Mail Order Bride- Twenty-Two Brides Mega Boxed Set

by Emily Woods

  “Gabriel saved my life,” she repeated stoutly, her tears dried now. “And then he kept me warm while we waited for the others. I couldn't get up, and I was freezing.”

  The truth of her words seemed to penetrate her father's brain and his expression tightened.

  “Perhaps. But you must realize how it looked.”

  “No,” she returned coldly. “I don't. All I know is that I was nearly killed and he rescued me. You owe him an apology.”

  It was hard to say who was the most shocked by her brazen words—her mother, her father, or herself. The three of them were quiet for a full minute before her father, the man who'd always been a giant of a man in her mind, a wall of strength, nodded his head humbly. Hope nearly gasped when she saw him lift one of his massive hands to wipe a tear from his cheek.

  “I will apologize to him directly.”

  He spun on his heel and walked in the direction of the Morris wagon. Hope stared after him as he left, shocked that in a matter of seconds, her entire understanding of her father had been shattered.

  Gabriel accepted a second cup of coffee, specially heated up for him. Someone had built a fire near the mouth of a cave where the ground was dry and warmed up the thick brew.

  “You're a hero, brother,” Henry said with a grin.

  “Yeah, a real lifesaver,” Michael added, slapping him on the back. “Of course, I wonder if you would've jumped in so fast if it me who fell over the side instead of a pretty young woman.”

  He chuckled a little but didn’t reply.

  “I have no idea,” he answered. “I didn't think at all.” Now that the incident was over, he tried to recount what had happened, but everything was a blur. “Is she okay?”

  The three of them looked over to the Riley wagon, but it was turned so they couldn't see anyone clearly. Then the huge form of John Riley began striding toward them. Gabriel's brothers had witnessed the man's reaction upon finding Hope and Gabriel in each other's arms and now stood like a wall in front of their brother. Neither one could match the preacher in size, but they formed an impressive team nonetheless.

  When Preacher John saw them standing there, faces grim, he stopped and frowned.

  “I've come to apologize,” he informed them, his face pulled tight. “And...and to thank your brother for what he did.”

  Reluctantly, the two men parted, but not more than three feet.

  “Uh, Gabriel, is it?” the man asked. When he nodded, he went on. “I, uh, don't know what came over me, son, but it was like the devil blinded me to the truth and all I saw was a man holding my daughter. It's not reasonable, of course, given that you'd just pulled her from the brink of death, but that's all I know. It was like a red cloud descended over my vision. Anyway, I'm very sorry for what I said to you and for the way I reacted.”

  Gabriel nodded a little. He was glad that the man was no longer in a rage, but he was still guarded.

  “How is Miss Hope?” he asked, coughing up a trickle of water.

  The preacher's face went dark, and he looked as though he wasn't going to answer, but then he grunted a little. “I believe she'll be fine...thanks to you.”

  It seemed as though there was more on the man's mind, but all he did was stick out his enormous hand. Gabriel hesitated for only a brief second before taking it. They shook, and then Hope's father released his hand.

  “Let me know if I can do anything for you or your brothers. We have plenty of supplies if you run out or...”

  In that moment, Gabriel saw something flicker in the man's eyes. It was a mix of fear and insecurity. There was a lot more to Preacher John than met the eye, he suspected.

  “We have everything we need, Preacher,” Michael replied, his voice steely, unforgiving. “Thank you for coming over. I expect we can stay out of each other's way now.”

  The shock on the preacher's face might have made him laugh at another time, but Gabriel didn't want him to leave on that note.

  “I appreciate you coming over,” he said quickly, pushing himself off the wagon bed. “And I'm glad that God gave me the strength and courage to jump into the water.”

  As the shock faded and was replaced with a thoughtful look, the preacher nodded slowly and then took a step back.

  “Well, remember my offer. Anything we have is yours.”

  With that, he turned and went back to his family.

