Chapter Three
Riverton Train Station
Neil watched impatiently as the train arrived.
He still wasn’t sure that his idea of getting a mail-order bride was one of his brightest. He had no guarantee that it would actually work out, but he wanted to listen to Maisie’s advice.
She had been over the moon when she’d told him to “embrace this opportunity with open arms.” He could at least try.
However, as he was standing there with the train rolling into the station, he wished that she hadn’t already left to go home.
She would have been so helpful in navigating this new territory he was embarking on.
Those last few days with her had been marvelous, and he had enjoyed her company, wit, and humor very much.
Her relentless positivity and reassuring encouragement that answering the ad for this mail-order bride had been the best idea he’d ever had solidified his resolve to give this a real try.
So when Maisie left early that morning, after he had forced her to let one of his men drive her back home, he had decided to follow her advice and embrace this new situation he found himself in.
That started with picking up his future wife-to-be from the train station this morning, but there was only one problem.
The only people left at the train station were a woman and her child.
Surely that couldn’t be her. After everything that had happened in the past, Neil was no longer interested in dealing with any kind of half-truths or dishonesty. He simply didn’t have the patience for it anymore.
Neil watched her for a while until after everyone else was gone. It quickly became clear that they were the only people left, and the woman seemed to be looking for someone. Desperately.
Pulling out the letter he had received from the agency that organized the mail-order brides, he looked over it again to make sure he hadn’t missed such an important detail.
Poppy Marwood.
Twenty-two years of age. Born in Springfield, Illinois. Both parents deceased.
It said nothing about her having a child, so maybe the lady waiting at the station wasn’t her.
Just in case, he had to make sure, so he pushed off the pole he’d been leaning against and walked over to the station.
As soon as she saw him, her entire body froze, and she stared at him with wide eyes.
She was a pretty little thing, not too tall, with long, glossy, almost black hair that fell loosely in a thick braid over her shoulder.
Her big eyes were dark, almond-shaped, and framed by thick, long lashes.
She had a cute little button nose and full lips, and Neil had to admit that she was quite beautiful indeed.
“Miss?” he called out to her as he walked up to her. The child was a little girl, and she immediately hid behind the woman when she saw him. “Are you Miss Poppy Marwood?” he asked directly.
The woman stretched to her full height and jutted out her dainty chin a little.
“Yes, I am,” she replied with a gentle voice. “Are you Mr. Neil Albright?”
Neil immediately stopped in his tracks. So it was her.
His gaze darted to the young child, and he couldn’t stop the frustration that flared up inside of him.
There was no mention of the child in the paperwork he had received from the agency.
This woman must have lied to them to hide this very important information.
Neil couldn’t help it. He felt deceived, and he didn’t like it one bit.
“I shall speak to the agency and cancel the marriage,” he said brusquely and turned on his heels. He should have listened to his gut feeling. This whole thing had been a bad idea from the start. Lesson learned.
“What?” the woman said behind him. “No! Wait!”
Suddenly, her face appeared in front of his. Neil’s strides were so wide and fast, he almost bumped into her.
“You can’t just leave us here!” she said to him, her big eyes wide with shock. The little girl whimpered and came running after her, and the woman pushed her protectively behind her. “What is the meaning of this? You should at least tell me why you changed your mind so suddenly!”
“I don’t have to do anything, lady,” he retorted, but when he tried to walk around them, the feisty young woman had the audacity to grab his arm to stop him.
“We’ve been traveling for hours, sir!” she exclaimed less forcefully. Her eyes looked a tad more pleading, too. “You can spare us a minute to listen, can you not?”
Neil didn’t reply. He just grunted as he crossed his arms in front of his chest, looking down at her, trying to ignore how flawless her skin was. The top of her head barely reached his shoulders.
“Please, Mr. Albright. I’ll help around the house with the cooking and cleaning—that agreement hasn’t changed,” she pleaded.
