Romance: My First Time With The Tycoon

by Ally Nelson

  “No, but his wife Mary sat next to me on the train.”

  “Oh, yes Mary was traveling home from her relative’s.” He led her through the crowd. “Mary and Robert both live on my ranch. Robert works on the ranch and Mary moved in the quarters after they married. Perhaps she can help you settle in.”

  “They live on your ranch?” She asked him.

  “Yes, not in my home, but in another small house on my land.” He smiled at her. “But do not worry, we shall still have our privacy.”

  Ruth blushed as she thought about being alone with the stranger. Awkward silence took over and the two of them stopped speaking as he led her and her young son through the station. From the corner of her eye she thought she was a familiar face, but that was impossible, there was no way he could be here. She turned to get a better look but no longer saw him. Still, an eerie feeling unsettled inside of her as she swore she had just seen her brother at the Texas train station. Kansas was a three-day travel, so there was no Dave could be there, no way at all.

  “Take my hand.” Tom’s words interrupted her thoughts.

  “Pardon me?” Ruth looked at his hand as he held it out for her to take in her own.

  “Take my hand, and I will help you into the carriage.” He reached for her.

  His hand was firm but gentle. After she got into the seat of the horse carriage, Tom lifted Billy behind her and Mary joined them. Tom stayed out to talk to Robert for a moment.

  “You did not tell me you were coming to Texas for Mr. Franklin.” Mary leaned in to speak to her like they were trading secrets. “Are you his newest bride?”

  “Newest?” Ruth found it a strange chose of words.

  “You will be his third wife. The first two died within their first year of marriage to Tom. Townspeople call it the Franklin curse.” Mary must have seen the horror on Ruth’s face. The woman quickly changed her tone. “I apologize. I did not mean to sound so brash. Poor Mr. Franklin has just had some tragic

  “Are we ready to head out?” Tom came into the carriage and sat down next to Ruth.

  “Yes, sir.” Mary nodded. “We are ready, aren’t we Ruth?”

  As all eyes focused on Ruth, she suddenly felt anxious again.

  “Of course.” She agreed. “We are ready.”

  She pulled her son closer to her and kissed his forehead. Something inside of her became cautious of the people around her. How would she ever make it down the aisle with this man and his unknown secrets?

  Chapter Five

  Ruth had expected a large ranch, but nothing like the extraordinary land that belonged to Tom Franklin. It was nothing like her small dried out farm back home. There were at least five large barns, all built with the finest lumber, nothing like her old barn that was falling apart more each day. Unlike her empty barn, these were filled with livestock.

  “This is all yours?” Ruth asked as she looked around the massive ranch.

  “Yes, mam.” Tom looked proud as he spoke of his property. “I am a third generation rancher at this ranch, my grandfather started it with just a dream and my father continued it with an ingenious hunger for profit. I inherited it when my father passed away three years ago.”

  The inheritance was nothing like her husband had left for her. No, her husband had left her with only a broken heart and empty bank. She sighed and pushed those thoughts aside.

  “And this will be your new home.” Tom told her as the carriage pulled up to his house.

  The huge cabin was four times the size of her home, with a wraparound porch and beautiful flowers surrounding the area. It looked like something out of a dream, people could not actually live in homes so enchanting, could they?

  “Wake up Billy.” Ruth whispered to her son. “We are home.”

  “He seems so tired.” Tom observed.

  “The train ride was so rocky that we hardly slept.” Mary told him. “The poor kid has had a rough past three days and it is already past dinner time.”

  “Here.” Tom reached for the boy. “Let me carry him to his new bed. The boy needs his sleep.”

  The idea of handing her son over made Ruth panicked, but before she could protest Tom had gently taken the boy from her arms and started carrying him from the carriage to the new cabin. She was about to interrupt, but seeing the man carry her son brought memories of her late husband to her mind. Tom seemed caring and loving with her child in his arms, it warmed her heart. Maybe this man would be good for both of them.

