Mail-Order Mishaps by Susan Page Davis

Author:Susan Page Davis [Davis, Susan Page; Ford, Linda; McDonough, Vickie; Vetsch, Erica]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9781643520025
Publisher: Barbour Publishing, Inc.
Published: 2019-01-15T00:00:00+00:00

Amelia lay awake long into the night praying. Please, God, let me be certain of this. How could she think of marrying Jacob when she loved Zach? There. She’d admitted it. If only Zach would ask her to stay.

She was packed. On the top of her things in the trunk, she’d put the picture her maternal grandmother had painted and Callie had rescued from being sold. She’d hang it on the wall of her new home. To her it signified permanency and security.

The next morning, when she went downstairs to join the others for breakfast, Jacob sat at the table and smiled at her.

Zach kept his head down as if he cared about nothing but the food about to be served.

If he would utter even one word to indicate he wanted her to stay …

They were almost finished eating breakfast when a rider thundered into the yard.

Zach rushed out to greet one of his cowboys.

They all overheard the message. “Boss, the cows have been stampeded. They’re all over creation.”

“Saddle my horse.” Zach returned as far as the door. “I’m afraid I have to leave. All the best to all of you.” His gaze slid over Amelia and rested a moment on Daisy, and then he was gone. Along with any hope that he might have even a sliver of the affection for her that she had for him.

That left her nothing but the farm in the Dakotas.

Once it would have been enough.

Jacob pushed from the table. “Thank you for the hospitality.” He addressed Pa, who looked confused.

Who would watch to see that Pa wouldn’t wander off? Gil didn’t keep a close enough eye on the elderly man, and Kat often spent time at the corrals, oblivious to her father.

Jacob smiled at Amelia. “Are you ready to go?”

“I have a trunk and crate upstairs. I’ll need help bringing them down.”

He followed her up the steps and grabbed a handle of the trunk. She took the other, and they lifted it. He backed from the room and made his way to the top of the stairs.

“Stop.” She let her end drop to the floor.

“Is it too heavy? Maybe I can get Gil to help.”

“It’s not too heavy. It’s too far.”

“I don’t understand.”

“I know, and I don’t expect you to. But I can’t go. I am needed here.”

Jacob stared at her. “Are you saying you won’t marry me? That you are going to stay here?”

She nodded.

“Is Zach going to marry you?”

She shrugged. “I love him. But even if he won’t marry me, I will stay. This is where I belong.”

“That’s for sure,” Kat said.

Amelia looked over the bannister to see Kat, Pa, Gil, and Daisy grinning up at her. “I’m sorry,” she said to Jacob.

“Me too, but I’m glad you’re honest with me. I want a wife who loves me and is true to me even in her heart. I’ll be on my way.”

They waved goodbye to him at the door, and Amelia returned upstairs. There was something she must do. She lifted the painting from her trunk and took it downstairs.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.