AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“I do believe girls can be mischievous too! Why there’s a family in my town who have a whole lot of children, and the townspeople call them the demon horde. Isn’t that name perfectly awful?”
“Those would be my siblings,” Susan said, smiling sweetly.
“Oops. I probably shouldn’t have said that to you, should I? I forget that Mrs. Tandy told me I was coming to marry her step-nephew.” Alice turned around and winked at Albert and Lewis, already feeling like they were on the same team. Tricking Susan was going to be fun.
“Don’t worry about it. I’m just glad I’m not back in Beckham to watch their misdeeds any longer.” Susan led the way up a flight of stairs with Alice, Albert, and Lewis trailing along behind her like little ducklings who were following their mother duck to water. “This will be your room for the night. We have a bathroom, and I’ll show that to you after you’ve put your things down. I’ll even help you dress for the wedding if you’d like.”
“Oh, I’d enjoy that a great deal!”
“Good. I’ll leave you and Albert to get to know one another then. Leave the door open. There will be no canoodling between unmarried people under my roof.”
As soon as Susan was out of earshot, Alice whispered to Lewis and Albert, “I don’t think she’s on to us, but she is suspicious.”
Lewis grinned. “I’m so glad I get to play along with this one. One last prank before my brother becomes an old married man and boring.”
“I have a feeling your brother willneverbe boring,” Alice whispered.
Albert smiled. “I was a little worried you’d given yourself away when you mentioned the demon horde, but Susan took it in stride. I told her I needed to marry one of the demon horde.”
Alice laughed. “I like to think I’ve graduated from the demon horde, but one last prank never hurt anyone.” She sighed, sitting on the edge of the bed. “You two should skedaddle. I’m going to find clean clothes and get a bath. I truly feel like every bit of dust the train drove me through is now covering my body.”
Albert caught his brother’s eye and nodded toward the door, then sat down beside Alice as soon as his brother had left. “I’m glad you’re here,” he said softly. “All silliness aside, I’ve been praying for you to arrive safe and healthy.”
“And I have. We Millers are a hardy stock.”
He smiled. “I’ve heard Susan say that more times than I can count.”
“I’m sure you have.”
“Before I go…may I kiss you? I want to know what it’s like to kiss the woman I will be spending my life with.”
Alice pursed her lips for a moment. “I guess so, but I’m pretty disgusting at the moment. You should probably wait until I’ve had time to bathe and clean my teeth.”
He sighed. “I should.” Instead of waiting, though, he pressed his lips to hers. It was a light kiss, but more than enough to make Alice’s toes curl. “I’ll walk with you after supper.”
Alice watched him leave and touched her fingers to her lips. He was going to be a good husband. She could already feel it deep inside her.
Reaching for her bags, she found a clean change of clothes and her hairbrush before heading downstairs to ask Susan where the bath was. “Mrs. Dailey? I was hoping you’d show me to the room where I may bathe.”
Susan nodded briskly, handing the baby off. “Please take care of putting Clarissa down for her nap Mrs. Hackenschleimer. I need to show my future daughter-in-law to the bathroom.”
“Bathroom?” Alice asked, doing her best to sound surprised. “You have a bathroom?”
“I do.” Susan led Alice into the bathroom and showed her how to work the faucet. “My husband put this in for his first wife, and I have to say, I’ve benefited from it far more than she ever did.”
Alice smiled. “It’s lovely. Thank you.”
“After the bath, you may want to take a nap. It’s still a few hours until supper. Have you eaten?”
Alice nodded. “I had a sandwich on the train shortly before my stop.” It was one of the few things she hadn’t thrown up in the past week.
“Good. I’ll see you at supper then. If you’re not awake, I’ll send one of the children up to knock on your door.”
“Thank you, Mrs. Dailey.” As soon as Susan had left her alone, Alice brushed out her hair. She always preferred it to be brushed before a bath, finding it was easier to manage that way. It was hard to remember to call her sister Mrs. Dailey, but she was glad she was getting to spend time with someone who had once meant so much to her.
After her bath, she decided that Susan was right. She’d slept little on her long journey, not able to sleep with the jostling of the train along the track. She wished it had been an easier trip for her, but it didn’t matter. Now she was in Texas, and she was with the man she was meant to marry and her eldest sister. Hopefully, Susan would take the one last prank well, and they would be able to start becoming close as sisters and not just as new in-laws.
Alice was determined to be happy here, in this little part of Texas. It may not be the wild west like where Charlie had settled up in Montana, but it was still a special place for her to be. Home. It was where she’d spend the rest of her days.
