Shotgun Bride [Tasty Treats 12] (Siren Publishing Everlasting Polyromance)

by Lara Santiago

  “If she can’t have children, you won’t be able to keep your legacy land. You need an heir within the next five years. That’s reality. I want you to understand that before we go talk to her.”

  Colton pushed out a long breath and finally shrugged. “I understand the limitations of my father’s will perfectly. And I plan to let that fall into the realm of destiny. I want to proceed with our plans. We have five years. I know how I want to spend them. With Ella on that land until it isn’t mine anymore. Besides, maybe we’re due a miracle.”

  Miracles aside, Matt figured that’s how he’d feel. “Fine. After we chat with Ella and I convince her to forgive me for being so stupid, then we’ll proceed as planned. We still need to visit the property and do an assessment.”

  “I know.” His humble gaze and expression spoke volumes, but he also said, “Thanks, Matt. I know things haven’t gone anywhere near according to our initial plans, but I still have a good feeling about our future. Hurdles and all. We found a woman we love. Maybe that’s more important than legacy land, but I still plan to fight until the end to have everything that I want.”

  “You are a hopeless optimist, but in this case I agree. Even against all odds, and we have several hurdles, I have a good feeling, too.”

  Matt nudged his horse forward again and together they rode over the rise, overlooking Alex and Rafe’s homestead.

  No one was in the yard between the house and the barn. They handed off the horses to the stable master. Colton directed them to send the preacher’s horse back to him after a rubdown and a few oats.

  Brianna exited the house with a concerned expression and halted their progress on the porch.

  “What’s up?” Matt asked, glancing over her shoulder and into the foyer. He didn’t see Ella, and her concern suddenly rubbed off on him. “Where’s Ella?”

  One of Brianna’s thumbs pointed over her shoulder. “She’s inside in one of the guest rooms.”

  “Is she okay?” Colton asked. The overall pall of concern now could be heard in his voice, too.

  Brianna put a forced grin in place. “Well…sort of. She’s not hurt, but she is very upset.”

  Matt dropped his head. “I suck. I said something and need to go apologize to her.”

  Brianna frowned. “I don’t think she’s upset with you. She feels bad about what her father did.”

  “Really?” Matt found a kernel of hope to latch onto. “She’s not cursing my name?”

  “No. But she’s called an attorney. He’s on his way out here now.”

  “Why?” Colton asked at the same time Matt did.

  Brianna clamped her lips shut and acted as if she didn’t plan to tell them.

  From inside the house, Matt heard Ella say, “Because I don’t want to stay married to the two of you.”

  * * * *

  Colton hadn’t seen Ella even come to the door until she spoke. “Too bad. You’re stuck with us,” he said immediately. He left Matt next to Brianna and entered the house. Ella backed away from him.

  “Are you afraid of me?” he asked incredulously.

  “No. Not really.” Her shoulders slumped, her face screwed up as if she were in pain, and tears streamed suddenly over her lower lids. “I’m just so sorry for what my father did. I swear I didn’t know about the faked certificate. You two are better off without me.”

  Colton grabbed her into his arms. “Of course you didn’t know. We aren’t upset with you, honey. Not at all. We will never be better off without you. Don’t say that.”

  “But I know you need a wife that can provide you with children for your land.” She sobbed. “If I can’t conceive, then I’ve ruined everything for you.”

  “Not everything.”

  Matt came up next to them. “I’m so sorry for what I said, Ella.”

  Colton released her, and Matt swept her up into his arms. He buried his face at her throat. “I didn’t think. I was stupid. I was mad at the situation, not you. I’m really sorry. Don’t leave us. I’ll make it up to you, I promise.”

  She clung to him and cried. “You didn’t do anything. But I don’t want to make you pay for the devious thing my father did. You don’t have to make anything up to me.” Her arms tightened around Matt’s neck.

