His Remarkable Bride Read Online Free Page B

that later. But right now, I believe Rev. Pickering is expecting us over at the church. Are you ready?”
    “Yes!”
    “We are!”
    “Let’s go!” The children rang out in chorus.
    “He was asking Miss Leonard,” Hubert informed the others.
    Another chorus of, “Ohh,” followed.
    In spite of the shock of the situation, Elspeth laughed. They truly were a sweet bunch of children, even if they did come at her like a hurricane.
    “You may call me Elspeth as well,” she told them, clasping her hands in front of her as she did when she was teaching.
    “Not Mama?” Millicent asked.
    Elspeth blinked, startled. “Well…I…I suppose…” She glanced to Athos for help.
    “Let’s head over to the church first and we’ll figure out the rest of it later,” he said. “Elspeth?” He offered his arm as if he wasn’t used to escorting women and wasn’t sure that was still the way things were done. He didn’t seem to know what to say to her either.
    The children rushed ahead of them and lingered behind, chattering to each other, chasing after a dog that they were apparently friends with who had trotted by the platform to see what was going on, and ran this way and that. There was so much motion and commotion that Elspeth’s head spun. She supposed she should ask about her luggage, whether it would be removed from the train, or whether Athos had stationmaster duties he should attend to since the train was there, but a pair of non-uniformed men seemed to be taking care of things. Virginia walked with them, but her attention was taken up as Ivy and Heather asked her about horses.
    They had traveled half the distance to the whitewashed church set back from the tracks and surrounded by a well-maintained yard, and Elspeth still couldn’t think of a thing to say.
    “Afternoon, Athos,” a handsome man in a buckskin vest with a sly look called out as they passed. He stood talking to a handsomely-dressed but sad-looking woman.
    “Morning, Sam, Bonnie,” Athos replied with a wave.
    The sad woman, Bonnie, smiled, the smile not quite reaching her eyes. “Is this your mail-order bride, arrived at last?”
    Athos paused long enough to say, “Yes it is. This is Miss Elspeth Leonard. Elspeth, this is Miss Bonnie Horner, who owns the, uh, um, an establishment in town.”
    “How do you do?” Elspeth greeted the woman, ignoring her confusion at the way Athos had introduced her. Going by his words alone, Bonnie should be someone disreputable, but she was dressed as conservatively as a preacher’s wife and no one seemed to bat an eye at her.
    “I do just fine, Miss Leonard,” Bonnie answered.
    “And this is Sam Standish,” Athos went on. “He owns the town’s saloon.”
    “Ma’am.” Sam touched the brim of his hat.
    “Mr. Standish.” Elspeth inclined her head to him.
    “Did that train bring my shipment of whiskey?” Sam asked.
    “Uh.” Athos twisted to look over his shoulder. “You’ll have to ask Travis and Freddy. They’re unloading it for me. I’ve got a…well—” He glanced at Elspeth and grinned. “We’re due at the church,” Athos said, then continued down the street. The children and Virginia had slipped ahead of them, and Athos hurried as if he should keep up.
    “I hope it doesn’t bother you that I’m friends with people like Bonnie and Sam,” he continued as they walked.
    “Bother me? Why should it?” Elspeth blinked.
    “Well, most respectable woman—like Mrs. Kline at the mercantile or the Plovers or the Bonneville sisters—don’t think it’s right to associate with a saloon owner or a whoremonger.” He missed a step, his face going red. “Sorry. I shouldn’t be using language like that around you.”
    Elspeth nodded slowly. So that’s what Bonnie’s profession was. A flush of her own splashed Elspeth’s cheeks. Her mother would have insisted she shun that sort of woman, but when it came down to it, Elspeth didn’t have a moral leg to stand on there. At least Haskell was