Groom For Hire (Pioneer Series #3)

by Ruth Ann Nordin

“Maybe you should go to the carriage,” Joe suggested. “There’s a lot of people, wagons, and animals around here. We don’t want someone to bump into you by accident.” Yes, that was good. Her father and the butler wouldn’t suspect the real reason he wanted them gone.

  “Of course,” Bernard spoke up, letting go of her. “We’re only getting in the way.”

  “I’ll take that,” Michelle told her father, gesturing to the valise.

  Even better. She couldn’t expect others to carry her valise. The other women wouldn’t like that at all. The sooner she did things as they did, the sooner she’d fit in.

  Joe shook her father’s hand once more and assured him he’d take care of his daughter. After her father and the butler left, he glanced around at the others and noticed that Alice and Sherry weren’t watching them. He breathed a sigh of relief. Good. Maybe he’d managed to avoid making things worse for Michelle.

  “All of my belongings are on the horse,” Joe said, turning back to Michelle, who still, in so many ways, reminded him of Amanda. “Danny Taylor said we could use his wagon to carry your things.”

  “Danny Taylor?” she asked.

  “He’s traveling with his mother and sister. They have some extra room.”

  He nodded for her to follow him and wove through the people until he came to Danny’s wagon. Danny was twenty-two, and his younger sister, Henrietta, was nineteen, making her only two years younger than Michelle. Perhaps the two could strike up a friendship. It’d help the time pass faster if Michelle could make a friend.

  At the moment, Danny and Henrietta were arguing over where to put the pots and pans she was holding in her arms. “I need them close to the front or the back of the wagon,” she was telling him. “It’ll make cooking a lot easier if I don’t have to go somewhere in the middle to grab them.”

  Danny groaned. “But if I do that, then I have to rearrange everything in there.”

  “You’re just going to have to rearrange everything,” she replied. “I told you not to put our furniture right up front. We won’t need them until we get to California. But we will need to eat every single day we’re on the trail.” She shook her head, her frustration evident on her pretty face as a few of her dark red curls slipped out of her bun. “You’re hopeless, Danny. Just hopeless.”

  “Hey, I’m doing everything I can, alright?”

  The two siblings noticed Joe and Michelle then, and both straightened up, their faces both red with embarrassment, though Danny’s face didn’t look quite so red since he had brown hair.

  “This is Michelle,” Joe introduced. “Michelle, these are Danny and Henrietta Taylor.” He glanced back at the siblings. “Where’s your mother?”

  “Taking care of personal business,” Henrietta spoke up. “She’ll be back in a moment. Is this the young woman you said you were marrying so she could get to her family in California?”

  “Yes.” Joe nodded toward the trunk he was carrying. “Do you still have room for this?”

  “We will once my brother gets things arranged properly in the wagon,” she replied.

  Danny let out a loud sigh.

  Joe set the trunk down. “I can help you with that, Danny.” He turned to Michelle. “Do you have any pins in that valise?”

  “Yes,” Michelle said.

  “Good. You should put your hair up like Henrietta has hers. There’s going to be a lot of bugs and dust along the trail. You want to keep your hair away from that as much as possible.”

  “Oh.” Michelle touched her long brown strands. “I didn’t even think about dust or bugs.”

  “I’ll help you,” Henrietta offered. “I’ll brush it into a nice bun that will flatter your face.”

  With a nod, Michelle opened her valise and pulled out a brush and several pins.

  “You got such beautiful hair,” Henrietta said as Michelle handed the brush to her. “Mine is more like a bunch of straw. It sticks out every which way.”

  Michelle chuckled. “But it’s a lovely color.”

  She grimaced and brushed Michelle’s hair. “It’s red.”

  “I happen to think it’s a lovely shade of red. It’s not like everyone else’s hair.”

  “No, it’s not. And in a short while, I’ll have to carry a parasol so I don’t get sun on my skin.”

  “Oh, but your skin reminds me of a porcelain doll I had while growing up. Pale and smooth.”

