The New Year's Bride (Holiday Mail Order Brides Book Two) (11 page)

“You can say that again!” Clayton exclaimed as he stole some bacon off of Spencer’s plate.  “Milly’s sure no peach when she’s in the role.” He bit into the bacon and ignored Spencer’s scowl.

“I’m afraid Doc and Milly aren’t getting any younger.  Matthew Quinn is going to have some mighty big shoes to fill.”

“Matthew Quinn?” Spencer began. “What does he have to do with anything?”

“Didn’t you know?  He’s to come home from college soon,” Mrs. Riley said happily.

“Yes, but what does that have to do with Doc and Milly?” Clayton asked.

“Now you boys should both remember Matt Quinn went to school to learn how to doctor folks,” their mother explained.

“I thought he went to school to learn how to run his parent’s mercantile.” Clayton said.

“Now why would he go all the way to Boston to learn that when he can learn it from his own parents? No, our Matthew will come back to Nowhere and help out Doc Brown if he knows what’s good for him.”

“What’s good for him?” Elle asked, curious now about the whole subject.

“Well he can’t very well expect to start his own practice while Doc Brown is still in town,” said Mrs. Riley.  “No one will want to see him so fresh out of school!”

“Well I’ll be, I had no idea that’s what Matthew went off to school for.  I always thought it had something to do with the family business.” Spencer said then grabbed more bacon from the plate on the table.

Elle continued to listen to the conversation.  It was homey in a way, their talk of the townsfolk, Doc Brown and his wife Milly, and made her feel like she belonged there.  She knew quite a lot about some of the townsfolk just by listening to the Riley’s speak of them!  She could spend the rest of her life here on this farm with the town of Nowhere but a few miles away. By a miracle she’d been reunited with her best friend and was happy Summer had married into such a wonderful family …

But it was o
ne she may never belong to …

Elle sighed to herself as she backed away from the kitchen table and went to stand next to the stove.  It was bad enough having to think about what Spencer would do when she told him what happened in New Orleans.  She couldn’t imagine what someone like Nellie Davis might do with the news. She’d be branded a murderer by the time that woman was done with her.  At least according to
Summer and what she made the woman out to be.  Then the whole town would shun her, and Spencer’s reputation as Sheriff would be solidly tainted because of her.  In fact, he’d probably lose his job over it.

Elle closed her eyes against the pain the thought caused. She couldn’t stand it if such a thing happened to Spencer!  He shouldn’t have to suffer over something she’d done!

She knew she had to tell him and tell him she would.  But the more she thought about it, the more she came to realize she still would not be able to marry him.  The gossips in town would never let him hear the end of it.  Eventually they’d find out.  Spencer would have to investigate her story and folks were bound to catch snippets of what happened here and there.  It was a small town after all, not a big city like New Orleans where secrets were more easily kept.

What on Earth was she going to do now?  How could she protect Spencer’s reputation?

A thought suddenly came to her.  It hurt, yet … made sense.

What if she were to simply leave?  She could get a ticket for the stage, at least to the next town, and start a life there.  Going back to New Orleans was out of the question, but going to the next town wasn’t.  She was sure
Summer would help her and as soon as she got to where ever she was going, she could find a job and get settled.  Spencer wouldn’t be out any money and she could easily pay Summer back.  The idea made sense.  All of it.  She’d tell Spencer and then leave immediately with no harm done.

The thought of Charlotte Davis lamenting over becoming a spinster flashed through her mind.  Elle turned to the stove and poked at the fried potatoes.  Charlotte wasn’t the only one looking at a life of spinsterhood.  The girl may be a pill and a gossip, but at least she hadn’t done anything in her past that could give an entire town a reason to call her a murderer.

Tears burned the back of Elle’s eyes as she slowly turned and watched the Riley’s talk with one another about the Quinn’s son, Doc Brown’s injury, and the incredibly cold weather they were having.  She suddenly felt like a complete outsider where as a minute ago she, for a brief moment at least, felt like she truly belonged here.  That was until she realized the damage to Spencer’s reputation her recent deeds could bring.

It was then she
realized
why
it was so important to her to protect him from the town gossips and rumor mills they so often let run amuck.  Elle wasn’t falling in love with Spencer Riley.  She was already there.

Eleven

Spencer could
feel
Elle behind him as she stood near the stove.  Her lovely presence permeated the room and filled him with a peaceful calm.  How could he possibly let her go?  He couldn’t,
wouldn’t
do it!  No matter what his mother told him last night, he was determined to find out what was wrong with his future bride.  It was only a kiss!  Well okay, so it was two, but a couple of kisses weren’t enough to cancel a wedding!  It’s not like there was anything improper about them.  Lots of couples kissed before they were married, why should this be any different?  But just to make sure, and in case it made her feel any better, he addressed her as ‘Miss Barstow’ a few moments ago instead of Elle.

It didn’t seem to help.

“Why, when Matthew Quinn returns from school and takes up with Doc Brown in his practice, he’ll automatically become the most eligible bachelor in town!”  Spencer’s mother exclaimed, snapping him out of his thoughts.

