The Annex Mail-Order Brides: Preque (Intrigue Under Western Skies Book 0)

by Elaine Manders

  The firelight danced in her eyes as she regarded him with love. “I knew you’d come,” she said while he cut the ropes. “I can’t explain it, but a peace came over me as soon as you appeared.”

  He pulled her into his arms. “Well I’ve got to admit, there for awhile, I was as close to terrified as I’ve ever been.” They kissed until the bounty hunter grunted as he got to his feet.

  Concern for Rafe made Josh break their kiss.

  Chapter 25

  The Serenity jail had never seen as much activity as that night, and the next morning. Josh stayed in the same cell with Tom—and not because he had to. They talked until after midnight about the future. Josh trying to convince Tom he had one.

  Tom’s weary features were unreadable. Fearing he wasted his breath, Josh fell silent, praying for morning to come.

  “So you’re really in love with her?”

  Tom’s question startled him for a moment. “With all my heart.”

  Sitting at the end of the bed, Tom fell back, as if all strength left him and stared at the ceiling. “Maybe if I change my ways I can find a woman like that.”

  Propped against the wall, Josh doubted any woman was like Ramee, but certainly Tom could find the one God wanted for him. “I expect you can.”

  “Mind if I take your Bible with me when the marshal comes to pick me up? Guess I’ll have plenty of time to read. I’m probably looking at a long sentence.”

  The Bible lay on the wide window sill of the cell’s lone barred window.

  “Maybe not as long as you think. Rafe, Ramee, and I are sending affidavits, and Gant’s going with you to testify in person. You saved the lives of four people, Tom. They’ll take that into consideration. After all the evidence is in, they might give you a reward.”

  Tom laughed. “Yeah, you know why that bounty hunter’s going. He still hopes to get the reward money.”

  Josh punched him on the shoulder. “Maybe he will. Whatever happens, don’t forget to write to Granny.”

  Tom closed his eyes and released a long sigh. “Dear, sweet Granny. I expect she’ll pray me into heaven yet. I wouldn’t let Renfro go up to her house and scare her, but I did snitch some of her grub. Yeah, I’ll write.” He crooked his head, sending Josh a pointed glance. “Tell her I’m sorry.”

  Josh slid to the floor. “Sure thing. Let’s get some sleep while we can.” He laid his head on his knees. His thoughts flew to Ramee. This time tomorrow he vowed he’d sleep with her in his arms.

  A loud bang jolted him awake. Josh scrambled into an upright position and stretched his cramped muscles.

  Rafe came to the cell with a jangling key ring. “Lil and Ramee are right behind me with your breakfast.” He opened the cell door to let Josh out, closing it behind him. “Better eat in there, Tom. The marshal’s in town. He’ll be on in a little bit.”

  Before Josh could rub the sleep from his eyes, Lil and Ramee entered the jail, holding trays straight from the café. He assumed the one Lil carried was for Tom, so he took Ramee’s load, and they went to tiny corner table. They sat facing the walls.

  “Looks good,” he said, his gaze latched on Ramee instead of the food.

  “Oh, my darling.” She stroked the stubble on his chin. “You look so tired. I can tell from your eyes you haven’t had enough sleep.”

  “I’m a mess, aren’t I?” He captured her hand and kissed her palm.

  “Not at all, but as soon as we’re married, I’m going to—” She withdrew her hand and blushed. Uncharacteristic for her.

  “What are you going to do?”

  She tilted her head to one side. “I was going to say, as soon as we’re married, I’m going to take you home and put you to bed.”

  That was the best idea he’d heard. He chuckled softly. “Is Reverend Holly still around?”

  “He’s leaving on the nine o’clock stage.”

  Josh noticed the wall clock over Rafe’s desk. Almost nine now. “Well, we might have to hunt down a preacher, but we’re getting married today.” His gaze settled on Ramee, and he forgot the food she’d set before him.

  She fed him from her slender fingers—a bit of ham wrapped in a biscuit, a swab of huckleberry jam, a morsel of egg. All the while, he drank her in like a perishing man. The golden curls curving around her ears and bouncing on her forehead. Dark lashes shading incredible blue eyes. Tiny freckles dusting her Grecian nose. The tip of her pink tongue flashing between straight, white teeth.

