Mail Order Bride - Westward Sunrise: Historical Cowboy Romance (Montana Mail Order Brides Book 9) (12 page)

“So you’re leaving tomorrow, huh?” he said.

“Yeah.  We’re really excited,” Dean said.  “We never had a honeymoon.”

“I’m happy for Tessa and for the both of you.  Now, here’s the name of a very upscale hotel and the manager there.  He’s a friend of mine.  I’m giving you a note from me for him.  You won't have to pay a dime.  Make him give you one of the honeymoon suites.  He owes me,” Joe said.

“I can’t do that,” Dean said.

“Sure you can.  Think of it as a very belated wedding gift.  That way you’ll have more money for wining and dining your woman.  Keep her in a good mood.  Know what I mean?” Joe said with a nudge to Dean’s arm.

Dean grinned and said, “Yeah, I know what you mean.”  He took the papers Joe held out to him.  Not only would they have more money for having fun, but for bringing home souvenirs for everyone.  “Thanks, Joe.  I owe you,” he said.

Joe gave Dean a hearty back slap and said, “Think nothing of it, my fine friend.  You’ll be gone before I get to town tomorrow, so I’ll say my farewell now.  Ya’ll have a wonderful time and safe travels.  We’ll miss you.”

“Thanks again, Joe.  You’re a pain in my ass sometimes, but you’re a good friend,” Dean said with a smile.

Joe laughed.  “Likewise.  Well, I’m off to see a man about a horse.  Take care.”

The next morning, Tessa and Dean bid a tearful farewell to their friends and family.  Seth and Maddie were taking them to the coach.  Jack rode along on his horse since he had to go to work.  He was going to miss his parents.  They’d never been gone before and it was going to be strange without them.  The three of them waited with Dean and Tessa until the coach came.

Seth gave Dean and Tessa one of his bear hugs.  Maddie and Tessa got all misty-eyed and even Jack wiped away a couple of tears.  Then they boarded the coach and were gone as the other three stood watching it disappear from sight.

“You need to find someone,” Abby said to Ben that Saturday night.  He was helping her gather empties as he sometimes did.  At the moment, things were fairly calm, so Ben had taken it upon himself to chip in.  “You’re a very handsome man.  I’m sure you would find a nice woman quickly.”

“Why thank you, Miss Abby.  I’m glad that I meet your high standards.  And just who would you have me take up with?” he asked her.

“Surely there’s someone around Dawson who’s caught your eye,” Abby said as they went to the bar to swap trays.

“Well, there is, but she’s taken, I’m afraid,” Ben said with a wink at Abby.

She laughed and said, “You are such a flirt!  Knock that off.  If there’s no one around here, you should look for a mail order bride.  It worked for Elliot and I.  He’s the man of my dreams, Ben.  He’s funny and kind and so handsome.  Intelligent, passionate, and, boy, can he run.” 

It irked Ben to hear her extolling Elliot’s virtues, but there was no way he would say anything against her fiancé.  “It sounds as though he is the perfect man for you,” he said graciously.  “Well, I should get back to my job before Jake cracks the whip.”

“Yes, we don’t want that,” Abby said with a smile.

Elliot showed up a while later.  He wanted to scope out exactly how wild Saturdays were.  Joe wasn’t there that night, but Jamie was and she sang some songs while Wendell played for her.  Later on Rebecca played and they enjoyed her performance as always. Elliot and Abby sat talking during one of her breaks.  They discussed their upcoming wedding and were trying to decide where they would go for their honeymoon. 

Whenever Elliot came to the Watering Hole, Ben made sure to give Abby a wide berth.  If she came to him about something, there wasn’t much he could do about it, but he wasn’t going to antagonize Elliot.  The store owner had claimed Abby and there wasn’t anything he could do about it. 

He had to stifle his attraction to Abby no matter how hard it was.  She considered him a friend and that was better than nothing at all.  His feelings for her surprised him because she was as far from his usual type as possible. 

Towards the end of the night Elliot left after giving Abby a lingering kiss.  Ben couldn’t help but see it and he felt his stomach knot at the sight.  He knew that she would be spending the night in Elliot’s arms and it galled him.  It was obvious that their relationship was a physical one and he envied Elliot.

The week that passed was a busy one for Abby.  Maddie and Sammi were trying to help her pick out a wedding dress and deciding on decorations for the church.  Elliot gave his input on the wedding cake and surprised Maddie by having some good ideas.  Most men didn’t really care about such things and it was refreshing to have one who did.  She remembered her wedding to Seth.  He had basically said whatever she wanted to do was fine with him since he didn’t know anything about planning a wedding.

