Hattie Read online

  Before she could help herself she stood on tiptoe to press her lips to his. The softness of his touch, the warmth of his breath, made her pulse race. She pulled away and her gaze flickered over his weathered face.

  “Is that a yes?” he whispered.

  She smiled and looped a hand around his neck. “Yes! It’s a yes!” Then she kissed him again. The world stood still. And this time she didn’t pull away.

  Chapter 13

  September 1888

  Daisy and Hattie walked side by side, arm in arm, down the street. Hattie stared at the night sky overhead, stars sparkling like jewels in an ocean of black. The moon, almost full, hung low and round near the horizon, with the town basking in its unearthly glow.

  Tomorrow was her wedding day.

  Each time she thought about it, her heart skipped a beat. She was excited, nervous with anticipation and full of joy. Ever since he’d proposed, Ed had been so attentive. He’d purchased a plot of land outside the town limits and spent every spare moment he had erecting a two-room cabin for them to call home. He promised her he’d extend it over time until he’d built her dream home, but she assured him she didn’t need anything more. As long as they had each other.

  “Are ye ready for tomorrow?” asked Daisy wistfully.

  “Mmmm …” Hattie couldn’t put the swirl of thoughts in her mind into words.

  “Are you sure Ed don’t mind me stayin’ above the sheriff’s office ‘til I find my feet?” asked Daisy, biting her lower lip to still its trembling.

  Hattie faced her with a smile and cupped her cheek in a gloved hand. “Yes, of course I’m sure. He won’t need it any longer. And anyway, where else would you go?”

  Daisy pursed her lips. “Well, long as you’re sure.”

  “I am. And I’ll be visiting you all the time. We won’t be far away, just a few minutes out of town. And Ed is teaching me how to ride and to hitch up his horse to his wagon so I can come into town whenever I like.” She patted Daisy’s hand and they continued up the street.

  The steady beat of hooves interrupted the still night and Hattie squinted through the darkness. The town was sleeping apart from the drunken revelers around the saloons at the other end of town. She soon realized it was Ed riding toward them when she saw the long white stripe on Fire’s snout. “Ed!” she called, stepping out from the shadows and into the moonlit street.

  He waved. Another horse, a white one, trotted behind him, and he pulled her along with a lead. He halted in front of the women and swung down from Fire’s back. He patted the white horse affectionately on the neck, then leaned in to kiss Hattie.

  Her cheeks burned and she glanced at Daisy, who chuckled softly, her eyes gleaming.

  “Hattie, Daisy – how nice to see you lovely ladies. Hattie, I have a gift for you. What do you think – isn’t she a beauty?”

  Hattie’s eyes widened. “She’s for me?” She stepped forward and laid a hand on the horse’s shoulder. The animal shivered beneath her touch and she stroked the mare’s back. “She’s lovely. Perfect.”

  “I figured you’d want to visit town sometimes when I’ll have Fire with me, so decided I’d get you a horse of your own. Thought you could call her Ice, since she’s white as snow.” He grinned and tipped back his hat.

  Hattie laughed. “Fire and Ice. Sounds just about right.”

  “Well, I’d better get her put away in the stable. We can take her out to the new house tomorrow – I’ve built a stable and yard there already, so they’ll have a snug little place to live, just like us.” He tipped his hat and climbed back onto Fire. “Oh, I almost forgot. I stopped by the Post Office earlier today and there was a stack of letters for you.”

  Hattie’s breath caught in her throat. “Really? Oh, I wonder if they’re from Mother and Father. I’ve been waiting to hear from them for so long.”

  “The postmaster said it looked like they got lost or held up somewhere along the way, since they all arrived at once.” He reached into his saddlebag and pulled out the letters, tied together with a piece of string.

  Hattie took them and held them up to her face, straining to read in the dull light. Yes, the first one was from Father. She flicked through the pile, there were others in there from her sister Della and Mother as well. “Thank you, Ed.” Her voice was heavy her throat tightened.

