Her Fearless Love_Seeing Ranch Mail Order Bride

by Florence Linnington

  A tenderness so strong that it made Bonnie’s heartache hit her. She stopped walking, and, noticing, Steve turned back around to face her.

  “Does that upset you?” he asked.

  Tears filled Bonnie’s eyes. “No,” she whispered. “But I do not want you to think you need to give me a big, fancy house.”

  His gaze swept over her face, and they were both quiet as he studied her for a moment. “Isn’t that what you want?” he finally asked. “And isn’t that what you’re used to?”

  Her father’s house in Baltimore had indeed been a nice one, although Bonnie would never have called it ‘fancy.’ As he’d been a professor at the university, their needs had been taken care of. He had not been showy or extravagant, instead choosing to save money for Bonnie’s education.

  “I was raised to value what is in a home, rather than how it appears on the outside,” Bonnie said. “The people in it. The relationships,” she clarified.

  Steve’s face softened. “You’re even sweeter than your letters made you out to be, Miss Bonnie Potter.”

  Bonnie blushed at the compliment. “And you are...” She bit her bottom lip just in time to stop herself from finishing that sentence.

  “I’m what?” Steve asked.

  Even more handsome than you made yourself out to be.

  “Nicer as well,” she said, as she resumed walking again. They’d only just met, and though Bonnie was nearly certain she would manage well in Whiteridge, she was aware that it was a little too early to be flirting with Steve.

  Especially when they had the rest of their lives to indulge in that.

  2

  2. Steve

  Chapter two

  Neil cocked a blond eyebrow as Steve harshly scrubbed his hands with well water.

  “What?” Steve asked, not pausing as he took the bucket and dumped the rest of it over his head. There couldn’t be anything dirtier than working in a mine. Steve’s cabin might have been small, with one window and a dirt floor, but he was determined not to mess it up any more than was necessary. That meant he needed to wash off as much of the coal dust as possible before heading there.

  “She must be pretty,” Neil commented.

  Steve wiped the last of the water from his eyes and glared at Neil. The younger miner was his closest friend, but sometimes he was too cheeky for his own good.

  “It’s not about her being pretty,” Steve said. “She’s much more than that. She has a good soul. And she’s smart, too. You know, she went to college some. How many out here have done that, let alone a woman?”

  Though Bonnie’s beauty wasn’t the best thing about her, it certainly didn’t hurt that she was one of the most beautiful creatures Steve had ever set eyes on. With wavy, blonde hair and eyes the color of a summer sky, she was too beautiful for the rough life of the mountains. She might have claimed she didn’t need a big, fancy house, but Steve would build her one someday anyway.

  For a woman like her, he’d fetch the stars if it were possible.

  An elbow in his ribs made him look over.

  “Come on.” Neil jerked his head in the direction of the road and started walking.

  Most of the other miners had already left, going home to either their families or their empty cabins. Some of them would be drinking their wages away at the saloon. The last was a practice Steve had never been much into. He liked a drink as much as the next man, but what was the point of working like a mule all day long only to squander your pay the minute you were done?

  No. He liked saving for something bigger.

  “A house with windows and a wraparound porch,” he whispered.

  “Huh?” Neil wrinkled his nose. “All right. Now you’re talking to yourself.”

  “I’m planning for the future,” Steve said, completely unapologetic. “Nothing wrong with that.”

  They made their way down the hill, past the stables where the mules were kept and guarded by night watchmen to protect them from thieves, and to the main road. The coal mine was on the other side of the mountain as the town, but it was also a smaller mountain—as far as mountains went.

  Today, Steve made it down the road and through town in record time, with Neil barely able to keep up with him.

  “See you tomorrow,” Neil waved, heading to his cabin as the last golden rays of light settled around them.

  Steve waved as well, quickening his pace to a jog to finish up the rest of his trek home. It was Bonnie’s second day in town, and he’d hated to leave her alone, but work had to be done. The mine was a profitable one, and its owner, Daniel Zimmerman, both paid and treated his workers better than many a man.

  The door to the cabin was open, and all the bedding hung on the clothesline that stretched between two trees. Steve had spent the night sleeping outside on a blanket in the grass, as he planned to do until he and Bonnie were married. If it rained or got too cold, he could always head on down to Neil’s. As the cabin only had one room, though, he needed to give Bonnie the proper space until they became man and wife.

  As he drew closer to the cabin, Bonnie appeared in the doorway. At the sight of him, she smiled, and her face seemed to glow. Her hair was in a loose braid that hung over her shoulder, and the sleeves of her blue dress were rolled up far as they would go. “I’m glad it is you,” she said, wiping her hands on her apron. “I look such a sight.”

