The Convenient Mail Order Bride Read online

  “I want to know exactly what the sincere and nice Carl wrote,” Abe said. “Don’t leave anything out.”

  “I won’t,” Eric replied. As he opened it, a picture fell out. He stooped down to get it.

  Curious, Abe leaned forward and saw an old picture of him. He frowned. Where did Carl get that from? He thought his mother had been the only person who had a picture of him. Unless she’d given one to his father. He gritted his teeth.

  Eric began reading the missive, so Abe forced his attention to what he was saying. His eyes rose heavenward as he listened to Carl’s lies about Abe’s planning for a family when he built his cabin. His uncle had built the cabin for his mother. She’d always wanted a big one, so he’d added the extra rooms for her sake, though he’d often thought it was a waste of space.

  “There is a nice stream on the land where you can get water, bathe, and do laundry,” Eric read.

  Abe stopped him. “That’s another lie. Sure that stream is rightfully mine, but he won’t let me have it. The poor woman has no idea she’d have to do all her bathing and washing from the well water.”

  “He does mention a well in the next paragraph. Want me to read it?”

  “Yes.” He might as well hear the whole thing. Then he’d know exactly what she’d been promised.

  When Eric was done reading the rest of the missive, Abe turned his attention back to the woman and her mother.

  “I’m going to talk to her,” he told Eric as he took the paper full of half-truths. He nodded for the man to follow him, and Eric obeyed. Once he reached the wagon, he directed his gaze to Phoebe. “Can I talk to you over there?”

  He gestured to the spot outside the barn. He didn’t think she’d talk to him alone inside the barn so he figured if he gave her an open area where her mother could keep an eye on her, she’d be more likely to leave the wagon.

  She offered him a nod and extended her hand toward him so he could help her down. Good grief. The woman was wearing gloves. She was as prim and proper as they came. She was in for a rude awakening to what life would be like if she stayed here. Things like gloves and fancy dresses just weren’t practical. Biting back the comment, he took her hand and guided her down.

  He led to her to a spot where they wouldn’t be overheard and handed her the missive. “It seems Carl left some things out,” he began, setting his hands on his hips.

  “He left out a lot, like him not being who he claimed to be,” she replied. “I really believed you wrote this.”

  “I know. It’s in Carl’s nature to lie. He’s just like his pa.” He sighed. “I don’t know what to do. So I’ll give you some options, and you tell me which one you want, alright?”

  She slipped the missive back into the purse then clasped her hands together. “Alright. What do you propose?”

  “One thing I could do is help you and your ma return to Ohio. Carl was right about me not having much money. I don’t value gold like the white men do.”

  “White men? Aren’t you white?”

  “No. My pa was. My mother was Cheyenne.” He paused. “Can’t you tell I have Indian blood in me?”

  “Your skin is darker, but I thought you had a lot of sun on you, like some of the other men I’ve seen who don’t always wear a hat. You aren’t wearing a hat right now.”

  “I don’t like hats. My ancestors didn’t wear white men’s hats. But the fact that I’m not wearing a hat shows you my hair is darker than white men’s.”

  “I’ve seen men with black hair before, though I admit they always cut it short.”

  “Where you come from, are there any Indians?”

  “I’ve never ventured outside the main area of Cincinnati.” She shrugged and cleared her throat. “My knowledge about these things is limited.”

  “You haven’t heard anything about the savage Indians out West?” She blinked at the bitter tone that found its way into his voice, so he forced it back down. “I’m not saying Indians are savage. They aren’t. All we do is try to protect ourselves as you white people keep taking land that belongs to us. And when we protect our land, you call us savage.”

  She didn’t seem to know how to respond to that, and her look of surprise told him she hadn’t been told much of anything about what was going on outside the small world she’d grown up in. She’d been sheltered from the truth her entire life. It would be wrong to direct his anger at her.

  “Forgive me. I thought all white people were told the same thing about us,” he said, his voice quieting down. “Would you like to return to Ohio? I don’t have much money, but I do have enough to provide a way back for you and your mother. You might be more comfortable with your own people.”

  He fully expected her to take that option, so he waited for her to accept his offer. But instead, she asked, “What else can I choose?” When his eyebrows furrowed, she explained, “You said we have a couple of options. I’d like to hear what else there is to choose from.”

  Having caught him off guard, it took him a few seconds before he could reply. “Oh, well, I suppose we could get married, but you don’t know what you’re asking in doing that. You’d be marrying a half-breed. Out here, that’s not a good thing. Eric’s one of the very few who’ll talk to me. The others try to pretend I’m not there, if they aren’t talking down to me like I’m too dumb to understand them. On top of that, I’m a bastard.”

  “A bastard?”

  “It means my parents weren’t married.”

  “I know what it means. I just can’t recall anyone saying the word so casually before. It took me by surprise when you blurted it out so matter-of-factly.”

  “Then that’s something you ought to consider about me,” he told her. “I tell it like it is. I learned long ago if I’m going to keep what’s mine, I need to blurt things out, whether people want to hear them or not. I don’t know what kind of place you grew up in, but around here, if you aren’t ready to fight for what you have, you’re going to lose it. I’m not sure that’s the best option for a gentle woman and her mother.”

