by Emily Woods
Her mind spun with everything that had just happened. She had been so sure that the man she was talking to was Albert, but all the while, it had been her intended’s brother. She felt a renewed sense of shame at the reality that she thought Aaron was more handsome than Albert. In fact, when she looked back at Albert, she felt nothing for him.
Her stomach grew heavy with the thought and she tried to remind herself that she’d only just met them both. There was no way for her to truly know either of them. And yet it had been so easy to talk with Aaron at the shore of the river. Granted, she had thought he was her intended.
Her mind cycled through the facts. If he had been the man she was supposed to marry, how would she have felt about him talking to a woman he didn’t know? He had been the perfect gentleman, though, and hadn’t acted in a way that would have been untoward.
She sighed, and Albert reached out a hand that lightly touched her arm then dropped. “Is everything all right?”
She looked back into his kind eyes and berated herself. She hardly knew this man—or Aaron, for that matter—and she’d allowed her imagination to take over when she should have waited to be certain that the man she was talking to was in fact Albert.
Shame flooded through her at the reality that it was her fault. She had been the one to assume and she had been the one to be entertained by using her advantage of thinking she knew who Aaron was. She had brought this on herself.
But she was a woman of her word. She had agreed to marry Albert and now she had to remove thoughts of Aaron—distracting as they were at the moment—from her mind. It was simply the only thing she could do.
“I’m fine,” she said, offering a shy smile to him. “Just tired from travel, I’m sure.”
“Well, I have one more brother for you to meet, then we can all head back to the ranch.”
She forced a smile and followed him when they came to the exit of the trail back to the station. He walked up to another man who looked very similar to Albert and Aaron. With all of them together, she again felt the embarrassment at assuming Aaron was the man she’d pledged herself to. He still looked the closest to his photo, likely because he was the youngest of the three, she could remember that much from Albert’s letters.
Aaron had soft, kind eyes the color of a chestnut horse, and an easy smile that she’d only seen down near the water. Now, he looked guarded, not even glancing her way as Albert explained to Arthur what he’d done in ordering a mail-order bride. His surprise, as he called her.
The way Albert talked, she felt like he’d gotten the prize filly at the state fair. She felt embarrassed the way he lauded her and her work on her father’s horse ranch. Then he turned his smiling face toward her and extended a hand. “This is Arthur. You’ll be staying with him and his wife up at the big house until I can get our cabin fixed up and we can get married. Sorry, brother,” he said toward Aaron.
Aaron merely nodded, and Lulu remembered Albert saying he lived with his brother in a slightly run-down cabin not too far from the big house, as he called it. Where would Aaron go?
“I’m sure you’ll be able to find other accommodations,” Albert said.
The words twisted in her gut like they were a hot knife slicing through tough leather. She should be happy, excited even, that they would have a cabin of their own, but the only thing she could think of was the fact that, when she looked at Albert, she felt nothing.
Her gaze traveled to Aaron as Albert continued to explain his plans to them all. He had a pinched expression on his sharp features and his gaze would flicker to hers and away when he thought she wasn’t looking. Her heart pounded in her chest at the mere sight of his profile and she berated herself.
He hadn’t been the one to write her letters about their family. He hadn’t made her laugh on multiple occasions in the way that he shared stories with her in letters. He wasn’t the one who had asked her to come out west to marry him. And yet he was the one she was drawn to.
She felt Albert’s gaze on her and she met it with a forced smile.
“Are you ready to head back, my dear?”
“Yes,” she said decisively. Feelings could grow even if attraction wasn’t there initially. That wasn’t what lasted anyway, at least so her married friends and siblings told her. Besides, she was lucky as a woman of twenty-five that she had the opportunity to marry. Aaron was only twenty-two or twenty-three, if she remembered correctly from Albert’s letters. There would be no way he’d want an older woman like herself.
Not that it mattered.
She scolded herself and prayed that God would help her keep her thoughts better in line. She was marrying Albert and that was that.
3
Arthur reached out and tugged Aaron back when they reached the main ranch. Aaron ground his teeth, hoping against hope that his brother hadn’t caught any of the tension between him and Albert’s intended. Then again, maybe the tension had all been in his head.
“You all right?” Arthur asked in an uncharacteristic show of observation.
“Yeah. Fine.”
Arthur’s eyes narrowed, but then Violet was out on the front porch, Ma behind her and looking just as eager.
“So this is the surprise you bring us?” Ma said, her hands clasped in front of her. She looked back and forth from Lulu to Albert and then to Violet with such excitement that Aaron almost forgot why she was excited. Almost.
“Hello,” Lulu said.
Albert jumped forward, as if he’d forgotten his duty to introduce them. “Ma, Violet, this is Miss Lulu Mullins, my mail-order bride.”
“It’s lovely to meet you,” Violet said, clasping Lulu in a warm hug that the woman readily accepted. Ma followed suit behind and then they were all rushing into the house, the women talking nonstop.
“Guess they’ll take care of all of that.” Albert looked back to his brothers with wide eyes. “Talk about a hurricane.”
