Unexpected Vows In A Frontier Town Chapter 02

Unexpected Vows In A Frontier Town Chapter 02

Martha curved her lips into a faint smile.

“Sir, don’t be so hard on her. Wren’s still young, and she never had anyone to teach her manners. I think of her as half a daughter. I won’t hold it against her.”

She sighed, then added, “Once I meet Mr. Wolfram, I’ll put in a good word for Silver Creek as her godmother and ask the Wolfram family to look out for our old neighbors.”

At that, faces around her broke into grins.

“Wren, you hear that? Mrs. Pike is looking out for you!”

“Exactly. Mrs. Pike is an educated woman, after all.”

“Maybe the Wolframs will fix that muddy road at the town entrance. Without us, an orphan would never have made it this far.”

“Right. The wild onions up on the hill and the spring water belong to the whole town. She survived because Silver Creek didn’t run her off. She’d better remember that debt.”

Martha stood in the center of the crowd, barely hiding the smugness in her eyes.

She probably thought that with all that said, I wouldn’t dare say no.

I smiled and spoke in a casual tone.

“Mrs. Pike, I appreciate your kindness. But do you know Mr. Wolfram’s character?”

“He carries old aristocratic blood and received the finest schooling, so he holds rigid standards for every rule of etiquette. You spend all your days mixing with townsfolk, Mrs. Pike. I’m not sure you know how to conduct yourself around a man of his station. If you misstep with your words and offend him, the whole town will pay the price.”

Martha’s face went stiff.

I looked at her, my voice dropping lower.

“Or do you want to marry into the Wolfram family too?”

For a moment, the murmuring crowd fell dead silent.

Back then, Alistair Van der Berg and Sebastian Wolfram showing up in this area had been huge news. Fleets upon fleets of luxury vehicles, rows of bodyguards trailing close behind—all because they wanted to experience “authentic” hunting. To everyone in this town, those two men might as well have been gods descended from the heavens.

The mayor hesitated. His sharp, hawkish gaze swept over Mrs. Pike.

“Wren has a point,” he said slowly. “What if something does happen at the wedding…”

The folks of Silver Creek weren’t naive about Mrs. Pike’s real intentions. If anything, everyone here knew the truth. On this barren land, you had to fight for every scrap of resource just to stay alive.

I stepped forward.

“Sir, don’t worry.”

“Once I become Mrs. Wolfram, I won’t forget Silver Creek. Once I secure my position in the Wolfram family, I’ll have someone fix that muddy road at the town entrance leading to Cinder Creek.”

The mayor’s eyes lit up, his grin spreading ear to ear.

“That’s good. Wren’s truly a daughter of Silver Creek.”

“In that case, we can drop the godmother business.”

Martha’s smile slowly faded away.

She stared at me, and finally let out a cold laugh.

“Wren’s really grown up. Got her own little schemes now.”

Early the next morning, Wolfram’s luxury car pulled up at the town entrance.

The housekeeper, her face creased with smiles, said Mr. Wolfram had invited Miss Calloway to the Whisper Valley to discuss wedding details.

Rumor had it the estate was a vacation home Wolfram had bought just so he could stay somewhere comfortable when he traveled and he’d named it Whisper Valley.

We’d barely arrived at the Whisper Valley when a commotion broke out at the entrance.

Martha swept through the hall, lifting the skirt of her dress, her face wearing a playful, reproachful smile.

“Wren, sweetheart, why’d you rush on ahead without waiting for me?”