Mail Order Brides Western Historical Romance Collection 3 Book Bundle (The Brides of Wyldewood 2)

by Holly Blake

  John Barnaby was a serious man with a serious life. He was involved in more businesses in town than anyone had a right to, but he wasn’t greedy. He was solid and generous but something inside the man had been broken during the civil war and it still wasn’t fully mended. He worked hard so that he could escape his own thoughts. Grover liked John a lot, but he knew that John was frail in a way that didn’t show on the outside. The man was haunted by something that he didn’t share with anyone; perhaps he didn’t have the strength to share it. Grover looked from Peggy to Adam and felt the same uncomfortable tension he experienced when he first walked into the shop. Maguire was showing no signs of leaving.

  “Thank you kindly Mrs. Barnaby. How is your husband?” Grover asked Peggy while glaring at Maguire. He saw a flash of fire behind Maguire’s eyes. Grover wondered if he had hit a nerve. Maguire might have designs on Peggy Barnaby, but Grover would remind them both that she was married to a great man.

  “He’s good. We’ve had some interest from men looking for work and should get a few new hands soon.” Peggy paled and sounded bored by the thought of such mundane tasks. John had so many business interests and Peggy stood by his side working with him and supporting him all the way. It must have been tiring to keep up with John Barnaby and to raise three children. Grover suddenly felt compassion for the bubbly young woman who seemed be showing signs of succumbing to the burdens of her station in life.

  “I should be going Peggy,” Maguire said smiling his snake like grin at Peggy. He turned to Grover with a look that could melt sand. “Grover, I’ll be in touch.” He walked out of the mercantile, glancing back from the door briefly. Grover turned back to Peggy.

  “How well do you know Adam Maguire?” Peggy looked a little shaken. She blanched at the question because she had been caught flirting with a man who was new to town. Adam Maguire was a man that John Barnaby would not find respectable and Peggy knew it.

  “Grover, I know you mean well but I was only trying to make Mr. Maguire feel welcome in his new home. I would never betray the trust of my husband.”

  “I only asked a question, no need to worry. I just don’t know much about the man and he doesn’t seem to fit somehow.”

  “You mean the way he dresses?”

  “I mean everything about him. He has a manner to him that’s more suited to the city than out here.”

  “He is very sophisticated, don’t you think.” Peggy beamed and hugged herself.

  “I think he’s a bit too slick.” Grover grimaced at Peggy’s response to his question.

  “You just don’t like city folk,” Peggy laughed.

  “There may be some truth to that but I think there is more to that man than just being from the city.”

  “He’s also a stranger, so that’s two points against him.” Peggy smiled and took Grover’s hand in her own. “I love you like a brother Grover Wright but how are you going to establish a relationship with one of those women if you don’t trust new people.”

  Grover gave Peggy’s hand a squeeze, maybe she was right, and perhaps it was his dislike of strangers that was the cause of his dislike of Maguire. “You are probably right Peggy. I will try to be more accepting of the changes that are happening around these parts.”

  Grover picked up the letters and put them all in a sack that Peggy offered. He headed to the door of the shop already deep in thought. He would stop to see Brody about his patrol, but not until after he had some lunch at the Inn. If he could work up the nerve, he thought he might just ask James about his niece. Before he looked at these letters, he wanted to be sure that pursuing Millie was truly out of the question. Only then would he sit down and go through the abundance of letters that weighed him down. What an amazing amount of letters, more than he could have ever imagined he would receive.

  Chapter Four

  Millie sat on the train willing it to move forward and take her to her destiny. She kept looking out the windows to make sure she wasn’t being followed. It was dishonest of her to leave like this but she didn’t see another way. For several weeks she was in a battle with her father over the man she knew she loved. She had suspected that the ad in the paper was Grover Wright’s and she was thrilled when she learned that she was right. They wrote back and forth for a couple of weeks when her father came to her room demanding that she hand over all of the letters.

  “Where are they?” he yelled while ransacking her room, digging through drawers and knocking over her most beloved possessions.

  “Where are what?” she asked, confused at his behavior and rage.

  “The letters from that mongrel you’ve been writing to?” Spittle sprang from his mouth like a rabid dog. Millie had never seen her father in such a state and she shook in fear of the normally docile man.

  “Who are you talking about? What mongrel?”

  “The half breed you met last summer,” he shouted holding up a letter addressed to her.

  “Daddy, that’s mine,” she demanded, trying to snatch the letter from his grip.

  “You are my daughter, nothing is yours! You will not correspond with a half breed mutt, Millicent. It is unbecoming of a lady!”

  “Grover is not a mutt and how can you be so callus?”

  “He is half Indian and half white. I know what you’re thinking Millicent and I won’t have it! There will not be any mixed breeds in my bloodline. You will do as your sisters have done and find a respectable man, right here in New York! Now where are they?”

  He came to the bed where Millie was sitting and raised his hand as if he would strike her. Tears began to fall in great waves and Millie shook while cringing from her father. Peter Granger saw the look in his daughter’s eyes and regained his usual composure. He sat down on the bed beside his daughter and put his hands in his lap. He looked at his hands, the letter in his grip and allowed the tension to seep out of him. “I’m sorry Millie, you don’t understand. I’m afraid that we live in a city where everything seems possible and yet there are many prejudices. I can’t stand the thought of the disgrace you might bring upon this family. Why must you do this?”

