Page 1 of Fated
Prologue
Lloyd
Three Months Ago
This town is my family. My great, great, great grandfather, Jessup Hollow founded this town, him, his brothers and several other families in 1850. They built it on their backs and poured their soul into making it prosperous, keeping it simple and turning it into a chartered city which means that it is led by its own laws, uniquely developed for the municipality. Part of those rules was in finding wives that knew how to keep house, were born for breeding and wanted nothing more in life than that. The other part of what the men who founded this city with ancestors did was to set forth a settlers exemption. None of the descendants of the founding families pay taxes on their businesses or homestead. The fundamental part of that was in the Mail Order Bride ad they put out every time a new bachelor was old enough. For generations the men in my family have run this town, hellbent on preserving our family legacy, until my father, the drunk, lazy asshat, ran it into the ground.
Now it is my turn to make my mark and I am determined to make things right. So, I ask five of the most eligible bachelors Hollow's Hollow has to offer to once again, agree to find their wives through the process that served this town for decades, mail order brides. “Thank you fellas for coming tonight.” I look and address Jasper, Geeb, Jude, Alton and Paul.
“Anything for you Mayor, but we are wondering what’s up?” Geeb asks, pulling out his pen and paper. Before answering, I take a second to look at these fine young men and I can see the potential sitting before me. Each one of them is important in their own right.
Jasper Sutton, owner of the Sutton ranch, the biggest and oldest working ranch in six counties is old Hollow’s Hollow money. His great grandfather built that land and died on that land. He bred cows for rodeos and for meat, selling it all over the country and became one of the biggest beef distributors. Jasper has kept it going.
Alton is our local minister. As a man of the cloth, he is vital to our town's continued blessing. Jude and his family own Blackstone Bank. They are worldwide, but their home base has been in our town for over thirty years. Then you have two of our newest implants, Paul the Sheriff and Geeb, our new newspaper owner. There is also Tobias, Fletcher and Raylan, just to name a few.
Together with me, we are going to jumpstart the prosperity of this town and we are going to do it with wives and babies. “I have invited you all here to ask your permission to reinstate an age-old tradition of this town in order to save it.” Paul looks around at all of us born and bred here, confused.
“For us newbies, can you spell it out?” he asks, shifting in his seat.
“I would like to place a mail order bride ad for each of you, and for you guys to trust me enough to choose your bride for you. In the early days, the Mayor chose the brides for the eligible men based on purity, where they were from and what they were looking for. That stopped with my grandfather who thought men should pick their own. The problem was, those men picked based on lust and the women ended leaving, having bore no children and with the divorces, came loss of income. That is why this town has failed to flourish. I want to bring it back to the way it was. God. Family. Prosperity.” Finished with my speech, I wait on bated breath for the reaction of these men I respect.
“So let me get this straight. You want me to marry some woman I don't know, and you want to choose her for me?” Jasper’s voice is slightly angry, but I hold my ground.
“Yes, that is what I am saying. I of course will also be finding a bride the same way at the same time.”
“I don’t know, Mayor. I am a simple man. I live a simple life. No woman is going to want what I can offer, which ain’t much.” He says, putting his hat back on which means he is done with the conversation. Desperate to keep him in his seat, I step forward.
“You’re wrong, Sutton. A woman bred for a simple life would be more than fine with it.” To my left, Paul laughs and holds his stomach.
“Look, I have been out there far longer than I have been here and trust me when I tell you, women like that don’t exist.”
“I assure you they do, and I am going to find them for you, if you let me. So what do you all say?”
“I can’t speak for the rest of them, but I am weary of any woman. My family has a lot to lose.” Jude says. I knew his concern would be this. His family is worth millions, making him by far the richest man in our entire state.
“A prenup could be prepared by your lawyers. I would make sure she knows in advance.” he settles back and gives it more thought. They all look at one another and then nod their heads. “Excellent. So glad you all agreed. It would have been a bit awkward seeing as how I had already placed the ad.” None of them seem surprised. Well, all except Geeb.
“Well, I am not agreeing to any of this. I have no need nor desire for a woman, marriage or babies. I'm fine as I am.” Hmmm. Now might now be the right time to tell him his sister put in the ad for him, when she saw me putting it in for the others.
“Very well, Geeb.” Is all I say before walking out the door.
Once outside, I breathe a sigh of relief. My chest was heavy when I awoke this morning, but now I feel lighter and more hopeful.
Now bring on the brides.
Prologue
Rachel
Present Day
Well, it appears I am the last of my sisters to be matched. To be honest I am unsure how to take that even though it might be for the best considering. I have been wondering all day as we celebrate Paul and Miriam in their backyard, if maybe I am last because there is something wrong with me? I mean I know there is, but is it possible everyone else can tell? Aside from the fact that I’m short, petite and sort of quiet. I wasn't given curves like Sadie, Lavinia and Miriam, or blessed with much up top like Ada or exotic looking like Hannah. I’m just me. Plain old me. Broken me.
I have grown tremendously since we have come to this friendly, small town. My brother-in-law Jasper made everything comfortable, accessible and pleasant. He is a good man, and he loves my sister fiercely. He has gone out of his way to show us we are his little sisters and make sure anything we want, we can get.
I have spent almost a month here in Hollow’s Hollow, reading the history of how it was founded, the different stages of its growth, and its decline. I am most fascinated by the old houses on the outskirts of town consisting of the mayor’s house and the other founders' houses. They are gorgeous landmarks and I often find myself there, painting them when the sun is at its brightest.
That is the most interesting thing about me, my ability to paint and my passion for it. My parents used to discourage it, saying unless I was painting the Lord or something having to do with religion, it is all sinful. I resorted to hiding them and only doing it during the evening when they were all in bed. Sometimes I still feel a bit of mourning at leaving my work behind, but there was no way to bring them.