  “How about that?” Henry said with a grin. “You knocked that man right off his high horse, didn't you?”

  Gabriel shrugged. He was less concerned with bringing the man down than improving his impression on the father of the woman he’d grown to care for deeply.

  It had only taken a moment, but it was a powerful one at that. In the few minutes that he'd been holding Hope Riley, he knew one thing beyond all others: he would do anything he could to make her his wife.

  6

  Hope was finally warm, snuggled up to her overheated brothers, but she still couldn't sleep. Although she knew that Gabriel wouldn't be on duty tonight, she still decided to get up and go for a walk. The evening air was not chilly, but she brought a blanket with her anyway.

  Quietly, she walked to the outside of the wagon circle, but didn't stray far this time. All she wanted was to look at the stars and be grateful that she was alive. Staring up, she inhaled deeply and felt a peace settle around her shoulders. For the first time in her life, she actually believed that there might be a God who was watching over her, One who had sent Gabriel into the water to save her, who loved her. She’d heard her father talk about how people came to understand God after facing hardships.

  As she was contemplating this, a voice reached her ears.

  “I just can't get the image out of my mind.”

  The voice definitely belonged to her father, Hope thought as she became even more still. Her parents were awake, conversing quietly under the wagon where they'd draped blankets on all sides to keep out pests and to allow for some privacy. However, the blankets didn’t mute their voices.

  “I'm so sorry,” her mother replied gently. “It brings it all back for you, doesn't it?”

  Her father sighed. “I don't blame you, my darling. You must know that.”

  “I do, but I still feel sorry. If I'd only...”

  “Shh, sweetheart. There's nothing for you to feel sorry about. David knew that you were alone, and he came into the church anyway, completely disrespecting both you and me. Everyone knew my policy on opposite sexes being alone together.”

  Hope thought her heart had stopped beating. David Marshall had been one of the elders at their former church. He was a tall man and good-looking in an older man type of way. In fact, many of her friends had had a crush on him, but she never did. Ever since the day he'd 'accidentally' brushed up against her when she was trying to get out of church, she felt repelled by him, but she never told anyone. It had just been the merest whisper of a touch, his hand against her forearm, but it had felt like fire to her, and she'd yanked her arm away. Worse than the touch was the lecherous look in his eyes when she glanced up at him. She'd very nearly been sick to her stomach.

  “I should have left the minute you did,” her mother cried softly. “I just wanted to play the song one more time. I thought it wasn't good enough.”

  Her father murmured something else, but Hope couldn't make it out. It didn't matter. She understood well enough that Mr. Marshall had made advances on her mother, and her father must have walked in on them. But when could that have been?

  She knew that the man had missed several weeks of church, and then returned, limping along with the aid of a cane. And his nose had looked odd. Shortly after that, there had been several meetings from which her father always came back looking tired.

  And then had come the announcement that the board was sending him on a mission trip to the West.

  Everything made sense now. Hope's stomach ached as she realized that her father must have attacked Mr. Marshall and then been sent away as a reprimand. The board must have had some kind of sympathy
given the cause of his rage, but of course they couldn't condone such violence from their preacher.

  Giving him a posting in Oregon had been the compromise.

  Her heart cried out and she desperately wanted to throw herself into her father's arms as she had when she was younger. She wanted to apologize for being sullen and disrespectful to him for the past three months, but all she did was turn away and give them back their privacy.

  She returned to the tent, to the smell of her sweaty brothers, and for the first time ever in her adult life, prayed for her parents.

  Several days after the bridge incident, Gabriel found himself getting into petty arguments with his brothers. The moment of solidarity that they'd shared when the preacher had approached was gone, and they quibbled over the smallest things.

  The fact that Hope hadn't looked his way once in all that time didn't help matters. He thought that perhaps her father would have softened to the idea of letting him approach her, but now she didn't seem to want that. She hadn't met his eyes once and seemed to take great pains to avoid being even in the same proximity as he was.