  Millie wasn’t sure how to react. Inside she was jumping up and down and screaming with glee and yet the hurt in her father’s eyes was unsettling. Marrying Grover was everything she wanted, but she hated hurting her father. Her father looked at her and a deep sadness filled his eyes. She didn’t want to stir his anger back to the surface again, and so she stayed still and quiet and waited for him to continue.

  “Millie this man is too old for you and he is not the kind of man I want for my daughter.”

  “I love him father, and he is a good man. You know that, you met him.”

  Peter touched Millie’s cheek and wiped away the remnants of her tears. “You are so young, and so beautiful but so naive.” He sighed. “You don’t know what love is. This Grover Wright is a good man but it doesn’t change who he is, what he is.”

  “Uncle James admires him greatly.” Millie tried to protest but Peter raised his hand to quiet her.

  “James has been living in the wilds for far too long. He has forgotten the ways of civility. It might be fine for two people of different races to mix out in the territories but not here, not in the rest of the world.”

  “But father I wouldn’t be living here, I would be living in Wyoming if we marry.”

  Peter’s face grew red. He was clearly losing his patience. “You will not be moving to Wyoming Millicent. You belong here with your family.”

  “I don’t want to stay here and be a spinster!” Millie snapped and turned away from her father, anger flaring in her now.

  “You are talking nonsense girl! You are not a spinster; you’re only twenty-five. You have plenty of time to find a husband.”

  “You know that isn’t true! Carlotta will beat me to the alter and then I will be stuck at home forever!”

  “Millie! You should be happy for your sister! Why are you being so selfish?”

  “I’m not being selfish; I’m in love with a wonderfu
l man who wants to marry me and nothing else matters.” Millie insisted.

  “Well you can get that nonsense out of your head. I forbid you to have any contact with that, that, mongrel.” With that Peter turned a deep purple with anger and frustration. He rose from the bed, snatched the letter back from Millie and left the room slamming the door. Millie heard the door lock behind him and she jumped up from her bed and tried the door. It was locked and she was left stunned and silent.

  And now here she was. She had escaped her room by sneaking out her bedroom window and down the huge elm tree that grew outside her window. It was a game that she and her siblings often played when they were young. She never imagined that she would have to use the same tactic as an adult.

  When the house had gotten quiet after everyone had gone to bed, she gingerly nudged the window open and threw a sack made of bed sheets out the window with what she thought she could carry. She only had a few outfits in the sack that now sat at her feet but it was all she really needed. She was in love, and that was all that mattered in the end.

  Finally the train began to move and a wave of relief washed over her. She would get to Wyoming, marry Grover and then her father could do nothing about it. She had already sent a letter to Grover accepting his proposal and she had used her own savings to pay for her travel expenses.

  Chapter Five

  Esther pulled Millie’s veil down over her face and handed the bouquet of fresh flowers to the younger woman. She couldn’t have been happier for the girl. She arrived just over a week ago and the wedding plans were made as quickly as possible as neither Millie nor Grover could wait to get married. It would be a glorious day for the two as the whole town seemed to turn out for the nuptials they had all helped prepare for.

  Grover was a very popular man in these parts. For such a quiet man who always seemed to be the outsider he was embraced by the people of the town as if he were the town itself. The people rejoiced with him when he announced Millie’s acceptance of his proposal and helped him get his home ready for his new bride.

  When Millie arrived the townspeople helped her to prepare for the wedding, no one more so than her own uncle and Esther’s husband James. James was so excited to have a family member in town he fussed over the girl from the minute she arrived and was still fussing just outside the door of the Inn as he pleaded with the two women to hurry up as everyone was waiting on them.

  Millie came out first with Esther close on her heels. The three walked arm and arm down to the church and waited for a moment before entering.

  “Now Millie, I want you to know how happy I am for you and Grover,” James spoke in gentle but serious tones. He reminded Millie of her mother with his tender heart and simple kindness. “I know Grover will always treat you well, he is just that sort, but if you ever need anything, you know you can count on your Aunt Esther and I.” She smiled and a tear came to his eye. Millie was so touched by his words that she began to weep herself.

  “James!” Esther admonished with her soft southern accent. “You’ve made the poor girl cry.” She pulled out two handkerchiefs and handed one to James and one to Millie. “Now both of you dry your eyes and pull yourselves together! What will people think with the two of you coming into the chapel with tears running down your faces? You’ll scare poor Grover out of his wits.” She smiled warmly at both of them and turned to open the door.

  Millie thought it funny that Esther used words like chapel and mass when describing the services in Wyldewood. Someday there might be a Catholic church to serve the ever growing population, but for now they had one church and it was generally run by the Anglican ministers who travelled through this area on a fairly regular rotation.

