Page 1 of Mail Order Mittens (Brides of Alaska #2 | Brides of Beckham #68)

M aggie O’Malley sank to her bed to read the letter she’d received from her closest friend, Belle Montgomery...no, wait. Her name was Belle Thompson now. She’d recently left for Alaska to be a mail-order bride.

As Maggie unfolded the letter, she said a silent prayer that her friend was all right. Alaska sounded a bit too...wild for Maggie’s tastes.

My Dearest Maggie

Life in Alaska is amazing. It’s a beautiful, wonderful place, full of trees and wildlife.

I spend my days doing whatever I like. Today I foraged for berries, baked muffins and bread to sell at the general store here in town, and I cooked supper for my husband and myself.

Tomorrow I’ll spend all day turning the berries into jams and pie filling that I’ll then can and they’ll feed us through the winter.

My husband, Everett, is a kind man, and I am so pleased I agreed to marry him.

I am one of only two women in town. The other is the wife of the store owner, and her name is Katie.

She’s as sweet as they come, and she sells anything I care to make in the store for the men who work for the lumber mill.

Truly, the only thing I’m missing here is you.

Everett’s closest friend is looking for a wife, and he plans to write to Elizabeth Tandy to find a bride.

I’m hoping that bride will be you. Will you go see her?

Nothing would make me happier, and you could work for yourself, and not keep working for that hotel.

I know you dream of marrying someday, just as I did. Why not embark on the adventure of a lifetime? Remember how we once joked that we would marry brothers, and our children would grow up together? James and Everett may not be brothers, but we could still raise our children together.

Please consider this idea. I’ll send a letter with news next week, but for now, think about how free you’d be in Alaska.

All my love,

Belle

Maggie read the letter once more. Belle was a great deal bolder than Maggie, and the idea of traveling to a faraway place to marry a stranger was frightening. Knowing Belle would be on the other end of the journey would help some, but she still wasn’t certain she could do it.

Here, she had a job, and there were no true unknowns. She worked, ate, and lived at the hotel where she and Belle had met years before. How could she leave her life behind to step into an unfamiliar situation?

She loved the idea of being with Belle, but knowing her friend, she was shooting her own supper before cooking it. Maggie had no outdoor skills. No, she didn’t think it was possible for her to be brave enough to make that journey.

*****

M AGGIE PUT THE PLATES for one of her tables on a tray to carry out to the restaurant.

The same four men came in every week, always requesting her as their waitress.

She didn’t enjoy serving them because one of the men was very flirtatious and had made lewd comments on several occasions.

But they did tip well, and she saved all her tips for a rainy day.

When she reached the table, she plastered a smile on her face and set two of the plates down. As she reached for the third plate, the man who flirted with her so much, pinched her bottom.

She squealed and the tray slipped from her hand, dumping the hot contents into the lap of the man she so disliked. She apologized for her accident immediately, and brought towels to clean everything up, but the damage was done.

Her manager asked to speak with her just before the hotel restaurant closed, but she knew what was coming. “Maggie, you’ve always worked hard, and you’ve been a good employee. It’s hard to believe you would dump an entire tray of food onto the lap of a man, simply because he smiled at you.”

Maggie felt her Irish temper rise. “He pinched my bottom! I didn’t mean to dump it, but he startled me, and I jumped, accidentally spilling the food left on the tray.”

“He and his friends have been good customers here for years. Maggie, I need to let you go. I’m sure you understand that we need to maintain our reputation with the people of Beckham.”

“But where will I go?” she asked, frightened. Yes, she had a little money set aside, but certainly not enough to last. What could she do?

“I’m afraid that’s your problem. But you need to be out of the hotel by the end of the day tomorrow.” He took some money from his desk drawer. “This is your severance. I wish you luck.”

Maggie stood still for a moment, staring at Calvin. She could see he wasn’t going to change his mind, so she walked out of the room and to her room in the servants’ quarters, located in the basement of the hotel.

Once there, she paced the room, trying to come up with a logical solution to her problem. Oh, if only Belle were there to talk to her about it all.

