Читать книгу Pony Express Mail-Order Bride - Rhonda Gibson - Страница 10

Chapter One

Wyoming

January 1861

Philip Young’s horse raced into the Turnstone Pony Express relay station. Extremely tired and chilled to the bone, Philip prepared himself to jump onto the cold saddle that awaited him. Relay stations were every ten to fifteen miles on the trail and this one had been fifteen. They were the places where Pony Express riders exchanged horses and continued on until they reached their home station.

Thankfully this was the last time he’d change horses before he would reach his family’s farm and his home station. After a couple of days’ rest at the home station, Philip would head on to the relay station he and his brother Thomas ran on the other side of Dove Creek.

He prepared to swing onto the saddle of the horse that the relay station manager, John Turnstone, held for him. “Glad to see you made it.” John’s grin spoke volumes of his pleasure and yet didn’t tell him anything as to what he was getting pleasure from.

Philip paused with his foot in the stirrup. “What’s going on?”

John’s shoulders shook as he tried to hold back his laughter. He held the horse’s head and said, “A special delivery arrived for you today by stage.”

Philip dropped his foot back to the ground. “What kind of special delivery?” The need to get onto the waiting horse battled with his curiosity.

His job was to keep the mail going through, but then again John’s curious behavior had him hesitating. Philip felt torn. John tossed him the reins to the horse Philip had just rode in on and then jumped on the back of the fresh mustang. “You best go inside and see. I’ll finish your run. See you later.”

Philip didn’t take time to watch John and the horse speed away. He tied the spent horse to the hitching post by the barn and then hurried to the house. He took the steps two at a time.

The door banged against the wall as he called out to John’s wife, Cara. “Cara, John says I have a package waiting and felt it was urgent enough to take the rest of my run.”

His gaze fell on two little boys who sat side by side on the couch. Their big blue eyes stared at him in fear. He’d never seen them before and for a brief moment wondered as to their presence. Surely they weren’t his special delivery.

“Cara isn’t here. She went to check on Mrs. Brooks, their neighbor.”

He looked to the kitchen, where a young woman with blond hair, blue eyes and a heart-shaped face stood in the doorway. He couldn’t help but notice a dimple in her left cheek that came to life when she smiled. She motioned for him to join her. Hesitant, Philip moved into the warm kitchen.

John and Cara’s house was small but comfortable. Most relay stations were manned by one man and consisted of a small shanty or barn for the man and Pony Express horses. This one wasn’t like most; it held warmth and a sense of family.

He held out his hand. “I’m Philip Young.”

She placed her smaller hand in his palm. Her fingers shook slightly. “Bella Wilson.” Bella pulled her hand from his grasp.

Philip looked to the boys. They had stopped watching the adults and were playing with small wooden horses. His gaze returned to Bella. “Do you happen to know where the package is that the stage dropped off for me?”

A weak smile touched her lips. “I guess you’re looking at it.” At his frown, she pressed on. “I’m your mail-order bride.”

“What?” Philip wished he could cover the shock in his voice, but he couldn’t.

Bella twisted her hands in her skirt. “I answered your advertisement for a mail-order bride.” Her cheeks flushed and her gaze darted to the little boys on the couch.

Philip didn’t know what to think. She didn’t appear to be lying, but he’d not placed an ad for marriage in any newspaper. He motioned for her to sit down at the small square table. When she did, he said, “I have no idea what you are talking about. I didn’t place a mail-order-bride ad in any newspaper.” Well, he had once—not for himself but for his brother Thomas.

She frowned and stood. “Hold on a moment.” Her skirt swished across the floor as she walked to where the boys sat playing. Bella dug around in the largest of the three bags that rested beside the couch and then she stood.

Dread filled him as she made her way back holding a small piece of newspaper. Bella handed it to him, still frowning. His gaze fell upon the writing.

November 1860

Wanted: Wife as soon as possible. Must be willing to live at a Pony Express relay station. Must be between the ages of eighteen and twenty-five. Looks are not important. Write to: Philip Young, Dove Creek, Wyoming, Pony Express relay station.

Philip looked up at her. He hadn’t placed the ad but had a sinking feeling he knew who had. Just because he’d advertised for a mail-order bride for his brother, didn’t give Thomas the right to do the same to him. “Did you send a letter to this address?”

Bella shook her head. “No, I didn’t have the extra money to spare for postage. I just hoped I’d make it to Dove Creek before another woman.” She ran her tongue over her lips. “I did, didn’t I?”

He sighed. “Well, since this is the first I’ve heard of the advertisement—” he shook the paper in his hand “—I’d say your chances of being first are good. But this is dated back in November and it is now January, so I’m curious as to what took you so long to get here.” He didn’t add that he was also curious as to why he hadn’t gotten letters from other ladies.

“Well, I didn’t actually see the advertisement until a few weeks ago. My sister and her husband had recently passed and I was going through their belongings when I stumbled upon the paper. Your ad leaped out at me as if it was from God.” Once more she looked to the two boys playing on the couch.

