Desperate Hearts (20 page)

“I promise.” Bess couldn’t help a sudden urge to reach out and hug Andrea. “Thank you. I’d like nothing more than to be out of this house for
good.”

Andrea hugged her in return. “And you will be, Bess. I
promise.”

The streets of Alder were packed with miners, business owners, prostitutes, ranchers, wives, and the few children who lived there. The saloons were overflowing with people dancing both inside and outside to fiddles and piano music, and crude tables made out of barrels and boards were set up in the street and covered with all kinds of food, cookies, cakes, pies, and assorted goodies made by the women in town, some even cooked by the prostitutes. The air was filled with the aroma of beef and pork roasting over open fires, and the mood was joyous and excited, because in addition to the planned picnic, the whole town would witness today the marriage of Mitch Brady and Emma
Radcliffe.

Word had spread like wildfire about the wedding, and about the fact that Elizabeth Wainright’s real name was Emma Radcliffe and that she’d come to Alder to get away from an abusive uncle. That was all Mitch wanted anyone to know, and he’d made sure Randy, Len, and Benny said nothing more as they walked around town letting people know about the
wedding.

Sarah helped a nervous Emma put on the only really good dress she’d brought with her, an evening dress in pale yellow. The bodice was cut low and off the shoulders, trimmed with white lace that draped downward to the elbows, and tiny white bows trimmed the upper edging. The upper skirt was made of white lacy tulle draped over an underskirt of yellow silk puffings tied with deeper yellow velvet
ribbon.

Ma Kelly’s parlor was filled with prostitutes who were dressed to the hilt, some of their dresses surprisingly tasteful. They’d all come over to help Emma with her hair and a touch of makeup and were excited to make Mitch Brady’s fiancée as beautiful as
possible.

Emma would have found the entire situation comical if not for the fact that she suspected a good number of these women had slept with her soon-to-be husband. She could tell they were being very careful not to joke about it, but once in a while a comment would slip about the fact that Emma was getting “quite a man, in more ways than one.” Claire McGuinnes lamented over never getting another visit from “that man,” and another younger woman started to reply, when Sarah reminded them to “shut
up.”

“He’s marrying now, and that’s that, and I’m happy for him. The man is truly in love, and just look at Emma, here. Isn’t she the most beautiful young lady who ever stepped foot in
Alder?”

They all gushed over the results of their primping when Emma rose and turned in a circle for them. “How do I
look?”

“Lord, girl, Mitch will carry you off so fast your head will spin,” one of the women
joked.

They all howled in laughter and Emma blushed, but deep inside she couldn’t wait for tonight, to truly be Mrs. Mitch Brady and be able to sleep with Mitch without having to hide it. She intended to please him in every way he wanted, so much so that he’d never need the services of any of these women again. Giving herself to Mitch Brady had been the most pleasurable, erotic, deeply satisfying thing she’d ever done, and he’d taken away all her inhibitions and fears, had turned into beauty the ugliness Alan Radcliffe had instilled in
her.

Soon she would be Emma Brady, Mitch’s wife, and with Mitch Brady to protect her, Alan Radcliffe could never touch her again or bring her harm. What pleased her most was that when she offered to show Mitch the necklace, he’d refused. “I don’t even want to see the thing,” he’d told her. “It’s yours. I never want one dime of any money that might come of it. I’m marrying you, not that damn
necklace.”

“I’ve never seen Mitch look so happy as when he came to me yesterday afternoon, asking me to help you get ready for a wedding today,” Sarah told Emma, interrupting her thoughts. “That man is beside himself.” She shook a finger at Emma. “And don’t try to tell any of us that something besides just a kiss didn’t happen between the two of you yesterday morning,” she teased. “That man left to go see you, and we all know he didn’t come back to his room until very late last
night.”

“And he looked damn happy,” Hildy added. “When he said he was marrying you today, we had a pretty good idea what went on over
here.”

Emma blushed, realizing there was no pulling the wool over the eyes of these women. She covered her face with her hands. “Don’t forget that I am supposed to teach here. If word gets
out—”

The room erupted in shrieks of
laughter.

“We’ll never tell,” Sarah told
her.

“Do you think we don’t know how Mitch can talk a woman under the covers?” Hildy
joked.

“Hell, with a build like that and that gorgeous face and those damnable blue eyes, he doesn’t have to do
any
talking!” another put in amid more
laughter.

