Mail-Order Christmas Brides Boxed Set

by Jillian Hart

  Gabe had a fair idea of what the man was like. “Well, any reasonable parent would have understood. There are just some things you can’t do.”

  They were quiet for a while, just sitting together in the light from the fire.

  “Do you think your brother ever understood?” she finally asked. “When you didn’t convince your father to let him stay with you here?”

  He owed her the truth after what she’d told him. “I still hear his sobs sometimes in my dreams. I wish I had known what to say to make my father change his mind. No, I’m not sure he ever will forgive me.”

  She nodded then, like that was the answer she’d expected.

  “Adam might not understand why he didn’t get that letter then, either,” she said calmly. “He might think I didn’t send it. That I am trying to trick him.”

  “Trick him?” Gabe reared back in amazement. “Why, Adam is fortunate you agreed to marry him. A few scars don’t have anything to do with that. His problem isn’t with you. It’s all with himself.”

  “None of the other men kept writing to me after that letter,” she said.

  “Well, they were fools,” Gabe said. “Why, you were very brave for even trying to reach your father. That’s more important than whether or not you can lift something.”

  Annabelle looked at him then with hope in her eyes. “Do you really think so?”

  “Absolutely.”

  He sat there enjoying the expression on her face for a moment and remembered. “Adam will think so, too. You’ll see.”

  He wondered if the light in her eyes didn’t dim just a little. Then he heard a slight sound at the doorway to the kitchen and turned to see Daniel standing there in his nightclothes.

  “Eliza is scared,” he informed them.

  The boy sounded a little worried himself.

  “Everything’s fine,” Gabe said as he stood up and held out a hand to assist Annabelle. “We just had a bit of an accident.”

  “The tree will be fine,” Annabelle assured him, too.

  Gabe smiled. He knew Daniel well enough to know it wasn’t the tree that the boy was fretting over. His eyes hadn’t left Annabelle long enough to even notice anything else.

  “I’ll make us all a cup of warm milk,” he said as he gently encircled Annabelle’s waist. He wanted to be sure she didn’t fall again as they walked to the kitchen. “Then maybe we’ll read a bit of the Christmas story.”

  Daniel’s eyes lit up at that. “Will we get to the part about the angel? Eliza says she wants to see an angel for Christmas.”

  “Does she now?” Gabe said as they walked through the door into the kitchen.

  He figured he’d already seen his angel in the faces of his niece and nephew and now there was Annabelle. A man’s heart could only take in so much and his was full, if only for tonight. He hoped his brother came home by Christmas Eve, but for this evening Gabe intended to drink his fill of Christmas warmth. He knew he couldn’t say the words to tell any of them how important they had become to him. But he would work tonight on their gifts, especially Annabelle’s. And then he realized there was something else he could do to boost her spirits. He could use his leather tools to reshape that rose-colored hat she was so fond of.

  * * *

  Annabelle woke up early the next morning and lay in bed to savor the day. The warm milk had relaxed her and the words of the angel’s visit to the shepherds had comforted her just like they had others like her for generations. She doubted Mary had been prepared for company on Christmas Eve any more than she and Gabe were. And yet all had been well. Of course, she reminded herself, Mrs. Baker hadn’t been one of the shepherds. And, knowing men, none of them had searched out any forgotten dust in the corners of the manger.

  Annabelle stared at the muslin ceiling as she thought about what she had to do today. She had cleaned her silk dress as best as she could, but she was saving that for the party tomorrow. Her black mourning dress was already dirty after all of her cleaning yesterday so she’d put it on again when she got out of bed. She’d wear her hair in the braid while she worked, but she had an idea for how to put her hair up with her five pins and she’d try that for the party.

  As she sat up, she realized she had thought she’d feel worried after telling Gabe about her injuries, but she hadn’t felt so lighthearted for months. Maybe the men out West weren’t as worried about things like that as she had imagined.

