Chapter One

Daisy stepped down from the train and onto the platform. The earlier steamer crossing from England had taken nine days… nine long and boring days. Yet, that wasn't nearly as bad as the train ride from New York to Saint Louis. She was tired, and all she wanted to do was sink into a hot bubble bath and let the last two weeks of constant travel slip away.

As much as she wanted to see Tulip before her best friend left for California, Daisy realized her visit would have to wait until morning. Shaking her head, she still couldn't believe Tulip was moving all the way across the country to become a mail-order bride. Obviously, even after all these years, the Williams sisters were still as busy as ever.

‘They need doctors out west,' Tulip had said in her last letter. ‘My intended is a veterinarian, so a doctor of sorts himself. We'll have a wonderful life, and I'll be able to practice what I've been trained to do.'

Daisy was still fuzzy on the details of why Tulip felt she had to move away from Saint Louis, but she'd get everything straightened out tomorrow. In the meantime, she had two years of unpacking to attend to, right after she got her bath, some of her mother's home cooking and, perhaps, a nap.

Daisy balled up her fist and banged soundly on the Williams' front door, a little leery of the condition of the aged brass door knocker. The flower-shaped adornment had definitely seen better days.

"Daisy-doodle," Dahlia greeted the moment she opened the heavy door. "It's so good to see you." Grasping tightly to Daisy's wrist, Dahlia pulled her forward and toward the kitchen. "We're just having mid-morning tea and want to hear all about your adventures in merry old England over the past two years."

Suppressing the urge to laugh, Daisy obediently followed along behind the exuberant woman. "I've so much to tell, one cup of tea may not be enough."

"Not to worry," Dahlia insisted. "We've two pots steeping on the stove top."

In the fifteen years she'd known the family, Daisy had come to realize there were always two pots steeping, along with the usual plates of fluffy biscuits and homemade jam.

"Daisy!" Zinnia shouted the minute they entered the warm and welcoming kitchen. "Get over here and give me a proper hug."

Daisy wrapped her arms around the woman and hugged her tightly. "Hello, Miss Zinnia. It's so good to be home. Is Tulip here yet?"

"Not yet," Dahlia said. "She's making her morning rounds at the women's hospital. You'll have to put up with just us old ladies for another half hour or so."

"Are you kidding?" Daisy teased. "I can't think of a better way to spend my morning."

They were on the second pot of Zinnia's favorite herbed tea when the sound of footsteps in the hallway caused Daisy to spin around in her chair. Tulip stood in the doorway, tall, and as beautiful as ever. Daisy rushed to her feet. "Tu-Tu… you're here finally."

Tulip drew Daisy into a quick embrace before setting her away and saying, "My goodness, Daisy, you've lost weight and changed your hair. You look fantastic."

"My Grandma Foster was adamant I shed what she referred to as my ‘baby fat' or some such nonsense."

"You weren't fat, but you had curves," Tulip reminded her.

Daisy gave her friend a skeptical look. "I was chubby. Walking the length of London a few times a week took care of that quickly enough."

"Walking?" Dahlia huffed. "When they have so many carriages for hire in London proper?"

"My grandmother's home was on one end of a beautifully landscaped lane," Daisy explained. "The library where I worked as an intern was two miles away. It seemed like such a waste to hire a carriage when the weather was nice, so I started walking. After a while, I found I really enjoyed it. Combine that with Gram's sparse diet, and it didn't take long to lose the extra layer of curves."

"Did you meet anyone special while you were away?" Zinnia asked.

Daisy shook her head. "No, unfortunately. Not for lack of trying on Gram's part. She did her best to match me with half the aristocracy, but my silly ‘American' habits seemed to always get in the way of their interest." Turning to face Tulip directly, she added, "Never mind my failed attempt to find a suitable man. I want to hear everything about your future husband, and your plans to travel to California to be married."

Tulip bit her lip and bowed her head before admitting, "The wedding's off."

"Seriously?" Daisy squealed. "The cad! How cruel of him to lead you on only to change his mind."

"He wasn't the one who called it off," Tulip corrected. "I was."

Daisy shifted her gaze from Tulip, to Dahlia, to Zinnia, and back again. She'd never known the sisters to make a bad match. "But why? I thought you were excited over the possibility of marriage and setting up your medical practice out west?"

"I was… truly," Tulip said. "However, I was offered an opportunity here in Saint Louis that I couldn't turn down. I'm going to head a new department devoted entirely to women's medicine at the university medical school."

"How wonderfully exciting," Daisy admitted. "I won't deny that I'm glad you're staying, even though I'd hoped to join you in California someday myself. How did the would-be groom take the news?"

"Not well, I'm afraid," Zinnia commented. "Not well at all."

"He's threatening to take legal action," Dahlia added. "For time lost, and the money he spent paying our fee… which we told him we're more than happy to refund. He's being stubborn."

"And, as aggravating as that is," Tulip admitted. "He's right. He was perfectly happy with the match. It was my fault… I changed my mind."

"If he's being difficult, perhaps he wasn't the right man anyway." Daisy surmised.

"As far as I can tell, he's a really good man. He's a father of a five-year-old boy. His wife left him when the little fellow was nine months old."

