The Mistaken Mail Order Bride by Ruth Ann Nordin

Author:Ruth Ann Nordin
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: romance, sex, gossip, mail order bride, historical western romance, virgin hero, historical western, wrong bride, plain heroine, wrong groom
Publisher: Ruth Ann Nordin

***

“He’s a good looking boy,” Phoebe whispered.

“Yes, and he’s well behaved,” Caroline replied.

She and Caroline washed the dishes while Phoebe’s mother talked to him on the couch. Caroline didn’t know if he was interested in hearing all about the trip she and Phoebe had made from Ohio, but that was the topic her mother chose to talk about.

“I wish we had something for him to play with,” Phoebe said. “Abe and I don’t have any children yet.”

“I think the pie worked just fine. He had no trouble eating it.” Which was strange since he hadn’t bothered eating any of Ida’s cookies. Caroline wasn’t sure what to make of it. Was it really because he didn’t like cookies, or was there something else to it? She accepted the last dish Phoebe washed and dried it with a dishtowel. “Do you have any cookies?”

“What kind?”

“Any kind.”

“We have some with a bit of apples in them.”

“May I give one to Caleb?”

With a nod, Phoebe went over to the cookie jar and took out a couple. “You can have the rest. We didn’t have many left, and Ma and I were thinking of making more.”

“Thank you.”

Caroline was sure Phoebe was wondering why she asked for cookies, but she didn’t know how to explain it to Phoebe. Something gnawing in Caroline’s gut told her the cookies represented something important.

When the Union soldiers came to her home, she hadn’t acted on instinct. She and her mother should have hidden right away. She hadn’t believed gentlemen would harm a lady, even if they were on warring sides, but they came with the intent of harming her. When her mother tried to stop them, they killed her. Had it not been for Bee’s adult sons chasing the Union soldiers off, Caroline knew she’d be dead right now.

So this was one time when she was going to listen to her gut instinct. She approached Caleb and waited for Phoebe’s mother to stop talking before she showed him the cookies. “Would you like a cookie?” she asked him.

Caleb’s gaze went to the cookies, and for a moment, Caroline thought he wouldn’t take one. But then he scooted off the couch and accepted one. He took a bite and then took the other two before he returned to the couch, settling next to Phoebe’s mother.

Huh. Well, that was a curious thing. He didn’t seem to have any trouble with cookies. He hadn’t even asked what kind they were, so he obviously wasn’t picky about which ones he ate.

“I’m afraid the poor boy won’t have much of an appetite tonight,” Phoebe’s mother said, chuckling as she patted his back. “Though you are a growing boy. I remember my son had these spurts where he’d eat everything he could get his hands on. It was hard to keep up with him. Thankfully, Phoebe was a girl. Girls don’t eat nearly as much.”

Phoebe grinned and came over to them. “Caroline, my brother still lives back in Ohio. He has a family of his own now.

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.