Brides of the West-Part One

by Hestand, Rita

  "I never thought I'd see the day when you would settle down."

  "Takes a pretty powerful woman…" Buck winked.

  "Slowdown cowboy, you are going too fast. Do you think you can settle yourself down?"

  "To some extent. I can't change everything about me, but I don't think Rach would ask me to, either. It might surprise you to know, she's quite a mountain girl herself."

  "Really?"

  "It's the honest truth. So…I guess you haven't seen her, have you?"

  A cowboy bumped into Buck's chair and Buck caught him before he fell on top of him. "Had a little too much, haven't you?"

  The cowboy laughed. "A little!"

  "Actually Buck, she's here. I wasn't going to tell you. She didn't want me to tell you. But under the circumstances I feel I have to. She has no idea about the marriage, and she needs to know, and decide what she wants."

  "Where is she?" Buck nearly got out of his seat.

  Lilly patted his hand. "Sit down Buck. All in good time. I wouldn't even consider breaking her confidence, but she does need to know who she's married to."

  "She doesn't want to see me?" Buck frowned. "Is she mad at me for something?"

  "When you run off with that young girl up the mountain, I jumped to a few conclusions and thought you were marrying her. I told her about it. So she decided she didn't want to see you. But she's been anxious about the papers. I'm going to let you see her, but be gentle with her Buck. She's had a rough time. She's been cooking for me." Lilly explained. "She likes it here, she really does. She strangely fits right in. I think that girl could adjust to anything. But this news will shock her, for sure. So be gentle. Don't rush her. I think she's in love with you too."

  "I knew it! She's out of funds." Buck started to get up again.

  "Sit down. She's doing just fine. She is here to figure out what she wants to do with herself. But this new kink in the story changes things. I'm going to let you see her, but I want you to promise that you'll be gentle with her. She's confused and worried. Her world has been turned upside down these last few months. So give her time to adjust to the news."

  "Of course I will, Lilly." Buck said. "When can I see her?"

  "She's in the kitchen now…" Lilly explained.

  "Thanks, Lilly…" Buck got up slowly and wandered back to the kitchen area.

  Lilly was right, Rach had been through a lot and he had to find a way to break things to her gentle like. He only hoped that the way she kissed him back said she felt the same.

  Chapter Twenty-Seven

  He saw her working at the stove, and his heart turned over in his chest. She was still just as lovely as the last time he'd seen her. She was cleaning the stove off and washing dishes. He watched her for a long moment, enjoying the view. He'd never ogled women much, but he just couldn't take his eyes off Rachel.

  He walked in slowly, waiting for her to notice him.

  When she didn't, he cleared his throat and smiled. "Hello Rach."

  She whirled around to stare at him for a long moment.

  "Buck…what are you doing here?" She asked breathlessly, looking around for Lilly, who wasn't there.

  "Looking for you…" He said coming closer.

  "Oh…you've got the papers then?" She asked innocently.

  "Yeah, I got them." He murmured.

  "Well, that's a relief." She mumbled. "I thought maybe you mailed them to Philadelphia, and I'd have to go home to get them."

  "What are you doing here in Cripple Creek. Last time I saw you, you were boarding a stage for Philadelphia." Buck cantered.

  "I decided you were probably right, it would be easier for me to wait here until you got the papers. I just didn't think it would take you this long." She tried to smile.

  She untied her apron and smoothed her dark dress down.

  "I been looking for you, for a while now." He said coming closer.

  "Looking for me? What on earth for?"

  "To give you the papers. For one thing. I even went to Philadelphia to find you. But you weren't there. Instead, I met your butler and your father. Both of which had little to say." Buck informed her.

  "You went to Philadelphia?" She stood with her mouth open.

  "You didn't tell me you came from a wealthy family, Rach. I never expected it. Lovely house." Buck said flatly.

  "Was my father upset?"

