Zack’s Christmas Bride (Mail-Order Bride Book 14) Read online

  Her parents were out for the day with their friends, so she had easily left undetected. She had been slowly packing things into her bags for the last week with Hazel’s help. There had been several purchases to make, several plans to organize. Della hadn’t had a full night’s sleep in nearly a month, and she could feel the exhaustion seeping into her bones.

  A whistle sounded. The floor beneath her began to move. Della gasped as she fell back against the bench. Her breathing grew short and loud, overwhelmed with everything that had just happened.

  It was rare for her to be somewhere new, let alone not with her parents or a maid. For a minute, she tried to both breathe and swallow the panic rising in her throat. Closing her eyes, Della focused on gathering her breath. These moments of panic had come often enough to her as a child. She thought of Elsie, the cook, humming to her back in those days to give her the courage to recover. Della tried to remember the words.

  “Morning stars are growing light, let’s say farewell unto the night,” she whispered to herself with her eyes tightly closed. “And sing in joy for all is well.”

  After another verse, she started to feel better. Della grew used to the repetitive movements of the train. It was just like any other carriage that she had ever ridden. And then she gathered her courage and swallowed the fear.

  This was what she wanted. New York City had nothing there for her. She was finally going to escape and go somewhere. It was a dream that she was making come true.

  This slowly dawned on Della what she had just accomplished. After a moment, she laughed in amazement.

  She had done it. She had escaped New York; she had escaped the eternal confinement her parents had kept her in. For the first time in her life, she was free. Della laughed, clapping her hands before settling down. She was no longer trapped in her house with nothing but books for her friends. Now, she was on her way to a man who wanted her.

  In her fourth letter, she had finally gathered the courage to explain she had a birthmark. A large one on her face that didn’t look pretty, but it didn’t prevent her from doing anything. She had already described her long blonde hair and large blue eyes that were gifts from her mother. Telling him about the birthmark had terrified her. She had followed it up with her fifth letter where she asked how much he cared about people’s looks. Though he never addressed her birthmark, he had eventually responded to say that looks meant little for it was the heart that mattered.

  Della slowly began to relax as her journey continued.

  There was so much to think about. She tried to imagine what he looked like. Zack Heston. He mentioned he was tall and thick shoulders along with blue eyes and blond hair himself. She wondered if he was handsome. Though the man had mentioned he was older, she didn’t mind. He had sounded like a good man, and that was what mattered most.

  It wasn’t until she arrived in Dawson, Montana that Della wondered if she would really find love.

  Her heart pounded as she stepped out into the sunlight. Carrying her bags off the train, Della mustered all of her courage to look up. She had put the netted veil back across her face but knew she couldn’t keep it on forever. She only prayed that he was still willing to look past it into his heart.

  All she wanted was someone brave enough to want her. And she was more than ready to return the favor.

  Chapter 4

  Zack couldn’t stop pacing.

  He had tried to stand still. But then his legs started dancing, and he kept rubbing his hands. Nothing seemed to help. It felt like there were ants all over him, and he couldn’t stop moving. His heart thumped loudly, and he considered again just walking away.

  But he could just imagine Ella’s frown for such bad manners.

  “This was a mistake,” he mumbled under his breath to respond to the image of his wife in his mind. He shook his head and fiddled with the hat on his head. “A big one.”

  Then Ross’s sober face came to mind. His boy had lost weight and a lot of laughter in the last couple of years. His little man had been struggling. At first, there had been nightmares. There were weeks on end where Zack had to go wake him up every night to stop the cries. Then Ross had stopped wanting to play with his toys or read.

  Grief had drained them both of energy.

  While Zack didn’t expect his own life to get any better, he wanted more for Ross. The boy needed someone else who could give him the time and attention he needed to thrive. Ross deserved better. Though he had considered asking his sister to take care of him, Zack knew that was wrong. Leah had five children of her own to raise. And besides, he didn’t want to make his son feel that his father had abandoned him as well.

  A whistle sounded loudly that pulled him from his thoughts.

  Sweat dripped down his spine, and he winced. The train had arrived. His nerves only grew more frantic as he rubbed his hands together and then tried to wipe the damp sweat on his pants. It was a cold December day with two feet of snow. But all he could feel was a heat burning down on him.

  He had to be there for her. He couldn’t just tell the woman to come and then leave her stranded in a strange place. Ella would have had his head for such a cruel action.

  So he would pick her up. Leah had offered to keep the girl at her place until their wedding.

  A wedding. Just the thought of a second wedding made his stomach bottom out. It was hard to breathe as he tried to imagine promising himself to someone else. He wasn’t certain that Ella would have wanted that. They had planned to be together for the rest of their lives. Not for only seven short years.

  After he had written to Miss Della Prescott of New York City to invite her to formally join him in Montana, Zack had sent her that final letter to explain that he couldn’t have another marriage like the one he had before. It would be a marriage of convenience. They would only wed when he was prepared for it, and that was only if Ross took to her. But he didn’t want to rush into any commitments, and he couldn’t love her like he had loved Ella.

  Zack paused. No, he corrected himself. He still loved Ella. Even if she was gone.

