He sighed, climbing into bed fully clothed and lying on his back with his hands folded behind his head. What more could a man ask for in life? A good business that he owned, a good wife, and someday beautiful children. Yes, he'd done the right thing by sending off for a bride, and he didn't care what anyone thought of it.
Chapter Two
Millie went to the train station a half hour early on Monday, knowing that Elizabeth would be meeting her there. Her mother had offered to go with her, but she'd said her goodbyes at the house, knowing she would rather break free. She didn't know what was wrong with her because she had a good life, but for months, all she'd been able to think about was leaving and never returning.
She looked over the people mingling around the station and saw Elizabeth sitting on one of the seats with an empty seat on either side of her. Millie walked over to sit with the other woman. "I'm ready to go." She couldn't keep the grin off her face. She was about to be a married woman.
"Do you have your ticket?" Elizabeth asked.
Millie held up the ticket. "And I have plenty of money for food on the train, and books to read, and everything else my mother was certain I would need." She grinned at Elizabeth.
"At least you know she cares! Now before I send a bride out, I do a quick background check on each man, and I find out as much as I can. Connor checked out just fine, so there should be no problems. If there are, come home." Elizabeth looked like she was concerned, and Millie couldn't help but wonder why.
Millie nodded. "My parents have already told me the same thing."
Elizabeth smiled. "You have smart parents."
"Have you ever had a woman go out to marry a bad man?" Millie asked.
"Only once. There were two men with the same name in a relatively large city, and I investigated the wrong one. The bride was treated very poorly, but thankfully, she didn't marry the man she set out to marry. She married a random stranger instead, and did very well for herself."
"I'm not one to stay in a bad situation." She didn't mention the wad of money she had hidden on her either. Some was in her shoes. Some was in each of her bags. She even had some tucked into the bodice of her dress. A small amount was in her purse, ready for her to purchase meals along her journey. She was as ready as she would ever be to spend ten days on trains.
"Write to me when you get there so I know you're safe, please." Elizabeth always asked the same two things of all the women she sent West. Please don't stay if the situation is bad, and please write and let me know if you're safe.
"I will. Right after I write my parents and Berta." Millie knew she would write the other two first, and she wasn't about to lie to Elizabeth and say she'd be getting the first letter from her.
Elizabeth frowned at the mention of Berta's name. "Thank you for stepping in for Berta. I can't believe she just eloped that way."
"I've needed to get out of Beckham for a while. All the same men. All the same women. I feel like I'm going crazy doing the same thing day in and day out. I need a change. Badly." She shook her head. Her parents had always had money, and they refused to let their children work. She felt like her life had been wasted as she did only the things they approved of, none of which had been very helpful.
Elizabeth nodded. "I felt the same way before I took over the mail order bride agency from Harriett Long."
"I thought I was the only one to ever feel this way!" Millie sighed. "Thank you!" She felt much better knowing she wasn't the only one with feelings of inadequacy.
"Well, you're not. I hope you enjoy Idaho Territory. From what I've read it's very beautiful. You won't have the ocean close by, of course, but you will have the mountains. Mountains sound so beautiful to me."
Millie looked at Elizabeth with surprise. "You've never been to the mountains?" She had traveled more extensively than most young women, but she assumed Elizabeth had traveled as well. The other girl obviously had wealth with the home she lived in.
Elizabeth shook her head. "My parents barely had enough money to feed us all, let alone take us to the mountains."
Millie was almost ashamed at that moment of her privileged upbringing. "We went to either the ocean for a week or to the mountains for a week every summer. I love the mountains." Her sisters had all preferred their ocean vacations, but she'd preferred the mountains.
"I've only seen photographs."
"You'll have to come visit me then." Millie didn't know how her new husband would react to the invitation, but hopefully he wouldn't mind. It was going to be interesting to have to work alongside a man every day. She'd never been one to do what was expected of her, and she hoped her husband was expecting someone who could think for herself.
