The Anonymous Bride (Texas Boardinghouse Brides 1)

by Vickie McDonough

Luke bristled at Rachel’s unexpected, stormy reaction. Surely she knew her daughter was gallivanting all over town with older boys. Rachel had been a near perfect daughter—sweet, kind, helpful, rarely disobeying her mother’s wishes. How could she have ended up with such a wild child?

  “I asked what is wrong with Jacqueline’s behavior.”

  Luke straightened. “She’s running with older boys, and I think they’re causing her to do things she probably wouldn’t do on her own.”

  Rachel’s face paled, and she latched onto the back of a kitchen chair. “What kind of things?”

  “The day I arrived, she and those boys threw rocks at my horse.” He omitted the part about Alamo knocking him into the river. A man had his pride, after all.

  Lifting her chin, Rachel glared and pointed her spoon at him. “I know Jacqueline’s been with those boys, and I’m trying to stop it, but I don’t for a second believe that she would throw rocks at your horse. She doesn’t have a cruel bone inside her.”

  He thought about how he’d found Jack in the street with that stick in her hand. The jury was still out as to her true intentions. His gut said to believe Rachel, but there was a wildness in the child that could only be driven out by a loving parent who wasn’t afraid to discipline. Rachel always had a soft heart, always saw the best in others. She was a peacemaker, a nurturer, and he could see where disciplining might be hard for her. “You’re gonna have to be tougher than her, Rach.”

  Her eyes narrowed. “Just what do you know about raising children?”

  He shrugged, hoping to look nonchalant. If she’d married him instead of James, he’d know plenty about raising kids by now. “Not much. I’ve been a soldier for the past decade, but I’ve learned that people rise to what’s expected of them. They need rules. Boundaries. Especially children.”

  “Well, I have rules for Jacqueline. It’s just difficult to enforce them at times.”

  “Try harder. You don’t want to lose Jack because you’re afraid she won’t like you if you spank her.”

  Rachel puckered up like a raisin and crossed her arms over her chest. “I am not having this conversation with you. You don’t know a thing about raising a girl. There’s more involved than tanning her backside whenever she does the wrong thing.”

  “‘Foolishness is bound in the heart of a child; but the rod of correction shall drive it far from him.’”

  Her brows lifted. “So you’re quoting the Bible to me now?” Suddenly her expression changed from anger to despair. “I try to make Jacqueline mind, but she bucks me at every turn. I want her to be disciplined and to act like a normal girl, but I don’t know how to make that happen.” She swiped at the tears streaming down her cheeks. “I’m sorry I’m such a disappointment to you, Luke.” She turned and fled the room.

  He stood there looking at the empty doorway. Why had she gotten upset at him? He was just trying to help Jack. To encourage Rachel to be stricter.

  He’d seen plenty of kids at the forts he’d been stationed at, and the ones who followed rules rarely got hurt or in trouble. The broken, bloodied body of a nine-year-old boy flashed before him. He’d told Thomas to stay away from the mustangs fresh off the plains, but the kid was stubborn. Determined to prove he was just as good a horse breaker as his dad. A brief encounter with a wild stallion had snuffed out the boy’s life.

  Luke snatched his plate off the back of the stove and stormed out the door, though his appetite had faded. Rachel had changed. When had she become so stubborn? Why couldn’t she see that he was just trying to help her and Jack?

  CHAPTER 6

  Garrett sipped his coffee and studied the Dallas newspaper that a friend had sent him. He chuckled at the comical wording of some of the mail-order bride ads. He forked more of the scrambled eggs his brother had cooked into his mouth and peered over the top of the paper at Mark. “What do you think about this one?”

  “‘Christian woman, 24, 5'7", thin, dark hair, seeking a father for her five children.’”

  “Five?”

  Garrett nodded.

  “Does that advertisement mean she’s thin, or does she have thin, dark hair?”

  Garrett chuckled and continued reading. “‘Has adequate house on 60 acres and $3000 in bank. Needs man willing to relocate and run dairy farm.’”

  “Sounds like she’s wanting a hired hand more than a husband.” Mark pursed his lips. “I bet she’ll get lots of takers, but seems a bit risky to advertise that she has all that money.” He shook his head. “I hope nobody takes advantage of her and runs off with it.”

  “Yeah. Many men would.”

  Mark picked up a thick slice of bacon. “Even if we found Luke a gal to marry like that one, I doubt he would want to leave Lookout when he just returned to town after being gone so long.”

  Garrett leaned back in his chair and glanced out the window. The overnight thunderstorm had left droplets on the panes and puddles in the street. “Yeah, I get the idea he wants to stick around here, but I don’t know if he will.”

  “Because of Rachel?”

  “Yeah. I tried to talk to him about her again, but he’s touchy.”

  “Well, give him time. He hasn’t been back all that long and has had eleven years to stew over the fact that his gal married someone else.”

  Garrett smeared strawberry jam on a slice of bread then licked the knife. “That’s why we need to find him another woman. I mentioned that Rachel was now available, and you should’a seen how his hackles raised. Whoo-wee!”

  “I still think you’re messin’ with fire.”