Philip’s gaze moved to the boys, too. “Are they your boys?”

“They are now.”

Sadness flooded her eyes. The family resemblance was too close for them not to be blood relatives. And since she’d just mentioned her sister’s death, Philip didn’t think it was too much of a stretch to assume that the boys had belonged to Bella’s sister. “They are your nephews?”

“Yes. I’m all the family they have left. The older boy is Caleb Rhodes and the younger is Mark.” Her soulful eyes met his. “And you are our last hope to stay together.”

Philip didn’t want that kind of responsibility. He wasn’t the marrying kind. He didn’t want or need a family. And from the sound of it, it was obvious that a family was something that Bella both wanted and needed.

Bitterness filled Philip. He couldn’t get married. That would require him to love deeply and Philip couldn’t bring himself to do that. His father had loved his mother so much that when she’d died in childbirth, he’d died, too.

The workers at the orphanage had whispered how sad it was when a man died of a broken heart from loving too hard. Even at the age of five, Philip had known that his father had hung himself in the barn. He’d seen him do it but had never told anyone.

Now here stood a stranger with two children who expected him to marry her. All women expected love to come with marriage eventually. He couldn’t give her his heart. What if he carried his father’s gene of weakness? Would he rather kill himself than live with the pain of knowing he’d never see his wife, the one who held his heart, again?

* * *

Bella Wilson watched the emotions rush across Philip’s face. He was a handsome man with deep blue eyes and straw-colored hair. There was a small bump on the bridge of his nose, which had probably been broken sometime in the past. She thought the bump gave his face character.

Was Philip Young a take-charge man? Her ex-fiancé, Marlow Brooks, had been a take-charge man, but when she didn’t want to follow his lead, he’d called off their engagement. The memory still stung. What had he expected her to do? Put the boys in an orphanage? There was no way Bella would allow Mary’s children to be sent away. She had foolishly thought that she and Marlow would raise the boys and give them a happy home. Marlow had disagreed and broken their engagement.

Bella wanted to prove to Philip that she had a backbone. So far she’d been timid with him, but her future, and the future of her nephews, depended on this man. Exhaustion had about taken its toll, but Bella knew she had to be strong for the boys’ sake. She squared her shoulders and lifted her head high, then said, “Look, you placed the advertisement and I have arrived in answer to it. Are you going to marry me or not?”

He swallowed. Philip ignored her question and asked one of his own. “What did you mean when you said that I’m your last hope to stay together?”

She wrapped her arms around her waist and looked to the little boys. “Mary and her husband, Jim, owed more than they owned. So there is no money to raise the boys. Before I knew that my sister’s life had all been a lie, I quit my job and hurried to Denver, Colorado. Upon arriving I learned that they didn’t have the money that she and her husband had led everyone to believe they did. So their debtors came and took everything Mary and Jim did have and then the bank froze their money to pay off their home mortgages. All I had left was what I brought with me and those two small boys with their small bags.” Tears pricked the backs of her eyes. She fought to keep the moisture from falling. “Now I have no money, no way to feed them and no place for them to live.”

“So why didn’t you continue on to Dove Creek?”

“I ran out of money and the stage refused to take me any farther. Thanks to Cara and John I learned that you’d be arriving soon and they said we could stay with them until you did.” Bella heard the desperation in her voice and swallowed hard. Would he abandon her and the boys to their fate? She’d answered an advertisement expecting him to marry her. It never dawned on her that he might not have placed it.

Bella gnawed at her bottom lip. Marrying Philip would assure the boys’ security. She’d been wary of who might be at the end of the trail, but now that she’d met him, Bella knew God had a plan. If only Philip would see it, too—then she’d be able to relax.

His deep sigh drew her attention. “Where do we go from here?” he asked.

She shrugged. “I’m still waiting to see if we are getting married. If not, then I will have to decide what I will do and you can go on with your life.” Bitterness laced her words and Bella wished she could take them back. Her life had changed so much in the last few months.

He nodded but didn’t say anything.

What must he think? He’d just been told she was his mail-order bride. A bride he’d not sent for. He could go on with his life and Bella couldn’t hold it against him. She’d gladly taken on her nephews because they were her family and she loved them. Philip didn’t have such feelings and wasn’t obligated to marry her.

Bella offered him what she knew was a weak smile. “It’s all right, Philip, I understand. You didn’t write the advertisement. I’m sorry I sounded resentful.” She pushed away from the table. “God will provide a way.” Were they empty words? Would the Lord really take care of her and the boys? Bella had to believe He would.

Philip pushed back his chair. “Give me time to think about this, Bella. It’s sudden for me.” His gaze moved past her to the two little boys. “And a lot of responsibility. But I’m willing to consider what is best for everyone.”

That was all she could ask, and yet Bella wanted to ask so much more of him. Instead she nodded her understanding.