Mail Order Bride: Redeemed Mail Order Brides Box Set - Books 1-3: Redeemed Western Historical Mail Order Bride Victorian Romance Collection, #1

By Kenneth Markson

Now available as a Box Set, books 1 - 3 in the Redeemed Mail Order Brides Collection. 
** A Western Historical Mail Order Bride Victorian Romance Novelette Collection** 

Mail Order Bride: A Wife For Charlie

What happens when Gina, the not so beautiful sister, as she repeatedly has been told, becomes a mail order bride? What happens when Charlie, the shy, somewhat awkward, young man crosses paths with the local bullies? Will two lonely people find love? 

Mail Order Bride: Clara And The Outlaw

What happens when Clara, a pretty schoolteacher, rejects the advances of her harassing boss, and becomes a mail order bride? What happens when Doug, a handsome outlaw, chooses to take a different path from the life that he has led? Will they both find the love that they seek? 

Mail Order Bride: A Bride For Jim

In order to inherit, Jim needs a quick mail order bride. Annie needs to get out of El Paso fast. Others want them both to fail. Who will prevail, and will true love triumph?

If you enjoyed these stories, you may also enjoy Kenneth's "Rescued Mail Order Brides Box Set - Books 1-3: A Rescued Western Historical Mail Order Bride Victorian Romance Collection,"  "Rescued Mail Order Brides Box Set - Books 4-6: A Rescued Western Historical Mail Order Bride Victorian Romance Collection," "Rescued Mail Order Brides Box Set - Books 7-9: A Rescued Western Historical Mail Order Bride Victorian Romance Collection," and "Mail Order Bride And Western Romance Box Set - Books 1-3: A Historical Mail Order Bride And Clean Western Romance Collection." 

• Language: English
• Publisher: Kenneth Markson
• Release date: Apr 12, 2016
• ISBN: 9781533710352

Kenneth Markson

While an English major at college, I wrote a column which was published weekly. I have been writing ever since. The old West and Los Angeles in the forties are eras which lend themselves to tales of romance, courage, and fast paced adventure. I particularly enjoy writing stories about the mail order brides who fearlessly took a chance and traveled West, hoping to find love and a better future. Many of the locales that I write about are places that I have either traveled through or actually lived in. I try to make my works richly accurate. My desire is to provide you with an entertaining and fun read. When I'm not writing, I enjoy spending time with my wife and two children.

Book preview

MAIL ORDER BRIDE:

A WIFE FOR CHARLIE

BY

KENNETH MARKSON

Chapter 1

Gina waited up for her father to return from his job managing a saloon, in their Kansas City neighborhood.  She would prepare him a hot drink when he came through the door in the early hours of the morning, exhausted from a long, hard night.  Then they would talk for a few minutes, while her mother and younger sister, Caroline, slept.

Despite the difficult times, Tom Nesbitt remained a cheerful man, with an amiable disposition.  Approaching his mid-fifties, he was a stocky, rugged individual, with brown eyes and round features.  At best, he was no better than ordinary looking, but his pleasant manner caused people to go beyond the surface and like the man. 

Gina was clearly her father's daughter.  For better or worse, she had inherited his looks and his disposition.  She was a tall, stocky woman of twenty-one, with brown hair and eyes.  Like her dad, she was big boned and strong, with a hearty laugh and kindness in her eyes.

From the start, there had always been a strong bond between father and daughter.  Gina looked forward to their nightly talks.  By contrast, her relationship with her mother was cold and distant.

Charlotte Nesbitt, could be described as a handsome woman, long and willowy.  She came originally from an upper class family, and never let poor Tom forget it.  Her saloonkeeper husband, in her mind, had been a disappointment and had lowered her station in life.

Gina, who resembled her father, was simply an extension of that disappointment.  Pretty Caroline was the apple of her eye.  No dress was too expensive to purchase for her darling Caroline.

As she reached her twenty-first birthday, the loneliness which Gina felt had grown stronger.  Caroline had no problem attracting several young men who were interested in courting her, but there were none for Gina.  She had no jealousy towards her younger sister, and wished her only the best, but that did not alleviate the natural longing which she felt.

She could not speak of her desire to have a loving husband and raise a family of her own, with her harshly critical mother.  Her mother had once cruelly intimated that she should resign herself to spinsterhood, and get used to living by herself.  It was with her father that she felt comfortable enough to discuss her dreams.

He was always there to build her confidence up, and to tell her that there was nothing that she couldn't achieve.  When she told him of her decision to become a mail order bride and seek a better future, she saw the love and great sadness in his eyes as he pondered the thought.  Then he approved the suggestion with a hug, even though he knew that she would have to go away.