  “What could it hurt to write to a couple of these ladies? You might even decide to keep one for yourself.”

  “Me?” Mark’s eyes went so wide that Garrett laughed. “What about you? You’re the oldest.”

  Garrett shrugged. “Might be the only way to find a bride. This town’s poorly lacking in females.”

  “Ain’t that the truth? Let me have a look.”

  Smiling to himself, Garrett passed the newspaper to his brother and dug into the rest of his breakfast. He glanced around the kitchen of the house they had inherited from their parents. His mother would pitch a fit if she could see the unwashed dishes in the sink and the pile of dirty clothes on the floor of their bedrooms. “We sure could use a woman around this place. Maybe we ought to try to find someone to help out here a few hours a week.”

  “Yeah, it’s filthy in here.” Mark studied the room. “What kind of gal do you favor?”

  Garrett shrugged. “Don’t matter as long as she’s pretty and not sassy.”

  “I kind of favor redheads.” Mark’s gaze remained on the paper as he took another bite of his toast. “You know, the color of a sorrel horse.”

  “You’re comparing a woman’s hair to a horse?” Garrett shook his head. “How romantic.”

  The paper dropped down, revealing Mark’s clean-shaven face and sky blue eyes. He glared at Garrett then flung his toast through the air like a weapon. It hit Garrett on the nose. He jerked back his head, and after a moment of heavy silence, they both laughed.

  “Okay, seriously, how about this one?” Mark tilted the paper as if to see it better. “‘Twenty-five-year-old woman seeks man to marry. Must be a godly man of high character and gentle heart. I have light brown hair, blue eyes, and no visible blemishes—’”

  Garrett looked up from his plate. “Wonder what that means? You think she’s got a big mole on her back like a shooting target or something?”

  Mark curled his lips. “I didn’t interrupt you.”

  “Yes, you did.”

  Mark shook his head but continued reading. “‘I prefer a man who lives west of the Mississippi River.’”

  Garrett leaned back with one arm dangling over the back of his chair as he sipped his coffee. “Light brown hair, blue eyes, huh? Might be a good idea to order up a bride that has different coloring than Rachel.”

  “Aren’t her eyes light green?”

  Garrett shook his head. “Blue, like I imagine ic
e would be if it had a color.”

  “Oh, yeah. That’s right. Hmm ... how about a brunette? Here’s one. ‘Black-haired/black-eyed woman, age 18, seeks husband. Can cook and sew. Prefers to marry rancher. No soldiers.’”

  “Well, that puts Luke out of the picture.” Garrett stood and took his plate to the sink and added it to the towering mess. It wobbled but didn’t fall. “A brunette is a good idea, though. Or maybe we could order him a choice: blond, brunette, and a redhead.”

  “You’re loco, you know it? What would you do with the other brides? What if Luke didn’t want any of them? Then you’d be stuck caring for a henhouse full of females. This is a bad idea, I’m telling you.” Mark tossed the paper toward the middle of the table. He shoved back his chair, stood, and carried his plate to the counter. “One of us needs to do these dishes ’fore we get ants in here.”

  “I’ll flip you for it. The winner needs to take the horses over to Dan’s and get them reshod before he gets too busy.”

  Mark nodded, and Garrett tossed the coin in the air. It spun around, reflecting the morning sunlight coming in the kitchen window, then plunked onto the floor. It wobbled around before settling on heads. Garrett grinned. As oldest, he was always heads. “Better luck next time, brother.”

  Mark scowled but picked up the bucket. “Getting one of those brides for us sounds better all the time. I wouldn’t mind having a woman around to cook and do the cleanin’ and washin’.”

  “That would mean one of us would have to get married.” Garrett bumped his brother’s shoulder with his own. “You think you’re ready?”

  Mark looked up at the ceiling as if deep in thought. “Could be.”

  Garrett lifted his brows at his brother’s confession. “I guess we aren’t getting any younger, huh?”

  “Not today.”

  The door creaked as Mark opened it, reminding Garrett he needed to grease the hinges. Things would change a lot if one of them was to marry. Would they lose the closeness they enjoyed as brothers? Still, being married did have its benefits. He glanced at the paper, formulating an advertisement for Luke in his mind as he walked toward the barn. He lifted his head, enjoying the crisp scent to the air after the overnight storms. In the barn, he fed the horses and grabbed the water bucket, stopping to lean on the fence rail. “Hmmm ... let’s see.”

  Town marshal wants wife who can cook, sew, and clean.

  “Nah, better to not be so picky.”

  Town marshal wants wife who can cook.

  He considered Luke’s height. He was a good six feet himself, so that must have made Luke six feet two. He thought about his cousin’s hair and eye color. Those things were important to women.

  Town marshal, 6'2", dark brown hair and eyes, wants wife who can cook.

  What else would a woman want to know? That he’d been a soldier? Thinking about that one ad, he mentally marked that off his list.

  Maybe that was enough. Garrett didn’t know if Luke had any money to his name after being in the cavalry for so long; and even if he did, it wasn’t a cousin’s place to advertise such information.

  What else?

