The Mail Order Bride's Secret

by Linda Broday

  Joe rolled over and tickled his sister until peals of laughter filled the suite. Jesse still wore that frightened stare.

  “It’s going to be okay. Let’s fold these quilts and go eat some breakfast,” she suggested.

  “Yeah, maybe Uncle Tait is at the café.” Hope filled Jesse’s voice.

  She didn’t have the heart to burst his bubble, so she kept silent. Sometimes a person had to cling to hope no matter how slender the thread.

  In no time they were dressed and headed to the Blue Goose for breakfast. The children talked nonstop all the way, but when they saw that Tait wasn’t inside, they lapsed into silence and remained quiet until midafternoon.

  Melanie saw him first. She steeled herself for a scene, praying she could talk some sense into him before anything worse could happen.

  Tait rode in, looking like death warmed over. He pulled a travois behind him made from two long poles. Whatever was strapped onto it was covered with pieces of burlap. He stopped in front of the hotel, dismounting slowly.

  Joe yelled, “Uncle Tait! You’re back!” He and Jesse ran to meet him.

  Melanie slowed her steps, unsure what to do. She and Becky had been on their way to visit Nora, needing someone to talk to, even though she couldn’t have told her friend the truth about her rift with Tait.

  “Wuncle!” Becky clapped. “Down. Down.”

  The child squirmed out of Melanie’s arms and ran as fast as her little legs would carry her. Melanie stood on the shaded hotel porch and waited. Tait never spared her a glance, not one, his focus riveted on his niece and nephews.

  He looked like a man headed to the gallows. His eyes were nothing but hollows in his face, and the lines around his mouth had deepened overnight.

  She wanted to go to him but didn’t dare.

  If she could get a do-over for her marriage, she’d grab it in an instant. But he might not want a do-over. The first time appeared to have been all he could take.

  Finally, he pulled his hat low on his forehead and stepped onto the porch. “Boys, take your sister inside. I’ll follow in a minute.”

  Only when the door closed behind them did he swing around to even acknowledge her presence. The barely restrained anger emanating from him struck her full force. She took a step back.

  His voice turned as hard as granite. “You wanted the money. There it is. Take it. Take it all. Then leave.” He whirled to walk away.

  “Wait. Please, just give me a moment. I have a plan to get us out of this mess.”

  But he never blinked an eye, never acknowledged that she’d spoken. A turn of the doorknob, and he walked out of her life.

  * * *

  Tears streaming down her face, Melanie pulled back the burlap and stared at the sacks of stolen money. This was what she’d come for. Only now she wished to send the sacks back to their hiding place forever.

  In getting them, she’d lost everything.

  She wiped her eyes with an impatient hand and glanced around. Where could she put the money until she could find a wagon?

  A man’s shadow fell across her. “Can I help, my dear?”

  She glanced up to see Stoker Legend. He opened his arms, and she walked into them without a word. In that moment, he was the grandfather that she’d never had but needed all her life—a safe haven, warm and comforting. Eventually, she was able to tell him that she had to find a place to take the sacks.

  Stoker nodded. “Let’s take the money to the sheriff. Then I’m here if you want to talk. I have a feeling you need help.”

  Melanie smiled. “I think you must be an angel.”

  The rancher chuckled. “I’ve been called a lot of things, but never once an angel. Devil would be more like it, according to most.”

  “Well, not me. I stick to my original assessment.”

  After finding Jack and locking the sacks of money in his office, she and Stoker went to the café and sat at a back table. Soon she was sipping hot tea and spilling out the whole sordid story—ending with how she couldn’t possibly go through with the original plan now.

  Stoker lifted his coffee cup. “Ira McIlroy is a cheat and a fraud himself. I know the man well and have not one iota of respect for him. I had heard from a reliable source that he recently bought the judgeship in Canadian.”

