Mail Order Bride: JUMBO Mail Order Bride 20 Book Box Set

by Hope Sinclair

  “I’ll do it,” she said in a cold tone that puzzled him.

  “OK,” Bernard said and went to hold the pony firmly.

  His heart sat suspended in the air, all his nerves on edge, as he waited for her frustration when she could not mount the pony using one hand. To his utter amazement, she pulled herself up with one fluid movement and she and Joshua grinned at each other.

  “Well, what next?” she asked.

  The next hour was spent teaching Joanna how to hold the reins and guide the horse using the feet and the reins. By the time the hour was up, she could comfortable trot and they had even ventured outside to Joshua’s delight. Bernard thought he would burst with pride. She had proven him wrong and he wished that he could take her in his arms and swirl her around.

  He could have, except for the cold look she gave him ever time their eyes met. He truly had no idea what he had done to offend her and he wished she could just tell him what the problem was. He strolled behind Joshua and Joanna as they returned to the house. An idea was slowly brewing in his mind.

  TEN

  The Proposal

  On the third day of Bernard’s return, Joanna knew that she could not bear it for much longer. It was painful, loving a man who was out of her reach. She had thought that because of his religious faith, Bernard could look beyond her missing hand and see her as a full woman. She decided she would not wait for the month to be over, just for Bernard to tell her that he would not marry her.

  Instead, she would talk to him and tell him that she planned on leaving. Marriage was not for her after all. She had been foolish to think so, Joanna thought, as she stood by her bedroom window, the weak sun warming her face. In the distance, she spied Joshua running as fast as his legs could carry him and instantly, she panicked.

  He had gone off after breakfast with Bernard and now she feared something might have happened to Bernard. She made sure David was sound asleep in his cot and hurried out of the room, down the stairs and almost ran into Joshua.

  “Is everything all right? Where’s your father?” Joanna asked, aware that she was asking too many questions yet unable to stop.

  “Everything’s fine. Father wants to speak to you. Come, I’ll take you to where he is, after that I am to return to the house,” Joshua said.

  Joanna stared at him quizzically and noted his flushed face. She resisted asking any more questions and instead gave in to the tug of his hand on hers. Quickly she dashed into the house and asked Rhoda to keep an eye on the baby, before grabbing her shawl and going outside.

  “Can I ask you something Ms. Joanna?” Joshua said as they hurried through the grass.

  “Sure. You know you can ask me anything.”

  “Can I call you mama?” Joshua said.

  Joanna thought she had misheard. “You want to call me mama?”

  “Yes, you see I don’t have one and Jasper does and he calls his mother, mama,” Joshua explained earnestly.

  Joanna did not know what to say. Here she was planning to tell his father that she was leaving and Joshua was asking if she could be his mother. Tears welled up in her face. She could not bear to break his heart.

  “You can call me whatever name you wish Joshua,” she finally said.

  “Thank you mama,” Joshua said, testing the name on his tongue. “It sounds good, doesn’t it?”

  Joanna could not speak.

  “Where were you all morning?” she asked a few minutes later.

  “I can’t tell you. It’s a secret, but you’ll know soon. Father made me promise not to tell,” Joshua said.

  “In that case I’ll not ask you again. Are we almost there?”

  “Yes, it’s by the stream down the slope over there.”

  Joanna had never ventured this far out.

  “I have to go back now. You’ll find father there,” Joshua said and stopped.

  He was jumping from one foot to the other with barely suppressed excitement. Joanna was intrigued and her gloom lifted. She watched as he ran off and only turned when his form disappeared and she could see him near the house. She inhaled deeply and walked on, navigating the rocks carefully. She stopped short when Bernard came into view. She looked from his face to the ground. Bernard was kneeling next to wild flowers arranged to form a love sign. Her brain could not formulate what it all meant.

  “Joanna Hunter, will you do me the honor of becoming my wife?” Bernard asked.

  Joanna did not know what to say. She blurted out the first thing that came to her mind.

  “What about my missing arm?”

  Bernard looked surprised and his face dropped.

  “What about it?” he asked sounding completely confused.

  Holding her hand between his, he looked up at her again.

  “I’m sorry for my behavior. I had completely forgotten that your arm is missing. I’ve not paid attention to your the challenges of your mishap and for that I truly apologize. I promise to always keep that in mind, when planning any physical activities.”

  His words were the sweetest words Joanna had ever heard. He rose and stretched his hand out towards her missing arm. Panicked she backed away.

  “Don’t!” Joanna shouted in a shaky voice.

  Bernard looked at her, confusion written on his face.

  “Don’t what?”

  Joanna broke into a shrill laugh. This was all happening too fast.

  It was too good to be true. Why was Bernard doing this?

  “Don’t touch me,” she said taking a deep breath. “I know my missing arm respells you.” Before he could reply she continued, “Isn’t that why you’ve been so disagreeable to me, since the very first time we met.” She bit her lower lip.

  Bernard looked surprised and a bit taken aback. “What? You couldn’t be more wrong; your missing arm is just part of your intriguing package,” he said and then looked sheepish. “The truth is, my bad behavior was because I was jealous.” Joanna looked at him stunned.

