by Sarah Thorn
“Um, Ma’am?”
Coming to an abrupt halt at the center of the field, Amy felt her smile dissolve as she realized she’d been caught; that her momentary escape from her troubled life had come to a resounding halt.
“Of course,” she thought, adding as she opened her eyes, “Now it is time for me to meet the no doubt hideous gent that I am soon bound to marry.”
Yet when she finally garnered the courage to face the man who addressed her from the edge of the field, she beheld a vision even more beautiful than the roses before them.
Standing tall and statuesque above the land he tended, the man before her boasted a muscular bronzed form that reflected long days spent out on the range. Yet while his toned masculine physique betrayed him as a rancher of the frontier, his face and hair rendered the likeness of a virtual angel on earth.
His flowing mane of golden hair indeed seemed kissed by the sun itself, framing as it did a chiseled face that boasted aquiline eyes, carved cheekbones and full moist lips.
Lips that now spread in an amused smile as their gazes collided above the field.
“Can I help you?” he asked her, arching his feathered eyebrows in a show of keen curiosity.
Clearing her throat loudly, a stone-faced Amy squared her slender shoulders and lifted her pert chin firm in his direction.
“Mr. Thomas Wyatt?” she asked, tone cool and officious.
The rancher nodded.
“Guilty as charged, Ma’am,” he declared, charming her with a soft, smooth Southern accent as he struck a courtly bow in her direction.
Amy pursed her pearl pink lips, observing that the image and demeanor of Thomas Wyatt more than matched the vision he’d cultivated of himself in the context of his advertisement. The charming, kind, impossibly handsome man portrayed on paper seemed to materialize magically before her; and she mused that if she could somehow transport herself back in time, back before the time of marriage and babies, ranching and responsibilities, she might well be tempted to dance with this gentleman at a cotillion, or flirt with him at a tea.
Yet within an instant the passing of a hard brisk wind awakened her harshly to the reality of her life; reminding her that her prince was dead—along with any and all semblance of frivolous romantic dreams. Her future held within it no promise of balls, teas or cotillions; and, as far as she was concerned, no romances or heartfelt marriages either. She had come here on this hot Texas morning to strike a merger—not make a match. At least not a match that came from the heart.
“Well good day to you, Thomas Wyatt,” she said finally, walking forward to offer him her hand as she introduced herself, “I am Amy Phillips, the lady who recently sent you a letter of interest in regards to your advertisement for a helper at the ranch.”
She rather enjoyed the effect moments later, as the man before her gaped outright; dropping the hoe he held tight in his hand as he processed what was apparently most unexpected news.
In lieu of a verbal reply, his wide azure eyes took a long walk down the length of her (mostly) slender frame; seeming to warm in appreciation as he regarded her fair skinned, rosy-cheeked face—one that came complete with wide dark eyes, sculpted cheekbones and pearl pink lips—and her lustrous mane of waist-length reddish gold hair, then again fly wide as they seemed to peruse the bulge that protruded from her slender frame.
“Yes, that’s right,” Amy finally spoke up, bringing his attention back to her face. “I did not come alone.” She paused here, adding as she inclined her head sharp in his direction, “My baby, in fact, is the entire reason that I’m here today. I need work, and badly. I need a good amount of income that I can send home to my aunt, so she can hire me a couple of ranch hands, to help me work my own land.”
Thomas nodded.
“I see,” he mumbled, although his shockingly wide eyes and gaping—if full and appealingly soft—lips betrayed the fact that he did not see—at all. “Well Miss, I am sorry to say that I may have misrepresented myself in my advertisement; this probably owing to the fact that I am a right shoddy writer, at best. The fact remains, though, that I advertised in particular for a mail order bride.”
With these words he ducked his head, shuffling his booted feet beneath him as he mumbled embarrassed, “I was seeking a wife, not a ranch hand. And, no offense intended Ma’am, but you already seem to be somebody else’s bride—or so it would appear.”
