“I do!” Mark grabbed Rebecca’s hand and began pulling her into the house.
Philip caught the door and watched in amusement as Mark chattered. “My favorite kind of cookie is oatmeal. Caleb likes sugar. I’ll eat them both. What kind do you have?”
Rebecca laughed. “I’m not sure. We’ll have to ask my daughter, Joy. She’s the one who bakes the cookies.”
Bella frowned at the little boy. “Mark, stop pulling on Rebecca,” she ordered.
He dropped Rebecca’s hand. “Sorry.” Mark bowed his head.
Rebecca looked at Bella. “Maybe we should have our snack in the kitchen. Is that all right with you?”
Philip watched as the two women walked to the kitchen with the boys between them. He wondered how long it would be before Rebecca started asking questions.
The sound of horse’s hooves pounding the ground drew his attention back to the yard. His brother Noah practically jumped from the horse. He tossed the mailbag to another of his brothers, Clayton, with a grin. Clayton was already in the saddle and halfway down the trail when Noah turned toward the house at something Andrew had said.
Noah was the smaller of the boys. Only thirteen years old, the boy could outfish, outhunt and outride all of them. He was darker-skinned and quieter than most of them. Noah raised a hand and waved.
Philip waved back as he watched the younger boy head to the bunkhouse. A yawn escaped Philip. He turned to the kitchen, knowing he’d not be allowed to stand in the doorway much longer.
Rebecca stuck her head through the kitchen door. “Come on, you have some explaining to do.”
Yep, he’d been right. His ma wasn’t going to wait much longer to find out what had happened in the last few days to change his mind on marriage. As he walked the short distance to the kitchen, Philip wondered if he should tell his family this marriage was a marriage of convenience.
He entered to find Caleb and Mark sitting at the table with a plate of cookies in front of them. Joy ran to meet him.
“I’ve missed you,” she practically whispered. Joy loved to talk to family members but was always shy around strangers.
He grabbed his little sister up into a bear hug. “I missed you, too.”
She pulled back and put her hands on both sides of his face. “Are you really getting married?”
“I am.”
“Why?” She lowered her hands to his shoulders.
“Joy!” Rebecca scolded.
Philip laughed. “It’s an honest question, Ma.” He lowered Joy to the ground, grabbed her hand and then joined the others at the kitchen table. Philip sat down and pulled Joy up onto his lap. “We’re getting married because Thomas sent for me a mail-order bride.”
Rebecca frowned. “I thought he wrote all those girls and told them that you’d changed your mind.”
“How could I change my mind? I didn’t even know I’d advertised for a bride until Bella showed up.” Philip reached for one of the cookies. So, Rebecca had known about the ad and made Thomas respond to the letters that had arrived. He bit into the gingersnap cookie and smiled. Served Thomas right for placing the ad in the first place. He could just imagine his brother having to answer each and every letter.
Rebecca asked, “Bella, would you like to take a quick walk with me?” She pushed her chair back and waited for an answer.
Philip held his breath. What would the two women talk about? What would his adoptive mother say? Would she try to talk Bella out of the marriage? If so, how would Philip feel? He’d already made peace with the idea of getting married. He looked to the two little boys, who were playing with his little brother Benjamin. What would become of them if Bella changed her mind?
Bella slipped into her tan coat. What did Philip’s mother want to talk to her about? Had she guessed their intentions of making this a marriage in name only? Would Rebecca try to talk her out of marrying Philip? She followed the other woman out into the cool evening air.
Rebecca stepped out onto the porch. “I thought maybe we could walk to the river and back.” She waited for Bella to catch up with her.
“All right,” Bella agreed.
When they were several yards from the house, Rebecca spoke again. “Bella, tell me about yourself.”
Bella glanced sideways at her future mother-in-law. “What would you like to know?”
“Anything, everything. I want to get to know you. Find out who my son is marrying.” Rebecca pulled her cloak tighter about her tiny waist.
Bella nodded. The best place to start would be close to the beginning. “I grew up in the city of Douglas City, California. My parents only had two children who lived to adulthood. Myself and my sister. My sister married and moved to Denver, Colorado. Both our parents caught a fever last winter and died. I chose to stay in California. When my sister died, I was working at a bakery and planning on opening my own shop someday. But now my goal is to raise her boys.” Bella stopped talking. She wasn’t sure exactly what Rebecca wanted to hear, but she felt that should pacify the woman.
They walked on for a few minutes. Finally, Rebecca said, “I’m sorry for your losses.”
Bella swallowed. “Thank you.”
“So you have no other family?”
“No, it’s just me and the boys now.” Bella had heard the water long before she saw it. It rushed over the rocky river bottom at a fast pace.
Rebecca stopped and sat down on a large boulder. “Are you sure you want to marry Philip?” She tucked her hands deep into the cloak.
The best answer was a truthful answer. Bella sat down beside her. “No, but I have no other choice.”
“There are always other choices,” Rebecca said, searching Bella’s face.
She shook her head. “Not for me. My sister and brother-in-law left their children nothing. I quit my job unaware that my sister had lied about their wealth. If things had been as she’d indicated, I would have had the finances to raise the boys and used my savings to invest in a bakery of my own. As it turned out, I had to use most of my savings to get here.” Her voice caught in her throat. Bella fought back the tears of frustration at the turn her life had taken. She would do it all again for the love of her nephews, but she didn’t have to like it.
“What about love?” Rebecca asked.
Bella shook her head. “I thought someone loved me once, but it turned out he didn’t love me enough. I doubt any man can truly love a woman the way she deserves. So I don’t expect Philip to love me.” She looked out at the rushing water. Darkness began to cut the beauty of the running water off from her view, much like her ex-fiancé had done with love.
Rebecca’s soft voice penetrated Bella’s thoughts. “Don’t you think Philip deserves love?”
She stood. “Rebecca, we’ve talked about this. He is in no rush to fall in love any more than I am.”
“Everyone wants to fall in love, Bella.” Rebecca stood also. She dusted the back of her skirt before retracing their steps.
Bella felt a harsh laugh bubble up as she fell into step beside her future mother-in-law. “Only those who have never tasted love or who have gotten away unscathed by its cruelty.”
Rebecca stopped and turned to face Bella. “It’s obvious you’ve been hurt, but as far as I know, Philip has never been in love. He’s never been hurt