Montana Bound: A Sweet Mail Order Bride Historical (Mail Order Bride Journeys Book 2) by Claire Holiday

conversation.
    “Hello Virgil! Let me grab my stuff.” Owen called back, and then hurried to retrieve his makeshift poles. There were two of them, homemade contraptions. They weren’t pretty to look at, basically made from long, thin tree branches that were strong enough, yet flexible enough to fight a decent fish into the shore. The end of each stick had a length of twine attached that Owen had made himself. The hooks were the only part that he had purchased.
    After placing his items in the back of the buggy, Owen turned to help Grace onto the seat. The buckboard wagon was wide enough that three adults could sit together on the one seat that had been built onto the buggy, but it was tight.
    Grace took her place in the middle of the seat, and then Owen hopped up beside her. He was close enough to her that he could detect the subtle hint of her perfume.
    He quietly took in a couple of deep breaths, soaking in her aroma. He loved the way she smelled. She was not like most of the women from those parts, who if they wore any scent at all, seemed to bathe themselves in it. She knew to use just enough to capture a man’s attention to herself without overwhelming his senses.
    Virgil had picked up on the scent also. “You smell quite lovely this morning, Miss Russell. I don’t recognize the scent though.”
    “Thank you, Virgil. It is actually made with Rose oil. I brought it with me when I came out here.”
    “Well, it is a very lovely scent, for a very lovely woman.” Virgil smiled and tipped his hat as he spoke.
    Owen felt a bit of jealousy shoot through him, but reminded himself that Virgil was courting his sister and that he wasn’t flirting with Grace. He hadn’t ever seen Virgil around women other than his sister, but he could only imagine that Virgil must turn on the charm with ladies whenever he was around them.
    “You are not going to drive away without saying hello to me are you?” Constance called out to Virgil from the porch. Virgil immediately hopped down and quickly crossed the distance to where she stood and embraced her.
    “I am so happy to see you! I assumed at this early hour that you’d still be asleep.” He said as he hugged her close and softly kissed her on the forehead. “But now it is going to be so difficult to tear myself away from you.”
    “Well you are going to have to,” Owen called out to him, “we are going to miss out on the best fishing if we don’t head out right away.”
    After a few more moments, Virgil said his goodbyes to Constance and promised that he’d visit more after they returned later in the day. Then he hopped back into the buggy, and gave the horses a couple clucks, and they began to slowly pull the wagon away.
    The ride to town was slow. Some storms had passed through the area in the weeks before, and the dirt road that they traveled had developed some ruts from the running water.
    Owen was grateful for the extra time he had to spend with Grace, but he was a bit put off by how much of the trip was taken up by Virgil engaging her in conversation. The two did share a similar sense of humor, and it seemed that she enjoyed his company quite a bit.
    Owen tried to interject himself in the conversation, and he normally would not be at a loss for words. However, this time the only thing he could think to talk about, was the one thing that he was avoiding bringing up. More than anything else he wanted to convince Grace not to take a job and move out, but he knew that he was being selfish. It was not fair to her, or to his girlfriend, for him to want to spend so much time with her.
    At Owen’s request, Virgil pulled up in front of the small diner that one of Owen’s childhood friends had opened up.
    “Now ask for Elias, and mention to him that I recommended that you see him. He and his wife are good friends of mine, and I happen to know that their cook quit not long ago after her baby was born. Tell him that I can vouch for your outstanding skills in the