Read Online Rebecca Hagan Lee - [Borrowed Brides 01] by Golden Chances - Free Book Online Page A

emotional ties, no entanglements. Nothing permanent. I hire you to do the job, and once it’s done you never have to see me again. And because you’ll be in Wyoming, no one in Richmond will ever have to know. But you’ll be thousands of dollars richer.”
    “I’ll have to think about it.”
    “Fair enough. But don’t take too long. I’m rather pressed for time. The sooner we get started, the sooner we can get it over with.”
    “How much time do I have?”
    “I can spare a few days,” Reese grudgingly admitted. “Go home for Christmas. Think about it. You can wire me your answer after the holiday.” Reese walked to the bedroom door and opened it. “I’ll have David escort you to Richmond.”
    Faith nodded in acknowledgment as he disappeared through the doorway. She didn’t understand how it had happened, but suddenly, she was thinking about accepting his bizarre offer. She told herself it was the money. She desperately needed the money.
    Faith knew she shouldn’t consider taking the job, for money, for her ladies, or for any other reason, but she was considering it. And though she hated to admit it, even to herself, only part of the reason was money.
     
     

Chapter Six
     
     
    “Are we approaching Richmond already?” David looked up from the stack of paperwork in his lap and spoke to Faith for the first time since they’d boarded the train.
    Faith gazed at him. “Yes.”
    David removed his watch from its pocket and snapped open the lid. “Only a half hour off schedule. We made very good time.” He placed his papers in the satchel on the floor beside his feet, then looked up and caught Faith still staring at him. “You get used to it.”
    “What?”
    “Traveling by train. If you spend any length of time in Reese’s company, you get used to the trains. I always catch up on my paperwork. The ride is so monotonous.”
    “I apologize for my dull company,” Faith said in a small, tight voice.
    “Oh, no, Mrs. Collins, I didn’t mean to imply you were a dull companion. Far from it. I only meant the journey. Any journey in a public coach is tedious when one is accustomed to traveling in a private car. There isn’t anything to do in a public coach except read, sleep, or do needlework. And I didn’t bring my mending.” He smiled at her and Faith noticed, for the first time, his resemblance to Reese.
    Faith laughed in spite of herself. “Surely, you don’t do your own mending.”
    David pretended to be affronted. “I’ll have you know, I’m very handy with a needle and thread.”
    Faith cocked her head to one side, her gray eyes sparkling with mirth. “Then you should fit right in.” As soon as the train stopped, she picked up her cloak and, bunching her skirts in one hand, stepped into the crowded aisle.
    David followed close behind.
    “Did you leave your buggy at the livery?” David asked as they stepped from the train to the busy platform.
    “No.” Faith shook her head.
    “I’ll hire a hack.”
    “It isn’t very far to my house. We could walk,” Faith suggested.
    David pointed up to the gray, overcast sky. “Looks like more rain. Do you want to chance it?”
    Faith shivered. “No.”
    “I’ll hire a hack.”
    Less than twenty minutes later, the hired buggy pulled up beside the dilapidated picket fence surrounding Collins House.
    Faith watched as the curtain in the window of the front parlor moved back into place. The door of the house flew open, and a small, red-haired woman hurried down the porch steps, carefully avoiding the loose boards.
    David Alexander helped Faith out of the buggy and onto the ground.
    “Aunt Tempy!” Faith cried as the bundle of energy ran up and embraced her.
    “Faith, oh, Faith.” Temperance Hamilton hugged her niece as if she had spent years away from home instead of one night. “I missed you so much.”
    Faith smiled. “I haven’t been away that long, Aunt Tempy.”
    “Well, it seemed like forever. You know I can’t tolerate Virt, Agnes, and