Free The Bartender's Mail Order Bride by Cindy Caldwell Page B

he turned to her and smiled. Had the most handsome, kind and interesting man she’d ever met just say he cared about her?
    She chalked that up on her “hopeful” side of the marriage list as she walked into the mercantile, past his extended arm, and smiled as Suzanne rushed to hug her.
    James shook Sam’s hand as Sam removed his hat and hung it by the door.
    “Different coming in here without pails of milk and baskets of eggs,” Meg said to Suzanne.
    “I can imagine, my dear,” Suzanne said as she pulled Meg over to the counter. “I’m waiting for the delivery from Archer Ranch right now, and not at all sure who’s going to bring it.”
    A pang of guilt struck Meg. Who would do what had been her job for years? And she hadn’t even had the opportunity to train anyone, or tell them what to do.
    “I can see what you’re thinking, Meg. Whoever they send, I’ll help them, teach them about the billing. Don’t worry.”
    Meg cast a grateful look Suzanne’s way, glad that she’d read her mind.
    As James and Sam approached, Suzanne said, “So, have you told him our idea?”
    “I have, and he can tell you himself what he thinks.”
    Sam shifted from one foot to the other, his cheeks a little pink, Meg noticed.
    “Suzanne, I’m feeling pretty bad that I’ve gotten everyone I know into a bad situation. Everyone’s going to end up pretending if we do this.”
    “Do what, Sam?” Meg said, confused.
    Suzanne smiled at her husband and turned to Meg. “We had talked casually before you came along about the possibility of Sam telling his mother that the mercantile was his business. That way, he’d be married and have a business.”
    “Oh, goodness.” Meg looked at Sam as he shuffled his feet, staring at his shoes. They’d beaten Meg and Sam, coming to the same conclusion that it might work for everyone. They hadn’t even had the opportunity to suggest it first.
    “And now that you’ve come along, Meg, with your experience here at the mercantile, we are very comfortable with the idea. We trust you implicitly, and the inventory and ordering of supplies has been done for the month. It’s a good time.” James shoved his hands in his pockets, obviously pleased with his proposal as he rocked from heel to toe.
    “I’m quite flattered,” Meg said. “Sam, what do you think?”
    Suzanne came around the counter and put her arm through Sam’s. “I’ve heard you say a few times that you feel bad, but please don’t. We’ve offered, no strings attached. It actually sounds fun, really. Something different, anyway, and think of the celebration when we all pull it off.”
    “Meg, you think we can do this?” Sam smiled gratefully at Suzanne.
    “Of course, I do. In for a penny, in for a pound…and it looks like we’re all in for a pound,” Meg said and her eyes twinkled when everyone laughed.
    She meant every word of it. If she was going to make this work out and please Sam and his mother, she was going to do whatever it took to make it happen. And the mercantile was the best of their available options…actually, as far as she knew, it was their only option.
    “Good, then. It’s settled.” Suzanne walked Sam over to the small office behind the mercantile’s main room. “It won’t take long for me to show you two how to keep records, and that’s all you’ll need to do.”
    “You…you aren’t staying with us?” Sam had turned an odd shade of pale.
    “The store will be closed on Sunday, the first day she arrives,” Suzanne said, glancing at James. “And on Monday, we can be close by. We thought maybe Tuesday and Wednesday we’d take the girls up to Tucson for a last little vacation before school begins the following Monday. The back to school fair is this Saturday and we’ve decided to close up as so many will be at the fair. Can you believe it’s time for school to start again? Time has flown by.”
    James leaned against the doorway to the small office, his tall frame filling it. “So that would