The New Year's Bride (Holiday Mail Order Brides Book Two) Read Online Free Page A

beautiful.
    No. Not the right word.
    Yes, she was pretty, but there was more, so much more.  He could see it in her eyes, though she was obviously worn out from her trip, and sense it in the way she held herself.  There was determination in her eyes, and a fighting spirit.  As if no matter what, she was going to come out west and fight with everything she had to make this work out between them.  What man wouldn’t want a woman with that kind of spirit at his side?
    But then she faltered and almost went down at his side.  He’d supported her by the elbows and gotten her to the hitching post.  He was prepared to lift her up to sit on it while he held her to him if need be.  Thankfully it hadn’t come to that … but … now that he thought on it, it would have been rather nice …
    Spencer snorted one last time before he got his laughter under control.  His new bride ate with gusto and he discovered he liked it.  She wasn’t afraid to let him know what she needed though he was upset to find her in her current state, famished and faint.  When was the last time she’d eaten?  Spencer was determined to find out.  He knew his mother had sent plenty of money along for her to make the long journey out west.  Had she run into some sort of trouble along the way?  Had she been robbed?  Yet surely she would have told him so by now if she had.
    “I’m sorry,” he began on a chuckle as he remembered his manners. “I’m not laughing at you, really I’m not.”
    “If it were me, I’m sure I’d be laughing by now,” she said matter of fact.
    He looked into her eyes that were much more alive then before.  The food had done her good.  “Have you had enough, or would you care to join me in a piece of pie?”
    She delicately licked her lips and the action about sent Spencer through the roof.  He wasn’t made of wood after all, and no matter how he argued with himself over this whole mail order bride business, there was still a part of him that looked forward to the whole affair.  He was a healthy vibrant male full of life, strength, and … well suffice to say he needed a wife!
    He took a deep breath to calm himself.  “Hank!  How about some pie?”
    “Good Heavens!” Mrs. Riley suddenly exclaimed.  “Where on earth has Clayton been all this time?  Didn’t he say he’d join us?”
    “He probably went back to the Sheriff’s office first, you know how he can’t stay away.” Spencer said, never once taking his eyes from his intended sitting next to him.
    Mrs. Riley watched them and smiled.  “No matter, I’m sure he’ll eat something when we arrive home.  Shall we be on our way?”
    “What about the pie?” he asked.
    “Oh dear, I’d quite forgotten about that.”  No sooner had Mrs. Riley said it, Hank came back to the table with another tray laden with pie and coffee.  He laid it all out before them and Spencer watched as his bride-to-be looked at the dessert with a renewed gleam in her eye.
    He couldn’t hide the mischievous side of him any longer.  “Tell me Miss Barstow, are you as good a t cooking as you are at eating?”
    She looked at him, her eyes aglow with something new.  Had he insulted her?  Did he just go too far?  Oh good grief, maybe it was too soon to be teasing her!
    “That Mr. Riley, you’ll just have to wai t and find out.  And if say I am as good at cooking as I am at eating… well then, aren’t you the lucky one?”
    Touché’.
    Spencer smiled as Miss Barstow dug into her pie.  Mrs. Ridgley of the ‘Ridgley Mail Order Bride Service’ had indeed made good on her choice of a bride for one Spencer Riley.
     

 
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
    Three
     
    Finished with their lunch the three of them left Hank’s and headed back to the wagon.  Spencer was right. They found Clayton at the Sheriff’s office speaking with a man out front.  He was tall, dark, and dashingly handsome in a farm-boy sort of way, and Elle wondered how many other young