Ace's Bride: Mail Order Bride Tales, #3

By Sylvia McDaniel

The Past Collides With the Future Creating Mail-Order Bride Sparks

 

After being gone for years, Mick 'Ace' McIntire ordered himself a mail-order bride and returned home to Russell Gulch, Colorado. But everything has changed at home. His reason for ordering himself a bride is dead, his brother and father have both remarried and Mick is hiding his alter ego, Ace, the gambler from his family. If things couldn't get worse, his mail-order bride is right out of the past he's trying to keep hidden.

 

Anna Young, or Lady Melody as she's known in the saloon, is running from a much too ambitious fan who wants to make her his own caged singing bird. Realizing the only way to escape her over zealous suitor is to become unavailable, she signs up with a mail-order bride agency. But imagine her surprise when the man who lifts the veil at her wedding is non other than the attractive gambler in the saloon where Lady Melody sang.

 

Hiding from the past, can Mick and Anna start fresh or will the demons from the River Bottom Saloon follow them to Colorado? And can the attraction they denied in Kansas City overcome their distrust and bring them together forever?

 

"Ace's Bride" is a sweet historical western romance novel of 30,000 words. One man, one mail order Bride with a guaranteed happily ever after.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Sylvia McDaniel
• Release date: Jun 27, 2023
• ISBN: 9781942608943

Book preview

1

I 'm going to be late to my own wedding, Mick 'Ace McIntire said as he urged the horses faster down the rough road that led to Denver, Colorado.

There's no sense in killing all of us driving this way, his father, Cal, replied as he wrapped his arm around his wife, Edwina, to protect her from the jolting, speeding wagon. There is no way we're going to make it to the church on time.

I'm not going to have my new bride thinking I've stood her up at the altar, Mick replied, urging the horses on, his stomach clenched in a knot. He was marrying a woman he'd never met and now a broken spoke on the wagon wheel had almost derailed the wedding.

I'm sure Mrs. Garrison will reassure her, Pearl said, his new sister-in-law who had recently married his brother, Jesse. Things happen and she'll make her feel at home until we arrive.

If we make it, his new stepmother, Edwina, said sarcastically. So much had happened in the years he'd been gone from the family he loved. I just can't believe this is the third McIntire wedding in three months.

Well, technically, two weddings since we had a double ring ceremony, Jesse replied then turned to him. Are you ready to marry someone you don't know?

Yep, he responded knowing he wanted this woman to keep him from returning to the life he'd left behind. Hopefully he wasn't marrying a woman like Beth, his brother’s lascivious first wife.

It was a little late to back out. Living in Kansas City, one night in a drunken, lonely moment, he'd made the decision to return to the home and family he'd left behind. At the time, he'd believed his sister-in-law Beth was still alive, his reason for leaving Colorado at a very young eighteen. So he'd decided the best cure for that problem was to get married. He'd ordered himself a mail-order bride, and the next morning, he'd packed his things and ridden west toward Russell Gulch, Colorado.

Only when he arrived, he'd learned Beth and his mother had been dead for years, and his brother was in Denver remarrying, and his father too. All his reasons for a mail-order bride were gone, but he would not back out. He wanted to change, and marrying a good woman would help him settle down. His wild oats were harvested several times over and he wanted to begin a new chapter in his life. One that included a wife and family. One that didn't include saloon music playing in the background and card games.

Lilly giggled. I'm getting an aunt. I have a new mother, and a new grandmother. And hopefully soon, a baby brother or sister.

Edwina turned and frowned at Lilly. Child, you don't know what you're asking for. A baby would get all the attention.

I don't care.

You say that now, Edwina said, leaning into her husband Cal.

Pearl laughed. Let's not rush things. There is plenty of change going on in the McIntire home.

Yes, ma'am.

Mick sighed. When his family learned he'd sent for a mail-order bride, they'd built a small house not far from Jesse's or his father's home. Mick and his new bride would have their own place close to the rest of the family, but at least they'd be alone part of the time. And maybe that was a good thing. It would give them time to get to know each other.

Before he'd left, he’d watched his brother's first marriage suffer from a self-centered woman who hated ranch life. He prayed his wife would like the remoteness of being an hour from the closest town. Two days from a town of any size. He’d specifically requested someone who knew they would be secluded for months on end. Because when the wind howled out of the north and snow blanketed the land, you didn't go wandering into town. And the cold winter was fast approaching.