Amy couldn’t help herself. For what seemed like the first time since her husband’s death, she guffawed outright; doubling over to let loose with a robust laugh that did much to relieve her tightly held tension.
The relief was momentary, however, as she considered how to respond to her host’s confused words.
“Well the truth is, Mr. Wyatt, that I am another man’s bride,” she revealed, adding as she cast her own gaze downward, in the direction of her host’s signature crop, “When I see these beautiful roses that you grow, I’m reminded of my wedding bouquet; the flowers that I carried down the aisle to marry Vance Phillips, the man of my dreams and heart.” She paused here, adding as she stared him straight in the eyes, “The only man, I must tell you, that I will ever love.”
Thomas stood up straight at this news, his sculpted cleft chin flying upward as he met her gaze in full.
“Then why are you not at home with him?” he asked, his deep tone now reflecting the abject coolness he heard in his visitor’s voice. “As opposed to standing here with me, telling me that—although you have answered my ad for a mail order bride—you have no earthly intention of ever loving me?”
Amy sighed.
“You are correct, Mr. Wyatt,” she relented finally, adding as she folded her arms before her, “I should not have come to this place—only I have to tell you, no one awaits me at home.” She paused here, adding as she struggled to keep an even tone in the face of flooding emotions, “My husband passed away more than a month ago. One moment we worked side by side in our fields, enjoying our life together and joyfully anticipating the birth of our first child.” She paused here, adding as she shut her eyes tight, “Then within moments it all fell apart. My husband had a bad heart, and he collapsed in the field; leaving me all alone.”
With these words, her eyes flew open, and her chin again raised; once again she drew that all important second wind, staring her host straight in the eyes as she told him, “In my heart, Mr. Wyatt, I remain the wife of Vance Phillips. I shall not under any circumstances love or even lay with another man.” She paused here, adding as her tone softened and became more tentative, “Only I don’t see how I can work my land on my own, or for that matter manage our bills. I thought that I could come to your ranch and cook for you, maybe clean your house and do a little field work—more after my baby is birthed. I could have been a big help to you….”
She trailed off here, adding as she turned away, “I can see that I’ve made a mistake, Mr. Wyatt. I am dreadfully sorry that I wasted your time—I’ll let you alone and go back to my ranch, where I belong.”
Amy froze as she felt her shoulder grazed by a soft, gentle hand; one that turned her slow but sure in the direction of its bearer.
She relaxed as she beheld the crystal blue eyes that had captivated her from the moment they’d met; and now, she noted, these eyes came filled with a welcome mix of tender and sublime emotions.
Understanding. Empathy. Tenderness. The very things that she needed at this time, that few others seemed willing to show her.
“What kind of a gentleman would I be if I turned away a young woman in your condition, at this time in her life?” he asked, adding with a defined nod, “Furthermore, what kind of a gentleman would I be if I coerced a woman into being my wife?”
With these words, he clasped her hands between his and stared with a smile into her eyes.
“I would like to invite you to stay on with me here at the ranch.,” he told her, tone kind and abiding. “I’ll give you a room of your own with a comfortable bed, and all the food you can eat. When and if you feel up to
it, you can help out with the cooking and housekeeping, perhaps do a bit of field work when you need exercise—but I won’t see you overexert yourself. I ain’t no millionaire Ma’am, but I do pretty well for myself. And I’d like to share this ranch, this new life that I’m building, with you.”
Amy smiled, squeezing his fingers between hers as she exhaled in spite of herself; her shoulders sagging as she finally took a moment to relax—to cease for an instant with her worry and concern and bask in the rays of her beloved Texas sun.
The respite was brief.
“What precisely do you want in return for all this luxury treatment?” she demanded, fixing her host with a suspicious look as she broke suddenly away from him. “I will know this now, Mr. Wyatt before we take another step forward in this mad plan.”
Her host sighed.
