Mail-Order Brides of the West: Bertha: A Montana Sky Novella (Montana Sky Series) by Holland Debra

Author:Holland, Debra [Holland, Debra]
Language: eng
Format: azw3
Published: 2016-02-02T05:00:00+00:00

CHAPTER SEVEN

That evening, when the Morgans and their visitors entered the meeting hall for the Harvest Festival, Howie, like every other man present, focused on the ladies. He didn’t know what they’d done with themselves, but wearing fancy gowns, with curls frizzed across their foreheads, and long, white gloves covering their hands and arms, they seemed like different creatures from the women in work dresses and aprons who’d labored all day so the party could take place.

Miss Bucholtz had stepped inside the room, and Howie thought she was the most magnificent sight he’d ever seen. Her pale pink silk gown was edged with lace, but lacked the swags of material draping to the bustle like some of the other fashionable women wore. Instead, narrow velvet stripes in the same color ran from her waist to the hem. She looked plump and pretty—a delectable peach.

Tearing his gaze away, he glanced at the other men and saw the same hunger in their eyes that lurked in his belly. Mine. He wanted to step to her side and stake his claim.

Bertha saw all the men staring at her, and she started to shrink away. But surrounded by her friends, she couldn’t escape out the door.

At a nod from Mr. Morgan, Obadiah Kettering raised his fiddle and ran the bow across the strings in a summons to the dance floor. A mine guard flanked the musician, tasked with keeping liquor from the man. All day, Mr. Morgan had the fiddler under watch, so no drop of alcohol would cross the man’s lips. Tonight, the mine guards would take turns on Obadiah duty so they could enjoy the party as well.

Obadiah began a waltz; Howie recognized the piece as the one the man had played at the party to celebrate the Morgans’ wedding, when, he suspected, the couple had first begun falling in love.

This time they had a space far bigger than their parlor, and Mr. Morgan made good use of every inch, twirling his wife to the gliding beat. The couple had eyes and smiles only for each other, moving with ease as if they’d danced together for many years.

After they’d taken several turns around the room, their visitors joined them. Howie knew from snippets of conversation overheard while everyone worked today that the other mail-order brides had never before danced with their grooms. For that reason, the boss had requested everyone else wait the first number out.

Earlier today, Prudence had pulled Seth and Jonah aside for a lesson in the waltz. Now the four couples spun and dipped, with varying levels of expertise, but all wore happy expressions.

Howie searched for the fifth woman from the mail-order bride agency and saw her surrounded. As the only eligible woman at the party, the miners swarmed the newcomer. Not just the miners. Like ants after the only crumb on a picnic blanket, available men had ridden in from miles around to attend the dance and talk to womenfolk, no matter their age or marital status.

He was about to fight his way through the crowd but saw Mrs.

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