ROMANCE: Badass Boss (Billionaire Alpha Bad Boy Romance) (Western Mail Order Bride Calendar Contemporary) (56 page)

Chapter 2

The Advertisement

Ruth Stafford is sitting in her seat looking out the window of the Gulf, Colorado & Santa Fe Railroad car that she is currently occupying. She has no idea what he looks like, what kind of man he is, or what he does to support himself.  She does know, however, that she did not expect to be sent for so quickly. After all, she had only taken out the ad three months ago, and was included in only one issue. She does not know if it is common to be called for this quickly or not, but she does know that she does not care. She would have done anything to get out of Atlanta, and boarding a train for the middle of nowhere in Texas seemed to be as good an idea as any.

So she took out the advertisement, and waited just eight short weeks for a response.  All he had told her in his letter was that he was tall, and lived well enough. Church on Sunday and he worked the other six days of the week. He said that he helps with the occasional barn raising, and really doesn’t like to drink very often. Other than those few pieces of information, he hadn’t said much, so she really didn’t know how she was going to find him. He had said that he would be waiting on the platform at the Coleman Station… wherever Coleman, Texas is.

Being from Charleston, South Carolina, she had never known anything about the world except to know that the plantation where her daddy worked as a sharecropper was very, very large.

As the youngest child of Timothy and Saralee Edwards, she had enjoyed the protection of her five older brothers and six older sisters.  Her daddy had served in the Confederate Army of Tennessee under Generals Bragg and Johnston, surrendering at Bennett Place with the rest of the Army.

After the war, he had struggled to make ends meet. That didn’t stop him from seeking companionship, and so married his third wife, Ruth’s momma, and three years after he received his parole for having served in the army, Saralee gave birth to their second daughter together, Ruth.

Saralee died two months later from pneumonia, and Timothy and his oldest three sons found work as sharecroppers to support the rest of the family. Now, all of Ruth’s sisters have married off, but she has yet to find a suitor that will propose. And this was why she took out the advertisement.

Thinking all of this over as the train puffs into the station, she wonders if she has finally found a husband in Robert Parker Jr.

Chapter 3

The First Meeting

Junior watches as the train brakes and comes to a stop. Walking slowly across the platform to the car marked “US MAIL,” Junior has determined that it simply is not wise to waste money on rifles and spurs. After all, his daddy’s old carbine works just fine, and while his hat may be worn thin, it doesn’t have any holes in it. It would be much wise to continue living the frugal life that he’s been living, and continue increasing his personal wealth.

Sure, he could retire right now and live on his savings if he wanted to. The problem is, though, he has been a cowboy for so long that he doesn’t know how to sit still. He knows that without a family at home, he would have nothing to do if he sold the rest of his cattle and just stayed home.

Junior has always wanted a family, but having gone from penniless only child of a dead Confederate officer to the single wealthiest man in Coleman County in less than ten years has as many disadvantages as perks.

With a net worth of well over $1 million, and most of it held as bullion in a large fire-proof safe in his cellar, every woman in Atoka, Coleman, Fisk, Montvale, Novice, Santa Anna, Trickham, and Voss knows that he is wealthy. Even though he lives very modestly despite his wealth, it’s nearly impossible to hide the fact that he has been moving thousands of cattle each year, for over twenty years. Plus, his taxable estate can easily be checked at the courthouse.

Sure, many women in Coleman County would be his for the asking, but he can’t dismiss his fear that they only want him because of his wealth. And the simple fact is this:  without a wife, you can’t have any children.

Junior gets his piece of mail from the gentleman who is handing out the various envelopes, says thank you, and turns to walk away when a voice stops him.

“Junior!”

“Yeah?” He answers, turning around to see who was calling him.

“Junior, your first name is Robert, ain’t it?” asks Big Dave, another rancher. Dave has a large operation in Voss… although nothing compared to what Junior runs. Dave is lucky to make in five years what Junior makes in one.

“Yeah, it is. But I haven’t gone by ‘Robert’ since I was a boy in school. Why you askin’?”

“Well, this little lady here was asking me about Robert Parker Jr.,” Big Dave said, indicating Ruth standing beside him. “I told her that I know a Junior Parker, but I couldn’t remember if that’s your name or not.” Turning to Ruth, Dave said, “Well little lady, here’s yo’ man. I’d best be getting back to the ranch.  Junior… ma’am,” he finished, tipping his hat to each.

After waiving at Dave’s retreating frame, Junior turns to Ruth and says, “Well, darling. I’m Robert Parker Jr. How can I help you?”

“I’m Ruth Stafford, Mr. Parker,” she answered, and silence ensued. After one awkward moment, Junior answered,

“Okay?”

“Ruth Stafford? From Charleston? In South Carolina? You responded to my ad in the San Antonio Star, and we’ve corresponded for over a month!” Upon seeing the blank look upon Junior’s face, Ruth realizes that she has become the victim of some scam. “You are Robert Parker Jr.?”

“Yes, I am… but I don’t even read the Star, much less answer ads. What kind of ad did you think I had answered?”

Feeling foolish, and realizing that she had been on the receiving end of some kind of cruel joke, Ruth sheepishly answered, “a personal ad.”

“Well of course it was personal,” Robert answers. “You are a person, and it’s your ad. But what was the ad for? I may be interested in whatever you’re selling.”

“No!” she said, growing more irritated with herself, and becoming frustrated with the turn of events. “I’m not trying to sell anything! I’m looking for a husband!”

“Looking for a husband?” Junior answered, realizing that he may have just discovered a positive outcome for this situation. “What did I say in my letters?”