  When it was his turn to stand guard, he spent the entire two hours near her wagon, desperately hoping that she would emerge so they could talk, but her tent flap never moved. What had happened?

  Then, today after dinner, he was trying to start a conversation about the future. He had never wanted to go to California to look for gold. His only dream had been to carry on farming, but his brothers had voted him down, opting to sell their portion of the farm, and of course he couldn't afford to buy them out, so he'd had no choice but to go with them.

  Since he'd never felt happy with the decision to sell, he would occasionally needle his brothers' consciences about the transaction.

  “Wasn't there anything you liked about our childhood?” he'd asked. “I know getting up on freezing cold mornings wasn't fun, but what about riding our horses in wide open spaces and rounding up the cows? Remember that one time we rescued the calf that had fallen down a hole?”

  His brothers grunted a little, but didn't deny that it had been a good feeling to save a life.

  “And at harvest? Man, Ma used to make the best meals, didn't she? And her peach pie?”

  They made some more noises, but didn't commit to anything. Finally, Michael had had enough.

  “Why are you babbling on about all this, Gabe? It's in the past.”

  He shrugged. “It doesn't have to be. If we go west with the rest of the wagon train, we could get a piece of land and farm it. We still have enough money to buy horses, build a solid house, and...”

  “Are you crazy?” Henry had nearly shouted. “We had all that and we left it. Why would we travel across the country to live the same life? That isn't what we agreed on!”

  “It's not what you agreed on,” Gabriel shot back. “I never even had a vote, did I?”

  Both brothers stared at him before Henry asked, “What do you want, Gabe? You want to take your share and go be a farmer in Oregon? You think that pretty little gal will want you if you get a piece of land and a few cows? I don't think so. Her father's not going to let you within ten feet of her, and you know it.”

  That had done it. He threw the remainder of his coffee into the fire, enjoying the hiss that it made, before storming off in no particular direction. He wandered around in the dark for a few minutes before turning back. Nothing seemed to be going right now.

  “What do you want, God?” he mumbled. “I thought You were showing me a plan for my life, one that included Hope, but now everything is a mess.”

  The day after diving into the river after Hope, Gabriel thought for sure her father would be friendlier to him, maybe even invite him to share a meal with his family, but the opposite had happened. He largely ignored Gabriel, never meeting his eye. When they had crossed paths on rare occasion, all he did was nod and keep going.

  But one thing was for sure. He didn't want to go to California to look for gold. The entire idea was utterly unappealing to him, even with Hope taken out of the equation.

  Not that he could do that. She factored into every vision he had for the future, whether it was as a farmer, a business man, a miner or whatever.

  “You promised to give me the desires of my heart,” he grumbled at God. “But as far as I can see, my future holds nothing but misery.”

  Darkness was falling now, and he knew that animals could be near. He wasn't scared, but he didn't want to encounter any without his rifle in hand, so he headed back. However, he was a little turned around and didn't see their wagon. He must have walked farther than he thought.

  As he tried to get his bearings, a horse nudged his shoulder. Laughing, he turned to stroke its muzzle. The horse sniffed him, probably looking for some kind of treat.

  “Nothing, I'm afraid,” he said, patting it some more. “Guess you're out of luck.”

  He was about to head back when he saw Hope approaching. She had a bucket of something in her hand. Before she reached the horse, Gabriel stepped into the shadows and watched her feed the horse, stroking its neck and murmuring to it softly. Did he dare to speak up?

  “Hello,” he practically whispered, but she still jumped.

  “Who's there?” she demanded, a quaver in her voice, and Gabriel nearly cursed himself for scaring her.

  “It's just me, Gabriel,” he replied.

  Her face relaxed slightly, but not much. “What are you doing out here? Are you spying on me?”

  A lump rose in his throat. “I was just going for a walk,” he said defensively. “Your horse is trying to make friends with me.”

