She barely noticed as Ellen and another man got into the front of the buggy. She
glanced at him and her immediate thought was, “He’s not as handsome as my Patrick.”
She was so happy she’d chosen the brother she had.
Ellen turned with a smile and held her hand out. “You must be Patrick.”
The man next to Malinda blinked and grinned. “I’m Wesley.”
Malinda felt her heart drop into her stomach. How could he be Wesley? She turned
to him. “But I’m Malinda. How can you be Wesley?”
Wesley threw back his head and laughed, while Malinda stared at him in shock. After
a moment
,
he noticed how upset she was. “Does it bother you that I’m not Patrick? I mean,
it’s not like we’re wife swapping here. Obviously Patrick and Ellen
make
a better couple and so
do
we.” He took her hand in his and rested it against his thigh.
“I don’t know what to say. I had in my head I was going to marry one man, and now
I’m trying to adjust. We’re going to have to make some decisions.”
She knew immediately she couldn’t marry Patrick. How could she marry anyone but
this wonderful man sitting beside her?
Wesley nodded. “I’m sure it’s not going to be a problem. Is Ellen going to drag
her feet over it?”
He looked perplexed as if he really didn’t understand why there was a decision to
be made.
Malinda shrug
ged
. “She really doesn’t think much of bankers.”
She looked at the back of Ellen’s head, recognizing the stiffness in her sister’s
posture as her being upset.
How could this have happened?
“That’s odd. Most women would give their left arm to marry a banker.” He studied
her carefully. “Will you talk to her about switching things?”
His hand covered hers and his thumb moved back and forth over the back of her hand.
It felt strange to let him touch her, but so good. His thumb was sending little tingles
of delight through her.
Malinda nodded. “We’ll have to talk about it. There’s so much to think about and
consider.”
Like would Ellen be happy married to a banker? And would she be able to marry without
being assured of financial security?
“There is. Mainly for the two of you, though. We’re getting beautiful women either
way.” He leaned back
,
as if he was slightly annoyed with her.
She didn’t want to hurt his feelings.
“I could never love Patrick, and I know I could really love you.”
She leaned over and rested her cheek against his shoulder. She couldn’t imagine
being married to Patrick. She and Ellen needed to have a long talk to figure out
what to do.
He looked back at her with a grin. “I’m so glad to hear that! I was worried you
were disappointed.”
She shook her head. “Not disappointed. Confused and bewildered, but not disappointed.”
“I can deal with confused and bewildered.” They were in the country by that point
of their trip and headed toward
Gammonsville
.
The other couple was lost in their own world. He cupped her face in his hands and
lowered his lips to hers.
Malinda jerked surprised he would kiss her while they were driving down the road where
anyone could see. The feel of his lips against hers made her stomach flutter.
How could anything feel this
good?
His tongue traced along the outside of her lips and she jerked back in shock staring
at him. Her hand went to her lips.
“Have I mentioned you’re the most beautiful woman I’ve ev
er seen?” he asked in a whisper, his thumb moving back and forth across her bottom
lip.
“But you’re supposed to marry my sister….”
Even the thought made her stomach hurt. She couldn’t let Ellen marry this man.
He was hers. God had meant him for her, not for Ellen. But….
He shook his head. “How could I even think of marrying her when you’re in my life?”
She sighed. It was going to be a confusing day while they decided what to do.
*****
Ellen and Malinda talked about what had happened while the men carried in their trunk.
“I’m attracted to Patrick.” Ellen looked shocked with herself for just saying the
words.
“I could tell. I’m attracted to Wesley. It’s too bad you’re marrying Wesley and
I’m marrying Patrick.” But oh, how she wanted to marry Wesley. There’s no way Patrick
would be able to make her want to climb onto his lap and kiss him
forever with just a look.
And Patrick didn’t have that sweet dimple did he?
Had she even looked at Patrick for long enough to know what he looked like? She
wasn’t sure she could pick him out of five men standing in front of her.
“How would you feel about switching? I could marry Patrick and you could marry Wesley.
Patrick is someone I could love, but I don’t think I could ever love Wesley. Not
as anything more than a brother.”
Ellen’s eyes were intense as she asked.
Malinda had thought about nothing but what they would do since she had found out it
was Wesley she was falling for and not Patrick. How could she express how she felt?
She wanted to marry Wesley so badly, but an even stronger need inside her was the
need to never be in the situation they’d been through in Beckham again. “But Wesley
is poor. He’s just a sheriff.”
She knew the words sounded bad, but she didn’t have the words to express all the
turmoil she felt inside.
Ellen sighed. “I know that. But don’t you think you should be attracted to the man
you marry and not just his money?”
Malinda frowned. How could Ellen think that money mattered more to her than love?
Didn’t she know her at all? Didn’t she understand the overwhelming fear she’d felt
when they couldn’t find the money she’d been certain their father had hidden somewhere?
“I really like Wesley, but I’m afraid of being poor.”
“You know if Wesley ever has financial problems, his brother is a banker, right?
I’m sure Patrick wouldn’t let his brother live on the streets!”
“You don’t even know him yet. How can you say that with such certainty?” Malinda
needed time, and it’s all she could think about. How could she make such an important
decision in a few minutes? She needed to think about whether or not she could ever
leave her children destitute. Their father had been the best man she’d ever known,
yet he’d still left them with no money. She couldn’t let that happen to her children.
