Olivia Grace: Mail Order Brides Series, #2

By Beverly Kovatch

Olivia Rose orphaned at a very young age was the child of a fur trader and a Cheyenne squaw. Taken to an orphanage she quickly found that no one wanted to adopt what the people called a half-breed.savage. As she grew up she remained at the orphanage, teaching and caring for the children.

Elizabeth or Betsy as she was called came from a very prominent family in Boston. She met Olivia one day in the market and they soon became good friends. Betsy's family did not approve so they just began meeting in the secret whenever they could. Betsy was determined to help her friend escape life in the orphanage. When she found an ad at the postal office she pulled it down and gave it to Olivia. "You must do this" she told her friend. "Send a letter, your life cannot be worse than this." The ad she gave her said that they were looking for mail order brides for gold miners in California/  These men were lonely and needed a woman for companionship. This was ridiculous she thought, no one would want her, but she wrote the letter anyway. She was honest about her life, and she mailed it off figuring no one would ever respond. When a letter came back addressed to her she was surprised. She still wasn't sure but then Mrs. Culpepper came with devastating news and Olivia knew she had to do something. 

• Language: English
• Publisher: Beverly Kovatch
• Release date: Mar 7, 2021
• ISBN: 9781393064244

Beverly Kovatch

This Author is about as unknown as one can become. She sometimes lives in the past, sometimes in the future, sometimes right in the middle of the present. Her mind wanders from what was to what is to what could be. That is the power of the written and spoken word. There are so many opportunities for so many people, and she wonders why no one seems to seek them out. She lives on a farm in what was once a vast farmland area. A few people still believe in farming, but each year, there seem to be fewer and fewer of them. This past year, it appears that the moral background of the world is rapidly disappearing. It takes hard work to be a farmer nowadays. It is a lot easier to sit back and watch others do it. People have taken this place we call home for granted. The pandemic threw us all for a loop, but it also made some realize that unless we fight for what we believe in, our country, the one we all grew up in, could be lost. It took hard work and determination for us to be where we are, and all of it started with a small dream. You see, everything in life begins with a dream. This Author once dreamt she could one day write a book that others might enjoy reading, and here she is. She has written not one book but more than twenty books. Some people dream of owning just a small piece of land, owning their own little business, raising their families in a free land, a place where we are allowed to say what we feel in our hearts, fight for what we believe in, worship at the church of our choice. These past few years have taught this Author that there is power in our words. Once our words are silenced, we have given up one of our most treasured rights. It is my hope, my dream, that the power that you, my readers, have within you will never be silenced. The dreams you hold inside will always be fulfilled, and that you will always and forever … Keep on Dreaming!

Book preview

Prelude

Rex was asleep as Leanna crawled in next to him. She was his wife and she deserved to be in this bed with him. He had placed her in the room attached to his to keep her safe. Safety was not what she wanted, she wanted love. She wanted him to love her just as he had loved Cassie, but in her heart, she feared that he would never love anyone like that again.

It was obvious that Cassie was the love of his life, but Cassie was gone, and he was eventually going to have to move on. She knew she could fill that spot in his heart if he only let her. He was stubborn as a mule and it was going to take time to wear him down, but wear him down she would.

He suddenly moved and turned on his side. She scooted closer to him facing his back she softly placed her arm across his chest. The warmth of his body set her heart on fire.  He reached up and touched her hand holding it tightly against his bare chest. He took a deep breath. At that moment she felt the safest she had ever felt in her life.

He turned again this time he faced her never opening his eyes. He suddenly pulled her tight to his chest and kissed her. His eyes were still tightly closed but his kiss was filled with passion. He smiled that quirky little smile of his, and Leanna wondered if he even realized it was her that he was kissing.  

It was evident to everyone that Rex had been a womanizer; in fact, she knew that he had slept with Amy, Anna, and Sally. They had all thought at one time or another that when he decided he was going to settle down he would pick one of them.  She wondered right now if he thought that he was with one of them. Was this how they came to him secretly in the night, after he was asleep?

She suddenly felt sick. What if he was dreaming? Who was the woman he was dreaming about as he caressed and kissed her with his eyes tightly shut? Was it Callie, Amy, or did she even want to know?

The weight of his body, the touch of his hand set her on fire, and yet he never opened his eyes. She didn’t want him to stop, so she remained silent as he gently made love to her. She wanted him more than anything in her life. She wondered later what he would do when he found out that it was her in his bed and not Amy, Sally, or Anna. Would he be angry? Would he still think of her as a helpless child? Would he even realize that he had made love to her?

He finally rolled onto his back. With his eyes still closed he had a huge smile on his face. He whispered something, but she couldn’t make out what it was.  She wasn’t sure she wanted to know what he was saying especially if it was meant for one of his regular sleeping partners. She laid there silent and still and then quietly removed herself from his bed when he started snoring.

She walked quietly into the attached room and crawled into the bed. She was tired but sleeping eluded her. All she could think about was Rex with his arms around her holding her tight against his body. This was so different than her experience with Caleb Calloway. This was how it should be she thought as she finally fell asleep holding tightly to a pillow.

Chapter One

The thunder crashed and the lightning flashed as she walked in the room to tuck in the smaller children. Lucy ran to her and hugged her legs tightly.

