“I stay,” Mae said to her father, shooting an impish grin at him. Adorable. Irresistible.
Jem hesitated, clearly torn. If he went on his own, Annie figured he could move much faster, going from car to car. But he probably didn’t want to leave her alone with Annie. Not that she blamed him. What did he know about her, a stranger?
Finally he seemed to come to a decision, for he heaved out a breath and squared his shoulders.
“All right then, stay,” he said. “I’ll see if I can find the porter.” Before he left, he leaned down and whispered in Annie’s ear, his beard tickling her cheek. His nearness stirred up a strange awareness in her, not entirely unpleasant, not like when Danny tried to sidle up next to her. With Jem it was more like bacon sizzling nicely in a fry pan, even with that furry beard and the hat pulled down low over his eyes. Maybe because she’d decided she could trust him.
“If he comes by here—finds you—you need to stay put,” he said, an order. He was obviously used to be listened to. “Don’t even look at him. He has no rights over you. Understand?”
She nodded, surprised. He was worried about her?
“If he tries to touch you or Mae or the dog, I want you to scream as loud as you can and don’t stop. Can you do that—can you scream?”
She nodded, embarrassed that he had to ask. She could make any number of truly awful screeching noises, loud as could be if she needed to.
“Okay, good. I don’t think he’ll try anything here on the train, not really. Too many people. But it doesn’t hurt to be prepared.” He stood and took an assessing look around their car. Apparently satisfied, he told Mae, “You wait here.” He glanced down at Annie again to get her commitment to stand watch over his daughter. She sat up straighter and nodded.
He hesitated, clearly torn.
Annie tried to fix her most trustworthy face on. Go on. She waved him away. I’ll watch the wee one.
Maybe it was hard to trust her in all her filth—or maybe he was still worried about the man coming to look for them—because he hesitated one more moment. Then he stalked off, as if intent on getting where he was going and back as quickly as possible. She saw him disappear through the connecting door to the next car up.
It wasn’t fifteen minutes, maybe twenty at the most, and he was back again. He held up his prize: one wrinkled red apple, two hunks of cheese, and a packet of soda crackers. He also had a large silver flask of what she hoped was cold, clear water to share.
Annie’s mouth watered, just thinking about cheese.
She watched as Jem sat back next to Mae and handed her the apple straight off. So the apple was out of the offing. Gone to a hungry little girl. That was fair.
Mae didn’t even wait for grace to be said. She bit down into that apple and chewed, an expression of relieved delight crossing her face. The apple must not have been too dry, for juice dripped down her chin. She didn’t bother to wipe it off—she just took another bite. More juice dribbled down onto her dress. Her white pinafore was nearly as dirty as Annie’s dress from playing in the dirt, but a small child could be excused for that. A child on a long train journey, anyway.
Annie didn’t have that luxury. She was all too aware of the glances still being slung her way. Her appearance was one thing, but then add to that the fact that she’d just newly come onboard. They’d been traveling with this man and his child for who knows how many days. They all knew he hadn’t been traveling with a woman. None of them would have dreamed he’d married at the last stop—just like that—and least likely to a woman like her. What on earth did they think she was? She didn’t dare consider it.
Jem handed one of the hunks of cheese across to her, and she made an effort not to grab it from him and shove the whole thing in her mouth. She was that hungry. Instead, she nibbled at it, making it last, and watched with greatest interest as he opened up the packet of crackers. He passed her four, which she took gratefully. Gave two to the puppy, who gobbled them down right quick. Two more he sat on his knee, presumably for Mae, and then he broke pieces off the other hunk of cheese and set them atop his remaining crackers, downing them one by one. It wasn’t nearly enough for a man his size, she guessed, but he wasn’t complaining any. As soon as Mae finished her apple, he took the core from her and passed her one of the remaining crackers with a piece of cheese on it. She munched that down and looked to him immediately for another, the last one.
He gave it to her, then showed her his empty hands.
She frowned. “More?”
“No more,” he said, and showed her his empty hands again, making a bigger gesture out of it, as if the little girl was accusing him of hiding some.
If Annie weren’t so intent on eating her share of cheese and crackers she might have smiled at the sight of them, one of the most dangerous men she’d ever seen sitting side by side with that tiny little girl. They made quite a mismatched pair.
Mae looked over at Annie, down at the last cracker in her hand and the last bit of cheese.
Annie gulped down the mouthful she was chewing. She looked down at the last of her meal and back at the little girl. To her shame, she didn’t want to give up her last cracker. She could barely remember the last meal she’d eaten.
