Free Mail Order Brides: A Bride for the Banker (Bozeman Brides Book 1) by Emily Woods

clean. Once that was done he’d haul himself up on the wide back of his trusty horse and gallop to the far reaches of the ranch where people and their demands couldn’t find him, though he had yet to find a place that allowed him to escape from his thoughts.
    He dreaded going downstairs. Walter and Maggie never ceased trying to drag him into conversation he didn’t want to have, however clear he made it that he wanted to be left alone. Needed to be left alone. They always had some comments to make about young ladies in town or  questions about his future plans. How was he supposed to give answers he didn’t even know himself?
    He always tried to time his dash downstairs for cold cornbread and coffee for when Maggie was upstairs getting dressed and Walter’s face was lost in a cloud of pipe smoke on the porch. This day was no different. He sat down on the floor, his back leaning against the door, until he heard the creak of the stairs under Maggie’s night-clothed bulk and the swish of water as she emptied a bucket into her wash basin.
    He opened the door and dashed down the stairs to the kitchen. His cornbread was set out on the side, cold and stodgy, just the way he liked it. So was his coffee, black with just enough sugar to mask its bitterness.
    “G’morning,” said a deep voice from the doorway, so unexpectedly that Charles almost spilled his coffee all over himself.
    “Mister Murphy,” said Charles, furious with himself for pausing and getting caught.
    “How many times do I have to tell you to call me Walter?” he said.
    “Walter,” said Charles, taking a huge gulp of lukewarm coffee and a bite out of the cornbread as he headed to the doorway to pass by Walter.
    Walter stood in his way. “Won’t you at least do one letter?”
    “No,” said Charles, pushing past and walking as quickly as his legs would carry him toward the stables.
     

     
    I hope you liked the preview of Pearl of the West . You can read the rest here:
    AuthorEmilyWoods.com/pearl-of-the-west-amazon
     
    You can also get Pearl of the West as part of the 6 book Mail Order Brides of Gold Creek series:
    AuthorEmilyWoods.com/gold-creek-complete-series
     

     
    Be sure to check out all of my books
     
    AuthorEmilyWoods.com/amazon