  Henrietta laughed. “That might be so, but my skin burns much too easily. Believe me, it’s not so pretty then.”

  Since the two women seemed to be getting along well, Joe climbed into the wagon to help Danny sort the items around. Though he’d never tell it to Danny, Henrietta was right. Danny hadn’t done a good job in arranging their belongings in the wagon. Simply by moving a few things around, Joe was able to make a lot more room for them. Even better, there was plenty of room for Michelle’s trunk.

  As he set her trunk in the corner of the wagon, Danny whispered, “I had no idea Michelle was going to be so pretty. That business arrangement you two made might be a lot more pleasurable than you expected.”

  “It a temporary marriage,” Joe replied.

  “For real?”

  “Yes. I signed a contract with her father. He hired me to marry her until we get to California. After that, we’re going to annul the marriage.”

  “Really?”

  Noting the disbelief in Danny’s tone, Joe looked over at him. “She’s not my type.”

  “She’s every man’s type.”

  Joe shook his head. “It’s only a business arrangement. That’s it. When she gets to California, she’ll end up with a wealthy young businessman. That’s what her father wants for her, and I’m not going to interfere with it.”

  “You know, my father actually struck gold out there. That’s why my mother, sister, and I are leaving.” He paused. “Michelle looks to be about my age. Maybe I can marry her after you annul the marriage.”

  Joe couldn’t believe what he was hearing. “You don’t even know her.”

  “What’s there to know? She’s a looker.”

  “There’s more to a woman than how she looks.”

  After a moment, Danny nodded. “True. But do you mind if I get to know her during this trip? Then if it turns out she’s as nice as she looks, I can marry her in California.”

  Good grief. Why was Danny asking for his permission? He had no claim on her. “I don’t care what you do as long as you remember she’s technically married. I don’t want anything scandalous happening while we’re on the trail. Her reputation’s important. For the time being, you have to treat her like your sister.”

  “No doing. I’m not going to argue with her all the time.”

  Joe rolled his eyes. “You know what I mean.”

  He grinned and patted him on the back. “I do. I was just joking.”

  Joe finished getting everything in order in the wagon. He didn’t have time to stand around and talk about Michelle. There were other people who needed his assistance, and the other man hired to help him lead the wagon train couldn’t do it all by himself. The sooner he got back to helping the people, the sooner they could leave. Then they could get to California. Then he could annul his marriage, and maybe then, he could finally be free from Amanda.

  Chapter 5

  “What do you think?” Henrietta asked as she and Michelle walked beside the slow-moving wagons later that day. “The parasol helps to keep you cooler, doesn’t it?”

  “Yes, it does,” Michelle replied. “Thank you for lending one to me.”

  “I have four. You’re more than welcome to use that one for the whole trip.”

  “That’s very kind of you.”

  Henrietta grinned. “I’m just glad there’s someone my age going on this trail with me. The closest woman to our age is Alice Woods, and she’s thirty. She hasn’t gotten a man, either. She’s traveling with her cousin and his family. Those are the Ferns. Anyway, Alice was in our church, and I’d rather not be around her.”

>   “Because of her age?”

  “Well, that’s part of it. She also does a lot of talking. A word to the wise: watch what you say and do around her.”

  Really? Alice was that bad? Michelle scanned the other women, looking for someone who looked to be thirty.

  “She’s the one in the green-and-white polka dot dress,” Henrietta filled in for her.

  Right away, Michelle saw the woman who was talking to a blonde who seemed to be in her late thirties.

  “That’s Sherry Fern,” Henrietta said, following her gaze. “She’s the wife of Alice’s cousin. I don’t know if Sherry’s her friend or not, but Sherry’s nice to everyone.”

  Michelle took a good look around her. Most of the women and children walked while the men led the wagons. Joe, her husband, was leading the front while an older man, who was leading with Joe, was in the back.

