Mail Order Bride - Westward Changes: A Clean Cowboy Romance Novel (Montana Mail Order Brides Book 14) Read online

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  ****

  LINDA BRIDEY

  Mail Order Bride: Westward Changes

  Montana Mail Order Brides: Book Fourteen

  Dedication

  To YOU, The reader.

  Thank you for your support.

  Thank you for your emails.

  Thank you for your reviews.

  Thank you for reading and joining me on this road.

  Contents

  Chapter One

  Chapter Two

  Chapter Three

  Chapter Four

  Chapter Five

  Chapter Six

  Chapter Seven

  Chapter Eight

  Chapter Nine

  Chapter Ten

  Chapter Eleven

  Chapter Twelve

  Chapter Thirteen

  Chapter Fourteen

  Chapter Fifteen

  Chapter Sixteen

  Chapter Seventeen

  Chapter Eighteen

  Chapter Nineteen

  Chapter Twenty

  Chapter Twenty-One

  Chapter Twenty-Two

  Chapter Twenty-Three

  Chapter Twenty-Four

  Chapter Twenty-Five

  Chapter Twenty-Six

  Chapter Twenty-Seven

  Chapter Twenty-Eight

  Chapter Twenty-Nine

  Epilogue

  Connect With Linda

  Linda’s other books

  Copyright

  Chapter One

  “I think you made a good decision, Eddie,” Joe Dwyer, mayor of Dawson told his good friend and foreman, Eddie Baxter as they sat in the Grady House, a popular restaurant in town.

  Eddie took another bite of pancakes and said, “I don’t know, Joe. I’ve had mixed thoughts about it from the get go. I know it’s worked out for a lot of fellas around here, but I’m just not sure about it.”

  “Look, my fine friend, just don’t answer any of the letters if you don’t like them. That’s all you gotta do,” Joe said as he wiped his mouth and then drank some coffee. “I need a refill. Deena! Where are you at, girl?” he hollered.

  Eddie narrowed his blue eyes at his boss. “Why do you gotta yell like that? Can’t you just wave to her like any normal person?”

  Joe smiled at Eddie. “When have you ever known me to be normal? Deena!”

  “Stop that!” Eddie protested. “She does have other customers, Joe.”

  At that instant, Deena Abbott, a very pretty blonde with dark eyes came over to their table. “Were you calling me?” she asked.

  “Yeah,” Joe said. “I need more coffee, darlin’.”

  “Ok. What about you, Eddie?” she asked and let her eyes linger on the handsome man.

  Joe raised an eyebrow at that.

  Eddie didn’t notice, however. “Yeah. That’d be great.”

  “I’ll be right back,” she said. Her eyes stayed on Eddie a few more moments than necessary before she moved away.

  “Did you see that?” Joe said.

  “See what?” Eddie said, taking a bite of bacon.

  Joe leaned forward and lowered his voice. “She was giving you the eye.”

  “The eye?” Eddie asked around the bacon in his mouth.

  Joe rolled his hazel eyes. “The eye. You know, when a woman is interested in a man? I think Deena has taken a shine to you, my friend.”

  Eddie’s dark brows drew down. “You’re imaging things. You’re always sayin’ stuff like that. Besides, she’s seein’ Scotty Myers, so it wouldn’t really matter. No way I’m gettin’ in the middle of anything like that.”

  “Eddie, I know women and I know when one is tryin’ to let you know she’s interested. Maybe there’s trouble in paradise for her and ole Scotty. You never know. You could at least casually ask sometime. Then you wouldn’t have to write any letters or anything,” Joe insisted.

  “I’ll think about it,” Eddie said just to get Joe off his back.

  Deena returned with their coffee and smiled at them. “There you go, fellas. Is there anything else you need?” she said. She looked at Eddie while she said it, largely ignoring Joe.

  “No, thanks,” Eddie said.

  “All right. Just holler if you do,” she said and moved slowly away from the table, looking at Eddie the whole time.

