Mail Order Bride - Westward Sunrise: Historical Cowboy Romance (Montana Mail Order Brides Book 9)

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INDA
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RIDEY

Mail Order Bride: Westward Sunrise

Montana Mail Order Brides: Book 9

Dedication
To YOU, The reader.
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Thank you for reading and joining me on this road.

              Mid-April of 1881 in Dawson was unusually mild.  The sunny day was in sharp contrast to the solemn occasion that had drawn the townspeople to the cemetery.  Pastor John Williams, now a permanent minister in Dawson for several years, concluded the graveside service.

              Elliot Bradbury picked up a handful of dirt and dropped it down on top of his father’s casket.  He swallowed his tears and tried to be thankful that Edward was no longer suffering.  His illness had gradually sapped his health over the years.  Three days prior to his death Marcus Samuels, the town doctor, had told Elliot that Edward’s passing was imminent and the only thing to do was make Edward as comfortable as possible.

              Marcus always dreaded giving that kind of news.  The physician took the death of his patients very hard and tried to support the grieving loved ones left behind in any way he could.

              Elliot accepted condolences as the other mourners started leaving.  As the cemetery workers began filling in the grave, Elliot watched the process.  He felt a hand descend on his shoulder and didn’t need to look to see who it was.  Marcus had a distinctive touch that always conveyed his feelings.

              “He was a great man, Elliot,” Marcus said.  “And you took excellent care of him.  You’re a good son.”

              Elliot looked at Marcus and gave him a grim smile.  “Thanks, Doc,” he said.

              Marcus smiled at his use of the nickname “Doc”.  He was getting used to people calling him that.  “No thanks needed.  Just telling the truth.”

              Elliot’s gaze rose to the beautiful blue sky and he sighed.  Jake Henderson, owner of the Watering Hole, Dawson’s saloon, had offered to throw a small wake and Elliot hadn’t had the heart to refuse. 

Elliot sighed.  “I really don’t want to go to this wake.  I’d rather just go home,” he said.

Marcus squeezed Elliot’s shoulder a little.  “I know, but once you’re there it’ll be okay.  Being around some friends right now is a good idea.  A couple of drinks won’t hurt, either.  Doctor’s orders.”

Elliot smiled and it reached his brown eyes this time.  “That’s not fair.  You use that on people to get them to do stuff they don’t want to do.”

              “I would never abuse my position that way,” Marcus said, tongue-in-cheek.

              “Sure you wouldn’t,” Elliot said.

              Marcus’ wolf-dog Roscoe bounded over to them.  He followed Marcus almost everywhere he went.  Roscoe was sensitive to death.  He sniffed the dirt on top of Edward’s grave and began howling.  It was a mournful sound that reflected how Elliot felt inside.

              Marcus tried to hush the dog, but Elliot stopped him.

              “Let him go.  He used to come visit Pa, so it’s fitting that he mourns him.”

              Marcus was surprised.  “He did?  I didn’t know.”

              Elliot laughed.  “He’d sneak into the store with whoever he could and find me.  I’d take him out the back over to the house and let him in.  He was so gentle with Pa.  I forgot to tell you, but Roscoe was the one to discover that Pa had passed.  He came scratching on our door and I let him in.  I knew the time was close for Pa to pass.  He sat right by Pa’s bed and kept whining.  Then he howled just like he did now and I knew.  Sure enough, when I checked, Pa was gone.  I’m glad Pa and I had that last conversation the other day.  I got to say my final goodbye.”

              Marcus got teary-eyed as Elliot spoke, which wasn’t unusual for him.  He tended to feel things more deeply than some people.  It was what made him a good doctor.

              Roscoe came to Elliot and pressed his big body against Elliot’s legs.  It was the dog’s version of a hug.  Elliot bent and put his arms around Roscoe’s neck.  It was then his tears came.  Roscoe whined and licked Elliot’s face in an attempt to comfort his friend.  After a bit, Elliot straightened and wiped his face with his handkerchief.  He looked at Marcus, who was doing the same thing, and laughed.

              “I’ve never seen a guy who takes on other people’s pain the way you do,” he said.

