His Tempting Bride (The Brides of Paradise Ranch - Spicy Version Book 5)

by Merry Farmer

  She stepped toward Cody, but before she could reach out for him, he gestured for the whole group to move closer to the fire. “I’ll just warm this up,” he said without looking at Miriam.

  A thread of worry cut through Miriam’s elation. Had he stepped away from her on purpose? From the fireplace, he grinned and then winked at her, but he was definitely more reserved than she wanted him to be.

  Old, all-too familiar fear—fear that once again, Miriam had put her trust in a man that had taken her to bed with no intention of following through on the promises he’d made in the night—gnawed at her. But no, no, Cody wasn’t like that. She could feel that deep in her heart. Couldn’t she?

  “The show,” Meizhen said with a sorry sigh when the silence became uncomfortable.

  “We missed show,” Meiying added.

  “No you didn’t.” Miriam pushed aside her own, possibly groundless worries to concentrate on reassuring her friends. “There was no show. It was canceled because of the blizzard, and I suppose because we all went out looking for you.”

  “Oh, so sorry.” Meizhen began to cry again.

  “It’s all right.” Miriam hugged her tight. “It’s just a show. Your lives are far more important.”

  “Others search for us?” Meiying asked. “Are they safe?”

  A tremor of concern shot through Miriam’s heart, and she turned to Cody.

  “I’m sure they are,” he answered. “Everyone who came after us had at least one experienced frontiersman with them. They’ll know what to do in this sort of weather.” He stepped forward and squeezed Meiying’s shoulder to comfort her. “And as for the show, I’m sure Howard will let you do it again on another night.”

  “Yes.” Meizhen sniffled and tried to smile and stand straighter. “Another time.”

  The hopeful smile on her friend’s face filled Miriam with confidence. She couldn’t honestly say she knew where she stood with Cody, but loving him felt so right. Confidence filled her, and she welcomed it in. Her friends were safe after all, people were watching out for them in ways she never would have guessed at, and most importantly of all, she was certain at last about what she wanted for her life.

  Chapter Ten

  As the small group of searchers and wanderers rode back into Haskell through almost a foot of snow, Cody tried his best not to feel like a smug hero returning home. Chen drove the livery’s wagon with one of Jasper Katz’s horses hitched to it, Meizhen and Meiying riding with him, but Cody rode in front, Miriam tucked in front of him on the saddle.

  He was certain her scent would live in his soul for the rest of his days. The night they’d spent together was the most remarkable of his life. Loving Miriam had felt like so much more than sinful fun. It was as close to a promise of marriage as he could make without whisking Miriam off to the church so that Rev. Pickering could marry them on the spot. He would have taken her straight to the church as they rode into town, but a large group of people was already waiting for them at The Cattleman Hotel, and Miriam seemed eager to greet them and assure Miles everything was all right.

  “Thank the Lord, you found them,” Miles exclaimed as their half-frozen bunch walked into the hotel lobby. He’d had his head together with Gunn at the front desk, but raced across the room to squeeze Meizhen and Meiying in a bear-hug. “We set out to search for you last night shortly after Miriam and Cody left, but the blizzard picked up and Theophilus thought it was best we return home.” He glanced admiringly over his shoulder at Gunn.

  Gunn merely nodded modestly. “I knew the search was in good hands with you, Cody. It appears I was right.”

  The same sort of warm feeling Cody had always had when his father complimented him struck him now, and he grinned. “Well, sir, we didn’t exactly find them. More like they found us.”

  Their shivering, chattering group drew the attention of everyone in the lobby. Madame Kopanari rose from the chair near the window where she had been watching and waiting. Juan helped her up and escorted her across the room as none other than Howard Haskell and Virginia Piedmont rushed out of the hotel’s restaurant.

  “The prodigal acrobats have returned home,” Howard boomed as he came to join them. Anyone left in the entire territory of Wyoming who hadn’t noticed their arrival knew they were back after that announcement.

