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“How?”
She sat forward on her seat, smiling brightly. “Let me drive your automobile.”
Max’s face leeched all color. He looked quickly from face to face, catching quite a few smiles. His shoulders slumped, and he swallowed convulsively. Reaching into his pocket, he slowly pulled out the goggles he’d shoved in there earlier and handed them to her.
“I love you, Ellie Henderson.”
The End
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A Wife by Christmas is the fourth book in the Oklahoma Lovers series. Although the books are all standalones, the series, in reading order, is:
A Run for Love
A Prescription for Love
A Chance to Love Again
A Wife by Christmas
Anyplace But Here
A Dogtown Christmas
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A Dogtown Christmas
About the Book
Guthrie, Oklahoma, 1912. Priscilla Cochran intends to prove to the world she is a grown up woman, able to take care of herself. She accepts a job as a teacher in Dogtown, Colorado, where the man who hired her thinks she is a woman of “mature years.”
Mitch Beaumont is tired of young women who come to Dogtown and leave in tears because it is not a built up city with entertainment a young woman would want. He has finally secured a teacher for the town who has assured him she is a middle-aged spinster and will be able to last through the hard winters.
Then twenty-year-old Priscilla steps off the mail coach and falls at his feet in the mud.
Chapter 1
October 1912, Guthrie, Oklahoma
Priscilla Cochran gripped her new satchel, her stomach tightening with anticipation. During the time she’d waited with her father, the train platform had begun to fill up with passengers waiting for the train to Denver, Colorado.
“I know I’ve asked you this numerous times, but honey, are you absolutely sure this is what you want to do?” With the strain of anxiety in his voice, her father’s loving gaze roamed her face.
“Yes, Papa. I do.” She gave him a warm smile. “You know I love you and Mama so much, and most times I can even tolerate my brothers. But I need to have my own life. I have to get away from all the family constantly surrounding me.” She hesitated, not wanting to hurt him, but needing for him to understand. “Sometimes I feel as though I am smothered with love.”
“Ah, honey,” he said, tucking a strand of golden brown hair behind her ear, “no one can have too much love.”
She regarded her father, Senator Jesse Cochran, who had been such a major influence in her life. He’d started from dubious beginnings as the illegitimate son of a whore, raised in a brothel, to become a United States Senator. “Oh, Papa. You say that because of your own childhood.”
Their attention was caught by the blast of a whistle and whoosh of steam coming from the eight-ten train to Denver as it chugged into the station. With a sigh, her father arranged for the loading of Priscilla’s trunks onto the train, then turned to her. “If you change your mind, just send a message and I’ll come fetch you.”
“See Papa, that’s exactly what I mean. Suppose I do change my mind. I don’t need you to ‘fetch’ me. I’m a grown woman, college educated, and ready for an adventure.”
Her papa took her face in his large hands. “You will always be your mama’s and my little girl, honey.” He bent and kissed her on the forehead. “Have a safe trip, and please write. I’m sure your mama is already waiting for a letter.”
Priscilla fought back tears she didn’t want to fall. She was an adult woman. Chin trembling, she kissed him on the cheek and turned to mount the train. Taking the conductor’s hand, she climbed the steps and hurried down the ai
