Measure of Grace (37 page)

“Uh … no. He went hunting in the Sawtooth Mountains on Tuesday and has not returned.”

“Oh. May I—may I have Mr. Akins bring my luggage in?”

“Certainly,” said William.

Diana opened the door and motioned to Willie.

When the luggage was placed on the floor just inside the door, Diana reached into her purse. “Thank you, Mr. Akins. I appreciate your bringing me out here.”

William stepped up, waved her off, and said, “No, no! Let me take care of Willie.”

He pulled out his wallet and placed more than enough money to cover the cost of Diana’s ride to the Bar-S in Willie’s hand.
Willie thanked him, told Diana he hoped she would enjoy living in Idaho, and left.

When the door was closed, William looked at Diana, befuddled as to how this could happen without anybody in the family knowing about it.

Drawing in a short breath, he said, “May I take your coat?”

“Oh yes. Thank you.”

When the coat was hanging on a peg next to the door, William took another short breath. “M-Miss Morrow, let me take you back to the kitchen, where the rest of the family is having coffee.”

K
NIGHT
C
OLBURN AND
M
ARK
H
EDREN
instantly rose to their feet at the table when William ushered the lovely dark-haired woman into the kitchen. Sylvia and Lorene looked at her, wondering who she was, where she was from, and why she was there. They could tell that Mark was having the same thoughts. The ranch seldom had visitors in the dead of winter.

They were also confused at the look on Knight’s face. He didn’t look perplexed, but rather, seemed awed by the young woman.

Running his gaze over the four faces, William said, “I would like to introduce Miss Diana Morrow from Richmond, Virginia. She just came in on the nine-thirty stage. Miss Morrow, this is my wife, Sylvia—Jordan’s mother.”

Sylvia smiled, though the mention of Jordan added more puzzlement to the situation. “Happy to meet you, Miss Morrow.” Her brow furrowed. “How do you know Jordan?”

“I’ll explain in a moment,” said William. “Miss Morrow, this is Jordan’s sister, Lorene, and this is Lorene’s husband, Mark Hedren.”

Both Hedrens greeted Diana in a friendly manner.

Gesturing toward the tall man, William said, “And this is Knight Colburn, Jordan’s best friend.”

Knight swallowed hard as he looked into Diana’s dark eyes.
So this is Diana
, he thought.

Knight was closest to her. She offered her hand, and he took it, noting that it was trembling a bit. “Ma’am,” he said, pressing a smile on his lips.

William scrubbed a palm over his mouth nervously. “Miss
Morrow told me at the door that she has come to be Jordan’s mail order bride.”

The look of puzzlement on the faces of Sylvia, Lorene, and Mark changed quickly to shock.

“H-his m-mail order b-bride?” said Sylvia.

“Yes, ma’am,” said Diana.

Sylvia’s face was white. “He … he never said anything about a mail order bride. This comes as a jolt to all of us.” She stood up quickly, pulled back a chair that had not been occupied, and said, “Please s-sit down, Miss Morrow. Would you like some coffee?”

“Ah … not right now, Mrs. Shaw, thank you. But I do need to sit down.” As she spoke, she eased onto the chair and set her purse on the floor next to a chair leg.

The three men sat down.

Sylvia muttered, “I don’t understand why Jordan would do this and not even share it with his family. Miss Morrow, are you sure you have this right?”

“Why, yes. Jordan put an ad in some newspapers back east, saying he was looking for a mail order bride. I don’t know how many newspapers, but one ad was in the
Richmond Chronicle
. I read the ad, and … well, I answered it.”

Sylvia shook her head. “I just can’t believe it.”

Knight’s stomach was in knots.

Diana picked up her purse, opened it, and took out the clipped newspaper ad and the two letters she had received from Jordan. Handing the ad to Sylvia, she said, “Read this and pass it around, Mrs. Shaw.”

While a stunned Sylvia read the ad, Diana looked around at the others and said, “Jordan sent me the money for my travel expenses.”

