The Christmas Mail Order Bride (Holiday Mail Order Brides, Book One) (4 page)

What are you afraid of Riley?  Really, what is it?

“I’m sorry you haven’t been yourself.  I know this arrangemen
t isn’t the usual way it’s done,” she said then added, “Why, we didn’t even get the chance to exchange any letters.”

He suddenly turned to her.  “We didn’t?”

She shook her head. “No, at least I hadn’t been given any, the only thing I have is a copy of the marriage contract I signed.”

He tri
ed to remain calm.  What did Spencer get him into? He figured his mischievous brother had been writing to the girl for a few months at least.  “May I see it?”

“Certainly.  It’s in my satchel.  If you could bring it here…”

Clayton glanced about the room and spied the satchel sitting on the floor near the dresser.  He picked it up and brought it too her.

She took it from him, opened it and dug through the contents.  Clayton noticed it was nearly empty.  Did she have a trunk somewhere that needed to be brought out to the farm?  “Where are you other belongings?”

She stopped her digging and looked up at him.  “This … this is all I brought.”

His eyes widened slightly as he again took in the satchel in her lap.  He could
see a dress, a comb, and a small Bible, but that was all.  She pulled out the marriage contract and handed it to him.  Clayton noticed she didn’t look at him when she did so.  She was embarrassed by her lack of possessions. 

She doesn’t even have a wedding dress… poor little thing.

He took the contract from her and began to read.  So, Miss Summer James was from New Orleans … but no letters?  Nothing?  She just signed a contract, hopped on a train and now here she was?  How could that be?

“Miss James, did I send a picture?”

She raised her brow at that. “You don’t remember?”

He shrugged.  “It was … awhile ago.”  At least he guessed it had been awhile since Spencer sent a picture, if he sent one at all.

“Why yes, you did.” She dug about in her satchel again and pulled out the Bible.  She opened it up and took out a small photograph from between the pages.

Clayton shook himself. 
Spencer is going to die!

It was the photo his mother kept in a double frame atop her dresser in her room.  Did she know it was missing?  Good grief!  Maybe she was the one that gave it to Spencer! “May I see that?”

She handed it to him.  He took it and examined it.  Yep, it was the one from his mother’s room all right.
His own blood stained the back.  He’d cut himself taking it out of an old frame to put it into the new one. “It’s a little old,” he began.  “Sorry it’s not a very good representation.”

“That’s all right.  You didn’t even get a picture of
me.  I … I realize how great a disappointment I could have been … if … if you didn’t …”

“T
hink you were pretty?”

She swallowed as he
r cheeks turned pink. But was she simply being humble, or was she truly ashamed of how she looked?

Clayton’s heart dropped into his stomach at the thought.
  She was beautiful, the most beautiful woman he had ever seen!  Oh what was he thinking?  Who wouldn’t be pleased with someone so lovely who traveled all this way without a lick of correspondence between them?  Not only that, but still be willing to marry a man with nothing but an old photograph and the word of the mail order bride service as to his character?  He sure the Sam blazes wouldn’t if
he
had been a bride!

Suddenly h
is lawman’s instincts kicked in and he found himself once again sitting in the chair next to the bed, his body leaning toward her as his mind ran wild with questions.  Clayton had to follow his gut on something.

“Miss James, might I be the first to say I think you are one of the most be
autiful women I have ever seen, so please don’t think I’m disappointed in that regard. But I do have to ask, are you running from something?”

Four

Summer fro
ze.  No!  She couldn’t tell him!  What if he decided to send her back?  What would he do if he found out she’d spent most all her life in an orphanage?  That she’d barely gotten out of New Orleans?  That had she stayed she’d be good for nothing more than …

She turned her face away as tears stung the back of her eyes.  How could she tell him?  Yes, she was running!  Running from a life of slavery and servitude to men who would use he
r up in a matter of years then cast her aside like a piece of garbage.  And she wasn’t the only one.  What of the others?  The girls soon to come of age who also faced the horrors of leaving the safe confines of the orphanage?  Would Mrs. Ridgley be able to get them away in time as well?

Large fingers gently touched her chin and pulled her head around to face him.  His own face was an expressionless mask, unreadable.  But when her first tear finally fell, it was encompassed by a compassion she had never seen in any man’s eyes.  He let go her chin and gently brushed the tear away.  “I guess this answers my question,” he said as he then stood. He put the marriage contract into the satchel then placed it back on the floor by the dresser. 

He slowly turned to her. “I’ll make what arrangements I have to and as soon as Doc says you’re ready, come for you.”

Summer could only stare. H
er mouth then slowly opened as her entire body went numb.  He was going to send her back. 
Oh good God! No!

He looked about
then chuckled to himself. “Guess I done left my hat and coat out in the kitchen.  I’ll let Milly know what’s going on. You rest now.”  He smiled and then left the room.

