Abby: Mail Order Bride (Unconventional Series #1)

By Verna Clay

Order of books in the Unconventional Series: Abby: Mail Order Bride; Broken Angel; Ryder's Salvation; Joy's Return

Brant Samson has fallen on hard times after the death of his beloved wife a year earlier from lung fever. Left with three children, he's desperate to find a mother for them. Ten year old Jenny does her best to care for two year old Ty, and fourteen year old Luke works the ranch with his father, losing himself in dime novels to ease the pain of his mother's passing. Brant's options are limited since eligible women seldom pass through Two Rivers, much less settle in the small Texas town. In desperation, he places a classified advertisement for a mail order bride. Marrying a woman he'll come to know through a newspaper advertisement scares the bejesus out of him, but at this point, he's out of options.

Abigail Mary Vaughn always dreamed of having her own family, but caring for her elderly parents, as well as working as a teacher to help with finances, ended that dream. Her parents are now deceased and she's faced with the reality of her lonely existence. After reading Mr. Samson's advertisement in the Philadelphia Inquirer, she garners enough courage to respond. Since she is considered an old maid at the age of thirty-eight, she'll more than likely spend the remainder of her life wondering "what if" unless she does something unconventional.

Sensual love scenes.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Verna Clay
• Release date: Dec 28, 2013
• ISBN: 9781310614149

Verna Clay

"2020 Finalist - Readers' Favorite International Contest (Paranormal Romance) for SOMEWHERE by the Sea.""2014 Gold Medal Winner - Readers' Favorite International Contest (Historical Romance) for Abby: Mail Order Bride."My perfect day: coffee shop; laptop; latte; characters demanding their stories be told; a plot that comes together; and hours to live in an alternate reality.Seriously, I have always loved reading, and now I love writing. As a preteen, I devoured Nancy Drew and Hardy Boys Mysteries. When I reached my teen years, the romance genre became my favorite and that has never changed. After years of procrastinating, I tried my hand at writing and I've been doing so with a passion ever since. I have written over thirty romance novels and novellas in the genres of contemporary, contemporary western, historical western, fantasy, and paranormal. Because I hate saying goodbye to characters who have lived with me for months, I usually create a series so they can be revisited from book to book. I have also written a Young Adult novella titled "Fragile Hearts" using the pen name of Colleen Clay.

Book preview

Abby

Mail Order Bride

Unconventional Series

Verna Clay

Dedicated to those who do not always follow the dictates of convention.

Abby: Mail Order Bride

Unconventional Series

Copyright © 2012 by Verna Clay

All rights reserved, including the right to reproduce this book or portions thereof in any form whatsoever.

For information contact:

[e-mail]

Website: VernaClay.com

Published by: Verna Clay

Cover Design: Verna Clay

Picture: Dreamstime

This book is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents either are products of the author's imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual events or locales or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.

Order of Unconventional Series:

Abby: Mail Order Bride

Broken Angel

Ryder's Salvation

Joy's Return

Preface

After writing a contemporary western, I decided to try my hand at writing an historical western. The year I chose for beginning the love story between Brant Samson and Abigail Mary Vaughn is 1886, and the setting is Central/Eastern Texas, a place of rolling hills, many trees, and lush vegetation. In my research, I discovered that the winter of 1886-1887 was severe and didn't bode well for the cattle industry. That fact worked well with my story.

Except for the obvious cities of Philadelphia, Abilene, Dallas, and Ft. Worth, the towns and geographical places I describe are figments of my imagination.

This story is first and foremost a romance, the body of which revolves around the sorrows, dreams, and emotional healings of its characters.

Verna Clay

Table of Contents

Preface

Chapter 1: Courage or Folly?

Chapter 2: Butterflies

Chapter 3: Eight Eyes

Chapter 4: Cookies

Chapter 5: Ornery Chickens

Chapter 6: Miz Pitts

Chapter 7: Barn-Raising

Chapter 8: Wedding Day

Chapter 9: Honeymoon Blues

Chapter 10: Awakenings

Chapter 11: Tidings of Great Joy

Chapter 12: Luke

Chapter 13: Birthdays

Chapter 14: Life's Twist

Chapter 15: Endless Despair

Chapter 16: Toothless Charlie

Chapter 17: Sorrow Expressed

Chapter 18: Revelations

Chapter 19: Homecoming

Epilogue

Author's Note

Stranded in Oasis (Excerpt)

Cry of the West: Hallie (Excerpt)

Novels and Novellas by Verna Clay

Chapter 1: Courage or Folly?

Abigail picked up the newspaper advertisement for the hundredth time, read it again, reread it, and tossed it back on the desk in her library. Smoothing her hand over the sides of her auburn hair and the bun at the nape of her neck, she pushed her chair back and walked from the library to the parlor. Pacing the length of the lovely room, she stopped occasionally to straighten a vase or lift a family photo, all the while contemplating something so crazy it made her heart pound.

