Trees lined the road on both sides and she had to admit, with ice and snow coating the limbs, it was breathtaking to behold. She could hear the rush of water too and looked for the source of it, barely seeing it through the trees and the snow that continued to fall.

  “That’s Angel Creek. It runs directly behind the house.”

  Julia didn’t reply, her focus still on those brief glances of water she could see. Long minutes later, they came to a wide wooden bridge that crossed the creek, the horse and wagon clanking across it, and as much noise as they made, it wasn’t enough to drown out the sound of the water as it rushed over the rocks.

  Large sections along the creek banks, and nearly every rock she saw, had frozen over, small waterfalls being carved into the ice, and it was the most beautiful thing she’d seen on the entire trip from the east coast. Had it not been so cold, she would have been content to sit there half the day watching it.

  Once they reached the other side of the bridge, the ranch came into view. She wasn’t really sure what she expected but—this wasn’t it.

  They’d read the listings in the Groom’s Gazette of men in Angel Creek looking for a wife and once she found out her new husband was a rancher, she’d tried to imagine what his home would look like. She’d had the impression of land filled with animals and wide-open barren fields, the grass trampled down to nothing as hordes of animal hooves marred the ground. The wide-open fields were here, but the animals weren’t. For as far as she could see, it was nothing but rolling hills all the way to the mountains in the distance.

  The house was two stories with a porch that ran along the entire front of it. Not quite the wide veranda around her father’s home, but close. She could picture herself there on hot summer days while she and her friends gossiped over tea, assuming they would all come out this far if she invited them.

  A large barn and several outbuildings were off to the left. A few men were walking around and more than a few stopped to look their way as Matthew set the foot brake on the wagon and jumped to the ground.

  He came around to her side before lifting a hand to help her down. When her feet hit the snow-strewn grass, the fatigue she’d been trying to ignore since stepping off the stagecoach caused her knees to buckle. She gasped and stared wide-eyed at Matthew when he caught her before she hit the ground.

  “Are you all right?”

  “Yes,” she said, heat filling her face. “I guess the trip has taken more out of me than I thought it had.”

  “Understandable.” He helped her upright again, holding on to her until she was steady. “Can you walk?”

  Could she? She was still shaky but she wasn’t so weak she couldn’t walk.

  She apparently waited too long to answer. Matthew scooped her off the ground and into his arms before she could get a single word out and she stifled a startled yelp as he started for the house.

  It took every ounce of willpower she had to relax and not protest him carrying her, especially when he asked her to open the front door, then proceeded to carry her inside and up a flight of stairs to a bedroom at the end of the hall.

  The room wasn’t as large as the one she’d had back home but it wasn’t small by any means. Matthew set her on the bed and stepped away and Julia’s heart was once again pounding. The scent of peppermint hung in the air and she instantly longed to see her father. His room had always smelled of sweet treats too and she wondered if her new husband had a stash of candy hidden somewhere. Her father hid his in the top drawer of his dresser and she’d snuck in many times as a child to take a piece.

  She glanced around the space, taking in the furnishings. This was definitely a man’s room. There was nothing feminine about it at all. It was all brown wood and dark colored curtains, the bedspread she sat on was a dark color as well. She’d remedy that soon enough, though. It was nothing new curtains and the marriage quilt she spent months making wouldn’t improve upon. It just needed a woman’s touch.

  She spotted the trunks she’d shipped ahead of her departure from Charleston stacked against the wall. “I see my things arrived.”

  Matthew nodded his head and moved to the door. “They were delivered last week. I’ll bring your traveling bag in once I’ve seen to the horse. Rest for a while. Take a nap or just relax.” He started to close the door but stopped. “Unless you’re hungry. I can rustle up something for you to eat if you’d like.”

  “No, thank you. I think I’d rather rest for a while.”

  He nodded his head once, then left the room, pulling the door closed behind him. As she listened to his footsteps growing more distant, her pounding pulse slowed to normal.

