by Indiana Wake
The Pioneer Brides Hearts & Love
Mail Order Bride
Sixteen-Book Box Set
Indiana Wake
&
Belle Fiffer
©Copyright 2015 Indiana Wake & Belle Fiffer
All Rights Reserved
Copyright ©2015 by Indiana Wake & Belle Fiffer
All rights reserved.
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Table of Contents
Table of Contents
The Rival Bride
Letters of Love
The Mail Order Husband
The Japanese Bride
The Not Quite Mail Order Bride
The Rescued Bride
A Wild Angel for a Lonely Farmer
The Big Beautiful Mail Order Bride
Wheels to Happiness.
Two Big Beautiful Brides for Two Bad Brothers
Saved by the Rancher
The Scarred Bride and the Handsome Rancher
The Widowed, Pregnant, & Beaten Bride Saved by the Chivalrous Cowboy
A Big Beautiful Bride for a Broken Hearted Rancher
The Stubborn Bride Promised to the Rancher
The Stolen Bride Saves the Rancher
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About the Authors
The Rival Bride
Indiana Wake
Chapter 1
1886
Kristine stood at the window and stared out at the streaming rain. The streetlights shimmered on the expanding puddles and on the dark shapes hurrying home to their suppers. She wished she could be out there splashing through puddles and peering out from behind dripping hair. She wished she had a home, a real one, not this elegant illusion.
“You understand, don’t you?” Her father’s whining scraped her nerves raw. “I didn’t have a choice, Krissy-love. If I don’t pay off the debts, we will lose everything, our home, our horses, and carriage. There would be no money to keep your sisters in their finishing school.”
And that was the whole problem. Kristine wrapped her fingers around the amber cross that hung from her slender neck. That was the reason she was compelled to agree to his outrageous agreement. Keeping her sisters in school had become her goal in life. She would do anything to keep them from seeing what a miserable excuse for a human their father was.
But she didn’t have to make it easy for him. She turned to face him.
“No choice, father? Surely, you had the choice to stay away from the gambling hall. Surely, you could have refused the liquor they offered you.” Kristine lowered her voice to a whisper, but he cringed at her words just the same. “Surely, you could have done those things rather than sell your daughter to the highest bidder.”
“But Krissy-love . . .”
“Don’t call me that!” Her voice cracked like a whip. Kristine took a deep breath to regain her poise. “You will not ever use that name again. You lost the right to use it when you sold me to pay off your gambling debts. I will agree to do this, but not for you. I will do this for Patricia and Courtney. In return, you will grant me custody of them. You will no longer have the ability to use them against me, or heaven forbid, to sell them off to pay your next round of debts.” She took a step closer to the cringing man. “In fact, Charles, you will have no daughters. You will have no one but yourself and your guilt.”
Kristine gathered her full skirt in one hand and walked serenely from her father’s study. It wasn’t until she reached the safety of her own room that she let herself react to the blow. Flinging herself onto the bed, she let the tears come and soak the coverlet.
How could he do this to her? How could a father, weak and useless as he was give his own daughter up in exchange for the payment of his gambling debts? She could refuse. Should she refuse? The temptation was great but what would happen to her sisters if one of them had to go in her place. What would her mother think if she were to abandon her sisters? What would God think?
Patricia had just turned eighteen and was as faithful as she was tenderhearted. Petite and curvy, with golden curls the color of honey and eyes blue as the summer sky, young men already competed for her favor at dances and church socials. She smiled sweetly at them all. A marriage without love would crush her poet’s soul more thoroughly than a wildflower in the hands of a child.
Courtney, at seventeen, would fare no better. Slender and willowy, her chestnut hair and green eyes had no interest in boys except as partners in mischief. Full of fun and stubborn in her strong opinions, she would smother if trapped in a life that offered no hope of joy.
No, it fell to Kristine, the strong one, the practical one, to offer up her life in sacrifice for her younger sisters. No more would she dream of tender glances and a fluttering heart. No more would she dream of shy kisses from a man who would offer his heart on bended knee. No more would she dream of a long life of enduring love with a man who would stand by her through the hard times as well as the good.
Instead, she would leave her family and marry a man who wanted nothing beyond a mother for his daughter. A widower whose heart lay buried deep with his first wife. A man with no love left to give.
So Kristine wept for the loss of dreams.
For the loss of hope.
For the loss of love.
Chapter 2
The train pulled into the Denver station and slowed to a stop. A blast of steam billowed up to obscure the platform and the people on it. Kristine checked her reflection in the window making sure every hair was in place, her hat tilted at just the right angle, and her face showed none of the anguish in her heart.