  Esther glanced back to make sure that Millie was ready and then she pulled the doors open with a dramatic flair. She stepped into the dark church and seemed to disappear. Millie took a deep breath and grasped her uncle’s arm in hers. He smiled at her and the two entered the church with smiles on their faces and warmth in their hearts.

  The minister stood at the front of the church and Grover stood before him in quiet contemplation. When the door opened Grover turned to see first Esther stride into the church and then James with a veiled woman that must be his beloved. The veil she wore was thick and he could barely make her out under it. It was her walk that reassured Grover that it was really his Millie. She walked with a purposeful stride that he admired. She was a strong woman filled with determination and confidence. He loved that about her.

  James took Grover’s hand and shaking it he congratulated the man on his nuptials and linked Millie to his arm. James then sat in a pew at the front of the church where Esther was waiting for him.

  The minster began the ceremony with a short speech of sorts. Then he read a few passages from the bible before getting to the vows. Millie’s heart was so full it nearly burst as she realized that finally, she was to be with the man she loved, and who truly loved her.

  She had intercepted a telegraph just the day before from her older brother stating that James was to stop the wedding at any cost. She took the telegraph and tore it up immediately, then hid it in a drawer in her room. It joined three others from her Father with the same orders. No one had seen them but her and she didn’t intend to let anyone see them. Once she was wed, her father would have to accept her decision.

  The final I do’s where said and the congregation began to clap and cheer. Millie’s veil had been lifted and she kissed Grover for the second time since her arrival. His kisses were honey to her lips and she longed for more.

  Suddenly the doors of the church flew open and the sun blinded the couple who could only raise their arms to their brows and squint at the light. Then a voice shattered the happiness and the crowd gasped in shock.

  “Millicent Granger, step away from that, that creature right now!” Peter Granger had venom in his voice and his face was etched with lines of rage. He strode up to the couple and grabbed Millie’s hand, dragging her away from the pulpit snarling and spitting with anger. “I forbade you to come here and you disobeyed me. You will be coming back to New York where I have made arrangements for you to join the sisters of charity.” He glowered at James and Esther. “I told you James that she was not to have anything to do with that mongrel! You should be ashamed of yourself for allowing this mockery to go on!”

  James went first white with embarrassment and then red with rage. He rose to face his brother-in-law. “And I told you that you are a backward, bigot living in the dark ages!” James shouted at Peter. Millie had no idea that they had discussed the subject, but now she realized that it wouldn’t have mattered if her uncle had seen the telegraphs that she craftily intercepted. He didn’t agree with her father either. Millie’s heart swelled with delight at the revelation.

  “I’m married now Daddy, you have no say anymore.” Millie sounded braver than she felt.

  “The marriage will be annulled. It wasn’t even performed by a priest so it doesn’t really count anyway.” Peter glared at the minister, daring him to challenge.

  “In the eyes of God these two people are lawfully and spiritually married sir!” The minister turned a shade of red as his own temper was flared in defense of his ministry. He stepped from behind the pulpit and faced Peter with a boldness that Millie had never seen in a man of the cross.

  “Sir, let’s just calm down,” Grover said as he stepped toward Peter. But Peter backed away, glaring at him.

  “Don’t you sir me, you half-breed mongrel; you have some nerve trying to marry above your station.” He spat in Grover’s face and grabbed Millie even harder pulling her from the church and away from the town. Millie tried to protest but her father was stronger than she and would hear nothing more about it. He marched her to the train station and pulled her aboard.

  The church full of people sat in stunned silence as Grover and James stared after Millie and Peter. No one knew what to do. The minister looked around the room waiting for someone to move or speak. When he realized the gravity of the
situation he sank down on a pew with his head in his hand. Finally the minister decided that he should try to comfort Grover so he stood and placed a hand on the stunned man’s shoulder. Grover looked into the sympathetic eyes and realized that all may be lost for him and the love of his life. He bowed his head and left the church.

  Lightening was waiting outside hitched to a wagon he had only recently gotten used to pulling. Grover unhitched the decorated buggy and pulled himself up on Lightening’s back. He headed north towards the mountains and away from the town he could not face.

  Chapter Six

  Grover arrived at his mother’s tribe by nightfall. It was the only place he felt he could go. For the first time in his life he felt that he didn’t belong in the white man’s world. He came to a tent that he knew would receive him with love. It was his Grandfather he sought out. The man was wise and always had good advice for Grover. He slid off of Lightening’s back and entered the tent.

  “I knew you would come here today.” The old man sat with a pipe by the fire. “You have faced your demon and let it win. Come and sit with me and we will talk of your trials.”

  “Things are not good, Grandfather. I was married today, but I lost my bride because of my heritage.”

  “I know what you have been up to young one. The spirits tell me everything.”

  “There are no spirits Grandfather, only your scouts who seem to be everywhere and nowhere.” Grover chuckled even though he was filled with the greatest sadness he had ever felt. He was defeated by something that he could not control.

  “You were defeated by your shame, not by your heritage. I have told you before that you should not allow yourself to be tested by another man’s opinion, only your own. You are a brave warrior but you think you are weak. You are strong. The mixing of your blood has made you strong. Come and smoke with me and you will see your spirit animal. He will guide you as he has before.”