  “I hope it’s good news. I’ll leave you ladies to it and see you in the morning at church.”

  Hattie waved goodbye through a veil of tears. She held the letters to her chest as he rode away, with Ice following obediently behind him.

  When she got back, she sat on the bed and opened the first letter while Daisy lit a fire and set the kettle to boil on the stove top. She scanned the contents of the first letter, her heart pounding. Father wrote to let her know his name had been cleared and the swindler who stole their fortune would be brought to justice. The next letter was from Mother, asking how she was settling in and why they hadn’t heard from her yet. She said that they’d moved into a modest house and were setting up a new life together with her brothers Tommy and Danny.

  She skimmed through several more letters. Her mother exclaimed over the correspondence she’d sent them and all the events she’d relayed to them about Jack Miller and the saloon. Both parents begged her to return to New York as quickly as possible. One letter even contained the money she’d need for a train ticket home, and each was more concerned and frantic than the last. Finally, there was one from Della letting her know she was pregnant and intended to visit New York the following year.

  When she’d read them all, her eyes were tired and swollen from crying, her voice hoarse and her throat raw. Daisy had joined her on the bed to listen while Hattie read them out loud, sipping the steaming coffee Daisy had brewed

  Once she was done Hattie sat staring at the opposite wall. “All this time, I could have gone home. I could have been in New York with my family, only the letters were lost between here and there.” Her voice broke and she covered her face with her hands.

  Daisy patted her leg silently.

  Hattie spun to face her, eyes wide and heart pounding. “I could go home now! I don’t have to stay here – I could take the stagecoach tomorrow.” She stood and paced the breadth of the small room.

  “Aye … but what about Ed? You’re supposed to marry him tomorrow.” Daisy wrapped both hands around her coffee mug.

  Hattie blanched. She couldn’t leave Ed. He’d be devastated. And how would she feel leaving him behind and returning to New York? Part of her screamed that she should leave before anything else bad happened, but her heart ached. She loved him. She knew then that if she left and went home, she’d feel empty inside. Life without Ed wouldn’t be the way it was before. She couldn’t live without him, didn’t want to live without him. She couldn’t go home.

  She sighed and lowered herself slowly back onto the bed beside Daisy, who rested an arm around her shoulders. “I can’t leave Ed.”

  “But will you be happy here?” asked Daisy, laying her coffee cup on the bedside table.

  Hattie pulled a handkerchief from her skirt pocket and blew her streaming nose with it. “I don’t know. Ever since I arrived, terrible things have happened to me. So I suppose that’s made me dislike the place more than I really should. After Ed proposed, I resigned myself to living here, but given the chance … I’d rather go home. Just not without Ed. Oh dear, what should I do?”

  “You should talk to him about it.”

  Hattie leaped to her feet. “Yes, of course. I should talk to Ed.” She hurried out the door.

  Daisy’s voice followed her down the staircase. “Where are ye going? I didn’t mean right now!” But Hattie didn’t stop until she was out the front door and realized she didn’t know where he was. She couldn’t very well search for him in the dark on her own.

  A sound in the office behind her caught her ear. She crept back inside and there he was, sleeping soundly on a mat on the floor beneath his desk, just as he had for weeks now.

 
; She tiptoed over to him, but couldn’t bear to wake him. They’d talk tomorrow. Gazing down on him, she resisted the urge to comb her fingers through his thick hair. He looked so peaceful, so vulnerable lying there. She couldn’t leave him. No, she’d marry this man, even if it meant staying in a dirty little mining town the rest of her days.

  As she rose to leave, his voice stopped her. “Hattie? Everythin’ all right? What’s wrong?” He sat up and rubbed his eyes, then stood and rested both hands on her arms, gazing into her eyes with concern.

  “I didn’t mean to wake you. I’m sorry.” She shook her head and cradled his cheek in her palm.