  The voices, the clatter, the ruckus going on behind them fell away. Their little table might as well have been an island set off in the middle of a vast ocean.

  The moment stretched on until he’d eaten most of the breakfast.

  Ramee brushed the crumbs they’d scattered over the table as she spoke. “I got a long letter from my friends. It seems Jackson told everyone the wedding was cancelled because he had to go on an unexpected business trip to Paris. I might have realized he’d think of some way to save face. Anyway, they say he has shipped out to Paris, and good riddance.”

  “Now don’t think too harshly about the fellow. I owe him a lot. He sent you to me when he could have had you.”

  She twisted her lips into a cute bow. “He could never have had me. I saved a place in my heart just for you, even before I knew you.”

  He started to lean over for a kiss when a woman’s shrill voice called Ramee’s name. She jumped to her feet and whirled around.

  Mrs. Hollingsworth hustled toward them, flapping her hand in front. “Miss Abbott, Mr. Volker, I caught the reverend as he was boarding the stage. He’s coming to finish your wedding ceremony, but he must be quick about it.”

  Ramee threw Josh a look before addressing Mrs. Hollingsworth. “That’s kind of you, but aren’t you supposed to be on that stage?”

  Mrs. Hollingsworth dropped her hands. “I am, but I couldn’t leave until you are wed to this young man. I wouldn’t have done my duty.”

  Reverend Holly burst through the door, and Mrs. Hollingsworth gestured for everyone to gather around. Josh figured it was time to take his place.

  “As I recall we’d already covered everything except the important part.” The preacher looked down at the paper he held in his hand. “Do you Joshua Michael Volker take this woman, Ramee Alice Abbott, to be your lawfully wedded wife?”

  Josh squeezed her hand. “I do.”

  “Do you, Ramee Alice Abbott, take this man, Joshua Michael Volker, to be your lawfully wedded husband?”

  She sent a glance to Josh as she said, “I do.”

  “According to the laws of the state of California, I now pronounce you man and wife. You may kiss your bride.”

  Josh barely touched her lips before the preacher grabbed his hand, pumping it. “Congratulations, Mr. and Mrs. Volker.” He smiled and started for the door. “Mrs. Hollingsworth, the stage driver only gave us two minutes.”

  Ramee hugged her former chaperone. “Thank you for everything. Safe travels, and please tell Carianne and Prudie you left me very happy.”

  Reaching up with both hands, Mrs. Hollingsworth patted Ramee’s right cheek and Josh’s left. “I will surely do that. I knew you two were made for each other from the first. All I had to do was stay out of the way and let nature take its course.”

  “Mrs. Hollingsworth.” Reverend Holly held the door open.

  With a final pat, she whirled around and dashed out.

  Rafe’s laughter boomed behind them. “I guess you’re the first couple who can say you were married in church and in jail.”

  Lil chuckled. “I’m going straight out to Granny’s and tell her everything. Can’t wait to see her face.”

  “Tell her we’ll be seeing her as soon as we get settled.” After accepting Rafe’s and Lil’s congratulations, Josh took Ramee’s arm as they made their way to the cell. Tom had his hand through the bars, and Josh shook it. Ramee stretched on tiptoe to pull Tom’s face down and kissed him on the cheek. “Thank you for saving my husband’s life.”

  Tom’s bashful
glance amused Josh. “It was the least I could do, seeing as how I got him into the mess to begin with.”

  Josh took measure of the cage holding his cousin. No, it wasn’t Tom’s fault. By all accounts of how he’d lived, he should be behind bars too. By the grace of God, he wasn’t, and he had this extraordinary woman beside him. Every time he looked at her, he saw enough love to last them a lifetime.

  He was suddenly overwhelmed with the need to get away. If they tarried until the marshal arrived, he might want to interrogate them, and that could take hours. They’d take the opportunity to escape while they had the chance.

  With a final wave to Tom and Rafe, Josh squeezed Ramee’s soft hand, and she fell in step beside him.

