Second Chance Brides (33 page)

Shannon shrugged. “I just got so ill listening to her go on about Mark at breakfast. If they were such good friends, why have we never heard of her before seeing her in Denison?”

“Maybe she’s not someone Mark wants to remember. She seems awfully…shall we say, rough around the edges?”

“Aye, I sensed that, too. What do you suppose it means?”

“I have my suspicions, but it’s best I not voice them, in case I’m wrong.”

Shannon laid down her stitching again. If she sewed while angry, she had a tendency to pull the thread so tight that it bunched up. “She can have him, for all I care.”

Leah laid her hand on Shannon’s arm. “I’m so sorry things didn’t work out between you two. It’s hard to be happy with Dan knowing all you’re going through.”

Shannon turned toward her friend. “The last thing I want to do is steal your joy. The good Lord is helping me. I still care for Mark, but I need to look elsewhere for a husband. If I can marry, I will no longer have to work at the freight office.”

Leah closed her eyes for a moment. “Just don’t rush into something. I know you’ve had at least a dozen marriage proposals in the past weeks, but take your time and pick a man who will be good to you. A man you might one day be able to love.”

She considered the wisdom of her friend’s advice and nodded. Quick, heavy footsteps on the front porch drew their attention. Someone pounded on the door, and then it opened.

“Leah?” Dan’s frantic deep voice boomed through the house.

Leah jumped up and hurried from the room. “I’m right here. What’s wrong?”

“Come outside, I’ve got to talk to you.”

The front door shut, then opened again, and Annabelle walked into the parlor. “Looks like the lovebirds might be having a spat.”

Gathering up her lace, Shannon stood and crossed to the window. Dan looked very upset. What could have happened? “I was just over talking to Mark.”

The woman said his name as if it were sweet candy. “So…there’s no law against talkin’ to the man.”

Annabelle smirked. “I don’t know what’s going on with you and him, but Mark and I have a past. I just need a little time to win him back.”

“Good luck with that, I say.”

Annabelle blinked and looked taken off-guard. If the woman expected her to fight for Mark, she’d be disappointed. Shannon headed out of the room. She might have to be cordial to Annabelle, but she didn’t have to socialize with her.

“I must have been wrong. I thought for sure you and Mark had something going on.”

Had
was the key word. “I don’t believe Mark is interested in any woman. He told me himself that he’d never marry. If you ask me, you’re wastin’ your time with that one.”

Annabelle’s eyes widened, and her mouth opened, but nothing came out. Shannon hurried up the stairs, closed her door, and locked it. At least in the privacy of her own room she could be free of that woman. She laid the lace on top of the dresser and sat in the chair, worried about Leah.

What was going on?

C
HAPTER
25

W
hy can’t we get married right away?” Dan stared at her with hurt in his eyes. “Then you can travel to Dallas with me to see to my brother’s estate.”

“I’m so sorry to hear about your brother’s death, but I’m not ready to marry. My dress isn’t finished yet, and there are a hundred other details to take care of.”

Dan paced to the end of the porch and stared off in the distance. Leah’s heart ached for him. He hadn’t gotten over his mother’s death yet, and now a telegram informed him of his brother and sister-in-law’s deaths. “Couldn’t I just go with you, and we could get married when we return? We’re both adults and able to handle the situation respectfully.”

He shook his head. “I won’t take a chance on ruining your reputation. There are some folks in this town who’d look down on two unmarried people traveling together.”

She closed the distance between them and laid her hand on his shoulder. “I’m so sorry about your family. Can you tell me what happened?”

He turned and wrapped his arms around her. “I don’t know much. The telegram was from my sister, Louise, and just said that Aaron and Irene had died and for me to come to Dallas as soon as possible.”

“Did they have any children?”

He nodded and swallowed so hard that Leah saw his Adam’s apple move. “Five, and they’re all fairly young.”

Tears stung Leah’s eyes. “Oh, those poor children. What will happen to them?”

“I’m sure my sister will take them in. She’s known them all since birth and is very close to them since they only lived a half-mile away.”

Leah hugged Dan hard, not caring if anyone saw. He rested his chin on top of her head. She wanted to go along with him, but he was right. People would think it inappropriate. “When are you leaving?”

“I thought to wait until morning to take the stage, but if you aren’t coming, I’ll leave as soon as I can get packed and ride to Dallas.”

She leaned back and stared up into his damp eyes. His thick lashes clung together in spikes, and she knew he’d be embarrassed if he became aware that she knew he’d been crying. He was a big, tough man, but he cared deeply for his only brother. “Will it be dangerous for you to ride alone?”

“No. I’ll be riding fast, only stopping to rest my horse. In fact, I may take two and trade off riding them. I should be there in a few days if I do that.”

She lifted her hand and touched his face. “Please be careful, and come back to me. I couldn’t bear losing you.”

He smiled through his sadness. “I love you, sweetheart.”

