Charlotte's Mail Order Husband (New Montana Brides series) (5 page)

chapter Ten

A Proposal
Of Marriage

He took both of her hands, and looked into her emerald colored eyes and said,
“Lottie, I want to spend the rest of my life with you. Will you be my wife?”

The sunlight filtering through the trees, reflected by the tears in her eyes, caus
ed them to sparkle. “Yes, I will be your wife.”

He embraced her, and as their lips met, he felt her shiver. His lips massaged hers. She responded by tightening her arms around his neck.

A piercing whistle startled her. She looked around at the three men, dusty from their work, standing there grinning. “Whooee, look at the boss. What you got there, boss?”

“Lottie, this mangy lot
represents half our workforce. “That’s Clem, on the left, Jasper is in the middle, and the loud one there is Whit, who is the foreman and pretty much runs things.

“Boys, this is Lottie Jenkins. She is going to be the
mistress of the Circle P. She has just agreed to be my wife.”

She smiled at his ease with his employees. “I’m glad to meet you,” she said.

“Whereabouts are you from, Miss Lottie?” asked the one called Whit.

“I’m from Baltimore,” she said.

Clem said, “Land alive, the boss is marrying a Yankee. I never thought I’d see the day.” Jasper didn’t say anything, and just stood there, looking at his dusty boots.

They came over and pounded
Zebulon on the back, shook his hand and congratulated him for finding such a fine looking Yankee.”

“
Where are the others?” he asked.

“They went off after some strays,
” Whit said. “I expect they’ll stay at the line cabin up in the hills for a couple of days, while they get them together.”

“When’s the wedding, boss?” asked Jasper, finally brea
king his silence.

“We were just talking about that when you rode up.

“Zeb,” Whit said, “they’re gonna finish up with the house tomorrow, except for trim in one of the upstairs rooms, and they’re going to have to wait until it comes in.”

“That’s good news; it means I can move into the big house.”

“You mean you ain’t going to sleep in the bunkhouse any more, boss?”

“Not unless Lottie makes me,”
Zebulon laughed.

“Let’s eat the lunch Minnie packed for us, and we’ll look around a bit more, and head back to town,” he said.

“It sounds good, but I’m in no hurry to leave this beautiful place,” she said.

“Nice to have met all of you,” Lottie said,
then she and Zebulon walked around to the front and sat on the porch, and ate their lunch.

“How long have they been working on the house
?” she asked..

“
It’s been near onto a year now,” he said. “They didn’t get much done in the winter, but it started out much smaller than it is now. It was finished, until I changed my mind and doubled the size.”

“It’s going to be a chore taking care of this place.”

“Oh, I intend to hire a housekeeper,” he said.

Her face colored, she touched
his arm. “I wasn’t hinting at anything. I’m used to work, Zebulon. I helped Mama with the cooking and with the girls when they were younger.”

“I didn’
t think you were, Lottie, I’m a wealthy man. The ranch is prosperous, and I made a lot of money with the gold and the selling of my claim. I intend to be comfortable, and I want you to be comfortable too.”

“Now that you’ve accepted my proposal, when would you like to have the
wedding?”

“What do we need to do before Jack can perform the ce
remony?” he asked.

“I checked on that. We need to get a license from the county clerk. They close at five. If we don’t get it today, we will have to wait until Monday,” he said.

“Then why are we sitting here?” she asked.

“Good question. Let’s go.” He called out to Whit, “We’re leaving. I want to make it back to town before the clerk’s office closes. Would you lock up for me?”

“Sure boss. Will you be back here tomorrow, or will it be Sunday?”

“I don’t really know. Don’t look for us until you see us coming.”

“Nice to have met you, Miss Lottie,” Whit said.

“Thank you, Whit. It was my pleasure,” she said.

They
made it back to Helena with an hour to spare. With that out of the way, they took the license to Jack, and asked when he could perform the ceremony.

“I can do it right now, or tomorrow, or anytime you choose
,” Jack said.

“What do you think, Lottie?” he asked.

“I like the idea of being married in church. Is Sunday okay with you?”

Zebulon nodded. “Jack?” he asked.

“Sunday is good. I like the idea of a church wedding too,” Jack said.

“Sunday, it is,” Zebulon said.

“Would you ask Letty if there is anything I can do to help her? I have all day tomorrow?”

Letty had just walked in.
“Why don’t you spend the time getting acquainted with your husband to be?”

“I’ll do just that, but if you need help, let me know,” Lo
ttie said.

