A Mail Order Marriage Mistake 2: Christian Mail Order Brides Collection (A Mail Order Marriage Mistake), #2

By Montana West

NEW RELEASE - MUST READ FOR CHRISTIAN MAIL ORDER BRIDE ROMANCE LOVERS!

When Pinkerton Walter Mason returns to Terry, and a fire breaks out in the town's Sunday School classroom, the detective is put in the dead center of a town scandal where the stakes are not only life or death, but his one, fleeting chance at love. Will Walter find the arsonist before it's too late? And will his dedication to bringing in his bounty force him to lose his chance at love?

Pinkerton Detective, Walter Mason has unfinished business in Terry, Montana. Though the townsfolk drove him out of town when he accused resident and new mail order wife, Emma Edwards of being a murderess on the run, he's still not convinced that she isn't his killer. Worse, he's found himself entranced by his bounty's best friend, the unattached but much desired schoolteacher, Mary Edmund. But when Walter returns to Terry, and a fire breaks out in the town's Sunday School classroom, the detective is put in the dead center of a town scandal where the stakes are not only life or death, but his one, fleeting chance at love. Can Walter find the arsonist before it's too late? Is Mrs. Emma Jordan the murderous quarry he has been hunting? And will Walter's growing relationship with Mary be swept up in a blaze of treachery, scandal, and betrayal?

Find out in A Mail Order Marriage Mistake 2, the riveting sequel to A Mail Order Marriage Mistake by bestselling author, Montana West.

If you LOVE Western Mail Order Bride Romance, SCROLL UP and GRAB YOUR COPY TODAY!

• Language: English
• Publisher: Global Grafx Press
• Release date: May 1, 2015
• ISBN: 9781513044361

Book preview

A Mail Order Marriage Mistake 2

Christian Mail Order Brides Collection

(Mail Order Marriage Mistake Series)

by

Montana West

Published by Global Grafx Press, LLC. © 2015

All Biblical quotations used in this manuscript are taken from the King James Bible or the English Standard Version of the Bible.

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Copyright © 2015 by Montana West

All Rights Reserved.

No part of this publication may be reproduced in any form or by any electronic or mechanical means, including scanning, photocopying, or otherwise without prior written permission of the copyright holder, except by a reviewer who may quote brief passages in a review.

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TABLE OF CONTENTS

CHAPTER ONE

CHAPTER TWO

CHAPTER THREE

CHAPTER FOUR

CHAPTER FIVE

CHAPTER SIX

CHAPTER SEVEN

CHAPTER EIGHT

CHAPTER NINE

CHAPTER TEN

EPILOGUE

MAIL ORDER WIFE

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

CHAPTER ONE

Coming back to Terry was probably a bad decision, Walter Mason thought as he rattled along inside the stagecoach like a marble in an empty can of beans. The residents of Terry had practically frog marched him out of this town a week ago. He wondered what kind of welcome he would receive now, and prayed it didn’t come at the wrong end of a six-shooter.

Walter’s agency had been contracted to find a runaway socialite from Boston, Emma Thomas, who had murdered her parents in cold blood, possibly with the assistance of one or more accomplices. He’d taken the case, figuring it wouldn’t be too difficult to track down a high society girl who had never stepped foot out of Boston, but as the weeks had stretched into months, he began to feel like he might have been led astray.

Yes, he’d found the pawn shop where the girl had sold her jewelry. Yes, the stationmaster in Boston had said a young, terrified looking woman with no luggage had bought a train ticket going west. Spent her last nickel to travel as far as possible. But after following the line through dozens of stations and small towns, the bounty was beginning to feel as much like a dream as a tiny bachelor’s apartment in Boston. But Walter was determined to see it through. He hadn’t lost a bounty since joining with the Pinkertons, and he wasn’t going to start now.

Walter had booked himself into the tavern and decided to immediately begin his investigations, which had led him to the general store. And what a disaster that had been! He had confronted a woman he had believed to be the fugitive, and who had been in the store with her daughter.

The child’s scream still haunted his memories, but more than the sense of failure and vague shame for having scared an innocent was the memory of the woman, not Emma, but the upright, plain-faced woman whose eyes had burned with passion as she put Walter in his place. She was like an armful of Fourth of July firecrackers, crackling and popping, and he had been dazzled by the glitter of her anger long after the menfolk had herded him out of their town.

Maybe he should have kept riding. Headed for California. But the job of a detective was as much interrogation, procedure, and intuition. However this Emma Greene had managed to deceive her husband and an entire town, she was the woman in the picture he carried, and he wasn’t going to let a murderer get away with it, or his bounty.

And then there was the other woman. The firecracker.

Even if her character and passion hadn’t haunted his dreams, she was still Emma’s friend, and a close one. If he played his cards right, Walter thought with a smile, he might be able to combine his business and pleasure.

A month would do it.

