The Perfect Wife (Misled Mail Order Brides #3)

Chapter One

The Day of Natalie and Mark’s Wedding

Omaha, Nebraska

Natalie Harper could barely contain her excitement as she

dressed for her wedding day. At ten, she would stand before the

preacher and exchange vows with Mark Larson, the most wonderful man

in the world. Even though she hadn’t seen Mark since yesterday

afternoon, the memory of his kiss still made her lips

tingle.

She checked her reflection in the mirror one

last time. Her simple white dress that she’d inherited from her

mother was a perfect fit. And her long blonde hair hung in waves

down her back. She couldn’t think of anything else she could do to

make herself more presentable.

Soon, she’d be standing next to Mark and

pledging to share the rest of her life with him. She had hoped to

marry for love when she came to Omaha. Yes, the man she had

expected to marry had turned out to be a horrible person, but then

she was introduced to Mark and his twin brother, Tony. After

sharing a few dinners with the two men, she fell in love with Mark,

and, thankfully, he had fallen in love with her.

Velma, no doubt, wasn’t going to be all that

pleased to marry Tony, but the two had agreed to abide by Mark’s

decision. Yesterday, Mark had come out to propose to Natalie. He

had made his choice. Natalie would have smoothed things over with

Velma if she was still sharing a room with her in Owen and Jenny

Russell’s house. But Velma was staying at Mark and Tony’s parents’

residence instead. There was no time to pay Velma a visit. She

would just have to talk to Velma this morning before the

ceremony.

She went to the dresser where she had laid

out her grandmother’s shawl. She placed the Bible she had received

when she was a little girl on it and then placed the lilac Jenny

had given her that morning on top of it. Then she wrapped the Bible

and flower up with the shawl. After everything was secure, she

picked it up and gently set it in her arms so she wouldn’t crush

the flower.

“Are you ready?”

Not realizing someone else was in the room,

she turned to the door and saw Jenny, poking her head through the

doorway.

“I finally got Jeremy and Carl into the

wagon,” Jenny said. “They’re old enough to be good, but they’re

sure they’ll get bored during the ceremony. Emma is the only one

who’s excited about it.”

Natalie chuckled. “I think it’s because she’s

a girl. Weddings are romantic.”

“They are.” Jenny smiled at her. “I promise

the boys will behave. They won’t get dessert otherwise. In the

meantime, Owen has your trunk in the back. He said he’ll put it in

Mark’s carriage once we get to the church.

“Thank you for everything,” Natalie replied

as she went over to her. “You and Owen have been very nice to let

Velma and me stay here while we waited to get married.”

“We enjoyed having you both here.” Jenny

hugged her. “Mark and Tony are good men. You and Velma will be very

happy with them.”

Natalie returned her hug then left the

room.

When they arrived at the church, Preacher Ben

Martin hurried over to the wagon. “Since this is a double wedding,

we’re having Richard Larson bring Velma in from one side of the

church.” He focused on Owen. “Do you intend to escort Natalie down

the aisle?”

Owen nodded. “That’s fine with me.” He

glanced at Natalie, as if asking her if she wanted him to do

it.

“Yes,” she told the preacher as she secured

the shawl, Bible, and lilac in one arm. “Owen can be the one to

lead me down the aisle to Mark.”

“Very well.” The preacher helped Natalie down

from the wagon. “I’ll lead you and Owen to the side of the church.

Richard and Velma will be on the other side. That way, you two

won’t bump into each other on your way in.”

Though Ben chuckled, Natalie sensed a

hesitation in his voice. Before she could give it any thought,

Jenny touched her shoulder. She turned to face her.

“I’ll go into the church with Jeremy, Carl,

and Emma,” Jenny said, motioning to her children. Then she smiled.

“Next time we talk, you’ll be Mrs. Mark Larson.”