They walked back toward the hotel. Zebulon said, “Let’s stop in at the store. I want to see if I have any mail.”

When he asked, Silas said, “I don’t have anything for you, but I do have something for Miss Lottie.”

“Me? Who in the world would be sending something to me?”

Silas handed her a box. “It’s from Baltimore, and came in on the Wells Fargo wagon.”
“Did you have anything to do with this?” she asked Zebulon.

“Not me,” he said. “Let’s go back to the hotel and you can open it
and find out.”

When she opened the box, her eyes widened. “It’s the things I had them put back at Hutzler’s. I see the hands of your sister at work here.”

“Is there a note?” Zebulon asked.

She checked. A piece of paper was tucked in with the garments. She read it aloud.
Dear Lottie. You will need these, whether you think so or not. Love, Mary

PS
, Hug my brother for me.

“She shouldn’t have done this. I got too much as it was. This is so over the top.” She turned and said, “This is from your Mary.”

“You couldn’t have gotten anything as nice as these from Silas. Good for Mary. Meet me for dinner?” he asked.

“Absolutely,” she said.

chapterEleven

A Marriage

Sunday, August 15, 1869…

Zebulon took Lottie’s hand, and said, “I want you to meet our closest neighbors,
” and led her over to a couple who looked to be about the same age as they were. “Case, Carrie, I would like to introduce you to Lottie Jenkins. Lottie, meet our next door neighbors, Case and Carrie Jamison. Lottie and I are going to be married after the service today. I would like for you to be there if you can.”

“Well of course we will,” Carrie said. “You’re new to Montana, aren’t you? I haven’t been here much over two years myself
, and I’ve grown to love it. I came from the flat lands of Ohio, so the mountains are a big change for me.”

“I have only been here two days, and have fallen in love with it already. I came from Baltimore.”

“If you are nervous about fitting in here, don’t be. They are an open and friendly people. You’ve met Letty? There is no finer woman in the territory. I stayed with them when I first came out. I even wore her wedding dress at my wedding. I was nervous about being a mail order bride, but she made me feel at home.”

“Is that what we’re called? I’ve never heard the term. I answered an ad in the Baltimore Sun that was placed by Zebulon’s sister, Mary. She interviewed all of the women that
answered the ad, and gave me his address. She is just about the sweetest person I’ve ever met.”

Carrie laughed. “We’re not the only two in the area ma
rried this way. My ad was in a paper called The Matrimonial News. It only carries ads for people looking for husbands or wives.”

“I am a bit nervous. It was a big step, and a long trip, and against my mother’s wishes.”

“Mine too. Mothers are a strange lot, aren’t they? I want a houseful of kids myself.”

“Zebulon wants a big family too. I was the oldest of four girls, so I’m used to a big family.”

“That’s something else we have in common. I was the oldest of five girls. We should compare notes.”

“I appreciate
you making me feel so welcome. I’ve now met two women I would love to call friend.”

“You’ll like Elizabeth
Palmer too. She’s the wife of the doctor. I believe she’s from Maryland also. Rockville, if I remember correctly.”

The sound of piano music caught Carrie’s attention. “That’s Letty playing the piano, we’d better collect our m
ates and go in,” she said.

Preacher Jack Owens made the weekly announce
ments after the opening hymn. “Thirty minutes after the conclusion of the regular services, I will be conducting the ceremony of Holy Matrimony to unite Miss Charlotte Jenkins and Zebulon Parsons. You are all invited to the ceremonies. Lottie, would you please stand and let all of these good people see our latest citizen?”

Lottie stood, and turned to face the congregation, feeling as if her cheeks matched the color of her flaming red hair. She sat down, and leaned toward Zebulon and whispered, “I didn’t know he was going to do that.”

“Jack does that with all newcomers. He wants everyone to feel at home.”

The congregation stood for a hymn. They both had a hand on the hymnal, and Lottie
could feel her breast pressing against his arm. He gave no sign he had noticed as they sang, and not wanting to make him uncomfortable about it, she didn’t move.

When Zebulon felt the soft mound pressing against his upper arm, he wondered
,
Should I move my arm? She hasn’t noticed, and I don’t want to embarrass her. Maybe it isn’t what I think it is.

When the
thirty minutes had elapsed, the congregants were seated. Jack was at the front of the church with Zebulon, and Case Jamison. Letty sounded the first three notes of the wedding march and the audience turned and caught their first glimpse of the bride. Lottie was wearing a dark green dress picked out by Mary and included in the recently received package. With her flaming red hair, sparkling green eyes, bathed in the glow of filtered sunlight, she was an ethereal vision of loveliness.

