The Most Eligible Bachelor Romance Collection: Nine Historical Romances Celebrate Marrying for All the Right Reasons (26 page)

“I demand you marry my daughter this instant,” Mr. Larson said, pointing a finger at Zeke.

“Read this first.” Zeke thrust the wrinkled letter at him. “Read and see just what kind of girl your daughter is. Read it out loud for all to hear.”

Zeke hated to ridicule the girl in such a public manner, but his reputation was something he took great pride in, and no girl barely out of short dresses was going to ruin it for him. “Go on,” he said.

Mr. Larson read the hateful words out loud, his voice fading toward the end. “Very well.” He grasped Annabell by the arm and pushed her forward. “My daughter will apologize.”

Tears shimmered in her blue eyes. “I won’t apologize for loving you, Zeke.”

“You don’t know what love is, you whelp.” Mr. Larson nudged her. “Do what is right, or I’ll lay you over my knee.”

“You’ve never struck me, Papa!”

“My mistake, wasn’t it?” He crossed his arms.

“I’m sorry,” she whispered. “So sorry.” With a sob, she shoved people aside and dashed down the street.

“The poor fool.” Ruby appeared beside him and shook her head. “It must be a terrible burden to be so handsome and desired.” She grinned at Zeke. “Why, you turn little girls’ heads until they have no sense left.”

Zeke stared at her in shock, then laughed as he realized she was joking with him. His laugh boomed across the crowd, drawing the attention of Sadie from where she stood next to the buffet table.

Her eyes widened. With a swish of her dress, she rushed into the woods.

Zeke moved to follow but found his path blocked by Lucy. She trailed a finger down the buttons of his shirt. “I would never try to hurt you in that way, Zeke. Surely, you can see that?”

His eyes met Ruby’s over Lucy’s head and begged her for help.

Ruby nodded and pulled Lucy away. “Let’s help clean up. It will make us look good.”

“Of course.” Lucy sashayed toward the table.

Zeke raced straight to the fishing hole. Sadie was nowhere to be seen. He turned in a slow circle, trying to see whether she had left any sign of being there.

What must she think of him? He shined truth on a liar’s words, then laughed. She had no idea he wasn’t laughing at Annabell. He rubbed his hands roughly over his face.

The look in Sadie’s eyes had cut him to the heart. She thought he was playing a game. A ruthless game that satisfied his ego. Not true. His shoulders slumped, and he lowered himself to a boulder beside the water.

He should have prayed whether to participate in the competition. Instead, he had let first anger, then desire for Sadie, fuel his decision. Now, a spur-of-the-moment laugh, at an inappropriate time, may have lost the most important person in the world to him.

Chapter 9

S
adie chewed on the end of her pen. Her heart ached at Zeke’s callous treatment of Annabell. How dare he laugh at the girl’s expense? What could she write to such a man?

All these years, she’d been wrong about the man she once called her best friend. It was one thing to laugh at others while pulling childish pranks, but they were not children anymore, and this was not a prank.

Still, Zeke needed an opportunity to explain himself, and so she would write him. She wiped her tears on the back of her hand and set pen to paper. She poured out her feelings, heedless of her pride.

What would happen if she refused him? The town wouldn’t have to know. Zeke could save face by meeting one of the other girls.

She rested her forehead on her folded arms. She didn’t want to say no, but maybe medical school had changed Zeke, turned him into a man with a cruel heart who played games with women’s affections. No, she didn’t believe it. Her own insecurities were clouding her judgment. Zeke, her Zeke, would never behave cruelly toward another.

She folded the letter, slipping it into a plain white envelope. No fancy stationery, no perfume. Those embellishments weren’t something she would use outside of the competition, so she wouldn’t use them now.

After sealing the envelope, she stuck it in her bodice and tiptoed past her parents’ bedroom. Ma would have too many questions and would scold Sadie for waiting until such a late hour to write her letter.

A board creaked under foot. She froze and listened. Stupid stairs. She knew which ones creaked and should have taken more care. This wasn’t the first time she had snuck out of the house after dark. When no one called out, she hurried down the stairs and out of the house.

A dog barked, only to be quieted by its master. An owl hooted. Sadie quickened her pace. Oak Shadows was a safe town, but it still wasn’t wise for a woman to be out alone at night.

The street lay quiet. No light shone from Zeke’s office. She glanced upward. A lamp burned in the room upstairs. Zeke’s form passed by the window and the light was extinguished.

Would he come if she called to him? Perhaps they could clear things up before morning.

Sadie ran to the bench. Where was the box? She gasped. He would think she hadn’t written. That she’d given up on winning his hand. Nothing could be further from the truth. She knew that now. The closer the moment came, the more she wanted to be the one he chose.

She slipped the letter under the door and sprinted for home. He would find the letter come morning. Tomorrow night would decide their fate.

Whether Zeke’s answer was a yes or a no for Sadie, she would find contentment knowing God had helped make his decision. Despite her earlier, far-from-the-truth feelings about him being a cad who toyed with women’s affections, she knew Zeke would pray before choosing his bride.