Summer shook her head. 
Oh no!  No, no, no, no! 
She couldn’t go back!  She just couldn’t!  Slade would be on her quicker than flies on sugar!  And when he got a hold of her he’d
never
let go!  He’d make sure that once he had her entrenched into the life he planned for her there would be no escape.

Summ
er stifled a sob as she heard muffled voices from down the hall and then listened to the front door as it opened and closed.  She quickly looked to the window, the golden light of sunset nearly gone now, and watched as Clayton Riley strolled down the front walk, through the gate, and out of sight.

“Oh please Lord!  I can’t leave!  I can’t go back!”  Summer’s tears fell in force as she prayed.  What would she do?  Where could she go?  One thing was for certain, until her foot healed, she wasn’t going anywhere.  Perhaps that was it!  Maybe
so long as her foot was injured he couldn’t send her back!

Summer’s shoulders slumped.  Who was she kidding?  S
he couldn’t fake her injury to stay. No, that wouldn’t do at all.
Think Summer, think!

She closed her eyes and took a few deep breaths then suddenly smiled.  Of course! She’d simply make plans to either stay on in Nowhere or go someplace close by where she could find a job and earn the money it cost Mr. Riley to get her out west in the first place! It was, after all, the logical thing to do!

Summer took one more deep breath to calm down before she smiled with relief.
Surely Mr. Riley would understand her dilemma and cooperate, wouldn’t he?  But perhaps Mrs. Ridgley was to reimburse him based upon her return to New Orleans.  Good Lord! What if
that’s
how it worked?  Summer saw something in the marriage contract to that effect but her head was so fuzzy at the moment she couldn’t remember the exact wording.

Her eyes
suddenly fixated on the satchel next to the dresser.  How was she going to get over there to check? She looked to her foot beneath the light blanket that covered her.  To move meant pain and she didn’t want to risk further injury.  She then looked to the door.  Wasn’t there someone else in the house with her?  Milly was it? Perhaps she could get it for her?

Summer let her body fall back against the pillows,
suddenly too tired to think about it any further.  She’d call the woman in and have her fetch it for her yes, but first she wanted to close her eyes against the pain in her foot for a moment. After she rested she’d tackle the task at hand.  But before Summer could so much as think about what she would do if the contract did indeed state she had to go back, sleep took her from all her troubles and pain once more.  If Summer had her way, she’d stay hidden within sleep’s peaceful folds.  But such was not to be.  

* * *

Five days passed with no sign of Clayton Riley or his brother for that matter.  Summer remembered the man who briefly introduced himself before rushing out of the Sheriff’s office to get help the day she got shot. Milly the doctor’s wife told her they had to hurry out of town to join a posse that was tracking a gang of outlaws that struck a settlement south of Nowhere.  Summer’s stomach had been in knots ever since.  Would they catch them?  Would the Riley brothers get hurt?  What if Mr. Riley didn’t come back at all?
Then
what would she do?

She
silently chastised herself for thinking such morbid thoughts then tried her best to concentrate on how she was to carry out her plans, of which she had several.  Firstly, the marriage contract
did
state that should the groom not find his bride to his liking, he could send her back to New Orleans and all funds would be reimbursed to him.  The Ridgley Mail Order Bride Service would then send him another, but it would cost him an additional fee on top of the train and stage fare he was to provide.   Perhaps that was a fail safe should a man want to make a return.  Maybe if he knew he had to pay an extra fee to get another bride, he’d be more apt to keep the one he originally got.

But that wasn’t going to do Summer much good.  She needed to avoid going back at all costs. So secondly, she discovered the local mercantile was in need of help and as soon as she was able to walk, she’d go talk with Mr. Quinn the owner about a job.  Surely with what skills she had she could be hired.  Her only worry was her darn foot that kept her from inquirin
g about the position in the first place!  By the time it was healed enough for her to go speak with Mr. Quinn, the position would already be filled!  Thus thirdly, she also found out there were several smaller settlements within a fifty-mile radius of Nowhere. She could probably make it to one of them, but then what?

This of course brought
Summer right back to square one.  Again.

And again.

And again!

One more go around with it all and she thought she might scream.  She threw her face in her hands instead and moaned.  Right when she thought she found a solution, something came to mind that told her it wouldn’t work.  If only she didn’t feel so utterly trapped!  The only good thing that happened in the last few days was her foot didn’t pain her so much.  That at least was encouraging, on the one hand.  On the other hand, as soon as it was healed, Clayton Riley would toss her onto a stage the first chance he got.

As usual her mind strayed to a picture of Clayton Riley storming into her room, scooping her up into his arms, and carrying her straight to a waiting stage.  He’d give her a “good bye and good luck” before he waved at the driver and she’d be off.  Back to a nightmare she’d been trying to avoid ever since she got old enough to realize the world was full of very bad men.  “And so few good ones,” she whispered to herself.

Her e
yes wandered about the room.  “Clayton Riley, why?  Why don’t you want me?”

