An Unexpected Dilemma Bride_Family of Love Series_A Western Romance Story

by Elliee Atkinson

  “I’ll never love another man. Never.”

  “I know you think that now, but you must stay positive. You are only alone for a short time. You always have your friends and you have God, and someday you will have another man to hold you and protect you.”

  “I don’t want anyone else. No one.”

  “I know, dear. I know.”

  CHAPTER SEVEN

  THE COUNTY FAIR

  THE COUNTY FAIR

  When the Whitmans arrived the next morning, Alice had eggs, ham and biscuits ready for everyone. The house was full with everyone there. Since Laura had stayed the night, Joshua and Nate had taken a room at the Inn.

  Joshua hadn’t had much sleep. He tried not to look tired as he greeted the couple.

  “It’s good to see you again, Cynthia, Samuel,” Adam said, shaking their hands.

  “Thank you,” Cynthia said. “Is Laura doing okay?”

  “I wouldn’t say that.” Adam looked at the door to the room where Laura was still sleeping.

  “Did you expect different, Cynthia?” Samuel’s voice was firm.

  Cynthia gave him an exasperated look. “Oh, Samuel, you are so unpleasant sometimes. You just make me so annoyed.”

  “Now’s not the time to be arguing with me, Cynthia. Why don’t you go see your friend?”

  “I’m sure I will!”

  “You want to see her, don’t you?”

  They made an odd couple. Joshua looked at Nate, wondering if he thought the same thing about the Whitmans. Nate was watching the couple with curious eyes.

  Cynthia didn’t answer her husband’s question. She walked to the bedroom door and waited expectantly. Adam went over and knocked lightly before turning the knob and pushing the door open. Cynthia went through, pushing past Adam and running to the bed, where Laura was sitting up. Laura reached up and Cynthia pulled her friend into a hug.

  “Oh, Laura! My dear Laura! This is so horrible! How could this happen to such a sweet and wonderful man! Oh dear, oh dear!” Cynthia rocked forward and back, holding Laura closer to her bosom. Her eyes were closed. “You go ahead and cry. You know I’m right here for you, dear.”

  Joshua stood at the back of the room, watching Laura’s sorrow-filled face. For the first time in quite a while, he felt deep feelings of empathy for someone. He was a master at separating himself from the various problems people brought him. Even the boy who had been lost in the woods had not tugged on his heartstrings like this woman’s sorrow did. He wanted to stay separate and keep his emotions out of it. He was only here to help his uncle find out who killed James. He thought back to when they had spoken to Doc Brown the night before.

  He’d told them it had to be poison. He went into technical jargon and lost Nate pretty quickly.

  Looking at Laura now, Joshua thought he might not be able to separate his feelings this time. Every time he looked at her, his heartbeat sped up and he lost his breath.

  He knew that it was wrong to feel that way when the woman’s husband wasn’t even in the ground yet. He felt guilty. However, it didn’t stop the reaction of his heart when he looked at her. He vowed to keep it to himself. No one would know that he was attracted to this new widow. No one would ever find out.

  Nate tapped him on the arm, bringing him out of his reverie. He looked over and saw that Nate was staring at Samuel Whitman, who was standing by the fireplace.

  Joshua was surprised to see how angry he looked. How bitter and angry, actually. He was staring through the doorway into the room where Cynthia and Laura were, his eyes narrowed, his face turning a deep red.

  “I’m gonna smoke,” Adam said. “Let’s go outside.”

  The trio went to the door, while Samuel stayed by the fireplace. Joshua went back to him.

  Joshua put on hand on his shoulder. “Are you all right? You were close to James, weren’t you??”

  ”He was my friend, yes. I think this is a terrible tragedy. I don’t know what we will do without him. The four of us… well, we’ve all been friends for a very long time. My wife… She would probably know more about this than I do.”

  The other three men watched him without saying a word.

  “She was always at their house, doing something or another. I never knew what she was up to. I didn’t even know if Laura was actually there sometimes.”

  “Are you saying that your wife might have been seeing James behind your back?” Nate asked.

