Read Josie: Bride of New Mexico (American Mail-Order Bride 47) for Free Online Page B

He pointed out the desk secured in a nook. A lamp provided illumination during the dark hours.
    He couldn’t resist showing her the stationery he’d prepared just for her.
    He opened the drawer and brought out a sheet of cream-colored, textured writing paper, with her name imprinted across the top. Mrs. Adam Taylor. His preference would have been to commission stationery with her monogram or own name, as her letters would be highly personal, but upon accepting the Hadley sisters’ offer, he hadn’t yet know whether Lessie or Josie would become his wife.
    Perhaps the next order of stationery supplies would meet his preferences.
    “Do you like it?”
    “Oh, yes.” She fingered the heavy paper, admired the envelope he offered. “Thank you for your kindness and generosity.”
    “You’re welcome.” He didn’t want to resist the urge to touch her with husbandly acknowledgment, so he didn’t. He kissed her brow as if it were commonplace because he wanted it to become just that.
    He knew from experience the desk chair was exquisitely comfortable. With both hands upon the leather backrest, he nodded at the drawers. “You’ll find pens of every sort. Pencils, rules, everything you might require.”
    “Now, allow me to show you the rest.”
    “There’s more?”
    He chuckled at her delight. “Of course there is.” He led her around the stout, highly polished bar with taps, bottles of various liquors and crystal glasses. Grandfather had enjoyed the best bourbon and while Adam and Richard drank rarely, they hadn’t had the heart to remove or change the way the private car was stocked.
    Adam opened a door. “This is the bunk Richard and I shared when traveling with Grandfather.” He stepped out of the way to allow Josie to see the two beds, one stacked above the other. They remained made up, a nice convenience when traveling with children.
    “My parents slept on the sofa.” He indicated the full-size couch near the bar. “The couch folds out to make a bed and draperies are hung on that rod for privacy.”
    Josie seemed to take it all in, in awe of the details. “I see the curtain rod— ingenious. But what are those pipes?” She indicated the heating system of pipes that flowed along the baseboards and beneath cabinetry.
    “Hot water flows through them for radiant heat. We may need to turn it on while in the mountains or overnight. Do let me know if you’re chilled.”
    She smiled— so lovely. He wanted to do all he could to see her smile, often.
    “And this is the master suite.” He opened the door and ushered her inside. “It will forever be ‘Grandfather’s bedroom’ in my mind, as until his death, it always was. When we traveled without him, of course, we’d use it. It’s by far and large the most comfortable of all the beds.”
    He watched Josie take in the blue damask bedspread, matching decorative pillows piled high at the polished dark wooden headboard, and the complimentary draperies at the windows. A closet made up a segment of the wall separating this compartment from the bar.
    “Grandfather did enjoy his conveniences.” Adam opened another door and showed her the lavatory inside. A sink with hot and cold water, and a mirror with good lighting for shaving. “I vaguely remember my grandmother styling her hair before this mirror once when Richard and I traveled with them as children.”
    “It’s lovely. All of it.”
    “Later, soon, I’ll tell you about my grandparents’ love story. They had one of the greatest loves in the history of the world.”
    She must have thought he exaggerated, but this was no fictional tale.
    “I’m glad you like it, Josie.” Now seemed the best time to approach the subject he knew he’d have to address before time to retire. “As you’re my wife, I’d like for us to share this chamber, and this bed, for the whole of our journey.”

 
     
     
     
    Chapter Eight
     

     
    He wanted her in his bed, and he wouldn’t apologize. Nor did he see the wisdom