Free Mail Order Mistake by Kirsten Osbourne Page A

wouldn’t be okay to let him do that, would it?
    She was practically sitting in his lap when Ellen and Patrick came into the room. 
     She turned to her sister with a blank look, barely registering she was there.  “Hmmm?”
    “Patrick and I have been talking, and we’ve made a decision.”  Ellen said , watching Malinda.
    “What’s that?”  Ellen looked guilty and that meant only one thing.  They were going
     to go ahead with the wedding no matter what Malinda’s decision was.  The fact that
     she’d decided to go ahead with the wedding herself made no difference.  Ellen was
     betraying her.  
    “We’re getting married tomorrow morning.  We’d like the two of you to be there with
     us.” 
    Malinda glared at Ellen.  “What do you mean you decided?  I thought it was a decision
     for the four of us?”  What made Ellen think she had the right to make that kind of decision without her?
    Ellen walked to one of the chairs across from the sofa and sat down.  “The f act is, I wouldn’t marry Wesley and Patrick wouldn’t marry you.  Whether you two get married or not doesn’t change
     the fact that Patrick and I will get married in the morning.”  She looked over at
     Wesley.  “I don’t mean to offend you.  You’ll make a wonderful brother to me.”
    Malinda was furious.  She didn’t want to marry Patrick, but the fac t was she’d come out there with all intentions of marrying him, and Ellen was betraying
     her.  “You can’t just announce to me you’re marrying him.  He’s my fiancé.”  She crossed her arms over her chest and glared at her sister.
    “No, he’s not.  He’s my fiancé.  You don’t have feelings for him, Malinda.  You care
     for Wesley.  There’s no need for you to be upset if I marry Patrick.”
    Patrick looked at Malinda sympathetically.  “It’s true, Malinda.  Having spent time
     getting to know you both, I know that the only woman I have any desire to marry is
     Ellen.  I’m just not interested in you as anything more than a sister.”
    Malinda refused to acknowledge Patrick and continued to glare at Ellen until the other
     couple got up and left the room.  She turned to Wesley.  “I’m sorry.”   It was only then she realized that he’d heard her little tirade.  What would he
     think of her?
    Wesley stared at her for a moment.  “I thought Ellen was the one who was holding things
     up.  You don’t want to marry me?”  He looked hurt, and Malinda immediately felt terrible.
    “Of course I want to marry you!”  She paused looking down at her hands, trying to
     find the best way to explain.  “I just wanted a little time to get to know you better. 
     I knew from the moment I met you I couldn’t marry Patrick.”  She didn’t add that she
     hadn’t been sure until the previous evening that she had known she could marry him.
    Wesley nodded slowly.  “So are we going to get married in the morning as well?”
    “I think so.  I’m pretty sure so.”  She closed her eyes for a moment.  “I’m confused. 
     Can I let you know in the morning if I’ll marry you tomorrow?”   Now he’d hate her.  She’d ruined everything between them.
    He stood abruptly.  “Of course.  You can tell me tomorrow.  It’s not like it’s my
     life hanging in the balance, is it?  It’s just about you and only you.  Why would
     I care what your answer is?”
    He stormed out of the house and she wanted to chase after him, but she just didn’t know what to say.  She put
     her head in her hands and cried.  Why did Ellen have to mess things up so badly?
    She went straight upstairs to her bedroom, lying on the bed crying until she heard
     Ellen come up the stairs.  She debated for a moment if she wanted to talk to her sister
     right away or wait until she’d cooled off a bit.  Finally she stood and went to her
     sister’s room, knowing she couldn’t go to sleep until they’d talked it out.  She was
     much too angry.
    After Ellen had