For Better Or Worse

The idea was ridiculous. The last letter he had sent had offered a betrothal to the woman out east. She was a good a match as he had found, her letters simple and lacking some of the fanciful notions of romance or adventure he had detected in others he had received. It was what had drawn Stephen to Emily Castor—she seemed determined to come to Montana Territory to work the land, not for the idea of falling in love. I will never make that mistake again, not after what happened with Catherine. He shoved the reminder of his former fiancée aside and read the letter Emily had penned, a basic note, accepting the terms of his proposal and explaining that she was prepared to leave immediately. Once more, Stephen was filled with conflicting emotions, bittersweet and unsettled. You require a wife and Emily Post will do nicely. There is no reason to consider this more than a simple arrangement beneficial for us both. Yet as he made his way back into the house, dabbing at the sweat at his brow with a dirty kerchief, he considered that perhaps he was making a mistake, that maybe he did not need a wife at all. You do, he growled, knowing this very argument well. What good is it to build a fruitful life without the benefit of a son for whom to pass it along? He washed his hands in the kitchen basin before making his way to the study where he instantly began to pen Emily a letter with fare for her to collect a train ticket westbound.