Mail Order Bride: Westward Dance Read Online Free PDF Page B

sure that no one was around. “What I’m about to
tell you must stay completely between us, Seth. Do you
swear?”
    He could tell that Tessa wasn’t teasing
him. “Yeah, I swear. I won’t tell anyone.”
    “You won’t tell anyone , Seth,”
Tessa said as she corrected his grammar.
    “I just said that,” Seth
responded.
    Tessa let it go. “Dean is the only
other person here that knows this. This is a subject of a highly
sensitive nature,” Tessa said.
    Seth said, “I understand.”
    “Several months ago, Maddie was
attacked by a young man she thought was her friend. I know him
personally and never would I have thought he would have acted this
way. He beat her very badly and would have, um, violated her
further had not some passersby stopped him,” Tessa said.
    As a man who had been taught to respect
and protect women, Seth grew increasingly angry as Tessa continued
telling him all that had happened since and about her sister’s
ensuing depression. It was a good thing that he didn’t live in
Pittsburgh because if he ever ran into the guy, he’d work him over
good.
    “So I’ve been trying to convince her to
come here. I think it would be something positive. Getting her out
of that environment where she might see him again, would be a
relief to her, don’t you think?” Tessa asked.
    “I think you’re right about that. She’s
gotta get out of that room and start living again. From what you’ve
told us, she was feisty and fun,” Seth said. “Do you really think
if I write her letters that she’ll write back?”
    Tessa shrugged. “I don’t know, but at
this point we’re all ready to try anything. Will you please try?
It’s not like you have anything else to do and it might be good for
you to focus on something else, too.”
    Seth regarded her silently for a moment
before saying, “No one stands a chance of winning when they argue
with you do they?”
    “I get that from my father,” Tessa said
with a smile. “He’s one of the toughest negotiators in Pittsburgh
and can convince almost anyone of anything.”
    “I can believe it,” Seth
said.
    He thought about writing Maddie. Tessa
was right about him having a lot of free time. His leg had healed
some and his collarbone was a lot better, but he was still going to
be laid up for a while. There was no telling how long it was going
to take for him to heal. Seth felt bad for Maddie. No one should
have to go through something like that and she needed help. Seth
agreed with his sister-in-law in that Maddie would benefit from a
change of scenery.
    Tessa didn’t say anything while Seth
considered what she’d said. She knew that although you could
convince Seth, he was not the kind of man who could be pushed to do
something.
    Seth came back from wherever his mind
had gone. “I’ll do it. It can’t hurt to try.”
    Tessa rose and kissed his cheek. “Thank
you so much. You don’t know how much this means to me.”
    Seth smiled. “I figure I owe you for
taking such good care of me.”
    “I think we’re even then,” Tessa
said.
    “Ok. How about you get me some paper
and stuff? Might as well start right away,” Seth said.
    Tessa hurried off to get the supplies.
Hope rose inside her that Seth would be able to do what she and the
rest of her family had not been able to do. Besides, it was a start
to the match-making plan that she and Dean had hatched a couple of
years ago.

Chapter Five
     
     
    “You have a letter,” Maureen told
Maddie.
    “Oh,” Maddie said. She couldn’t care
less. “Did Tessa write me yet another cheerful letter?”
    “No. It’s not from her,” Maureen said.
She sounded slightly cross, but couldn’t help it. She was growing
increasingly frustrated with her daughter.
    Maddie looked up at Maureen from her
bed. There were dark smudges under her eyes and her complexion was
pale. She’d lost weight but didn’t care if her clothes were altered
or not since she rarely got dressed anymore.
    “Then who sent it?”