Jericho (Bridgette's Bridal Registry Book 1)

by Patricia Pacjac Carroll

  Jericho

  Bridgette’s Bridal Registry

  Book 1

  By

  Patricia PacJac Carroll

  ~~~

  Jericho Book 1 of Bridgette’s Bridal Registry

  Copyright © January 2020

  Published by Patricia PacJac Carroll

  ALL rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced, (except for inclusion in reviews), disseminated or utilized in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, or audio. Including photocopying, recording, or in any information storage and retrieval system, or the Internet/World Wide Web without written permission from the author.

  This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents are either the product of the author’s imagination or used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual persons living or dead is purely coincidental.

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  Brigette’s Bridal Registry ~ Series of Second Chances and Mail-Order Brides.

  Jericho is book 1 in the new series.

  https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07XDC1DX8/

  Jericho ~ A stained woman trying to find her wings. A reformed outlaw trying to make his second chance a reality. Together, can they forget the past and forge a future together?

  https://www.amazon.com//dp/B082S7WYJT

  Florence ~ A woman who liked order and everything proper. Jay, a man who has always fought the rules others demanded of him. And then there is the moose in the kitchen.

  Hannah ~ A beautiful lonely woman who wants to belong to a good man. Cordell, a man who is at war with himself and a groom she can’t tame . Another who comes to take his place. A story of second chances and hope.

  Evalyn ~ She’s full of life and goodness. Cordell returns but has he changed?

  Bridgette’s Bridal Registry is a spin off of the Montana Brides of Solomon’s Valley. You can find them here > https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07SQBCLXK

  Table of Contents

  Chapter 1

  Chapter 2

  Chapter 3

  Chapter 4

  Chapter 5

  Chapter 6

  Chapter 7

  Chapter 8

  Chapter 9

  Chapter 10

  Chapter 11

  Chapter 12

  Chapter 13

  Chapter 14

  Chapter 15

  Chapter 16

  Chapter 17

  Chapter 18

  Jericho

  Bridgette’s Bridal Registry

  Book 1

  Chapter 1

  Jericho Winters ran her fingers over her barely-there hair. At least it had grown out a little, even still, she feared the good people of Shirleyville would know that she’d been sheared for her sins. Why her father named her Jericho, he’d never said. The way her life had gone, she figured she would have been better named Rahab after the harlot in the account of the fall of Jericho.

  Well, maybe that was it. She was a fallen woman. Had been ever since her father had died in a no-account saloon in a small no-account town outside of Dodge City. But she hadn’t always lived in the dirty part of town.

  Once, when she was very young and her mother still lived, they’d had a house. Father had been a respectable banker until Mother fell ill. Even though all their money went to care for her mother’s illness, the doctors couldn’t keep her alive, and Father couldn’t keep their house.

  At the tender age of seven, Jericho followed her father out of their home and to the dark side of town. Father tried to take care of her. He talked about taking her to the orphanage in the county seat, but he couldn’t bring himself to let her go.

  So, Jericho followed him around to town after town and saloon after saloon. Then at the age of thirteen, her father was shot down in a drunken brawl by cowboys letting off steam after a trail drive.

  Alone and without a cent to her name, Jericho was taken in by Madam Charley, and in a few years, Jericho knew more about men than she’d ever wanted to know.

  A few months ago, at the age of twenty-three, Jericho looked at least ten years older and felt a hundred years older, when well-meaning women in the temperance movement stormed the saloon. They routed out the women and chased the men from the building.

  A few do-gooders surrounded the saloon girls, the harlots of Sandy Springs, and before Jericho knew what was happening, she was tied and pushed down while someone sheared off her hair.

  Turned loose, she was ordered out of town but found work in the next city up the road, Cabott’s Crossing. While there, she saw the paper with the advertisement from Bridgette’s Bridal Registry for a mail-order bride.

  Thankful that her father had seen to her schooling, Jericho sent off a letter. In less than a month, she received a response, and now she was on her way to Shirleyville, Montana.

  Her short hair did worry her, but she had a good amount of courage inside her and a hat. A big fancy, feathered hat that covered her shortcomings. Standing on the depot platform, she had to admit she felt a certain amount of excitement at a new chance at life. A feeling she hadn’t had since she was a child.

  The big engine chugged into town and stopped with a hiss of steam and smoke in front of her. As a blast of wind whipped through the depot, Jericho put a hand to her head and held on to the hat she’d purchased with some of the money Bridgette Merritt had sent. A down payment that the matchmaker called earnest money.

  Trust money, the woman had explained. She sent it to seal her promise to see that Jericho would be taken care of until the groom agreed to marry her. Jericho had been on her own since thirteen. She didn’t need anyone to take care of her. Yet, Jericho had been thankful that Bridgette Merritt, the matchmaker of Bridgette’s Bridal Registry, had surprised her with a hefty advance that would make life easier.

  Jericho held her hat and waited for the steam to clear, then climbed the steps onto the train. She found a seat and sat near the window, setting her bag on the seat beside her. She wanted to avoid having to entertain anyone next to her.

