His Substitute Mail-Order Bride

by Sherri Shackelford

  “The detective came to visit me today. He thinks he found your husband’s murderer. Only she killed herself.”

  “What?” Her thoughts whipped around her head. Why was he here if he knew already? “He promised me that he wouldn’t speak with you.”

  “He was trying to help.”

  Feeling numb, Anna stood and reached for the letter. “I think I have proof, but I don’t know if it’s enough. That’s why Detective Latemar was here. He thought Edward might have left a clue, and he did.” A sob clutched her throat. “I should have told you sooner. I should have never married you. When we kissed the other night, I knew I had to tell you the truth. I won’t fight an annulment.” The sob broke free, and tears spilled down her cheeks as she made her way out of the room.

  Russ blocked her rushed exit. “Don’t you see, Anna? I don’t care. I love you.”

  “How? Why? I’ll ruin your career.”

  “I don’t want a career. I want a life. With you. If you won’t think about me, at least think about the baby.”

  “I am thinking about you.” Tears streaming down her face, she pressed her fist against her mouth. “But don’t you see? I’ll always be tainted.”

  “Not to me.”

  Revealing the truth left her feeling as though she’d dropped the lead weight she’d been carrying since Edward’s murder. The burden had lifted. She felt as though she could breathe again. She loved him. She’d always loved him. She’d been jealous of Charlotte because she wanted him all her to herself.

  She’d written to Charlotte, and if her sister didn’t answer, she wasn’t pursuing the matter. From now on, she was concentrating on the people in her life who valued her.

  She grasped the letter. “Sadie said you brother is a detective. Can you ask him? Can you ask him if the letter is enough to clear my name? I think Edward left it for me. In case something happened.”

  “I don’t care about the letter. I don’t care about proof. I only care about you.”

  She could hardly believe she was hearing those words. Words she’d only hoped he’d utter one day. She felt a smile budding through her tears, but before she could let it blossom, a sharp, stinging pain pierced her side. She lurched forward to clutch his sleeve as it gripped her in a vise. “Oh, no.”

  His face pale, he caught her in his arms. “What’s wrong?”

  “It’s the baby,” she moaned, the pain sharpening. “Fetch Leah.”

  She’d known her happiness was too good to be true. Sobbing, she collapsed in Russ’s arms. The edges of her vision blurred. “I love you.”

  “Don’t try to speak.” He took the stairs two at a time, hastening to lay her on the bed. “Everything is going to be fine.”

  “What’s going to happen?” she begged.

  “I don’t know. But whatever happens, we’ll face it together. The two of us. Don’t give up on me, Mrs. Halloway.”

  She touched his cheek. “You never gave up on me, did you? Even though I pushed away the whole time.”

  “I never gave up on us, and neither can you.”

  She’d hoped for Russ, for a baby, for a happy life. Pain radiated through her side, and she grimaced. She’d hoped for too much.

  “I won’t,” she said. “I promise.”

  * * *

  Leah appeared, and Russ sprang to his feet. It felt like she’d been with Anna forever. “What’s happened? How is she? Is she all right?”

  “She’s fine.”

  His legs gave way and Daniel caught his arm, lowering him to a chair. “Easy there, old boy.”

  Russ grasped his head in his hands and choked back a sob. “You’re sure? She’s all right?”

  “She’s fit and healthy and ready for visitors.” Leah smiled. “The baby is fine, too.”

  He’d been too afraid to hope, too afraid to wish. “Are you certain?”

  “Yes. These things happen sometimes.”

  “It’s my fault. She was upset. She had a secret and—”

  “She told me all about it. Don’t worry. None of this is your fault. Bad timing is all.”

  “Can I see her?”

  “Of course.”

  Russ ran up the stairs but paused in the hallway and brushed his hair into place before pushing open the door.

  Anna reclined in bed, her hair spread across the pillow. She smiled and held out her hand, tears streaming down her face. “The baby is fine. It was just a scare.”

  Russ sat on the bed and gathered her in his arms. “I was a fool. I—”

  She gently placed two fingers over his lips. “No, let me.” Her eyes twinkled with tears. “I love you, Russ Halloway. I think I always have.”

  “And I love you.”

  “You don’t have to say that.” She threaded her hands through his hair. “Would you still be saying that if I’d lost the baby?”

  “If you’d lost the baby, I’d be assuring you that we’d have more children. I’d assure you that we’d have our own children, and when we stopped having our own children, we’d adopt ten more.”

  “You know, I’m going to hold you to that promise,” Anna said.

  “Which one?” Russ asked, his heart full to bursting.

  “Having another child. Your child.”

  “This is my child,” he replied, pressing his hand over the growing life inside her. “Our child. Our family. Just what we’ve both always wanted.”

  “I love you, Russ Halloway. I thought it was too good to be true. I didn’t think I deserved happiness.”

  He kissed her with a love and passion neither had ever known, kissing all the traces of tears from her cheeks, absorbing them as though he could take her pain.

