The Sweetest Mail Order Bride (Sweet Creek Brides Book 1) by Jill Summers

cleaning while sewing on the side for extra cash. “I was able to leave there and move to Dayton Springs, where I worked as a seamstress and at my boardinghouse, but no one was interested.”
    “That’s hard to believe.” Caleb smiled at her, making the past less painful.
    This was the moment she wanted to remember—the girls, the sunshine, and the happy home. The men chuckling as Jeremiah told a joke. Maybe if she held on to this memory through the days to come, wherever the future took her, then maybe one day she could wind up just like this—at home, with family, with love.
    It didn’t hurt to wish.

-Chapter Five-
    Clementine set the pile of plates on the counter by the sink. She felt a tug on her sleeve.
    “Hattie’ll do ‘em.” Hope smiled up at her. “Do you wanna come see our tree house now?”
    “Yeah!” Gracie trotted up. “I’m in the mood to climb.”
    She had to bite her lip to keep from laughing. Oh, it felt good. She hadn’t been this happy in years. She happened to glance out the window above the sink. “Oh no. I see trouble.”
    “Not trouble!” Gracie went up on tiptoe, straining to see. “It’s Pumpkin, ain’t it?”
    “She’s out of her corral.” Clementine wasn’t at all surprised. She looked like the kind of pony that was hard to contain.
    “Again?”
Hope swiped her forehead dramatically. “I’m tuckered out from chasing her today.”
    “Hurry, Hope!” Gracie pounded toward the door. “She’s heading’ toward the apple tree!”
    “She loves them apples.” Hope rushed after her sister. The screen door slammed, echoing through the kitchen.
    She was alone with the two men.
    “I think I’ll be getting on my way.” Jeremiah pushed out his chair and rose, stretching before he circled the table. “I’ve got things to do, people to charm. Caleb, don’t get up on my account.”
    “Sure. I see what you’re doing.” Caleb frowned over his cup of coffee. “No need to rush off, little brother.”
    “I think there is.” Jeremiah paced across the room. “Clementine, it was a pleasure. One day maybe Pa will find me a lady as beautiful as you.”
    “I hope you find one a great deal better than me.” Clementine wanted to give this young man a big hug, but she held back. She had to remember this would never be her family, and he would never be her little brother-in-law. “Are you thinking your father will find you a mail-order bride, too?”
    “Why not? I didn’t know he was looking for one for Caleb. He may as well find me one, too.” Jeremiah winked. “I have problems attracting the ladies. I’ve had bad luck.”
    “Maybe your luck will improve. It was nice meeting you.”
    “You, too.” He grabbed his hat from the hook by the door and tipped it in a most gentlemanly fashion. “Have a good night.”
    He left with a slap of the screen door, leaving her alone with Caleb. Now she felt awkward. Maybe because she liked him so much. Silence settled in the room, as if he didn’t know what to say either.
    Finally he cleared his throat, pushed back his chair and stood. “We talked so much about the girls over the meal.”
    “The stories were so funny.” She grabbed the dish basin, intending to take it over to the stove to fill with wash water, but suddenly he was there, all six towering feet of him, taking it from her.
    “No dishwashing for you.” Firmly, he returned the basin to the counter. “And you can say the stories about the twins are funny, but you didn’t live them.”
    “I don’t know. They are pretty entertaining.”
    “You saw their behavior in town today. I can’t watch them when I’m working, and Hattie can’t keep an eye on them one hundred percent of the time. She was making our supper when they snuck off with the pony. They were supposed to walk to the boardinghouse.”
    “They wanted to show her to me.”
    “They were successful. You saw the good, the bad and the ugly. And the way the ladies in town disapproved.”
    “It’s not all