Mail Order Prairie Bride: (A Western Historical Romance) (Dodge City Brides Book 1) Read Free

stepped out from behind the team.
    Sarah’s breath caught in her lungs. Her first impression was that he was clearly in need of a bath and a shave. Had he forgotten this was his wedding day? He wore a white cowboy hat, a brown buckskin coat with long, swinging fringe along the sleeves and a necklace fashioned from animal claws. Animal claws ? He looked nothing like her father at all.
    Fighting the nausea which had suddenly rooted itself in her stomach, she took another tentative step forward. Briggs bent forward to check a hoof on one of the horses.
    “I don’t think he’s seen us yet,” George said, sounding apologetic.
    In her opinion, Briggs was more concerned with his horse than her arrival. But the extra moment gave her time to rein in her emotions and reconsider this situation. It was wrong of her to judge him based on his appearance. She hadn’t met him yet. He could be a very polite fellow.
    He dropped the horse’s hoof and looked up. Sarah’s gaze met his, and a shiver of trepidation skittered through her. He seemed disappointed, as if she were not at all what he had expected.
    The sun moved behind a cloud, bathing Briggs in shade as he sauntered slowly toward her. Tall and muscular, he moved with surprising grace. “ You’re Sarah MacFarland?” he said.
    She swallowed nervously, then struggled to keep her voice from quivering. “Yes.”
    George broke in. “Sarah, this is my brother, Briggs. And Briggs, this is Sarah.”
    The large farmer swept his steely gaze down her body, then back up again to her oversized, purple hat. “Somehow I can’t imagine her hauling water,” he said to George. “She’s no bigger than a mouse.”
    “I can haul water,” Sarah mentioned uncertainly, but no one seemed to be listening.
    George shrugged at Briggs, and Sarah was sure his eyes said, I told you so .
    “Throw her bag into the wagon and get in,” Briggs said to his brother.
    While George climbed into the back, Sarah stood wondering why this man was so displeased with her. She’d tried to appear pleasant. For pity’s sake, she’d done everything she could to primp and make herself beautiful for him.
    “Let’s go.” He climbed into the high wagon seat. “The courthouse closes at five.” When she hesitated, he frowned down at her. Heat stole into her cheeks and she suspected she’d turned a vivid scarlet. “Are you coming?”
    Something inside her wanted to say no and make a mad dash for the hills, but the hills, she thought ridiculously, were quite a distance from here. She stood motionless, letting her eyes wander the flat, windy town.
    The sun poked out from behind the cloud, and she had to shield her eyes again to look up at Briggs’s large silhouette. This man was less gentlemanly than she would have liked, to be sure, but she was in no position to be fussy. She would rather take her chances here than back in Boston with Garrison, who could be on her heels at this very moment. At least if she married Briggs, it would be legal and she would change her name.
    If things didn’t work out, at least some time would pass and her trail would become a little less visible. Garrison wouldn’t be able to find her.
    Of course, she hoped it would work out, that she and Briggs could get to know each other and somehow manage some sort of life together. One day, she might even tell him the truth, after enough time had passed.
    Raising her skirts, she scrambled awkwardly into the seat beside him.
    “Yah!” he called out, flicking the reins. Without warning, the wagon jerked forward and Sarah’s head snapped back. She bounced and jiggled, using all her muscles to avoid toppling into Briggs’s lap as he turned the wagon around and headed across the wide street.
    He spoke not one word the entire way, and Sarah wondered miserably if she’d just escaped one dreadful situation only to arrive smack dab in the middle of another.

Chapter Two

    With his backside planted firmly on the crooked wagon seat, his fists