Mail Order Bride: Captured Hearts: a Clean Western Historical Romance (Mail Order Brides of Gold Creek Book 6) (5 page)

BOOK: Mail Order Bride: Captured Hearts: a Clean Western Historical Romance (Mail Order Brides of Gold Creek Book 6)

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Preview: Heart of Gold

CHAPTER 1

When Betsy Mae Cavanaugh first stepped off the train on the 2
nd
of August, the first thing she noticed was how bare and dusty her new home was. She looked around for a tree or a patch of grass, or something green that would remind her of home back in the Midwest. Instead she saw what looked like a dead bush that had uprooted itself and tumbled just a few feet in front of her. Three smaller ones followed behind. “It’s like the dead bush had babies,” she thought to herself, “and the whole family decided to go find a better place to live.” She watched them roll across the dusty road and out of sight. “Maybe that’s a sign,” she thought to herself. “If the dead bushes are trying to get out of here maybe I should too.”

Against her better judgment, she picked up her suitcases and headed to the nearest hotel. At first, she tried to take in her new surroundings, but after witnessing two drunken fights, one that ended in a gunshot wound, she tried to block everything out.

The sign out front simply said “Hotel”. Betsy Mae wasn’t sure what to expect when she walked in but figured it had to be better than what was outside. And she was right.

The hotel was neat and tidy with beautiful, ornate furniture and fixtures. The smell of freshly baked bread lofted through the great room and reminded her how long it had been since she had eaten something decent.

Betsy Mae walked up to the counter and asked for a room. The lady behind the counter looked her over and rolled her eyes. Betsy Mae felt like this woman could see right through her. She didn’t know her name, but she knew who she was – another mail order bride who came to an unknown place, to marry an unknown man. At first Betsy Mae felt embarrassed but then, somewhere from the bottom of her stomach, came the strength she normally carried up in her head. “I’d like a room,” she said a little more demanding this time. And, without thinking she added, “And I’d like the room to be a nice quiet one. I’ll be doing a lot of writing and I don’t want interruptions.”

The lady behind the counter, who Betsy Mae later learned was named Lucinda, stood up straight, her eye brows arching in a way that nearly touched her hair line. “What are you writing?” she asked, her interest clearly peaked.

“I’m from the Midwest and I’m doing a news article about mail order brides,” Betsy Mae replied, lying through her teeth.

“Ohhhhh,”Lucinda cooed. “I have plenty of stories I could share with you! We get at least one of those sad sacks in a week! You should see the way they come in here – all big eyed and excited to meet the man they’re going to marry. Those poor things believe everything they read in the those letters and boy are they disappointed to find out half of it ain’t even true!”

Betsy Mae’s nervous tick kicked in and her right eye started to blink something fierce.

“You ok?” Lucinda asked, concerned.

“Oh yes,” Betsy Mae said, putting her hand over her eye. “It does that when I get tired.”

“Well, I have the perfect room for you!” Lucinda handed her a key and a clean towel. “I’ll put you in the corner room,” she said smiling. “It isn’t very big but it’s definitely private. You’ll get lots of writing done in there. And remember,” she said wagging her finger, “If you need any information you come ask me!”

“Oh, I will!” Betsy Mae said as she turned and walked away.

The tag attached to the key had the room number 221 printed on it. As she walked up the stairs that led to the guest rooms she couldn’t help but feel nervous as she listened to the creak of the stairs under her weight. True, she had never lied about how big she was, but she had never offered the information to Wayne either.

“
Wayne
.” Just thinking his name sent shivers up her spine. She pictured him as he had described himself - tall, dark brown hair and dark brown eyes, tan and muscular…suddenly a pang of worry sliced through her mind. Lucinda said half of what men said in their letters wasn’t true.

What could Wayne be lying about, she wondered. His looks? That didn’t really bother her. His money? Well, that would bother her a little but she supposed it wouldn’t bother her that much. She thought it over as she made her way upstairs and to her room. She couldn’t think of anything he could be lying about that would bother her enough to change her mind about marrying him. That thought made her feel better about her long trip out here for a husband. She would meet him and their love would only intensify and they would live happily every after. She was sure of it.

CHAPTER 2

The first thing Betsy Mae did when she got to her hotel room was take off her shoes and untie her corset. She was happy to finally be able to breathe again. She took a piece of paper from her suitcase and used the quill pen and ink on the desk to write her family a letter. “See,” she told herself. She didn’t really lie to Lucinda. She would be doing a lot of writing – even if it were just to her family to tell them how she’s doing and to give them updates on her new life.

She stared at the blank sheet of paper. What could she tell them about this place that wouldn’t upset them? She didn’t want to tell them about the ugly landscape, the shooting she witnessed or the terrible way she was treated when she walked into the hotel. And she certainly didn’t want to tell them that after only being in this new town for thirty minutes, she was already lying about her reasons for being there.

Betsy Mae sighed. She would simply tell them she got there safely, the hotel was beautiful and she was anxious to meet Wayne later that night. She signed her name then set the paper aside to let the ink dry.

Thinking about her family made her a little teary eyed. She missed them already. She had two younger sisters that had both married in the last year to wealthy businessmen. Her father had died four years ago and it became her mother’s mission after that to find suitable husbands for her daughters – and by suitable she meant husbands who could afford to take financial care of their new mother in law.

Her mother was the no-nonsense type and that was one of the things Betsy Mae admired most about her. She felt like her mother passed the no-nonsense gene down to her while her two sisters got the “plenty-of-nonsense gene” from their father. She even looked more like her mother (dark hair, plump body and full, pouty lips) while her two sisters looked more like their father (thin, pale and almost sickly).

The thought of her sisters tugged at her heart. Her sisters couldn’t cook, clean, and probably couldn’t even make dish water but they were sweet and kind and she loved them dearly. She was thankful they both married wealthy men who could afford to take care of them, or at least pay someone else to.

Betsy Mae unpacked her suitcase and tried to put the thoughts of her family out of her mind. She wasn’t here to cry over her old life, she was here to start a new one.

It was her mother who had first told her about the ad in the paper. A man named Wayne wanted a wife who could cook. That’s all he asked for. He didn’t ask for a beautiful woman to make his life less lonely like most of the men did. Nope, Wayne just wanted a woman that could cook him a good meal every night. Betsy Mae could do that. Once they started writing letters back and forth she realized he really did want someone to share his life with, to make it less lonely and more enjoyable (though he did remind her in almost every letter that a good meal was still a top priority). She fell in love with the way he opened his heart to her and shared his secrets.

Even though her family had some money thanks to a grocery store chain her father had started in the Midwest, Betsy Mae and her family weren’t rich. She owned only one good dress, though she had several subpar ones.

She pulled out her best dress - a velvety green number that, she hoped, made her look thinner than she really was. She returned her corset to its place on her body and winced as it fit back into the grooves it had created from wearing it earlier. She slipped the dress over her head and tied everything up as tight as she could.

The corset and dress accentuated her already large breasts, which were pulled up close to her chin. “Better not put my head down,” she teased herself, “or I’ll suffocate myself.”

She had always despised her large chest. She preferred the smaller versions her sisters carried around. A few years ago her mother told her she would find a man with those things. One day a man would walk by and get tangled in them and wouldn’t be able to get out. Her mother said that was the way she caught Betsy’s dad.

With the help of a little make-up Betsy was ready to meet her future husband. Wayne was supposed to meet her downstairs in the attached saloon at sunset. If she were a dainty girl she would say that butterflies were swarming in her stomach. Since she was not, she imagined bats instead.