His Chosen Bride. Rhonda Gibson

for his sandwich. He’d raised it to his mouth and was about to sink his teeth into the fragrant meat when he saw the angry expression on Millie’s face. Now what? He lowered the sandwich.

      “You didn’t need to do that, Mr. Westland. I am capable of finding my own job,” she ground between her teeth.

      Levi offered her his most charming smile. “I’m sure you can, but now you don’t have to.” He expected her to argue, but instead her eyes grew wide as she stared toward the dining room door.

      His gaze followed hers. His brother, Daniel, and Daniel’s new bride, Hannah, waved and headed toward their table. Levi stood to welcome them.

      Daniel greeted him with a broad smile and a rough slap on the back. “Haven’t seen you since the wedding. We’ve been missing you out on the ranch.”

      Levi raised an eyebrow. “That right? Me? Or the fact that you lost an extra cowhand when I moved into town?” He grinned at his brother. “With a new wife and the ranch to keep you busy, I’m surprised you’d miss me at all.”

      “Oh, we miss you all right,” Hannah added her assurance to her husband’s comments.

      “Miss Hamilton, I’d like you to meet my brother, Daniel Westland, and his beautiful bride, Hannah. Daniel, Hannah, this is Miss Hamilton.” He paused then added, “My mail-order bride.”

      Hannah gasped, but Daniel laughed and shook his head. “Well, isn’t this something?”

      Levi hadn’t seen his brother this pleased since his wedding day. When Daniel looked this happy, it usually didn’t bode well for him. Levi asked suspiciously, “What’s that supposed to mean?”

      He searched his brother’s dancing eyes and realized the answer wouldn’t be coming too soon. His gaze moved to Hannah. She stood staring at Millie as if she’d seen a ghost. What was wrong? Both women simply stared at each other.

      Daniel’s booming voice captured his attention once more. “You aren’t going to believe this, but Ma has three more mail-order brides at the house waiting for you to come out and meet.” Daniel hooted and held his sides.

      Hannah elbowed her husband in the ribs. He quickly straightened his face and turned to Millie. “I’m sorry, Miss Hamilton. It’s nice to meet you.”

      “What?” Levi sank into his chair. What had his mother been up to? He noticed Millie hadn’t said a word. She simply stared up at Hannah. Her face had gone pale, and she looked as if she might be sick. Levi knew how Millie felt, even if he didn’t know why she felt that way.

      Daniel placed his hands on the back of one of the empty chairs. “Remember those other three mail-order-brides that wrote to you a few months back?”

      Levi nodded. His stomach pitched. He pushed his untouched sandwich away and grabbed the iced tea.

      “Ma sent them all letters and invited them to come to the ranch to meet you. They all arrived at different times. I believe the first one arrived two weeks ago. Anyway, Ma sent Hannah and me to town today to invite you out to dinner so you can meet the ladies.”

      Levi felt his tongue thicken and his throat close. Just when he’d thought he’d managed to escape Bonnie Westland’s plans of marriage, his mother had taken matters into her own hands again.

      What must Miss Hamilton think? Three mail-order brides. All in Granite, Texas. All there to marry him. What on earth was he going to do with them all?

      Chapter Two

      Millie stared at Hannah Young. It had never occurred to her that she might run into someone in Granite from Cottonwood Springs. Granite was so far from Cottonwood Springs, New Mexico, she’d felt confident she was safe. What if her old schoolteacher knew that she’d burned down Mrs. Kelly’s house and business? Would she tell everyone that Millie was an arsonist? What about Seth Billings the U.S. marshal? Would Hannah let him know where to find her?

      “Millie Hamilton? Is that really you?” Hannah leaned toward her and brushed the hair back off Millie’s forehead.

      With that one action and two questions, Hannah made Millie feel as if she were a young student in Hannah’s classroom once more. “Yes, ma’am, it’s me.”

      The squeal that issued from Hannah’s throat scared Millie so badly that she knocked over her tea. She watched in horror as it spilled into Levi’s lap. Before she could react, Hannah grabbed her in a tight hug about the shoulders, then pulled back and held her at arm’s length. “Millie, I can’t believe it is really you. I’m so glad to see you. I’ve missed Cottonwood Springs horribly. Oh, this is wonderful. I can’t wait to get caught up on all the news from home. Why don’t you come out to the ranch for supper tonight, too?” Hannah took a breath, released Millie, and then grabbed her husband’s arm. “Daniel, Millie is from back home.”

      Daniel laughed. “I got that, honey.”

      “Oh, Levi, I’m so sorry.” Millie handed him her napkin and watched as he dabbed at the tea on his pants. She realized she’d used his first name but at the moment she didn’t care. All she could think about was, how much did Hannah know?

      He offered her a weak smile. “It’s all right, Millie. Hannah has a way of shocking people. I blame her.” Levi turned his grin on his sister-in-law.

      “I’m sorry, too, Levi.” Hannah returned her attention back to Millie. “I still can’t believe it’s you.” She clapped her hands together like a kid who’d just been offered a pony ride.

      Millie swallowed the lump in her throat. “It’s me.”

      “What brought you here? Oh, don’t answer that. I want to be able to sit down and catch up on everything.”

      “I think you are scaring her, Hannah.” Daniel chuckled and wrapped his free arm around his wife’s waist. “Besides, didn’t you just hear Levi say Millie is his mail-order bride? Ma’s going to be disappointed that Levi didn’t need her help luring a mail-order bride here.”

      Hannah’s mouth worked as if she’d just swallowed a lemon drop whole.

      Beth arrived at the table with the promised tea refills. “What can I get for you, Mr. and Mrs. Westland?” She grinned at Hannah.

      “Oh, nothing for us. We just stopped by to invite Levi to supper out at the ranch,” Daniel answered. “And now that we’ve done so, we’ve got shopping to do before we head back out to the ranch.”

      Beth refilled Levi’s and Millie’s glasses and then left the table.

      Finally, Hannah said, “You have to come out with Levi, Millie. I can’t believe we’re going to be sisters-in-law.” Excitement rose in her voice once more.

      Millie didn’t have time to respond. Daniel chuckled and turned his wife toward the door. “You can talk all about it tonight. We have to get Ma’s shopping done and then I need to get back to the ranch. I have work to attend to.”

      Millie couldn’t let Hannah go without finding out what she knew. Panic threatened to choke her as she called out, “But, we just reconnected. Can’t you stay for lunch?”

      Daniel seemed to ignore her and continued to guide his wife away.

      “We’ll have dinner and catch up,” Hannah answered, smiling and waving goodbye over her shoulder.

      What choice did Millie have? Of course she’d go out to their ranch. Millie needed to know what Hannah knew about the events that had taken place in Cottonwood Springs. She’d know if the U.S. marshal was looking for her. Surely, if he was, Hannah would have said something. Still, her stomach quivered in fear. Millie turned toward Levi. “Can I ride out with you?” she blurted.

      He nodded. “Of course. I’ll have to clear up that we aren’t getting married.” Levi called to his brother’s retreating back. “We’ll be there around six.”

      “Good.