  “Robert is putting your suitcase in your new bedroom. After that, we will head to our place. It’s been too long since we were together.” Mary smiled mischievously, letting Ruth know just what she planned on doing as soon as she got a moment alone with Robert. “But I will come by tomorrow and help you with the wedding. We only have two days to get everything ready.”

  “What?” Ruth’s eyes widened large as she asked the woman to repeat herself. “Did you just say the wedding will be in two days?”

  “Yes, that is what I have been told by Robert, and he knows because he is in charge of getting the ranch ready for the ceremony and the guest.” Mary chuckled and shook her head. “You really are a clueless gal, aren’t you?”

  “Come, Mary.” Robert came walking out of the cabin and smiled at his wife. “Let them have their privacy, and we can have ours.”

  Mary practically jumped into his arms and the two skipped off to their quarters.

  “Ruth, please come inside and see your new home.” Tom was standing in the doorway, his cowboy hat in his hand, allowing the sunlight to shine on his blonde hair and brighten his already dazzling blue eyes. “You are home now. This is your home.”

  Home. If only calling the cabin made it home, her heart would not be back in Kansas.

  Stepping past Tom, Ruth went into the cabin and could not believe how amazing it truly was. There must have been over a dozen rooms, each bigger than the last as she walked curiously through it.

  “This is the kitchen, but you don’t have to feel obligated to cook, I can hire a maid for that.” Tom told her as they walked into the large kitchen.

  “No, that will not be necessary.” Ruth ran her finger’s over the long mahogany table, feeling the smooth expensive wood under the tips of her fingers. “There is no need for another person to cook.”

  “Truth is; I like to cook also.” He winked. “But I never have much time. Between the work on the ranch and business endeavors, by the time I get in this kitchen I just want to kick my boots off and head to bed.”

  Hearing his lips talk about bed made her feel shy again, and she turned so he wouldn’t see her rosy cheeks.

  “Come this way.” Tom grabbed her hand and led her form the kitchen to the stairs. He seemed excited to show her the place, but she had never had a man so eager to touch her hands before, not even William had been an overly hands on man. “I want to show you something.”

  The stairs were grand, with a banner that have been carved by a very skilled carpenter. She admired the beautiful woodwork as he quickly guided her up the steps.

  “When your brother told me about your son, I got excited to have him be part of my family. I’ve always wanted children.” He opened a bedroom door and motioned for her to go inside. “Keep quiet though, the young man needs his sleep.”

  As she stepped into the bedroom, she fought the tears from escaping her eyes. Not only did her son have his own bedroom, he had a bedroom fit for a prince. The large wooden canopy bed seemed a little drastic for a boy of three, but as she watched her son sleeping perfectly on the cloud like mattress she knew he deserved no less.

  “I will love him like my own.” Tom whispered into her ear.

  Ruth let a teardrop fall from her eye as she saw the life her son would now have. She then turned from the sleeping child and hurried out of the room. Everything was going so fast and she suddenly felt overwhelmed.

  “Wait, Ruth wait.” Tom followed her out of the bedroom and into the hallway. “Have I offended you? Have I done something wrong?”


  “No.” She shook her head, but could not stop from feeling panic in her heart. “No, you have been very kind and welcoming.”

  “I am not trying to overwhelm you. Please, I have another room to show you.” He led her to the bedroom next to Billy’s.

  There was a bed larger and more grand than her sons. It had a beautiful furniture set complete with a two dresser, a desk, and a vanity. He opened the closet and it was filled with wonderful dresses in every color imaginable.

  “Your brother told me your measurement. I suppose he thought it would please me to know your figure, but I found it helped provide a start for my seamstress to begin your new wardrobe. She can of course make any changes needed.” He pointed to the huge bed across the room. “And the sheets are from the finest European silks. I had the comforter made in purple. That is what I was told is your favorite color.”

  She looked at the bed. Soon she would be expected to join him in it after marriage. The thought took her breath once more. As attracted to him as she was, it still did not calm her nerves to know another man as well as she had known her William.