  Matt looked suddenly relieved. He kissed her mouth, her cheek, her forehead, and then went back to her lips again. Between kisses he asked her, “Will you be upset when I take him to court? He is your father.”

  She shook her head. “No. He’s not my father anymore. Left to him, I’d be dead and floating in that basement right now.” She laughed mirthlessly. “And I think we all know that he’d only be worried about not being able to make money off of me. So please, sue away. I just wouldn’t expect to get anything.”

  “We’ll see.” Matt had a smug look. Colton was again truly grateful for his brother’s profession.

  Brianna came back inside and offered to make them a late breakfast. Colton’s belly already rumbled from missing the morning meal.

  “We’ll all feel better with full stomachs, don’t you think?” She proceeded into the kitchen and cooked up a veritable feast for them without waiting for a response.

  Colton gratefully ate his food and silently contemplated the future. They didn’t have to take the legacy land. Matt could continue with his law practice. Colton could continue working where he was as ranch foreman. They could live at Matt’s house in town, even though it would be a trip for him each day to get to work.

  But the land called to him. The land he’d never expected to have an opportunity to even step foot on was within his grasp. They would try to get Ella’s father to repay the bride price money, but nothing short of a court order compelling him to do so would help them retrieve those lost funds.

  Matt had also filed an official grievance that he hoped would keep the money in holding at the bank and not allow Ella’s father access to it. Otherwise, Colton knew the funds would be pissed away in no time.

  Colton hated to drag Matt and Ella along into an uncertain future where even if he worked himself to death, in five years, successful business or not, if he didn’t have an heir, he’d have to turn the land over to his younger half brother Zebulon.

  Did he want to subject them both to his seemingly ludicrous dreams of landownership if he only got to spend five years there only to have it all taken away as he got kicked off the land for lack of a child to carry on his name?

  * * * *

  Matt reined his horse to a stop in front of what was left of the Westmoreland family homestead. As expected, neglect had taken a toll, and it needed a lot of work. They’d left Ella with Brianna and packed up an extra borrowed horse with camping gear in order to be gone a few days to thoroughly inspect their future land.

  Colton of course, still had his head in the clouds. “It’s not so bad. The structures seem mostly sound. A little bit of roof damage.”

  “Are you kidding? It’s wind damaged beyond reason. It’s rain soaked from all the visible holes in the roof and another gust will likely collapse the barn over there completely.”

  “Okay, point taken. How do you feel about the bunkhouse behind the barn?”

  “From where I’m sitting here it looks like the only building without significant damage.”

  “Well, hallelujah, something for the plus column.”

  They ambled their horses around the main homestead, past the rickety barn, and over to the bunkhouses.

  “Tell me. How bad is it really?” Colton asked.

  “You have eyes. Look around.”

  “I mean our finances, you know, after taking a bride.”

  Matt dropped his head. He didn’t even want to think about that pending tragedy, let alone speak about any of it out loud. They’d called a reputable doctor to come out and do a “real” fertility test on Ella. He wouldn’t be there to perform the examination until they returned from this short trip.

  “That bad, huh?” Colton remarked.

  He lifted his head. “No. It’s actually
worse. We only have about fifty thousand credits left between us. We need a minimum of five times that amount to get this project off the ground. Unless Ella’s true fertility percentage is big or she miraculously gets pregnant very soon, we won’t be able to get a loan against your trust fund.”

  “We’ll find a way, Matt. I know it seems really bad right now while it’s all fresh, but we’ll figure out something. And for fun we get to live in the bunkhouse while we rebuild the place.”

  “Awesome. Do you think Ella will want a top bunk or a bottom one?”

  Colton laughed and Matt followed suit. “Funny, Matt. That’s the spirit. Let’s laugh and hope the world laughs with us.”

  “I expect lots of laughs at us, not with us, but whatever. Once we get a revised conception certificate, maybe we’ll be able to make a legitimate start on this legacy land ranching endeavor.”

  “What does the percentage have to be to qualify, again?”

