Historical Cowboy Romance Two Book Box Set - Mail Order Brides (13 page)

His admission of love melted away all of
Tessa’s doubts and fears. “I love you and I’m sorry I didn’t tell
you all of this before now. I shouldn’t have kept it from you and I
promise not to keep anything else from you again.”

“Same here,” Dean said. “We’re married now
and we shouldn’t have secrets if things are going to work between
us.”

Tessa took his hand and squeezed it. “You
know, for someone who says he’s not very smart, you make a very
intelligent point.”

“Thank you, Mrs. Samuels. I appreciate that,”
Dean said with a smile.

Tessa said, “Why, you’re welcome, Mr.
Samuels.”

Dean leaned closer and said, “So how about we
kiss and make up?”

“Another good idea,” Tessa said.

Dean’s kiss was gentle at first but grew more
passionate quickly. Tessa became warm all over and kissed him back
with abandon. When it ended, Dean smiled down at her.

“So were you really serious about wanting
children?” he asked.

“You know I am,” Tessa said. “Why do you
ask?”

He answered by embracing her and kissing her
fiercely. Tessa knew that she would have to deal with her father
come morning, but for now, she was letting herself be swept away by
her love for Dean. She responded in kind and soon, they were lost
in one another as the moon shone down on the barn.

The next afternoon, Geoffrey and Tessa were
walking through the barn, trying to work out their differences.

“Papa, don’t you see? I’m not much different
than you. As I said yesterday, you struck out on your own, so why
shouldn’t I have been allowed to?” Tessa asked.

“It was different for me, Tessa. I didn’t
want to get caught up in all of the fighting. Things were dangerous
there. It wasn’t what I wanted for myself. I wanted to be my own
man and make my own future,” he told her.

Tessa arched a brow at Geoff. “Did you hear
what you just said?”

Geoffrey went back over it and saw her point.
He gave her a considering look. “You tricked me,” he said.

“No, you tricked yourself, Papa,” Tessa said
with a proud smile. “I had nothing to do with it.”

“I hate it when I’m outsmarted by a woman,”
he teased.

Tessa laughed.

Geoffrey sobered. “But your life wasn’t in
any danger.”

“No, not any physical danger, but I was in
danger of becoming resentful of the people I love because I
couldn’t pursue my own dreams and wishes. If I had stayed in that
life, I would have withered away inside. Would you want that for
me?”

“Of course not.”

“And if I had told you what I wanted to do,
would you have let me?”

Geoffrey’s silence told her the answer.

“Right. So you see that I had no choice and
none of this is Dean’s fault. He had no idea I’d run away like
that, so please don’t blame him,” Tessa said.

“I understand where you’re coming from,”
Geoffrey said. “And I don’t blame him. I could see that he had no
knowledge of your subterfuge. I don’t necessarily agree with your
methods, but I can now accept why you did it.”

Tessa hugged her father. “Thank you, Papa.
It’s a good life here. We’re not the richest people when it comes
to money, but Dean is a hard worker and he’s loves me and the
children.”

“I can see that he’s a good man, Tessa. Those
children are a delight. Jack is quite amusing,” Geoff said, with a
smile at how Jack had started calling him “grandpa” right off.

“You don’t know the half of it, Papa. You
never know what he’s going to say or do,” Tessa said. “And he’s
hard to stay cross with.”

“Hmm. I know someone else like that,” Geoff
said.

“Papa!” Tessa’s objected.

By the time two weeks had passed, Geoffrey
was convinced his daughter had made a good match and that he would
be leaving her in good hands. He enjoyed meeting the rest of Dean’s
family and had gotten to know them all a little better. Geoff found
himself impressed by Marcus’ self-taught knowledge. Seth
entertained him with stories of his exploits on cattle drives and
he told some of his own adventures in Ireland.

Too soon, it came time for her father to head
back, which made Tessa realize how much she missed her family.
Geoffrey promised that he would try to bring the whole family to
meet them the following spring.

Dean and Tessa drove Geoffrey to Wolfe’s
Point to meet the stage coach. They waved him goodbye and Tessa
couldn’t help but cry. Dean held her and whispered comfort. Tessa
finally dried her eyes and smiled.

“I’m all right now. We’ll write lots of
letters and keep in touch and next year will be here before you
know it, right?” she said.

“Of course it will. Don’t worry, I’ll keep
you busy,” Dean said suggestively.

She smacked his arm. “You’re awful.”

Dean laughed and helped her get back in the
wagon. “Yep, that’s me, your awful husband.”

“Who writes awful letters,” she said.

“About that. I had an idea. You have two
sisters, right? I have two brothers. Seth needs a wife, he just
doesn’t know it. So does Marcus. How do you feel about playing
match maker?”

Tessa considered it. “Well, it might take
some work, but I’m pretty sneaky and you’re pretty smart, so it
could be done. I hope Seth writes better letters than you do. Oh,
wait, I’ve never read any letters written by you, so how would I
know?”

Dean captured her mouth in a kiss. “Hush up
now, wife,” he said when he released her.

“I will not!” she said.

Dean laughed again as he clicked to the
horses. “Well, then I’m gonna have to keep kissing you to get you
to shut up.”

Tessa was quiet for a moment and then began
talking a blue streak about anything and everything.

As they drove back to the ranch, they laughed
and loved, accompanied by the westward wind.

The End

Westward Dance (Montana Mail Order Brides
#2)

Madelyn O’Connor is beautiful, popular, and
comfortable with her opulent life. That is until she is brutally
attacked by the son of one of the wealthiest families in
Pittsburgh. Her parents are ready to fight the case out in the
courts, but Madelyn doesn’t want any publicity about it. She wants
to forget that it ever happened, but can’t.