  “When you speak to any man other than Henry, I feel envious and I’m sorry.”

  Joanna’s eyes opened wide. He was not repelled by her missing arm! Thank you Lord. Feeling hopeful for the first time in weeks she dared ask, “Jealous, why?”

  The thought of Bernard being jealous of any attention she gave another man seemed improbable, yet it pleased her. It was further proof that he saw her as a complete woman.

  “My wife ran off with another man. You bear a striking resemblance to her, though, as I’ve gotten to know you, I see how different the two of you are,” he confessed.

  “Having you here has shown me how different thinks can be between two people who want to build a home together.” He shifted uncomfortably on his feet.

  “No-one knows this, but David is not my son. His my dead wife’s child with her last lover.” Joanna was shocked to the core by his confession.

  It was clear the subject was still embarrassing for Bernard and still he had shared this with her. To take in the product of your wife’s dalliance without quibbling and then to go above and beyond and give him your name? Joanna’s heart melted on the spot.

  “Can you forgive me Joanna, for my oafish ways?”

  Joanna could have forgiven him anything. Then she frowned. “You really didn’t want another wife did you?”

  “I did, but I didn’t know it.” Solemnly he drew closer to her so they were only a handbreadth away. Without hesitation, he caressed her arm and lingered on the stump where her elbow use to be. The familiar ached that she always associated with her missing arm, did not appear.

  “I didn’t just want a wife, I need you Joanna. Please marry me,” he whispered caressing her stump as if it was the most natural thing in the world.

  Joanna let out the breath she had been holding. In that very moment she realized that ever since Tim had unceremoniously throw her aside, she had been waiting for this moment. Waiting to finally exhale.

  She looked in his eyes and knew that God’s promise of a family life and a little piece of heaven would be
fulfilled. Breathless she replied, “I say yes. I would be honored to be your wife Bernard Hayward.” Laughing she shakily added, “Though I don’t know how we’ll manage seeing as we exasperate each other.”

  “I don’t care about that. As long as we both know that we love each other,” Bernard replied with feeling.

  He then stretched out his hand, grabbed her and in one swift moved, pulled her into his arms. He cradled her in his protective embrace, like the most precious of gems.

  “You do love me, don’t you?” he whispered, as her inhaled the lavender soap scent of her hair.

  “More than you can imagine,” Joanna replied. Bernard felt like a huge weight had been lifted from his shoulders. He had no intention of ever letting her go. His arms wrapped tightly around his mail order treasure and he whispered, “I love you too my darling”.

  The End

  17. A Mail Order Nanny For the Awkward Banker

  TABLE OF CONTENTS

  ONE - An Urgent Message

  TWO - A Peculiar Encounter

  THREE - Meeting The Girls

  FOUR – A Secret Reveled

  FIVE - A New Town

  SIX - A Day Together

  SEVEN – Trouble Comes Knocking

  EIGHT – Rumors

  NINE – Never Say No

  EPILOGUE

  ONE

  An Urgent Message

  Ester Hughes sat on the narrow bed in her tiny room of a New York boardinghouse and tried not to feel despondent—but she could summon no other emotion. At eighteen years old, and newly liberated from the orphanage where she had spent the entire portion of her life that she could remember, she found herself devastatingly alone for the first time. The irony was so thick and bitter that she could almost taste it in her mouth. How many times had she lain awake on the lumpy mattress at St. Mary’s and wished on every star for independence, for her own life? Now she had it, but the world outside of those four walls wasn’t anything like she had so naively imagined.

  First of all, decent work was hard to come by, especially for a girl like Ester, whose life experience consisted of a single lonely place. She was an excellent housekeeper, and she had been schooled in etiquette by St. Mary’s troupe of sisters, but she had quickly learned that wealthy women in need of a maid preferred a girl with a family to vouch for her, and not just a host of stern but kindly nuns.

  Everywhere Ester went, she felt like an outcast, and the pressure of her own unrealized dreams was crushing. Sometimes when she returned to her room after an unproductive day of employment searching, she would throw herself down on the mattress and cry into the pillow for a while, just for the emotional release. Usually she felt better, if a little foolish. How could she expect to find her way in the world if even the smallest frustrations reduced her to tears?

  The cycle of Ester’s days felt bleak and never-ending. She craved some kind—any kind—of change. There was no love lost between Ester Hughes and New York City; she’d be happy to see it fading behind her. It was time for her to spread her wings and find her long-awaited place in the world; if it even existed. Her most fervent wish was that someone, somewhere, was waiting for her to come into their life. In her nightly prayers, she always made a point to emphasize her willingness to do whatever it took to gain a new opportunity.

  As far as she knew, Ester had never had a wish come true.

  That was about to change. The answer to her prayers was stuffed inside her mail slot on that very Monday morning, but to her, it looked like just a regular paper. She sat down and opened the wanted ads, pencil stub at the ready, and began her routine of scanning for anything she might be even half-qualified to do. At the bottom of the first column, her eye ran across a small notice she had never seen before, from a recruitment agency listed simply as the Help Wanted Recruitment Service. There was a mailing address below the name, and Ester quickly copied it down on a corner she tore from the paper.

