Joshua's Montana Bride (Sweet, Clean Western Historical Romance)(Montana Ranchers and Brides Series) (2 page)

"That was most unfortunate," Bewly said slowly.

"No more unfortunate than leading a young woman to believe that your intentions were honorable, Mr. Bewly," Laura said with a snap in her voice.

Bewly scowled. "I knew this was a mistake. I should have left you waiting here all day. You would have eventually understood my intentions. When I didn't turn up."

Laura suddenly felt a sob rise in her throat. She would not let him see a tear. Not a single one. She wouldn't give this strange, repulsive man the satisfaction.

"What makes you think I won't claim breach of promise?"

His brows furrowed. "You wouldn't dare. In any case this was purely a commercial arrangement. Like all correspondence brides. There is no contract involved. Either of the two parties may end the proposed arrangement at any time, prior to the marriage." In an instant his voice had been transformed from one of an outraged man to that of an efficient, well informed lawyer.

Laura felt herself flinch at the harshness of his words. How could she have been so stupid to think that she could run away from a home where unhappiness was guaranteed, where every day was a domestic torment, and seek fulfilment with a lawyer? What had possessed her? Had it been the possibility of town living that had prompted her to leave the ranch behind? She'd obviously been reading too many accounts of mail order brides. It was clear to her that the reality of marrying a stranger was very different from all the stories she'd heard of lives mended and marital bliss achieved by means of correspondence matrimony.

Laura glared over at Bewly. The man was vile. It had only taken a brief acquaintance to discover that.

What was she to do now? She couldn't go home. Her brother Eli would make her suffer for her foolishness. But wasn't he the main reason she'd been driven to this? She could just imagine Eli's livid face if she returned to the ranch from this mad escapade.

Laura drew in a deep calming breath. "It appears we have nothing more to say then," she said trying to summon an indifferent tone.

Bewly tossed the damp napkin into the table. "At least we agree on something."

He stood up and looked down at Laura. "I know you won't believe me. But I am truly sorry."

Laura pursed her lips. She looked up at him, eyes burning with indignation. "There's nothing more to say, sir. I bid you a good day."

Bewly frowned and nodded curtly. "Good day. And goodbye."

With that he turned and made his way quickly to the door. He did not turn, nor look back before firmly closing the door behind him. It was almost as if she had been a particularly difficult business problem he'd had to deal with, and now he could walk away, indifferent and satisfied.

Laura drew herself erect and ignored the looks from the stunned diners.

What a charade. And it had all happened so quickly. She should have known that the idea of running away from her life on the ranch, and becoming a correspondence bride was doomed from the start.

Laura felt a knot of anxiety settle in her stomach. What was she to do? She couldn't go home. Could she?

Laura lifted the cup of tea, but then remembered why it was empty. Her mouth creased slightly with a mischievous smile. Bewly's sodden face was something she wouldn't forget for a very long time. She put the cup back down and sighed, trying to consider her next move.

It was then that an unthinkable thing happened.

Laura looked over toward the wide window of the restaurant. Outside she could see the horses and carriages passing by; she could see the townsfolk of Helena strolling casually along the boardwalk going about their daily business.

And there, standing at the window, looking in, his eyes locked on Laura, was the last person on earth she expected to see.

Looking straight into her eyes was Joshua McKenzie.

Earlier that afternoon, Joshua McKenzie strode up the main thoroughfare of Helena , peering frantically into every shop window he passed.

He had to find Laura Thorne. It was the most important thing he'd ever done. Bar none.

The town was busy for early afternoon. The boardwalk was packed with townsfolk going about their business. The stores were bustling with activity and the saloons were full. Horses were tied up on hitching rails up and down the street. Helena was a thriving town, bigger than what Joshua was used to, coming as he did from his ranch near Great Falls, further north.

He stopped outside the mercantile and peered inside. He saw women choosing fabric from long patterned rolls laid out on a large table in the middle of the store. None of them looked like Laura.

Joshua sighed in frustration. He'd only been in Helena less than an hour. He'd just about exhausted all the options of where he could find her. But he knew she was here. Laura's mother had been certain of that much.

