Free Lilly: Bride of Illinois (American Mail-Order Bride 21) by Linda K. Hubalek Page A

seen Lilly’s plain brown hood cap at the train station, so he wanted to give her something more stylish, but would still offer warmth. The hat was a combination of light blue silk and dark blue velvet fabrics, with a little sprig of dainty blue silk flowers on the crown. The wide velvet ribbons would cover her ears when she tied them under her chin.
    “I thought a simpler hat without too much…flowers and birds and stuff….would work best so you could wrap your shawl over it for more protection.” She looked so overwhelmed—or shocked—he wanted to put his arms around her to give her more warmth and confidence.
    Seth had heard Lilly quietly crying during the night, but he tried to keep his breathing even so she wouldn’t be embarrassed he heard her. Seth had a hard time visualizing how she must feel, because he’d never been in a desperate situation like hers. He and his brothers were taught to push forward in a bad situation, dig their way out of a mess, find a solution—but his family was always there to support one another. Lilly had no one, and it gave him a guilty conscience for being lucky, so maybe he went a little overboard on the clothing he bought, but Seth wanted to give her hope in mankind—and him.
    “Since I was hoping you’d say yes to my proposal, I also checked about getting married. It would be easiest and faster to be married at the courthouse, rather than a church. Will that be okay with you, Lilly?”
    “Yes, I’m just happy to become Mrs. Seth Reagan,” she hiccupped through another sniffle.
    How she said his name made him a little uneasy, but that was to be expected with her circumstances.
    “You’ll need to show some sort of identification to get the license. Do you have something to prove who you are?”
    “Yes. Since my immigration paper was in my Bible, it didn’t get stolen at the Emporium.”
    “Good. How about you get ready, then we’ll go to the courthouse. I want to go back to the Stock Show this afternoon so I’ll bring you back here to rest.”
    “I’d like to go with you, if I wouldn’t be in the way. My ribs are sore, but not enough to spend most of the day here by myself—especially since it’s our wedding day,” Lilly shyly finished as she picked up the clothes and headed for the bathroom.
    Well, yes it was, so he should make it special for Lilly. After the ceremony, they’d go to the show for the afternoon, then dine in a nice restaurant before returning to their room this evening.
    ***
    “Malena Lillya Linddotter,” Lilly proudly stated as she handed the clerk her immigrant paper. In a few minutes, she would be wed to Seth Edward Reagan.
    She looked up at Seth when he coughed in his hand. He raised his eyebrows questioning…? Oh, she hadn’t told Seth her real name . She’d Americanized her name to fit in, but she hadn’t officially changed it. And now it didn’t matter because her last name would be Reagan, at least for a while.
    “That’s all the paperwork, now if you’ll wait on the bench down the hall, the judge will call you into his office for your ceremony,” the clerk said while handing the papers, which the judge would sign, to Seth.
    “I’m glad you said your name first, or I would have said Lilly Lind,” Seth whispered when they got to the bench and sat down.
    “I’m sorry, I’ve used my American name for two years but the Swedish version is my still legal name.”
    “I like the name Malena. What don’t you use it?”
    “Our family, and most Swedes, use the second name when talking about someone instead of the first. Malena was my grandmother’s middle name, and she went by that. My parents put it as my first name, and used Lillya for the name I went by in Sweden.”
    Lilly’s breath halted when the judge’s chamber door opened and a man waved to them to come into the room. She stood, smiling at Seth as they linked arms. This man was giving her a new future, and for today she’d pretend it was forever.

 
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