After an hour, she squared her shoulders, returned to the library, sat at her desk, slipped a piece of stationary from the drawer, reached for her ink and quill, and wrote:

March 18, 1886

Dear Mr. Samson,

I am writing to introduce myself. My name is Abigail Mary Vaughn and I read your classified advertisement in the Philadelphia Inquirer seeking a wife to help raise your three children. I would like to recommend myself. By trade, I am a teacher and that would benefit your children.

I have never been married and I am thirty-eight years old. I have lived in Philadelphia all my life and taught school for the past eighteen years. I am an only child and my parents died last year, so there are no responsibilities keeping me here. I have always desired my own family, but circumstances of caring for my elderly parents prevented that.

I do not believe in withholding information, so I have been candid in my response to you. I hope to hear from you.

Miss Abigail Mary Vaughn

Before she could react and change her mind, Abigail enclosed the letter in an envelope and asked Harry Puffins, her old servant, to walk it to the post office not far from her home near the city's center.

* * *

Brant removed his cowboy hat and ran a hand through hair as black as coal. Standing in front of the blacksmith's where he'd just had his horse shod, he heard his daughter calling from the entrance to Clyde Jenkins General Store across the street. Clyde, being the most likely candidate, was also the postmaster for the central eastern Texas town of Two Rivers. Jenny held her baby brother in one arm and waved letters in the other. Hey Pa, you got more mail. Maybe you'll find us a ma in this bunch.

Brant paused while a buckboard pulled by a swayback horse ambled past. He waved at old Mr. and Mrs. Snodgrass and then crossed to the warped boardwalk that ran in front of a dozen businesses. Jenny, did you give Mr. Jenkins that list of staples so we can pick them up next trip to town?

Yes sir. She shifted two year old Ty to her other hip. One of the letters came all the way from Philadelphia.

I'll read them tonight. Where's Luke?

He's still talking to Mr. Jenkins about ordering some more dime novels.

Brant bent and kissed his baby's forehead. Well, run in and tell him it's time to go while I hitch Sugar to the buckboard and bring it around. We've got chores to finish up.

Sure, Pa.

Several minutes after Brant had pulled the wagon to the front of the store, his fourteen year old son sauntered out. Inhaling a calming breath, he said, It's nice you could join us, Luke. I'd sure like to get home before nightfall. If not, you'll be mucking the barn in the dark.

With a sullen look, Luke hopped onto the back of the wagon and sat on a sack of grain. Jenny snickered and Ty scrambled to sit on his big brother's lap. Brant flicked the reins. Giddup.

After a long evening of chores, Brant finally collapsed into his favorite chair and propped his feet on the hearth. He could hear Jenny telling Ty a bedtime story in the room she shared with her baby brother. No doubt Luke was in the loft devouring another dime novel.

Leaning his head back, he surveyed his cabin. Besides his bedroom and Jenny's room, there was an additional bedroom that his mail order bride would stay in until they got to know each other. His plan to remarry scared the bejesus out of him, but he was dead set to find a ma for his children. He closed his eyes and saw Molly's laughing face. God, he missed her. How he'd loved her. His eyes stung and he blinked rapidly, glancing again around the combined living, dining, and cooking area that still held her touches in the curtains and knickknacks. Although modest, the cabin was sturdily built from the labor of his own hands.

Unable to put it off any longer, he unfolded his lanky frame and reached for the letters he'd tossed on the mantel. Sighing, he read more responses to his advertisement, none of which he felt any inkling to respond to. Damn, but the thought of marrying someone he'd come to know through a newspaper ad irked him. However, his children needed a mother. Jenny did the best she could caring for Ty, but she was only ten years old. Guilt plagued him at the responsibility that had been forced on her. As for Luke, Brant hadn't been able to bond with his son since Molly's death, and now the boy lost himself in cheap novels. And Ty, his baby, God help him, needed a mother's care.

He fingered the letter from Philadelphia. He'd placed ads in newspapers, local and cross country, and wondered if the call of the West would provoke responses from city gals. He'd received a few, but from the tone of their letters, they'd seemed too high and mighty to live in a humble cabin on a small ranch. He slipped a thumb under the envelope flap and ripped it open. The letter was short and written on quality stationary in neat printing. He read it a couple of times.

Going to his room, he retrieved a paper and his quill and ink and brought the kerosene lamp to the dining table. Tapping his jaw, he thought about his response.

May 1, 1886

Dear Miss Vaughn,

Thank you for your letter and also your forthrightness. Please tell me more about yourself and why you would want to marry someone you have never met and mother children that are not your own.

As for myself, I will also be forthcoming. I am solely seeking a mother for my children. If you have romantic notions, I am not the husband for you. My wife died over a year ago from lung fever. I have two sons, a fourteen year old and a two year old, and a ten year old daughter. My ranch is small, as is my cabin, so if you are looking for anything else, I suggest you not respond to this letter.

As for your qualifications, they are excellent. My eldest son loves reading. I can hardly get him to complete his chores without a book in hand. My daughter is very smart and an avid learner. Both children attended school until their mother died. My eldest son now helps me on the ranch and my daughter cares for her baby brother. My desire is for them to return to school after I marry. I am the son of a teacher so I know the importance of education.

As for Two Rivers, it is a small town that does not have much in the way of diversion to keep folks interested.

