The Chef's Mail Order Bride: A Sweet Western Historical Romance (Wild West Frontier Brides Book 1) (2 page)

T
he last few
days had been almost a blur as she had made preparations to leave for Arizona Territory. She shook her head, wondering how things could have changed so quickly. In just three days’ time, she’d packed what belongings she could carry, gathered as many supplies as she could and gotten on a train to somewhere she’d never even really thought about, let alone visited.

She wasn’t even sure where this place was on a map before she’d studied it to plan her train route. It turned out that she would be traveling from Chicago to Benson in the Arizona Territory, transferring to a stagecoach and heading further south. The trip would take three days and she hoped she’d packed enough things to eat.

She reached in her reticule and pulled out the letter for the thousandth time, removing her gloves to unfold it gently, taking care so that it didn’t completely fall apart. She looked at the black ink of the letters, her eyes welling with tears as she read the words once more.

With a deep sigh, she folded it carefully and tucked it safely away back in her bag. She looked up and out the window of the train and at the unfamiliar landscape rushing by. Now, she watched as the mountains grew steeper and flat farmland turned into rugged peaks.

When she’d left her home in Chicago, she’d had no idea the vastness of the terrain she would be traveling through. While the trip had been rough, dusty and uncomfortable, she’d marveled at the different towns, the likes of which she’d never seen. She’d rarely been out of Chicago and certainly never this far West before, having worked at her family’s bakery most of her life and full-time after her schooling.

Wide-eyed, she’d watched as the train passed fields of corn interspersed between dry, dusty acres that had seemed to last forever. Now, three days into her journey, the sun seemed to have laid barren everything around her. She was surrounded by desert, but with mountains occasionally jutting toward the sky.

She wasn’t sure what she’d find when she reached her destination—either the landscape, the people or town itself. She took one final look at the letter, and as she placed it into the envelope, the picture that had been included fell onto the seat beside her.

She picked it up slowly, gazing at the sepia-toned images of two little girls, who looked almost exactly like each other—and like her sister. Her smile was bittersweet as she thought of her parents, who should be accompanying her and for the bakery she’d invested so much of herself in.

Her blue eyes were unable to hold back the tears this time, and for the first time since she’d heard the news, she allowed herself to cry. For her parents, for her nieces who would never meet them—and for herself.

The conductor’s cry of, “Next stop—Benson, Arizona,” brought her back to the present and she quickly blotted her tears with her now-soggy handkerchief, taking a deep breath at the sight of her red eyes in the small mirror she now replaced in her bag. She returned her gaze to the landscape, which was now changing once again as they crossed a river, lush with green on its banks.

The porter transferred her bags into the waiting stagecoach and Sadie had but a moment to relocate. As the stage headed further south, for most of the journey it followed along a river, trees towering above it. It wasn’t until the very end of the journey that she spotted her first cactus since leaving the train.

As the coach slowed into her new town, Sadie’s heart leapt into her throat at the sight of her sister. She looked exactly like she remembered, and chuckled to herself, as they were identical twins. They had very different personalities, but looked exactly the same. As she furiously waved to get Suzanne’s attention, her breath hitched and she fought back tears.

With the death of her parents and all that had happened with the bakery, she hadn’t allowed herself to indulge in her emotions. She hadn’t had time for it. But now, seeing her sister’s broad smile and wide, blue eyes, she clasped her hands in front of her mouth to try to stop herself from crying.

The coach finally stopped and Sadie had not been able to take her eyes off of her beloved sister and the two little girls—one in her arms and one in James’s. They all four waved as she tore her gaze away, and grabbed her traveling bag and scooted toward the door.

She walked as fast as she could without breaking into a run as she took the final step from the stagecoach and turned toward her sister’s family. As she approached, she couldn’t stand it any longer and dropped her bag, hurrying the last few steps into her sister’s arms.

Suzanne had not been able to come to the funeral as her children were too young, so they hadn’t seen each other since their parents had died.

As they sobbed into each other’s shoulders, Sadie felt as though her heart would burst. As she started to regain her composure, from behind her she heard James.

“Ahem,” he said politely as both Sadie and Suzanne broke their embrace but grabbed each other’s hands, smiles on their faces as they turned to James.

“So sorry, my dear,” Suzanne said as she picked up one of the beautiful blonde girls at James’s knee. “I couldn’t help myself,” she said, smiling at Sadie who was looking intently at the little girls in their parents’ arms.

“Suzanne, you did this? Twins—how exciting,” Sadie said, her hand on her cheek.

“I had a little help,” Suzanne said, smiling at James who, in turn, blushed.

Sadie laughed and said to James, “Neither one of us has ever been exactly shy, James.”

“I know,” he said, sighing. “I don’t understand why it still surprises me.”

“No room for shy dealing with customers all day,” Suzanne said. “Lily and Lucy, I’d like you to meet your Aunt Sadie.” Both girls immediately burrowed their faces in their parents’ shoulders.

