Home By Sunset

By Vanessa Carvo

The Widow From Back East & The City Boy With Eleven Children - A woman travels from the lush forests of the east coast to the west and to a fiancé she’s never met.

The Widow From Manchester & Her California Handyman - A widow from Manchester, where she and her husband had a successful distillery business, decides to become a mail order bride and make a new home for herself and teen daughter in California.

Three Brothers & The Fighting Brides - A group of women head out west on the train to meet their mail ordered husbands but when a fight erupts that spills out onto the train platform, all that the three waiting brothers can see is a mass of swirling skirts and bonnets and differently colored hair, and a group of apparently very angry women.

Three Brides For Three Cowboy Brothers - Three mail order brides show up on the same day for three brothers. No one gets along and mostly, all dislike each other.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Lulu.com
• Release date: Nov 25, 2016
• ISBN: 9781365560835

Book preview

Home By Sunset

Home By Sunset

By

Vanessa Carvo

Copyright 2016 Quietly Blessed & Loved Press

The Widow From Back East & The City Boy With Eleven Children

Synopsis:  The Widow From Back East & The City Boy With Eleven Children - A woman travels from the lush forests of the east coast to the west and to a fiancé she’s never met. He runs an orphanage with eleven children amidst the dryness of the western states and although she realizes there is love in his heart, she doesn’t know if she’ll be able to handle an instant family of thirteen, which appears to be growing before she’s even met the man. 

Elizabeth patted the bedcover, singing softly. When she reached the end of the verse, she paused, still patting the little girl. Elizabeth held her breath as she leaned forward to stand up.

Sing more, a soft voice whispered. More, Aunt Lizzie.

Elizabeth smiled and began the song from the beginning again. When she reached the end, she leaned forward and peeked at the face of the little girl with curly brown hair. Her eyes were closed and she breathed deeply and evenly. Elizabeth quietly rose and stepped over to the door. She gingerly opened it and closed it behind her.

That took long enough, Elizabeth’s sister laughed.

Shh, she answered. You’ll wake her and I’ll have to do it all over again. Elizabeth crossed the small sitting room and sat across from her sister, who was slowly rocking a baby in a chair.

I know you enjoy it though, Rebecca answered.

Of course I do. Your little girls are precious. And the spitting image of you.

And they are growing so fast, Rebecca said. Why, just yesterday little Hannah told me that she wanted to be a mommy when she grew up, so she could take care of real babies instead of her dolly.

Elizabeth joined in laughter with her sister, but a familiar shadow crossed her heart. She tried to hide it.

It is always wonderful to have you visit, not simply for the help you are with the little ones. Father so enjoys hunting with John, and it makes me feel like a little girl again, spending time with you.

A little girl with two little girls of your own, Elizabeth said.

I can’t wait until the day that you bring your own children to this home. Then we … Rebecca’s words stopped short.

I’m sorry, Rebecca said, I didn’t mean to say that.

It is okay, Elizabeth answered, but she felt like crying.

How long has it been? her sister asked.

Two years. This time, Elizabeth could not manage more than a whisper. But, she forced herself to remain composed. She would not cry. Not in front of her sister. Not in front of anyone. She would be strong, as mother always had been.

Two years is a long time.

Elizabeth looked up in surprise at her sister’s blunt comment. What do you mean?

You are 22 years old, and you won’t be young forever, Lizzie. I have an idea.

You have an idea, Becca? Your ideas always got us into trouble.

Well, this idea is for you, not me. I’m already married. She laughed. Lizzie, I know you’re lonely, and I so want to see you happy. I know it isn’t easy, but please let me say this.

I do not need help. Father and I are happy together in town. We see you often. Who knows what might change if I were to find another man to marry?

Maybe it is something that needs to be changed. Rebecca stood, cradling her baby in one hand while she crossed the room and rifled through a few papers on a carved, wooden shelf. I have been saving these for your visit. I know it will never be a good time to talk about it, but I’m going to anyway.

Talk about what? Elizabeth asked, her curiosity piqued. She glanced down at the papers her sister held in front of her. The Matrimonial News. The subtitle of the page stated that it was, A weekly journal devoted to the interests of love, courtship and marriage. She drew in her breath sharply and felt a surge of anger.

No. Never. That is crazy. Becca, how could you even think of such a thing?

Lizzie, listen to me. These are good men. They are brave. Many of them have sacrificed much. Some have even lost their own wives or children as they traveled west. They are searching for love. Come on, at least look through them with me.

Where did you even get these?

A good friend brought them all the way from Kansas … at my request.

What would father think if I responded to some advertisement in the paper for a wife?

John and I have discussed this …

You have been talking about this with John as well? Does father know too? Elizabeth was beginning to feel sick to her stomach.

No, I have not talked to father about it, but I talk about everything with John. He will add a new room to the homestead here for Father. He loves spending time with John, and he can feel useful with the girls and work on the land. You know how he’s been since Mother died. It can make him feel young again.

While you ship me off to some wild no-man’s-land to face God knows what dangers?

Lizzie, you are being dramatic. Rebecca laughed. Indulge me, please. At least look at a few of them.

Elizabeth sighed. Her older sister was every bit as stubborn as she was. She knew Rebecca was usually right. But answering a call for a bride to someone so many miles away? The thought frightened her. Okay, I will look at them, but only to please you.

It will please me, thank you very much. Rebecca left the room for a moment and returned with her hands free. Now we can focus on this fully. She picked up the top leaflet and read it aloud. Responsible 40-year-old man seeks a wife of 25 or younger to care for his five children and help with the farm work. Will be cared for and loved.

