ROMANCE: Mail Order Bride: A Sheriff's Bride (A Clean Christian Inspirational Historical Western Romance) (New Adult Short Stories) (74 page)

Clean Western Mail Order Bride Romance

By: Samuel Grace

It was only a few days before Christmas, and the lovely Ruby Kelsey was sitting in her overly decorated parlor accompanied by a few of her closest friends: Eudora Billings, Marry Anne Thatcher and Rosalie Wittingly. These four bright-eyed young women had been friends since first stepping foot on this earth. Their families were closely related in a social circle that rarely allowed any newcomers or outsiders into it, especially those who did not have the financial means to upkeep their acquaintances in such surroundings.

Eudora, Mary Anne and Rosalie all seemed to be perfectly content in this safe little world of theirs, attending dinner parties in their finest attire, having 4 o’clock tea with one another every other day and enjoying the supervised company of handsome young men who hung on their every word. On this particular occasion, the four women were chatting about the latest town gossip: which one of their acquaintances had worn the least appealing dress at the last social ball which lucky young man would they decide to grace with their attention last. Every now and then, a boisterous laughter arose from the room, which made the downstairs maid roll her eyes every time she passed by the closed doors carrying fresh linen.

Still, it was apparent that Ruby wasn’t having as much fun at this soirée as she usually did, and it was Eudora who was the first one to point it out to her.

“Why, Ruby? What is the matter with you today?” The other girls look in her direction. “You don’t seem to be enjoying yourself with us anymore?” Only part of that statement was meant to be taken as a joke, and Ruby felt like she had hurt her friends’ feelings without meaning to.

“Eudora, dear, you know that is most certainly not true.” Ruby tried to think of a plausible reason for her lack of usual vigor in girlish affairs. Yes, it was true that there was something on her mind, but she wasn’t sure that any of them would understand her, at least not at this point. “It’s simply that I haven’t had a good night’s sleep last night, and I do feel somewhat tired. That is all, I swear.” She smiled at everyone reassuringly, and it seemed to have appeased their innate female curiosity.

The rest of the afternoon passed by in pleasant conversations about the usual affairs of young women such as themselves, and then it was time for them all to return to their respective homes. That same night during dinner, Ruby knew that if anyone could understand what she was feeling, what she was going through and how to make it better, it was her father.

“Ruby, dear, what is the matter? You have been sulking like a wronged child for the last couple of days,” her father said all of a sudden, pausing between two bites of roasted duck. He was a full-bodied man, whose very appearance demanded respect and immediate surrender of authority. But he knew how to use it to his advantage without hurting anyone in the process, and this was why he was the most beloved and trustworthy judge in the entire county, with people traveling from miles around to present their case in his court.

Like any caring father, he knew his daughter right down to the very core. He could guess, with a fair amount of certainty, when she was sulking about simply not getting her way and when she was burdened by something that she still didn’t know to express in words.

Ruby just looked at her plate and tried to separate the mash potatoes from the peas that were running loosely. Her duck was intact, as was the cranberry sauce, which she usually ate with great relish, and this was exactly why it was made especially for her.

“Is everything all right, cherry pie?” He stopped eating and looked at her in hopes of her opening up finally. He had been circling around her these last few days, not wanting to push her into doing anything, beating around the bush as only a patient father can, but this was more than he could take. “Speak to me. You know that whatever it is we can make it all right together.” He smiled comfortingly.

Ruby only then realized how much her behavior was hurting her father, and knew that she had to come out with it, no matter what.

“I don’t know how to express it myself, Father. I just don’t feel excitement anymore. Everything I do seems to be a mere repetition of what I did the day before and what I shall do the day after. I feel like I’m stuck on a merry-go-round that isn’t bringing me any pleasure, and I wish to get off, but I don’t know how,” she finally said. Her father continued eating, and after a few seconds of silence, asked.

“What would you like to do?” he asked matter-of-factly. This seemed to be a question not even she knew exactly how to reply to.

“I need to do new things, undertake new endeavors, I suppose. I believe that would release me from this tight grip of boredom and purposelessness that I’ve been under lately,” she replied.

“Have you found a course of action then, turtle dove?”

“As a matter of fact, I have.” She hesitated for a moment, as if she was about to reveal a carefully guarded age-old secret but then opted for the Band-Aid option of ripping it quickly and painlessly. “I wish to become a mail-order bride.” The words sounded almost dirty coming from Ruby, and it certainly weren’t the words her father would ever have expected to hear from her.

He just kept staring at her, without revealing any particular expression of approval or disapproval, and Ruby couldn’t read him. It was as if he himself was still weighing his decision and was still unclear about his response.  He patted his mouth gently with a nearby napkin and took a deep breath.

“A mail-order bride?” He emphasized every word of it, as if the meaning of the full phrase still eluded him, even though she knew it didn’t. She just nodded.

“You wish to marry someone you have not made an acquaintance with beforehand?” he clarified, clearing his throat in the process.

“With all due respect father, before we undergo marriage, we shall exchange correspondences and get to know each other as much as the circumstances allow.” She tried to make the entire endeavor more personal, more appealing to her old-fashioned father. “After all, you and momma also didn’t know each other very well before she moved here and married you, am I wrong in assuming so?”

In fact, she was more than certain this was so, and she used this as an ace in the hole. Now her father would have to agree and give her his blessing.

“I just don’t wish to see you make a mistake, that is all,” he answered, without really replying to her previous question. But he didn’t need to. She knew exactly where both of them stood at this point.

“If I have your blessing, no mistake can harm me.” She smiled and placed her hand on top of her father’s. He smiled back warmly.

“You know that your mother and I will always love you, no matter what choices or mistakes you make. And we will support your decisions as long as we live.”

“So I may go ahead then?” she asked eagerly.