  Miles had moved on from hugging the twins within an inch of their life and had his arms wrapped tightly around Miriam now. She hugged him back like he was a long-lost brother. At least Cody hoped that’s how she was hugging him. “We got as far as we could toward Katz’s ranch,” he told everyone who was listening. “You’re right, the storm did pick up at one point.” He nodded to Miles.

  Whether Miles noticed the spark of possession in Cody’s glance or not, he gave Miriam one final squeeze, then stepped a respectable distance away from her.

  “Katz has all those hunting cabins and waystations set up on his property, and we got lucky and found one,” Cody went on.

  “You spent the night alone with Miriam here in one of Jasper Katz’s cabins?” Virginia’s brow flew up, but it was impossible to tell whether she was indignant at the idea or tickled by it.

  “Yes, we did,” Miriam answered, cheeks rose-pink, then rushed on with, “You can’t imagine how relieved I was the next morning when Mr. Liu knocked on our door, the twins with him.”

  “They made it almost all the way to the heart of Jasper’s ranch.” Chen picked up the story.

  As he told his portion—all about finding the twins nearly frozen in the stormy night and having to break the news to them that he wasn’t their brother—Cody eyed Miriam. His heart swelled to the point where it felt too big for his chest every time he looked at her, and heat flooded the region below his belt, but she was avoiding his glance now. He wasn’t exactly worried about her. Everything they’d shared the night before was too strong and too recent for him to doubt her feelings for him. But the way she clung to the twins now, one on each side, almost made it look like she was hiding. She couldn’t be having more doubts, could she?

  “We waited until the sun was up enough to provide a little warmth before heading back here,” Chen continued to tell his story, “but along the way, I noticed smoke coming from one of the cabins. It didn’t take much to put two and two together and figure someone had come looking for Meizhen and Meiying.”

  Cody looked around to see how the others were reacting to the story. He nearly flinched when he caught Madame Kopanari grinning at him. Her wizened old eyes held knowing. She nodded slightly when Cody met her eyes. If that wasn’t approval, he didn’t know what was. His gaze traveled on to Miriam, who had just noticed the exchange between him and Madame Kopanari. For one moment, the old worry was back in her eyes. That struck like a gunshot to Cody’s gut. After all that, she was still anxious?

  But of course she was. The truth struck home as if someone had lit a lamp. Miriam—his Miriam—had lived a lifetime of broken promises and hard times. It would take more than one night and a promise spoken once to reassure her. And loving a woman was not a task for a lazy man—for the kind of man he had been. No, it was high time he squared his shoulders, held his head high, and proved that he was the kind of man who could be the husband that a woman like Miriam needed.

  “Show,” Meiying added to the conversation that had gone on without Cody. “So sorry we missed it.”

  “You didn’t miss anything, dear,” Virginia reassured both twins, who looked equally distressed.

  “You didn’t miss it because it didn’t happen,” Howard laughed. He rocked back on his heels, tucking his thumbs in the pockets of his vest. “But I have a few ideas about that.”

  As if a cannon had fired, everyone’s attention snapped to Howard.

  “What do you mean?” Miles asked, hope bright on his face.

  Howard shrugged. “Why let a little bad weather stop us? We have the stage that you worked so hard on ready to go, the children of Haskell haven’t forgotten their songs and dances overnight, and you don’t have any pre
ssing engagements elsewhere, do you?”

  Miles and Juan exchanged looks that Cody could only describe as guilty. Miles peeked at Gunn, and Juan hid a cough as he glanced in Howard’s direction. Even Madame Kopanari smiled as if she knew something others didn’t. Only Miriam’s eyes widened in alarm. She looked around at her friends, then glanced questioningly to Cody.

  “No one here’s in any hurry to see any of you move on.” Cody spoke what everyone must have been thinking. He certainly had no intention of letting Miriam anywhere near a train until she was good and wed to him.

  “Perfect. Splendid.” Howard clapped his hands together. “Then the performance will be rescheduled for a night soon, once everyone is able to make their way back into town.”

