Sweet Matrimony Read online

  Contents

  1. Edward

  2. Katrina

  3. Edward

  4. Katrina

  5. Edward

  6. Katrina

  7. Edward

  8. Katrina

  9. Edward

  10. Katrina

  About the Author

  Copyright © 2022 by Eliza Ester

  All rights reserved.

  No part of this publication may be reproduced, distributed or transmitted in any form or by any means, without prior written permission.

  * * *

  This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents are a product of the author’s imagination. Locales and public names are sometimes used for atmospheric purposes. Any resemblance to actual people, living or dead, or to businesses, companies, events, institutions, or locales is completely coincidental.

  Created with Vellum

  One

  Edward

  “I have to say,” Edward Warner said to Russ when they sat down at the kitchen table for supper, “being a deputy sheriff out here is so much more rewarding than I ever thought it would be.” He had grown up in Dakota as the son of a farmer but since he was a child he’d known that he wanted to help people instead.

  “It’s very satisfying work,” Russ agreed.

  His wife, Dory, finished setting the food on the table and sat down too.

  “You’ll find that things can get very wild around here, sometimes,” Dory said. “Never a dull moment.”

  Edward smiled. “That’s just what I’m looking for. A little adventure and a reason to keep doing what I’m doing.”

  Sheriff Russ had had a deputy before. A man named Gideon had worked with Russ for two months but he’d been called back east to take care of his ill mother and Russ had advertised for a new helping hand. When Edward saw the ad, he knew this was what he was meant to do. He’d applied and gotten the job and he’d never looked back.

  The Burkes were great people, and Russ and Edward had become fast friends. Edward, being a bachelor, spent most of his free time with the Burkes. They had become like a second family to him.

  “You’re definitely in the right place,” Dory said. “With the baby on the way it’s great that Russ can take some time off now and then. It will be needed once the baby arrives.”

  Edward nodded. Dory was pregnant and just showing. The baby wouldn’t come for a while yet, but the past six months as deputy sheriff had taught Edward enough to know what to do when the time came for Russ to spend more time with his wife and newborn child.

  Russ reached his hand over the table and Dory smiled, taking it. They looked into each other’s eyes and love passed between them in a way that made Edward a little jealous. He wished the happy couple well but he wanted love like that of his own. He was twenty-eight already and with no woman. It was time for Edward to settle down and find himself a wife.

  “You two are very lucky that you found each other,” Edward commented.

  “Oh, yes,” Dory said. “Very lucky indeed. I would never have guessed that being a mail order bride could be this successful. When I got off that coach, I just knew.”

  She smiled at Russ again before looking at Edward.

  “Why don’t you try it?” she suggested.

  “Yeah, give it a shot, Eddy,” Russ said. “I’m the happiest man alive.”

  Edward shook his head, spearing a cube of meat with his fork.

  “I don’t know… You two were lucky that you hit it off so well. What if I don’t?”

  “Reverend Shreve sets up the matches and he knows what he’s doing. There have been a handful of mail order brides in this town and I don’t know of one that’s unhappy. Look at us. We’re happy as can be.”

  “And Caroline and Travis Davison have been married for a couple of years now, too. They’re just as happy.”

  Edward nodded, thinking. Maybe a bride was just what he needed. Reverend Shreve knew everyone in town well enough to know what they needed. Evidently, that counted for love.

  “So you think I should try it?” he asked.

  “Definitely,” Russ said. “I did, and look at this beauty I received.”

  Dory blushed and Edward smiled at his two friends. They were very happy together. He had noticed how well they got on, how beautiful their relationship was, since the day Russ had introduced Dory to Edward. In the months since he’d worked with Russ and the two men had become friends, Edward had witnessed how their relationship grew. Russ and Dory had been together for about two years, now, and they were still going strong.

  And they weren’t the only ones. Edward had heard about the others, too. Caroline and Travis were well known around town and the Harley boys had both put in orders for brides, too. Edward barely saw them—the Harley boys rarely came into town —but it was enough to go by.

  “I think that’s what I’ll do, then,” Edward said. They changed the subject and the night drew on with the friends spending time together. Finally, when it was time to leave, Russ walked Edward to the front door.

  “Go see the reverend about it,” he said. “I would love to see you as happy as I am.”

  Edward smiled and shook Russ’s hand. He would do just that. Russ was a good friend and something of a mentor to Edward. And Edward deserved to be happy in love just as Russ was.

  This would be a brand new chapter for him.

  The next morning, Edward walked across town to the meeting house where Reverend Shreve spent some time in the mornings putting up notices for vacancies around town.

  “Morning, Reverend,” Edward said.

  Reverend Shreve turned around smiled. He wore his habitual black clothes and wide-brimmed hat and his eyes were friendly as always.

  “I was hoping I could have a quick word. I’m looking for a wife and I have been told you can help me with that.”

