Fall From Grace
Winds of Hope
Worth Fighting For
Passion and Excitement
Scandalous
Rescuing The Bride
Love Can’t Wait
Unbridled Passion
Rough Trails
Adored By The Rancher
Bought By The Cowboy
The Doctors Are In
Forbidden Desires
Taken By The Alpha Dragon
Highlanders Lass
The Blind Date
Ashes to Ashes
The Party
Paths
The Seduction
The House of Sadie
Fall From Grace
A Mail Order Bride Historical Romance
By
Brittany Dreams
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Katherine sat tight lipped while her intended talked. Counseled. Persuaded. He went to the trouble to order a meal and she could hardly eat. She was famished yet her nerves stole her appetite. And her husband –to-be was taking it personally.
He was a handsome enough man. More than enough. The second she laid eyes on him, her insides hiccupped and warmth spread throughout her. She was pretty sure the nuns back at Precious Blood would beat her soundly if they knew she took such delight in looking at a man.
Jack Clearwater was more than delightful to look at. He was tall and lean but not a skinny man. He was broad and his body was cut with well-formed muscle apparent through his cowboy’s clothes. There was no problem with attraction as far Katherine was concerned.
And she herself knew she was a handsome woman. She came from handsome parentage. Philadelphia society. But she was the ninth of ten and though her family had lots of money and just about as many servants, they stuck her in a convent. She took her last beating and broke out. It was time she left anyway. She was eighteen. She was pretty sure. Yes she was eighteen.
Though her family all but forgot her, Katherine was afraid they would come after her and make her go back. There were women in the convent that were older than dust or at least looked like they were made of dust. She did not want that for herself.
Yes, even though her family never visited her or expressed a thought towards her, Katherine was consumed with fear that suddenly they chased her. She had earned privileges to tidy the rectory for the priests adjacent to the convent itself. She performed administrative duties for the convent office. She was being groomed to be a nun for sure and Katherine had to escape.
Fate intervened. She spied a newspaper which contained an ad for mail order brides. She took amazing risk in responding. She smuggled her letter in with the rest of the post, checking the mail daily for a response.
When her letter from Jack Clearwater came, Katherine stole two gold lip chalices and sold them for just enough money to get somewhere. With all the money she had in the world, she caught a train to Dodge City to meet her future husband. She arrived half-starved and thirsty.
Now sitting across from him at a dirty saloon table, Katherine felt the same sort of imprisonment she knew in the convent. She felt like she had no choice. And yet there was something in her reaction to Jack that made her feel a little bit of hope. Like she wanted more of that. Like she could like him. But she was so afraid of it.
“You sure are pretty,” said Jack, lightly touching her hand.
Katherine trembled. From the time she was a little girl, from those first days in the convent, where she had craved affection, she had wanted human contact. And now that she had it, it filled her with terror.
She saw his face wrench up with frustration. Like he was stuck with her but he didn’t want her. Well he wanted her but not like this.
“Have a drink,” he said tensely. “’Scuze me.”
He shoved away from the table. Katherine stared at the thimble full of liquor waiting for her. Now this she could do. Growing up in a convent she acquired a taste for alcohol. She knew what it would do. She would definitely relax. She knocked it back and let it warm her.
Jack returned to the table, pleased that her drink was gone. His lips bent into something of a smile.
“That’s better,” he looked at her with smoky gaze. “Maybe we can come to an understanding. It’s almost time for us to go stand before the preacher. Are you ready?”
Katherine was weak but she didn’t dare complain. Complaining was beaten out of her at the convent and she could already see he was disappointed in her. She didn’t dare push it.
“Yes,” she said weakly.
Drinking on an empty stomach might not have been a great idea. When she stood up she wobbled. He was quick to brace her. She was hungry and thirsty for a glass of water but the liquor let her relax enough to fully enjoy the effect his touch had on her. He sent tingles throughout her. If Katherine could get past herself, and not get on his nerves too much, she may have just found another human being with whom she could share joy.
Jack politely carried her bag out to the wagon he had waiting for them. He flicked a coin to a boy loitering out front.
“Here, you watch my belongings here. We’ll only be a bit. Don’t you help yourself to anything that doesn’t belong to you or I will take that money back and I’ll tan your hide,” he said.
Katherine saw that he was smiling and probably teasing but she recoiled. She planted her feet in the ground and Jack jerked forward. He turned and glared at her. Tears jeweled her eyes. That softened him immediately. He swept her up like she was nothing, lifting her off of her feet just inside an alley for privacy.
“What is it, sweet? You aren’t changing your mind now are you?”
“I don’t want you to hit that boy,” she summoned her courage to say.
Jack just happened to look down to her forearm that was exposed. A tiny scar traversed it. She had forgotten about that one momentarily, though she noticed it when she dressed.