  The sun rose enough for light to come into the small window at the front of the living quarters and shine through the curtain that separated the bed area. Annabelle carefully got out of the bed so she wouldn’t disturb Eliza. Both children were still sleeping. She had heard Gabe go in the kitchen a few minutes ago to build a fire in the cookstove, but he had left shortly thereafter and closed the door that led to the main storeroom. Neither one of them had remembered to lock the door after reading the Bible with the children last night.

  The chill of the air made Annabelle slip on her dress quickly and search for the heavy socks Gabe had given her that first night. Her fingers were stiff, but she managed to braid her hair with no trouble. She decided to put her shoes on out by the stove so she picked them up and slipped past the curtain.

  “Oh.” She stopped where she stood and stared at the table.

  She blinked, but the vision of her hat didn’t go away. There it sat, looking as good as the day she’d worn it for her photograph. After the wind and dampness the first night she’d been here, it had taken on the shape of a mushroom. And the rose flower petals had curled up until they looked more like thorns. But someone had pushed the top back into place and made the petals look the way they were meant to be.

  She was almost afraid to touch it, so she went over to the door and knocked softly instead.

  Gabe opened the door with such a wide grin on his face that she forgot about the hat and just stood there gawking.

  “Do you like it?” he asked, bringing her back to the present.

  “I don’t know how you did it,” she whispered. “It’s like new.”

  He looked pleased. “I can’t wait to see you wear it again.”

  She nodded. It wasn’t totally proper to have a hat on one’s head inside a home, but she might make an exception for tomorrow. She could use the confidence that hat gave her for the party tomorrow.

  Gabe stepped into the kitchen then and walked over to pick up the bucket. “The fire’s going so we’ll heat up some water. Then I’ll make us some more pancakes. You can sit and rest a bit. We’ll be busy enough later.”

  Annabelle decided she would do just that. She wanted to feel the sides of her hat anyway. Gabe must have worked most of the night on her hat. She only hoped he wasn’t disappointed. They both knew that hat had made her look good to his brother.

  If Adam did make it back in time for the party, she wanted to be as charming as she could be. The past couple of days she’d felt so comfortable with Gabe and the children that she’d forgotten it was Adam who she needed to win over. He was the one who had offered her a place in his family. And, while he might be having difficulties right now, she could only pray that he would stand by his proposal.

  She closed her eyes. It might help, she thought, if she pictured the ranch Adam had written about. She used to sit like this at night in her cousin’s house before she drifted off to sleep. She had a full image of what the place looked like. Of course, the ground would be covered with snow instead of green grass at this time of year, but the wide porch on the house would still be there, along with the rocking chairs he’d mentioned they would sit in to watch the sunset. She wondered suddenly if the children had a swing near the house. If they didn’t, she told herself, she’d see to it that one was built for them. Children needed to play some when the work was done.

  “Miss Annabelle.”

  She heard the whisper and opened her eyes to see Daniel standing there in his nightclothes.

  “Do you feel okay?” he asked, his forehead furrowed with worry.

  “I’m just fin
e,” she told him and opened her arms. He came to her and she hugged him to her. “We’re all going to be fine.”

  Then she drew back a little and smoothed down his hair. “And your uncle is going to make pancakes for breakfast so you better run and get dressed for the day.”

  She stood up as the boy ran back behind the curtain. She’d start the day by looking into the other part of the trading post and seeing what needed to be done. The door opened soundlessly and she stepped into the dim room. There were only embers in the fireplace, but there was enough light for her to see that the Christmas tree was standing upright again, the white snowflake ornaments hanging from its limbs and the pieces of glass from the broken pear all swept up.

  She shook her head, wondering again when Gabe slept.

  Just then the door opened in the living quarters and she walked back. She was going to have to find some way to thank him. Words seemed inadequate for all he’d done. She had made a handkerchief for Adam as well as the children, but she hadn’t known Gabe would be with them for Christmas and it was too late to make anything now, especially with all the work they needed to do for the party tomorrow.

