Beloved Texas Bride (14 page)

 
Elizabeth was getting nervous at the questions he kept asking. Were there posters of her somewhere? She didn’t see any when she walked in plastered on the doorway, but she pulled her bonnet down further on her head as if to hide.

 
Sam would not be put off. “You know, I’ve known Cole Hale since he was a boy and it would do him good to have a tender wife take care of him,” he fished around as he saw her carrying the two pairs of gloves. She had excellent taste and seemed incredibly demure. He would do well to have married a meek wife.

 
Elizabeth eyed the large barrel at the counter and opted to not answer the clerk, but instead ask for assistance as to keep the tart acidic vinegar off her tender hands. She watched as he carefully fished out two large sour pickles from the barrel for them and wrapped them up. The cool pickles would be a treat to snack on during the long ride home. These pickles she knew and liked, unlike the strange okra pickles she had eaten the first night she arrived at Cole’s home.

Glancing up at the clerk, she quietly asked if he mailed letters or telegraphed. She watched as his chest puffed up, proudly boasting that his facility was part of Western Union. Elizabeth happily composed a quick telegram to her family and made arrangement to pay separately from her other purchases. She handed him her carefully folded letter for her new friend May as well.

I am safe and happy- Elizabeth.

The clerk, Sam, asked if the manly gloves were a gift and at her nod he practically cooed at the thought of this tiny, demure lady being Cole’s wife. The boy had hit the jackpot! Sam was more than happy to place the charges on Cole’s account for his new “wife”. Elizabeth blushed mightily and said not a word. She would not correct the man, afraid that he would decline the charges and Cole would be forced to leave the wagon unattended. Elizabeth’s heart pounded as Sam sent the wire and then carefully signed the book Beth Rowlett-Hale under his watchful eye.

 
Looking around, anywhere but at the grinning store clerk, she waited impatiently, tapping her foot silently, to get out of the store. Elizabeth felt like he as taking his sweet time wrapping up the gloves in brown waxed paper since she mentioned it was a gift for Cole. She declined having her gloves wrapped up, but accepted the bags with the gumdrops and pickles.

 
Elizabeth stepped happily from the store and was blasted, once again, by the warm breeze flowing between the buildings making the temperatures bearable. Looking at Cole, she felt guilty she had taken so long. He was currently sitting in the sun and wiping his brow. She liked the way his eyes lit and his smile grew wide as he saw her emerge. It made her feel precious to him, that it wasn’t just desire-but maybe something more?

 
Attempting to gracefully climb into the wagon, Beth slipped one small boot onto the metal fixture on the side, pulling herself up as Cole reached for her arm to assist. She felt Cole’s hand close around her arm, guiding her in as she swept her skirts up and tucked them into the narrow well for their feet. As she seated herself, she heard Cole say hello loudly over her shoulder. She glanced over quickly to see it was the clerk. “Oh no,” Beth whispered and prayed that he wasn’t going to congratulate them on their nuptials.
 

And he did.
 

Could the ground just open up and swallow me now
? she thought, embarrassed as she heard the two chat for a few moments. Beth avoided Cole’s grin as she saw him shake Sam’s hand and thanked him for the kind words. Sitting silently, Beth stared at the packages in her hands. Not sure where to set them and trying her best to avoid the issue, she sat mortified at being caught in the white lie.

Cole watched as Beth emerged from the small shop, eying her shapely figure. She wanted to be courted, he would try his best. He had really never tried to woo a woman, many came to him when he wanted to pay for the company. Beth was different. She was a lady and would need to be treated as such. He figured that most women liked pretty things, but the lifestyle demanded that she have something to protect her face and hands; hence the trip to the mercantile. He had watched her through the glass, seeing her look around and chat happily with Sam Wilson. Cole and his father had done business with Sam for years. He was well known for honesty and taking care of the people he sold goods to.

 
When Cole saw Sam come out smiling, he assumed it was to say hello … not to congratulate him on his wedding! He explained to Sam that it was certainly a surprise to both of them, as he put his hand on the stiff back of a now silent Beth.

