Read Online West For Love (A Mail Order Romance Novel) by Karolyn James, Claire Charlins - Free Book Online Page A

she didn’t care. She had been waiting for an honest moment like
this for how long now?
    “This is the most I’ve felt needed
and appreciated,” Anna said. “Maybe ever in my life.”
    “I’m sorry for that,” Thomas said.
    “I’m not so much,” Anna said. “It
brought me where I wanted to be.”
    Thomas smiled. “Your heart is quite
amazing, my Anna.”
    “Yours is too, Thomas,” Anna said.
    A moment passed in silence between
them before Thomas looked straight ahead and spoke again.
    “Maybe someday I could tell you
about her,” he said.
    Anna knew who her was. It felt a
little strange not knowing Thomas’s wife’s name, but she understood it. It was
something so deep and dark within Thomas that the secrecy of her name was a way
of holding onto her.
    “I would like that,” Anna said.
    Thomas opened his hand and the
moment ended.
    Anna cleaned up, appreciating the
time alone to not just take care of the house but to tend to her own thoughts.
She realized she hadn’t had a moment to herself to really think since being on
the train from Massachusetts to Kansas.
    When the night came and Jo fed
Thomas Jr. what everyone assumed and hoped would be his last feeding until the
early morning hours (Jo had told Anna that in the past two weeks, the infant
started sleeping through the entire night, which left Anna feeling proud for
some reason) Jo announced she would retire to her room. This once again left
Anna and Thomas alone. Thomas had since cleaned himself up and changed. He
smelled fresh and looked like a man from a dream. Anna could understand why
Mary did what she did with Jo and Thomas’s letters. Any woman would be the
luckiest woman in the world to be near him.
    “I’ll show you our room,” Thomas
said.
    Jo had put Anna’s suitcase outside
her door. Thomas lifted it and carried it to the room. When Anna stepped into
the room and looked around, she wondered if any of the storage contained
Thomas’s wife’s old clothing. The thought broke her heart and made her shiver
at the same time.
    “You can have as much room as you
need,” Thomas said. “I know you came with a single suitcase so if there’s
anything you feel you need, we can travel together into town.”
    “I’m fine,” Anna said. “I have all
I need right here.”
    Thomas put the suitcase down and
stepped towards Anna. His hands were at his sides and remained there as he
stared at her.
    “You can have more,” Thomas said.
“There are means for it here. I’ve been very lucky in my life when it came to choosing
land and making financial decisions.”
    “I understand that,” Anna said.
“But I’m not here for financial reasons.”
    Thomas excused himself and gave
Anna time to unpack her clothing she had brought from back home. She found
nothing in the room that suggested another woman’s presence which made Anna
wonder what had happened to all the clothes that once belonged to Thomas’s wife.
    When it was time to share a bed,
the moments that followed were uncomfortable. Anna didn’t want to be the one to
just climb into the bed. It wasn’t her bed really and within her heart, she
wanted Thomas to welcome her to bed. Not with his hands but with his words.
They weren’t married yet, which left Anna wondering when that would happen. She
thought the moment she left the train depot she would be rushed to become a
bride.
    Thomas took to the bed first and
pointed to the empty space for Anna.
    “We should sleep,” he said. “We
have a busy time ahead of us.”
    Anna wasn’t sure what that meant.
    Busy getting married?
    Busy tending the fields?
    Busy trying to bond with Thomas
Jr.?
    Whatever it was, Anna still moved
into the bed. The moment her body started to rest, she wanted to fall fast
asleep. It had been one of the longest days of her life, if not the longest.
Sleep would certainly cure most of the problems Anna felt right then. Thomas killed
the lighting in the room, leaving it pitch black. The silence that followed,