by Emily Woods
Now, the feeling of Violet encircled by his arms and the fresh memory of her lips on his reminded him that this was reality. Suddenly, the fear he’d held close for so long, the thought that a woman—especially a woman as amazing and beautiful as Violet—couldn’t care for him was erased.
“I have a question to ask you,” he said, suddenly feeling the rising sense of determination from deep inside of him.
“Go on,” she said with a smile.
“I know it was my mother who asked you to come out here and that it was quite a shock for me, but I’ve come to see that perhaps my mother has been right about more than just a few things.”
“Is that so?” she said, her smile widening.
“Yes. And because of that…” He paused, taking a moment to take in her delicate features at this up-close distance. “I want to know if you’ll consider becoming my bride? My real mail order bride.”
She laughed, the sound light and tinkling, and met his gaze. “You’re saying you finally want to marry me, Arthur Bowen?”
“I’m saying just that.” He liked the playful nature of her tone. It eased the knot of worry in his chest.
“Is this because I’m such an excellent worker?”
It was his turn to laugh. “That’s part of it,” he teased, “but the bigger part is that I see a woman I want to talk to and share my thoughts with. I was awful to you at times and you didn’t let that stop you from getting to know me or persisting. You…you saw me, Violet, and that’s what it took for me to know that I want to be with you for the rest of my life.”
She placed her hand against his cheek, her palm warm and smooth, and then gently rose on tiptoes to kiss him. The scent of rosewater filled his senses and he closed his eyes. The kiss was soft and gentle but deliberate.
“I do see you, Arthur.”
He opened his eyes and looked into her gray-blue ones. So much hope there—so much love.
“You are amazing,” she continued, “and kind and gentle. I knew that from the moment you tended to the burn on my arm. Your caution and care showed me what kind of man you are here.” She rested her hand against his heart and he felt the warmth from her fingers through the fabric of his shirt. “And that is exactly why I want to marry you.”
Arthur pulled Violet into a tight hug, ignoring the pain as she pressed lightly against his side, and buried his face into her rose-scented air. There was still so much they needed to learn about one another, but it was obvious they would work well together. They already had up until now, and it had only taken him seeing clearly what they could be.
He may have despised his mother’s meddling at first, but now he was thankful she’d ordered him a mail order bride. He couldn’t wait to tell them the good news or to share it with his mother. He was quite certain he’d never live down her teasing, but none of that mattered as long as Violet was with him.
The Uncertain Bride
Brides for the Bowen Brothers, Book 2
1
The three Bowen brothers pulled into town just as the early morning sun stretched rays of warmth across the dusty streets. Aaron rode in the back to afford space for his older brothers in the front and let his gaze travel over the wooden buildings that housed the blacksmith’s shop, general store, post office, and saloon.
He didn’t come into town as often as his brothers did, but that was mostly due to the fact he preferred staying on the ranch and working with the horses to keep them in tip-top shape for his brothers and their workers as they herded the cattle on the vast Bowen Ranch.
Ever since Arthur had married Violet though, Aaron had seen an increase in his eldest brother’s trips into town. Women required a lot, most of it not cheap either. And after seeing how happy Arthur and Violet were, Aaron began to feel a longing in his soul that he’d never known before.
It was one thing to find contentment in a job. In taking care of the horses and breathing in the heady scent of the Texas landscape, Aaron could feel fulfilled, but the way that Violet’s eyes lit up at the sight of Arthur, and the way she lightly touched his shoulder while serving him a meal or laughed at his jokes, made Aaron long for something more. Something like what his brother had.
“I’m headed to the blacksmith’s. Don’t leave without me. I’ve got the surprise, remember?” Albert said, his wide grin spreading even more as he hopped from the slowing wagon.
“You going to tell us what this is all about?” Arthur asked in his steady way.
“Then it wouldn’t be a surprise,” Albert said. He jogged off in the direction of the blacksmith’s shop and Aaron slid into the front seat, careful not to fall out as the wagon turned toward the general store.
“You got any idea what he’s up to?” Arthur asked.
“Nope. It’s Albert. We’ll know when we know.”
Arthur nodded sagely. “Then why do I have a bad feeling?”
“Say, Arthur,” Aaron began, his mouth suddenly dry at the thought of voicing his thoughts.
“Yes?” his older brother asked, giving him a sidelong glance as if he’d noticed.
“What if I were to tell you I’m thinking about a mail-order bride?”
Arthur, older than Aaron by almost eight years, merely nodded.
“What? Aren’t you going to say something?”
“I’d say it’s none of my business.”
“But I’m asking you.”
“And what,” he said, turning to look at Aaron, “are you asking me?”
Aaron realized his mistake. He hadn’t actually phrased it as a question, at least one his brother could understand. He heaved out a sigh.
“I suppose I’m asking you what you think about this? Is it a bad idea? A good one? Do you have any suggestions?”
Arthur let out a bark of a laugh. “You shouldn’t be asking me, little brother.”