  Outside on the sidewalk, they almost ran into a tall black-haired man in business attire. The lawyer. Josh laid a protective arm around Ramee. “Tom’s inside. Let me introduce you to my…my wife.” The first time he’d gotten to say that, and it tasted mighty good rolling off his tongue.

  The man doffed his derby. “A pleasure, Mrs. Volker. Stewart Lyles at your service. I’m glad I caught you, Mr. Volker.” He pulled a paper from his coat pocket and handed it to Josh. “These are the last known addresses of your former partners, as you requested.”

  Josh pocketed the paper. “Thanks.” He glanced at Ramee’s smiling face. She understood. “My new partner and I will take care of the matter from here, won’t we, sweetheart?”

  She hugged his arm to her side. “Indeed, we shall.”

  Mr. Lyles sidled around them. “I won’t detain you any longer then. I’ve talked with the judge over at Bluffton, and I believe your cousin will get a light sentence.” With another tip of the hat, Lyles disappeared into the jail.

  Josh noticed his wagon, hitched and ready, across the street. Good ole Rafe had done this for him. He glanced down the road that led to his ranch. “Now I get to do what I’ve wanted to do ever since I first met you.”

  The smile didn’t leave Ramee’s mouth, though one tawny brow rose. “What’s that?”

  “Take my bride home.”

  Approval rose in those eyes as blue as a robin’s egg and as wide as the western sky. She reached up to kiss him on the lips, right there on the street. “Let’s go, cowboy. Your bride is ready.”

  Book 3

  Prudie’s Mountain Man

  Foreword

  The general store anchored civilization in pioneer America. It began with the peddler. Any man with a mule and wagon and enough capital to fill it was in business. The peddler would travel the countryside, stopping in settlements to sell his wares. If he found a place large enough to support the business, usually a cross-roads, he built a permanent building. When the people moved away, as they usually did in the mining towns, he’d pack up and move on.

  A frontier town might survive without a church or school, but not a general store. It became much more than a place to buy necessities. The store was a meeting place, often containing the post office and a public bulletin board.

  Farmers bartered and used credit for much of the year, paying their bills when crops came in. The store owner bought directly from whole sellers or drummers. Then during the latter part of the nineteenth century, efforts were made to cut out the middleman, and catalog businesses like Montgomery Ward and Sears and Roebuck emerged.

  In spite of the popularity of the catalogs, the country store continued to thrive until the middle of the twentieth century when chain department stores began to put these ma and pa operations out of business.

  Chapter 1

  Cambridge, Massachusetts 1883

  If Prudie Walsh had a gun in her hand, she’d put a hole through her own brother.

  “Are you saying you lost everything? The business our father worked a lifetime for? The inventory, the buildings, the money?” Her voice rose to a screech. She didn’t even care if the servants heard.

  Samuel put some space between them and stared at the floor. He refused to look her in the eye. “Prudie, if you’d give me a chance to explain.”

  “What is there to explain? You’ve lost it.”

  “You’re not being fair. Mr. Thornton was respected in the financial community. All his investments had been successful in the past. How was I to know the proposal he made to me would be his first undoing?”

  “Any sane person would have questioned the proposal.”

  “But it was to—”

  Prudie put her hands to her ears. “I don’t want to hear any more, do you understand? It only angers me more. What do you intend to do about it? Papa left me half of the business. How are you going to get it back?” And get it back quickly since she’d have to find some other place to live by the end of next month.

  She’d planned to go straight into the business after graduating from Harvard. That was a joke too. The Harvard Annex was just an experiment to appease a few wealthy donors by allowing their daughters to enroll in the college. Now the ladies of the Annex were denied diplomas. They would receive certificates for their hard studies, and the Annex would be turned into a women’s college. A lot of good that would do.

  If she were honest, a Harvard degree wouldn’t have helped her either.

  Not that she’d cared, since she was supposed to have a secure position in Papa’s export business.

  “Prudie, if we could just sit down and discuss it, I do have a plan.”

