Mail Order Bride: Deception (Historical Western Romance): Clean Romance Series (Western Mail Order Brides Book 1) Read Free

to just comes natural?” he teased.
    She felt warmth rise in her cheeks, then glanced back up into his eyes, and shook her head. “I guess you startled me just a little.”
    “Let’s go then. I’ve got many people waiting to meet you.” He studied her for a minute when she made no move to follow. “You are Victoria Hadley?”
    She could only think he’d mistaken her for another, but where did he want her to go? “I’m sorry. Go?”
    He nodded and pointed.
    She followed the direction of his outstretched arm to a horse and carriage parked close by. Leah took a glance around the station to see if people were watching them. This was an awkward situation. “I’m not sure what you mean.”
    His smile was still there, even though his eyebrows lifted. “I’m Austin Wright, and you are Miss Hadley, aren’t you?” When she remained silent, he frowned, and said, “I’m sorry, I just assumed you were Victoria Hadley, since I didn’t see any other young lady get off the train.”
    For a moment she stood with her eyes locked onto his. Then, her eyes darted from him to the horses, and then back to him. She’d asked for a sign from God that she was supposed to stay in Dodge City, and wondered if this were it. Nervous and unsure what to do, she shook her head, picked up her satchel and backed away from him.
    “Oh.” He watched her, without the smile that had previously touched his lips.
    She turned fully and walked away. Leah walked over to a nearby bench, and sat down before looking back over at him. He appeared lost and confused. The man lifted his hat slightly, and scratched the side of his head. She wondered whom the person was that he had named. It didn’t seem right that she wasn’t there. He looked dejected and hurt as the train pulled away from the station. She reminded herself that she was there to find a place she could call home, not there to look for a man. Watching him still, she saw him walk to the ticket counter.
    She waited to see what he would do, and then the loud speaker came to life. “Attention passengers, if there is a Victoria Hadley nearby, please come to the ticket counter. I repeat; Victoria Hadley, come to the ticket counter.”
    Leah sat there waiting, looking around for any sign of the woman they had called.
    After fifteen minutes, and another announcement, she knew Victoria was not coming, and that’s when she knew that she could make her move.
    What would be the harm be if she pretended she were Victoria? It wouldn’t be lying; it would be more like a game, a game of make-believe. After all, this Victoria person hadn’t shown up, and she must have looked enough like her for the man to believe that she was Victoria.
     
    * * *
     
    Austin was disappointed when the attractive woman wasn’t the one he was looking for. He’d been more than delighted when he thought that the woman he’d seen was Victoria. She matched the description in Victoria’s letters: slight build, fair, and blue-eyed. Since she’d refused to send a photograph, Austin only had the description to go on.
    He glanced at the woman waiting on the bench, whom he’d thought was Victoria. Her fair hair fell beneath her bonnet in ringlets; her eyes were large, and her skin was creamy. When she had blushed, he had been caught completely off guard. It bothered him that he could be drawn to someone like that. The last time he’d had that feeling in the pit of his stomach was when he was being introduced to Charlotte. He was drawn to this woman who claimed she wasn’t Victoria, and wondered if he should go back and find out more about her.
    As he waited by the ticket counter to see if Victoria would appear, he couldn’t help but feel rejected. Maybe Beth had been right all along. If he were to go home empty handed, that would mean she’d been right. He’d have to listen to Beth retell James’s tragic story one more time. He didn’t want his experience to be bad like James’s. Austin was just glad that his daughter,