  "Not as much as I thought he'd be, no. I was upset with him…for not caring more for you." Buck said staunchly. "I can sure see why you don't want to live there, Rach. That's not a home Rach, it's a house."

  "I haven't really decided where I want to live, Buck." Rachel declared putting her cup towel down and staring at him.

  "I don't know how to tell you this Rach…I thought it would be easy, but it's not." Buck said hanging his head.

  "Tell me what?"

  "Maybe you better read the papers for yourself." He handed her the license and moved back some.

  Rachel took the paper and sat down at the small kitchen table. She opened the paper up and read it. Then she reread it.

  "But…Buck…this says I'm married to….you!" She gasped.

  "I know. The parson just forgot to put Hershel's name on it. It's no wonder they gave us that bedroom, and wished me luck is it?" Buck tried to laugh.

  "We…you and I are married…to each other?" She gasped again.

  He couldn't tell how she was taking the news. She seemed so stunned by it all.

  "You're my wife Rach, unless you want to change that…" he said plainly.

  "You must have found out on your way to get married yourself, then." Rachel declared.

  "Get married. I wasn't on my way to get married. That was a big misunderstanding Rach. I met these two men on the way up to see the parson. The youngest of the two wanted to get married. But because pastor Greely wasn't home at the time, they decided to get hold of the parson on the mountain. Only the parson couldn't come down, he had a sick patient he was seeing and wasn't expected to live. So I agreed to come down and get her and bring her up there so they could be married. That's all there was to it."

  "Then you weren't getting married, yourself?"

  "Of course not." Buck stared at her with a smile.

  "So, how do you feel about being married to me, Buck?" She asked standing up now.

  Buck stood up and turned her to face him. "It'd make me the happiest man in Cripple Creek if you'd consent to be my wife Rach. I'm not forcing you, just asking you. I wanted to tell you many times how I felt about you, but I thought you were married to Hershel and I had no right to say anything. I love you Rach…." He pulled her closer.

  Her breath hitched. She stared at his mouth for a long time.

  "You love me?" She screeched.

  "With all my heart." He admitted. "But…if you don't feel the same…I guess, you can still get it annulled. I'd understand."

  She stood there staring into his eyes, and tears hung in each corner of her eye. "Oh Buck! How do I know you love me? You are such a gentleman, you might feel responsible is all."

  Buck hung his head, then looked her square in the eye, his hand reached to comb his fingers through her hair. "Rach, it's not respectable to say this…but from the moment I looked into those expressive brown eyes of yours…I was lost. I would've said something by now…but, I thought you were married to Hershel. And he was my friend. I couldn't try and steal his woman from him. But Lord knows…I wanted to."

  And then she was in his arms and he kissed her long and possessively. His lips were soft on hers and persuaded her mouth to open to him. She moaned.

  When they came up for air, she sighed and laid her head on his chest. "Oh, God…I've missed you…"

  He ran his hands through her lovely hair as he let it down. "Not as much as I missed you. I've been trying to find you for weeks now. I attempted to retrace your steps on the way back from Philadelphia. It wasn't until I got to Colorado that I found any trace of you. It scared me witless. After all, you been through and then this."

 
"You actually went to Philadelphia?" She smiled into his face as he held her in his arms.

  "Yep, and I had a few words for your father. I don't blame you a bit for not wanting to live there. I have never seen such a cold place to live in my life." Buck said. "Well now, aren't you going to ask me how we are going to live and make it?"

  "No…" she tiptoed to kiss his lips once more. "I don't have to. Whatever you want to do is fine with me. I missed the mountain too." She admitted. "I feel so alive up there, traipsing around the countryside. I love it. I love the life you lead."

  "Well, hear now. You can't be traipsing all over the countryside and have my baby at the same time…"

  "Can't I?"

  He stared into her sparkling eyes. "I guess you could. Of all the women I know, I guess you could. I'm going to build that house now, Rach. So you can look out and see your mountains every morning." Buck told her. "But there's one thing I got to hear from you."

  "What?" She asked with a smile.