He thought about earlier that morning, back at the Thorne ranch, just outside Great Falls. Joshua had come to visit. It had been a visit he'd been putting off for a while. There was important business he had to discuss. An important question to ask. Maybe the most important one he'd ever asked.

When he'd arrived, the ranch had been unnaturally quiet. Laura's older brother, Eli wasn't at home and the housekeeper had greeted Joshua at the front door looking ashen faced. Joshua wondered what had happened. Whatever it was it was clearly bad news. Maybe today had been a bad day to choose for a visit. He'd been just about to leave when he'd heard an anguished cry from within. Going into the parlor, he'd found Belinda Thorne prostrate on the divan, a letter in her hand.

With the help of the housekeeper they'd calmed Laura's mother down and after much persuasion, crying and swooning, gotten the truth from her. The reason for the upset was Belinda's daughter, Laura.

"She's run off," Belinda had uttered with a sob. "To get married! To a stranger."

Joshua had sat back on the divan, while the housekeeper, Mrs. Cole, had tried to console Mrs. Thorne. He'd felt distinctly awkward and out of place. He'd hoped his visit would deal with a long standing issue that had been pressing on his mind for a long time, but he'd ended up being witness to a family trauma. The urge to help warred within him as strongly as the desire to make his excuses and leave. He'd known the Thorne family for many years. He hated to see Belinda Thorne in this state.

The letter Mrs. Thorne held in her hand explained that Laura, twenty-one years of age, and apparently as foolish as she could be, had decided to run off and marry a lawyer in Helena. Mrs. Thorne had let out a gasp and thrown a hand to her forehead, declaring pained words about the shame that her beloved daughter had brought on her family.

No amount of calming words and reassurance would console the distraught mother.

When Joshua had eventually asked when Laura had run off, Mrs. Thorne looked at him with wide, reddened eyes. That very morning Laura taken the train to Helena, before anyone had even known about her foolish actions.

Joshua had thought for a while before making the suggestion that had immediately leapt to his mind. Eventually he'd reached out a hand and taken Mrs. Thorne's shaking hand in his own. The offer he'd made had transformed the grieving mother in an instant.

Joshua would go by train to Helena and find Laura. He would bring Laura back to the ranch, to the loving and forgiving care of her mother. The whole episode would be forgotten, and nothing more would be said about it.

The relief that had spread across Mrs. Thorne's face had brought a gladness to Joshua's heart. He'd always had an affection for the kindly woman. He didn't want to see her suffer. Mrs. Thorne had been helpful to Joshua on so many occasions, despite the fact that their respective ranches were neighbours, and in some respects, rivals. At least that was how Eli Thorne always made Joshua feel. Belinda Thorne, in contrast, had always tried to help Joshua whenever she could, and he'd never forgotten her many kind gestures during the lean years when he'd been building up his ranch into the successful spread he now owned.

In the end Joshua decided he'd do whatever it took to find Laura, if it would spare Belinda Thorne the obvious grief she was feeling.

So here he was, striding up and down the main street of Helena, searching for Laura and finding no sign of her. He'd been to the church and found that no weddings had taken place. Laura had gotten a head start on him, taking an earlier train. The letter Belinda Thorne had given him merely hinted that a meeting had been arranged for that afternoon somewhere in Helena. But there were no details, just that it would take place that afternoon.

Joshua thought of the real reason he'd visited the Thorne ranch that morning, and a stab of worry jabbed into his middle. He had to get Laura back to her family. That was where she belonged.

After giving Belinda Thorne his promise that everything would work out fine Joshua had left instantly for the train station at Great Falls, his business at the Thorne ranch unfinished. There would be time for that after he'd found Laura Thorne and taken her home to the safe keeping of her mother and brother.

