Western Spring Weddings

by Lynna Banning

  “You can’t buy—”

  “I already did.”

  Shocked, yet excited at the same time, Ellie couldn’t do more than shake her head.

  “I’m sorry for being so short with you last night and...” He shuffled his feet as if unsure of what to say.

  A shiver tickled her spine. “And?”

  “And I want you to have a nice coat to wear to the ball tonight.”

  Her stomach plummeted. The note Clara had left for her had gone beyond asking to actually begging Ellie to attend the ball with Dal. Ellie had hoped, as Clara’s note had suggested, that Dal would forgo the ball. That way she could tell Clara he’d refused and that she hadn’t been able to change his mind. She knew nothing about galas, and though a part of her was excited to see such an event, a larger part dreaded the prospect.

  He urged her forward with a hand on her back. “We just have one more stop.”

  “Where’s that?”

  “Abigail’s. I know Clara sent a dress for you to wear, but I thought you’d like your own.”

  “Not really,” she said. “One of Clara’s will do fine.”

  “Well, I want you to have a new one,” he answered. “Call it payment for going with me.”

  If she had been back home, she would have refused both the dress and going to the ball, but here in Wichita, she didn’t have a reason to refuse, not one she could justify anyway, so she forced herself to walk beside him down the boardwalk.

  To her dismay, as well as a gorgeous gown made of yellow silk, he instructed Abigail to send a new set of undergarments, right down to the stockings, to the hotel, along with all of the sewing things she’d left there the day before.

  Ellie found it impossible to protest, perhaps because the look on Dal’s face asked her not to. Or maybe it was because deep down she wanted to go to the ball. Just one time in her life she wanted to know what it would be like to be part of a world she’d only dreamed about.

  Her thoughts were twirling around in her head as they walked back to the hotel. After she declined lunch, stating she was still full from breakfast—which was true—he left her alone in her room. Shortly afterwards, packages started being delivered to her room by a young cleaning girl.

  On her third trip, the girl asked, “Are you going to the cattlemen’s ball tonight?”

  Ellie nodded, but her attention was on the dress Dal had purchased. The yellow satin was so soft and beautiful—too beautiful, and beyond anything she’d ever dreamed of wearing.

  “I could help you get ready,” the girl said. “And do your hair. I’m very good at it.”

  Gently setting the dress on the bed, Ellie’s hands went to her hair. She hadn’t thought about fixing it. All she ever did was twist it into a bun, and that had only been for the past two days. Usually she just tied it away from her face with a piece of string.

  “It would be my pleasure,” the girl said. “Truly, it would.”

  Ellie turned, and though her eyes settled on the girl, her mind didn’t. All she could think about was how, deep down, she’d been lying herself. For years she had dreamed of something like this happening to her. She’d dreamed of getting all dressed up and going out in public—showing the world she wasn’t just a shameful cattle rustler’s daughter that people pointed their fingers at. She was a real person with feelings, and full of hopes and dreams.

  Swallowing the lump in her throat, she said, “I wouldn’t want to impose.”

  “Oh, you wouldn’t be,” the girl said with excitement. “I have everything we need. I’ll just go and get it.”

  Chapter Eleven

  Once again, Dal felt like a greenhorn. He knew he shouldn’t. He’d been to enough of these events over the years to be an old hand. The difference was, this time he wanted to go. He wanted to walk into the ballroom and watch jaws drop. That’s what would happen when everyone saw Ellie dressed in her finery.

  Stepping closer to the mirror, he fiddled with his string tie, making sure it was centered and then glanced up. His lip looked better, and didn’t smart nearly as much as it had this morning, but his eye had definitely seen better days. The swelling had gone down, but it would be black for a few days yet. He didn’t mind that. To him it was a statement. Mess with mine, and you mess with me.