But what could she expect?  There had been no correspondence, no letters of warmth and happy words to let him get to know her.  He got her not o
nly sight unseen, but unread as well.

If only she could find a job, earn enough
money to send to Mrs. Ridgley to cover the reimbursement money and make things work that way.  But Clayton Riley was a man of the law, and he would do things by the book, she was sure.

Summer sunk against the pillows as if to hide, and let the tears fall.  There was no way out, no way around any of it.  Her only hope was to seek refuge with Mrs. Ridgley for as long as she could.

What a shame, what a crying shame he didn’t want her!  The one decent man she’d met in years,
years!
And he has to go and be a lawman that doesn’t want a woman with any sort of past.  Well, everyone has a past. He just obviously didn’t want one that wasn’t to his standards.  He didn’t even bother to ask what she was running from!  Once he figured it out he immediately came to the conclusion she simply wouldn’t do.

Summer wiped at her tears.
Men!  They could be such beasts!  Such horrible,
horrible
beasts!  What then, was a woman to do?  Summer was at Clayton Riley’s mercy and once back in New Orleans it would only be a matter of time before she would be at the mercy of one man or another.  If not the vile Mr. Slade, then some other slave trader.

The war on slavery it seemed, still r
aged on.  Only this slave trade had been going on for far longer than the war so recently fought by the north and the south.

Summer sniffed back more tears.

If only she’d been born a man …
then
she’d show Clayton Riley what for!

Speaking of C
layton Riley! Was that him coming up the walk?

“Oh my God!  No!” S
ummer said under her breath as she looked frantically about the room.  But what could she do?  Where could she go?  She couldn’t even stand on her own two feet!  She was indeed completely and utterly at the man’s mercy.  He probably came to tell her he’d written or telegraphed Mrs. Ridgley to say he was sending her back.

Sum
mer slumped against her pillows as her heart sank in utter defeat.

A knock sounded at the front door …

All her life she’d been rejected, tossed aside or left behind.  Why should this be any different?  Who was she to think it wouldn’t be?  No wonder Mr. Slade and his kind preyed upon hers.  What else was there?

She could hear Milly greet him, hear his spurs jangle as he came into the house …

No. No! No! No
matter
what
happened, she wasn’t going to let someone like Mr. Slade tell her she was worth any less than anybody else!  So what if Clayton Riley didn’t want her!  God wanted her!  By golly yes He did and she would keep that hidden in her heart to see her through the long journey back.

“Miss James?”

Summer steeled herself one more time before she looked at him as he entered the room.

“OH!” she
suddenly cried when he pulled the blanket off her then scooped her up into his arms without warning.  “What are you
doing
?”

“I’m sorry
about this Miss James, but I’ve got a schedule to keep and Doc needs the bed.  Milly!”

Milly came into the room and quickly snatched up
Summer’s satchel.  She wasn’t the only patient occupying the doctor’s three patient rooms.  Several men had been wounded hunting the outlaws and brought in not a day after the posse left!  Milly had been busy with them ever since and hardly had time to say two words to her in the days that followed.

Summe
r suddenly realized what was happening. Why else would Milly be holding her satchel and tagging along behind Mr. Riley as he carried her down the hall?  Oh no!  No it couldn’t be! “Mr. Riley, please!”

“I’m sorry about this Miss James, but I don’t see any help for it.”

“But Mr. Riley!” She all but sobbed.  No!  She would
not
cry! After all she knew this was going to happen.

“Oh it’s not as bad as all that!” Milly admonished as she followed them out the front door.  “Lots of mail order brides have to do the same thing.  You’ll be fine once you get there.”

“Once I g
et there?” Summer all but squeaked.  “But my foot’s not healed yet!”

“What has that got to do with anything?”  Mi
lly scolded. “Stop your fussing child and be grateful Sheriff Riley was able to make arrangements so quickly!”

“But…”

“I’ll not hear another word about it, Miss James,” Mr. Riley told her in a stern voice.  “It’s all been arranged.” 

Summer couldn’t help it.  She began to cry. He was sending her off without a second thought, and she couldn’t even walk yet!  How cruel could the man be?

Too tired and down hearted to argue further, she turned her head into his shoulder and softly wept out her shame and heartache. Besides, people were watching them and she couldn’t stand the humiliation of the ordeal.  The whole town would know he didn’t want her!

His arms were incredibly strong, and he carried her down the street without effort.  She
finally glanced up and saw the stage and its driver waiting for them.  Summer never thought she’d
ever
be one to beg, but she was highly considering it.  Perhaps she could try a logical plea?

But even that was beyond her as they approached the stage
coach.  The driver smiled and waved at them as they drew closer.  Mr. Riley gave him a curt nod of acknowledgement.  Summer could stand it no longer. “Oh please, Mr. Riley, please!  I can’t!  I just can’t! Please don’t make me do it!”