MINDY'S MAIL ORDER HUSBAND (3 page)

          
“Thank
you.
 
Now eat before it gets cold.
 
The dumplings will get yucky.”

          
Brett
laughed, leaned over, and kissed her on the cheek.
 
“Yes, Ma’am.
 
I wouldn’t
want to eat yucky dumplings.”

          
They
took their time eating and talking over things about the ranch.
 
He wanted to know what she wanted first and
foremost.
 
“I’ll send one of the men
into town tomorrow to get some whitewash for the house and bunkhouse.
 
We’ll fix this place up to where your pa had
it.”

          
“It
was really pretty before pa passed on.
 
It will be nice to get it back in shape again.”

          
“I’ll
also send in an order for feed for the horses and see if one of the neighboring
ranchers has any hay and corn to sell too.”

          
“You
will be broke soon after spending the amount you did today and buying
everything else needed around here.
 
That worries me.”

          
“Don’t
worry.
 
I have enough money and you have
to spend money to make it as my father has always preached to me.”

          
“You
told me in your letters that your pa was a businessman.
 
You didn’t say what he did.”

          
Brett
finished the last bite of food on his plate.
 
Talking about his father’s job wasn’t one of his favorite subjects, but
he wanted his marriage to be a truthful one.
 
He leaned back in his chair as she got up and took their plates and put
them in the sink.
 
He watched as she
refilled their coffee cups and set the cake on the table along with two clean
plates.

          
“That
cake looks good,” he said, as she cut them both a thick slice and then sat
down.

          
“Scuffy
is a good cook.
 
He hasn’t had much to
make meals with lately, but he can make do with whatever is on hand and still
cook a good meal.”

          
“And
he keeps the bunkhouse clean.
 
He’s a
good man.”

          
“You
haven’t answered me about your father.
 
If you don’t want to talk to me about it, then it’s fine.”

          
He
took a big bite of cake, chewed, and swallowed before answering.
 
“My father is a force to be reckoned
with.
 
I’ve worked for him since I was a
young boy and I hated every moment of it.”

          
“You
don’t get along with your pa?”

          
He
saw her staring at him with wide blue eyes.
 
“It’s not that we don’t get along.
 
It’s just that he’s a workhorse of a man.
 
He’s up at the crack of dawn and in his study at home until after
midnight.”

          
“He’s
a rancher too?”

          
“Not
hardly.”
 
He finished the last bite of
his cake, noticing she was still staring at him, waiting for him to answer
her.
 
“My father is none other than
Brentley Connors.”
 
He waited for it to
dawn on her who his father was.
 
When
she just stared at him, he threw his head back and laughed.
 
“You don’t know, do you?”
 
He saw her shake her head.
 
“Well, I guess I don’t have to worry about
you marrying me because you knew who my father was.
 
I was hoping that wasn’t the case.
 
Now I know for sure.”
 
He
leaned across the table, slipped his hand around her neck and pulled her
close.
 
He kissed her, then let her go.

          
“What
does your father do?”

          
“He
does a million things in my estimation and always has.
 
He owns stock in the railroad and is head of
the B&B bank, like the one you have in town, among other things.”

          
“Then
why would you come here to marry me when you have such a bright future?”

          
“Because
I hate sitting behind a desk day after day, all day long.
 
I hated that I got to the office for work
before daylight and didn’t get out until after dark.
 
That’s not how I wanted to live my life.”

          
“Surely
your father needs you.
 
Why would you
marry a penniless woman on a rundown ranch?”

          
He
reached over and took her hand.
 
“Because she needed me and she’s beautiful.”

          
“Maybe
you need spectacles after doing all that paperwork.”

          
“My
eyesight is just fine.
 
Besides, when my
father finds out that I’m not coming back, he will come here for a visit and I
want the ranch in tiptop shape before he does.”

          
“You
didn’t tell him you were getting married?”

          
“Not
exactly.”
 
He saw her frown and
grinned.
 
“It doesn’t matter what my
father says or does.
 
I’m where I choose
to be and I’m happy I married you.”

          
“Where
did you learn to fight?
 
Do you know how
to use those guns strapped around your waist?”

          
“From
a friend.
 
As a matter of fact, he lives
not too far from here.
 
Maybe you’ve
heard of Brace Barkley of the B & B Ranch?
 