  Some little corner of his mind chose to point out that Ellie wasn’t his, but he disputed this, telling himself just what he’d told her—as long as he was paying her way, she was his responsibility. Knowing himself well enough to know he could stand there arguing with himself all night, he spun away from the mirror and headed for the door.

  Across the hall, standing outside Ellie’s room, he took a deep breath before knocking. He’d have to warn her, tell her what had happened last night so she wouldn’t...

  His brain stopped working, as did his lungs, when a servant girl opened the door and stepped aside to reveal Ellie. He’d seen stunning before, but nothing had ever compared to the black-haired beauty looking back at him.

  “Isn’t she beautiful?”

  Dal blinked and swallowed and then nodded toward the girl still holding the door open. “Yes, she is.”

  “Lottie did my hair,” Ellie said quietly.

  “She did a wonderful job,” Dal answered, glad his voice was working. The rest of him seemed to have frozen stiff. Willing his hands to move, he dug into his pocket and pulled out a bill. Without looking at the denomination, as it didn’t matter, he handed it to the girl. “Thank you.”

  “Thank you, sir,” she answered. “Is there anything else you need, Ellie?”

  “I don’t think so,” she replied. “Thank you, Lottie.”

  Dal found his senses when he realized he had to move for the girl to exit. He stepped into the room and in need of something to do, picked up the cape he’d purchased for Ellie in the morning. His hands balled into the material as she walked closer. Once again, sheer will alone made his muscles move enough to drape the cape over her shoulders. Her hair had been pinned up and curled, but several long ringlets caught beneath the cape’s collar. He slid his hands around her neck to gently ease the hair out from the beneath the cape. The action along with the sweet flowery scent filling his nostrils and the proximity of their bodies together caused a rather chaotic rush that shot from his toes to his head and back down again. It left him as out of breath and jarred as being bucked off a horse ever had.

  “I’ve never worn anything so beautiful.” Her cheeks blushed red. “Or so many brand-new things all at once.”

  In the moment their eyes met, Dal realized something else. He’d never made eye contact with another woman the way he did with her. That was what had been so different about her right from the start. Since the first time he’d seen her in his parlor, whenever his eyes had found hers, they hadn’t wanted to look anywhere else. And tonight he wasn’t going to make them look away.

  “The dress is just material, Ellie. You are what makes it beautiful.”

  She bowed her head bashfully and stepped back. “You look beautiful, too.” Her cheeks turned redder. “I—I mean handsome. You look handsome in your suit.”

  “Even with a black eye?” he asked, hoping to ease her stiff posture.

  She grinned. “I hardly notice it.”

  “Maybe I should have bought you a pair of glasses.”

  “Oh, no, there is nothing wrong with my eyes,” she said. “And there will be no more buying of things. I promise to not get a speck of dirt on this dress so we can return everything before leaving tomorrow.”

  “We can’t return them.”

  “Yes, we can. Lottie said—”

  “We won’t be returning anything,” he interrupted, not caring what the servant girl might have said.

  She walked toward the still-open door. “It would be a waste for me to keep such a dress. After tonight, I’ll
never have a reason to wear it again.”

  He followed her out and closed the door behind them. Taking the key from her outstretched hand, he suggested, “You could wear it to Clara’s wedding.” After locking the door, he pocketed the key. “On second thought, you can’t wear that to Clara’s wedding. Everyone would think you were the bride.” That idea made his heart skip, and he quickly changed the subject. “They are serving a full meal before the ball, but we could eat here if you’d prefer.”

  “To be perfectly honest, I’m so nervous I don’t know that I can eat at all.”

  “Nervous? Why?”

  She sighed. “This isn’t something I do every day.”

  Once again resorting to teasing in order to ease her uncertainty, he asked, “What? Be in the company of a handsome man?”

  She shook her head, but grinned. “That, too.”

  “I’ll let you in on a secret,” he said, leaning down to speak softly into her ear.

  Her sideways glance held skepticism, but it was also curious. “What?”

