A Mail Order Bride for the Fur Trader: Joy & Henry (Love by Mail 3)

Author:Christina Ward [Ward, Christina]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Mail-Order Bride, Marriage Of Convenience, Fiction, Forever Love, Christian, Religious, Faith, Inspirational, Spirituality, Love Inspired, Bachelor, Single Woman, Series, Historical, Sweet & Clean, Frontier, Western, Short Story, Love by Mail, Romance, Fur Trader, Runs Away, Local Pastor, Trading Post, Fledgling Business
Publisher: Christina Ward
Published: 2015-09-15T04:00:00+00:00

Chapter 5

“I can’t thank you enough for helping me out, Hannah.” Joy smiled at the other woman as they unlocked the last of the doors. Elias dropped the keys earlier and left Joy and Hannah to deal with the store as he hurried to work.

“No problem.”

They entered the shop, and Hannah rushed to open the windows.

“I had to learn to manage a farm when I married Jeremiah. This can’t be much harder.” She laughed over the sound of opening shutters.

“But this is different.” Joy panicked. “I’m sure you had more time, and someone to teach you? I have absolutely no idea how to manage a shop!”

Joy’d never admit that to Henry, but now with just Hannah around her nerves were getting the better of her. Hannah turned around and brushed the furs with her fingers. It was hard not to touch them, Joy thought, she also sunk her hand into the soft fur every time she passed by.

“Don’t worry, you’ll do fine.” Hannah said. “Did Henry tell you what to do?”

Joy nodded. “Well I watched him earlier, I even helped out a bit, and he showed me where thing were yesterday. But… he didn’t really leave a proper guide.”

“Well don’t over think it, Joy.” Hannah looked right at her with a smile. “Since there are no customers yet, what do you think this place needs?”

Joy looked around and heaved a sigh. “Needs? Well some dusting for sure.”

“There you go, let’s get on it then.” Hannah grabbed a brush and began working on the hides nearest the door. Joy dug out a broom abandoned in the furthest corner of the store and began sweeping. The place was still dark and plain, but soon it looked and smelled cleaner.

A middle-aged woman came in just as they were moving the empty crates to form a display area.

“Morning ladies. You’ve got some beautiful furs here,” she said, looking around.

Joy dusted off her dress. It was a good thing she put perfumed mineral oil in her hair that day. She looked at Hannah looking for some reassurance, but her new friend was still cleaning the hides.

“Yes, we do,” Joy said. “Are you looking for something specific?”

The woman nodded. She adjusted her feather hat and took off her gloves to touch the fur. “Yes, I’d like some fur for a coat. And hats, too.”

“I recommend beaver fur for the hats if they’re to be used in colder places,” Joy said.

The woman’s brows jumped. “You know hats?”

“I know fur.”

The woman mirrored Joy’s smile. “Well, how much is a pelt?”

Joy froze. She’d forgotten to ask Henry. He didn’t have tags on the furs themselves. Was there a ledger somewhere?

“Uh, I think... Let me check. One moment please.” She went over to the table with the till and went through the drawers. Her hands started shaking when she opened the third notebook full of random scrawl in not the most legible of handwritings. She reached for a smaller book and breathed a sigh of relief. There it was –

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