Mail Order Bride: Westward Dance (14 page)

“What are you doing, Geoff,” Maureen
said.

Geoff cleared his throat and said, “I
think they need a little privacy, dear.”

Maureen’s fine blonde brows shot up.
“You mean, they, he, she?”

Geoff smiled. “Are there any more
pronouns you would like to say? Yes, they, he, she,” he
confirmed.

Maureen put her hand to her mouth.
She’d wondered but wasn’t sure before now. “Is it
serious?”

“I think so,” Geoff said.

“But, he lives in Montana,” she
said.

Geoff was married to a very intelligent
woman who normally was well spoken even when very upset. To see her
sputtering and uttering inane statements was very funny.

“Yes, he does. It stands to reason
since he’s Dean’s brother,” Geoff said.

Maureen glanced at him sharply. “This
isn’t funny, Geoffrey. I don’t want Maddie to be hurt. I know that
Seth is a little loose from what you’ve told me.”

“Relax, Maureen. He and I have reached
an understanding about that,” Geoff assured her.

Knowing how protective Geoff was of
their children, Maureen didn’t doubt it. She sighed and said to
Claire, “We’ll do as your father says. Come with me,
Claire.”

Claire was excited at the prospect of a
romance between her sister and Seth. “Do you think they’ll get
married, Mama? Like Tessa and Dean? I sure do hope we get to attend
their wedding.”

Maureen grew teary-eyed at that
thought. She was still upset sometimes that she hadn’t even gotten
to meet her son-in-law, watch Tessa get married, or be there for
the birth of their first grandchild. “If that should come to pass,
we’ll be there. Nothing will prevent us,” she promised
Claire.

Seth held Maddie close and kissed her
forehead. “I’m going to be fine, darlin’,” he said.

Funny how he was the one having the
surgery but Maddie was the one who was suddenly nervous. “I know.
It’s just that I don’t want anything to happen to you.”

“Shhh. It’s ok. You’re not getting rid
of me any time soon, Maddie,” Seth said.

Maddie looked at him and said, “I
better not be.”

Seth sighed. “Maddie, I know I’m not
the kind of man that you’re used to. You know, all suave and stuff.
I’ve never been to a fancy ball or anything like that. I’ve been
with a lot of women. I’m being honest with you because you deserve
that from me. I’m not perfect. I can be cranky and cuss and tie one
on from time to time. I don’t know which fork I’m supposed to use
first or bother putting a napkin on my lap. But I know that I’ve
never met anyone like you in all my life and I want to be with you,
Maddie.”

Maddie said, “I want to be with you,
Seth. I don’t care about any of that. I knew what you were like
from that first letter because you were honest with me then and
you’ve been nothing but honest with me ever since. No one is
perfect, Seth. I’m not exactly as pure as the driven snow, you
know.”

Seth arched a brow at her. “Are you
sayin’ what I think you’re sayin’?”

“Yes. I’m not a virgin, Seth. Does that
shock you?” Maddie cared what Seth thought of her and knew that
there was the expectation that good women waited until they were
married. That she hadn’t sometimes made her feel less than worthy,
and if her parents knew she could imagine how disappointed they’d
be in her.

The lazy smile that he gave her
reassured her. “So you think that you having a little bit of
she-devil in you bothers me? Hell, no, Maddie, it doesn’t shock me.
Who wants to be an angel all the time? Now I really want to get
this surgery over with and get better. I want to see that she-devil
in action,” he said and kissed her soundly.

Maddie laughed when he released her and
pushed away from him. “Stop that. Don’t mess up my hair. My family
will know that we were fooling around.”

“Don’t worry, your pa already knows and
I’ll bet your ma does by now, too,” Seth said.

Maddie was aghast. “Papa knows?
How?”

Seth cleared his throat and looked at
her with a sheepish expression. “I think he saw us in the hall this
morning. In the carriage he made it very clear that I’d better have
only the best intentions towards you.”