“You brought her here,” Aaron said, though he worried his tone was too sharp.
“Sure did,” he said, rubbing the back of his neck. “It’s all just…very real now.”
Aaron almost asked him what he’d expected it to be if not real, but Arthur beat him to a response. “You’d best go in there. She’s going to need a break from some of that gabbing real soon.”
“Nah,” Albert said with a wicked grin. “I’m sure she loves it. Besides, I’ll see plenty of her soon enough.” He looked between the brothers. “I’ve got to go out and see to that back fence. Tell the ladies I’ll be back for dinner?”
Aaron looked hard at his brother and was about to ask if everything was all right, but before he could, the door opened and Ma was calling to ask for some help from them. Albert explained his mission to the fence and was excused, but Aaron and Arthur couldn’t get out of responsibilities as easily.
Aaron again clenched his jaw as he entered the house knowing that, at some point, he’d have to interact with Lulu again. If he kept this up, he’d be seeing the dentist in town before long. That was certainly something he didn’t want, but he wasn’t sure how to deal with his feelings.
Arthur trudged inside and Aaron slipped behind him into the kitchen where he knew his mother would ask them to collect water. Rather than waiting to be asked, Aaron took the bucket and escaped out the back door to get to the pump for a few moments of peace.
As the water filled the bucket, he turned his gaze to the very plains he’d been talking to Lulu about. He allowed himself to feel what he hadn’t since he found out who she really was.
Attraction. She was the most beautiful woman he’d ever seen, and, for just a moment, he’d thought she found him attractive too. The ease at which they had talked had filled him with hope that maybe he could be desired like his brother always seemed to be with the women at church and in town. Lulu had made him feel at ease, something he’d never felt around other women.
These feelings were soon followed by another, even deeper emotion. Devastation. Lulu was his brother’s intended. He had absolutely
no right to think about her as anything other than a sister-in-law. It wasn’t proper for him to notice how lovely she was or how soft her rich, brown hair looked. It certainly wasn’t all right for him to want to talk with her again.
But that’s exactly what would happen. There would be no avoiding her, at least not completely, while she stayed at the big house. While he and his brother did live in a cabin a little less than half a mile away, he was up at the barn nearly every day and they were invited to eat at least twice, sometimes three times a week. None of that would change just because his brother was engaged to be married. If anything, it could increase in frequency.
He groaned just as his mother opened the back door. “Aaron, you got that water, honey?”
He came back to the present from his thoughts just in time to stop the water before it overflowed. It was too full, but he’d carry it carefully back to the house.
“Coming,” he called, though he was grateful that he’d still have a few more minutes of solitude.
He had to come to terms with the reality that his brother was marring Lulu and they’d just have to be around one another despite the fact of their awkward first meeting. Then again, had it only been on his end that he’d felt the tension? The attraction? That was more likely.
He breathed out a deep sigh. He could do this. It was all in his head and he’d get over her soon enough. He might have to see her once or maybe twice a week, but he’d keep the encounters brief and then he’d be away from her most of the time. He’d spend it with the horses if he had to, anything so that he wouldn’t have to look at her stunning, deep blue eyes as they gazed into Albert’s.
Aaron grimaced and shoved the thoughts from his mind for good. Or so he hoped.
Lulu’s mind was reeling. Rose Bowen, or Ma as the boys called her, and Violet had been so kind to her, but they had overwhelmed her with information. So much so that she wasn’t sure she could keep it all straight that first day. Then Albert had all but disappeared on her and she’d felt suddenly very alone.
Where was the man who’d taken the time to write letters to her and described his family to her in great detail as if he loved spending time with them? Then again, she was sure he did enjoy spending time with them, but his duties took him away. Wasn’t that right, though? Wasn’t that what she’d wanted? A responsible husband with a job and a way to support her and their future family?
Still, did he have to start supporting her the minute she arrived at the main house on the ranch? She’d looked forward to him showing her around and telling her about fond memories on the ranch, or something like that.
Lulu checked down the hall. It was clear. The women had talked about working on dinner and the warm, late evening called to her. Would it be rude to step outside for a few minutes before she had to go back and be entertained again?
She tried to hide her smile. She really liked Ma and Violet already. It was just that she’d grown so accustomed to it being her and father—and then stepmother—on the ranch most days that she’d gotten used to the quiet. It was all a little overwhelming, not mention the fact that she’d been traveling for more than a week.
Giving in to the urge, she stepped out onto the front porch and quietly closed the screen door behind her. She took in a deep breath of the cooling Texan air and felt better already. Continuing on her path, she walked to the center of the yard between the house and the barn and looked up. A few stars, looking like specks of salt against an ever-darkening sky, were barely visible above her.
She closed her eyes for a moment. The sounds were different from home and the air felt different too. More humid and all-encompassing. She could imagine what her older sister Louise would say in a moment like this. She’d remind Lulu to ‘drink it up’ and to fill her ‘memory bottle.’ Her sister was a dreamer and always hand been. Lulu often didn’t know what she meant, but maybe she did now—if not for the first time.
