His Bewildering Bride (The Brides of Paradise Ranch - Spicy Version Book 3) (14 page)

“Honoria, this is all your fault,” Melinda continued to rage. She spun around to seek out her sister and swung at her with and open hand.

Honoria ducked back and avoided being slapped. “I did my very best,” she said, her voice raised only slightly louder than normal.

“Did your best to make a fool of me,” Melinda huffed. She was completely unaware of the gasps and shock from everyone who had just witnessed her attempting to hit her sister. “You should have tried harder. You shouldn’t have stopped me from getting those Mexican women down by the station to help.”

“She
didn’t
stop you from getting them to help,” Bebe said, a little too loud. “They did half of your work.”

“Bebe, I didn’t ask you,” Melinda snapped. It was too late. She gasped and snapped straight, suddenly seeing dozens of sets of eyes staring at her and her blatant admission of cheating. “I mean, I didn’t…I didn’t ask anyone to do any of the work.” Her face flushed bright red as she twisted to meet disapproving stares and shaking heads with uneasy laughter and a desperate smile. “I did all the work. All the work except what Honoria did. If there were any mistakes, they were Honoria’s fault. I didn’t…”

All at once, she gave up in a huff. Her pretend smiled twisted to a sneer and she made a grunting noise of disgust.

“Oh, who cares,” she growled, throwing up her hands. “I didn’t really want to slave away making dresses for the likes of you all day anyhow. I was meant for better things.”

She tilted her nose into the air with a sniff, grabbed Vivian’s arm for support, and marched through the crowd of amused and horrified townsfolk—who parted to let the two of them, Bebe, and Honoria pass.

Honoria paused when she reached Wendy. “I’m sorry about the cheating,” she said, darting an anxious glance at her sister’s departing backs. “I would have told you, but I figured you have so much talent and drive that you would win even with Melinda’s dirty tricks. But I’m still sorry.”

“It’s all right.” Wendy reached for Honoria’s hands and squeezed them, heart bleeding for the woman. “We can still be friends.”

Honoria’s face lit, and tears swam in her eyes. “Really? Even though Melinda was so horrible? Even though I helped her?”

“Of course. And if you ever want to help out or just join me for sewing and conversation, my door will always be open to you.”

“Oh.” Honoria raised her hands to hide her face. “I would like that so much. I would—”

“Honoria!” Vivian bellowed from the doorway. “Get away from that creature and come here!”

Honoria swallowed and sent Wendy one final look before picking up her skirts and fleeing toward her sisters. A lump formed in Wendy’s throat, and she wished there was a way for Honoria to flee
from
her sisters instead. Sadly, it didn’t seem as though that would happen any time soon as Rex Bonneville stomped across the room and exited the auditorium right behind Honoria, muttering something to her that Wendy couldn’t hear.

“Isn’t there something we could do for her?” Wendy reached for Travis’s arm.

“I don’t know,” he sighed. “But someday there might be something.” She glanced up at him, and he added. “It will be all right. Good things eventually happen to good people, no matter what gets in their way. You taught me that.”

Wendy smiled and blinked away the tears that she wanted to shed for poor Honoria. “I guess all we can do is hope and pray and keep our eyes out for her.”

“It’s what we’ve all been trying to do for years,” Elizabeth added in a conspiratorial whisper.

“Enough of this drippy nonsense.” Howard clapped his hands together and beamed as though he was the one who had won the prize. “The competition is over, we have a winner, and Haskell has a new dress shop about to open. It’s time to celebrate.”

He took Elizabeth’s arm and crossed to Mr. Gunn. The rest of the room went back to their conversations and eating. Wendy’s new friends closed ranks around her to wish her well, and to take her around the room, introducing her to a few of the citizens of Haskell that she hadn’t met before. Travis veered off to fix them plates of food from the long tables at the side of the room, laden with dishes provided by all of Haskell.

“I still feel as though I’m in a dream being here,” Wendy said when, at last, she and Travis had a few moments to themselves to eat.

“Howard is serious when he says he wants to build a town where neighbors help out neighbors, no matter who they are.”

“Or what they look like,” she added in a near whisper.

Travis set his plate aside and brushed his hand across Wendy’s cheek, cradling her jaw. “All I see is a beautiful woman, a strong and brave and talented woman, a woman I love. My wife.”

She set her plate beside his and rested her hand over his. “And all I see is a courageous, supportive husband…who happens to be handy with a needle.”

They both laughed. It felt so good that Wendy thought her heart might lift right out of her body. It felt even better when Travis snuck a kiss, in spite of most of the town of Haskell watching them.

“Remind me to thank my no-good brother for letting you go,” he said. “I’m beginning to think it’s the best thing he’s ever done.”

“Yes,” she giggled. “But you were the one who caught me when I fell.”

“And I will always catch you, Mrs. Montrose, just like I’m sure you’ll always catch me. In more than one way, you just did.” He snuck another kiss.