Maddie covered her mouth and laughed.
“I’m sorry, but I wish I could have seen it.”

“You would have liked watching me get
roughed up by your father?” Seth said. “You always seem to surprise
me somehow.”

“What did he say? What did you say?”
Maddie’s curiosity got the better of her. “You should tell Tessa,
too. She could write about it.”

“I’m not gonna tell her and don’t you
neither. She really will put it in one of her stories. I know your
sister. She’ll make me keep repeating it word for word until she
gets it all down. Now, look, I’d love for you to stay here all
night, but your parents are gonna be back here soon if you don’t
go,” Seth said.

Maddie kissed his forehead and said,
“You’re right. Good night, Seth. See you tomorrow.”

Seth snared her hand in his strong
grip. “You’re gonna be here when I wake up, right?”

The fear in the big cowboy’s eyes tore
at her heart. “I promise. I’ll be right here.”

Seth smiled, kissed her hand and let
her go, comforted by her promise.

Marcus rode hell for leather on his
mare. He was on his way back to the ranch with a letter from Seth.
Dean had made him swear that if there was one at the store in
Wolfe’s Point he wouldn’t read it until he got back home. He pushed
Rosie as hard as he dared and then pulled her up as he neared Lydia
and Charlie’s property.

It would be quicker just to cut across
than go by the road. His decision was made in an instant and he
clicked to her. She was a pretty little palomino with heart and
stamina. Marcus knew she’d do whatever he asked and he set off
again. She tore along the land right at the barbed-wire fence. If
Dean knew that Marcus regularly jumped the fences, he’d skin him
for sure. He figured what Dean didn’t know wouldn’t hurt
him.

The mare never hesitated. Her small
ears pricked forward and she gathered herself as the barrier
neared. Instinctively she knew the right moment to launch them both
up and over the fence. As she landed, Marcus let out a war whoop
that would have made some of his Indian friends proud.

Lydia and Charlie’s house loomed ahead.
Marcus and the mare burst into their yard just as Charlie was
crossing to the barn. Chickens scattered before the horse. Marcus
yelled at Charlie to get out of the way. Charlie staggered back,
keeping upright by grabbing onto one of the wash line
poles.

“Sorry, Charlie!” Marcus apologized as
his hat went flying. “I’ll get that later!” he hollered and then
turned back around.

“Was that Marcus?” Lydia said coming
out on the front porch.

“Yeah. He almost ran me down,” Charlie
said. “And he lost his hat.”

Lydia laughed. “Wonder what got into
him this time.”

“Maybe he found another book to add to
his collection and couldn’t wait to get home to read it,” Charlie
groused and set off again for the barn. The kid annoyed the heck
out of him most of the time. He let Marcus’ hat where it was, not
caring if the chickens pecked it full of holes.

“What in the world?” Dean said as he
saw Marcus and his mare coming across the back pasture like the
hounds of hell were chasing them. “How did he get in
there?”

Marcus caught sight of Dean watching
and cursed. Now he was going to have to think of a clever lie to
tell Dean. He rode up to the paddock gate and dismounted. He almost
left the mare where she was until Dean said, “You can’t leave her
there like that after runnin’ her that hard. What’s the matter with
you?”

Marcus rolled his eyes and quickly
divested the mare of her saddle and bridle and let her go. Her
sides glistened with sweat and her chest rose and fell rapidly.
Marcus opened the paddock gate and she followed him through. Marcus
spent the next fifteen minutes cooling her down. Then he retrieved
the saddle and bridle and put them where they belonged.

Dean watched him the whole time,
knowing that something was up with his little brother. Every
movement Marcus made was filled with a barely restrained high
energy, which usually signaled that he had something on his mind.
And that spelled trouble most of the time.

Once he was finished, Marcus started
walking over to the house. Dean asked, “Where are you
going?”

“To read the letter Seth sent,” Marcus
tossed back over his shoulder.

“What? There’s a letter? Why didn’t you
say so?” Dean said and started after Marcus.

