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"Please, sit down, I'll try to explain." Daisy told him and looked at her sister for some back-up. The young one looked to scared to say much more.
"I don't think you really have to, at this point." Lance sent them a reprimanding glance, then smiled suddenly as his sense of humor kicked in. He didn't want to scare them to death, they were kids as far as he was concerned.
"It started as a joke." Daisy tried to take up for her sister's bad behavior. "But when your letter got so serious, we got nervous. We had to come up with an explanation of why she wasn't there."
"There is no sick mother, I take it?" Lance shook his head.
"N-no, I'm sorry. Did you come a long way?"
"From Texas."
"Oh yes. Oh dear." The young girl backed away. "I didn't mean for it to go so far. But I mean you are from Texas, just look at those boots and hat," she nodded to her sister. "I got tied up in those letters. It was fun, at first, and you were so poetic and sweet. I don't recall you asking me how old I was. But it's probably best we didn't. I'd have lied about that, I'm sure."
He shook his head and laughed out loud. "I even had a preacher ready to marry you the minute you arrived. Just like you asked."
"Oh my! I didn't mean to cause such a ruckus!" the young girl replied. "It was so romantic, though. You described Texas to me and talked about your ranch and how lonely it was at times. I remember you mentioned a flower, a bluebell."
"Blue Bonnet," he corrected her.
"Yes, that was it."
"Well what did you think was going to happen" Daisy insisted, shaking her head at her sister as a reprimand.
"There was one thing, that I couldn't understand. In the first few letters I received; you mother was dead. Then at the end, you said she was sick, so I felt something was not right about all of this, I just didn't expect this. I suppose in a situation like mail order brides, you should always ask the age, but it seemed to rude to ask."
"I can understand that." The younger girl leaned against the window now. "Are you terribly angry at me?"
"Look, I helped her write some of those letters, but when it got serious, I told her to tell you the truth and quit writing to you. I knew this would happen. We are in a world of trouble. I told you so." She told her sister again.
"Why did you do it?" He asked, trying to keep a straight face. It was a good thing for them that he had a sense of humor.
"Boredom for one." The youngest admitted.
"Our folks won't let either of us date. So, I thought I could create a romance in my letters and Daisy helped me write them. Did you enjoy them?"
"Y-yes, I guess I did. I swallowed them hook, line, and pole."
"I'm sorry," she came up to him. She batted her long lashes at him and smiled shyly up at him. "Can you forgive me?"
"I suppose I can. Besides, you did me a big favor."
"What do you mean?" they both looked shocked.
"Well, because of you and your letters and your insistence on a wedding, I met the girl of my dreams and married her."
"Oh, then, everything is alright?" The young one cried.
"Well, except I've spent nearly a week getting here, when I needed to be on a trail drive." He told them.
"Again, I apologize," the young girl came up to him and put her hand on his. "I'll never do that again. I’m so glad you can forgive me. And it was awfully nice of you to come in person. I never dreamed you were such a good-looking man. But your letters were always so nice, and I'd read them to my friends."
He looked into her green eyes and blonde hair and shook his head. She was beautiful for her age; they both were and obviously they had some pretty strict parents. "I am curious about one thing."
"What's that?" Daisy asked.
"Whose picture did you send?"
"One of my cousins, it wasn't a very good one, we had it made at the fair."