              “Shut up.”  Marcus’ brothers were always teasing him about it.

              Elliot laughed again and said, “Pa isn’t the only one Roscoe visits.  While you’re working at the clinic, he makes his way around town.”

              “He does?”

              “Yep.  He plays with the school kids at recess.  He goes to the Sheriff’s office and he’ll even go see the people in the clink.  Jake gives him beer when he goes to the bar.  Alice up at the Grady House gives him scraps.  He even goes to church and sings along with Mrs. Williams when she plays the piano.”

              Marcus was astonished.  “No one ever mentioned any of that to me.”

              Elliot shrugged.  “Maybe they thought you already knew.  I only know because people either tell me or I overhear it when they come in the store.  He goes everywhere.  People’s houses to play with their babies and, oh, I forgot about the post office.  Apparently he likes to sniff the mail.  I guess he wants to see where it came from.”

              Marcus looked at his canine, who wagged his tail and looked back at his master.  “You’ve been holding out on me, old friend.”

              Roscoe’s ears came up and he barked. 

              Elliot smiled and sighed again.  “Well, I guess I might as well get this over with.”

              They started out for the Watering Hole and Roscoe followed them.  As they neared the bar, Roscoe licked his lips in anticipation.  Elliot opened the door and the dog ran inside.  Marcus was surprised to hear a chorus of greetings go up for Roscoe as he followed Elliot through the door.

              Roscoe stood on his hind legs, front paws on the bar, watching Jake pour beer into a bowl.  He barked at Jake to hurry up and the bartender laughed.  “Okay, okay.  Here you go.”

              Roscoe dropped down and trotted behind the bar to lap up the treat.  Jake turned back around and found Marcus staring at him.  “What?  It’s only a little bit and it makes him feel like part of the gang,” Jake said.

              “If you get my dog drunk, I’ll kill you,” Marcus said.

              “Yeah, yeah.  You can’t do that.  You took that oath, remember?” Jake said with a grin.

              Marcus scowled as he said, “Yeah, I remember.  Sometimes it’s more of a curse.”

              Jake chuckled and said, “Elliot, I can’t tell you how sorry I am about your pa.  He was always nice to me whenever I went in the store.  He used to come in here sometimes and he and my pa always had a good time.  Ed was a good dart player in his day, too.”

              Elliot smiled.  “Yeah.  He kept trying to teach me, but I was a lost cause.  I don’t have the right coordination for it.  Pa was always kind about it.  He’d say, ‘That’s okay, son.  You make up for it in other ways.’”

              Jake said, “He had a good heart, that’s for sure.”

              Elliot looked down as he felt a hand on his arm.  Tessa Samuels, Marcus’ sister-in-law, stood by him.

              “How are you holding up, Elliot?” she asked.  Her deep blue eyes were filled with sadness and concern.

              “I’m okay, I guess.  I don’t think it’s really sunk in yet,” Elliot said. 

              Tessa nodded.  “I’m sure.  Is there anything you need?  Is there anything I can do for you?”

              “Not right now, but thanks for asking,” Elliot said. 

He’d liked Tessa from the first time he'd met her.  They shared a love of books and often passed them back and forth. Sometimes they had coffee to discuss them.  Tessa’s husband Dean teased her about having a “book boyfriend”, as he called Elliot.  He’d also been helping her edit her book, which she’d finished and sent off two weeks prior.

“No news on the book yet?” he asked.

Tessa looked up into his warm brown eyes and said, “No, I’m afraid not.  It’s frustrating me.”

Elliot chuckled.  “I’m sure it is.  Not only are you nosey, you’re very impatient.”

Tessa pretended to be indignant.  “Well!  How rude of you, Mr. Bradbury.”

“You know it’s the truth,” Elliot said.

“I know, but you didn’t have to say it,” Tessa told him.  “I’d still like to find out if we are related.”

Tessa and her sisters, Claire and Maddie, had a cousin back in their home city of Pittsburgh with the last name of Bradbury.  What was even more interesting was that her first name was Edwina. 

“Yeah, we have to start looking it up.  Maybe you could get some records from her about her family tree?  That would be a good place to start,” Elliot said.  Marcus had been right.  Talking about other things was keeping him from drowning in sorrow.

