Lisa Plumley - Mail-Order Groom

That, and the fact that a glorified dance-hall girl couldn’t possibly be considered marriageable by any decent man.

“I know you’ve put a pile of faith in your marriage plan,” Mose said. “But do you honestly believe changing your name will be enough? You could have done that much without a husband.”

“Only by lying. And I refuse to do that any more than necessity demands.” Uncomfortably Savannah thought of the show of feminine frailty she’d carried out for Dr. Finney. If she were truly that delicate, she’d never have survived this long on her own. “Surely I’ll be forgiven the occasional fib, given the circumstances. Besides, it’s not as though I set out to find myself a mail-order groom on purpose, you know. The idea didn’t even occur to me until I met Mr. Corwin over the wires. When we struck up our friendship, I felt truly blessed to have found a kindred spirit.” She cast a wary glance at the other room, where Adam was sleeping. “The fact that our marriage will allow me to finally have a real home life is just an additional benefit. I promise I’ll make him happy, too. He won’t regret marrying me.”

Already she could picture the scene—the two of them, hand in hand, leaving the church as husband and wife. The wives and mothers and women of Morrow Creek welcoming her, as a happily married woman, into their quilting circles and sewing bees. The men in town tipping their hats respectfully at her … instead of offering her that hungry, unsettling leer she’d grown used to back in the city. Dreamily gazing past her telegraphy equipment, Savannah imagined herself raising children, fussing over her husband, celebrating Christmases and birthdays as a family.

That was all she truly wanted—all she’d ever wanted. But she couldn’t have any of that if she were still Savannah Reed, The Seductive Sensation of the New York theater circle. Yes, men had wanted The Seductive Sensation. But they hadn’t wanted to marry her. They hadn’t wanted to be seen with her in daylight.

Like Warren Scarne, they’d only wanted to use her.

“I have a lot of love to give!” she assured Mose. More than anything, she hungered to love and be loved. Her heart fairly pounded with the necessity to give to someone special. “I know I can be a good wife to Adam. And he can be a good husband to me.”

“Humph.” Her friend frowned. “He’d better be good to you, or I’ll know the reason why. That’s for certain.”

Smiling, Savannah patted his arm. “There you go protecting me again. I promise, Mose. I’m much stronger than I look.”

Dubiously he raised his eyebrow.

“I am! I’m very strong. Since we came out west, I’ve gotten quite good at swinging an ax to split firewood. I’ve learned to haul heavy buckets of water, drive a wagon, fix the shutters—”

“Baltimore’s not that far from New York. What if he finds out the truth about you—or knows the truth already?” Mose jabbed his chin toward the other end of the station, where Adam slept in peaceful unawareness. “What will you do then?”

“If Adam were going to recognize my name, he would have done so right away. He would have mentioned it in our correspondence. People hardly react with indifference to me, you know. The fact that Adam hasn’t so much as hinted about the scandal means I’m safe for now, I’d say. And he’s been nothing but respectful toward me. That bodes well, don’t you think so?”

Her friend gave a noncommittal sound.

“Besides,” Savannah went on, “by the time Adam gets well, gets settled in and finds out about what my parents did back in New York City, we’ll be long married. He’ll love me. He won’t care a whit about what happened. I’m counting on it.”

Even more skeptically, Mose raised his other eyebrow, too.

Uncomfortable under his scrutiny, Savannah shifted. “All right. If Adam finds out, it will break my heart. Is that what you’re so keen to hear? That I’m afraid he’ll leave me?”

At that, Mose’s expression softened. “I’m not keen to hear anything of the kind. All I want is for you to be happy. You know that. Trouble is, I’m not sure this is the best way to go about it.”

“It’s not as though I plan to keep my past a secret forever!” Defensively she lifted her chin. “I’m going to tell Adam the whole story … someday. When I’m sure he loves me enough not to be scared off by knowing I have two thieves for parents.”

Her friend gave a soft sound of commiseration. “It’s not your fault what they did. It was their decision to take that money from those theater owners. You didn’t even know about it.”

“Even so … I’m still The Seductive Sensation.” Savannah raised her worried gaze to Mose. “It doesn’t show anymore, does it?” She turned in a circle. “I’ve been trying to erase it.”

She’d traded all her spangled, satiny costume dresses for modest calico and wool. She’d restyled her hair and ditched her bosom-augmenting horsehair pads. She’d scrubbed her whole face clean and given away every ounce of powder and paint she’d ever owned. But on the inside, Savannah still felt imprinted by her life on the stage … and everything that had gone along with it.

“Well?” she pressed. “Does my stage background show?”

Wearing a smile, Mose shook his head. “All I see is a lovable lady. A lady who’s trying her best to love someone.”

“Good.” Relieved, Savannah sighed. “Because that’s exactly who I am these days—exactly who I’m going to be from now on.”

A clatter arose at the telegraph, alerting them to a new message coming in. Knowing it would need to be relayed down the wire, Savannah hastily reached for her notepad.

This was the part that she already loved about her new life here in the Arizona Territory—using her expertise with the telegraphy equipment to transmit messages. Not many women were telegraph operators; most of those with an interest in working the equipment were men. Deciphering messages required a keen ear and intense concentration, especially in a crowded station like the one she’d shared with her mentor, Alistair.

He’d taught her how to decode the signals and transmit them with rapid movements on the equipment’s keys. Ready to do just that, Savannah listened hard.

but not quite hard enough to block out Mose’s parting words as he headed outside.

“I’m just saying my prayers,” he said, “that you done picked the right someone to love this time, that’s all.”

Bothered by his doleful tone, Savannah shook her head. Then she turned to her telegraphic apparatus and got down to work.

As the station door banged open, Linus Bedell jerked in surprise. Still lurking in the shadows of the building’s narrow side, he flattened himself against the wall. He couldn’t risk being seen here—especially not now. Alert with one hand on his gun belt, he listened as the door swung shut. Its hinges whined.

Footsteps crunched across the gravelly ground.

But they weren’t coming in his direction. That meant he hadn’t been spotted. Feeling immeasurably relieved, Linus sank against the rough split-log wall behind him. From the other side of that wall, the familiar sounds of the telegraph machine could be heard. But Linus didn’t care about that. All he cared about was that big colored fella—the one who was always hanging around the station, keepin’ company with Roy’s new “fiancée.”

Releasing a pent-up breath, Linus shifted. He felt hot, tired and bored to tears with snooping on his brother’s latest mark. He felt a mite sorry for the ladies his brother romanced and stole from. But, as Roy had explained, those women were just dumb. They went for his scams willingly. He never forced them. That’s what made all the difference. At least that’s what Roy said, and Roy usually knew best. That’s why Linus stuck by him.