Five children? Rebecca!

But you love children, Lizzie.

It does not mean I want to be an instant mother to five of them.

Okay. her sister held her hands up as if in surrender. We will keep looking.

Elizabeth raised her eyebrows. She would let her sister do all the reading. She was no longer interested in this. How about this? ‘Bachelor in a shipping port seeks young wife to help with a general store, and to start a family. Frontlines of the gold rush.’

I thought the gold rush was ending, Elizabeth remarked, refusing to be impressed.

This time, Rebecca did not respond. She read another. Man running orphanage with  eleven children seeks energetic woman with love for God and others to assist. Open to marriage.

Well at least he didn’t say marriage was a requirement, Elizabeth said with a laugh.

Rebecca shot her a dark glance. Then she smiled. Well, it is the first time you did not say ‘no’ straight out. I will keep this one.

You will do nothing of the sort, Elizabeth said as she stood. I am going to get supper together, and want to hear nothing more of this crazy idea. Please.

Okay, her sister acquiesced. Elizabeth had expected more of a fight from her sister, but was happy for the departure from the difficult subject.

Elizabeth sat in front of the window. She had opened the curtains and let in the light of the full moon. She combed her hair with the ivory comb that had belonged to her mother. It was one of the only things she owned of her mother’s. Elizabeth ran her hands through her long hair. It was blonde, not brown like her mother’s had been, or like Rebecca’s. She knew that it drew many glances from men, but it had been years since she even responded to an admiring glance.

Only one look had stolen her heart. And he was gone. She sighed and pulled the curtains closed. The room darkened, but the faint outline of the papers on her desk drew her attention. She smiled wryly. Rebecca had pushed them into her hands as she and her father had climbed into the buggy to return to town after their visit. It had been two days. She refused to look at the sheets, but her mind kept returning to that last one Rebecca had read. An orphanage. Someone with a love for children and a love for God.

Elizabeth slowly braided her hair as the phrase kept repeating itself in her mind. God, she whispered, guide me. As she stretched out on her bed, she wished her mother was with her. The wise woman had always been full of encouragement and guidance. She would know what to do.

The first thing Elizabeth noticed was the wind. It was frigid and bit through her garments. She stumbled and fell to her knees, blinded by drifts of snow hitting her face. She could not see a single thing in front of her except the white. Her mind was confused. How did I get here? Panic overtook her and she began to pull in rapid breaths of icy air. I am going to die here, alone. She blinked tightly and felt a tear warm against her eyelid for an instant before it froze.

A hand grasped her hand tightly and pulled, urging her to stand. She stumbled and it held her steady. She began to take steps forward. The hand did not let go. She glanced toward it and thought she saw, for an instant, her mother’s form before the vision was obscured by the blizzard.

Elizabeth began walking with renewed confidence. She felt strength rising up within her and the cold was not as biting as before. The wind died down and she saw ahead of her a two-story homestead. It reminded her of the place in her earliest memories, where her mother and father raised her and her sister. She felt warmth emanating from it as she drew near. She felt like a little girl again, standing on the threshold of the home and looking toward the figure that was still holding her hand tightly. Instead of seeing her mother, a brilliant light engulfed her vision.

Elizabeth sat up in bed, her heart beating out a rapid rhythm. She was sweating and her hands were clammy and tense. It was only a dream, she whispered to herself. She took a deep breath, trying to calm her pattering heart. As her mind began to drift once more, she thought she heard a voice. Or was it the beginning of another dream? You are guided and are never alone, she thought the voice said..

When she woke the next morning, words were drifting through her mind. It is time to guide others, she thought. Elizabeth knew that she had dreamed something. About a storm and being held, or was it carried? She did not remember, and the harder she tried to recall the dream, the further it eluded her mind’s grasp. But, the words still wafted through her mind, and along with a strong impression that came with it. You have been guided, now It is time to guide others. Before leaving her room to prepare breakfast for herself and her father, Elizabeth sat at her oak desk and picked up a leaf of paper. She dipped her quill pen in ink and began to write.

Two months later

Elizabeth lifted her skirts and picked her way through tall grass from where she had secured her father’s horse to a tree. She weaved through the well-known forested area toward a crudely constructed wooden cross. A second one, smaller and made of fresher wood, stood a few paces from it. Elizabeth approached the larger one.

Mother, this will be the last time I visit you for a while. If you’re looking down on me, like you said you would, you don’t really need a visit from me to tell you. Elizabeth sighed and sat down on the green, carpeted ground.

Maybe it is me who needs to visit you one last time. She glanced over at the smaller cross. You and Christopher. She felt tears trying to make their way to the surface. Even though she knew no one was around, she blinked hard and forced them back down.

Father is happy to be staying with Rebecca. But Mother, I am going to be so far away from home. This man I have written, he seems like a good man, but there is no way of knowing for sure. His heart is sore pressed for the kids he cares for. Mother, you always said to find a man who loves God and everything else will work out. I found that once. She choked and let out a sob.

I do not know if it will be possible to find it again. But, I feel this is the way I am meant to go. I know those kids need help and I keep thinking of how you were always there for me, always loving and guiding and praying. If these young ones do not have that, I feel I need to do something for them. Is that right, Mother?

Elizabeth sat in silence, feeling nothing but a waft of the early summer breeze. She heard a dove lowing, and another one answering it. She felt silly, sitting there waiting. For what, she did not know. "I love you, Mother, and I pray that where you are,