Blinking and shaking her head at what she had read in the ad, Sylvia handed it to Lorene. Both she and Mark read it, then Lorene handed it to her father. When William had read it, he said, “Well, the ad has the name and address correct. It was Jordan’s ad, all right.” He then passed it on to Knight.

Knight took it and recognized the ad he had written.

Diana then handed Jordan’s first letter to Sylvia and the second
letter to William. “These are the letters he sent me in reply to the ones I sent him.”

Sylvia’s head bobbed as she looked at the letter. She picked up the envelope and looked it over. “Well, something’s wrong here,” she said. “This is definitely not Jordan’s handwriting.”

William hadn’t started to read yet. He looked at the handwriting on the envelope, then opened the letter and examined it. “Same here, honey,” he said. “This isn’t his handwriting, either.”

The pulse in Diana’s temples throbbed. A flicker of emotion skittered across her pale face. Stunned, she ran her eyes between Jordan’s parents. “I … I don’t understand. If somebody is pulling some kind of joke, they certainly parted with a substantial sum of money to get me here.”

At this point, Knight knew he had to tell all of them what had happened. Adjusting himself nervously on the chair, he said, “Well, it’s time for me to shed light on all of this confusion.”

Every eye went to him like metal to a magnet.

They listened intently as Knight told how Jordan had come to him, saying he wanted to put a mail order bride ad in some eastern newspapers, and asked him to word the ad for him because he had a way with words. He went on to explain that for the same reason, at Jordan’s request, it was he who had written the letters to Diana, with Jordan giving him basically what he wanted to say.

This news left everyone at the table speechless, including Diana.

“But why did our son want to advertise for a mail order bride, Knight?” asked Sylvia. “He could marry Belinda anytime he wanted to. She’s in love with him.”

Diana’s eyes widened.

Knight eased back on the chair, rubbed his chin, and said, “That’s just it, Sylvia. Jordan has never had a romantic interest in Belinda, but from what he has told me, he has been under pressure from her to develop a romance, and from her parents and from you and William as well. He felt like he was being pushed into marriage with a girl he didn’t love. He didn’t know how to just come out and tell Belinda he wanted nothing to do with her without hurting your feelings. He came up with the idea of a mail order
bride, believing that when he brought his prospective bride to you, it would make everything easier.

“He came to my office at the
Sentinel
, told me about his mail order bride idea and asked me to send the ad to several eastern newspapers for him. He swore me to secrecy. He was so excited about Diana coming.”

Sylvia burst into tears, “Then something has happened to him! His not being here when Diana arrived is proof of it.”

William left his chair, bent down, and put an arm around Sylvia. “Don’t despair now, honey. We can’t give up.”

When Sylvia’s sobbing subsided, Diana said, “I should explain that I was actually supposed to arrive on the three o’clock stage last Thursday, but an avalanche in the Rocky Mountains in Wyoming held up the train, making it a day and a half late getting to Boise, where I was to catch the train to Ketcham. Mr. Shaw, you told me at the door that Jordan went hunting in the mountains on Tuesday.”

“Yes.”

“So he did intend to be back before Thursday.”

“Mm-hmm. He was to return Tuesday evening. Over the past several years, we have had him go hunting in the mountains alone, saying he would be back in a day—and then he has stayed up there sometimes three or four days. We figured this was another one of those incidents. But now we see that it isn’t.”

“Oh, my,” Diana said, putting a hand to her mouth.

Standing to full height but keeping a hand on Sylvia’s shoulder, William said, “Diana—I mean, Miss Morrow, I—”

“Please, sir. You can call me Diana.”

William nodded, smiled, and said, “All right, Diana. I am about to take Mark and Knight with me to see if we can find Jordan. There’s an old abandoned cabin in the high country where Jordan stays when he is up there hunting. He always hunts in that area so he can stay in the cabin at night. We’ll start there, first. If he’s not there, we’ll search for him.”

“May I go along with you?” asked Diana.

“Oh, honey,” said Sylvia, “that’s rough country up there. It’s no place for a woman. You can stay here with Lorene and me.”

