Heidi is the heroine of Gentry and the Mail Order Bride. She is from Bavaria and came over on a series of ships to marry a man who was from that area before he moved to Harrigan County, Texas. Her intended was gored by a bull and died while she was traveling to him. Fortunately, or not, he made his partner, Gentry, agree to marry her. Enjoy getting to know the spunky heroine in this western historical mail-order bride romance.
Tell me about yourself, Heidi. What is your occupation? Why? What are your strengths & weaknesses?
Guten morgan… I mean good morning. I am pleased you asked me here.
My name is Adelheid Roth McRae, but everyone calls me Heidi. I lived in a beautiful part of Bavaria before I came to Texas here in America. Now I live in what is called the Texas Hill Country. The hills are very gentle and quite lovely. At first I thought it not as pretty as my homeland, but now I have come to love living here.
In Bavaria my occupation—other than helping my mother keep house—was doing the accounts for the local grocer. I enjoyed keeping the accounts very much, and now I keep all the records for the ranch. I enjoy cooking, but at the ranch Annie Fraser does the cooking. I don’t like doing the laundry. Here at the ranch, a lady comes two days a week to do the laundry and ironing. I feel like a princess
People in Bavaria told me I am too plainspoken, but I cannot pretend to agree if I do not. Mama tells me to just say nothing. To me, that is lying by omission. I must laugh, because no one at the ranch thinks that I should not give my opinion. In fact, Gentry asks me what I think about many things. I am a hard worker and believe I do a good job in my responsibilities.
What’s your family like and how does your upbringing affect you now?
My parents taught me to work hard and accept responsibility. I suppose one would say my family life was mostly happy. No doubt it appeared that way to others. Papa always complimented me. Mama complimented me, but seasoned it with a criticism. My older sister, Willhamina, always was mean to me—she is very selfish and lazy.
Always, I have been the tallest of those my age. Now that I am ten inches over five feet, my sister and cousins call me a giant. I did not let them know how much their taunting hurt my feelings. Letting them see that their barbs struck my heart would only have encouraged them.
Now that I am married to Gentry McRae, I am very happy. He compliments me, and so does our live-in cook, who is like a sister should be. Gentry is several inches over six feet, and so are others I know here in Texas. Now I do not feel like I tower over everyone.
What is your earliest childhood memory?
The first thing that comes to mind is sitting around the kitchen table at dinner, listening to our parents talk, and then my sister and I telling them about our day. Recalling at the same time is playing with my friends. Willhamina was six years older than me, and did not play with me. I was very happy growing up, except for comments about my height.
How did you two meet? What was your first impression of heroine?
The trip from Bavaria to Texas was long and tedious. When I arrived, Gentry greeted me instead of Johann, who was the man I traveled from Bavaria to marry. After we were in the buggy and on the way to Harrigan Springs, Gentry gently explained that Johann had died a few days before I arrived. Gentry then told me I owned a fourth of the ranch and he proposed. I was shocked so that for a few minutes I could not make a decision. He seemed a kind man and we were business partners, so I agreed to marry Gentry. I am very glad I did.
I admit I felt as if I were cheating Johann and his grandmother, who paid my fare to Texas. At the same time, I was pleased that handsome and polite Gentry was my groom.
What do you like about the hero?
There are many things I like about Gentry, but I’ll try to be brief. He is decisive and seems to make the right decisions. Neighbors and those in town like and respect him. He is a very gentle and passionate man in private, but perhaps I should not have mentioned that. Thankfully, he is five or six inches taller than me. You have no idea how relieved I am by that. Not only that, he is handsome and has a fun sense of humor. He’s a wonderful husband and father. He pitches in to help his neighbors when they need him. Oh, I could go on for a long time, but I think this gives you an idea of who he is.
What is it that you want out of life?
Here at our ranch, I have everything I dreamed of all my life. I’m accepted for who I am and no one makes fun of me. They are patient when I forget the English word I need. Gentry said my English is rapidly improving. You see, no one criticizes me because I sometimes need help with English. Every day I feel as if I am the luckiest woman in the world.
If you’d like to learn more about Heidi and Gentry’s life, GENTRY AND THE MAIL ORDER BRIDE is available from Amazon in e-book, print, and is enrolled in Kindle Unlimited. Here’s the link: https://amzn.to/4ku8kUZ.
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