  “I don’t bite.”

  “Really?” she answered drily. “I’ll try to remember that.”

  He kept one hand on the small of her back, liking the way it felt, as they walked down the steps and out of the front door. The wind had picked up and carried a biting chill. Leave it to Kansas to be as cold in March as it had been in January. He instantly instructed Ellie to go back inside to wait while he summoned a carriage.

  “Is it that far?” she asked.

  “No, but it’s that cold, and it could start raining.”

  Neither of them had had time to step back inside when someone shouted his name and a buggy rolled to a stop across the street.

  “Can we offer you a lift?” Walter Hagen asked.

  “We’d be obliged,” he shouted to Walter before hurrying Ellie across the street. While assisting her into the backseat of the buggy, he made the introductions. “This is Walter and Edith Hagen.”

  “And you must be Ellie,” Edith supplied, twisting about on the front seat to smile at her. “Walter told me I’d get to meet you tonight.”

  That was when Dal realized he’d never explained to Ellie what had happened the previous night.

  With a laugh and a shake of her head, Edith continued, “As you can see from Walter’s face, he was in the same saloon as Dal. It happens every time we come to Wichita. Someone starts a fight and every cowboy in town has to get in the mix, throwing punches like they are boys in a schoolyard rather than men who should know better.”

  As Ellie arranged her skirt, giving Dal room on the seat beside her, he saw her eyes move from him to Edith and then to Walter, who had one eye as black-and-blue as his own.

  “Men are like that,” Edith said. “I don’t believe they ever grow up, but I’m so glad to meet you. Are you enjoying your trip to Wichita?”

  “Yes, thank you,” Ellie answered. “And it’s nice to meet you, too. Both of you.”

  “I’m sure Dal has told you about us. We knew his parents, and we just got our invitation to Clara’s wedding before we left home. Oh, there is nothing like a spring wedding. It’s the only time to get married. That’s when Walter and I were married. Of course we lived over in Missouri then. It was a beautiful day and the cherry trees were full of blossoms. Remember that, Walter? How Momma’s cherry trees were blooming?”

  “Yes, dear, I remember,” Walter answered as he pulled the buggy back into the line of traffic.

  Until a sharp pain struck him, Dal hadn’t been aware he was gnawing on his bottom lip. He had no way of knowing how much Walter had said to Edith about last night.

  A completely different train of thought had him wondering if Walter really remembered the cherry blossoms or not. Probably not. Weddings were for women. Men just showed up because they had to.

  “I also remember how pretty you looked that day, dear,” Walter said. “Almost as pretty as you do now.”

  “Oh, you,” Edith said, her cheeks flushing pink. “You are just saying that so I’ll forget you were in a fight last night.”

  “Is it working?” Walter asked.

  Dal didn’t hear Edith’s answer. His attention had turned to Ellie, who was giggling behind her hand. He gave her a wink and smiled when her cheeks turned as pink as Edith’s.

  Edith monopolized the conversation, talking about their four children who ranged in age from eight to sixteen and were all back at the ranch, which was about fifty miles south of the Rocking R. Dal kept one ear tuned in at all times, ready to change the subject if Edith brought up the fact that Walter had been with his pa when Ellie’s father had been hanged. The subject had come up last night and was a major part of what had caused the all-out fist fight that had left the Mulberry Tree Saloon with more broken tables and chairs than unbroken ones.

  By the time they arrived at the community hall hosting the ball, Dal was no longer worried about Edith mentioning the past. She was a lot like his mother had been, and was most likely glad to see that Ellie wasn’t being blamed for what her father had done. However, he did wonder what a few others might say, and he pulled Ellie aside as soon as she stepped down from the buggy.

  Edith, however, had other plans. “Come along, dear. We’ll go inside to wait while the men see to the horses. Hurry now, before we get windblown.”

  The caution in Ellie’s eyes said she understood something was up but not what, and the way she was holding one hand to her head told him she was also afraid the blustery wind would ruin her hair.

