Mail Order Romance Bundle #1 (2 page)

She stood up to meet him as he approached and it was then that he noticed her eyes, the shining grace of her face. They were blue, but not just ordinary blue; they were a deep, sapphire blue. He focused on those blue eyes to keep from looking at her jaw.

They stood there, looking at each other in a moment of awkward silence before she finally spoke in a clear and beautiful voice that did not match her appearance. “Hello. Are you Jesse Collins?”

Jesse was startled that she knew him by name. If this woman in front of him was Laura Kate Whitley, then she had deceived him and lied about her physical appearance and Lord only knew what else.

“I am. And you are Laura Kate Whitley of Providence?”

He was taken aback by the look of surprise that came over her. “No, I am not,” she said, her brows raised in confusion. “I'm Enid Ralphy of Milwaukee.”

Now it was he who wore the look of surprise as that was the last thing he'd expected her to say. “Enid? I'm sorry, but I'm a bit confused. How is it that you know who I am?”

Enid reached down in a pocket in her dress. It looked fresh and new, probably made special just for this trip. She pulled out an envelope and opened it with shaking hands.

“I have a letter here that says that Jesse Collins is to be my husband. That you bought me, I mean, um,
chose me
, to be your bride. But am I correct in assuming that you were expecting somebody else?”

She handed him the letter from the Beaumont Mail Order Bride Agency, the same one he had used to order his bride and he carefully looked it over, though it didn't make him any less confused. He pulled out his own letter from the agency that he had brought with him to compare them. The information was the same on both, that the groom putting in the order was Jesse Isaac Collins of Oak Grove, Nebraska and that for above stated fees, including cost of transportation and lodging for his betrothed, his bride would meet him on the afternoon train, the exact day and time that they stood there now.

There was only one piece of information that differed between the two letters, and quite an important piece of information at that. That tidbit of information was the name of the bride-to-be.

Jesse looked from his letter to hers, then to his back again and up at Enid. “It looks like there's been a big mistake,” he said apologetically.

“How do you mean?” she asked.

“Well, Miss,” Jesse barely got the words out before she interrupted him.

“Please, call me Enid.”

“Okay, Miss. I mean, Enid. What I mean is that the bride that I ordered is Laura Kate Whitley from Providence, Rhode Island. See for yourself,” he said as he handed over his letter.

She didn't even look at it before smiling at him. “Well, there's no mistake with my letter. Mine says that I am to be the bride of Jesse Collins, and that's you. So how do we know whose letter is the mistake?”

Jesse shifted his weight from one leg to the other, obviously uncomfortable with the situation that was unfolding. It just
had
to be some kind of mistake, a big one. This woman before him could not possibly be his wife; in his correspondence with the Beaumont agency he'd made it perfectly clear that after reading the letter from Laura Kate that she was the bride he had chosen and then paid for.

“I think the mistake is with your letter. For whatever the reason, the agency made a mistake and you were given the wrong information. They sent me a letter from Miss Whitley and I wrote back to her. I never got a letter from you. Did you write me one?”

Enid looked thoughtful before answering, “No, I did not write one specifically to you. The agent from the Beaumont office had me write a letter that was just a description of myself, my background and such. They told me they'd send it out to potential husbands. But it seems you did not receive that letter?”

Jesse shook his head.

“That's correct, the only correspondence I received was from Miss Whitley.”

Enid tilted her head, the same thoughtful expression on her face, her blue eyes wide with wonder. She asked him again to see his letter and looked at it as if the answer to their problem was hidden somewhere on it.

“You are right,” she finally said. “It looks like the mistake has been mine. I must have been sent to the wrong place.”

Immediately Jesse felt a weight lifted off his shoulders. He was worried that Enid was going to fight harder to prove her letter was the right one. And what if it did end up being his letter that was the mistake? They couldn't hold him to an agreement he didn't make, could they? She didn't look at all like the wife he had envisioned for himself. With her limp, the hunched back and deformed face, he would not want her to be the mother of his children. People would stare at them wherever they went.

Just as he thought he'd wiped his hands of the situation, he made eye contact with her. Enid's eyes were the one part of her face that anyone would call beautiful, and those gentle eyes looked at him with kindness and understanding. She knew.

Jesse immediately felt his face flush. She had sensed the palpable relief he'd felt at the knowledge that it was her mistake, that she was not to be his bride. She knew and she understood. She understood exactly why he would feel that relief and instead of being sad or angry, she just stood there with those kind eyes and Jesse felt shamed.

Then he realized that there was the problem of getting Enid back to Milwaukee. He couldn't very well just leave her on that platform and take off back to his own home; his Aunt Clara had taught him better than that all ladies were to be treated with respect, no matter what they looked like.

“Let me go talk to Henry and see when the next train out of here is.”

“Henry?” Enid asked.

“He works the station, if he's awake, that is.” Henry silently added
and sober
to the end of that statement.

They walked around to the other side of the station to enter it. Inside was a small room, dusty and not well-maintained with two wooden benches in the middle of the room. Against the left wall were big windows looking out over the tracks and on the far wall was the ticket window. They were in luck, for old Henry was awake.

“Good day, Henry,” Jesse said in firm but friendly voice. Henry eyed him and the odd-looking lady accompanying him with suspicion. “Not really, he said with a frown. “Somethin' I can do for you, Jesse?”

“Yes, there is. We need to buy a ticket. When is the next train out of town?”

“Tomorrow afternoon.”

“Tomorrow? Are you sure there's not a later one tonight?”

“Yes, I'm sure. Where are you and your lady friend headed?”

Jesse was confused for a moment until he remembered that Enid had followed him in and was right behind him.