  If she had a way to go back to the mercantile in Miles City, she would buy him one of those knife sheaths with the design of an eagle on them. Someone had done beautiful work on them and a man would be proud to carry something like that with him whether he stayed down here or went back up into the mountains. Surely she had enough money left to buy one. The thought of doing something nice for him made her feel good.

  Chapter Six

  Gabe could smell the apple and raisin cake baking from where he stood in the trading post. It was the day of the party, and with the pine branches that Annabelle had placed around, the air smelled better in here than it had in years. He stopped scrubbing the window and leaned against the sod wall for a moment. He doubted anyone would be looking through the windows tonight, but he wanted them clean anyway.

  He’d put new muslin over the ceiling an hour ago and swept the hard dirt floor. The white buffalo robe was spread out in front of the tree. Two straight-back chairs stood beside the fireplace. They’d add more chairs later. Annabelle hadn’t had a chance to drape her red ribbons around yet, but she would when the cake was baked.

  Right now, she had Daniel sitting at the table in the kitchen, tracing the letters in his name. She said it might be important to Mrs. Baker that they were making sure Daniel had some education. Gabe had never thought of that, but he suspected she was right.

  Eliza was taking a nap. Annabelle had told her she needed to do that because of the party tonight, but Gabe knew Annabelle had used some of the girl’s nap time to work on the silk dress for her doll. The dress was basted and Annabelle planned to sew the seams after she finished with Daniel.

  Hoofbeats sounded and Gabe turned to look outside. He had a fire burning to heat this room and a thin layer of frost had already started to form on the window. But it was clear who was coming down the path in the open wagon—Jake and Elizabeth Hargrove. The sky was cloudless and no snow was falling. The day was warmer than the ones that had come earlier this week.

  “We have company,” Gabe called out as the Hargroves climbed down from their wagon. Jake always traveled with a buffalo robe over his shoulders, and Elizabeth wore a red knit scarf like the one Annabelle had made Gabe wear.

  “Already?” Annabelle squeaked in alarm from the other room and he heard her rushing to the window.

  “It’s just the Hargroves,” he assured her. “They’re not here for the party yet. They know we’re still getting ready.”

  Annabelle had mentioned several times that she would need to change to her silk dress before any of their guests arrived. And she planned to wear her hat, she said. And a black ribbon around her neck.

  By now, Gabe could see that the other couple was almost to the front door of the trading post so he opened it wide. “Come in out of the cold.”

  Annabelle stepped into the room, wiping her hands on an apron she’d taken out of her valise earlier. As far as Gabe was concerned, she looked just fine with her black dress and white apron. She had a serenity about her that wasn’t present when she was dressed in her finery. But he knew women liked to be fashionable.

  Jake and Elizabeth stomped the snow off their feet in front of the door and then stepped inside. Gabe closed the door behind them.

  Elizabeth rubbed her hands together. “It’s good to be out of the cold.”

  “Come into the kitchen and I’ll make some tea,” Annabelle offered.

  “We can’t stay,” Jake said. “We’re headed into Miles City and need to get back in time to get dressed for your party. Elizabeth has a new dress. But I wanted to let you know that a soldier stopped by our place earlier today and asked us to pass along the message that Adam is coming back.”

  “It’s about time,” Gabe said, not feeling as happy about it as he should.

  “You’re going into Miles City?” Annabelle asked in delight, as if she hadn’t even heard that Adam would be here soon.

  When Elizabeth nodded, Annabelle asked to speak to her in the kitchen.

  “Order anything you need for the party,” Gabe called after her as the two women walked through the doorway. “Just tell the clerk to put it on my account.”

  When the women had left the room, Gabe turned to Jake and shook his head. “Do you have a younger brother? Sometimes they can make you grit your teeth and say things you shouldn’t.”

  Jake nodded with a slight smile. “I used to get annoyed with mine, too. But he’s been dead for several years now and I miss him.”

  “Oh, I’m sorry. I didn’t know.”