  The train had come to a stop ahead of him at the station. People were beginning to gather around. The station had been only built in the last year and stops were still rare. It was a spectacle for the town to see, though few people ever boarded the contraption from their northern town. And only a handful of people ever climbed off at their stop.

  It was a sunny December Wednesday as four people stepped down from the stairs on the train platform. Zack froze as he studied each of them.

  The first was an old woman with white hair who scowled at everyone except for a young woman who arrived to lead her away. The second and third were a young couple with bright red hair who hurried off through the crowd.

  Then the fourth was a slim figure of a woman dressed in a dark blue traveling outfit and a dark veil. It looked like a net that tucked under her chin. She carried a bag in each hand as she shakily climbed down onto solid ground. He stood there for a minute as the figure paused and looked around. She wasn’t hurrying off to greet anyone. No one was coming up to her.

  Although he knew Ella was gone, he could have sworn he felt her hands on his back nudging him forward. Zack found the energy to start moving his legs toward the young lady on the other end of the platform. He pulled off his hat as he watched the veil lift and tucked over the small hat.

  It wasn’t a useful hat, for it hardly covered part of her head. That would never keep anyone warm. Zack then dropped his gaze to the face and paused. Blonde hair and blue eyes. A pert nose and plump lips. Then she had pale skin except for something on her cheek. At first, he thought it was a scab. When he reached her, he realized it was a birthmark.

  Though he wanted to ask why she hadn’t mentioned such a thing to him before, Zack was too uncomfortable to say anything besides, “Miss Prescott?” He tried to swallow the lump in his throat and was glad he hadn’t eaten anything that morning. Zack wasn’t certain it would have stayed down.

  Her eyes widened before
she nodded. “Yes. Yes, that’s me. Della. Are - are you Zack Heston?”

  Zack shifted uneasily. “Yes.” His tongue stuck to the roof of his mouth. Dropping his gaze, he glanced at his hat in his hands. A wind chilled his ears, so he hurriedly put it back on. He dropped his eyes from her down to the ground, not knowing where to look. Not the birthmark. Anywhere but the face. “Are those all your bags?”

  When she nodded in confirmation, he grabbed them. “The wagon is this way.”

  She trailed behind him as he led her to the wagon. Zack ransacked his brain for words to say to her, but he couldn’t think of anything. Nothing sounded right in his head. He couldn’t remember being so tongue-tied around Ella.

  Fortunately, his body remembered what to do. He helped the young woman into the wagon and then climbed up the other side to take the reins. Zack offered Della a short nod and then started them off down the lane. Leah would be ecstatic to have another woman around, and maybe she could help him remember how to talk to people.

  But there wasn’t any chance of marrying if he couldn’t communicate with her.

  Chapter 5

  “Miss Della Prescott! Welcome, oh welcome!”

  The tall woman wrapped her arms around Della before she could even react. She stopped in amazement and wondered if the woman was mad. They didn’t know each other. Society always deigned an introduction. But then she remembered she was out of society and in a place she knew nothing about. When the stranger pulled back, her eyes were bright and she was smiling wide. It was hard not to like her immediately

  “I’m Leah Ganey,” the woman finally explained. “Zack’s younger sister. We are so happy to have you here. My, you look lovely. Please, come in. It’s so cold out there. Zack, did you not have any blankets out for her? You rascal. Come in, both of you.”

  Della was ushered in before she had a chance to say anything. She had thought they would be wed and start their new life together. But apparently she was in someone else’s home. Though she felt certain his letters had mentioned a sister, she couldn’t remember anything to say. Her eyes skittered between Leah and Zack, hesitant of how to act. Everything was so new and strange. Nothing was as she had expected upon her arrival.

  While she hadn’t truly expected her intended would wrap his arms around her, she had hoped for a warmer reception. Zack Heston had said very little to her. While he’d been courteous enough to help with her bags in the wagon, he’d said very little.

  It was the birthmark. That had to be it. She knew she should have kept her veil down a little longer. But when no one had come up to her upon leaving the train, Della thought it best she lift the veil to show the horrible defining feature so he would know who to look for. Sure enough, he immediately appeared before her. Except, he hadn’t even smiled.

  He hated it. A knot refused to untangle itself in her stomach. He couldn’t stand her. The entire wagon ride, she could hear it in the rolling of the wheels. The man wouldn’t look at her because he was disgusted with her looks. Della had to force the tears back as she wished she could do something.

  There was a small scar on the edge of her birthmark where she had once taken a knife to it. Elsie had been the one to stop her. Della now wondered if she should have tried again.

  She wondered what he would do. The man was so aloof that he wouldn’t say a word to her after they boarded the wagon and even as he brought her up to a house. It was nice and large and wider than anything she had ever seen. To her surprise, it wasn’t his house.

  “Do you have all of your luggage?” Leah was asking as she brought them into the hall. “We have a room made up just for you. It’s a little noisy home we have, but you’re more than welcome to treat it like your own. Here, let me take that coat of yours. Is it truly velvet?”

