The Rancher's Mail Order Bride (Dalton Brides Book 1) Read online

  The Rancher’s Mail Order Bride

  by Kirsten Osbourne

  Book One in the Dalton Brides Series

  Copyright 2014 Kirsten Osbourne

  Kindle Edition, License Notes

  This ebook is licensed for your personal enjoyment only. This ebook may not be re-sold or given away to other people. If you would like to share this book with another person, please purchase an additional copy for each recipient. If you're reading this book and did not purchase it, or it was not purchased for your use only, then please return to Amazon.com and purchase your own copy. Thank you for respecting the hard work of this author.

  From the tender age of seven, Lillian knew there was only one man she would ever love. Her love was intense and strong, and totally oblivious of the fact that the object of her attention didn't care about her. Orphaned in her early twenties, she agreed to meet a man who was interested in marrying her, but realized she couldn't. Her love was too strong. When she went to explain she couldn't meet the man, she overheard something that turned her life upside down. When she was crying on the street, her only love, Benedict, came to her rescue, but made it clear he would only help her for a short time.

  Benedict was the oldest of three brother's and the second child in a family of six. He'd always known what he wanted from life, and he knew how he was going to get there. When his parents' reputation and their family mercantile were ruined by the three deacons who had tried to marry his sisters, he knew he had to find a new plan for his life. It couldn't possibly include his childhood nemesis, Lillian, could it? Could he possibly make a fresh start with her? Could Lillian convince him that they were destined to be together forever?

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  Chapter One

  Gwen Blue laid in her bed, staring at the wall. She'd been locked in her room for eight weeks, and she no longer cared about anything. She hadn't bathed in over a month. She barely ate the food her mother brought her. Maybe if she starved herself enough, her groom would take one look at her and refuse to marry her. Maybe if she smelled bad enough, he would simply walk away. She had no other way of fighting back!

  When her parents had first locked her in her room, she'd been certain she could charm her way out as she always had. Sure, her mother never said anything she didn't mean, but Papa? He was usually a pushover.

  She had only seen him once since she'd been locked away, though. She shuddered as she thought of the evening he'd come into her room.

  "Well, I've found a solution for you, Gwen. You and your sisters are going to marry the three deacons from church. You have been blessed to be selected by Deacon Bellafonte. The marriage will take place in one month. That will give you enough time that everyone will know you're not marrying him because you're with child." Mr. Blue's words were spoken in an excited voice, as if he thought he was bestowing a gift on his middle daughter.

  Gwen stared at her father in open mouthed astonishment. "Deacon Bellafonte? He's old! And he smells bad! Worse, he's a lecher. He tries to get all the young ladies alone. I can't marry him, Papa. You know I can't!" Why would anyone think he was an appropriate husband for a twenty-one year old girl?

  Mr. Blue's jaw hardened. "You've left me with no other option. You acted like a loose woman, and it's up to me to protect the family's name and reputation. You'll do what you're told." He left the room after that, his eyes not softening one bit.

  Gwen had picked up a pitcher and threw it at the door, screaming at the top of her lungs. "I can't marry him! You can't make me!"

  She hadn't left the room since. A chamber pot had been brought in for her personal use, and there had been no baths brought to her. Good thing, because she would have refused to use a tub, just as she'd refused the pitcher and bowl. No, she wasn't about to keep clean when being disgusting could possibly cause Deacon Bellafonte to move on.

  She shuddered thinking about him. He was a scrawny old man with dark hair and teeth that were all but black. He must be at least forty-five! No, she wouldn't marry him. If she had to tell the man he repulsed her, she would happily do so.

  She rolled over in her bed and felt the silent tears falling again. Before 'the incident' she'd only ever cried when she needed something from someone. She'd always been able to cry on command. Now? The tears were real, and they weren't pretty.

  She'd just drifted off to sleep when she felt someone's hand on her. She jerked, imagining it was Deacon Bellafonte. She'd taken to having nightmares about his hands on her body. She rubbed her eyes quickly looking around her. Where was she?