  Samuel narrowed his eyes at him. “I’m saying she was there a lot. I’m saying that I don’t know. It’s a possibility. Anything is.”

  “Women can bond quite tightly sometimes. She may have just been going to see Laura, you know,” Joshua said, trying to be helpful.

  “Maybe,” Samuel said in a voice that betrayed he didn’t believe that to be true. “James was almost always there, too. Writer, you know. Spent all of his time at his desk with a pen in his hand.”

  “Did you ever see anything that would prove your wife was unfaithful?”

  “Nah. She’s too smart for that.”

  “But you realize that makes it sound like you had a reason to kill him.”

  Samuel grunted. “I didn’t kill him. If I was going to kill anyone, it would be her.” He jerked one thumb in the direction of the bedroom door.

  “Let’s sit in the kitchen and talk, shall we?”

  Samuel continued in a loud voice, taking a few steps toward the kitchen. “I don’t… didn’t have anything against James. You’ve seen Cynthia. You see how we get along… or don’t.” He looked at Joshua with a disgusted look. “We don’t get along. I’m not going to kill the only other man who can put up with her. Maybe he would have taken her off my hands. That would have been great! But I wouldn’t want Laura to get hurt. She’s too sweet. A wonderful woman.”

  They both sat at the table.

  “You don’t know of anyone who might have wanted to hurt James?” Joshua asked, folding his hands in front of him.

  Samuel shook his head. “Nah. Nobody. Everybody liked James. They really did. He was a real exciting character, you know, somebody who could make people laugh. Some of the expressions he’d get on his face.” Samuel smiled at the memory.

  When Samuel turned to look at him, he was visibly trying to control himself. His jaw was clenched; his hands were clenching into fists and his fingers stretched out to relieve the tension. “I’m sorry I’m acting like this, Joshua. I’m not normally like this, I promise. But this has really got to me. James was my friend, even if he was possibly having an affair with Cynthia. I wouldn’t want to do anything to hurt Laura. I like her. I know this would kill her. She really loved that man.”

  “So you don’t think she poisoned him?”

  Samuel shook his head. “Not a chance, Joshua. Not a chance.” He turned his eyes to Nate, who had just walked through the doorway.

  “We will let Cynthia know if you want to leave,” Joshua said. “So you don’t have to. I’m sorry it’s like that for you.”

  “Don’t apologize, Joshua.” Samuel shook his head, a look of regret on his face. “I should not have come off so harsh with you men. I know you haven’t done anything wrong. My wife and I don’t get along like the Youngbloods did. Far from it.”

  “I’m sure Uncle Adam will let you stay here as long as you want. And of course, you can leave at your own wish. We don’t want to hold you up if there’s something you needed to get done today.”

  Joshua stood. The tired feeling was becoming overwhelming. ”I need to rest,” Joshua said. “It was not a good night for me. I didn’t sleep well at all.”

  Samuel nodded. His eyes were on the various tall bottles of liquor on the bottom shelf in Adam’s kitchen. Joshua could tell he wanted a drink. “Would you like a drink before I go?” he asked. “I’m sure Adam wouldn’t mind.”

  “I would, as a matter of fact. I’m parched.”

  Ignoring the feeling of exhaustion, Joshua went to the bar and poured himself, Nate and Samuel a shot of whiskey. He set it down in front of the
m and tossed back the liquor. He wasn’t a drinking man, but if he was going to drink, this would be the time to do it. He wanted to have a clear mind to help Adam figure it out, but he also needed to sleep. Liquor would help with that.

  “So, how did you and the Youngbloods meet?”

  “Laura and my wife were friends when they were children. They grew up very close. They’ve known each other since they were about six.”

  “So you have known Laura as long as you’ve known Cynthia.” Joshua stood up to get the bottle of whiskey, which he brought back to the table.

  “This is some good whiskey.” Samuel looked at the bottle approvingly.

  “I’m not much of a drinking man,” Joshua said. “But I do like this.”

  Samuel took a long drink. “So Adam is your uncle?”

  “Yes.”

  “He’s a good man. Got a solid reputation here in Wickenburg.”