I stopped at his place to find out how to get here.”

          
Mindy’s
mouth fell open.
 
She knew of Brace
Barkley.
 
Everyone in these parts
did.
 
He ran his ranch with a ruthless
hand and there were rumors that he robbed and killed to get where he was.
 
“He’s worse than an outlaw from what I’ve
heard,” she blurted out.

          
Brett
threw his head back and laughed.
 
“So,
you have heard of him?
 
Well, he’s not a
thief.
 
I can assure you of that.
 
He comes from a family that has more money
than mine, and he gets his gruffness from his father and brother.
 
He is an ornery rascal though when you get
to know him.
 
I’m sure he’ll stop by
sometime.
 
He is probably the one I’ll
buy some hay and other things from,” he said, when Scuffy knocked on the screen
door.

          
He
watched Mindy get up, open the door for the old man, and lean down and kiss him
on the cheek.

          
“You’ll
be makin’ your husband jealous, Mindy.”

          
Brett
chuckled.
 
“Scuffy, you’re a better man
than I am to have put up with those men out there and stand by Mindy.”

          
“Thank
you, Boss.”

          
“Call
me Brett.
 
We’ll be good friends.”
 

          
“That’s
right nice of you, Brett.
 
You’re a good
man.
 
I can tell that all ready.”

          
Brett
watched Mindy pour a cup of coffee and cut a piece of cake for Scuffy as Scuffy
pulled out a chair and sat down.
 
“Is
Web gone and did you get all the supplies in the bunkhouse?”

          
“Funny
thing how food and tobaccy can make a man get to work.
 
I fried up some taters with eggs and some
ham and put on a strong pot of coffee.
 
Just the smell of that food had those men scrambling to do some work
before supper.
 
We haven’t had coffee in
a long time down at the bunkhouse.
 
Web
is gone and happy he is.
 
The men will
be easier to control now that he left.”

          
“Glad
to hear that.
 
After you eat your cake,
will you show me around the place?”

          
“Be
happy to.
 
I’ve been here since Mindy’s
Pa settled here.
 
I was here the day she
was born.
 
As a matter of fact, I
brought the girl into this world.
 
I
feel like she’s my daughter too.
 
I know
this ranch like the back of my hand.”

          
Brett
grinned, but as he glanced at Mindy, he wondered why she was so quiet while she
poured hot water into the dishpan and started washing the dishes.
 
Maybe she was worried about her wedding
night, but he planned on being loving and patient with her.
 
Hopefully she’d learn to love and trust
him.
 
She was a beautiful woman with her
light blonde hair that was almost a silver color and her light blue eyes. She
looked fragile and that made him want to protect her like no other woman he’d
known.

Chapter Three

          
Mindy
finished washing the dishes when Brett and Scuffy went outside.
 
She poured herself a cup of coffee and sat
down at the table.
 
She couldn’t believe
everything Brett told her about his father and Brace Barkley.

          
It
happened about four years ago, but she remembered the day with such
clarity.
 
Her pa was outside at the
corral when a man rode up with several riders with him.
 
She watched from the porch as the rider
talked to her pa.
 
She knew her pa was
angry though from the look on his tanned face as he turned his back on the man
and walked up to stand beside her on the porch.
 

          
She’d
asked her pa who the man and riders were and he told her Brace Barkley just
offered him twice the money the ranch was worth, but he told him to get
out.
 
His ranch wasn’t for sale.

          
Mindy
didn’t get a good look at the man with his hat pulled low over his forehead,
but she thought him to be a force to reckon with and wondered why he wanted
their ranch.
 
She’d forgotten about that
incident until Brett mentioned his friend.

          
She
sipped her coffee and wondered if Brett and Brace were in cahoots together.
 
Maybe Brett married her so he could get his
hands on her ranch.
 
Being a woman, she
couldn’t own property without a husband.
 
That was another reason she advertised for a mail order husband.
 
She wondered if Brett knew that too.
 
If it weren’t for her pa putting Scuffy’s
name in his will as manager of the ranch until she wed, then she would have
been in dire straights after her pa’s passing.

          
She
sighed.
 
Why did life have to be so
hard?
 
Her pa always kept her safe,
provided for, and made sure she grew up right even though her ma had passed
birthing her.
 
She knew he always wanted
a son, but he told her that no other woman could take her ma’s place in his
heart so he’d never marry again and he never did.
 