Joshua couldn't imagine what had possessed Laura to do something as foolish as arrange a secret wedding. She and Joshua had known each other for years. He'd watched her growing up, developing from a boisterous young girl into a feisty, spirited, attractive woman. And attractive she was. There was no denying that. Although Joshua was a few years older than her, that hadn't stopped Laura from teasing him on visits to the Thorne ranch. He'd taken the ribbing from her in good spirits. It seemed to Joshua that in the last couple of years, every time he went to the ranch, Laura never missed an opportunity to taunt and make fun of him.

They were friends. That was all. His close ties to the Thorne family had meant he'd spent a lot of time around Laura. He knew what she was capable of. And that worried him almost as much as the fact that he'd left Belinda Thorne looking like she was about to suffer an apoplexy.

Where was Laura? He thought of her in trouble and it spurred his searching to a greater urgency. He had to admit that in the last couple of years the thought that Laura might be more than a friend had passed through his mind on more than one occasion. And there was one thought that had pressed insistently upon Joshua.

Laura Thorne had grown up to be a mighty pretty, even gorgeous, young woman.

Joshua guessed there was no-one more beautiful in this part of Montana. But he'd kept his distance. His relationship with the Thorne family had always been built on trust, and he hadn't wanted to do anything to spoil that. It was too important to him. Belinda Thorne had been good to him, helping him build up his ranch in the way that only a good, well intentioned neighbour could. And Joshua had always held Belinda Thorne in the highest possible esteem. She had helped him out in legal and money matters, hooking Joshua up with important and influential men in Great Fall. Without that help he might never have built up his ranch to the extent that he had.

And now Belinda's daughter had gone and done the most foolish thing that anyone could imagine. She'd run off and was about to do some kind of crazy thing.

Joshua owed it to Belinda Thorne to do his utmost to find her errant daughter.

He thought about Laura, and recalled the many instances of her strong, even uncontrollable spirit. Her determination to do what she wanted had always amused him. It had been tempered by her growing up. Slightly. But she still had a fire inside her that made her exciting to be around.

Joshua had always had trouble dealing with her feisty nature. But, the truth was, he'd always found her determined and forthright ways appealing in the most confusing and confounding way imaginable.

Joshua sighed at the memories of their times together. He had to find her; had to stop her doing whatever she'd come here to do.

Joshua made his way down the boardwalk, back toward the station. When he'd jumped off the train earlier that afternoon he'd almost expected to see Laura seated in the station, weeping and abandoned, waiting to take the train back home, repentant and filled with remorse.

But there had been no sign of her.

Finally he came to the hotel. There was a restaurant adjacent to the hotel reception area. A window gave the diners inside a view of the main street. It would be the last place he'd search before he'd take some time to consider what to do next.

As he strode up to the entrance of the hotel Joshua almost collided with a tall, thin man who thrust his way out through the main door. Joshua took a step back and murmured a quick apology, but the man didn't even look at Joshua, and headed off down the boardwalk. Joshua watched him and wondered what had made the man so agitated.

Taking a step away from the door, Joshua peered into the restaurant and his heart skipped a beat. Joshua saw a familiar, delicate, but proud face.

It was Laura.

She looked indignant, even angry. Her mouth was set in a tight expression that Joshua had seen on many an occasion. It meant trouble for anyone on the receiving end. Laura was seated, alone, at a table in the corner, surrounded by diners who in various ways were doing everything in their power to avoid looking at Laura. She looked so vulnerable, so defenceless.

Joshua glanced quickly down the boardwalk. A thought flashed into his mind. Surely that hadn't been the man she'd intended to marry. If it was him, why was he striding off like that? Maybe he was rushing to the church to arrange matters for their wedding. But the man hadn't looked too happy. And judging by Laura's expression, she was feeling something similar.

Joshua turned and gazed into the restaurant. Laura still hadn't seen him. She was trying her best to look composed and failing miserably. Any minute now she would stand and make her way out. Joshua thought quickly about what he needed to do. If there had ever been a time in his life when he had to be persuasive, it was now.

And it was then that Laura spotted him. Her mouth dropped open in obvious shock. Joshua tried to smile at Laura. He couldn't hear her voice, but he distinctly saw her lips form his name, and a look of disbelief spread across her features.