The Springtime Mail Order Bride Read Online Free

her, climbed down.
    Once on the ground, he slowly approached, as i f she might disappear, which gave her time to study him.
      He was huge, the biggest man she’d ever seen, and broad through the chest. His hair, what she could see of it, was a dark chestnut brown, his eyes a bright blue. She had to suck in a breath to stay on her feet as he came closer. He was the handsomest man she had ever seen, and she marveled at the sheer strength that seemed to encompass the very air around him.
    He drew near, and when he looked down at her small frame, he frowned.  “Are you … Miss Carter?”
    His voice was deep, edgy … scary. Oh dear …  She managed to take a breath before answering. “Yes,” she said, and looked up into his eyes. They were mesmerizing. He looked her over carefully, as if inspecting a horse, then walked around her, his eyes taking in every inch. Yet, she did not feel insulted by his scrutiny. Instead she felt, warm .
    Through with his inspection, he began to glance around. “Where are your things?” he asked, suspicious.
    Her eyes widened before she closed them in resignation. “I … I don’t have any.”
    She felt him come closer, and her e yes opened the instant his hands touched her arms and fingered her flimsy shawl. “You’ll freeze in this. Come with me.”  He took her by the hand and pulled her toward the wagon. She expected him to stop and help her climb up, but he didn’t. Instead they kept going, and went straight to the mercantile.  He pulled her up the stairs to the doors, she having to scramble to keep up with him, and once at the top, he ushered her inside.
    She was welcomed by a warm blast of air, and she sighed in pleasure. He looked at her, with the same annoyed look as before, and marched her straight to the counter. “Aunt Betsy?” he bellowed.
    Footsteps could be heard coming up a back hall, and a handsome young man with spectacles went beh ind the counter. “Arlan? This is a surprise. What are you doing here?”
    “I came to town to get married. My bride seems to have forgotten her coat. Give me one, will you cousin?”
    The man looked her up and down, then gawked at Arlan Weaver, her future husband. “Married? You ?”
    “Yes, me. I’ll need a few other things too.” He let go her hand, and studied her. “What size do you think she is?”
    The man behind the counter pushed his spectacles up his nose and looked Mr. Weaver in the eye. “Why don’t you ask her? I’m sure she knows.”
    He turned to her. “What size dress do you wear?”
    Samantha shivered. How could she say she didn’t know? She was to get a new dress on her birthday, which, come to think of it, was today. She gasped with the thought.
    “What’s wrong? Don’t you know?” he asked.
    She looked at him, her eyes filling with tears.  She was eighteen today, and free … oh so free. So what if she didn’t know what size dress she wore? She’d learn. She’d learn a lot of things. She looked up into the eyes of her future husband. “I don’t. But I’m sure I can guess.”
    He sized her up. “So can I,” he said and turned to the counter. “Small.”
    “How astute,” the man behind the counter commented dryly. “What else do you need?”
    Mr. Weaver took her hand again and pulled her a few feet away from the counter. “This is all you have, huh?”
    She stood straight. “Yes.”
    He put his hands on his hips, sighed, and looked at the man behind the counter again. “Where’s your wife, cousin?”
    “In the kitchen. Why?”
    “Fetch her, I’d like to speak with her a moment.”
    “What for?”
    Mr. Weaver faced him. “Just do it, I’m losing daylight.”
      “Very well, be right back.” He left them and disappeared down the hallway.
    “That’s my cousin Matthew. He just got married last month. His wife Charlotte will know what you’ll need out at the farm. What happened to your things? Were you robbed?”
    She looked to the wood floor. “No,” she said and fingered the