“What is this from?” he asked.
“Someone tanned my hide,” she choked.
“Okay,” he said softly. He put his lips to her hair. “Okay. I was just joshing that boy. He knows me well. I promise no one is going to hit you ever again. I am not that kind of a man.”
She let him take her hand as they walked to Union Church to marry. At once she was plagued by the fear that to step foot into a church that was not Catholic was a sin. And that if she were to marry in a church that was not Catholic, the marriage would not be valid.
She had considered these things when she took flight from Philadelphia but now that the moment was on her, she was really scared. She sucked it up. Even if she wanted to be married in a Catholic church which she did not, she knew there was no such church in Dodge City. In so many ways, that let her off of the hook. But being damned for all time was better than living in a convent or with any family who would put her in one.
“You okay?” asked Jack.
She was so afraid she had tested his patience to the limit.
“Yes I am,” she said with a smile.
Without thinking, she craned her neck up and kissed him. It felt like the most natural thing in the world, he was so handsome and all. And he was always touching her. Not pawing her like Father Rooney. Jack’s touch was most definitely sensual. So powerful and yet it was warm and tender. Not invasive.
The kiss took them both by surprise. She liked the smile in his eyes and how that amusement turned to fire as he came in for a kiss of his own. He brushed her lips so softly. He parted them with a warm, wet tongue that
was so tantalizing that she could not help but want more.
His was a brief but arousing kiss. He was handsome and charismatic. Katherine was secretly excited to experience more.
Jack and Katherine’s hands were threaded tightly as they walked hand-in-hand in Union Church. The preacher was waiting for them.
“Katherine, this here’s my good friend Reverend Harley,” Jack introduced her boisterously.
“Been friends since we were this high.”
He indicated the height with his hand. Jack was so tall; Katherine thought it had to be a long time ago since he was that height. She shook the reverend’s hand daintily. The reverend took her fingers and without taking his eyes off of her, drew them to his lips.
Being cloistered for so long, Katherine wasn’t sure if what he did was appropriate. She relied on Jack to make that call.
“Okay now partner, that will do. You just stick to the marrying. Leave that business to me,” he said with a smile.
“Let’s do this,” said the reverend.
“You’ll have to pardon my friend,” said Jack to Katherine. “You would think that after so many weddins’ he would be a bit more romantic.”
Katherine was warmed by the joviality of the friends. She and Jack said their vows and just like he said, they were done in a bit.
“You may kiss the bride,” said the reverend.
“Oh good,” murmured Jack and he took Katherine into his arms.
She didn’t think she would mind an audience while he kissed her. At first she was caught up in the scent of him. His was such a masculine smell that filled her nose as his powerful arms enveloped her. His tongue twirling with hers, penetrating her mouth to taste all of it. He made her forget everything.
Except that in the eerie quiet, she felt the eyes of the pastor on them. Particularly her. She peeked at him through her lowered lids and saw him gawking at her specifically. Katherine gently patted her new husband’s back. He let up.
“Okay,” he relented.
They walked into the church a man and a woman and walked out, a married couple. When they stepped out in the sunshine, Jack looked down at her.
“Shall we go home, Mrs. Clearwater?”
They were quiet as they strolled down Front Street, holding hands loosely but always connected. Every so often Jack would turn his handsome face, bending with a slight smile, to her.
Katherine stopped cold. Off across the street, walking in a clergy clothing, cossack and habit, was a priest and a nun. There would be no reason for them to be in Dodge since there was no church. They must be after her.
“What is it, sweet?” he asked her.
Katherine was mute. She could only shake her head.
“No? Or nothing?” he ask.
She shook her head again.
“Use your words, Katherine. What has gotten into you?” he demanded.
He was slightly irked she could tell. She looked up at him with big eyes.
“Can’t be nothing if it’s got you like this? We better start communicatin.’”
The charm of the moment was gone. He let go her hand once the wagon was in sight and mechanically lifted her up into it, her skirts swirling as he did. He sat beside her in the drive seat without a word.
“Yah!” he said with a snap of the reins.
His home was not too far from the town proper. Their home was pleasant. A very tidy place, with a crisp little but very adequate house and a newly built barn. The fencing around the immediate property and the pens also appeared to be new.
“Nice,” she said with a smile shyly.
He regarded her with a soft scold, still stewing about the moment back on Front Street. Katherine had no idea how it was the convent had found her but she had to make a plan. But for the moment, now that she was home, she felt safe.
She walked with him as he put away the team even though he didn’t say two words to her. She felt like crying. Like she had done something wrong and he was now giving her the cold shoulder. She trailed behind him to the front door of the house, looking down at the ground as she walked.
