Mail Order Bride: Western Love Stories THE COLLECTION (FOUR STANDALONE Mail Order Bride Stories)

by Megan West

  “You’ve had a very long couple of days,” he observed. “Why don’t you get some sleep? Dawn comes pretty early.”

  “You know, I do believe I am going to follow that advice,” she responded as she got to her feet.

  As she approached the bedroom door, she turned back to him questioningly.

  “Will you be along soon?” she asked.

  “I’m going to bunk down in the loft,” he replied. “I’m not going to make you feel uncomfortable.”

  Abby studied him for a minute and then her face lit up.

  “I’ve got an idea!” she cried.

  A half hour later, Luke and Abby were both lying in the big, wooden double bed in the bedroom. Between them hung a carefully placed sheet that was folded over a rope that Luke had fastened to either side of the room.

  “Now, aren’t you much more comfortable in your own bed?” she asked.

  “I’ve got to admit that this was a pretty good idea,” he said and she could tell that he was smiling.

  “Good! Now we can both get some rest,” she replied. “Luke?”

  “Yes, Abby.”

  “I want to thank you for today and, well, everything. It was a perfect day. It may not have been how I always imagined my wedding day, but it was wonderful. I will remember it all of my life.”

  “I’m glad that you weren’t disappointed. I wanted you to feel as much at home as possible.”

  “I do feel at home, Luke.”

  “Good.”

  Abby smiled into the darkness.

  “Goodnight, Luke,” she said softly.

  “Goodnight, Abby,” he replied.

  The following weeks were definitely filled with one learning experience after another. Betsy and a few of the other women took turns in helping to teach Abby how to run a settlement household. Even though it was just the two of them, there seemed to be so many chores that needed to be done on a daily basis. It wasn’t that Abby minded doing her part. It was more that she had never been used to this type of hard physical labor and her body was simply going to have to adjust to it.

  Every night, she made sure that she served Luke a tasty and hearty dinner that she had cooked throughout the day. She insisted that he go and relax by the fire while she cleared the table even though he offered to help her. However, within minutes of her joining him, her head was nodding and her eyes were closed. The Luke would gently nudge her awake and encourage her to go to bed.

  As time went on, however, Abby found herself growing stronger and more resilient. It wasn’t long before she was able to sit by the fire with Luke after dinner and enjoy a pleasant conversation about how each of them had spent their day. The people of the settlement had accepted her as a part of them now. All except Glory. Abby found herself doing all she could to avoid the girl. It seemed that Glory had still not forgiven her for marrying Luke and she glared at Abby every chance she got.

  A man named Benjamin rode to the settlement twice a week to bring mail and pick up anything that the residents needed to send by post. That became one of the highlights of the week for Abby because she and Louisa had begun a regular written correspondence. She made it a point to finish at least one letter to Louisa each week so that she would have one to look forward to the following week.

  The women of the settlement always treated Benjamin to a hot, delicious meal before he made his return trip to Deer Lodge. Abby had heard that during days of bad weather many times some of the residents would put him up for the night. That was only something else she had grown to love about this settlement; the people really took care of each other. Charleston was a lovely city and it would always be a fond part of Abby’s heart. But this settlement treated her to an experience unlike any other. There was a closeness here that Charleston never seemed to offer.

  On this particular day, a few things happened simultaneously that would change everything in Abby’s life.

  Abby rose that morning and made breakfast for herself and Luke. It was a gorgeous day with only a hint of fall in the air. Even though the morning started out pleasantly enough, Abby knew that it would be rather hot by noon so she set about getting the most difficult chores out of the way.

  She was just hanging the laundry up on the rope line that Luke had put up for her when she heard approaching hoof beats. Turning to look toward the road, she saw Benjamin riding up to the cabin. Excitedly, she quickly finished attaching the garment to the rope that she was hanging and ran toward him as he got off of his horse.