  The address sat on her desk as she finished thumbing through the rest of the ads, and then she retrieved a good ink pen and a sheet of paper and wrote a short letter of inquiry.

  Dear Help Wanted Recruitment Agency:

  My name is Ester Hughes. I am writing in response to your advertisement in today’s paper. I am female, eighteen years of age, in good health, and looking for work. I have experience of housework, sewing duties, and child rearing. I am hopeful that your agency can provide me with some opportunity. Thank you.

  Sincerely,

  Ester H.

  To her, the tone of the note sounded at once too stilted and not formal enough, and she worried about it even as she made her way to the post office on the corner of her street to drop off the sealed envelope. She triple-checked the address on the front, to the mild bemusement of the clerk, then paid her postage and scurried away before she had time to change her mind. Back in the safety of her bedroom, she let a wide smile break across her face for the first time in ages. Logically, she knew the letter might not amount to anything at all, but the little thrill of reaching out, of taking that first step beyond the norm, sent a rush of adrenaline through her veins. She took the scrap of newsprint bearing the agency’s address and tucked it into the pocket of her skirt, to keep as a good luck charm until she heard back.

  The agency’s reply came a week later, and Ester could hardly wait to open it. She tore into the letter without regard for its envelope, unfolded the paper, and began to read.

  Dear Miss Hughes,

  We are glad to inform you that your letter came to us at a most opportune time. There is a newly available position as a nanny to a gentleman’s two young charges in Washington. The children are both girls, six and ten years of age. The client has requested that this position be filled as soon as possible, so please expedite your response. Help Wanted Recruitment Agency will pay all postage and travel expenses for the duration of your trip, should you accept.

  Sincerely,

  H.W.R.A.

  Ester felt as though she would burst from excitement. Here was the golden opportunity she’d been praying for! She took a moment to breathe and let her new reality sink in, then immediately penned her affirmative answer. She was practically skipping on her way to the post office this time. As she watched the envelope drop into the bin, it seemed like her whole destiny had just been set in place.

  Ester’s things were packed before she received her prepaid train ticket, marked for arrival in Washington. She could hardly believe that she, a girl who had never once set foot outside the streets of New York, was about to travel three thousand miles to a place that had been little more than a legend just a few days ago. But she felt no real sadness as she descended the uneven steps of the boardinghouse for the last time with her suitcase in hand; it hadn’t really been home to her. She stepped into a waiting coach and drove off without looking back.

  The ticket had come with a note about her contact in Washington: the man who had made the request for a nanny. He name was Jason Denver, a bachelor ten years her senior, and a banker in a small frontier town. Somewhat confusingly, he was not the father of the two girls in his care; rather, he had taken them on as a favor to an elderly patron of his bank, who had recently passed away. Ester had instantly felt pangs of sympathy for the children—no wonder Mr. Denver had marked the job as urgent! The two days of travel ahead of her might as well have been eternities. She’d already begun to think of the girls as her beloved charges, and she was desperate to reach them.

  TWO

  A Peculiar Encounter

  When Ester stepped out of the passenger car in Washington, two days after she had left New York behind, it was like entering a different world. The weather was cool and damp, and she was thankful that she had a shawl. Instead of dusty city streets clogged with horses and people, she found that the train station itself was the largest building in the vicinity, and most of what surrounded it was trees and grass. Above, the great grey bowl of the sky bore a face unmarred by smog.

  Ester’s heart beat faster. New York was nothing mo
re than a dream, now. Her excitement still mounted, but it had been tempered a bit by inevitable nerves. It wasn’t without trepidation that she left the platform and walked through the station to the front side, half expecting to find a lot full of nothing but strangers. What if Jason Denver hadn’t come to meet her? What if the entire thing was a fraud? She wasn’t concerned about the children; she was sure that if they indeed existed, they would be lovely.

  She looked around and for a moment she panicked. She did not see anyone who looked like they had come to pick up a stranger. She thought herself a fool, until a handsome, well-dressed man caught her wandering eye. He looked incredibly out of place, dressed as he was in a tailored suit, his hair carefully combed. He gave her a friendly smile as their gazes met. “Are you Miss Ester Hughes?” he asked.

  “Yes, that’s me.” She tried not to let her great relief show on her face. “You must be Mr. Denver?”

  “Please call me Jason,” he said. He glanced at her bag and looked like he wanted to remark on it, but thought better. “Here, let me take that. I’m sure you’re exhausted after such a long trip.”

  “It was certainly an experience,” she replied.

  He guided her over to a sleek, expensive-looking carriage, and helped her into the passenger’s seat. She smiled at him as he got in the driver’s side. “I’m so looking forward to meeting the girls.”

  “Ah, yes...the girls.” He chuckled a little. “I’m afraid I don’t have too much experience with children, myself. And they are rather precocious.”

  Ester had spent enough time around both children and parents to know that he meant they were badly behaved, at least as far as he was concerned. She stepped delicately around the issue. “Well, it was awfully kind of you to take them in.”