Christmas Miracles: Mega Mail Order Bride 20-Book Box Set: Multi-Author Box Set

by Jenny Creek Tanner

  “This ad would be perfect for Sally Galvin,” Lisa explained. “And I'm going to play matchmaker for her.”

  It was the most fun piece of writing Lisa had done in ages. Extremely brief, obviously, but trying to spin the words just right in a way that would convince a legislator that Sally was the perfect woman for him was exciting beyond measure.

  If only she lived in a world where she could do this kind of writing, Lisa thought. And if only Lisa was the woman who was perfect for Carson Jackson!

  Still, it was rewarding in a way that felt wonderfully different. Helping her best friend filled Lisa's heart with a special kind of joy, even with the knowledge that it was the best she would be able to do.

  She was far too plain to respond to a mail order bride advertisement, so she would do her best to live the romantic part of her life vicariously through Sally Galvin.

  When she expressed those thoughts to Katie, though, the secretary glared at her.

  “I think that's nonsense,” she said.

  “Excuse me?” Lisa replied, slightly disarmed by Katie's tendency to cut to the chase.

  “I think you're more than attractive for just about any man,” Katie said. “And I think you have something you've managed to put in your imagination that may not even be real.”

  “What are you talking about?” Lisa asked.

  “You don't even know what this Carson Jackson looks like,” Katie explained. “You think he's totally dashing and handsome, and he may well in fact be that. But you haven't even seen him yet,” she added. “He could be plain as day.”

  Lisa shrugged and shook her head. “Katie, look around you,” she said, pointing to various parts of the legislative floor. “Tell me what you see.”

  Katie smiled, realizing she was being set up. “The same thing I see every day,” she said. “Boring legislators.”

  “That's not what I mean and you know it,” Lisa said. “I'm talking about the men themselves.”

  “They're just men,” Katie said petulantly. “You've seen one, you've seen them all.”

  “That's nonsense and you know it,” Lisa argued. “These men are the cream of the crop, at least when it comes to their physical appearance. You've seen the way women swoon for them when they're out on the campaign trail."

  Katie snorted. “Well, I wouldn't give a plugged nickel for any of them,” she replied. “Because you and I know what they're really like.”

  “Absolutely,” Lisa acknowledged. “But you do get my point.”

  “Of course I do,” she replied. “But appearances can be deceiving. Look at what James Devlin has done to you and half the girls in the secretarial pool. He's more than a bit of a cad, and they swoon for him.”

  She paused. “That's why you need to escape all this.”

  “Oh, I intend to,” Lisa said. “And trust me, this mail order bride advertisement is going to be my ticket out of town.”

  The acceptance letter arrived a couple of weeks later, just as Lisa had known it would. She'd never been as sure of anything in her life—Lisa's confidence in her ability with words was boundless, for words were like a playground for her, an imaginary place where she could do or be anything she wished.

  When the letter arrived, Lisa was thrilled for Sally. And she simply had to share the news with someone else, so she told Katie about it the next day at work.

  “That's wonderful!” Katie exclaimed, loudly enough to startle several of the girls around her as they slaved away at their paperwork. “You must be proud of yourself!”

  “I am, somewhat,” Lisa said, blushing. “I have to confess that writing the reply was a wonderful change of pace.”

  “I can imagine,” Katie replied, sighing. “I wish I could write like that. Sometimes I think I'll be stuck here forever.”

  “No!” Lisa exclaimed. “There are opportunities everywhere. And I'm sure there's one for you here. Or wherever you are.”

  “I do hope you're right,” she said. Her expression brightened. “So are you going with her?”

  “Yes!” Lisa replied, happy to have been asked. “We discussed it thoroughly, and Sally said she wouldn't leave without me.”

  “That's wonderful. . .I'm so happy for you!” Katie said, although Lisa could see a slight sadness in her expression. “You do know, however, how much I'll miss you.”

  “And I'll miss you as well,” Lisa said. “I know we've only known each other for a short while, but I do feel like we've grown quite close.”