The conductor called for everyone to get on the train then, and Millie got to her feet. "Thank you for all your help making this happen," she said to Elizabeth as she hugged her tightly.
"Just stay safe. Have a wonderful life. I hope he's everything you've imagined."
"Oh, he will be!" If he wasn't, she'd just help him become the man she needed to be. She was good at that sort of thing after all.
Millie hurried toward the train and climbed the steps. In her mind she was climbing the mountain that led her to her new home and the man who would love her beyond belief. Who would kiss her hands and tell her she was the most wonderful woman in the world every day. She couldn't wait.
*****
Connor stood nervously waiting for his sweet Berta. He looked out over the small crowd looking for the girl who had described her hair as the color of "the color of autumn leaves." He couldn't wait to hug her and kiss her and welcome her to Idaho, the land of promise. His heart pounded in his chest at the idea of meeting his beautiful bride.
The whole town, if you could call Gullet Gulch a town, was excited for him. Most of the shops in town would be closed as people were all going to be attending his wedding. His wedding with Miss Berta Wyatt, his new bride and cook for Connor's Restaurant. He sighed happily as a woman stopped in front of him. Her hair wasn't the color of autumn leaves, though. Who was this?
"Are you Connor O'Reilly?" Millie couldn't keep the smile off her face as she asked. Connor was an extremely handsome man, something she hadn't expected at all.
He nodded, his face skeptical. "You don't look like my Berta, though." Who was this woman and where was his Berta?
She smiled sweetly. "I'm not Berta. I'm her best friend, Mildred, but everyone calls me Millie." She held her hand out for him to shake, and he took it automatically, surprised that she was there.
"Where's my Berta?" The confusion on his face was obvious to anyone who looked. He wanted his bride, and she wasn't there. Was she still on the train?
Millie sighed. "You know, all this way, I've been hoping you wouldn't ask. Is there somewhere we can sit, so I can explain?" she asked. She hated having to be the one to explain that her friend had chosen to marry someone else.
Connor took her bags from her, carrying them like the gentleman he was, as he looked over the crowd, hoping to see Berta's hair somewhere. Where was his bride and who was this woman? "We can go to the park. There is a bench there across from the fountain." He didn't know where else to take her, because the restaurant was closed for his wedding. His wedding that apparently had no bride to attend.
"Oh, a fountain? I love fountains." She'd make a wish on it. Maybe he would fall in love with her, and the look of disappointment over her not being Berta would eventually go away. She'd been sure he'd take one look at her and be satisfied that he'd gotten a good woman, but it just wasn't working out how she'd expected it to.
The park was a short walk, just across main street. It was a small park with a few benches and a beautiful fountain in the middle. People claimed the fountain had been brought over from England, but Connor wasn't certain he believed that. He led her to a bench, where he sat down, putting the bags on the ground at his feet. It was a good thing it was summer, because in the winter, he'd have lost them in the snow.
Millie didn't sit down, and
instead, she chose to pace the ground in front of him. "I was with Berta when she first read your letter to the mail order bride agency. Her beau had just left town, you see, and she thought he'd jilted her, but he really left town to make his fortune." She did her best to explain, but she knew her thoughts were a bit scattered on the subject.
Connor made a face at the idea of his sweet Berta having a beau before him. He didn't like that idea at all. "I see."
"Well, when Harvey came back to town, he had no fortune, but my father offered him a job at his hotel, so he took it, and then he had a way to support Berta, so they eloped. Your letter came in a week after they were married." She was still pacing and didn't see the sad expression cross his face. "So because you had sent a train ticket, but she couldn't come marry you, I said I'd come in her place. I need to marry, and I wanted to move to where I could see mountains every day." She nodded off into the distance, where the mountains rose majestically over the small town. She looked at him, hoping he wouldn't reject her and send her back to Beckham. Of course, even if he tried, she wouldn't go.
