Mail-Order Husband: The Millionaire's Debt Read Online Free PDF

but I think this does.”  He removed
his hat and pulled a document from the band and handed it to Mr. Gantry. 
“You see Lonny, when I left you this afternoon I bought the bank.  It is
now the newest member of The Dawkins Company, a company which I own.”
    Daphne was trying
to take all of this in.  She knew Micah had some money; after all he was
coming to pay off her farm; but two million dollars, plus enough left over to
buy a bank?  How much did he have, and why had he come to help her
out.  Certainly he could have had his pick of women back in Texas; he
didn’t need a poor widow in Colorado.  She snapped the paper out of Mr.
Gantry’s hand and looked it over.  As she scanned the document her eye
caught the signature line, “Jonathan Dawkins” clear as day.  Her jaw
nearly hit the ground.
    She was about to
speak, but Micah spoke first.  “That’s what I was trying to tell you
earlier.”
    “Johnny?”  He
nodded.  “How is it possible…how did you…what happened to you?”
    “Well, I
sprouted.  I was only sixteen last time I saw you
and a lot has changed since then…obviously.  I grew the beard before I
came out here because I didn’t want you to recognize me and feel like I was
taking pity on you.”
    “I don’t think I
would have recognized you anyway.  You look so different.”
    “After you left
town I went to Texas with Ma and Pa to try our hand at ranching, but they died
only about a year after we got there.  The place was too much for me to
handle on my own and I was getting ready to lose it.  The man that owned
the bank that held our mortgage was a very kind man and offered me the
opportunity of a lifetime: I could work for him twenty hours a week as payment
for the ranch, and he would teach me the bank business.
    While I was working
there our money shipments were robbed by highwaymen a couple of times, which
got me thinking that there had to be a safer way to move the money.  I
designed a new armored stagecoach that would keep the people, and the money,
safe.  When I showed it to the old man, who had become like a father to
me, he started working on the first one immediately, and formed The Dawkins
Company.  He gave half of the company to me and let me run it.  We
were running money all over the state, and things were going extremely well,
when the old man died.
    When he passed he
didn’t have an heir, and because we were so close he left me the bank and his
portion of the company.  I started to expand the company by buying more
ranches and banks, and before too long the company had grown very large, but I
was very lonely.  I went back home to Pennsylvania to see if I could put
down roots there, but it never felt right.  While I was there, however, I
went to visit your Ma.  She told me about your situation, and that Hank
had turned into a dead beat, so I sent one of my men to check it out.  The
news he brought back, troubled me but because Hank was not abusive, and you
were still married, I kept my distance. 
    I moved back to
Texas to continue growing the company.  I started to buy small newspapers
around the state, and things continued to get better for the company, but worse
for my love life.  All the women I met only wanted to marry me for my
money.  I was overjoyed when my people brought me a small ad that had been
sent to one of my newspapers.  It was you, and you were looking for a
husband.  I knew I had to try to disguise myself if I would have any
chance at winning your heart; you were always stubborn about taking
charity.  I never stopped thinking about you and through all the years; I
wanted you to be my wife.  Will you marry me?”
    “Of course I will,
although, I don’t know what I think about you keeping tabs on me all these
years.”  She smiled and kissed him deeply.  “Where did the name Micah
come from?”
    “Middle
name.  
I use it sometimes when I am trying to go unrecognized in Texas.  You like
it?”
    “No.”  She
laughed and fell