  A woman’s looks were important to most men, but character went a long way, too.

  Town marshal, 6'2", with dark brown hair and eyes, wants pretty wife who can cook. Must be willing to move to Texas.

  Garrett smiled. “That should do it.”

  Now he just had to decide where to place the ad.

  CHAPTER 7

  Southern Kansas

  Carly Payton’s stomach swirled so badly she thought for sure she’d retch any moment. Her mount trailed a few yards behind the two horses carrying her brother, Tyson, and Emmett, a member of her brother’s outlaw gang. They slowly rode into a mid-sized Kansas town whose name she didn’t even know. She scanned the rugged wooden and brick buildings for the bank and found it toward the end of the street.

  She studied the town again, as Ty had taught her. Knowing the layout could well save their lives later on. Several horses stood tied to rails outside the saloon and the doctor’s office, while a wagon sat in front of the only general store. Few people ambled down the boardwalks of the sleepy town in the heat of the noonday sun. Carly swiped at a trickle of sweat running down her temple.

  A woman dressed in calico and wearing a straw hat held the hand of her daughter as they jogged across the dirt road in front of the riders. What would it feel like to walk so freely down the street of a town without concern that someone might recognize her brother as the leader of the Payton gang?

  She shook her head. What a hoot to think she could ever be a lady. Why, she didn’t even like wearing dresses anymore.

  Ty swung around in the saddle and glared at her as if he thought she’d tuck tail and run. She’d tried that once, and Ty’s threats to either shoot her or hand her over to the gang made her too afraid to run again. Sometimes she wondered if she’d have been better off if he hadn’t come for her after Ma died. At least she didn’t have an aching back from bending over a washtub all day like her ma had done—or cracked, reddened hands from hot water and lye soap, or blisters from chopping wood to heat the water.

  “Quit hangin’ back, Carly.”

  “I’m not.” She kicked her horse into a trot and caught up. She wiped sweaty palms on her pants, wishing she were back at camp, cooking up a rabbit stew. If Clay hadn’t gotten shot and killed last month, she might well be. But a man short, Ty expected her to take his place.

  They passed the sheriff’s office, and she yanked her gaze away, but not before she noticed half a dozen wanted posters tacked on the outside wall. Was there one on her yet? Or had folks even figured out that the Payton gang had a woman in it? She worked hard to disguise her feminine attributes during the two train robberies and the other bank heist Ty had forced her to participate in. From under her hat, she peeked back at the posters. She might end up famous with a bounty on her head like Jesse James or Belle Starr. How much would she be worth on her wanted poster? Fifty dollars? One hundred?

  As much as she dreaded the robberies, there was a strange excitement to them. Yet afterward, guilt ate at her so badly she could hardly eat or sleep. Her brother said there weren’t nothin’ wrong taking from other folks that had so much. Even their pa had been an outlaw before U.S. Marshals had gunned him down.

  They dismounted in unison, and Emmett held the reins. He hobbled between two of the horses and stooped down as if pretending to be checking its leg for injury. Getting shot in the foot two weeks ago made him too slow to go in the bank, so he was stuck tending the horses. “Make it fast,” Emmett said. “I don’t want anyone getting suspicious of me out here.”

  Ty glanced at her. His dark blue eyes looked cold as dusk in the heart of winter. His lips pressed together into a thin line. He was probably wondering if he’d be safe with only her at his side. He jerked his stubbled chin toward the bank. “Let’s get this done.”

  She started toward him but stopped when he scowled. “Don’t forget the bag.”

  Returning his glare, she snatched the burlap feed sack out of her saddle bags. Making sure her hair was stuffed up under her hat, she followed him up the bank’s steps, heart pounding and stomach churning. She would do her part, but she couldn’t help being nervous.

  Ty had taken her in after their mother died when no one other than the saloon owner had shown any interest in her. At fourteen, most folks must have assumed she could make it on her own, or more likely, they weren’t willing to help the daughter of the town’s laundress. Once he found out their ma was dead, Tyson had come for her. He let her cook for his gang of outlaws, although he’d nearly sent her packing after the first meal. She smiled, remembering Will, the oldest of the outlaws and former chuck wagon cook for a ranch. If he hadn’t taken her under his wing, they’d all have starved. If only he hadn’t been pumped full of lead during a train robbery last year.

  What would it feel like to get shot? She knew it hurt, from the moans of the gang members injured during robberies. She swall
owed hard, hoping nobody got hurt today.

  Her brother was a cranky sort and often griped at her; but for years, he’d protected her from his gang members and vowed to shoot anyone who laid a hand on her—at least until the day she’d decided to leave.

  She shoved back her shoulders and pushed aside all thoughts but the duty at hand. Daydreaming could get them all killed. Their boots echoed on the boardwalk, spurs jingled. As they entered the dimly lit building, Carly’s eyes took a moment to adjust. The fresh scent of wood polish made her stomach roil, and well-shined boards creaked beneath their feet. At the counter on the right, two female clerks stood talking to each other. Carly bit back a smile. There were no barred windows on the counter and no guard. Obviously, this bank hadn’t had trouble for a long while.