Lane hadn’t been sure what to expect, but it certainly wasn’t this. He was unnerved by the announcement.
A mail-order bride?
What in the world would the outlaw want with a wife?
Lane didn’t know how he did it, but he managed to keep the smile on his face as he dealt with the news. He stayed in control and calmly turned to the young woman who was sitting with Gertrude in the buggy.
“Miss Lawrence,” he greeted the slightly nervous-looking blonde. “It’s nice to finally meet you.”
Destiny had watched the two cowboys come out of the stable as they’d driven up. She hadn’t known if one of them was the man who, within a matter of hours, would be her husband, but she did now, and she was shocked.
Ever since they’d left St. Louis, she’d tried to imagine what a man who had to order a wife would look like. The image she’d come up with had, at times, been more than a little scary. She’d fully expected Seth Rawlins to be a desperate man, but as she gazed at the good-looking rancher standing before her, she knew she’d been wrong. There was nothing desperate about Seth Rawlins. He was tall and powerfully built and ruggedly handsome. Her surprise rendered her speechless for a moment.
“Hello, Mr. Rawlins,” she finally managed in a rather timid voice.
Lane saw her look of perplexity and worried at it. He had no idea what information about himself the gunman had sent when requesting his bride; he was going to have to play his role carefully to make sure nothing went wrong. “Let me help you down.”
Destiny stood as best she could in the tight space within the buggy. She turned to take his hand, planning to step down with his help, but Lane anticipated her action. He put his hands at her waist and lifted her with ease from the conveyance. Destiny braced her hands on his broad, powerful shoulders to balance herself and felt the hard-muscled strength of his body beneath her touch. When he set her before him, she looked up into his face, and it was then that their gazes met for the first time.
A shiver of sensual awareness trembled through Destiny as she stared up into his dark-eyed gaze, and the feeling left her even more unsettled. Embarrassed by her own reaction to him, she glanced away and quickly stepped back to put a more appropriate distance between them. She drew upon her mother’s lessons to be a lady at all times.
Gertrude was watching them with carefully hidden amusement. She could tell right away they were going to make a handsome couple. She was about to speak up and ask the courteous rancher to help her down, too, when Ol’ Mick grabbed her by the hand.
“Come on, little lady. I’ll get you down over here,” he said.
Before she could say a word, the driver had jumped out of the buggy on the opposite side and swung her down to the ground. Gertrude was more than a little disappointed. She’d been hoping Seth would help her down.
“Where do you want me to put your bags?” Ol’ Mick asked.
Gertrude answered, looking toward the rancher, “I suppose that’s up to Mr. Rawlins. Sir?”
Lane had to think quickly. He knew little about the way mail-order brides were handled, only that they expected to be married within a very short time of meeting up their intended. A deep pain filled him as he considered the choices he faced. After losing Katie, he’d sworn never to marry again, but now…“Why don’t we take their bags up to the main house?”
Lane went to help Ol’ Mick, and Steve stepped up to help, too.
“This is Steve, the foreman here on the Circle D,” Lane said, quickly introducing them. “Steve, this is Miss Gertrude and Miss Rebecca.”
“Howdy, ladies,” he said, grabbing up some of their luggage. He looked over at his boss, smiling. “You never told us you had a bride on the way.”
Lane was quick to reply, “A man’s got to have some secrets in his life.”
They were all laughing as they made their way up to the ranch house. Lane held the door for the others as they went inside.
Destiny stepped into the front hall with Gertrude and, unsure of where to go, they waited for the men to follow them in.
“Why don’t you ladies have a seat in the parlor while we take your things on upstairs?” Lane directed.
Destiny and Gertrude took off their bonnets and set them aside on a small table in the hall before making their way into the sparsely furnished parlor. It was easy for them to tell that there hadn’t been a woman’s touch in this house for a long time—if ever. They sat down on the sofa to await the men’s return.
“Well, my dear, you’re here—You’re at your new home,” Gertrude said, patting her hand. Then she added in a whisper, “That Seth is one of the best-looking men I’ve seen in a long time. You’re a very lucky girl.”
“He is handsome,” Destiny agreed.
“Very,” Gertrude emphasized.
