Brides Along the Chisholm Trail Boxset

by Maxine Douglas

  “Why?” Logan ceased pushing his breakfast around the blue and white speckled plate. He sat back, his gaze fixed on hers, confusion written on his face.

  “You said you may want to change our marriage contract. I took it to mean you were unhappy with me and wanted to send me back. That your love for Katie is too great, you don’t have room for another.”

  “Unhappy with you?” Logan stood and came up behind her, putting his hands firmly on her shoulders. “If it’s one thing I’m not is unhappy with is you.” He pulled her up, and she turned to look into his eyes. “Katie will always hold a place in my heart, she was my first love. I need you, Rose, more than I could have imagined. I didn’t realize it until last night after you left without a word.”

  Her stomach twisted in knots, Rose thought about what his words may mean. His eyes kept searching her face, then a smile appeared at the corners of his mouth. Could Logan be happy with his decision to marry her, even if it may not last forever? If allowed, she’d live beside him and raise Lilly until he would have no choice but to send his fugitive wife away. Until that day, she’d cherish each moment as if it were her last. One day it will be once the long arm of the law caught up to her.

  “The reason I want to change the contract is, since you arrived on that train, all I’ve wanted to do is, well, this.” Logan crushed her to his chest, capturing her mouth with his. Rose’s eyes sprung open, and her body stiffened like a board.

  “I’m sorry, I shouldn’t have done that.” He released her, and a chill raced through her body. Her lips tingled with want and desire. She swallowed the lump of need in her throat and smoothed down her dress when he walked away from her.

  “I, I understand, Logan. You’re still yearning for Katie.” Rose touched her lips with the tips of her fingers, then quickly gathered up the discarded meal.

  “No Rose, you haven’t heard what I’m saying. It’s not Katie I’m yearning for, it’s you.” Logan whispered near her ear, sending a sweet sensation of heat through her. She heard his footsteps retreat and her head swam in circles. She hung onto the wash basin for support. “I know you’ve only been here for a few days, and that the contract you agreed to didn’t include falling in love. I’d like to change that contract here and now. I don’t want to wait until my Pinkerton business is done. I don’t want to wait until Chicago.”

  Rose sucked in a breath, willing the words of agreement fighting to spill out to stay hidden in her mind. She didn’t want to dash any hope away that he’d keep his word. That maybe there was a trace of love in his heart again. That if she spoke, he’d stop saying what needed to be said.

  “I’m not saying it’s love I’m feeling in the short amount of time you’ve been here, but I’d like to have the right to find out what it is.” Logan stood rooted near the stove, his arms hanging at his side, a look of hope on his face and in his eyes. “Rose, you’ve touched my heart in a way I didn’t think possible ever again. Being in a mail-order bride situation is tough on the man also, especially when his bride isn’t what he expected. Would you agree to amend certain criteria of our agreement and let nature take its course naturally?”

  “Oh Logan,” Rose flew into his arms and buried her face into his shoulder. “Yes, yes I’ll agree to a new contract.” Was it possible that she could reveal her secret to him, that there might be true love?

  “Well then, let’s go into town and collect our daughter,” Logan suggested, holding Rose tightly. Now that he had her, there was no way he’d let her go. Last night he thought he’d been worried she’d gone upstairs to pack the few belongings she had. He half expected to find her at the bottom of the stairs this morning, with her only pocketbook in hand, asking to go back home.

  To say he was ecstatic to find her sleeping peacefully when he’d gone to wake up Lilly was like a wish come true. Rose didn’t look like a woman about to leave her new husband, she looked like a woman any man would love and cherish. A woman he could love and cherish.

  To say fear is a powerful thing is an understatement. That fear was part of the reason he couldn’t sleep. The prospect of Rose leaving them, leaving him, settled like a boulder in his gut throughout the night. When he finally admitted to himself the attraction to her, Logan knew there was only one thing to do.

  Renegotiate their marriage contract now, before it was too late.

  “On one condition.” Rose’s impish grin set his heart pounding with promise. A promise of love?

  “And what might that be?” Logan wiped a tear from her cheek with the pad of his thumb. “All you have to do is ask, and it’s yours. You’ll never want for anything, Rose. You want the moon and stars, they’re yours.”

