Tame a Wild Bride, a Western Romance (4 page)

“It’s about two and a half hours to Duncan’s.
 
Duncan and Catherine McKenzie are watching my kids for me.
 
We’ll have to visit for a bit.
 
Catherine’s got a lot of questions for you.
 
She’s never met a mail order bride before.
 
Actually, none of us have.
 
You’re the first in these parts.
 
Then it’s another three hours to my ranch from there.
 
That’s why I think you’ll barely have time to fix supper before the sun goes down.
 
It’ll be four o’clock or after before we get home.”

“What about you?
 
Do you have any questions for me?”
 
She ran her fingers through her hair and loosened it before gathering it up into a bun atop her head.

“We’ll have a lot of time to talk on the way home.
 
Time enough to get to know each other some.”

She glanced over at him, wondering if her fiddling with her hair had worked and was pleased with what she saw.
 
He looked at her with hunger in his eyes.
 
He was weakening.
 
“Well, I do have a question, just one more for now.
 
Is the bank open yet?”

“No.
 
Why?”

“I didn’t want you to worry, but I brought a bank draft with me that I need to deposit.
 
It’s my dowry, in the amount of five thousand dollars.
 
I wasn’t going to tell you, in case I needed it to leave, but I’m not going to.
 
I’m determined to make a go of this.”

“Five thousand dollars!
 
That’s a hell of a lot of money.”

“My parents were wealthy.
 
I’ve been living with my brother until now.
 
The five thousand is all I have in the world.
 
I know it sounds like a lot of money, but it wouldn’t take long to go through it if I had to live on it.”

He nodded in agreement.
 
“You’re right.
 
I’m glad to hear you’re determined to make a go of it but I still don’t think you know what you’re in for.
 
It’s not an easy life on a ranch.
 
You’ll have to do the washing, cleaning, cooking.
 
You’re expected to gather the eggs and milk the cows.
 
Do you know how to milk a cow?”

She shook her head.
 
What
had
she gotten herself into?
 
Milking cows?

“I’ll teach you.
 
It’s not hard.
 
Did you keep chickens in Philadelphia?”

“No.
 
We bought all of our meat and eggs from a butcher or the market each week and kept them in the ice box.”

“Well, I’ll teach you how to gather eggs too, so you don’t get pecked.
 
The hens don’t like to give up their eggs.
 
Is there anything you can do?
 
Besides cook, I mean.”

“I know how to clean a house,” she said her feelings bristling.
 
“I’m not completely useless.
 
I can teach your children reading, writing and arithmetic.
 
And
I can cook.
 
Whatever else I need to know, I’ll learn.
 
I’m a quick study and eager to learn everything I can.”

“Eager to learn, huh?”
 
His lip quirked up.
 
“Glad to hear it.
 
You’re going to have a lot to learn in a short period of time. Shall we go?” he picked up her bags.

“Yes, but I want to go to the bank first.
 
I’ve got that draft and I’ve carried it long enough.”

“All right.”
 
He checked his pocket watch.
 
“It’s eight-thirty.
 
The bank opens at nine.
 
We’ll be done with breakfast right about then.”

He turned toward the open door and held it for her.
 
“Let’s get moving.
 
We’ve got a long trip ahead of us.”

This was her last chance to back out.
 
She actually thought about it, but she wanted a family and she’d take her chances on changing his mind about wanting more children.
 
If she couldn’t, she’d at least have his two to raise as her own.

After breakfast they went to the bank.
 
After that, they’d go out to the McKenzie’s where she’d meet Tom’s children for the first time.
 
Her stomach churned.
 
There was bound to be some resentment on their part.
 
After all, in their eyes she was taking their dead mother’s place.
 
But she shouldn’t be this nervous.
 
She’d talk to Tom on the way there.
 
After all, it was a nearly three hour trip, there would be plenty of time to discuss everything.

The buckboard was tied to the hitching rail in front of the boarding house.
 
Tom placed the bags in the back.
 
That’s when she noticed the supplies he had.
 
There looked to be bags of grain, beans, sugar, flour and coffee.
 
She was especially happy to see a small bag of tea among all the other groceries.
 
Plenty of food stuffs to cook with if she had meat to go with it.
 
He’d gotten cans of fruit, too.
 
Peaches.
 
She could make a cobbler or a pie.
 
Something easy to begin with.
 
Later she could dazzle him with her baking skills.
 
Her brother had loved all the treats she used to bake for him.
 
Perhaps Tom had a sweet tooth.
 
She could use it to soften him up.
 
Her thoughts consumed her as they walked down the street.