“More like the
only
bachelor in town,” Clayton laughed.

“Now Clayton, you know Billy’s not married yet and then there’s tha
t handsome new deputy in town,” his mother argued.

“Yes, but there are no
unattached females of age in town either,” Spencer pointed out then turned to look at Elle.  She stood straight at his perusal of her, then quickly looked away. He frowned at her action and had a mind to kiss her again!  Just to show her she was definitely not among the latter group they discussed.

“Charlotte Davis is unattached,” Summer calmly said.

“Charlotte Davis?” Clayton and Spencer exclaimed in unison.  Both men looked at her as if her face had sprouted a third eye.

Summer shrugged. “What?  I know she drives everyone crazy, myself included, but even Charlotte deserves a chance at love.”

“I agree,” Elle said.

Everyone turned to look at her.

Elle swallowed hard before she squared her shoulders. “After all, there are a lot worse things than being a gossip and a horrible flirt.”

“Like what?” Spencer asked.

Elle’s eyes widened at his remark and she took a step back. “There … there just are.”

Spencer noticed how
Summer gave Elle a pointed look before she rolled her eyes and turned around. Hmmm… now what was that about?

“I’m afraid I have to disagree with you girls.  It would take nothing short of a miracle for that girl to change her ways,” said his mother.

“Or the right man…” Elle whispered.

Spencer wasn’t sure if the others heard her, but he did.  He got up from the table and went to where she stood.  He wanted to settle things now, before he had to go to work.  He’d not spend the day wondering if Elle wanted to marry him or not.

She watched him approach and started to take another step back.  He grabbed her before she backed into the hot stove. “Be careful!” He didn’t mean for it to come out sounding like a scold, but it did.  Her lips formed into a thin line as she looked up at him.

Lord but she was beautiful, even when she was angry!  He felt his body grow warm and it wasn’t because he stood in front of the stove.

“We need to talk,” he told her softly.

She turned
away from him a brief moment, then slowly looked up at him. “I know.”

Spencer glanced
at the table.  Clayton, Summer and his mother were all staring at them in silence. “In the parlor.”

He took her hand and ignoring the rest of his family, led her past the kitchen table and into the hall.  He then took her into the parlor where he sat them both down on the settee.  “Elle…”

She held up a hand. “I’ll make this easy on you.  I can’t marry you.”

He felt his body go cold.  It was one thing to suspect how she might feel about him, another to hear it from her own lips.  She didn’t care for him.  Why else would she not want to marry him?  But the kiss they shared the day before said otherwise.

“Elle, I respect how you feel, but you need to give this a chance.  You did sign a contract and we could have already been married by now.  What then?”

She looked up at him and he could see tears begin to form in her eyes. 
“I know, it’s just that, I … I can’t marry you.”

His heart wrenched at her words.  He realized he cared much more for her than he first thought.  How could he let her go? “Elle, I know this might be hard for you coming all the way out here and being so far from home.”

“Home?” She said then quickly looked away.

Spencer stared at her a moment.  What home?  She was an orphan from the same ill-funded establishment
Summer had come from. What kind of a home could it be?  That being the case, then what was the problem?  She had no real home to miss!

“Elle, what’s wrong?  Tell me, tell me now.”

Her tears finally broke free. “Oh Spencer … I can’t …I don’t want anything to happen to you!”

“What?”

“Spencer …” Summer said from the hall.

He looked to her.  She an
d Clayton both stood and watched them.  They were holding hands and the same pang of jealousy he felt the day before struck hard and fast. He turned back to Elle as they stepped into the parlor, their mother close behind.

Clayton looked down at Elle and smiled. “We don’t want you to leave Miss Barstow.  We all discussed it in the kitchen.  We’re not blind you know.  It’s been obvious to all of us something’s wrong.  All I can say is to give Spencer a chance.  This mail order bride business is just that.  A business. 
You sign a contract, board a train or stage, reach your destination and get married.  My brother and I, well, neither of us went about it the conventional way.  We both wanted a little time to get to know our brides first.”

“Yours was
anything
but conventional,” Spencer pointed out.

Clayton raised his brow at that. “What happened between
Summer and I only served to give us more time to court before we were married.”

“More time?” Spencer laughed. “You
shot
her for crying out loud!”

Clay
ton threw his arms up in defeat.  “You see Miss Barstow!  You see how it is in this family?  But even so, Summer and I
are
happily married! And I can look back on it and proudly say that we
came
to be married all because I,
shot
my wife in the foot!”

“And I
,
shot
a man in New Orleans,” Elle said out of the blue.

Everyone’s eyes
were riveted on her, even Summer’s. She looked at them, her face void of any emotion.  “But I don’t think I’ll ever be able to say it proudly to anyone.  Least of all a man I’m supposed to marry.”

* * *

Spencer was distracted for a moment by
Summer who closed her eyes and let go a sigh of relief.  If only it was longer, for a moment wasn’t enough time for Elle to gather her wits about her after her sudden declaration.