  “No, nothing that simple,” she laughed, placing her hand over his pounding heart. “You kiss me like that again, and I promise you’ll never desire anyone else ever,” Rose whispered pressing her body into him; he caught on fire deep in his soul.

  Logan tipped her chin up and searched her eyes. A passionate fire burned in her warm brown orbs. He ached to be kissed by those flames of passion. He didn’t have to be told a second time; he captured her mouth with his. Logan coaxed her to open to him, to give what she could. And she did. It was good enough for him…for now. Until trust and love became one for them, he’d wait to make her fully his and his alone.

  The thundering of hooves halted abruptly at the front of the house. A loud knock on the door broke them completely apart. Reluctantly, Logan released his hold from around Rose and headed to the front door. He couldn’t imagine who had come calling so early in the morning; it was only a few hours past sun up. He knew Lilly was safe at Etta May’s, he’d taken her there himself as soon as the day broke.

  He’d wanted some privacy when he spoke with Rose this morning. Being unsure as to whether or not she’d agree to his proposal, he didn’t want Lilly to be disappointed if it had gone sour. His money had been on Rose staying, and he’d won the biggest bet of his life.

  He swung open the door to find Deputy Marshal Hawkins standing on the front porch, hat in his hands. Noticing several men sat on their horses, bedrolls tied behind each cantle and hanging saddlebags bulging, Logan opened the screen door and stepped out. Something must have happened over the past few days since he’d taken some time off to get his new wife settled into their lives.

  “Sorry, Logan, I know it’s early, and you’re getting used to your new wife, but can you saddle up and come with us? Seems there’s a lead on some rustlers out in a gully along the Cimarron between here and Fort Supply.”

  Logan turned to Rose standing behind the screen door, the smile that brightened her face a moment ago fading.

  Hawkins tipped his head. “Ma’am, morning.”

  “Morning Deputy Marshal, would you and the boys care for some coffee there’s plenty left.” Rose offered, turning to go fetch the pot and cups.

  “Mighty nice of you ma’am. We’ve got a lot of ground to cover today. I’m sure the boys would be grateful for a cup when we return though.” Hawkins smiled, then turned his focused back on Logan. His face was etched with worry. He lowered his voice so only Logan could hear him. “Old Simon came stumbling in this morning sayin’ he heard some drunk wrangler talking last night at the Lady Gay. The drunk was braggin’ about several head of cattle holed up about a day’s ride from here. Might be some of the Kennedy cattle you’ve been lookin’ for, might not be. Either way, you need to find out, and I could use an extra gun.”

  “Let me get some provisions. I take it we’ll be gone a few days?” Logan leaned against the porch railing, his fingers flexing around the top rail. The day he’d both waited for and regretted would come, may have arrived on the day he’d all but declared his love to Rose. If these were the Kennedy cattle rustlers, he was one step closer to taking his family back to big city life. He’d always known he wouldn’t be safe living in Dodge once his cover was broken. Hell, none of them would be safe as far as he was concerned.

  Pinkerton agents in this part of the country weren’t favorably lo
oked upon among the roughnecks running rampant. Especially not one trying to blend in with the locals and pretending to be something he’s not.

  “I reckon so,” Hawkins nodded, then jogged down the steps and remounted his black gelding. “We’ll be waiting out back for ya. Saddle the bay for you?”

  “Yes, best horse I’ve got for traveling for hours in the saddle.” Logan watched Hawkins and his men round the corner of the house to the barn. Damn, this was the last thing he’d wanted right after marrying Rose. At least Lilly would have someone to look after her, should he not make it back alive.

  He looked at the fear edged in Rose’s eyes, his heart crushing.

  “Logan, what did the deputy marshal and those men want?”

  Panic streaked through the air between them. Logan closed the door, then took her in his arms. If this was his last moment with Rose, he wanted to feel her next to him.

  Logan reached for his gun belt, strapping it around his hip. His heart ached at the fear in Rose’s eyes, but this was his job. It was the reason he’d come to Dodge City. He did the only thing he could, he turned away stuffing a few items into a pouch.

