Mail Order Merchant: Brides of Beckham (Cowboys and Angels Book 5) Read online

  He nodded, admiring her way of thinking about the bottom line. “Can you really balance the books?”

  “Of course, I can. I wouldn’t offer if I was worried I might not be able to.”

  “Then I’d like you to come down and look at them tomorrow. I have a hard time remembering exactly how much I owe Beatrice, because she bakes her cookies on consignment.”

  “Why do you do it that way? Why not just pay her a flat fee? How much do you charge for her cookies?”

  “A dime a dozen.”

  “So pay her eight cents per dozen. She’s the one who’s paying for supplies, so you can make two cents profit off of her work. If you don’t sell it the day you get it, you know you can sell it the next. Make it easier on both of you by just paying her as soon as she brings her baked goods in.”

  Mortimer frowned. “I didn’t think of that.”

  “In the beginning it made sense to do consignment, but now you know you’re going to sell everything daily. The old arrangement isn’t necessary any longer.”

  “What exactly did you do in that store back in Beckham?”

  She laughed. “I was officially a sales clerk, but I did absolutely everything. Sebastian did very little, and I kept the whole store going. His wife—God rest her soul—was usually dealing with children or she would work the cash register. I ran the store, and everyone in town knew it.”

  “Well, then…I’m going to need to listen to your ideas about how I can make my store better, aren’t I?” He was surprised to find that he liked the idea of having a wife who was an active partner in his store. Grace had done little more than watch the counter if he was ill. Toria was competent enough that she could run the store without him, from the sound of it.

  “I’m happy to give any opinions. I’d like to have a couple of days to settle in first, if you don’t mind.” She poured the water she’d set on the stove before they sat down to eat into the basin. “Do you like to play cards?”

  “I have been known to enjoy a game or two.”

  “Maybe after supper, we could play a game of cards. Or chess, if you have it.”

  Mortimer looked at her, a slow smile spreading across his face. “You play chess?”

  “I do. I’ve always enjoyed it a great deal.”

  “Then by all means, let’s play chess once the dishes are done.” He had no feelings for her other than admiration and friendship, but perhaps love could grow from that. When he’d received the telegram that she was coming, he’d been determined to choose to love her. Now that she was here, he was happy for friendship that may build into more. Even if it didn’t, he had what he’d wanted. A companion who could help in the store and keep his house for him. What more could a man ask for?

  When Toria set out the following afternoon, it was more to explore Creede than for any other reason. She knew that Mortimer didn’t find the place to be perfectly safe, but she’d head over toward the telegraph shop and Beatrice’s house anyway. She could see her new friend, learn a little about the town, and perhaps meet some new people along the way.

  She knocked on the door of Beatrice’s at precisely one-thirty, knowing her friend had said that was when the baby napped.

  Beatrice opened the door, a big smile on her face. “Come in! I have some friends here, and we’re all having tea and cookies. You must join us!”

  “Oh, I couldn’t interrupt your time with your friends.”

  “Yes, you can. You’re my friend, too. Come into the kitchen.”

  When Toria walked into the kitchen, she saw three ladies sitting at the table. “This is Toria. She married Mortimer from the mercantile yesterday. She’s a mail order bride from Massachusetts.”

  Toria was embarrassed that she’d been introduced as a mail order bride, but she fought the urge to explain why she was there. There was no shame in what she’d done. “It’s nice to meet you all.”

  A fresh-faced young lady with a Scottish lilt to her voice said, “I’m Millie. My brother is the pastor at the church in Bachelor, which is the next town over. These are my friends, Sophia and Marta. Sophia just married the man who runs the livery, and Marta is recently married to a rancher outside town. Sophia and I were on our way to see Beatrice this morning, and we ran into Marta at the mercantile. We had to bring her along.”

  Toria nodded. “It’s nice to meet all of you.” There were only four chairs around the kitchen table, but Beatrice brought in another. “Thank you.”

  Beatrice hurried and got a cup of tea for Toria, along with some cookies. “Mortimer told me this morning that you’ve changed how I’ll be paid. That’s going to be much easier for me, so thank you.”

  Toria smiled. “He’s also asked me to help you with the baking. Well, not help you with it, but do more so he has more to sell because your cookies are in such high demand.”

  “It will help me out a lot if you take on some of the baking. It was all right until Sally started walking, but now she’s into everything. I have half a mind to use a bedsheet to tie her to a chair so she’ll stop escaping!”

  The others laughed, knowing that was something sweet Beatrice would never do. “You might need to use a couple of chairs on their sides to pen her into the parlor,” Marta suggested. “Now that my youngest is crawling, I’ve had to do that a time or two. I trip over her otherwise!”

  As Toria sat back and listened to the women talk about their days and their struggles, she came to a conclusion that had never even occurred to her before. Women all over—whether in the west or the east—went through the same basic struggles. As soon as she realized that, she felt as if she was part of the group, and she enjoyed the conversation a great deal more. Knowing she was just like them and they were just like her made all the difference in the world.

  Chapter Four

  After a lovely visit with her new friends, Toria walked the short distance to the mercantile. Mortimer glared at her as she walked in. “Where have you been?”

