Read The Chef's Mail Order Bride: A Sweet Western Historical Romance (Wild West Frontier Brides Book 1) for Free Online

wear my wedding dress,” Suzanne said as she poured another cup of tea. “We’re still the same size, after all.”
    Lucy and Lily tore into the room, grabbing at their mother’s skirts. “We want to be in the wedding, Mama,” they chorused. Suzanne laughed and said, “Ask Aunt Sadie, girls. It’s not my wedding.”
    “Please, Aunt Sadie? Can we?” Lucy said, batting her eyelashes at her aunt in a way that Sadie couldn’t possibly say no to.
    “I would love that, girls,” Sadie said, tears welling. It may be just a business arrangement, but she was thrilled that her family wanted to be involved.
    “I have the perfect dresses for them, too, if you’d like them to be flower girls.” Suzanne tousled the girls’ hair.
    “I would love that. To wear your dress, Suzanne, and to have the twins be flower girls.”
    Her heart clenched for a moment, and she said, “I wish Mom and Dad were going to be here. Even though it’s just a business arrangement.”
    Suzanne reached for her hand. “You can say that, sister, but I just know it will be more than that.”
    Sadie sighed, wondering if her sister was right, and afraid to hope that maybe she was.

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    T he next few days were a blur again as Suzanne bothered Sadie about flowers and dresses and Sadie herself was so nervous that she went into a baking frenzy. It had always been what calmed her down.
    She made a wedding cake, pastries, bread for the wedding supper and biscuits for breakfast beforehand. She even created meat pies from the leftovers of the roast Tripp had made. Suzanne walked into the kitchen as she was putting the final touches on the wedding cake the morning of the wedding.
    “Good grief, how long have you been up doing all this?” she asked as she surveyed the full counters of baked goods.
    “I’m not sure I slept last night,” Sadie said as she set aside the last tray of meat pies. She gave a satisfied sigh and was grateful that her nervous energy had gone into something useful. She hoped that Tripp would feel the same way.
    “It looks like you’ve baked enough to feed the whole town,” Suzanne said, sniffing the tray of meat pies.
    “What are these?” she said, picking one up and breaking it open.
    Sadie was pleased as the aroma of beef, onions and spices wafted to her.
    “These smell delicious,” Suzanne said. “And they are delicious.” She closed her eyes as she savored the bite she’d taken.
    “It’s something I’ve been making for a while, and since I’ve been so nervous and couldn’t sleep anyway, I thought it might be a good use of the leftover roast. You like it?”
    “It’s divine. I think you should sell them in the restaurant. But, enough now. We need to get you ready for your wedding. We will be skipping the regular Sunday service today for the special occasion, so we have a little bit of extra time,” Suzanne said as she went to retrieve the wedding dress Sadie would wear.
    Sadie quickly brushed her floury hands on her apron, untied the bow in the back and slid it over her head. With one final look at her creations, she headed upstairs toward the bath Suzanne had heated up for her and felt her heartbeat quicken as she thought of her wedding in a few hours.
    Her wedding! Butterflies fluttered in her belly as she raced up the stairs, trying to forget about the fact that it was only a business arrangement. She knew in her heart she was hoping for more. What she didn’t know was whether Tripp felt it was even possible. Or something that he even wanted.

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    S adie opened the door at Suzanne’s knock and couldn’t help but smile as her sister clapped her hands together, tears welling in her eyes as she said, “You look beautiful.”
    She had taken extra care to get ready, washing her hair with the divine-smelling lavender soap and slowly putting her long, blonde hair again up in a chignon. She did place some of the flowers that Suzanne had left on the vanity in her hair, the flowers perfectly matching the color of