“I love you,” she whispered, more certain of anything than she’d ever been in her life.

Epilogue

Every time the bell jingled over the door of Wendy’s dress shop as someone entered, a giddy thrill filled her heart. She thought the moment when Howard Haskell announced that she would have her shop and living quarters above it for her and Travis would be the happiest moment of her life, but that was eclipsed by the moment when he handed her and Travis the keys to the building directly across the street from the mercantile. That moment paled in comparison to the first night that she and Travis spent in their new apartment above her shop. And that moment paled even more compared to the everyday joy of hearing someone come through her doors.

Particularly when that person was her husband.

“Whew, it’s cold out there.” Travis kicked the snow off his boots as he fastened the shop door behind him. He removed his hat and brushed off a dusting of snow.

Wendy set down the hem she’d been attaching a ruffle to for Olivia Garrett’s latest dress and skipped across the room to fold Travis in her arms.

“Oh, you
are
cold.” She snuggled up to him, intent on warming him.

Travis hummed low in his throat and wrapped his arms tightly around her. He treated her to a long, slow kiss that had the both of them piping hot in no time at all.

At least, until Olga cleared her throat behind them.

Wendy giggled as she broke away from Travis’s embrace. “Sorry,” she apologized to her friend and employee. “Sometimes a woman can’t help herself.”

“Oh, I know.” Olga grinned, finishing the last stitch of the embroidery on the bodice of Mabel Plover’s new dress, then tying and snipping the thread. “I feel that way when I go to see Billy. Mr. Bonneville works him so hard that I barely ever get to see him,” she added with a wistful sigh and stood. “You were so smart not to take that job, Mr. Montrose. And now Billy is stuck in it for another three years, until his contract runs out.”

Wendy felt Travis stiffen beside her. “I just wish I’d been able to warn Billy off of it before he signed on with Bonneville.”

Olga crossed to the rack that held her thick, wool coat and scarf. “At least he’s earning the money for the two of us to…” She drifted off with a pink-cheeked smile. “Well, nothing is decided yet.”

Although if the things Olga had told her while the two of them sat together sewing were any indication, as soon as he had the funds and the freedom, Billy would be making an offer for Olga. Wendy stole a peek at Travis. He was smiling too. When the two of them were alone during these long winter nights, he’d talked about all of his friends and about how marriage would suit them. But then, Wendy figured that was because he had quickly come to learn that marriage suited him perfectly.

“Run along quickly to the boarding house,” Travis advised Olga as soon as she had her coat on and her scarf wrapped around her neck. “Looks like the wind’s picking up. You don’t want to blow away.”

Olga laughed. “I’m far too plump to blow away.” She slipped her mittens on and waved goodbye to the two of them.

Wendy waited until Olga had gone and the door was shut to slide back into Travis’s arms.

“That’s more like it.” He gave her a second kiss, far more probing and heated than the first one. It took Wendy’s breath away.

She was just about to suggest they hurry upstairs to enjoy dessert before dinner when the bell over the door jingled again.

A blast of cold air poured into the shop along with the hunched and shaking form of Cody. Wendy’s brow flew up, and she took a step back from Travis.

“Uh, hi.” Cody greeted them with a nod of his head.

“Cody.” Travis nodded in return.

His back went stiff and he crossed his arms as he stared at his brother. Wendy winced. Months had gone by since her arrival and Cody’s abandonment. Everything had turned out splendidly, but a tension lingered between Travis and his brother.

“What brings you here on a night like this?” Travis went on.

“Well, um, I came to talk to Wendy, actually,” Cody confessed.

Wendy’s brow flew even higher. “Me?” A moment later, she recovered her manners. “Come along upstairs and I’ll fix some hot coffee for you. You must be frozen through.”

Cautious relief filled Cody’s face as Wendy held her arm out to him, escorting him upstairs. Travis locked the shop door behind them, turned the sign to “Closed,” then followed upstairs to the small kitchen at the back of their apartment.

“What can I do for you, Cody?” Wendy asked as she whisked through the kitchen, putting a kettle on the fire and adding another few logs to the stove.

Travis leaned against the doorway, arms crossed, as if he’d like to know too.

Cody cleared his throat, blushing. “See, the thing is, I’ve been feeling real bad about the way I behaved toward you back…you know.”

Wendy turned away from the stove, sending Cody her gentlest smile. “It’s all right, I forgive you. We were all in shock when I first arrived.”

Cody squirmed in his seat. “Yeah, but it wasn’t very nice of me and now…” He paused, glancing warily at Travis. “Well, now…the thing is…I had a talk with Mrs. Evans and Mrs. Piedmont and Mr. Garrett. They say they’ve found a girl willing to come out here and marry me—”

Wendy drew in a disbelieving breath, and Travis shook his head, jaw clenched.

