A Perfect Match

By Doreen Milstead

Accidental Love - A woman from Nebraska makes a contract to marry a cowboy in California but along the way there’s an accident with the stagecoach she’s in, and she’s the only passenger.

Abby And William And The Little Man –A woman finds an injured man on the ground and recognizes him as a distant neighbor she hasn’t seen in many years.

A Loss That Cannot Be Borne - A man helps his friend by working on a house that the friend is creating in anticipation of the man’s soon-to-arrive mail ordered bride, but something happens that pulls the reins on the friend’s hopes and dreams and the man wonders what will be the future of the handcrafted house and its wonderful furnishings.

Abigail & the Lost Soul - When a woman sets out for Colorado to meet her future husband, she encounters many trials of faith and endurance, as well as one temporarily lost soul whose life becomes entwined with her own as the struggle to survive begins.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Lulu.com
• Release date: Nov 21, 2016
• ISBN: 9781365550492

Book preview

A Perfect Match

A Perfect Match

By

Doreen Milstead

Copyright 2016 Susan Hart

Accidental Love

Synopsis: Accidental Love - A woman from Nebraska makes a contract to marry a cowboy in California but along the way there’s an accident with the stagecoach she’s in, and she’s the only passenger. A stranger stops by and the only means of getting out from her predicament is to go back to Colorado with him, as he’s a arranging a cattle drive back to his own home in California. Along the way she realizes that she’s falling in love with him, even though she’s promised to another.

Sarah Jackson was a slip of a girl who was as ornery as a two-year old colt. If she wasn’t stitching one of her needlepoints, she had her nose buried deep in a book when she didn’t have chores to do. She lived in those travel books more than she did in the world she grew up in and wanted to get a taste of that world before she got too old and took on a spinster’s life like her Auntie Anna.

In her mind Sarah had traveled the world over, made even more enticing by all those wonderful writers who painted stories that just set her mind reeling, but what she liked best was reading about the Wild West. She wanted desperately to go there and find herself a cowboy, but was just shy of her twentieth birthday and Mamma wasn’t about to let her leave.

Sarah stood about five foot four and dripping wet might have weighed a hundred and ten pounds. She had pouty lips and the most wonderful brown eyes that just up and sparkled when she smiled. Her figure was slim but had all the right curves in all the right places and her ginger colored hair wrapped like a halo around her angular face.

Although not as pretty as those dance hall girls, Sarah had her own charm and when she smiled, the boys swooned. She didn’t see many boys though. Just occasionally at the hoedowns they had every few months. There was lots of fiddle playing and floor stomping, but there weren’t many boys that she found interesting.

Sarah and her twin brother were the youngest of five siblings. Growing up with older brothers could be a task, but she loved them all. She didn’t like it when they hovered around her at the hoedowns and scared off any of the boys that showed an interest in her, especially her twin because he was almost too protective. There weren’t many boys her age and when they braved the scowls of one or other of her brothers, they were either dim or a boy full of braggadocio. She didn’t take a cotton to either type so she usually always just sat and tapped her toes to the music watching them all dance like fools, even her mamma.

She loved her mamma dearly but didn’t want to live the way her mamma did. Her father died when she was young in the great Civil War and she didn’t remember much about him and her momma had been alone ever since. She had many suitors but never seemed to want any of them in her life and they didn’t stick around long. Not for lack of trying on their part, mamma was still a handsome woman and owned one of the larger farms around so they tried pretty hard.

They were so far away from town that it was an event just to go and shop for supplies and she hardly saw any boys but the farm boys, boys Sarah wanted nothing to do with. She did notice the older men leering at her when she came into town and that made her feel uncomfortable, yet at the same time pleased that they were looking.

Sarah had never been in love and had never been properly courted. When some brave fool rode out to their farm to ask her if he could court her, her brothers scared them off, something she never understood. Her twin brother William was the worst. He didn’t seem to want her to meet any boys and fall in love so the idea of going out west was a dream of finding romance too.

Hurry up child, these dishes ain’t gonna wash themselves!

Coming, Mamma. Sarah put down her needlepoint and headed to the kitchen.

After washing the dishes, sweeping the floor and tidying up around the house, she settled down to read one of her new books. It was about a man who’d traveled to Europe and wrote about all the finery and sophistication of the people in France. He wrote about the new styles of clothes and how risqué he thought they were and how the women who danced in the show houses were such scandalous women, something you didn’t see in the states.

She read it and her heart raced as she thought of finding a sophisticated boy and was courted by him and finally did what she’d heard so much about. Heck, she hadn’t even kissed a boy yet and knew little about the ways of love, but knew she wanted to.

Even so, she held on to her childish dreams of someday meeting her white knight in shining armor, which made her laugh because she knew no one wore armor anymore unless it was for show. She hoped to someday meet the man of her dreams but didn’t know how she’d do that stuck out on the farm. She began trying to figure out ways to get out west and meet that man, but she had no idea how and wasn’t yet old enough to just up and leave.

She’d miss mamma and her brothers but wanted to be the love of some lucky man’s dreams before she pined away and became that old maid, or settled for some farm boy and lived her life getting pregnant and raising babies. She had nothing against babies and in fact wanted a parcel full of young ones running around her house. She just didn’t want it here and have her life frittered away with a dumb farmer.