  The bed underneath her caused the butterflies she’d finally won control over to take flight again. She was twenty-two years old and had never been kissed. Had never even been in a room alone with a man, and now she was sitting on a bed she was to share with one. To be intimate and lie with, naked.

  Her heart was fluttering like a caged bird in seconds at the thought. Sarah had told her what to expect on her wedding night and she had let more than a few thoughts pop into her head, right or wrong. Now, she was a new bride and ready or not, come nightfall, Matthew Bailey would come to her bed, and despite Sarah’s reassurance that everything would be fine, she was absolutely terrified.

  Chapter Two

  Matthew could hear the squeaky wheels of a wagon coming down the road as he stepped out onto the porch. He knew it was Prudence without even looking.

  Since the day he found out Pru had sent off for a mail-order bride in his name, he’d been plotting ways to make her life as miserable as his was. Killing her would brand him a murderer and he’d been willing to live with the consequences but knew that wasn’t possible now. Not once people saw his new wife. They’d think he was an idiot for even complaining about what his sister had done and probably hire the ornery busybody to find them wives, too.

  Her wagon rounded the bend and came into view a few moments later and she threw her hand up and waved when she saw him. He walked down the steps and into the yard toward his wagon and hoped she had no intentions of staying or introducing herself to his new wife, but something told him that’s the very reason she risked coming out in the storm. If she didn’t live so close by he would have been angry she even tried. The storm moving in was probably the only reason she hadn’t been at the church.

  Prudence meddled in his affairs too much. She gossiped as if it were her job and liked to make decisions without his knowledge and as infuriated as he’d been when he found out what she’d done, he’d begrudgingly have to admit—for once—her sending off for a mail-order bride without his knowledge hadn’t turned out so bad. Not that he’d ever tell her he thought so. As far as his sister was concerned, he was still mad as hell.

  She was grinning when she pulled her wagon up beside his own and set the foot brake. “I ran into Pete on the way over here. Talk in town is those southern belles were a sight to behold! The fanciest things to hit Angel Creek since Elijah Oliver built his eatery and laid those lace tablecloths down.”

  “I’m still mad at you, Pru.”

  She laughed. “Liar.” Jumping to the ground, she rounded the wagon and looked toward the house. “She in there?”

  “Where else would she be?”

  “Back in town looking for a husband. I do recall you saying you weren’t marrying a woman you’ve never set eyes on.”

  He pulled the blankets from the wagon seat, folded them and tucked them under his arm before reaching in to grab Julia’s bag. “Well I couldn’t leave her stranded in town after she traveled halfway across the country to get here, now could I. Besides, if anyone else in town would have wanted a wife, they would have sent for one, not hung around the church in hopes an extra would just happen to be there.”

  She was smirking at him. She didn’t believe the sorry excuse he’d been trying to convince himself of any more than he did. He scowled at her. “She’s resting, so go home. You can talk to her later.”

  Prudence pulled her cloak up around her neck when a blast of cold air swept over the valley. “Is she pretty?”

  He ignored her question as he turned to the house and set the blankets and the carpetbag down, then headed back to the horse and wagon.

  “She is, isn’t she?” She laughed. “And all that fuss you made about me sending off for you a wife—”

  “—Has caused me more trouble than I needed.”

  “Hogwash.” She waved a hand in the air as if his words meant nothing. “I saved you from the biggest mistake of your life, is what I’ve done.”

  Matthew took the horse’s reins, walking the animal to the barn. Prudence dogged his every step, talking nonstop and he ignored her, glancing back at the house as he pulled the barn doors open and all he could think about was Julia, who was more than likely asleep in his bed.

  “Are you even listening to me?”

  He motioned for one of the ranch hands to come take care of the horse then turned to his sister. “Not really, why? Did you say anything different from the same old conversation we’ve been having since you started this whole mess?”

