Widows & Veterans (A Pair of Mail Order Bride Romances)

By Beth Overton

Mail Order Bride: The Distant Widow & The Divorced Rancher - A widow with four children, whose husband was killed by the police because of shady dealings, decides to travel west and become the mail order bride of a divorced and well-off rancher. The children and the rancher get along very well and her children are happy, but she cannot warm up to the man until a crisis intervenes.

A man who fought in the civil war and knowing that his family died in a fire, returns to his ranch after a long period of wandering. It is almost gone to dust now and so he goes to nearby Tucson and checks in with the family lawyer and is surprised to learn that funds from the sale of cattle and other things have been put into a trust for him. He is a wealthy and now he realizes that all he lacks is a family. His closest neighbor has a cousin that needs a home, as she has been a nanny to three children, but they are growing fast and his neighbors feel like she’d be a good candidate for the lonely cowboy. When the woman arrives at the train station the only emotion that the cowboy feels is shock.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Beth Overton
• Release date: Feb 15, 2016
• ISBN: 9781310228865

Beth Overton

Beth Overton lives in Northern California with her husband and three cats. Besides writing romances, she loves to read everything she can get her hands on, as well as cooking up gourmet delights for her entire family.

Book preview

Widows & Veterans

(A Pair of Mail Order Bride Romances)

By

Beth Overton

Copyright 2016 Quietly Blessed & Loved Press

Mail Order Bride: The Distant Widow & The Divorced Rancher

Mail Order Bride: The Civil War Veteran Settles Down

Mail Order Bride: The Distant Widow & The Divorced Rancher

Synopsis: Mail Order Bride: The Distant Widow & The Divorced Rancher - A widow with four children, whose husband was killed by the police because of shady dealings, decides to travel west and become the mail order bride of a divorced and well-off rancher. The children and the rancher get along very well and her children are happy, but she cannot warm up to the man until a crisis intervenes.

Of course it would rain. It always rained on the worst possible occasions. As she looked across the cemetery at all the friends and family that had gathered to join them on this darkest of days, she couldn’t help but let the tears roll down her cheeks. It was the kind of autumn day where it reminded her that the entire world was dying with her hopes and dreams. The trees were almost empty, the sky was gray and the rain was coming down on their umbrellas with a ferocity that refused to relent, even in the wake of their sadness.

Mary was too young to be a widow. She told herself that over and over again. They had told her that Wallace had been mixed up in some mysterious dealings. The police had raided the restaurant where he worked, and he had put up a fight. They told her he had shot at them and that they had no other option but to shoot back at him. The reality that her husband was dead shattered her world as much as the realization that everything they owned was a lie added to the fact that he was a criminal and that the state was now seizing everything they owned.

Within the course of twenty-four hours, she and her four children were widowed and fatherless and facing the prospects of a world without money or financial hope. Essentially, they were destitute. She was going to have to think of something quickly, or she was going to lose the children.

New York City was not a place where she could raise four children without their father. For ten years, she had raised Charles, Edwin, Lucy, and Betty while her husband went to work, bringing home enormous amounts of money that she never questioned. Why had she ever needed to question him?

The police were as suspicious of her as they had been of him. The thought of them taking it all made her cry as much as her backstabbing, treacherous husband.

This was all his fault.

At age fifteen, Mary had been a young, foolish girl who had taken the wrong steps in life by falling for a charming young man named Wallace who convinced her that she was something more to him than a skirt. When she found out she was pregnant, her parents forced her out of the house and told her that she better get married and that she was on her own.

Since that day, Mary had been the best parent that she could be to Charles and Wallace had gladly married her, offering her a life that she could only dream of. It was the life that she hadn’t expected, but she did the best with what she had. Sure, she had made her mistakes but they had recovered.

Charles was thirteen years old, a handsome young man who was a little brooding and silent, understanding all too well that the world was a cruel and unreasonable place. His dark hair was combed back and he wore his suit well, but he also understood that there was a storm on the horizon and that big changes were coming their way. He was her rock and he was much older than his age would suggest. He was a boy beyond his years and she knew that he deserved better. If he could just smile again, she would be happy.

Edwin, her second, was always happy, grinning and laughing no matter the circumstances. He was the kind of young spirit that she had been when she was a child, looking for adventure under every rock and around every corner. But now, in the shadow of his father’s grave, Edwin was silent as the stone that would mark his father’s passing.

There was no more laughter coming from him, but whatever was sitting on the horizon, she knew that it would be met with an equally adventurous, enduring spirit as it would demand from Edwin. At eight years old, he understood that being adaptable was vital to his survival.

Lucy was the sweetheart that Mary had thought her father was, which made her all the more sad to realize that it was a lie. At least Lucy was genuine and her compassionate soul would take her to places where she would be happy and she would find hope. Six years old and still fascinated by things like butterflies and flowers, Lucy was devastated by the passing of her father.

She had been a daddy’s girl her entire life and it broke Mary’s heart to see that she was so saddened by her cruel and deceptive father’s passing. She wouldn’t stop crying, not that she could even.

Lastly, there was small little Betty that just stared at the large coffin in front of her, completely confused by the whole situation. Mary held her youngest’s hand and watched as she stared at the coffin, wondering where her father had run off to. It was a nightly ritual now that her daughter would ask her where daddy was and when he would be coming home.

No matter how hard Mary tried to tell her, through the tears in her eyes, it wasn’t getting through to Betty. She was afraid that Betty was always going to wonder where her father had run off to and when he was going to be coming back.

As they lowered him into the earth, Mary couldn’t help but feel bitter and satisfied by her husband’s death. What had he been thinking? All those years together and he had never told her what he had done so that they could survive. She understood that times were tough and the world was a harsh place, but why hadn’t he been smarter?

Why hadn’t he found something legitimate to take care of his family with? He could have become a butcher or gotten a job at a factory. Had he been too proud or too desperate to do the right thing? Was that his excuse? Whatever it was, he wasn’t speaking now, not that she would believe a word he had said. After all, he was the moron who had been shot by the police after he was shooting back at them.

What kind of an idiot did that? Her husband that was who.

If it hadn’t been for the support of her neighbors and the men who were responsible for her husband getting mixed up in the criminal business, the wake and the funeral wouldn’t have been possible.

As they all headed back to her home to offer their condolences, Mary felt her tears running down her cheeks again. It was uncontrollable, or else she would never shed another tear for him again, but he was her husband and she had loved him dearly.

At the wake, she watched all the dark suits and