  She frowned. “I walked down to Beatrice’s and had tea with her and some other ladies. You told me last night you didn’t mind if I went to her house for tea anytime.”

  “Yes, but you should have told me. I forgot something after lunch, and I went up to get it, and you weren’t there. I was worried.” He hadn’t really forgotten anything. He’d wanted to spend a few more minutes with her, which was what had upset him. When he’d gotten upstairs she was gone. “Please let me know when you’re leaving—even if you just write me a note—so I know where you are and when you should be back. The kidnappings are too recent in our past for me to feel like you’re safe.”

  Toria rubbed the back of her neck. She wasn’t used to having to check in with anyone, but she had wanted to marry, and having someone worry about you was supposed to be one of the good parts of marriage. “I’m sorry, Mortimer. I’ll make sure I leave you a note the next time I leave impulsively.” She’d spent the morning doing her laundry, and she’d made bread and put a pot roast in the oven. She’d needed some time to just breathe in the fresh air. “I didn’t mean to worry you.”

  He nodded. “I’m sorry I got upset with you. We hadn’t discussed you leaving a note before, and there’s no way you would have known I’d get so nervous.”

  She smiled at him timidly, hoping they were all right now. She didn’t want there to be tension in their burgeoning friendship. It was odd to think of their marriage as a friendship, but at this point in time, that’s all it was. He had no feelings for her, and she had no feelings for him. Hopefully that would change, but right now, there was nothing. “If you want to invite John to supper tonight, I’ve made plenty.”

  Mortimer smiled. “Thank you. I’ll ask him.”

  Toria spent a few minutes wandering around the store, looking at the displays and thinking of ways things could be set up better. “I made the list of things I need for baking for you,” she told him after she’d walked around the entire store, making many mental notes. She handed him the sheet of paper.

  “If you want to, go ah
ead and gather these things up, and I’ll have John deliver them. That’s one of his jobs around here. He makes the deliveries.”

  Toria loved the idea that she could buy just about anything she wanted. Even when she’d worked at the store in Beckham, Mr. Penuckle had always been stingy about what she could take. Even if she was offering to purchase it at full price and not use her discount, he would get angry saying they needed everything for real customers. He’d never been pleased when she’d purchased anything.

  Once she’d made a little pile at the register, Mortimer rang it all up and pulled the money from his own pocket to pay for it. “I know it’s strange that I do it this way, but I’m worried that I’ll lose track and not be able to get my register to balance, and that makes me a little crazy at the end of the day.”

  She laughed. “I completely agree. I was going to ask you to do it that way, or to ring it all up and make a note of what I should have paid if you didn’t have the cash. Then I would be able to balance it all better.” She was pleased that they did things the same way when it came to business. At first glance, they had so little in common…but the more time she spent with him, the more she realized they really were alike in many ways.

  After she’d gone back up to their home, she thought more about the relationship she had with her new husband. They still had never kissed. They’d never really even held hands, except when she was trying to comfort him the night before. She hoped they weren’t doomed to a loveless marriage, but maybe things would change between them.

  John was up a few minutes later with the things she’d chosen from the store. “Do you need help putting things away? Dad said I had to ask.”

  “I appreciate the offer, but I’d rather arrange things myself. Are you coming for supper?”

  John shrugged. “Why should I?”

  “Because I’d like to get to know you a little better. I’m making pot roast for supper. I’m a very good cook, and you might just enjoy eating something that doesn’t come out of a bottle for a change.” There was no accusation in her words, but she hoped they’d get through to the young man.

  “I’ll be here.” His words were begrudging, but she was still pleased. She knew it would mean a lot to Mortimer if he came to supper.

  She arranged all of the ingredients in a way that would be easiest for her to use, and then she whipped up some cookie dough. She may not have time to make a lot of things for sale at the store the next day, but she’d bake six dozen cookies. A dozen for her and Mortimer, a dozen for John to take home with him, and four dozen for the store. She was pleased with the idea that she could accomplish some things even before Mortimer expected her to.

  The men were there for supper shortly after six, which was when the store closed. Mortimer told her they usually did inventory on Saturday nights, and they sometimes found themselves working late. She didn’t mind, because she knew inventory was something that needed to be done weekly. She was very happy for her store background when it came to being married to Mortimer.

  As they all sat down to eat, Mortimer led them in prayer. When she raised her head from being bowed, she noticed that John was watching her. “I hope everyone is hungry,” she said. “I cooked enough to feed half of Creede—or two very hungry men.”

  Mortimer smiled. “It all looks and smells wonderful. Thank you for cooking for us, Toria.”

  She noticed that her name flowed off his tongue much more easily than before. She was glad he no longer struggled not to call her Vicki, a name that had never really belonged to her. “Did anything interesting happen at the store today?” she asked.

  Mortimer told a quick story about how Hannah had cleaned for days to earn her stethoscope, and he’d told her it would be in that day. When she’d come in that afternoon to claim the reward for her work, she had been very emotional when she’d actually seen it. “I loved my stethoscope. It was my prized possession, and someone stole it from me. It shouldn’t have bothered me as much as it did, but it was mine, and I’d earned it.”

