Mail Order Bride Leah: A Sweet Western Historical Romance (Montana Mail Order Brides Series Book 1) by Rose Jenster Page A

single plate. They served pumpkin soup and a roast duck with asparagus. There was even dancing after the meal. Some lady played the pianoforte and four couples stood up. The guest of honor, that’s Mrs. Melody Carver, in all her tawdry lace, stood there in widow’s weeds and tried to persuade your husband to be her partner in the reel.”
    “Oh. My. Well, they were friends once, I believe.”
    “Friends? Hardly. Well, he refused her, quietly at first but then with more firmness, until she had to leave off her silly coaxing. If one of my daughters had behaved that way in public, setting her cap for a married man and flirting outrageously, why, I’d have boxed her ears. As it was, I would have liked to box Melody Carver’s ears!”
    It grieved Leah that the woman had made advances toward her husband. She longed to speak to him about it, so he could unburden his heart. She knew it would have been upsetting to him, reserved as he was, to have such attention drawn to him and in such a forward manner. Still, his formal manner had returned, and the distance between them was such that she felt uncomfortable approaching him about the incident.
    Leah hated the gap she felt. She yearned for him to tell her his history with this abominable flirt but she would not press him for a confidence. As it was, she thanked Mrs. Gibson for her concern and assured her that all was well.  Deep inside her heart she wanted to reach into Henry's heart, but didn't know how.

Chapter 8
    BILLINGS, MONTANA, 1885
    Two weeks later, Leah woke in the night with abdominal pains and sent Henry to fetch good Mrs. Hostleman to deliver the baby. Within a few hours, she was safely delivered of a healthy baby girl. But while she labored under the ministrations of Mrs. Hostleman and Mrs. Gibson, Henry took a walk through Billings, trying to keep his mind off what Leah was no doubt suffering. He stopped in at the church to pray for his wife and child, and as he emerged he encountered Melody Carver.
    The widow was clad in deep purple with lace three inches wide at the hem, already in half-mourning for her recently deceased husband. She greeted Henry coquettishly and asked him how his day went.
    “Actually, Mrs. Carver, I’m awaiting the delivery of my firstborn child,” he remarked.
    “How strange that sounds, the idea of your having a child with someone,” she said with a pout.
    “Not with someone, with my wife ,” Henry snapped and strode away from her without taking leave. He was struck as if by a physical blow with the realization that he loved Leah, truly loved her, and that she was even now bearing his child.
    He broke into a run and did not slow down until he was in the sitting room of his home. Mrs. Gibson turned as he entered, and in her arms she held a tiny, squalling infant. Smiling, she nodded to him and he went to Leah’s side. She lay in their bed, pale and exhausted but happy. Reaching out, she took his hand. Henry bent and kissed her hand reverently and knelt beside the bed.
    “I love you, Leah,” he said suddenly. Tears filled her eyes at the declaration.
    “Oh, Henry. I cannot stand any more happiness,” she said. “First our beautiful daughter and now your words—I want to call her Helen Kathleen after our mothers, darling,” she said through happy tears.
    “Anything you want, Leah. But first, let me give you this.” He reached in his pocket and withdrew a box very like the one her engagement ring had come in.
    Opening the lid, he revealed another ring, a slim silver circlet with three pearls set in the band.
    “One for you, one for myself, and one for our daughter. I wanted a ring to represent our family, Leah. I can’t wait to add more pearls for another baby, or two,” he said, fighting back tears of his own. “I cannot believe what a lucky man I am, Leah, to have you for my bride, to have this family, this life.”
    Henry went to the door and took their baby from Mrs. Gibson, holding his daughter in his arms for the first