“Now, now!” Sarah put her hands up to stop all the talk. “The fact remains that after today, you’ll have to forget about Mitch Brady. That man is as honest as a dollar, and once he pledges to Emma here, we all know as sure as the sun rises every day that there won’t be another woman for
him.”

Ma Kelly came into the room then, carrying a mixture of roses and wildflowers. “I managed to find some flowers for you,” she told Emma. “The blacksmith’s wife brought over these roses, and I have some wildflowers growing out by the horse shed behind the house. I trimmed off the rose thorns so you can carry them without harm.” She handed the flowers to
Emma.

“Oh, thank you, Ma.” Emma hugged the
woman.

“Let’s put a couple of those wildflowers in Emma’s hair!” Hildy
exclaimed.

They proceeded to make Emma sit back down while they placed flowers into the mass of curls they’d assembled earlier. Emma took one last look in the mirror, surprised at how perfectly the women had fixed her hair and at the delicate pink of her cheeks and soft rose color on her lips. Considering the way most of these women painted themselves up, she was surprised at how tastefully they’d fixed her own face, following Sarah’s orders that they not make her look “anything less than a true
lady.”

“Thank you all so much,” she told the
women.

“Well, we can’t exactly thank you for taming that man down so fast,” Hildy answered, “but we’re glad he’s
happy.”

Laughter filled the room again, and Emma was amazed at how she now considered some of these women friends. When she first arrived in Alder, she’d not only looked down on them but had even been afraid of some of
them.

“Come on, honey, it’s time!” Hildy told her. “I bet Mitch is already standing on that platform they built for the
ceremony.”

“Good thing Judge Brody happened to still be in town,” another put in. “Who knows where the preacher is right now, he travels so far for his
work.”

“This town could use a school
and
a church,” Emma put in. “If I’m going to start raising a family here, I intend to see we get
both.”

“Hey, don’t go putting us out of business!” one of them
joked.

“In a
mining
town?” Sarah answered. “Not
likely!”

They all howled with laughter again as they rushed Emma out the front door, where Randy and Len waited, armed as
always.

“Whooee!” Randy yelped. “Ain’t you the prettiest thing that ever walked. That damn Mitch is the luckiest man in
town.”

Emma barely had time to think. The crowd around her grew as she walked toward the wedding platform. She wanted to laugh at the fact that she was accompanied by prostitutes and vigilantes as she headed toward a platform that not long ago was used for a double hanging. The hanging posts had been removed, and now the platform would be used for a wedding between a man and woman who’d known each other all of three weeks! Only in a place like Alder could something like this
happen.

A few men shot their guns into the air and Randy ordered them to
stop.

“No gunplay today, boys. This is a wedding! We don’t want anybody gettin’ hurt.”

The few children in town sat on their fathers’ shoulders so they could see better, and rooftops were lined with more onlookers. They reached the platform and Randy helped Emma up the steps while someone somewhere nearby played the wedding march on a piano. When Emma reached the platform, Mitch was indeed already standing there
waiting.

“Oh, my gawd, look at him!” one of the prostitutes
commented.

“Don’t he clean up just damn fine!” Hildy added with a
sigh.

“Never a more handsome man walked the earth,” Sarah
added.

“His pa might have been a drunken bum, but I’ll bet he was one good-looking man,” someone else
added.

Emma just stared a moment. Mitch stood there in a fine black suit with a white shirt and black string tie, his sandy hair clean and pulled into a short tail at the back of his neck. Today he wore no guns. His tanned face was clean-shaven, and his blue eyes shone with nothing but love and an appreciation of how beautiful she looked. He smiled the smile that turned her heart into a melted
mess.

“I already thought you were beautiful, Emma, but not
this
beautiful.”

Emma felt warm from the memory of the hours they’d spent quietly making love at Ma’s place the day before. “And you look…” She shook her head. “You look wonderful.” She forced back tears. “Put an arm around me, will you? I’m a nervous wreck and scared to
death!”

He leaned closer, pulling her against him while the huge crowd whooped and
howled.

“What are you scared
of?”

“I don’t know… Scared that this is too good to be true, I guess. Scared of losing you. Scared someone will come for
me.”

