Read Historical Cowboy Romance Two Book Box Set - Mail Order Brides Online
Authors: Linda Bridey
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Historical Cowboy Romance Two Book Box Set - Mail Order Brides
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Smashwords Edition
Both of these books are the first book of a
series.
Copyright © 2014 by Linda Bridey & Kate
Whitsby
All Rights Reserved. No part of this
publication may be copied, reproduced in any format, by any means,
electronic or otherwise, without prior consent from the copyright
owner and publisher of this book.
This is a work of fiction. All characters,
names, places and events are the product of the author's
imagination or used fictitiously.
First Printing, 2014
Smashwords Edition, License Notes
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To YOU, The reader.
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Thank you for reading and joining me on this
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Westward Winds by Linda Bridey
Violet's mail Order Husband by Kate Whitsby
Winds by Linda Bridey
Chapter One
Maureen O’Connor watched her eldest daughter
once again turn down a request to dance. She sighed resignedly.
This was yet another night wasted on her headstrong girl. Theresa
O’Connor was beautiful, witty, intelligent, and completely bored
with their society. None of the would-be suitors were up to her
high standards because they, in her estimation, were also
boring.
She turned back to the conversation between
her husband, Geoffrey, and his long-time friend, Alex Winters. They
were discussing some matter of business that really didn’t interest
her. Maureen knew her husband better than anyone and could tell
Geoffrey had also noticed their daughter’s dismissal of the elegant
young man. His handsome visage tightened imperceptibly and his deep
brown eyes reflected his disapproval.
She laid a hand on his arm and smiled
slightly.
He arched a brow at her and said, “Do you
find this amusing?”
“I find it aggravating
and
amusing,
dear. It’s aggravating because these events thrown in her honor
seem not to be doing any good. It’s amusing because she reminds me
so much of you. Always wants things her way,” Maureen
responded.
Geoffrey tried to keep the smile from his
face but it was a lost cause. He knew Maureen was right. Geoffrey
was caught between pride that his oldest offspring was so much like
him and annoyance because he couldn’t make her behave for the very
same reason. “I’m glad you’re enjoying this so much.”
Maureen’s smile grew. “Oh, no, Geoff. Not I.
I think it’s awful.” She broke off into laughter, not able to
continue as Geoffrey’s look darkened.
Alex turned and watched their daughter sit
with two of her friends and talk animatedly. “Tessa shot down
another one, eh?”
Geoff grunted. “Yes. How does she ever expect
to marry a good man if she doesn’t give anyone a chance?”
His best friend turned back to him. “She
knows what she wants and none of the men you keep thrusting upon
her are what she’s after, I’m afraid.”
Maureen cleared her throat. “Maybe she’s a
little more like me in that respect. I, too, wanted something
different and I got it,” she said, with a gentle squeeze of
Geoffrey’s arm.
“As did I,” her husband responded.
Alex grinned as he remembered their
courtship. “And what a splendid time it was, watching the two of
you duke it out. At times, it was hard to tell who the hunter was,
and who the prey was.”
“Some of both, as I recall,” Maureen
said.
“Agreed,” Geoff said. “Well, wife, I suppose
we should mingle and dazzle the masses with our charm and wit. Too
bad dear Tessa hasn’t learned any of that from us.”
“Oh, I think she has it in spades. After all,
she charms her way out of punishment enough,” Maureen said and
followed her husband.
“Oh, and did you know that Melinda Wainwright
was caught sneaking around with Scotty Monroe? He’s supposed to be
courting Rachel Linden,” Roxanne Carter told the other two young
women she was sitting with.
Johanna Dillinger sat forward, “No! Who told
you that?”
“I’m not going to reveal my sources, Jo,”
Roxanne said. “But, they are quite close to both of them. It’s
going to be quite interesting when it comes out, don’t you think,
Tessa?”
“Surely,” Tessa said with no enthusiasm.
Her blue eyes, so like her mother’s, scanned
the ballroom of their family home for any sign of anything that
might interest her. She’d had no luck so far.
“And wild monkeys flew down from the heavens
and landed on unicorns that took them to the desert where they were
eaten by naked old witches,” Roxanne said.
“Too bad I’m not one of them,” Tessa
said.
Jo laughed behind a hand. “Which?”
“Either. It’s not every wild monkey who gets
to fly and ride on unicorns and it’s not every witch who gets to
sit around naked and eat monkeys,” Tessa answered, smiling brightly
at Roxanne. “You thought I wasn’t listening. Fooled you.”