Living on a farm was boring, monotonous, and tedious. There wasn’t much to do except feed the chickens, collect their eggs, tend to their garden and do her chores. Four times a year it got crazy when they planted their crops and then later harvested their crops. They did this two times a year and farmers from around the area helped each other during the planting and harvesting seasons.

Each would plant their crops a few days apart so hopefully, when it came time to harvest they could help each other. They had this planting business down pat and had worked this way for as long as Sarah could remember. This was about the only time that Sarah saw any boys and men, but they were so busy either planting or pulling out their crops that she had little time for social gossiping. Besides, if a boy even looked at her he was met by her brother’s scowls and he would quickly turn away.

She had an unpleasant reputation around the area as a girl with a cold heart and brothers who’d whup you if you tried to court her. None of it true, except the scowling, but life on the farm brought out a lot of sorry speculation about each other because there was little else to do.

It was the start of winter so there was little to do except get ready for it. The winters in Nebraska could get quite uncomfortable and they had a lot of food preparation, canning and what not to get ready. The boys were excellent hunters and hunted whatever meat they needed through the year so they pretty much always had some kind of meat to eat for dinner. Sometimes they weren’t so lucky but a meatless dinner here and there wasn’t so bad.

Sarah’s mom was a great cook and could set a table like no other. She taught her daughter to cook as well someday hoping she’d go off and get married. She didn’t tell Sarah that and wouldn’t until she met the right boy. She loved her daughter fiercely and wanted only the best for her with a good man and a good life. If Sarah knew how her momma felt about that, she’d of been a lot less worried and wouldn’t be so afraid of finding ways to get out of there. As with many things though, not knowing led to events that sometimes just didn’t play out well.

On one of those rare winter days where the sun was shining and it wasn’t too cold, Sarah sat on the front porch doing her needlepoint. Her brother William came out and sat beside her. She gave him a curious look and he gave her a nervous grin back.

Mornin,’ Dumpling! William offered while smiling at his sister.

They were close as only twins can be and it seemed at times they could feel each other’s pain and happiness. Sarah didn’t know what she felt at this moment but she knew something was coming from her brother.

Hi, Billy, it’s a beautiful day, she answered as she looked at the low-lying hills surrounding their farm.

Billy followed her gaze as he leaned a little closer to her and said, Got somethin’ to tell ya, Sis.

A quick feeling of dread wrapped itself around her heart and she asked somewhat tentatively, What’s that, Billy?

I’ve met someone, Sarah, and we’re gonna get hitched up next spring!

His enthusiasm as he told his sister was short lived when he saw her face.

Sarah sat looking at her brother, speechless while a tear worked its way down her cheek. That sense of dread wrapped around her heart now sent shudders up and down her spine. She wiped her tear and even though she should be happy for Billy, all she could think of at the moment was herself and the thought of losing him in her life. They were too close. What was she going to do without him?

Billy, you can’t! What will I do without you?

Billy leaned over and patted her on the knee, You’ll be fine, Sis, you’ll meet a beau of your own here pretty quick and you’ll forget all about me.

No I won’t, Sarah said with vehemence, eyes tearing up again.

He got serious, grabbed her by each shoulder and said, I’m getting married, Dumpling, and I’m happy and you should be happy for me too.

Sarah looked up at her brother through a fog of tears and tried to give him a smile…she couldn’t.

I…I, I am happy for you, Billy, it’s just so sudden and I’ll just be lost without you.

He grinned at her as he told her, No you won’t! Every boy’s thoughts around here are about getting hitched up with you. You’re the talk of the county.

I want to meet someone who can take me away from here. You gonna build another place on the farm, she asked with hope.

Billy turned his head away for a moment and said rather quietly, No, we’re going to move west somewhere -- just haven’t decided where yet.

Sarah felt jealousy building up when she heard that, she wanted to go there herself and looked long and hard at her brother.

Why, Billy, I didn’t know you wanted to move away. You want your sister to come with you and take care of your house so you and your wife can enjoy your company? She hesitated for a moment with a puzzled look on her face and asked, Who ya marrying anyway? Do I know her?

Looking a bit sheepish, he answered in a quiet voice, No, you don’t know her…and neither do I.

Sarah looked at him and was incredulous, then asked, You don’t know her? How in the world did you decide to marry a woman you don’t even know? How did you…meet…ah, how do you know she’ll want to marry you if you’ve never met? She looked harder at him with a devious look on her face and said, You said you met her. How could you have met her if you’ve never seen her? You’re just pulling my leg and having fun with me aren’t you?

Billy released his pent up breath in a sigh and said, I seen her picture she sent with her letter after I wrote to her.

Now looking perplexed, Sarah asked him, What are you talking about? Seen her picture from a letter she wrote you? How did you know to write her a letter in the first place?

Billy slowly reached into his shirt pocket and brought out a much folded, faded part of a newspaper. Holding it out, he gave it to Sarah to read.

Be careful, it’s a might fragile, he said and gave her a lopsided grin.

She read the article and a bolt of electricity ran rampant in her.

What a wonderful idea!

She looked at her brother again with a big, beaming smile.

You found yourself a mail order bride! That’s quite a jump for you. You must want to get out of here as much as I do.

Billy relaxed but was a little taken aback at his sister’s sudden turn around about him leaving.

Yeah, I don’t want to be a farmer the rest of my life either.

Sarah was too busy