The Marine's E-Mail Order Bride (Heroes of Chance Creek Book 3) (21 page)

“No matter that you were committing fraud and helping to swindle an old woman out of her property?”

“Oh, come on, Heloise,” Zane said. “You’re not blameless here. You’ve set impossible conditions on us inheriting that property. We’re doing the best we can.”

“Including hiring women to act as your wife?”

“One woman, and I didn’t hire her. Kenna needed a husband, I needed a wife. It was a trade.”

“But you got Storm, instead.”

“That’s right, and that made it a lot more complicated, because I fell in love with her. Not just a temporary love, not just a convenient love, but gut-wrenching, in-your-face, forever love. I’m going to marry Storm. Whatever you pull next, she’s going to be my wife. We’ll leave Chance Creek if we have to, but we’ll leave it together.”

“I see.” Heloise picked up the teapot that sat on a tray on the coffee table and poured a cup. She offered it to Cheyenne. “You’re willing to leave Crescent Hall behind, are you?”

Zane nodded, not trusting himself to speak.

“What about your brothers? Are they willing, too?”

“I can’t speak for them. You know it’ll damn well kill them—”

“But you’ll still leave them in the lurch.”

“Damn it, Heloise—what do you want from me? You want me to lie? You want me to marry someone else? You want to pull some more strings and watch me dance around like a goddamn puppet? I love her—”

“Calm down.” Heloise poured another cup and handed it to Storm who took it with trembling fingers. Tears shone in her eyes and Zane reached the breaking point. He wasn’t going to subject his wife to any more—

“I accept Storm as a candidate for your wife. I expect your marriage to continue as planned. I suggest you speak to your wedding planner,” she added severely. “The poor girl resorted to calling me since you’ve all been avoiding her. If you are married in church before your family and friends, under your
real
names,” she looked from one to the other, “then I will forget the rest of this travesty and continue on as before.”

Zane took a deep breath. “We can do that.” A small sound from Storm caught his attention. She sent him a look that told him she needed to speak to him alone. “I need some air. Storm, come with me, would you? Heloise, try to be nice to your guests.”

“Of course.” Heloise appeared affronted. As Zane headed for the door he heard her say to Cheyenne, “How did you manage to get your hair that color, dear?”

He hurried Storm out of the room. “What’s wrong now?”

“Aside from the fact World War III is about to start in there?” She turned to him. “How are you going to get a divorce from Kenna in less than a month?”

Storm tried to
keep her mind on the store the next several days instead of falling prey to the dire scenarios her imagination was cooking up. Zane had said he’d take care of Kenna, but she wondered how on earth he planned to do that. For one thing, Kenna was most likely inaccessible. Unless her climb had been disrupted, she’d be somewhere on a mountain, far out of reach of cell phones and lawyers. Other fears assailed her. If lawyers were involved wouldn’t the fraud she’d committed be exposed? Would she end up in jail? And what would Kenna do? She’d be furious when she found out her inheritance was in jeopardy.

With Cheyenne and Belinda helping her, she finished preparations for the tag sale more quickly than she’d expected, and decided to go ahead with it. Anything to keep from worrying about the future. They put up flyers everywhere they could think of, and posted a notice on the front door, too. “I wonder if anyone will come?” Storm said when they packed up that night.

At the last minute, Belinda told her she wouldn’t be able to help out at the sale. She claimed she had an appointment, but Storm was sure that she still hadn’t told Darren about working at the store. If she didn’t do so soon, Storm would have to think about hiring someone else, and she didn’t want to do that. She’d come to enjoy Belinda’s dry sense of humor and enthusiasm.

The following morning she was shocked when she opened the store to find a lineup outside. She was surprised by the outpouring of praise from the shoppers, too.

“We really need a new clothing store in town,” a lithe brunette with a darling baby girl told her. “I can’t wait to see what you bring in. I’m Autumn Cruz, by the way. I’m a friend of Regan and Ella. I’ll be by soon to welcome you to town properly. I heard your mother and sisters have come to stay, too.”

