Page 8 of Leftover Mail-Order Bride (Frontier Brides #2)

T he rosy color in Victoria’s cheeks was fading. The lips that had felt so warm and right against his were tightening. He was going to lose her, and who could blame her? He was making it sound like he wanted to hire a ranch hand or housekeeper, not marry a wife!

“You mentioned before that Mrs. Dalrymple has expectations for your husband too,” he tried.

She rallied, head coming up. “According to her, he must be humble, patient, faithful, fiscally responsible, kind to animals, and supportive of the church.”

His brothers and sisters complained he was too humble, so that was one tick in his favor. He kept his word, watched his expenses, and supported the church, so he might be able to check off several more of those requirements. But he wasn’t known for his patience, and some might not think hunting very kind to animals, though he couldn’t keep the family fed if he stopped.

“Not sure any man fully lives up to all that every day,” he said, the collar of his shirt tighter than when he’d arrived.

“Agreed, and I’m not sure I’m all that patient,” she admitted. “But I’m beginning to think I have other criteria. A love of family, a love for each other.” She slanted him a glance and then quickly away.

Jack swallowed. “It would be easy to fall in love with you, Victoria. I’m more than halfway there already.”

Her gaze came back, and he was certain the gleam in her eyes was hope. “Oh, Jack! I feel the same way about you.”

There was nothing for it. He gathered her in his arms and held her close, pressing a kiss against the silk of her hair and inhaling the clean scent of it. She cuddled against him as if that was where she belonged.

“If I was anyone else, I’d be down on bended knee right now,” he murmured. “But you haven’t met everyone in my family yet, and you have a right to know what you’re getting into.”

She pulled back, brow puckered. “Are your father and other brothers so forbidding, then?”

“No, ma’am.” He couldn’t help his smile. “Pa is known for being the peacemaker in the family. Jacob will talk your ear off, but only if you ask him a question or show interest in the book he’s reading. Jason and Joshua are still more boy than man. I just want to make sure you can be happy living like we do. My mother occasionally reminds us that marriage is for a lifetime, if you’re fortunate.”

She rested her head back against his shoulder. “A lifetime with you doesn’t sound so bad to me, Jack.”

He could only pray she’d feel the same way after her visit on Saturday.

***

Victoria stood in the little entry hall of the parsonage Saturday afternoon, tucking a stray strand of hair back into the bun at the nape of her neck.

“Here,” Mrs. Dalrymple said, standing on tiptoe and reaching up to adjust the hat she’d insisted that Victoria borrow. She dropped back down on her feet and cocked her head. “Much better. They’re all going to adore you, and you’ll come back here a bride-to-be. I just know it!”

Oh, but Victoria hoped! She smoothed down her spring green skirts. She’d worn her best dress again. Jack had seen it, but the others wouldn’t have. And just to make it seem a little different, she’d pinned her mother’s ivory brooch at the neck. Still, her stomach fluttered, and her fingers tightened as she lowered her hands.

“I suppose it’s possible they won’t like me,” she said, voicing one of her greatest fears about this visit.

Mrs. Dalrymple sniffed. “There’s no accounting for taste. But take heart. Mr. Goodenough is still interested.”

Victoria hid her shudder.

The sound of hooves and the rattle of tack heralded the arrival of Jack and the wagon.

“Pinch your cheeks,” Mrs. Dalrymple advised, following her to the door. “Smile!” She threw open the door and waved at Jack and Jane, who sat next to him on the bench. “Be right out!”

She turned and put both hands on Victoria’s shoulders. “Be strong and courageous.”

“I’ll try,” Victoria promised. “And I’ll see you tomorrow at services.” She picked up her case and started down the steps.

Jack jumped down and came to take the little case from her. “Thank you for coming. It means the world.”

He looked so relieved, as if he’d thought she’d refuse in the end, that she could only smile at him. “Of course. It’s an honor to be invited.”

He stowed the case in the back of the wagon, then returned to her side. “Let me help you up.”

Jane had slid over to one side and held the reins of a team of chestnut horses in one hand. Jack set his hands on Victoria’s waist, and she fancied she could feel the strength, the determination, in them. Would she be holding those hands at a marriage ceremony soon?

Her breath stuttered as he lifted her up onto the bench.

As if she thought Victoria needed support, Jane patted her sky-blue gingham skirts. “Slide on over next to me.”

Victoria obliged, and Jack jumped up on her other side. The wagon was narrow enough that she was pasted against each of them and warm as toast.

Clucking to the horses, Jane directed them out of the yard.