  “I agree,” Katie confirmed. Then another thought came to her. “Oh! I just realized something.”

  “What's that?” Lisa asked.

  “Sally will be leaving her father behind, right?” she inquired.

  “Of course,” Lisa said. “That's part of the whole situation. It simply has to happen.”

  “Then there's something you need to know,” Katie added. “And its really important.”

  Katie turned white as a sheet, and that's when Lisa knew that something truly serious was going on.

  “What are you talking about?” she asked.

  Katie glanced around the floor. “I'm not sure we should really be talking about this here,” she said.

  “What do you mean?”

  “Its very sensitive,” Katie explained. “Its probably something that shouldn't even be mentioned on the legislative floor.”

  “I see,” Lisa said. “So what do you want to do?”

  “Go somewhere else?” Katie proposed.

  “Hmm...Lucinda's?” she asked. Lisa often went to the tea shop with Sally, but she knew her friend wouldn't be there now.

  It also wasn't the most private place in the world for the kind of conversation Katie evidently had in mind, but short of leaving and going to Lisa's apartment—something she wasn't comfortable with doing in the middle of the day—it was the best option she could come up with.

  “I'm not much of a tea drinker,” Katie confessed. “But anywhere's better than here.”

  Lisa shrugged. “Lucinda's it is, then,” she said, looking around to see how much they'd be noticed if they left in the middle of the day. “Shall we?”

  They picked up their coats on the way out and made their way out into the street. It felt incredibly strange to be walking out in the middle of what was looking like a very busy day, and she wondered where James Devlin was and hoped he wouldn't come looking for her. In spite of her newfound independence, she still couldn't bear the thought of disappointing him.

  Lisa opened the door to Lucinda's, which was nearly empty, and she sighed in relief. At least they'd have as much privacy as there was to be had, and she walked Katie to a table in the corner, as far from the one or two other customers as possible.

  Lucinda came out immediately and gave Lisa a friendly greeting. But she must have seen something in Lisa's expression that told her something serious was up, because she turned neutral right away and simply took their orders.

  Lisa waited until their tea arrived, then spoke. “So what's going on?” she asked. “I've never seen you turn that particular color before.”

  Katie shook her head. “It's something I just heard this morning, before we spoke,” she began. “Although the rumors about it have been all over the floor for a while now.”

  “Rumors?” Lisa took a sip of her tea, blowing on it gently to cool the steaming liquid.

  Katie managed a slight grin. “You don't hear most of them,” she explained. “Because you're too busy working, writing speeches for James. But the secretarial pool is a hotbed for rumors—they get funneled from the legislative floor to us.”

  “I'll have to keep that in mind,” Lisa said. “Maybe keep my ear to the ground a bit more.”

  Katie shook her head again, then tried her tea and made a face. “Trust me, you don't want to hear half of what I hear,” she observed. “Most of it's just ridiculous nonsense— although it is entertaining.”

  “I can imagine.”

  “Anyway, this one's about Harlan Galvin,” she began. “Like I
said.”

  “What about him?” Lisa asked, tilting her head. “I have actually heard a few things about him.”

  “You have?”

  “Of course,” she said, rolling her eyes. “Sally's my best friend. So if this is about the alcohol and his drinking, that's more or less old news.”

  “Would that it were just about that,” Katie replied. “That would make things much easier and simpler.”

  Lisa frowned slightly. “So what is it about?”

  Katie grimaced. “Harlan's been seen keeping company with a young girl,” she said, taking a deep breath. “And the word is she's a schoolgirl. . .and barely that.”

  Lisa blanched. She'd asked Sally several times about Harlan and what he was doing for female company, thinking it was an innocent question at first.

  But Sally wouldn't go near it, and each time Lisa asked she became more and more uncomfortable. Where there was smoke there was probably fire, Lisa slowly began to realize, until finally she just backed off and stopped asking about it completely.