  “Seventy percent for a guarantee. Maybe we could get by with a sixty-five percent if one of us offers to blow the loan officer.”

  Colton laughed again. “I’ll let you handle that.”

  “Thanks.”

  “I say we enjoy what the land has to offer as long as we can.” Colton gestured to the property. “Even in five years we’ll be able to earn our investment back. Maybe another piece of land will come available. You never know what will happen.”

  “True. Nothing that’s happened in the past month has been anything I planned. But I have to say, I wouldn’t trade a minute of it. We found our bride. Someone we love and who loves us in return. That’s worth a lot to me. I never realized how much until I thought I’d lost her.”

  Colton smiled. “Let’s go put our things in the bunkhouse and really inventory these buildings.”

  Matt nodded and followed him to the sturdy bunkhouse building. They had a long way to go, but he was more hopeful than he had a right to be. Their future road was still filled with many obstacles.

  Chapter Twelve

  Ella Parker—well, actually her last name was Westmoreland now—enjoyed life on Drakestone property. Reciting her new name repeatedly in her head put a goofy smile on her face. She found a confidant in Brianna, sharing a sisterlike bond with another woman for the first time in her lonely life.

  This morning was the fourth such day waking in what she considered near paradise. Her guest room was amazing. She’d shared it only a single night with Matt and Colton before they’d left. Sleeping without them already felt odd. But they’d be back sometime tomorrow. She couldn’t wait.

  Colton and Matt had kissed her and told her they’d return in a few days after scouting their land. Her profuse and repeated apologies that morning they left were met with complete understanding and actual concern that she not worry about the past. Her husbands both loved her. They wanted to move forward, not back, and to that end told her another doctor was on the way out to the ranch in a Med-Van to retest her conception probability.

  Ella worried most about that. When she told them her apprehension over the new test, Matt confided that it truly had nothing to do with anything more than a paper so he could borrow against a trust fund for capital. They both went on repeatedly, assuring her that even if her number was zero percent conception chance, they weren’t ever getting rid of her. They loved her. She loved them. But she guarded that sentiment and waited for the next disaster to befall her.

  She’d lived the bulk of her life never getting what she wanted without paying a price. What price would she have to pay for falling in love with Matt and Colton? She didn’t know. So she waited, filled with internal trepidations.

  Brianna was already in the kitchen when she strolled in. “How are you feeling today?” she asked. Across the room in a baby high chair, Brianna’s little boy, Zack, ate his breakfast with gusto. The mere sight of a baby collapsed Ella’s heart. He was really cute.

  Ella secretly, or maybe not so secretly, harbored the desire for a baby of her own, and the notion she’d never have one put a tremble in her every time. So she tried not to think about it.

  Having her “that time of the month” start on the day of her wedding was completely unfair. Especially since she’d hoped to already be pregnant after spending the day frolicking in bed with her husbands.

  “Better. By tomorrow, I hope to be able to welcome Matt and Colton in the proper way.” With lots of sex. Even if it would never result in a sweet little child of her own. A streak of sadness pierced her heart. Her whole body sagged at the idea of being forever childless.

  Brianna laughed. “I’m sure they will be understanding either way.”

  “You’re probably right.” Ella shook off her melancholy and sat next to the baby. Zack gazed up at her with the bluest eyes she’d ever seen and gave her a precious baby grin.

  Brianna placed a large cup of hot, steaming tea in front of her, just the way Ella liked it. “Where are Alex and Rafe?”

  “Oh, they’re out on the land somewhere. Rounding up cattle or chasing them down, who knows. General cowboy stuff, I’d expect. As you may have guessed, I’m a city girl, but I do love them and they’ve made me very happy here.”

  “I want to make Matt and Colton happy. I hope I can produce one of these sweet little babies for them.” She reached out a finger, and the baby grabbed on as if she were his lifeline. “He’s got a grip. How old is he?”