"He's divorced?" Daisy wondered.

"Not by his choice," Tulip confirmed. "I'm not sure why or how it happened, but she managed to divorce him after returning to her family in Texas."

"Perhaps you ladies can find him another match in Tu-Tu's place," Daisy suggested.

"We've offered," Dahlia admitted. "He's understandably skeptical. It would have to be the right woman, of course. Someone healthy, educated, and willing to accept the responsibility of helping raise his son."

"That shouldn't be hard for the Garden Belles," Daisy teased. "After all, they are the very best matchmakers in the business."

"Truthfully," Zinnia said softly, "applications aren't what they used to be. We're being very cautious with who we represent, on both sides of the match. As a matter of fact, we're considering retiring in the next few years."

"Retiring?" Daisy repeated. "Really?"

"We've been at this for over twenty years," Dahlia reminded her. "During the gold rush, the land runs, and the wagon train exodus, we provided hundreds of brides for anxious men. In the past two years, those numbers have dwindled down to two or three matches a month. Five, if we're lucky."

"We don't need the money," Zinnia added. "But we love what we do. When we got the application from Mister Addison, we knew he'd be perfect for our darling Tulip. Hospitals weren't hiring lady doctors as quickly as she'd hoped, so the idea of going west was inviting."

"We wrote back and forth for months before he finally asked me to marry him," Tulip explained. "I'd mailed my acceptance letter three weeks before the offer came from the medical college. I wrote to him immediately and explained my choice, and why I made it."

"And what did he say about your decision?" Daisy queried. "Other than being angry about the wasted time?"

"Like I said, he's a good man. He understands on a professional level and wishes me well. However, his feelings were hurt, and he's taking that out on my aunts, threatening to ruin their reputation with legal action."

"If he's truly a good man," Daisy ventured, "then he'll give them the chance to make amends. All you must do is find him a suitable replacement wife."

Dahlia and Zinnia exchanged a glance before nodding in Tulip's direction.

"We believe we've found the perfect match," Tulip confirmed.

"See? That wasn't so difficult, was it?" Laughing, Daisy asked, "Who's the lucky woman?"

"You, Daisy," Tulip responded. "You're the lucky woman."

Adamantly, Daisy shook her head. "Are you daft? I have no desire to marry… and especially not a perfect stranger."

"But he's not a stranger… at least not to me," Tulip said. "And, once you read through his letters, you won't be either."

"I can't do that," she insisted. "They're personal… between the two of you."

Tulip chuckled softly. "There's nothing untoward in them, Daisy. Mister Addison is a good, Christian gentleman."

"But what would I do there… other than being a wife, and a mother to his son. I have a career," she pointed out. "Or at least I would if there were any open positions here in Saint Louis."

"You'd already said you wanted to join me in California," Tulip reminded her. "Why not go on your own? You'd have the protection of a ready-made family. There might not be a huge library, but you're also qualified to teach. I know for a fact there's a school in Carriage Creek."

She gave another shake of her head. "I can't… I mean—"

"You don't have to accept just yet," Tulip interrupted. "Take the letters home with you and read through them. If you can't see what a wonderful man Mister Addison is, then we'll start a thorough search for someone else to take my place."

"What will my parents think?" Daisy wondered. "I mean, I only arrived home last evening."

"I'm sure they'll be happy for you," Zinnia explained. "After all, it's every mother's dream to have her daughter make a good match."

A long sigh escaped, before Daisy told them, "Get the letters, and Mister Addison's picture. I'll take the lot home with me and go through it." Narrowing her gaze, she added, "I'm not saying I'll take your place, but I will, at least, give this insane idea my honest consideration."

Tulip scurried out of the room, returning moments later with a wooden box clutched tightly in her grasp. "Here's everything. Go through it and, once you've made your decision, let us know." She handed over the box, and added, "I can't think of a better person to take my place than you, Daisy. If you decide to accept, then it might be me visiting you in California some day."

After dinner that evening, Daisy excused herself and went to her bedroom to review the stack of letters Tulip had provided. She'd not mentioned the outrageous idea to her parents. There was no sense involving them in something that was likely not going to happen.

Daisy ran her palms over the smooth surface of the box. Her heart pounded at the thought of reading the missives between her best friend and the man she'd planned to marry. While Tulip had assured her there was nothing risqué in them, still… they were personal.

Drawing a breath, she flipped open the lid and sank her hands inside, pulling out the neatly tied bundle of letters. Tucked inside the ribbon was a tintype photograph of the intended groom and his young son.

Mister Addison was tall, probably a skosh over six feet. His dark brown hair was neatly trimmed, his clothes clean and well kept. Tulip had said he was handsome, and she wasn't wrong. His smile was pleasant, and his eyes showed determination. He looked fit, with broad shoulders and a straight stance. His long fingers appeared to be gently wrapped around his son's small hand. Mister Addison's long legs easily supported the way the boy was leaning into him.

The letters themselves were stacked in order of date received. One every other week, with only a single break to the pattern in the last week of January. Her hands trembled slightly when she withdrew the first letter from its plain white envelope and began to read.