The 12 Brides of Summer Novella Collection #2

by Mary Connealy

  Matt let go of Betsy fast and stepped well away from her. He hoped he lived to tell Mark about how he’d met his in-laws.

  The woman’s eyes shifted between him and Betsy. Matt figured she didn’t miss a thing.

  Then he only saw Betsy’s back. “Ma, you can’t shoot him, he’s Mark’s brother.”

  “That ain’t enough to save a man who’s got his hands on my daughter.”

  Betsy’s head tilted a bit. “It is if he’s got my permission.”

  The pistol sagged, and Belle Harden didn’t look like the kind of woman who ever got careless with a weapon. Then with abrupt, angry motions, she reholstered it. He noticed Silas still had his in hand but pointed in the air.

  “He came to visit Mark right after the last hand quit. He saved the girls’ lives when they got away from me.”

  “And why didn’t you come to me when that happened?” Belle swung off her horse and ground hitched it. Matt noticed the horse stayed right there, a well-trained critter.

  Betsy suddenly broke from where she stood, guarding Matt. . .which had been humiliating, but at the same time he really appreciated it. Leaving Annie and Susie behind, Betsy, with Lilly on her hip, threw an arm around her mother and started crying.

  Matt started praying.

  He spent a few moments recommitting his soul to the Lord and making sure his spiritual affairs were in order. Because one wrong word from Betsy and he’d be standing at the pearly gates.

  Belle didn’t shoot, but Silas dismounted and stalked straight for Matt, who scooped both girls up in his arms and said, “Grandpa’s here girls. Let’s give Grandpa a hug, shall we?”

  Both girls yelled with glee. Silas looked frustrated as the girls flung themselves out of Matt’s arms and into his. Hard to beat up a man while little girls are hugging you. The look Silas gave him told Matt he was well aware of what Matt was up to. But Silas couldn’t resist the little girls and quit trying to burn a hole through Matt with his eyes.

  Finally believing he might survive, Matt realized more people were flooding into the canyon. It looked like Belle had found the stray cows and sent up an alarm.

  Betsy was babbling something to Belle. It sounded like she was just telling about the cowhands and the trouble. He definitely heard the words, “girls drown” and “Matt came and saved them both.”

  Which probably wasn’t true. The cute little monsters had been fine.

  A beautiful redhead rode in, and right behind her was Matt’s cousin, Charlie. Charlie would save him. Or Matt would get Charlie killed.

  Whichever happened, it was nice to see a familiar face.

  A little redheaded boy on Charlie’s lap, who looked a lot like the pretty redhead, gave Matt hope. Belle wouldn’t shoot her son-in-law’s brother, would she?

  Matt kept up his praying just to be on the safe side.

  Charlie saw him and rode straight over. He dismounted and almost ran, not that easy while wearing cowboy boots, carrying a toddler, and threw his free arm around Matt and pounded him hard on the back, laughing.

  He pulled away not knowing he was now a human shield.

  “Which one are you?”

  Matt had heard that question hundreds of times in his life. It was a fact, he and his many older and younger brothers bore a mighty strong resemblance to one another.

  “I’m Matt.”

  Nodding, Charlie said, “You look so much like Mark I was trying to figure out how he could be here and in Helena at the same time.”

  “I’m so much better looking than Mark it ain’t even funny.”

  Charlie started laughing. “And is it true that your ma had a girl?”

  “Yep. Pa’s thirteenth child was finally a girl.”

  “Twleve sons?” Belle exclaimed. “And your ma didn’t lose her mind or take after your pa with a skillet?”

  Betsy turned to Matt. “Ma’s always been fond of her girls.”

  Belle was now holding Lilly, which made her seem far less dangerous.

  Silas came up beside Belle. “You’re fond of your sons, too, aren’t you, honey?”

  “That I am, Silas. Right fond of the sons we’ve made.” Belle gave Silas such a warm look Matt was almost dazed.

  A young man caught up with Belle and stood beside her, grinning. “I’ve taught you how good it can be to have a boy, haven’t I, Ma? Me and my four brothers?”

  “This is my little brother, Tanner.” Betsy pointed to another barely grown boy. “And that’s Si. The rest of the boys went on the cattle drive with Mark.”

