Read Online Adela's Prairie Suitor (The Annex Mail-Order Brides Book 1) by Elaine Manders - Free Book Online Page B

have to go down to the jail and pay for the window. He hoped he had enough money. Dick and his two slightly less troublesome friends needed to get out of town. Trouble was, they didn’t like farm work. Well, in this case, Dick didn’t have a choice.
    A quarter of an hour later, Byron had stopped by the smithy and gotten Dick out of jail. He returned to the buckboard with a sullen boy and empty pockets. “Get up in back and wait, you hear, don’t run off, or the sheriff will come for you.”
    “I ain’t going nowhere.” The boy got down on his haunches in the back of the buckboard.
    Byron strode to the dry goods store, hoping he hadn’t kept Adela waiting. That wasn’t too likely. Most women took forever to make a decision over what pattern and color of fabric to buy. Feminine laugher greeted him when he entered the store.
    He found Adela with Mrs. Hawkins beside the table containing bolts of fabric. She held a folded length of cream and rose print in her hands.
    “And the gray and violet will make up a serviceable dress for everyday,” Mrs. Hawkins was saying. “You’ll have enough to make a matching bonnet, and this ribbon will go perfectly with the rose you have there for dress-up.”
    With the ribbon streaming from her hand, Adela looked up as Byron approached. “What do you think, Byron?” How easily she used his given name.
    “Looks mighty pretty.” He doffed his hat to Mrs. Hawkins.
    Mrs. Hawkins grinned, shoving more wrinkles in her face. “Byron, you naughty boy, not telling a body you was planning on getting married. Have y’all set a date?”
    He looked to Adela who turned redder than the roses in her fabric. “I’m afraid…I…I told Mrs. Hawkins why I’m visiting.”
    He shook off his momentary discomfiture. “No reason not to let everyone know. I’m courting Miss Mason, Mrs. Hawkins, but we haven’t set a date. In fact, she hasn’t given her answer yet. But there’s plenty of time.” He hoped he’d put it in a way to explain the awkward situation without making Adela feel foolish.
    “Well, I want to be the first to know, y’all hear?”
    “Yes, ma’am.” He doffed his hat again to the departing woman.
    Byron put Adela’s purchases and the box of items he’d bought in the back of the wagon with Dick. He introduced Adela to the young man, adding, “Dick’s going to be working out at the farm for a few days.” This was Byron’s arrangement with Dick to pay off the broken window. He wished he could put Dick and the other two boys in a bunkhouse at the old ranch, but didn’t have the funds to finish building it at the moment, if he ever did.
    “Do you like farm work, Dick?” Adela asked.
    “Nah, I like to work with cattle, ride out in wide open spaces.”
    “You’ll find the same chores, whether a farm or ranch, Dick.” Byron knew that wasn’t exactly so, but no use to sugar-coat the truth. Life was hard no matter what you did.
    Adela chatted gaily about her childhood on the farm. It was as if she sensed Byron needed to convince Dick to make the most of this experience, and she was trying to help. She seemed to read his intentions quite well. He was beginning to understand her too. Like the way her mood changed as they approached home.
    It hadn’t passed his notice that Ma tried her best to snub Adela, and he didn’t know what to do about it. She turned down all of Adela’s offers to help with the cooking or chores, and ran off to Hilda Jane’s without inviting Adela to go. He couldn’t believe Ma would leave a guest without a by-your-leave.
    He made a note to talk to Ma about that tonight. She was being downright rude, but she might as well get used to the idea that Adela would become his wife. He’d been raised to honor his parents and wanted Ma’s blessing, but he wanted Adela more.
    Ma had supper waiting for them when they got home. Right afterward, Adela wanted to cut out her new dress. Lem took Dick out to the barn to find him a place for the night, and