  Michelle’s gaze went back to Joe. He seemed at ease on the horse, as if he was born riding one. Her father had allowed her to ride a horse from time to time, but for the most part, he was determined she learn how to be the wife of a wealthy man. So, for the most part, her studies focused on everything to be done indoors. But, she had to admit, she was enjoying herself a lot more by simply walking along a grassy trail. There was a sense of freedom about being outside.

  “Mind if I tell you a secret?” Henrietta asked.

  “No. What is it?”

  “The reason my family’s heading to California is because my father found gold out there. I mean, the major gold rush was years ago, but he heard a report of an area where one of his friends found some. So he went out there to see if he could get anything. We were struggling to get by. Any gold was better than nothing. Anyway, he and his friend found a whole bunch of it, and now we’re rich. But we’re not telling anyone. There’s no saying how anyone will react.”

  “You mean, anyone like Alice?”

  Henrietta nodded. “It’s just best she doesn’t find out. I thought it’d be safe to tell you since you come from money. I can tell you, and you won’t get jealous. I made the mistake of telling one of my friends when we decided to go to California to be with my father, and she didn’t want to talk to me anymore. She said since I was rich, I had no use for people like her. That really hurt. I’d like to think that just because you got money, it doesn’t mean you think you’re better than everyone else. Why, you didn’t know about my father, and you’ve been nice to me.”

  “Money, or lack of money, isn’t what makes someone nice,” Michelle said. “It’s the heart of a person that does that.”

  “Exactly! And you know that better than anyone.”

  Maybe. The truth was, Michelle hadn’t had many friends while growing up. She’d been tutored her entire life, and most of her time was spent alone. She couldn’t blame her father for that. She’d had her bouts of ailments when she was younger, and because of that, he hovered over her more than most parents probably did with their children. Her mother’s early death hadn’t helped matters any. But she was healthy now. In fact, she hadn’t had a single illness in the past five years.

  “Do you mind if I ask you something personal?” Henrietta asked.

  “It depends on what it is,” Michelle replied.

  “That’s fair.” Henrietta smiled at her then glanced at Joe. “I was wondering how you feel about him. He’s awfully good-looking. It seems that it’d be hard not to fall in love with someone who looks like that.”

  Now it was Michelle’s turn to blush. “You can’t tell that I like him, can you?”

  Her eyes grew wide. “So you do fancy him?”

  “Well, yes. But the marriage isn’t permanent. It’s only until I get to California.”

  “I know that’s what the agreement is, but it doesn’t mean it must always be that way. We have months on the trail. A lot can happen between here and California.”

  Henrietta really shouldn’t be giving her ideas. Michelle didn’t need to be having such fantasies about Joe. He made it abundantly clear that he had no intention of making their marriage a real one on their wedding day.

  “He has no such interest in me,” Michelle told her new friend. “My father signed a contract with him. He’s nothing more than a groom for hire.”

  “That’s true right now. But you don’t know what the future will bring.”

  Henrietta’s eyes twinkled, and Michelle felt her heart skip at the thought that Henrietta might be right, that something might come from this match, something wonderful. And as much as Michelle struggled to talk herself out of it, she couldn’t help but hope her friend was right.

  * * *

  Late that afternoon as everyone stopped for the day, Joe couldn’t help but think the first day had been a good one. They’d made it fourteen miles. Well, almost fifteen. But it was usually like this when starting out. Everyone had lots of energy, and they were excited by the prospect of going to a new place. It wasn’t until later that people got tired and weary of traveling. The trips to the small towns along the way helped, but it was never like the first day of the trek. The first day was usually the best.

  While people were unhitching their oxen from their wagons, he decided to see how Michelle was doing. He hadn’t said much of anything to her since he’d left her with Henrietta. That had made it easier to pretend she wasn’t there, or rather, to pretend Amanda had never come into his life. It wasn’t fair to keep comparing her to Amanda, but she looked so much like her, he found himself doing it.

  There was no doubt about it. This was going to be a very long trip, and the distance from Omaha to San Francisco had nothing to do with it.

