Mail Order Maggie (Chapman Mail Order Brides: Book 2)

Mail Order Maggie

Chapman Mail Order Brides: Book 2

Kate Whitsby

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Smashwords Edition

Copyright © 2014 by Kate Whitsby

All Rights Reserved. No part of this publication may be copied, reproduced in any format, by any means, electronic or otherwise, without prior consent from the copyright owner and publisher of this book.

This is a work of fiction. All characters, names, places and events are the product of the author's imagination or used fictitiously.

Smashwords Edition, License Notes

This ebook is licensed for your personal enjoyment only. This ebook may not be re-sold or given away to other people. If you would like to share this book with another person, please purchase an additional copy for each recipient. If you’re reading this book and did not purchase it, or it was not purchased for your use only, then please return to Smashwords.com and purchase your own copy. Thank you for respecting the hard work of this author.

Dedication

To YOU, The reader.

Thank you for your support.

Thank you for your emails.

Thank you for your reviews.

Thank you for reading and joining me on this road.

Contents

Chapter One

Chapter Two

Chapter Three

Chapter Four

Chapter Five

Chapter Six

Chapter Seven

Chapter Eight

Chapter Nine

Chapter Ten

Chapter Eleven

Chapter Twelve

Chapter Thirteen

Chapter Fourteen

Chapter Fifteen

Chapter Sixteen

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Chapter One

We’re getting married!

Maggie Clement knew instantly what was coming, even before they burst into the cabin, flushed and panting, with their announcement. She saw Parker Chapman and Marion Johnson with their heads together down by the corral. She sighed and moved away to the back of the cabin, where she pretended she hadn’t seen them.

She hid her disappointment by rummaging in her trunk and straightening her bed. Prescott examined her face from the next bed. Are you all right? he asked. She nodded, but she didn’t meet his eyes. She bit her lower lip to stop it quivering.

When Parker and Marion ran up the hill and exploded through the door holding hands, Maggie’s eyes and mouth flew open. What? she gasped.

We’re getting married, Marion breathed. We’ve decided we’re going to marry each other. We love each other, and we’re going to get married.

But what about Melody? Maggie asked. Melody Hanson watched them from the stove, her wooden spatula suspended in her hand. Who will marry her if Parker marries you?

Marion waved her hand to the other side of the room. Prescott has agreed to marry Melody.

On his bed across the room, Prescott Chapman closed his eyes to avoid looking at any of them.

But this isn’t what we agreed on, Maggie pointed out.

Marion shrugged. What we agreed on has changed. It looks like none of us is going to marry the person the Mail-Order Matrimony Service matched us with in the first place.

Except Prescott and Melody, you mean, Maggie corrected her.

Marion tossed the problem aside. The situation has changed. None of us knew each other. None of us is what we expected. Parker and I love each other. We’re getting married. That’s all there is to it.

Maggie and Marion turned to Melody, who still listened to their conversation with wide eyes. After a moment’s consideration, she closed her mouth and set her face in a resolute mask of determination. She turned back to flipping the flapjacks in the skillet.

Marion wilted at the sight of the back of Melody’s head. She turned to Prescott, but he wouldn’t look at her, either. At a loss, she finally faced Maggie again.

Have you really thought about how this is going to affect the rest of us? Maggie scolded.

Marion gasped a stifled sob. She looked tired. Had Marion slept at all last night? She showed more distress over Prescott’s injuries than anyone else, including Prescott. She wore herself out tending him. Even as she chided Marion for her selfishness, Maggie knew Marion thought more about others than about herself.

Believe me, Marion moaned. I’ve agonized over this for days. I love Parker, but I didn’t want to upset any of the rest of you by breaking our agreement. But it just won’t work. Marrying Prescott when I love Parker instead will cause more problems than anything else. I suppose we should all have expected this kind of trouble by coming to live together here.

I’m surprised at you, Marion, Maggie declared. I thought you of all people would stick to our agreement. You’ve been saying all along that you didn’t care which of the brothers you married.

I didn’t, Marion replied. Not until now. Now I do care, and now that Prescott has agreed to marry Melody, I’m not going to marry anyone other than Parker. And that’s final.

Well, Maggie complained. you’ve left the rest of us in a fine pickle.

Marion stepped forward and laid her hand on Maggie’s arm. Please don’t be mad at me. I can’t help that I love Parker. Would you want to marry a man if you knew he was in love with someone else? I wouldn’t. Please understand I’m thinking of the rest of you just as much as myself.