Lulu wanted to drink up this moment of stillness before life moved on again. She wanted her memory bottle to contain drops of her thoughts from the day.
An image of Aaron popped into her mind and her eyes flashed open. The yard before her was empty, though growing darker still. She hadn’t meant to flirt with Aaron as she had. Even now it sounded foolish, the thought that she had been flirting, but she was beginning to see that’s exactly what she’d been doing. Granted, she’d done so under the thought that he was the man she was to marry, but that didn’t excuse her actions.
The worst part now was that it seemed he would be up at the house frequently. At least the way that Ma talked about her ‘boys’ was in such a way that lumped them all together and how often they were around, making sure the ranch functioned as it should.
She pressed her lips together and immediately felt sorry for her heart’s intentions. She was being selfish. She didn’t want to have to see Aaron all the time, because she was afraid of the feelings of attraction she’d had toward him, but he was merely doing his job. This was his home and she was only a stranger.
With resolve, she turned back toward the house. She’d just pulled open the door and moved to step inside when a solid mass collided with her.
“I’m so sorry—” the deep, decidedly male voice halted.
“Oh,” was all Lulu could manage. She was face to face with Aaron. In fact, she was much too close to Aaron after having run straight into him. She fumbled back a step, but the door caught her in the back and she grimaced, reaching a hand to her lower back where the handle had collided with her.
“Are you all right?” he asked, genuine concern flashing in his green eyes. They glistened in the dim light from the candle on a stand near them and she marveled that she hadn’t seen how unique their color was. “Lulu?”
He said her name and she snapped out of whatever trance she’d fallen into when caught in his gaze. Her cheeks flushed, and she looked away in hopes that her thoughts would clear. “I’m fine,” she mumbled.
“What were you doing outside?” he asked, taking a step back, which afforded her more space to get her thoughts in order.
“I was…” What had she been doing? Hiding from his mother? She couldn’t admit to that.
“It was a little overwhelming in here, I’m sure,” he said with an easy grin. His understanding loosened some of the coils of tension around her midsection.
“I suppose I’m just tired from the trip. There’s a lot to take in.”
“I’m sure,” he said, nodding slowly. “Do you… Did you want to retire early? I can make excuses for you. I’m good at that.”
His offer held such kindness to her that she teared up. She noticed the moment he saw the tears in her eyes. A look of panic washed over him.
“I’m really fine,” she rushed to assure him. “I’m just tired. If you could—make my excuses, that is—I would be grateful.”
“Of course,” he said, looking down at the hat in his hand. Had she caught him leaving? “It’s the least I can do for my…uh, future sister-in-law.”
The word sister sliced like a knife into her gut and she sucked in a breath. That was exactly what she would be, so why did him saying it make her feel…sad?
“Thank you.”
He merely nodded, and she rushed past him to the back room where she’d be staying. In her wake, she heard him go to the kitchen and begin to explain that she was too tired for supper. The last thing she heard before closing her door was Ma exclaiming that they should have thought to send her straight to bed and how tired she must be.
Lulu leaned against the rough boards of the door and rested her head back. Aaron was going to be her brother-in-law. That was the way all of this worked. So why did she feel like that was the last thing she wanted from him?
4
Lulu found herself settling into life on the ranch with more ease than she’d excepted. Ma and Violet helped her out, not requiring any chores from her at first, but then she’d all but demanded they give her things to do, claiming she’d lose her mind if she didn’t do something.
They’d had a good laugh at that and put her to work right away.
Even still, she’d had plenty of time to go for rides in the late afternoon and early evening, tending to a horse that Aaron had said she could all but consider as hers. He was amazing with the horses, taking care of everyone’s mounts, from the workers’ to his brothers’ special horses. He was steady and caring with them, talking to them in soft whispers. She’d caught him on more than one occasion in a stall with a difficult horse, working his ‘magic,’ as everyone on the ranch called it. When she saw him with the horses, she could agree that it was like some type of magic.
Albert had been less attentive than she’d thought. He always seemed to be finding things that he had to do, either in town or on the ranch. They’d had a few picnics and one evening stroll together. While she’d say it had gone well, spending time with Albert hadn’t been anything like the ease she felt with Aaron.
Albert was all big ideas and charming enthusiasm, where Aaron was unassuming and kind in nature. It was Aaron’s gentleness that drew her to him—a fact she continued to remind herself could not be anything more than brotherly affection for him.
This morning, she was spending time in the garden, pulling weeds and tending to some of the plants that weren’t doing as well. She’d done some gardening back home and found that it always seemed to relax her and give her time to think.
“Hello, my dear,” Albert said, standing over her, his shadow covering her and the plants she was working on.
“Oh, good morning,” she said, leaning back from where she’d knelt down.
“Don’t get up,” he said with a tight-lipped smile. “I just wanted to let you know that I’m headed to the next town over with Arthur this afternoon. We’ve got business to conduct there and I’ll likely be gone for several days. Will you manage?”
She wanted to laugh. She’d been managing—mostly without him—for the last two days while he rode the back half of the ranch land herding a few hundred head of cattle.