Her family grows increasingly worried about
the depressive state she falls into and they try to come up with
ways to help her, but nothing seems to work. Tessa feels that it
would be best for Madelyn to get far away from the city and wants
her to come to Montana, but Madelyn is resistant to the idea.

Seth Samuels, Tessa brother-in-law becomes
injured in a cattle stampede while on a cattle drive. He’s morose
and anxious over the prospect of not being able to participate in
drives any longer. Tessa sees two people she loves hurting and
thinks that maybe they can help each other when no one else can.
She appeals to Seth to help convince Madelyn to come west. Seth
refuses at first, but then figures that since he can’t do much else
he might as well try to help.

Madelyn and Seth begin a volley of letters in
which Seth entices Madelyn to come meet him. She finds him charming
and eventually cannot resist his entreaties. She and Tessa convince
her parents to let her make the trip. Geoffrey agrees to accompany
his second eldest daughter to Montana.

When Seth and Madelyn meet they are instantly
attracted to each other, but when Seth’s condition becomes even
more serious, Seth is prepared to face the worst. Madelyn isn’t
about to give up on him, however, and becomes determined to help
the man with whom she’s smitten to heal. Together they embark on a
journey of recovery as Seth agrees to go back East to get more
modern treatment. As their relationship deepens there are seemingly
insurmountable obstacles that threaten to tear them apart. Can each
of them compromise in order to have a future together or will their
pride keep them from realizing their dreams?

******

“You know I don’t approve of your mail-order
husband idea, Violet.” Cornell Pollard shuffled the papers on his
desk and bristled his eyebrows over the top of his spectacles.

Violet Kilburn lounged her long, slender body
on a divan across the room, her brown eyes gazing out the library
window at nothing in particular. Rocking Horse Ranch spread out
before her, but she didn’t take much notice of it. Her thoughts
wandered elsewhere. “Yes, I know you don’t approve, Cornell. You’ve
only told me about a thousand times.” She touched her straight
auburn hair, put up in curls on top of her head, but didn’t adjust
it.

“Whatever possessed you to get a mail-order
husband, I’ll never understand.” Cornell laid down one paper and
picked up another. “You know, I have young men in mind for you and
your sisters, young men who will suit you better than perfect
strangers.”

“Yes, I know you have young men in mind for
us,” Violet returned. “That’s precisely why we chose to get
mail-order husbands. We want to marry men of our own choosing.
Surely that’s not too difficult for you to understand.”

“I understand it,” Cornell replied. “I just
don’t think it’s a very wise policy. For one thing, you aren’t
marrying men of your own choosing. You’re marrying strangers picked
out of a hat. You have no notion of these men’s true motive. They
might be marrying you for your fortune. Did you ever consider
that?”

“Marrying us for our fortune?” Violet
repeated. “You mean, like the men you have picked out for us? I can
guarantee
they
would be marrying us for our fortune and
nothing else. Of that I am quite certain.”

Cornell’s head shot up and he gaped at
Violet. “What has gotten into you, child? I’ve never seen you so
petulant before.”

Violet scowled at him from her couch. “I’m
not a child, Cornell. I’m twenty-three years old, and I want to get
married. That’s all you need to know about it.”

“You’ve never acted like this before,”
Cornell exclaimed. “You’ve always been so sensible about things in
the past. I worry you’ve quite taken leave of your senses.”

“I haven’t taken leave of my senses just
because I won’t do what you want me to do.” Violet turned back to
the window. “If I’ve been so sensible in the past, you should trust
me not to do anything foolish now. I know what I’m doing, and
there’s nothing you can say to convince me otherwise.”

“I only want what’s best for you and your
sisters, my dear.” Cornell’s voice took on the pleading whine of an
old man with no other weapons in his arsenal. “You’re my nieces and
my wards, and I only want to see you happily married to men who
will do you credit. I hate to think of you married to some rude
cowboys with no refinement or breeding.”

Violet sighed. “I understand you want what’s
best for us, Cornell. But there’s no point in arguing about it
anymore. My sisters and I will drive down to the train station in
Butte to pick the men up off the train today. The deed is done, and
you can’t undo it by pestering me about it. So I would appreciate
it if you would drop the whole subject.”

“I don’t know if I can do that,” Cornell told
her.

“You better do it,” Violet snapped. “Because
my sisters and I agree that we won’t stand for you harassing these
men once they arrive. If you can’t accept the situation for what it
is, then keep quiet.”

Cornell stared at her. Then he shook his head
and sighed down at his papers. “I don’t believe I’m hearing this
from you, Violet. I just don’t believe it.”

“Believe it.” Violet compressed her lips and
kept her eyes fixed on the scene outside the window.

The sunshine of early spring blazed down on
the range outside. The green grass disappeared before the viewer’s
eyes into the purple and blue of the horizon. A gust of wind sent
ripples through the grass.

A split rail fence separated the yard in
front of the ranch house from the open range beyond. A herd of
cattle ambled by on the other side of the fence, and two or three
figures on horseback rode among them and around them. They swung
whips above their heads to keep the cattle moving, and a few
scruffy dogs ran around barking at the cows’ heels. Even through
the window, Violet heard the shouts and whistles of the cattle
punchers urging the animals forward.

Violet spotted one of the riders veer off and
steer toward the fence. The figure swung down from the saddle, tied
the horse to the fence, and climbed over it. Then the lanky rider
strode across the yard toward the house.

What was the point of wasting her breath
trying to convince Cornell of anything? Heaven knew she’d spent the
better part of her life in the futile attempt. He never listened to
anything from anyone. He only cared for his own opinion.