  Fear, an all too familiar feeling, skipped through her blood shooting icy, cold sparks inside her. While she was good at putting on a confident tough exterior, inside, she was a seven-year-old girl who had lost her mother and was venturing into unknown worlds with a father who had lost everything and was at a loss himself.

  With a loud grunt, a bearded man with dark hair and darker eyes sat down across the aisle from her. She knew the type all too well. The man was trouble.

  He leered at her with that familiar sneer she was so used to and leaned toward her. “Little lady, want some company?”

  She gave him a hard glare. “No.” She’d found one-word answers worked best. Any more words and the men seemed to take a no as a yes in disguise. She turned from him and looked out the window.

  For several minutes, Mr. Trouble was quiet. Then he made his move and sat down on the seat in front of her. “You’re a pretty one. Why is your hair so short?”

  She glared at him. As if he didn’t know. “None of your business.” Jericho could smell the whiskey on his breath. She shuddered inside while steeling her resolve.

  “No need to be afraid. Old Jocko won’t hurt you, Little Lady. Come and sit beside me.” He reached out and grabbed her hand.

  She pulled away and stood. “E
xcuse me.” She left him and found another seat. There was a woman across from her. Not that she looked friendly, but she just might keep good Old Jocko at bay.

  A loud humph from the woman across the aisle signaled that a pleasant conversation wouldn’t be forthcoming. Jericho didn’t care, just so the bums on the train stayed away from her. That was all she cared about.

  She took out the letter that Bridgette Merritt had sent. The woman seemed pleasant enough and had written that she hoped Jericho would like Shirleyville and the man she’d chosen for her.

  Jericho closed her eyes. What was she getting herself into? Way out here in Montana, where would she go when this man found out what she was. Luckily, Bridgette explained that the man she’d chosen to match her with wouldn’t be coming for a week.

  Apparently, this Bridgette was a lawyer. That impressed and intimidated Jericho. What if this legal matchmaker saw right through her and sent her packing? Jericho had withheld the fact that she’d been a harlot.

  Steeling her backbone, she vowed that regardless of what happened, she would land on her feet. That she was sure of. This wasn’t the end for her. She’d answered the ad because she wanted a change. A second chance. Perhaps a lady lawyer would understand that.

  Bridgette hadn’t asked about her past. Just her age and what she looked like. If she wanted children or not. Things like that.

  The hours slipped by, giving Jericho needed sleep with no interference. She awoke and glanced outside. Green rolling hills sent her a feeling of peace. Something she hadn’t known since she was a small child.

  The train chugged up a hill and then down into a valley. The conductor came through and shouted through the car. “Solomon’s Valley, next stop is Shirleyville.”

  Jericho clutched her reticule in front of her, feeling all too much like she was thirteen again and facing such an uncertain future. She whispered to herself and God if he was still listening and hadn’t given up on her. “Please let this be a start to a new life.”

  Chapter 2

  Delmer, Del, Selmer sat on the train to Shirleyville. He’d received the note from Bridgette that he was all set up with a carpentry business and soon a mail-order bride. His brother, Elmer Jay, would be coming in six months.

  Why Jay couldn’t keep his mouth shut and his fists to himself, Del couldn’t understand. Nevertheless, his twin brother would be staying in jail for an extra six months. Maybe it was just as well and would give Del and his carpentry shop a chance to get established.

  Not to mention, it would be good to be married and get the wife used to him before Jay was added to the mix. His brother had always been the feisty one. And Del had to admit, he’d followed him into trouble more times than he should have.

  At the tender age of fifteen, they left their sorry excuse for a farm and went west. To Denver first. They dug for gold but generally got into trouble. They moved on to Wyoming and then Montana, but it was in Cheyenne that the course of their life was changed.

  Jay had joked about robbing the bank. They didn’t hurt anyone but did get away with two hundred dollars.

  Then Jay found a gang of outlaws that hid in the badlands near Shirleyville, Montana. Too soon, the brothers needed more money. Jay was sick and stayed in the cabin. Del went to the small town to steal. On the way, he had an encounter with Bridgette and embarrassingly enough was captured.

  He’d tried to rob her. She’d smacked him hard, and then Sterling, the man who she later married, rode up and manhandled him. Del grinned. That turned out to be the best thing to happen to him.

  Bridgette hauled him to jail and pressed charges and received the five-hundred-dollar bounty on his head. After a week in jail, Bridgette came to him with her Bounty Brigade idea, and soon, Jay turned himself in and joined him.

  Bridgette had made them a deal they couldn’t refuse. If Jay turned himself in, she would go with them to Cheyenne and represent them as their lawyer for half of their bounties. She promised to give them their half of the bounties if they did as she said.

  She arranged for them to have some schooling and learn the trade of carpentry, and as their lawyer, she got their prison sentence down to a year. The time in prison had been hard, but now Del was a free man, and if Jay kept his mind clear, he’d be out in six more months.

