His Brother's Wife Read Free

failing. Her stomach was in knots as every
horrible possibility her friends had told her about screamed
through her head in quick succession.
    The thought of Jesse
Samuels misrepresenting himself was now a reality. The reaction
Ellie and the men inside the station had, had to mean something.
Was her bridegroom a scoundrel instead of a rancher as he’d said?
Was he lacking in some way that caused the prospect of marrying him
to be so amusing to the townspeople? Was he was a drunkard or
worse? A man so ugly the thoughts of giving her body to him would
turn her stomach despite his fortune?
    Maybe this wasn’t a good
idea. She knew the possibility of marrying a man who wasn’t at all
pleasing to the eye was possible but at the time, she felt she had
little choice. It was either marry sight-unseen or marry the man
she suspected of stealing her father's fortune. A chill raced up
her spine at the thought. She’d marry the lowest man in all of
Montana before giving that foul beast the satisfaction of having
her and her father’s money.
    She could have changed her
mind a number of times during her journey but she hadn’t. She’d
sold every possession she owned to pay off her father’s debts and
have enough to travel across the country. Now, she had no choice
but to stay. She didn’t have the money for a return trip home, and
besides, what waited for her there left her feeling
desperate.
    But would her new
bridegroom be just as unwelcome a sight as her old life in
Boston?
    She walked over to her
things, grabbing her skirts before sitting down on top of her
trunk, and propped her chin on her hand before sighing. She stared
out across the dusty road, watched the townsfolk go about their
business and prayed she hadn't made the biggest mistake of her
life.
    Long minutes of waiting
turned into an hour. Grace tapped a heel on the wooden sidewalk and
huffed out another breath. A cool breeze sent wisps of dust
flurrying across the sidewalk as another wagon rolled over the
rutted road. She straightened her back and peered at the driver. He
lifted his hat in greeting but kept going just as every other man
who passed by did.
    She was about to give up
hope when she spotted a smaller wagon ambling into town that seemed
to be heading in her direction. A man and young boy were both
looking at her as they neared the stagecoach station, and she
lifted a hand to shield her face from the sun to see them. Surely
this wasn’t her bridegroom. The wagon was no more than a broken
down wooden box with wheels.
    When they stopped in front
of the station, the man sat staring at her for long minutes before
looking to the boy who was doing the same. Neither seemed inclined
to move. She stood, stretching the kinks out of her back, and said,
“Hello.”
    The man mumbled something
to the boy before he shook his head and jumped to the ground. When
he approached her, Grace felt her pulse jump and her lungs seized
until she found it hard to breathe.
    He was handsome and tall,
with dark hair that fell to his shoulders in waves. The brown hat
on his head left much of his face in shadow but she could see his
eyes were green, in a shade so pale she was mesmerized just looking
at them. A light dusting of whiskers was growing in on his
chin.
    When he stopped in front
of her, Grace hoped this was the man she’d been waiting on. He fit
the physical description she’d received from Jesse in the letter he
sent with his request, and he was more handsome than she’d hoped he
would be.
    “You Grace?” he asked,
repositioning his hat.
    Grace nodded her head, her heart thumping in her chest.
It was him. This was the man she was to marry. The joy
she felt was overwhelming. She smiled when she realized the
prospect of being stuck in this tiny town didn’t seem like such a
burden now. Jesse Samuels was everything she’d hoped to find. A man
who was strong, handsome… and who had all his teeth. He wasn’t fat
nor ugly. He didn’t have the look of a drunk and his eyes