His Chosen Bride. Rhonda Gibson
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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 did or didn’t do was between him and his maker, not her. A smile teased her lips.
“You find my situation funny?” Levi asked. A new growl had entered his voice but not his soft green eyes.
She tried to control her facial muscles. “Well, not funny-ha-ha. But it does seem that your mother has found another way to get you to marry one of those ladies.” Millie pursed her lips together in an attempt not to laugh.
A grin began to part his mouth, and twin dimples twinkled in her direction. “Oh, go ahead and laugh. It wouldn’t be the first time my mother’s antics were laughable.”
Millie immediately sobered. Her own mother had caused her pain and embarrassment more times than she could count. “I’m sorry, Mr. Westland. It really isn’t funny.”
He leaned forward on his forearms. “What happened to calling me Levi?”
Millie looked down at the tablecloth. “I’m not sure it’s proper to call you by your first name.”
“Good thing we aren’t proper here in Granite. Please, call me Levi.” He laid his napkin on the table and stood. “I need to get to work. If you need anything, I’ll be at the furniture store. I have a little carpentry shop set up in the back.”
She nodded. “Thank you.”
As if he’d eaten persimmons, Levi said, “It will take us a while to get out to the ranch, and then Ma will want to introduce everyone. I’ll pick you up around three.” With those instructions, Levi turned and left the restaurant.
Millie stood also. Once more she felt as if Levi was taking matters into his own hands without waiting to see what she had to say. What if she’d changed her mind about going out to the ranch? Had he thought about that? No, he’d simply assumed he knew the best plan, told it to her and strolled away.
Beth stopped beside the table and asked, “Are you ready to see your room?”
Millie nodded and picked up her handbag. She noticed the money Levi had left on the table and scooped it up. “What do I owe for the meal?” she asked, looking to Beth.
“Nothing. When you work here, meals are free.” She smiled and headed toward the exit. “I don’t expect you to start work today, but we’ll need to hurry. The lunch crowd will be here shortly and I need to make up a few more sandwiches before they start coming in.”
Millie followed her hostess and now employer from the restaurant. “How much is the fee for the room?”
“Levi doesn’t charge us for room and meals when we work for him.” Beth led her up a staircase off to the right of the front door. She stopped in front of room four and looked at Millie. Beth gave her the key and then held the door open for Millie to enter.
Millie couldn’t get her legs to move. “I’m confused. I thought I would be working for you.”
“You are, but Levi is the owner of the boardinghouse and the restaurant so he does the paying, and I do the bossing.” She smiled to take any sting out of her words.
“I see.” Anger seeped through Millie. Why hadn’t he told her he owned the boardinghouse? So far, he’d manipulated her into staying at the boardinghouse, given her a job and was calling her by her first name. Was there no end to the man’s boldness?
* * *
Levi arrived a little before three o’clock. He’d met with his banker and then spent the rest of the afternoon in his workshop stewing over what to do about the mail-order brides out on the ranch.
Absorbed in his thoughts and the intricate carving on the chest he’d been working on, Levi was running late. Even as he walked up the sidewalk to Beth’s he couldn’t shake the question that had haunted him all afternoon. How had his mother known he had written to all three ladies explaining he wasn’t ready to marry? Or obtained their addresses for that matter?
He stepped into the boardinghouse and found Millie sitting on a small bench in the lobby. She’d freshened up and now wore a pretty blue day dress with a matching bonnet. Levi realized he should probably change his clothes and perhaps wash his face before they left.
The grandfather clock chimed the hour with three soft bells. He knew if they were to get out to the ranch at a reasonable time, they had to leave now. His mother wouldn’t take kindly to them arriving late. He’d have to forgo the cleanup and pray that he looked presentable.
She stood and wiped her hands over the front of her dress. Her skirt swished as she turned to pick up a covered pie plate. The scent of warm peaches filled the air between them. “I’m ready,” Millie announced in a tight voice.
Was that anger he detected? His gaze moved to the clock once more. He wasn’t late