“This is Miss Enid Ralphy and we need to buy a ticket for her to get to Milwaukee, as soon as possible.”

“This woman wants to go to Milwaukee? Ain't she the woman I just saw step off of today's train just a few minutes ago? If she was headed to Milwaukee, why'd she get off in Nebraska? That's a long way from Wisconsin now, isn't it?”

Jesse felt his palms getting sweaty and hoped that Henry would stop with the questions. He didn't feel like explaining who Enid was or why she had to go back.

“Yep,” he answered matter-of-fact.

Henry looked from Enid to Jesse and back again, cocking an eyebrow. “Am I missing something? This woman just got off the train and wants to buy a ticket to go back?”

“Yes,” Jesse answered, his patience growing thin.

Henry stared at Enid, looking her up and down. “What's wrong with her?”

Now Jesse had had enough. He wasn't sure if Henry was referring to the fact that Enid wanted a ticket out of town after just arriving or her physical appearance, but judging by the way he looked her up and down with a look of disgust, Jesse figured it was both.

“How about we start with what's wrong with you?” Jesse chastised him with sharp glare and strong voice. “Have you no manners in the presence of a lady? Keep your comments to yourself and just get us the ticket, Henry.”

Henry shook his head as he completed the order and held the ticket out without saying another word.

“I'm sorry, but I have no money with me; none at all,” Enid said quietly to Jesse. “If you could purchase the ticket for me, you have my word that I shall pay you  after I get back to Milwaukee.”

Jesse flashed her a sympathetic grin. “Don't worry about it Enid, it's on me. And if anyone should be paying me back it's the Beaumont Mail Order Agency.”

Though he said it to Enid and not Henry, as soon as the words left his mouth, he regretted it as he watched Henry's eyebrows shoot up.

“This here is a mail order bride?” he asked, his voice sharp with a note of incredulous doubt.

“Just give us the ticket, Henry. Please.” Jesse said hurriedly. He didn't want Henry to begin commentary on this new nugget of information he'd gleaned.

Henry handed him the ticket all the while keeping his eyes on Enid with a smirk on his face. Jesse took the ticket and gave Henry a stern look that warned him to keep his mouth shut.

Jesse turned around, his back to Henry, and handed Enid the ticket, noticing her concerned expression.

“Don't worry at all about paying me back,” he told her, “I'll get it squared away with the agency later.” But when the worried look didn't leave her face, he realized it wasn't the cost that had her concerned.

“What's the matter?” he asked.

“Its, um, well, it's just that the train won't be back for a whole day.”

He was so worried about securing her a ticket out of town, it hadn't occurred to him until that moment that she had no where to go until then.

“Is there perhaps a hotel in town where I could spend the night?” Enid asked.

From behind them, they heard Henry guffaw loudly and slap his knee. “You ain't never been to Oak Grove before, have you Miss?” Henry said, mid-laugh.

Enid looked at Jesse for an explanation.

“There's really not much to Oak Grove yet besides a store, a saloon and a church. There aren't any hotels in town.”

“Zeke has that room upstairs that he rents out,” Henry suggested.

“No,” Jesse answered firmly.

Enid looked at Jesse questioningly as he explained. “Zeke owns the saloon in town. That isn't a place for a lady.”

Enid smiled at him, though she still looked concerned.

“You can stay here, Miss, take a bench for a bed. I can stay here all night to keep an eye on you,” Henry offered.

“That's not happening,” Jesse said. “I'd rather her stay at Zeke's.”

Henry looked insulted. “Well, doesn't matter what you'd rather at all now, does it? I believe the lady can make up her own mind.”

They both looked to Enid, who had her own idea. “You mentioned there was a church in town, perhaps they could take me in for the night.”

The church! Of course! Jesse smiled and wondered why he hadn't thought of it. “That's a great idea, Enid,” he told her, admiring her quick thinking and resourcefulness.

“I'll take you there now. Let's go out and collect your bag and we'll be on our way.”

“Good day, Henry,” Jesse said as he escorted Enid out of the station. Henry didn't speak, but just acknowledged him with a nod before pulling out a silver flask.

Outside, they retrieved her bag and Jesse hurried to the wagon with Enid following close behind. He wanted to get to town quickly, so he'd have enough time to get back to his farm before sunset for evening chores. He helped Enid up to her seat before climbing into his and they were off.

Once they were on their way, she turned to him and said, “Thank you. For what you did back there, I mean. You could have just left me there on my own to deal with that...man at the station.”

“It's the least I could do. I feel bad that you came all the way out here for nothing.”

Enid smiled. “Well, it wasn't all for nothing. I got to see a part of the country that I'd never been in before, I took my first trip on a train and met two very interesting people now, didn't I? It all depends on how you look at things. I think that there are no coincidences in life. For whatever reason, things that happen in life are meant to be. Life finds a way.

So, although it seems as if my coming here was a mistake, the truth is that I was meant to come here. The mystery lies in figuring out the reason.”

Jesse thought about what she said. Enid had an interesting way of looking at things. “I reckon I never would have thought of it like that. I guess it's kind of like how my Aunt Clara used to always tell me I needed to see the glass as half full and not half empty. It took me awhile to figure out what she meant, but that advice has always stuck with me.”

Enid smiled again, her blue eyes twinkling. “Your Aunt Clara sounds like a wise woman,” she said softly.

“She was,” Jesse replied. “Clara was the only mother I ever knew.”

A wave of memories flooded Jesse's mind at the mention of Clara. Though he usually wasn't one to open up to people, he soon found himself telling Enid the story of his life, from his mother's death all the way up to the death of his father and how his brother sold the farm.