  “I told her I was glad she’d gotten a new one, but I’ve never seen such a happy woman in my life. She didn’t seem to be sure if she should laugh or cry, so she ended up doing both.”

  “I think that’s wonderful. Thank you for making sure the house was clean when I arrived and helping her at the same time. I truly believe life is about little acts of love we show others. The acts of love can be for strangers or for people we know well. Either way, if you can make a difference in someone’s day, then yours wasn’t wasted.” Toria wasn’t sure where her philosophy had come from, but it was one she’d always had.

  John studied her for a moment. “Mom used to believe that, but she practiced what she preached. What did you do for someone today?”

  Toria didn’t mention that she’d cooked and invited him to supper. Instead, she stood up and walked over to find the plate of cookies that she’d covered with a towel. “I made these for you to take home. I hope you like sweets as much as your father does.”

  John looked at the cookies, obviously surprised. “Thank you.”

  “You’re welcome. I know you don’t want me here, John, and I promise I’m not trying to take your mother’s place. I’m trying to be someone completely different, because from the things I’ve heard about her, there’s no way I could ever live up to her memory.”

  “That’s right. You couldn’t.” John set the cookies beside his plate as he took another helping of everything on the table. “I guess having you here to cook for my dad and bake me cookies won’t be terrible.”

  “Anytime you want cookies, you just let me know.” If the way to get her new stepson not to hate her was to feed him cookies at every opportunity, then so be it. She’d do whatever it took to fit in with this new family of hers.

  “I might do that.”

  After supper, the two men played checkers while she washed the dishes, and then she sat down with them and watched, pleased to see that John seemed to be enjoying himself with his father instead of going to the saloon. Maybe they could keep him out just for one night.

  After John left for the evening, Mortimer took her hand and led her into the parlor, a room that she’d dusted, but never sat in. He sat on the sofa and pulled her down beside him. “I want to thank you for the effort you’re making with John. I know he’s not pleasant to be around with his constant talk of his mother and how she’s better at everything, but I really do appreciate it.”

  Toria smiled. “When I decided to be a mail order bride, I knew that you had a grown son. I knew I’d have to do everything I could to make friends with him. I’m just doing what I’d planned all along.”

  “And you’re doing it with a smile and a sunny disposition. I appreciate that.” Mortimer looked at her for a moment, for once not seeing how much she didn’t look like Grace, but this time seeing her for Toria. “You’re a beautiful woman.”

  Toria blushed. “Not really. I just happen to be the only woman in the room, so you’ve forgotten how pretty others are.”

  “And modest too. What did I do to deserve you, Toria?” His hand came up to cup her cheek, and he ran his thumb over her lips. “I didn’t kiss you at our wedding, knowing I’d want to kiss you for the first time with no audience. May I do that now, beautiful wife?”

  Toria nodded slowly, her stomach all a-flutter. She raised her lips to his, surprised by the softness of his mouth on hers. When he pulled back, she felt warmth spreading through her formerly fluttery stomach. What was happening to her?

  “What do you like to do in your spare time, Toria?” Mortimer asked, putting his arm around her shoulders and pulling her up against him.

  “I like to sew, knit, bake, and so many other things. Sometimes I even like to hide away from the world and read a novel.”

  “Novels? How shocking!” He grinned, enjoying her companionship. They were starting to build a friendship that was comfortable. He hoped he’d put a little twist on things with his kiss. He wanted her to look at him as something other than a f
riend she could go to with her troubles.

  Toria enjoyed their conversation, but she couldn’t stop thinking about how it had felt for his lips to be on hers. They talked for more than an hour about things they liked and disliked. She told him of her ideas for the store, and he liked them.

  “I think we could implement all that on Saturday night while we’re doing inventory.”

  “I’d like that!” She looked up at him once more, feeling a bit shy. “I liked it when you kissed me. Would you do it again?”

  He blinked down at her for a moment. Even his wife of twenty years hadn’t just asked him to kiss her. Mortimer turned to her fully on the sofa and cupped her face in his hands, lowering his mouth to hers. He lingered over the kiss, pleased to know she enjoyed it as much as he did.

  When he lifted his head, he whispered, “Goodnight, Toria. I look forward to seeing what adventures tomorrow has in store for us.”

  “I look forward to a whole life of adventures with you.”

  Toria woke with a smile on her face the following morning. Maybe she and Mortimer weren’t destined to be just friends after all. She dressed quickly and hurried into the kitchen to make a special breakfast for him. One of her favorite things was French toast, and she pulled out the ingredients to make it.

  “You’ll get further with Mortimer with pancakes. The man could never turn down a well-cooked pancake. And don’t forget the bacon.”

  Toria spun around to find that same woman who had been on the train and in Beatrice’s house sitting there at the table, watching her cook. “Who are you? You’ve shown up in places you couldn’t possibly be!”

  “I don’t think you’re ready to know who I am, Toria. Give it some time, and I’ll tell you. For now, just accept that I’m here to help you.”

  “How do you keep getting to where I am? I know the door wasn’t left unlocked. And when you showed up at Beatrice’s place, I was sitting alone in a room, and you appeared out of nowhere.”