It is alright Lucy; it is just a thunderstorm. Let’s get you into bed.

Lucy reached up and Olivia picked her up and placed her into her bed.

There you go. It will be all bright and shiny tomorrow morning, She said as she tucked her in tightly.

I love you, Olivia, Lucy replied. Sit with me for a little while?

Olivia sat down on her bed and sang her a little song. Lucy reached up and touched Olivia’s black wavy hair as she listened to Olivia’s soft voice. She smiled as Olivia reached over and kissed her goodnight.

She got up as soon as she knew Lucy was asleep. She walked down the hallway to her small room. It was dark but the light from her candle revealed the cold and dingy room that she had been given.

She remembered when she too slept in that large room that she had just left. How lonely she was, how she craved someone to hold her tight as her mother did.

She was barely five years old when she was placed in this orphanage. For being so small she remembered her parents as if everything had happened to her yesterday. Her father was a fur trader, a tall thin man who carried her on his shoulders. When he did she felt like a giant high above the world. Her mother was Native American. She had tan skin and long wavy black hair.  She was called a savage by most people. She remembered when her mother held her tight and rocked her to sleep. Her voice was soft and gentle. Their family traveled together as her father hunted for the furs that supplied their needs.

Another fur trader found her alone in the wagon covered by a blanket. She remembered her mother whispering to stay still and quiet as she placed the blanket over her.  She heard the commotion but she had listened to her. She remembered the look of fear on her mother’s face.

Olivia shuttered as she remembered the shots fired from the guns. She jumped as the thunder crashed at that very moment. She placed the candle on the small table in her little room. She had been rescued and taken to this orphanage. Her father had no relatives, and her mother was from a Cheyenne tribe. There would be no one to come and claim her.  She was what they called unadoptable. No one would ever take a half-breed into their home. She had been labeled a savage just like her mother.

She silently endured all the hatred and anger that was vented at her, hoping that one day she would be free.  Where did the time go she thought? She could have walked out of the orphanage years ago, but she couldn’t leave the children. Each time that she thought she could leave another child was placed in the orphanage. She remembered how lonely it was for her.  She was now the one they depended on. She couldn’t leave them.

She removed her clothes and dressed in her nightgown. She needed some sleep her morning would start very early. She was going to have to go to the town market to get supplies for the kitchen. She did her best to make sure that the children were safe and fed.

Elizabeth or Betsy as she liked to be called was at the market when Olivia arrived. Betsy’s family was originally from Boston. They were from a very prominent family in Boston. Betsy was not at all like the rest of the Johnsons, she had a heart and she didn’t care what anyone said about Olivia. She liked her and the fact that she was part Indian made her all the more interesting to Betsy.

The sun was just starting to rise over the mountains. The fresh air invigorated Olivia as she walked almost sprinted to the market. She had befriended Betsy when her family first moved into the Ohio Valley and even though sometimes it felt as if she were Betsy’s token project. She found that Betsy was the only person who made her feel as if she wasn’t hated by everyone.  Most of the people ignored her as if she was invisible.

Then there were the ones who would say rude remarks calling her a savage, and that she should have been dumped with her mother’s people. Betsy was not like that at all. She enjoyed Olivia’s company and she was bound and determined to help her if she could.

Olivia Fairweather, she cried out as she saw her coming towards her. She ran out to meet her and gave her a huge bear hug.

Oh Olivia, I have some great news for you. I think this will be perfect.

Olivia laughed. Her friend always had some plan or scheme to rescue her from the orphanage.

I have something to show you. I saw it posted at the mail office when I went to mail a letter to my granny yesterday. I have never seen this before. It is perfect to get you away from here.

Did I ever say I wanted to get away from here? Olivia asked.

Not in so many words, but this is a surefire thing.

Oh Betsy, you are always thinking everything is a surefire thing.

Maybe I do, but this time I am sure this is it.

Betsy handed Olivia the paper she had pulled down from the bulletin board at the mail office.

Olivia read it thinking and hoping just a little bit maybe that Betsy might have an idea that would work. She read how they were looking for mail-order brides for gold miners in California.

The paper said all you had to do was write a request, tell them all about yourself and mail it off. If one of the men was interested in you they would write back about themselves and you could converse with them for a while before deciding if it was right for you. Oh, come on Olivia it’s a great plan.

Hum, she replied to Betsy. Well, I must say this is different than anything you have come up with before. What would I do about the children though? They depend on me being there for them. The others at the orphanage are mean, and I could never leave little Lucy behind.

So, you tell them about Lucy and you take her with you. The rest of those children will be fine without you. You survived without someone helping you all these years.

Well, I will think about it, but I know I could never leave Lucy behind, so that would have to be considered, and I am not sure that some man in California will want a ready-made family when all he is expecting is a wife. Also, will he accept me being a half-breed? That always gets in the way of any relationship.

No one thinks of you that way, Betsy said trying to convince her friend that this was her way to freedom.

Olivia just shook her head. Of course, her friend would say that, but the people in town never accepted her and she knew that.

Enough of this, I need to get food for the children or they won’t have breakfast this morning. There is nothing like six hungry children waiting for breakfast. She said laughingly.

I guess you are right. Betsy conceded as she linked her arm in Olivia’s.