Short-Straw Bride (23 page)

Moses tried to lead her a discreet distance away, but she grabbed hold of his arm, needing answers more than privacy. “Has something happened to my husband?”

“No, ma'am.” He turned to face her, his earnest expression spearing relief through her. “Everybody be fine.”

She exhaled a heavy breath. “Thank heavens.”

“But there sure 'nough be trouble of some kind, 'cause Mr. Travis, he done tol' me to fetch you right quick.”

Meredith slipped her arms into the sleeves of her cloak and worked the fasteners. There was no question—she would return at once. Travis needed her. “Do you have any idea what the trouble is?”

“No, Miss Meri. But it might have somethin' to do with their visitor.”

A visitor?
Meredith jerked her attention from her buttons to the grim line of Moses's mouth.

“I noticed a strange horse in the corral when I come in from the barn. It weren't wearing the Archer brand.”

Meredith's pulse picked up speed again. Had one of Roy's men come to make more threats? For the first time, she realized how Travis must feel when things began spiraling out of his control. The horrible helplessness that swamped her at the thought of her family being in trouble while she was too far away to help made her ill.

“I need my horse.” She rushed past Moses only to see Josiah leading Ginger toward her.

Moses came up behind her and lifted her into the saddle. Meredith thanked him and kicked Ginger into a gallop. This time the wind in her hair brought no feeling of freedom, only a growing urgency as she raced home.

W
hen Meredith rode into the yard, she scanned the barn and outbuildings for any hint of what the trouble could be, but nothing seemed out of place. None of the men were in evidence, either, which sent a frisson of alarm skittering down her back. Meredith reined Ginger to a halt in front of the house and jumped to the ground, ignoring the twinge of pain that shot up her weak leg. She tossed the lead line around the porch railing and pounded up the steps.

“Travis?” His name echoed through the house as she threw the door wide.

The sound of muffled voices drifted to her through the parlor wall. Meredith hurried the short distance to the entrance and nearly collided with her husband as his form filled the doorway. He looked blessedly hearty, if a bit haggard. She laid her palms upon his chest, needing the solid feel of him to reassure her that he was indeed unharmed.

“You're all right?” The breathless whisper escaped before her mind could stop it. The man probably thought her a nitwit. Of course he was all right. He was standing right in front of her, for goodness' sake.

Yet something that flashed in his eyes dissolved her chagrin. He claimed her hands in his larger ones and gave them a gentle squeeze before a wail from somewhere behind him broke the spell.

“What on earth . . . ?” Meredith tilted her head to see around her husband's shoulder. A familiar set of blond curls peeked at her over the back of the settee. “Cassie?”

Her cousin pushed away from a beleaguered-looking Jim, whose wet shirtfront attested to the length of time he'd offered himself as a human handkerchief, and twisted to peer at Meredith.

“Oh, Meri. Thank the Lord you're home.” Her reddened eyes and blotchy complexion spurred Meredith to her side. Cassie had been known to shed a strategic tear or two when trying to get her way, but Meredith had never seen her so distraught.

Squeezing onto the settee between her cousin and the sofa arm, Meredith grasped Cassandra's hands. “What happened?”

Cassie's face crumpled. “Papa's done something awful, Meri. Truly awf-f-fullll.” The last word ended on another wail as Cassie threw herself into Meredith's arms.

Wrapping her cousin in a tight embrace, Meredith glanced around the room at her brothers-in-law, questioning them with her eyes.

They all wore the same bewildered expression, offering no help whatsoever.

“We haven't been able to get much out of her,” Travis said softly, his hands gripping the wooden trim on the back of the settee near her shoulder. “She insisted on waiting for you.”

“Well, I'm here now.” Meredith spoke more to Cassie than Travis. She patted her cousin's back a final time, then gently clasped her arms and sat her up straight. “Whatever Uncle Everett has done, we will deal with it.” Meredith reached a hand to Cassie's hair and began rearranging the disheveled curls. “Now, let's get you presentable so you'll feel better. You really are quite a wreck.” She smiled fondly at her cousin to take the sting from her words. Yet the delicate prick to Cassandra's vanity sparked the exact reaction Meredith intended.

Her cousin immediately set about putting her appearance to rights, wiping the tear tracks from her cheeks, smoothing her skirts, and straightening her posture. The quick self-conscious glance she directed toward Jim as he rose from the settee didn't go unnoticed, either. Cassie wouldn't be falling apart again—not in front of the men, anyway.

“I never thought Papa would steal from his own flesh and blood.” Cassie gave a little sniff. “It's not like him at all, you know. But when Mama insisted it was the only way to save the business, he gave in.” Cassandra placed her hand atop Meredith's, her earnest face pleading for understanding. “You must forgive him, Meri. His financial troubles are much more dire than I imagined. I'm sure he felt this was the only way.”

“Cass, you're making my head spin.” Meredith's forehead crinkled as she tried to make sense of the convoluted story. “What, exactly, has he done?”

“Before I tell you, promise me that you won't hold it against me. I want no part of this scheme. I said as much to Papa, but Mama slapped my face for talking back and said I'd do what was right for the family, that I'd been pampered long enough, and it was time for me to do my duty.”

“Aunt Noreen actually struck you?” The shock of it pushed Meredith back against the arm of the sofa. Her aunt had always doted on Cassandra. Meredith couldn't even remember the woman speaking to her daughter in a harsh tone.

“Yes.” Cassie's chin wobbled, but she fought to keep the tears at bay. “That's when I knew that I couldn't cajole Papa out of the idea. There was too much at stake. My only chance to escape was to beg you to take me in.”

“You are always welcome in my home, Cass. You know that. But you really must cease all this beating around the bush and tell me what is going on.”

