so much as a how-do-you-do, Philip blurted, “Hey, Thomas! Look what I brought home!”
This couldn’t be good. Philip looked a little too cheerful. The pixie-looking girl beside him smiled shyly and clutched a worn piece of luggage in her small hands. She was a pretty little thing with big brown eyes, a mass of short red hair and the cutest turned-up nose he’d ever seen. Thomas didn’t know how to answer his brother. He had no idea what was going on. “Um...”
Hazel got to her feet. “Did you up and get married, Phil?” She hurried forward and hugged him.
Shock filled Philip’s face as he held his hands up like a bank robber in front of the sheriff. “No.”
Hazel stood back and frowned. “Then maybe you should explain who this young lady is.” She released him and crossed her arms over her ample bosom.
Philip reached behind him and pulled the pixie forward. “This is Josephine Dooly. Thomas’s mail-order bride.” His laughing blue eyes met Thomas’s.
“What?” Thomas’s and Hazel’s shocked voices echoed each other.
The young woman seemed to have found her tongue. “I know I should have waited till you sent for me, but, well, under the circumstances, I came as fast as I could.”
“What circumstances?”
Her cheeks reddened. “I told you in the letter.” Small hands clutched the carpetbag as if she were afraid they’d take it from her.
“What letter?” Thomas stood and raked his hand down the side of his scarred face.
Philip looked as pleased as punch. His blue eyes danced with merriment as the scene unfolded before him.
Hazel’s gaze darted between the three of them. She finally focused her eyes upon Josephine. “I’m Hazel Gorman. Let’s sit down at the table and see if we can sort this all out.” Her wrinkled hand waved toward Thomas and the chairs that remained empty behind him.
Josephine nodded. She sat her bag beside the door and walked toward him.
Philip shook his head. “I need to unload the wagon before the storm hits.”
“It will wait.” The steel in Hazel’s voice stopped the young man. Wariness filled his eyes.
Thomas waited for the young woman to sit, then he did the same. Whatever was going on, it was obvious that Philip had a hand in it all. Thomas picked up his warm cup and cradled it between his palms as he watched his brother pull out a seat at the old wooden table. The smile on Philip’s face set Thomas’s teeth on edge.
Hazel set cups of coffee in front of Philip and Josephine. “All right, you two. Start at the beginning.”
Josephine looked at Philip, who quickly began to study the surface of the table as if he’d never seen it before. She shrugged and said in a soft voice, “As Philip said, I am Josephine Dooly. I answered Thomas’s mail-order-bride ad because my uncle is trying to marry me off to pay for his gambling debts. Mr. Grossman, my uncle’s chosen husband for me, is three times my age and a gambler with no moral conscience. I’d simply be a servant in his house.” She shuddered and inhaled before continuing. “When I answered Thomas’s mail-order-bride ad, I explained that I wanted to get away from my uncle and start somewhere fresh. Thomas wrote back and said he’d send me money for passage out to Dove Creek as soon as he could afford to. I couldn’t wait, so I took a job as a Pony Express rider and brought myself to Dove Creek.”
She took a deep breath and looked to Philip, who still studied the tabletop. A sigh escaped her lips before she pressed on. “I met Philip at the home station and he said he was Thomas’s brother and would take me to him. So while he completed his Express run, I went into town and bought a couple of dresses, shoes and other things I knew I’d need to start a new life and home with Thomas. My things are on the wagon.”
Thomas shook his head. “I never placed a mail-order-bride ad.”
Josephine’s chocolate eyes flared with new brightness. “I wrote to you and you answered.”
Hazel focused on Philip. “What do you have to say about all this, young man?”
He finally looked up. “Well, I got to thinking about what you said.” Philip paused, but Hazel’s lips only grew thinner. “You know, about how lonesome Thomas gets when I’m off on my rides for the Pony Express.” He paused again. Still no response came from the older woman. “So I placed the ad.” He held up his hands at the flash of anger that entered the older woman’s eyes. “Now, Hazel, don’t get all riled up. You are the one who said he needed a wife.” Philip crossed his arms over his chest and tilted his chair back. “I got him one.”
Josephine gasped. From the look on her delicate features, this was news to her, too.
Thomas wanted to knock the chair right out from under Philip. He lowered his voice and said, “Philip, this has to be the stupidest thing you’ve ever done. I don’t want a wife. You marry her.” He pushed away from the table.
Philip dropped the chair back onto four legs and stood, also. “I’m not the one who is moping around here like a lost puppy.”
Anger flared through Thomas’s blood. “I haven’t been moping and I don’t want or need a wife.” He waved his hand toward Josephine.
Josephine was on her feet in an instant. “I will not marry him!” she said, pointing at Philip with a shaky finger. “He’s a liar and can’t be trusted.” She turned toward Thomas. “You, on the other hand, I have to marry and I have to do it quick.”
“Why me?” Thomas demanded through gritted teeth, not liking that he felt as if he were being pushed against the wall.
Hazel spoke calmly but firmly. “Sit down, all of you.” When all three did as she said, Hazel sighed. “Philip, this is a mess and it’s your fault.” She turned to look at Josephine. “I’m sorry you got involved with these two’s tomfoolery.”
Josephine’s big brown eyes filled with tears. “I have to marry Thomas. My uncle could find me at any time and force me to marry Mr. Grossman. I don’t want to get married, either, but it’s my only escape.”
Thomas studied the girl. She had a heart-shaped face surrounded by short, fiery red curls that came to her jawbone. Brown eyes as big as pie plates were filled with the bare glistening of tears. Small freckles were sprinkled over her pert nose. She certainly was a pretty little thing.
Josephine’s eyes blazed into his as she huffed and visibly stiffened, gaining her nerve, it would seem. “Look, I realize this isn’t what you want, but I have to get married and you are the one I am going to marry.” She swallowed hard, lifted her chin and boldly met his gaze.
The show of strength and the determination in her voice took him by surprise. What had happened to the young woman who moments ago had trembling lips and tears in her eyes? Was her situation so desperate she’d marry a scarred man like him?
The wind whipped around the cabin windows. Hazel looked at the swirling snow outside. “I have to get home, but I refuse to leave this young woman alone with you two.” She pushed her chair back. “Josephine, you come home with me and we’ll sort this out tomorrow.”
Josephine