“You ride, you can drive a team, and you help build churches,” Victoria said. “Is there nothing you can’t do?

His sister winked at her. “Well, I’ve never tried playing the piano. I hear you’re very good.”

Victoria sawed her fingers back and forth. “Middling.”

“It didn’t sound middling to me,” Jack protested. “I’d travel to Olympia or even Seattle to hear you perform!”

Jane laughed. “I hope you like the ranch, Victoria, because my brother is clearly over the moon!”

Victoria blushed. So did Jack.

They managed to chat about this and that while the twin barns grew ahead of them, and Victoria’s nerves kicked harder than a colt. A short while later, Jane pulled the team to a stop in front of the barns. Jack jumped down and handed Victoria to the ground.

“I’ll bring in the case,” his sister offered. “You know Ma doesn’t want to wait another second.”

Jack tucked Victoria’s hand in his elbow and led her toward the house. “I asked them to take it slow again. We can be a lot at once.”

Her stomach tightened as they came into the kitchen. One of his sisters was bending over an open oven, basting a roast. The sizzling scent filled the air. She straightened and smiled at Victoria, red hair sleeked back and blue eyes twinkling.

“Welcome to the Jumping J, Miss Milford,” she said. “I hope you like venison.”

“It smells delicious!” Victoria assured her. “And please, call me Victoria.”

“I’m Jenny,” she said. “I hear you already met Jane, Joanna, Joy, Jeremy, and Caroline. That just leaves the boys to go.”

“I beg your pardon?” Another brother, who appeared to be a little younger and more slender than Jack, came into the kitchen and adjusted his spectacles. Like Jack, he wore sensible trousers and a cotton shirt covered by a brown coat. “I haven’t considered myself a boy for more than a decade now.”

“Victoria, this is my brother Jacob,” Jack said. “He’s next after Jeremy.”

Jacob bowed. “A pleasure to meet you.”

“And you as well,” Victoria told him.

“He’s the studious one in the family,” Jenny explained. “Though I don’t know that he’s studied all that much about music, which I understand you enjoy.”

Jacob raised his brows. “Mozart sonata? Beethoven’s lullaby?”

Jenny laughed. “I stand corrected.”

“You usually do,” Jacob said. He spoiled the lofty attitude by winking at Victoria. “I’m sure you could teach me a great deal more.”

Joy came into the kitchen, copper-colored curls bouncing. “I knew you were here, Victoria! Ma wants to know what’s keeping you and Jack.”

“That would be me,” Jacob acknowledged, stepping aside. “I hope we have a chance to chat further, Victoria.”

So did she, and she wasn’t sure why that surprised her.

Jack led her down the short hallway to the parlor. His mother was sitting on the sofa, head high and serene, like a queen dispensing alms to her penitents. Her brown hair was parted in the middle and plaited on either side of her round face, and she’d added a lace collar to the pink gingham gown.

His father, seated on one of the ladder-back chairs near his wife, stood as Victoria and Jack entered. Like Jack, he was tall and well built, though his red hair was lighter and beginning to gray at the temples.

“Welcome, welcome,” he heralded. “What a pleasure to meet you, Miss Milford. Jack’s told us so much about you.”

She shook the hand he offered.

“Yes, Jack sings your praises,” Mrs. Willets said with a smile. “But he hasn’t told us nearly all we’d like to know. Have a seat, and we can become better acquainted.”

Victoria unpinned her hat and set it aside, then sat on one of the other chairs. Jack pulled up another beside her as if to protect her from all comers. Was this to be an inquisition, then?

Mrs. Willet’s warm brown eyes focused on Victoria. “I was telling the family that you hail from Albany. What brought you West?”

Victoria swallowed. Jack apparently hadn’t mentioned Charles. Would they think she must have some terrible flaw to be left at the altar?

“When my parents both died, there wasn’t enough left to their estate to allow me to live on my own, if such a thing had been proper,” she explained. “I nursed a cousin for two years, but I knew it was only a matter of time before I must find my future elsewhere. At that point, I just wanted a fresh start. So, I answered an ad for a mail-order bride.”

“Jack! You didn’t!” His mother rounded on him, shaking a finger. “Did you learn nothing from Jeremy and Caroline’s courtship? I thought I made myself quite clear on how I felt about mail-order brides.”

Victoria wanted to crawl under the rug. Instead, she knit her fingers together in her lap even as Jack bristled.

