drive the coach toward their new home.

  “It would be nice,” he said.

  Jane smiled, and she felt as if a weight had been lifted off her shoulders. She would give up the idea of cleaning, but she was sure that she could find other ways to fill her time.
Milton had mentioned that he had wanted a wife to run his household, but she was wondering what else he needed help with. He seemed to have developed a well-run household. He didn’t need her to cook or clean, and they did not yet have any children for her to look after yet.

  What will my role be here? she wondered.

  “The ranch is just over that hill,” he said. Jane looked over at the horizon as they started to crest the hill. Colorado was much more mountainous than New Mexico, and the constant rolling wasn’t helping her empty stomach.

  “It’s lovely,” Jane said, her voice expressing her awe. She had expected something more like her father’s ranch, which was not nearly as large nor as lush. Milton’s land was lovely. It was covered in lush, green grass that seemed to be rolling on for miles, and the house, which appeared to be two or three stories stood out like a stark, white beacon. She couldn’t see the details, but something told her that it was grand. She noticed several buildings on the ranch slightly further from the house. Even from a distance, she could tell that these buildings were older, probably barns. “Do you have horses?” she asked. She assumed that only one of the buildings was a barn. The thought excited her.

  “I do,” Milton said. “I enjoy riding. Buying horses is my one indulgence in life.” He gave a small chuckle. Milton was a handsome man, but when he smiled, well, it made Jane’s stomach flutter, and not in hunger or nervousness. “Do you ride?”

  Jane shrugged slightly. “I know how to, but my father never kept too many horses on the land, and the ones that he had were mostly for the workers. I’d steal a ride when I went into town, but I was rarely able to ride for enjoyment.”

  “We’ll have to get you a horse,” Milton said. He graced her with a lazy smile, and those butterflies in her stomach started fluttering double time. He’s so handsome, Jane thought. She wasn’t a vain woman, but she could appreciate his beauty. She was grateful that Milton wasn’t some terrible man who was going to lock her away and mistreat her, and frankly, at this point she wasn’t sure that she would care what he looked like as long as he was kind.

  “I would greatly appreciate being able to ride one of your horses on occasion,” she said.

  “Nonsense,” Milton said. “No wife of mine is going to be riding anything other than the best horse I can find.”

  Jane felt her face heating at his words. Milton could be cold and quiet one minute and fiery and romantic the next. She was finding that she rather liked that about him. “That’s very kind of you,” she told him, and she meant it. Buying someone a horse was a large gesture even if he was treating it like a small one. It warmed her heart, especially because she could not remember the last time anyone had done anything for her without selfish reasons.

  “Perhaps we can take a ride together,” Milton said.

  Jane smiled at him. “That would be nice. I would like to learn more about your land.” Jane was determined to learn the land as if it were her own. It was what her mother did when she came to the Parrish land. It had endeared her to the people who worked there, and she was better able to support her husband.

  I will do the same, Jane thought. She was determined to be the best possible wife that she could.

  “That would be nice,” Milton said. His words had turned slightly hard again. Jane was starting to learn that she needed to spend time not just listening to Milton’s words, but also, listening to his tone. It said a great deal more.

  “When you have time of course,” Jane said. She had picked up that Milton spent a great deal of time running the ranch. He had talked about it in his letters, and he had seemed ready to get back to the ranch and work the moment that their wedding ended. He had even made a grumble about it being too late to do much. It was much different than she expected.

  “I’m a very busy man,” Milton said. “Most days you will find that I’ll leave before the sun comes up, and I’ll return home only shortly before supper.”

  Jane said nothing. Her father owned a ranch, but he did not do most of the work on it. It was odd to her that Milton did, but not completely surprising. He was much younger than her father, and she got the sense that he enjoyed taking control of things.

  “I’m sure I will find things to fill my time,” she said. Though she wasn’t sure what those things would be, she did not want to cause Milton to have any regrets for their marriage, especially so early on. She might not need to clean and keep house, but she was sure that there was a hole in Milton’s life that she could fill. I’m just going to have to find it, she thought.

  They had managed to get closer and closer to the ranch, and as they did, they fell back into silence. This time it was a bit more comfortable in the presence of the other.

  ***

  Jane bit back a curse as she tried to light a fire in Milton’s stove. His kitchen was one of the most beautiful things that she had ever seen. She’d been completely enamored with the land, but by the time they got to the front door darkness was starting to fall and the air was beginning to cool.

  Jane had put her foot down and insisted that they should go in and enjoy a meal together. Unfortunately, the food that had been left for them was nothing more than some bread and cheese, which both agreed would not have been sufficient. For Jane, it had been a sign that she should cook and impress Milton with her skill.

  The only problem was that she had never cooked in such a lavishly large kitchen before, and she was struggling to get everything to work as well as she might have in her own kitchen. The space was large enough for a round wooden table with four chairs. And even with that there was still plenty of room to move about.

  The stove looked to be made of brand-new dark iron, and there was a large hood above it. Jane was delighted. Her kitchen at home had a small iron oven that made their kitchen hot as the sun.

  Milton’s kitchen was warm, but the hood kept the space from becoming unbearable.

  Her stew was simmering, but she’d managed to burn her johnny cakes––twice.

  “Are you alright?” Milton asked, poking his head into the kitchen. He had insisted that the stew was more than enough, but Jane was determined to give him a proper meal. It would be the first that they shared as husband and wife, and she wanted it to be delicious and special.

  “I’m fine,” she said. “Your stove just burns hotter than the one we have at home.”

  Milton said nothing, but his deep brown eyes followed her as she went from place to place stirring the stew and flipping the johnny cakes. “I think that I’ve got it,” she told him proudly.

  “I’ll begin setting the table,” he told her.

  He reached into a worn china cabinet and began pulling out a set of lovely white plates and polished silverware .

  “Are you sure that you want to use those?” she asked. “They look quite expensive.” Though they were having their marriage dinner, which was certainly special, it wasn’t elaborate. Milton hadn’t had enough ingredients on hand for a larger, intricate meal.

  “Yes,” Milton said. His tone was firm. From the looks of the china, Jane guessed that it must have been old. It wasn’t worn, but she noticed a few small cracks and chips. Milton was a well-off man, so she thought that the dishes would have been more expensive looking. She could tell now that they weren’t. These must have some sort of emotional value to him, she thought.

  “I’m just going to grab the stew, and I’ll bring it to the dining room.” Milton had given her a tour of his home. It was much larger than hers, but still homey and warm. She was surprised that a single man would have such taste.

  “Leave it,” Milton told her. “I’ll come in and get it.”

  “It’s no trouble,” Jane said. The pot would be hot and heavy, but she’d managed to do the serving since her mother died, and since Kate wasn’t one for any sort of household chores, she was used to doing it alone. There’d been a few burns here and there, but nothing that left too terrible a scar.

  “Leave it,” Milton ordered. “You look dead on your feet, and I don’t wan
t you burning yourself.”

  Jane wanted to argue, but Milton was right. She was exhausted. The day had gone by so quickly that it almost didn’t even feel as if she were married. Yesterday, she’d been at home nervously preparing to meet her husband, and today, she was sitting before him ready to enjoy a late meal while trying to keep her eyes open.

  “Thank you,” Jane told him. She followed him out toward the large table before taking a seat. He had placed a plate and bowl in front of her. There was still enough sunlight to cast a glow across the white china, and she could see little splotches of gray from small cracks in the coloring. These looked older than she had originally thought.

  “Those were my mother’s,” Milton told her, as he came back with the stew. Jane snapped up ready to serve the meal, but Milton beat her to it.

  “Rest,” he ordered. “You’ve had a long day.”