  A round of surprised gasps and excited murmurs filled the lobby. There must have been a dozen people looking on to see what the fate of the Kopanari Company would be. It warmed Cody’s heart to see his new friends so well-supported by his old friends. It also gave him ideas.

  “If you folks are going to be sticking around for a while, why don’t you go up to your rooms and get some rest, clean up, and get warm,” he suggested, winking at Miriam.

  “Oh.” She blinked, her expression falling. “You don’t want to…have lunch with…with us or anything?”

  Cody’s grin widened, and at the same time, his heart breathed a sigh of relief. She didn’t want to part from him, not even for a little bit. But he had plans. So far, they’d done everything backwards and upside down in their strange courtship. Now he would do things right. He needed a ring, flowers, and just the perfect moment to ask her the question he should have asked from day one.

  “I can come back and have supper with you later,” he said. “Right now, I’d better go let Travis know he’s down one horse for the livery, and let Wendy know we made it home safely, so she doesn’t have to worry.”

  “Oh, yes. Yes, I suppose that would be right.” Miriam’s expression flickered as if she was trying to convince herself everything was as it should be.

  Cody couldn’t blame her, after everything she’d been through. He wouldn’t let her down either.

  “Splendid.” Howard clapped his hands together once more. “Let’s welcome the lost, frozen lambs home, and as soon as we’re all settled and the snow subsides, we’ll have ourselves a grand performance.”

  “And for our final act tonight, ladies and gentlemen, the children of Haskell will perform a medley of folk songs.”

  Miles finished up his introduction and waved a flourishing hand to present the children as he backed toward the stage’s side curtains. The audience burst into applause, and for what seemed like the hundredth time that night, Miriam’s heart sang in her chest. The assembly hall at Haskell’s school was filled to the brim with adoring parents, curious ranch workers, and just about everyone else within a day’s ride of the town.

  “Howard Haskell really came through for us,” Miles whispered once he stood by Miriam’s side. “I never would have guessed he’d be able to rouse the entire county to come to the show only three days after a blizzard like that.”

  Miriam dragged her attention away from the two rows of children as they took their places on the stage. “Howard is an amazing man,” she said, though she suspected Cody had a hand in egging him on and riding out to the various ranches near Haskell to let people know the new date for the show.

  She turned her attention back to the stage, and from the wings raised her hand to signal for Piper Strong to begin playing the piano. Half of the children on the stage looked to Piper for their cue, and half looked to her. They drew in a collective breath, then burst into song, more or less on key.

  “Miles, mi amigo, are you weeping?” Juan crept up behind Miriam and Miles, thumping Miles on the back.

  Miles laughed, then pressed his fingertips to his lips. “Of course not. I must have dust in my eye.”

  Juan and Miriam joined in his suppressed laughter, trying to keep quiet and focus on the children. Miriam’s attention drifted to the tiny slice of the audience that she could see. She wanted to pull the curtain back more to look for Cody. He was sitting three rows back on the side with Travis and Wendy and Mason and Libby, barely out of her line of sight. It felt like he had been barely out of her line of sight for the last three days when all she wanted to do was spend every second of her waking hours—and all of her sleeping ones too, at that—with him. She couldn’t figure out for the life of her why he was keeping his distance while at the same time grinning so fondly at her every time they were together. Everything about him suggested he still wanted her—as did a few stolen kisses—so why wasn’t he spending more time with her?

  She shook her head at her thoughts, knowing how silly they were, but now that she’d found love, it seemed like a terrible tragedy to let it go, even for a moment.

  “Of course, I will be crying in earnest soon.” Miles and Juan had gone on with their whispered conversation.

  Miriam turned to Miles, brow raising. “Why’s that?”

  Miles shrugged and sighed. “This is the last performance of the Kopanari Company.”

  All else was forgotten. Miriam twisted to face Miles fully, grabbing his arm. “Miles, you can’t give up now. Howard has promised to pay us well for this show. Why, even that man, Rex Bonneville, was willing to pay us, in spite of rescheduling.”

