Lilly: Bride of Illinois (American Mail-Order Bride 21) by Linda K. Hubalek Page A

down to her knees, getting acclimated to the water, before sitting to stretch her legs out and lean against the back of the full–length tub. Oh this feels so good!
    Time had passed when she heard the key in the room door, but she continued to enjoy the hot soak.
    “Miss Lind, it’s me. I brought...”
    Lilly opened her eyes when he spoke and realized he could see her! Apparently the bathroom door latch didn’t catch and it had slowly opened on its own to reveal her in the bathtub.
    He stared at her as she sank down in the bathtub, then quickly turned his back to her. “I brought food and I’ll sit this tray on the table. Can I close my eyes and shut the door for you? I promise I won’t look again.”
    Her face might be red because she was in hot water, but she was sure her cheeks turned redder, if that was possible. “Yes, please.”
    True to his word, Seth walked backwards, feeling for the doorknob without taking another peek at her in the tub. She had almost fallen asleep in the hot comfort of the tub, but she was wide awake now to finish her bath. She rubbed the washcloth against the bar of castle soap to make a nice foam then scrubbed every inch of her body, hoping to get the smell of cigar smoke, cheap perfume, and horse manure off her skin.
    Then Lilly slid forward in the tub to lean back and dunk her hair into the water, then sat back up. It felt luxurious to rub the bar of castle soap into her scalp and hair. She slid her head back into the hot water so she could swish and rinse her hair. Once back on her feet, Lilly carefully rubbed her body with a clean towel, then used it to wrap around her wet head. Then she reached for…nothing. She didn’t have any clothes to put on after her bath.
    Mr. Reagan’s cup of coffee stayed half way to his lips when Lilly opened the door and peeked around it. “Do you have any dry clothes I could borrow?”
    ***
    Miss Lind devoured the toast, eggs and bacon like she hadn’t eaten in…well days, which Seth guessed was accurate. She’d been savoring the hot, strong coffee a slow sip at a time, which looked like it had finally taken the chill out of her bones—along with his wool socks, his night shirt, and the blanket from his bed, which was wrapped around her.
    The woman was covered head to toe, but he was still embarrassed that she was in his room. They ate in silence, but now they needed to talk.
    “I need to go back to the Stock Show today, so you can sleep here while I’m gone. I brought up extra food you can eat later. Will you be all right while I’m gone?” He had promised to visit with cattle buyers about the Cross C cattle herd for his bosses.
    “Yes, thank you, Mr. Reagan. I feel safe now and appreciate the use of your room to recover from my ordeal.”
    “Since you don’t have the bare necessities you need, how about you make me a list of items I could get while out today?”
    “I don’t know how I’m going to repay you for all of this. I was so unprepared coming to Chicago. I assumed I’d be settling into a nice house this week, and getting to know my husband…having money...”
    Miss Lind was doing her best not to cry in front of him. It had to be so hard, dreaming of what her future as Mrs. Hardesty was going to be, compared to the situation in which she found herself.
    “Don’t worry, buying what you need is no problem for me. My employer is a generous man, with my salary, and expense money for my trip to Chicago. And Mr. Connely is the type of man who would be disappointed to hear if I didn’t help a woman in dire need.” Seth tried to assure her.
    “Thank you. If you have a pencil and a note pad, I can start the list, but I’m keeping it to the bare minimum.”
    Seth reached into his vest pocket to pull out and hand her the items while asking, “Do you have family or friends you can go to?”
    “No family in America that I know of. My friends from Lawrence answered ads from the Grooms’ Gazette , too.” Miss Lind wiped her hands