Step
... Step… step and she was at the altar. Zebulon moved to take her hand as they stood before the preacher. Jack read the marriage liturgy from his Christian Book of Rituals.

They repeated the vows read by Jack, and pledged the
mselves, each to the other.

“Charlotte, do you take Zebulon as your lawfully wedded husband, to have and to hold, in sickness and in health
, as long as you both shall live?”

“I do.”

“Zebulon, do you take Charlotte as your lawfully wedded wife, to have and to hold, in sickness and in health, as long as you both shall live?”

“I do.”

“By the power vested in me by the Territory of Montana, I pronounce you man and wife.” Jack pronounced. “Zebulon, you may kiss your bride.

“
Ladies and gentlemen, I give you Mr. and Mrs. Zebulon Parsons. The congregation stood, and applauded; Letty began playing the recessional as Zebulon and Lottie moved down the aisle, arm in arm.

They stood by the doorway, and greeted the congregation as they left the church. They went back inside the church to sign the marriage documents, and back outside to r
eceive the congratulations of their friends and neighbors.

Letty and Jack joined the well-wishers. “Are you still g
oing to be at the Cosmopolitan?” asked Letty.

Zebulon said, “The house is supposed to be ready today.” Turning to Lottie, he said, “What would you like to do, Ho
ney?”

“You called me Honey,” she said. “I like that. Why don’t we stay in the
Cosmopolitan tonight, and get whatever we need and go home in the morning?”

“See, I knew she was more than a pretty face,” Zebulon said. “She’s smart too.”

Carrie and Case joined the small group. Carrie hugged Lottie, and said, “It’s going to be nice having a neighbor. The ranch hands aren’t much for conversation.”

chapterTwelve

The Marriage Begins

“Zebulon, Lottie, since there wasn’t time to plan a rece
ption, Carrie and I would like for you to join us and the Owens’for lunch at the Cosmopolitan, as our guests,” Case said. “I asked Carter and Elizabeth, but Carter had an emergency at one of the ranches, and both are there.”

“How thoughtful of you, Case,” Lottie said.
“Zebulon?”

“We accept,” Zebulon said.

“It’s too bad they couldn’t make it. I was looking forward to meeting my fellow Marylander,” Lottie said.

Lunch lasted over two hours. Conversation was lively and animated. Discussions ranged from the possibility of the railroad coming to Helena, how rapidly it was growing, to life in Baltimore, and in Oxford.

After lunch, Carrie said to Lottie, “Let’s get together soon.”

“I’d like that,” Lottie said.

Everyone left, leaving the couple in the lobby. “Well, Mrs. Parsons, now it’s just us. Would you like to maintain separate rooms, until we get to know each other better?”

“Let me give you the short answer to that,” Lottie said. “No. The only question is which room?”

“They are about the same, yours is a little larger,” he said.

“Then mine, it is,” she said. “Shall we?”

When Zebulon moved his clothes and personal items to Lottie’s larger room, he found her standing by the window watching the traffic on main street. “Penny for your thoughts,” he said.

“I was just thinking about how my life has changed in the past six months.”

“Regrets?” he asked.

“None.
I was considering how fortunate I am.” Eyeing his things, she asked, “All finished, or can I help?”

“No, this is it. This is kind of awkward. It’s the middle of the afternoon, and I don’t know what to suggest.”

“Why don’t we go to the store, and decide what we need, and maybe Mr. Farmer can have it ready for us tomorrow morning and we can go home?” She smiled, and said, “I love the sound of that… go home. I feel so blessed.”

“Oh,” she said. “I have a suggestion. Why don’t you kiss your brand new wife?”

“Now, I like the sound of that.” He took her into his arms and pulled her to him. Standing on tiptoe, she touched her lips to his. He moved his mouth over hers, marveling at the softness.

She felt a delicious sensation as his lips massaged hers. She parted her lips allowing his tongue entry. He was su
rprisingly gentle in his touch. She drank in the sweet softness of his kiss. His tongue touched hers, and she felt shivers of delight course through her body.

They broke the kiss. She arched her back and looked into his dark eyes, seeing her reflection in them. “I have very li
ttle experience in this, but I must say, I’ve never had feelings like this before.”

“Nor have I,” he murmured.

“If you want to go to the store, we had better go, or I won’t make it.”

“What do you want to do,” he asked.