“Obviously nothing, if you didn’t send them!”

“No ma’am, what I mean is, what did the letters—the ones that you thought were from me—say?”

“Well, they said that you are a cattle rancher, and that you’ve been living alone for many years, and have always wanted to settle down, but could not find the right woman.”

“Did they say anything else? Anything at all?”

“Only that you thought that I am pretty, and would meet me on this platform today, at this time. It included the money for the train ticket, and information about what trains to take to get here at this time,” she answered. “Oh yeah, and they said that you are tall.”

“And that’s all?”

“Yes, sir. And now I find out that you didn’t actually send for me, and have never seen my picture. You probably just want me to go back, but I have no money for tickets.”

“Well, if you decide that you want to go back, I’ll gladly pay your way,” Junior answered her, appraising the situation. “Truth is, I am not married, and never have been, but I have my own reasons for that, that in time I may discuss with you, but not yet, and not at this time. I have often wondered if I am the marryin’ kind, and I would be willin’ ta give this a try, if you too are willin.’ What d’you say?”

Ruth takes a moment to appraise the situation before answering him. True, she had come here looking for a husband. True, too, the man she came to marry was standing before her, unmarried. However, it did bother her very much that he did not know about the ad, and that he had not sent for her.

All this time, she had thought that he had responded to the ad because he thought that she was pretty, as she had included a picture in the ad. And to be perfectly honest, she did not expect a man that is more than 20 years her senior. He is a cattle rancher, but had hoped for a husband that was closer to her age. Furthermore, he has never been married, and doesn’t know how to be married… but then again, neither does she.

“Well,” Junior says, interrupting her reverie. “What’ll it be? Do you want to come home with me, and see what happens, or should I buy you a ticket back to Charleston?”

“I think… I think that I’ll stay. I took the ad because I was looking for a husband after all, and here you are.”

“Exactly, here I am,” Junior says, bending over to pick up her bags and starting toward the steps leading down from the platform.

Chapter 4

Joy Ride

“Well, Miss Ruth, this is the biggest town in the county, Coleman. Being from Charleston, what do you think?” Junior asks after borrowing a mule to carry her bags, and chestnut colored filly for her to ride.

“Well, it’s much smaller than Charleston, but definitely more attractive,” Ruth answers. I think that I can see myself living here.”

“Well, I don’t live here. I live outside Atoka, northwest of here by a few miles. I only came down here today to meet the mail train. I come down here every so often to hire some more boys, but that’s always at the beginning of the driving season.”

“So you are a rancher?”

“Yes. I have a pretty modest operation ‘bout a mile west of town. It’s not the biggest one around, but I get by.” This of course was not strictly true. There was only one ranch in Coleman or the surrounding counties that was bigger than his own, down outside Brady in McCulloch County, and even that ranch didn’t move as much cattle as Junior’s.

“So what do you do between drives?” Ruth asks. She had done some research before setting out, and knew that Coleman County was very near to the Dodge City Trail, and that Junior likely followed this trail to send his cattle east.

Well, I don’t do much. I keep a garden to feed myself, I brand calves, and I go to church. I’ve never been the kind to go to the saloon, or give in to too much drink. I’ll usually pay my guys a bonus if I’ve had a really good year, and they’ll go to Coleman and stick it to any woman that’ll let ‘em, but I’ve never been one to do that. I try to go to church most every week, and that’s about it.”

“Okay. So you’ve never been one to sleep around, and you go to church, and work. That’s all?”

“That’s me in a pecan shell.”

“Well, that’s good to hear.”

“Like I told you back at the station, I work so much that I don’t have time for much else.”

“Have you ever thought that that could be why you’ve never married?”

“Yeah, it prob’ly didn’t help matters none. Here, let me help you up,” Junior says, proffering his hand to assist her onto the horse’s back. After she was safely straddled on the pony’s back, Junior swung himself onto his own stallion’s back. “Ruth, I hope you don’t mind, but I need to stop by the bank to handle some business before we leave Coleman. We don’t have one in Atoka, but I need to get this done today. Is that alright with you?”

“That there isn’t a branch in Atoka, or that you need to stop?” she asked sarcastically, smiling at him.

“Both,” he said, returning her smile somewhat awkwardly as they set off to the bank that is on the road as travelers are leaving Coleman, going toward Atoka. When they stopped, Ruth dismounted her filly and fed it some handfuls of grass.

Well, he is nice enough she thought to herself. But he is so much older than I! Sure, he looks nice enough too, but will I be able to marry a man that is twice my age? I mean, he seems patient, and he isn’t given over to drink, but… I just don’t know.

She stayed dismounted the entire time that Junior was in the bank, thinking this whole situation over. When he came out, he offered his hand to assist her back on the horse’s back again, but this time, she refused.

“Can you show me how to mount by myself?” 

Bemused, Junior responds, “Of course,” and proceeds to mount his stallion with ease, placing his right foot in the stirrup and quickly swinging his left over the horse's back.

“See? Nothin’ to it. Now you try.”

Ruth placed her left foot in the stirrup, and even though she tried to swing her right leg over the horse's back, she could not because of the skirt that she wore. Immediately seeing the cause of the problem, Junior dismounted, and shortened the stirrups on Ruth’s animal, and advised that she try again. This time, when Ruth swung her leg up and over the filly’s back, she was able to do so with relative ease.

“Not bad for a city girl,” Junior said, with his eyebrow raised under his hat and a smile on his face. Together, they turned and rode, leading the mule that was carrying her bags down the road to Atoka, and home.