  She lowered her gaze and stared at her hands for a long moment. When she finally spoke, the tears in her voice made him wince. “My mother and I can’t return to Ohio. We don’t have the money to support ourselves, and my brother is doing all he can. I can’t impose on him and his wife anymore.” She brushed away a tear. “What other options do I have?”

  With a sigh, he said, “You can stay here and answer another mail-order bride ad, and hopefully, this time it’ll be from the person he claims to be. There’s no one else around here I’d recommend you marry. Eric is already promised to a woman back East, and Travis is too scared of women to take a wife. I’m sorry to say this, but you’re too pretty to stay in a home with one of the families in town. None of the wives would want to give you a room. Besides that, your only other option is to get a job, but you don’t want the kind of job a single woman around here can get.”

  “I know. I’ve seen the town.” She sniffed and dabbed her eyes again. “You don’t want to marry me?”

  His jaw dropped. She was really considering that option? If he was her, he would have searched more mail-order bride ads. Setting his arms at his sides, he said, “I’m a half-breed and a bastard. Life with me won’t be an easy one. I never would post a mail-order bride ad. The last thing I want to do is curse someone with my life.”

  She glanced around his land, her gaze pausing when it passed over her mother who was talking to Eric. Her mother happened to look her way, and there was a private message that seemed to be exchanged between them.

  When she turned her attention back to him, she said, “You take care of your cabin and barn.”

  Not sure where she was going with this, he ventured, “Yes. They’re my cabin and barn.”

  “So it would be safe to assume you take care of your things?”

  “If I don’t, they’ll fall apart.”

  “And when we were coming up here, you were on the roof. Were you fixing it?”

  “Yes. There wa
s a small hole up there. I noticed it after last night’s rain.”

  “The horse looks well-fed.”

  He glanced at the steed in the fenced property behind the barn. “Is there a point to all of this?”

  “Yes. My point is you take pride in the things you have. You don’t let them fall apart or go hungry. I see your garden by the cabin has no weeds in it. On the way out here, I saw a lot of houses and barns. You’d be surprised how many people don’t take the time to keep them in good condition. You, on the other hand, do.”

  “I still don’t know what any of this has to do with you and your ma.”

  “Well, it stands to reason you’d treat me and my ma with the same care you treat your things. I could take my chances on another man by answering more ads, but I already know what I’d be getting here. Mr. Richie was wrong to lie about being you when he wrote me the missive. I won’t argue that. But I have to admit you are as good as he made you sound.”

  “Carl and I aren’t friends,” he said. “There’s been a feud going on between us for years.”

  “Then that says something, doesn’t it? Even your enemy can find good things to say about you.”

  “He only said those things because he wanted you to come out here. He didn’t say them because he believed them.”

  “Even so, he had no trouble coming up with things to say.”

  “Are you saying you want to marry me because of the way I sounded in that missive?” he asked, just to make sure he understood her.

  “No. I came out here because of the missive. I want to marry you because I can tell you’re the kind of man who’ll be good to me and my ma.” She hesitated for a moment then added, “Besides, I bet you could use a woman’s help. Wouldn’t it be nice to have someone cook and clean for you?”

  Surprised by the sudden change in topic, he couldn’t help but chuckle. “You just got through telling me what a great job I do taking care of everything, and then you say I could use someone around here to help me?”

  “If you had some help, you wouldn’t be doing everything alone.”

  “Well, yes, that stands to reason.”

  “So why not let me help you by marrying you?”

  He studied her for a good minute. There was a spark in her that intrigued him. “It won’t be an easy life.”

  “You’ve made that clear.”

  He glanced over at her mother who seemed just as sweet as the woman in front of him. Since he was a man, he wasn’t nearly as vulnerable as they were. At least he could defend himself if he needed to, but they couldn’t. In fact, they were naïve to the ways of the world.

  “You said you have nowhere else to go?” he asked, just to make sure because if he could give them a way to escape the life he had to deal with, then it would be much better for them.

  She shook her head. “My brother is generous to a fault, but we can’t impose on him anymore. He’d take us in, but he doesn’t make enough to support us and three children. He’ll have the third soon. I tried to get a job, but no one wants to hire me because I’m too pretty. They’re all afraid I’ll get married and leave. And my mother is too old.”

  He almost laughed that people didn’t want to hire her for such a simple reason. Instead of laughing, however, he asked, “So where were all the bachelors vying to marry you?”

  “I come with my mother. Not many men are willing to take her in. We didn’t live in a prosperous area. You have more than any of us did.”

  Compared to all Carl and Eric had, he didn’t have much at all, but she had no way of knowing that, at least not with her brief time out here. “There’s more to life than how much a man has,” he said before he had time to think of the hypocrisy in his statement. How often had he’d argued with Carl over the property line, claiming he didn’t have enough? “I mean that there’s more than land and things that make marrying a good idea.”

  “Yes, I know. I also need someone kind enough to take my mother in and to be good to us.”

  “And you think I would do that?”

  “You haven’t been mean to me.”

