Short-Straw Bride

  “Spit out the rest of it, Travis.” Meredith nodded to him, but he could see the strain around her eyes where tiny lines creased her skin. Apparently she didn’t care about soft. She just wanted the truth.

  Knowing the truth would be painful, he worded a short, silent prayer, and then summed up the situation as succinctly as possible. “If Cassandra’s not home in three days, Hayes will round up a posse and take her by force.”

  Meredith tried to muffle her moan, but Travis heard it. And the sound cut right through his heart. Not caring about what his brothers might think, he reached around the side of the table and grabbed one of the spindles on the back of Meri’s chair. He dragged her to his side, the chair legs scraping against the floor in a loud racket, took her hand in his, and cradled her entire forearm against his stomach. She laid her head atop his shoulder and leaned into him.

  Crockett tapped the edge of his thumb against his thigh. “Is he set on marrying her off to Mitchell?”

  “Seems to be. He didn’t come right out and say so, but every time I hinted at such a union being a mistake, he sputtered something about me minding my own business and not meddling in his affairs.”

  “Travis, she can’t marry that man.” Meredith raised her head and stiffened her spine.

  “I know, darlin’.” Travis hugged her arm closer. “We’ll figure something out.”

  She looked past him for a moment, catching her lower lip between her teeth. When her eyes met his once again, determination glowed in their vibrant blue depths. “I’ll go talk to him. Give him permission to sell the land to Mitchell straight out. No dowry, no need for a wedding. All Roy wants is the land, anyway.”

  Crockett shook his head. “I don’t think it would do any good.”

  “Why not?” she demanded, jerking forward in her seat. “Roy gets the land, and Uncle Everett would have him in his debt. Both of them get what they want.”

  Travis stroked the exposed skin on the back of her arm from the wrist joint all the way to her elbow, where her rolled sleeve sat bunched against her bicep. “Your uncle wants a stronger tie to Mitchell, one that will ensure his business for years to come. A marriage contract would bind him more fully than a bill of sale.”

  “The homestead was supposed to be my inheritance. Maybe if I got a lawyer . . .” Her words died when Crockett shook his head.

  “If the deed is in your uncle’s name, I imagine he can do whatever he wants with it, even if it goes against your father’s last wishes. Now if the land was specifically deeded to you . . .” He left the sentence hanging, a thread of hope holding it aloft.

  She shook her head and snapped the tenuous thread. “No. Papa trusted my uncle to look out for my interests since I was not of age. Nothing is in my name.”

  Meredith slumped, and Travis tugged her back into his side.

  “I just can’t believe that Uncle Everett would do this. Papa trusted him. His own brother. He was supposed to oversee the property on my behalf, not sell it out from under me or give it to his daughter. And Cassie . . . Oh, Travis.” She turned anguished eyes on him. “He’s not just stealing my land, he’s selling his daughter. How could he do that? He loves Cassie. I know he does. This doesn’t make any sense.”

  Travis kissed her forehead and murmured into her hair. “Desperation can warp a man’s mind. Keep him from seeing things clearly. Your uncle must be in a financial crisis.”

  “I don’t care what kind of crisis he’s in.” Meredith drew back, a sob catching in her throat. “What he’s doing is wrong!”

  “I know it is, love.” He gathered her close again, aching to fix what Everett Hayes’s betrayal had broken. “We’ll find a way to protect Cassie. I swear it.”

  “Already found one.” Jim’s deep voice rumbled in from the bathing room an instant before he and Cassandra stepped through the doorway into the kitchen.

  Travis frowned. How had he not heard the back door open?

  Cassie bounded forward, arms outstretched to Meredith. The smile Travis had noted during her first visit had made a miraculous reappearance. Reluctantly, Travis relinquished his hold on Meri, freeing her to clasp her cousin’s hands.

  “You’ll never guess our plan,” Cassie gushed as she slid into the chair next to Meredith. “It’s perfect. And it was all Jim’s idea. He’s so clever.” She smiled at her accomplice over her shoulder as he, too, reclaimed a seat at the table.