Secure that all her armor was in place, she stood and made her way down the aisle to the door. She could feel the eyes of every man in the car following her. As the only woman traveling alone, she had grown accustomed to the stares. Unable to do anything else, she retained her dignity and ignored them.
Accepting the hand of the porter standing on the platform, Kristine stepped down and peered through the dissipating mist. A cluster of faces stared back. She had no idea what her future husband looked like, but some she could dismiss out of hand.
Most were too poor and shabby looking to have the means to pay her father’s debt. Of the rest, most were too old to have a child still in need of a mother. One man stood out from the rest.
He had the classic good looks and brooding eyes of a Michelangelo sculpture. Dark hair waved away from a wide forehead and strong cheekbones balanced a square jaw. The man stood military straight and his frock coat and starched shirt looked newly pressed. He looked miserably uncomfort
able.
It took a moment to see the little face peeking out from behind his coattails. The pale features and woebegone expression of a little girl about four years old captured her heart. A small hand gripped the edge of the man’s coat and his much larger one covered it.
It seemed as though she had found her new family. Kristine took a breath, deep as her corset would allow, and walked over to the sad-eyed pair. The man’s eyes latched on to hers and for a moment, the sorrow in them nearly overwhelmed her. How was she to survive beside such grief?
She turned her gaze to the child who stared up at her. There, curiosity mingled with the unhappiness.
“Hello, my name is Kristine.” She put her hand out to greet the girl but pulled it back when she shrank away. “I had not expected to find such a pretty girl waiting for me when I got off the train. What is your name?”
The girl turned wide eyes toward her father who gestured for her to go on. Looking back at Kristine, the girl buried her face in her father’s coattails.
“Her name is Marian.” The man sighed. “I am Robert Miller. We have been waiting for you.” He began walking toward the baggage car with Marian clinging to his hand. “Do you have your baggage check? The quicker we are finished, the better. My daughter doesn’t do well in crowds.”
Kristine handed him her claim ticket and watched him go to a porter and arrange to have it delivered. She tried to get a sense of the kind of man he was by the last few minutes. It was obvious that he was very protective of his daughter, which was why Kristine was there after all. Beyond that, he carried himself well and spoke with authority.
In all, it was hardly enough to draw any real conclusions but at the very least, it spoke well of his character.
“The carriage is this way if you please.” Robert led the way through the crowded station with Marian close to his side. Kristine trailed along behind, frowning.
This was not a good beginning.
The carriage was comfortable and the ride short, but it was long enough for the silence to chafe. She would hold her tongue in front of the child, but purchased wife or not, she would not be commanded like a servant.
When the carriage drew up to the house, Kristine barely spared it a glance. She was focused on what she would say to this man who had taken control of her life. The carriage stopped at the foot of a wide marble staircase that led up to a columned veranda. A waiting footman opened the door and let down the step then stood to the side as Robert got out.
After lifting Marian to the ground, he offered a hand to Kristine, which she accepted but accompanied it with a cool look. “I would like to speak to you in private, if I may.”
Robert acknowledged the request with a lifted eyebrow. “It is time for Marian to rest before dinner. I will meet you in the library when I get her settled.” Again, father and daughter walked away together, leaving Kristine to follow.
Chapter 3
Kristine paced across the carpeted floor of the library. The beauty of her surroundings was unseen as the time ticked slowly passed. Where was he? How could he treat her like this? The temper she was usually able to keep under tight wraps strained her control when Robert joined her nearly an hour later.
“Mr. Miller,” she said and the sharp tone of her voice drew his eye. “My father gave me to understand that in exchange for enough money to clear his current debt, you wanted a wife. Is that correct?” Kristine kept her hands folded neatly at her waist no matter how badly she wanted to clench them together. The green silk was rough from wear, and far from new, but she kept her shoulders straight, her chin up and her pride intact.
“I have no idea how your father chose to spend the money I sent him. Nor were you part of the original bargain.”
What was he saying? Kristine felt her heart, already beaten and bruised shatter before his words. How cruel was her father, had she left home and come all this way for nothing?
“He wrote to me asking for a loan. Somehow, he had heard of my wife’s untimely death and mentioned that he had three daughters himself. He spoke of how horrible it had been to watch them grow up with no mother. Then he suggested I find a mother for Marian before she became too aware of the lack.”