Without any warning, he swung her up in his arms and carried her across the threshold. He set her down and let her have a look around while he collected their things from the wagon. Food simmered on the stove as though someone else had been there but no one else was in sight. Katherine studied the pictures on the wall. There were one or two of people who bore a resemblance to Jack.
“That’s my ma and pa,” he said, closing the door behind them.
She turned to face him. He stood like a giant in the doorway.
“Handsome people,” she said sultry.
Her stomach growled and made an untimely noise. She clutched it, and flushed with embarrassment. He chuckled softly.
“I reckon I ought to feed you,” he said. “Why don’t you have a seat? I see Hattie has us an early supper. Maybe we should give eating another try.”
“Hattie?” Katherine inquired.
“She’s a half-breed woman who helps with me keeping the house and such. I have her a little house out back. She’s been real good to my family and me. Nursed my ma when she took ill. So we kind of help each other,” Jack explained.
Katherine went to the stove and put on an apron. She ladled out two plates of food while Jack sat at the table slowly.
“So that’s my story,” he said. “What’s yours?”
Katherine was quiet and avoidant. But there was no getting around his question. They had corresponded only twice before agreeing to be together. She sent him a picture of herself. He proposed right away.
She sat at the table to answer him. He could tell by his expression that he was waiting for her.
“I hail from Philadelphia,” she began timidly.
He raised an eyebrow. “I know that,” he said
“I am one of several children. I am next to the youngest,” she said.
“Who whipped you?” he asked.
Katherine’s lipped quivered. “I really would not like to speak of such things.”
“I am going to ask you straight out. Are you married?” he demanded. “Have you got a man already”
“No,” she protested. “Good night, what do you take me for?”
“What am I to think?” he asked her softly. “You have a fit walking on Front Street and you don’t give me an answer as to why?”
It was a fair response. She could not tell her own husband, even though a brand new husband, that she was afraid she was being chased by people from back East. She did not want to go back there. Not ever.
But if she told him what if he turned her over? He got annoyed with her by the silliest little things. Things she had no control over. Like having no appetite when she first arrived. She sure would have loved to have eaten the lovely dinner he bought for them. But the travel did not agree with them.
In fact it was catching up with her again. She didn’t feel so good. She swayed as though she were going to faint.
“Hold on now,” he said gently.
He carried her back into their bedroom and set her atop the made bed.
“You haven’t eaten anything I will be in forever, have you?” he said.
It felt like he was scolding her again. She had grown up with that all her life. She couldn’t tolerate it if he was to be that way too.
He fetched her dinner plate and brought it into her on a tray. He rested it on his lap and loaded up a forkful.
“Open up,” he said.
She did as he asked and he fed her. Food was definitely what she needed. She sipped some water that he brought for her. My goodness was she thirsty. She paced herself but she cleaned her entire plate.
“Better?” he asked.
“Yes, I am better. Thank you for taking such good care of me,” she said.
“I made a vow,” he said. “I meant it. And think in light of your travel and our important day maybe you ought to get some rest and we postpone our wedding night until you are feeling stronger.”
K
atherine blushed. She knew exactly what he was talking about. One of the girls at the convent was there because she was experienced in such things and she told all the other girls all about it. In blistering detail.
Jack kissed her on the head and took the tray away. He returned to help her undress and to get under covers.
“I’m going out for awhile. Hattie will be here. She lives out back in her own house. But you’ll be safe. Don’t wait up for me. Get some rest,” he said.
Katherine was too exhausted to be heart broken. As her body sank into the feather mattress, she was asleep that fast.
Katherine awoke when the weight of her new husband clumsily tumbled into the bed beside her. She could see out the window of their room that the day was about to break. He was in a pretty good mood which was fortunate for he had been drinking. Coming from where she came from, she had had her share of drinkers. A happy drunk she could handle.
She crawled out of bed, amused rather than upset. Jack Clearwater was just too adorable. He had given up his wedding night after all so that she could get some rest. She rounded the end of the bed and tugged on his boots.
“What are you doing?” he asked with a smile.
“I am putting you to bed,” she replied softly. “You did it for me and I am doing the same for you.”
“Is that so?” he asked rhetorically. “I gotta say you are a pretty woman. Your white blond hair and blue eyes. I thought I would melt when I saw you. I was so happy.”
Katherine smiled as she worked on the second boot. She pulled and she pulled and off it came. She went flying. She landed right on her rump. It smarted bad.
“Oh baby,” Jack regained a certain amount of sobriety to rush to her aid. She lived through worse but the event brought tears to her eyes.
He scooped her up and brought her back to the bed. In a single swift move, he laid her on her stomach and had her bloomers down. He planted a soft kiss on her the curve of her buttocks.
A Fall From Grace. Mail Order Bride Western Page 1