“What did you say?” Spencer asked as he stood, his voice low.

“I think you heard me well enough,” Elle told him as she looked up at his shocked face.  She hadn’t planned on telling him like this.  The words were out before she knew it and it was too late to take them back. She couldn’t very well say, “whoops, just kidding!”

“What happened?” Spencer asked firmly as he repositioned himself to stand in front of her. “Tell me everything.”

Clayton too repositioned himself and pulled a chair closer to where she sat upon the settee, his eyes intent on her.  Summer went to stand behind him as Mrs. Riley fell onto whatever piece of furniture was closest.  In this case, a rocking chair near the window.

Elle swallowed hard and looked to
Summer who offered the barest of nods in return.  Elle took a deep breath.  “I shot a man because he was chasing me… while I was on my way to the train station to come out west.”

Elle was shocked at the unusual calm that had come over her.  Everything had turned surreal with her words, her entire future blurred.  She had no idea which direction her life would go from this point on. 
She was sitting in a farmhouse parlor with a Sheriff and an ex-lawman and nothing but her word to get her through this.  She was completely at their mercy. She closed her eyes and took another deep breath.

“Go on,” Spencer said.  His voice had become business like, the lawman replacing the man who kissed her last night.

“A man called Jethro was with me.  He works for Mrs. Ridgley’s Mail Order Bride Service.  He … he came to Winslow’s orphanage to escort me to the train station,” she said as she opened her eyes and looked at him. “But men were waiting.”

“What men?” Clayton asked.

“Men who wait for a chance to take girls like Summer and myself when they find out we have to leave the orphanage.  Jobs are scarce, they know this … and there aren’t a lot of options for girls like us.”

Clayton turned in his chair to look at
Summer. “Is this true?”

Summer bit her lower lip and nodded.

“Why didn’t you tell me?” Clayton asked. “Is this the reason you were so afraid of having to go back to New Orleans after you arrived? Who are these men?”

“Clayton,”
Summer began, “I’m sorry I didn’t tell you about Mr. Slade before.”

“Slade?” Spencer echoed. “Who is this Slade?”

“All I know is that he preys upon the older girls from the orphanage when it comes time for them to leave,” Summer explained. “He … he no doubt owns and operates several brothels.”

“I see.” Spencer said, his jaw tight. He looked down at Elle, then suddenly sat on the settee and stared her in the face with a look so intense she thought she might faint.  Her eyes filled with tears in response.  She could sense an immense power emanating from him and it scared her.  It wasn’t directed at her, but the enormity of it frightened her all the same.  She’d never experienced anything like it before in her life.

Without warning he grabbed her to him and held her close.  “Elle. Elle, I’m so sorry, so very sorry.  You shouldn’t have to be afraid to tell me anything do you hear? 
Anything
!”

A sob of relief escaped
as her tears fell.  She cried into his broad chest as he held her to him and kissed the top of her head, rubbed her back with his hand, then whispered into her ear.  “I care about you do you understand?  Never,
ever
be afraid to talk to me.”

She sucked in a breath. “Wha… what did you say?” came out a raspy whisper.

He pushed away from her and cupped her face with his hands. “I said I care about you. More than words can say. Unless of course those words are … I love you.”

Her eyes became wide and
speech failed her.  This was the last thing she expected him to say after she told him about New Orleans. “You’re … you’re not going to arrest me?”

“Good Lord, no!” He laughed. “Why on Earth would I do such a thing?  Sugar, you’
re innocent until proven guilty and I have a strong feeling you’re not the guilty party in this.”

Elle’s tears fell in abundance and she launched herself at Spencer. He held her to him once more and whisper
ed words of comfort to soothe her fears.

Clayton stood and took
Summer into his own arms.  “You should have told me.”

“I’m sorry I didn’t explain everything.  I was frightened and knew what would happen if I had to go back to New Orleans.  There’s no hope for girls like Elle and me there.  Mrs. Ridgley, she’s like an angel and does her best to get us out and away from men like Mr. Slade. What he does
goes far beyond running a few brothels.”

Clayton looked down at her. “What do you mean?”

Summer glanced to Elle but she was still wrapped tightly in Spencer’s arms.  She turned back to Clayton. “Mrs. Ridgley’s other man Solomon took me to the train station when I came out west.  He told me Mr. Slade and some other men like him run an underground slave market, buying and selling women and children mostly.”

“Oh my Lord, no!”  Mrs. Riley, quiet all this tim
e, stood up and stepped toward them.  “Don’t tell me there are other girls about to leave the orphanage?”

“There was only Elle and myself,”
Summer said as she wrapped her arms around Clayton’s waist.

Elle sniffed back her tears and lift her head from Spencer’s shoulder.  “No, there is one about to leave if she hasn’t already. She came from another orphanage.  It burned down just a few weeks before
Summer left.  Sequoia. Sequoia Rose.  I don’t think those bad men know about her.”

“T
his is why you were so adamant about getting word to Mrs. Ridgley.” Spencer stated.