Mail-Order Christmas Brides Boxed Set

by Jillian Hart

  Jake’s wife looked at her husband for a second, and then took a step into the cabin.

  She met Eleanor’s eyes. “Jake told me you knew how to make wonderful teas. Coffee is so expensive we don’t often have it so I was hoping you could tell me what you use.”

  “I would be delighted.” Eleanor led the Hargroves over to the table.

  “Here, sit on the trunks,” she said as everyone gathered around the table.

  Jake dug into a cloth bag he’d been carrying over his shoulder and produced six tin cups, one after another. “I noticed you weren’t set up for housekeeping yet so we brought a few things with us.”

  “Thank you,” Eleanor said.

  It wasn’t until she started placing all of the cups around that she noticed Adam’s mother had left. She must have gone into the back room.

  For the next few hours, laughter and good will filled the small cabin.

  Finally, Adam looked around. The smell of the trout mingled with the aroma from the wild onions. They both mixed with the smell of the peppermint tea that they had all declared to be the best Christmas drink ever made.

  Hannah and the two girls were giggling in the corner, making up stories about the adventures of that black lamb and petting the kitten when he got jealous and meowed for attention. The porcelain doll his mother had given Hannah was lying forgotten in front of the Christmas tree.

  Adam had tried to apologize for his mother, but Jake refused to hear it, saying he was not responsible for anyone else’s prejudices. So he didn’t mention it again. He had gone into the back room several times to ask his mother to come out, but she had refused.

  Even with that difficulty, the day was more satisfying than any he’d had in years. Eleanor and Jake’s wife were sitting at the table and, from the words he could hear, they were talking about what could be used around here to dye wool. Jake had spoken about the cattle coming up from Texas in a few months and he’d quietly told him about the gift he had for Eleanor. The other man had nodded and said he approved and could be of some help.

  “This has been a good Christmas,” Adam said when he pulled his attention back to his friend. “Thanks for bringing Eleanor home from the train station.”

  “We need wives like her here,” the other man said as he patted his stomach. “That’s the best trout I’ve had in a long time. I’m planning on you inviting us to the wedding.”

  “If there is a wedding,” Adam said with a look over at Eleanor. “I’m not sure she will agree to take me with the way my mother is acting toward her.”

  Jake nodded at that. “That could be a problem. I’ll pray for all of you.”

  “Please,” Adam said.

  Soon after that the sun started to go down and Jake called to his family, saying it was time for them to leave.

  The cabin felt empty when they were gone.

  Then Eleanor looked over at the cook stove.

  “I didn’t make any beans for supper,” she said, almost in surprise.

  “I’ll go around back and get the rest of the potatoes,” Jake said. “We can fry them up with the leftover onions. That’ll be fine.”

  “I saved a piece of the trout for your mother,” Eleanor said as she lifted a lid on the skillet. “I hope she’s feeling better now.”

  Adam started to correct her.

  But he saw by the look in Eleanor’s eyes that she wasn’t going to force his mother to acknowledge her rudeness to their guests. And when she went over to the curtains and talked with his mother, inviting her to come have something to eat, she did it in a respectful voice that told him the incident would not be mentioned unless his mother brought it up.

  He couldn’t fault Eleanor for showing his mother more courtesy than she deserved. He only nodded, though when his mother left the table after she had eaten, saying she was going to lie down.

  “We haven’t got all the presents yet, though.” Hannah spoke up before his mother reached the doorway. “Aren’t you going to see what’s left?”

  “You look for me, child,” his mother said, her voice more kind than it had been all day. Then she went into the back room.

  Hannah went over to stand by the tree waiting for everyone else to come.

  “We got interrupted when you were giving out your gifts,” Adam said to Eleanor when the three of them were sitting around the tree. “Are there more?”

  Eleanor nodded shyly. “I have something for your mother. Just a handkerchief, but it has lace around it that’s nice. I’ll give it to her later.”

  Then she reached under the branches to pull out something covered with a large white handkerchief. “This isn’t finished so it’s more of a promise than a gift.”

  With that, she passed what she had in her hands to him.

  He removed the handkerchief and saw a ball of beautiful black yarn with her knitting needles sticking out of it and a dozen or so rows of yarn already knit.

  “It’s going to be a scarf for around your neck,” she said. “It’s the best yarn that I have. It’s pure so it’ll never fade. I collected from the black sheep for several years to get enough.”

  “I’ve never seen anything like it,” Adam said as he held the two inches up that she had managed to knit. “It looks like the night sky.”

  The yarn shined until he thought he could see stars in the blackness.

  “What else?” Hannah demanded as she came over and leaned against him.

  “You’re wondering what I got you?” he asked with a grin.

  His daughter nodded.

  “Your gift is hanging on a peg in the back room,” he said. “I put it there earlier today when you were out here.”

  With that Hannah rushed to the other room.

  “She’s excited,” Eleanor said as she watched the girl open the curtains and squeal.

