Eva's Vision (Valentine Mail Order Bride 6) Read online

  “Settling in?” a voice asked, disturbing her concentration. Her finger slipped and she made an error in the word she was typing. “Blast.” She whispered seeing the one letter that misspelled the word. She continued to type the note, working past the error before she turned her gaze to Tom, who was leaning up against the doorjamb.

  “I am, thank you, Mr Wright.” Eva then continued typing.

  “So I have been going over the contract we both signed,” he said, showing her the piece of paper as he stepped in to the small office. His presence made it seem even tinier and more closed in. “I see we have just a few more days until the two week period for getting to know each other is up.” He placed the contract on the desk. Eva looked up at him.

  “You still disagree with this?” she asked him.

  “Eva.” He sighed, sitting on the edge of her desk. “I would be lying if I said I found you unattractive. In fact, I have found you quite… enthralling. But I do not believe that I can be as good, or as happy as my father has been in life. I have done nothing to deserve a loving wife such as yourself.” He sighed again, looking away. “And yet, I find myself thinking of you more and more each passing day.” He turned back to look at her.

  “I see how you are with my nephews, even when your hands were bound in bandages. They were happy when you read to them.” He smiled briefly, the quirking of his lips dropping almost as quickly as it had appeared. “You would be an excellent mother and a perfect wife. Something I do not deserve.” Eva looked at his hands, resting in his lap.

  She leaned forward and took his hands in hers. “Why do you think this?” she asked.

  “I am a man married to my work, I am barely home at the ranch, but my father demanded that I at least make an effort to attend the evening meals this last week. I know now he was involved in getting my brother to write that accursed letter to lure you here under false pretences of marriage.”

  He took hold of her hands, tightening his hold. She pulled gently at her hands, trying to free them from his strong ones. He looked down at his hands, and relinquished his grip on her, a slight blush of shame coloured his face.

  “Mr Wright,” Eva said softly, covering his hands with hers again, taking control of the conversation. “I believe that everyone deserves to be truly happy, with a spouse that they love. Not everyone achieves that. Sometimes, love has to be worked on, like a good newspaper. A journalist seeks out the information to find the truth of a story. I want to find out the truth of you, to discover what lies within your heart.”

  Without thinking, she placed her hand on his chest, feeling the rapid beating of his heart against the warmth of his shirt and vest.

  “All I ask, is that you give us a chance, and if you still don’t wish to continue after the courting period has elapsed, then I shall board the next train and leave this place.”

  He swallowed, and nodded. “Very well,” he pulled a hand away from her grasp and ran it through his combed hair, mussing it up a little. “Then I shall court you properly. Would you accompany me to the church fair and picnic on Sunday?”

  Eva smiled at him, almost deliriously happy that he had agreed to at least give their mail-order-marriage a chance.

  “I’d love to.”

  Chapter 8 – Green-Eyed Monster

  Eva stood under a tree, a slice of sponge cake perched on a plate in her hand as she watched the children run an egg-and-spoon race. Beside her, Tom watched, cheering his young nephew on. John’s egg wobbled on the large spoon, and despite his best efforts to keep it steady, the egg dropped, cracking open on impact with the grassy ground.

  “Never mind, John! Good try!” Eva called out, earning a wave from the grinning boy.

  His cheeks were flushed and he ran back to where the family sat. “I almost had it, but it kept wobbling too much!” he panted as he flopped down beside his mother, who sat nestled between her husband’s legs, his hand gently resting on her stomach in a protective gesture.

  “Next up, the three-legged race!” called the pastor of the church into a wooden megaphone. “Oh, come on, Tom, let’s go!” Eva said excitedly.

  “No, no, I’m not one for races.” He grabbed a handful of popcorn from the paper cone it had been served in and shovelled it into his mouth. So far he had refused the apple bob contest, the ring toss and the dart throwing gallery. Eva wondered if he was making an effort at all in this supposed courtship.

  “I’ll race with you, Eva, it would be my pleasure.” Jacob said, gallantly offering her his arm.

  “Thank you, Jacob.” Eva slipped her arm into his and missed the look that Jacob gave his brother as they strode away to the starting point of the race. One of each of their legs was tied with the other, alongside several other couples and children who giggled excitedly.

  “If you aren’t careful, you will lose her, Tom. She might just get on that train at the end of the week if you don’t spend time with her.” Melinda said sadly.

  “What do you mean? I am spending time with her.” Tom picked at his popcorn in the paper cone, suddenly not as interested in the butter-coated treat.

  “Not in the way she would like,” Melinda said. “You need to actually do things with her.”

  The race started, to the cheers of the crowds. Eva and Jacob struck out in the lead, until Jacob stumbled near the finish line, taking Eva down with him. She landed on his chest, after he grabbed her waist and twisted her so she fell atop him. Both were red-faced and laughing.

  Jacob rolled them over, his hands still on her waist and helped her to her feet. He brushed her dress down, freeing the blades of grass and they continued their shambling run to the finish line to finish second to last. They laughed even more and congratulated each other with a chaste embrace, Eva gracing Jacob with a sweet kiss to each cheek as an attendant came over and untied their legs.