  “You were afraid of me when I asked to see the letter,” he reminded her. “Your hand was shaking.”

  “I wasn’t afraid of you. I was afraid you’d tell me and my mother to go back to town without giving me a chance to explain the situation to you.”

  Oh.

  “I grant you that I don’t know you well enough to say we’d have a good marriage,” she allowed. “I wasn’t expecting to know such a thing anyway when I agreed to be a mail-order bride. But you do take what I want into consideration, and I know some men don’t bother doing that with their wives. It stands to reason you’ll be the same after we’re married.”

  Since she was determined to pursue this course of action, he settled for a compromise. “I’ll tell you what. The preacher doesn’t come by this place except for once a month. You and your mother are welcome to stay in the same room. Then you can see what life with me will be like.” He was sure she’d be running on the next stagecoach that pulled into town once she realized just how hard life was out here, especially for a woman who was used to a big city among her own kind, but let her figure that out on her own. “When the preacher arrives, if you still want to stay here, I’ll marry you.”

  “Thank you.”

  He wasn’t so sure she’d be thanking him once she realized how much hardship she’d just asked for, but he figured she’d learn her mistake soon enough. “I’ll bring your trunks into the house, and you can put your things away.”

  She nodded.

  Deciding that was the end of their conversation, he went to get the trunks.

  Chapter Four

  It didn’t take long for Phoebe and her mother to put their things away, but she didn’t realize her hands were shaking until she closed the last drawer in the armoire. At one time, it had belonged to someone. Otherwise, it wouldn’t be in this room, ready for use. There was also a bed her and her mother would share. She guessed a woman—perhaps Abe’s mother—had lived in this cabin.

  For all she knew, he’d built it for his mother. Or maybe his father had built it for his mother, though the two had never married. She wouldn’t know the details unless she asked, and she felt she’d asked him too much already.

  “At least you have a chance to get to know him before you marry him,” her mother said.

  Though her mother whispered, Phoebe glanced at the closed door, wondering if Abe could hear them. She went over to the small window and saw he was outside talking to Eric. Relieved, she turned back to her mother. “We can speak freely. He’s not in the cabin.” She went over to the bed and sat down, taking a moment to steady her nerves before continuing. “I didn’t expect to be this nervous.”

  Her mother sat beside her and drew her in for a comforting hug. “Up to now, all we’ve been thinking of is making it through the trip.”

  She nodded. That was probably it. She settled her head on her mother’s shoulder. “Do you think I made the right decision?”

  “I don’t see what other choice you had.”

  She swallowed her tears. “I wish he’d posted the ad instead of Carl. This would be much easier if he had.”

  “Yes, it would be.” Her mother squeezed her shoulders. “I wish we had a rock in our purses when we hit him. He got off too easy, if you ask me.”

  She couldn’t help but chuckle. “He did.” She straightened up and wiped away a couple of tears that refused to stay at bay. “What was he thinking by doing something so horrible? He had to have known he was putting us and Abe in a difficult situation.”

  “Some people don’t care who they hurt. All they care about is themselves. That Carl Richie is one of them.”

  “At least we know who to avoid when we go to town.” She blinked back more tears. “Though it’s not much of a town, is it?”

  “We knew we’d have to give up a lot to live out West. But I will say this place is bigger than I thought it’d be. We could have fit us and your brother’s f
amily in here comfortably.”

  “That’s true. It’s one of the nicest places I’ve ever seen.” She paused then asked, “Do you think that means Abe’s a good man? I mean, he takes care of his things.”

  “Yes, I think he’ll be good to you.”

  “I suppose it’s just a matter of getting to know him. Then maybe I won’t feel so nervous.”

  “Why don’t you go out there and see if he needs help?”

  Phoebe glanced out the window. Eric was no longer there. Her gaze went to the roof where Abe was laying something out. Would she get in his way? Would he tell her if she was? She supposed there was only one way to find out, and now that she was done helping her mother unpack, she had nothing else to do. Besides, maybe if she let him know she was willing to help, he’d feel better about having her and her mother here.

  Her mother yawned, and Phoebe suddenly realized how much the days of travel had exhausted the poor woman. Phoebe fluffed the small pillow on the bed.

  “I’ll go out there and offer to help,” she told her mother. “Lie down. You must be tired.”

  “Sometimes I miss being young. Don’t take it for granted you can go out there and help him right after a long trip.”

  “I won’t.” After her mother settled onto the bed, Phoebe placed her hand on her arm and smiled. “I’m glad you’re here.”

  Her mother clasped her hand over hers and squeezed it. “Everything will be alright. Just remember to see the good in things.” With a contented sigh, she closed her eyes.

  Phoebe waited for a moment, giving herself a chance to gather her courage, then left the room. She didn’t know if Abe would welcome her out there or not. He had tried to dissuade her from marrying him. Maybe she should have explained everything to her mother, but in the end, all she said was that he offered to let them stay and see if marriage would benefit them both.

  It took her a full two minutes before she was able to leave the house. It had proved to be a good hiding place, at least temporarily. But really, she couldn’t hide there forever. Sooner or later, she had to see him.