Bride School: Mary (The Brides of Diamond Springs Ranch 4) Read Online Free PDF Page A

is from right here
in Sage River, like you. Are you certain you’ve never seen him before?”
    Mary laughed, somewhat relieved herself. “I’m not
from Sage River. I came from Snowy Range, to the north.”
    “Snowy Range, the mountain?”
    “Yes. I’d only been to Sage River a few times as a
child.”
    Milly grinned. “I’m so happy to hear it, Alexandra. It could have caused trouble, you know.”
    Mary nodded, but in her chest her emotions warred.
On one hand, she wished she could beg off and hurry back to the ranch where she
could give up the pretense. Though it was fanciful thinking, she truly feared
something might happen to expose her, something to turn her carriage back into
a pumpkin. And if that happened, the real Alexandra Campbell might be in
serious trouble with Mrs. Carnegie.
    But on the other hand, she still wished to make
the most of the adventure and spend just a little while longer on the arm of
Prince Charming. That defensive, cantankerous feeling was gone and there was
every chance another waltz would be played before the evening came to an end.
Why not make the most of the dancing time she had left?
    “There you are, Mr. Harris.” Milly patted Mary’s
arm and stepped away as a man headed toward her with a dripping cup in his
hand. If there was a swallow left in the bottom, Milly would be lucky.
    Mary studied John while he chatted with James
Jarvis, the toe stomping school master, and looked for something familiar about
the man from Sage River. He smiled and his now-familiar dimples appeared like
before. But were they familiar because she’d simply stared at the man while
they’d danced?
    She felt no danger of falling in love with him in
spite of his good looks and clever words. In fact, she doubted she would ever
be able to fall in love with whichever man she eventually married. As it happened,
she’d been very young when she’d given her heart away to a boy named Rebel. And
since a body had only one heart, she wasn’t likely to find another one in her
pocket, was she?
    John Hermann couldn’t have been more accurate when
he’d said he wouldn’t be breaking her heart. But another look at those dimples
left something niggling at her just the same…

CHAPTER SIX
     
    John was in a pickle.
    All his life, he’d been a great believer in signs.
But he couldn’t understand why God hadn’t given him some sign, some omen, to
stay away from the assembly hall that night. Surely God knew how he would react
to the sight of Alexandra Campbell. Except for the deep color of her hair, she
looked exactly as he’d imagined Mary Radley might look when she was grown.
    Why would God punish him so?
    Was He telling John he shouldn’t have deprived his
parents of his company when he had so little time left in town? Should he have
stayed behind when his father seemed to be softening, if only enough to call
him ‘son’ once again?
    If so, the penance seemed harsh. Other than an
actual blow to his gut from a ham-fisted giant, nothing could have sucked the
breath out of him and left him clinging to the wall at his back like a glimpse
of Mary, the first girl he’d ever kissed. The thrill had been stolen quickly,
though, when the woman in blue had stepped forward to tell him the girl’s real
name, and then doomed him to dance with the look-alike as much as possible.
    Exquisite torture.
    He took a cup of water and drained it, then found
a cup of punch and turned back toward the dance floor. But before he could take
a step he was waylaid by Jarvis.
    “Mr. Hermann.” Jarvis nodded.
    “Mr. Jarvis.”
    “As soon as this dancing business is finished
let’s say you and I go back over to the saloon and finish our conversation.
What do you say?”
    John would rather have walked barefoot in the snow
than spend another hour with the school teacher rambling on. But he was very
interested in finishing the discussion with the rest of the men in the room.
While passing time in the saloon, he’d determined just how to