  “You deserve everything,” he said. “I love you, Anna. Now and forever.”

  “Forever,” she whispered.

  * * * * *

  Don’t miss a single installment of

  RETURN TO COWBOY CREEK

  THE RANCHER INHERITS A FAMILY

  by Cheryl St. John

  HIS SUBSTITUTE MAIL-ORDER BRIDE

  by Sherri Shackelford

  ROMANCING THE RUNAWAY BRIDE

  by Karen Kirst

  Find more great reads at www.LoveInspired.com

  Keep reading for an excerpt from BABY ON HER DOORSTEP by Rhonda Gibson.

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  Dear Reader,

  I was fascinated to learn that a vault on the Norwegian island of Spitsbergen contains almost a million packets of seeds, each variety an important food crop. The Global Seed Vault is an international initiative that provides protection for these valuable commodities against the challenges of natural and man-made disasters.

  When Anna was collecting seeds in 1869, there were at least 285 varieties of cucumbers for her to plant. If she were gardening now, she’d have limited varieties from which to choose. While savings seeds from year to year was common, Anna was ahead of her time in post-Civil War America in cataloging the heirloom seeds for future generations. Seeking historical varieties of seeds has become a hobby for many people in recent years.

  While gathering and growing different varieties of seeds is a fun and important way to remember our history, cultivating these seeds can also protect against blights. The Great Famine in Ireland was caused, in part, by heavy reliance on only one or two high-yielding types of potatoes. Cultivating genetic variety is often used as a protection against losing an entire crop to a disease.

  The next time you’re at the grocery store, think about all the different varieties of fruits of vegetables!

  I hope you enjoyed Anna and Russ’s story. Don’t forget to read book one of the series by Cheryl St. John, The Ranche
r Inherits a Family, and book three by Karen Kirst, Romancing the Runaway Bride.

  I love connecting with readers and would enjoy hearing your thoughts on this story. If you’re interested in learning more about this book or others I’ve written in the Prairie Courtships series, visit my website at SherriShackelford.com or reach me at sherrishackelford@gmail.com, on Facebook at Facebook/SherriShackelfordAuthor, on Twitter @smshackelford, or with regular old snail mail: PO Box 116, Elkhorn, NE 68022.

  Thanks for reading!

  Sherri Shackelford

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  Baby on Her Doorstep

  by Rhonda Gibson

  Chapter One

  Glory, Texas

  March 1884

  Something placed beside the door, wrapped in a blanket, was the last thing Laura Lee expected to see when she arrived at the steps of the one-room schoolhouse. Laura swallowed hard. Her eyes narrowed, and her heart pounded in her chest. She whispered to herself, “What is that?”

  Ignoring the chill that lingered in the morning mist, Laura looked up the steps. She pulled her shawl tighter about her shoulders. “Well, standing down here won’t answer my question, now, will it?” she asked, reminding herself mentally that she was doing it again. Talking to herself.

  Laura raised her chin, squared her shoulders and climbed the steps, keeping her focus on the bundle at the top. “Jess Parker could have left some sort of wild animal in that bundle to scare me,” she muttered, thinking of one of her favorite students. Jess was older than the other boys and always full of mischief.

  Once at the top of the stairs, she looked down into the face of a sweet, rosy-cheeked child. Long blond lashes feathered under its eyes. The blanket rose and fell gently as the child slept peacefully.

  Laura looked about but saw no one. Bending, she unpinned a note from the soft blanket. Her fingers itched to touch the child’s soft blond curls. Instead she unfolded the paper and read.

  “Mrs. Lee, please take care of my little girl. Her name is Hope and she is a year old. I know you are kind and will make a good mother for her. She is a good eater and in good health. Thank you.”

  Laura turned the note over in her hands. Was this real? Had someone, perhaps one of her former students, just given her a child? Her gaze moved back to the sleeping little girl.

  Hope.

  How many times had she asked God for a child? And now ironically was given one named Hope? Laura picked up the little girl who continued to sleep deeply. She was small to be a year old. Was that why her mother had pointed out she was a good eater and in good health?

  Laura cuddled the sweet bundle close. She couldn’t just take her home. Could she? She looked about once more, searching for Hope’s mother. Was the letter legal? Could she keep her? What was her landlady, Mrs. Potter, going to say if she returned to the boardinghouse with the child?

  Laura looked down the dirt street at the small town. It was growing every day. Thanks to the lumber business, it had two sawmills, a general store with a built-in pharmacy, two churches, a bakery and a saloon. If only it had two boardinghouses, but it didn’t. If Mrs. Potter held to her rule of no children allowed, Laura didn’t know what she’d do with Hope.

  The baby squirmed in her arms. Hope continued to sleep as she worked an arm out of the blanket and stuck two fingers in her small mouth. Then she snuggled against Laura once more.

