Orphan Train Romance Series: Five Books in One! (Clean Western Historical Romances)

by Zoe Matthews

  Maybe if I accepted this housekeeping position, Luke and I can get to know each other better. Then maybe he will change his mind about marrying me, Anna thought to herself. She felt she needed to give Luke a chance to get used to the idea of marrying her before she made any other plans. She refused to admit to herself that she felt a slight relief when Alex confessed he wasn’t his brother, Luke. When Anna first saw him, she recognized deep inside that she had had an instant attraction to him, but she had come to marry Luke. Anna wanted to meet Luke personally and hear straight from Luke himself whether he wanted to marry her or not before she made other plans.

  “Where would I sleep, if I accepted your offer?” Anna finally asked. “Is there only the house you share with your brothers?”

  “Our ranch is set up a bit different from others you might have seen,” Alex explained. “The main ranch house is where we eat and spend time together. There are two bedrooms in the back and a large kitchen and sitting area in the front. Right now, Paul and I sleep in the main house. There is a smaller house that we built very close to the main house for Luke when he married. It is just a large room he basically uses to sleep in. Everyone eats at the main house. I am in the process of building my own small house to live in. I think you could sleep in the main house with Sage. Paul and I can move into Luke’s small home.”

  “Are you sure Luke won’t mind me sleeping in the main house with Sage?”

  “Nah,” Alex drawled. “It will be good for Sage to have a woman around the house again.”

  “I think I will accept your offer,” Anna finally decided. “I would like to meet Luke. Maybe if we got to know each other, he will change his mind about marrying me.”

  Alex hesitated at her words. “I wouldn’t count on that happening.”

  “I came here to marry him. I feel I need to try to honor that commitment before I make any other plans,” Anna tried to explain what she was feeling.

  Alex looked like he wanted to argue with her, but then changed the subject. “Are you finished eating? It takes a little over two hours to get to the ranch, so we had better head out soon.”

  Anna quickly took the last few bites of her pie and stood up, letting Alex know she was ready to go.

  They left the restaurant. The wagon was still parked near the train station, but since the hotel was nearby, they were soon at the wagon and Alex helped her into the wagon.

  The ride to the ranch seemed very long. Anna tried very hard to stay awake, but she kept falling asleep while she was sitting up. She had received very little sleep on the train. Alex finally stopped the wagon and arranged some blankets in the back for her to lie on and she instantly fell asleep.

  CHAPTER 5

  Alex stopped the wagon about a mile away from the ranch house. He figured he should wake up Anna before they arrived. It had been a long drive back from town and he had had a lot of time to think. He had enjoyed writing the letters to Anna over the past few months, even though he had written them for Luke. He had seen a little bit of her personality in the letters and how she had risen above the events that had happened in her childhood.

  She had told him a little about her years in the orphanage and her decision to travel on an orphan train to be placed in a family. He thought that was very brave of her. She had explained that she had been placed in a family who had not been very warm or loving to her and who basically had taken her in because of her willingness to work in their store. Since she had become an adult, she had made the decision again to become a mail-order bride to better her life. Not many women would choose to do that.

  “We should be at the ranch in a few minutes,” Alex explained. “I figured you might want to know.”

  He watched as Anna sat up from her makeshift bed in the wagon and looked around, blinking sleep from her green eyes. He felt a tiny twist in his gut as he looked at her. She was very beautiful. She had auburn hair that she had braided and twisted into a bun, but it looked like a strong wind would blow it down. He could tell she had a natural curl to her hair by some of the hair that escaped the bun. She had a few freckles that were scattered on her nose and cheeks. Her dress was a nondescript brown color and wrinkled, along with a slightly sour smell, which he knew would have been caused by traveling on the train, but he still thought she was the most beautiful woman he had ever seen.

  “Thanks for letting me know,” Anna was saying as she jumped down from the wagon to climb into the front seat.

  Alex helped Anna up into the front seat of the wagon and he continued the horses on.

  “Tell me about your ranch,” Anna invited. Alex was glad she was showing interest in the ranch even though she might not be staying.

  “Our ranch is named Big Spring Ranch. It is named for a small river that winds throughout our land. We own a number of acres. Our father and two of his brothers came out here during the time the US government was giving away free land. They each chose plots that were next to each other.

  “My father was the only one who stuck with it. It is hard to live out here. This part of Montana tends to have short summers and long cold winters. As my father’s brothers went off to find another way of life, he was able to purchase their land. He passed the ranch to Luke, Paul and I.”

  “So all three of you run it together?” Anna questioned. She had heard stories of brothers fighting against brothers in similar situations.

  “Yes. We all get along, for the most part. We each have our own jobs to do, so that helps. There is plenty of land to share and we are doing all right financially. It’s working for us.”

  “What is Luke’s job?” Anna asked.

  Alex looked at her sharply and felt a disappointment that she was still thinking Luke was going to marry her when he knew it was unlikely. When Luke made a decision, he rarely changed it. He reluctantly answered.