  Joe hit Eddie’s arm, making him drop a bite of homefries back onto his plate.

  “Hey! Watch it!”

  “I told you!” Joe said. “Didn’t you see that? I don’t know how she could have made it any plainer.”

  “I wasn’t lookin’. I’m tryin’ to eat, Joe.”

  “You’re a moron. You can eat anytime, but you can’t always find a woman who’s interested in you and as I recall, you haven’t exactly been social with the ladies lately,” Joe said.

  “Are you keepin’ tabs on my love life?” Eddie asked.

  “Nope. I just haven’t heard you whistling in the morning lately,” Joe said with a grin. “You always whistle.”

  Eddie put his fork on his plate and stared at Joe. “I do?”

  “Yep.”

  “Jeez.” Eddie laughed. “Hell, I didn’t realize I was givin’ myself away like that. I’ll have to be more careful about it.”

  Joe chuckled. “I’ll still be able to tell by the way you’re walkin’. A man walks a certain way when he’s, um… happy.”

  “Now I gotta watch the way I walk, too? Good Lord.” Eddie cleaned his plate and said, “You ready to go?”

  “No, I just got my coffee. What’s your hurry?”

  “I got a lot to do today. I gotta get that feed home and make sure those hands have the stalls cleaned by now. I’m not sure I’m happy with that new one. Charlie needs to start showing some initiative or I’m gonna show him the door,” Eddie said.

  “Well, that’s up to you. You do all the hiring and firing. You know what you’re doin’. How’s Leonardo comin’ along on his stable manners?” Joe asked.

  “He’s a holy terror, Joe. He bit two people this week. I’ve never seen a horse like him and I don’t know what to do with him. I’m not done tryin’, though. Don’t worry. I’ll get him broken of his meanness,” Eddie said.

  “I have all the confidence in the world in you, Eddie. You know that,” Joe said.

  Eddie nodded. “You oughta after all these years. So your best friend, Rick, will be back from their honeymoon in a couple days.”

  Joe gave him dagger eyes. “You just had to remind me, huh? I still can’t believe he shot at Hamlet like that. I oughta sue him.”

  Eddie laughed. “You can’t sue him because there was no harm done to the horse. Rick’s a crack shot. He wasn’t gonna shoot Hamlet. You just don’t like it because he won that race.”

  “By cheatin’, Eddie. It wasn’t a fair race,” Joe said. He always got hot under the collar at the mention of Rick Westlake. The deputy knew how to get under Joe’s skin and did it on a regular basis. “What kind of person carries around a rat in his pocket anyhow?”

  “It’s a ferret, Joe, and Curtis works with him,” Eddie said. He thoroughly enjoyed getting Joe going about Rick. “Besides, you were tryin’ to keep him from Gina. You know Rick; nothing stops him once he’s made up his mind about somethin’.”

  “Nothing but a bullet in that messed up brain of his,” Joe said.

  “Joe! Knock that off. Ther
e’s nothin’ wrong with Rick.”

  Joe just gave him a steady stare that said otherwise.

  “All right. He’s a little… different, but he’s a good man and he does a good job for the town and at the Watering Hole,” Eddie reminded Joe.

  “I still can’t believe Jake rehired him,” Joe said and finished his coffee.

  Eddie just chuckled and finished his own coffee.

  *****

  Deena wiped off the counter for the third time as she watched Eddie and Joe. Mostly Eddie. She gazed at the man in near adoration. In her eyes, he was perfect. He wasn’t suave like Joe and he didn’t dress fancy like the mayor. He wasn’t always the most talkative person and he was apparently not the most observant, either.

  But he was achingly handsome with his thick dark hair and sky-blue eyes. His well-muscled body filled out his shirts very nicely and it was rumored that his legs were so powerful that there wasn’t a stallion or steer that could throw him. Deena knew the two men were getting ready to leave and though she didn’t want Eddie to go, there was no way to keep him there any longer. She sighed as she watched Joe put a nice fat tip on the table.

