His Substitute Mail-Order Bride. Sherri Shackelford

happened to you.”

      His anger flared. The next time he saw Adam, they were going to have a long talk. Their mother deserved better. Adam could at least write a letter now and again, letting her know he was alive.

      “Nothing is going to happen to any of us,” Russ said. “Especially me. I’m just a pencil pusher. Nothing dangerous in my line of work.”

      “Oh really?” She dropped the handkerchief from her eye and pursed her lips. “Then what about this afternoon?”

      A guilty flush crept up his neck. The tone of her voice yanked him back to being scolded as a child. No matter his age, she was still his mother. “I’m sure whatever you heard has been exaggerated.”

      “I would have preferred to hear about the incident from you,” she declared. “I can’t believe I had to learn about your outlaw encounter in a conversation with Tomasina. Imagine my surprise when I bumped into her at the opera house, and she regaled everyone with your brave rescue. She assumed I knew.”

      Tomasina was the mayor’s wife, a spitfire redhead who’d ridden into town on a cattle drive last year. Though she and Will were as different as chalk and cheese, they somehow managed to be perfect for each other at the same time.

      “There was nothing brave about it,” Russ said. “Tomasina is exaggerating.”

      “What exactly happened then? And what’s this I hear about Susannah missing the train? How does one miss a train? They run on a schedule, after all.”

      A part of him had been dreading this encounter with his mother since the arrival of the bride train, but now that she was here, he figured he might as well get it over with.

      “Susannah isn’t coming,” he said, cutting right to the point.

      “Is she all right?” His mother’s annoyance instantly transformed into concern. “Has something happened?”

      “She’s fine. She merely had a change of heart.”

      “A change of heart?” His mother snorted. “Did she at least have the decency to send a letter?”

      “Yes.”

      “A letter? That’s all? A letter!” The concern returned to annoyance just as quickly. “I don’t know what’s wrong with women these days. If all she can do is send a letter, then it’s her loss. You deserve someone better. I don’t know why you had to send to Philadelphia for a wife anyway. I mean, certainly I understand why some of the men of Cowboy Creek feel that a mail-order bride is their only choice, but you’re not just anyone. You’re handsome and successful.”

      “You have to say those things.” Russ lifted his eyes heavenward. “You’re my mother.”

      “You’re going to be the mayor someday!”

      “My political career is uncertain.”

      Especially now. He’d been so sure about what he wanted and where he was going. This morning had changed everything. The hitch in his plans had left him unbalanced for the first time since Charlotte had thrown him over. He was growing heartily tired of having his life derailed by fickle women who just happened to fall in love with other people.

      “You’re going to be the mayor, and we both know it,” his mother declared. “There’s no need for false modesty. You’re absolutely the most qualified man for the position. Anyone would be a fool not to vote for you.”

      “Now you’re exaggerating.”

      “I’d say that even if I wasn’t your mother.”

      Russ chuckled. “I’m certain you would.”

      “You deserve someone like Marigold. Someone who is mad about you. You deserve love, not some...some...ramshackle agreement with a stranger.”

      Susannah’s words rattled around in his head: Anna deserves better.