The Bartender’s Mail Order Bride(3)

“Now, Sam, from what I see in the letters—and that’s the reason they wrote—it wasn’t personal, by any means. Many said that you sounded like a wonderful man. But there was one common thread…”

Meg hadn’t been in the conversation before, and was quite curious how anyone could possibly turn down such a wonderful offer—for such a handsome, exciting man.

“Did you put a picture of Sam in the ad?” Meg asked, still incredulous—if secretly pleased—that there were no takers.

“No, dear, that’s not commonly done,” Clara said, patting Meg’s hand before she looked away.

“It…they…the ladies seemed to have a concern about your profession,” Sadie said finally, setting the letters back down on the table and casting a sorrowful glance at Sam.

“What? But why? It’s a perfectly honorable profession, and I like it. I get to talk to people all the time, help them have fun or solve a problem. It’s not what they think. I don’t even like alcohol.”

Sadie covered his hand with hers. “But surely you must understand how they might have that perception. Isn’t that exactly the same reason why you don’t want your mother to know you’re a bartender? Because she’d feel the same way these ladies do?”

He sat back in his chair again with a whoosh of breath as he wiped his forehead of its sheen.

“When you put it that way, I suppose I can understand.”

“I think they are utterly wrong, all of them,” Meg said, a little more loudly than she’d anticipated, she realized, when all eyes turned to her. “Well, what I mean is, I believe there are people who wouldn’t feel that way. You just haven’t found her yet.” For the first time, she found herself casting her own eyes down at her plate.

“Thank you,” Sam said, and she felt warmth creep into her cheeks as he turned to her. “I hope you’re right. I don’t have much time left. I still need to sort out a new job before she gets here, as well as get married.”

His head dropped into his hands as he groaned.

The girls all looked at each other once more, before Sadie said, “Don’t worry, Sam. We have a few more days, and I’m sure we’ll get some more responses. Let’s not be too discouraged.”

Sadie’s voice was bright, but as Meg looked at her, her face showed that she was anything but hopeful.

Meg’s heart sunk at Sam’s defeated demeanor and sagging shoulders. “I just don’t want to disappoint my mother. She’s been very good to me, and has been through a great deal lately. And if I remember correctly, it matters very much to her that I have a respectable position, and a nice family. In fact, I wouldn’t be in this mess if I hadn’t flat out told her that it was true.”

Clara sat straight in her chair. “Sam, let’s just give it a little more time. Something will turn up. I mean, someone.”

Sam let out a deep sigh as he said, “I sure hope you’re right.”





Chapter 3





“You’re awfully quiet,” Clara said as the buggy approached the gates of Archer Ranch.

Meg was startled out of her thoughts and looked up at the house she shared with her brother, Hank, Clara, her father and her five sisters.

“Am I?” Meg said, but she knew Clara was right. Ever since they’d left the Occidental, all she could think about was Sam’s face at the news he’d not gotten any bride applicants.

“Penny for your thoughts.” Clara gave her a sideways glance from under the brim of her blue bonnet, a color that Meg had always thought made her eyes stand out and her red hair even more lovely.

Meg sighed as she turned back to the house, absently twisting a lock of her fine, strawberry blonde hair around her finger. She looked at Clara again, wondering if now would be a good time to ask her how she always looked so pretty.

Instead, she said, “I was just thinking about how sad this was for Sam, no brides.”

Clara shook her head slowly. “It is a shame. If any of them would just meet him and give him a chance, I am sure that they wouldn’t be so hesitant. He’s a fine man.”

A sigh escaped Meg and she caught herself, not wanting Clara to know that she had any stronger feelings than she’d already mentioned about Sam or his predicament. She knew if she mentioned how she felt, it would be something she could never take back, and she still wasn’t sure she was open for the teasing she knew she’d get. And Sam would be married, soon, anyway.

But I like Sam, too, she thought, her hands fiddling with the ties of her bonnet. The buggy slowed a bit and Meg noticed the little white house that Clara and Hank shared, the very one her mother and father had lived in when they were first married.