His Chosen Bride. Rhonda Gibson

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СКАЧАТЬ Hannah made Millie feel as if she were a young student in Hannah’s classroom once more. “Yes, ma’am, it’s me.”

      The squeal that issued from Hannah’s throat scared Millie so badly that she knocked over her tea. She watched in horror as it spilled into Levi’s lap. Before she could react, Hannah grabbed her in a tight hug about the shoulders, then pulled back and held her at arm’s length. “Millie, I can’t believe it is really you. I’m so glad to see you. I’ve missed Cottonwood Springs horribly. Oh, this is wonderful. I can’t wait to get caught up on all the news from home. Why don’t you come out to the ranch for supper tonight, too?” Hannah took a breath, released Millie, and then grabbed her husband’s arm. “Daniel, Millie is from back home.”

      Daniel laughed. “I got that, honey.”

      “Oh, Levi, I’m so sorry.” Millie handed him her napkin and watched as he dabbed at the tea on his pants. She realized she’d used his first name but at the moment she didn’t care. All she could think about was, how much did Hannah know?

      He offered her a weak smile. “It’s all right, Millie. Hannah has a way of shocking people. I blame her.” Levi turned his grin on his sister-in-law.

      “I’m sorry, too, Levi.” Hannah returned her attention back to Millie. “I still can’t believe it’s you.” She clapped her hands together like a kid who’d just been offered a pony ride.

      Millie swallowed the lump in her throat. “It’s me.”

      “What brought you here? Oh, don’t answer that. I want to be able to sit down and catch up on everything.”

      “I think you are scaring her, Hannah.” Daniel chuckled and wrapped his free arm around his wife’s waist. “Besides, didn’t you just hear Levi say Millie is his mail-order bride? Ma’s going to be disappointed that Levi didn’t need her help luring a mail-order bride here.”

      Hannah’s mouth worked as if she’d just swallowed a lemon drop whole.

      Beth arrived at the table with the promised tea refills. “What can I get for you, Mr. and Mrs. Westland?” She grinned at Hannah.

      “Oh, nothing for us. We just stopped by to invite Levi to supper out at the ranch,” Daniel answered. “And now that we’ve done so, we’ve got shopping to do before we head back out to the ranch.”

      Beth refilled Levi’s and Millie’s glasses and then left the table.

      Finally, Hannah said, “You have to come out with Levi, Millie. I can’t believe we’re going to be sisters-in-law.” Excitement rose in her voice once more.

      Millie didn’t have time to respond. Daniel chuckled and turned his wife toward the door. “You can talk all about it tonight. We have to get Ma’s shopping done and then I need to get back to the ranch. I have work to attend to.”

      Millie couldn’t let Hannah go without finding out what she knew. Panic threatened to choke her as she called out, “But, we just reconnected. Can’t you stay for lunch?”

      Daniel seemed to ignore her and continued to guide his wife away.

      “We’ll have dinner and catch up,” Hannah answered, smiling and waving goodbye over her shoulder.

      What choice did Millie have? Of course she’d go out to their ranch. Millie needed to know what Hannah knew about the events that had taken place in Cottonwood Springs. She’d know if the U.S. marshal was looking for her. Surely, if he was, Hannah would have said something. Still, her stomach quivered in fear. Millie turned toward Levi. “Can I ride out with you?” she blurted.

      He nodded. “Of course. I’ll have to clear up that we aren’t getting married.” Levi called to his brother’s retreating back. “We’ll be there around six.”

      “Good. We’ll see you tonight.” Daniel waved as they left the restaurant.

      Levi sighed. “Those two came in here like a whirlwind. I’m sorry, Millie. I hadn’t planned on letting them continue to think we’re getting married.”

      A frown marred his handsome features, and for the first time Millie realized she wasn’t the only one with a new problem. Had Daniel said there were three other mail-order brides waiting for Levi out on the ranch? How did that happen? Levi looked downright nauseated. She felt the same way.

      Hannah had looked as happy as a little girl with a new puppy. Millie realized she’d also have to tell her schoolteacher that they were not going to be sisters-in-law. What a mess this was turning out to be. “What did your brother mean by more mail-order brides waiting for you?”

      “Didn’t you hear him?” Levi wiped at the moisture on his pant leg.

      Millie tried to remember what else had been said but couldn’t. “I’m sorry, I didn’t. I was too surprised to see someone here from Cottonwood Springs,” she admitted.

      “Do you remember me mentioning in my letters to you that last winter my ma started a contest between Daniel and I?”

      Millie nodded. “Yes, if I understood it right the first brother to get married and have a grandchild would inherit the family ranch. Is that correct?”

      “Yes.” Levi took a deep breath and then sighed. “After you didn’t show up, I received three more letters to the ad I’d placed. I didn’t want to answer any of them, but Ma insisted. She said that if I didn’t marry she’d sell the ranch before the year was out. At first I’d planned to go along with her, but then I realized that I could buy time by letting her believe I’d answered one of the letters.”

      “But you didn’t,” Millie said.

      “Well, I did, but then I changed my mind and wrote all three ladies and told them I’d decided not to get married at this time.” He paused and took a deep drink from his tea glass. “I would have written to you, as well, but I thought you’d changed your mind about coming and I didn’t see the need to.”

      Her heart lurched in her chest. Millie quietly thanked the Lord he hadn’t written. If he had, her parents would know where she was now. When she’d been home it had been her job to collect the mail each day, but with her gone, Millie felt sure her mother was doing the collecting now.

      She took a deep breath and pretended his last statement had had no effect on her whatsoever. “You didn’t tell your mother what you’d done?” Millie studied his face. She noted his ears had slowly begun to turn pink.

      The more she learned about Levi’s mother, Bonnie Westland, the more she could see her own mother’s personality emerging from the other woman. It was nothing for Ma to manipulate things to her way of thinking.

      “No, I didn’t tell her. I thought that by the time she figured it out, Daniel and Hannah would already be expecting their first child, and Ma would forget about her crazy scheme to get me married, too.”

      “But isn’t that like lying?” Millie asked.

      He set his glass down slowly. “I didn’t really think of it that way. I just figured I’d tell her later and explain again that I’m not ready to marry right now.”

      Millie decided not to press the issue. She knew what it was like to have a mother who tried to control your every move. What Levi СКАЧАТЬ