The Sweetest Mail Order Bride (Sweet Creek Brides Book 1) Read Online Free PDF

his granite features. Handsome turned to stunning. “My family made a promise to you, one they had to know they couldn’t keep. This will help you find another promise. I hope it will work out better for you next time.”
    “Pa!” Gracie’s jaw dropped.
    “Pa!” Hope looked equally shocked and betrayed.
    “Don’t tell her to go to someone else—”
    “—cuz we want her.”
    “More than anything.”
    “We’ll be
sooooo
good. We promise.”
    Caleb worked to dim down his smile. It wouldn’t do to make them think he was sympathetic to their plight. Sure, little girls needed a mother. It was only natural to crave a mother’s love. But life hadn’t worked out that way, and as sorry as he was, he wasn’t going to get married, not again. He’d walked down that torturous road before and he wasn’t interested in that brand of agony again.
    A blurred motion caught his eye. He glanced out the window and noticed a familiar palomino pony running around in the street. “Did you girls forget something? Like tying up your pony properly?”
    “Oh, Pumpkin!” Hope’s hands flew up to her eyes, as if to hide the sight of the misbehaving pony.
    “Pumpkin! No!” Gracie launched into an all-out run. “Get off the boardwalk!”
    Yeah, Caleb thought, resigned. There would never be peace and quiet anywhere near the twins. A woman’s startled scream rang down the street.
    “Apparently the pony is still on the boardwalk.” He was afraid to look over his shoulder. Sometimes it was just better not to know.
    “Hilarious. I didn’t know horses were allowed on boardwalks.” Miss Clementine Parks gave a small laugh, a gentle, pleasant trill that made him think of clear mountain brooks and spring raindrops. “I can tell by the look on your face that they aren’t.”
    “The sheriff will probably fine me.” He did his best not to notice the feminine way she pushed a stray curl out of her pretty face. “It won’t be the first time.”
    “Your girls are delightful. They must light up your life.”
    “That they do.” He considered the woman. Where had she come from? How old was she? What made her decide to become a mail-order bride?
    Not that she was any of his business. He shouldn’t be curious about her. He should finish making restitution to her and end all association with her.
    “Oh! That must be Pumpkin.” Clementine Parks stood up, turning toward the open doorway, utterly charming. She laughed again, as sweet as a hymn, and held out her hands. “What a pretty old girl you are. I don’t think Mrs. O’Hurley would want you in the lobby.”
    Caleb watched, transfixed. She captivated. The kindness, the sweetness, her warmth. For some inexplicable reason, every one of his senses focused on her, noticing everything. The way she moved like music. The way she smelled like lilacs. The soft notes of her laugh, the gentleness as she held her hands out for the pony to sniff.
    He was rooted in place, temporarily suspended, aware of the woman in a way he hadn’t experienced before.
Life never works out the way you expect. I learned that lesson long ago.
Her words came back to him, bothering him. What lessons had she learned? What hardships had she faced? Why hadn’t her life turned out the way she’d expected?
    “You caught her!” Gracie’s shoes pounded to a stop outside the door. “Whew. Thanks, Mrs. Clementine.”
    “Yeah, thanks.” Hope got a boost up from her twin and landed on the pony’s back. “Bad Pumpkin. You are a bad girl.”
    The unrepentant pony lifted her head, giving it a defiant shake. Her brown eyes sparkled, full of happiness as she glanced around the hotel lobby, perhaps looking for trouble. And it looked like she found it. The pony opened her mouth, stretching as far as her neck would allow trying to catch the nearby lampshade’s fringe between her teeth.
    “Not a good idea, funny girl.” Clementine Parks caught the pony’s muzzle in her gentle hands. “That lamp is enclosed with glass,