  Tom’s hand crushed the paper cone, popcorn exploding from the paper and scattering across the grass at his feet. He turned and stalked away, back towards town.

  Eva and Jacob returned to find Melinda looking worried.

  “Where’s Tom?” she asked.

  “He left. I think he went to the printery,” Ray said.

  “Why?” she asked, confused.

  “I’m, not entirely sure, but I think he might have been jealous of you and Jacob.”

  Eva frowned.

  “Jealous?” she turned to look at Jacob, who flushed red and turned from her gaze. She then realised that the handsome rogue had developed feelings for her. She saw him as a good friend. She loved him more like a brother than a potential husband. Her feelings for Tom, however, were developing quite sharply in a romantic way.

  Eva put on her bonnet and ran out of the church grounds towards town. She hoped to find Tom before he got to the office and locked himself away as he had done a few times before when he was in a huff.

  She found him where she thought he might be, in his office. A decanter of whiskey sitting half empty on his desk and a glass of the amber liquid in the process of being consumed.

  His dark, brooding eyes looked up at her.

  “You left.”

  He grunted.

  “Back to this are we?” she sighed. “I’m sorry, I don’t speak ‘grunt’. It’s not a civilised language.”

  “What do you want, Eva?” he asked her gruffly. She stepped closer to his desk.

  “I want to know why you fled.” She asked him.

  “I didn’t flee. You showed me very clearly whom you would rather be with and I felt it best to leave you two to enjoy your time together. In fact, to enjoy your lives together. As of now, I am no longer going to pursue you.” He lifted the glass to his lips, draining it. “I think it best you leave, now, before I say something unforgivable.”

  Eva was stunned. “Is that what you really want?” she asked.

  “I am not in the mood to be played like a fool, Eva. I will not be made one by you, or by my brother,” he said, dismissing her as he poured himself another glass of whiskey. He picked up the gla
ss and turned his office chair around to stare out the window at his reflection in the glass.

  He heard her footsteps leave his office, the door slamming so hard that the windowpanes rattled.

  His hand gripped the whiskey glass so hard in a mixture of anger and grief that it broke under the force he applied, cutting into his hand. Whiskey and blood mixed in gold and crimson drops on the wooden floor. He ignored the burning pain, embracing it as it matched what his heart was feeling.

  Eva’s tears fell onto the dusty earth as she pulled her purse from her pocket. She approached the train station, determined to leave on the next train. She knocked on the ticket seller’s window. The man opened the window and looked at her. “Next train is tomorrow morning, not another one for four days after that, Miss.”

  “I’ll take a ticket please, back to New York.”

  The ticket seller looked up the price.

  “That will be fifty dollars, Miss.” Eva blanched at the price. Was that how much he had paid for her to come here? That was almost half her yearly salary as a typist. She certainly did not have that much money on her. “How much to San Francisco?” she asked.

  “Nine dollars and that train runs past here at ten o’clock tomorrow.”

  She looked in her purse and counted up what little money she had left. She had that fare and a quarter to spare. “I’ll take it,” she said, handing over the last of her money.

  The ticked seller wrote down her details on the ticket and handed it to her.

  Eva looked at the ticket that would take her to a new place and a new life. She looked up at the ticket seller, hoping that something might change Tom’s mind, make him realise that he made a mistake.

  But the ticket seller simply closed the window on her and went back to reading an old San Francisco Times that was dated three weeks old. She returned to the church grounds and travelled back to the ranch house with the others, whom she had come to see as family.

  She helped Melinda cook the dinner, got the children fed and put down for the night and ate with the family, minus Tom and Jacob, who had not returned home yet. For that she was strangely thankful. Eva wasn’t sure she could face either man tonight in her delicate emotional state.

  She bid everyone goodnight after asking Peyton if he could take her into town in the morning before ten. He nodded and told her they would leave at eight o‘clock. Eva smiled, her eyes saddened as she took in everything for what would be the last time. The warmth of love she felt for this family ran deep. She would always treasure the love they happily returned to her, a woman who up until two weeks ago was simply a stranger who answered a letter promising marriage and security.

  She turned from the scene of love, tears trickling down her cheeks as she climbed the stairs.

  Her heart was broken.

  Chapter 9 – Farewell

  Eva sat in the buggy, waiting for Peyton who had to dash inside to get something he had forgotten. Jacob came out, following Peyton. He climbed aboard and picked up the reins while Peyton climbed in the back. Eva looked at him curiously, but turned her head back to focus on the road ahead.

  She had a small bag of clothing that Tom had gifted her with. The rest of her clothes that she had borrowed from Melinda were carefully laundered and placed back in the trunk where Melinda had gathered them from. She rode quietly the whole trip, only speaking single word sentences when she was spoken to.

  If the men noticed her strange behaviour, they said nothing.

  When asked about the bag, she simply told Jacob that it was clothing for the poor that Melinda asked her to take to the church to hand out. The white lie rolled off her tongue so naturally and she was surprised when they bought it.