  “So, I’ve heard. It’s nice to know my uncle is appreciated.”

  “Oh yeah, he is. Lots of friends in town. People are always asking him for advice. When Holly died, it was like everyone around here surrounded him and Alice. After we got rid of Nathan, anyway.”

  “Nathan gave Adam a hard time, didn’t he?”

  “He did. He thought Adam got rid of Holly so he could get Alice. But that wasn’t what happened at all. It was poor Holly’s heart. I think it gave out or something. It was a tragic loss. Poor Adam. Took the man ages to get over it really, even though he was with Alice. He used to sit in the Horse N Saddle and tell us about it. He made us swear never to talk to Alice about it. So we don’t.”

  “Sounds like you know Adam better than he knows you. He said he didn’t really know a lot about you.”

  Samuel shook his head. “Nobody does. I don’t like to have people over. I’m always in a bad mood, mostly because of that woman in there. I’ve got a beautiful home and I can’t even show it off. That woman causes me a lot of problems. And costs me friends, too. And the money… well, let’s just not go into that.”

  “Your wife has money?”

  Samuel nodded. “Family money, yeah. You’d think she was the Queen of England sometimes, the way she acts. I make a decent living, but I don’t act like I’m king of the hill or anything.”

  “I understand.”

  Joshua nodded. He was exhausted. He wanted to go in and check on Laura, but he knew that wouldn’t be appropriate. Cynthia was still in there with her and she’d probably just think he’d come in to ask her all kinds of questions about her husband. He didn’t want to do that. He didn’t want to make her feel bad. He’d already decided he was going to let Adam do most of the talking. Or Nate.

  He looked over at Nate.

  “You look tired, my friend,” Nate said. “I think you need to go take a nap, old man.”

  “It’s not because I’m old,” Joshua protested. “It’s because I didn’t get a lot of sleep last night. I was thinking. About a lot of things.”

  “Well, of course,” Nate responded. “Not to mention the fact that we probably checked in at about 3 in the morning. And here we are again. That’s the real reason, right?”

  Joshua shook his head. This was definitely not his idea of a vacation. Now that he knew he wasn’t going to keep his emotions out of it, he felt defeated.

  “Anyway, I’ve got stuff to do,” Samuel stood to leave. “I’m gonna go get my wife. We gotta go.”

  “Pretty sure she’s gonna want to stay with Laura.” Joshua stood up too, hoping his voice was suggestive and not demanding. Samuel wasn’t the type to take suggestion well, he could see that. He wondered what kind of tirade Cynthia would have to listen to as they rode back to her house if she went with him.

  “I would rather she leave with me. But she probably won’t, knowing her,” Samuel replied. “But if she wants to stay, I really don’t care.”

  Joshua relaxed his shoulders. For a moment, he was afraid he might have to defend another man’s wife against her husband. He and Nate would have a talk later about whether or not Samuel could get jealous enough to kill James. He didn’t really think so. He agreed with Samuel’s statement. If he was going to kill someone, it would probably have been Cynthia, not James. Samuel rose and went to the door. He turned and said, “Thanks for everything you’re doing, Joshua, Nate. I’ll tell Adam thanks on my way out. Let me know… send me a message if you need anything from me. Like coming to drag my wife out of your house, for instance. She doesn’t need to be bothering anyone.”

  “She’s helping Laura right now, I’m sure,” Joshua responded. “Comforting her. She needs it right now.” He wished it was his place to comfort her. His immediate attraction to her was almost hard for him to handle. The woman just lost her husband, he chided himself. Calm down.

  CHAPTER EIGHT

  SAMUEL HAS SOMETHING TO SAY

  SAMUEL HAS SOMETHING TO SAY

  Once again, it wasn’t a good night for Joshua. He had opted to stay on the couch that evening, while Nate returned to the Inn. He inhaled deeply and turned over once more, trying not to see Laura’s face every time he closed his eyes. She was so close. In the room just one door between them. And he could do nothing.

  Before he knew it, he was asleep, thoughts of the pretty widow racing through his mind.

  Good morning, Joshua,” he heard behind him. He turned over abruptly and looked at Nate, who was standing by the window, holding back the drapes.

