The Chef's Mail Order Bride: A Sweet Western Historical Romance (Wild West Frontier Brides Book 1) (12 page)

T
he evening was
a whirlwind of activity as people came and went, oohing and aahing as they enjoyed their meals. Tripp was keeping up quite a pace now that he wasn’t creating each dish from scratch, and customers ordered, ate and left, with four sets of guests at each table over the hours they were open rather than the customary one or two.

Tripp poked his head out of the kitchen a few times, always waving at Sadie to catch her eye and give a smile.

Sadie had gone into the kitchen around mid-shift and given Tripp an order for ten more meat pies. He turned around, his eyebrows raised and his spoon held in mid-air.

“That’ll be it, then, Sadie. Sold out,” he said, giving her an appreciative nod. “Well done.”

“Oh,” she cried, her hand to her chest and her heart fluttering.

She’d seen Mr. Lewis right when they’d opened and he’d introduced her to some friends he’d brought with him. “And there are more coming,” he said with a tip of his hat to her, like always.

“I just can’t believe this,” Suzanne had said as the patrons trickled out. “I can barely catch my breath.”

She laughed, fanning herself with a menu—the new one. “This is fantastic, Sadie.”

Sadie squeezed her sister’s hand. “We could never have done it without you.”

“Sure you could have, but it’s been wonderful to be a part of it all,” she said, her head turning to the door as cries of “Mama, Mama,” carried across the room and Lucy and Lily broke away from a beaming James and ran to their mother.

“Hello, lovelies,” Suzanne said as she bent down to hug them. “Are you here for supper?”

Suzanne stood to smile at James as he rested his arm around her shoulder, giving her a squeeze.

“I promised them meat pies,” Sadie said as she bent to give each of the girls a quick kiss.

“I thought we were sold out.” Suzanne pulled out two chairs for the girls at one of the tables in the now-empty restaurant.

“I’ll be right back.” Sadie wiggled her eyebrows at the girls, which set them to giggling. “James, can I get you something?”

“Thought you’d never ask. I haven’t had Tripp’s chili for ages and I’d love some if there’s any left,” he said. “And a few of your biscuits?”

“Absolutely,” she said over her shoulder as she pushed the swinging door open into the kitchen.

She caught herself humming as she gathered the meat pies on plates and dished up James’s chili into a bowl. She snapped her fingers after she’d set it all on a tray, remembering the peach pie she’d made before Tripp came in.

She picked up the heavy tray, opening the swinging door with her behind, and said, “Here we go, dinner for all. And for dessert we have—“

She stopped short as she looked up to see five sets of eyes on her. Lily and Lucy held hands, and each held the hand of one of their parents on each end. The girls giggled as Suzanne, her eyes twinkling, turned to shush them. James rocked from his toes to his heels, his smile as broad as Suzanne’s.

She set the tray down and looked from them to Tripp.

James cleared his throat and handed Lucy off to Suzanne. “We decided that we should go eat this next door, at the mercantile. I’m not quite done with inventory, and the girls can keep me company.”

He took the peach pie and placed it on the table, winking at Tripp as he picked up the tray. “Come on, ladies, let’s go next door.”

“But Papa, I want to—” Lily said, her eyes round.

“Shhh,” Suzanne said, laughing as she pulled the girls toward the door.

Lucy looked back at Sadie as she was pulled along with her sister toward the front door. “But Mama, Uncle Tripp said he was going to—”

Suzanne bent down to pick up Lily and grabbed Lucy’s hand as she followed her husband toward the door. She turned around before they left, sighing heavily as she looked at Sadie, beaming.

“Come on, girls. Uncle Tripp and Aunt Sadie need some privacy.”

Sadie’s eyebrows furrowed as the door swung shut behind them.

“Tripp, I don’t understand. I thought they were going to—we were going to—”

She sighed as he walked toward her, gesturing for her to sit down. She felt locked in place, wondering what had happened while she was in the kitchen. Why had everyone left in such a hurry? And she’d made peach pie.

Sadie slowly sat down, her hand rising to her mouth as Tripp took her hand and got down on one knee in front of her.

“I know we’re married and all, Sadie, but I don’t think we did it quite right the first time. That time, it was a business arrangement, and I will be grateful to you forever for accepting. And making it wonderful.”

“Oh, Tripp, I—“

He held up his hand as he reached in his pocket. “I wanted to do it right this time,” he said as he opened his hand, the beautiful diamond ring sparkling in his palm.

“I love you, Sadie Morgan. Will you do me the honor of being my wife? Really being my wife? And being my partner in all things, not just the restaurant?”

Tears threatened to spill as Sadie watched him take her hand and slip the ring on her finger.

She looked from him to her hand, her heart in her throat as she said, “Yes, of course I will. I can’t think of anything that would make me happier.”

He placed his hands on her cheeks, pulling her toward him as he pressed his warm lips against hers.

She closed her eyes and her heart fluttered as she placed her hands on his, and when she opened her eyes, she was gazing into the handsome face of her husband. Her real husband.

“Is that peach pie?” Tripp said, eyeing the pie on the table.

“Absolutely. Nothing but the best for my husband on our wedding night.”

She shook her head, laughing at how everything had turned out.

“
I
’m a little nervous
,” Sadie said as Tripp guided the horses up the road to Beau Archer’s ranch and the buggy bounced.

He put the reins in one hand, patting her knee with the other. “I don’t understand that at all. We know these people. The party is for
us
,” he said, smiling at her.

Sadie fiddled with the hem of her sleeve as she turned around to make sure Suzanne and her family were still behind them. She gave Suzanne a weak wave as her sister responded with a big smile.

