Mail Order Love (Sweet Mail Order Bride Historical Romance Novel) (Oregon Mail Order Brides) (6 page)

Her eyes were so big they seemed to take up half her face, and her thick eyelashes only made her eyes stand out more. She was pleasant-looking with very pale skin. She had a neat medium-sized nose that turned up ever so slightly and small ears half hidden under her bonnet. Her eyebrows were slightly raised.

“I’m sorry to bother you, sir, but are you from the Ford household? I was supposed to be met here.”

Jared came back to reality. He felt unbearably uncomfortable; in fact all he wanted to do was hightail it out of there. He remembered his manners and addressed the woman standing in front of him.

“Yes, you are right ma’am, I am. You are Elizabeth Bates?”

Jared’s voice came out gruffer than he had meant it to. He was not sure what level of formality to use with a Boston lady he had never met before.

“Ha! Yes, excuse me, it’s just, please call me Ellie, I can hardly recognize that name as me.” She blushed slightly, and he realized she was probably as nervous as he was.

“I am pleased to meet you, ma’am, Ellie, miss, …" This was not going well.

She looked relieved and she stood there, holding her trunk and looking up at him expectantly.

“I am pleased to meet you too, sir."

“Call me Jared, let’s drop all this formality once and for all.”

She nodded and looked down.

He had to pull himself together. He had no idea how to deal with a mail order bride. Still, he had to take some kind of action. He decided it would be best to start for home and they could talk things through on the way. He reached forward for the trunk Ellie had dragged off the train with difficulty. He lifted it as easily as a twig from her hands.

“We’ll go to my buggy, then, and get going.”

They walked along together in the afternoon sunshine. One tall easy cowboy striding in his big black boots and hat, one small slim woman trotting in a blue calico dress, and two rangy long-legged gray dogs loping along beside them.

Jared considered the lady walking by his side. She seemed confident for a woman on her own. There was something about the clear, frank way she looked at him that made him feel she was a strong character. It seemed at odds with her frail physical bearing.

She was very slim. Looked like she could hardly lift a pail of water. Her thin face was drawn and he could see gray-blue smudges of tiredness under her eyes. Her little hands had looked small and weak when he had taken the trunk from her. How on earth could she do laundry or run a house as a wife would be expected to do?

He had noticed too, how plainly dressed she was. Her face looked wiped clean and her brown hair was scraped back off her face. There was even a little scratch on her cheek. Jared mused as to whether she had tended animals in the home she had come from.

One thing was for sure. There was no artifice about her, no trying to look pretty to meet her future husband. In fact, she hadn’t tried to charm him in the least, neither in looks nor manner.

He sighed inwardly. He had no one to consult with about this situation. He had to think it through for himself, right now, and do what he felt to be best and right. How did he even feel about her? Some tiny, immature part of him even felt disappointed that she was not some great beauty that had set his heart alight like the start of a great romantic story.

Chapter 11

Jared rolled his eyes at himself. What did he expect, his ideal goddess standing right there on the platform? Love at first sight?

He needed to take charge of the situation and deal with it like a man. Lord knows what Grammy would think, but that was not his concern. This was his life and his potential bride. Jared knew he had to make some kind of decision. He could not let this state of affairs drag on.

They walked along the path together and his buggy came into view. The two horses were standing patiently waiting for him. Jared felt he ought to say something to let Ellie know what to expect.

“There’s my buggy. We’ll go along back to my homestead, it’ll take around two hours all in.”

“Thank you, I appreciate it.” Ellie spoke clearly. Jared noticed her gentle self-assurance, forthright but undemanding. She didn’t seem concerned that she had just met her new husband-to-be. She wasn’t asking anything of him. She appeared to be happy for him to take control and tell her what she needed to know.

Most women in her position would be making a fuss. They’d be complaining about something or other. Fretting about their wedding dress or asking about the dwelling they’ll be living in.

Jared stood back to escort Ellie into the buggy, raising his arm to support her. Then he realized she had flitted in perfectly well on her own. She smiled at him from her seat.

“I’m about your height now. I can talk to your face without straining my neck to see you.”

She spoke with an air that made him feel as if she was letting him in on a secret. Jared felt something inside him relax a little. Maybe this whole situation could be resolved quite easily. She seemed like a reasonable and friendly enough woman. He just had to work out what to say, so as not to hurt her feelings.

Eric and Fairy leapt up into the buggy and sat in the space behind the seat. Although they were gentle dogs that did not snarl, Jared knew that some people were afraid of them on account of their size.

“I hope you don’t mind my dogs. They come along with me pretty much everywhere I go.”

“Oh no, they are welcome to sit with us. They look like they won’t bite me at least.”

“Don’t worry, they only bite people they take a dislike to. You seem to be passing the test for now.”

Ellie laughed, apparently delighted with his reply.

Jared smiled to himself as he flicked the reins. That’s the kind of remark many Boston ladies would take offense to. Not this woman though. She thinks it’s funny. He stole a glance at her as they rode along.

She looked like the happiest lady you could imagine. She was flopped in a little heap on her seat, blissfully soaking in the sun’s golden rays right onto her face. She was watching the new scenery pass by as if it were the most wonderful view on earth. A contented sigh heaved her chest and she looked grateful for what she had. Just seeing her like that made Jared feel at ease.

She certainly didn’t look like she was starting a new life as a wife. She wasn’t saying much either.

Just then, Fairy came and wriggled his head under Ellie’s resting arm. He plonked his head on her lap, looking up at her with soft endearing eyes. She looked down and lifted her arm to let the dog come underneath and rested it back down onto Fairy’s shoulders.