Ellen’s face turned red with anger. “Why don’t we do this? We’ll give it some time.
We’ll ask them to give us a month to see who we want to marry. I know that Wesley
is attracted to you and Patrick is attracted to me. I’m sure they’ll agree to it.”
Malinda nodded. A little time was all she needed. Time to get over the fact that
her husband would be poor. Time to get to know Patri
ck to be sure he’d help them if
something happened.
“That makes sense. I need to know if I could fall in love with Patrick before I marry
him.”
What I really need is to know that Patrick would help my children and me if anything
were to happen to Wesley.
“Do you think they’ll be angry with us?”
Malinda shrugged. “Probably not. I mean, they want to be happy in their marriages
too, right?”
She hoped they wouldn’t be angry. If she had met Wesley under any other circumstances,
she was certain they’d already be standing before the preacher, but she’d been certain
she’d never have to worry about money again, and to make such an abrupt change was
confusing her.
They met up with the men in the parlor after the trunk had been carried up the stairs.
“We have something we’d like to ask you,” Ellen began
. She looked like she was uncertain about the conversation and Malinda reached out
and squeezed her hand. She could see now that Ellen was worrying. She wouldn’t have
recognized the look before their discussion on the train, though.
Patrick smiled
at Ellen as if he’d never seen anyone so beautiful
.
Malinda was certain her sister would be marrying the banker, but she just wasn’t
sure if she should marry immediately, or wait a bit.
“Certainly.”
“We’d like to have some time to get to know you. I’m sure you noticed that we both
automatically paired off with the wrong person. Would you be willing to put off the
weddings until we know each other better and can decide who we think we’d be better
matched with?”
Ellen’s voice faltered as she asked. Malinda knew she didn’t want to put things off.
She wanted to marry Patrick immediately.
“How long are you asking for?” He
looked like he was annoyed at the thought of waiting, but Malinda knew he wanted to
marry Ellen.
“A month
?
”
“
No. That’s too long. How about two days?”
Patrick countered.
Ellen looked surprised.
“That won’t work! We’d have no time to get to know either of you! How about three
weeks?”
Why did Ellen look like she was enjoying the conversation?
“Three
days
.”
Ellen folded her arms. “That’s unreasonable. Two weeks?”
Malinda looked at Ellen in surprise. How low would she go?
She wouldn’t say only five days
,
would she?
“One week,” Wesley suggested. “That gives us all time to get to know one another
a little better and to decide whom we want to marry, but it doesn’t make us feel like
you’re trying to put off the marriage forever.”
Wesley’s voice sounded perfectly reasonable, but his eyes were on Malinda the whole
while.
Ellen turned to
Malinda. “Are you okay with one week?”
Malinda nodded. “I don’t think we’re going to be able to talk them into anything
more than that.”
Maybe she’d be able to stretch it longer than that. The longer she could put off
her wedding night, and the better she knew her husband before, the better she’d feel
about it all.
“One week.”
“A week it is. Not a day more.”
Patrick stood and grabbed Ellen’s hand, pulling her to her feet and out of the room.
Malinda heard a door close.
She looked at Wesley, wondering if he’d be angry. He and Patrick and been sitting
in arm chairs across from the sofa where Ellen and Malinda sat. He stood and moved
to sit beside Malinda. “Thank you for talking to your sister.”
His fingers skimmed along her cheek as he stared into her eyes.
Malinda nodded. She didn’t tell him that Ellen had brought it up first. Why hurt
his feelings by making him think her sister didn’
t want to marry him? “I’m glad we’re going to take a little time to get to know each
other.”
He put his arm around her shoulders along the back of the sofa, pulling her close
beside him. Dropping his head, he pressed his lips to hers in a kiss with a great
deal more passion than they’d shared in the buggy. Her lips parted under his insistent
tongue and he slid his tongue inside her mouth to toy with hers. His hands were against
her back, pressing her
into
him.
She wrapped her arms around his neck and clung to him. She had been thinking about
what Harriett had told her about what happened between a husband and wife, and hadn’t
even been able to see herself undressed with a man. With Wesley, though, all she
could think about was stripping off all of their clothes and climbing onto his lap.
She couldn’t help but wonder how Ellen would react if she found them naked together
on Patrick’s sofa when they came back. She pulled back as a giggle escaped her lips.
He looked down at her questioningly. “Are you laughing at me?”
He had one eyebrow raised and looked stern
She shook her head. “Not at all.” She blushed, knowing she could never tell him
what she’d been thinking.
“Share the humor. I can always use a good laugh.”
She shook her head emphatically. “I couldn’t.”
“Then I’ll just assume you were marveling at having such a handsome man beside you,
and thinking about how inc
redibly fortunate you are,
and you just couldn’t help but laugh with joy.”
She giggled again. “That’s exactly
it.”
He stroked her cheek, smoothing the hair that had fallen out of her bun. “Have I
mentioned yet that I’m happy you’re here?”
“Not since you quit thinking I was Ellen.”
Ellen would make him a better wife, she knew. Could she even handle the daily chores
that would be a part of being his wife?
He grinned. “That was a fun little mistake, wasn’t it?”
“I don’t know that I’d call it fun. It makes everything so confusing.”
If only he were Patrick and had the money to make her feel secure. But Patrick
wasn’t the man for her, and she knew it.