“Right,” said Lorene. “You’d have to ride a horse. For a young lady from Richmond, that would be quite difficult.”

“I’m actually from a farm a few miles outside of Richmond,” said Diana. “I’ve ridden horses since I was a child. I really want to go. I feel I should, since Jordan wanted me to come as his potential bride.”

She looked at William with pleading eyes. “Please, Mr. Shaw.”

William rubbed his chin, ran his gaze to the other men, and said, “What do you think, boys?”

“Well, since we’ve met this fine young lady, and have learned that Jordan wanted her for his wife,” said Mark, “I think we should take her with us.”

William looked at Jordan’s best friend. “Knight?”

“It’s fine with me, in view of the circumstances.”

“All right, Miss—I mean, Diana,” said William, “you can go with us.”

“Thank you!” she said, smiling. “I’m sure you’re wanting to go right away. I have a split skirt with me, which is more suitable for riding. I’ll need a few minutes to get changed, and then could I have five minutes to write my mother a letter? I promised her I’d write as soon as I arrived, so she would know I got here safely. It wouldn’t be out of the way, would it, to let me post it in town on the way to the mountains?”

“It’s faster getting to the mountains if you bypass the town,” said Lorene. “I’m going into town a little later today. I’ll mail it for you.”

“Oh, thank you,” said Diana. Then to William: “Can I have a few minutes?”

“Of course.”

Diana turned to Sylvia. “Is there a room I can use to change into more appropriate clothes?”

It took Sylvia a few seconds to respond. “Oh! Of course, child. Forgive me. I’m just so upset right now.”

“I understand, Mrs. Shaw. I’m rather in a state of shock, myself.”

“I assume you want her in the front guest room,” said William.

“Yes,” said Sylvia.

“First, let’s read these letters that Diana got from Jordan,” said William, “then I’ll carry her luggage up there. While she’s getting ready and writing the letter to her mother, the boys and I will saddle her a horse and load up the packhorses.”

Diana waited quietly while both letters were read by each of the four family members. Lorene commented on how well Knight had worded the letters and the others agreed. When they were finished, Diana put the letters and the newspaper ad back in her purse.

“How many pieces of luggage do you have, Miss Morrow?” asked Knight.

“Only two. A small trunk and a suitcase. They’re just inside the front door.”

“How about helping me, Mark?” said Knight.

“Sure.”

“Well, since you boys insist,” said William, “I’ll be at the barn.”

All three men hurried away.

“Let’s go on up to the room, dear,” Sylvia said to Diana.

“I’ll start cleaning up the kitchen, Mom,” said Lorene.

“Fine, honey,” said Sylvia. “Follow me, Diana.”

As Sylvia and Diana moved down the hall toward the staircase, Sylvia said, “Again, I apologize for not responding to you immediately a moment ago, dear. I should have offered you the room when you said you needed to change. You must think we are totally without manners around here.”

“Nothing of the kind,” said Diana. “I can imagine what a shock my arriving here like this must be to all of you. I’m sorry for hitting you with it all of a sudden. I had no idea Jordan was keeping me a secret from his family.”

Knight was halfway up the stairs, carrying the trunk, and Mark was ahead of him with the suitcase.

As the two women started up the stairs, Sylvia said, “That had to be a shock for you, honey. I can see why you would naturally assume Jordan was sharing the news with his family that he had a mail order bride coming.”

“Looks like this has been a shocking day for all of us, Mrs. Shaw.”

“To say the least.”

“I do hope Jordan is all right—that it’s just some unforeseen problem that is hindering his coming home.”

“Me too,” said Sylvia, her voice quivering.

As they topped the stairs, Knight and Mark were coming out of the first door on the left side of the hall.

“We put both pieces of luggage on the bed, Miss Morrow,” said Knight.

“Thank you,” she responded with a smile.

“We’ll see you in a little while,” said Mark, and the two of them moved down the stairs.

Sylvia led Diana into the room, which was beautifully decorated. “Please make yourself at home, dear. I’ll have Lorene bring up some hot water. I’m sure you would like to freshen up a bit after your long trip.”