Chase (Prairie Grooms, Book Four) (11 page)

“
Just want to set the record straight,” he drawled.

“
Perhaps the people here would do better if they did have an actual date,” suggested Imogene.

“
Like the barn raising?” Apple asked.

Jefferson leaned back in his chair and smiled. “Now that's a right good idea.” He looked at Lena. “What do ya think? Ya wanna get hitched at the barn raisin’ next week?”

“
Well I… I…”

“I think it's an excellent
idea,” said Imogene. “You already have your wedding dress and we don't need to sew anything for you-- thank Heaven for that-- and it will still give you a week to get to know your betrothed.”

Lena sat, her eyes darting from one face to another, as her body tensed. It was one thing to talk about her upcoming nuptials, another to actually set up a definite date. For some reason she felt very nervous. “I will have to speak with Mr. Adams, of course.”

“
Of course my dear,” said Imogene. “He'll want to know the date we’ve set, he is the groom, after all.”

“
Maybe he won't want to get married at the barn raising,” said Lena. “What if he wants a smaller affair?”

Jefferson burst into laughter. “Darlin’, around here there is no such thing as a small affair. The town's gonna show up to your weddin’ anyway, so ya might as well get hitched at the barn raisin’. Besides, there’ll be a heap of food for folks to eat. Then the womenfolk only have to do the work once, and not have to worry about doing it again if you got married on another day.”

Lena gawked at him. “
I must say, but your charming town is like one big happy family isn't it?” Her voice wasn't sarcastic, but close enough.

Jefferson's smiling face, the results of his earlier laughter, faded. “Don't get me wrong, girl, if you and Chase want to get hitched with just Preacher Jo and his wife Annie present, then you go right ahead, but I think you'd be a fool to do so.”

“
Why?” asked Apple, her expression one of curiosity.

“
Like I said before, this town needs somethin’ like a weddin’ to pick up their spirits.” He looked at Lena. “Don't take that away from them not now.”

“
Mine is not the only wedding, Mr. Cooke,” said Lena.

“
Maybe not, but it is the first, and it's the one that’s gonna help them the most. Not sayin’ you have to do it, but at least think about it, will ya?” With that he got up from the table, and slowly left out the kitchen's back door.

Why the nerve of that man, huffed Imogene. “He has no right to tell you when you should, or shouldn’t get married.”

“
He meant no disrespect, Cousin Imogene,” said Lena. “He’s simply looking out for his friends and family. We must remember, we did arrive in the midst of tragedy.”

“
Tragedy or no tragedy,” said Imogene. “You and Mr. Adams are the ones to decide on you are to be married, not the town.”

Le
na let out a heavy sigh. “I'll need to go to town and speak with Mr. Adams.”

“
I want to go!” gushed Apple.

“
And me!” added Fina.

Le
na sighed again. “As much as I love your company, sisters, I would like to go alone.”

“
Alone?” said Imogene, aghast. “What about a chaperone?”

“What about one
?” asked Lena. “I'm sure whoever drives me to town will be chaperone enough. I won't be entirely alone.”

“
I'll go ask Harrison for you,” offered Apple.

Lena motioned for her to stay in her chair. “No need, I’ll go do it myself.” She got up and left the kitchen in search of Harrison or Colin. She must've sounded more terse than she intended as neither Fina nor Apple followed as was their habit, and had been their entire lives. Now that she was to be married, they'd stuck to her more than ever.

Lena went out onto the front porch, glanced around the barnyard, and seeing no sign of anyone, decided to go check the barn. When she entered a man she’d not met before was rubbing down a beautiful black horse. “Oh!” she said when she saw him. “I'm terribly sorry, but I'm looking for Harrison or Colin.” She eyed him suspiciously. “Might I inquire who you are, sir?”

He looked up
and smiled. “Well look at you,” he drawled. “Ain’t you the spittin’ image of your cousins? I guess since I'm married to one of them, that makes us related.”

“You’re married to o
ne of my cousins? Which one?”

“
Constance,” he said with a big smile.

“Then you must be Ryder
.”

“Sure am! Which one are you?
You'll pardon me if I don't remember your names, they're all kinda funny soundin’ to me.”

Le
na laughed at that. “Think nothing of it. They sound quite funny to us as well, which is why we would rather use our nicknames. I'm Lena.”

“Well I'm plumb glad to meet ya,
Lena. This here's Othello,” he said pointing to his horse. “I'm gonna let him stay here with Harrison for a while now that I don't need him to track outlaws.”

“
Oh, so this is the horse Constance has told me so much about?”

“She's been bragging on Othello
? Well I'll be, ya hear that boy? Constance loves ya!”

Le
na smiled. There was a childlike innocence about the man, much the same as Apple. “If you're to leave him here, then how are you getting back to town?”

“Harrison's gonna drive me there when
he gets back. He's been out checking on his stock the last couple of hours.”

“
Have you been here that long?”

“I came here and went out with him for a while then came back to give Othello a brush up. Gotta make him pretty for the ladies ya know. He’s my stud horse.”

Lena nodded. She already knew that the only thing of value Constance and Ryder owned was their one, good horse. “Then you won't mind if I accompany you? I have business in town with my intended.”

“Oh, yeah, I heard you was gonna be marryin’.
Chase Adams is a nice fella. I'm glad he found himself a woman. Lord knows he needs one.”