Tom stopped in front of the bank.
 
“Before we go in, I want you to know that I don’t want your money.
 
It’s yours to do with as you please.”

She smiled at him.
 
“Thank you.
 
You don’t know how much it means to me to hear you say that.”

He nodded.
 
“You’re welcome.”

He held the door for her and then called out to one of the men behind the counter.
 
“Hello, Sam.”

The man, short, skinny and balding, with his graying hair combed over from one side in a fruitless effort to hide the bald spot, looked up.
 
“Well hello, Tom.
 
Is this the new Mrs. Harris?”

“Yes.
 
This is Rosie.
 
Rosie, this is Sam Kent, president of the bank.”

Rosie held out her hand.
 
“Pleased to meet you, Mr. Kent.”

“And you, Mrs. Harris,” he replied.
 
“What can I do for you both today?”

“I need to open an account and deposit a draft from my bank in Philadelphia,” said Rosie.

“Certainly, Mrs. Harris.
 
Tom already has an account here, so…”

“No, Mr. Kent, this is my account, not my husband’s.”

Sam looked over at Tom who nodded.
 
“Very well, please fill this out.”
 
He handed her a form.

It only took her a couple of minutes to complete.
 
“Here you go Mr. Kent.
 
Also, I would like twenty-five dollars in cash please.”

“What do you need cash for?” Tom, suspicious, asked.
 
“Nothing to buy on the ranch and we don’t get peddlers.
 
They aren’t allowed on my property.”

“I want to stop at the mercantile and get a small gift for each of your children.”
 
She twisted her hands together causing her reticule to bounce off her skirt.
 
“I can only imagine what they must be feeling and perhaps this small token will help ease things between us.
 
I also want to pick up the school supplies they’ll need or perhaps I should say, that are available.”

“Are you trying to bribe my children?”

She hesitated for only a moment.
 
“Do you think it will work?”

Tom chuckled.
 
She was amazed at the transformation a simple laugh made in his face.
 
Gone were the hard lines formed from a steady frown.
 
His eyes sparkled and reminded her of sapphires.
 
“It just might.
 
You never know with kids.
 
Something that works this time won’t the next.”

Mr. Kent came back to the counter.
 
“Here you go, Mrs. Harris.
 
Here’s the receipt for the deposit and twenty-five dollars in cash.
 
Is there anything else I can do for you?”

“No, thank you.
 
I appreciate all your help.”

“Goodbye, Sam.
 
See you next time we come to town,” Tom said as he placed his hand on her waist.
 
The contact, though slight, sent shivers right through her.
 

“You bet.
 
See you then.”

Tom ushered her out the door and they walked to the mercantile.
 
His hand remained firmly on her waist in a proprietary gesture.
 
She liked it.
 
Liked the feeling of being wanted, even if only for her domestic skills.

Rosie chose a doll for Suzie and a pocket knife for Ben.
 
Tom assured her they didn’t have either of the items.

She also purchased slates, chalk, books on history, mathematics and spelling for Ben and a couple of coloring books and colored pencils for Suzie.
 
She asked Sadie, the owner, what books the local school teacher ordered and asked her to order the same ones for her.

“It’ll take about a month for them to get here.
 
Hope that’s all right,” said Sadie.

“I’m not going anywhere, so there’s no hurry.
 
This is my home now and the children need to catch up to their classmates.”
 
She said it to Sadie, but it was more for herself than the store’s proprietor.

CHAPTER 3

They rode in the buckboard for thirty minutes and were a couple of miles from town.
 
The sun beat down and it was hot even though it was only midmorning.
 
Rosie was glad for her bonnet but a parasol would be heaven right now.

Neither one of them had said a thing.
 
It was time to break the ice and start talking.

“Why did you want a mail order bride?
 
Aren’t there any single women here?” she asked as she fiddled with the string ties to her reticule.
 
“I know you probably think this is a question asked too late, but I was simply glad for a way out of my current living situation.
 
I had to get away from my sister-in-law.”

He nodded in understanding.
 
“There are none that my kids like.
 
None that didn’t want more children.”

“You said last night you don’t want more children?
 
Why?”

“Don’t get me wrong.
 
I love my children, but I don’t want to get stuck with any more from the next woman who leaves me.”

“And you do so much to make a woman want to stay,” she said under her breath.
 
“What makes you think I’m going to leave you?
 
I didn’t come all this way just to up and leave again,” she said loud enough for him to hear.

“Women leave.
 
That’s what they do.
 
As soon as someone comes along offering them the moon, they’re gone.”