  Motherly instinct swelled in Laura. She gently rocked the baby and sighed. Then Laura straightened her spine and whispered, “You stop right now, Laura Lee. Dreaming and wishing has never gotten you anywhere.” Her gaze returned to the bundle in her arms. “Oh, but I do want to keep you.” She hugged the child closer.

  It seemed odd that four years after her husband Charles’s death, she’d been given a child to raise. Laura looked about once more, then started back down the schoolhouse steps. Before she got her hopes up, she’d make sure that she could truly keep the baby.

  Thinking of Charles brought about fresh hurt to her wounded heart. He’d wanted children so badly. And she’d disappointed him. How many times after they’d realized she could not bear children had he told her of his disappointment? Too many to count. It wasn’t just his words but the look in his eyes that had cut her to the core. The references that never having a son to carry on the good Lee name was a crying shame. It was her shame that he referred to.

  Laura pushed the pain aside and hurried her footsteps toward town. She decided to take the side streets to avoid the many questions that would arise at the sight of her holding a child. Her gaze moved to the sleeping face. Little Hope must be very tired to sleep through the jarring of being held while Laura walked down the dusty roads.

  She rushed to the sheriff’s office and slipped inside. Closing the door quickly, Laura turned to find a bemused lawman sitting behind an old wooden desk. For the first time in her life, she was at a loss for words. How did you explain to the town sheriff that someone had dropped a child on your doorstep?

  “Good morning, Mrs. Lee.” The sheriff stood and came around the front of the desk. “Please, have a seat.” Once she was seated he continued. “What can I help you with?”

  Laura looked down at the child and into the purest blue eyes she’d ever seen. Hope smiled around her fingers. Laura’s heart melted. Someone had given her this sweet child. She knew she’d do all in her power to take care of little Hope and give her a good home. She sat Hope up. “Sheriff, I’d like for you to meet Hope.” She wished with all her heart that she knew where the child had come from. Could she be the product of one of her former students?

  He didn’t blink an eye. The sheriff reached out and took the little girl’s small hand. “Nice to meet you, Miss Hope.”

  Hope continued to look up at him with big eyes and a grin.

  “I didn’t know you had a little girl, Mrs. Lee. Where have you been hiding her?” He leaned a hip against his desk and crossed his arms.

  He was teasing her and she knew it. The sheriff was a good man who enjoyed a smile or two wherever they could be found. Laura wondered why the child hadn’t asked for her mother but hugged her closer. “Well, I can’t claim her just yet. This morning I found her sleeping on the school porch.” Laura pulled the note from Hope’s blanket and handed it to him. “This was pinned to her blanket.” She held her breath as he read.

  His gaze moved to hers. “Mrs. Potter isn’t going to let you keep her at the boardinghouse, you know.”

  The sheriff lived at the boardinghouse also and knew Mrs. Potter’s rules just as she did. “Well, I’m going to ask, but if she says no, I’ll have to find a new place to live. I don’t thin
k she’s so hard-hearted that she won’t give me time to find us a new home.”

  He nodded.

  “What I need to know is—” She paused. “Can I keep her?”

  His gaze moved over the paper once more. “Well, the letter is addressed to you, and the request is clear. I’d say yes. But I’ve a feeling there is more to this than meets the eye. I’ll need to do some investigating. I’d hate to think this young lady’s ma is in danger, but it’s odd that a mother would just abandon her child like this.”

  Laura wanted to argue it happened all the time in the big cities, but this wasn’t a big city, and people didn’t drop off their children on doorsteps here. No, he was right. She couldn’t just claim the child, even if she had been delivered like a sack of potatoes.

  He sighed deeply. “I’m sorry, Laura. You can’t just keep her. Judge Miller will be coming to town around the first of next month. He’ll make the final decision as to if you can keep her.”

  “Are you going to keep her until then?” Laura asked, looking about the dusty jailhouse.

  His gaze followed hers. “Naw, I don’t reckon I am. You can keep her with you, if you want to, until the judge arrives next month.”

  Joy jumped in her heart. He’d said she could keep Hope, at least until Judge Miller arrived. By then the judge would see just how attached she and the child were to each other. He was a kind man. He’d let her keep Hope. Laura was sure of it.

  Now all she had to do was convince Mrs. Potter to let her keep Hope. Or she’d have to find a new place to live that would let her keep the child with her. But where? She was a schoolteacher on a small budget. Could she afford more than the boardinghouse’s fee of two dollars a week?

  * * *

  Clint Shepard held his daughter, Grace, close. The little girl was sound asleep, something he was grateful for. The two-year-old was a chatterbox. She’d talked most of the way to town. If he could have understood half of it, Clint would have been a happy man.

  He pulled the wagon up in front of the jailhouse, hoping his friend the sheriff could help him find a nanny for Grace. Normally, he left Grace with her wet nurse when he came to town, but once those services were no longer needed, she and her husband had moved to Colorado. Since his housekeeper refused to watch the child, Clint had brought her with him. Besides, he’d decided along the way that it would be good for Grace to meet her nanny before he hired her.