Perfectly Matched (The Blue Willow Brides Book #3): A Novel Read Free Page A

and they’d only been married a few hours! She started to rise, but he pressed her gently back down into her chair.
    “Anna, please calm down.” He reached a hand out to touch hers, then quickly withdrew it. “I have my own list here, if you would like to see it. And I can help you when time allows.”He shifted in his seat. “I know you’ll need time to adjust to me and to being away from your family, as well as to get to know me better. I don’t want you to feel pressured.”
    Confused, Anna stared down at the sheet of paper. “I see.” She didn’t want to convey disappointment or sound too eager for them to consummate their marriage vows, or he’d think she was a bit loose. “I don’t want to see your list. As for mine . . .” She sighed with resignation. “I can try, but I’m afraid my skills will be sorely lacking.”
    He shifted in his seat, then stuffed his sheet back into the brown envelope and leaned forward with a serious gaze, his hands on his knees. “Can you cook, Anna?”
    She suddenly noticed how his dark hair curled into his collar and tried to rein in her thoughts. His frank question was only fair. She had answered his ad for a mail-order bride. One would easily assume she was ready to take on the duties of a wife.
    She chewed the inside of her lip. “Only a little. My sister Catharine did most of the cooking on the farm.”
    He laughed. “Well, at least we won’t starve. I’ll take you upstairs and show you our bedroom, and you can change. I hope the light supper Ella left for us will be adequate for tonight.” He reached for her hand and pulled her in the direction of the gleaming staircase.

    Anna stood in the center of the bedroom. Edward had left quickly—too quickly—giving her time to freshen up. Their room was decorated nicely with choice pieces of cherry furniture—a sleigh bed and a finely carved armoire. Pink roses with lighter shades of red patterned the drapes that adorned the large window facing the main street. Directly beneath thewindow, a luxurious rose velvet chaise looked enticing after her long day. The room had such a pleasing and relaxing effect that she decided she wouldn’t change one thing about it. Edward had very good taste and had even seen to a dressing table for her. And earlier he’d retrieved her luggage from the hotel while she was dressing for the ceremony.
    He was very thoughtful, if a bit particular, so she tried to put the list out of her mind for the moment. She did not want to ruin her wedding night or show her disappointment with the surprise list of chores.
    Anna selected a dress from the trunk and began the task of unbuttoning the lacy sleeves of Clara’s wedding gown. She twisted to reach behind her back, her fingers feeling their way to unhook the buttons, but she instantly knew her attempts were futile. The best she could do was release the pearls from their loops at the top and bottom of the dress, but not the ones at the center. Struggling somewhat, she was able to remove her petticoats and toss them aside, leaving only the thin chemise beneath the silky gown.
    Turning her back to the cheval mirror, she craned her neck around to see if she could locate the buttons but couldn’t quite manage the task. So instead, she gathered the heavy dress up to her waist, intending to slide it around to the front of her body, but it was more than she could handle and way too tight. In her frustration between the tugging and yanking, her fashionable high heels became tangled in the volumes of material, and she lost her balance and fell sideways against the mirror. It crashed against the porcelain lamp on the dressing table next to it. In spite of her best efforts to save the beautiful lamp, it shattered on the hardwood floor, sending pieces of glass flying across the room, and she landed hard on her back.
    ———
    A thundering crash from above sent Edward clambering up the stairs two at a time to find Anna with her wedding gown billowed up about