  “What didja come up with?” Neill elbowed Jim, speaking up for the first time since dinner.

  “It’s the most brilliant plan.” Cassie’s enthusiasm bubbled over before Jim could shape his mouth into a response. Not that the fellow seemed to mind. Having someone do his talking for him was probably a dream come true.

  Cassie released Meredith’s hands in order to include everyone at the table in her gaze. “First, we’re going to give Papa his three days. I’ll stay here at the ranch, making my objection to his scheme clear. And perhaps with the six of us praying, the Lord will see fit to nudge him into a more rational stance.”

  Travis took a swallow of his coffee, hoping to hide his skepticism. Everett Hayes would need more than a nudge from the Lord to help him see the error of his ways. A wallop upside the head with one of the charred pine planks from the barn might be better.

  “Then on Tuesday,” Cassie continued, “I’ll return home and tell Papa and Mama straight out that I will not be coerced into marriage. No matter how they plead, I will not be dissuaded.” She lifted her chin in such a way that Travis had to smile. She looked so much like Meri. Brave and determined. Perhaps the princess had gumption, after all.

  Crockett hunched forward over the table and scraped his coffee cup across the wooden surface as he drew it closer to his chest. “I don’t mean to dash your hopes, but I highly doubt that a little time and stubbornness on your part are going to accomplish much. If your father is truly set on this marriage, all he would have to do is find someone to officiate who could be convinced to ignore your protests. And unfortunately, Mitchell’s got enough money to bribe a man into forgetting his scruples.”

  “That’s where your brother’s cleverness comes into play.” Cassandra’s smile didn’t dim for a second.

  Travis raised a questioning brow at Jim, but the man made no effort to enlighten him, his face as stoic as ever.

  “If Papa insists on the wedding despite my protests, then we move to stage three.”

  “What’s stage three?” Meredith asked when Cassandra decided to pause for dramatic effect.

  Cassandra rose from her chair, her eyes glowing. “Only the most brilliantly simple idea ever.” She clapped her hands together beneath her chin and slid over to where Jim sat, his gaze centered somewhere between the table and his lap.

  Travis’s jaw began to twitch. He couldn’t quite figure out where this was headed, but his gut told him he wasn’t going to like it.

  “Papa can’t force me to marry Roy if I’m already married to someone else.”

  “Jim?” The single word clawed its way out of Travis’s throat as he tried to convince himself he’d misunderstood Cassie’s meaning.

  His brother finally lifted his head, defiance glittering in his eyes. “I offered to be her groom should she find herself in need of one.”

  Travis shot up so fast his chair tipped backward onto the floor. “You did what?”

  Jim slowly pushed to his feet and crossed his arms over his chest. “Why so surprised, Trav? I’m just following in your footsteps.”

  “Jim?” Cassandra’s smile wobbled, and uncertainty clouded her features.

  “Everything’s fine, Cassie.” Jim patted her shoulder, but his eyes never left his older brother. “Travis just doesn’t handle surprises well. He’ll get over it.”

  “Outside,” Travis ground out between clenched teeth. “Now.”

  He rounded the table and strode down the hall, his arms throbbing with the need to hit something. When he reached the front door, he wrenched it open, not caring that it thudded against the wall with e
nough force to loosen the hinges.

  What could Jim be thinking? He’d known Cassandra Hayes for all of about two minutes. How could he possibly make a decision that would affect the rest of his life on a . . . a whim? Travis paced the length of the porch, the heels of his boots pounding against the pine boards. He was on his second pass when Jim finally got around to joining him.

  “You can save your breath,” Jim said as he pulled the front door closed, “I ain’t changin’ my mind.”

  Travis stalked up to him, his hands fisted at his sides. “Think about what you’re doing, Jim. You don’t really even know the woman.”

  “I know enough.”

  “What do you know, exactly? That’s she’s pretty? Quit thinking with your eyes and try using your brain. The girl’s been pampered her whole life. She can barely sit a horse, she can’t cook, probably can’t sew or garden, either. What happens when those pretty smiles of hers turn into pouts because she hates being a rancher’s wife? Will you follow her to town?”

