Mail Order Mix Up Read Online Free PDF Page B

sunlight. 
    He smiled.  “It’s nice to meet you.  I’ve been looking forward to your arrival.” 
     He tucked her hand into his arm and walked with her toward the buggy. Wow , he thought.  He wasn’t sure what he’ d expected, but the beautiful woman walking beside him passed his every expectation.
    She walked with him, forgetting all about their trunk.  After a moment, she stopped
     short.  “Our trunk!”   He would think she was silly, forgetting something so important because she’d been
     lost in his brown eyes.
    He laughed.  “I guess it should have occurred to me that you’d have luggage.  I was
     so lost in your beauty, I wasn’t thinking straight.”
    Ellen blushed.  She’d never been called a beauty before.  Was he just trying to flatter
     her or was he being sincere?  She pointed toward the platform.  “I can see they just
     unloaded it.”   She walked back toward the platform, still clinging to his arm.
    Ellen could see Malinda off in the distance being helped into a buggy.  When they reached
     the platform, he put his hand in his pocket and pulled out a coin.  “Would you be
     willing to deliver that to the black buggy over there?” he asked, indicating the buggy.
    The uniformed man nodded.  “Right away, sir.” 
    Ellen and the man walked slowly back toward the buggy.  “ I’m glad you were able to get the day off to come get us,” she whispered.   She’d never seen a man as handsome as he was.  He was dressed immaculately, and
     his brown eyes seemed to dance as they looked down at her.
    He smiled.  “I wouldn’t have missed it.”
    Once they reached the buggy, he handed her up into the front seat beside him.  She
     could see that Malinda was already sitting happily in the back seat.  Ellen turned
     and smiled at the man sitting beside her sister.   Just because he was a banker didn’t mean she should treat him poorly.   “You must be Patrick.”
    The man blinked twice then laughed.  “I’m Wesley.  You’re sitting next to Patrick.”   He shook his head.  “Please tell me you’re Malinda.”
    Ellen blushed.  She’d been so focused on the man she hadn’t bothered to learn his
     name, just immediately assuming he was Wesley.  She looked at Patrick.  “You’re Patrick? 
     I’m Ellen.”  She bit her lip.  Now what?  She’d come out here not necessarily thinking
     she’d meet a man she was attracted to, but certain love could come on its own.  Now
     that she’d met them, she knew she didn’t want to marry Wesley.  She wasn’t attracted
     to him at all.  The shocked look on Malinda’s face told her she felt the same way
     about Patrick. 
    Ellen looked back at Malinda.  “Should we switch places then?”
    Malinda’s eyes were wide and confused.  She looked from Patrick to Wesley.  “We can
     ride where we are.  We’ll figure it all out when we get there.”
    Ellen nodded and sat back in her seat.  What did she have to say to a banker?  How
     many people have you evicted from their homes today?
    Patrick looked at Ellen just as surprised as she was.  He’d seen her and immediately
     known she was the woman he’d been waiting for.  There was something in her eyes that told him he needed to spend the rest of his life
     with her.   For whatever reason, she seemed to be wary of him now that she knew he was Patrick
     and not Wesley.  Did that mean she hadn’t wanted to marry him for some reason and
     had deliberately passed his letter onto her sister?   And if that was the case, was there some way to convince her that he was the man she’d
     come out here to marry and not his brother?
    “Well, Ellen, I didn’t get a chance to read your letters.  Tell me about yourself. 
     What do you like to do with your spare time?”   He began maneuvering the carriage through the busy streets of Denver listening carefully
     for her response. 
    Ellen shrugged.  “I’ve honestly never had a lot of spare time.  I like to read,