“—but before they’ll give her the okay to come, I need to get my head straight about the way I treat women,” Cody finished. “It’s been, well, it’s been a long couple of months. I’ve had a lot of time to think out there on the ranch without Travis around all the time.” He writhed with discomfort in his chair, using that motion to pivot toward Travis. “I’m sorry about a lot of things, but I know that words won’t be enough to tell you that. So I’m gonna have to prove it with actions.”

“Oh?” was all Travis said in reply.

“Yep.” Cody twisted back to Wendy. “So I wanted to ask you what you think of the girl they picked out to be my bride.”

“Ask anything you like.” Wendy smiled, doing her best to reassure him.

“Well, her name is Miriam Long.”

As soon as the name passed Cody’s lips, Wendy had to bite her tongue to keep from laughing out loud. Her face lit up, though, enough that Travis gave her a curious look.

“Miriam Long,” Wendy repeated, turning back to the stove to continue preparing coffee.

She pictured loud, spritely, dramatic Miriam—Miriam the actress, who had more energy and fire and
experience
than any of the other girls at Hurst Home. Miriam, who never thought about what she said before she said it.

Oh dear.

She cleared her throat and turned back to Cody as soon as the coffee things were lined up and ready. “Miriam is a lovely, high-spirited girl. She’ll be perfect for you.” Wendy looked straight at Travis as she made the statement.

Travis’s confused frown melted quickly into a smirk, and then an outright grin. “She sounds like quite a character.”

“Oh, she is.” Wendy arched a brow.

Travis tried not to snicker. He had clearly gotten the message of just what Cody was in for by agreeing to marry Miriam.

“Is she pretty?” Cody asked, innocent of everything he was about to step in.

“Very,” Wendy answered honestly. “Did they tell you she used to be an actress?”

“They did.” Judging by his tone of voice, Cody had no idea what that entailed. “Do you like her?”

A twist of honesty poked at Wendy’s conscience. It was one thing to tease her new brother-in-law and former fiancé, but this was an important decision for him.

“I do,” she admitted at last. “There’s never a dull moment with Miriam.”

Cody burst into a relieved smile. “Good. That’s all I need. If you like her, then I know she’s the right girl for me.”

His unexpected vote of confidence touched Wendy far more deeply than she expected. Perhaps all of the unpleasantness at the start of their acquaintance could be wiped away after all. Cody wasn’t bad, he was just young. And now he was family.

“Would you like a little more than coffee?” she asked him, crossing to the icebox to get out the leftover roast she had planned to serve for supper. “There’s plenty here if you want to stay and eat.”

Cody relaxed even more. “I would like that.” He shot a look over his shoulder to Travis.

For the first time in weeks, Travis smiled back at his brother. Yet again, happiness like Wendy had never known filled her. Things would smooth out and return to normal between Travis and Cody in no time. It was a good thing too. Cody would likely need all the help his brother could give him if he married Miriam.

She set to work fixing supper for three. Travis joined her at the counter to help.

“Thanks for that,” he whispered to her.

“For what?”

The warmth of his smile filled her. “For forgiving him.”

She grinned, giving him a quick peck on the cheek. “He’s your brother, so he’s our family.”

In spite of the fact that Cody was sitting right there, pretending not to watch them, Travis swept her into his arms and gave her a tender kiss. “I love you,” he said. “You’re the best thing that ever happened to me.”

“No,” she corrected him with a laugh. “We’re the best thing that ever happened to each other.”

*          *          *

Author’s Note: There is a sad and frustrating chapter of the history of this country that many people don’t know about. And that is that in the first decade or two after the Civil War and Emancipation, there were many more opportunities available to African-Americans in this country. Many were able to own property and businesses, hold public offices, and become educated beyond anything they would have dreamed of before. The West was particularly promising, because the need for settlers and businessmen and women was so desperate that other boundaries were broken down.

But as Wendy says to her friends in Hurst Home, laws may have made life better, but laws could also be passed that would take away hard-won freedoms. That’s what happened. At the end of Reconstruction—roughly the late 1870s—Jim Crow laws began to be passed which steadily eroded the freedoms of people who had achieved so much in such a short time.

So is it historically realistic for Travis and Wendy to have legally been allowed to marry in 1875? All of my research indicates that yes, it would have been legally possible in Wyoming at that time. A decade or two later, however, and it would not have been. And if they were to have left Haskell or the Territory of Wyoming, it’s highly likely that their marriage wouldn’t be recognized. Either way, as harshly as we might condemn Cody for his reaction, that would have been the most common reaction Travis and Wendy’s marriage would have received.

But don’t worry too much about Cody. He’s got a hard lesson coming his way. But before he gets there, it’s Mason’s turn to walk down the aisle in the fourth book in The Brides of Paradise Ranch series,
His Heartbroken Bride
. Although when Luke Chance’s newly-widowed sister, Libby, steps off the train and back into the bosom of her family, marriage is the last thing on her or Mason’s mind. Too bad love has other ideas. Coming soon!

Click here for a complete list of other works by Merry Farmer
.