Elliot was much more hands on about organizing their wedding, which brought about some ribbing from some of the guys around town.  Elliot dealt with it all good-naturedly.  He couldn’t wait for after the wedding when he and Abby could finally live together.  Having to leave her place early or her having to leave early was wearing on the both of them.  He’d considered having her move in and saying the heck with propriety since they’d already broken the rules regarding that kind of thing.

However, he knew it wasn’t possible and they would just have to be patient.  On Sunday and Monday nights, they sat at the kitchen table and made plans for renovating the house somewhat.  Elliot missed his father terribly and thought that maybe redecorating and changing some things would help him let go a little.  Plus, he wanted the house to be his and Abby’s together, and not just his anymore.

Abby would get excited about all of the possibilities and rattle off a bunch of them and Elliot laughed at her.  Other times they had very serious conversations about how things would work after they were married.  One of the things they discussed was her job.  Elliot didn’t want her working at the bar whenever she became pregnant.  He was worried that something would happen to her and the baby.

Abby understood and she agreed that it probably wouldn’t be a good idea.  She knew she would miss it, though and wondered what she would do with herself.  Abby decided not to worry about it until the time came.

There were times when some of the regulars would buy Abby a drink and she accepted them good-naturedly.  Most of the time, she ended up not drinking them because she was on the job, but she made it appear as though she did so she didn’t offend anyone.  One Wednesday night, however, she drank a couple towards the end of the night.  She began feeling a little funny after the last one. 

Ben was kept very busy, which suited him just fine, but he wasn’t able to watch Abby like he normally did.  Jake was slinging drinks left and right and Rebecca helped him.  None of them noticed that Abby hadn’t been back to the bar for a little while until Rebecca commented on it.  Jake and Ben looked at each other and began searching for her immediately.  Jake looked inside the bar and Ben ran out the front door.

Running around the side of the building to the back, Ben saw a couple of men leading Abby away from the bar.  Ben didn’t shout or draw attention to himself.  Quiet rage built inside him at the thought of anyone trying to harm Abby.  His first instinct was to snap the neck of the first one he got ahold of, but he really didn’t want to go to jail.  He did the next best thing and dislocated the shoulder of the one on Abby’s left before the guy even knew what was going on.

When the other man caught sight of Ben, he let go of Abby and started running.  Ben sat Abby down gently on the grass and took off after the guy.  There was no way he was going to let him get away.  Ben executed a flying tackle and rolled with the guy until he straddled the man.  Once again he had to resist killing the scum and settled for punching the guy until he lost consciousness.  He dragged the guy back to the bar.

Jake had found Abby and had carried her back inside to his office.  Ben found some rope and hogtied the two vermin and put them in the storeroom until morning when they could be turned over to the Sheriff.  He would guard them himself overnight.

Ben entered Jake’s office and saw Rebecca holding a cold compress on Abby’s forehead.

“How is she?” he asked.

Rebecca said, “Something’s wrong, Ben.  She’s very incoherent and sleepy.”

“She’s been drugged,” Ben said.  He recognized the symptoms.  “We need to get her lying down.  I’m guessing it’s laudanum poisoning.  Have Jake get her upstairs.  I’m going to the clinic.  I’m sure they have what we need there.”

Rebecca’s brows drew down.  “Ben, they’re closed.”

“I know.  That won’t stop me.  I’ll explain to Marcus when they open in the morning,” Ben said, and took off.

At the clinic, Ben took out his lock picking kit and got in quickly.  He lit a lantern and found the supply closet.  He lost no time in finding the things he needed to make the antidote Abby needed.  He scribbled a note to Marcus and pinned it to the office door.  After locking up again, Ben raced back to the bar and up the stairs to the apartment where he lived with Jake and Rebecca.

He found them in the spare room with her.  Ben went back out to the kitchen and began preparing the antidote.  When it was done he took it and a large pot into the spare room.  He took in her pale complexion and clammy skin and his rage simmered again.

“Sit her up a little so we can get her to drink this,” Ben said.

Rebecca said, “What is that?”

“An antidote for laudanum poisoning,” Ben said.

“How do you know what to give her?” she asked.

“Not now, sister dear.  We need to get this in her,” Ben said.

Jake lifted Abby into a sitting position and Ben administered half of the medicine to her. 

“What’s the pot for?” Jake said.

“Turn her over on her side quickly,” Ben said, and held the pot under Abby’s head.

She groaned and then vomited.  When she was finished, Ben sat the pot aside and wiped her face.  They let her rest for a few moments and then Ben gave her the other portion of medicine.  They got her under the covers and Ben sat on the bed with her bathing her forehead with cool water.