“Please call me Thomas,” he bid her, adding as he shook his head from side to side, “I suspect now that it was a mistake to place a mail order bride ad, in particular. People seem to assume certain things about a man who orders a mail order bride—that he’s not a true gentleman at all.” He paused here, adding as he shifted the brim of the tall ivory hat that sat atop his regal head, “I’m not that kind of man, Ma’am. I love this here land so much that I want to share it with someone; a woman who shares my love for Texas, for the land.” He paused here, adding as he once again took her hand in his, “I just want to share my life. Would you give me that opportunity, Amy?”
Amy thought a moment, then nodded.
“Well Mr.—Thomas—I guess that I’m willing to give it a try,” she conceded, adding with a shy smile, “And you may call me Amy.”
*****
Amy awoke the next morning to find herself in paradise.
Even before she opened her eyes she experienced the sensation of divine luxury, a feeling supplied by the presence of a lace trimmed floral print comforter as it cradled and coddled her body; a form further comforted by the shine of luminous sunbeams as they flew inward through a nearby window, and by the scent of roses that seemed to grow just outside the same window, intermingled with the more distant but uncomfortable scent of fresh cooked buttermilk pancakes.
Finally opening her eyes, a still sleepy Amy basked in the vision of a bedroom that seemed custom made for a princess; a luxurious refuge adorned by café style floral print curtains, plush ivory carpeting and ivory, bronze bordered bureaus.
“How on earth did I end up here?” she mused, thoughts thick and groggy. “Oh, I don’t care—as long as I am not required to move anytime within the next year or so.”
A loud knock on her bedroom door stirred her awake moments later; reminding her with a jolt as to her current location—and also of the man who owned this home.
Gathering her crisp cotton sheets tight around her chin in a protective move, Amy called out in a tentative voice, “Who’s there?”
“It’s Thomas. I’ve come with your breakfast,” her host answered, his tone tentative and reverent.
Amy nodded—then pondered just how ineffectual such a move was with a closed door between them.
“Come in,” she said finally, sitting upward in bed as her door swung open to reveal a most unusual sight.
Although dressed in the denim blue jeans, crisp white shirt and black rawhide boots and hat combination typical of a rancher, her host still looked every inch the role of a dashing butler; carrying as he did a tray topped with a hearty stack of piping hot buttermilk pancakes, and a tall brown mug that brimmed with steaming hot cocoa.
“Breakfast is served,” Thomas announced with a grin, seating himself on the edge of her bed and setting the tray before her. “Enjoy.”
Amy did just that seconds later, digging deep into her succulent morning feast as she pinned her host with inquisitive eyes.
“Delicious!” she praised him, adding as she inclined her head sharp in his direction, “I simply must ask, though, who occupied this room before I did?”
Thomas shrugged.
“No one to speak of, Ma’am,” he told her. “Truth be told it was never slept in before last night.”
Amy nodded.
“So you as a Texas rancher tend to prefer lace comforters and floral print café curtains?” she queried, accompanying her words with a long hard look that brought a loud guffaw from deep in Thomas’ throat.
“Not at all, Ma’am,” he admitted, adding with a soft smile, “You see, my ma and pa were the original settlers who claimed this land, about 15 years ago. Their home still stands, just up the dirt road.” He paused here, adding in a sentimental tone, “My pa always insisted that his home be decorated in the style of a ranch house—with a lot of browns and blacks, with rawhides hung up all over the home and statues of bulls and horses on every available surface. So when I built my own ranch house, I set aside one room just for my ma—a place where she could come, write the poetry that she loved to pen, and just stare out the window at the Texas moon.”
Amy smiled.
“Well that was kind of you, Thomas,” she praised him, adding as she took another hearty bite of her steaming hot pancakes, “Are your folks still living?”
Thomas shook his head.
“My pa has been gone for six years, my ma for three. I miss them so much,” he revealed, adding as a telltale veil of tears brimmed forth from his aquiline eyes, “I’m sorry, Ma’am. I know a cowboy ain’t supposed to cry.”
Amy said nothing, just wrapped her arms around his muscled shoulders and pulled him closer to her; telltale tears escaping her own eyes as the two tilted their foreheads together and their hands clenched between them.
