Most of the men wore guns on their hips. There were almost no women. She swallowed hard as she once again wondered what she was getting herself into.
“Back this way,” Mr. Bennet said as he indicated an alley between two buildings.
Amelia looked up at the signs above the front door. “The Red Grove?” she asked. “Mr. Simmons works in the back of a saloon?”
The young cowboy, Jeb, laughed then quickly shut it down at an angry look from Mr. Bennet. “Mr. Simmons has a lot of different businesses. It helps to be centrally located.”
She frowned as she tried to work out exactly what that meant as she followed them down the alley.
When he opened a door in the back she was hit with the stink of alcohol and the twitter of distant laughter. She had never been in a bar in her entire life. No respectable woman from home would have dared.
“In here,” Mr. Bennet said as he opened a second door off a hall just inside the entrance.
Amelia held her breath as she stepped into a small bare room. A table and two wooden chairs sat in the middle. There was no window. No other door.
Her brow furrowed as she slowly turned to inspect the room. Where was Mr. Simmons? When would she meet him? Her stomach churned with worry. Everything depended on her new husband. Would he be a good man like Mrs. Davis had promised?
She turned back to ask Mr. Bennet about her future husband to find him stepping out of the room and closing the door behind him. She froze, fighting to understand. As she stood there, a heavy click echoed through the room.
Mr. Bennet had locked the door and taken the key with him….
Sweetwater Ridge
High Desert Cowboy (High Sierra Book 2) Page 19
