Mail Order Bride: Opal - A Diamond In The Rough: Brides Of Paradise, #6

By GRACE HEARTSONG

1875. Opal Cushing is a swindler and a drifter--she's been on her own making ends meet for her two younger siblings since she was twelve. 

At eighteen, Opal began answering bride-wanted ads of the wealthiest men she could find, with the intent of absconding with a considerable portion of their wealth just before the wedding ceremony.

But when Opal answers the bride-wanted ad of the wealthiest man in Paradise, Iowa, her usual plan gets interrupted when genuine emotion gets in the way.

Book 6 in the Brides Of Paradise mail order bride series but can also be read as a standalone novelette!
 

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Tags: Mail Order Bride Romance, Historical Religious Christian Frontier Western Romance, Historical Short Stories & Series

• Language: English
• Publisher: BlissRockHub OU
• Release date: Dec 22, 2017
• ISBN: 9781386621898

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OPAL

A DIAMOND IN THE ROUGH

BRIDES OF PARADISE BOOK 6

MAIL ORDER BRIDES

BY GRACE HEARTSONG

A DIAMOND IN THE ROUGH

Opal Cushing—twenty -two, blonde-haired, tall, and lithe—liked to pick out the bride-wanted ads from the wealthiest men in the country. The ads never explicitly said how much a man made, but she’d gotten good at guessing. The truth was evident in their wording, their eloquence, their location, and their profession (if they did, in fact, list one.)

At twelve, Opal and her two younger siblings Daniel and Maura had been orphaned in New York City. With Daniel a mere eight, and Maura only five, the responsibility had fallen to Opal to find work. She’d jumped around odd jobs throughout the city—washing dishes in a cafe, paper girl disguised as a paper boy, button factory worker, nanny...yet all the jobs she worked had hardly paid enough to make ends meet.

That all changed when she was eighteen—when she’d seen, for the first time, a bride-wanted ad in the newspaper. She had never intended on marrying, but she read them anyway—week after week until she’d made up her mind and narrowed down the bunch. She’d make inquiries, write sweet nothings, find out her best bets, and then convince the man she didn’t have the money to travel. Smitten, he’d wire a considerable sum—plus an additional amount of a gift for good measure if she’d buttered them up enough. These actions, of course, were all under a false name and address, and then she would drop off communications all together.

Since then, she’d gotten better and better at her ruse. She’d perfected it to nearly an art—making enough to rent a decent apartment in the city, clean and quiet and safe; away from the tenements. Her siblings were even now going to a proper school and didn’t have to work odd jobs like other children in their situation.

Only once had Opal had to travel outside of New York. The man had been weary, but he’d agreed to meet her in Chicago. He was a stockbroker, middle-aged and never married. Opal had gotten far too close to the edge that time, having to climb out the window of a fancy hotel in nothing but her wedding dress and her purse stuffed with bank notes and the diamond engagement ring he’d given her at supper the night before. She’d pawned the ring to secure passage home, then put the rest in the bank.

That was the last time she’d swindled a man, and it had been nearly a year since. The money was close to running out, and she’d need to get over her fear of coming so close to failure again in order to ensure a continued comfortable life for Daniel and Maura.

Daniel was eighteen now and submitting applications to college—and he was relying on her to pay his tuition. It was her responsibility to secure their future, after all, and so she did not fault him for expecting that much out of her. To his credit, he’d even offered to take on a job at a local warehouse to help out, but Opal had forbid him from doing so. At fifteen, Opal’s little sister Maura was still in school and had a dream of becoming a ballerina. Opal had been paying for private ballet lessons since soon after her first swindling job. Maura was talented, too, and if she wanted to succeed at all she would need a continued flow of income to pay for travel to auditions at prestigious schools around the country—the world, even.

And so, Opal was left with only one thing to do. She’d have to do one last swindle, and she’d have to make it a good one.

With Maura at school and Daniel at the library filling out college applications, Opal sipped tea quietly by herself in the kitchen. She ruffled the newspaper open and flipped to the bride-wanted ads, her heart pitter-pattering all along the way until it reached a steady, forceful pumping by the time she turned to the ad section.

She scanned the ads one by one, ticking off the poorly-worded ones and weeding out the modest professions. She repeated her rule to herself as she read:

Find the best. Do you job. Get out before you’re discovered and never, NEVER get involved.

Her rule hadn’t been that hard to break before, as most of the men had been so boring or old or dry—or a combination of all three, that her heart didn’t so much as skip a beat. She never thought of them as real men, in a way, merely empty words and means to an end.

Sometimes she felt bad about the things she had done, of course she had. But on the other hand, it was the only way of achieving a comfortable income to support her siblings without having to sell her body. And luckily, none of her liaisons had gotten so far as to become physical with her. The man she’d met half-way with in Chicago had gotten a few kisses out of her, but nothing more.

Some of the men, however, were so full of themselves and greedy that swindling them almost felt good. Served them right to be so arrogant, to have the rug pulled out from under them, and from a feeble woman at that—yes, she’d been called that all right, and many other unspeakable things after she dropped off communications. She never gave them her real address, either, but rather a post office address in Brooklyn.

All right, she said to herself, readying her pencil. What have we got today? She scanned through, her honey-brown eyes coming to rest of the most intriguing ad on the page—and the largest, which was indicative of a higher sum paid to take out a larger ad than the rest. Nearly half a page—no one would miss it. She laughed to herself and grinned as she read.

Live a life of luxury in Paradise, Iowa! Former oil-man desiring the simple life in a small town seeks a life companion to start a family and grow old with. Must be business-savvy to help me manage my interests from afar, and be willing to travel with me (for business and pleasure.) Please direct serious inquiries to Mr. Everett Moore, Marblehead Estate, Paradise, Iowa.

Don’t mind if I do, Opal said to herself, idly tapping the margin of the newspaper. She pulled a piece of paper alongside the ad and thought for a moment as she got into character. Who would she be this time? What kind of story would she tell? What could she say to make her words stand out shining and robust against the slew of others who would no doubt apply? Formulating her persona, Opal grinned, then drew forth her ink pot and quill and began.

Dear Mr. Moore,

I am writing in response to your bride wanted ad. Please allow me to introduce myself—my name is Diana Killian of New York City. I am orphaned, my parents having perished tragically in a carriage accident. They left me a considerable sum to start anew—and what better place than in Paradise?

I am twenty-two years old and have never been courted before. I have long, blonde hair and brown eyes the color of honey when the light hits them just right—or so I have been told. I am tall for a woman, slender, but with an ample bosom and bottom—I have no doubt that my physical appearance will please you. I so wish to know what you look like, as well as your hopes and dreams for the future. It would be so wonderful to find someone who shares the same goals as I.

Marblehead Estate sounds very grand, and I am already conjuring its impressive visage in my mind. No doubt you will need a lady of certain breeding and responsibility to run such a fine home. You need not fear, for I was educated at New York’s premiere finishing school. My own late parents were prominent in society here, and although family friends have taken pity on me, I would very much like to start my own life. I will not start a life based on pity, for I am a proud woman just as you are ostensibly a proud man.

Together, I believe