“You’re always gonna miss Annie.” Alex said. “But you gotta move on sometime. You been eyein’ any of the women in town? You thought about askin’ somebody to dinner or a ride through that gorgeous land of yours? What are you considering?”
“That’s the thing, Alex, I’m not considering. Don’t reckon there’s much to consider around here.”
“You ever thought,” Matt finally spoke up. “About gettin’ yourself a bride from the East through the post?”
“How am I gonna find a woman in the East? I don’t know anybody out there.”
Matt shook his head. “I heard about a bunch of brothers out in Nevada that placed ads in the newspaper last year and all four of ‘em got brides that way. You just send an ad to a random newspaper somewhere on the East Coast, you know like New York and Virginia and South Carolina. You could do that. You got the money to place an ad and you got the money to send telegraphs when somebody sends you back a response.”
“I don’t know, Matt.” Alex said, narrowing his eyes. “You think that’s really a good thing to do? No tellin’ what kind of woman Joey here would end up with.”
“I don’t see why you shouldn’t give it a try.” Matt shrugged. “Don’t you want a mother for Ruthie and a wife?”
Joe shook his head. “I gotta doubt that some woman from the East is gonna want to travel all the way over here for a horse rancher.”
“You got it wrong, friend.” Matt said, shaking his head. “I hear they’re jumping at the chance. Plus, those four brothers, they even fell in love with their brides. They were good decent women.”
“If you word it right, you could probably find a woman suitable, Joey.” Alex began to nod and his voice sounded positive and approving. He leaned forward and looked directly at Joe. “And when you’re settled in with her, you can get Ruthie back.”
Joe pressed his lips together. It sounded as though Alex had made up his mind that it was a good idea.
And he didn’t mind the thought of sharing his bed with a woman again.
****
Chapter Three
Liz pulled a letter from her bag and laid it on the table in front of them. “Now, listen to me before you say anything, okay, Minnie?”
Minnie looked at the letter and then back up at her friend, narrowing her eyes. “What did you do, Liz?” Her tone was only a little scared. She was more curious than anything. What was Liz being so sly about?
“I have been thinking about you and worrying about you and praying for you for a long time now, Minnie. You know I love you as my dear sister, don’t you?”
Minnie nodded without answering, her stomach becoming tight as she listened to her friend.
“I wouldn’t do anything I thought wasn’t in your best interests, would I?”
“No, I don’t think you would, Lizzie. You’re my very best friend.”
Liz nodded slowly, her eyes dropping to the letter under her fingertips. She made to slide it to Minnie and then stopped. She looked up at her friend.
“Minnie, about a month ago, I saw an ad for a woman to come to the West to be a bride for a man out there.”
Minnie’s heart stopped for just a moment. She knew where this was going.
“I don’t think I can…”
“Yes, I know.” Liz cut her off, nodding. She patted Minnie’s hand. “That’s why…that’s why I answered it for you.”
Minnie’s breath caught in her throat. Her eyes widened and she couldn’t figure out if she was angry, mortified, humiliated or happy and excited. “Liz!” She said her friend’s name breathlessly.
Liz looked concerned for a moment, subconsciously pulling the letter slightly closer to herself. “I…I really think you need new scenery, Mins. You need to get out of this town where all of your memories live and surround yourself with a whole new life.”
“What about Billy?”
“Well, I didn’t know how this man would respond if I told him you had a baby, so I didn’t mention it right away. I thought it would be better to get a letter back from him that was more personal and would let me know if I was good in sending a response to his ad. And I got a letter and I think you should read it. I think it might make you see things a little differently. Plus, you can respond if you want and if you don’t, I will send him a letter saying I have changed my mind…as you, of course.”
“Oh Liz.” Minnie found herself drawn to the letter in Liz’s fingers. She licked her lips and pressed them together, biting them softly at the same time.
Hesitantly, she put her hand toward the letter and slowly pulled it over the tabletop. She pulled in a breath and held it up to look at it. “You think I should read it.” She made it sound more like a statement than a question but Liz nodded.