Mail Order Rose (Mail Order Brides #1) Read Online Free Page A

home with Grant. She wondered if there was anything in there that she should be taking with her but ended up deciding against it. She wanted a fresh start and everything in that hope chest was tainted with the memory of Grant. The embroidered linens with her and Grant's initials, the silver set that her mother had given her for her 18 th birthday in anticipation of the engagement that was soon to come, each item, though possibly useful in her new home would not be worth the pain that came with it.
    Rose suddenly remembered a book that was on a shelf in the parlor downstairs that she wanted to bring with her. It was a book of fairy tales, fables and poems that had been her favorite book ever since she was a little girl. She loved to reread it, especially the poetry, half of which she'd memorized by now. It brought her comfort and it was a little piece of home that she wanted to bring with her. She was kicking herself for letting it slip her mind earlier. She was so focused on saying her goodbyes, she'd completely forgotten about it.
    She wondered if she should go get it or if she should just forget about it- she didn't want to wake anyone or bring any attention to herself. But after thinking about it for several minutes, she decided to go down and get it. She couldn't leave til the storm passed, anyways, and the task would give her something to distract herself in the meantime. She would just take extra precautions to be extremely quiet, hoping the pitter patter of rain hitting the roof and windows would help cover for any sound she'd make.
    Rose successfully made her way to the bookshelves in the parlor without anyone hearing her. She fumbled with the books in the dark until she found the right one. She couldn't see it's burgundy spine but knew it's place on the shelf and the feel of it in her hands.
    Just as she was about to leave, she heard something upstairs. What was it-footsteps, a door, perhaps? Her heart started beating faster and she spun around, knocking something over in the dark. A flash of lightning outside the window revealed that it was a picture frame holding a portrait of her parents on their wedding day. She carefully put it back in place as she wondered to herself if she would have a wedding portrait taken of her and David.
    Her mother was only a year older than Rose was when she was married and became an instant mother as well. What an odd twist of fate, Rose pondered, that she owed her very existence to the death of Isabel's mother. If Isabel's mother would have lived, Rose's parents would have never met, let alone married and she would not have been born. She wondered if Isabel's mother would have survived would things have turned out differently; would Isabel still be the same cold, selfless creature she was now? Though it was impossible to know for sure, she imagined that Isabel would probably be just the same cruel person she was now, only using a different excuse for it.
    She carefully made her way out of the parlor and back upstairs again. She hadn't heard any other sounds and nobody had ventured downstairs so she thought the coast was clear. That is, until she came upon the upstairs hallway where her bedroom door was open. Her heart skipped a beat and she held her breath. She was certain she had closed her door behind her when she'd left for the book. The light from the lamp on her desk was still on and poured out into the hallway.
    Slowly, she stepped in the room and found Louisa, standing over her desk with a letter in her hand. 
    “What are you doing in here?” Rose asked, startling Louisa.
    “I, I ...I was coming in to sleep with you, there was a lot of thunder.”
    Thunder. Rose had planned everything down to the last detail but had forgot about Louisa's fear of thunder. Though she was twelve, she'd had a fear of thunderstorms ever since she was a toddler and always found comfort by the company of her big sister, who had given her an open invitation to spend the night in her room if she