  “You’re the most beautiful thing I’ve ever seen,” Steve answered, hoping he wasn’t overstepping a boundary. They’d only met each other in person for a day, but he’d been waiting for her for months, as their first letter had been exchanged back in April. He couldn’t help it if he was over the moon about her having finally arrived.

  Bonnie blushed. “I am a mess.”

  “If that’s true, I don’t see it.”

  Bonnie bit her bottom lip and looked away, coloring even more. He was twenty-six and she twenty-four, but at that moment, Steve felt they were both acting like school-age youth with crushes.

  “Have you been here all day?” he asked.

  “Yes, I’ve been cleaning and tending to the garden.”

  “I want to show you something.”

  Bonnie glanced over her shoulder, toward the inside of the cabin. “Now?”

  “Is there something on the cook stove?”

  “No. The cornbread just finished and the fire has burnt out. I thought you would want to have supper right away.”

  “I’m hungry, but I’d like to take you somewhere first.”

  “All right,” Bonnie slowly said, her eyebrows pushing together. She gave him a look of suspicion. “Where?”

  “Somewhere good. I promise.”

  Feeling bold, he took her hand. After a second, her fingers closed around his. Together, they walked behind the cabin and down a little trail. Steve had lived on this plot of land since arriving in Whiteridge a year ago, and his constant treks up the side of the mountain had resulted in the thin trail.

  “How far are we going?” Bonnie asked.

  “We’re there.”

  A few more steps, and Steve stopped along an outcropping of rock, and Bonnie gasped.

  “It is beautiful,” she whispered.

  In front of them, the sun set over the valley, painting a rainbow of color of reds and oranges. The overlook was Steve’s favorite spot, but one he’d never told anyone about.

  “I come here all the time to watch the sunset,” he said, glancing at her profile.

  Bonnie’s mouth was open in amazement. “I’ve never seen anything like this.”

  “They don’t have views like this in Baltimore, I guess.”

  “No, they don’t.” She briefly glanced at him before turning her attention back to the sunset.

  For a while, they stayed as they were, watching the valley go to sleep.

  “Do you think you’ll be happy here?” Steve asked, after a while.

  “Yes,” Bonnie said, although Steve heard hesitation there.

  “What’s wrong?” he asked.

  She
looked at her hands. “I believe I am still coming to terms with my life taking such a dramatic twist. It has been two years since my father’s death, but still...”

  Steve nodded. “You had to leave college to care for him. And I imagine education was important to him.”

  “One of the most important things,” Bonnie answered. “Second only to me.”

  Steve’s chest ached for her. There was so much pain in her voice, and he wished he could take it all away. After the two of them had connected through a mail-order bride agency, she had revealed to him in her letters that, several years ago, her father suffered a stroke that caused him to quit teaching at the university. With her mother having been dead for over twenty years, Bonnie had been forced to leave college in order to care for him. As he’d required near-constant attention, she had not been able to work either.

  A year later, a second stroke had killed him. Left with little resources and no money to return to school with, Bonnie was forced to sell the house. After that, she had moved into a boarding house and began work as a seamstress.

  Those facts were probably only the bare bones of her story, but even by themselves they were enough to make Steve want to take care of her. In comparison, his own life had been so ordinary. He’d never been through the kind of pain Bonnie had. Growing up in Upstate New York had been good. Carefree. Coming West had been an adventure.

  When he’d first arrived in the West, he’d harbored dreams of starting a ranch or opening some kind of business. His plans weren’t exact, though, and he’d drifted around for a bit, working on different ranches and farms before finding the mine in Whiteridge.

  Working in a coal mine wasn’t a perfect job, but Daniel Zimmerman paid better than the ranches could, and Steve wouldn’t be doing it forever. Once he built a nicer home, he’d start thinking seriously about what came next. Whiteridge was a growing town, and it needed many kinds of businesses. He could open a feed store. Or start farming down in the valley. In a land as plentiful as Wyoming, there was always more than one option.

  Steve swallowed hard. He wanted to take care of Bonnie, to give her everything she needed and desired.

  “I’m sorry there’s no college for you here,” he said.

  “You do not have to say that.”

  The next words hurt to say, but he had to be strong and get them out. “If it turns out you’re not happy here... If you want to go back East… I… I would understand.”

  “That is not an option, Steve.”

  “Why not?”

  “Life in Baltimore was...” Bonnie sighed. “Hard. Not only because of the work and the living conditions. But because that town is full of memories of my old life.” She shook her head. “I buried my father there, and as much as I would like to visit his grave occasionally, I don’t think I could ever bring myself to go back. That was my old life. This is my new one.”

  He nodded. They’d dropped hands when they reached the overlook, and now he took hold of hers again. Looking down at their intertwined fingers, she gave him a squeeze.