  “Luke is over moving the cattle from one part of the ranch to another. He sometimes will spend days up in the mountains with the cattle to make sure they are cared for. Paul is in charge of doing the cattle drives and getting the herds to market. He is also over… breeding.” Alex felt his ears turn red and wished he hadn’t brought up that tidbit. She was a lady, after all.

  He quickly continued. “I work with the horses, mostly. We need good cattle horses and I train them. We sometimes can find wild horses in the mountains on our ranch which we catch and train. We also sell trained cattle horses to other ranchers in the western states. We all help each other when needed. It seems to work for us.”

  “It seems like a lot of work for three men,” Anna commented as she looked around. A smile covered her face as if she liked what she saw.

  “We have at least ten men working for us all the time. We also hire many men to help with the cattle drives.”

  Alex pulled the wagon in front of a large barn and jumped down. He saw Curly, one of their hired hands, come out of the barn wiping his hands on a cloth.

  “I can take of the horses for you, Alex,” Curly offered and Alex nodded his agreement. He quickly helped Anna down and directed Curly to get someone to carry her trunk to the house.

  Anna walked quickly ahead of him and she arrived at the front screen door before Alex could get there. She walking around the porch as she looked at the furniture that been placed there. There were some chairs and a bench on the porch that were used to relax in at the end of a hard day. He watched her bend down to touch the bench and brush away some dust off the seat.

  She then stood up and walked to the front door. “I’m ready,” she said the words as if she seemed to know the coming conversation might not be pleasant.

  Alex opened the door to let her inside where chaos was reigning.

  Sage was rubbing her eyes and crying. Luke was at the stove trying to cook something. Whatever it was, it was burning because there was blackish gray smoke spewing from the pan. Paul was wiping a spill off the table and trying to figure out why Sage was crying at the same time.

  “We’re back,” Alex announced and pushed Anna ahead of him into
the kitchen.

  “Finally!” Luke growled keeping his back to Alex. “What took you so long? Why did you take the wagon instead of a horse? You weren’t picking up anything, just sending the woman back.”

  Sage stopped crying and Paul froze when he saw Anna. Luke must have noticed the crying and chaos had stopped for some reason, for he turned around.

  “This is Anna Blake,” Alex quickly introduced her. “She has agreed to…”

  “You brought her here?” Luke roared. “I told you to send her back. I don’t want to marry her!”

  Anna stepped back a few steps and bumped into Alex’s chest at Luke’s harsh words.

  “Luke, let’s discuss this rationally,” Paul quickly said. “You’re scaring Miss Blake.”

  Sage had gotten down from her chair and walked up to Anna.

  “Who are you?” the little girl asked. Alex watched as Anna bent down to her level.

  “I am Anna Blake,” Anna introduced herself to the girl and in doing so, officially introduced herself to the other men in the room.

  “Can you cook?” Sage asked her as she grabbed Anna’s hand with a sticky fist.

  Anna did not flinch at the jam that stuck to her hand, but answered the child calmly. “I actually can. Maybe your dad would like some help with dinner?”

  Alex felt his chest clutch again as he watched how kind she was to Sage. The little girl looked quite grubby. Her hair looked like it had not been brushed in days and her dress was dirty and torn. These things did not seem to bother Anna, however.

  Luke glared at Alex. “Outside, now!”

  Alex sighed, but followed his oldest brother outside. Maybe it would be better if they had this conversation away from Anna. He hoped he could convince Luke that they could use Anna’s help. But whatever Luke wanted, Alex was not going to send her back.

  “What are you thinking?” Luke yelled when they were outside and had walked a few feet away. “I told you I don’t want another wife!”

  Alex started to grow angry. “Do you realize that all you do is yell at everyone? I know it’s been hard since Pamela died, but you are taking your anger out on me and Paul and you are starting to do it to Sage, too. It’s got to stop.”

  “Well, maybe I am just sick and tired of you just doing what you want. You go and send for a wife without informing me, and then when I specifically tell you I don’t want a new wife and to send her back, you deliberately disregard my wishes and bring the woman here!”

  “You don’t have to marry her, but she can’t go back to Texas to the circumstances she left, and I refuse to force her to. We need some help. You know things have been crazy since the last housekeeper left. I hired Anna. She can cook our meals and keep things clean in the main house and help care for Sage. You know it would be better for your daughter to be around another woman.”

  “You can’t just hire…” Luke started to say when Alex interrupted him.

  “You are not the only one who makes the decisions around here. I have hired her and she has a job unless she proves to us she can’t do it or she chooses to leave. It’s up to you to decide if you want her help with Sage or not.”

  Luke sighed and ran his hand through his dark hair, making it stand up straight which made him look like a wild angry man. “Where is she going to sleep?”

  Alex hoped Luke would agree to this part. “I told her she could sleep in the main house with Sage. Paul and I will sleep in your house.”