  She sighed and went to the deep green, velvet sofa, waving a hand to the matching wingchair facing her. Samuel hadn’t had a sensible plan in his life. That’s why Papa had divided the business between them when he died, or so she’d thought. Samuel had taken over management at the same time she’d started her college studies.

  Prudie had demanded Samuel send her reports, of course, but they were all glowing. Now she realized he’d manipulated them to hide his speculation, risking all—without her knowledge. Naturally he wouldn’t have told her, knowing she wouldn’t have approved. It was her fault for taking him at his word. How could she have been so stupid?

  A long silence ensued. “Well, what is your plan?”

  He ran a finger under his collar—a bad sign. “I heard your friend, Miss Barlow’s grandmother died suddenly.”

  Prudie had been residing with Carianne Barlow while attending the Annex. Their other house-mates, Adela and Ramee, had already left—settled out west and happily married. Yes, Carianne’s English grandmother, the wealthy Lady Galenshire, had passed on just as the term was ending, but what did that have to do with Samuel’s problem? Prudie nodded, wondering where this was leading.

  Samuel leaned forward, hands on knees. “If we can credit the gossip, Lady Galenshire left her entire estate to Miss Barlow.” His voice dropped an octave. “They say she’s worth half a million.”

  “Probably more than that, but what of it? What does Carianne have to do with this?”

  “You are good friends with Miss Barlow—have been for four years now. I’m quite certain she’d be willing to extend a loan for the purchase of a fine department store I have my eye on. She might even be willing to make a gift of it, seeing that you’ve been such good friends. She’d hardly miss the money.”

  Prudie’s mouth fell open. So that was Samuel’s real purpose in making a personal appearance. Knowing how he never wished to confront anyone with his misdeeds, she’d wondered why he hadn’t simply sent her a letter.

  She sprang from her seat. “Let me make myself perfectly clear. I have no intention of asking my friend for money for you to invest in some other hare-brained scheme. If that’s all you have to offer—”

  Samuel waved his hands. “Wait, Prue. Only think about it for a moment. Recall your plans to start a mail-order catalog like Montgomery Ward? This would give you the opportunity.”

  “You squandered my opportunity, Samuel.” She was shouting again. “And I know Carianne Barlow well enough to say she’s much too shrewd to be hoodwinked by you.”

  Samuel shifted in his seat. “Every fortune hunter in the country will be after her. Why wouldn’t
she entertain the idea of receiving me as a caller? You could at least vouch for my character.”

  Prudie laughed. “No, I could not. Carianne won’t have any fortune hunters after her because the terms of the estate require her to give up control of the trust if she marries. Believe me, Lady Galenshire was no fool.”

  Truthfully, Prudie wondered how Carianne would ever find a man to marry since it would require her to give up an enormous fortune. But that was Carianne’s problem. Prudie had plenty of her own. Still, Carianne was a friend, and Prudie wouldn’t burden her with Samuel, nor would she accept charity.

  Samuel seemed to be reading her mind. “In that case, you must use your assets, Prue. I could introduce you to Mr. Reinstein.”

  She knew whom he spoke of. Mr. Reinstein was the owner of an import business and had been seeking an introduction to Prudie for over a year.

  Her silence encouraged Samuel. “You’re a beautiful woman. You could have any number of gentlemen. That’s what I mean by using your assets. I thought when you first told me you were taking Harvard classes, it was to be introduced to the young men of the college. You say I’ve squandered our business, but you’ve squandered your prospects by turning from every man who’s shown an interest in you.”

  “I have no desire to marry, unless I find a man as good as Papa, and there isn’t one. I intended to work at Walsh Enterprises, building up the business Papa left to us.”

  Samuel got to his feet, shaking his head. “But now that isn’t an option.”

  She whirled on him. “No—it isn’t, and all because of you. Now let me tell you what your options are. You must get a job…any job…and repay me for all the money you’ve lost that should have been mine.”

  He dared to smile before walking to the hat rack by the door. After taking the time to position his hat at just the right angle, he grasped the door handle. “I’ll come back later in the week after you’ve had time to think about the situation, and hope I shan’t find you so fractious.”