Family Of Convenience
Mail-Order MotherRecently widowed and pregnant, Millie Steele needs a husband to help provide for her unborn child, and becoming a mail-order bride is her only option. Thankfully, her new husband, Kansas farmer Adam Beale, only wants a mother for his two young children—not romance. Everything is going according to plan…until Millie begins to fall for Adam.Adam had reservations about wedding another city dweller—his late wife never took to life on the prairie. But now he can’t imagine his family being complete without Millie and her unborn baby. Though they agreed to a strictly platonic partnership, can real love be blooming in Adam and Millie’s marriage of convenience?
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Mail-Order Mother
Recently widowed and pregnant, Millie Steele needs a husband to help provide for her unborn child, and becoming a mail-order bride is her only option. Thankfully, her new husband, Kansas farmer Adam Beale, only wants a mother for his two young childrenânot romance. Everything is going according to plan...until Millie begins to fall for Adam.
Adam had reservations about wedding another city dwellerâhis late wife never took to life on the prairie. But now he canât imagine his family being complete without Millie and her unborn baby. Though they agreed to a strictly platonic partnership, can real love be blooming in Adam and Millieâs marriage of convenience?
âAre you happy, Millie?â
She stopped rocking but didnât reply.
âUh, Millie?â Adam sounded foolish, but what else was he supposed to say?
She blushed, and he tried not to notice how pretty it looked on her cheeks.
âAm I happy? I donât understand.â
The bewildered tone made Adamâs heart ache. She sounded absolutely stunned that her husband would care about her happiness.
Adam leaned farther forward, resting his forearms on the tops of his thighs. He wanted to move closer to her, but made himself stay in the rocking chair. They had been living as strangers for a month. Nicely, too. But he wanted more than that. Not love. No, Adam had learned that lesson well. But friendship. Companionship. A sense of shared purpose surely wasnât too much to ask for, was it? That was the goal, and Adam was ready to do the work.
âMillie, itâs been a month. I just want to know how you feel about things here. Are you happy with the house? The children? Your day-to-day life?â With me? He didnât say the last part, but Adamâs heart whispered it.
VICTORIA W. AUSTIN lives in the American Midwest with her husband, children and dogs. Her kids write notes in the furniture dust and the family watches television with the closed captioning on because the house is, um, loud. She likes chocolate, peace and quiet, chocolate and silence. She gets too much of one and too little of the other. This explains the tight pants and the many, many, many gray hairs.
For God hath not given us the spirit of fear; but of power, and of love, and of a sound mind.
â2 Timothy 1:7
To my familyâ
I have everything because I have you
I have almost too many people to thank, which is a blessing in and of itself. Thank you to my family for supporting me no matter what. Thank you to Harlequin and the Manuscript Matchmaker contest for this opportunity. Thank you to Elizabeth Mazer, my incredible editor, for all the help and guidance. Thank you to my critique partners and fellow romance-writer friends for the advice and encouragement.
Contents
Kansas
1889
To Do:
Get married
Meet my new children
Figure out how to run a ranch
Find a way to make money on the side
Find a safe place to hide money
Start saving an emergency fund without drawing attention
Find the ranch financial books and look at them
Marrison, Kansas, didnât have a hotel. Just the boardinghouse sheâd checked into the day before. Her room had a bed with a clean, worn quilt. A simple chest of drawers. A rocking chair.
But, no mirror.
That was okay. Millie Steele wasnât sure she could go through with this if she had to look at herself in a mirror. This way was better.
She smoothed her hand over her long brown hair and the front of her dress for the tenth time. Maybe eleventh. When would Mrs. Sinclair knock on the door and say it was time? Had the woman forgotten about her? Could you forget about the bride?
Hysteria rose in Millieâs throat as she actually contemplated that question. She and Mr. Beale had exchanged exactly one letter. One. They had seen each other for the first and only time yesterday, for all of ten minutes. Just long enough to confirm the time he would come to marry her today.
Maybe heâd changed his mind. She was past the period when her short thin frame could hide the baby. Pastor Thompson said Mr. Beale knew, but maybe seeing the truth of it yesterday had been too much.
What was she going to do if he changed his mind?
A quick knock, and the door to the room opened. Mrs. Sinclair strode inside. âWeâre all ready, dear.â
Millie sucked in a breath, ignoring the stars that had appeared in her vision. She licked her lips and nodded.
Mrs. Sinclairâs eyes were gentle as she surveyed Millie from head to toe. âYou look lovely. Absolutelyââ
Millie looked at her hand. It was shaking, but that wasnât what had caught Mrs. Sinclairâs attention. No. It was the slim circle of gold on the ring finger of her left hand. She flushed at the sight of it. She couldnât very well get married today while wearing another manâs ring.
