Historical Cowboy Romance Two Book Box Set - Mail Order Brides (7 page)

Dean’s eyes roamed over her full bosom,
slender waist, and slightly flaring hips. Her blue eyes smiled
right along with her mouth and Dean saw her keen intelligence
reflected in them. Her traveling suit was a little wrinkled and a
trifle dusty, but on the whole, she looked as if she’d walked out
of a dream.

Dean pulled the team to a stop and stepped
down from the wagon. “You must be Theresa.”

She smiled broadly and came down from the
wooden porch. “And you must be Dean,” she answered.

“Yes, ma’am,” Dean said. “How was your
trip?”

“Exhilarating!” she announced. “There’s so
much to see and learn about.”

Dean had to smile at her enthusiasm. “I’m
glad to hear it. You may change your mind once you’re here for a
while.”

Tessa tilted her head a little and asked,
“Are you trying to get rid of me already?”

“What? No, of course not,” Dean said. Then he
caught the devilish twinkle in her eyes. “You’re pulling my leg,”
he said and grinned.

“I must be talented indeed to be able to do
that from here,” Tessa said. “I’m sorry. I am more tired than I
thought, I think.”

Dean laughed. “Don’t be sorry. It’s good to
see you have a sense of humor and that you’re not stuck up or
anything.”

“Far from it or I wouldn’t be here, would I?”
Tessa said.

Dean frowned. “What’s wrong with it
here?”

Tessa rushed to apologize. “Nothing, of
course! It’s beautiful here.”

It was Dean’s turn to laugh now. “I’m just
joshing you.”

Tessa pretended to be offended. “You, Mr.
Samuels, are a bad man, I think.”

“You have no idea,” Marcus said, speaking for
the first time. “I’m Marcus, Dean’s younger brother.”

“Well, Marcus, I’m pleased to meet you. And
please, call me Tessa. It’s my nickname and frankly, I prefer it,”
she replied.

“Very well, then, Tessa it is,” Marcus said,
with a deep bow over her hand.

Tessa played along and gave him a deep
curtsy, and Dean watched her graceful movements closely as she
dipped and rose again. “What a gentleman you are,” she
commented.

Dean grunted. “More like full of bull
crap.”

Marcus scowled at Dean and Tessa laughed. She
could see that this was going to be a lot of fun. She sobered and
looked at Dean, admiring his fine physique.

“So, who are these beautiful animals?” she
asked, referring to the pair of chestnut draft horses hitched to
the wagon.

“This one is Buster and the other one is
Nugget,” Dean answered.

Tessa moved to Buster’s side before Dean
could warn her. Buster tended to be a little cantankerous around
strangers, but he saw that he didn’t have to worry. Tessa whispered
to Buster and he watched the big gelding’s ears flick back and
forth. She didn’t touch him, but held a flat palm out and let him
sniff it. Slowly then, she raised her hand and lightly stroked his
neck.

The whole time, she kept whispering to him.
Once he’d gotten her scent, Tessa stroked the pretty white blaze
enjoying the soft hair and skin of Buster’s face. The horse seemed
hypnotized by the treatment and lowered his head to her. Tessa
slipped up close to him and embraced his neck briefly.

She then repeated the process with Nugget,
who was much friendlier and more mischievous. Tessa laughed softly
when he wanted to nibble at a bow on her jacket. She quietly
disciplined him and Nugget behaved.

“They’re splendid,” she said as she turned
back to the men.

Dean had been watching raptly and found he
was jealous of the horses. Her pretty hands stroking their flesh
made his male flesh remember what it was like to feel a woman’s
touch. He shifted and cleared his throat.

“Oh, I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to delay our
departure. I adore horses, but I’m dying to see your ranch and meet
everyone,” she said.

“Not at all,” Dean said. “We’ll get your
things loaded and get underway. I’m sure you’d like to get settled
in and rest a little.”

“Yes, that would be lovely,” Tessa
agreed.

Dean and Marcus moved her belongings to the
wagon and they headed out.

Tessa was thankful to Dean for thinking to
place a thick folded blanket on the wooden seat of the buckboard
wagon. The going was rougher than she was used to and her bottom
kept smacking against the seat and she was getting sore. She could
imagine how much worse it would have been if there had been no
blanket.

