RICKY: A Sweet Western Historical Romance (Mail-Order Brides Club Book 5) Read Free

these walks, hearing about his day and spending time with him. He was a sweet little boy and smart. The teacher said he was a quick learner, which she wasn’t surprised to hear. He didn’t miss much.
    He was chattering away as they walked, talking about the field trip they were going to have later in the week. They were going to a pond nearby to look for tadpoles and study the leaves and then each child would bring the prettiest leaf they could find back to the classroom and they would all try to draw it. It sounded like a fun day to Sarah. She smiled as she realized that as of next week, she’d be able to walk home with him every day. She still couldn’t believe she was getting married.
    As they drew closer to the saloon, Sarah noticed two women about her age standing outside the front door. They looked out of place and she wondered what they were doing. Everyone knew that women didn’t frequent saloons. Stranger still, when they saw her they looked at each other, spoke softly so she couldn’t hear them and then took a step her way.
    “Excuse me,” one of the women called. “Are you Sarah?”
    Sarah stopped short. She had no idea who the women were and couldn’t imagine what they might want with her.
    “Yes, I’m Sarah.”
    The taller of the two stepped forward. She was a pretty woman with long, dark hair, almost black, and light eyes, a striking combination. “Hello, I am Colleen Donovan, and this is Brianna Donovan.” She indicated the smaller blonde woman beside her. “Ricky told us about your wedding this Sunday, and we wanted to come and introduce ourselves and see if there’s anything we can help you with.”
    To say that Sarah was surprised was an understatement. She’d felt very alone here, with just her and Andrew, and it was so nice to meet a few other women her age. And if she was marrying into the Donovan family, she realized she might be seeing them more often, which would be wonderful. She missed having friends her age.
    “It’s so nice to meet you, and thank you. To be honest, I haven’t given it much thought. I just assumed we were having a simple ceremony at the church and that was it. I was planning to wear my one nice dress. I used to love to sew, and although I couldn’t bring much with us when we moved here, I did keep one special dress. Though I didn’t know if I’d ever really have a chance to wear it again.”
    “What’s it like? Can we see it? I do a little bit of sewing myself,” Colleen said.
    “You do? Do you have a sewing machine?” Sarah really had missed the feeling of fabric under her hands and the magic of creating something beautiful.
    “Yes, she has a sewing machine,” Brianna laughed. “Colleen loves to sew. The two of you have a lot in common.” She winked at Colleen, who waved at her and laughed back. Sarah sensed that there was a private joke there that she missed, but that was okay. She was a little hesitant to have them up to her apartment because it was so small, but she could tell Colleen was excited to see the dress and although their quarters were tiny, they were neat and clean and Sarah had done her best to try and make them feel somewhat homey. She always had a jar of fresh flowers on the counter and had soft quilts that she had made herself that she’d brought with them. They were colorful and bright and she knew they would make Andrew feel at home. As much as that was possible.
    “I’d love to show you. Follow me.” She led them in the side entrance, so they didn’t have to go through the saloon at all. They went up two narrow flights of stairs until they reached the level where the apartments were. Theirs was at the end of the hall. Sarah opened the door and the girls followed them in. She opened her trunk which she kept at the foot of her bed and dug to the very bottom to find the dress. She pulled it out and held it up, and though it was a bit wrinkled, she was still proud of it. It was truly a beautiful dress. Colleen reached out and ran