Train Station Bride Read Online Free PDF

goods. Snelling’s don’t marry divorcees.”
    “But, Mrs. Snelling, I had no idea I was marrying the wrong man,” Julia cried.
    Jacob Snelling looked at his mother. “I don’t know, Mother. It wasn’t her fault.” He looked back at Julia. “But a divorcee?”
    The whole of the assemblage turned when the sheriff escorted a tall blonde woman with long braided ponytails to them. She curtsied and said, “Inga Crawper. Husband. Jake Shelling.”
    The minister scratched his head. “I’ll be betting this here’s your foreign bride.”
    “Hey, Jake. This woman’s looking for you. I think she’s planning to marry you. Ain’t that something?” the sheriff said.
    “We’ve got a problem, Sheriff,” Jacob Snelling said. “Jake Shelling stole my bride. Up and married her before I could get here. Mother’s feet were bothering her this morning, and I had to rub them with camphor. Made me late. But still all in all, he married the woman I was supposed to.”
    “She’ll be a divorcee, Jacob. We don’t want her now,” the old woman said.
    “Don’t suppose somebody could explain this mess to me. And right quick. The mayor’s set to make his speech soon, and he wants me up on the platform with him,” the man with the tin badge said.
    Julia’s new husband told the tale and finished with a curse. “And Phillips here won’t tear up the license even though there was a mistake. I was to marry Inga Crawper. The one curtseying beside you.”
    “Scared she was going to get away, Jake?” the sheriff asked.
    “Something like that,” he replied.
    The sheriff rubbed his chin and then his belly. Suddenly his face lit up with a smile.
    “Hey, I got it. Snelling, here can marry Inga. It’ll all be settled. You both will have a bride. And seeings how you already tied the knot, Jake, you can hardly marry this one, too. Bigamy’s illegal in this parts.” Sheriff Smith turned to Jacob Snelling. “What do you think, Jacob? Marry Inga here and everything will be solved.”
    “What do you want?” her new husband asked Julia. “Do you want to file for a divorce so you can marry Jacob Snelling?”
    “Used goods, I’m telling you,” Mrs. Snelling said, wide-eyed. Her son was staring at the blonde woman from Sweden with a hopeful look on his face.
    Julia was humiliated. Her fiancé had barely given her a second glance. His mother stared at her as if she worked in a saloon. The only person who seemed the least bit concerned with her wishes was a man she met ten minutes earlier and had married. And if she filed for divorce, her father would sweep her back to Boston before she could utter a single word of protest. She looked up at him.
    “I don’t want a divorce,” she said.
    “Then I guess we’re stuck with each other,” he said.
    Julia stood in the dust of the wooden platform as her new husband turned and stalked away. Inga Crawper was nodding, smiling and bowing to Jacob Snelling. Mrs. Snelling turned to Julia with a smug smile as she latched herself onto the tall blonde’s arm to lead her away. The sheriff was already gone, and the minister was having trouble meeting Julia’s eyes. Her lips were trembling, and her knees went out from under her. Thankfully, her trunk was behind her. She plopped down with a thud, sending a whirl of dust around her. Julia had no idea what to do. The minister knelt before her, hat in hand.
    “Been quite a day, hasn’t it?” he asked.
    Julia nodded and sniffed.
    Pastor Phillips bowed his head and looked up. “I shouldn’t be saying this, seeings how Jacob Snelling’s a member of my congregation, but I’m thinking the foreigner got the short end of the stick.”
    Julia looked at him, eyes glistening. “How can you say that? She left with Mr. Snelling and his mother. My husband … my husband left me here at the station. I don’t have any idea what to do, where to go.”
    “Jake’ll be back. Mark my words. No question he’s got his hair in an uproar, but Jake Shelling’s the