  And here it was right in front of her, corroborated by Katie Simmons, who had nothing to gain by saying something negative about Harlan Galvin.

  “Seen where?” Lisa asked, deciding not to challenge the veracity of Katie's claim right away.

  “Several places,” she began. “From what I understand, he's been fairly private about it until now. A couple of dinners at popular restaurants, that was when the rumors first started.”

  “And then?” Lisa asked, shaking her head at the foolishness of it.

  Katie sighed. “Supposedly he tried to bring her into a tavern with him one night,” she continued. “A fairly high class place, I don't remember which one, this was a month or two ago. From what I heard, there was an argument about it, the owner tried to ask them to leave and Harlan tried to throw his weight around.”

  “Sounds like something he'd do,” Lisa commented. “Do you know what happened?”

  “Not really,” Katie confessed. “This was a while ago, and I kind of forgot, to be honest.”

  “Understandable,” Lisa said. “It's probably something we'd all like to forget.”

  “Poor Sally most of all,” Katie added. “Anyway, the latest sighting of this girl was on the legislative floor.”

  “What?”

  “That's right,” Katie nodded, grimacing as she replied.

  “When?”

  “A couple of nights ago,” she said. “Then again last night.”

  “What were they doing?” Lisa asked, shaking her head. “And more important, what were they thinking?”

  “That was my first thought,” Katie said. “It's incredibly indiscreet.”

  “So are these sightings reliable?” she asked. “You know how this place is sometimes.”

  “I do indeed,” Katie replied. “But I've heard this from multiple people, several of whom are extremely reliable. And too many to make me think that it's being made up.”

  “My goodness,” Lisa said, taking a deep breath. She tried to think, but her brain felt like porridge.

  “And there's more, I'm afraid.”

  “Oh no. . .how much worse could it get?”

  “Much, I'm afraid,” Katie added. “According to the rumors, the girl has been staying over with Harlan recently. She's been seen leaving his house in the morning, in a fairly disheveled state.”

  “Poor Sally!” Lisa exclaimed. “All of this happening right under her nose.”

  “I'm afraid so,” Katie verified.

  Lisa finished her tea, while Katie left hers largely untouched. She felt slightly guilty about taking her to Lucinda's knowing that Katie didn't like tea, but now that the cat was out of the bag regarding Harlan's improprieties she had no other regrets about her choice.

  “There's going to be repercussions from this,” Lisa said as they walked back to the legislative hall.

  “What do you think it will be?” Katie asked, frowning with concern.

  “It depends on how far Harlan chooses to take things,” Lisa said. “It appears he's already lost his mind to at least some degree. It's one thing to push the envelope, but there's a line he's crossing where people won't be very forgiving or understanding.”

  “I agree,” Katie said. “Is there anything that can be done about it?”

  “I don't know,” Lisa said, shaking her head and trying ward off the feeling of dread that was overcoming her. “But I certainly intend to try.”

  They entered the hall, looking around as if they'd already been caught doing something clandestine. Lisa tried to spot James Devlin, but he was nowhere in sight. The remainder of the hall appeared just as it had when they'd left, with legislators and secretaries bustling to and fro.

  “It appears we weren't missed,” Katie observed. “At least not in an obvious way.”

  “For the moment, anyway,” Lisa agreed. “Seems to be business as usual.”

  “Except for Harlan's escapades,” Katie added.

  “Indeed. . .but there may be something I can do about that,” Lisa said, trying to sound more convincing than she felt.

  “What are you thinking?”

  “I'm not sure yet,” she said. “But I'll let you know soon.”

  With that, Lisa walked off, heading down the aisle. She could think of only one possibility, and that involved Sally.

  She walked slowly over to Harlan Galvin's spot in the aisle, wondering how far the rumors about Harlan had spread. If Katie knew about them, so did most of the secretarial pool, Lisa thought to herself, and if that was the case than that meant the entire legislative floor was at least vaguely aware of his scandalous behavior.

