Katie: Bride of Virginia (American Mail-Order Brides 10) Read Online Free PDF Page A

night was nothing like what she'd imagined.
    “Mr. O'Malley, I thought I would take a drawer in the armoire and hang my clothes in the wardrobe. I'll also spend some time with your mother today,” she said, keeping her back to him.
    She didn't want to look at him. She didn't want him to see that last night her childish girlhood dreams of how it would be between her and her husband the first time had been a huge disappointment.
    She didn't expect much out of life, since everyone she'd ever loved or cared about had died. She learned early on that you have to absorb the losses, move on, and continue smiling. But whenever she was hurt, it always took time before the voice of reason would have her smiling once again. She needed that time.
    He turned her to face him. “Katie, you're so damn beautiful. Men sometimes can't hold back...”
    She didn't want to talk about this. No amount of pretty words was going to make her feel any better. “Please, Mr. O'Malley, go to work.”
    He sighed, reached up and kissed her on the cheek. “I'll see you at lunch.”
    As he walked out the door, her chest ached. She had so many hopes and dreams and last night they'd come crashing down around her.
    She turned back to the coffee and poured herself a cup of the bitter beverage. Sipping on the hot liquid, she gazed around the kitchen that not only needed a good cleaning, but organizing as well.
    The sound of wheels thumping, announced the arrival of Mother O'Malley. “Good morning.”
    The older woman scowled at her. “Why did you marry my son?”
    “I needed a husband. Your son had placed an ad in the Grooms' Gazette and I answered the ad.”
    “See, here is the part of the story I don't believe. My son would never put an ad in a newspaper for a wife. I don't know who you're trying to fool, but my boy would not marry.”
    “Would you like your toast,” Katie asked, not wanting to disagree with the woman and hoping to change the subject. She wasn't going to argue with her.
    “Yes,” she said sharply.
    “Tea or coffee?”
    “Coffee.”
    Katie turned and started the toast for her mother-in-law, contemplating how she could get along with the woman. “Tell me about the house. Did you live here with your husband?”
    The woman chuckled, the sound almost evil. “No, my husband's been dead for at least five years. Daniel bought this place not long after he got out of college.”
    Her husband must have died while Daniel was in college. While it hadn't been that long ago, Katie couldn't help but wonder if his death was what made her so mean-spirited or was she like this before?
    “I'm impressed.”
    “If you married him because he has money, you are in for the shock of your young life. He's broke.”
    Katie was a little surprised at this announcement. From what she could see it appeared that Daniel had money, but she knew that looks could be deceiving. The factory had seemed like it was doing well and then suddenly everything went wrong.
    “Well, that makes two of us. I'm broke as well,” she said, trying not to make it sound as mean as she meant it to be, but life had not been easy for her either.
    The old woman laughed. “He's about to lose the vineyard. You're going to be back on the street in no time.” She gave her an evil smile. “I hope for your sake, that you treat my son with more respect than his first wife. That didn't work out well for her.”
    Fear spiraled through Katie, gripping her as an icy chill spiraled down her spine. First wife?
    #
    Daniel never mentioned another wife. He'd never called himself a widower. She swallowed the fear that rose inside her like a volcano, threatening to overwhelm her. Should she be afraid of her new husband? He'd seemed so kind until last night.
    “I'm going upstairs to clean,” she told her new mother-in-law, knowing she needed time to think without her negative influence.
    “Don't change anything,” his mother said.
    “Why not,” Katie asked. From the looks of their bedroom there