  She traced a design on the checkered tablecloth with her finger. “A thought came to me during the night—of how maybe I could help Tait get a pardon. I can give back the railroad money now. All I need is some leverage to force McIlroy to drop the charges against Ava and me. I have a feeling he was never going to honor our agreement even if I did deliver Tait.”

  “You’re absolutely right there. You can’t trust that snake to keep his word. You can expect more boxes to arrive containing pieces of your sister if you don’t meet him head on.”

  “Oh God!” Melanie’s shoulders slumped. “I have to help her. And Tait, even if I do go to prison. I’ll face being locked up gladly if that will get him his freedom.” She paused a moment to still her trembling lips. “You see, Stoker—I love him.”

  “That much is plain. Don’t worry.” He patted her hand. “I know a lot of powerful people, and McIlroy is not going to get away with this. Give me a day to see what I can do. And I’ll go with you to Canadian to deliver that money. You’re not alone.”

  Relief flooded over her. “I don’t know what to say. Thank you.”

  “Now about fixing your marriage…give Tait time to cool off. But only you can straighten that out.”

  “I know.” Melanie sighed. “I’m willing to do anything I have to.”

  “Love is a strong motivator. If he cares for you, he’ll meet you halfway.”

  Except—he didn’t believe in love. He’d stated that up front. And now she understood why. Lucy still had his heart and probably always would. There was no room in it for her.

  Melanie thought over their conversation as she left the café. Her first step was to get a separate room at the hotel, hoping desperately that she wouldn’t run into Tait. Or the children. What reason would he give them for her absence? She prayed he would consider their feelings.

  She entered the hotel and went straight to the clerk’s desk. “I’d like a room of my own please. Somewhere on a lower floor in a far corner.”

  Curtis Winfield shot her a strange look but asked no questions. “I have such a vacancy on the second floor. It’s very small, but it’s only half price.”

  “I’ll take it.” Her hand trembled, making her name illegible in the register. She’d signed with her maiden name, which brought further scowls from Curtis. But she didn’t feel married anymore.

  “That’ll be fifty cents, ma’am.”

  She paid it, and he handed her the key. She made it to her room without running into anyone she knew. As she sat on the narrow, one-person bed, she wished for her belongings. How would she get them?

  The more she thought, the angrier she became. If he was ending their marriage, throwing her away, he’d have to tell her to her face. She gathered her tattered pride and marched from the room.

  Tait answered her knock by jerking the door open. He stared at her with those cold, quicksilver eyes.

  Melanie inhaled a sharp breath. “I want to talk. And I want my belongings if this is what we’ve come to.”

  The children’s voices drifted from the room behind him. He slipped out the door and closed it, leaning against the frame. “I have nothing more to say. I’ll pack your things. I’ve told the kids that you received an urgent message and had to leave.”

  “Fine. But if you want a pardon for your crimes, you’ll listen to me.” She told him about what Stoker had said and the help he’d offered. “He’s trying to gather information against the judge right now. Once they free you of all charges, I don’t care what happens to me.” He glanced away, making it difficult to read his expression. She lowered he
r voice to a whisper. “I deserve punishment for what I’ve done and what I originally intended to do. After this ugly business is over, I’ll disappear from your life for good.”

  She lifted her quivering chin. “But know this, Tait Trinity—I love you.”

  Twenty-three

  The hotel hallway was empty except for them, and Melanie knew if she didn’t bare her soul now, she’d never have another chance. She clasped her hands together, her words soft. “I never expected to fall in love. I never believed love like this existed. Maybe it didn’t until I met you. I’ve never felt this way about any man before. I can’t breathe or think or imagine a life without you. I’ve found out that love is like the flow of a river—constant, something that fills up all the aching, empty places. But maybe you don’t believe in that, and I wouldn’t blame you.”

  She dropped her hand and took a step back to leave.

  “Wait.” The rigid lines of Tait’s face relaxed, but he still didn’t smile. “You did what you had to for yourself and your sister. McIlroy had you caught in a snare. I see that.” He lowered his voice. “You’d go to prison for me?”

