The Bartender’s Mail Order Bride(12)

“No, no it isn’t,” she said hastily. “Suzanne, if we could settle up, I’d best be going.”

“Oh, of course. Do you want cash today or have it added as a credit to your account?”

“Credit is fine. We’ll be making purchases for school supplies soon, I’m sure,” Meg said as she re-tied her bonnet under her chin.

“All right, then. I’ll just add the items and their payment. If you’re in a hurry, I can give Hank the bill of sale in a bit.”

“That would be fine. I do need to get back.” Meg suddenly wanted to be as far away from the mercantile as she could possibly be…and soon.

She had her hand on the doorknob as it swung toward her, knocking her a step back toward the wall.

“Oh, I’m sorry, Meg,” Sadie said. “I didn’t see you.” She stepped into the store, followed by Sam who had a new, white envelope in his hand.

Meg hadn’t even remembered them leaving the shop. Her daydream must have been longer than she’d thought.

“Oh, Meg, are you heading home?” Sam said.

Meg’s breath hitched. “Yes, I am. I need to get back.”

Sam held out the envelope to her. “Would you mind delivering this to the post office on your way? I don’t think anyone else is going out for a while and it’s on the other side of town, but on your way home.”

Meg stared down at the letter, reaching slowly and gingerly toward it.

Sam laughed, pushing it closer to her. “Go on, it won’t bite.”

She looked up into his smiling eyes, her hands steadying as she heard his laugh, reminding her that it was her favorite sound in the world, and remembering that with this letter, she would soon be on her way to becoming Mrs. Sam Allen.

She reached out for the envelope and grasped it firmly, placing it in the pocket of her apron. “I’d be happy to deliver it for you.”

“See? I told you it wouldn’t bite.”

Meg smiled and nodded at him as she opened the door, turning back for a small wave to her friends. “Goodbye, all,” she said over her shoulder as she closed the door behind her and walked a few steps closer to the buggy.

Her back still to the door, she retrieved the letter from her pocket and held it to her chest, her smile taking over as she realized it was just a matter of time—a short time, at that— that she would be Mrs. Samuel Allen.

As she hopped in the buggy after securing the letter back in her pocket, she headed toward the post office to deliver it as promised. When she was sure that she was no longer in sight of the mercantile, she laughed and guided the horses toward home. She didn’t need to go to the post office. The letter, after all, was for her.





Chapter 8





By the time Meg arrived home after her long diversion at the mercantile, dinner was ready and on the table. All she’d had time for was to wash up and join her family.

It was all she could do to pay attention to what anyone was saying as she hadn’t yet had the opportunity to read the note from Sam that would determine her fate. Every chance she got, she fiddled with it in her pocket, willing dinner to pass more quickly so that she could run to her room and read it in private.

“Sam got a positive response to his request for a mail order bride today,” Hank said, primarily to his wife, Clara, but the effect was that all nine pair of eyes turned toward him with this news.

Beau Archer was the first to speak after he’d set his fork down and sat back in his chair. “I’ll never get over this, you young people finding brides this way. If I hadn’t seen it work out in my very home with the wonderful addition of Clara, I would think it was the most ridiculous thing in the world.

“You would think that, Pa, but even with the influx of new folks here in Tombstone due to the mine taking off, most of them have moved from somewhere else, and are either single or don’t know anybody. Except for the ladies at Big Nose Kate’s and the Bird Cage, they’re mostly men. And those ladies aren’t marrying material.”

“Why not,” Pepper, the youngest Archer girl said, her eyes wide. “What’s wrong with those ladies? They’re women, aren’t they?”

An uncomfortable silence fell over the rest of the table. Beau Archer looked at his youngest daughter, who was just sixteen, and then looked to Clara with pleading eyes. Meg noticed that Clara’s eyes widened and she looked at Hank. Hank cleared his throat and lifted his napkin to his mouth, looking desperately at Meg.

Meg sighed. Was she the only one around who could handle business? She did, however, glance around once for Maria before she turned to Pepper and said, “There are women who come to places like this, Big Nose Kate’s and The Bird Cage, and they are able to make a very good living on their own. Not everybody wants to get married, you know.”