  “He’s six months old and he does have a pretty good grip.” Brianna smiled, but then a frown washed down her face. Hand to her belly, she put her own mug on the table but soon excused herself. “I’ll be right back. Can you keep an eye on him for a minute?” Not waiting for an answer, Brianna exited the room. She looked a little pale.

  Ella played with the baby and was thoroughly in love with the little guy well before Brianna returned minutes later. “Sorry. Something didn’t agree with me.”

  Ella nodded but then realized the issue. “Are you having another baby?”

  Brianna’s eyes widened. “Yes. But it’s early. Don’t say anything yet, okay?”

  “I won’t.” Ella tried not to tear up at the news and failed. “I’m sorry. I really am happy for you. Just sad for me.”

  “Thanks. I understand how you feel. I hope you get pregnant really fast. Don’t despair, Ella. It usually takes more than one time. The average is two years for most women.”

  “I know.” She sniffed. “But I’m not even sure I’m capable. And it’s difficult for me to accept that I likely don’t have a high fertility percentage.”

  “Well, lots of girls have babies and it didn’t matter what their percentage was. I’ve heard of women with high fertility scores that never produce a child. Otherwise there wouldn’t be a time-limit clause in marriage contracts.”

  Ella shrugged. “True. But I haven’t ever had the best of luck. Matt and Colton really need an heir for their legacy land. I want so much to provide them with one.”

  “Matt and Colton love you. I can tell. Especially Matt. I don’t know Colton as well, but he seems very taken with you. I don’t think they care one whit if you can have a baby. They look at you like you saved them.”

  “What?”

  “It’s true. Even Alex commented on it. They love you regardless.”

  Ella was about to respond, but there was a knock at the front door. Brianna frowned. “Who in the world is out here this early?”

  “Maybe Matt and Colton are back early.” Ella stood up, tethered to the table only with a baby’s fist around her finger. He didn’t seem to want to let go.

  Brianna shrugged and stood up. “They’d probably just walk in.” She exited the kitchen.

  Ella heard voices at the front door but not what was said. When Brianna returned, she had a wary expression. “The conception doctor is here early. He said he was in the area and wondered if you’d be willing to move up your appointment. The Med-Van is out there ready for business.”

  “I don’t know.” Her stomach sank. “I was hoping Matt and Colton would be here.”


  “No problem. Then I’ll tell him to come back tomorrow.”

  Ella reconsidered. Better to get this over with. “No. Don’t do that. The sooner the better, right?”

  Brianna shrugged. “Whatever you want.”

  Maybe it would be better if her husbands weren’t here.

  Ella pulled her finger away until the baby released her and went to the front door. The man there was different than she expected. He was younger than the other doctor she’d seen. And he’d agreed to come here to perform the tests. He pointed to a recreational-vehicle-size van outside.

  “My mobile office is right here.” He pointed behind him. Med-Van was stenciled on the outside of the vehicle. “Are you ready?”

  Ella nodded, but apprehension lifted the hairs on the back of her neck. She was so worried about what her conception percentage was, she let it permeate her being. She went down the stairs and to the door of the vehicle. This was it. This would determine whether she ever had children.

  She pushed out a breath, tried to gain some courage, and forced herself not to look back at Brianna and her baby filling the door space at the front of the house. She climbed the two steps into the mobile office. Instead of a small home, an outer office with a receptionist greeted her.

  The doctor followed her inside and pointed to the narrow hallway on the left. “Go on down there and take a seat on the table. I’ll be in directly.”

  Ella walked the few steps and opened the door. Before she realized what was going on, a sonic gun was resting against her temple. “Shut the door, Ella.” Otis and Owen were both here in the exam room. Owen had a gun to a man’s head, presumably the “real” doctor, and Otis nudged her with the sonic gun.

  “What are you doing here?”

  “The money we paid your father is frozen in his account because of the suit filed by your new lawyer husband. But we decided possession is more important than anything on a tablet screen.”

  The motor of the vehicle started. She swayed to one side, almost losing her balance.