Seth (Prairie Grooms, Book Three) (12 page)

“Harrison!”

Eloise and Harrison l
ooked up at the same time as Constance ran toward them. “What is it?” asked Eloise.

Constance reached the wagon, and bent over in a very un-ladylike manner to catch her breath. “It… it’s Seth…”

“W
hat about Seth?” Eloise asked, concerned.

“Give her a moment to breathe
, cousin.” Harrison told Eloise, then turned to Constance. “What about him?”

“He and Ry
der are going after the outlaws!”

“
What?!” Harrison exclaimed. “But the sheriff found nothing!”

“Y
es, that's why they're determined to go after them,” Constance explained. “They think they can find what the sheriff couldn't.”

“O
h, for the love of…” Harrison lamented. “You two stay here while I go talk some sense into them.” He stomped across the street in the direction of the hotel, leaving Constance and Eloise to stare after him.

“Seth can’t go after those
outlaws, he just can't!” Eloise said, her voice desperate.

“Seth
?” said Constance. “What about Ryder?”

“
I'm… I'm not as worried about your husband.”

“What do you
mean you're not as worried?”

“Well… it's just that… Ryder seems more accustomed to racing off across the prairie tha
n his brother.”

“Meaning?”

“What I mean is… Seth is more… civilized and not as experienced as Ryder in these matters.”

Constance put her hands on her hips and stared, mouth agape. “Well, I never! I can't believe you think my husband is uncivilized!”

“
I didn’t say Ryder is uncivilized; what I'm saying is that Seth … isn't as good an outdoorsman as his brother.”

Constance stared at her, her hands falling to her sides
, as she now understood what Eloise said. “Oh, I see. Well, I must say, Seth doesn't appear to be much of a dandy.”

“
He's not a dandy, he just isn’t the type to … oh, I don't know what I'm trying to say.”

“
Are you saying he's not as skilled as Ryder?”

“
Yes, that's it!”

“
How do you know?” Constance asked.

Eloise began to shift from one foot to the other. “Well, any fool can take one look at him and tell.”

“Never judge a book by its cover,” s
aid Constance. “Seems to me you're not giving Seth a chance to prove himself.”

“
He doesn't have to prove himself to me, I know what he’s made of,” argued Eloise.

“
Oh really?” asked Constance. “Well, if you ask me, if he's aiming to go after those outlaws, then he must know what he's doing. Otherwise, he wouldn't go.”

Now it was
Eloise’s turn to stand, hands on hips, and stare at her sister. She had a point, however, “But it’s dangerous!”

“
Of course it’s dangerous. They’re going after outlaws!”

“
Yes, and that being the case, why are you so willing to let
your
husband ride off into danger?”

“
It's not that I'm willing; Ryder will do what Ryder … is going to do, and there's not a lot
I
can do to stop him!”

Eloise folded her arms across her chest. “Men!”

“
Yes, men!” agreed Constance.

Eloise was about to comment further when she saw Harrison approach, with Seth and Ryder right behind him. “Well?” she asked as they reached them. “Tell me you talked some sense into these two.”

“
Yes, tell us,” urged Constance. “They can't expect to go riding off after those outlaws by themselves.”

“
Oh yes, we certainly
can
expect, Sugar,” said Ryder.

Constance's mouth fell open as her eyes went wide. “You are
not
going after those outlaws!”

Ryder
looked at Seth and Harrison. “As you can see, my wife likes to speak her mind.”

Seth fixed his gaze on Eloise. “Are you going to speak your mind, too?”

She took a deep breath and glared at him. “Yes, as a matter of fact, I am.”

“
Well before you start,” he said. “It might interest you to know that we’re not going anywhere.”

“
You're … you’re not?” she stammered.

“
Nope,” said Seth. “You and me are gonna go to a picnic and get married.”

Eloise sighed in relief, turned to Harrison, and kissed him on the cheek. “Thank you.”

“Hey,
what about me?” Seth said, annoyed.

Eloise looked at her intended.
“
That
was for talking you out of going.”

“
What about us?” asked Constance as she looked at Ryder. “Are we going home now?”

“No
, Sugar, we ain’t. We’ll stay at the hotel until after Seth and your sister get married. Then we'll go back to our place.”

“
So,” said Harrison. “We’re all in agreement that you two are to stay put? Let the lawmen handle the law?”

Ryder
and Seth looked at one another and shrugged. “Fine by us,” said Seth.

“Yeah, I guess there’re more important things than chasin’ after a bunch of silly old outlaws,” added Ryder.

Relieved, Eloise and Constance closed their eyes at the same time. “Thank you,” Constance told her husband. “I don't know what I'd do if… anything happened to you.”

“
That goes for me, too,” said Eloise. She took one of Seth's hands and gave it a squeeze. “After all, how fitting would it be for me to lose you before we marry?”

Seth took her in his arms. “Wouldn't be fitting at all,” he said and then, without warning, kissed her.

Constance let out a small gasp. Ryder, on the other hand, laughed and pulled her against him. “I think my brother has the right idea, don’t you, Sugar?” Before she could comment, his lips found hers, and she melted into his arms.

Seth broke his kiss with Eloise, and stared at his brother. “I guess we better stop before we make a spectacle of ourselves in public.” Eloise also glanced at the kissing couple, and giggled. “Is that what we look like?”

“Probably worse.”

Harrison leaned against the wagon and shook his head. “I hate to be the one to break up your … er … sparking party, but I have to get back to the ranch.”

