Chapter One
Maggie O’Malley sankto her bed to read the letter she’d received from her closest friend, Belle Montgomery...no, wait.Her name was Belle Thompson now.She’d recently left for Alaska to be a mail-order bride.
As Maggie unfolded the letter, she said a silent prayer that her friend was all right.Alaska sounded a bit too...wild for Maggie’s tastes.
My Dearest Maggie
Life in Alaska is amazing.It’s a beautiful, wonderful place, full of trees and wildlife.I spend my days doing whatever I like.Today I foraged for berries, baked muffins and bread to sell at the general store here in town, and I cooked supper for my husband and myself.Tomorrow I’ll spend all day turning the berries into jams and pie filling that I’ll then can and they’ll feed us through the winter.
My husband, Everett, is a kind man, and I am so pleased I agreed to marry him.I am one of only two women in town.The other is the wife of the store owner, and her name is Katie.She’s as sweet as they come, and she sells anything I care to make in the store for the men who work for the lumber mill.
Truly, the only thing I’m missing here is you.Everett’s closest friend is looking for a wife, and he plans to write to Elizabeth Tandy to find a bride.I’m hoping that bride will be you.Will you go see her?Nothing would make me happier, and you could work for yourself, and not keep working for that hotel.
I know you dream of marrying someday, just as I did.Why not embark on the adventure of a lifetime?Remember how we once joked that we would marry brothers, and our children would grow up together?James and Everett may not be brothers, but we could still raise our children together.
Please consider this idea.I’ll send a letter with news next week, but for now, think about how free you’d be in Alaska.
All my love,
Belle
Maggie read the letter once more.Belle was a great deal bolder than Maggie, and the idea of traveling to a faraway place to marry a stranger was frightening.Knowing Belle would be on the other end of the journey would help some, but she still wasn’t certain she could do it.
Here, she had a job, and there were no true unknowns.She worked, ate, and lived at the hotel where she and Belle had met years before.How could she leave her life behind to step into an unfamiliar situation?
She loved the idea of being with Belle, but knowing her friend, she was shooting her own supper before cooking it.Maggie had no outdoor skills.No, she didn’t think it was possible for her to be brave enough to make that journey.
*****
MAGGIE PUT THE PLATESfor one of her tables on a tray to carry out to the restaurant.The same four men came in every week, always requesting her as their waitress.She didn’t enjoy serving them because one of the men was very flirtatious and had made lewd comments on several occasions.But they did tip well, and she saved all her tips for a rainy day.
When she reached the table, she plastered a smile on her face and set two of the plates down.As she reached for the third plate, the man who flirted with her so much, pinched her bottom.
She squealed and the tray slipped from her hand, dumping the hot contents into the lap of the man she so disliked.She apologized for her accident immediately, and brought towels to clean everything up, but the damage was done.
Her manager asked to speak with her just before the hotel restaurant closed, but she knew what was coming.“Maggie, you’ve always worked hard, and you’ve been a good employee.It’s hard to believe you would dump an entire tray of food onto the lap of a man, simply because he smiled at you.”
Maggie felt her Irish temper rise.“He pinched my bottom!I didn’t mean to dump it, but he startled me, and I jumped, accidentally spilling the food left on the tray.”
“He and his friends have been good customers here for years.Maggie, I need to let you go.I’m sure you understand that we need to maintain our reputation with the people of Beckham.”
“But where will I go?”she asked, frightened.Yes, she had a little money set aside, but certainly not enough to last.What could she do?
“I’m afraid that’s your problem.But you need to be out of the hotel by the end of the day tomorrow.”He took some money from his desk drawer.“This is your severance.I wish you luck.”
Maggie stood still for a moment, staring at Calvin.She could see he wasn’t going to change his mind, so she walked out of the room and to her room in the servants’ quarters, located in the basement of the hotel.
Once there, she paced the room, trying to come up with a logical solution to her problem.Oh, if only Belle were there to talk to her about it all.
And then her gaze landed on the letter she’d received from Belle the day before.The letter all but begging her to give up her life in Beckham and move to Alaska.
She sat down on the bed and let the tears trickle down her face for a moment.Fear consumed her.But there didn’t seem to be a choice.She would see Elizabeth Tandy tomorrow, and hopefully, she would be off to Alaska soon.
Oh, how she hated cold weather.
*****
THE FOLLOWING MORNING, as soon as it was a respectable hour, Maggie walked the short distance to Rock Creek Road, where she knew Elizabeth Tandy lived.Belle had told her all about the kind-hearted woman, and she prayed that Mrs.Tandy would be just as kind to her.Perhaps she had an opening in her own staff, and Maggie wouldn’t have to make the long voyage to Alaska.