  She ended up being a bit too excited and she tripped over a rock on her way to greet him. Benjamin caught her before she hit the ground and lifted her up to her feet.

  “Oh my, Benjamin” she said, clearly flustered. “I’m so clumsy! Thank you for catching me!”

  “No need to apologize, Ma’am,” he laughed. “It’s not a chore to catch a pretty woman. I’m just glad you’re not hurt.”

  “No, no, I’m fine, Benjamin. Thank you again.”

  “I do have something here that I believe might just make you very happy,” he said as he dug into his bag and handed her an envelope.

  Glancing down as she took the envelope, Abby recognized her sister’s fine penmanship. Squealing with delight, she involuntarily threw her arms around Benjamin’s neck.

  “Oh thank you!” she squealed once more. “I’ve been waiting on this!”

  Stepping back, she looked down at the envelope once more. Benjamin continued to laugh at her excitement.

  “You are most welcome, Miss Abby,” he said. “I’m glad that I could make your day brighter.”

  “You have no idea! Look, let me get your some cold tea. You must be parched after your long ride.”

  “I wish I had the time, Miss Abby, but I’m running a little behind today and I need to get back to Deer Lodge. But thank you anyway.”

  As he spoke, he was already moving away from her and getting back on his horse. After few more words exchanged, Benjamin was on his way.

  Neither of them noticed a pair of cold, calculating eyes watching them from the trees just across the road from the cabin. Even if they had; it most likely would have made no difference in the outcome.

  Abby went inside and sat down to read the letter from Louisa. Apparently, Papa had relented somewhat and was willing to let her be his daughter again without having to marry Arthur Shaw. Abby was certain that there was much more behind this than Louisa knew. She would get her sister to look into it a fit further. Although it didn’t really matter. Abby was now a part of this wonderful little settlement and would only go back to Charleston to visit in the future.The rest of the letter was filled with chatty news but the best was at the end of the letter.

  Louisa and her husband were going to have a baby!

  Abby was still smiling and humming from being so happy when Luke arrived back at the cabin for dinner. She heard him come in the door.

  “Dinner’s almost ready, Luke,” she called happily. “Why don’t you get washed up and I’ll have it on the table by the time you’re done?”

  When he didn’t say anything, she glanced over her shoulder at him. Luke was just standing there in the middle of the room staring at her with a dark look on his face. Not only that, but Pastor Charles and Betsy were also with him. Both the pastor and his wife looked as if they wanted to be anywhere but here.

  Quickly, she dried her hands on a small towel and walked over to join them.

  “Pastor Charles, Betsy,” she said. “How nice to see you both! Will you be joining us for dinner? There’s plenty of stew!”

  “No, Abby,” Luke said in a rather dangerous voice. “They are here at my request.”

  “What’s wrong, Luke?” she asked.

  “Maybe I should be asking you that question, Abby. I thought we were doing pretty well at building a good life here. If you were unhappy, you should have told me.”

  “Unhappy? Luke, no! I’m actually perfectly happy here with you and all of our neighbors! Why would you say such a thing?”

  “Oh I th
ink you know why. I’ll be riding into Deer Lodge tomorrow morning to get you a seat on the train back to Charleston. You can spend the day packing your things and be on the train the following morning.”

  Abby was stunned. She had no idea what was going on. More surprising to her was the absolute desolation that she felt at the thought of never seeing Luke again.

  “Luke, why are you doing this? Why are you saying these things to me?”

  “Pastor, you better talk to her. I don’t trust myself around her right now,” said Luke as he walked away and went outside.

  “Luke…” Abby called after him.

  Suddenly, Pastor Charles gently took her arm.

  “Here, Abby, let’s sit down and talk for a minute,” he said as he led her toward the sofa.

  Betsy sat down on the other side of her. She looked sympathetic but also disappointed.

  “Will you please tell me what’s going on?” Abby pleaded.

  “Abby, did anything unusual happen today?” Pastor Charles asked.

