“Can You Make Me Come Tonight — The Mail Order Bride Asked… The Virgin Mountain Man Whispered, ‘I…’”

Chapter 10

Summer came, and with it, the first trip to town.

Margaret had been dreading this moment. Not because she didn’t want to see other people — though that was part of it — but because she was afraid of what would happen when Elias re-entered the world of men. Would he change? Would the shy, gentle man she had come to love disappear behind the rough mask of frontier masculinity?

The wagon ride down the mountain was beautiful. The wildflowers were in bloom, painting the meadows in shades of purple and yellow and red. The air was warm and sweet with the smell of pine and earth. Elias sat beside her, the reins loose in his hands, his shoulder brushing hers.

“It’s beautiful,” she said.

“It is.”

“When we first came up that pass, I thought I was going to die. I thought the wilderness was going to swallow me whole.”

“And now?”

She leaned into him. “Now I think it saved me.”

The town was small — a main street with a general store, a saloon, a livery, and a church. A few dozen buildings clustered together like they were afraid of the vastness surrounding them. People stared as they rode in. A woman in a wagon, a giant of a man at her side — they were a curiosity.

Elias helped her down from the wagon, his hands lingering on her waist. “We’ll get the supplies first. Then we can look around if you want.”

“All right.”

The general store was dark and smelled of leather and coffee and kerosene. The proprietor, a round man with a bald head and a thick mustache, looked up as they entered.

“Elias Thorne! Well, I’ll be damned. Figured you’d frozen solid up there.”

“Not yet, Henry.” Elias’s voice was gruff, but Margaret could hear the slight strain in it. He wasn’t comfortable here.

“And who’s this?” Henry asked, his eyes landing on Margaret.

“This is my wife. Margaret.”

Henry’s eyebrows shot up. “Wife? When did you get a wife?”

“Signed the papers back in October. It’s legal.”

“Well, I’ll be damned.” Henry shook his head, a grin spreading across his face. “Never thought I’d see the day. Welcome, Mrs. Thorne.”

“Thank you,” Margaret said.

She watched Elias as he moved through the store, gathering supplies. He was different here — quieter, more guarded. He kept his eyes down, avoided conversation, moved like a man trying to take up as little space as possible. It broke her heart to see it.

She reached out and took his hand. He looked at her, startled.

“Are you all right?” she asked quietly.

“I’m fine.”

“You’re not. You’re uncomfortable.”

He let out a breath. “I don’t belong here. I never have. These people… they look at me like I’m a wild animal.”

“Then let’s get what we need and go home.”

The word slipped out before she could stop it. Home. She hadn’t called it that before. But it was true. The cabin, the mountain, the dogs, the man beside her — that was her home now.

Elias’s eyes softened. “Yeah,” he said. “Let’s go home.”