  He drew her close and kissed her forehead. “Never mind that. You’ve been crying. Tell me, what is it?”

  She sighed and closed her eyes for a moment. “It’s the letters from back home. Mother and Father have recovered a good deal of their fortune, and they want me to come home. They sent money for the train …”

  He took a quick breath and pulled away, pressing his hands to his head. “Home?”

  “Yes, New York.”

  He paced to the wall and back again. “And …?”

  “And …” She lifted her chin in determination. “And I’m marrying you tomorrow. So I suppose it doesn’t matter.”

  He took her face between his hands and gently kissed each cheek. “Oh my darlin’ Hattie. If you want to go back to your folks, I’m not gonna be the man that stands in your way.”

  She shook her head slowly, encased between his palms. “I want to marry you. It’s just that …”

  “What? What is it, my sweet?”

  “It’s this town! It’s so harsh and ugly and mean, and ever since I got here I’ve endured hardship and cruelty. I don’t know what to do. I want to go home, but I want to marry you. I’m confused …” She burst into tears and buried her face in his shirt.

  He stroked her hair with one hand, pulling her closer with the other. “Dear sweet Hattie. You should do what you want to. But before you make your decision, can I show you somethin’?”

  She pulled away to meet his gaze, a frown drawing her eyebrows low. “Yes, I suppose.”

  He smiled tiredly and strode to the door. As he put his hat on, he held the door open for her. “After you, my darlin’.”

  She waited on a hard bench by the door while Ed fetched the wagon. Fire and Ice trotted from the lane with necks arched and hooves springing high. Ed helped her silently into the wagon and they rode beneath the stars for a mile or so. Finally, Ed pulled the wagon off the main road and onto a newly-cleared wagon track. They bumped and jostled down it, over a trickling stream, up another hill. Suddenly they emerged into a clearing with a dark cabin close by and a small stable in the distance.

  Hattie’s eyes widened and she felt her heart lift. “Is this our cabin?” she whispered.

  He laughed. “Yes, it is. What do you think?”

  She glanced around, taking in the cool swishing of the trees, the cry of a hoot owl overhead, the quiet beauty of the place. She couldn’t speak – her throat felt tight and her palms were bathed in sweat.

  Ed fetched a lantern from the wagon bed and lit it, then offered Hattie his arm. “Care to take a look inside?”

  She nodded, letting her hand nestle in the crook of his arm. He led her into the cabin and set the lantern on a rough-hewn wooden table where it lit up the entire room. The cabin was rustic but warm and inviting. This room was the living area and kitchen, and a door led into another room, their bedroom.

  She imagined the two of them living there – sitting in the rockers perched before the fireplace, rocking back and forth together. She thought about the meals they’d share around that table, perhaps with a family of their own. Her heart swelled within her. Nothing in New York could compare to this.

  She threw her arms around his neck and showered him with kisses. “Ed, it’s perfect. I love it. I can’t believe how much work you’ve put into the place.”

  He wrapped his arms around her waist and kissed her, his lips exploring hers passionately. When he spoke, his voice was hoarse with passion. “It’s for you – all for you. I know we can be happy here, if you’ll give us a chance.”

  She let her eyes wander around the cabin and smiled. “Yes, we will be happy here.”

  The bells from the church steeple rang out over Coloma. When the sound faded, Hattie ran her hands over her hair, smoothing it back against her head as nerves made her stomach flip. She stood with Daisy outside the chapel, listening to the piano inside playing the tune she would glide down the aisle to.

  “Time to go, macushla.” Daisy patted her shoulder, her eyes filling with happy tears.

  Hattie swallowed hard and nodded. “Yes.” She lifted her skirts with one hand, the other clutching a bunch of wildflowers Ed had scavenged from the fields around town. He’d vowed she’d have a bouquet to carry on her wedding day. She glanced down at it through tears – he was always so good to her.