  She blinked a few times and then reached for the horse's bridle as though she needed something to hold onto. “He's like that...friendly, I mean.”

  A painful silence followed.

  “So, uh, how are you?” he asked stiffly, as if greeting a relative he hadn't seen for a long time. “How is your family?”

  She sighed and nodded. “We're fine. Thank you for asking. And you?”

  “I'm fine, thank you.” The conversation was so stiff, so different from the ones they'd enjoyed during his watch. “I hope your father is...well?”

  A tight smile pulled her face. “Yes, he is.” She glanced behind her. “I should be getting back. They'll be worried.”

  “Hope?” he said, a note of longing in his voice. She didn't reply, but neither did she leave. “I—I miss our talks. I—I wondered if you were upset with me about something?”

  “Upset with you? Whatever could I be upset about?” Her face reflected such honesty that he knew she was telling the truth.

  “Well, then why are you avoiding me?” he asked bluntly, perhaps a little too bluntly given how she flinched at his words. “I mean, I feel like I've done something wrong. You haven't visited me on guard duty since the, uh, incident.”

  “You mean since I fell in the river,” she amended. “And yes, I know that. It's just... Well, I can't really explain more than I feel I need to obey my father's wishes. He thinks that I shouldn't interact with any young men without a chaperone, and I've come to believe that he's probably right.”

  He wasn't sure what to say to that. How could he show her how much he'd come to care for her, to love her, if he wasn't able to talk to her?

  “So, we won't be able to see each other at all anymore? My brothers and I are going to be taking the California Trail after we get through the Rockies, and then I won't see you again, probably ever.” He said the words forcefully, trying to evoke a reaction.

  Her head was bowed low so he couldn't see her eyes when she said, “Perhaps that's for the best. I'm sorry. Thank you for being a friend to me when I was so lonely. I—I'll remember you fondly in my prayers.”

  After she finished talking, she slipped away, back to her family, and out of his life.

  7

  It pained her to say those words to Gabriel after he had shown his vulnerability, but Hope had no other choice. She wouldn't do anything to hurt her parents now, especially not her fat
her.

  Since the night she overheard their conversation, Hope realized that she'd been wrong about so many things: her father, her parents’ relationship, the move west. And she had come to understand something else about herself as well. The reason she was so eager to run away from her life had much more to do with her anger towards her parents and much less to do with her attraction to Gabriel.

  Of course she cared for him, and she owed him her life, but she wouldn't go away with him now. She couldn't do that to her parents after everything they'd been through. It wasn't fair.

  No, she would go to Oregon, help out with the mission, and marry some man that her parents heartily approved of, just so long as it wasn’t Joseph Brown. That was where she drew the line. He wasn't really a horrible person, not that she could see, but everything he did just rubbed her the wrong way. She didn't like the way he talked to her or the way he looked at her. It wasn't something she could define, but he was not the man for her.

  As hard as it was, she couldn't look at Gabriel or encourage him in any way. Although her father's attitude towards him had softened considerably since the accident, she knew that he wouldn't accept him as a potential suitor for his daughter. Her father thought he was a rough, uneducated farm boy who was going to California in search of gold. None of those things were true, but she would not disrespect her father's wishes.

  And so she had ended the relationship before it could even truly start. She spent her days convincing herself that this was better. Who knows what might have happened if they'd run away together? They might have died of hunger or exposure. Or worse, they could have been attacked by Indians, although, to be fair, her one encounter with the natives of the land had been mostly peaceful. When Captain Holt had explained why the brave was trying to take Jacob Pearson, it had seemed almost reasonable. She felt sorry for the man who'd lost his son.

  Her understanding for the people of the land was increasing as her father taught her about their ways. He'd brought a few books about them and was learning the language of the Nez Perce so that he would be able to tell them about Jesus more easily. Her admiration for her father grew daily, and the earlier resentment she'd harbored had completely fallen away in light of what she now knew. And he saw that.