“That’s where you’re mistaken, lady!” he said sternly, which made the woman shrink back a little. “The agreement has changed, because I never agreed to marrying a woman with a child!”
The woman’s eyes widened, then she closed them tightly. A single tear escaped from the corner of her eye. Neil turned his head. He didn’t need any waterworks from yet another hussy trying to scam him.
“She’s not my child,” the young woman said quietly. “And she won’t be any of your concern. Sophie is completely my responsibility. You won’t even have to see her.”
Neil inhaled sharply. He needed to remain firm, but something was already tugging at his heart.
“We have nowhere else to go,” the woman continued.
“We can’t return. At this point, we’re completely homeless if you turn us away.
” There was real desperation in her eyes, which Neil found unsettling.
“I’m a hard worker, and I promise you won’t regret taking us in.
I’ll do anything to keep a roof over our heads. ”
She stopped herself and lowered her head, almost as if she felt ashamed for saying that.
Neil looked at both of them, and when his glance fell onto the little girl clutching a worn rag doll, she whimpered and hid behind the woman again.
Her eyes were just as dark as the woman’s, but her hair was much lighter, almost a dirty blonde.
Regardless, it was obvious these two were somehow related.
“If she isn’t your child, then what is she? You two look awfully similar,” Neil says. “I didn’t agree to taking on an entire family!”
The young woman’s nostrils flared, and she took a defensive stance in front of the little girl. It surprised Neil. Was she ready to fight him over this? Either way, Miss Marwood seemed to want to keep her relation to the girl a secret.
Neil didn’t like secrets. He took a step back and attempted to walk around them, but the woman stepped in front of him again.
“Please, Mr. Albright!” she exclaimed, and this time her face was one of naked worry and fear. “She’s my sister. She’s mute. She has nobody else but me.”
Neil’s heartstrings tugged at him again.
He really tried to fight against them, but he couldn’t.
If this little girl really was her younger sister, then he could almost understand why the woman had hidden her on the paperwork.
Most men wouldn’t want to take on that extra responsibility. They’d just want a new wife.
“I don’t like lies or deception,” he said bluntly, not bothering to ask her why she had hidden such an important piece of information. Her shoulders visibly sank. He swallowed the pity trying to rise up in his throat. He had no room for it.
But then he noticed something else. Their clothes were worn.
He even saw holes and several patches in the girl’s skirt.
Their shoes were completely unsuitable for the terrain, as there seemed to be hardly any soles left on them.
The girl’s coat looked a little too small, and the woman’s was so thin in places, he could see the color of her dress shining through it.
They carried a single small bag with them. Didn’t they have any other belongings?
Old memories suddenly arose, ones that made him feel uncomfortable.
The extreme feeling of loneliness he had felt when he had just turned fourteen years old, and his parents had died unexpectedly.
The undeniable feeling of responsibility to his ten-year-old sister, both of them orphaned in an instant.
The fear and uncertainty of not knowing or understanding why they had died or what he would do without them.
This young woman probably felt terribly alone in the world, too, and in that moment, he couldn’t think of anything he could relate to more.
None of that should be an excuse for her lying to him, though.
“I’ll be looking after her,” the woman continued, “and like I said, you won’t even see her. Please, trust me.”
He cleared his throat and pulled his shoulders back as his anger rekindled in his chest. Trust me.
He’d lost count how often someone had said that to him, only to turn around and stab him right in the back.
He just didn’t trust easily anymore. He couldn’t.
The fact that she hadn’t told him the truth right from the start bugged him more than he could say.
He didn’t want to be one of those men who didn’t have a heart for people in difficult situations, but he clearly couldn’t trust his heart anymore.
Truthfully, he was so mad in that moment—that he’d wasted all his time and hope on something so ridiculous—that it fueled his anger beyond any comprehension. This wasn’t his problem, nor his responsibility.
“I am not being taken advantage of, lady!” he finally said. “I’ll pay for your return tickets.”
Then he took another step back, and this time, he made sure to walk with wide strides all the way around them.