  “It really is magnificent here,” she whispered.

  “I hoped you’d think so.” Steve paused. “What about… school? Are you sure you’ll be all right not finishing it?”

  Her jaw tightened. “Leaving it was a disappointment, but, yes, I will be fine. I lost that, but I have gained… this.” She waved at the landscape in front of them. “I never imagined it would be this beautiful out here.”

  “No sunset is the same,” Steve said. “I come up here whenever I can, and I’ve never seen two that look similar.”

  “Maybe you have not been coming up here enough,” Bonnie suggested, with a smile on her face.

  “Maybe not,” Steve teased back. “What do you say? How about we spend as many sunsets up here as we can?”

  “I would like that.”

  Steve nodded in satisfaction, and they fell into silence again, watching as the colors dissipated and the night took over.

  3

  3. Bonnie

  Chapter three

  The church’s windows held no glass, and the whole place smelled as if the wood had been cut yesterday. Bonnie breathed in deep, tasting the first crispness of autumn and the smoke from a fireplace somewhere on the mountain.

  The hymn finished, and the parishioners said a final prayer. Whiteridge had no reverend, and so several elders had gotten up during the service to speak and lead the hymns. Now, as church ended, the children rushed to the edge of the woods to play, and the adults gathered on the grass to chat.

  Next to Bonnie, Steve looped his arm through hers and gifted her a smile. Warmth filled her from head to toe. It was her fourth day in Whiteridge, and she was already finding life there to be extremely pleasant. After years of sitting in a chair bent over needlework, using her entire body for a variety of chores was actually pleasant. And there was the beauty surrounding her. The wildlife. The trees. The views.

  And, of course, Steve.

  They’d agreed to marry the next time the Shallow Springs’ reverend came to town. That could be in a week or two, and Bonnie found herself looking forward to the event. The meals and walks she’d spent with Steve had shown her what his letters made her suspect: he was a kind, gentle man with a generous heart. She would be proud to call him her husband.

  Halfway across the yard, two women, one carrying a baby, walked their way.

  “Hello,” the one holding the baby said. She glanced at Steve. “Good morning, Mr. Huebner.”

  Steve lifted his hat. “Mrs. Briggs. Mrs. Hawkins.”

  The women were both already peering intently at Bonnie.

  “I am Margaret Hawkins,” the second woman said. “And this is Thea Briggs and her little one, Aria.”

  “It’s a pleasure to meet you both,” Bonnie answered. “Bonnie Potter, soon to be Bonnie Huebner.”

  “Oh, we know,” Mrs. Briggs responded. “Word flies fast around here.”

  “I’ll leave you ladies to get acquainted,” Steve said, leaving Bonnie with just the slightest touch against her lower back—one that made an enjoyable shiver go through her.

  “So you came here through a service,” Mrs. Briggs said.

  “Um, yes.” Bonnie hesitated, not sure whether that was considered a good thing in this area or not.

  “Oh, do not fret,” Mrs. Briggs said, reading Bonnie’s face. “We both did as well. There are very few unmarried women in these parts.”

  Mrs. Hawkins nodded. “I only arrived two months ago.”

  “I see,” Bonnie responded, relaxing incredibly. “And how do you like it here, Mrs. Hawkins?”

  “It is…” Her lashes fluttered, and she suddenly seemed flustered. “A change.”

  “Quite,” Mrs. Briggs said. Her baby began grabbing at her purse strings, and Mrs. Briggs switched the infant to her other hip. “Where do you hail from?”

  “Baltimore.”

  “I am from near there,” Mrs. Hawkins said. “From a small town about twenty miles north. Oaksdale.”

  “I know of it,” Bonnie said. “In fact, I passed through it once. It is very nice.”

  “And how are you finding settling here to be?” Mrs. Briggs asked Bonnie.

  “Lovely,” Bonnie answered without any hesitation. Realizing how genuinely she meant that, she smiled.

  Both women appeared to be about Bonnie’s age—in their mid-twenties—and she hoped they would be able to call on each other. Bonnie missed her friends who worked at the seamstress shop in Baltimore dreadfully, and she’d been afraid to hope she would find a replacement for the company she’d lost.

  “Margaret!” a man’s harsh voice called.

  Bonnie turned to see a man with a black and gray beard looking their way.

  “My husband,” Mrs. Hawkins explained, sounding apologetic.

  A quick look of distaste flashed across Mrs. Briggs’ features, but then she smiled and turned to Mrs. Hawkins. “I will call on you on Tuesday if that is all right. Perhaps our new friend, Miss Potter, would
like to join us.”

  “Oh, I don’t know if that—that is a good idea,” Mrs. Hawkins said. “There is so much to be done, you see.”