And then her gaze landed on the letter she’d received from Belle the day before. The letter all but begging her to give up her life in Beckham and move to Alaska.

She sat down on the bed and let the tears trickle down her face for a moment. Fear consumed her. But there didn’t seem to be a choice. She would see Elizabeth Tandy tomorrow, and hopefully, she would be off to Alaska soon.

Oh, how she hated cold weather.

*****

T HE FOLLOWING MORNING , as soon as it was a respectable hour, Maggie walked the short distance to Rock Creek Road, where she knew Elizabeth Tandy lived.

Belle had told her all about the kind-hearted woman, and she prayed that Mrs. Tandy would be just as kind to her.

Perhaps she had an opening in her own staff, and Maggie wouldn’t have to make the long voyage to Alaska.

Taking a deep breath, she knocked on the door, waiting until a tall man with blond hair opened it.

“Hello. I’m here to see Mrs. Tandy.” It took every bit of her courage to ask to see the woman.

How on earth was she going to be able to travel across the country on her own to marry a man she’d never met?

She wanted to turn around and go back to the hotel, where everything was familiar, but she couldn’t force herself to do it.

“Yes, of course. Follow me.”

The man led her down the hall and to the last door on the left. “Elizabeth? There’s someone here to see you.”

Elizabeth got to her feet. “I’m Elizabeth Tandy.”

Maggie opened her mouth to speak, but nothing came out. She cleared her throat and tried again. “I’m Maggie O’Malley. Belle Mont—Belle Thompson told me to come see you.”

Elizabeth’s entire face lit up. “Oh, Belle is such a dear woman. Come in!” She looked at the man. “Bernard, would you mind bringing tea and cookies?” After he’d left, she gestured to the sofa. “Have a seat.”

Maggie did as she was told, wondering how to begin the conversation.

When they’d sat in silence for a bit, Elizabeth took charge. “Are you here to become a mail-order bride?”

Maggie nodded. “I guess I am.”

“Well, I got two letters yesterday, one from Belle, and one from James Hunter, who is from the same town in Alaska as Everett. I’d love for you to read his letter if you’d like.”

Maggie nodded, unable to voice her thoughts, but she took the letter from Elizabeth’s outstretched hand.

Dear Mrs. Tandy,

I am not certain what you wish to know about me, but I will do my best. I will give you some basic details about myself in hopes that you can find a woman who will be right for me. Forgive the smudged ink as I cut my hand today, and it is heavily bandaged—one of the dangers of being a logger.

1. I was born in Washington, though Yeti has claimed me since it was three cabins and a prayer. I am 30 years old, stand just over six feet, and can lift the better part of a felled spruce when pressed.

2. I have no family to speak of, not since my mother died, but I have made my own: a stray dog that comes around sometimes named Georgie, a few good men, and the woods. I was raised by a couple who needed help with their workload, and though the food was plentiful, there was a lack of true caring.

3. I own a cabin that is barely insulated, but works well enough and a patch of land bordering the river. My means are modest, but I have little debt and no patience for lies.

If you will allow me to skip the formalities, I will tell you exactly what I want in a bride.

I have seen what happens to men who grow old alone.

My bunkmate, years ago, was one such man.

He talked only to his hounds and the trees, and when he finally left us, there was not a soul to notice his absence until the first thaw.

I will not end that way, nor do I wish it for any woman you send west.

I suppose what I am saying is, I am looking for someone with the strength to keep on trying, even on the days when the wind is spiteful and the room is dark.

I will try to tell you the qualities I would like in a bride, though it makes me feel like a fool.

Courage, first. Not the kind in dime novels, but the sort that keeps a person from leaving the table until the work is done, even when no one is watching.

A sense of humor, because there will be days here that test every other virtue.

Some ability with hearth and home, though if she cannot cook, I will teach her. (Or we will eat charred meat until one of us learns.) he doesn’t cook and on,y eats jerky and hard tack

And kindness. Not just to me, but to neighbors, to strangers, even to the stray animals that wander through from time to time.