  When she reached the stairs to the chapel, a fluttering of wings caught her eye. At least a dozen small white butterflies floated above the lilac bushes that hedged the church entrance. She exclaimed in delight and dropped her skirts to lift her hand beneath one. Its tiny feet alit on her open palm, and it stepped daintily across before fluttering back into the air above her.

  “Beautiful, ain’t they?” declared Daisy, her voice thick with emotion.

  “So beautiful.” Hattie closed her eyes for a moment, thanking God for His provision, then walked gracefully up the stairs and through the doors.

  When she saw Ed waiting for her at the end of the aisle, the crowd of townsfolk lining the pews faded away. Once again, it was only them – Ed and she, held together by a gaze that was filled with electricity, hope and love.

  She reached him and gave him her hand. He held it between his, and together they turned to face the reverend. As they said their vows, she imagined their future as man and wife. Days spent in Coloma, evenings by the fire in their cozy cabin, maybe a trip to New York around Christmas so he could meet her family. A whole lifetime with nothing but each other and the children they might one day be blessed with.

  She couldn’t wait for it to begin.

  When her new husband kissed her, peace filled her soul and her legs quivered beneath her. No matter what the future brought, she knew that it would be better with him by her side. She looped her arms around his neck to deepen the kiss that signified their union together, forever, as one.

  THE END

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  READING ORDER

  New Life Mail Order Brides

  Della

  Hattie

  Pearl

  Excerpt: Pearl

  Chapter One

  Southeastern Arizona Territory, March 1888

  Harold Carmichael stooped over the cradle, using his worn fingertips to push rock and sand around beneath the cool water’s surface. His eye caught a flash of gold, and he pinched it out with his finger and thumb, grinned and stuck it in a small sack attached to his belt. He dashed the remaining sludge back into the river, took a step forward and scooped up another panful of silt and water.

  The rock he sat on seemed to grow colder and harder by the minute and a sharp protrusion stabbed into his right buttock. He stood and straightened, rocking the handle and watching the water slide back and forth in the cradle and sending shafts of rainbow light flashing against the brown of his stained shirt.

  Noise from the Mammoth Mine, a cracking and thudding, resounded in the distance. He frowned and tilted his hat back with one hand. Dang mining companies – alw
ays swooping in whenever there was a sniff of gold, taking the claim and everything in it away from the small-time prospectors. Didn’t seem right somehow.

  The cry of a muleteer and the faint crack of a whip sailed through the still air, echoing over the river. A twenty-mule team hauled the gold to the mill, then hurried back for more every weekday. He’d seen them do it, his eyes had wide with surprise. He’d been there before the mule teams, before the hordes of men descended on the place. Didn’t that count for anything? How could a man compete with a setup like the one they had over at Mammoth now?

  He rocked the cradle back and forth once more, watching gold flecks fall through to the bottom of the contraption. All that was left for him and the other men standing in knee-deep water or seated beside him along the riverbank were these tiny specks of metal. Not enough for a man to live on, never mind support a family – though the days of raising littl’uns were far behind him now. Still, he’d always held out hope that one day he’d find the largest nugget in the history of the San Pedro River.

  “Hey, Harry – you ‘bout done for the day?” Murdoch’s gravelly voice broke through the chatter of water running over the smooth rounds stones fifty yards downstream.

  Harold glanced up at the streaks of gold and pink that painted the horizon beyond the dusty rise, nodded and grunted in assent.

  “Thought we might try out that moonshine you been workin’ on …,” Murdoch continued, his voice turning to a whine that made Harry’s eyes roll back in his head. Murdoch was always going on about moonshine. He’d drink up his own by noon and spend the rest of the day feeling around for someone else to satiate his thirst.

  “Fine, but you’re bringing the food.” He glanced at Murdoch beneath lowered brows and grunted at the man’s toothless grin. At least someone was happy. He’d barely found a lick of gold today, and it seemed each day was worse than the one before. He should give it up – that’s what his wife had told him the day she walked out three years earlier. But he just couldn’t.