Did she know he had been about to kiss her? If so, is that what she thought he meant? “The letters. Get to the letters.”
“Oh. Yes. Oh, um. Right. The letters.” Her attention dropped to the post in her hand. “I think we have to forget this one.”
“Why’s that?”
“Because.” She placed it under his view. “I can’t even read it.”
He squinted, trying to make out the sloppy cursive. He could make out only a few words. Saloon. Toothless. And ten babies. “Whoa!” He balled the letter up faster than he could say the word no.
“What?” Leah glanced at the wad in his hands.
“You don’t wanna know.”
“Well, now you’ve got me curious. Tell me?”
Reluctantly, he un-balled the letter and smoothed the wrinkles as best as he could. Heat drifted up the back of his neck as he pointed to each of the three words.
Leah’s eyes opened farther and farther with each one he pointed to. “Sweet twinkling stars above.” Her hands flew to her flushed cheeks, and her wide eyes darted to his. “Oh my.” She shook her head. “Oh my, my, my, my, my.”
“‘Oh my’ is right.” He took the letter from her and wadded it up again before he shoved it into his pocket to burn later. Apprehension and fear fisted inside him as he stared at the remaining pile. “Not sure I wanna do this anymore. Bad idea.”
“What’s a bad idea?” Leah’s color had returned to normal and she seemed to have recovered from the shock.
He wished he had. His gut was still being punched around. “Don’t think I want you to read anymore.”
“Why?”
His own eyebrows pointed upward. “Why? You ask me why after reading that letter?”
Leah’s lips quivered and her nostrils danced.
He watched, amused at her trying to hold back her laughter. His own lips now curled and twitched. Soon a belly laugh rolled out of him.
Leah’s hand rested on his arm and her sweet laughter joined his.
He didn’t know how long they laughed, but it was long enough that Leah had tears rolling from her eyes.
He would offer her his handkerchief, but it was too worn and would be too embarrassing. No need, anyway. She reached inside the pocket of her skirt and pulled a lace hankie out and dabbed at her eyes.
When they both had composed themselves, Leah asked, “What do you want to do with these?”
“Burn ’em!” he blurted.
They burst out laughing again.
“Seriously,” Leah said through a twitter. “What do you want to do with them?”
“Told you already. Burn ’em.”
She tilted her head. “Surely they can’t all be like her.”
He hiked a brow.
“Okay, Jake. Tell you what. I’ll turn my back to you and read them so you can’t see my face. If they’re bad, then I’ll slip them back into the envelope. If they aren’t, I’ll read them to you. Sound fair?”
After that last letter, he didn’t care what was in any of them. He no longer had any faith in this process. He’d rather remain single the rest of his life than marry a toothless woman who had worked in a saloon and wanted ten babies.
“Well, what do you think?”
“Think I’ll just forget the whole thing.”
Once again her hand rested on his arm and lingered there.
His attention trailed there and to the heat that now raced up his arm.
“Oh, sorry.” She yanked it back and rested her hand on her skirt. “You sure you want to do that, Jake? There might be some lovely ladies in here.” She patted the stack.
Debate did a roundup through his brain. He really wanted to get married, but some of the letters he’d received were downright scary. Okay, a few of them were. Still. Did he dare take a chance on one of them?
“Jake.” Leah’s soft voice reached his ears and he looked at her. “I know you’re scared. So am I. But if you don’t step out in faith, how will you ever know? Besides, like I said before, you can always have her come here before you make a decision. I mean, it isn’t like you have to marry her or anything before meeting her.” She shrugged. “What have you got to lose?”
Her words pinned his heart to the hard ground. It was once again obvious that she would never consider him. If she would, she wouldn’t have suggested he send for someone else. Is that what’s been holding me back? Hoping Leah would change her mind and marry me? Truth smacked him upside the head. That was it. Knowing that, he decided he might as well give it a try. “You’re right. Don’t have anything to lose. Okay. Open the next one.” If only she knew how hard those words were for him to say. When what he really wanted to say was, Are you sure you won’t reconsider my proposal and stay here? At least I know what you’re like. These other women are downright scary.
Leah pulled out the next one. One after another she read, and the second to the last one caught his attention.
Dear Mr. Lure,
My name is Raquel Tobias. I am a Christian woman looking for a Christian man to share my life with. I’m twenty-three years old, five foot seven, 130 pounds, with auburn hair and blue eyes. I’m currently residing in Chicago, taking care of my beloved Aunt Sally who encouraged me to not follow in her footsteps wishing she’d married. Therefore, I decided to take a chance by answering your advertisement.
Aunt Sally insists on paying my way there and back in case things do not work between us. It is her way of saying thanks for being a companion to her all this time. Aunt Tillie, her sister, is recently widowed and will be coming to live with her, so my aunt will not be alone if I leave.
So, if you would like to meet me, please reply to this post.
Thank you and God bless you.
Raquel Tobias
Leah shifted her focus from the letter onto him. “What do you think?”
“Well,” he stood, pondering Miss Tobias’s words. Seconds passed. “Like you said, I need to step out in faith, so I’ll answer her.” And what a leap of faith it would be. Bigger than any he’d ever taken before.
* * *
“Do you want help writing her back?” For some odd reason, the prospect of Jake actually responding to a woman who could potentially become his wife made Leah uneasy. Was the feeling a warning from God that this woman wasn’t right for him? She didn’t know. She couldn’t rightly discern why she felt the way she did. All she knew was something didn’t feel right.
“You okay?” Jake asked, shifting his vision down on her.
Leah gazed up at him. Once again, Jake, being the perfect gentleman, blocked the bright sun from shining in her eyes. She shook out the confusing thoughts. He was going to think she’d lost her mind. “Yes. Of course. I’m fine.” Only she didn’t feel fine. No. In fact, she felt sick. Even so, she forced a smile onto her face. Later on, when she was alone, she’d try to figure out just what was bothering her about this whole situation. After all, from the looks of things, everything seemed to be working out exactly as she had hoped. She realized then she was just being silly about all of it.
“Thanks for the offer, Leah, but I can manage.” Jake crossed his arms over his chest and shrugged.
That threw her completely off track, and she turned wide, confused eyes at him. “Manage what?”
“The