The town of Denver came into view and he sighed with relief while his stomach tightened even more with nerves. Yes, they were two hours late, but they were here. He'd told her to meet him at the church if something happened and he wasn't there when the train arrived.

Pulling the wagon to a halt in front of the church, he felt his insides clench. Lifting his black hat off his head, he ran a hand through his short dark hair and then down his face, wiping the dust from his mustache.

How you two boys can look so different, Edwina said. Jesse’s blond hair and green eyes and you with that jet black hair and mustache. If I didn’t know better, I wouldn’t think you were brothers.

Jesse looked like their father and he took after his mother. God rest her soul.

You ready, son? his father asked watching him closely.

What if she were ugly or even worse, what if they had nothing in common? Swallowing, he pulled his shoulders back, determined to face his commitment regardless of what waited for him inside that church. For Mick 'Ace McIntire, marriage was forever, through good times or bad, for better or worse, and definitely in sickness and health. In less than an hour, he'd be a married man.

Let's go have a wedding, he said, jumping down from the wagon eager to meet his new bride.

2

Anna Young was mortified. She'd been stood up at the altar. She was trying to remain calm, but her insides were clenched into a tight bundle of nerves and her lungs barely held any air. She felt faint and had no idea what she would do if her groom didn't show up soon. The man she had traveled all this way to marry had yet to arrive. And she was beginning to think he would never appear.

A tear trickled down her cheek. It was bad enough she'd had to give up everything she loved and take a husband just to escape an arduous fan. When the rich Texas cattle baron had kidnapped her, and the sheriff had laughed at her attempt to press charges, she'd known she had to do something drastic or be forced to marry the rich narcissistic man from Texas.

So she'd gone to a mail-order bride agency and chosen a man to become her husband. Not the lunatic who wanted to force her into matrimony. Him being twenty years her senior, she wanted to marry someone who wanted a family, not a bauble for his arm.

And now, here she was in Denver, Colorado, frightened that the husband she'd selected had backed out of making her his wife. What would she do? Where would she go? It wasn't like she could return to Kansas City, back to her job of singing in the saloon.

Dear, you are getting a wonderful man and his family is just the best. Mick has been gone for a long time, but he was always a sweet young man. I think something happened and that's why they're late, the woman, a sweet gray-haired lady named Mrs. Garrison, said patting her on the arm. We'll give them a little more time and then if he doesn't show up, you can spend the night here with us at the parsonage. The pastor has to attend a wake tonight, so we'll be busy, but you're welcome to stay.

Thank you, Mrs. Garrison, she said, quickly swiping the tear away. I've only corresponded with Mr. McIntire once. What if he didn't receive my letter?

Oh no, dear, don't be buying trouble. Besides, he sent a telegram to the pastor and asked him to marry the two of you today. I'm sure he's on his way.

Well, that certainly didn't sound like a man who didn't intend to show up for their wedding, and he had paid the marriage broker a hefty sum of money to marry her. But waiting these last two hours after her train had arrived had left her feeling uncertain.

Marrying someone you didn't know and promising to spend forever with them was hard enough, but for him to be late was the worst. What if this was an indication of his character?

The sound of a wagon pulling up outside had her running to the window to catch a glimpse of the man she'd promised herself to.

That's them, Mrs. Garrison said stepping in front of her. No, dear, you can't see the groom before the wedding. It's bad luck.

But... Through the curtains, she watched as a tall sandy haired man jump down from the wagon and then turn to help a little girl alight. He'd mentioned his niece, Lilly, in the only letter she received from Mick.

The woman took her by the arm and led her back to the chair. That's the McIntire’s. Let's get you ready. We'll need to do this quickly, so Pastor Garrison can get to that wake he needs to attend. And unless they’re spending the night in town, all of you will need to get on the road going back to Russell Gulch. The weather could change any day now.

He was here. He'd not stood her up and she was suddenly more frightened than she'd ever been. What if he didn't like her? What if she didn't like him? And sleeping with the man? Good golly, what had she gotten herself into?

Here, I have a veil I lend to brides. It adds a touch of elegance and mystique to the wedding, she said, placing the veil on Anna’s head and arranging the white lace over her face. For a moment, panic threatened to overwhelm her, gripping her stomach. She was getting married. For better or worse, she would be committed to spending her life with this unknown man.

Taking a deep breath to calm her nerves, she let it out slowly. She could do this. It was better than being forced into marriage with an evil man.

Mrs. Garrison patted her hand. "Now, I'm going to go make certain