  Tanner was as tall as Silas and had his ma’s hazel eyes, and skin that was as tan as an Indian. Si was probably Silas Jr. He took after his pa, though both the parents were brown haired, so the resemblance between them was strong in general coloring.

  Charlie shook his head. “It was all we could do to stop Mark from riding for Texas when he got word about a baby sister. He figured a terrible mistake had been made, and if it hadn’t, he was scared for his little brothers.”

  “Most of us got home to see if it was true. Ike’s moved home permanently and married Laura McClellen.”

  “I hadn’t heard that.” Charlie’s eyes lit up. He looked at Belle. “Laura McClellen is Mandy Linscott’s baby sister.”

  “Sophie McClellen ended up with a Reeves in her family, too?” Belle looked glum.

  The pretty redhead plucked her little boy out of Charlie’s arms.

  “Why is my sister crying? Betsy never cries.” Less friendly than Charlie by a country mile. Matt remembered her name was Sarah. Betsy had mentioned her plenty of times since he’d gotten here.

  Charlie looked from Matt to Sarah to Betsy. His brow lowered with worry, and he rested a hand affectionately on Sarah’s back. “We found Mark’s cattle coming onto our property. Figured the storm stampeded them. I sent word there was trouble, which brought Belle and Silas and a passel of others. How long have you been living with Betsy?” Charlie choked over that and cleared his throat and said, “I mean uh. . .how long have you been sleeping together at Mark’s place. . .no, I mean—”

  Matt kicked Charlie in the ankle, and he didn’t even care that everyone saw it. “Stop talking before you get me killed.”

  There was a long silence. Charlie looked to be thinking of what to say and discarding many possible choices. Finally, he raised his hands as if surrendering and said rather weakly, “Welcome to Montana, Matt.”

  If this was how a man got welcomed to Montana, it was no wonder the state was mostly empty.

  “Let’s get these cattle home, then we’ll settle this.” Silas took charge, which seemed mighty brave for some reason. It stood to reason the man of the family would take charge, and yet there was something about Belle that said no one took charge of her, ever. Matt would bet she wasn’t a tractable kind of wife. Love and honor, sure, if she deemed a man worthy.

  Obey. . .most likely she’d only do that if she was ordered to do something she planned to do anyway.

  But Silas looked like a man who knew ranching, which Belle most likely respected, so her going along with him, well, if a body wanted to call that obedient they were welcome to do so.

  A couple of the hands went on ahead. The rest of the hands, along with Betsy’s two little brothers, hazed the critters in the clearing toward the trail and fell in behind them.

  The cattle were tired from a long run, and their bellies were full of lush grass. It had turned them into purely docile critters.

  The Harden family—and Matt—brought up the rear. They were on the way to Mark’s in a matter of minutes.

  But the trail was barely wide enough to ride two abreast, and Belle led the family group with Betsy at her side and Lilly strapped on her back. Betsy had Susie in front of her.

  Silas was next, riding side by side with Sarah. Silas had Annie.

  Matt found himself at the end of the line with Charlie, and Charlie’s son riding on his pa’s lap. The riding arrangements didn’t suit Matt at all. He needed to talk to Betsy, and he knew about dec
ent behavior, so he needed to set things right by having a talk with Betsy’s pa about his intentions. . .even though he hadn’t exactly had time to figure out what his intentions were.

  As they rode, Matt thought that no two girls ever looked less like their ma than black-haired, black-eyed Betsy and green-eyed redheaded Sarah.

  Matt leaned close to Charlie and whispered, “Do you have any control over your wife?”

  Charlie grinned. “Not mostly.”

  “Can you get her back here so I can have a talk with Betsy’s pa?”

  Charlie’s eyes went wide. Fear, plain and simple. “I’ve done that before. It ain’t an easy talk.” Then Charlie, who’d always been Matt’s favorite cousin, said, “Welcome to the family.”

  Much like his welcome to Montana. Charlie was just full of interesting ways to greet a man. And then he proved to have another one. He looked down at his boy, whose name Matt hadn’t even asked yet, and patted the tyke affectionately on the tummy.

