MINDY'S MAIL ORDER HUSBAND (6 page)

          
“I
was attending to the ranch.”

          
“So
I can see.
 
You’re all dusty.
 
You’d never get into my kitchen looking that
way.”

          
Brett
took off his hat and hung it up on the hook by the door, then walked over and
leaned down and kissed Mindy on the cheek.
 
“Mindy doesn’t mind and this is a ranch.
 
We’re either wet, dusty, or muddy.”

          
“Do
tell, young man.”

          
Brett
sighed.
  
“I’ll take a cup of coffee,
honey, and a piece of pie too.”

          
Mindy
smiled.
 
“Sit down and talk to your
father while I get it.”

          
Brett
sat at the head of the table.
 
Mindy
seemed so at ease, and when he rode in and saw the buggy and his father’s right
hand men, he was worried about what was happening in the house.
 
His father could be a force to reckon with.
 
“Are you just visiting?”

          
“That
and here on business at the bank in town.”

          
“What
kind of business?”

          
“Well,
they informed me that you were here and had deposited a large amount of money
in the bank.”

          
“I
worked and saved that money as you well know,” Brett glared at his father,
daring him to deny it.

          
“I
know you did.
 
The point is that you ran
out on me without a word, a note, or even a telegram as to where you
disappeared.
 
I was worried about you.”

          
Brett
took a sip of coffee and a bite of pie before answering.
 
He’d learned from an early age that you
never yelled or swore in front of your father and remained respectable at all
times.
 
Rage or anger had no place in
the work place or in his father’s home.
 
“I was tired of sitting behind a desk day after day from before daylight
until after dark.
 
I don’t want to live
that way.”

          
“We’ve
had this discussion several times over the past few years.
 
When are you going to come back home?”

          
Brett
groaned and leaned back.
 
Mindy stood
behind him and he reached for her hand and held it on his chest.
 
He could feel her pulse beating rapidly and
knew she was upset at his father’s words.
 
“I’m never coming back, father.
 
I love my wife, I love it here, and here is where I am going to
stay.
 
You may as well get used to it.”

          
“That’s
your final answer?”

          
“It
is.”

          
“How
is the ranch doing?
 
I heard in town
that it was really run down when you arrived.
 
It looks in good shape from what I can see.”

          
“I’ve
put a lot of hard work into it.
 
Mindy’s
pa died and she had trouble with the ranch hands doing their job.
 
I put a stop to that when I arrived.”

          
“Do
tell.
 
So, those visits to Brace really
did toughen you up?”

          
“They
did and being at his place was the only time I’ve been happy since I was a
young boy until I married Mindy.”

          
Brentley
sat back in his chair and looked at Mindy as she stood behind his son.
 
He saw the worried look in her eyes.
 
He’d seen it on many people’s faces during
his banking years when payments were due and people didn’t have it.
 
When he had to foreclose on properties.
 
He’d seen it all.
 
“Mindy, if you can change his mind and move to our house in
Boston, you will want for nothing and have the finest of everything.
 
Clothes, furs, maids, anything your heart
desires.”

          
Brett
was going to say somethin but he felt Mindy stiffen.
 
She left go of Brett’s hand and sat down opposite his
father.
 
The look in her eyes told him
his father was in danger of being kicked out of the house.
 

          
“Father,”
she said, clearing her throat a little before continuing.
 
“You are welcome here anytime to visit or
stay as long as you want.
 
I’d love to
get to know you better, but let me make myself very clear.
 
The only way to get me off this ranch is to
kill me.
 
I’ll never leave.
 
As far as all that frippery you are trying
to entice me with, I’m not interested.”

          
Brentley
grinned.
 
“Looks like you picked a good
wife, son.
 
She knows what she wants and
she’s bound and determined to keep her ranch.”

          
“It’s
our ranch and our home,” Mindy said, raising her chin determinedly.

          
Brentley
turned to look at his son.
 
“I taught
you well.
 
You came here, stood on your
own two feet, made a run down ranch prosperous, and picked a fine wife.
 
I’m proud of you.”

          
Brett’s
heart thumped heavily in his chest.
 
This was the first time in his life that his father ever complimented
him.
 
“Thank you, father.
 
Those words mean a lot to me.”

          
Brentley
stood.
 
“I must be going.
 
I have a date with a very beautiful woman
tonight.
 
I’m taking a widow in town,
Josephine Marken, to dinner at the hotel.”

          
“She’s
a nice lady,” Mindy spoke up as she and Brett rose from the table.
 
If you are going to be in town for awhile,
please come this Sunday after church to dinner.”

          
“I’d
like that.”

          
They
walked Brentley out to his buggy and Mindy was surprised to see the man who
drove it still standing there waiting and the men riding the horses still
mounted.
 
She walked over to
Brentley.
 
“Thank you for coming.”
 
She rose on tiptoe and placed a kiss on his
cheek.

          
“There’s
only one thing I ask of you.”

          
“What’s
that?”
 
Mindy asked, a little leery of
what the question was.

          
“That
you notify me immediately when I have a grandchild on the way.
 
I will come visit for a month so I can be
here when the baby is born.”

          
“Aren’t
you getting a little head of yourself, father?”
 
She grinned.

          
“Not
in the least.
 
I want grandchildren that
I can pass my businesses down to.
 
Not
all your children will want to be ranchers.”

          
Mindy
heard Brett chuckle as Brentley walked to stand before him.
 
“Son, you’ve done well.”

          
Brett
took the hand he offered and shook it.
 
His father never hugged him after he turned thirteen.
 
“Thank you, father.”

          
Mindy
put her arm around Brett’s waist and watched as his father left.
 
She’d never met a man like him before in her
life.
 
She looked up at Brett.
 
“I think we should start working harder on
those grandkids your pa wants.
 
He needs
help.
 
He can’t do all that work himself.”

          
Brett
laughed, picked her up, and carried her upstairs to their room.
 
“Mrs. Connors, I’d be delighted to provide my
father with grandchildren, but the firstborn son will stay on this ranch
whether he likes it or not.”

          
“What
about the girls?”

          
“I
won’t let them out of my sight and they have to live right here.”

          
Mindy
laughed as she fell onto the bed in a fit of giggles.
 
“Oh, you are going to be such a protective pa, just like mine
was.”

          
“Darn
right!”

          
Mindy
melted into his embrace, happier than she’d been since her pa died.
 
Her life was with Brett and the family they’d
have and she thanked God for her mail order husband who loved her.