Marcus smiled. He wasn’t going to have
to lie after all. Dean would just forget all about seeing them
coming through the pasture. “You’re always sayin’ that I don’t
follow orders. I just wanted to show you that I follow them just
fine.”

“I’m gonna kill you,” Dean
said.

“You been saying that as long as I can
remember and yet I’m still here,” Marcus said.

“I’m gonna kill you and that smart
mouth,” Dean said as they entered the kitchen.

Tessa was at the kitchen table coloring
with Jack and Mikey. “Why are you killing your brother this time,
dear?”

“He waited until he cooled his horse
and put everything away before telling me that a letter from Seth
came,” Dean said.

“He told me to cool her down. I was
just following orders,” Marcus said innocently.

Tessa said, “I don’t care about that.
Read the letter, for goodness sake, Marcus.”

Marcus said, “Where’s Sadie? She’ll
want to hear it, too.”

Tessa said, “She can read it later.
She’s in town at the moment with the Fosters.”

“Ok.” Marcus wasted no time in opening
it and beginning to read.

Dear family,

I’m doing fine. The leg’s
coming along nicely. Dr. Flemming is happy with it. He says I have
to get off my butt now and work on getting it stronger again. They
have some kind of thing here called physical therapy. It’s just a
fancy way of saying “hard work”, I think. I start that tomorrow so
by the time you get this, I’ll be a little ways into it.

The O’Connors and their
friends sure are different than what I’m used to. Tessa, you know
it’s true, so don’t take offense. I now see why you ran away. I sat
through one of your pa’s business dinners last week and if it
wasn’t for Claire explaining to me what they were talking about, I
wouldn’t have understood half of it. Stuff about shifts in the
global markets and whatnot. I think I have a general idea about
what it means, but I’m gonna have to have her explain it to me when
no one else is around so I don’t look as stupid as I am.

Marcus burst out laughing. “I’d have
liked to have seen that,” he said and started reading
again.

I can hear you laughing
from here, Marcus. Shut your trap. This little sister of Maddie and
Tessa’s has more smarts in her little finger than you’ve got in
your entire body. I’m not kidding about that. I’ve seen her put
some of Geoff’s business partners to shame and these guys have been
in business for decades. Tessa, did she used to cut up your food? I
swear she thinks I’m an invalid. She’s always serving me, buttering
my toast, or coaxing me into eating more. I think I’ve gained ten
pounds because I don’t have the heart to tell her no.

Now it was Dean that laughed. “He acts
tough, but when it comes to women or kids, he’s all mush inside.
Sounds like your little sis has him wrapped around her finger,
Tessa.”

“I’m not surprised,” Tessa said. “That
was something Papa started with her. She was a finicky eater when
she was little and the only way Mama or Papa could get her to eat
was if they sat her on their lap and had her cut up their food.
Then they would eat a bite and make her take one.”

Marcus smiled. “That must have been
cute.”

Tessa said, “It was. She’s never quite
gotten out of the habit. She still likes to cut up others’ food
before she’ll eat. It always drove Maddie mad. I can just imagine
the look on her face if Seth is letting Claire get away with it,”
she said with a grin.

I miss all of you. I miss
Montana and can’t wait until I can come home. How’s everyone there?
I hope all of you are well. I hope Trouble isn’t giving you a hard
time. This is a heck of a predicament to be in. I’ll be glad to get
home, but then I’ll be missing everyone here, too. Especially
Maddie. I’m not exactly sure what’s going happen there, but I’ll
figure it out.

Marcus frowned. “What’s he talking
about?”

Dean laughed. “You mean you didn’t
notice how close he and Maddie were?”

The confusion in Marcus’ gray eyes was
Dean’s answer.

“You know, for someone who’s so smart,
you sure can be dumb,” Dean said.

“Seth and Maddie are sweet on each
other? Wow. I didn’t see that comin’,” Marcus confessed. Then he
smiled. “That’s great.”