Chapter One
Daniel let his eyesadjust to the dim light of the stable before he called out to his boss.
“Jared!”
“Back here!”Jared barked.
Daniel made his way down the stable aisle toward the back of the long building.
“Hey, Boss, we finished the back pasture.”
Jared grunted and continued working without looking up.
Daniel watched his boss for a moment, then he cleared his throat.“So, have you chosen which woman you want?”
Jared looked up from the horse’s hoof.He was bent over cleaning and glared.“Jesus, you want to talk about that shit right now?”
Daniel leaned against the stall wall, crossed his arms over his chest, and bit his lip to keep from laughing at the disgruntled look on his boss’s face.
“Yeah, Boss, I do.It should have been easy since only three women applied for the job as your wife.”
Jared gritted his teeth, set the horse’s leg down, and rose, draping his arms on the horse’s rump.
“It’s not a fucking job, you asshole.”
Daniel chuckled.“Well, I beg to differ.I’ve known you most of my life, and you’ve never been an easy man to talk to.The fact that you’re six-foot-five, have a deep, grating voice, never smile, and look like a total badass, scares a lot of people.Especially women.You might just have to pay to keep them around.”
“For God’s sake.I don’t have time for idle chatter and sweet talk.I’ve got a ranch to run.”
Daniel grinned.“I get that, but that doesn’t explain why you’re an asshole most of the time?”
Jared snorted and pushed past Daniel, waiting for him to exit the stall before he closed the door.“I don’t mean to be an asshole.I’m not used to talking to a lot of people.We’ve been isolated on this ranch my whole life.That’s why I took out the ad for a wife, remember?I’m not going to spend what little downtime I have driving two-hundred fucking miles to the nearest city to hang out in a bar.”
Daniel held up his hands.“I get that.I’m right there with you.I just couldn’t believe that mail-order brides still happened nowadays, although I’ve heard about them coming from other countries all the time.A lot of guys will choose a woman online from Russia, the Philippines, or Brazil.But why not one that lives in the United States?”Daniel shrugged.“I bet there are more mail-order brides than we think from the US.”
Jared nodded as he wiped the horse pick off with a cloth and hung it back up in the tack room.
“I had to do something.I don’t have any other family left, and I need someone to pass this ranch to.Phil has had success with his wife, and they’ve been together for six years now.He’s the one who gave me the website.”
“Can I see which one you chose?”
Jared rolled his eyes.“Yeah, come up to the house.”
They walked to the main house in silence.Both men walked up the stairs into the back porch, cleaned off their boots on the mat, and then traipsed into the kitchen.
“Hey, Abby, what are we having for dinner?”Jared asked as he walked to the sink to wash his hands.He grabbed a glass from the strainer and filled it with water.
“Roast beef,” Abby threw over her shoulder as she stood at the stove.
Jared nodded as he sucked the glass of water down in two gulps and filled it again before he walked out of the kitchen.“This way.”
Daniel followed him into the office and over to the massive wood desk.
Jared moved behind his desk and sat.The large desk chair groaned under Jared’s weight.He picked up and opened a file and spread three pictures out.
Daniel studied each one.From his perspective, none of them were desirable, but what did you expect?A beautiful woman wouldn’t be a mail-order bride.Daniel surmised that a pretty woman would have easily found someone closer that she knew.It was risky to marry a complete stranger.Daniel turned all three to face him.
One woman was too old and way past her baby-making years.Jared definitely wouldn’t have chosen her, Daniel guessed.Another looked like she had eaten a lemon because her mouth was pressed tightly together in a pinched look.There was nothing warm about this woman at all.The third one was hard to tell.The picture was gritty and of poor quality and taken from several yards away.From what he could tell, she was tiny, on the skinny side.She had long hair pulled tightly up into a ponytail.Daniel couldn’t tell what color her eyes were from the picture, but they looked to be very light green or blue.