  "Are you sorry we are married?"

  She grabbed him around the waist and pulled him to her. "When we go up the mountain I want to personally stop and tell parson Powell how much I love him for marrying me to you. I love you Buck. I think I have from the very first. First your letters, then you standing there offering to take me up the mountain and stand in for Hershel."

  "I would have told you how I felt sooner if it hadn't been for Hershel." Buck admitted.

  "Why didn't you say something at the station. I would have never left if you had of?" Rachel pounded his chest for a second.

  "I thought you were married to Hershel. I felt pulled by that. Hershel is my friend and I wanted him to be happy. I wasn't sure how you felt about being married to him, or how you'd feel knowing you were actually married to me all this time. But I remembered how you kissed me back, every time I kissed you. I kept running that around in my head all the time. Your lips melted every time I kissed you."

  Rachel leaned her head on his shoulder and held him in her arms for a long moment. "I am so happy to be your wife."

  "We got a little catching up to do, don't we?" He smiled into her shining face.

  She blushed. "I have a confession, I never felt like a bride, until now…."

  He picked her up in his arms and twirled her around, then as she slid down he kissed her warm and invitingly on the lips.

  "I love you Rach. I think I have from the moment I set eyes on you, sitting at the stage depot, in that beautiful dress." He admitted.

  "Oh Buck, how could I be so lucky? Do you think that the parson suspected something between us?" Rachel asked.

  "I'm pretty sure he saw something we didn't at first. I never thought I'd find a woman that suits me so well."

  She smiled at him. "Suits you? I never dreamed of ever finding a man that would love me…just for being me."

  He pulled her into one of the bedrooms. He reached to turn the lamp down. "We've missed out on something pretty special Rach. Maybe it's time we made up for lost time."

  She kissed him this time and he picked her up and carried her to the bed, closing the door with his boot heel. "I need a bath, but, I'm not sure this can wait—"

  "Don't worry, we can take a bath…together, later." She laughed.

  "I'm going to have you barefoot and pregnant before you know it."

  "Promise?" She sighed in his arms her happiness complete at last. Buck had finally delivered the bride.

  The End

  Book Three

  Heart of a Woman

  Heart of a Woman

  by Rita Hestand

  1859 Independence, Missouri

  Chapter One

  "No unmarried women are allowed!" Cole Morgan yelled from his tent as he heard a female voice talking to one of his men.

  What in blazes!

  "But, I've got to go. I can't stay here." The woman persisted, turning her attention the tent, where the voice had come from. "Who is that?"

  "Ma'am I don't make the rules, I just follow them. And that's the boss." The man said scratching his head as he took his dusty hat off and walked off, shaking his head.

  "Who made such a rule?" The woman asked in a haughty voice.

  "I did!" Cole threw open the tent doorway came out and eyed the woman that was apparently giving his scout a hard time. Something inside him reacted to the sight of her. He ignored it. He couldn't put his finger on what attracted him. But her lovely cascade of brown hair had a lot to do with it and the healthy vigor of a woman in her prime. Her sassy tongue certainly got his attention.

  Aside from her hair that cascaded to nearly her waist in delicate brown-gold curls, and her large brown eyes that probed the soul, she looked like many others among the train. Except for one very distinct thing, she carried herself more proudly, and her chin lifted with defiance at his voice.

  Dressed in a simple skirt and blouse, her figure stood out as womanly and almost perfect in Cole's quick assessment.

  He cleared his throat. Damn, if she wasn't a handsome woman!

  "Look…I can hitch a team and drive it. I'm strong and capable and I have to go…" Her voice fell to a plea now as she stared at Cole. Her eyes traveled him slowly. He couldn't help but wonder how he measured up in her books.

  She was definitely trying a different approach with him than she had his scout. He liked her spunk, but she'd have to take no for an answer. He couldn't break the rules for anyone. And if he ever wanted to, this was the time!

