Beaten, Broken, Abandoned—Until A Cowboy Found The Mail-Order Bride

Chapter 2

The ranch came into view as the sun began to set, painting the snow-covered fields in shades of orange and amber. The main house was a solid two-story structure of sturdy timber, smoke rising from the chimney, and the barn and outbuildings were well-kept. A few cattle stood in the near pasture, dark shapes stark against the white landscape.

“It is not much,” Caleb said, suddenly self-conscious. “But it is honest work and good land.”

“It is beautiful,” Margot said, and she sounded like she meant it. “I have never seen so much open space.”

They pulled up to the house, and the front door swung open. A woman in her sixties emerged, steel-gray hair pulled back from a face that had seen hardship and expected to see more. Her dark eyes took in every detail of Margot’s appearance with quiet assessment.

“So this is the bride,” Ida Finch said, her tone neutral but carrying unmistakable skepticism. “You look half frozen, child. Come inside before you catch your death.” She had been born a slave in Missouri, freed by the war, and had traveled west to build a new life. She had run Caleb’s household with quiet efficiency for four years, and had been more of a mother to Lily than anyone since Sarah’s death.