RNWMP: Bride for Theodore (Mail Order Mounties)(9)

Theodore nodded. “I’d prefer to be on rounds, but I can’t leave my mother and the lovely Jessica by themselves.”

Lovely? Did he just call me lovely? “You only think my food is lovely,” she murmured under her breath.

Theodore looked at Jess. “Do you think I’m blind? Of course, I think you’re lovely. You always have been. Even when you were a little girl skulking around the playground you were pretty. We all talked about how beautiful you’d be. Why haven’t you married yet?”

Jess blushed, feeling all five sets of Mountie eyes on her. “I’ve had a few men interested in being my suitors, but…no one ever was quite who I was looking for.” She ate her last bite of pancake without meeting Theodore’s eyes and walked to the basin. She poured hot water from the kettle on the stove into the basin and began washing the dishes.

The men continued to talk behind her, and she could feel Theodore’s eyes on her, but she just kept washing the dishes. She didn’t really want to have a discussion with him about why she was unmarried. He was the reason. He would always be the reason.

The men brought her their plates one by one, each of them thanking her for the meal. Theodore was last, and he lingered for a moment after the other men had left. “Would you allow me to show you around town later?”

Her heart screamed yes, but she couldn’t. Not just yet. She had to make sure he wasn’t toying with her affections. “What about your mother?”

“I’m sure Mom’s all right. She’s just not used to the kind of travel she’s experienced in the past few weeks. She’ll need a couple of days to recuperate, and we should stay out of her way.”

“Why?”

“Why should we stay out of her way?” Theodore frowned. He didn’t understand what she was asking.

“Why do you want to take me for a walk? You’ve made it very clear you’re not interested in having anything to do with me.”

“That was before I tried your cooking,” he said with a laugh. When she didn’t grin in response, he sighed heavily. “When you got here, I recognized you as a girl I didn’t have exactly fond memories of. And then Mom announced she’d brought you here to marry me. Even if I had fond memories of you, I would have been angry at her presumption. I was rude, and I’d like to make it up to you by taking you for a walk.”

She stared at the dishes for a moment before finally nodding. “All right. I’ll walk with you.” She didn’t know if she was agreeing to a walk around the town or the chance for him to court her, but either way, she’d have memories. Memories she could live her whole lifetime on.

“I take an hour for lunch at noon every day. If lunch is ready when I get here, we could walk after.”

“Why don’t I make up a picnic for the three of us?” Jess asked softly.

“Three of us? Well…if my mother really wants to come, she can, but…I’d rather spend a little time alone with you.”

Her eyes flew to his. “You would?”

He nodded. “I definitely would. It’s not every day we get a beautiful young lady here in town.”

“And you’d like to start a flirtation before you put me on a train and send me back from whence I came?”

“Something like that.” Theodore picked his hat up from the table and walked to the door, stopping to turn and look at her for a moment, standing there washing dishes at his basin in his tiny little cabin. Why did seeing her there feel so good?

When Jess realized he was watching her, she turned to give him a questioning look. He tipped his hat to her and left, closing the door firmly behind him.

Jess smiled a little. She knew Miss Hazel hadn’t had a chance to talk to him, so maybe he just liked her. She put her hand over her heart to still it, sopping herself because it was covered in soapy water. No matter. Dresses dried.

She all but danced about as she finished the dishes up and cooked one more plate of pancakes for Miss Hazel. She’d start on the floors in a little while. She was going for a walk and a picnic with Theodore Hughes—the only man she would ever love.



Theodore hung his hat on the hook in the Mountie office, taking his seat at the desk and frowning at the stack of paperwork waiting for him. One of the Mounties always stayed in the office, both because they wanted someone on-hand for an emergency, but also because there was always paperwork. They all dreaded it.

Theodore leaned back in his chair, his eyes gazing out the window for a moment. Jessica Sanderson. Who would have ever thought he could want to spend time alone with Jessica? Not him.

He smiled to himself. Her cooking was far superior to any he’d ever eaten. Her manners were impeccable. And she was a beauty. Every time he looked at her, his heart beat faster. It had been all he could do not to kiss her while she’d done his dishes. Who kissed a woman while she was washing dishes with his mother just in the next room? Not him. But he’d wanted to. Oh, how he’d wanted to.



When Miss Hazel finally emerged an hour after all the men had left, Jess looked at her in surprise. “It’s half past eight, Miss Hazel! Are you feeling all right?”

“I’m just travel weary, child. What made me think I could make it all the way around the world?”

Jess studied the older woman, but she didn’t look tired. No, she looked like she’d been awake for a long time. “How many chapters did you get read before you came out?”