  “What do you mean?”

  “Did you have any…um…visitors?”

  “Visitors? No, I…oh, wait. Benjamin came by with a letter for me from my sister. But that’s all. Why do you ask?”

  “When Benjamin was delivering your letter, did anything unusual happen?”

  “Why do you keep asking me and using that word? He came here. He delivered my letter and he left.”

  “So there was no point in time that you had your arms around each other?”

  “What?”

  “You were seen today in the arms of Benjamin,” Betsy chimed in. “Luke heard about it and came to get Charles and me.”

  Abby sat there stunned unable to comprehend what she heard.

  “Who is this person who claims to have seen such a thing?”

  Betsy and Pastor Charles exchanged glances.

  “Well, it was Glory.”

  Suddenly, Abby understood everything quite clearly.

  “Of course it was Glory. A spoiled, jealous little girl who still believes that Luke would have ever given her a second glance. Let me tell you what happened. I became excited to see Benjamin approaching because I had been expecting a letter from my sister. I tripped over a rock and he caught me to keep me from falling. That was me ‘being in his arms.’ Oh and wait, to be totally honest, once he handed me the letter; I hugged him. I was that excited. It was certainly nothing inappropriate. Do I look like the type of woman who would be so blatant about having an affair and then flaunting it right out in the open like that? Glory is a liar, pure and simple. Bring her to me and I will make her admit it.”

  “See, Charles?” Betsy hissed at her husband. “I told you it was all made up nonsense!”

  Pastor Charles looked sad.

  “I’m very sorry that you have had to go through this, Abby. I will have a word with Luke and then I will speak with Glory and her parents. Come along, Betsy. We need to leave this couple in peace. They have some things to discuss.”

  Abby could hardly contain her anger and indignation as she waited for Luke to return to the cabin. When he finally did come back inside, he looked decidedly sheepish. Abby turned on him.

  “How dare you believe something like that of me,” she said. “Then you were too much of a coward to even ask me directly. How could you? Have I ever given you any reason to doubt me like that?”

  “No, Abby,” he said softly not quite meeting her eyes. “I can’t tell you how awful I feel. I also feel pretty stupid. It’s just the way we came together and you’re so beautiful. I’ve seen how the other men look at you. I don’t deserve someone like you. I guess I’ve always kind of expected you to take off if you found a better option.”

  Abby simply looked at him.

  “You don’t trust me,” she said. “I’ve never done anything to betray you and I wouldn’t. But now that I know where I stand with you, I suppose that I need to pack my things. I’ll just go with you into Deer Lodge in the morning and stay there until it’s time for me to leave.”

  Turning away from him, she stalked into the bedroom and pulled out the bags that she had brought with her. She began pulling out her clothes from the wardrobe and folding them before placing them in the bags. So furiously was she working that she never heard Luke walk into the room behind her until he spoke.

  “Please stay, Abby,” he said quietly.

  She froze in the middle of folding a garment and blinked hard to hold back tears.

  “Abby?” he said putting his hand on her arm and turning her around to face him. “Please look at me.”

  Reluctantly, she looked up at him with a wary expression on her face. When she saw the pain in his eyes, she nearly collapsed into his arms.

  “Look,” he said. “I’m an idiot. I completely over reacted when I heard …what I heard. I don’t know why I didn’t just come in and ask you about it. But I didn’t and that was my mistake. The truth is….the truth is that I’ve fallen in love with you, Abby. It would kill me if you left. Please stay and let me prove to you that I’m not the stupidest man on the earth. Let me be a husband to you…a real husband. I’ll do anything to make you happy. I’m just asking you for another chance. I swear you won’t regret it.”

  By the time Luke had finished speaking; Abby had tears streaming down her face. Reaching up, she placed a hand on the side of his face and attempted a wobbly smile.

  “Luke, if this is going to work, you’re going to have to trust me. Even though our marriage is a bit non-traditional, I still take those wedding vows very seriously. I would never do anything like that. I’m your wife.”