“I shall write her immediately,” Tessa said.

Jake stood in front of Elliot with a shot glass of whiskey.  He took Elliot’s hand, put the glass in it, and said, “Drink it.”

“I don’t really drink, Jake,” Elliot said.

“You do right now,” Jake said.

“Okay,” Elliot said, and tossed the drink back.  It set his esophagus and stomach on fire and he coughed.

Someone started pounding on his back and he turned to find Mitch Taylor, the Sheriff, smiling at him.  “You need to start drinking that a little more often and you’ll get used to it.  It won’t do that to you then.”

“I’ll do that,” Elliot croaked, but his words were heavy with sarcasm.

Mitch laughed as his wife, Sammi, came over to them.  “I sure would like some.”  She rubbed her slightly swollen stomach.  “But that’s not good for the baby.”

Tessa said, “I’m so jealous of you.  By the time I was as far along as you, I was out to here.”  She demonstrated how big her stomach had been.

Sammi laughed.  “I’ll probably get bigger than a house by the time I’m done, so don’t worry about it.”

Marcus came to put a hand on her stomach.  “Are you feeling okay?”

“I’m finally getting over that morning sickness.  I thought it was gonna kill me,” Sammi said.  She was the kind of woman who spoke her mind.  Until January, Sammi had worked at the Watering Hole as a bouncer.  As soon as there was the possibility that she was pregnant, she had quit.

Mitch said, “Yeah.  That was not fun.  It wasn’t just in the morning.  You never knew what would set her off.  We learned early on that she couldn’t stand bacon.  Even just the smell of it was enough to make her sick.  It was hard because Mason loves bacon.”

In October of the previous year, Mitch and Sammi had adopted three children whose parents had been victims of a house fire.  At seven years old, Mason was the youngest of the three.  His brother Shawn was now nine and Rachel, their older sister, had just turned seventeen.

Elliot said, “It’s a good thing you guys have that big house.  You need it for the three kids you already have and one on the way.”

Sammi said, “I know.  We sure weren’t expectin’ to have that many kids all at once, but it's been great.  They’re really settling in now and doing good in school.”

“That’s great,” Elliot said.  “Hey, I actually wanted to talk to you about something.”

“Ok.  What?” Sammi asked.

“How would you feel about Rachel working part-time for me?  I could use another person to help around the store and she seems responsible.  She’s friendly, too, which is good for working with the public,” Elliot said.

Sammi turned to Mitch.  “What do you think?”

Mitch was very protective of the children, Rachel in particular.  She was getting older and more independent, but Mitch was watchful so she didn't come to any harm.  “I don’t see a problem with it as long as she wants to do it.  It might be good for her.”

“Good.  Send her over to talk to me about it tomorrow,” Elliot said.

Tessa asked, “You’re opening tomorrow?”

“Yeah,” Elliot said.  He was now the sole owner of Bradbury’s General Store.  He’d been running it for several years, but it would take a long time before he’d start thinking of it as his store and not his father’s.

“Shouldn’t you take a little more time?” Tessa asked.  She wasn’t sure that it was a good idea for Elliot to rush back to work.

Elliot smiled a little.  “I’d rather be working than sitting around thinking about things.  All of the financial stuff was taken care of a couple of weeks ago, so it’s not like I have any of that to keep me occupied.  Plus, people need the store open.  I’ll be fine, Tessa, but thank you for your concern.”

Tessa patted his arm.  “All right.  If you’re sure.”

“I’m sure.”

Joe Dwyer, the mayor of Dawson, swooped in and grasped Elliot around the shoulders.  “Pardon me, Tessa, but I need to steal him for a while.”  Joe began propelling Elliot into the barroom.

“Joe, where are we going?” Elliot asked as Joe pushed him towards a table.

“We are gonna play poker, my fine friend,” Joe said as he practically shoved Elliot down in a chair.

“Joe, I don’t play poker,” Elliot said as Joe sat down across from him.

“You do now,” Joe told him with his winning smile.  “Hey, Stan!  Where are the cards?  Why do ya’ll always have to take them?”