“To be clear, Jack didn’t place the ad, Mrs. Willets,” she forced herself to say. “Mr. Charles Bishop in Olympia did. We corresponded for a bit, and he proposed marriage. I came to Olympia to marry him, only to find he’d changed his mind and wed a local girl in the meantime. Everyone in his family was very embarrassed about the whole thing. I think they hoped I’d just go away quietly, but where was I to go? In the end, the minister’s wife in Olympia contacted Mrs. Dalrymple, who agreed to take me in.”

His mother’s mouth turned down. “Oh, you poor thing! How cruel! Your heart must have been broken.”

Her heart had never really been involved. “I was more disappointed and concerned. I know no one here, and my cousin has passed, so there’s nothing for me to return to in Albany. I sought a way to support myself, but it’s not easy for a single woman to find respectable work.”

“I can imagine,” Mrs. Willets said.

Jack reached out and took Victoria’s hand. Could he feel the chill in it?

“You know I asked Mrs. Dalrymple to find me a local bride,” Jack told his parents. “But I took one look at Victoria, and I suspected no other lady would ever match her.”

Victoria stared at him. His gaze was fervent, his hand on hers firm. He looked ready to fight both mother and father if they suggested he find someone else. He’d claimed to be falling in love with her yesterday. Now he sounded as if he’d fallen the moment they’d met!

His mother must have believed him, for she clasped her hands. “Oh, Jack! That’s exactly what I was hoping for.”

His father smiled. “Sounds like we might have another wedding in our future.”

“Victoria and I haven’t reached any agreement,” Jack cautioned, giving her hand a squeeze. “I thought it only fair that she meet you all first.”

His mother waved a hand. “That’s a formality. Of course she’ll love it here. Everyone does.”

Victoria could see why. They were so easy in each other’s company, so ready to stand their ground yet give their love. She wanted to gather them all close in hopes they’d let her stay.

And Jack—that look, that touch, the warmth in his voice. Much more of this, and she’d be the one proposing to him!

***

The worst was over. He hadn’t ever doubted that Pa would like Victoria. Pa made friends with rocks. But Ma accepted her, and that helped set his mind at ease. Now, if only Victoria liked them.

The smile on her pretty face encouraged him, but her fingers were still too cold, as if every muscle was tensed. Maybe Jacob was right; by limiting Victoria’s contact with their family, Jack had painted a picture of people who would judge her, find her wanting.

As if anyone could find her wanting.

Ma rose. “I should help Jenny with dinner. Joe, I’m sure you had something you wanted to discuss with Jacob after the two of you and Joy visited the Abercrombys today.”

Pa made a show of frowning, but Jack saw the twinkle in his eyes as he stood too. “Did I?”

Ma swatted his shoulder, and he chuckled, looping an arm about her waist as they left the room.

“I thought she might have more questions,” Victoria said, gaze following them.

They didn’t fool him. Like Mrs. Dalrymple, they expected Jack to propose. But not yet. Not until Victoria was as sure as he was.

“They can tell quality when they see it,” Jack said. “I knew they would. I’m sorry if I made you feel you wouldn’t be welcome. I was just trying to ease the way.”

She swiveled to face him. “You didn’t have to. Your family is wonderful! I always wanted a sister or brother. You’re fortunate to have so many, and each one more talented than the last.”

They’d all swell their chests if they heard her. “I’m glad you like them.”

She glanced toward the door again. “I think there are still one or two I haven’t met. Who’s next?”

“I suppose that leaves Jason and Joshua, my youngest brothers. I’m not sure what they’re up to at the moment.”

As if in answer, a scuffling sounded in the hallway, and the two of them burst into the room. He remembered when he and Jesse were that age, all arms and legs and too much vinegar to sit still. Auburn-haired Jason couldn’t wait to turn sixteen on his next birthday and receive the horse Pa usually gave each one of them then. He already rode better than most of them, and he was the family’s best hunter, though he tended to hide his accomplishments behind a gruff manner and a ready complaint.

Joshua’s hair was a deeper red and more unruly, for all he tended to be the more level-headed of the two. As the youngest boy, Ma had a special place in her heart for him, just as she did for Joy as the youngest girl. The two of them were still being tutored by their mother and Jacob.

Jack made the introductions, then Joshua thrust out a trillium he’d likely just picked from the shadows of the forest. “For you, Miss Milford.”

“Why, thank you, Joshua,” she said, accepting the tri-petaled white flower. “I see you’re as thoughtful as your brother.”

He ducked his head, but his ears were turning red.

Not to be outdone, Jason held out a sheath of papers. “Thought you might like these.”

Jack took the flower so she could accept.

“New sheet music!” she cried, gaze devouring the pages. “Oh, how marvelous!”