Parker intervened. Don’t blame Marion. She’s done more for all of us than anyone. If anyone deserves to be happy, it’s her.

That’s easy for you to say, Parker, Maggie retorted. You’re shirking your duty to Melody, too, by doing this.

A soft, muffled sob from near the stove interrupted their conversation. Everyone fell silent. Marion dropped her eyes to the floor.

Maggie walked away to finish making her bed.

Parker sat down at the table to wait for breakfast.

Marion went to Prescott’s bed and bent over him to check his bandages. But he turned his face to the wall again. Leave me alone, he muttered.

Marion stared down at him. Then she covered her mouth with her hand and spun away. She sat down at the table next to Parker and looked down at her hands in her lap.

When she overheard this interaction, she regretted her rebuke against Marion. After Marion retreated, Maggie sat on the edge of Prescott’s bed and unwound the dressing on his shoulder. If Marion didn’t attend to it, someone else had to do it. That left her. He opened his eyes and smiled weakly at her as she bathed his wounds with alder tonic and redressed them with clean compresses.

Just as she finished and stood up for breakfast, the cabin door opened and Paul Chapman entered. He halted just inside the threshold and cocked his head to one side. What’s goin’ on here? he asked. Seems like somebody died in here.

Marion and Parker both kept their eyes cast down at the table. Melody didn’t bother to turn around, and Prescott closed his eyes again.

Maggie walked toward the table. Marion and Parker have decided to get married.

Paul raised his eyebrow at the couple at the table. They have, have they? Well, if that don’t beat all.

Maggie sat down in a chair next to Marion. Sit down, please, Paul. We’re all tired and hungry and upset. Sit down and have some breakfast.

Paul glared around the room from one face to another. No, I don’t think so. I don’t think I’ll have breakfast. I’ve got a trap line to run, and I don’t have time to wrestle on the floor with you silly fools. This marriage business is too ridiculous to waste my time on. You people get yourselves sorted out while I’m gone.

He stalked off and slammed the door behind him.

Maggie heard Marion sniff tears away again. Parker let his hand fall over hers. Then Melody blew her nose on her apron. A weighty silence descended over the room with each person stewing in anxiety and pain.

Melody tossed her spatula away. With a loud clatter, she placed a plate piled high with flapjacks in the middle of the table and walked out of the house. She didn’t bother to shut the door behind her.

Maggie glanced from Parker to Marion and back again. Neither made any movement. Finally, Maggie fetched the plates and mugs from the shelf herself and served each of them their flapjacks. She served another plate and took it to Prescott.

She sat on the edge of his bed again and spooned bites of flapjack into his mouth.

After the first bite, he balled up his food inside his cheek. Thanks.

She smiled at him. You’ll be doing this for yourself soon enough.

I feel like a baby, he complained.

Let us baby you as long as it takes to recover from this, she told him.

She gave him another bit. They exchanged a mischievous look. Maggie bit her lip to stop herself from grinning, and Prescott laughed.

Ouch, he winced. Don’t make me laugh. It hurts too much.

Maggie giggled. Right. Seriously now. She held out another spoonful of food.

Prescott wiped the smile off his face for a minute, but then he burst out laughing again. Sorry.

She put the spoon back down on the plate and waited for the laughing to stop. Then she picked it up again and held it out. Come on. You need to eat, and you can’t hold the spoon yourself. Stop laughing and eat.

I can’t. He pressed his lips together, but he couldn’t stop himself. It’s just so silly.

All right. Maggie put the plate down on the next bed, which happened to be hers, and smiled at him. Let me know when you’re hungry enough to eat and I’ll come back.

Thanks for tryin’, he called after her.

Maggie went back to the table, got herself a plate, and sat down with Parker and Marion. Neither of them ate anything.

You two should eat, too, Maggie remarked. Whether you get married or not, you still need to eat. And you, Marion, you need to get some sleep today. I’ll take care of Prescott, and you can sleep in my bed. You can’t sacrifice your own health for the rest of us.

Marion shook her head. I’m not hungry now. Maybe I’ll have something later.

Parker slid his chair back from the table and stood up. I’m not hungry, either. I think I’ll go out to the barn and get some work done. He left the cabin.

Maggie finished her breakfast and collected the dishes. She put the unused ones back on the shelf and scraped off the dirty ones for cleaning. She fetched a bucket of water from the creek behind the house and filled