  “Go on,” he said. “I’ll be in shortly.”

  * * *

  Ellie couldn’t deny the sinking feeling in her stomach as she hurried up the steps of the large building. Dal was nervous and it seemed to have nothing to do with the ball. Well, it both did and didn’t. He was clearly nervous about bringing her here, and rightfully so. Wearing a new dress or not, she was a weed in a flower garden and always would be.

  “Goodness that wind is fierce,” Edith said once they were inside. “We’ll wait here for the men.”

  Ellie nodded, but her eyes were on the large room. Tables covered with tablecloths were arranged near the back wall, leaving much of the floor open for dancing. She’d never danced, other than skipping around the front yard when something had made her giddy with silliness. With fear bubbling inside her, she spun toward the door, but found it crowded with others rushing in to get out of the wind.

  Edith tugged on her arm, pulling her farther into the room. “There’s Charlotte Wyman, I’ll introduce you.”

  Ellie stepped closer to Edith, but shook her head. “I’d prefer to wait for Dal, if you don’t mind.”

  “All right,” Edith agreed.

  The more people who stepped through the door, the more nervous Ellie became. She had never been fond of crowds, probably because she’d never been in them, at least not one like this. When Dal finally walked through the door, she had to stop herself from rushing forward.

  “Let’s find some chairs before they are all taken,” Walter said, taking Edith’s arm.

  Ellie was glad to move away from the crowds, but even more glad to be able to glue herself to Dal’s side. “Goodness,” she whispered, “I didn’t think there would be this many people.”

  “They come from around the state for the annual meeting,” he said.

  “Is that where you were all afternoon?”

  “Yes.”

  “What was it about?”

  “Cattle.”

  “I figured that much. What about them?”

  “We’ve had a lot of issues with diseases this year, and cows being brought up from Texas are the culprits, so most of the discussion was about quarantining them.”

  “How can you do that?”

  “Not let them cross the state line,” he answered.

 
“I never thought of cows getting sick.”

  “They do,” he said. “And it can quickly take over an entire herd.”

  “What happens then?”

  “They die.”

  She truly hadn’t thought of such issues. “Do you eat them then?”

  “No. We can’t. Anything that eats the meat could get sick, too. We can’t have that, so we bury the dead or, if there’s a lot, burn them.”

  “Raising cattle is a lot of work, isn’t it?” she asked.

  “Yes, but it has its rewards, too.”

  They arrived at a table where Walter and Edith were taking off their coats. Ellie glanced at the other occupants. All of the men hosted bruises of some sort. She turned to Dal. “Was everyone from the Cattlemen’s Club in a fight last night?”

  “Most of them,” he answered, reaching over to help her with her cloak.

  It was warmer on this side of the room. Either that, or Dal’s presence heated her insides enough that she didn’t notice the cold, not even when he lifted the cape from her shoulders. He handed it to a man who was holding several other cloaks and then he pulled out a chair for her to sit on.

  Between him and Edith, who sat on her other side, Ellie was introduced to everyone at the table and several others who stopped to visit momentarily before moving on to other tables. She would never be able to remember so many names, and after the first few, gave up trying. The guests at the table were friendly, and she relaxed enough to eat a portion of the food put in front of her. Once again the servings were more than she usually ate in an entire day, or even two at times.

  During the meal, several men stood behind a podium to talk about votes and the quarantine Dal had mentioned. Overall, she found their speeches interesting, which surprised her. Cattle had always been a sore spot for her, which now seemed silly. They were animals that needed to be taken care of and protected by their owners. They were expensive, too—something else she’d learned and had never thought about before.

  Shortly after the meal ended, several men with instruments gathered along the wall. Even before they started playing, couples left their tables and walked to the center of the floor in preparation. Once the music started, Ellie watched, a bit in awe at the way the men and women moved together.