  “Gwenny, wake up. Gwen, can you hear me?” Bonnie was leaning over her in her bed.

  Gwen almost sagged with relief as she realized it was her older sister and not her intended. She said the most intelligent thing that came to mind. “Muh?”

  “Gwen, do you want to marry old man Bellafonte?”

  “No!” How could Bonnie even ask her that? Did Gwen's sister not know her at all?

  “Shhh! You can’t make any noise, understand? If you don’t want marry him, we need to leave tonight.” Bonnie kept her voice low, obviously trying to keep their parents from waking.

  Gwen was willing to do anything to get away from her marriage, but fear of the unknown was strong. She knew she couldn't make a living. She had no real skills like Bonnie did. “But where will we go?”

  “To visit my old school friend, Anna Simpson, in Texas. We already have tickets and we’ve packed as much as we dare because no one in the family knows. If we wake them up, they’ll stop us and we’ll be forced to marry those old men.”

  Just then Hank hurried in with the coat. Gwen gasped and scrambled backward. “No!” She couldn't trust Hank to help her and her sisters. She couldn't trust anyone!

  "Darling, Hank is helping us,” Bonnie whispered. "He’s the only one, and he’s promised to keep our secret until his death.” She turned to give her brother a withering look. “Which will come quickly if he betrays us.”

  Hank simply nodded and wrapped her coat around her shoulders. Gwen wanted to shy away from him, but after two months of inactivity, she had little strength.

  “Let’s go, Gwenny.”

  “But…look at me,” she said quietly. How could anyone think she could leave town in such a state? She glanced in the mirror by the little bit of light drifting in the window from the moon. Her usually perfectly coiffed blond hair hung in greasy clumps around her face. She could see that she'd lost weight. For the first time in weeks, her looks mattered again.

  “I have a plan, but we have to leave now.”

  Gwen studied her sister for a moment before nodding. "All right. I'll trust you."

  The four of them crept from the house, Hank driving them to a house Gwen had seen but never been in. She knew it had once been the home of wealthy but eccentric Harriett Long, but now a young woman who had been raised just outside of town lived there. She couldn't think of the woman's name.

  Bonnie jumped down from the buckboard. "Hank, take the trunk to the train station. We'll be there soon. Then take the buckboard home and pretend you know nothing of this. You don't need Papa angry with you, too."

  Gwen watched as Bonnie hugged Hank, kissing his cheek.

  Hank nodded. "I'll do it. Be careful." He reached out a hand as if to touch Gwen, but let it drop away.

  Gwen was so filthy, even her own brother wouldn't touch her, and Bonnie wanted her to go to the most elegant home in all of Beckham? What was she thinking?

  Bonnie marched straight to the door and pounded on it as if they had every right in th
e world to be there. What had her sister been up to while she was locked away?

  It took five minutes and a lot of pounding, but finally a young blond head poked out the door. "Ladies, come in. What's the trouble? Oh!" The woman took a long look at Gwen.

  Gwen blushed. No one had ever seen her looking so bad. She had never in her life dreamed she'd allow herself to look this way. She kept quiet, too embarrassed to speak.

  "Our train leaves in about three hours, Elizabeth. We need your help." Bonnie shoved Gwen at Elizabeth.

  Elizabeth nodded and led them into the house, taking the sisters to a small bathroom. "You can clean up in there." She pointed to the bathroom. "Do you have clean clothes for her?" Elizabeth asked.

  Bonnie nodded. "We do. These are my sisters as I'm sure you've guessed. The clean one is Libby. The rancid one is Gwen."

  Gwen glared at Bonnie but didn't say a word. How could she? She was rancid.

  Gwen hurriedly bathed, soaping and rinsing her hair three times. She felt disgusting. It was as if she'd just woken from a horrible nightmare. Her mind was suddenly working again. She needed to be clean!

  The entire time she was bathing, she could hear soft voices from another room. She decided she didn't care if they were talking about her. She wasn't going to marry that horrible monster, and she was getting clean. Everything would be all better soon.