  Reverend Shreve nodded, beaming.

  “Holy matrimony is such blessing. I would be happy to help you find someone. Now, you just tell me what you want me to say about you and what you’re looking for, and I’ll get right on it. I have someone in mind whose name I got in just yesterday. I remember saying to myself, this one is a good match for a man in my town and look at that, the Lord sent you. “

  Edward nodded, shifting his weight from one leg to the other. He was a little uncomfortable talking about ordering a wife like she was part of the monthly supply list. The reverend seemed happy, babbling on about how good his service was and how happy people were in the town now that they were married. And such good matches, too.

  “You just drop off a note with what you need and I’ll have you married in no time at all.” Reverend Shreve winked at him. “I have a knack for these things, you know.”

  “Thanks, Reverend.” Edward shook the reverend’s hand and went to the office. He sat down behind the desk with paper and a pencil and tried to think about it. What did he want in a woman?

  He wanted love but you couldn’t order that through the mail. He wanted someone who would care for him as he would care for her. A homemaker. Someone who could pull her weight as he intended to. Someone who looked at life as an opportunity, rather than a drag and fight for a future.

  How would he put all of that on paper?

  After three attempts, Edward finally had it written down.

  Kind-hearted. Ambitious. Open-minded. Hard-working. He got up to deliver his note to Reverend Shreve and order his wife. A thrill went through him.

  Two

  Katrina

  Carson Valley was nothing like New York City. For one, it wasn’t very big. Katrina could see from one end of the town right to the other, with rolling hills stretching further and purple mountains providing a beautiful backdrop to a place already poetic.

  She had little time to think about the town, though. Katrina Langan had arrived there as a mail order bride and her stomach was in knots. She was nervous to meet the man who would be her husband. When she had advertised herself as a bride to the agency out in Wyoming, she had thought of one thing and one thing only—getting away.

  New York had always been the place she knew even though it had never been home. Katrina had grown up as an orphan. With no parents, she had had to fend for herself from an early age in a harsh world and she had made do by being a maid to families of wealthy businessmen.

  Now that she had killed one of those businessmen, her freedom was at stake and Carson Valley had looked like an escape, even if it meant being married to a stranger.

  Katrina was no murderer. She had always fought to make an honest living. But when Caspian Gist, a cruel, egotistical man in his fifties, had taken what he wanted from her, she’d had to defend herself. If it weren’t for his death he might have gotten away with raping her. It had been self-defense and nothing else, but it didn’t stop her from feeling guilty or fearing that law enforcement would catch up with her. Who would believe her story? She was just a maid—and the penalty for murder was death.

  When Katrina stepped down from the coach a young man with an easy smile stepped forward to help her. His hands were large and warm and when she looked up at him she was met by eyes the color of the sky.

  “Miss Langan,” he said. “I’m Edward Warner. I’m here to meet you.”

  She blinked. This was the man she was to marry? He was handsome, with golden hair and a face that was open and caring. They hadn’t exchanged letters at all—Katrina hadn’t had a forwarding address when she had signed up—but the man who stood before her looked agreeable.

  “Call me Katrina,” she said.
/>
  Edward smiled at her and offered his arm. She looped her hand through it and looked at him again as they walked away from the hotel where the coach had stopped.

  “I haven’t checked you into the hotel, I hope you don’t mind,” Edward said. “I prepared a room for you at my home. It will be your personal space, for now. I know we don’t know each other at all yet so I’ve scheduled the wedding for four weeks from now. If you need more time, we can push it up even further.”

  He was nervous, babbling on. Katrina was just happy to be alive and away from the drama that had threatened to suck her in back in New York. She put her hand on Edward’s and he stopped talking, looking down at the contact between then.

  “It’s very kind of you,” Katrina said. “A room of my own is perfect for now, thank you. And let’s take it as it comes, see how well we get to know each other.”

  He smiled at her, a broad smile that worked well with his blond hair and stunning eyes. She liked him already. He wasn’t at all what she’d expected and she was happy about that. She had scared herself with many fantasies of men who wanted to marry her right away, cruel men like the one she killed, who would treat her like nothing more than another maid.

  She shook off the thoughts. No, she thought, Edward Warner was nothing like what she had imagined him to be.

  When they arrived at Edward’s home, Katrina was once again surprised. It was a modest home, not very large, but it was neat and clean.

  “You have done all the housework yourself?” Katrina asked.

  Edward nodded. “I don’t always have time, but yes, I like to keep things tidy.”

  This man took pride in himself and his space and he wasn’t afraid of hard work, of doing things that a woman usually did. She didn’t know why that stood out to her so much. If he would do things for himself, he would treat her as more than someone who was there only to cook and clean.