“Why not? You’re married! And to a mail-order bride, no less.”
“I sure am,” he said, nodding, “but, if you recall the circumstances, I hardly had a choice in it.”
“Are you saying you didn’t want to marry Violet?”
“Now, that is something I did not say.” He rubbed a hand over his jaw and then pulled the horses to a stop near the store. “I love Violet. More than I thought I could, in fact, but I wouldn’t say that I have a lot of knowledge or wisdom when it comes to things like this. We both know that Albert has the corner on the market for women.”
They shared a grin and Aaron bit his lip, trying to phrase his question even better.
“But,” Arthur said, before Aaron could speak, “I will say this. Marriage to a good woman is a blessing. If you think you’re ready for it, then there’s nothing to stop you. In fact, I’d say blessings on you if that’s the case.”
His brother’s words somehow felt like the affirmation Aaron needed. He’d talked to Albert in the past about women, seeing as his brother always seemed to catch the attention of the women at church and around town, but no advice had been quite as succinct nor as freeing as Arthur’s.
“Thanks, brother,” he said, clapping him on the shoulder.
“Nothing to it,” his brother said, slipping from the wagon seat and tying up the horses to the hitching post. “Just be back in time for us to leave.”
“Will do,” Aaron said, making his way toward the post office. There would be a matrimonial journal he could look through and, with any luck, perhaps he could write to a young lady this week. It would mean more trips into town, something he wasn’t exactly fond of, but it seemed like a fitting sacrifice if the end result would mean a woman he could cherish and a marriage he could celebrate. All, of course, Lord willing.
Lulu Mullins could hardly believe she was almost at her destination. She’d waited twenty-five long years to leave her father’s Virginia ranch and here she was, finally accomplishing that goal.
Well, in reality, she’d only wanted to leave as of a few years ago, but it had felt like her entire life. There was something about the fact that she was on a train bound for Texa
s and a man who wished to marry her that made her face feel flushed and her heart pound rapidly in her chest.
She pulled out the letter he’d sent just a few weeks before. The last she’d gotten from him before leaving for the West. Smoothing out its crumpled and stained pages, she read over his explanation of the ranch and life on the ranch. He told of his brothers, but not in great detail, and how she’d be welcome to stay with his eldest brother and wife.
The whole situation sounded almost too good to be true, but she’d felt the tug of the Lord to come out West and she’d responded. That, in and of itself, had to count for a great deal. But now, as the train hurtled toward its destination and her future, she licked chapped lips and looked at the photo again.
It was old, showing her almost-fiancé to be in his teen years along with his brothers. She had blushed the moment she saw him, knowing without being certain which one he was. Her assuredness wavered only slightly as she looked back down at the letter.
Unfortunately, it had been stained by the rain when the carrier had delivered it. The only part she was able to decipher, at least regarding the image, was that he was ‘the handsome one.’ She’d wrestled with his obvious hubris but then accounted it to a joking tone that he’d taken in letters before.
But now she would come face to face with him and see for herself. She had the advantage since there had been no photo for her to send, at least none her father had been willing to part with.
Her father. Lulu let out a sigh and leaned back in her seat. He had been happy for her but also devastated to see her go. She was the youngest of seven children and when her mother passed away giving birth to her, her father had been devastated then too.
But, as time seems to do, it healed some—if not most—of the pain her father had held. He’d remarried and with the addition of her stepmother to the house, Lulu had known it was time to leave.
The train’s whistle blew and she jolted out of her thoughts. Her life in Virginia was her past and life in Texas would be her future. She would become a wife and then, hopefully, a mother. She could live out the rest of her days away from her stepmother and among the rolling plains of Texas and with the love, or at least some kind of affection, of a good man.
Yes, Lord, help me to love my husband.
The attendant came through and announced her stop, helping her to collect her things and then directing her to the ticketing office where she could claim her baggage. The moment she stepped into the hot, Texas air, she felt like she was home. It was an odd feeling, one that she couldn’t completely understand, but one she decided came with the assurance that this was what God had for her.
Her gaze roamed around the station and caught on a path that seemed to lead into the trees. She checked the time with her small pocket-watch and was pleased to find they had arrived ahead of schedule. Rather than claim her baggage as she knew she should, she followed the small trail to the side of the station building.
The trees shaded her from the sun and the scent among the lush growth seemed to calm her. She felt at peace and at ease in the natural beauty. The path wound away from the station and soon, she found herself at a creek that ran parallel to the train tracks. Its bubbling sound made her smile and she took a seat on a log that served perfectly as a bench.
It was an oasis to her in this moment, as if the hand of God had stretched down to provide her a moment’s reprieve from her worries before actually meeting the man she was to marry. And she needed all the calm she could get.
The sound of rustling leaves caused the anxiety to rise again the next moment. Someone was coming and would soon invade her private space. She knew it wasn’t truly her space, but it had felt like that for the moment.