Natalie’s face flushed with pleasure. She

liked the sound of that. Up to now, the whole thing seemed like a

dream. But it suddenly dawned on her that this was really

happening. She was actually going to get married today. Sure, she

came to Omaha expecting to get married, but she thought she was

going to marry Mr. Dodson. She hadn’t even known Mark existed at

the time. So much had changed in the short time she’d been here.

Instead of marrying a stranger, she was marrying a man she had

fallen in love with, and better yet, he had fallen in love with

her.

“We’ll go over to this side of the church,”

the preacher told Owen and Natalie.

Taking Owen’s arm, Natalie let him lead her

to the church. She briefly caught sight of Velma and noted how

beautiful Velma looked. Tony would be pleased. But then, Tony was

in love with her. He would have been pleased even if she’d worn

rags.

Velma might think she needed fancy gowns and

money in order to be happy. Having grown up with very little,

Natalie knew such wasn’t the case. Her parents had loved each

other, and they had passed on that love to her and her younger

sisters and brothers. People didn’t need wealth to be happy. They

just needed to be with someone who loved them and could accept them

as they were.

Once they reached the side of the church, the

preacher said, “Everyone else is already here. We’ll get started in

five minutes. Do you have a pocket watch?”

“I think so.” Owen patted the pockets of his

suit and pulled it out. “Yep. It’s right here.”

“Good. I’ll tell Richard and Velma we’ll get

started in five minutes.” The preacher hurried off to the other

side of the small building.

Owen chuckled. “I’ve never seen a preacher so

eager to get someone married.”

Natalie laughed. “Maybe it’s because it’s a

double wedding. There’s twice the joy in such an event, don’t you

think?”

“Yes, I suppose there is. Of course, Ben and

Mark have been friends since they were children. I think they were

six when they met. Mark stopped another boy from trying to steal

Ben’s lunch.”

“He did?” That was a lovely thing for Mark to

do.

Owen smiled at her. “You can’t go wrong with

a Larson. They will do anything they can to help others out.”

“I’m glad it never worked out with Mr.

Dodson. I can’t believe he was going to auction me, Velma, and

Angela off just so he could get money. I’m glad Sep told you what

was happening so you could free us. Now, saying all of that, I

would go through that experience all over again if it means I could

be marrying Mark today.” She hugged him then let go of him. “I have

so much to be thankful for. You and Jenny have been so kind to take

me and Velma in.”

“We’re just glad things turned out alright,”

he replied. “Mr. Dodson and those men could have done worse. There

are some things I’ve seen in my years of law enforcement that I

hope I never see again.”

She was tempted to ask him what could have

been worse than what she’d gone through, but it was time to go into

the church.

When they got inside, Richard and Velma were

already waiting to be summoned to the front. At the moment, a

middle-aged man was playing the violin, and Mark and Tony were

standing on either side of the preacher. Natalie tried to figure

out which twin was Mark and which was Tony, but she couldn’t. The

two were dressed in the same suit. Not only that, but their hair

was combed in the same manner, and Tony had shaved his stubble.

She glanced at Owen. Would he know which man

to take her to?

Catching a movement out of the corner of her

eye, she turned her attention to Velma. Velma offered her a smile.

That was a promising sign. Velma was willing to marry Tony after

all. Relieved that things were going to be alright between them,

Natalie returned her smile.

The violinist began a different song, and the

preacher waved them forward. Richard led Velma down the aisle. Owen

and Natalie followed a few steps behind. Once they were at the

altar, the preacher instructed Velma to go to the twin on the

right, so Natalie went to the twin on the left.

To make sure she had the right twin, Natalie

whispered, “Mark?”

He nodded, took her hand in his, and squeezed

it. Well, that was good. It’d be embarrassing to end up with the

wrong twin.

The preacher began the ceremony, and at

first, Natalie thought he was speaking a different language because

she couldn’t understand anything he was saying. She’d only heard

one person who could speak that fast, and that was her great uncle

when he was overseeing an auction.

She focused on him in hopes to filtering out

the parts of the ceremony that related directly to her. She knew

she had to say “I do” at some point. But for the life of her, she

couldn’t make out when that was supposed to be until he looked at

her expectantly.