Jared caught her eye and smiled. “Yep, definitely passed the test all right.” Jared gave her a wink in spite of himself. He was beginning to admire this woman’s self-possession and relaxed air.

Jared took a hold of himself.

Now is the time to resolve this, before it goes any further.

Jared knew he didn’t want to marry some woman he had just met by pure haphazard chance. Whoever this lady was, she was not suitable for him in any case. This birthday surprise was a crazy idea and Grammy was going to have to be disappointed.

He heard himself speaking before he had decided what to say.

“Ma’am, Ellie I mean, I think we need to decide how this is going to work …”

There was a pause.
Shucks, have I upset her?
Jared didn’t want to be uncomplimentary to a lady.

Jared could see Ellie raise her eyebrows a little in surprise as she emerged from her reverie. She paused, perhaps to bring her focus back to the present moment. Then she spoke airily.

“Oh yes, I would also like that. I think a trial period would work well for the both of us.”

Jared’s mind worked quickly as he tried to process her comment.

What on earth did she mean by that, how could she speak so blithely and readily about a thing of such importance? A trial marriage did she mean, or a trial time together, or … that is not proper any way you think about it.

Ellie patted Fairy’s head as the dog nestled closer onto her lap. “After all, if I am to be your housekeeper, you’ll need to see if I come up to standard before committing to a longer term contract.”

Jared’s head spun as he tried to take this in.
She doesn’t think she’s to be my wife?
His eyes stuck like glue to the road, the cogs in his brain whirring double speed.

Ellie continued. “Then after one month, either side can back out, or we’ll work out the housekeeper contract then. What do you say, would one month be satisfactory?”

Jared felt like a complete fool and a great wave of relief washed over him at the same time. That’s why she was so plainly dressed and frank. She thinks she has come for a job, not to be a wife.

Jared stopped himself from laughing outright. Dear Grammy had a lot to answer for. Now they had a weak little slip of a housekeeper on their hands for a full month.

“One month? Sounds good.”

Grammy, just you wait until I get home.

Chapter 12

Ellie enjoyed the gentle rocking of the buggy as they trundled along. She breathed deeply, watching the slowly changing scenery. What a difference. In Boston, everything had been coated in a layer of grime, dirty to the touch. Garbage was left out to rot on the streets. There were too many people packed into a small space.

Out here, the countryside appeared newly laundered. It was fresh, green and pulsing with life. The air was clean and delicately fragranced. With every breath Ellie fancied she was feeling healthier.

They were a way out of town now, in the open country. There was not a soul for as far as she could see in any direction. So much space. No eyes watching her. No one to criticize her. No one to hate her and use her.

Ellie felt herself expand in spirit. She had never known what it felt like to have so much space to herself. Alone with her new employer in this buggy under the great domed blue sky.

Even the sky seemed bigger and brighter here, sapphire blue and stretching down to the horizon in every direction like a cloche. In Boston the sky could only be seen in patches outlined by rooftops.

Ellie considered her position. Her employer had seemed unsure of himself when he had broached the subject of her employment.

She had thought it best to suggest something they could both easily agree to. A one month trial period was the first thing that had come into her head. She had just made it up, along with the business about a contract. It had sounded reasonable enough to her, like something a professional housekeeper would suggest.

It wasn’t so much that she wanted a trial period for herself. The real reason she suggested it was because she was concerned Jared was having second thoughts. One month would give her a chance to prove herself to him as an able worker. Hopefully she would get to stay long term.

The truth is if this doesn’t work out I am at a loss. Nowhere else to go.

Her new employer seemed equitable. He was much younger than she had expected. Taller. His large brown hands looked thick and rough from country work. His strong broad shoulders hung loosely as he held the reins. He seemed powerful.

He was - how could she put it - just not your average man. Something about him was different to the men she had met in Boston. He was poised. When he had greeted her, she had seen a purity in his clear aqua-green eyes.

When his eyes had first rested on her, she had detected a hint of disappointment somewhere in there too. She wondered why. Did she really look that uninspiring? Ellie knew she was small and somewhat sickly looking, but she didn’t think she looked too bad. Ellie hoped he had not noticed her slight limp.

He seemed to have accepted her though. Ellie felt a rush of happiness. This felt like heaven, not being silently hated and judged by those around her. Ursula was gone forever now.

Ellie felt the excitement of forging a new path in life through her own decisions. The full weight of what she had done hit her. It felt like freedom and independence.

Ellie relaxed into her seat. It felt amazingly comfortable even though it was made of hard wood. The swinging motion of the buggy felt soothing, like being in a cradle.

Ellie’s lids had drooped closed for a few moments. She opened her eyes as she felt Jared’s other dog come and flump itself down on her feet with a sigh. The dog’s body was warm and reassuring. She had always loved animals, and to be accepted like this by the dogs made her feel emotional. Ellie felt hot little prickles behind her eyeballs. She had been starved of love for so long.

The dog’s movement seemed to rouse Jared from his thoughts.

“They’re both fussing around you now. Very rare they do that. Grammy says they come and comfort people who are sad, though you seem all right.”

“Who is Grammy?”

“You’ll meet her soon enough.”

Jared didn’t seem to want to look at her. She studied the side of his face. He looked even younger now he was lit up by the full sunlight. His skin shone a smooth polished walnut brown and his strong chin was very slightly cleft. Ellie felt that she wanted to keep staring at him. His features were magnetic to her eyes. His nose flared slightly at the bottom, with only a short distance to the top of his lip. In profile, she could see his lips pressed out in a slight pout that curved upwards. She tried to look casually so he wouldn’t sense her gaze.