  “I’d go to the ends of the earth and beyond if it would make you whole. Will you help me in this fight? Together we can get exactly what we both want.”

  He was silent for a long moment. “I’ll help. I want to clear my name and get rid of this black cloud hanging over me.” He took a shaky breath and ran his fingers through his hair. “As for us…once trust is gone, it’s hard to get back. I want to think you’ll change. But you’ve told me nothing but lies since we started corresponding.”

  “Necessary ones. I understand though. I accept your decision, whatever it is.”

  “I have all these doubts and uncertainty twisting and turning inside me.” He paused as though trying to find the words to say what he wanted. “As the old timers used to say, ‘We’ll see what’s left after the dust settles.’ I don’t have an objection to you moving back in. I’ll sleep on the sofa. The children need you, and your presence will calm them. They’re terrified we’ll abandon them.”

  “I noticed that last night. They wouldn’t let me out of their sight.”

  “My fault. I rode out without giving them a thought.” He wearily wiped his eyes.

  Heavy sadness sank over her and she could barely nod.

  Tait opened the door to let her into the suite, and the rambunctious gang she thought she might never see again besieged her. Only Tait’s guarded expression reminded her that the problems between them were far from settled.

  * * *

  That night they took supper in the café as a family. On the walk over, they passed passengers getting off the stagecoach. Tait watched as Melanie paused to speak to one gentleman who appeared down on his luck. His clothes were shabby, and he hadn’t shaved in a while. She welcomed him to Hope’s Crossing with a smile and pressed the key to the room she’d rented into his palm.

  Melanie did have a big heart. Tait suspected it came from times when she and her sister had struggled through too many fearful nights. He was hard-pressed to separate the woman he’d come to know so intimately from the woman who’d kept such a destructive secret.

  God help him, he still cared for her in spite of everything.

  She’d shocked him with her declarations of love. Did she really love him? In time, could he feel more than betrayal and this gnawing in his gut?

  He pondered that and held the door of the café. What he’d felt for her before her confession had come close to the way he had felt for Lucy. The realization shook him. Without consciously deciding to, he’d accepted Melanie as his wife in every way.

  They sat near the front of the café, and it wasn’t long before Stoker Legend and his sons entered and took the table next table to them.

  “Evening, folks. Nice night.” Stoker gave Melanie a wink before he sat down.

  In no time, they pulled the two tables together. The children—especially Becky—loved the big rancher, and Tait admitted he’d developed a certain fondness for the Legend family himself. They didn’t pretend to be anything except what they were: honest men who were happy to make the world a better place when and as they could.

  After they finished the meal, Stoker wiped his mouth and put down his napkin. “Trinity, my sons and I would like a word. There have been new developments.”

  The request didn’t come as any surprise. Melanie had already filled Tait in on her discussion with the rancher. “Tell me where and when.”

  “My room at the hotel in an hour. Bring your lovely wife.” Stoker kissed Melanie’s cheek and said good night to the children.

  Tait got his gang back to the hotel, and he and Melanie put them to bed. Jesse hugged them both extra hard then bit his quivering lip. “You won’t ride out and leave us?”

  The question had cost the boy a lot. Tait realized how his actions the previous night had shaken the foundations of their already-shaky world. “No, I don’t plan to ever leave like that again. Your aunt and I are going to meet Mr. Legend in his room, but we’ll be back. Okay?”

  Joe and Jesse nodded and snuggled beneath the covers. Becky was already asleep.

  Melanie kissed them. “If you need anything, come get us. Room 207.”

  “We will,” Jesse assured them.

  A minute later, they knocked on Stoker’s door. Luke let them in. The sitting area was spacious enough for two people, but once they got five large men, the boy Noah Jordan, and Melanie in there, Tait felt smothered. He opted to stand, as did Sam.

  Noah sat cross-legged on the floor.