Rebecca and Jake exchanged puzzled expressions over his tender treatment of Abby.  Jake went down to relieve Gus and start closing the bar.  As soon as he saw Reckless, he sent him to get Elliot.

Elliot sat on the porch waiting for Abby again when Reckless raced up and jumped onto it.

“You have to come with me to the bar.  It’s Abby,” Reckless said.  “She’s sick.”

Elliot didn’t wait to hear any more.  He leaped off the porch and took off at full speed.  Reckless was a fast runner, but he couldn’t keep up with Elliot, as hard as he tried.  Elliot burst through the front door of the Watering Hole and skidded to a stop in front of the bar. 

Jake took in Elliot’s messy hair and the fact that he was in his underwear and smiled a little.  “She’s upstairs, Elliot.  You can borrow a pair of my pants so my wife isn’t scandalized as she puts it.”

Elliot looked down at himself and rolled his eyes.  He followed Jake up to the apartment and waited in the parlor a moment for Jake to give him some pants.  They were slightly too short, but he didn’t care.  When he saw her laying quietly on the bed, a lump formed in his throat.  She was pale and weak.  Ben sat by her on the bed.  The way he was holding her hand looked as though he was monitoring her pulse.

“What happened?” Elliot asked.

Ben rose so that Elliot could take his place.  As Elliot sat and took Abby’s hand in his, Ben said, “Someone dosed her with laudanum.  I’ve given her the antidote and now we just have to wait for her to recover.  There’s not much else to be done.”

Elliot smoothed a few sweaty curls away from Abby’s forehead and asked, “How do you know?  Shouldn’t you go get Marcus or Hannah?”

“No need.  I’ve seen and treated this before,” Ben said.

Rebecca gave him a sharp look.  “Treated it?”

“Yes.  When I was a medical student at Southern Medical College,” Ben said calmly.

Rebecca, Jake, and Elliot gaped at him.

Finally Rebecca recovered from her shock.  “Did you just say that you were a medical student at Southern Medical College?”

“That’s correct, Rebecca.  I did.  I studied there for two years until our father screwed it all up for me.  I had to quit after he was found out.  The Dean said that they couldn’t have the son of a criminal in their program.  I would have graduated last year,” Ben said with bitterness.  “So, yes, I know how to treat this type of poisoning.  She’ll be fine with some rest.  I’m going to keep an eye the two pieces of crap in the storeroom.”

None of them spoke as he left the apartment.

When Abby awoke, her head pounded and she felt like she had a mouth full of cotton.  Elliot sat on a bed with her.  She focused on him as her vision began to sharpen.

“Elliot?” she said.  Her throat was sore and her voice was a little raspy.

“I’m right here, sweetheart,” Elliot said as he squeezed her hand.  It was almost dawn.  He’d sat right beside her all night.

Abby tried to lift her head, but couldn’t.  She didn’t know where they were and began to get scared.  “Elliot, what happened?”

Elliot’s lips pursed as he tried to think of how he could tell her gently what had happened.

“Honey, I’m afraid someone gave you laudanum in one of your drinks last night,” Elliot said.

Abby tried to remember the night before, but the only thing that came to her was teasing Jake about something the last time she recalled going back to the bar.  After that, everything became unclear.  She vaguely remembered sitting on grass at some point, but other than that no other details came to her.

“Why would someone do that to me?” she asked.  Her blue eyes were wide with fear.

Elliot closed his eyes for a moment and then said, “Because they were up to no good.”

Abby’s eyes filled with tears as the meaning behind Elliot’s words became clear to her.  Elliot took her in his arms and held her close.

“It’s okay, honey.  You’re safe.  Ben found you and saved you from them.  They hadn’t gotten very far with you.  It’s all right,” Elliot said. 

Abby clung weakly to him as she wept quietly.  She was scared and felt horrible, but knowing that she was with Elliot helped ease her fear a little.  She fought it, but sleep rose up to claim her even as Elliot held her.  He eased her back against the pillows and covered her again. 

A familiar hand settled on Elliot’s shoulder and he smiled a little.

“Hi, Doc,” he said.

“Hi, Elliot,” Marcus said.

Elliot got up so Marcus could examine Abby.  When he was done, Marcus said, “Ben did all the right things.  Rebecca told me that he’s a former medical student.  I had no idea.”

“None of us did,” Elliot said.  “He stunned us with that bit of news.”

“She’s gonna be fine, Elliot.  Good thing Ben knew what to give her.  I’m glad he broke into the clinic, although it wasn’t much of a break in considering he left a note and locked up again,” Marcus said with a chuckle.  “He told me exactly what he took and why.  It’s a good thing I read chicken scratch or I wouldn’t have had any idea what it said.”