  “I wanted to give you your present while she’s not around, anyway,” Adam said as he moved over closer to Eleanor and handed up a rolled piece of paper.

  “For me?” Eleanor said with what he thought was some trepidation.

  He nodded as he kept holding it out to her.

  She accepted it finally and unrolled the paper.

  “What?” she gasped as she saw his drawing.

  “I couldn’t get them right,” he said. “I tried to use the horses as examples, but they’re too large and—”

  “They’re sheep,” Eleanor said, her face vulnerable in its longing.

  “How could you tell?”

  She smiled, blinking her eyes. “It was the black one in the middle.”

  “I knew he was your favorite so I figure we can get some of them as lambs this spring. Jake said he’d help me find what I need to buy. He knows a man who has sheep down south of here a few hundred miles—black and white.”

  “But—”

  He winced, knowing what was coming.

  “They’re yours whether you decide to stay or not. If you go back East, I’ll see that you have your own flock there.”

  Her tears started in earnest then, and he opened his arm to pull her close to his side.

  They sat that way for a minute until Hannah came out of the back room, wearing her new coat.

  “Daddy, Daddy,” she called when she got close enough to see Eleanor’s tears. “Your new handkerchief. Use your handkerchief.”

  Adam started to chuckle as he pulled his Christmas gift out of his pocket and offered it to Eleanor with a gallant nod of his head. That made Eleanor laugh a little, as well. Which made Hannah giggle. And soon they were all three rolled up on the floor in a joyous tangle of Christmas merriment.

  He didn’t hear his mother come into the room until she was standing almost on top of them.

  “Whatever is going on?” Her voice indignant. “I thought someone was hurt with all of this noise.”

  Adam wiped the tears of laughter from his eyes. “No, Mother, we’re all fine.”

  “I see that,” his mother said.

  There was no longer any censure in her voice. She seemed tired
and confused. All of the laughter left his heart. Something was wrong.

  “I give up,” his mother said then. She turned to look at Eleanor. “I have never seen my son laugh. Not like this. It seems you can make him happy in a way—well, I’ll be leaving tomorrow on the train if you will be so kind as to take me to the station.”

  With that, his mother walked slowly to the other room. And he just sat there.

  Hannah stared at where her grandmother had been.

  “You can’t let her go tomorrow,” Eleanor whispered to him as she stood up. “Not like this. I’m going to go talk to her.”

  “Not alone, you’re not.”

  “Yes, just me,” Eleanor said softly as she began to walk to the back room.

  The room was cold and Eleanor hesitated at the doorway. Enough light was coming through the cracks that she could see the older woman as she lay on the bed. The woman didn’t turn to look at her as she stepped into the room.

  “I—” Eleanor began.

  “Did you come here to gloat?” the older woman asked as she finally turned to face her.

  “Of course not.”

  “Well, it wouldn’t surprise me if you did. You won.”

  “What exactly did I win?” Eleanor said with some anger now. “We’re not talking about some game here. This is your son and granddaughter.”

  “I know who they are,” the woman responded fiercely as she swung her legs around and stood up. “I’ve raised them both.”

  “And they love you for it.”

  Eleanor watched as the woman’s steps faltered and her shoulders slumped. “Do you think so?” Then she looked at Eleanor fully. “I honestly have never seen them happier.”

  “So why are you leaving like this, then? There’s no need to go so soon.”

  Adam’s mother looked astonished. “But I treated you horribly.”

  “Yes,” Eleanor said as she stepped close enough to the older woman to put her arm around her, “and I plan on forgiving you for all of it if you’ll give me away at my wedding.”

  “Me?”

  “You’re the one who brought Adam and me together,” Eleanor said with a smile. “You picked me out of all the letters you received.”

  It was silent for a moment.

  “I did, didn’t I?” the older woman finally said.

  Eleanor nodded as she started walking with her arm around Mrs. Martin.

  Hannah and Adam sat on the floor staring as the two women came into the main room.

  “Your mother is going to give me away,” Eleanor announced and then, lest there be any confusion, “At our wedding.” And then she looked at Adam. “If you still want—”

  Hannah started to squeal and Adam stood up only to walk over to Eleanor and drop down on one knee. “I love you, Eleanor Hamilton McBride. Will you be my wife?”

  Eleanor nodded, “I’d love to, but my name—”

  “I know. It’s only McBride, but someday maybe we’ll see about uniting your family, too.”

  With that Adam stood and opened his arms to embrace her. She was the one to reach out to draw his mother into the circle. Hannah, clutching her lamb, was already beside her father so the four of them came together.

  “Oh,” Adam’s mother said once the circle was complete, her voice filled with delight and hope.

  Then she grabbed Hannah’s hand and suggested they go to bed early.

  Adam and Eleanor sat by the fireplace for the next hour, talking about their dreams for their life together. Then, seeing how clear the sky was, they called Hannah from her bed and took her outside to see the Christmas stars that were sparkling in the night sky.

