Love For Elise: Mail Order Bride Series, #6
By R L Butler
5/5
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About this ebook
This is a clean Western Historical Mail Order Bride Romance book that does not contain any foul language or sexual situations.
Elise left home to go west to Taos, New Mexico after being evicted by her step-father shortly after her mother’s death. With no place to live and a small dowry, she felt she had no choice but to go since her step-father forged her signature on a contract committing her to marry a man she'd never met.
While deep in thought trying to sort out what had happened while she was traveling, she realized that if her step-father forged her signature on a marriage contract, he could have also forged the signature on her mother’s will that left her with only a small portion of her family's large estate.
How will Elise prove that the documents were forged and regain her rightful inheritance?
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Titles in the series (10)
Jessie's Love: Mail Order Bride Series, #1 Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsLucy's Miner: Mail Order Bride Series, #2 Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5The Business of Marriage: Mail Order Bride Series, #4 Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Loving Pete: Mail Order Bride Series, #3 Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Destiny to Love: Mail Order Bride Series, #5 Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Love For Elise: Mail Order Bride Series, #6 Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Abigail Finds Love: Mail Order Bride Series, #7 Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Meg's Love: Mail Order Bride Series, #8 Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Carolina's Mission of Love: Mail Order Bride Series, #10 Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Ruby: Mail Order Bride Series, #9 Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5
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Book preview
Love For Elise - R L Butler
Chapter 1
Elise Rasmussen hated this. She wouldn’t be twenty until next month, and she had been forced from her family home because her mother had died and her step-father, Morton Farmhill, had evicted her. That house should have been hers , not his. Somehow, he had coerced her mother into changing her will, and now the house belonged to him. She was left with a dowry of a mere one thousand dollars of her mother’s two-hundred-fifty-thousand-dollar cash wealth, in addition to the house and silver store. On top of that, he had answered an advertisement in her name for a bride who would go to Taos, New Mexico Territory .
For three months, she had corresponded with Jared Hopkins. He seemed nice enough, but she had no desire to marry him or anyone else. Unfortunately, according to the contract that her step-father signed with Jared Hopkins, in her name without her agreement, once he paid for her transportation, upon her arrival she would marry him.
Granted, at twenty-eight, he wasn’t an old man. In fact, it was a reasonable age difference. Still, she didn’t know the man. The few letters they’d exchanged hadn’t told her much more than that he owned a sheep ranch of two thousand acres and that he was ready to settle down. Other than that, he’d only told her what Taos was like. It sounded like a rough-and-tumble town, but not excessively so.
She was a city girl, though. She’d lived all her life in Baltimore, Maryland, the only child of a prominent businessman and local politician. She had attended only the finest schools and wore the finest in apparel. After her mother’s death, she found out that she was adopted. In her step-father’s vindictiveness, he told her that she had no right to her parents’ inheritance because she wasn’t their offspring and showed her the adoption papers. He said she was lucky to get even the one thousand dollars.
Elise knew that John and Elizabeth Rasmussen had loved her unconditionally, just as they would have loved their own flesh-and-blood child. If Lizzie, her mother, hadn’t been so sick toward the end of her life, she never would have signed a new will.
Chapter 2
As she disembarked the stagecoach in Santa Fe, a sudden thought occurred to her. If her step-father had forged her name in an advertisement and to a contract, what would have kept him from forging her mother’s name to the will? How could she possibly get information about that now that she was so far away? Is that why he had sent her to New Mexico Territory? Was it to get her out of town before she could learn the truth ?
Grief always seems to make a person stupid,
she declared in anger.
Pardon me?
a man asked from nearby.
Elise’s face heated, and she knew she was turning as red as her and her mother’s hair. Maybe that’s why her parents had adopted her, because her hair color was the same as her mother’s.
Glancing over at the man, his face appeared dark and haggard, as though he had spent most of his life outdoors. He had mostly dark hair that was about ear-length and wavy at the ends, and a thick mustache that was sprinkled with gray.
I apologize,
she eventually replied. I was just thinking out loud
Grief and stupidity don’t always go well together. I’m Kit Carson, Miss.
He extended his hand in a friendly gesture.
Shocked by the name, she shook his hand in a daze, as she said, "Elise Rasmussen. Are you the Kit Carson I’ve read about?"
I probably am. Trapper, mountain man, scout, Indian agent, and Army man, if that’s the Kit Carson you’re talking about.
It’s an honor to meet you, Mr. Carson.
Thanks, but I’m just a regular man doing several different jobs. Do you need help with your baggage from the stage?
"Yes, thank you. Could you also direct me to the La Fonda? That’s where I’m supposed to stay for a couple of nights, until the stage leaves for Taos."
Carson pointed to a building near them. "Right there, young lady. The Santa Fe Trail ends right here at the Hotel La Fonda."
Thank you.
Once she had her carpetbags, she thanked Mr. Carson again and bade him good-bye before turning around and going into the building, where Jared had previously reserved her a room. At least, he’d said that he would do it. Right now, she could only hope that he had lived up to his word, even though people like her step-father never did.
Entering the adobe building, she approached the front desk and asked if they had a reservation for her. To her relief, they did. Well, at least Jared was a man of his word right now. She would have to see how trustworthy he was in the future. Once she had her key, she went upstairs to find her room. The room was a small cube with white walls and one window. It contained a bed big enough for one, a toiletry table, a wooden chair, and an armoire. Not much to look at, but as long as she could sleep in a bed, she would be happy. Two nights here, and she would be back on a stage and onto the Taos Trail. Hopefully, it would be a short, uneventful trip.
Removing her dirty, dusty, traveling suit, Elise stripped down to her camisole and pantaloons. She poured some water