As they rode, she kept sneaking looks at Dean
and found him quite attractive. His blond hair was disheveled from
the wind and his jaw was beginning to show stubble. He was tanned
and muscular and filled out his clothes in a way that the men she
knew didn’t. Tessa smiled to herself, thinking that Edwina would
certainly be jealous when she wrote her and told her that Dean was
incredibly handsome and virile.

She’d been charmed by Marcus and had pegged
him a bit of a troublemaker, but the kind that you couldn’t help
but like. She wondered which parent each of them looked like.
Outside of the shape of their jaws, there wasn’t much resemblance.
Marcus’s jet black hair and gray eyes were far removed from Dean’s
golden locks and vivid blue eyes.

Dean looked down at Tessa and Tessa’s stomach
did a little flip. His gaze did things to her that she hadn’t
expected so soon. She thought she saw the same thing flicker in his
eyes, but couldn’t be sure.

“See that big maple tree over there?” he
said.

Tessa looked where he indicated. “Yes.”

“That’s the start of our land,” Dean told her
with pride. “Those steer you see are some of our finest
cattle.”

Tessa took a small notebook from her reticule
and began looking around with interest and writing down her
observations. Dean watched with curiosity, remembering Tessa had
told him that she was working on improving her creative writing
skills. “What are you writing?” he asked.

“I’m writing about how everything looks, in
detail and how it makes me feel,” she responded.

Dean arched an eyebrow at that. “How it makes
you feel?”

“Yes.”

“What do you mean by that?” he asked.

Tessa didn’t look at him, but responded as
she wrote on. “I mean, how what I see, and hear, and smell makes me
feel.”

“I don’t get it.”

She looked at him then. “Look at the
steer.”

Dean did. “Okay.”

“How do you feel when you look at them? You
just told me that they are fine animals,” Tessa said.

Dean looked into her deep blue eyes looking
at him so eagerly and wanted to please her. He thought about it
carefully. “Proud, I guess. It took a lot of hard work to breed
such good stock.”

“Yes! Proud! And you should be. I’ve seen
some steers back east and I don’t think they’re as nice as these.
Look at how strong their shoulders are and sleek and healthy their
coats are!” Tessa was still writing as she talked. After a minute,
though, she put away her notebook and pencil.

Marcus leaned up from the wagon box.
“Someday, I’d love to read some of your observations.”

Tessa turned to him. “Really? Do you enjoy
reading?”

“Oh, yeah. He’s always reading. You’ll have
to go to his house sometime. There are more books than anything
else in it. I’m surprised he doesn’t just sleep on them,” Dean
said.

Marcus smiled. “It’s true.”

“When I get them more polished, I would
certainly welcome your insight. In fact, you are both welcome to
read them,” Tessa said.

Dean said, “I’d like that. I really enjoyed
your letters, so I can just imagine what your other writing is
like.”

Tessa was flattered. “Thank you,” she said
with a smile and blushed.

“Pa! Pa! Is that her?”

Dean looked up and saw his children running
toward them as fast as they could.

“Here we go. Prepare yourself. Both of them
have been on pins and needles waiting for you to get here. We all
have,” Dean told her.

Tessa looked in his eyes and saw that flicker
of something unnamable. Then the children arrived and her attention
became focused on them.

“Hi! I’m Jack. Boy, you’re pretty. Can you
cook? I like to eat,” Jack stated as he climbed on board the wagon
and squeezed between Tessa and Dean.

“Mind your manners, Jack,” Dean said a little
gruffly.

Jack barely gave his father a glance. “Okay.
But can you?”

Tessa smiled down at him. He looked a lot
like Dean. “Honestly, I haven’t had much chance, but I’m a quick
learner. I’m Tessa and it’s very nice to finally meet you. I’m
looking forward to becoming friends.”

Jack nodded. “Yeah, me, too. It’s okay if you
can’t cook. I can’t either.”

Tessa smiled and then turned and looked down
at Sadie. “And this pretty young lady must be Sadie,” she said.

Sadie blushed and smiled. “Thank you, ma’am.
Pleased to meet you. Jack’s right, you’re beautiful and your
clothes are so pretty.”

“Why, thank you,” Tessa said.

“C’mon, Sadie. I’ll help you up here,” Marcus
said and held out an arm.