“Yes, they have.”

Autumn laughed at the confusion Storm felt sure must be clear on her face. “Everyone knows everything about everyone else in this town,” she said. “You’ve been a topic of conversation for weeks around here. I would have been by earlier, but just when I thought I’d given you enough time to settle in, your family arrived.”

“I hope you’ll come to visit soon, then,” Storm said and she meant it. She wanted to meet more women in town if she was going to stay here.

“I think we can call this a success,” Cheyenne said at noon when Storm asked her if she was ready to order some lunch.

“I think we can, too,” Storm said. More of the old clothes had disappeared than she’d expected, and she was getting excited at the idea of putting together an order for their replacement. Even the little girls had gotten into the spirit of things and when they held up a shirt or skirt and smiled winsomely, it was hard for the good women of Chance Creek to tell them no. It didn’t hurt that Storm had marked everything down so low that it hardly made sense not to buy them. At the end of the day, she wouldn’t be rich, but at least there would be room for new stock.

“What would you like to eat? Do you want—?”

She was interrupted by the arrival of Ella and Regan who came in bearing takeout bags and boxes that smelled heavenly.

“Girls—go get those chairs from in back,” Cheyenne called. She helped Storm lug out a folding table and set it up near the checkout counter. Regan set the chairs around it. Ella passed around napkins and forks and handed out drinks.

When Storm dug into her pita and hummus, she moaned with appreciation. “This is good.”

“Try the falafel,” Regan said. “Everything at Fila’s is amazing.”

They took turns helping the customers and eating until everyone was full. Storm expected Ella and Regan to leave then, but after they packed up the remainder of the food, they stayed to help. Storm set them to work rehanging clothes and fixing the displays that interested customers had put into disarray. She sent the twins to take a walk around the block since they’d been inside all morning, and was about to go have a chat with her mother when she saw that Cheyenne was helping a middle-aged cowboy in jeans and a plaid shirt search through a pile of cotton shirts she’d arranged on a table.

“What size is your niece?” she heard Cheyenne say.

The man hesitated. Pointed to Zoe. “About her size, I’d say.”

“We mostly have women’s clothes, but there might be one or two things for a girl.” Cheyenne lifted up one in pink. “What do you think?”

“Well, uh… I guess so,” the cowboy said, scratching the back of his neck. “The truth is, I usually get her a stuffed animal, but my sister says she’s too old for that now.”

“I don’t think you’re ever too old for a stuffed animal,” Cheyenne declared. “That’s like saying you’re too old for love!”

The cowboy seemed entranced by this proclamation, and why wouldn’t he be, Storm thought. Cheyenne was beautiful when she was happy—willowy and vibrant. Storm wondered why she hadn’t married again in the years since her father died. Cheyenne hadn’t even dated much. That must have been lonely for her.

Shame coursed through Storm when she realized she had never even considered that before—that after the loss of her husband, Cheyenne had taken herself off the market. Had she wanted to protect her daughters from being hurt again?

“You’re right. You’re never too old for love,” the man said. “My granny got married for the second time at seventy-five. Guess I’ve got a few years left to find…” He trailed off. “Well, never mind.”

Cheyenne fixed him with a look Storm recognized all too well. Her mother loved it when people admitted to having strong feelings. “I won’t never mind. What were you going to say?”

“Only that maybe you and me… I’m not sure. I could come and get you…”

“Like a date,” Cheyenne said, looking up at him from under her lashes. “Like…dinner, maybe. And dancing?”

The cowboy straightened, a grin spreading over his face. “Well now, you did that far better than I was going to. Saved me a lot of stammering and embarrassment.”

“No need for embarrassment. I like plain speaking.”

Storm bit back a laugh. Cheyenne hadn’t liked it so much when she’d arrived in Chance Creek.

“I like women who like plain speaking,” the cowboy said.

“We’ll get along just fine, then.”