  “It is true. I do love the color purple.” She noticed the color incorporated into the room as she glanced around the magnificent area.

  “Well, this is all your.” He told her.

  “This is not your bedroom?” She asked as she realized there was nothing belonging to him inside.

  “No, I have the bedroom across the hall. This room is all your.” He smiled warmly. “Ruth, I do not expect you to love me yet. I do not expect you to share a room with me now. You hardly know me at this moment. I do hope in time that we can share a love for one another. And I do hope we can share a bed, eventually, but only if you so desire.”

  A sizzling tingle sparked inside of her when he spoke sweetly about sharing a bed together. The idea was not horrible, and she found herself hoping that in time in may happen too.

  “You are better than most men, you know that Tom Franklin?” Another tear shimmered in her eye.

  “There is one more thing.” Tom from behind her.

  “How can there be more, when you have already given so much?” She turned around to find him down on one knee in front of her.

  “I want to do this right. I want to give you proposal you deserve.” He pulled out a velvet heart shaped box from his pocket and opened it. Diamonds could not be so big, could they? No one owned rings like this back home. “Ruth, will you please do me the honor of marrying me?”

  “Yes.” She did not waste a second answering, even though her heart still had doubts. “I will marry you, Tom Franklin.”

  Tom got up and embraced her. Surprisingly, she found herself not wanting to let go.

  “I have a few things to tend to on the ranch before bed.” He told her as he let go of the embrace. “Supper is made in the kitchen and there are plenty of book in the library down the hall. Please make yourself at home. I will see you in the morning, for we have a wedding to arrange.”

  Tom put his hat on and disappeared down the hall and out of the cabin. A new excitement rang through her. Maybe this was her second chance at love. Maybe she was not doomed forever.

  A hand suddenly went over her mouth as a man grabbed her from behind and pulled her into the bedroom. She kicked and fought to get free, but his grip was too tight.

  “Shh. Shh. It is me, sister.” Her brother Dave said into her ear.

  “Dave?” She turned around to face him. “Dave! It is you!”

  Her arms wrapped around him as she felt happy to see her older brother again.

  “Keep quiet.” Dave closed the door behind them and went to the window to make sure Tom had gone from the cabin.

  “What are you doing here? How did you even get here? I left you in Kansas three days ago.” When she had left him, she feared never seeing him again.

  “I took the same train as you. I rode in a different class section and kept clear of you so you wouldn’t see me.” He explained. “Look, I found out news about Tom right only hours before you were to leave for Texas. I should have told you, but I feared you would not go through with this marriage.”

  “What news?”

  “He is a bad man with ulterior motives.” Dave sat her down on the bed. “Listen to me, he murdered his other two wives in order to inherit their fortunes. I fear he has the same plan for you.”

  “That can’t be true. He is a caring man who has shown us nothing but kindness.” Ruth then remembered the curse Mary had mentioned. Perhaps she was trying to warn Ruth of his past. “But I do not have any fortunes for him to inherit. What could he possibly think to gain from me?”

  “It is all my fault, Ruth.” Dave confessed. “I lied and told him you were rich and had inherited your husband’s wealth and properties. I fabricated your fortunes and even went to great measures to keep the lies from being discovered. Tom Franklin sent someone to check out your story and I paid a few townspeople to lie for us. Now, he believes he will gain a fortune upon your death, just like he did his other wives.”

  “Why was he not arrested for the first two wives? How can he be free to kill again?”

  “Everyone in this town knows that he is guilty but they are helpless to his schemes since he is friends with the sheriff and the women’s family lived too far away to know better. The people around here fear him and will not stand up to the terrifying man.” Dave shook his head as he spoke about Tom.

  “But he seems nothing like that. He seems so nice and genuinely kind.” She felt ill at the thought of how good he had made her feel. “I thought he was a good man.”

  “He is a lunatic, of course he had you fooled. The man is a con-artist and plays on desperate weak woman like yourself.” Her brother’s words cut into her heart. “But do not fear, I am here now.”