Robert moved to stand beside the fireplace and stared down at the flames dancing along the edges of the logs. “Miss Harris, I am a man of means, but I don’t have the slightest clue how to raise a daughter. We have muddled along together well enough in the last few months, but eventually she will need a woman to help her find her way through society. A woman that is not a paid servant but with a vested interest in her future. Your father’s suggestion, followed by a listing of your qualities caught me at a weak moment.”
The explanation and the pain in his voice cooled her anger. “My father offered me to you?”
“Nothing so blatant as that. It was more that he made the suggestion that Marian should have a mother, and then followed up with how perfect his eldest daughter would be to fill that position. Of course, he failed to mention your temper and outspoken nature.” Robert smiled for the first time since they had met. It didn’t quite reach his eyes but was potent enough that she would have to guard her heart well.
“I will not force you to marry me, Miss Harris. I think perhaps your father manipulated us both.” Robert came to stand before her and waited until she looked up into his sad brown eyes.
“I did not think about marrying again after Elizabeth died. I couldn’t bear to think of another woman in the first stages of my grief.” A look of anguish crossed his face almost too quickly to see.
“However, Charles was right about one thing, Marian will need a mother. You have the beauty and graciousness to be a hostess for my home. More importantly, you have the strength and spirit that I would like my daughter to acquire. You may have noticed how shy and timid she is. The position of Marian’s mother and my wife remain open. Since you are here anyway, would you like the job?”
“I don’t know.” Kristine turned away from him and walked to the window. Mountains rose up in the distance, their peaks streaked with early snow. They seemed so strong, so unchangeable. If only she could draw on that power for herself. But she was on her own.
“I can’t promise you a true marriage, my heart still belongs to Elizabeth. I can promise you a good home, a secure income, and friendly companionship.” Robert spoke softly. “It isn’t much to offer a young woman of your sensibilities.”
“It is a great deal after having lived with my father. He offered none of those things.” Kristine stared at the unshakeable mountains. Yes, she had dreamed of love, but was this such a bad alternative? She would be living with a good man and perhaps have the opportunity to help her sisters as well. Would Robert allow her sisters to come and live here? “May I make one request first?”
“Of course. I will grant whatever is in my power.”
Kristine turned to face him. Orange flames licked the half-burned logs in the fireplace painting him with a warm glow. “I have two younger sisters. I made father promise to make me their guardian when I agreed to come out here. However, I don’t trust him to honor that if I am here and they are back East. Patricia will graduate from finishing school this spring and Courtney will do the same next year. Would you be willing to let them join us out here?”
“That is a big request.” Robert stroked his chin thoughtfully. “Are you sure they would want to leave everything behind to live here. We lack many of the conveniences of the big Eastern cities.”
“Honestly, I don’t know. I have tried to make sure they spend as much time at school as possible so I don’t know them as well as I once did. I hope they would be willing to join me. It is beautiful out here.”
Robert smiled. “You haven’t seen the best of it yet. I propose a test. Invite your sisters, to our wedding. Let them stay a few weeks to see how they like it. Then we can propose the change of scenery to them.”
Something inside Kristine softened. She could not have come up with a better plan herself. “That would be perfect.�
�
“I’m glad. You are doing a great thing for Marian and I, and I would go to great lengths to see you happy. However, it will be some days before they can join us. If you are agreeable, I would like to take you to a friend’s house where you can stay until we are properly wed.” Robert smiled and it lit up his eyes.
Kristine caught her breath, a potent smile indeed.
Chapter 4
The friends turned out to be a couple from Robert’s church. They were thrilled to accommodate her and insisted on throwing a party for them. Their hostess spoke of it the next morning as she and Kristine waited for Robert and Marian to come calling. Kristine listened with half an ear as she forced herself not to fidget. This would be her first real meeting with Marian, would her future stepdaughter like her?
“Oh my dear, I can’t tell you how glad we are that dear Robert is marrying again.” Juliette gushed. “The poor man was so desolate when his wife passed, and that poor motherless child.”
Her hostess clucked her tongue with sympathy. And Kristine glanced over. She remembered people clucking over her and her sisters after her mother died. How she had hated that sound.
“I imagine it is particularly hard to lose a mother so young. But then, you will become her mother in a few days and all will be well.” Juliette rose and went to the window at the sound of a carriage. “Ah, they’re here. Such a sweet child and well behaved too.”
As the morning progressed, Kristine had no luck in drawing the girl into conversation until she asked Marian to show her the garden. Once away from her father’s presence, his daughter brightened considerably. She even skipped down the walkway stopping to sniff a late-blooming rose. Kristine followed her. Marian slipped her hand into Kristine’s and held on as they walked on.