  “Pinkerton business.” Was all he said. The less Rose knew, the safer she and Lilly would be. He walked out the back door and across the yard to the barn, leaving his heart, his fear, and his love behind.

  Rose stood at the back door watching Logan ride away with Deputy Marshal Hawkins and several other men. A man, her husband, strapping on a six-shooter meant only one thing—trouble. Her heart filled rapidly with fear as the dust billowed in the wake of their southwest path. Letting the back screen door slam shut, she ran through the house and out the front door.

  “Logan!” She yelled at the top of her lungs, bolting down the steps and across the barren yard. “Logan!” Rose kept running with her skirt hiked up almost to her knees. Dust splattered under her footfalls. She had to reach him. To tell him, someway, how she felt about him. What he meant to her.

  “Whoa!” Logan pulled up the bay then slid out of the saddle. Handing the reins off to Hawkins, he broke into a run toward her. When he slowed she sprung into his arms. Her lips met his with a hunger she’d never experienced before. A hunger she couldn’t define and only Logan could fulfill.

  “Logan Granger, you’d better come back home in one piece riding upright on the back of that nag of yours.” Rose let the tears filling her eyes spill down her cheeks, her insides quivering with both fear and elation. “If you’re in a pine box you’ll have a heap of explaining to do.”

  “Rose, my sweet Rose.” Logan crushed her to him, kissing her long and hard as if his life depended on that single kiss. He held on to her, squeezing her as he spoke into her hair. “The horse and buggy are ready for you to drive into town. Lilly is at Etta May’s waiting for us. Fetch her, then get what you need from Collar’s to tide you over until I get back.” He looked at her through narrowed eyes. Rose shivered when he leaned away, leaving a cold, empty space. “You do know how to drive a horse and buckboard, don’t you?”

  Rose nodded her head even though her mind screamed no. She should be telling him that he was leaving man’s work to her. That she considered driving that buggy into town to get Lilly and for them all to shop at Collar’s was his job—not hers. But she didn’t.

  Her dark thoughts kept going back to Logan. To his coming back home for her and Lilly only to bury him in the ground. She couldn’t think about needing to go into town to bring Lilly home. Or that she’d have to go through the pantry and make sure they had everything they’d need until Logan came back. Rose only wanted, needed, to think of and pray for, his safe return.

  “I’ll be home in a day or two around supper time, so have the table set and my favorite apple pudding waiting for me.” When he released her completely Rose peered into his eyes through her tears. A new kind of sorrow glimmered near the surface, one that scared her, but she wouldn’t let him know it.

  She wouldn’t allow him to ride away thinking, she wasn’t capable of taking care of Lilly while he was checking on possible rustlers. She’d much rather he was off to rustle up drinks behind the bar at the Lady Gay, then chasing down cattle rustlers in the middle of nowhere.

  If she had to be brave for all them, she would. If she had to fall to her knees and ask the Lord to take her and not him, she would. Rose would do whatever it took for Logan to return home in the same condition he rode out in.

  “I will,” Rose promised, then stepped away, releasing him from their bond. “Lilly and I will be waiting.”

  He walked back to the bay and with reins in hand mounted easily. He looked over his shoulder at her, the smile on his face wide and filled with something darn near to love. He tipped his hat and spurred the bay into a canter in order to catch up with the others.

  Rose stood in the dust for several moments as the dirt settled around the hem of her dress until she could no longer see Logan. Wiping stray strands of hair back into place, she turned and shuffled back to the house mulling things over in her head.

  Rose plopped down into the porch rocking chair, her gaze focused on the path Logan and the riders had taken. If she could sit here until the thunder of horses’ hooves with Logan in the lead signaled his return, she would. She swiped at the tears running down her face.

  Why hadn’t she told him her secret? The reason Abigail Johnson hadn’t arrived on the train several days ago. Because she couldn’t let him go with any doubt on her credibility to look after his daughter. Because she didn’t want Logan to rescind the new marriage agreement. Because she had deep feelings for him.

  Rose guessed she’d fallen for Logan at some measure the moment she’d seen him waiting for her on the train platform. He’d looked as scared as she’d felt. There’d been no time for a proper introduction before he’d whisked her off to the preacher.