  “Maybe.”

  Fear coiled in Travis’s heart at Jim’s dark expression. Would he actually choose town life with Cassie over the ranch?

  Jim drew himself up to his full height and set his jaw. “Meredith’s got a bum leg and a penchant for meddling, yet you seem willing enough to overlook her faults. It’s no different with Cassie. I can teach her what she needs to know. And if there comes a time when she wants to return to town, I can handle that, too. I’m sure Palestine could use a new carpentry shop.”

  An invisible vise clamped over Travis’s chest. His lungs refused to draw in a full breath. His heart throbbed as if his rib cage were shrinking.

  Meredith’s words came back to him, flaying his defenses like a skinning knife cutting away a hide. “How long do you think the others will be content to live here in your shadow?”

  Would they really leave? All of them?

  “Marriage is forever, Jim.” Travis leaned a bent arm against the doorframe, needing its support. “You can’t just jump into it on a chivalrous impulse.”

  “Like you did?”

  “That’s different,” Travis sputtered. “I knew that I lo—” That I loved her. The shock of that thought sent him reeling. He pushed away from the wall and staggered over to the railing. His palms dug into the wood as he locked his elbows and braced himself against the truth swirling around him.

  He loved her. He had all along. That’s why he’d not protested when Everett Hayes demanded a wedding. That’s why he’d rigged the straws. It wasn’t to spare Meri’s reputation or an act of brotherly duty. Nothing so altruistic. He’d wanted her for himself. Needed her.

  Somehow, on a gut level, he’d known she was the one meant for him, and he’d made up his mind to do everything in his power to keep her.

  Jim’s quiet footfalls sounded behind him. “Look, Trav. It’s a last resort. Neither of us plans to rush into anything. I might have a strong hankerin’ for the woman, but if I marry her, I want her comfortable enough around me that I don’t have to bunk with one of my brothers while she adjusts.”

  “Hey!” Travis spun to face his brother, fists clenched. But the half grin on Jim’s face stole his ire. He thumped his fist against his brother’s arm anyway, though he put no real force behind the blow. “Yeah, well, I’ll listen to your advice when you actually have some experience as a husband. Until then, keep your thoughts to yourself.”

  Jim thumped him with his own fist, and Travis grinned as he staggered slightly to the side. Suddenly their problems didn’t seem quite so dire.

  “So would you really do it, if it came down to it?” Travis asked.

  Jim raised a brow. “What? Marry Cassie?”

  “No. Willingly tie yourself to a pair of in-laws like Everett and Noreen Hayes?”

  Jim growled and lunged for Travis, but Travis sidestepped his brother and darted up to the porch, a chuckle vibrating deep in his throat.

  Maybe he wouldn’t have to worry about Jim moving into town after all.

  27

  Eager to get Cassie alone, Meredith shuffled her cousin off to the bedroom the minute the dishes were done. The men accepted her excuse of being tired easily enough. Heaven knew all the emotional upheaval they’d endured in the last few hours would exhaust the most robust of women. Yet in truth, sleep was the furthest thing from her mind.

  “Will Travis need to come in to get a change of clothes?” Cassie asked as she laid her small satchel on the bed. “I can wait to undress until after he gathers his things.”

  “He has clothes set aside already. Don’t worry about him.” Heat suffused Meredith’s cheeks at the awkwardness that lay in that conversational direction. She quickly focused things back on her cousin. “You just make yourself comfortable. It will be like old times, the two of us snuggled under the covers, telling stories. And believe me, I expect to hear all about how you and Jim concocted this plan. Are you really prepared to marry him?”

  Cassie paused in the midst of her unpacking, the hairbrush she’d pulled from the satchel quivering slightly in her hand. “I am.”

  “Even though you hardly know him?” Meredith came up behind her cousin and started unpinning her hair.

  “When you had to choose between Roy Mitchell and Travis, you chose an Archer. I’m doing the same. You don’t regret marrying Travis, do you?”