  Lisa was hoping to have a word with Sally, or perhaps, in her heart of hearts, to be able to get her to go back to Lucinda's with her, where they could have a frank conversation about all this. It was the best she could hope for, and the only thing she could think of as well.

  Unfortunately, Sally was mired in a heated conversation with Jack Haversham. It was hard to avoid the conclusion that it was more of an argument; Sally's face was red with anger, and Jack was merely shrugging in response and extending his arms, palms up.

  Lisa had seen these kinds of conversations before, and she knew what they were about. Jack had a habit of sticking her with last-minute work whenever Sally turned him down for dinner or lunch, which must have just happened.

  She watched the conversation play out for several minutes, hoping it was more innocuous than it at first appeared. Things appeared to get even more heated, though, until finally the argument got loud enough that Lisa could nearly hear it from her perch several rows away.

  Then she saw tears rimming Sally's eyes, and that was when Lisa knew her plan to talk to her friend wasn't going to come to fruition, at least not at the moment.

  She spent the rest of the day in a fog. Lisa rarely had premonitions or bad feelings, but she definitely had one today, thinking about what she'd just seen. Things were going to come to a bad end, she thought to herself, and Lisa knew it was going to have a profound effect on her as well.

  In spite of all she'd seen and heard, though, the last thing Lisa was expecting was an early morning visit from Sally, under cover of darkness.

  Still, once she heard the story straight from the horse's mouth, it made perfect sense to Lisa. It was only a matter of time before she discovered Harlan's indiscretions in the most unpleasant ways possible. Finding the young girl on the floor near the foyer of the house they shared was perhaps the worst way possible for Sally to learn about his proclivities. She'd been in denial for a long time.

  Lisa only wished she could have been told a tad earlier, so that she could have helped avoid the ghastly horror of it all. If Katie had just mentioned it a day sooner, perhaps she could have averted a disaster.

  As awful as it was, though, the emergency had the opposite effect on Lisa—in a strange way, it energized her. Sally was in no shape to handle the rigors of the demanding trip to Colorado; clearly, this was when she most needed her h
elp.

  And Lisa enjoyed being put in charge of projects and taking care of all the details, so she realized immediately that that was what was needed here.

  “May I ask you something?” she asked Sally after packing her things, which didn't take nearly as long as Sally thought it would.

  “Of course,” Sally said, obviously depressed beyond measure at this latest turn of events.

  “Do you wish me to handle all of this?” Lisa asked.

  “What do you mean?”

  Lisa looked around when they got onto the street, searching for a carriage that might be available.

  “The process,” she began. “Of getting us out there.”

  “Oh!” Sally exclaimed, suddenly realizing that she really was leaving Maryland forever. “Yes. . .I think that would be best.”

  “Good,” Lisa replied. “I just didn't want you to think I was taking control without your permission.”

  Sally smiled wryly. “Lisa, this is what you're good at,” she said. “And I'm in no state of mind to be of any use right now. At the moment, I'm not sure I ever will be again.”

  “I can understand why you would think that,” Lisa acknowledged. “But you know its not true.”

  “I do, sort of,” Sally admitted. “But all of this is such a shock.”

  “That's why you should leave most of it to me,” Lisa agreed, nodding. “This is the part of things I'm good at.”

  “I know,” Sally replied, sighing as Lisa spotted a carriage. “So I'm perfectly willing to let you handle everything.”

  Being in charge of the details of the trip empowered Lisa in ways she never expected. The first thing she had to take care of was the money and the account, to manage the minutia of financing the trip.

  On the way to the railroad station, Lisa juggled the numbers in her head. It would cost considerably more to leave on such short notice, hours ahead of what would probably be a major scandal. But it had to be done. She'd worked for several weeks to find the lowest way to make the trip, but now all of that work was out the window.

  Fortunately, Lisa was good with numbers, so it was easy for her to put together a new budget in her head. She'd have to check the numbers later, of course, but for the moment Lisa knew it could all be covered with money to spare.