Startled, she stumbled for a moment then

finally managed to say, “I do.”

Mark followed suit, and then the preacher was

back to his whirlwind spiel. She ended up giving up on trying to

decode his words. She had no idea why he was doing this. Surely, he

didn’t speak at such a speed during his sermons. If he did, no one

would attend this church. No one wanted to work this hard to figure

out what the preacher was saying.

Finally, the preacher announced that each

couple was married and told the couples to kiss. Mark lowered his

head to hers and gave her a kiss that was just as fast as the

ceremony.

Then, right after the preacher brushed past

them, Mark took her hand and hurried with her down the aisle and

out of the church.

This wasn’t anything like she had imagined

her wedding would be. She had dreamt of this moment her entire

life. She had pictured a wonderful ceremony where the preacher

spoke about the virtues of marriage while the groom snuck sweet

glances her way to let her know how excited he was to be marrying

her. She, in turn, would blush and offer a shy smile in return.

Once the ceremony was done, they were to stay

and talk with family and friends. People would congratulate them.

The women would offer her advice as she began her new life as a

wife, and the men would tell Mark what to expect as a husband.

Then, when everyone had spent enough time together, Mark was to

lead her to her carriage where everyone would wave and wish them

many happy years together.

But none of that happened. Instead, Mark

whisked her out of the church and led her to his carriage, which

was waiting for them at the entrance.

Mark urged her into the carriage, and she

barely had time to sit before he was shutting the door. Before she

could ask him what was going on, the carriage moved forward and she

fell against Mark.

Mark chuckled and brought his arm around her

shoulders. “Don’t worry. I’ll keep you steady.”

“What’s going on?” she asked. “Why are we in

such a hurry?”

“I have to take care of some business before

the hour is up. I told the client I was getting married, but he has

to leave Omaha shortly, so I promised to meet with him. You don’t

mind, do you?” He shot her a heart-melting smile that put all of

her questions to rest.

“No, I don’t mind.” She shifted so that she

was more comfortable. “I’m surprised, that’s all.”

“I would have told you before we married, but

you know it’s bad luck for the groom to see the bride before the

wedding.”

“Is it? I never heard that.”

“Oh, yes. It’s true. Ben says it’s important

that the groom and bride wait until the actual ceremony before

seeing each other.”

She’d take his word for it. She opened the

shawl to make sure the lilac was still alright. Fortunately, all of

the commotion hadn’t damaged it.

He gave her a kiss. “You’re a wonderful wife.

I’m excited that we’ll get to spend the rest of our lives

together.”

“I’m excited, too.” She showed him the items

on her lap. “I have my grandmother’s shawl, my childhood Bible, and

the lilac your aunt Jenny gave me to remind myself of this day. I

plan to tuck the lilac at the very beginning of the book of Ruth.

Did you know that book is a romance?”

“No, I didn’t.”

“It is, and since you and I have a beautiful

romance, it’ll always remind me of this day. Then when I tell our

children about how we met and got married, I can show these things

to them.”

“I had no idea you were sentimental.”

“I like to remember good things when they

happen. Today is one of the best days of my life. I want to make

the most of it.”

“Well, I’m glad you ended up with me instead

of someone else. From the moment we met, I knew I wanted to marry

you.”

He did? “How is that possible when you didn’t

know anything about me?”

He shrugged. “I just had a sense about it.

I’ve always let my instinct guide me. It’s never led me in the

wrong direction. In fact, if I don’t pay attention to it, then I

run into trouble. It’s served me well in business and in my

personal life over the years. It’s certainly served me well in

picking a wife.”

“At least you got to know me, so you knew

what you were getting into when you proposed.”

With a chuckle, he gave her another kiss.

“I’m glad this day is one of your favorites. It’s mine, too.”

He brought his mouth back to hers, and he

didn’t stop kissing her until they arrived at her new home.