  “You’re gonna scrub a hole in that counter pretty soon.”

  Deena scowled over at her friend Alice, one of the other waitresses at the Grady House. “You hush, Alice. I can’t help it. Why doesn’t he notice me? I’m not bad looking and I think I’m a pretty nice person.”

  Alice was well aware of Deena’s fascination with Eddie. She’d had a huge crush on the man ever since she’d moved to Dawson from Wolfe Point. She smiled at Deena. “Honey, you’re beautiful and any guy would be lucky to have you.”

  Deena rolled her eyes. “You’d say that no matter what. How come Scotty broke up with me then?”

  “I’ll tell you why; a man can sense when a woman’s heart isn’t in it, Deena. He may not know why, but I’m sure that he knew that your relationship wasn’t going anywhere,” Alice said.

  Deena knew it was the truth. She’d started seeing Scotty because she’d been lonely, but she’d never developed strong feelings for him. It was a shame because Scotty was a nice man and had treated her well. She’d noticed Eddie back then, but had already been seeing Scotty. Things with Scotty had been comfortable and pleasant, but that wasn’t enough. Deena had been a little upset that Scotty had broken up with her, but certainly not heartbroken.

  “Yeah. I suppose you’re right,” Deena said.

  “I know I’m right. It was a good thing Scotty broke up with you. Now you can go after Eddie,” the redhead said.

  “I’ve been trying to drop subtle hints to him, but he just isn’t getting it.”

  Alice snorted. “Honey, sometimes men have to be hit over the head to notice things. Maybe you need to try a little harder.”

  “What am I supposed to do? Throw myself at him? I do have some pride, Alice.”

  She groaned as Joe and Eddie got up from their table.

  “Deena, darlin’, you tell Horace I said he cooked a fine breakfast,” Joe said as he put on his white hat.

  “Ok, Joe. You got it,” Deena said with a smile for the mayor.

  Joe winked at her and left. Eddie followed him out the door without a backwards glance. Deena would have been happy with a little wave or a smile, but there’d been nothing from Eddie. She felt like crying, but there was no way she could do that with other customers to serve.

  She let out a sigh and collected her tip from the table where Eddie and Joe had sat. As usual, Joe had left a twenty dollar bill. Deena smiled and pocketed the money. Joe seemed to have a set tip in mind depending on the meal. Breakfast tips were usually twenty dollars, lunch twenty-five dollars, and dinner could be anywhere from thirty to fifty dollars depending on what kind of mood Joe was in.

  Then she went to check on Claire and Marcus Samuels, who’d come in for breakfast before the doctor had to start his day at the medical clinic. Deena put on a smile as she neared their table.

  “How are you folks doing? Need anything?” Deena asked.

  “No, thanks, Deena,” Marcus said with a smile.

  “Everything was delicious,” Claire said. She ran the town school.

  “Good. I’ll leave this with you, then,” Deena said as she sat their check on the table and walked away.

  She began clearing off a table nearby. As she stacked the dishes, she heard Claire say, “Is Eddie still nervous about placing his ad?”

  Marcus chuckled. “Yeah, but just wait until he starts getting a bunch of letters. He won’t be so nervous then.”

  “I’m sure he’ll find someone nice. He’s a good man,” Claire said.

  “And pretty popular with the ladies, too. I’m not sure why he hasn’t found someone around here,” Marcus said.

  “Maybe he just didn’t look hard enough or he’s after a certain type of woman?” Claire suggested. “What did his ad say again?”

  Deena knew that she shouldn’t be eavesdropping, but she couldn’t move further away. She had to know what Eddie was looking for in a woman. It was a surprise to her that Eddie had placed an advertisement for a mail-order-bride. Marcus ran a part-time mail-order-bride service.

  “Um, I’m not sure. I wrote three different ads that week. Oh, wait, I might have the tablet I wrote them on with me,” Marcus said as he picked up a beat up saddle bag.

  “I don’t know why you don’t buy a proper briefcase, dummy,” Claire said.