  Edward showed her to her room—it was a small bedroom but with more than enough space for her needs—and left her to settle in. After she unpacked she washed her hands and face with the pitcher of water on the table in the corner. She peered into the looking glass on the wall above the table and tucked stray strands of hair back behind her ears. She looked at herself as a stranger might—soft, light brown hair and big doe eyes. Was it what he would have wanted? When she came out of the room, Edward waited for her in the living room.

  “I was thinking we could take a drive around town so I can show you where you live now,” he said and smiled nervously.

  Katrina nodded and smiled back at him. “I’d like that.”

  He was kind and attentive. She had received little of that throughout her life.

  Edward helped Katrina up onto the wagon before he climbed up himself and clicked his tongue. The horse moved forward with a jolt and Edward drove through the little town. He explained the shops along the main road and the homes beyond, followed by the farm and ranches beyond that.

  “You’re not interested in having a ranch or a farm?” Katrina asked. “You live in town itself.”

  Edward shook his head. “I grew up on a farm. I know the work well and I would be able to do that with ease.” That explained why he was so comfortable making a home for himself. “But my place is with Sheriff Russ, taking care of this town and its people. I’ve always wanted to help and this is a way I can do it. I’m no doctor or priest but I can be a man of the law. Helping people is important to me.”

  Katrina smiled. “It’s very noble.”

  Edward grinned at the compliment. He came across young and naïve but Katrina was under no illusion he wasn’t capable. A man who knew what he wanted was a man who knew how to get it and life became a lot easier when you were sure of who you were. That was something she had discovered the hard way and she was still searching for a definition what suited her own life.

  “What about you?” Edward asked.

  Katrina snapped her head around to him. “What about me?” she asked, suspicious.

  “What was your life like, growing up? We have so much to learn about each other, we might as well start there.”

  Right. He was being nice. Katrina blew out a breath she hadn’t known she’d been holding.

  “My life is a little different than yours, I think. I grew up in an orphanage—my mother died when I was very young and I don’t know anything about my father.”

  Edward focused his warm, caring eyes on her. “I’m sorry, that’s terrible,” he said.

  Katrina shook her head. “I don’t know any other life. You don’t miss what you don’t know, right?” Wrong. I missed a life where I could relax, where I belonged, where I was someone. Anyone. “Anyway,” she carried on, “as soon as I was old enough to leave the orphanage I started working to make my own living. I’ve worked as a maid since I was twelve.”

  Edward frowned. “That’s very young.”

  Katrina shrugged. “You make a life of what you have, I guess.”

  Edward nodded. They drove in silence for a while until they reached the schoolhouse. A field full of wildflowers stretched beyond it. With the mountains in the background, it was picturesque.

  “Oh, this is the most beautiful place in town,” Katrina exclaimed. Edward grinned, the air clearing up again between them.

  “It’s exactly why I left it for last,” he said.

  Finally, he drove out of town and followed the dusty trail that led to the river. The wide-open spaces and the fresh air were wonderful and Katrina breathed in deeply, happy this place would be her home.

  When they arrived at the river, Edward unhooked the horse from the wagon and tied it to a branch. He tied a bag of oats below the horse’s mouth and spread a blanket on the grass for Katrina and him to sit down on. He opened a parcel of food.

  “This is really nice, Edward,” she said. She liked saying his name. It was poetic. “And the food looks delicious.”

  “I got it from Murray at the store in town. It’s a welcome home surprise.”

  Katrina liked the way that sounded. Home. When had she ever felt she had one of those?

  She thought of the places where she’d worked, of Caspian… Her stomach twisted in an uncomfortable knot of nerves. She pushed the thought of him away. She could be happy here. She wouldn’t let the thought of him, her past with him, and everything else in her life until now, take away from what her future held.

  Edward was already a good man. He needed nothing other than for her to be the best woman for him.

  Three

  Edward

  Just because Katrina was an orphan and had had no formal education to speak of, it didn’t mean she was stupid. As the time passed and Edward got to know his new wife-to-be better and better, he was amazed at how sharp and quick-witted she was. Someone had taught her how to read and she had traveled with some books to Carson Valley.

  Books were scarce and she treasured them, keeping them safe and reading them again and again.

  Edward was seeing more of her character, too, as time went on. She was meticulous in her homemaking, cleaning and cooking efficiently. It was a pleasure to come home to a place that was tidy and smelled like supper every night.

  He was liking her. Saying you would marry someone was all good and well, but a man still had to hit it off with the woman he intended to marry and he was falling for Katrina. She was everything he had asked for when he’d given Reverend Shreve his note. He had been nervous about it—too many specifications and it would be hard to find someone perfect. Too little and compromise had to happen.

  Edward was convinced Katrina was the right combination of traits from his list.

  “How are things going with Katrina?” Russ asked when Edward had settled himself in the office one morning.

  “Quite well, I think,” Edward said. “She’s settling in well. And she’s really a wonderful person.”

  Russ nodded, smiling. “I knew this was a good idea for you. I’m so glad you did it.”