“I know, and they are all lovely people. It’s just that this is our wedding reception, after all. We never had a real one, with lots of friends, and this is so nice of everyone to do. But I’m still nervous.”

“Why? Because we’re not doing the cooking? Sort of nice for a change, isn’t it?”

He pulled the horses to a halt and hopped down, tying the reins to the post outside one of the biggest houses Sadie had ever seen.

On top of a knoll, it spread out wide, like every ranch she’d ever imagined, and the barn and what she assumed to be the bunkhouse for the ranch hands stood to one side.

Her nerves eased up a bit as Tripp grabbed her around the waist to help her down from the buggy, giving her a swift kiss as he did.

“Tripp, stop that,” she said, her cheeks reddening. “Everybody will see.”

“Since when have you cared about any of that, Mrs. Morgan? And besides, we’re married,” he said, pulling her toward the house.

Hank headed down to meet them, holding out his hand to Tripp, his smile wide.

“So glad to see you, brother. And especially glad to see you so happy,” he said, clapping Tripp on the back and giving a quick tip of his hat to Sadie.

As they walked up to the party, Tripp said, “So what happened with your grandpa? So sorry to hear that he passed.”

Hank looked quickly at Tripp. “Well, he was over seventy. Wasn’t much of a surprise. And I actually never met him. Not that I remember, anyway. He lived in Colorado.”

“Oh? But I thought he had a lot of property down here,” Tripp said as he grabbed Sadie’s hand and squeezed it.

Suzanne and the girls walked up as he looked at the house again. “What’s that, Hank? Your grandpa passed?”

“Yes, Suzanne. Wasn’t real sudden, but there was a bit of a surprise.”

Dust rose as he kicked the dirt with his boot. Sadie’s eyebrows rose and she looked at Tripp quizzically. He shrugged his shoulders and all eyes turned back to Hank.

“Okay, I’ll just spit it out. He left his property here near Tombstone to me, his only grandson, but there’s a catch.”

“What’s a catch, Mama?” Lucy said as she grabbed her mother’s skirts.

“A surprise,” Suzanne said, reaching for her daughters’ hands and looking at Hank, her eyebrows raised.

Hank cleared his throat and said, “It seems I get the land, which is perfect for horse-breaking, but only if I’m married.”

Suzanne and Sadie sneaked a glance at each other, bursting into laughter.

“You need a wife? Just like Tripp did?” Suzanne said as she looked from Tripp to Hank.

Hank’s cheeks reddened as he shuffled his feet. “I guess so, Suzanne. Not something I expected.”

Suzanne smiled as she said, “It’s a strange coincidence, then, that today at the mercantile we received a very odd publication in the post.”

Tripp and Sadie exchanged glances. “What was it, Suzanne?” Sadie said, squeezing Tripp’s hand.

“It was a newspaper, called the
Grooms’ Gazzette
. Had a list of men seeking brides. We could put an ad in for you, Hank.”

Hank’s cheeks reddened even more and he pulled his hat further down his forehead. “I think the party’s inside. Follow me.”

“Well, it wasn’t a no,” Sadie whispered to Suzanne as Tripp grabbed her hand and pulled her inside.

Sadie’s cheeks hurt from smiling and her hand was sore from meeting so many people, all wanting to shake the hand of Tripp’s bride. She’d met many of them in the restaurant, but her heart swelled at the formal introductions as Mrs. Morgan and the endless compliments on the restaurant’s success.

“I know the food wasn’t as good as at the restaurant, Tripp, but I hope it was good enough for you,” Beau said, smiling and nodding his head toward Sadie.

Sadie’s hand went to her chest as she said, “Oh, my. It was wonderful. Couldn’t have been better, and thank you for your kind reception.”

“It could have been anything as far as I’m concerned, as long as I didn’t have to cook it,” Tripp said.

Sadie’s elbow poked Tripp’s side and his eyes widened as he looked at her.

“What?” he laughed, following Beau as he led them to the cake on the patio.

“It’s beautiful,” Sadie said. The tiered cake was frosted in white with pink rosebuds surrounding the layers.

“Only the best for you two, although the real best was not available” Beau said as he handed Sadie the knife with a wink.

Tripp placed his hands over Sadie’s, whispering, “I love you, Mrs. Morgan.”

“I love you, too, Mr. Morgan,” Sadie said as she gazed into his eyes.

In Chicago, she never thought she’d be this lucky, to have both of her favorite things near her always—the restaurant and her husband.

The spell was broken as the girls giggled and rushed over to Sadie, no longer waiting patiently for cake.

James slapped Tripp on the back, congratulating him loudly, as Suzanne pulled her sister into a hug, her eyes glistening as she stepped back and rested her hand on her twin’s cheek.

“I knew it would all turn out all right.”

“Thank you, Suzanne. It wouldn’t have happened without you, even from the very beginning. Thank you for inviting me out.”

“Ah, I always knew it would. Sometimes you just know these things,” Suzanne said as she ushered the girls to their seats.

“I don’t know what I’d do without you, Sadie,” Tripp said as he pulled a chair out for her.

She turned to him, and as she wrapped her arms around his neck, she whispered in his ear, “Then it’s a good thing you’ll never have to find out.”

T
his book has gone
through numerous proofreaders, professional and otherwise. If you find any typos or grammatical errors, I’d love to hear about them. I want this to be best it can be. Please let me know at:

c
indy
@cindycaldwellauthor.com

The Chef’s Mail Order Bride is first in the Wild West Frontier Brides series. Click on the cover below for the second book!

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