Indiana Goes West (Mail Order Brides of Pioneer Town, Book 1) by Ruth Hartzler Page A

up. A small
flap was then affixed over the laces.
    “Are you sure he won’t run in terror when he
sees me?” Indiana said.
    “He might run in terror, but it will be
because of your personality and certainly not your looks,” Misty
joked.
    “I can still have Mother dismiss you, you
know,” Indiana said with a laugh.
    And then, downstairs, the bell on the front
door rang, a noise strong enough to reverberate through a large
portion of the massive mansion in which Indiana and Misty lived,
though for how much longer, neither could say.
    “I must answer that, now that there is no
butler,” Misty said, and she swept out of the room, holding up the
hem of her own, much less expensive dress as she did so.
    Indiana waited a few moments before following
her. As she stepped lightly down the grand staircase which emptied
in the foyer, Mr. Morgan Chase came into view. He was dressed as
sharply as he had been the first night Indiana had met him, at
dinner. He wore a suit and jacket, and had a top hat tucked under
his arm. It was almost strange to see him without his cowboy hat.
He smiled when he saw her, and walked to greet her at the bottom of
the staircase.
    “Miss Indiana,” he said, as he pulled his
free hand out from behind his back. He was holding a dozen roses,
bright red and plump.
    “Oh, they’re beautiful,” Indiana said, taking
the flowers and holding them just below her nose.
    Misty came to take the flowers. “I’ll put
them in water,” she said as she headed for the kitchen.
    “Ready?” Morgan asked, offering his arm.
    Indiana took it and nodded.
    “I was thinking we could go to Golden Gate
Park,” he added as they headed for the door. He pulled it open and
let her out first, following behind and shutting it. In the drive
stood a handsome covered carriage, with a driver waiting for them
at the reins. They made their way to the carriage and the driver
hopped down, opening the door for them and offering his hand to
Indiana. She took it and stepped up into the carriage, and Morgan
followed behind her. The driver shut the door and returned to the
front of the carriage, climbing up onto the small bench which sat
as high as the cabin roof. He took up the reins once more and
cracked them against the flank of the two bay horses harnessed to
the carriage, and with a creak of the large wooden wheels, the
carriage started forward.
    “I’m sure you’ve been to the park many times,
but I haven’t had a chance to go since I arrived in town, and
people keep telling me I have to see it.”
    “It is beautiful,” Indiana said, “yet I
myself have not been too many times.”
    Morgan smiled. He was sitting across from her
in the carriage, his back to the front of the cabin. The carriage
started through Nob Hill, and then down toward the park.
    “We shall be late for lunch, but I believe I
heard about a tea shop in the park?”
    “The Japanese Tea Garden,” Indiana confirmed
with a nod.
    “That’s what I’m after, then,” Morgan said,
patting his stomach, and Indiana laughed.
    Before long, the carriage stopped in front of
the main entrance to Golden Gate Park. When the driver opened the
door and held out his hand, Indiana took it once more and stepped
down carefully in her heeled boots. The ground was wet, with
puddles here and there due to a brief shower early that morning,
but the sky now was clear and blue, with nary a cloud in sight.
Seagulls swooped here and there, heading in from the sea.
    “I didn’t know your friends would be joining
us,” Indiana teased as she pointed out the birds to Morgan.
    “And here I am without my shotgun,” the
rancher said with a grin. He offered his arm once more and the two
set off into the park, after Morgan slipped money to the driver of
the cab and instructed him to wait for them.
    The park was indeed beautiful, all lush
greens and blooming flowers. It had been built with the idea to
compete with New York City’s famed Central Park, and while it
certainly wasn’t as