“What do we do now?”
“We’ll discuss the wedding plans with him when he comes back down. We need to find out if there’s a preacher close by who can marry the two of you tonight or tomorrow. I won’t leave you until I’m certain you’re legally man and wife. Are you excited?”
“I never dreamed it would be like this.”
Destiny found she was being truthful with that statement. Never in all her wildest dreams had she thought she would travel to Texas and marry a complete stranger. She’d always fantasized about having a beautiful wedding. She’d fancied herself coming down the aisle in a white wedding gown and veil and having her parents in attendance. She’d always believed she would live happily ever after back in St. Louis.
Destiny knew now, though, those dreams were never to be. This was her reality. Her mother was dead and would never see her wedding day.
And then there was Raymond…
She had no doubt that her stepfather was still looking for her, and the law, too, after what had happened with Bryce. She was lucky she’d gotten out of town so quickly. There was no way of knowing what might have happened to her if Sylvia hadn’t helped her to run away that night. Destiny didn’t want to think about that. She forced the thought from her mind.
Texas was her life now.
Seth Rawlins was her future.
She was Rebecca Lawrence, soon to become Rebecca Rawlins, wife of the owner of the Circle D Ranch.
“Sometimes what life gives us is far better than anything we ever dreamed of,” Gertrude advised.
Destiny didn’t agree with that sentiment, but she said nothing as they heard the men returning.
“I’ll go tell Caroline to plan on cooking up a big dinner tonight,” Steve said as he let himself out of the house.
Ol’ Mick came to stand in the parlor doorway with the rancher. “Is there anything else you ladies will be needing from me before I head on back to town?”
“I think we’re just fine now. Thank you for bringing us out to the Circle D,” Gertrude said. She got up and took several coins out of her purse to pay him.
Lane saw what she was about to do and quickly stopped her. “I’ll take care of it.”
The chaperone looked up at him with even more respect. “That’s very kind of you, Mr. Rawlins.”
Lane took charge. He paid Ol’ Mick and saw him out. After closing the door behind the man, he started back to rejoin the ladies.
Lane paused for a moment there in the hall to ready himself for the conversation to come. He was about to deepen the lie that he’d begun when he arrived at the Circle D. He didn’t like the thought of dragging an innocent woman into the danger he was facing from the Cooper Gang, but there was no way out of it right now. He had to maintain his cover. Everyone had to believe he was Seth Rawlins if his plan was going to work. Steadying himself for what was to come, he started into the sitting room to speak with the ladies.
Destiny was sitting on the sofa with Gertrude when he reappeared in the doorway. She felt his gaze upon her and looked up.
“The Circle D seems to be a wonderful ranch, Mr. Rawlins. You must be very proud of it,” she said politely, hoping to start a conversation.
“I am, and, considering our circumstances, I think it will be perfectly all right if you stop calling me Mr. Rawlins, and start calling me Seth,” he told her with an easy grin.
“All right—Seth—” she said, relaxing a little as she smiled back at him.
Lane had thought she was a pretty woman before, but now seeing her without her bonnet on, he decided she was downright lovely. He couldn’t help wondering at the circumstances that had caused such a beauty to become a mail-order bride. He would have expected a lot of men to be pursuing her.
“That’s better,” he agreed as he seated himself in the chair opposite the sofa. He looked at the older woman who was sitting so properly before him. “I’ve never done this before, so I’m not quite sure what happens next.”
“I think it would be most appropriate for the two of you to spend some time together. It’s important that you get to know one another before the actual ceremony takes place. Is there a minister in town who could perform your wedding, say tonight or some time tomorrow?”
“Yes, there is,” Lane answered as he hid his concern about taking such serious vows before a man of God while pretending to be Seth Rawlins. He told himself it wouldn’t be a real marriage, that this was all just part of doing his job to bring down the outlaws, but still it troubled him.
“Well, good. Why don’t I go freshen up a bit while you two visit?”
“You can take the bedroom on the right at the top of the stairs,” Lane directed her.
Gertrude left the couple alone to get acquainted.
“Would you like me to show you around the ranch?”