“When do you get off work?”

“Five o’clock.”

He lifted his hat and settled it back on his head. “I’ll pick you up then.”

Storm realized the whole store had gone quiet as this little drama had played out. The minute the cowboy cleared the door, Cheyenne beamed. “I have a date! With a cowboy!”

Laughter rippled through the customers and Storm let out a breath she’d been holding.

“Better watch out—that cowboy will rope your heart,” someone called out.

“Oh, my gosh! I don’t even know his name.” Cheyenne raised a hand to her mouth.

“That’s Henry Montlake. Hank, for short,” another woman said. “He’s a good man. Never been married. Had a serious sweetheart in his twenties, but she broke his heart.”

“Don’t you break his heart,” the first woman said. “If you like plain speaking, then you let him know if he’s not the one for you.”

Cheyenne looked around at the women in the store and nodded solemnly. “I won’t break Hank’s heart. I promise.” She crossed her heart dramatically. She came over to Storm and took her arm. Storm braced herself for a joke or scathing remark at the women’s expense. Cheyenne didn’t like to be told what to do. Instead, she said, “Well, what do you think of that? This old lady still has game.”

“You’re not an old lady.” Storm wasn’t sure what to make of what had just happened. Her mother dating a cowboy? Having fun helping to run the store?

This was a Cheyenne she’d never met.

‡

“S
eriously? A date
with Hank Montlake?” Austin asked the next morning when Zane met him on horseback down near the creek.

“That’s right. She didn’t get back until after midnight,” Zane said. “She seemed pretty happy this morning. Humming and singing to herself.”

“Really?”

Zane shrugged. He put a soothing hand on his mount. “Yep. I think Hank might have made a good impression on her.”

“How about you? Making any progress on how to divorce Kenna?”

“Not much.” The trouble was he hadn’t known what to do first. Should he contact a lawyer and potentially open a can of worms he couldn’t close again due to the legal implications of the fraud Storm had committed? Or should he try to get a message to Kenna on her remote mountaintop and give her the lead time to dig in her heels and refuse to allow the marriage to be annulled? He’d ended up calling the minister who was supposed to officiate at his ceremony, Reverend Joe Halpern. He’d known Halpern since he was a child. Maybe the man would have some advice.

“What’s on tap today in the meanwhile?” Austin changed the subject, for which Zane was grateful.

“Riding lessons, soon as everyone’s up.”

“For Storm?”

“For her whole family. The girls should know how to ride, and if Cheyenne’s going to date a cowboy, she’d better learn.”

“Guess so.”

Zane worried that the girls wouldn’t want to try it, but at the first mention of horses when he found Storm, Cheyenne and the girls at their breakfast, all three girls turned to their mother and begged her to say yes to lessons.

Cheyenne turned to him. “Is it safe?”

“Jasper’s the gentlest gelding you’ll ever meet. I think the girls would enjoy it.”

“Okay, I guess that’s all right.”

Zane ushered the girls out to the nearest corral after they were done eating. He enlisted Austin’s help and taught them one at a time, with Jasper a willing participant. The horse seemed to enjoy the attention and stood patiently while they took turns. Zane looked up forty-five minutes later to find Storm had joined Cheyenne in leaning against the high corral fence and watching them. Zoe and Violet were perched on top of the rails beside them. It was Daisy’s turn to ride.

“She’s a natural,” he called out to them. “You should be proud of her!”

Daisy waved to her mother and sisters, a broad grin on her face.

“You’re doing great, Daisy!” Cheyenne called back. “Keep up the good work.”

“I love you, Jasper,” Daisy cried, and patted the horse’s flank.

Even Storm smiled at Daisy’s sweet voice. Zane made sure to keep watch over her as she progressed around the ring. When she was done, he lifted her off and brought her back to her mom. “Cheyenne, I think it’s your turn next.”

At first he thought she would say no, but after a moment’s hesitation, she said, “Why not? I’ve always wondered what it would be like.”