  “There’s no reason you should know,” Jake assured him. “He was my half brother. We shared a father and his mother was a full-blooded Sioux. He died in the wars with the white men. But he left me his two daughters to raise so I think of him often. The oldest one looks like him.”

  Gabe nodded. “I remember hearing about that now. I was up in the mountains when your nieces were starting school and everything. I heard there was quite the storm about it all. I believe Mrs. Baker was behind that one, too.”

  Jake shrugged. “People don’t always like to accept people who are different from them. But they’ve come around—even Mrs. Baker. It just took time and prayer.”

  They were silent for a minute.

  “It makes my brother look better,” Gabe finally said grudgingly. “He might have left me to handle his troubles, but at least he’s still here so I can argue with him about it.”

  Jake chuckled. “I’ll admit there were many times I wanted to scold my brother for dying. His daughters missed him something fierce at first. I thought we’d never get used to each other.”

  Gabe nodded. He supposed that, in time, the Stone family would have all of their differences resolved, too.

  The two men were quiet, their heads bowed slightly although not in prayer. Gabe could hear the murmur of the voices in the kitchen and he wondered what spice he had forgotten. Maybe Annabelle wanted ginger for something.

  Just then Jake looked up abruptly. “I know what I forgot. The soldier also said to tell you to put the coffeepot on. Several of the enlisted men announced they were going to come visit you as soon as they could get some leave.”

  “They don’t need leave to make the trip down here,” Gabe said. “It doesn’t take long to ride a horse between here and the fort.”

  “I think they want to spend some time courting once they get here,” Jake said with a grin. “Your brother is going to have some competition.”

  “It’s his own fault if he’s been telling people about Annabelle coming and him not being there to meet her,” Gabe said, his irritation coming out stronger than he had intended.

  Jake gave him a long, measuring look. “That bothers you, does it?”

  “Of course,” Gabe said. “Our mother raised us to be more polite than that. He should have at least met her. She’s a wonderful woman.”

  Jake nod
ded, but didn’t say any more.

  The door to the kitchen opened and the two women walked back into the trading post. They still had their heads together and were talking low and easy. Then Annabelle laughed, a sound pure as a bell.

  “I’ve never heard her laugh like that,” Gabe muttered to himself and then realized Jake could hear him.

  The other man smiled. “My Elizabeth can get most people to laugh.”

  Within minutes, the Hargroves had their scarves and gloves on and were stepping through the door again, turning back to wave when they reached their wagon.

  “I wish they could have stayed,” Annabelle said with a sigh. “She’s a nice lady.”

  “They’ll be back tonight,” Gabe said as he stood there wondering how he was going to say what else he needed to tell Annabelle.

  Finally, he decided there was no way to say it without being blunt. “Not all our company will be so nice and polite today. I’ve told you before. If any soldiers stop, I don’t want you to let them in unless I’m here with you.”

  “Well, goodness,” she said. “If you’re not here, they won’t want to stop anyway. It’s you they’d be coming to see.”

  “No, it’s you.”

  “Me? Well, whatever would they want with me?”

  “I reckon most of them will want you to marry them,” Gabe said and was rewarded by the look of astonishment on her face.

  Annabelle swallowed hard. “But they don’t even know me.”

  “Couples get acquainted fast around here. Courting can happen in an hour or two. There aren’t many eligible women for a man to set his eye on.”

  Some of the color was coming back into Annabelle’s face.

  “But I’m not eligible,” she said indignantly. “I’m engaged.”

  And Gabe figured that said it all in her mind. He suspected the army men would have another interpretation after hearing Adam say he wasn’t going to be married. And they wouldn’t take a polite refusal as easily as Annabelle thought.

  * * *

  Annabelle had one cake cooling on the table and she’d mixed up the batter for another one. She hadn’t really believed Gabe when he said a soldier or two might come by to visit. But there were six in the trading post now, drinking coffee with Gabe and waiting for her to cut the cake.