Roxanne frowned. “Don’t you want to know
what’s happening in the world? You have to keep on top of things so
you can make good decisions.”
Tessa gave a short laugh. “So knowing who’s
fooling around with whom is helping you to make good
decisions?”
“Yes, actually, it is. It’s helping me figure
out what gentlemen are trustworthy and which aren’t. That way I can
make a smart decision about who I will marry and who will become
the father of my children,” Roxanne said reasonably
Tessa grew irritated. “That’s all well and
good for you, but I don’t want to have that kind of future. None of
this matters to me; the balls, the society rules, the endless
parade of stuffy men. No, it’s not for me and yet, I have no way
out. I’m such a disappointment to my parents.”
Jo laid a hand on Tessa’s in consolation. “Is
our life really so bad? I mean, we could be starving and
penniless.”
Tessa smiled, not wanting to distress her
friends. “No, it’s not bad, just tedious. I know that you and Roxie
are quite happy to gossip and fret over the people in our circles,
but I want something more exciting.” Her eyes found her parents as
they talked to another couple. Her father was proud and
charismatic, and her mother, was almost delicately beautiful. They
were a very popular pair. She’d heard whisperings of their
tumultuous courtship and smiled now, remembering the stories.
There were times when she wished she could be
more like her mother. She was respectable and always a lady. She
had always been a wonderful mother and wife. Tessa knew she didn’t
have her mother’s patience, however, when it came to dealing with
society. She had trouble being dutiful and attending parties and
brunches while appearing to enjoy them.
No, high society wasn’t the place she wanted
to be, but there was nothing for it. Her father looked her way, so
she smiled at him, hoping he would think she was having a good
time. She loved her father and didn’t want to disappoint him, but
also wondered how she could be true to herself at the same
time.
Her father could always see through her
smokescreens, though, and although he smiled back, it wasn’t a
smile of real pleasure. It was so no one would guess he was
displeased with her.
Tessa’s eyes dropped and she began teasing
Roxie about all the horrible matches she could make to cover her
feelings of inadequacy.
The following morning, Tessa sat at the
dining room table with her mother and younger sisters. She read the
daily paper, just as she always did. Geoffrey had already gone to
his office for the day. He was an early riser and it was only on
Sundays that he had breakfast with the family. However, he was
always present for dinner unless something of urgency took
place.
“Tessa, tell us about the party,” her
fifteen-year-old sister, Claire, asked. Her deep brown eyes were
filled with excitement and her pretty little face eager.
Tessa’s eyes never left the paper as she
answered Claire. “Tedious. Simply tedious.”
“Tessa!” her mother objected. “Do you know
how much money we spend to throw these parties?”
“Mother, I keep telling you to stop throwing
them because I’m not going to change my mind about them or suddenly
start believing I’ll find my true love at one. I won’t,” Tessa
said, putting down the paper and looking her mother in the eye. “I
love you and Papa for all you’ve tried to do and your concern, but
I’m fine as I am. Truly. You should be concentrating on Madeline’s
coming out party.”
Maureen sighed and fixed her poached egg. “I
don’t understand what it is you’re looking for.”
Madeline said, “Mama, if she doesn’t want the
parties, I think she’s right. Throw them for me and for Claire when
she comes of age.”
Madeline was a carbon copy of their mother.
Her blonde waves cascaded over her shoulders and her lovely blue
eyes had an entrancing quality, as many of the boys her age had
found. Unbeknownst to their parents, Madeline was quite the little
flirt.
Tessa knew but wasn’t about to tell on her
sibling. She found it amusing as long as flirting was all that
happened. She had been present during Madeline’s sweet-sixteen
party and had kept close tabs on her sister without anyone
realizing she was doing it. Now, at eighteen, Madeline was
developing a very womanly figure and would bear close watching. Her
coming out party was only two months away.
Maureen said, “I will take this up with your
father.” Her tone was resigned and frustrated. “I think you are
right and I think you are old enough to know your own mind, even if
it is against what we want for you and what you should want for
yourself.”
Tessa’s temper flared. “I fail to see that
it’s right for anyone to say what I should and shouldn’t want for
my life! Just because I don’t want what society says I should want,
why does that make me wrong? These people don’t know me, they don’t
know what I think, what I feel. They don’t care, either. Quite
frankly, I don’t care what they think of me.”