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“You were the only man in town willing to look past her reputation and court her. Do you realize she came to me and inquired about being a mail-order bride as soon as she got back?”
Earl shook his head. He hated the idea of Patsy being married to another man. She was the love of his life, and he’d never love another woman half as much as he’d loved her, despite what she’d been through in her past. “Could I get a train ticket for tomorrow, do you think?”
Elizabeth smiled, nodding. “Iknowyou could.”
“What’s Ma going to think if another of us goes out west and marries a stranger?” Earl asked, grinning.
“She’ll say, ‘One less mouth to feed. Praise God.’”
Earl laughed. It did sound like their mother. “I’ll get everything packed and head out first thing in the morning. I’m marrying Charlotte Watkins.”
Elizabeth smiled. “Want me to break the news to the family?”
He shook his head. “No need. They’re used to us taking off at a moment’s notice.”
For the rest of the day, Earl thought about the things he would need for his trip out west, taking everything he owned, though it wasn’t much. He’d never moved away from his parents’ house because there’d never been a need. Everything he wanted and needed was right there, and his work had always been helping his pa.
After he’d packed everything and gotten ready for bed, he prayed to the Lord that the woman was a good Christian woman who really did need a man like him. He prayed that whatever had garnered her reputation was a falsehood, just as it had been for his Patsy.
As he fell asleep that night, he knew without a doubt in his mind, he was doing the right thing. Both for himself and the Widow Watkins.
Chapter Two
Charlotte was exhausted. She stumbled into the house at the end of a long, hard day with Walt behind her. She would have skipped supper if it wasn’t for her son, but she knew she couldn’t. He needed to eat regularly, even if she felt she could skip a meal here and there in favor of sleep.
Walking through the house, she could see that someone had done some cleaning, which made no sense to her at all. And then she caught a whiff of beef cooking. There was no mistaking the smell. Someone was in her home, and they were cooking and cleaning? Who would do such a thing?
She reached for the rifle off the wall in the entryway and sneaked toward the kitchen, whispering to Walt to stay where he was.
She stepped into the kitchen with the rifle at her shoulder, aimed at a tall, shirtless man. “Who are you, and why are you in my kitchen?”
The man turned toward her with a grin on his face, and oh dear, the grin—not to mention the bare chest—made her weak in the knees. “I’m Earl Miller. I just got here on the train this morning, and I wanted to eat before we headed into town to marry, so I figured I’d cook for all three of us, since you were probably out doing the work of twelve men. This is a big spread, and a little lady like you will hurt herself trying to do it all on her own.”
Charlotte blinked a couple of times. “Marry?”
“Sure, I’m the mail-order man you sent for.”
He gave the pot another stir, looking past her to Walt. “Well, hello there. I’m Earl.”
There was no sound from behind her, and Charlotte wasn’t quite ready to lower her rifle just yet. “If you’re the man I sent for, who was the letter addressed to?”
Earl smiled. “Elizabeth Tandy of Rock Creek Road Beckham, Massachusetts. She’s my big sister.”
At his confirmation of where she’d sent the letter, she lowered the rifle. “What do you know about ranching?”
He shrugged. “I know all there is to know about dairy farming. I also know about growing crops, which I wish my father had done more of and less of the dairy farming. I’m a fast learner.”
She gave a slight nod. “And a hard worker, I see.” Looking around she could tell he’d done a great deal more than she’d first thought.
“Always have been. My parents raised me to work.”
“So, you weren’t one of those hellions always getting into trouble at school.”
When his face reddened slightly, she couldn’t help but smile. “You were!”
He nodded once. “I was. My brothers and sisters and I were known around town as the demon horde. If you were driving along and getting pelted by apples, you sure knew which farm to stop at to tell the parents about it.”
“And your parents punished you?” she asked.
