His Mail Order Bride Was the Prettiest Woman He Ever Laid His Eyes On
Chapter 14
Two years passed.
Their first child was born in spring.
A boy.
They named him William.
Thomas held the infant awkwardly.
Eleanor laughed.
“You look terrified.”
“I am.”
“You’ve raised horses.”
“Horses don’t cry.”
The baby cried.
Thomas looked at Eleanor.
“What do I do?”
She laughed.
“Hold him.”
“I am holding him.”
“Like you mean it.”
Thomas adjusted his arms.
The baby stopped crying.
Thomas stared.
“He likes me.”
“He tolerates you.”
Thomas smiled.
Outside, Lucy was chasing chickens.
She was no longer the frightened girl who had arrived at the ranch with a valise.
She called Thomas father.
She called Eleanor mother.
And she had begun helping at the school.
The ranch changed.
It became louder.
Happier.
Full of life.
Sometimes Thomas still woke before dawn.
But now he heard Eleanor breathing beside him.
He heard children downstairs.
He heard the kitchen fire.
And he realized that silence had once been the thing he wanted most.
Now he could not imagine living without noise.
One evening, Thomas and Eleanor sat on the porch.
She leaned against him.
“Do you remember the inn?”
“Yes.”
“You stared at me.”
Thomas smiled.
“I did.”
“You thought I was beautiful.”
“I still do.”
She looked at him.
“More beautiful than the first day?”
“Yes.”
“Why?”
Thomas thought.
“Because now I know you.”
She smiled.
“That’s a better answer.”
He kissed her forehead.
The sun disappeared beyond the hills.
The ranch bells sounded in the distance.
And Thomas thought about the letters that had brought her to him.
Words on paper.
Promises from strangers.
A decision made by an aunt trying to save her niece.
A rancher trying to save his land.
Two people who had never expected love.
Yet somehow, they had found it.
