Mail Order Love (Sweet Mail Order Bride Historical Romance Novel) (Oregon Mail Order Brides) by Amy Blakelear Page A

proper tomorrow. We’ll show you what to do then.”
    Jared led her up an impressive dark wooden staircase that twisted around as it went up. They climbed up past the first floor, up past the second floor, and up to the attic. There were windows let in along the outside wall of the staircase to show the prairie view.
    Jared opened the door to a spacious attic room. It had a sloping roof hung with bunches of lavender and rosemary that had been tied upside down to dry out. They released an intoxicating herbal aroma that blended with the deliciously dry spicy smell of the wooden beams. Jared saw that Grammy had made up the double-sized bed in fresh white linen with fancy edges, thick fluffy feather pillows and white feather quilts, topped with a pretty red patchwork quilt embroidered with blue birds.
    Should be enough to keep her warm. She’ll need lots of bedding, slim thing like her.
    He opened the large high windows set into the front side of the house. “Be all right for you?”
    Ellie seemed speechless, so he continued.
    “I’m afraid you’ll have to bathe right in here in the room. There is a fire for heating the water and a large tub you can fill up. You’ll have to pump the water yourself and take it up the stairs. Good news is this tub is for you only. Let’s see … there’s a big pot of stew on the hob downstairs. Just help yourself, make yourself at home. We don’t stand on ceremony here. I’m out a lot of the time, taking care of the ranch and the animals, mending fences. Got all you need?”
    Jared felt he had done enough entertaining for now. He had work to do. And he had a small, possibly ineffectual housekeeper on his hands who now appeared to be mute.
    Ellie still hadn’t uttered a word.
    “Ma’am?”
    “I … you mean, this is all for me?”
    “Sure enough. You can rest here for a while, freshen up and such. I’ll show you around later on and you can meet my grandmother. We call her Grammy. If you’ll excuse me for now.”
    Jared left Ellie’s attic and thundered back down the stairs to shut the front door he had left open. He moved swiftly across the front room in a few big strides and powered up the back stairs to Grammy’s separate wing.
    Grammy, you interfering little elf, where are you?
    He knocked and heard Grammy call from within.
    “Ah my boy! I am just painting the pups.”
    Jared opened the door to Grammy’s room. The scene in front of him made him smile. The five wolfhound puppies were playing on a red tartan rug spread in a patch of sunlight in the middle of the room. Grammy had on a painter’s smock dotted with a rainbow of paint over her bright pink and blue flowered dress. Her white hair was standing up, highlighted with splodges of blue-gray and red where the paint had touched it.
    Grammy’s dark eyes were inquisitive.
    “Makes for a perfect advert to get these pups sold, you see. I paint them looking fetching, show it down the town meeting hall and word gets around. We find good owners and the pups sell like hot cakes to the right people. But tell me, Jared, how do you like your new lady friend? I sneaked a glance at you both coming in. Pretty little lady I picked out for you.”
    “Fine surprise, Grammy. You realize she thinks she’s coming here as a housekeeper? You misread the advert.”
    Grammy thought this hilarious and collapsed into peals of laughter while Jared watched her impassively. She wiped the tears from her eyes.
    “Oh whoops, my sweet. Jared, catch that pup for me, he’s running off. Well, I hope it will all turn out for the good. She looks like a nice comely girl.”
    Jared scooped up the pup and placed him back in the heap as he puffed out an exasperated half sigh, half laugh.
    “Grammy, you can’t just order a housekeeper and marry her. And have you seen her? She’s as thin as a pole.”
    “Nothing that a few good meals won’t fix. So you want to return her then?” Grammy’s eyes smiled at Jared.
    “Well! We can’t just return her. I