Eloise sighed
and looked at Seth. “I guess this means it's time to leave. I wish I could stay.”

He took her other hand and kissed it. “Maybe you can.”

Eloise smiled. “I wish I could, but it
is
our wedding the women came to plan. I should be there for at least part of it.”

Seth nodded his reluctant agreement
. Harrison stepped away from the wagon. “I’m sure the womenfolk will need to come into town tomorrow. You’ll see her then.”

Seth gave him a single nod, before he returned his attention to Eloise and took her hand in his. He raised it to his lips and kissed it again. “Until tomorrow.”

Eloise blushed, not sure how to respond to the look
he was giving her. “The women want to decorate the picnic with flowers for our wedding.”

“
Land sakes, darlin'; I might have to go pick me some flowers right now!”

His remark elicited a giggle from her, and she blushed again. “I wish I could help you.”

“
So do I…”

“
Eloise,
we
need
to get back!” Harrison reminded her.

“I understand,” she told him, without taking her eyes from Seth. “But I do so wish I could stay.”

Seth's eyes flicked to Harrison's, but he was answered with a shake of his head. Seth turned back to Eloise. “Sorry, darlin'; looks like you got to go back.

“
It's all right,” she said.

“
Do you really want to stay?” he whispered.

“Eloise!” Harrison urged.

She ignored him, and continued to gaze at Seth, her mouth curving up into a smile. “It would be nice to spend more time with you before we’re married, but I understand that that's not how things work out here.”

“If this was Oregon City
, or someplace like Denver, we might already be married. Heck, we’d have been married as soon as you got off the stage.”

“
I, for one, am glad this isn't Oregon City or Denver, and that we’ve had some time to get to know one another first. You have to admit, courting does have its charms.”

“
I guess I never thought of it that way,” he said.

“Oh
, for the love of …” Harrison groaned. “I say, Cousin, but we
really do
need to get going.
Now
!”

Eloise looked between the two men before her eyes settled on Seth. “Goodbye.”

Seth nodded his understanding and let go of her hand. Eloise hugged Constance who had been standing silent at Ryder’s side. “I'll see you tomorrow.”

“
Of course,” said Constance.

Harrison sighed with relief, helped her up onto the wagon seat, then climbed up and took up the reins. With a slap they were off. Seth, Constance and Ryder watched them go. “Do you think courtin’ would've made a difference for us?” Ryder asked his wife.

“
I don't really know,” she answered. “Does it matter if a man and woman get to know each other and then get married? Or get married first, and then get to know each other?”

“
I suppose it depends on the person,” answered Seth.

Constance smiled at him. “I'm afraid my sister isn’t like me,” she said. “I'm far too impetuous, I'm afraid, whereas Eloise is much more levelheaded.”

Seth looked at her. “Levelheaded, or undecided?”

She gave him a tentative smile. “Perhaps it's a little of both.”

Seth let out a weary sigh. “If you ask me, I wish she'd be more impetuous and less levelheaded.”

* * *

T
he next day, the women of the Triple C did indeed have to make a trip to Clear Creek. Armed with baskets, they planned to meet Mrs. Mulligan and venture out onto the prairie to gather flowers. Seth left the lobby doors of the hotel wide open to better see the wagons pass by. He was determined to catch Eloise as soon as she got into town. He wasn't disappointed; the Triple C's wagon rolled by within moments after he opened them.

Seth quickly finished a ledger entry,
grabbed his hat, and then headed for the Mercantile. He guessed they’d park the wagon there. Sure enough, he watched as Logan Kincaid brought the wagon to a halt at the mercantile’s front steps, and hopped down. Seth quickened his pace. If he hurried he'd get there in time to help Eloise out.

She turned on the wagon seat just in time to see him approach. Her face broke into a wide smile. “Good morning, Mr. Jones,” she said.

“
Mr. Jones, is it? What happened to calling me Seth? We are getting married tomorrow, after all.

“
Yes,” she sighed. “We most certainly are.”

He held his hands up to help her down. Eloise stared at them a moment. She was going to have to get used to allowing her husband to help her in and out of a wagon. But it wasn't so much his polite gesture that gave her pause, but rather, her reaction to it. Would his hands on her waist give her a thrill of excitement, or nothing at all? Again she questioned herself as to why she would have any doubt about marrying him. When it came right down to it, she had no valid reason for doubting it all. Yet, there was just that something…

“
Does everyone have a basket?” Sadie asked.

Eloise reached into the back of the wagon and grabbed the last one. “I have mine,” she said.

“
Don't tell me, let me guess,” said Seth. “You're going to pick flowers.”

“
They certainly are,” said Logan. “You wouldn't happen to want to go with them, would you?”

“
I think I can manage that,” said Seth as he gave Eloise a wink. “Why? Where will you be?”

“
I need to speak with the sheriff. I'll catch up with you later, and then you can head back to the hotel.”

“
Sounds all right to me, except for maybe the part about going back to the hotel,” Seth winked at Eloise again, and then offered her his arm.

She blushed as she took it, and looked to Sadie. “We're ready.”

“I can see that,” she said.
“All right then; let's go.

They crossed the street and went down to the saloon to fetch Mrs. Mulligan. After that, they stopped by the hotel for Constance. Ryder had already left, and was on his way to the Whites’ farm to see about breeding Othello to one of their mares. “I do hope we find enough flowers to meet our needs,” said Eloise.