  * * *

  The next morning was clear and the sun was shining. The snow on the ground was melting slightly when Adam came in the cabin, saying he was going to ride over and tell the Hargroves to meet them at the church in Miles City while the women got dressed.

  “I can’t wait until we have our own church out here,” Adam said before he left. “And a school. Jake says enough families are settling around here that we’ll have a community before we know it.”

  Eleanor changed into her pink calico dress after he left and tried to tame her curls enough to make her hair look dignified.

  “Here, let me,” Mrs. Martin finally said and managed to make her hair respectable for the day.

  “Thank you,” Eleanor said.

  The other woman waved her words away. “I have something for you, too. Let me get it.”

  She came back with a strand of white pearls, unclasping them and putting them around Eleanor’s neck.

  “My mother gave me those pearls,” she said. “I’d like to give them to you for a wedding present. The only request I make is that you give them to Hannah on her wedding day, too.”

  Eleanor blinked back her tears. “I don’t know what to say.”

  “Say we’re family,” the older woman said brusquely. “And don’t cry all over that pretty dress of yours.”

  “Yes, Mother,” Eleanor said and watched the other woman as a slow smile spread over her face.

  The ride into Miles City was shorter than Eleanor remembered it being when she went the opposite direction that day she had stepped off the train. Adam kept whistling, and Eleanor found herself humming along.

  They stopped at the mercantile when they first drove into Miles City because Adam said the storekeeper would need time to get their order together. Eleanor was pleased to be given a letter from her friend Felicity.

  “See, she is alive,” Eleanor told everyone once they were back on the wagon. “The woman I met on the railroad coming out here.”

  “Well, what does she say?” Adam’s mother asked.

  Eleanor opened the letter and read it quickly. “All is well. I need to write her back and tell her that Adam and I are getting married.”

  “Well, of course you are,” the older woman said. “That’s why you came out here, isn’t it?”

  Adam chuckled at that and Eleanor joined in. Then, right there in the middle of the street of Miles City, he stopped the wagon and turned to brush a kiss across her lips.

  A cheer went up from a group of people waiting on the porch of the church and Eleanor looked over to see the Hargroves standing in front of several men, women and children.

  “There’s our wedding party,” Adam said as he started the horses moving again.

  “Hey, aren’t you supposed to wait and kiss the bride after the ceremony?” one of the men shouted from the church.

  Adam chuckled and yelled back, “I plan to kiss her every chance I get.”

  And, to prove his point, he leaned toward her again.

  Eleanor barely had sense enough after that kiss to wonder if she should recommend this mail-order business to some of her friends back East. Love happened in wonderful ways when it started with a letter.

  Dear Reader,

  I can practically see the candle in the window that shone out into the night. Few people in the Montana territory had many possessions, but almost everyone had at least that much to mark the day.

  I am a big fan of traditions at Christmas, whether it’s a well-placed candle or an evening of caroling. This Christmas, I hope you will find a way to honor His birth that makes you feel closer to others. I always look forward to a Christmas Eve church service and would recommend you find one in your area. And then, afterward, stand and look at the sky for a few minutes, wondering what it would have been like for the wise men to follow a star that was leading them to Jesus.

  If you have a minute, I would love to hear from you. Just go to my website at www.janettronstad.com and email me from there. May you have a blessed Christmas this year.

  Sincerely,

  Questions for Discussion

  Eleanor McBride went West to marry a man she did not know because her father had died and her future was uncertain. Have you ever been in a situation where you have reached for something that was a little scary because you felt you had no choice? What happened?

  One of El
eanor’s most precious possessions was the telescope that belonged to her father. What do you think that telescope says about her relationship with her father? Do you have something that represents a close relationship in your life?

  I have often wondered how difficult it would be to homestead in the West. But, in truth, we all face new challenges in our lives—things we feel unprepared to face. What are some of those things in your life?

  Because Eleanor was Irish, she saved a candle to put in the window on Christmas Eve. Do you have any Christmas traditions related to your heritage? What are they?

  Adam Martin’s faith was dormant. It was there, but so weak he scarcely thought of God. What caused this for Adam? Have you ever found yourself in the same situation? What scripture verses would you recommend to someone who felt God had abandoned them?

  Adam’s mother was so certain she knew what was best for Adam and his daughter, that she almost alienated them. What scripture verses would you suggest for her if she asked for some guidance?

  We hope you enjoyed these heartwarming tales from

  Love Inspired® Historical.

  Travel back in time and follow Christian characters as they face the challenges of life and love.

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  eISBN-13: 978-1-4603-4925-0

  Mail-Order Christmas Brides Boxed Set

  Copyright © 2014 by Harlequin Books S.A.

  The publisher acknowledges the copyright holder of the individual works as follows:

  Mail-Order Mistletoe Brides

  Copyright © 2012 by Harlequin Books S.A.

  Christmas Hearts

  Copyright © 2013 by Jill Strickler

  Mistletoe Kiss in Dry Creek