“Well, the twins are not like their mother in that respect,” James said. “They
are
a bit shy,” he added quickly as Sadie’s face fell. “Please don’t take it personally.”

She hadn’t been around many little children for any length of time, but she had hoped that her nieces would love her immediately. Plenty of time for that, though, she thought as she retrieved her smile when James handed Lucy to her.

“I’ll go retrieve your bag and we can head to the house.”

“Oh, yes, I’m sure you would love to have a hot bath. The journey must have seemed endless to you.” Suzanne patted Lily’s back and Sadie awkwardly did the same with Lucy, who seemed to be eyeing her warily but not crying. Sadie was grateful for that.

“You read my mind. I haven’t had a bath in too long to even think about and I must look a wreck,” Sadie said, looking around the station, curious about her future betrothed.

“If you’re looking for Tripp, he’s not here,” Suzanne said with a laugh.

When Sadie frowned, she added, “As you know, he’s a chef, and he wanted to make a special meal for you to celebrate your arrival. The kinds of things he cooks can’t be left unattended, so he stayed back. You’ll get to meet him at dinner.”

“Oh,” was all Sadie could get out, the butterflies in her stomach now threatening to tickle her throat. “I’m just so…curious.”

“I’m sure you are. In fact, I was very surprised that you’d even said yes to this sudden proposition.”

Sadie set Lucy down and held her hand as James returned with her bags. “I believe I surprised everyone, including myself,” she admitted. “If it hadn’t been for losing the bakery, I don’t think that I would have.”

“Of course you wouldn’t have. That bakery…and baking…is your life. It was just a good time to ask, I guess. And Sadie, I don’t believe you’ll be disappointed. It is a big leap of faith on your part, but we are here for you, and we are very glad to have our family back together.”

“And with that, let’s get this little family into the buggy and head home,” James said with a smile as he led the way. “Sadie has someone very important to meet.”

S
adie’s attention
roamed periodically as Suzanne explained everything they passed by in the buggy on the way to their house. It wasn’t that she wasn’t interested in her new home town. She was—very.

But she had hoped that at least meeting her future husband would be over by now, and the more time that she had to wait, the more anxious she became. What would he be like? What would he look like? Would they be a good match? What kind of chef
was
he? She had to try very hard to concentrate as Suzanne rambled on.

“Okay, I’ll stop. You’re not listening to me anyway,” Suzanne said with a laugh. “I can’t say I blame you, though. I’d be nervous, too, no matter how many times someone told me that it would be fine.”

“Thank you for understanding, Suzanne. This is quite a big step, and I really don’t even know the particulars. So I’m a little nervous.”

“Well, I can put you out of your misery a bit,” James said as he prodded the horses toward home. “Tripp has been a friend of mine for a very long time. He was the cook at the biggest ranch around, the Archer’s, and he came to the mercantile regularly for supplies. There are a lot of ranch hands to feed out there, so he came by quite often. We became fast friends very quickly. He’s a little odd, but very kind.”

Sadie’s heart fluttered at the word “odd” and Suzanne, who had been watching her intently, said, “Don’t scare her, James. He means that he’s very particular, Sadie. About cooking, and food and how he likes to do it. And the result is outstanding. He’s a very good chef.”

“Cooking for ranch hands and being a chef are the same things? How particular do you need to be about beef stew?” Sadie said, her stomach sinking.

She was an expert baker, but really baked by instinct now. She had very few recipes that she followed, and that was only because they were from her mother and grandmother, and she did it to honor them. She clutched her purse that held the little cards that spelled out the recipes in her mother’s hand.

James laughed as he and Suzanne exchanged glances. “He’d worked at the ranch for years, and had an accident. Part of his job had been to ride the trail with them, and he was gone sometimes for a month at a time. He couldn’t travel like that anymore, and his boss liked him and his cooking so much that he sent him to chef school in New York. Paid for it and everything, with the promise that he’d come back home and open a restaurant.”

Sadie’s eyes flew open. “New York?” she cried. “He learned to cook in New York?”

“Yes, isn’t it amazing? Learned all the latest dishes and techniques. It made him so happy.” Suzanne rested her hand on James’s arm and Sadie noticed a glance between them. She decided to ask later as Lucy, who had fallen asleep on her lap, sat up and rubbed her eyes.

“Are we there yet?” she asked.

Lily woke up when she heard Lucy’s voice, and Sadie remembered what it was like when she and Suzanne had been little—always knowing what the other was thinking and doing, it seemed.

“No, little love, but almost,” Suzanne said as she stroked the beautiful, blonde hair of her daughter.

Sadie’s heart beat faster at her sister’s answer, fatigue battling with curiosity. To distract herself from her growing nervousness, she glanced at the child in her lap.