“That’s Annie’s food,” Jem admonished the little girl. “You’ve had yours.”
Mae bit her lip. She glanced down at her lap, then back at Annie again, clearly torn.
I can share, Annie attempted to tell Mae with her eyes alone. She snapped her last cracker in half—simply unable to bear parting with the whole thing—and passed it across to the little girl. She took it and popped the whole thing in her mouth, making Annie smile.
“Mae!” her father said.
She looked at him wide-eyed, her mouth full of cracker. “Whaf dafdda?” she said, muffled and spraying a few cracker crumbs onto his pant leg.
He closed his eyes briefly and brushed off his leg. “You didn’t have to give her any,” he said to Annie, “but thanks.”
Annie grunted, her way of saying she didn’t mind that much. She looked down quickly and finished her last bit of food. The crackers had been crispy and the cheese silky and smooth. They’d tasted like heaven.
She drank deep when he passed the flask of water, amazed he’d let her drink from it. She tried her best to pour it down her throat without touching her lips to the flask, so he wouldn’t regret giving it to someone so dirty.
She wished she could tell him thanks, but after his own swallow, he was back under his hat, likely going over the events of the day: how he’d stuck himself with her, how he probably regretting even stepping off the train at the last stop.
She couldn’t say she blamed him.
She hadn’t much wanted to marry a stranger herself.
***
Let me know when The Bartered Bride is available.
I’d like to buy The Unexpected Bride for my Kindle.
ALSO BY LENA GOLDFINCH
THE BRIDES
The Unexpected Bride (The Brides Book 1)
Sleigh Bells & Mistletoe: A Short Story (The Brides Series 1.5)
The Bartered Bride (The Brides Book 2)—A work in progress
ROMANCE FOR ADULTS & TEENS
Songstone
Aire
The Language of Souls
BOOKS FOR TEENS
Haunting Joy
Chain Reaction: A Short Story (Prequel to Haunting Joy)
Haunting Melody (Sequel to Haunting Joy)—A work in progress
Take a Picture: A Novelette
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
LENA GOLDFINCH writes sweet historical romance and books for teens. She’s always been a sucker for a good old-fashioned romance, whether it’s a novel or short story, young adult or adult, fantasy or realistic, contemporary or historical. Lena has been a finalist in several national writing contests, including the RWA Golden Heart and ACFW Genesis contests. She enjoys life in a quiet, small-town with her husband, two kids, and a very spoiled Black Lab.
You can
reach me at [email protected] or visit me at www.LenaGoldfinch.com.
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ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
With love and appreciation to all my family and friends. Sorry in advance for anything I’ll burn or overcook in the oven this Christmas—and for all the holidays to come. ;)
To my editor, Amber Stokes, for your help getting the story out the door in time for Christmas. For your excellent editing (any remaining errors are my own) and your continuing friendship and encouragement. May you have a joyous Christmas and New Years, filled with joy, peace, and the company of friends and family!
Many thanks to my beta readers, Kim Hanson and Thyra Root, for your friendship, support, and encouragement!
With love to Jeanie Shaw, who shares my passion for writing. Thank you for your enthusiasm and support.
Lots of love to Eliza and Evan. Wishing you many blessings.
As always, all my love to my wonderful husband, Paul. Your love and support are always my favorite Christmas gifts.
Merry Christmas to all!
This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, and incidents either are the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously, and any resemblance to actual events or persons living or dead is entirely coincidental.
Sleigh Bells & Mistletoe
Copyright © 2014
Charlene Goldfinch Glatkowski
Excerpt from The Bartered Bride
Copyright © 2014
Charlene Goldfinch Glatkowski
All scripture quotations are from THE HOLY BIBLE: NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION ® (NIV ®) © 1973, 1978, 1984 by Biblica. All rights reserved worldwide.
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be used or reproduced in any manner whatsoever without written permission of the author, except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles or reviews.
Published by Indigo Road Publishing
Cover images: ©Paolo Airenti (Winter Scene) | ©Nadia Star (Horses)
* “Jingle Bells,” Original Title: "The One Horse Open Sleigh," Words & Music: James Lord Pierpont (1822-1893), Copyright © 1857, 1859, Public Domain.
Table of Contents
DEDICATION
ONE
TWO
THREE
FOUR
EXCERPT FROM THE BARTERED BRIDE
ALSO BY LENA GOLDFINCH
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
Sleigh Bells & Mistletoe: A Short Story (The Brides Series 1.5) Page 7