West For Love (A Mail Order Romance Novel) Read Online Free

and even bigger glasses. She was beautiful, middle aged, and when she
saw Anna, she hurried to stand, tearing the glasses off her face. She smiled
big and rushed to meet Anna and embraced her as though they were old friends
that hadn’t seen one another in decades.
    “I’m sorry,” Anna said as the hug
ended. “But I don’t...”
    “Of course you don’t know me,” the
woman said. “I’m sure my brother didn’t tell you my name.”
    “I leave introductions to be done
in person,” Henry said. He took his hat off and smiled. “Anna, this is my
sister, Mary Roberts.”
    “Mary, a pleasure,” Anna said.
    “Same here. And I’m hoping my
brother introduced himself. Henry Belles.”
    “Yes,” Anna said.
    The first thing that came to mind
was Roberts and Belles .
They were brother and sister with different last names. That left the
assumption that Mary was married.
    “I’m going to assume Henry tracked
you down and dragged you here,” Mary said.
    “Actually, it was Anna who spotted
me,” Henry said. “I was whistling...”
    “Oh, you didn’t,” Mary said. “My
Aunt Martha could whistle better than Henry and she’s been deceased for ten
years now.”
    Anna gasped and then laughed.
    “Now, come with me,” Mary said.
“Let’s get settled. Have a cup of tea together and chat.”
    “Tea?”
    “Or anything else you’d like to
drink. We have everything you’d like.”
    “Even something strong,” Henry
said. He dropped the bag from the post office on the table and walked away.
“You two ladies can chat in private.”
    “Thank you,” Mary said.
    She retrieved a chair for Anna and
patted it.
    Anna sat. She looked at the bag and
then at Mary.
    “You want to see what’s in the
bag?” Mary asked.
    “It’s none of my business,” Anna
said. “I do apologize, but my family is expecting me...”
    “Everyone is expecting someone,”
Mary said. She leaned and grabbed the bag. She held it by the bottom and shook
it. Out poured what had to be two dozen letters - no, three dozen or more.
“This is the proof.”
    “Letters?” Anna asked.
    “Not just letters,” Mary said.
“These are letters from men looking for wives.”
    Instantly, Anna’s cheeks began to
flush.
    “I’m not here to pressure you,”
Mary said. “Into anything. Henry and myself are well aware of what happened to
you.” Mary looked around and leaned towards Anna. She placed her hands on her
knees and whispered, “If it means a thing, I fault William, not you. He’s
always been more of a bully... a bully with a good smile.”
    Anna was in disbelief until she
thought about how nice of a suit Henry wore. Of course he’d be associated with
William somehow. Anna should have known better than to stop and stare.
    “I heard it was because you
couldn’t carry a child,” Mary said.
    “Well, yes,” Anna said. She felt
cornered and started to feel embarrassed.
    “That’s okay,” Mary said. “You
know, these letters have all kinds of stories to them. All kinds of men. You
can read one if you want.”
    Anna looked at the letters. She
wasn’t sure what to do. Images of Abigail popped into her head. How let down
she had been over everything. One little look at a letter wouldn’t hurt a
thing, would it?
    Anna nodded.
    Mary opened a letter. She read it
first and then handed it to Anna.
    “Look at this one.”
    Man
of 6’ height, 200lbs, seeking young, energetic woman, early twenties, please.
Needs to care for home, myself, and willing to start a family right away. I
have land, stand to inherit $20,000.
    It was a short letter.
    Very short.
    Anna turned page over and back
again. “That’s it?”
    “Sometimes that’s it,” Mary said.
“These are usually the ones we print. Others are longer letters and we take
more care to find someone to match with. Not all are like that. I did have a longer
letter come a month ago. A heartbreaking letter at that. Would you like to read
that one?”
    “I guess,” Anna said.
    Mary shifted