Phoebe sucked in a breath. “Oh, but I couldn’t.”
“You can, and you will,” Augusta said. “Besides, what have you got to lose?”
She couldn’t argue with that. But really, what was the point? She already knew Braxton wasn’t looking for someone like her. He’d emphasized more than once how hard ranch life could be.
Josie came to her other side and slipped an arm around her shoulders. “Do you really love him?”
Phoebe nodded. “I do. But… I’m all wrong for him.”
“Perhaps not,” Augusta said. “He’s been very attentive toward you. I think there’s something there. But you’ve got to talk to him, dear. Otherwise, how will you ever know?”
Phoebe rose from her chair and wrung her hands. “But the humiliation of being rejected…”
“Come now, Phoebe,” Josie said. “You don’t have to blurt out that you’re in love with him. Just give him something to think about.”
“How do I do that?”
Josie exchanged a look with Augusta. “You leave that to us.”
Phoebe cringed. What were these two up to?
“Sit, dear,” Augusta coaxed. “Go through the applications, get them filed, and we’ll talk. In the meantime, I think I’ll take George for a walk.”
George’s head came up at his name. He’d been snoozing beneath the table near the wall.
Phoebe got to work. She had no idea what Augusta and Josie were planning and was afraid to ask. There was no point, couldn’t they see that? And the last thing she wanted was to make a fool of herself in front of Braxton.
She went through the applications as Augusta asked, filed them, then sorted through the remaining mail while she waited for Augusta and George to return. When they didn’t, she went into the back to eat some lunch. The sisters were kind enough to make enough of whatever they ate to feed all four of them.
When she finished her sandwich, she returned to her desk. No sooner had she sat than the office door opened and two men entered, carrying wrapped packages decorated with bright ribbons.
“What’s this?” Margaret asked as she came in behind them.
“Delivery for the Sisters’ Mail-Order Bride Company,” one of the men said. He looked around, spied the back table, and headed that way.
“Augusta, come quick!” Josie called as she entered from the back. “What do we have here?”
“That’s what I’d like to know,” Margaret said.
Phoebe watched as the men set everything down on the table. “Goodness.”
Augusta joined them and went straight to the parcels. “Good afternoon.” She surveyed the packages of various sizes. “Who sent these?”
One of the men pulled a letter from his coat pocket and handed it to her. “Gifts, ma’am, from a Mr. Braxton Jones.”
Phoebe’s heart skipped. “How thoughtful.”
“Indeed,” Augusta said, taking the letter. She smiled at the men. “Josie, get a little something for these gentlemen.”
“Right away, sister.” Josie hurried off.
“I can’t imagine what he got us,” Margaret said with an anticipatory grin.
Phoebe left her desk and moved closer. One of the boxes was quite large.
Augusta picked up an oblong box and read the tag. “Margaret, this one’s for you.”
Josie returned with coins for the delivery men. They accepted them, tipped their hats, and took their leave.