  He'd heard many such pleas before, but why this one was different, he didn't know. Perhaps it was that desperate look in her eyes that intrigued him. Or perhaps it was that the stubborn jut of her delicate chin that made him waver his thoughts of taking her west.

  "Come in here," He ordered her inside the tent, none to gently.

  The woman hesitated, then lifted her chin and obeyed, as though obeying were not in her vocabulary. He liked that, a woman with sand.

  Cole sat down at the makeshift desk of kegs and boards and looked at his maps. "Why do you need to leave so badly. Have you broken the law?" He intimated the keg in front of his desk for her to sit on. She sat down.

  Not once did she lift her nose to his raw furnishings. She didn't assess his possessions, only him.

  "No, of course not!" She huffed, pulling at her blouse.

  Her blouse flounced at her breast, empathizing them.

  He glanced at her, then the blouse.

  "You a whore, being run out of town for it?" He asked, expecting a rash of explanations from that quick assessment.

  The woman started to rebuke his statement, but changed the air in the tent with her words, and the strange look in her eyes. "Okay", her voice lowered effectively, "You've found me out. The sheriff wants me out today…I do not care to ride a stagecoach with filthy men for miles that could be held up by the worst of them." She insisted.

  "You talk funny." He said as his head jerked up and his eyes feasted on the ample display of breast staring at him. What women did to get their way was beyond his imagination. But he never minded looking at beautiful pillows to which to lay the head.

  "I'm originally from Boston." She lifted her chin once more.

  "Boston huh? You don't sound it." Cole almost laughed. The woman was lying through her teeth. But her desperation to leave the city for the hard life, intrigued him. What manner of problems did she carry with her? When her head turned in question, he continued. "People from Boston have a strange way of pronouncing things. Something about their R's."

  She still looked puzzled.

  "Nevermind."

  "I assure you…."

  "You can assure me of many things, but can you cook?" He interrupted, his eyes never leaving hers.

  "Cook? Oh…but of course I can." She insisted.

  "What can you cook?" He asked, almost sure this was another stretch of her imagination.

  "My culinary abilities interest you?" She huffed. She glanced around the tent with interest, evading his questions.

  "I need a cook
for my crew. The families sometimes invite them to eat with them, but not on a regular basis, I need a cook." He looked her over, waiting for her answer.

  "I can manage, why?" She scoffed at his questions.

  "Can you make chili, beans, stews, biscuits?" He asked. "And more importantly, coffee?"

  "Naturally…" she replied, but her eyes didn't quite meet his gaze.

  She was lying again. He'd bet his life on it that she couldn't cook. Still, he had to admit she wasn't hard on the eyes, and she looked strong enough to handle the rigorous trip. For now, he couldn't think of a single reason not to take her. Most everyone on the train had reasons for wanting to 'get away'.

  "Alright, your hired!" He announced as though the subject was now closed.

  "I'm…Hired? As a cook?" She swallowed hard.

  "Sure…why not?" He asked amused by her squirming. "Just because your former occupation wasn't cooking doesn't mean you don't know how, now does it?"

  For a split second, he wondered if she'd back down and tell the truth. But that stubborn set of her chin didn't budge. Oddly enough, he liked that about her. No matter how much trouble her tongue got her into, she didn't back down. That was to be admired. She'd play out her bluff and he'd watch.

  "I thought you didn't allow unmarried women on the train!" She shrieked standing up now. "That's what your hired man said."

  He nodded and made a face. "Oh yes, that. That's true, but that can be fixed too."

  She stared at him now, her eyes narrowing on him.

  "And how do you presume to 'fix' something like that?" She inquired putting her hands on her hips.

  "I'll marry you!" He said quite matter-of-factly.

  The color drained from her face. She went so pale, he thought she might pass out. That was not what she expected to hear! He'd shocked her. Good!

  "Marry me!" She shrieked again, the color finally rising in her cheeks, her nose lifting another notch. "I beg your pardon. I'm not in search of a husband, sir."