Connor blinked a few times. "So you are my substitute bride?" Why would she just assume he would marry her? Of course, he was certain he would. He just had to get used to the idea.
She nodded, her face lighting up with excitement that the hard part of the day was over. She'd explained everything to him, and he was all right with it. He was a handsome man, and she hated disappointing him that way, but at least he got a wife, right?
Connor sighed. "I guess I don't really have a choice in the matter." She wasn't what he'd been imagining as he went to sleep every night. Instead, she was just a pretty girl. Beauty didn't matter to him, though. "Do you cook?"
Millie nodded. "I do!" She didn't add the words 'very badly,' but she should have. She wasn't much of a cook, after all. She would learn though. And she had a cook book. How hard could it be? She thought about the eggshells that she'd cooked every time while Berta had been teaching her but immediately dismissed the memory. Now was the time to rejoice over her marriage to this man.
Connor got to his feet and walked to her, looking her up and down. She was pretty, and he was attracted to her. She wasn't Berta, but did that really matter? He'd never met her, and she was married to another man anyway. "Well, I guess we're getting married then. Do you want to change first? Take a bath? We have a bathroom down the hall from our room at the hotel."
"Oh, do you live out of town? We're staying in the hotel tonight?" It hadn't occurred to her they'd live out of town since he had to work in it.
He shook his head. "No, I live at the hotel. We'll share a room there. Eventually we'll be able to buy a house, but it won't be this week." It wouldn't even be that year, but he didn't add that. It would be just as soon as he could make it happen.
Millie tried not to let her opinion of that show. "Well, a bath would be nice before the wedding. Thank you." She looked over at the fountain he'd mentioned for a moment. "Is it all right if I make a wish on the fountain first?" It was a beautiful fountain, rising majestically over the park. She'd never seen anything like it, and she found herself drawn to it.
He looked at her for a moment before shrugging. He had no idea why she wanted to wish on it, but if it made her happy, she was welcome to do it. "I guess. I don't know if anyone's ever wished on it, but if that's what you want to do..." He was beginning to realize that Millie wouldn't be nearly as easily dealt with as he'd imagined Berta would be. Had she not been raised to know that a man was the head of his household?
She stepped closer to the fountain, placing her palms flat on it. "It feels like I should wish on it. Are you sure people don't wish on this thing?" She glanced at him over her shoulder, wondering why he'd never wished on it. She felt compelled to do so, wanting to instantly make a wish that she fully expected to be granted.
"Honestly, I have no idea."
Closing her eyes tightly, she wished silently. "I wish that I could make a real difference in Connor's life and that he won't be angry when he finds out I can't cook, and he'll fall in love with me anyway." She smiled at him. "You should wish too!" She felt better after making her wish, as if she knew it would be granted.
He shrugged, playing along with her. He put his palms flat on the fountain and closed his eyes as she had. "I wish that this beautiful girl beside me will be as sweet and loving as I'd imagined Berta to be." He looked at her. "I wished." Would she be satisfied with that? Or would she ask about his wish?
"What did you wish for?" she asked. She grinned up at him mischievously, hoping he'd tell her. She needed to know what was most important to this man she was about to marry.
He laughed. "What did you wish for?"
"I can't tell you! My wish wouldn't come true."
He laughed. "Wishes don't come true anyway."
"This one will." She put her hand through his arm and smiled up at him. "You'll see."
As he led her toward the hotel, he said, "I don't even know your full name." He was marrying a woman whose name he didn't even know. What was he thinking?
"Well, it's Mildred Ann Barrington. I didn't bother with my last name because it'll be O'Reilly in a couple of hours anyway." She shrugged, indicating her old name no longer mattered to her in any way.
He looked at her in surprise. She certainly was not lacking in self-confidence. "What would you have done if I hadn't been willing to accept you instead of Berta?" He'd briefly considered sending her back where she came from, and he was surprised that she hadn't considered that possibility.
