A Stranded Bride in Willow's Rest: Mail Order Brides of Willow's Rest, #3

By Adalyn Grace

Ordering a bride seemed to be a new trend in Willow’s Rest and Nathan Wilson wanted in on it. Two of his best friends had found successful matches in that way, so why should he continue living alone if he didn’t have to? All prepared, he pens a letter to Mrs. Oliver’s matchmaking agency, but he finds himself delayed in posting the correspondence. 
Lena Duncan placed her trust in George Weeks and headed west to marry him. When she arrived, reality is far different than her expectations and she must escape. She has only enough money to purchase fare as far as Willow’s Creek, which wasn’t very far. There she finds a friend in Millie Delaney. 

Will she also find a husband? 

A historical mail-order bride short story, part three of the Mail-Order Brides of Willow's Rest Series 

• Language: English
• Publisher: Adalyn Grace
• Release date: Feb 15, 2016
• ISBN: 9781524291129

Book preview

Chapter 1

Since the stagecoach left its previous stop, Lena Duncan had been holding her breath, metaphorically speaking.  She didn’t know what she would find at Willow’s Rest, but she knew she had to find something. The last of her money was gone, along with her pride and dreams of the future. Willow’s Rest was the end of the road for her, at least until she could find a way to earn some money. When that time came, she’d head back east, where at least she had her sister.

If only she’d listened to her sister’s reasoning and protestations.  You can’t marry a man you’ve never met, Jenny had argued.  What will you do if he’s not there to meet you? she’d asked. Or, what if he’s lied about who and what he is?

Lena had guaranteed her sister that all would be well that George Weeks was an honorable gentleman to the point where she believed the words also. She’d had no reason not to. To her beliefs, she was going west to marry a man whom she believed she could fall in love with, and him with her. All the assurances in the world hadn’t prepared her for the true intentions of George Weeks. She arrived in Tatum’s Gulch yesterday, expecting a neatly kept, considerate businessman, who only had honorable intentions.

George Weeks was anything, but what she had anticipated. He reeked of stale smoke and whiskey. His scraggly beard was unkempt, his teeth yellowed and rotting. The man’s appearance wasn’t the worst part of him either. He’d neglected to mention, or rather purposefully deceived, that the goods he supplied to the men of Tatum’s Gulch were actually services, those of which were