  Sam took the lead and apologized to Melanie. “I hope you don’t mind that Pa told us about Judge McIlroy’s shady dealings. Let me assure you, he far exceeds his authority. Judges don’t act this way, and I suspect he’s in the Missouri River Railroad owner’s pocket.”

  “I’m relieved to hear you say that, Sam.” Melanie gave him a sad smile.

  Tait nodded. “I figured as much. Richard Markham wants me bad, and he has Kern Berringer and McIlroy willing to do his dirty work.”

  Stoker’s eyes hardened. “Men who threaten women ought to be horsewhipped. We’re going to do something about that when we’re able, but unfortunately our current plans have changed.”

  Houston turned his straight-backed chair around and rested his forearms on the smooth wood. “Miss Melanie, we had decided to take the money for you if that’s what you wanted, only now we can’t. We just received an urgent telegram saying there was a wildfire on the ranch, and we have to leave at first light.”

  “How horrible!” she exclaimed.

  “How much did you lose?” Tait knew how devastating a wildfire could be. And losing a lot of cattle could wipe a rancher out.

  Worry rode in Houston’s eyes as well as those of all the Legends. “The message from our foreman said we suffered considerable losses, both cattle and buildings. Miss Melanie, you’ll have to take the money to Judge McIlroy yourself and demand your sister’s freedom.”

  Melanie released a strangled cry. “But what if he doesn’t comply? I have no leverage. He’ll have the money and will send both me and Ava straight to prison.”

  “Not if I’m there,” Tait said, hating the thickness of his voice. “Going alone is not an option.”

  “Here’s the thing, Miss Melanie.” Sam spoke softly and reached for her hand. “I know how McIlroy works. He’s a snake, and his word as worthless as a two-dollar greenback. Wherever he goes, trouble follows because he can’t keep his hands clean. I’ll write a letter to take with you. If he refuses to let your sister out, show him the letter and telegraph me. I’ll be there before he can bat an eye, and I’ll bring the Texas Rangers with me. I don’t think he’ll want anyone coming and snooping around.”

  “My poor Ava. Do we know if she’s alive?” Melanie’s lip quivered.

  “No,” Sam replied quietly. “The sher
iff wasn’t very forthcoming.”

  Tait widened his stance. “I’m going with you, Melanie, and don’t even argue about it.”

  Anger tightened the lines around her mouth as she stood to face him. “They’ll get you. Maybe both of us. And then what? Who’ll raise these kids? They’re already terrified that they’ll be all alone to fend for themselves. You can’t destroy their last shred of security and hope.”

  Stoker drew his broad eyebrows together until they were silver slashes against his tanned face. “She’s right, Trinity. Let her try this first. If it doesn’t work, then me and the boys will ride to Canadian. I’d love just one excuse to knock McIlroy’s brains out.”

  A muscle worked in Tait’s jaw as he faced down the big rancher. “There’s only one thing wrong with that, Legend. This is not your fight. What kind of man would I be if I let you solve problems I created? McIlroy wants me.”

  “No, it’s not my fight.” Stoker slowly took a cigar from his pocket and snipped off the end with a cutter from the stand beside his chair. “But I can make it mine real fast. This country is worth fighting for. I fought for Texas independence, fought outlaws, drought, and everything else to make this a place for decent people. By God I’ll fight anything to make this land safe for all of us.”

  The room lapsed into silence. Stoker lit his cigar and leaned back. Tait’s admiration for the man grew. They wanted the same things. Only Stoker stood a better shot at making it happen.

  Luke rose after a moment and sauntered to the window. “We’ve got to talk to the governor when we get some time. This calls for going straight to the top and exposing all the corruption, including possibly charging Markham with Lucy’s murder.”

  Cigar smoke filled the room as Stoker mulled something over. “That still leaves Trinity without a pardon. Once the money is gone, he won’t have anything to bargain with. We have to make this all work together at once—Melanie’s sister, returning the money, and a pardon.”