  The old wooden rocker squeaked as it moved back and forth. Rose took a deep breath, mustering up any courage she had to spare. She prayed for strength to get them through the next several days, and for Logan to come home safe and sound.

  “A horse, the buggy, Lilly, and the back filled with goods for the pantry all depending on my non-existent skill at handling a hitched horse, let alone the buggy attached to said horse.” Rose shook out the dust settled on her skirt, then walked through the front door to take inventory of the pantry.

  She’d never driven a horse and buggy in her life!

  7

  They rode steady, covering ground from Dodge to the Cimarron easily. The trail hot and dusty from a dry spring, Logan reined in next to Hawkins, then reached for his canteen.

  “Do you have any notion where along the Cimarron they’d be holed up?” Logan took a swig of water, then offered the canteen to Gabe.

  “Not exactly, just about twenty or thirty miles between them and us.” Gabe waved off the offer of drink then turned to his men. “We’ll stop in a few miles, let the horses rest and grab some grub.”

  Logan nodded and with slight heel pressure urged the bay forward at a walk. “Old Simon say who gave this information so freely?”

  “Said it was a stranger, someone new in town.” Gabe’s answer short and to the point, and highly unusual for him. Gabe Hawkins was a man of many words. So far this morning there hadn’t been enough to fill a paragraph in a book.

  Logan looked over at the deputy marshal who’d been a friend since Logan had arrived in Dodge City. Gabe’s relaxed, carefree banter gave way to visible tension in his shoulders and arms. His soft hands on the reins now clenched so tight one of Etta May’s fresh eggs would have cracked spilling its yellow contents all over the saddle’s swell. Not once since they’d left Rose and the homestead had his gaze met Logan’s.

  “Sam! You and Charlie ride on ahead see if there’s a good place to rest the horses.” Gabe rolled his shoulders, then shifted in the well broken-in saddle. Whatever was on his mind, Logan hoped that he’d let it out before the sun set.

  “Yes, sir! Come on, Charlie,” Sam called, riding past Logan at a
canter.

  Once the two deputies were out in front by a few yards, Logan turned to the deputy marshal. “Something you wanna talk to me about, Gabe?”

  “How’s married life treatin’ ya? Are you happy with Rose?” Gabe kept his gaze straight ahead, his speech rushed. “Do you love her?” Gabe put down the reins then removed his hat, running a hand through his hair.

  “Right fine, I reckon,” Logan answered, swatting a fly pestering the bay’s neck. “Is wantin’ to know about what I’ve been doin’ the past few days the reason you sent them boys ahead? Or are you just trying to see if married life would be in your future?”

  Gabe settled his hat on his head, keeping his gaze on the horizon. Logan knew there was something he wasn’t saying. “Whatever the hell is on your mind spit it out, so we can get on with catching those cattle thieves.”

  “How well do you know Rose?” Gabe’s eyes were hidden under the brim of his hat.

  “In just three days?” Logan’s laughter fell on deaf ears.

  Gabe asked the question again, this time with the tone of a lawman, not a friend. He looked Logan square on, “I asked you a question, Logan Granger. How well do you know Rose?”

  “She’s kind-hearted and handled Montana Sue quite well the other day. Sets a fair table at supper. Looks after Lilly right fine.”

  “This came this morning.” Gabe pulled a folded piece of paper from his vest pocket, then handed it over to Logan. “One more thing, Montana Sue happened to be passing the telegraph office after leaving Etta May’s. Judging from the smirk on her face when she brought it to me, I reckon she’s read it.”

  The bay halted from the slight pressure on the reins. Logan set his seat and unfolded the paper. He read, then re-read the handwritten words from Mr. Pinkerton. Words instructing Gabe to put one Roseanne Duncan into protective custody, if she happened to be in Dodge City. There was a possible wrongful death where she worked back in Wisconsin. A key witness turned up missing and may be on the run. According to a reliable source, Logan’s boss believed that a woman going by the name of Abigail Johnson was that witness. Gabe was supposed to protect the woman at all costs until things were settled regarding the incident. Mr. Pinkerton indicated he’d send an update when he had one.