Sadie grabbed on and giggled as Marcus swung
her up into the wagon. She came to stand behind Jack, holding onto
the back of the wagon seat. “What’s Pittsburgh like?” Sadie asked
as they drove beneath the arch that marked the entrance to their
ranch.

Dean chuckled. “Sadie, let Tessa get settled
and a little rested before asking so many questions. We’re all
gonna have time to get to know each other, but it doesn’t all have
to happen right now.”

“Okay, Pa. Sorry, Miss Theresa,” Sadie said
respectfully.

“That’s quite all right. I promise I’ll tell
you anything you want to know. And I have a lot of questions of my
own. Oh, and please call me Tessa,” she said.

“Tessa?” Sadie said.

“It’s my nickname,” Tessa informed her.

Dean pulled the team to a stop in front of
the house. “Okay. Here we are.”

Tessa turned and was instantly charmed by the
house. It was a wooden two story structure with quite a few
windows. A nice porch wrapped around it and several wooden rocking
chairs sat behind the railing. It was a rustic brown in color.
Tessa didn’t know a whole lot about construction, but it looked
sturdy and well put together.

Dean watched Tessa closely as she looked the
place over. He was nervous about what she’d think of it because he
knew her family was rich and lived in a large mansion. He knew
their place couldn’t compare to the kind of home Tessa was used to.
Her eyes moved quickly, he noticed.

As he looked at her profile, Dean was struck
again by how beautiful Tessa was. She had a pretty, straight nose
and a graceful neck. Her dark hair shone with good health. He had a
sudden urge to touch it to see if it felt as soft as it looked.
Dean’s hands tightened imperceptibly on the reins as he fought the
impulse.

Tessa turned to him with her eyes shining.
“It’s lovely! I can see the care that went into building it and you
certainly keep it well maintained.

Dean grinned as relief flowed through him.
“Thanks. I was afraid you wouldn’t like it.”

“No need to worry,” Tessa said.

“Good.” Dean stepped down from the wagon.
“I’ll help you down.”

“All right,” Tessa said.

Dean grasped her by the waist and helped her
down. The physical contact sent a jolt of awareness through Tessa.
Her hands rested on his large biceps and his scent reached her
nostrils. He smelled of hay and horses and a little sweat. The
combination was far from repulsive. It was a little primal and she
felt a stirring of desire.

Dean was having much the same feelings. He
hadn’t touched another woman since Sarah and her waist and lower
back felt soft, yet firm. It scared him a little that he could
desire another woman. He cleared his throat and stepped back
quickly.

“There. Ready for the tour?” he asked.

Tessa had sensed the change in him and
frowned a little. Then she chastised herself for being so silly. Of
course he was not going to engage in anything physical in front of
the children or Marcus. Besides, they didn’t know each other nearly
well enough for anything like that.

She brightened. “Of course.”

As they moved through the house, the kids
told her a lot of things about it. She found the interior of the
house as charming as the exterior. The kitchen was clean and
orderly. The cupboards were carved with intricate flowered
patterns. Tessa ran her fingertips over them.

“Where did you ever get these beautiful
doors?”

“Uncle Marcus made them,” Sadie said.

Tessa turned to him. “You did these?”

Marcus nodded.

“You are an expert craftsman, Marcus. I have
to say I’ve never seen any finer work. In Pittsburgh, your services
would by highly sought after,” she said.

Marcus was a little bashful, which wasn’t
like him. “Really? Thank you.”

“He’s always doing something with wood.
People around here get him to carve and whittle a lot of stuff,”
Dean said.

“I can see why.”

They moved to the front parlor and Tessa fell
in love with it. The light coming in the windows made it a bright,
cherry room. Pretty white eyelet curtains dressed the windows. The
furniture was of good quality. A large braided rug of browns and
pinks covered much of the shiny wooden floor. Tessa saw a woman’s
touch all over the room.

“Your wife was very talented in furnishing a
home. It’s lovely. Did she make the curtains?” Tessa asked.

Dean nodded. “She could make almost anything
that way. Clothes, quilts, baby blankets, curtains. You name it.”
It made him feel good to see Tessa appreciating Sarah’s
handiwork.

Tessa saw a picture on the mantel of the
fireplace and crossed the room to it. It was of Dean, Sarah, and
younger versions of Jack and Sadie. They were all dressed in their
finest clothes and they were all smiling. Tessa focused on Sarah.
She was a beautiful woman with brown eyes and light brown hair.