 
Cole suppressed a chuckle and decided to roll with the story, after all, wasn’t that his goal? He would have Beth, but apparently Beth would have him as well! He guessed that she had no idea that Common Law marriages were upheld in the State of Texas. She was now unknowingly his wife and Cole sure liked the idea of that. He had wanted it to be her decision and, unknowingly, she had said yes to the world.

Now to just get her to say yes to him.

 
Cole shook Sam’s hand and told him that they would be back in the next few weeks for a few more goods, gathering up the reins. Cole could not help the grin on his face, nor would he. He was dying to tease her about it and find out why she had said as much, but he would be patient and let her tell the tale.

 
Cole drove the wagon away from the boardwalk flanking the building into the main road headed out of town. As they headed out from the hustle, he finally broke the silence. “Would you care to explain, Mrs. Hale,” he said, teasing her. He waited for a few moments and finally reached up and pinched the fabric on the back of her bonnet, pulling it off her head.

“There, so I can see my bride.” Cole grinned widely at her surprised expression. He had been wanting to see her lovely face and now it was the face of his wife. He practically laughed at how the cards had been laid in his favor.

 
Elizabeth was surprised and dismayed when her bonnet came flying back, suddenly, revealing her when she wanted to hide the most. She had silently sat there as he had accepted the congratulations on their “wedding” with quite a bit of gusto. She had told him to court her, hadn’t they skipped a step or two? It was her own fault and for a silly reason!

 
“Oh!” she exclaimed and reached up quickly, the packages dropping into the foot well of the wagon, as she realized she had been uncovered deliberately by a grinning Cole. She could no longer hide behind her bonnet.

“Stop it,” she said abruptly and turned away. She could feel her cheeks heating up and knew it had nothing to do with the sun or the heat. Elizabeth heard him chuckle and noticed he was pulling the wagon off the dirt road.

 
They just sat for a moment in silence and finally Cole reached down for the packages. Gathering them up, he put them between the two of them on the bench seat as if to give Beth space. He couldn’t help how surprised and happy it had made him at the same time for her to claim him as her husband.

“Beth, look at me,” he beseeched. “Let’s talk about this. It’s not the end of the world and I won’t hold you to it unless it’s what you want.”
Actually, it was pretty well a done deal but she did not have to know that,
he thought.

“It’s just kinda ironic since we were just discussing us this morning about me courtin’ you,” he said trying to placate her if she was upset or embarrassed.
His “bride” could be a prickly one!
he thought, laying his hand on her shoulder. When she didn’t turn towards him, he pulled on her, forcing her to face him.

 
“I am sorry about the signature,” Beth finally said, mortified. “I just didn’t want him to decline the charge or for you to have to leave our things in the wagon. I’m a little embarrassed and he kept saying that I was your wife and had me sign it. So I did. That’s it,” she said and realized she was wringing her hands regardless of how sore they were still.

She could feel the heat of his hand burning through the fabric of her sleeve. She was embarrassed but not sure if she was more so at the fact that she had been caught claiming to be his wife or the fact that she had been inwardly anxious to sign her name as his.

 
“Don’t apologize,” Cole said gently. “You told me to court you and marriage is kinda my end goal- you know? I really like the idea of you signing your name as mine. Honestly, it made me proud to say that you were my wife to Sam. Thank you for that,” he said as he let his hand drop gently from her arm and clasped her hands.

“I liked it more than you know,” he said gently as he looked at his tanned hands against her small, white ones. They were so different but so alike in some ways, too. She was perfect for him. She just had to realize that, too, he thought.

He noticed that she had yet to look him in the eye and saw how flushed her face was. “Beth, look at me,” he said. As he met her eyes, he could see that she was struggling inwardly to say something or explain something. He could see her eyes looked panicked and the last thing he wanted was for her to run from him like she had her family.

“Beth, you know I won’t push you. Relax. I promised you freedom and you have it. Now let’s get going and talk about something else. What is in the bags? I thought I smelled something awfully tasty and I’m a bit hungry,” he said, letting it drop and picking up the reins once again.