Joshua shot him a look. “You tore those out of Joanna’s magazine. She’s going to tan your hide.”

Jason raised his chin. “She can try.”

Victoria lowered the pages, gaze going to Jack’s. “Oh, I wouldn’t want to take something from your sister.”

“Joanna won’t mind,” Jack predicted. “Though you should have asked first, Jason.”

Jason shrugged. “Ma said to do anything we could to help you get hitched. If all it takes is a few pages from a magazine, I call that a good trade.”

Now Victoria’s face was reddening.

Jacob came in then and shooed them out. “Ma wants your help setting the table.”

Grumbling and jostling each other, they left.

“Sorry about that,” Jack said. “They’re still learning their manners.”

“They both tried to make me feel welcome,” she said. “I appreciate that.”

Jacob made himself comfortable on the sofa. “We all want you to feel welcome. It’s been a long time since we’ve seen Jack so happy. We’d like to keep it that way.”

He almost sounded as if he was threatening Victoria to say yes! “Don’t you have somewhere else to be too?” Jack demanded.

Jacob cocked a grin. “Not at the moment. Ma isn’t the only one with questions about your sweetheart. I have to take the opportunity while I can.” He leaned forward. “Jane tells me you had a governess in Albany. That sort of teaching usually qualifies a lady to be a teacher herself. I’m sure you could find a position, if you wanted.”

Victoria blinked as if she hadn’t considered that, and Jack could have cheerfully dropped his brother in the well. If Ma really had urged them all to help his courting, what was Jacob doing?

“But I understand there isn’t a school on Hawks Prairie or Puget City,” she said.

Jack nearly sagged with relief. At least she was still thinking about staying in the area.

“There isn’t right now,” Jacob admitted. “But I’m hoping to change that. Once the church is up, I’d like to see us start a school.”

Jane had said something similar. But surely Jacob saw the difficulties.

“Where?” Jack asked. “We don’t have any spare buildings on the ranch and neither does anyone else that I’ve seen. None of us will have money to buy another piece of property or bring in the lumber to erect a school for at least two more seasons.”

Jacob eyed him. “There’s the old block house. It’s solid, it’s in the middle of the area so everyone would be able to send their children, and there’s room above for the teacher to sleep.”

Jack leaned back, nodding. “That actually makes sense.”

Jacob adjusted his spectacles. “I generally make sense, brother.” He turned to Victoria. “So, would you be willing to consider being our teacher?”

Victoria smiled regretfully, and Jack wanted to get up and shout a hallelujah.

“I have more experience with nursing,” she explained. “Especially for a new school, you’d be better served to find someone who’d been trained as a teacher and had some experience.”

Jacob nodded thoughtfully. “Well, if Jeremy could write away for a mail-order bride, I suppose I can write for a mail-order teacher.”

“And Ma might actually approve of that,” Jack told him.

Joy darted into the room and took Victoria’s hand. “Dinner is about on the table. Ma says come. You can sit by me, Victoria.” She was tugging her out of the room before Jack could do more than climb to his feet.

“I like her,” Jacob said, joining him. “I think you two could be very happy together. You both seem to understand your capabilities and how you can contribute to the world. There’s a great blessing in that.”

Jack couldn’t argue as they joined the family for dinner. They’d seated Victoria near the top of the table between Jack and Joy, and Ma had brought out her best tablecloth, the soft blue linen Pa had given her for their tenth wedding anniversary. After Pa said the blessing, they passed around the roast, potatoes, and salad of miner’s lettuce and watercress, and Jack served her. Conversation flew, and she seemed to have no trouble following it and interjecting her part. Every moment, Jack’s hopes grew.

They all regrouped in the parlor after dinner, Jason and Joshua bringing in extra chairs from the dining room to fit everyone.

“I thought a musical night tonight, in honor of Victoria,” Ma said. “And then we’ll need to arrange the parlor for services tomorrow.”

Pa shifted on the chair, hand to his stomach as if he’d eaten too much. “Why don’t you start us off, Jack?”

He and Pa generally took the bass part to his brothers’ tenors and baritones and sisters’ altos and sopranos. He started a hymn, and everyone joined in. Victoria’s sweet voice melded with his as if they’d been designed for each other.

As they finished, Pa rose. “Well, that winded me. Someone else take the next song. Excuse me a moment.” He limped toward the door.

Ma was frowning at him. Jack could see why. His father was pale, and sweat stood out on his brow. The others didn’t seem to notice, for they were advocating for this favorite and that.

Victoria leaned closer. “Your father doesn’t look well.”

As if he agreed, Pa stumbled and went down in a heap on the floor.