Romance: Mail Order Bride "The Ideal Bride" Clean Christian Western Historical Romance (Western Mail Order Bride Short Shorties Series) Read Free

city.
    “Why are you making the move?”
    The story of the letters might give Beatrice pause, and Nora simply said that she was en route to meet the man that she planned to marry.
    “That’s a happy time,” Beatrice said. “It’s a new beginning.”
    “One that I cannot wait for,” Nora said.
    When the train finally came to their shared stop, Beatrice wrung her hands as Nora carried the baby to the platform and savored the smell of fresh air spinning all around them. Her stomach started to flutter at the realization that she was so far from home. And like Beatrice, she had no way of turning back.
    “Is your fiancé in Tracy?” Beatrice asked.
    “I think, yes,” Nora said, quickly correcting herself. “It appears that we’re going to be neighbors.”
    “And friends,” Beatrice said. “I hope.”
    “I don’t see why not,” Nora answered. Beatrice hugged her close as little Mary gurgled between them.
    “Thank you,” Beatrice murmured. “I almost feel better now that I’ve--”
    Beatrice’s voice came to a halt and her legs began to buckle when a silver haired man in a fine suit stepped closer. The entirety of his stare fell on the infant, and Nora started to move between them when the man doffed his wide-brimmed hat and bowed his head.
    “Forgive me,” he murmured in a shocked voice. “It’s just that he looks so much like Andrew. I would know my son’s child on sight.”
    Nora watched the man pat the baby’s head with one hand as his free set of fingers surrounded Beatrice’s trembling palm.
    “Mr. Welsh?” Beatrice asked. “You… he would have looked like you if--”
    Her voice broke, and Nora watched the older man take her into his arms.
    “I know how much you must miss him,” he said. “But it doesn’t mean that you have to be alone any longer.”
    A smile crossed Beatrice’s lips as tears streamed down her face. Mary laughed as Mr. Welsh lifted the infant into the air, and the man kept Beatrice close as he regarded Nora with a curious but welcoming stare.
    “Forgive me, miss,” he started. “And you are?”
    “A friend,” Nora said.
    “She’s here to get married,” Beatrice said. ‘”Isn’t that wonderful?”
    “I should say so,” Welsh answered. “Who’s the lucky fellow?”
    Nora didn’t see the harm in revealing the truth now, and she uttered the name emblazoned across her eager heart.
    “Mr. Henry Russell,” Nora said. For a second Welsh seemed stunned, but he dialed his wide-eyed stare back as he readjusted his hat and turned his attention back to his family.
    “How nice,” the man said. “You’ll have to come around to see us some time.”
    Welsh guided a smiling Beatrice away, and Nora wondered why the man had suddenly turned so strange in the space of a second. As his carriage disappeared with Beatrice and the baby into the horizon, Nora perused the platform in search of her chance at happiness carried by an army of white horses. The wheels of the train started to churn, and she feared that she would be left alone when the sound of someone clearing their throat turned her head the other way around.
    “Are you Nora?”

Chapter 3
    Was this her mystery man?
    He wore a rumpled suit and sported a fresh shave. His dark hair was lacquered in place behind his ears, and Nora noticed the mud on his boots before returning to his eyes, which were greener than the grass. His smile revealed a set of teeth the same shade as ivory, and Nora lightly bowed her head as she offered her hand.
    “Nora Miller,” she said by way of introduction. “And you… you are Mr.---”
    “Russell,” he said, offering the surname to finish her thought. “I smiled when you answered my letter.”
    She almost returned his grin when she looked to his wagon and jutted her chin towards her bag.
    “I brought some things,” Nora started. “Just give me a moment and I’ll--”
    “That would hardly be the gentlemanly thing to do,” he said. “Please, allow me.”
    He seemed happy to