  When she was finished, she took the clothes Libby had left for her and dressed quickly. Why hadn't they brought her cornflower blue dress? Yes, she knew she looked good in the yellow one too, but the cornflower matched her eyes better and would show off her tiny waist, which was even smaller now that she'd lost weight.

  She did her best to get her curls just perfect before opening the door and wandering until she found the others in a large office. Elizabeth sat, still in her dressing gown, at a small desk while Libby and Bonnie sat on a sofa. Holding her hand out to meet Elizabeth officially, she said, "I'm Gwen Blue." As she said the words, she realized she could hold her head up again. All of her confidence was back now that she was no longer filthy.

  Elizabeth smiled. "It's nice to meet you, Gwen."

  "You as well." Gwen looked around the beautiful home and knew she needed to live somewhere like that someday soon. She deserved the nicest things in life. She knew, because her papa had always told her she did. The only good thing about old man Bellafonte was his wealth. She shuddered as she thought of him. She'd even marry a poor man to escape Mr. Bellafonte.

  Bonnie got to her feet. "We'd better be off to the train station. Thank you so much for your help."

  As they were leaving the house, Gwen decided to ask the main thing she needed to know. Anyone else would have asked how the sisters knew Elizabeth, but not Gwen. There was something a great deal more important to her. “Libby, why didn’t you bring my cornflower dress?”

  Libby looked disgusted. “I see you’re back to normal again,” she hissed.

  “What was that?” Gwen couldn't believe her sister would say that! It was a legitimate question. She wanted her prettiest dress. Was that too much to ask?

  “I said—”

  “We need to let Elizabeth get back to sleep and get ourselves to the train before it leaves us to a horrible fate,” Bonnie interrupted, obviously annoyed the two of them were starting to bicker in front of the other woman.

  As they were rushing toward the street, Elizabeth called out, “Now you three have a safe journey, and be sure to write to tell me how everything is going with those three brothers!”

  Bonnie waved, but Libby remained silent.

  “Brothers? What brothers?” Gwen asked. Something strange was going on, and she wanted to know what it was.

  “Our brothers, silly,” Bonnie replied. “Now get moving or we’ll miss the train.” She exchanged a look with Libby.

  Gwen shook her head. Let them keep their silly secrets. She was clean and off on an adventure. And the best part of it all was she didn't have to marry Deacon Bellafonte. She'd been saved from her worst nightmare by the unlikeliest of heroines. Her sister, Bonnie.

  *****

  The trip to Texas took ten days, and after the first twenty-four hours, Gwen remembered why she didn't particularly like her sisters. Oh, she loved them, but she didn't always like them.

  Bonnie, well, Bonnie was the oldest and the smartest. She was the best at absolutely everything. She could sew, quilt, cook, knit, crochet, and even tat better than anyone Gwen had ever seen. She could also do sums in her head at an incredible speed. She never misspoke. Her grammar was impeccable.

  In short, Bonnie was perfect in every way but one. She wasn't beautiful. That was Gwen's role. Gwen had never needed to be smart or good at anything. She just needed to be pretty and smile a lot, and she'd get her way. It had always been that way for them.

  Libby was the youngest of the three, but she was also the one with the sweetest expression. You could look at Libby and believe her perfect in every way. She wasn't, though. She was pretty, not nearly as beautiful as Gwen, of course, but she was only eighteen, and hadn't really rounded out everywhere yet. No, it was her personality that Gwen wasn't fond of.

  Libby complained that Gwen thought too much of her looks, but in reality, Libby was the one obsessed with beauty. Gwen just had to be clean to be beautiful, while Libby had to work at it. So work at it, she did. She spent hours every day fussing with her hair and pinching her cheeks to bring them color. She wanted lip rouge and tried her best to cajole their mother into buying her some, but when she refused, she'd taken to smearing berry juice on her lips to keep them rosy.

  Gwen rolled her eyes at Libby. "Why are you always fussing with your hair? We have to be on this train for another five days. We've seen every man there is to see. Why bother?"

  Libby glared at Gwen. "Some of us care about how we look."