  Meredith took the brush from Cassie and gently tugged it through the blond waves. “I don’t regret it. Not for a moment. But I’ve harbored feelings for him all these years. It will be different for you. Jim’s a good man, but he’s a stranger to you. How do you know you’d suit?”

  “He kissed me,” Cassie whispered.

  Meredith stopped brushing, the shock of Cassie’s admission slamming into her with the force of Samson’s hoof. She dropped the brush onto the bed and took hold of Cassie’s shoulders. Slowly she turned her cousin around to face her. “He kissed you?”

  Silent, stoic Jim?

  “Mm-hmm.” Cassie nodded, her rosy face glowing. “And it wasn’t a little peck on the cheek, like the ones my past suitors pressed on me. It was strong and deep and . . . wonderful.”

  The sigh that escaped her held all the drama of a young girl’s first love. Meredith couldn’t help but smile. After all, she felt much the same about Travis, only her yearning had passed the early stages of attraction weeks ago. Her love for Travis had intensified to the point where she couldn’t imagine her life without him.

  Meredith blinked. When had her schoolgirl crush turned into this soul-deep need? She’d called her young infatuation love, but when she looked into her heart now, nothing there resembled those girlish feelings. Everything was so much richer and deeper—as if what had come before was simply an artist’s preliminary sketch, void of detail and color, and over the last few weeks, that same artist had brushed the canvas of her heart with masterful strokes, creating a vibrant work that left her breathless.

  “Do you think it’s shameful for me to hope that Papa won’t change his mind about Roy?” Cassie asked in a hushed voice, bringing Meredith’s mind back to the matter at hand. “So that Jim will have an excuse to marry me? Not that I wouldn’t prefer a proper courtship and time for us to get to know each other, but part of me worries that without the urgency, he’d stay out here on the ranch and forget about me altogether. The Archers don’t have much use for towns, you know.”

  Meredith stroked Cassie’s arm and gripped her hand in reassurance. “The Archers are honorable to the core, Cass. If Jim kissed you the way I think he did, the last thing you need to worry about is him forgetting you.” Meredith gently steered her cousin around until her back faced her, then took up the brush again and resumed detangling her long tresses. “Besides, the Archers aren’t as reclusive as they appear. They’ve just been secluding themselves for so long it’s become a habit. I don’t imagine Jim would let a little thing like a town keep him from calling on you. He’s too smitten.”

  Cassie’s head swiveled to the side. “Do you really think so??
??

  “Yes.” Meredith grinned and nudged Cassie’s chin back to the forward position. “The question is, are you smitten with him? Would you still want to marry him if the situation with Roy and your father didn’t exist?”

  Meredith expected a quick, affirmative response. Cassie wasn’t known for having an overly contemplative nature, after all. But silence stretched between them. Meredith had set the brush aside and plaited a braid halfway down Cassie’s neck before her cousin finally answered.

  “I feel safe, cherished when I’m with him. He held me while I cried today and never once asked me to hush. In his workshop, he vowed to protect me from Roy and even my father if it came to that. And when he looks at me . . .” She pivoted to face Meredith, her eyes soft and dewy.

  Meredith tied off the braid with a piece of ribbon, and the two girls sat on the end of the bed.

  “When he looks at me, Meri, he makes me feel like the most beautiful woman in the world, as if he could gaze at me for a lifetime and never grow tired of my face. As if he sees not just who I am, but who I can become. And when I look at him, not only do I see a handsome suitor who makes my heart flutter, I see a solid, dependable man who can be counted on no matter how difficult the road may become. A man who wants more than a pretty ornament to dangle on his arm. A man who wants a partner.”

  Cassie dipped her head and traced the line of a fabric fold in her skirt. “It seems too soon to label what I’m feeling love, but whatever it is, it is more intense than anything I’ve felt for any other beau.” She bit her lip, then finally raised her chin. “There is something strong between us, Meri. Something that promises to last. Would I marry him if we weren’t in this crazy predicament? Yes. I believe I would.”

  Moisture gathered at the corners of Meredith’s eyes. “Then that’s all that matters.” She clasped Cassie to her breast and hugged her tight.