“Do not even dream of apologizing to me,” Amy insisted, adding as she ran a comforting hand through the silken lengths of his thick gold hair, “I reckon that, at this point, we both need a good ol’ cry.”
The couple said nothing for several moments, just leaned into one another as their hands remained clenched and their tears fell free between them.
A wave of warmth coursed free through Amy’s being as she tilted her chin upward; smiling soft and tender as her doting host wiped the tears from the surface of her fair-skinned cheeks.
This smile broadened moments later, as a warm-eyed Thomas tilted her delicate chin in his hand and covered her mouth with his.
Touching her lips with a whisper soft kiss, Thomas massaged her mouth with his in a tender advance that nonetheless resounded with a certain, unmistakable passion.
Kissing him in kind return, Amy plied his lips with tender affection as the two drew closer, her senses lulled and her worries forgotten as they lost themselves in a peaceful—if passionate—reverie.
The feeling fled them all too soon.
“God Almighty,” the rancher swore softly, breaking their kiss as he jumped from Amy’s bed and made fast tracks toward the door. “What am I doing, taking dreadful advantage of an expectant woman like this?”
Amy shook her head.
“No Thomas,” she countered, adding as she made a broad gesture between them, “I wanted you to kiss me.”
Yet he was gone.
“Criminy,” Amy exhaled, adding as she lay back in her bed with a frustrated sigh, “Why can’t anything in my life go smooth? Just one thing? Lordy, I guess it’s simply too much to ask.”
*****
He hated himself.
For the first time in a life guided by the concepts of civility and nobility, and always overseen by the Biblical verses his mother had taught him as a child, Thomas Wyatt felt shame and self-loathing; alien emotions that plagued his heart and addled his troubled soul.
Standing in the midst of a fragrant rose patch that needed his attention, Thomas nonetheless picked at the soil beneath him with a weary, lethargic hoe; his face downturned below the brim of his hat as his mouth turned downward in a woebegone frown.
“What foul demon possessed me just now? Why did I have to go and take advantage of a proper, innocent lady?” he paused here, adding with a slight shrug, “OK well perhaps she’s not so in
nocent, considering the fact that she’s in the family way—but she is without a doubt a proper widow still in love with her husband, God rest his soul. I betrayed the both of them when I kissed Miss Amy; the woman who I promised to treat with the upmost propriety and respect. And I also betrayed her unborn child, kissing its mother weeks before its birth.”
Throwing aside the hoe with a frustrated growl, Thomas sighed as his shoulders sank with the weight of his culpable guilt.
“Devil take me!” he bellowed, balling his fists beside him as he added, “I deserve the punishment. Or if God does see fit to grant me another chance, then please send me some sort of a sign—some message that I am not as foul and sinful as I perceive myself to be on this day.”
“Shut yer pitiful mouth and get to work, oh Sultan of Self Pity. Now!”
His head shooting upward, Thomas pursed his lips in a show of keen curiosity as his desperate summons was met by the sound of a distinctly feminine voice.
“Well now Ma always did theorize that God was a woman,” he mumbled, casting a wide-eyed curious glance in the direction of the sky. “Guess she was right.”
“Indeed, she was, and don’t you forget it, Cowboy.”
Thomas jumped, this time recognizing the delicate Southern lilt of his guest at the ranch.
He smiled in spite of himself at the sight of a scowling Amy, now dressed in a basic denim work dress with her arms folded firmly before her.
“Stop feeling sorry for yourself,” she admonished him, adding as she walked forward with purposeful steps and retrieved the fallen hoe, “We have work to do.”
Soon the pair stood side by side at the center of the rose patch, tending Thomas’ prized crop as he continued to steal cautious looks in Amy’s direction.
“Are you sure you feel like working the fields, Ma’am?” he asked her, inclining his head in her direction as he tended his own corner of the patch. “Wouldn’t you rather head back to the ranch house?”