  “Sarah,” he spoke so his voice carried to his wife, “I haven’t fed the baby in a while. You have some biscuits we could feed him, don’t you?”

  Sarah went from ignoring Matt and talking quietly with her pa to looking down at her son with concerned maternal eyes.

  She dropped back, and Matt didn’t waste a moment urging his horse ahead to take Sarah’s place. He saw Charlie grab his wife’s reins when she tried to block Matt. Then Matt was there and Silas turned the coldest blue eyes on Matt he’d ever seen.

  Well, Matt was no boy, nor was he a coward. He’d spent time kissing Betsy, and as an honorable man, who wanted leave to kiss Betsy any time he wanted, he didn’t hesitate to do what was right.

  Chapter 8

  Elizabeth Harden, what were you thinking?” Belle set a brisk pace, and Betsy had the sense her ma was trying to leave Matt in the dust.

  Since Matt was riding along with Charlie, who knew the way, Betsy didn’t figure they’d lose him.

  Every time her ma called her Elizabeth, it sent a chill down Betsy’s spine, because trouble always followed.

  Well, Betsy was past the age of getting a hiding, and Ma had never been one to hand out her punishments in that harsh way.

  But on the other hand, there was never any doubt that making Ma mad was going to be followed with long, deep regrets.

  “Why didn’t you just load up the girls and come home? We’d have helped.” Then Ma’s expression changed from anger to something else. Something soft and sad, as if she was hurt. Her pain was a lot harder to take than anger.

  “Have I ever acted as if you can’t come to me for help, Betsy? You know I’ll always come a-runnin’ if you need me. I haven’t acted as if you can’t, have I?”

  “No, Ma.” Betsy reached across and gave her ma’s arm a squeeze. “It’s because I knew you’d come that I didn’t ask. I wanted to prove I was up to handling everything. I’ve heard the stories of you taking care of our whole ranch with no man. I felt like a failure because I wasn’t up to it. I kept meaning to just come for you, but then I’d think I could just get through one more day, prove to myself. . .and you and Pa, that you’d raised me right.”

  “Betsy, you’re as smart and hardworking as the day is long. You don’t have to prove a single thing to me because I’ve seen plenty of proof over the years.”

  Letting go of her ma’s arm, Betsy smiled, but inside she couldn’t help feeling the twist of failure. “But you did it, Ma. Why couldn’t I? Because I was sure enough failing at it. And if Matt hadn’t come. . .” She thought of that fast-moving creek, and a cold chill raised goose bumps on her arms. “Matt saved the girls’ lives, Ma. They’d slipped away while I did chores, thinking they were napping. If he hadn’t been there. . .” Shaking her head she couldn’t control a shudder.

  “But you shouldn’t have been kissing a man you’d only met days ago.”

  A long silence followed. Betsy glanced back and saw that Matt was now riding alongside Pa and Sarah had dropped back and was fussing with her baby. Betsy said a quick prayer to God to protect Matt from Pa.

  Leaning close to Ma, she spoke so her voice wouldn’t be heard. “How long did you know Pa before you kissed him the first time?”

  Another long silence. Then Ma said, “Don’t try and change the subject. I’ve told you before that a man can’t be trusted. You know better’n to—”

  “How long, Ma?” Betsy knew her ma real well, and she knew when a question was being dodged.

  “Anthony, your pa, came around for weeks before I—”

  “I’m talking about Silas, and what’s more, you know it. He’s the only man I call Pa.”

  Ma glared at Betsy, who’d been raised to be tough, even with her own mother.

  Betsy arched her brows and stared right back, maybe not so ferociously as Ma, but then Betsy wasn’t half trying.

  Finally Ma looked away. “When we first kissed isn’t the point. We’d known each other through a long, hard cattle drive. I knew the kind of man he was. I respected—”

  “That fast, huh?” Betsy smiled then snickered. “Why Belle Tanner Harden, you scamp. I think the two of us need to compare our history and just see which of us is better behaved around men.”

  Ma’s eyes narrowed, then after a few seconds she rolled them toward heaven and said, “Our first kiss came too fast.”