That’s the kind of love she wanted too.
 
A love that never died and lasted forever.

          
The
reality was that life out here in the west was a dangerous one and if you
weren’t strong, you wouldn’t make it.
 
Women had to work hard day in and day out.
 
She had it easier than most, but when her pa passed, she realized
how much she needed a man at her side.

          
She
rubbed her tired eyes.
 
“Did I do the
right thing?”
 
She shook her head.
 
There was no use sitting here wondering.
 
She still had things to put away.
 
Her new clothes that Brett bought her and
the sewing and knitting supplies.
 
She
pushed up from the table and walked over to the pile of things sitting against
the wall and grabbed a handful of packages and went upstairs to her room.
 
She dumped the packages on her bed and
looked around the room.
 
She had a dresser
and an armoire, but they wouldn’t be big enough to hold Brett’s clothes and
hers too.
 
That thought made her wonder
where his clothes were since he arrived on his horse at the church.

          
She
unwrapped the packages and put things away before going downstairs and taking
care of the other things.
 
When she
returned to the kitchen, Brett was sitting at the table with a journal open
writing things down by the light from the kerosene lamp.
 
“What’s that?”
 
She poured them both a cup of coffee and sat down next to him.

          
“A
list of things we need for the ranch.
 
Your pa sure did build this place up and with a few repairs and some
whitewash, I can get it in shape soon.”

          
“So
things don’t look as bad as I thought they were?”

          
“It’s
just in disrepair.
 
I’ll send one of the
men to town tomorrow for some lumber and nails and the whitewash, plus a few
other things.”

          
“Would
you like a piece of cake with your coffee?”

          
“Sure
would, then I think we should turn in.
 
I want to be up by the crack of dawn and get started.”

          
Mindy
rose from the table, cut the cake, and placed two large pieces on a plate.
 
She handed Brett his and sat down with
hers.
 
“I just thought of something
while I was putting the things you bought me away.
 
Where are your clothes?”

          
“Right
here in my saddlebags,” he said, reaching down and lifting it up for her to
see.
 
“I had most of my other things
sent to Brace’s.
 
We’ll ride over there
in a couple days and pick up my stuff.”

          
“You
can go by yourself.
 
I’ll stay here at
the ranch.”

          
“You
don’t like Brace?”

          
She
shrugged.
 
“I don’t know him, only that
he wanted to buy the ranch from pa and pa turned him down flat.
 
I would too no matter what I had to do.
 
This is my home and always has been.”
 
She hoped she got her point across.

          
“I’m
not going to try and take your ranch, Mindy.
 
I hope that together we build a home here together.
 
Get the repairs done and make it into a
paying ranch.”

          
“That’s
fine.
 
I didn’t mean anything, but this
is my place now that pa is gone.”
 
She
saw him rub his whiskers and heard his heavy sigh.

          
“I
will do everything in my power to make the ranch prosperous for the both of us
and for the children we will have.
 
I
thought you wanted a husband to do just that.”

          
“I
do, but this ranch is never to be sold no matter what unless I say it can be,
which I won’t.”

          
“Who
said anything about selling it?
 
What
are you talking about?”

          
“Nothing,
I’m just tired and I started my monthly, so just a little grouchy.”
 
She felt her face heat with a blush, but was
so thankful that she had an excuse not to perform her wifely duties for the
next few days.

          
“That’s
not going to keep me out of my wife’s bed.
 
I still want us to sleep together even though we can’t consummate our
marriage right now.”

          
Mindy
finished the last bite of her cake, rose from the table, and set her plate in
the sink.
 
“I’ll show you to my
room.
 
I never go to bed this early, so
will probably embroider for a while.
 
Come on.”

          
She
led the way up the stairs and to her room.
 
“You can put your things where you want to,” she said, lighting the lamp
on the stand by the bed.
 
Dusk had
fallen and the few dredges of light faded beyond the window.

          
“Is
your pa’s room larger than this?”

          
Mindy
gasped.
 
“What?”

          
“Well,
this isn’t a very big room for a married couple.
 
Just wondering if your pa’s room is larger.”

          
“Yes
it is, but I can’t sleep in there.
 
I
won’t!”
 
With those words she ran out of
the room, down the stairs, and outside.
 
