A Cat for Christmas: (Spinster Mail-Order Brides Book 31) by Elissa Strati

Author:Elissa Strati [Strati, Elissa]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 2020-11-24T16:00:00+00:00

The Arrangement

“Are you ready for one last adventure, old friend?” Nate asked when Henry returned.

But Henry was too excited to share his own news to hear what Nate had to say.

“I got the job!” he crowed!

“At the Sevenoaks spread? The Circle S?” asked Francis.

“Yes! Harold’s hiring me as Foreman!”

“You are already on a first name basis with your new boss?”

Henry nodded. “Folks are a bit more casual here than back home.” He paused, considering. “That’s really not home any more, is it? This is!

“But that’s not the best part. He’s fixing up his old cabin for us. So we’ll even have a place to live!”

Nate’s face fell. “I guess you won’t want to hear my news, then.”

“Wait a minute, I thought you’d be excited for me.”

“Oh, I am! I imagine I’m well rid of you,” Nate teased.

“Yes, I guess I am rather letting you down. You’d counted on a companion for the whole journey.”

“I am finding God provides what I need, not necessarily what I think I want. And I cannot question God’s hand in your fate. But as I had started to say when you first walked in, I’d hoped for one last adventure before you became a Kansan.”

“You have to at least tell me about it now!” Henry sat back with the air of one prepared to hear a saga.

Francis and Nate both laughed and explained the Barnett’s visit and request.

“So you’d probably be gone five to six weeks, keeping you away from temptation during the two month waiting period Mr. Montgomery imposed,” finished Nate.

“Which does give me time to actually read the banns for you,” Francis chimed in wryly. As a part time itinerant preacher he’d found the leisure of planning did not exist for most couples. For some really isolated communities he’d found himself performing the wedding and a baptism at the same time. That these people so desperately wanted the blessing of God for their union, regardless of original faith, was a testament to the Lord.

“But if you already have a job, then you can’t take this one,” Nate concluded.

Henry looked glum at the reminder of the delay.

“Actually, I could, because I’m supposed to start work after I’m married. He doesn’t really need me yet. But he’s getting some new stock in, in about two months, that he wanted me to start with. And he plans to have the house ready for us as a wedding present. But I’m not comfortable about leaving now that I’ve found Margaret Sue. What if something were to happen to me? I want to be able to provide for her.”

He got up.

“I need to see her and talk with her.”

~~~

Florence was nothing if not practical. Recognizing she’d need an ally to convince Henry to help escort her to Texas, she dropped her father and brother back at the farm, grabbing a coat to fight the chill which was still in the air, and headed out to the Montgomery place. She found Margaret Sue in the garden weeding, and happy to take a break and share a cup of coffee with another woman despite the age gap.

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