  Marcus laughed at her unique term of endearment. “Because I can’t carry a briefcase on a horse. I’ve told you that a thousand times.” He rummaged around in it and pulled out a tattered tablet.

  Claire put a hand to her forehead in frustration. “How do you function this way? Look at that tablet.”

  Marcus’ gray eyes were focused on the pages as he flipped through them. “I am looking at the tablet, dear. That’s why I got it out.”

  “Don’t be sarcastic, Dr. Samuels,” Claire said. “It amazes me that you can keep track of things the way you do. You have a brilliant mind, but no organizational skills.”

  Marcus laughed. “That’s what I have you for. You’re the most organized person I know. I mean, my sock drawer is beautiful, thanks to you. Half the time I’m afraid to get out any socks for fear of messing it up. Oh! Here it is.”

  After a few moments of silence, Claire said, “Dummy, read it out loud. I can’t read your mind.”

  “Ok.” Marcus cleared his throat dramatically, which made Claire giggle. “Listen up, ladies! If you’re looking for a man who’s easy on the eyes but works hard, this is the fella for you. This handsome 6’ 1”, 180 lb., ranch foreman, with brown hair and blue eyes, is searching for a lady between the ages of twenty-two and twenty-nine, who enjoys horses. This thirty-two-year-old man is looking for someone special with whom to share his life. Must be family-minded and able to keep a house. Cooking skills are optional. Get those letters out immediately to snag him for your bride groom!”

  Deena listened intently to every word Marcus spoke and memorized what he said. She smiled because she fit the bill precisely. She fell within the age range and certainly knew how to keep a house and cook. Deena was a good rider and liked horses very much. I’m perfect for him if he could just see that! I’ve got to figure out a way to do that before someone else gets to him.

  She finished clearing the table and took the dishes back to the kitchen. Her mind had begun working on the problem as she scraped leftover food from the plates into a pail. Gus, a local pig farmer, bought the scraps from Horace for his hogs. Deena grinned as she came up with a plan. It would be risky, but she was prepared to take a risk if it meant getting the man of her dreams.

  Chapter Two

  Eddie stopped by the post office to see if any more letters had come for him. He was beginning to think that placing the ad had been a waste of time. After three weeks, the only letters to have arrived were ones that were unacceptable. One woman was twenty-six and came with four children. While he wouldn’t have minded one child, four was too muc
h for him.

  Another had said she’d have to bring her parents with her and that they didn’t have the money to travel. Eddie made good money, but he wasn’t about to send that much money to someone he didn’t know and he really didn’t want instant in-laws. The other five letters had been of a similar variety. Joe had told him to not despair, however, and reminded him that Lacey had been a mail-order-bride.

  As Cord Booker, the postmaster handed him a thin stack of mail, Eddie frowned. He hoped there was a promising letter in it. He bade Cord a good day and walked down the street to Bradbury’s General Store. He was in need of some twine. He looked through the mail as he walked into the store and one letter caught his eye.

  “Wolfe Point? This woman lives in Wolfe Point?” Eddie murmured to himself.

  Wolfe Point was a larger town not too far away from Dawson. Many people from Dawson went there on occasion since they had several restaurants and more shops than Dawson. Why someone would write to Eddie from so close struck him as odd.

  “I didn’t know that Marcus put an ad in the paper over there,” Eddie said. He walked over to the aisle where Elliot kept the hardware supplies and opened the envelope.

  Dear Mr. Baxter,

  Your advertisement interested me, not only because you sound like a good man, but because you are so close to Wolfe Point. I’ve been to Dawson and it seems like a nice place to live. I hear that you have a very colorful mayor there, too. Is it true that a Lakota tribe lives nearby?

  Before I go further, let me just tell you that I’m twenty-six, with a slender figure, blonde hair, and brown eyes. I’m a little taller than some women. I guess about 5’ 8” or so. I can cook, clean, and sew. I’m partial to horses and dogs, too. I’ve always wanted children, but never found anyone I wanted to marry.