Cheryl St.John – Want Ad Wedding (страница 1)
Second Chance Bride
When Daniel Gardner convinced the residents of his Kansas boomtown to advertise for mail-order brides, he never expected the woman he once loved to respond. But Leah Swann steps off the bride train...pregnant and widowed and in need of a husband. Drawn to protect his fragile childhood friend, Daniel proposes a marriage of convenience.
Seeing her onetime best friend waiting to meet the bride train is a wonderful shock for Leah. After her first rocky marriage, a practical partnership with Daniel sounds perfect—as long as her heart doesn’t get involved. But when she starts to fall for her husband, will her plans of a fresh start be ruined...or is a real marriage to Daniel exactly what she needs?
Cowboy Creek: Bringing mail-order brides, and new beginnings, to a Kansas boomtown.
“You’re one of the prospective brides?”
Leah wanted to grab on to Daniel, but held her desperation in check to simply nod. “Yes. Yes, I’m a widow.”
His expression changed, confusion turning to understanding. “I see. I’m so sorry.”
You have no idea. I never want you to know. “Thank you.”
“What about your family? Your father?”
“They’re gone, too.” Gone seemed an insufficient explanation for her grief, but of course he would understand the pain behind those words. It was an all too common story. The war had stolen so much from all of them. “Nothing is as we remember it.”
His eyes clouded with sympathy and something more. Regret. Anger. And then incredulity. He did understand. He extended a hand as though he wanted to touch her to see for himself if she was real, but he drew it back, self-consciously. He shook his head. “And after all that, here we are.”
* * *
CHERYL ST.JOHN’s love for reading started as a child. She wrote her own stories, designed covers and stapled them into books. She credits many hours of creating scenarios for her paper dolls and Barbies as the start of her fascination with fictional characters. Cheryl loves hearing from readers. Visit her website at cherylstjohn.net or email her at saintjohn@aol.com.
Want Ad Wedding
Cheryl St.John
And God is able to make all grace abound toward you; that ye, always having all sufficiency in all things, may abound to every good work.
—2 Corinthians 9:8
The steadfast love of the Lord never ceases.
Your mercies never come to an end;
they are new every morning,
new every morning:
great is Your faithfulness, O Lord,
great is Your faithfulness!
Contents
Kansas, April 1868
A plaintive train whistle shrieked in the distance, scattering dozens of heath hens that pecked along the tracks. Daniel Gardner experienced a sharp pang of anxiety. A murmur of excitement passed through the crowd on the station platform and among those waiting along Railroad Street, the road separating the tracks from the town. Indicative of the population of Cowboy Creek, only a few females stood among the motley gathering of drovers, cattlemen and shop owners who eagerly awaited the arrival of the first bride train.
Daniel and his friend Will had convinced the other town leaders that brides were the answer to the growth and survival of this boomtown they’d overseen from the ground up, but four women were a paltry drop in the bucket. His gaze moved from D.B. Burrows, owner and editor of The Herald, his angular face rapt with serious intent as he scribbled notes, over dozens of other bystanders, before finally landing on a sunburned young drover who sported a stiff new pair of dungarees, a red shirt and a silly crooked-toothed grin. Right about now Daniel was imagining the reactions of those much-anticipated prospective brides when they stepped off the train and got their first look at this throng of menfolk starved for the sight of a woman.
“Well, this is it.” Beside him, Will Canfield squinted from beneath the brim of his brown felt bowler and leaned a little more heavily than usual on his expensive Italian-made walking stick. He wore a tailored suit coat and starched white shirt. Tall and lean, his goatee neatly trimmed as always, he was the picture of a gentleman with his sights set on a public office. Only Daniel noticed his friend was favoring his left leg, because only Daniel knew the walking stick was not purely for show. He was also relatively sure it did not conceal a derringer or a knife as was rumored about Cowboy Creek. They’d both had enough of killing during the war to last them a lifetime. Their town was populated with peace-loving citizens, eager for a new slice of life and the profits the Union Pacific Railroad and a steady stream of Texas longhorns were bringing. Women would heighten their plans to a whole new level.
“This is it,” Daniel echoed. He wanted the past behind him. The town needed order, and these females would help bring it. Cowboy Creek was providing a new life and a fresh start for a good many people. The whistle screamed again. He checked his pocket watch and tucked it back inside his suit coat. “Right on time.” He looked to each side and held out both arms. “Step back! Step back and give the passengers room to get off the train!”
His voice held enough authority that the eager men shuffled to the rear of the platform.
The great black locomotive hissed as the brakes were applied, and it slowed on its approach, trundling past the railroad office east of the station and coming to a halt with the passenger cars only feet from the wooden platform. Clouds of steam expressed vapor into the air. From the exit closest to them, a uniformed conductor jumped down, lowered the stairs with a squeak of metal and stood waiting.