Nelly's Mail Order Husband by Ruth Ann Nordin

Author:Ruth Ann Nordin
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: comedy, humor, homestead, arranged marriage, historical western romance, mail order husband, independent heroine, larson family
Publisher: Ruth Ann Nordin

Chapter Eleven

The next morning, Nelly decided not to put on her denims. She opted to put on one of her skirts that she hadn’t worn in a long time. She wasn’t even sure when she’d last worn it. It might have been last year after the harvest when everyone got together to celebrate the end of another successful year. Yes, that was probably it. If she remembered right, her sisters were shocked to see her wearing it. “Why Nelly, you actually look like a girl,” Patricia had said.

At the time, Nelly had rolled her eyes. Hadn’t her sisters paid attention when she wore a dress to church or whenever they went to town? She only wore pants when she needed to work. But now, as Nelly thought over Patricia’s comment, she wondered if this might work in her favor. Yesterday, Val had mentioned that she was pretty in the dress. She wasn’t sure why that had pleased her as much as it did, but when she woke up this morning, her first inclination was to take out her old skirt and put it on.

Fortunately, it still fit. She couldn’t be sure it would since it’d been so long since she’d last had it on. But, thankfully, it did. She selected a shirtwaist to go with it, and after a moment’s debate, she figured she might as well style her hair instead of just letting it hang down her back or pulling it into a braid. She opened the little jewelry box on her dresser and took out several pins. They didn’t exactly match her clothes, but they were close enough. Once her hair was pulled neatly up, she studied her reflection in the small mirror. She wondered if Val would like what he saw when he looked at her.

She glanced at the closed bedroom door. There was only one way to find out. She slipped on the boots she always wore when doing the homestead chores. She had a prettier pair in the armoire, but they were impractical for work. She reserved them for her trips to town and to church.

After a moment, she took a deep breath. She hadn’t felt anxious yesterday when she changed into a dress, but she felt it now. She couldn’t recall a time when it’d ever mattered if someone liked the way she looked or not.

She went to the door and turned the knob. Her gaze went to the floor where Val usually slept, and sure enough, he was there right now, sound asleep. She didn’t know how he could sleep on the floor. It couldn’t be comfortable. If it was her, she’d sleep on the couch.

She supposed she could offer to let him go to bed with her. Then he would be more comfortable at night, but she couldn’t seem to do that. Not right now. Not when she hardly knew him…even though he was her husband.

Her pa had warned her that men often only had one thing on their minds when they were alone with a woman in a house.

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