  “I’m sure mine and Matt’s did, too. But it was only a kiss. He treated me with honor; he worked hard outside, slept in the bunkhouse every night, and helped with the girls as well. He’s got a passel of little brothers, and he’s as good with children as I am, maybe better because by his own admission he was as much of a scamp as Mark growing up.”

  “No one can be as much of a scamp as Mark.” Ma didn’t admit it often, but Betsy knew she was right fond of her son-in-law, and Emma was still very much in love with her husband.

  “That’s true. But Matt seemed to keep ahead of the girls as if he’d seen it all before.”

  Ma glanced back then looked quickly away. “You’re sounding like you’re pretty serious about this young man. Just because he’s Mark’s brother doesn’t mean you really know him. You need time to learn if he’s an honest, God-fearing man who will be dependable over the years.”

  “I agree. I like him real well, but I’m going to spend time getting to know him better. I can promise you I’m not going to be rushed into anything with a near stranger.”

  “Belle.” Pa had closed the distance between himself and Ma.

  “Yes, Silas?” Ma looked as if she wanted to keep pestering Betsy.

  “Matt just asked for Betsy’s hand in marriage. He wants to ride straight into Divide and have the wedding today.”

  Chapter 9

  Betsy started coughing.

  They emerged from the woods with only a wide pasture ahead of them before they reached Mark’s house.

  Matt rode past Silas and brought his horse right up beside Betsy—on the side away from Belle. He patted her on the back until she recovered.

  “I wanted to talk with you about it first, honey.” He gave Silas a narrow-eyed look for being so blunt. His soon-to-be father-in-law. . .if Matt handled all this right. . .looked completely unrepentant.

  Now here he was with Silas and Belle watching his every move, and Charlie and Sarah close enough to have heard everything—and riding in closer. And Betsy looking like she wanted to make a run for it.

  “Give your horse to your pa and let’s walk together the rest of the way.”

  “You’re not going anywhere alone with my daughter,” Belle snapped.

  Matt knew good and well that before this was over he was going everywhere with Betsy Harden. He let that thought keep him from growling.

  Instead he dismounted and plucked Betsy off her horse. “Watch us. Listen to me talk then, Belle. But Betsy deserves to hear some nice words about how wonderful I think she is. And she needs to hear. . .” Matt looked away from Belle and talked to pretty Betsy.

  “. . .you need to hear that I want the rig
ht to kiss you anytime I choose. I want to spend my life with you, Betsy. You’re the prettiest woman I’ve ever seen. The prettiest I’ve ever imagined.”

  Matt realized that the crowd was gone. They were probably disgusted, but maybe they also had a little shame. For whatever reason, the family had ridden on for the ranch house, Charlie leading both Matt’s and Betsy’s horses.

  “But that’s not why I want to join my life with you. I can see your goodness, and I respect your toughness and your fine heart and sharp mind. I would be the luckiest man in the world to have you marry me. You’re the kind of woman a man would want to have by his side to weather life’s storms like last night, and to enjoy during the good times.”

  Betsy honestly wanted to say yes, but he’d yet to say the one thing that would matter, and what’s more, he couldn’t say it. They’d been through a hard spell together. She’d seen how he handled trouble. But that wasn’t enough for her. She wanted what she saw pass between Ma and Pa. Between Mark and Emma, Charlie and Sarah.

  “I know you’re a practical woman, Betsy. So I’ve given you practical reasons why you should marry me. But the real reason I’m asking is, I’ve fallen in love with you. Now I don’t reckon—”

  Betsy threw herself into his arms and kissed him before he could say something that would make a hash out of the beautiful words. Matt’s arms came around her waist; he lifted her straight off her feet. Then he whirled her in a circle and broke the kiss to laugh out loud with joy.

  When the celebration ended, Matt eased her away from him. “I’m taking that for a yes, but I’d like to hear the words.”

  “Yes, I’ll marry you, Matt. And I’ll consider myself the luckiest woman on earth.”

  They were awhile speaking again, then Betsy pulled away and said, “Let’s go on and catch up with the others.”

  Her family had to have settled the cattle in by now. So they’d be waiting at Emma’s house.

  Nodding, Matt looked at her for too long, and Betsy had never felt so wanted, so loved. Not in a man and woman kind of way.