So, as you can see, I have not painted a pretty picture. I have written the truth so as not to waste your time or mine.

Brant Samson

Chapter 2: Butterflies

The stagecoach bumped and jostled and jarred Abigail until she wanted to scream. Most of her trip had been by rail, which, although tiring, was easy compared to carriage travel. Across from her, fellow travelers, Mr. and Mrs. Willowood, spoke in hushed tones. When Abigail opened her eyes, Mrs. Willowood said, Oh, good, you're awake. We're almost to Two Rivers. My husband and I have traveled this route many times. Our town is Bingham, the county center, three hours past Two Rivers.

Mr. Willowood patted his wife's knee. She knows, dear. Being our lovely companion for two days, you've already told her.

Oh, yes, of course. I guess old age is catching up with me. Mrs. Willowood turned her attention back to Abigail. How does our countryside compare with Philadelphia's?

Abigail gazed out the window at rolling hills covered with tall grasses, juniper trees, thickets of cottonwood, maple and oak trees dressed with autumn leaves, and a scattering of pines occasionally punctuated by granite boulders. She smiled, In some ways it's quite similar with its abundant trees and foliage.

Mr. Willowood said proudly, We've lived here for nigh on forty years and raised six sons. Four of our boys stayed in Texas and another one moved to Kansas, which is why we travel there occasionally. We lost our youngest son a few years back to scarlet fever. Anyway, I can tell you one thing, coming home is a breath of fresh air. Of course, I'm probably repeating myself, too.

Abigail smiled at the friendly couple and glanced out the window at the dust stirred by the horses. I'd love a breath of fresh air.

For the remaining hour of her trip, she tried to calm the butterflies in her stomach. She was a sensible woman, but her stomach was behaving like that of a young girl. Smoothing a hand over that wayward part of her body, she willed it to settle down, but her thoughts just stirred the butterflies again. Perhaps she would regret her

Reviews for Abby

[sarah_gruwell · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

For its length, this was a pretty successful romance. Novella length stories of this kind don’t always succeed, but for the most part, this one does.I liked that the author chose to play around with her leads and their circumstances, making them different than your usual farmer and his mail-order bride. Their ages are significantly different than the usual, and I liked that Abby was a normal sized woman, not a pixie-thin gal. For being a former teacher from a somewhat privileged background, Abby shows a lot of grit and bravery to go into such an unknown situation and try to build a better life. I loved that Brant was willing to look beyond the obvious with Abby to see the sweet, loyal individual she really was.I liked that the author was also willing to go to some distressing areas with the overall story and fate of characters. Historical romances can veer off into the smoopy sweet territory, making many areas unbelievable and so removing my enjoyable from the story. Yet, Clay played around with some tragedy and tears to give her romance depth in contrast to all the pain. For a novella, that’s a bold step I liked.Where this book suffered a smidge was a common fault I’ve run across in novellas. The author seemed to be trying to fit too much into one storyline. Situations and conflicts were solved very quickly as the story progressed, never really giving the reader a chance to sink teeth into any one thing. Prime example of this is how quickly Brant’s kids got on with Abby and how quickly they seemed to accept her as a mother figure, Luke especially. He starts out as a typical teen who misses his mother so lashes out, but it only takes a few gestures on Abby’s part to win him over.For a historical romance novella, this work actually stands up pretty well. I loved the leads and their relationship. The author chose to incorporate unusual aspects into the story that gave it extra depth and stand-out power. It fell short in the usual area that novellas do with me; yet overall, I enjoyed the book more than I didn’t. I’d recommend it to lovers of short historical romances as it’s a nice diversion and won’t take long to devour.

[mmoj_2 · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

Abby: Mail Order Bride is about a spinster, Abby, who answers an ad for a widower who is looking for a woman to be the mother of his children. Abby feels that after taking care of her aging parents that she is past marriages age but yet longs for a family and decides a ready-made family is better than a chance of a family down the road.

The story is well written with good background information about Abby and the widower, Brant. The physical attraction between the couple has just enough heat to make it believable but not enough to distract from the story which is really about family and coping with loss. I though the ending was a little rushed but otherwise a good read.

[bettysunflower · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

I was very pleasantly surprised at how good of a story this was and how well written. The heroine, Abby is from the North Eastern USA. She is the product of an older couple who were both teachers. Abby also has become a teacher, but had to quit to take care of her elderly parents as their health failed. After they passed away she decided that she wanted to do something different with her life other than to just pass the years as a spinster teacher. She spotted an ad for a Mail order bride and decided to follow up on that to see if it would be something that she would like to do. Brant is the father of 3 children who has lost his wife, the love of his life. He is a rancher in 'the west' and is barely making ends meet. One thing he knows, though, is that his children need a mother. He sees an interesting response from a woman that says she is a teacher and he thinks that she might just be what his family needs. The characters are wonderful and the story line is very interesting, but it is the depth of emotions that sold me on this book. I chuckled at some parts and cried at others, but through it all I hoped for love for our hero and his lady. The first thing I did when I finished reading this book was to see if the author has more.