  Joshua lifted one hand to block out the sun. “Thank you for blinding me with the light this morning. I appreciate it.”

  Nate grinned. Joshua smiled back, shaking his head.

  “Had to wake you somehow, but I’m sorry about that. I wouldn’t have done it so abruptly. It seems like everyone is still asleep. You got plans for what we’re gonna do today? I’m anxious to get started on this.”

  “Oh, yeah, I understand that. My belly is empty though, and I gotta eat before I do anything. I need some coffee and breakfast so I can think straight. I don’t function well otherwise.”

  Joshua reached down and pulled on his shoes. He had slept in his clothes and felt dirty in them now. He wanted coffee, too. He wanted to get some food, take a bath, and start his day. He wondered what time it was. He got up, wandered to the door to Max’s room, and peeked inside. It was empty. That meant Adam was at work and Max was at school. He went to the door where Laura was and poked in his head. All three women were piled on the bed, asleep. He wondered how late they had stayed up talking and consoling the widow. He stared at her for a moment. Her sadness showed on her face, even though she was asleep.

  He tilted his head to the side, examining her. If someone had killed her husband to get to her, he would discover it. He would still find, pursue, and prosecute the man, but it wouldn’t surprise him if that was the motive. From what he had seen so far, she was lovely inside and out.

  “I’m going to start a fire and get the chill out of the house,” Nate said behind him. “You want to get some coffee on or go into town for breakfast?”

  “I suppose we could go to the Inn. I gotta bathe. I feel dirty. I want to change my clothes and get cleaned up.”

  “You can probably do all that here.”

  “Yeah, but the women are still asleep and this isn’t my home. I’m not going to invade someone’s house and do stuff like that. I don’t want to disrespect my aunt and uncle.”

  “You should feel more welcome than others, Joshua. Just because they are your aunt and uncle. I bet they wouldn’t mind. And it’s not like you need a wife to make coffee or get bath water ready. You’ve been doing that yourself for ages.” As he was talking, Nate was building a small fire in the fireplace. Once it was lit, he sat back on his haunches and looked at it, letting the heat warm his face.

  “That is true. That is true.” Joshua was rethinking it. He might have more of a right to his aunt and uncle’s house than a regular guest, but it didn’t feel like it to him. He hadn’t been around his uncle for so many years; it felt like they were practically st
rangers. And he didn’t want his uncle to think badly of him now.

  “I suppose I will make some coffee. The ladies might like some when they wake up, too. I wouldn’t be surprised. Laura’s going to go through a lot in the next couple weeks. No telling how long it will take for her to feel like herself again, if she ever does. Eight years is a long time to spend loving someone every single day and then have them brutally taken from you. It’s got to hurt.”

  “Yeah, that’s a fact. I’ll make some grub. I’m a whiz in the kitchen. We bachelors have to be, don’t we?”

  Joshua was amused. He sat up all the way and swung his long legs over the edge of the couch. If he stretched out again, he wouldn’t want to get up. He might want to take an easy day. Like a vacation was supposed to be. That thought made him smile. He stood up and went to the kitchen, hoping his boots didn’t make too much noise on the hard floors beneath him.

  His dreams had been filled with helping fix problems on the streets of Louisville, dealing with crying women who all wanted to be in his arms. One of them, of course, was Laura. In his dream, she had looked at him with such love; she relied on him for protection. He wished he could be there for her the way he wanted to be, but she didn’t even know him. He certainly wouldn’t pursue her. It was much too soon. It would make him look like a cad or worse… He didn’t want her to mistrust him or think badly of him.

  He went into the kitchen, moving directly to the back door. He opened it and looked out over the land behind the house. The sun was shining bright, and the air was dusty and dry. That was typical for the West and he enjoyed it. He didn’t like damp air, snow or even rain. His bag of clothes set next to the doorway in Adam’s bedroom. He wouldn’t be able to get it until the women woke up, and he didn’t want to change into clean clothes without first having a bath. He would have to wash his clothes. He had not brought a lot; just enough for his vacation.