She hurried to her pa’s grave, knowing the way by heart even in the
dark.
 
She knelt down by the grave and
cried.
 

***

          
Brett
saw the look of shock on her face before she ran out of the room.
 
He heard the door slam shut downstairs and
knew she left the house.
 
He was
undecided whether to go after her or not.
 
Running a hand through his hair, he picked up the lamp and walked to the
room at the head of the stairs figuring it would be her pa’s room.
 
He turned the handle and walked into it.

          
He
inhaled a deep breath and walked over and put the lamp on top of the dresser
and looked around.
 
The room was twice
the size of Mindy’s and the bed bigger.
 
There were two dressers, an armoire, and a trunk at the bottom of the
bed.
 
Two red, leather chairs on the
wall to his right flanked a large fireplace.
 
A wooden end table stood between them.
 
There was a bookcase from floor to ceiling on the opposite wall.
 
He walked over and looked at the books in
it.
 
Dust coated everything in the room.
 
He opened the armoire and saw the men’s
clothes and boots in it.
 
On the stand
by the bed a gun and gun belt lay on it and a man’s hat.

          
In
that moment of time as he looked around, he knew how much Mindy loved her pa
and how much she missed him even after a year’s time.
 
She couldn’t stand to change anything in the room to erase the
man’s memory.

          
He
ran a hand through his hair, strode over and took the lamp back to her room,
then went downstairs and over to the bunkhouse.
 
Scuffy sat in a chair outside the door.
 
He sat down in the chair beside him.
 
“Where is she?”

          
Scuffy
pointed past the house to a copse of trees.
 
“She went to her pa’s grave.
 
She
always does when she’s upset.
 
What’d
you do to her?”

          
“Nothing,
only told her that her room wasn’t big enough and asked if her pa’s room was
bigger.”

          
“Well
Brett, you are going to have your hands full with that gal.
 
She hasn’t let go of her pa yet.
 
She’s still grieving.
 
Her pa was her whole life.
 
He didn’t even let Mindy go into town to
school, but taught her to read, write, and her numbers, and other things from
those books in his room.
 
Mack was a
good man, a good husband, and a good father.
 
Mindy was his world when her ma died birthing her.
 
Oh, he had the ranch and ran it with an iron
hand, but his life was his daughter.
 
It’s going to take time for her to let go.”

          
Brett
sighed and leaned back in the chair and gazed up at the stars for a bit before
answering.
 
“How long?
 
It’s been a year, Scuffy.”

          
“”But
to Mindy, it seems like yesterday.”

          
“I
suppose.
 
My mother died when I was
young.
 
I don’t even remember her, but
my pa is as different as day and night to Mindy’s pa.
 
He expected me to follow in his footsteps and he trained me
to.
 
I hated it, though, but he never
gave up.
 
I know he will come here
demanding I come back home and it will probably be soon.
 
I don’t want him to know that there’s no
love in our marriage.
 
I want Mindy to
love me and I’ll love her, but she’s got to give us a chance.”

          
“Seems
you don’t have much experience with women.”

          
Brett
chuckled.
 
“I’ve bedded a few, but my
father was all about work from dawn to dusk at the bank and then more work
after supper until midnight.
 
I finally
realized if I wanted a life of my own, I had to take matters into my own hands
and get away from my father.
 
That’s
when I saw Mindy’s advertisement in the paper and wrote to her.
 
Her letters tugged at my heart and I knew
she needed help.”

          
“That
she does, but she needs love, patience, and time to get over her pa’s death.”

          
“Should
I go out there and find her and talk to her?”

          
Scuffy
shook his head.
 
“I wouldn’t.
 
Not right now.
 
If’n I were you, I’d go on up and go to bed.
 
Mindy will come see me when she’s done
crying.”

          
Brett
didn’t like that, but he knew that Scuffy loved Mindy and had been with her,
her whole life.
 
He could understand
that Scuffy was like a pa to her too.
 
“I’ll take your advice.
 
I want
to get started early in the morning.
 
I’ll come to the bunkhouse after breakfast.”
 
He rose to his feet, looked at Scuffy, and sighed.
 
“I want to build a life on this ranch for
Mindy and I.
 
I won’t ever hurt her or
raise a hand to her.
 
I’m not that kind
of man.
 
I may not know how to deal with
her, but hopefully she learns to trust and love me.”