March 15, 1873
Jesse Donovan read the letter
from his fiancée Rebecca Jane Flynn twice and still didn’t believe it. Finally
he read it out loud.
March 6, 1873
Dear Jesse,
I know we were planning on being married when I came out to Hope’s
Crossing in a few weeks. But, I can’t. I simply cannot give up living in New
York City for some tiny town in the middle of nowhere in the Montana Territory.
Do stores exist there or do you have to grow your own food? Can you actually
see me scratching around in the dirt trying to plant seeds?
I’ve decided to stay in New York and marry Simon Coleridge. He may not
have as much money as you now do, but he can keep me in the style I want to be
kept. I hope you’ll find some nice woman who won’t mind living in a little town
and getting her hands dirty.
Perhaps you can get a mail-order bride. Several agencies here in New
York provide that service. The best known one is Matchmaker & Co. I’ve
included a clipping from the newspaper with their advertisement.
Good luck, and have a happy life.
Rebecca Jane
Jesse crumpled the paper in his
hand and threw it across the room. Then he slumped down into his chair and
covered his face with his hands. Anger pushed through. He stood up and kicked
the chair. Love isn’t real. Didn’t Rebecca Jane just prove that? He loved her
and she dumped him like so much trash. That would never happen again.
He looked down at the clipping
that had fallen onto the table when he opened the letter. He still needed a
wife and a hostess. A mail-order bride? Him? He wouldn’t have to worry about
love and Sam Longworth, the sheriff, had done all right. Jo was a beautiful
woman who could cook, clean and hunt with Sam, both people and animals. Jo was
a bounty hunter before she married Sam but she didn’t tell him until she had to
when one of her bounties escaped and came after her.
Seems, if he remembered
correctly, Sam had used this same mail-order bride company but not the one out
of New York. Guess he better go talk to Sam…or Jo. She might be the one to ask
about the brides that these places have.
With a shake of his head, Jesse
picked up and read the advertisement.
Are you lonely? Looking for a wife to help you and care for you.
Someone to have your children and keep your home. Apply at Matchmaker & Co.
221 Baker Avenue, New York City, New York or 467 10th Street,
Golden, Colorado. Send your inquiries to the attention of Mrs. Maggie Black.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Cynthia Woolf is the award winning and best-selling author of
twenty-two historical western romance books and two short stories with more
books on the way.
Writing as CA Woolf she has six scifi, space opera romance
titles.
Cynthia loves writing and reading romance. Her first western romance Tame A Wild Heart, was inspired by the story her mother told her of meeting Cynthia’s father on a ranch in Creede, Colorado. Although Tame A Wild Heart takes place in Creede that is the only similarity between the stories. Her father was a cowboy not a bounty hunter and her mother was a nursemaid (called a nanny now) not the ranch owner.
Cynthia credits her wonderfully supportive husband Jim and her
great critique partners for saving her sanity and allowing her to explore her
creativity.
WEBSITE
– www.cynthiawoolf.com
NEWSLETTER
- http://bit.ly/1qBWhFQ
This story does sound great. Thank you for sharing.
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