Mail Order Bride: Captured Hearts: a Clean Western Historical Romance (Mail Order Brides of Gold Creek Book 6) Read Free Page A
Author: Emily Woods
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best place to visit would probably be the saloon.
The first person she saw was a cowboy who looked just like she had imagined they would from the reading she had done when she was younger. Just after her father had left for the West, she had immersed herself in books about gunslinging cowboys whenever she had missed him. They became larger than life figures as she equated them with her father, a symbol of success and pride.
“Howdy,” she said, trying to fit in.
“Hey there,” the cowboy replied.
“Do you know where Ira King lives?” she asked.
“Well sure, everyone knows that,” he said.
He pointed at the house she had just come from.
“Right there.”
Her head swimming, she just said, “Thanks,” and let him walk on.
She tried to calm herself. Maybe he was just out working. After all, although he had an idea of when she would be coming there was no way to know exactly. Maybe he just went out to the trading post for some supplies. It could be anything, she tried to remind herself, though somehow she couldn’t shake the sense that something was dreadfully wrong.
As she continued walking, the wooden buildings became closer and closer together and she stumbled upon the saloon. People milled around outside and gave her little more than a second glance, which she was glad for. She had always hated being stared at. Approaching the large wooden shutters that opened directly into the saloon, she took a peek inside, her heart racing. It was an intimidating thought that she would have to stride in there amongst all those cowboys and ask a question. She couldn’t see a single woman in the saloon and didn’t relish the prospect of becoming the first.
“You look lost,” said a gruff, drunken voice behind her.
She spun around to see a rotund man practically bursting out of his clothes and clutching a whiskey bottle in each hand. She fought her immediate instinct to turn and run.
“I’m… I’m looking for Ira King,” she said.
“Ahhh,” the man said drunkenly. “Ira… great man. He’ll be on the ranch. Abe. Curtis. Ira. Ranch.”
“Thank you,” she said, then pointed to the stretch of land beyond Ira’s house. “Is the ranch over there?”
The man burst out laughing, quite to Mollie’s confusion, then abruptly stopped, seemingly without any reason at all.
“Yeah,” he slurred.
“Thank you,” she said, then hurried away, uncomfortable being around someone so unpredictable.
By the time she got back to Ira’s, she was tired of carrying the case so she set it down on his porch before she took off out to the ranch. It was wonderful to step out into such a dramatic landscape, one more expansive than she had ever seen before having lived in an urban area of Virginia where the only view was of wooden shacks. Two imperious mountains jutted up into the sky just behind Gold Creek and gave her a feeling of safety, as if they were standing guard. She swung her arms out wide, enjoying the freedom and the breeze against her face. She had calmed down since she had found out that Ira was out on the ranch, leaving her heart free to imagine the glorious moment when she and Ira would finally hold hands and gaze deep into each other’s eyes.
Eventually she came to a wooded area between two hills. Deciding the hills were too steep to climb comfortably in her dress, she headed into the woods, assuming that she would come out the other side in due course and that’s where she would find Ira.
Twigs snapped and leaves rustled under foot as she swung around tree branches and looked up through the gently swaying canopy of healthy green leaves into the cloudless blue, smiling from ear to ear. Soon she heard the sound of horse hooves and found that her heart had begun to beat faster. She was finally to meet her beloved.
“Ira!” she called out, running toward where she heard the hooves. “Ira!”
But when she reached the source of the noise, she found that it was not Ira at all.
Chapter 5
Right before
The first person she saw was a cowboy who looked just like she had imagined they would from the reading she had done when she was younger. Just after her father had left for the West, she had immersed herself in books about gunslinging cowboys whenever she had missed him. They became larger than life figures as she equated them with her father, a symbol of success and pride.
“Howdy,” she said, trying to fit in.
“Hey there,” the cowboy replied.
“Do you know where Ira King lives?” she asked.
“Well sure, everyone knows that,” he said.
He pointed at the house she had just come from.
“Right there.”
Her head swimming, she just said, “Thanks,” and let him walk on.
She tried to calm herself. Maybe he was just out working. After all, although he had an idea of when she would be coming there was no way to know exactly. Maybe he just went out to the trading post for some supplies. It could be anything, she tried to remind herself, though somehow she couldn’t shake the sense that something was dreadfully wrong.
As she continued walking, the wooden buildings became closer and closer together and she stumbled upon the saloon. People milled around outside and gave her little more than a second glance, which she was glad for. She had always hated being stared at. Approaching the large wooden shutters that opened directly into the saloon, she took a peek inside, her heart racing. It was an intimidating thought that she would have to stride in there amongst all those cowboys and ask a question. She couldn’t see a single woman in the saloon and didn’t relish the prospect of becoming the first.
“You look lost,” said a gruff, drunken voice behind her.
She spun around to see a rotund man practically bursting out of his clothes and clutching a whiskey bottle in each hand. She fought her immediate instinct to turn and run.
“I’m… I’m looking for Ira King,” she said.
“Ahhh,” the man said drunkenly. “Ira… great man. He’ll be on the ranch. Abe. Curtis. Ira. Ranch.”
“Thank you,” she said, then pointed to the stretch of land beyond Ira’s house. “Is the ranch over there?”
The man burst out laughing, quite to Mollie’s confusion, then abruptly stopped, seemingly without any reason at all.
“Yeah,” he slurred.
“Thank you,” she said, then hurried away, uncomfortable being around someone so unpredictable.
By the time she got back to Ira’s, she was tired of carrying the case so she set it down on his porch before she took off out to the ranch. It was wonderful to step out into such a dramatic landscape, one more expansive than she had ever seen before having lived in an urban area of Virginia where the only view was of wooden shacks. Two imperious mountains jutted up into the sky just behind Gold Creek and gave her a feeling of safety, as if they were standing guard. She swung her arms out wide, enjoying the freedom and the breeze against her face. She had calmed down since she had found out that Ira was out on the ranch, leaving her heart free to imagine the glorious moment when she and Ira would finally hold hands and gaze deep into each other’s eyes.
Eventually she came to a wooded area between two hills. Deciding the hills were too steep to climb comfortably in her dress, she headed into the woods, assuming that she would come out the other side in due course and that’s where she would find Ira.
Twigs snapped and leaves rustled under foot as she swung around tree branches and looked up through the gently swaying canopy of healthy green leaves into the cloudless blue, smiling from ear to ear. Soon she heard the sound of horse hooves and found that her heart had begun to beat faster. She was finally to meet her beloved.
“Ira!” she called out, running toward where she heard the hooves. “Ira!”
But when she reached the source of the noise, she found that it was not Ira at all.
Chapter 5
Right before
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