  Del loved working with wood, and in prison, he’d built chairs and tables. He also learned about building houses by overseeing the building of new barracks for the prisoners. It felt good to have a skill and be looked on as a valuable part of society even if it was in prison.

  So far, Bridgette had lived up to her part of the bargain. He was determined not to disappoint her. He’d even gotten the warden to let him out a week early. Del looked around the train car and wondered what it would be like to be on the outside and to not fear the jailers.

  And to have a woman. Bridgette said she had a mail-order bride set up to come for him. He didn’t really want to meet her, yet. He needed a couple of months to settle down to civilian life and get his business started. But Bridgette had convinced him that a good woman would help him settle down and stay on the straight and narrow.

  He admitted that Bridgette was right more often than wrong, and the idea of having a woman to love and be loved by made his heart warm. Del had always wanted a family.

  The train slowed. Shirleyville was the next exit. His stop, and the start to a new life. He grabbed the bag that held his few possessions and waited.

  A lady wearing a big, feathery hat stood in front of him. He couldn’t help but notice her. She was a pretty one, but he needed to keep his mind on Bridgette’s rules. He sighed and looked past the woman. Rule one was to not look to the right or the left but only to the business at hand.

  That business was to find Bridgette. She had already put down the first month’s rent on a shop for his carpentry business. He looked around and saw a plentiful supply of pine trees on the slopes near the town. Bridgette had said there was a perfect place for a sawmill. That was Jay’s expertise, but that was going to have to wait.

  The woman in front of him moved, leaving a pleasant aroma in her wake. Del followed trying not to think of her.

  She stepped down from the train, and a gust of wind blew her hat from her head revealing the shortest hair on a woman he’d ever seen. Either the Indians had got hold of her, or she was one of those sinful women who had been sheared to warn away good men. And that included him.

  Bridgette had told him that once he paid his debt to society, he was clean and should hold his head high. He did just that and then happened to notice the shorn woman running after her hat. No doubt because she didn’t want the town to know what she was.

  Sheriff Levi Smith wasn’t going to let her stay in Shirleyville. That was for sure. Only the Wild Joker Saloon near the miner’s cutoff and outside of town allowed that sort of woman. The Gilded Lady Saloon in town was kept in check by the sheriff and Judge Taggart.

  Del watched as each time the wanton woman bent to catch the hat, another blast of wind would blow it in the air and out of her reach. Finally, despite her reputation, Del felt sorry for her. While his wayward ways had been paid for, hers would follow her for the rest of her miserable life. That is unless his assumption about her was wrong.

  With a few quick strides, he ran past her and stopped the hat before it was sucked under the train. He brushed it off and handed it to the woman.

  She was maybe his age, but her eyes looked tired, defensive, and yet courageous. She might be a soiled dove, but she kept her head high and smiled at him. “Thank you.” She took the hat from him and placed it on her head. “I don’t think I’d have ever caught it.” She extended her hand to him.

  He shook her hand and then pulled her out of the way before a blast of steam let loose from the train.

  She landed against him. “Thank you, I had no idea that would happen. I’d have probably lost my hat again.” She laughed.

  Surprised at her laughter, he nodded. “I’ve been around trains.” It had been one of his job
s to unload the freighter near the prison.

  “I haven’t. This was my first train ride.” She looked around her, still holding the hat with one hand.

  Del wanted to ask about her short hair but kept his curiosity to himself. “Well, if you’ll excuse me, I need to meet someone.”

  “Thanks again.” She put on her hat, picked up her bag, and walked across the street to the hotel.

  Bridgette had a room for him at the boarding house. But Del decided to stop at the jail and see where he could find his lawyer, mentor, and matchmaker. He figured she’d be the first person he wanted to see.

  He noticed the small town of Shirleyville had grown considerably since his absence. That ought to be good for business. Del walked past the livery and an empty building. Bridgette had written that she’d found a place he could rent for his carpentry business and live upstairs if he wanted.

  Del shook his head and thought how that day he tried to rob Bridgette had turned out to be the luckiest day of his life. This second chance at a good life was all because of her, and he wasn’t going to let her or himself down.

  He stopped in front of the jail and thought how differently things could have gone. Taking in a deep breath, Del entered Sheriff Levi Smith’s jail.

  Levi looked up from his desk and grinned. “Bridgette said you might be by, but she thought it was next week.” He rose and walked toward him with his hand out.

  Del shook Levi’s hand. Thankful that this time there would be no handcuffs. Those days were gone. “Levi, it’s good to see you on this side of the cells.”

  The sheriff laughed. “Yes, it is. For me, too. You know, even though Bridgette stopped her active part in the Bounty Brigade, I am still getting men coming in to surrender under her rules.”

  “That Bridgette, she’s quite a woman.”

  “She and Sterling are expecting their first child in a month.” Levi looked him in the eye. “I hope you won’t disappoint her.”