  Miles chuckled, patting Miriam’s hand on his arm. “It’s difficult to produce a show when you have no troupe.”

  When Miriam only gaped at him, Juan said, “I’ve decided to take a job at Paradise Ranch, Chiquita.”

  “And Meizhen and Meiying are going to take Liu Chen up on his offer to help track down their brother,” Miles added.

  Miriam’s mouth dropped open. “I knew they’d been talking to the man, but I didn’t know he had knowledge of their brother.”

  “He doesn’t, but he thinks he might know someone who does,” Miles said.

  “But…” Miriam blinked rapidly. On stage, the children transitioned into their second song. Suddenly, everything seemed uncertain. “But you still have me.”

  Miles snorted with repressed laughter and shook his head. “Do I?” He nodded toward the stage.

  Miriam turned to follow his nod. Cody stood in the shadows at the far end of the stage, whispering to Madame Kopanari, who had her fortune-telling table set up just to the side of the stairs that provided a stage entrance. At the sight of Madame Kopanari’s broad, toothy grin, Miriam’s heart burst into flutters.

  “Something tells me that Cody isn’t the type to follow his bride across the country as part of a variety show,” Miles whispered to her.

  “But I’m not…”

  Miriam’s protest died on her lips as Madame Kopanari produced a bouquet of hothouse flowers from under her table, handing them to Cody. The children reached the last verse of their song, and Cody nodded to Piper. Piper continued to play, but nodded back.

  “No,” Miriam gasped, pressing both hands to her chest. “He wouldn’t.”

  Her heart went back to singing and dancing inside of her. The children reached the final note of their song, and the audience burst into applause.

  Miles rested a hand on Miriam’s shoulder. “It’s difficult to keep a troupe together when so many of its members have found their happiness elsewhere,” he murmured above the applause, then walked out to the stage.

  The children remained in position as Miles reached the center of the stage and held his arms out to silence the audience. In the shadows on the other side of the stage, Cody cleared his throat and straightened his jacket, and combed his fingers through his hair.

  “Ladies and gentlemen,” Miles announced in his best stage voice. “We have a very special finale for you tonight. It is my understanding that an unusual love story has been unfolding all around us these last few weeks. To hear some tell it, the story has been unfolding for months now.”

  The audience hummed and chuckled, as if they knew all about it. Miriam inched forward until she could
see Libby and Wendy in the audience. They were both beaming with delight. Miriam’s heart jumped to a faster, deeper rhythm.

  “It is a love story filled with mistaken identity, cross-purposes, and second chances,” Miles went on. “Of a love that was meant to be, was derailed by circumstance, but was rescued at the last minute…in a blizzard, of all things.”

  The audience laughed again. Miriam was dizzy with expectation.

  “Cody, I think you should take it from here.” Miles took a few steps back, standing among the children.

  Cody squared his shoulders and stepped onto the stage as the people of Haskell applauded him. Just as he reached the spot Miles had occupied moments before, looking into the wings, Juan nudged Miriam in the back, propelling her past the curtains and onto the stage itself. The audience’s applause swelled.

  “Friends,” Cody began once they had quieted. “I’d like you to meet someone who’s become very special to me.”

  “We’ve already met her,” Athos called from the front row.

  Cody’s expression dropped to a teasing scowl, and he pointed at Athos. “You send away for your own bride, Athos.”

  “I know, I know.” Athos chuckled, the audience with him.

  Cody recovered his smile and squared his shoulders again. He turned to Miriam, holding out a hand in such a way that she couldn’t help but rush forward to take it.

  “You don’t have to do this,” she whispered, unable to swallow her giggles. “I don’t need an audience.”

  “Don’t you?” Cody raised a brow in mock surprise. That expression melted to a smile that was so full of love and happiness that tears sprang to Miriam’s eyes. “Folks,” Cody went on, “last summer, I thought I did something right—even though I didn’t—when I rejected Wendy, the first bride to come my way.”

  Wendy lowered her head in modest forgiveness, waving a hand to let him know it was all right.