  “You’re an ornery old goat, anyone ever tell you that?”

  “You, at least once a week.”

  She crossed her arms over her chest and narrowed her eyes. “When can I meet her?”

  “A week from Tuesday.”

  She scowled. “I’m serious—Matthew.”

  “So am I—Prudence.”

  She clenched her jaw once, her lips pursing. “Fine. I know how it is when a man takes a wife so I’ll give you some privacy but,” she pointed a finger at him, “don’t think to keep me away forever. She may be your wife but she’s my new sister and I’ve waited a long time to have another woman in this family and you won’t deny me that or so help me, Matt, I’ll skin you alive!”

  She turned on her heel and stomped off toward her wagon, climbing up and giving him a rude gesture with her hand before flicking the horse’s reins and heading back down the road. He watched her until she was out of sight then turned back toward the house. He should take Julia’s bag up to her. See if she needed anything.

  Something in his chest clenched tight. Prudence had made a real mess of things. He hadn’t told a soul he had a wife coming, secretly hoping she’d never show up, but Julia’s arrival made his life a bit more complicated. Pru may have thought she was doing him a favor by sending away for Julia but she made things worse. Now, not only did he have a new wife to learn to live with, he had to figure out how to tell the girl he promised to marry that he already had a wife.

  A noise jarred Julia from sleep. She opened her eyes, and for a brief moment, didn’t know where she was.

  The day’s events came back to her in a rush and she sat up, taking in what she assumed was her new bedroom, if her trunks in the corner and her carpet bag that now sat on top of them were any indications.

  You’re a married woman, Julia. The words whispered through her head as she turned to sit on the edge of the bed.

  She still felt weary. The long trip across the country had been tiresome and she would have loved nothing more than to crawl into bed and sleep for a solid week. She stood and crossed the room to her trunks instead and spent the next twenty minutes sorting through her things, spreading the marriage quilt she’d spent so much time making across the bed, and tried to find a suitable dress to put on. The traveling suit she was wearing was hot and confining and her corset was digging into her ribs. If she could just loosen it a few inches she knew she’d feel better.

  A quick glance around the room showed there was no dressing screen and she had no desire to strip down to her corset without one, regardless of the fact she was now married.

  A ladder-back chair sat next to the dresser. She pulled it to the door and braced the back of it under the door handle. It wasn’t much but it made her feel better.

  The water pitcher in the corner was full, the water so cold it took her breath as she bathed her sweaty skin. When she was clean and in a fresh dress, she smoothed a hand over the wrinkled material and looked out the window. It was still snowing, the ground nearly covered completely now.

  She could see clean to the mountains in the distance from this side of the house. Several men were walking out by the barn and a small building a few hundred yards away seemed to be the hub of activity with men coming and going. She wasn’t sure what the building was and wondered if that was where the ranch hands lived. She’d have to ask her new husband.

  Turning away, she crossed the room and removed the chair from under the door handle and went to explore the house.

  Matthew Bailey’s home wasn’t as grandly appointed as her father’s had been but it seemed sturdy and well lived in. It lacked a woman’s touch but that could be easily remedied over time. There was a total of two bedrooms upstairs, a formal sitting room downstairs, a small room that appeared to be some sort of office tucked underneath the stairs, a dining room, and a small room holding nothing more than a cot and a large trunk off from the kitchen.

  Julia inspected the house, noting things that needed attending as she went. When she reached the kitchen, nervous butterflies took flight as she looked at the stove. A pot sat on top of it, and if the scent filling the room was any indication, something was cooking. Was she not expected to do that?

  She glanced at the clock. It was later than she’d expected it to be. Maybe her new husband got tired of waiting for her to get up and started supper without her. With her cooking skills, it was probably a good idea he had.

  Bess, the family cook back home, had taught her all she could in the short time she’d had before Julia stepped on that train to travel west. She knew she’d eventually be required to cook and even though she was eager to try, she couldn’t help but be grateful the duty had not been placed on her today.