  “Why did you let me get on the train, knowing that my life was in danger? You sent your own nephew to a murderer’s home to be caught in the middle of a killer’s plot. How could you do this?”

  “I had no choice. I had already sold most of our belongings and what was left of our farm. We would have nothing left if we had turned back then.” He sighed. “I had no choice, sister.”

  “Now what?” She grew angry. “Now that we are in the web of a killer, dangling helplessly within his fangs, how do you suppose we get out from his hold?”

  “You kill him before he kills you.” Dave grabbed her shoulders and looked directly into her eyes. “Kill the man that will surely take your life, and the life of your son.”

  Billy’s face came to her mind, causing panic to overwhelm her.

  “Billy.” She jumped to her feet and ran to her young son’s room, fearing that he had been harmed.

  Thankfully, the boy was sound asleep in his royal bed, oblivious to the horrible plans going on around him. She would die before she let harm come his way. The boy was all she had left in this world, and no one would take that form her.

  “He is safe, for now.” Dave whispered to her. “But how long before Tom decides that your son is a nuisance in his home and to his plan?”

  “I won’t let him be harmed.” She said.

  “Then you know what you must do.” His whisper sounded louder than thunder in her ear.

  Ruth nodded in agreement.

  “But you have to wait until after the wedding.” Dave told his sister. “That is the only way your son can have a good life. The inheritance will become yours, and we shall never have to worry about giving Billy a good life again.”

  “Alright.” She agreed. “I’ll do it.”

  “Good.” He headed towards the door. “I will be around. Never goodbye.”

  He crossed his heart.

  “Never goodbye.” Ruth crossed her heart the same.

  Chapter Six

  “Rise and shine!” Mary threw the curtains open and brought in the cruel morning sun.

  Ruth squinted as the sun was too bright for her newly opened eyes.

  “How did I sleep so late?” Ruth asked as she figured in w
as probably past breakfast. “Billy must have been exhausted to not get out of bed by now.”

  “Oh, Billy woke up hours ago.” Mary said. “He is helping Tom with the pigs on the ranch.”

  Shooting out of bed like a cannon ball, Ruth jumped to her feet and rushed out of the bedroom in only her night gown.

  “Ruth! Ruth wait!” Mary grabbed her arm. “Please, what is going on?”

  “Billy, where is my Billy?” Ruth could hardly breathe as she thought about her son alone with a murderous man like Tom.

  “Do not worry. Billy is fine. Tom is great with kids. They only went to feed the pigs.”

  “Where are the pigs kept?” Ruth asked.

  “Come, have a cup of tea while the boys bond.”

  “Where are the damn pigs!” Ruth shook Mary as she yelled into her face.

  “The back barn…in the back barn to the right.” Her eyes were wide with fear of Ruth, as she should have been. The mother was ready to knock down anyone who stood in the way of her and her son.

  Mary’s grip loosened as she stood shocked by the crazed mother. Ruth pulled away and ran out of the cabin and towards the back of the home. Mary stayed on her tail. Up ahead, to her right, she saw the large barn with the pigs feeding on something.

  “No.” She said softly. “Oh, Billy.”

  She rushed to the fence around the pigs and feared the worse.

  “There.” Mary said as she pointed across the ranch. “There is your boy and Mr. Franklin.”

  Ruth looked up and saw Tom and Billy brushing a horse, both too busy to notice her nearby.

  “He is okay.” Ruth cried quietly. “Billy is okay.”

  “Your son is fine, as I told you.” Mary put her hand on Ruth’s shoulder. “Mr. Franklin is a great man. He would never let harm come to your boy.”

  Billy giggled as Tom lifted him up into the air and sat him on the horse.

  “Mama!” Billy saw Ruth and called out for her. “Horsey.”

  Tom turned to see her. His blue eyes sparkling in the morning sun. How could someone so beautiful be so dangerous? He hardly seemed like a killer as brought Billy down from the horse, tickling him mid-air, and safely setting him down to his feet. The boy ran to his mother and hugged her tight.