“You already know there isn’t a man alive who can get close to you once you’re mine, Emma Radcliffe. So be happy. Look around you at all these people, and Randy and Len and Benny—they’re all out there keeping watch. Even Hal Wallace and his wife are here all the way from Virginia City. His wife is mad at him for making the breakneck trip to get here in time. David Meeks is here, too—plenty of lawmen and vigilantes.” He leaned down and kissed her lightly, and the crowd went wild. “Let’s get this over with,” Mitch told her. “I can’t wait to spend the whole night with you in my
bed.”

Emma smiled, sniffing back a few tears and turning crimson. “I can’t wait
either.”

Mitch kept an arm around her and faced the judge. “Hitch us quick, Brody.”

The judge nodded and proceeded with the ceremony. Emma was amazed at how the rowdy crowd quieted. She and Mitch spoke the usual wedding vows, and Mitch placed a plain gold band on her
finger.

“I’ll get you something fancier in Virginia City,” he told
her.

“I don’t want anything fancier,” she answered. “I’ll treasure this one the rest of my
life.”

“I now pronounce
you—”

“Wait,” Mitch interrupted the judge, studying Emma intently. “I have one more vow to
make.”

The crowd quieted to the extent that Emma was sure she could have heard a piece of straw fall to the
ground.

“I promise you, Emma Brady, that I will never bring you harm, to your body or your feelings—ever. I promise you will never have to be afraid of anything or anyone again. I promise that I will never betray your
trust.”

Emma couldn’t stop her tears then. She reached up and threw her arms around his neck and they shared a passionate kiss that brought thunderous applause from the crowd while the judge yelled as loud as he could, “I now pronounce you man and
wife!”

Piano and fiddle music poured from saloons, and the prostitutes began to mingle among the miners, some carried off in men’s arms, screaming and laughing. People surrounded Mitch and Emma as they descended the platform steps arm in
arm.

The afternoon was filled with wild celebrations, more food than Emma could possibly eat, and men downing buckets of beer, while gift after gift was presented to Mitch and Emma. There were quilts, kettles, pans, and other kitchen goods, a set of china in a box of straw, candles, lanterns, feather pillows, and an array of items to set up house. Emma wondered how on earth everyone had come up with so many gifts so quickly. They even received two crates of canned goods, and one rancher promised ten pounds of smoked
beef.

Len told Mitch that men were already building a one-room house at the end of town so Mitch and Emma would have a place to call their own until they decided where they would live and what kind of home they wanted. Emma realized they hadn’t even discussed those
things.

“Ma Kelly has shooed her boarders out for the night,” Randy told them. “You’ll have the whole place to yourselves. Ma will stay with Sarah and we’ll take all your gifts there, too, till you have a place to put it
all.”

Music, dancing, eating, and more dancing… Emma had never felt so special, not just because of Mitch’s love for her, but because of the surprising generosity from a horde of people who barely knew her…but they knew Mitch, and their joy for him only told her she’d made the right choice—that Mitch Brady was every bit the honest, trustworthy man she’d already judged him to
be.

Day turned to dusk, and everyone paraded Mitch and Emma to Ma Kelly’s. Ma opened the front door and Mitch carried Emma inside to hoots and whistles and laughter. Mitch kicked the door shut and kept Emma in his arms, carrying her to his old room, where Ma had put clean bedding on the iron bed, as well as setting out clean towels and a washbowl and
pitcher.

“Well, Mrs. Brady, how does it feel to be married?” Mitch laid her on the
bed.

“It feels
wonderful.”

Mitch removed his hat, boots, and string tie, opening his shirt partway. He spied a bottle of wine and two glasses someone had left for them on the dresser. He uncorked the wine and poured a little into each glass, bringing them over to the bed. Emma sat up and took the wine, and Mitch sat down beside
her.

“I hope you noticed I didn’t drink today,” he told her. “I dearly wanted to get stupid drunk, I’m so damn happy, but I didn’t want to ruin
tonight.”

He faced her, and Emma studied him lovingly. “Thank
you.”

“But we can have this one drink.” He raised his glass. “To
us.”

Emma raised her own, and they touched wine glasses. “To us,” she
answered.

They each sipped some wine. Mitch stood up then and removed his shirt. Emma noticed the scar at his side where he’d taken a bullet the day he saved her from Hugh Wiley and his men. It reminded her that the man still lived a dangerous
life.