It was early afternoon when the stagecoach stopped and Walter Mason stepped foot, once again, in Terry. This time the main street was empty, thank the Good Lord. The last thing he wanted was to be recognized and run off again. He needed a place to stay for at least a month as he carried out his investigations, and he’d be safer taking on a nest of rattlers in his bare feet than trying to get lodging in the tavern he’d stayed in before.

As Walter aimlessly walked on the simple streets of Terry, carrying his lone piece of luggage, a satchel that hung off of a strap over his shoulder, he noticed a number of people walking towards one of the buildings that he had seen on his first visit, and which he had not had time to find out what it was. His feet took him in that direction and to his amazement and delight it was a boarding house of some sort, a crude looking one but a rooming house nevertheless.

The building next to it was the jailhouse, and Walter knew that it was the most likely place where he would find the town’s sheriff.

Another piece of good fortune, the clerk of the rooming house was also a stranger. He looked to be about twenty years old, tall and broad with scraggly hair and a hint of a beard.

For how long you be stayin’ sir?

About a month, maybe more, maybe less, but a month should do it.

The clerk looked him up and down and then frowned as if trying to recall where he had seen that face before but he soon shrugged and consulted a thick notebook.

Yes, we have some rooms available and you are in luck, the man grinned at Walter and he noticed that the young man’s teeth were stained yellow. If you had delayed a day more there would be no more room for you.

Why? This does not look like such a busy town.

True, however, many grangers have come from the east to claim the land that the government promised them, and while they wait to find out where their land is they are living here. There has been a lot of coming and going but who is complaining?

Walter shook his head. The boy was going on and on and he wanted a room and to get down to investigating.

Name please?

Walter gave all his details and was soon shown to a room. It was clean and had a well made-up bed with clean linens. There was a large basin in one corner and the window opened out towards fields that went on and on and in the distance he could see the majestic Rocky Mountains. Walter closed his eyes and breathed in the fresh air, and with a smile turned around to put his bag away.

The young man at the front desk was Raymond Conners, had told him that the room came with breakfast and dinner. He had also given Walter a new key and advised him to keep his room locked at all times.

We have a guard who ensures no one breaks into any of the rooms, but if you leave yours open at any time and stuff goes missing then you cannot blame us.

CHAPTER TWO

Mary felt a flutter in her stomach and she smiled. Tomorrow was Sunday and she was looking forward to the church service for two reasons. First, the children would be enacting a scene from the resurrection of Lazarus and she was so excited that they had done such a good job during practice.  After the Christmas play that they had staged last year the school had received more students and she was at full capacity. The residents of Terry, Montana wanted the best education for their children and they felt that a well-rounded student was an asset to the development of their community.

Secondly, Mary was excited because tomorrow she would see Mr. Jason White again. Jason had moved to Terry about two months ago to train with Reverend Peter Brownstone, the preacher of the First Baptist Church of Terry. It was an internship position and Deacon Thomas had informed her he would be staying for a while. He was the son of the pastor of the First Baptist Church of Billings, who was a good friend to Reverend Peter.

Mary was flattered that Jason had been paying her more than the normal attention. She wasn’t used to being admired and found it left a pleasant feeling in her stomach. Jason was a good looking man: tall, dapper with an educated man’s manner of speech, all of which would make a fine husband. But even as Mary thought about Jason, her mind went to the Pinkerton detective who had come to Terry a week ago. Where had she found the bravery to face him down? And what had that feeling of connection been after, when their eyes met and she’d felt her skin burn and her mouth go dry?

James Collins had informed her later that the man’s name was Walter Mason, and Mary was still puzzled at her reaction to him. She had never known herself to fly off the handle like that, always considered herself a calm and rational person.

She shook her head. Better forget about the man, even though he was one of the most handsome men that she had ever set her eyes on. His piercing green eyes had almost drowned her and the only thing she had known to do was to react.

Oh Mary, she murmured to herself. Stop dreaming about a man that you will probably never see again. At least Jason is here and seems interested.

But even as she chided herself, she could not stop the twinge of regret. She was a realist and knew that daydreaming never got anything done. She was supposed to be helping Tracey Brownstone pack up for their move into the country where Reverend Peter had secured a farm which already had a large, one story farmhouse. The previous owner had decided that Montana was too remote for him and decided to move his family to San Francisco, California.

Being a member of the church had been a plus for the reverend because the man had sold the house plus farm to him for a reasonable amount of money. The farm also had a guest house and that was where Jason White would be living for as long

Reviews for A Mail Order Marriage Mistake 2

[a.sri.123 · Rating: 1 out of 5 stars]

The book is a continuation from previous book without any conclusion. I am not sure if there is any book further in the series, but ending the book without a proper conclusion is not fair to the readers. You keep wondering what happened or waiting for another book. Authors should be sensitive to giving proper conclusions!