Back in her room, she lifted the white satin sash on the dress her mother had sewn for the hoped-for wedding. White sateen with a lace collar, it was the prettiest dress Sadie had ever seen. Please, God, let her be able to wear it tomorrow night. Not only as she waited beside the fishing hole but to the wedding afterward.

She fell across her bed and stared through the room’s gloom toward the ceiling. She’d spilled out her heart in her letter. It was all she could do. The rest was up to God.

Zeke lay heartbroken in his bed. Sadie hadn’t written. She didn’t want to marry him. Laughing at Ruby’s joke so soon after the fiasco with Annabell had sealed his fate. He must choose one of the others.

He didn’t love them, but he was a man of his word. Since he’d agreed to the competition, he would have to follow through. He could have a good life with Ruby. She would make a fine doctor’s wife. A helpmate, even. He fell asleep dreaming of a green-eyed, dark-haired beauty in buckskin and calico.

When he woke the next morning, he dressed and headed to the diner for an early breakfast, grabbing a letter from the floor on his way and locking the door behind him. He stuck the envelope in his breast pocket. Whatever message it contained could wait until later.

Mrs. Newman greeted him with a smile. “Tonight’s the big night, Doctor.”

“Yes ma’am, it is.” He forced a smile. “The egg platter, please.” He chose a table near the window.

Sadie sauntered down the sidewalk, her reticule swinging from one hand as if she didn’t have a care in the world. In all actuality, she had stabbed Zeke in the heart. All her participation in the challenges had only been to appease her mother.

No one would know she hadn’t written the letter. If he told her that she was his choice, would she turn him down? Scorn his affection? He couldn’t believe it of the kindhearted girl he grew up with. Still, the proof lay in the fact that there had been no letter from Sadie when he opened the wooden box before retiring the night before.

Suddenly, he had no appetite. He dropped the money for his breakfast on the table and left the diner before his meal was delivered. If he buried himself in work, perhaps he could forget Sadie’s rejection. If no patients needed him, he would organize his medical supplies.

He unlocked the office door, his arm brushing against his pocket. The envelope he’d placed there earlier crackled. He pulled it out and sat behind his desk.

His heart stopped. It was from Sadie.

With trembling fingers, he slit open the envelope and withdrew the sheet of paper inside. He took a deep breath, and read.

A grin spread across his face. Sadie loved him.

He sighed and leaned back in his chair. All he had hoped would come from the silly competition was coming true. He would have the bride of his choosing. He gave thanks to God and set to work with a light heart.

He spent the rest of the day helping patients with one ailment after another. At this rate, he’d have little time to don the new suit hanging upstairs, and he desperately needed a shave.

“Doc?” The pastor, Ralph Evans, entered the office. “The ladies of the congregation have filled the sanctuary with the late flowers of summer. They’ve planned a potluck for your reception. Is there anything else you would like us to do?”

Zeke shook his head. “Just be ready to marry me and my girl.”

“That I can do.” The pastor rocked on his heels. “I’ve had my doubts about these shenanigans, and I need to tell you that choosing a bride should be done with prayer and thought. It isn’t something to be done lightly.”

“I’ve prayed about it.” Zeke clapped him on the shoulder. “I feel as if my choice is part of God’s plan for me. I may not have prayed before agreeing to this nonsense, but I have faith I’ve made the right choice.”

“Then I can rest easy, knowing another couple in my flock will be happy. See you this evening.”

“Doc!” A man carrying a small child rushed in as the pastor was leaving. “You’ve got to help my boy.”

Zeke took one look at the gash on the child’s arm. It needed cleaning and stitching. He was going to be late.

“Sadie, stop dawdling.” Ma barged into her room. “You’ve got to get dressed. Where are you meeting Zeke?”

“If he chooses to show, I’ll be at the creek where we fished as children.” Sadie pulled up her shift. “I’m dressing as fast as I can. You’ll have to button me.” She stepped into the dress.

Ma pulled it up, holding it out so Sadie could slip her arms into the sleeves. “Of course he’ll show. Who else would he possibly choose?”

Sadie wished she had her mother’s confidence. “My hands are shaking so badly, I can’t do a thing with my hair.”

“I’ll take care of it.” Ma finished buttoning the tiny buttons up the back of the dress and tied the sash before moving to gaze into Sadie’s face. “My little girl is getting married. You’ll be a beautiful bride.”

“
Maybe
getting married.” Whoever Zeke chose, there would be at least two broken hearts at the church that evening. She sat in front of her vanity.

Ma brushed through Sadie’s curls, piling her hair high and leaving a few tendrils to hang around her face. “I wish I would have had time to make you a veil.”

“I don’t need one.” She wanted to see Zeke’s face clearly if he came for her.

Once her mother finished making Sadie as pretty as was possible, Sadie planted a kiss on her cheek. “Thank you. I feel like a princess.” Perhaps her prince would greet her with a kiss and make her fairy-tale ending come true.

Ma cupped her face. “We’ll be waiting at the church for… whatever may come.”

“I can’t ever remember being this nervous.” Sadie gave a shaky smile before lifting her hem and racing out of the house and down the path. She felt like Cinderella, only instead of glass slippers, she wore newly polished boots.