The twins were almost the spitting image of Suzanne—and, well, Sadie—when she was little. She wondered what it would be like to have four people around who looked alike and thought it must feel odd for James.

A thought crossed her mind and she turned to Suzanne. “If his employer sent him to school in New York for him to come back and open his restaurant, isn’t he the one putting up the money for it? I thought you said a loan was necessary to open the restaurant. And that’s why he needs a wife.”

Sadie squinted as she saw her sister and brother-in-law exchange glances yet again. “All right, there’s something you’re not telling me. What is it?” she asked. She hoped that it wasn’t anything that would make her get back on the train. At least not until she’d had a bath and a hot meal.

“Well…” Suzanne started.

“Let me tell her, my dear. He’s my friend, and this was my idea, actually,” James started hesitantly.

Suzanne smiled and nodded.

“When Tripp was injured and couldn’t go on the trail any longer, he had a difficult time for a bit. His boss made a very sincere offer to him, and it took a bit of convincing.”

“A
lot
of convincing,” Suzanne cut in with a smile.

James sighed and continued. “Yes, a lot of convincing to get him to even accept that offer. He can be a little—”

“Stubborn,” Suzanne said, finishing his sentence for her husband.

James glanced at her and she turned her attention to the scenery, trying to cover her smile with her hand but Sadie caught it before she’d turned completely away.

“I was going to say proud, my dear.”

He cleared his throat before he went on. “When he came back, he was really excited about the restaurant he wanted to open, and knew exactly how he wanted it to look and exactly what he wanted to serve.”

“May I?” Suzanne asked, re-entering the conversation.

“Oh, go ahead,” James said, turning his eyes back to the road.

“Tripp and his boss apparently weren’t on the same page about what type of restaurant it should be. Honestly, it was a stressful time for both of them due to extenuating circumstances. They attempted some negotiations, but Tripp eventually thanked him for his kindness in sending him to school but told him he’d find funding elsewhere. It was a little uncomfortable, I must say.”

She nodded at James, who took the cue to add more to the story.

“He parted on good terms with the rancher. Mr. Archer wished him well and told him he’d put in a good word at the bank for a loan. But when Tripp went to the bank, he found out that a loan of this size and for this purpose had the requirement of being married attached.”

Sadie looked from James to Suzanne. “I don’t understand. Why would that be a requirement? He could certainly do it on his own. All he would have to do is hire employees.”

James pulled up in front of a beautiful, two-story home on the opposite edge of town from the stagecoach station. He waited until he’d helped them all down from the buggy and tied the horses to a rail in front before he continued.

“That’s the thing. The bank had to approve his budget, and they won’t let him hire employees until he shows a solid month in the black.”

He held his hands up toward her as she started to protest. “I know, I know, it makes no sense. How could someone possibly run a restaurant all alone and make a profit? But stubborn as Tripp is, we kept racking our brains for a solution.”

Suzanne took both girls by the hand and smiled at Sadie. “That’s when we came up with the idea of a wife, not an employee. Maybe the two of you could pull it off together,” she said, turning toward the house.

Sadie’s head reeled as she took in the information.
Does this make me a laborer?
she thought as she started to follow them toward the door. She’d hoped that maybe they could work together, but this sounded like an impossible task.

She wasn’t sure she could even help him pull it off, let alone the other hopes she held in her heart…that they might fall in love and have a family.
Those
thoughts she’d barely even admitted to herself.

“Don’t worry, Sadie. I love you and would never have allowed you to be brought into something I didn’t think was going to be a huge success,” Suzanne said as she handed the girls off to James. “I’ll be helping as much as I can as James has employees now at the mercantile and James’s mother has agreed to stay with the girls. It can be a family effort,” she said as she grabbed Sadie’s elbow, steering her toward the front door.

“Now, I’m going to take you straight upstairs and James will bring up your bag. Tripp will no doubt be busy in the kitchen and we don’t want to interrupt. I’ll get you settled and bring up bath water, and you may even have time for a nap. I hope so.”

Fatigue and confusion washed over her as she allowed herself to be brought into the house. She realized she was quite hungry as the most divine aroma emanated from the kitchen as they passed.

She stopped, catching a glimpse of a man juggling two sauté pans at once, humming as he did.

“Come on, Sadie. You can meet him when you’re all tidied up and have had a rest.”

Sadie stayed glued to the spot as, at that moment, her future husband set the pans down, wiped his hands on the towel tucked into his belt and looked up, meeting her glance.

Her breath stopped as she gazed into the darkest green eyes she’d ever seen, and even across the room she could tell that he had kind laugh lines. He looked a bit uncertain for a moment. As he held her eyes, she couldn’t help but smile as he bowed in her direction and looked up, smiling.

“Come on, Sadie. He’s busy right now,” Suzanne said as she let herself be pulled toward the stairs.

But she sighed as she inhaled deeply of something that smelled magnificent and wondered if maybe things might turn out all right after all.