Mail Order Bride and The Mix-up (A Western Romance Book)(COMPLETED)

Chapter 05

Belle stood outside the post office with Gertrude, Cadence, and Austin. "We should have thought of this sooner," said Belle. "It would have saved us three days with nothing to show for it."

"Are you sure you want to go through with this?" Gertrude asked.

Belle shot her a look. "What are you saying? That I should forget Hale and marry Ira? I never want to see that man again. You can't trust a thing he says."

It had been one whole day since he'd led them all over the place before finally confessing he had no idea where her betrothed even was. She could still not get over his bold-faced lies. She'd been seeing his face all morning in every man that walked past her, ready to strike out at them before realizing that they were a stranger to her. It irritated her that much more that he was so etched in her brain.

"I wasn't saying anything of the sort," Gertrude said. "I only meant that you could still return with us to Angel's Reach."

"Oh," she said, feeling guilty now for snapping at her friend. "Sorry."

Gertrude looked away, irritated, and Cadence let out a sigh. She was making things worse for everyone by snapping at them constantly. This morning at breakfast, before coming here, Cadence had asked her to pass the salt, and Belle had shouted at her that she didn't need to add salt to her eggs, that they were fine without it.

She cringed at her own behavior, but when she turned her head, she saw the support in her friends' eyes even if they were still irritated with her. She took in a deep breath and opened the door.

The postman behind the counter was a short man with gold spectacles and dark hair, though it had started to thin on top. He looked them over then smiled. "Good day. Something I can do for you?"

"Yes," Belle said, hoping she didn't sound as nervous as she felt. "I'm looking for a man who lives in this town, Hale Mackery. The address I have listed for him is this one, I'm afraid, and I was hoping you might be able to tell me where to find him. Does he work here?"

She looked closely at the man before her, wondering suddenly if he might be Hale, but the man shook his head. "I can't give out a man's address to strangers," he said.

"But I'm not a stranger. He's expecting me."

"That's right," Gertrude said.

"If he was expecting you," said the postman, "then you wouldn't have come here looking for him. You'd have gone straight to him."

"He does live in Mellow Pass, though, doesn't he?" asked Cadence.

The man hesitated. "I suppose I can tell you that much. He lives here, all right."

There was a collective sigh of relief. "Then you must know his correct address," said Cadence.

"Maybe," he said vaguely.

"Are you Hale Mackery?" Belle asked. He blinked at her then started laughing.

"No, miss. I don't think I'd care to trade jobs with the man."

"What does he do?" she asked.

The postman opened his mouth, then shook his head. "Can't tell you that," he said.

"Why not?" asked Austin.

"Because it would lead you right to him, and if a man doesn't want to be found, that's his business."

"How come no one in this town has heard of him except for you?" asked Gertrude, bringing her eyes together suspiciously. The postman shrugged and said nothing.

"Is Hale Mackery a false name?" Austin asked.

The postman looked away, his cheeks glowing a light pink.

"It is a false name!" Belle said, wondering why the man she'd been writing would deceive her. Were there no honest men in this world?

The postman, realizing he'd been caught, said, "I can't go into details, but the man you're looking for has a particular job in this town that requires a certain decorum. I imagine he might use a false name if he wanted to remain anonymous."

Austin drew something from his inner pocket and held it up. "I'm Sheriff Austin Wilkes from Angel's Reach," he said with authority. "I need to know where to find this man, whatever his name is. It's urgent."

"Sheriff?" the postman sputtered. "You should've told me that sooner. I'm surprised you don't already know." He licked his lips nervously now. "You can find him down at the sheriff's station. He's the town's sheriff."

Belle's mouth dropped open. "The sheriff?" she said. She'd thought he was a businessman. She wasn't sure what she thought of marrying a sheriff.

"What's his name?" Austin asked, but the postman refused.

"He can tell you himself if he wants to," the postman said.

They left the post office and Cadence grabbed Austin's badge from him. "Where did you get this?" she asked. "You're no sheriff."

Austin grinned. "I thought it might come in handy, so I asked Barrett to loan it to me before we left." Barrett was the only other man in Angel's Reach, so he and Austin shared a particular bond. He was also co-sheriff of the town alongside his wife, Estelle.

"Good thinking," Cadence said and handed the badge back to him.

They arrived at the sheriff's station and stood outside, discussing how to proceed. "Maybe I should go in first," said Austin. "I can tell him I'm a sheriff just like I told the postman."

"Barrett's actually been here before though," said Cadence. "The sheriff is likely to know you're lying."

Austin bit his lip. "Good point."

"Maybe I should just introduce myself," Belle said. "I'll tell him I arrived early and wanted to have dinner with him and get to know him a bit before we married." They all stared at her. "Well, what's wrong with being honest? After the way Ira's treated us, I'm not sure I can stand any more lies."

"But we agreed to spy on him," said Gertrude, pouting like a child. It irritated Belle.

"I'm done with this," she said. "I'm going inside and meet him." She pushed past them before they could stop her and opened the front door to the station. A man with bright blond hair and eyes the same shade of hers turned to greet her. He was wearing a sheriff's badge.

For one second, Belle thought she was imagining her brother, but then his jaw dropped open and his eyes bugged out of his head. "Belle?" he said.

"Anthony?" she gasped. They looked at each other a long moment, both disbelieving, then ran to each other and grabbed hold of each other, neither willing to let the other go ever again.

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