Historical Cowboy Romance Two Book Box Set - Mail Order Brides Read Online Free Page A

their
parents had passed on, but he’d given it to Dean because he’d
gotten married. Seth had always been a talented cattle driver and
preferred to be on the trail. Dean would rather work the ranch than
drive the herds so it worked out for both of them. Seth still
retained his share in the ranch, but didn’t like being tied down,
which was why he’d never married.
    Their parents, Ralph and Catherine Samuels,
had built the house after they’d settled the land back in 1839,
before that area of Montana was sectioned off into Dawson Country.
Their house had been four rooms at that time, consisting of a
kitchen, front room, and two bedrooms. It had been a lot of hard
work, but their parents were determined to make a nice home and
build a stable business to pass down to their children.
    Seth had come along first, only six months
after the house and barn had been finished. Back then, the barn had
only been big enough for four heads of cattle; a bull and three
cows. That was how their ranch had started. Another year passed and
soon, Dean was born. When the boys were five and six, Ralph decided
they needed more room because Catherine was again pregnant.
    Another bedroom was added and the kitchen
enlarged. Ralph’s father died not long after and his mother, Edna,
came to live with them. That’s when they’d decided to add a second
floor. There were three rooms upstairs; two large bedrooms and a
wash room with a dry sink and chamber pot. They still had an
outhouse, which they used most of the time except overnight and
during the most bitter cold winter weather.
    Dean and Sarah had lived with his parents
until they’d passed away and then the young couple had taken over
the house. Seth preferred to use one of the bunk houses when he was
home, saying he liked the privacy and figured that Dean and Sarah
didn’t want him blundering in late at night if he’d been drinking
and such.
    Marcus, their younger brother, had bought a
place a few miles away four years ago. He also preferred privacy,
not because he didn’t love his family but because he and Seth
shared a common love of freedom. Not to mention that Marcus highly
prized books and learning. His house held more books than
furniture. When he lived in Dean and Sarah’s house, he had run out
of room for them all.
    Dean looked around the parlor, which he and
Seth had enlarged. Both he and Sarah’s chairs were nicely
upholstered and thickly padded. Sarah’s was a rocker. He’d
surprised her with them right before Sadie had come along, knowing
she’d appreciate somewhere comfortable to rock their baby.
    He remembered how thrilled she’d been and the
joy that had lit up her face as she sat in the chair. Her belly had
been wonderfully swollen with their child and Dean couldn’t have
been happier. The chairs both had matching ottomans. Dean had
traded a high quality heifer for the pieces and had never regretted
it. Turning his head, he gazed at the sofa and smiled. It was
another purchase with which he’d surprised Sarah. When she’d gotten
farther along with Jack, she’d been more tired than with Sadie and
so he’d gotten it so that she could lie down when she needed to
rest.
    He was equally happy when both children were
born and loved having one of each. Sarah was a wonderful mother and
took excellent care of her family. A lump formed in his throat as
he remembered when Sarah had told him she was pregnant for a third
time. He’d grabbed her and twirled her slowly, just as thrilled as
he had been when she’d told him about Sadie and Jack. He remembered
how excited Sadie and Jack had been, too.
    It wasn’t to be, however. Sarah had gone into
labor too early into the pregnancy. The neighbor woman at the time,
Lydia, had done everything she could, but Sarah had hemorrhaged and
both mother and baby perished.
    Crushing grief had followed, and if it hadn’t
been for Lydia and her husband, Charlie, he might have gone crazy
from it. Both had been quick to make him see that he