  "Some of us don't have to," Gwen returned, knowing she was being snotty. Libby brought out the worst in her, though. She loved her younger sister with all her heart, but sometimes, she just wanted to hit her.

  "Would you two stop it?" Bonnie asked. "You're making me crazy! I want to finish this apron today so that I can give it to Anna as a gift for inviting us."

  "What's going on with us visiting Anna? You two were never really that close, were you? I mean, I know she was the only real friend you had, but it's not like you ever spent a lot of time together outside of school."

  Bonnie shook her head. "We've kept up a correspondence. I like Anna a lot. When she heard about our situation, she suggested we come out there. I'm hoping we'll meet some men while we're there. Texas doesn't have enough women, you know."

  Gwen smiled. She loved men. She'd never done the things she'd been accused of, but she loved them. There just wasn't enough time to court them all. She had a bad reputation in Beckham because she'd stepped out with so many men. She hadn't done more than kiss any of them, though.

  And the incident? Why, she hadn't been doing anything wrong at all. She'd met with an old beau because he'd tricked her. When he grabbed her and kissed her, she'd been stunned. She hadn't asked for his affections. He was engaged to Gertrude, the second prettiest girl in Beckham, who hated Gwen, who was the prettiest girl in Beckham.

  Gertie had then spread rumors that Gwen was with child and that she, Bonnie, and Libby had all been seen kissing the same man. As if any man had ever kissed Bonnie!

  The lies had been bad for her reputation, but they'd been great for Bonnie's. I mean, what man wanted to court a woman that no other man had even looked twice at?

  A man came around with a tray of food and she got a sandwich. She ignored her sisters as she stared out the window eating it. There were men in Texas. More men than women. Texas sounded like paradise.

  *****

  On the last day of the trip, Gwen did her best to wash her hands and face with the water provided for the passengers to drink. She knew that wasn't what she was supposed to do with it, but really? They were almost to Weatherford, where they would take a stagecoach to a plac
e called Wiggieville.

  What kind of name was Wiggieville anyway? Honestly, Gwen didn't care where they were going as long as they were ending up somewhere she didn't have to marry an old man, and where she could find a man to court her. Or several men. Gwen wasn't certain she was ready to marry, but courting certainly was fun.

  Just before the train pulled into the station, Gwen sat up straight, more excited than she could express. Bonnie and Libby looked nervous. Bonnie was practically green. "Is the motion starting to make you sick, Bonnie?"

  Bonnie shook her head slowly. "I'm just nervous. I've never had to take a stagecoach before."

  "You weren't nervous before we took the train, and you've never taken a train before. How could you be nervous about taking a stagecoach? You're just being silly." Sometimes Gwen didn't understand her sisters at all.

  Bonnie nodded slowly. "I probably am."

  Libby sighed. "I hope mine's handsome."

  Gwen eyed Libby suspiciously. "You hope your what is handsome?"

  Bonnie elbowed Libby. "She hopes the man she eventually meets and marries is handsome, of course. We're all hoping to find a good handsome man here in Texas, aren't we?"

  Gwen looked back and forth between her sisters. There was something they weren't telling her. Every time she went to the back of their car to relieve herself when she came back, her sisters were deep in conversation.

  Oh well, whatever they were up to didn't have anything to do with her. They both knew better than to try to get her to do anything she didn't want to do. They'd seen the fit she'd thrown when Papa said she had to marry Deacon Bellafonte. They wouldn't try to force her to do anything.

  She watched out the window as the train came to a stop. "It's...flat. And dry. Why is all the grass brown here?"

  Bonnie answered her quickly. "From what I've read, there are frequent droughts in Texas. There's not enough rainfall, so often by this time of year, the grass is brown and withered."

  Gwen wrinkled her nose. "Well, that doesn't sound pleasant. I was thinking I'd find a man here and stay, but maybe I'll move on." She knew there was no way she could move on without her sisters, but she didn't care. It felt like she was in a new world with a new life and new possibilities. She could talk about moving on if she wanted to.