Michelle: Bride of Mississippi (American Mail-Order Bride 20) Read Online Free Page A

back of the buggy, tugging on Michelle’s skirts.
    She turned to look at him and he got to really look at her for the first time. She had lovely red hair, a few locks having fallen from her hat, and her crystal blue eyes sparkled.
    She laughed, then said, “They certainly are enthusiastic to meet me. I’m so very pleased.”
    He reached out to stop her as she stood and lowered herself from the buggy, bending down and wrapping an arm around each one of the twins. He should have hurried around to help her out, but the twins would wait for no man. And it appeared Miss Blake wouldn’t either.
    “I’m Mattie and this is my sister Missy. She sucks her thumb,” Mattie said as Anthony came around the buggy.
    “Mattie, that’s not a nice thing to say to Miss Blake. She needs to get to know you two on her own.”
    He reached for Mattie’s hand and pulled her away from Miss Blake. Mattie buried her face against his leg and Missy promptly stuck her thumb in her mouth.
    He glanced down at Michelle as she looked up at him, her eyes questioning.
    “There’s a bit of sibling rivalry, I’m afraid,” he said as he pried Missy from his leg and picked her up. “Let’s go inside and show Miss Blake her room. I can bring the bags up later.”
    Mattie grabbed Michelle’s hand and pulled her around the back of the buggy. Anthony followed close behind, carrying Missy whose face was now buried in his neck.
    Michelle laughed as she lifted her skirts and attempted to keep up with Mattie. By the time they got to the top of the stairs, an older woman in a white apron had opened it wide for them and she stepped back as Mattie and Michelle shot through, Michelle nodding quickly before heading to the stairs with Mattie.
    “Well, Mattie’s sure taken a shine to her already,” Mable said as she reached for Missy.
    Anthony straightened his coat and adjusted his tie. He peered in the door as Michelle’s skirts disappeared around the corner and up the stairs.
    “Yes, it appears so. If you’ll take Missy upstairs, I’ll bring up Miss Blake’s bags.”
    As Mable followed the others upstairs, Anthony slowly turned and climbed down the porch stairs. He took the young lady’s bags from the back of the buggy and set them on the steps. As he led the horses toward the barn, he looked up to the second floor, laughter wafting down from the open window.
    He pushed his hat back on his forehead, leading the horses slowly. He looked across the back lawn as he reached the back of the house and stopped, laughter still trickling down to him. He closed his eyes for a moment. Before the twins came, it had been years since he’d heard laughter in the house--and in his memory he could see his sister sitting on the back porch, a jar full of fireflies, his mother laughing as Adelaide jealously guarded her treasure that he’d caught for her.
    Shaking his head, he unhitched the buggy next to the barn and unbridled the horses, settling them in their stalls for the night. He wished he hadn’t had to let the stable boy go--it meant he’d need to feed the horses later and muck their stalls before supper, and again in the morning before he set out to the store.
    He closed the barn door and crossed the lawn, letting himself into the kitchen from the back porch. Mable turned as he entered, just having set a pot of water on the stove to heat.
    “She seems very nice, Mr. Anthony,” Mable said as she wiped her hands on her apron. “The girls seem to like her very much. She’s reading them a book in her room.”
    He peered around the corner, relieved that she was getting on with the girls but unsettled that there was a new person in the house.
    “Mable, do you think I did the right thing?” He sat down and leaned on the small kitchen table, setting his hat down and running his hand through his dark hair.
    The housekeeper laid her hand gently on his arm and he looked up into her kind eyes. She’d been with the family since before he was born, and he welcomed her