  “I, yes,” Della managed shyly. “Thank you.” She touched the small hat and veil hesitantly, wondering if she should drop it over her face. But it would be impolite to wear it in their house, she realized. Besides, they had already seen the birthmark by then.

  Even as she took it off, a lump formed in her throat. Though she’d experienced little of society, all the proper manners had been bred into her from an early age. Especially the fact that indecent people never appeared before others to avoid any consequential concern.

  Her fingers itched for the familiar netting as Leah set it aside.

  Della felt naked to the soul. Clasping her hands before her, she tried to catch Zack’s eye. But the man was determined to ignore her as he slowly took off his jacket.

  She wished he would say something. Shame crept warmly up her cheeks. Just something, Della wished. Even if it was horrible. The silence made her too nervous.

  “This way, then,” Leah said after a moment of tense silence. When Della looked up, she wondered how forced the other woman’s smile must be.

  Voices shouting grew louder as Della wandered farther into the house. She caught a glimpse of running children before they turned into a hallway, and a door opened. Leah stepped through ushering them in. Zack followed after Leah and set her things down.

  “I should go back,” Zack said. “I’ll drop Henry off when I pass by.”

  Della’s heart sunk. He was going back where? It sounded like he was going to leave her there. She scrambled in her brain for something to say just as Leah addressed her. “You should walk him to the door, then come join me in the kitchen.”

  Not knowing what else to do, Della obeyed. Breathless, she nodded and followed him. She trailed behind Zack as he led the way to the door, hands wriggling as she tried to find something to say as he put his jacket back on.

  “Thank you for the ride,” she offered, hoping to earn a smile from him. Or a look. Or something.

  He nodded as he finally turned around and glanced up at her. His blue eyes were shockingly icy. She could feel her entire body freeze. Della wasn’t even certain if she was breathing. But there was something in his eyes that held her still, unable to do anything but focus on him. Her stomach fluttered as she found herself wanting to reach out to him to warm him up.

  But then Zack looked away and left before she could take another breath.

  It left her in a confused daze. Della couldn’t stop thinking about him even as Leah called for her to join the family in the kitchen. Supper time had arrived without warning. It was there that she met four of the children, all but Henry who was not yet there.

  Though the children stared at her in the beginning, they prioritized their food and dug in. Learning that Della was from far away, they flooded her with questions that their parents couldn’t prevent. Any hesitance she’d clung to soon faded as she found herself popular with the Ganey children. They were all filled with the Christmas spirit of joy and curiosity.

  Over the next couple of days, Della always had company.

  The time moved along at a steady pace where there was always something to do. Her stay there was different than that of the maids who were paid to be around the house and to help her. Instead, she found herself helping the children. She was glad that they accepted her and her looks, and she was glad to be kept busy with filling Christmas stockings with gingerbread and nuts.

  But every day, she turned to the window and looked for Zack.

  Three days passed without him coming by, and she wondered what had happened to him. Every night, she questioned if her birthmark was truly the worst thing he had ever seen. She wondered if she would ever see him again, or if he would try to send her back to New York.

  The very thought of returning made her shudder. But Della wondered how much better this life was when she still felt alone.

  Chapter 6

  Zack dropped Henry off outside the house and made his way back to his house with his son.

  He had brought Della Prescott out there in Montana to them, but he hadn’t told Ross about the young woman. He didn’t know how to explain it. Part of him wondered if it would bother Ross thinking that his mother was about to be replaced. But then he had to remember how it was for Ross
that he had ever put an ad out in the first place.

  The unease didn’t drop from his stomach.

  He wondered if Della liked him. He wondered if he liked Della. He wondered what Ross would think of Della. He wondered what Della thought of Ross. Though he’d sent her that last note explaining he had a son and that it was only a marriage of convenience, he hadn’t received a reply, nor had she asked about Ross earlier.

  There was a world of questions in his mind as he pondered how their meeting had gone. He was still struggling to grasp the fact that she was there. Della Prescott was at his sister’s house.

  “How was school?” He cleared his throat and glanced over at his son.

  Ross was playing with a loose thread on his mittens as he shrugged. “I don’t like it. Numbers are hard, Papa. Why can’t I just stay here on the ranch with you?”

  That was an idea.

  It was something he had considered before that point as well. Especially after Ella’s passing, neither of them wanted to be far from one another. They’d spent months living alongside each other as they learned how to process their grief. Ross had become a good helping hand as a very young child. Enough so that Zack still found himself looking around for the boy while he worked most days, even after sending him to school in the mornings.

  “We’ll see,” Zack said finally. “We’ll see.”

  He wasn’t ready to see Della Prescott anymore that night. Just meeting her had overwhelmed him. Zack took care of the horses and slumped in the kitchen as he processed his thoughts. The young woman had acted polite enough, though she was rather quiet. And young, almost ten years his junior. She looked a little frailer than he had expected, however, and the birthmark had caught him off guard.

  There was nothing else that it could be. Though he hadn’t seen many birthmarks, he knew they were permanent and painless and not a problem. But it could bother people. Zack wondered if it bothered Della. Burying his face in his arms at the table, he asked himself if she was the type of person that he could bring into his house forever.