  “You want me to allow my daughter to sleep in a house with a woman I don’t even know? What if she hates kids?”

  “You saw yourself how kind she was to Sage in the kitchen just now. Other women might have pushed her away because of her sticky hands and dirty face. She came to marry you. She knew you had a daughter.”

  “What did you tell her about us?” Luke looked at him in disbelief. “I can’t believe you went behind my back and wrote to a woman about…” Luke ran his hand through his hair in frustration again. “Never mind. Do what you want, since that was what you just did anyway. I am going to the north pasture and moving those cattle deeper into the mountains. I will be gone a week.”

  Alex watched as Luke strode to the barn continuing to show his anger with every step. He sighed with sadness and stood where he was, looking around the ranch. I guess sending for a wife was a dumb idea, he thought. He had just wanted to see Luke happy again. His anger was affecting everyone on the ranch, including the ranch hands. A few men had quit because of how Luke treated them. He noticed that sometimes the men would draw straws to see who had to work with him. He hoped a week off in the mountains by himself would help get him back on tract.

  He turned, walked back into the house, and was pleasantly surprised with what he saw. The spill had been cleaned up from the table. Sage was sitting calmly on her chair with a clean face munching on a raw carrot. Anna was at the counter mixing something in a large bowl and whatever had been burning on the stove had either removed or fixed into something that smelled good. Paul was leaning against the other end of the wooden counter and he was talking to Anna as if they were old friends.

  Anna stopped talking when she saw Alex and her smile dimmed. Alex wished he could tell her Luke changed his mind.

  ***

  After Alex had left the house with Luke, Anna had quickly gotten things under control in the kitchen. Sage had stopped crying when her face had been washed and she had been given something to eat. Anna was able to find a semi-clean cloth and quickly wiped down the spills off the table and counter which revealed nicely treated wood surfaces. She looked into the charred remains that Luke had been cooking and could see sliced onions, potatoes and carrots that he had been trying to fry. She scrapped off the top into another pan, then added water and a piece of salt pork and started the mixture cooking to make a quick stew. Paul started up a friendly conversation, avoiding the real reason why she was there in the kitchen, and she enjoyed talking with him. She was mixing up a batch of biscuits when Alex entered the kitchen.

  She stopped her mixing and set the bowl on the counter. Alex’s face was unreadable and so she couldn’t guess what he was going to say. Would she be able to stay? She really hoped she could be able to stay for at least a few weeks. She had already fallen in love with Sage. She was a sweet little girl who desperately needed a woman’s attention and care. She could tell the three bachelors were doing their best with her, but she needed better care.

  She also liked what she saw of the ranch. This was beautiful country and she wanted to be able to have some time to explore the land and mountains nearby.

  “Luke is going to move those cattle from the far north pasture deeper into the mountains,” Alex looked at Paul while he spoke. “He’ll be gone for a week or so.”

  He then looked at Anna. “My offer still stands. If you would like, we will hire you to be our housekeeper. You can stay here in the main house with Sage. Paul and I will move into Luke’s until I can get my own house finished.”

  Anna smiled at him with relief. “Oh, thank you so much. I promise you I will do my best. You won’t regret this.”

  “You have already made a difference,” Paul complimented her, letting her know he had noticed the improvement in the kitchen and he approved of her staying. “Sage is happy and we get biscuits for dinner.” He smiled at her and she smiled back.

  Anna quickly started mixing the dough again. “Dinner should be ready in about 30 minutes.”

  ****

  Dinner was simple, but Anna could tell Alex and Paul enjoyed it because there was nothing left when the meal was over. Even Sage asked for a second biscuit which seemed to surprise the men and Alex quickly handed her another one. Luke stopped in briefly to give Alex and Paul a few instructions of where he would be. He then kissed Sage on her head, instructed her to be good, and that he would be back in a few days. He refused to look at Anna, but she did not care. For now, she had a job and a place to stay, and she did not have to go back to Texas.

  Later than night, after the men had left
to go sleep in the nearby house and she had tucked Sage into a bed that was at least somewhat clean, she went into the other bedroom across the hall and attempted to clean the bed up the best she could. She slipped on her nightgown and crawled into bed. She hoped she would be able to fall asleep quickly because Alex had mentioned that they usually ate breakfast at 5:30 in the morning.

  She wasn’t tired though, probably because of the long nap she had taken in the wagon, so she started to think about her day. She noted that Sage did not seem upset when her father left. Either she was used to her father not being home or she wasn’t close to him. This thought made Anna feel a little sad. She had never had a father who loved her and she hoped she could help Luke and Sage have a relationship like she had never had. She hoped she could make a difference while she was here.

  Anna still felt like she needed to give Luke a chance. She felt that due to the circumstances in how Luke found out about her, that maybe he just needed some time to think about the situation and then maybe he would change his mind. Maybe he would consider at least getting to know her when he returned from the mountains. She had come to Montana to marry him and she did not want to disregard that option until she knew for sure he really did not want to marry her.