Poppy: Bride of Alaska (American Mail-Order Bride 49) Read Online Free PDF

dreamed about Alaska for as long as I can remember and now I’ll finally be able to see its majesty with my own eyes!
    My only wish is that one day you could join me there. If my situation proves to be what has been claimed, I plan to save as much as I can and send for you. Would you come, I wonder? I hope so.
    I love you with all my heart,
    Poppy
    * ~ * ~ *
    Angry, slate grey skies matched Matthew’s mood as he trudged down the rain-slicked brick of Columbia Street to Colman Dock a little after seven the next morning carrying one large bag. Not so long ago, he would have hired a porter to transport this bag plus two or three trunks to the waiting steamer. If any of his Boston friends could see him, they would be shocked at how far he’d fallen.
    But as much as he hated to admit it, that wasn’t the only cause for his foul mood.  
    It wasn’t as if he’d meant to lie to Poppy, it just slipped out. Certainly, she would be angry when she discovered the steamer City of Topeka had cast off its lines two hours earlier than Matthew had told her but it was for her own good. Winter in Seattle would undoubtedly be more comfortable than in Sitka. Besides, her perceptive gaze saw more than he wanted to show.
    He wasn’t well acquainted with the stubborn little hellcat but he knew enough to know she wouldn’t think he was doing her any favors.
    No, she’ll think you’re a cad and an even bigger liar than she already does.
    The lump of guilt that took up residence in his belly the moment the lie had spilled from his lips tumbled around inside him. In fact, he hadn’t eaten a bite since. And it didn’t feel as if his appetite would return anytime soon. Probably for the best, considering he was about to set off across the notoriously rough Straits of Juan de Fuca. If there was nothing in his stomach, there would be nothing for it to offer to Neptune.
    The rain had eased to a drizzle by the time he reached the main building on Colman Dock, but the wind blew stiff enough to whip up white caps on Puget Sound. After years of sailing on his father’s yacht out of the Boston Yacht Club, Matthew could tell when a passage was going to be rough. This one promised to be a whopper.
    Thinking of those pleasant family times got him wondering if his parents were worried about him. That hadn’t been his goal by sneaking off to track down Vinchenko, but he wanted to surprise them when he returned with their fortune. Their status would be restored, and for the first time in his life, his father could have nothing for which to criticize him.
    Shaking the rain off his oil cloth slicker at the entryway, Matthew reveled at the warmth inside the large building. Of course, anything would be warmer than walking around in the rain.
    “You have a ticket for Matthew Turner?” he asked the ticket agent.
    The gap-toothed old man behind the barred window flicked through the will-call box, pulling out an envelope. “Here ya go, son. All paid for by that Horton fellow.”
    Inside were two purple tickets for the City of Topeka . Guilt gnawed at his gut again. No, he’d made his decision when he paused outside Mrs. Olson’s boarding house a few minutes earlier, wondering if he should collect Poppy so she could live her dream to see Alaska. But his hate for Vinchenko burned hotter than the guilt flaming his cheeks, and he couldn’t risk losing the man because he felt obligated to watch out for her. And he would.
    Stuffing one ticket in his pocket, he slipped another envelope inside the first, sealed it and handed it back to the agent. “Sir, please see that my wife gets that, will you?”  
    The man shrugged and shoved the envelope back in the box, peering past Matthew to the man behind him. “Next.”
    That was good. The last thing Matthew wanted was for that agent to get curious and discover the twenty dollars he’d stashed in there. That should be plenty to cover Poppy’s room and board for a month, maybe two, if she was judicious, while she