Right there in broad daylight on the boardinghouse front porch, he pulled her back into his arms and kissed her thoroughly. When he stopped, she swayed, nearly dizzy with love for this man. She almost wavered and decided to go with him.

“I’d better get going.”

“Once you’re packed, stop back by here. I’m sure Rachel won’t mind if I make you a lunch to take with you.”

He nodded and strode away. Leah’s heart thumped hard. What if something happened to him, and he didn’t return? How would she find the strength to go on?

She muttered a prayer as she walked through the house to the kitchen. Just like when her pa had sold her to that horrible Mr. Abernathy and she’d found the strength to run away and become a mail-order bride, God would help her to go on without Dan. But she prayed hard that such a day never would come.

Annabelle sat on the edge of the bed and stared at the wall of her room in the boardinghouse. It was the nicest place she’d ever stayed, except maybe for the hotel in Denison. She picked at some lint on her serviceable dress, so plain compared to her saloon garb and yet it made her feel respectable. How odd that a simple dress could change a person’s perspective of her. If the folks in the boardinghouse knew the truth about her, they’d boot her out the front door and send her packing.

She blew out a heavy breath. Her plans had not turned out as she’d hoped. Instead of being happy to see her, Mark acted like he couldn’t stand to be around her. At least he would keep silent about her past, since he had more to lose than her if he spilled the beans. Maybe that’s why he was so nervous around her. Maybe he was afraid his friends would find out that he had socialized with a saloon girl.

He sure had changed from the fun-loving man she’d known several years ago. She lay down on the bed and pulled the spare pillow against her stomach, remembering how she’d once shared her bed with him. He’d liked her back then. Maybe even loved her.

He certainly had come to her defense in the saloon when that randy cowboy had mauled her and forced her to kiss him. She shivered at the thought of her mouth pressed to the man’s, his hands freely roving her body. Who knew what might have happened if Mark hadn’t called a halt? When the cowboy pulled his gun, she’d screamed, sure that Mark would be killed. But the cowboy died that night when Mark shot him.

She’d thought Mark a soft, intellectual type and had been attracted to him at first only because of his unusual, robin’s-egg blue eyes and curly blond hair. She’d been drawn to the gentle innocence of his gaze, but she soon discovered she liked him. Then it became a quest to see if she could get him to marry her. He was her best chance to ever get free of the saloon. To live a life she’d only dreamed about.

Now what was she going to do? She’d wandered through the few businesses in Lookout, and nobody had a job opening of any kind. She thought about stopping in the Wet Your Whistle, but that would be going right back to where she’d been before. How was she going to get by?

Everett’s money wouldn’t last forever.

The night of the next Saturday social was perfect. A cool north wind had blown in, making the temperature bearable. The sun hanging low in the sky showed the beginnings of a beautiful sunset with its brilliant orange glow. But Shannon’s heart wasn’t in dancing or enjoying the sunset. Why had she allowed Leah to drag her along?

Dancers kicked up their heels to the lively music, stirring up a low-hanging cloud of dust. A couple of the men let out whoops as they twirled their dance partners in a circle. The size of the crowd was more than triple that of the first social. Since news of Dan and Leah’s engagement and that of another couple’s, unmarried folks had flocked here from miles away to meet new people and have a good time.

Both Shannon and Leah had remained behind the table, much to the disappointment of the men who’d asked them to dance. The only man Shannon wanted to dance with wasn’t in attendance. Annabelle, on the other hand, had yet to say no to a single man, Shannon was sure. She watched the flirtatious woman laughing and twirling with a handsome cowboy. If she had designs on Mark, no one would know it tonight.

Someone to Shannon’s right cleared his throat, and she glanced sideways.

The comely rancher smiled. “I do believe you promised me a dance tonight, Miss O’Neil.”

Inwardly, Shannon sighed. Why had she agreed to dance with this man last weekend? She forced a smile, knowing she couldn’t go back on her word. “Aye, that I did.”

Relief widened his smile, and he took her hand, leading her to the lot beside the church where the dancers were. She placed her free hand on his shoulder, finding that she could barely reach it. Why did men grow so tall in Texas?

“In case you didn’t remember, my name is Rand Kessler.”

She remembered. She also knew he was the man who had once hoped to marry Rachel, before Luke returned to Lookout. He seemed a nice enough man, and he must be for Rachel to have agreed to see him.

“I own a ranch outside of town a ways. We raise shorthorn cattle and horses.”

Mr. Kessler spun her around in time with the music and held her gently, not possessively, like so many of the men did. She liked that about him. “Have you always lived in Texas, Mr. Kessler?”

“Call me Rand, ma’am. And no, I haven’t. My daddy came here after our Georgia plantation was destroyed in the war. I was just a young boy when we first arrived here. But I’ve lived most of my life here, and Texas will always be my home.”

That explained the slight Southern twang to his speech. She thought about his traveling here from Georgia and realized they had something in common—they were both immigrants to this land.