Billionaire Flawed 1(105)

Edward’s heart lifted, feeling as if it was up in the clouds Jon was trying to look at. Both of his children were smiling at him. It was the most beautiful thing he’d ever seen. He wanted to shed his mood and bring back the happiness to his home.

But how?



That evening as he perused the newspaper after his children were in bed, he had an idea. He’d heard that some men were sending for a woman from the East to travel to them to become their bride. He looked in the section where they usually had any advertisements but didn’t see anything like he was thinking about.

Edward realized that there wouldn’t be any in this newspaper because the wives were being sought from the East. He wondered if such a thing would be good for his children. He would be brutally honest with any woman who might answer such an ad. He had no plans of lying. He would let the woman know he had lost his Beth and was interested in rebuilding his family.

Could he fall in love with a woman this way? Would he really be able to do that?

He put one hand over his mouth and debated the thought.

He turned so that his legs would swing off the edge of the bed and touched his feet to the cold floor. He immediately pulled them back up and pushed them into a pair of slippers Beth had gotten him as a Christmas present.

He reached into the drawer in the stand by his bed and pulled out a writing board with a small piece of chalk. He didn’t want to waste paper just to write the same thing over and over.

He leaned over the board and began to write. He only wrote a few words before he used one sleeve to wipe it clean. He wrote again. He started again.

I am looking for someone to be a wife and mother to my two children. I seek companionship, someone strong and who will be kind and gentle with them.

It was a start. Edward looked at it and ran the words through once again in his mind. He needed the woman he brought over to be the best mother he could provide for his little ones. He wasn’t about to sacrifice their happiness for his. If it made him miserable, he would live with it. But if she was good for his children, he would accept it.

****



Chapter Three

It wasn’t the first time Gabby wondered why her brothers were not living in huge houses far away from her. They had houses. Why weren’t they there?

They came bursting into the kitchen just like they always had, talking loudly about some political thing or other, Lincoln was doing this, Lincoln was doing that. Good for them. She didn’t think about that kind of thing. She thought someday she might go back to their homeland and see how things were there.

She stayed seated at the table, responded with “Morning” when they greeted her and looked down at the newspaper Aeden tossed down onto the table. They both went to the stove and poured a cup of coffee from the pot for themselves. As they headed back to the door, she lifted the newspaper and waved it at him.

He shook his head. “Already looked through it, Gabs. You keep it and give yourself something to do today.”

She turned back to the table so he wouldn’t see the resentment and disdain on her face. “Thank you.” She murmured. Give her something to do? Gabs? She wasn’t sure how much longer she could take it.

She snorted. The newspaper was filled with political information that she didn’t care for. She flipped through it and scanned each page. Her eyes stopped when she saw a small paragraph in the section that held the advertisements. A soft chill ran over her arms as the idea formed in her mind.

Freedom.

She sucked in her breath and grabbed the paper, focusing on the ad. It was a way to get out. Her brothers would be forced to care for her grandparents and she could have her life, for the first time in her life. She stood up, letting the chair scoot violently back behind her.

They would soon know how much work it took to make this house run, to keep it clean and to keep her grandparents alive and healthy. She was sure they would do it, that her grandparents would be healthy and cared for. There was no way her brothers didn’t have that kind of compassion.

She moved through the house and up to her room, knowing the path so well, she didn’t even look up from the paper. In her room, the large desk her grandfather had made for her when she was just a child sat waiting. She pulled the chair out, set the paper down and sat. It would only take one piece of paper, some ink and an envelope and her life would change dramatically.



I am wanting to answer the ad for the bride to come to Buxley. I am 23 years old, have long red curly hair, green eyes and I am slender but strong. I have been caring for my elderly grandparents since my brothers and I lost our parents in an accident some years ago. I am looking for a change of scenery, a change of pace. I am willing to care for your children, as I said I have been doing that kind of thing for some time now. Please let me know if you have any questions I should answer before you choose and if you will respond with further information as to how to proceed.