“Please,” Destiny replied. “I’ve lived in the city my whole life, so this is going to be a true adventure for me. I’m really excited about learning what it’s like to live on a ranch.”
He started to fill her in about his past as he led the way outside onto the porch. They stopped there to talk for a while.
“I haven’t been here long. Less than a month actually.”
“Really?” she asked, surprised.
“Yes, I won the ranch in a poker game.”
“You did?” She was even more surprised by that news. “You must be an expert poker player.”
He shrugged and grinned at her. “Sometimes a man has to take a chance, and sometimes Lady Luck is on his side. This time she was. I got real lucky.”
“What was your winning hand?”
“A full house.”
“What did you do before you won the ranch?”
Lane bent the truth as best he could. “I moved around, working at whatever jobs I could find, but I always liked ranching the best. That’s why, when I won the Circle D, I knew it was time to settle down, and, since my luck was running good, I thought I’d take another chance and try to find a wife.”
She decided to ask him outright. “Are you sorry you did?”
Lane was surprised by her forthrightness in addressing their circumstances. “No. Not at all. Having you here is proof that my luck is still holding.”
“Thank you,” she said softly, touched by his answer.
“What about you? Why did you agree to become a mail-order bride? Surely there must have been plenty of men back in St. Louis who wanted to marry you.”
“My father died not too long ago. I know I’ll always miss him. My mother remarried, but then she passed away less than a year ago, and I didn’t have any family left. I’d heard how some women were becoming mail-order brides, traveling out West to get married, so I thought I’d do it, too.”
“I’m sorry about your parents.”
“So am I.” She nodded. “I’m always going to miss them—especially my mother. We were very close.”
“I know. It’s hard losing a loved one.”
“Do you have any family?”
“No.”
She heard the slight edge in his voice and sensed he’d suffered a loss, too. “Have you lost someone close to you, too?”
“Yes.”
“What happened?” She looked up at Seth, trying to read his expression.
Lane turned to gaze out across the land. “I was married once before, but my wife died.”
Destiny was glad he was being honest with her from the start. “I’m sorry.”
“So am I. Katie was a good woman.” He turned back to her.
For a moment, Destiny could see the pain darkening his eyes, but then it was gone.
Lane went on to explain, “It’s been a few years now since she passed away, and after winning the Circle D, I thought it was time to try to settle down again.”
Destiny couldn’t help herself. She reached out to gently touch his arm. “Well, I’m glad you did.”
He looked down at her hand on his arm and then lifted his gaze to her face, seeing only kindness there. The realization that Rebecca was a truly gentle woman made him uncomfortable about lying to her.
“So, tell me,” Destiny asked, “what does it take to run a ranch the size of the Circle D?”
“A lot of hard work from sunup to sundown.”
“How big is it?”
“It’s over seven thousand acres,” he told her.
“Seven thousand…” she repeated, impressed. The farms back home were measured in hundreds of acres, not thousands.
“It’ll grow over the years.”
“But isn’t seven thousand acres big enough?”
He slanted her a sidelong grin. “This is Texas.”
“Oh.” She was suitably chastened.
“Come on, I’ll show you around. We’ve been working hard, doing a lot of fixing up since I got here. The last owner had let the place run down a lot. When he lost it in the card game, he even owed the men back pay. I paid them what they were owed.”
“You’re a good and honest man, Seth.”
Her words stabbed at him, but he didn’t let his unease show. “They’re hardworking, reliable ranch hands, and they deserved what he owed them. I didn’t want them to quit on me.”
“It looks like you’ve done a good job around here. I was impressed when we rode in.”
“Good. If we impressed you, then all our hard work is paying off.”
They were laughing.
“Do you know how to ride?” Lane asked.
“I’ve ridden sidesaddle before,” she said.
“That’s a start.”
He took her out toward the stable to look at the horses and to meet the ranch hands who were working on the Circle D.
Caroline had been outside hanging up some laundry on the line when she saw the couple leave the main house and start walking her way. Steve had told her the news about Seth’s mail-order bride when he’d come to ask her to fix a big dinner that night, and now she went over to introduce herself. The thought of having another woman on the ranch delighted her. Sometimes she found herself feeling outnumbered by men. Having some regular female companionship was going to be wonderful.