RNWMP: Bride for Theodore (Mail Order Mounties)(5)

Jess frowned at her friend. “We’re going to be friends forever whether I live here or in British Columbia. I’ll write every week.”

Lisa threw one of Jess’s pillows at her head. “It won’t be the same!”

JoAnn hid a smile. “I’ll still be here, Lisa. We’ll have fun together.”

Lisa looked for another soft projectile but came up with only a shoe. She deliberately threw it a foot to the left of Jess’s head, because though she wanted to express her frustration, she couldn’t bear to hurt her friend.

Jess glared at Lisa. “Stop throwing my possessions!”

“But you’re leaving me!”

Jess walked over to sit on the bed beside Lisa, patting her friend’s good arm. Lisa had been deprived of oxygen at birth and she had something called cerebral palsy. Her left arm didn’t work right all the time, and she walked with a bit of a limp. “I am leaving. But part of me will always be in your heart. You can write to me anytime. And I believe that someday, they’ll have telephone lines that stretch all the way across Canada, so we’ll be able to talk to each other when that happens.”

“Still won’t be the same,” Lisa said, a tear coursing down her cheek.

“No, it won’t. But you’ll have JoAnn and your parents. You’ll still have a life that is full. I’ll miss you terribly.”

Lisa gave a half-smile. “That’s what I needed to hear. That you’ll miss me too.”

Jess nodded. “How could I not? You and JoAnn are the sisters I’ve always wished for. I’ll miss you both every day. But…I want to marry and have babies. This is the way for me to do that.”

JoAnn walked over and sat on Lisa’s other side. “We’ll endeavor to have so much fun that Jess with regret leaving, because we’ll send her letters full of all the things we’re doing without her.”

Jess held her hand palm up for Lisa’s. “Friends forever.”

Lisa nodded, resting her head on Jess’s shoulder for a moment. “Friends forever.” She reached over and grasped JoAnn’s hand as well. “Friends who will be together and rubbing Jess’s nose in it forever.”

JoAnn laughed. “I’ll miss you, Jess.”



Theodore and his small group of Mounties were stationed in Squirrel Ridge Junction, but they served many villages in the area. They took turns riding out to different parts of their vast territory, and one of the men usually stayed at the base so they could keep the peace.

Their base consisted of five small homes and an office building with a jail. The train stopped right there in Squirrel Ridge Junction, a town consisting of mostly trappers and farmers.

Theodore and his friend Joel had gone to the academy together, and they were thrilled to be working there together. Joel was in charge of the post, which meant he was often stuck with office duty, which suited Theodore just fine. He liked to be outdoors, riding around the countryside. His horse was his only companion when he was out in the field.

Theodore wasn’t thrilled that he was the one in the office, but his mother and her traveling companion were due to arrive on the afternoon train. He was going to bunk with Joel while they were in town, and give the ladies his cabin. It wasn’t much, but it was better than sleeping in a tent. He was looking forward to a few days of his mother fussing over him and some good homecooked meals. She’d never come to see him before, and the idea of her cooking was enough to make bunking with Joel worth it.

When he heard the train whistle, he plopped his hat atop his head and strode out of the office toward the station. It had been several years since he’d seen his mother, and he was ready. It was time.

When he spotted her, the girl beside her looked a little familiar, but he couldn’t figure out at first where he knew her from. And then it hit him. Jessica Sanderson. She was the girl who had followed him home from school one day. She was—well as nice as Jessica was, she’d always been so busy mooning over him that it had made him uncomfortable. Why was she here?

His mother spotted him and hurried toward him. She moved like a woman half her age and size, and he always worried he was going to have to remember every bit of his first aid training when he saw her run that way.

He opened his arms wide, hugging her tight. “I missed you, Mom.”

“Oh, pshaw. You missed my cooking!”

He laughed softly. “That too!” His eyes went to Jess, standing a bit behind his mother. “I’m going to stay with Joel so you and Jessica can have my cabin.”

“You remember Jess?” she asked, excitedly. “I’m so glad! I brought her to be your bride! There is a preacher in town, isn’t there?” She looked around her as if she expected a preacher to pop his head up at any moment.

Theodore stared at his mother for a moment before shaking his head adamantly. “I’m not marrying her. I don’t know her at all, and what I do know of her is not something I want to be married to. It’s not happening, so you can just take her right back to Ottawa.”

“Theodore! Don’t you be rude!”

“Me? You don’t think it’s rude to bring me a bride with absolutely no notice?” He took a deep breath, trying his best not to lose his temper. She was his mother, and he loved her. “Why?”

“You told me how lonely you were.”