  “So you’ll stay? Maybe you can learn to love me at least a little bit, too.”

  “Yes, I’ll stay,” she said smiling even wider. “And, you silly man, I already love you. I just didn’t want to make you nervous by telling you.”

  Luke took that moment to gather his wife into his arms and hug her to him. They looked into each other eyes and leaned in for their very first kiss. They knew that it wasn’t always going to be an easy road for them, but they were now a united front and would work side by side to make their life together the best it could be.

  That night, when they went to bed, the sheet came down forever.

  The End

  Next up: SABRA and ANTON'S STORY

  Sabra and Anton

  The day that changed Sabra Lanier’s life forever seemed like any other day. Although, later, she would admit to herself that she had known something was not right. She had one of her “spells” as she had taken to calling them. It had come upon her while she was tending to her herb garden. Even though the sun was warm as it beat down on her, she had suddenly felt a rather violent chill go through her entire body. It was good that no one had been around to see this or they would have definitely been racing over to her and asking questions as to whether or not she was alright.

  As it was, she simply made her way to a chair on the back porch and slumped into it. She had to admit that this frightened her quite a bit. Her husband, Emmett, had been gone for several months now as a commander in the war of the South versus the North, which would be known one day as the American Civil War. They missed each other terribly. She wrote to him every day and he wrote to her when he could. She had been worried about him because she had not heard from him in a few weeks.

  After this particular spell, she was now terrified for Emmett. It could be nothing else that had caused this.

  That night, as she slept fitfully in bed, she was having terrible dreams. Suddenly, she was awakened by something. Opening her eyes, she saw Emmett standing at the foot of their bed staring at her. He had such sad smile on his face that she knew instantly.

  “No,” she whispered as tears filled her eyes.

  “I’m so sorry, my darling Sabra,” he said. “I tried to be careful because I wanted nothing more than to return to you. I love you. I will always love you.”

  “No, Emmett! You cannot leave me!” she wailed.

  “I have to go
, sweetheart,” he said. “But I’ll always be watching over you. If you need me, I’ll be there. I must go now.”

  As he faded slowly from her sight, she flew at the space where he had stood, grasping for him. But he was no longer there.

  For the next two days all that Sabra did was lay in bed. She didn’t eat or drink anything and didn’t get dressed. She was consumed with depression and there was no way that she could explain why.

  After not hearing from Sabra for a couple of days, her sister Christina appeared at the front door. She knocked and knocked on the door. When Sabra did not answer, Christina searched for the spare key that she knew her sister kept hidden nearby. Once she located it, she unlocked the door and went inside.

  “Sabra,” she called. “Sabra! Where are you?”

  When there was no answer, she hurried up the staircase to the second floor and down the hall to Sabra and Emmett’s bedroom.

  “Sabra, are you here?” she said as she pushed open the door.

  The sight that met her eyes caused her to gasp aloud.

  “Sabra,” she said gently as she approached the bed where her sister lay nearly buried under the covers. Sitting down on the side of the bed, she turned Sabra’s face to her.

  “Sabra, sweetheart,” she said. “What’s wrong? Are you ill? Shall I call the doctor?”

  Tears streamed down Sabra’s face.

  “No,” she said hoarsely. “I’m not ill.”

  “Then what is it? Why are you still in bed?”

  “It’s Emmett,” she sobbed. “He’s gone, Christina!”

  “What do you mean that he’s gone, darling,” she asked. “Of course he’s gone because he’s fighting for the South. He’s been gone for months now.”

  “That’s not what I mean, Christina. He’s dead! He’s not coming back ever!”

  “Oh no! Have you had word?”

  “No,” Sabra whispered. “It wasn’t like that. He…he appeared to me last night and told me goodbye.”

  “He what?” Christina gasped. Then she went silent. “Oh.”

  It finally dawned on her what Sabra was telling her.