“I be
g your pardon? What ever do you mean?”

Ry
der pushed his hat off his forehead as he smiled and leaned against his horse’s rump.    “A man gets mighty lonely around these parts. Those of us lucky enough to have a wife are envied by the ones that don't, Chase included. Ya can see it in a man's eyes, and ma’am, he's had that look a long time.”

“
Look?”

Ryder went back to brushing his horse
. “Loneliness ma'am, pure loneliness.”

Lena watched as he groomed
the animal. She’d never known loneliness, at least not while living with her two sisters, her mother, and while he was still alive, their father. She also managed to keep her mind and heart occupied with her passions. She had her reading, and then her social engagements such as the season, not to mention the musicales, the teas, and all the other happy goings-on that kept her and her sisters busy and in constant contact with other people. How different their lives were about to become. For some reason, she felt as if the long journey here and everything that happened since her arrival was surreal. She’d wake up one day, and it would be over, her life returned to normal. But life in London
was
over, for both her and her sisters, and there was no going back. Or at least there was no reason to. “I'll keep an eye out for Harrison’s return,” she said. “In the meantime, I best go get ready.”

Ryder
looked up from his work. “You do that ma'am. We’ll be waitin’.”

She headed back to the house and pondered Ryder
's words.
Loneliness, pure loneliness.
No wonder Chase hesitated when she asked if he would give her two weeks to get to know him. Perhaps Jefferson's suggestion they get married the day of the barn raising was best, but she wouldn't find out until she talked to her future husband. She did notice, however, that her steps to the house felt lighter at the thought, her breathing quicker, and she had a odd feeling in the pit of her stomach she'd not felt before. It wasn't as if she was coming down with something or felt ill, and she discovered she couldn't wait to see Chase again. Perhaps she wouldn't mind getting married at the barn-raising either.

* * *

The ride to town gave Lena more time to think about what Ryder said in the barn. She wanted to ask him about it, but he’d stretched out in the back of the wagon, and fell fast asleep the moment they started out. Even now she could hear his soft snoring as the horses plodded along.

Hmmm,
she mused. So Chase Adams wanted to marry out of loneliness, eh? Did that mean after they were husband and wife, his loneliness driven from him, he’d want to
remain
married to her? What if he decided he didn't like her? What if she decided she didn't like
him
? What if they both discovered they wouldn't suit at all?

“
What's on your mind, cousin?” asked Colin.

Lena jumped at his voice.
“Nothing!”

“
Come now, you had to be thinking about something. What is it?”

“R
eally, it's nothing.”

Colin
glared at her. “Liar.”

Len
a pressed her lips together and looked away. “Don't ask me questions. Just drive the wagon.”

“
Ah ha! Now you have to tell me what you’re thinking,” he laughed.

“
Oh, very well,” she huffed. “But only because it will make you stop pestering me.”

“
Fair enough,” he said.

Lena turned on the seat and looked at him. “How lonely does a man out here have to be before he becomes desperate?”

“
What? What you mean by, desperate?”

“
You know, desperate… Like a man dying of thirst desperate?”

Colin eyed
her suspiciously. “I say, but are you asking if Mr. Adams is marrying you out of desperation?”

She grimaced and looked away
. After a moment, she turned back to him. “I'm afraid I am.”

Colin pushed his hat back
and let out a low whistle. “Who put that thought in your head?”

“
Our cousin’s husband,” she said as she pointed a thumb over her shoulder. “I met him in the barn, both he and his horse.”

Colin
laughed. “Othello is a mighty fine piece of horse flesh, and I'd say the same thing of your intended if he were a horse too.”

“
I dare say, Colin, but is everything a joke to you?”

“
Not at tall,” he said. “I simply see the humor in everything. But we’re not talking about me, are we? We’re talking about Chase Adams. And the answer is no, he is not marrying you out of desperation. The man truly wants a wife.”

Lena's cheeks flushed red as she tried to convince herself there was no reason to feel embarrassed by her questions. They were, after all, legitimate ones, weren't they?

“
Are you blushing, cousin?”

“
Not that tall,” she said, her back stiff.

Colin
let out a sigh. “If I were a woman in your position, I think I’d feel the same way you do.”

“
How can you possibly presume to know how I feel? You're not the one marrying a complete stranger.”

Belle and I only knew each other for a couple weeks before we were married,” he told her. “And if I'd had my way at the time, it would have only been a week.”

“
You would have married her within a week?” asked Lena in shock.

“
Of course,” said Colin. “For me, it was love at first sight. It was only polite to give her  a week or two to fall in love with me.”

Le
na laughed at his remark. “I'm glad to hear you were so gentlemanly about it. But this is different and you know it. I, for one, did not fall in love with Chase Adams at first sight.”

“
No,” agreed Colin. “But maybe he did.”

“Did what
?”

“Fe
ll in love with you at first sight.”

“
Don't be ridiculous,” she scolded. “Besides, he's given no indication of…”

“
How do you know?” Colin interrupted. “He could be madly in love with you at this very moment and you, dear cousin, are completely unawares.”

Le
na rolled her eyes. “You’re impossible.”

“
But not improbable.”

She slapped him on his arm. “D
o control yourself, dear cousin. I wouldn't want you to frighten my intended away.”

“I wouldn't want to frighten him
away either, he's a good man, and I agree with Jefferson. The two of you should marry at the barn-raising.”