She stood, brushing her hand over her skirts to straighten them, and then turned to head back up the path to allow the next stranger to wander this way a chance at a moment of peace like she’d just experienced.
She froze solid the next moment, because the man who walked out of the undergrowth was none other than the man she was promised to.
He came to a standstill where the path turned from crushed leaves to sand and blinked several times as their eyes met.
“H—hello,” he said, obvious confusion registering on his handsome features.
“Hello,” she said, more brightly than she had expected. Then she remembered—he wouldn’t know her, despite the fact that she knew who he was. And he certainly was the good-looking brother.
This could be entertaining.
2
“I see you’ve found my secret cove.”
“Secret…” Aaron looked around and then back to the beautiful woman standing in front of him. Her smile turned up the corners of her soft-looking lips and he forced himself to look into her eyes and nowhere else. Ah, it was a joke. “Why yes,” he said, matching her playful tone, “I do hope you don’t mind the intrusion.”
“Not at all.” She gestured toward the log. “Would you care to sit?”
He was surprised by her boldness. Not only were they alone, but they had not been introduced nor were they in sight of others.
“Uh,” he swallowed.
“Then I’ll sit and you can stand. You will likely have the advantage of view over this lovely river, though.”
He considered his options. Stay here and talk with this woman whom he’d never seen in town before, or head back to the train station where his brothers no doubt waited. Albert had said his surprise would be revealed soon.
Staying held much more appeal with the deep blue eyes of the woman trained on him.
“I suppose I do. You’re new to town, aren’t you?”
When she didn’t respond, he turned to look at her.
“I am,” she finally said, turning her attention toward the river. “What can you tell me about the town?”
“It’s nice,” he said, thinking about the pluses and minuses in having grown up here and not knowing what else to compare it to.
“Nice? That sounds…a little boring.” Her light laugh drew his gaze to her again. Her cheeks were rosy and her eyes shone in the light reflected off the river. She was stunning.
His heart started to pound in his chest and he reminded himself he knew nothing of this woman. Was it possible she was married to a man in town? Why would she be talking with him, though?
Then he considered what he’d decided to do. He’d decided to find a bride, but what if he could look in town rather than finding a bride elsewhere? Not one woman had stood out to him at the post office in the matrimony journals and he’d walked away feeling discouraged. Could it be that was because God had a different plan?
“Not boring,” he finally said, sneaking a glance at her again. “Just quiet. I suppose I don’t have much to compare it to. I haven’t been anywhere else but here. It suits me.”
She nodded slowly. “I can see that.”
He felt heat creep up his neck. What did that mean?
“What is your favorite thing about Texas?”
Her questions surprised him. They weren’t typical and yet he felt at ease answering them, wanting to continue talking with her.
“I think,” he said, scratching the back of his neck, “it would have to be the sunrises.”
“Really?” She sounded surprised.
“There’s nothing like riding out on the plains and looking over the hills to see the sun rising over the land in front of her. There’s a distinct line of darkness and it creeps toward you real slow-like. It reminds me that time, for as fast as it goes, also goes slow too.”
“That’s very poetic,” she said with a smile, tucking a strand of hair behind her ear that the wind had blown free. “I think I’d like to see a Texas sunrise.”
It was on the tip of his tongue to ask her how long she’d be in Texas, where she’d come from, and what she was doing here, but the next moment, they both heard the sound of footsteps coming down the path.
Aaron took another step to the other side of the path, putting even more distance between him
and the beautiful woman, and waited to see who would emerge. He regretted the end of their conversation, thinking that he would have liked to get to know this woman more—still hoping that was possible—when his brother broke into the clearing.
“There you are,” he said to the woman.
She sent a confused gaze between Aaron and Albert.
Then Albert turned toward him. “Aaron, you’re here too? Goodness me, everyone’s out on an adventure today.” He laughed, his usual congenial self, but Aaron was confused about how it seemed he knew this young woman.
“I—I’m confused,” she said, looking between them.
“You met my surprise before I did,” Albert continued, as if the woman hadn’t spoken.
“Surprise?” she said, again looking between them. Then she took a step forward and looked at him. “You’re Aaron?”
She said it as if she knew who he was, but that wasn’t possible. And what was his brother saying? What about his surprise?
“He doesn’t know,” Albert said, stepping toward her. The look in his face was one of possession. Not in a cruel way, but in a way Aaron couldn’t move past. He knew this woman, but Aaron didn’t know how that could be possible.
“My dear, sweet Lulu,” Albert said, taking another step toward her. “This is my brother Aaron. I’m Albert Bowen, and I’m real pleased to meet you.” Then, turning to Aaron, Albert grinned and said, “Aaron, this is my mail-order bride, Lulu Mullins.”
Lulu could have been knocked over by the slightest breath of wind, her shock was so complete. The man whom she’d thought was her husband-to-be was in fact his brother!
The heat of shame filled her cheeks and Albert made a comment about causing her to blush with his attention. She didn’t correct him, sending one more glance at Aaron before allowing Albert to usher her back down the path.