  The door close to the cabinet swung open. Julia stared at Matthew as he came inside. He stilled the moment he saw her, then shut the door, removed his hat and coat and hung them both on a peg nailed into the wall.

  “Did you sleep well?”

  Julia nodded. “Yes, thank you.”

  He crossed to the cabinet and washed his hands, then grabbed a hand towel sitting on the counter. When he turned to face her, they both stood there in the silence, the only sound that of the ticking from a clock in the other room and the steam releasing from whatever was cooking on the stove.

  Matthew was the first to move. He crossed to the stove and lifted the lid from the pot and gave the contents a stir. “I wasn’t sure what you liked. I can’t guarantee this is the best you’ve ever eaten but I’ve not keeled over yet from eating my own cooking.”

  Julia smiled, the tension in her shoulders easing at his flippant remark. “I’m sure it will be fine. I’m hungry enough to eat an old shoe.”

  “Well, luckily for you, I was fresh out of those.” He picked the pot up and set it on the table. “Have a seat. I’ll grab some bowls.”

  Julia glanced back at the dining room once before sitting at the small table in front of a large window. It gave her a perfect view of the snow and ice encrusted creek just beyond the yard and she imagined it would be beautiful with spring flowers dotting the bank. As much as she enjoyed seeing the snow, she was eager to spend long, lazy summer days with her feet in that creek while mountain breezes blew through the valley.

  She watched Matthew grab bowls and cups and eating utensils, noting where everything was. A small part of her felt bad he’d had to cook. She was sure that was a task he’d taken a wife for and if so, she’d failed on her first day as a new bride.

  He returned and filled her bowl, then sat across from her. She looked down and smiled. Chicken and dumplings. One of the first things Bess taught her how to make. Thank goodness he liked them.

  Her glass was filled with cool water before Matthew finally looked over at her.

  “It smells good.”

  He picked up his spoon. “Not as good as my gramps used to make but it’s passable.”

  They spoke little while they ate and if Julia had to guess, she’d say he was feeling as nervous and clueless as to what to talk about as she was. Regardless of the fact they were man and wife, they knew nothing about each other besides their names.

  Halfway through the meal she dabbed at her mouth and glanced his way. “Do you live here alone?”

  He nodded. “Yes. Well, other than a few ranch hands that live out in the bunkhouse.” He refilled his water glass, then her own. “I’ve a sister who lives close by. Her name is Prudence and she’s as nosey as the day is long.” He grinned. “She came ‘round not long after we got home in hopes of meeting you. I suspect she’ll be back sooner rather than later.”

  “I look forward to it.”

  “You may think differently once you meet her.” He chuckled. “She means well but comes off very abrasive. Our mother died when we were young so Pru took over the household duties and ordered us about as if she wasn’t still a child. My gramps found it amusing so he told my pa to just let her do as she pleased. I think gramps just wanted her to take over the cooking for him, which she eventually did.”

  “And where do gramps and your father live now?”

  He stilled and stared down at his bowl. “They’re gone. Gramps died ten years ago and my father was killed, along with Pru’s husband, four winters ago.”

  “Oh, I’m sorry.”

  He nodded but said nothing else and neither did she. The circumstances around his father and Prudence’s husband’s death must be painful. Something in the expression on his face said it wasn’t something he liked to think about.

  They finished eating and cleared away the dishes, then Matthew showed her around the house, even though she’d peeked into all the rooms herself when she came downstairs. They ended up in a small parlor off from the front door. There were a few seats scattered about the room. Matthew added a few more logs to the burning embers in the fireplace before saying he’d bring more wood in. When he’d left her alone inside the house, she studied the room. It was much like the bedroom—all dark wood and dark furnishings. Luckily, she’d brought enough things with her to brighten the place up and as soon as the sun rose tomorrow morning, she’d do just that.