  They arrived in town at nine-thirty. The place was bustling with activity. Eva accepted Jacob’s proffered hand and jumped down from the buggy. Peyton headed over to the nearby stockyards to see about selling a few cattle at the next sale, while Jacob headed in to the printery to see his father, leaving Eva to make her grand escape.

  She picked up her bag and gave the printery one last, sorrowful glance. She saw movement in the window at Tom’s office as she turned and walked away, fighting the tears that threatened to fall, fearful that she might miss her train.

  Jacob watched her as she walked, unseen. He followed her at a distance, dipping into the crowd when she turned. She stepped up onto the wooden platform of the train station and settled on a bench. She pulled the ticket out and looked at it, her shoulders heaving with silent sobs as she wept.

  Jacob turned on his heel, realising what she was set to do. He knew the train wasn’t due in until at least ten o’clock. He had to save his idiot brother Tom the heartbreak of losing the woman he knew his brother loved.

  Jacob bolted up the stairs and stormed into his brother’s office.

  “Do you love her?” he asked, panting.

  “What?” Tom asked, annoyed that his brother dared even ask such a question.

  “Do. You. Love Eva?” He asked again, punctuating each word in the sentence.

  “I thought I did, but she loves you.” Tom said, turning away in his chair again. He had stubble on his face and his clothes were rumpled from sleeping in his desk chair. The decanter of whiskey sat on its side, empty. Tom’s hand had been rudely bandaged with his handkerchief and spots of dried blood marred the white linen.

  “Are you totally and utterly blind, brother?” Jacob asked, leaning over the whiskey stained desk. “She loves you, you fool, and if you don’t get to the train station by ten you will lose her forever.”

  “What do you mean? She’s at the train station? Right now?”

  “Yes, and if you don’t convince her to stay…”

  “I’ll lose her.” Tom’s eyes swept up to his brother’s. “I can’t lose her.”

  “Not if you truly love her.” Jacob said, clasping his brother’s upper arm. “It was meant to be, Tom. Everything we did. That letter Papa and I wrote for you. God sent her to heal you, to show you that you are capable of love and caring. She can even help you with that darned newspaper you want to start, but everything you’ve worked for will be for nothing if you lose her.”

  Tom shot to his feet, a little unsteady due to the effects of him siting for so long and the slight intoxication that still tormented his head. He ran down the stairs and out into the street, his feet hitting the dirt hard as he heard the whistle of the train approaching town. He knew he did not have much time as the clock in the town began to strike the hour. He looked up at the clock set into the top of the town hall’s roof. It was ten am. He had run out of time.

  He saw the train at the station, Eva the only passenger to board. The conductor blew his whistle and flagged the driver to depart. “Wait!” Jacob cried out, his voice muffled as the train’s whistle blew, loud and dooming.

  The train pulled away from the station, Tom ran up beside the carriage that Eva had boarded. He banged his fist on the side of the carriage where she had sat, screaming out her name.

  He heard his name being called. He looked up, running. Her beautiful face looked down at him from the moving carriage as she leaned out over the window.

  “Tom! What are you doing!?” she cried over the noise of the train.

  “Trying to stop you from leaving,” he shouted, starting to pant as he ran. “I was wrong, so very wrong, I do love you, Eva. Please, don’t leave me, stay and marry me!” she put her hand out to hold onto her bonnet as the train gathered speed and started to pull away from him. He lost ground, tripping over a rock. He fell, sprawling into the rocks and dirt beside the train line. His heart hammered in his chest as he watched the train pulling away, hot tears welled in his eyes as he felt the hopelessness bloom like a thorny rose.

  His beautiful Eva was gone. He got to his knees and sobbed, his hands covering his scratched face.

  “Silly man, it took you until now to realise this?” her voice drifted to him through his grief. He looked up and saw her standing over him, her hand reaching out to caress his batter
ed face.

  Behind her the train conductor was shouting at her about pulling the emergency brakes when it wasn’t an emergency. The other passengers were hanging out the windows watching them.

  Tom looked from the stopped train to his beloved.

  “Marry me, Eva, be my bride, and my typist. Make me inconsolably happy for the rest of my life.” He clutched her around the waist and pressed his face against her stomach.

  Eva pulled away, sinking to her knees before him. She took his face in her hands and looked him in the eyes. “No,” she said, his face falling into a horror-filled visage at her apparent rejection. “Not inconsolably happy. Blissfully happy,” she said, leaning forward and kissing him soundly, her touch filled with gentle love for her gruff fiancé.

  Behind them hoots, whistles and cheers erupted from the train carriage, punctuated by the train’s steam-powered whistle drowning them out along with its chugging as it once again pulled out of Bishop’s Run, leaving the two lovers in their sweet and passionate embrace.

  *** The End ***

  Thank You so much for reading

  Eva’s Vision, Book Six

  in the Valentine Mail Order Bride Series.

  If you enjoyed Eva’s Vision,

  you may also enjoy reading:

  *** A Bonus Chapter of Book 7,

  Angie’s Hope can also be read below.

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  Author’s Note

  Thank You so much for reading my very first Valentine Mail Order Bride story, Eva’s Vision! Look out for my second Valentine story, a very special Valentine Baby story, in the next few days.