Gina heard her father's heavy footsteps coming up the front steps to the door.  As he was juggling with his key, she rushed to open the door for him.

Hello, pa, Gina said with a smile.

Hello, Gina, her father replied, wearily.

He looks worn out and troubled, Gina thought to herself.

Come pa, she said, taking his hand.  Sit down, and have the warm drink I've made for you.

He slumped down into the comfortable armchair, that was generally reserved for him.

You're a good girl, Gina, Tom Nesbitt said, as he sipped from the cup that she had given him.

How was your work, pa? Gina asked.

Tough, he replied, with a shrug of his hands.  Some rowdies came into the saloon, and started trouble.  I had to work hard to keep anyone from getting hurt.  In the end, they had to be kicked out.

He sipped more of the drink, and spoke again.

How about you, Gina? he asked.

My day was pretty good, pa, she said excitedly.

Gina leaned forward and whispered in his ear.

Remember that matter we discussed, she said, about my becoming a mail order bride.

Tom Nesbitt nodded.

I put an ad in the Kansas City Gazette, today, she continued.  Hopefully, some decent gentlemen will respond to me.

Her father clasped her hand, and his weary eyes gleamed.

Good, he whispered happily.  May God bless you, Gina, he stated quietly, and may much happiness come from this.

Gina lovingly rested her hand on his shoulder.

Thank you, pa, she said.  That means a lot to me.

Her father pulled her close.

There's something that I want to tell you, Gina, he said quietly, before we go to bed.

His eyes focused on her.

There are some here, he said, that haven't given you a square break.  I know it, and there hasn't been much that I could do about it.  But you're my girl, and you'll always be my girl.  I want you to know that I'm proud of you, and I want you to be happy.  Even if it means that you will be away from here.

Gina noticed that there were tears in her father's eyes.  She had rarely seen him get so emotional.

This will be our little secret, he continued.  Your mother has spent an awful lot on Caroline, but I have not forgotten you.  Over the past few years, I have managed to set aside a small sum for you.  Given our circumstances, it is nothing tremendous, but it is enough to help give you a start.  When you're ready to leave, it will be there waiting.

Gina knelt down and kissed her father on the cheek.

I love you, pa, she said.

I love you, too, he replied.

He held out his hand.

Now, help an old man up, he smiled, and let's both get to bed.  It's getting late.

Chapter 2

The small settlement known as Wichita was spawned by the Chisholm Trail.  Jesse Chisholm, the son of a Scottish father and a Cherokee mother, set up trading posts along the trail that he marked.  He then hauled wagons loaded with goods to the Indian villages and the army posts on the trail.

Using the Chisholm Trail, hundreds of thousands of longhorn cattle were driven from San Antonio, Texas to the Kansas cow towns, to feed a growing nation.  In 1872, the Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railroad reached Wichita, and made the growing city the shipping center for the cattle market.  For about five years, Wichita was the destination of the cattle drives.  Then, the cattle market shifted southward to Dodge City.

The city politicians were not unhappy to see those wild days go.  With the decline of the cattle trade, the business community flourished, and Wichita continued to grow.  Small businesses sprouted up everywhere.

One such business was Smith's General Store on Main Street.  No one knew where the owner, Ned Smith, came from.  There were plenty of rumors regarding the tall, rangy man with the hard-bitten face.

Some said he was an old cowboy who had participated in those many cattle drives up the Chisholm Trail.  Some thought he had once been a gunfighter, and had given up that way of life.  Others believed he had been a gambler, who won enough to get a stake to start his business. 

They might all have been right.  It really didn't matter.  What mattered to people was how they were treated.

Smith treated his customers well, and dealt with them honestly.  So they liked him.  Along the way, Smith befriended a teenage boy, who wandered into his store one day.

The boy's parents had died, and he was hungry.  Smith gave him a job, and a place to stay.  That was five years ago.

Charlie Soames had grown into a twenty-two year old man, with black hair and brown eyes.  He was a tall, quiet, heavyset fellow with a somewhat awkward gait.  His general pleasantness, greatly enhanced  his ordinary looking features.

Years of hard work loading customers' wagons, and hauling around barrels of items such as flour and molasses, and sacks of grain, left him with broad shoulders.  His arms were powerful, and he was strong as a bull.

Charlie had also developed into quite a competent clerk for the general store.  Besides general food and consumables, there was a meat area, an apothecary section, and a selection of dry goods.  Charlie could handle any one of those areas, equally well,