***
The following Sunday, Zack confessed to his sister about what his son had said. Leah had married Robert Ganey twelve years ago when she was hardly seventeen. Robert had just bought the land next to Zack’s cattle ranch. Though both men understood they should see each other as competition, they found themselves working side by side and frequently offered a helping hand instead.
“That poor boy,” Leah murmured with a shake of her head. She blew a strand of her blonde hair away from her face after a sigh. “He’s a child, Zack. Of course he wants a mother. Every day he goes to school, he sees the other children with their moms. He feels left out. He misses having a mother’s love.”
Leaning over the kitchen sink, it took all his strength not to bring the meatloaf up that Leah had prepared everyone for supper. He knew he shouldn’t have eaten too much. Zack closed his eyes as he imagined Ross running around the house looking for the present he knew he couldn’t give his son.
“How can I disappoint him?” Zack groaned.
“Get married.”
Robert walked over with the last couple of plates. It was the three adults in the kitchen now as the children ran around in the snow outside to enjoy the last of the sunlight. Leah muttered something under her breath to her husband as Zack tried to tune them out.
“It’s only been two years,” Leah hissed. “I told you we’d talk to him about it next year.”
Her husband snorted loudly. “If Ross wants a mother, I’m sure Zack wants a wife. I’m not being cruel here, Zack. I’m just realistic. Now that I’ve had my good luck charm of a wife all these years, I can’t imagine losing her. I can’t run this house or my ranch without her. The fact you’ve gone this long on your own is a miracle. But that doesn’t mean you have to do it alone.”
Leah cleared her throat. “He’s not alone. He has us, remember? Or me, at least.”
“Hey,” Robert frowned.
But Zack just shook his head. His heart hurt. Now, all he could see was his son’s eventual disappointment. After all the hardships they had endured in the last couple of years, he’d do anything to make his boy happy again. Really happy. “Even if I wanted to get married again, I don’t know what I would do. There aren’t enough single women in town.”
“That’s why we’d send out a mail-order bride advert,” Leah offered promptly.
She hadn’t even hesitated. The woman had clearly put some thought into it.
So much so that she had him convinced before the sun had set and had an advert all prepared. Leah was the type of person to mother everyone, even if she was the younger of the two siblings. Zack didn’t know how it happened but soon, he found himself exchanging missives to one particular young woman who had responded to his letters.
“Are you sure about this?” He asked when Leah closed up the most recent letter.
His sister nodded. “You’re making the right decision. You may think of her as a friend if nothing else?”
It was an invitation for the young woman - his mail-order bride - to come out west. Though he spent several sleepless nights pondering if it was the right decision to make, especially around the holidays, Zack couldn’t forget the hope in his son’s eyes and eventually decided it was the right move.
But after the invitation was sent, he decided to send one final letter.
Just one more. A quick explanation. It would be a marriage, he explained to Della Prescott, but only one of convenience. His heart was too wounded to love another. There wasn’t room to fit another wife in there.
Still, he would do his best. He would care for her as best he could and give her a safe, warm home. Hopefully that would be enough for everyone. Especially Ross.
Chapter 3
Della pulled the veil over her face with shaky hands as her carriage came to a stop.
She could hear the noise of people bustling about, moving and shouting around the train station. A whistle blew, and it made her jump. A hand touched her shoulder, and she turned to Hazel who looked at her in concern.
“It’s all right,” Della assured her breathlessly. “I’m all right.”
That’s what she had to tell herself, as well. That everything was good and that she was making the right decision. Even though she had spent a week repeating this in her mind, Della wasn’t certain she had convinced herself it was the truth just yet.
But there was no time to spare. It was time for her to go.
“Thank you for all of your help,” she told Hazel. “I’ll write to you when I have arrived. Please make certain that my parents find the letter on my pillow, would you?” And then she put on her bravest smile. “How do I look?”
The young maid fixed the netted veil near her ear and ran a hand over her shoulder before nodding. In the last couple of weeks, Della liked to think they had become nearly friends. “Like a queen, Miss Della. You’re terribly brave for doing this. I’ll be looking for your letter and will write you a response of how your family responds.”
Overcome with emotion, Della wrapped her arms around the young woman. “Thank you,” she whispered, “for everything.”
Another whistle sounded, and she took it as a sign that it was time for her to go. Her heart pounded furiously. Della was helped out of the carriage, and Hazel guided her to the steps of the train. It was a mad house of chaos everywhere she looked. The entire street was crowded with people boarding and people staring.
She couldn’t help but stare in fascination at everyone. How could
