weakly trying to hide her discomfiture about buying a magazine full of men looking for wives. The clerk stooped down behind the counter and stood back up with a magazine on newsprint. It was bigger than she thought it would be and she wished the man would be a little more discreet. He was waving it around for anyone halfway looking to see.
She had already taken the money out of her reticule so she could pay him fast and get out of the shop. He smiled and it was clear he wasn’t going to make it easy on her. He took her money and unhurriedly dug in the cash drawer for her change. She drummed her fingers on the counter top wishing he would stop dawdling.
“I don’t understand what the appeal is, but we sell out of these things every week. No idea why so many lovely young women, such as yourself, are trying to run off out of the city. There’s plenty of men here lookin’ for wives.”
Jewel took the paper and folded it so that the title was hidden. “Thank you,” she said and turned to go without acknowledging his comments at all.
“Good luck with that, young lady,” he yelled as she walked away. “I hope you find someone who catches your fancy.”
Jewel stuck the folded paper inside her heavy coat and closed the front door behind her as she rushed out. She desperately hoped she didn’t need a second copy. Surely she would find a match in the edition she had just purchased. She didn’t think she could take that embarrassment again.
She rushed back to her sewing station in the dismal basement of Barnaby’s and slipped into her seat just in time. Mrs. Grant raised an eyebrow but didn’t call her out. Whew. That had been close.
With the ordeal of her risqué purchase behind her, she couldn’t wait to look through the magazine. She believed that her future waited for her inside the pages of the paper now placed snugly inside her valise.
Tonight. She would start her search tonight.
Chapter 2
Normally it was easy for Jewel to get time to herself after supper. The house was usually quiet in her quarters and her parents were busy most of the time. She was thankful for this tonight as she unfolded the newsprint paper that had been waiting in her valise since lunch time.
She opened the magazine almost reverently as she anticipated what she was going to find inside. The pages were filled with ads. It was almost overwhelming. Men from all over were in need of brides. Everywhere from Kansas to California was represented. A few even had a photograph attached. Lots of farmers, some ranch workers… Arizona… Texas… Wyoming.
Jewel blinked. The only thing she’d ever heard of Wyoming was when the papers mentioned that someone had dug up more giant bones, from some prehistoric beast. Curiosity piqued, Jewel read the rest of the ad.
James Harland, aged 30. Six feet tall, neither large nor thin. Lawyer in Laramie, Wyoming in position to inherit the practice. Seeking a woman aged 20 to 27 who wishes to marry. Must not be silly.
Jewel frowned at the last line, but considered the ad carefully. It was brief. Shorter than some of the others. He was a lawyer. Weren’t they typically more talkative than this? Maybe he was busy and didn’t have time to write much for the ad.
Well, a lawyer was certainly different from a stable hand or a cowboy. It wasn’t that she looked down on hired help, she was hired help. She had no interested in trading what she had here for the same thing in Wyoming or any place else.
As for silliness, Jewel didn’t think she was particularly silly, but this James Harland might have other ideas. What if this meant he didn’t like to have fun?
Jewel hesitated. Was he the one she should write to? Why was his ad standing out to her? Well, the worst he could do was say he wasn’t interested. Or he could just not respond. That would waste her time. But it was a chance she’d take with any of them, lawyer or otherwise.
She considered writing to two men to give herself a better chance, but
She had already taken the money out of her reticule so she could pay him fast and get out of the shop. He smiled and it was clear he wasn’t going to make it easy on her. He took her money and unhurriedly dug in the cash drawer for her change. She drummed her fingers on the counter top wishing he would stop dawdling.
“I don’t understand what the appeal is, but we sell out of these things every week. No idea why so many lovely young women, such as yourself, are trying to run off out of the city. There’s plenty of men here lookin’ for wives.”
Jewel took the paper and folded it so that the title was hidden. “Thank you,” she said and turned to go without acknowledging his comments at all.
“Good luck with that, young lady,” he yelled as she walked away. “I hope you find someone who catches your fancy.”
Jewel stuck the folded paper inside her heavy coat and closed the front door behind her as she rushed out. She desperately hoped she didn’t need a second copy. Surely she would find a match in the edition she had just purchased. She didn’t think she could take that embarrassment again.
She rushed back to her sewing station in the dismal basement of Barnaby’s and slipped into her seat just in time. Mrs. Grant raised an eyebrow but didn’t call her out. Whew. That had been close.
With the ordeal of her risqué purchase behind her, she couldn’t wait to look through the magazine. She believed that her future waited for her inside the pages of the paper now placed snugly inside her valise.
Tonight. She would start her search tonight.
Chapter 2
Normally it was easy for Jewel to get time to herself after supper. The house was usually quiet in her quarters and her parents were busy most of the time. She was thankful for this tonight as she unfolded the newsprint paper that had been waiting in her valise since lunch time.
She opened the magazine almost reverently as she anticipated what she was going to find inside. The pages were filled with ads. It was almost overwhelming. Men from all over were in need of brides. Everywhere from Kansas to California was represented. A few even had a photograph attached. Lots of farmers, some ranch workers… Arizona… Texas… Wyoming.
Jewel blinked. The only thing she’d ever heard of Wyoming was when the papers mentioned that someone had dug up more giant bones, from some prehistoric beast. Curiosity piqued, Jewel read the rest of the ad.
James Harland, aged 30. Six feet tall, neither large nor thin. Lawyer in Laramie, Wyoming in position to inherit the practice. Seeking a woman aged 20 to 27 who wishes to marry. Must not be silly.
Jewel frowned at the last line, but considered the ad carefully. It was brief. Shorter than some of the others. He was a lawyer. Weren’t they typically more talkative than this? Maybe he was busy and didn’t have time to write much for the ad.
Well, a lawyer was certainly different from a stable hand or a cowboy. It wasn’t that she looked down on hired help, she was hired help. She had no interested in trading what she had here for the same thing in Wyoming or any place else.
As for silliness, Jewel didn’t think she was particularly silly, but this James Harland might have other ideas. What if this meant he didn’t like to have fun?
Jewel hesitated. Was he the one she should write to? Why was his ad standing out to her? Well, the worst he could do was say he wasn’t interested. Or he could just not respond. That would waste her time. But it was a chance she’d take with any of them, lawyer or otherwise.
She considered writing to two men to give herself a better chance, but
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