He nodded.

Ruby jumped from the table and ran to hug her father. He could instantaneously see that her zeal for life had returned, and she had her old spark again. He also knew that Ruby would eventually get her way in whatever it was she wanted. She was like that ever since she had been a little child, and he found her too adorable to ever say no to her. Most other people felt the same way. There was no other way but to love this dear girl and allow her to do whatever it was she pleased. 

Once back in her room, Ruby took her secret diary from beneath her pillow and extracted a letter already written and addressed. She used the special paper and even added a polite-looking ribbon as ornamentation.

The recipient’s name was written in curvy lines: Bronson Vaughn. He was a widowed rancher from Montana whose mail-order bride ad instantaneously triggered a spark of profound interest in Ruby. There was something about him, something that she still couldn’t quite put her finger on, but she knew that he was the one, and she was ready to fight for him.

She had to confess that she was more than tired of sweet-talking lawyers and magistrates who wrote her poems and spoke of an undying love but who were unwilling to go out into the rain without an umbrella. She felt fatigued and bored of them, and she needed someone knew, someone who would open up a whole new world to her, a world she had never seen or experienced before. And Bronson Vaughn was just the person for the job.

She made sure not to sound too eager or appear overly inappropriate in her quick reply, especially seeing that he obviously wasn’t a very talkative fellow. All she could get from the ad were some essentials regarding his current state of affairs: He was well-off, financially secure, though not through an inheritance like all those other young men she met on a daily basis but rather through hard work and perseverance in the face of numerous obstacles; he was a widower, left with two small children, who were in desperate need of a mother figure; he was hard working, reliable and confident.

Although Ruby always thought she would be a mother, she didn’t think it would be this soon. But Bronson Vaughn seemed to be a part of a bigger package, and if he was her choice, she would have to accept him along with everything else.

A short time later, she came home one day to find a letter waiting for her. It was slightly crinkled, but the seal was clearly visible. She opened it carefully, and she examined the handwriting before reading the reply. It was clear and simple, without any unnecessary twists and curls, and sturdy and reliable, just like the man, she thought.

At first she didn’t know what she expected to find in it. Naturally, she was hoping that this wasn’t just him being overly polite in thanking her for her letter but advising her not to write anymore. It was quite the opposite really. She had secretly hoped that her letter had also intrigued him to the point of wanting to know more about her. She was also hoping that he would reveal a little more about himself, tell her something only she would get to know. But it would be too early for anything of the sort. They barely knew each other, and the few constructed lines she found in the letter weren’t nearly enough:

Miss Kelsey,

Your letter was a welcome distraction from my daily duties, and I do hope we can prolong this pleasurable activity. I am most interested in hearing about your daily affairs, about you yourself and your pastimes. As for me, I can add but little that already hasn’t been written about in my ad. As you will come to see, I am a simple man, with simple tastes. I ask for little, but I offer a lot in return, and I do hope that you and I shall meet somewhere along this path, where it will convenience us both.

Most cordially,

Bronson Vaughn

Although it was true that the letter was lacking much of what she was initially used to when being addressed in such a manner by a young gentleman, she had to admit that it did intrigue her more and more. What kind of a person was he? Would their passions align or would their differences be all too powerful for a potential love match? She couldn’t tell. Not yet at least. But she was certainly willing to keep trying, wanting to see who Bronson Vaughn really was.

As a result, she set out to write her reply immediately. She embellished it with as many details as she could remember about the latest soirées, get-togethers, dinner parties and balls that she attended with her friends. She didn’t leave out her usual pastimes of reading, knitting and embroidering, also not neglecting to mention her love of the piano. Always taught not to be overly confident, she simply hinted at the fact that, having been playing for more than 10 years now, she was becoming rather proficient and expressed a shy hope to play a sonata especially for him one day, if circumstances permitted.

Once she was satisfied with the letter, as well as its decency, she mailed it in hopes that it would reach its destination sooner rather than later.

As weeks passed by, Ruby and Bronson kept exchanging letters, with hers being as eloquent and rich in detail as much as his lacked both of these traits. However, she didn’t seem to mind. His simplicity in manner and speech was a breath of fresh air, and whether or not she was ready to admit it to anyone yet, she was looking forward to making his acquaintance in person.

Then, it happened. The letter she had been waiting for all this time finally arrived. It was just like all Bronson’s previous letters: brief and succinct, straight to the point without beating around the bush. He was ready to prepare his home for her arrival, not as a guest but as his bride. However, he couldn’t go about this without first speaking to her father. And seeing that circumstances prevented him from doing so immediately, he had attached another letter, bound and sealed, specifically for her father in which he expresses his desires in greater detail.

Squealing in delight, Ruby rushed to her father’s study and presented him with Bronson’s letter.

“What do we have here, angel cake?” He smiled, lifting his bespectacled gaze from his books.

“It’s a letter, Father. The one that is addressed to you. From Bronson Vaughn,” she said, shyly.

“Has it reached that point?” He smiled benevolently. Ruby blushed. “Now, now, let me take a look, and let’s see what we can do about this whole affair.” He took the letter in his hands. “Would you like me to read it aloud?”

“If you’d like to,” she replied, bashfully. The truth was that she would have given half of the world to read Bronson’s letter to her father, but she dared not express her wishes in such an open manner. It was simply considered bad form for a lady.

Complying, her father started reading.

SIR,

As I scorn the manner in which I am forced to address you, in letter rather than in person, but circumstances being such, I humbly request that the expectance of this letter will not be deemed unworthy of your notice. I have reason to believe that I have been kindly looked upon by your sweet daughter and have been privy to her affections as of late, which is why I humbly request your permission to pay you all a visit and reveal my honest and profound intentions, which concern your daughter’s future happiness.