If it helps your search, I have never been married. Nor have I fathered any children. There are no debts attached to my name, and my only vice is coffee and, if I am truthful, sometimes impatience.

If you need a story to share with any prospective bride, you can tell her I once lost an entire week’s worth of food to a black bear and learned only that next time I would rather share than eat alone.

I trust your judgment, Mrs. Tandy. If you can find me a bride with a heart and a mind like Belle’s, I will see to it she never lacks for warmth or laughter.

Thank you for giving hope to the men who live at the edge of the world.

Sincerely,

James Hunter.

Maggie read the letter once more, but her eyes kept going back to one word. Courage. She was not a courageous person. Perhaps she could pretend to be courageous, but then she wouldn’t be honest to him or herself.

“I don’t fit his requirements,” Maggie said softly.

Elizabeth frowned. “You can’t cook?”

“Oh, I cook very well. I’m not courageous. I was afraid to even come here.”

“But you did come here. Courage doesn’t mean you never feel fear. It means you face your fears.”

Maggie shook her head. “No, I came here out of desperation.” She quickly described what had happened the previous day. “I have nowhere to go.”

“So, you faced your fears, and you came here anyway. No matter how afraid you were. That’s courage, Maggie.”

“Perhaps.” Maggie wasn’t sure she agreed with Elizabeth, but she could understand her side of the discussion.

“When do you have to be out of the hotel?” Elizabeth asked. “Sorry if I seem to know too much about you...Belle told me you were her friend and talked about you frequently.”

“Today.”

Bernard stepped into the room then with tea and cookies. “Bernard, I’m going to need you to take Miss O’Malley to the hotel where she works and bring her and her things back here. She’ll be staying with us for a bit.”

Bernard didn’t seem to think it was odd that Elizabeth would make a statement like that about a woman he’d just met. “Yes, of course.”

“We’ll talk more when you return.”

Maggie eyed the cookies on the table between her and Elizabeth, and she grabbed one quickly.

Elizabeth’s eyes narrowed. “You haven’t eaten today, have you?”

Maggie looked down with embarrassment, shaking her head. “The hotel only feeds its employees, and I’m no longer employed there.”

“We’ll have tea before you go then,” Elizabeth said. She seemed to think it was perfectly normal to help others. Maggie was impressed by the woman, though she should have expected it with the way Belle had talked about Elizabeth.

They ate their cookies while they talked about the subject of courage. “Do you think you could go to Alaska? I know it’s a long journey, but you would only do the first half of it alone, and then James would meet you. Did you get a letter from Belle about her journey?”

“Yes, and it sounded very difficult.”

“It was difficult, but she did it, and she was pleased she had. Wouldn’t you like to start your family close to Belle? To have your children grow up together?”

Maggie sighed. “It’s something we always talked about.”

“I think you need to consider going. You have a home here for as long as you need it, but you’ll be happier if you’re on your own.”

Maggie nodded. “I suppose I would. I just feel like I’d be deceiving him. Are you certain I wouldn’t?”

Elizabeth nodded. “Very certain. You may be afraid, but you are facing your fears. That means you’re courageous.”

“I’ll do it then. Do I write him a letter?”

“Yes. Thankfully, the mail system is faster than all the twists and turns you’ll be taking to get there. I’ll have my husband set the entire trip up for you.”

“I’d appreciate that. Will I stay with your friend Harriett the same way Belle did?”

“If you’d like to,” Elizabeth said.

“I think I’d like a break in the middle of the journey.” Though the idea of staying with strangers was a bit frightening, she knew it would be all right. Belle had liked the woman. That made it all fine in Maggie’s eyes. She would deal with the new people when she faced them.

She knew the journey would be difficult, but Elizabeth had a great deal of faith in her, and that made her feel more confident herself.

She had no idea why, but there was a tingling of anticipation in her gut.

She was moving to Alaska, marrying, and reuniting with her dear friend. What more could she ask of life?