She shrugged. "I would have stayed in town and tried to convince you otherwise, of course. I guess I didn't think about that a whole lot. I just loved the adventure of traveling all this way by myself." She didn't add that if he couldn't find a wife, there were probably dozens of other men in need of wives too. She could have found one of them as well.
He was surprised at her attitude, but couldn't deny he was attracted to a confident woman. She would be good for him. He led her to his room down at the end of the long hallway.
Millie swallowed hard when she saw the tiny space. He expected her to live in there? The room was much smaller than the room she'd shared with her sister, Carrie. She put her bags down on the bed, and thought about the tiny space she would be sharing with this man. She had a great deal of money that her grandfather had left for her, and she'd brought it all. Would he let her use her own money to buy a house? She decided to wait until after the wedding to ask him that.
"I'll just use the pitcher and bowl," she told him as she waited for him to leave. She looked at him, and he stood with his back against the door. "Well, I can't wash and change with you watching!" Why didn't he just leave?
Connor flushed and left the room, closing the door behind him. He paced the halls while he waited for her. For a moment, he'd hoped she would undress in front of him, but she hadn't. Instead, she'd looked at him like he was crazy. They'd be married in just a few hours. What would it have mattered if he'd watched her change? He shook his head, knowing she'd done the right thing, but he didn't want to admit it. She was a beautiful woman, and he was more than a little attracted to her.
Millie removed her dress, but left her petticoat on as she quickly washed. Connor seemed nice enough, but he hadn't been as excited by the switch as she'd hoped. Of course, he'd never heard of her, so maybe that was why. He couldn't look at Berta and then at her and realize that he'd gotten a good deal, could he?
When she was dressed in her wedding clothes, and had her hair fixed, she opened the door for him, and found him pacing the halls. "I'm ready." She wondered if there would be food involved with the wedding, because she needed a real meal and not just train sandwiches. She had eaten so many sandwiches during her week and a half on the train she wasn't sure she'd ever be able to stomach another.
Connor looked at his bride with her hair fixed properly and a pretty, clean dress on. She was beautiful. He swallowed hard. She'd cleaned up very well. He glanced at his pocket watch. "The wedding sta
rts in half an hour. We should head over to the church." He was already in his church clothes for the wedding, so he was ready. He couldn't believe he'd gotten such a beautiful woman. He wouldn't be complaining that Berta hadn't shown up.
She nodded regally, taking his arm and walking with him. His reaction to her was more like what she'd expected when she'd gotten off the train. Of course, she'd been rather dirty and her hair had been falling out of it's perfect knot. Now she looked more like herself.
They walked through the streets of the quiet town. The small crowd from the train had dissipated. "How often does the train come through here."
"Just once per day. That's our busiest time of day at the restaurant. We expect to have a rush of people for about an hour before and an hour after. It always comes at noon, so people eat lunch while they're in town either picking someone up or dropping someone off."
"Even on Sundays?" she asked with surprise.
He nodded. "The pastor has service at eight on Sundays for those of us who are needed at the restaurant. I usually go in and prep before service, and then I hurry over after and get everything cooked up just as fast as I can."
Millie had never really considered just how much work it would be to run a restaurant. They needed to find someone to cook for them fast, but she didn't say it. She just walked along beside him. There was already a small crowd at the church. "Did you invite people to the wedding?" she asked, not really sure what to expect.
"Oh, yes. The whole town was invited. I even shut down the restaurant for the whole day." He said it as if it wasn't something he did often.
Millie frowned, not liking the idea of life being endless work. What had she been thinking moving across the country? She stopped walking for a moment taking deep gulping breaths. Did he ever take time off? Would she be expected to work every single day just as he did?
Connor realized Millie had disappeared and turned to find her. She was standing with her hand on her stomach taking deep breaths. "Are you all right?" he asked, his hand immediately going to her upper arm.
Mail Order Minx: Fountain of Love (Brides of Beckham) Page 2