Her cousin lowered her lashes as if too ashamed to meet Meredith's gaze. “Instead of signing over Uncle Teddy's land to you upon your marriage, as he and Uncle Teddy arranged, Papa plans to use it as a dowry. For me.”

“He's stealing my land?” Meredith could barely get the words out, so deflated was she by the revelation. “The home I grew up in?”

A warm hand settled on her shoulder and stroked the skin at her neck.
Travis.
His quiet support kept her from shattering. But she couldn't look at him. What would he think? That land was the only thing of value she'd brought to their marriage. She'd hoped to pass it down to their children one day, just as his father had passed down the Archer ranch to him and his brothers. Her dowry had just been stolen from him to be given to another.

To Cassie.

Meredith stiffened. The only reason Uncle Everett would use the land as a dowry for Cassandra would be to entice a prosperous suitor into making an offer. A man who would value the land.

Meredith's stomach lurched. She prayed her intuition was wrong. “Who do they expect you to marry?”

Cassie finally looked up, her eyes twin pools of sorrow. “Roy Mitchell.”

Tension speared through Meredith's shoulders beneath Travis's fingers. He tried to massage some of it away, but his own muscles had bunched so tight, he doubted it was very effective.

How could Everett Hayes be such a weak-livered dunce? What little respect Travis held for the man due to his relationship with Meri evaporated. Even if Hayes was fool enough to believe Mitchell innocent of the attack on Travis's barn, he should have enough qualms to prevent him from handing over the daughter he claimed to love simply to boost his deteriorating business.

He glanced at each of his brothers, all of them wearing the same stony-eyed expression, and made his intention clear by moving to stand directly between the backs of the two women sitting on the settee. Travis slid his hands along the wooden trim of the sofa until his spread arms encompassed them both. Meredith loved Cassandra like a sister. That made her family. Archers protected family.

Crockett, Neill, and Jim all met his stare and gave their nod of assent. Jim held Travis's gaze the longest and took a deliberate step closer to their visitor as he clenched his jaw in determination. His meaning was clear. Jim had just staked a claim. And made himself responsible for Cassandra's welfare.

“You can't go along with it, Cass.” Meredith shoved up out of her seat and started pacing, her uneven gait agitated and unsteady as she crossed the rug. Travis moved farther into the room, wishing he could spare her this latest betrayal.

Cassandra shifted to the edge of the settee. “I know. That's why I came here. You were obviously right about Mr. Mitchell. He must have only been after your land if the bride accompanying it makes so little difference to him. I can't marry someone who cares nothing for me.”

“It's worse than that.” Meredith spun to face her cousin. “He's dangerous. Or did you forget about him sending men to set fire to the Archers' barn?”

The younger woman tilted her chin at a quizzical angle as she slowly rose to her feet. “Papa assured me that was a misunderstanding. That it was one of Roy's competitors who set the fire.”

“I heard him give the order, Cassie. There was no misunderstanding.” Meredith crossed her arms over her chest. Instead of lending her a look of determination, however, the movement gave her an air of vulnerability, as if she strove to protect herself from another family member's disbelief.

“Papa wouldn't lie to me. I'm sure of it.”

Travis strode to Meredith's side, the instinct to protect her driving him forward. His jaw tensed as he glowered at the young woman before him. “Your papa
wants
to believe in Mitchell's innocence because he needs the man's partnership.” His words came out clipped and impatient even to his own ears. Little Cassie would just have to deal with it, though. He couldn't stomach another Hayes gainsaying Meri in order to make excuses for the man who destroyed his property and plotted to steal his land. “Money clouded his judgment, and he accepted the word of a stranger over family.”

“Isn't there the slightest chance you misheard, Meri?” Doubt clouded the girl's features as she scrambled to keep her doting father from sliding farther off his pedestal.

“No,” Meredith answered, her voice rich with compassion. “I'm sure of what I heard. But even if there
was
a chance, would you be willing to risk your future happiness on such short odds?”

Cassandra bit her lower lip and shook her head. Meredith rushed to her side and wrapped her arms around her.

“What am I going to do?”

Meredith smiled that brave smile of hers that always made Travis's chest puff with pride. “We'll think of something. For now, though, you're going to come to the kitchen and help me make supper.”

“You know I can't cook.”

Meredith tucked her cousin under her arm like a mother hen with a chick and led her toward the door. “Well, it's about time you learned, don't you think?”

Meredith twisted her neck to meet Travis's gaze before she swept out of the room. He felt her thanks without her having to say a word, and the fact that he could read her looks as well as those of his brothers made him pause. She was becoming part of him.

Once the women's voices receded, Travis turned back to face his brothers. They all gravitated toward the center of the room.

“What's the plan, Trav?” Neill asked.

“She ain't marrying Mitchell.” Jim glared at Travis, daring him to argue.

Travis clapped him on the shoulder. “Cassandra will stay here under our protection until we decide what needs to be done. In the meantime, it might be a good idea—”

A pair of shots echoed in the distance, cutting Travis off. He instinctively looked to the window. Cassandra's father had made good time.

“Have you noticed that we've had more visitors in the last few weeks than we had all of last year? Maybe we should consider opening a hotel.” Crockett's sarcasm earned him a punch in the arm from Jim.

Travis bit back a reply. He couldn't deny that things had started spiraling further and further out of control ever since Meredith showed up on their ranch, but even with all the trouble, he didn't regret her appearance. How could he? She was family.

A tiny seed of a thought surfaced in his mind, that perhaps she was even more than family, but he didn't have time to examine it too closely. He had an irate father to deal with and a brother to restrain from shooting said father. That was about all he could handle at the moment.

“Jim, you're with me. Neill, take position near the barn. Crockett—” he paused long enough to smirk at his oldest sibling—“you can man the Archer Hotel.”

Crockett's chuckle followed him as he and the others filed out the front door.