  He went over to Michelle and Henrietta, who were standing next to the wagon while Danny took care of the oxen. Michelle was laughing at something Henrietta was telling her. Well, that was one distinction between Michelle and Amanda. Amanda had been more somber. She didn’t laugh all that much. It’d taken Laura almost the entire journey to Omaha to get Amanda to relax around her. Michelle, on the other hand, seemed to have no trouble opening up to people.

  He blinked then gritted his teeth. He was doing it again. Comparing the two women. He really wished he could stop doing it.

  “But Danny didn’t dare mess with me again,” Henrietta was telling Michelle. “I put a beetle in his boot.”

  Michelle gasped. “You didn’t!”

  “I did!” Henrietta’s eyes twinkled as she chuckled. “He screeched at such a high pitch, our mother thought it was the cat.”

  “Surely, you exaggerate.”

  “Not at all. He was much worse than I was when I caught that frog he slipped into my pocket. You have to watch out for him. He’s a sly one.”

  “Yeah, well, I doubt he’s pulling such pranks anymore,” Joe said.

  They gave a slight jerk before turning to face him.

  “I see you two became friends awfully fast,” he added, glad for them both. Really, he was. It would make their time go much quicker.

  “I can’t get them to stop talking,” Henrietta’s mother said with a grin as she came up to them with a pail of water. “One would think they grew up together.”

  “Michelle’s a wonderful person,” Henrietta spoke up. “She’s not at all what I expected a rich person to be like.”

  “Oh?” Michelle asked. “And how is a rich person supposed to act?”

  “Snooty, of course,” Henrietta replied. “I mean, it won’t be like that for me and my family because we grew up poor. But you grew up with everything you could ever want. You just had to snap your fingers and the servants came running to tend to your every whim.”

  Some rich people Joe had met would have taken offense to Henrietta’s description of what they were supposed to be like, but Michelle only smiled and said, “Money isn’t what makes people happy. Happiness comes from being content with what you have.”

  “Yes, but you can’t eat happiness.”

  “True. But you can have an entire banquet and be miserable. Father knew a man who had much more money than we did, but
he and his wife hated each other. Father said it made for a very awkward dinner. My mother might have died early in my life, but he said they were happy. Better to have a piece of bread with a good wife than a banquet with a contentious woman. That’s what my father often said, and I’m inclined to agree with him.”

  Henrietta’s smile widened. “Why, Michelle, you’re a gem. You really are. All that money, and it didn’t spoil you one bit. I sure hope I can be like you after I get more dresses than I’ll ever know what to do with.”

  Joe was inclined to agree with Henrietta. It impressed him that Michelle could be surrounded by so many material things and not be tarnished by it. No wonder he’d felt compelled to sign the marriage contract with her father. Her father had been a likable man, one who made it easy to say yes to.

  Forcing aside the thought, he asked Michelle, “Can I talk to you for a moment?”

  “Certainly.” She excused herself then left Henrietta and her mother.

  He thought he detected a slight flush in Michelle’s cheeks but decided he had to be mistaken. The sun cast all sorts of hues across the land near sunset, and those hues affected the way things looked.

  As he led her away from the others, he said, “I often pick a young man from the group to help me keep watch during the night hours. Because of that, I think you should sleep with Henrietta and her family.”

  “What do you watch for?”

  “Anything that could pose a threat to the group.”

  “Like Indians? Is it true they raid wagons?”

  “Most tribes won’t attack unless they’re provoked, but yes, there are a couple who do. But there are other threats. Bandits. Animals. A storm.” He shrugged. “You never know what you’re going to get on the trail.”

  “Really?” Her eyes grew wide. “Is it dangerous?”

  He couldn’t tell if she was scared or intrigued. “No, not if we stick to the path. But to be safe, I have someone help me keep watch during the night while the other wagon master has someone else keep watch with him.”

  “Can I keep watch with you?”

  “You want to keep watch?”