 
Time,
he thought.
She will need time and it will have to be what she wants or she will bolt
. His Beth was like a wild mustang. She will have to be loved, respected, taken care of as well as broken before she would allow herself to be owned. Time, patience, and caring would be at the forefront of his mind in their dealings with each other.
 

Grateful for the change in conversation, Beth grasped at the opportunity to tell him that she had picked up some pickles for them to snack on as well as a treat for later on. Opening the package, she handed him one as she took a bite of the crisp, but sour morsel. She pulled her bonnet back onto her head to protect her face once again and partially to hide within the fabric from him. Eating her refreshment, she noticed that both of them had grown silent and the sounds of the animal’s feet as well as the crunch of the gravel road under the wheels filled the space between them.

Elizabeth sat in silence for quite some time, just enjoying the scenery that she did not pay attention to the first time they had rode out from Fort Worth as she was fleeing the nannyhouse.
Had it been only a few days?

So much had changed in the last few weeks of her life and it was invigorating and slightly terrifying. Shaking her head, she studied the open landscape. An occasional surprise would spring up that would gain a smile from her. A patch of wild flowers, rabbits in the tall grasses and other creatures that were new to her.

At one point, she heard a strange rattling sound that Cole quickly informed her to freeze and not move if she ever heard that noise at the homestead. Apparently there was a deadly snake that lived in the area that rattled prior to its bite! Terrifying! She did not like snakes, whatsoever.

Beth noticed the sun was going down quickly but they hadn’t arrived at the house yet. They were rolling along slowly with the livestock and it was taking quite some time. She was grateful that the heat was dissipating from the glaring sun, but seeing it set … the landscape took on another view completely.

As the moon rose in the sky, shadows crossed the ground and the night was lit by stars everywhere you looked. Great clusters illuminated the darkness and it was stunning to see. She had never gazed upon anything like it back home and here the stars twinkled all around. Beth removed her bonnet and leaned back on the bench as far as her corset would let her, angling her neck to get a better view of the night sky.

 
“Why don’t you quit wearing the corset like I told you? It’s hot and you look completely uncomfortable, Beth,” she heard Cole say quietly in the darkness and did not bother to answer him. Hearing him sigh, she smiled almost mischievously. He could be easily irritated as well as her, apparently.

Beth thought inwardly that he might be right. After all, who would notice and see her. It’s not like she had a fleshy figure. She had always been slim and the layers that women were forced to wear, it would never be an issue. The sun had been growing increasingly brutal during her travels, each day growing warmer than the last.

Finally arriving at the house, she watched as Cole leapt from the wagon. She found herself fascinated with how he moved in his jeans and unconsciously found herself staring, once again. She noticed that the house was dark, just as it had been several days ago when they first arrived, but this time it was different.

This time it felt like coming home.

 
Beth was more than pleased to see Cole pass up unhooking the horse to come to her side and help her from the wagon. It was flattering, to say the very least, to be put as a priority in someone’s life and he made her feel that way. Placing the sides of her hands on his shoulders, as to avoid direct contact with the tender skin, she felt his hands grasp her waist as he gently helped her to the ground. No more hiking one leg up and over indelicately, hoping not to hang her skirt of the edge of the wood.

No, this time it was graceful, sensual and intense being helped down by the dusty cowboy she had ridden home with. His eyes caressed her face as she gained her footing. Beth noticed that he hesitated in releasing her, his hands warm and possessive –then suddenly gone. She found herself reaching for him once again, after he released her and turned away.

Cole had helped Beth down from the wagon. Her small waist fit perfectly in his hands. He could feel the whalebone and her body underneath the layers, and itched to peel them from her in the moonlight. He stood there, waiting for her invitation… just anything from her giving him the okay to kiss her and finally stepped away. It was the hardest thing for him to do. He could barely pull his eyes from her luscious lips that silently begged to be tasted, but he did so and was silently proud of his willpower. If someone had told him to break a limb, it might have been easier than stepping back from her in the moonlight.