“I want you to kiss me again. Maybe the first one was an accident.” Once again, their lips touched. She parted her lips and immediately felt his tongue tracing the outline of her lips before probing the interior of her mouth. She felt her knees grow weak as waves of desire flowed through her body. She felt herself becoming moist in her private area, a feeling she had never experienced.

Zebulon felt himself becoming firm, as the tips of her breasts burned through the fabric of his shirt. He moved his hand to cover the soft mound that was her right breast. She was moaning softly.

“Is this what it’s going to be like every time you kiss me?” she asked.

“I sincerely hope so,

“He put the lamp out, and said, “Now you can have some privacy.”

“Thank you. In a house with four girls, there wasn’t much of that.
” There was a privacy screen in a corner, and she went behind it to undress as he pulled the curtains to shut out the world. 

He pulled the covers back on the
bed and stripped down to his underwear. I’ll turn my back when you’re ready to come out,” he said.

“That isn’t necessary, Zebulon. What I
have is there for you to see.” She came from behind the screen wearing her chemise and pantaloons. She had let her long red hair down. It reached half way down her back. She could see he was in the bed, bare to the waist at least.

She lay on the bed beside him. He was on his side, propped on his elbows. There was a little daylight coming from around the edge of the curtain. He opened his arms and she moved closer to him. They embraced, flattening her breasts against his chest.
I can feel the hair on his chest through my chemise.

They kissed. He moved his hand beneath her chemise and cupped a breast in his hand, massaging it slowly. She co
vered his hand with hers, as he lowered from his elbow, placing his other hand in the small of her back pulling her hips toward him. Their private areas touched through the fabric of their underwear. She could feel the firmness of his member pressing against her private cave.

He slowly pushed her chemise up; they
were now breast to chest. She raised up so he could slide it over her head. She gasped as her bare skin touched his. She could feel his movements as he slid his underwear down. She elevated her hips so he could slide her pantaloons down.

He kissed the tender parts of her neck and kissed a path down to her breast. There was a sharp intake of breath, as she realized he had taken the nipple in his mouth. She could feel the river of her juices as they began to flow. Slowly his hand made its way to the curly hair, now moist, that guarded her entrance
.

First, g
ently massaging, then slipping inside, probing, searching and finding. She cried out as he found the sensitive and she experienced the first climax in her life, turning her into a writhing, thrusting woman in the throes of passion.

She sighed once as it passed. She could he
ar the sounds as he sheathed his member. “Zebulon, it’s the first time, be gentle.”

“I will,
” he promised and entered until he met a resistance.” This is going to hurt,” he said.

“Do it quickly,” she panted, and then cried out when he pushed through. The pain subsided as he began to move. She moved with him, and experienced her second climax. The speed of his thrusts increased, until she felt his pulsing inside her.

Their marriage was
consummated.

Both were breathing rapidly, the result of the energy they had expended. “I’m sorry I hurt you,” he said.

“You couldn’t help it. It was sharp, but it faded. Next time it won’t be bad.” He rolled off her and wrapped his arms around her, her head on his chest. “Zebulon?”

“Yes?”

“Do you still want to go to the store?” she asked.

“I don’t think so,” he said.

“Me either,” she giggled and snuggled closer within his arms. They fell asleep this way.

When Lottie awoke, it had gotten dark outside. She could see his outline, as he lay there, propped on his elbows once again. Watching her. “How long have you been awake?” she asked.

“Not long,” he said. “You are beautiful,” he said, as he ran his fingers through her hair and then toyed with her nipple.”

“That sends shivers down my back,” she said.

“What about this?” he asked and took a goodly portion of her breast in his mouth.

“Those aren’t shivers,” she said
and pressed her hips against him.

Zebulon was a careful and considerate lover. Mindful of her earlier pain, he slowly made love to her again.

After they awoke this time, the first tendrils of daylight were peeking around the curtains. Lottie got out of bed, and cleansed herself,
then got dressed. “It seems a shame to cover all of that beauty,” he said.

“Would you have me go to breakfast uncovered? I’m starved. I don’t remember dinner.”

“The cowboys might get a thrill out of it, but I prefer you covered when we go out,” he said.

They dressed and went down the street to the café they had visited her second day in Helena.

Minnie came to the table. “How are the newlyweds this morning?”

“Starved,” said Lottie.

Minnie laughed. “I’ll bring you a big plate, Hon,” she said.

“What about me?” Zebulon said.

“I’ll bring you a bigger one,’ Minnie said over her shoulder as she walked toward the kitchen.