The Rancher's Bride

by Stella Bagwell

  “There. I’m ready. Let’s go eat.”

  She looked up to see he’d stuffed the shirttail into his jeans and was safely dressed again. She opened the door and stepped into the hallway with Harlan right behind her.

  “Oh—uh, there you two are. Kitty sent me after you. Supper is getting cold.”

  Rose whirled around to see Chloe coming from the bedroom end of the house. Dear Lord, her sister hadn’t been thinking she’d taken Harlan to her bedroom, had she? It was bad enough that she’d caught them like this.

  “We were just—” Rose began.

  “Rose was just showing me the bathroom fixtures.”

  Chloe looked suspiciously from her sister’s red face to Harlan’s sheepish smile.

  “Really? You don’t have a bathroom in your house, Mr. Hamilton?”

  Rose frowned at her sister, but Harlan laughed with genuine amusement. “Call me Harlan, Miss Chloe. And yes, I uh—do have a bathroom. But I’ve been thinking about making some changes. With the fixtures, that is.”

  Chloe smiled at him and Rose knew she didn’t believe a word of his story. “Well, I hope you were pleased with what Rose showed you.”

  The smile on his face turned into a ridiculous grin and Rose wanted to sink into the floor.

  “Oh, believe me, she helped me make up my mind. I know exactly what I want now.”

  The slashing of the fence and the hunt for the bull was the major topic of conversation at the supper table. Rose managed to tell her part of the story and comment in all the right places. She even succeeded in eating a healthy portion of steak and potatoes, but beneath her outward calm, she was a wreck.

  Harlan was attracted to her physically. That in itself was hard to imagine. Most of the men she’d tried to date after Peter had found Rose too cool and prim for their liking. And that hadn’t really upset Rose all that much. She’d hated their sexual innuendos and clumsy attempts to tempt her into making love with them. So why was Harlan any different? What did he see in her that other men hadn’t? And why did she melt like a pat of soft butter if he so much as looked at her?

  In honor of their guests, Kitty served coffee and dessert out on the patio in the courtyard. The high desert air had finally cooled somewhat, making the night breeze pleasant.

  While everyone ate and talked, Rose sat quietly in a cushioned lounge chair and tried to make her mind go blank. So much had happened in the past weeks and months she felt as if she were on a freight train that had lost its brakes and was on the verge of jumping the track. Her whole life seemed out of control and she didn’t have a clue how to right it again.

  “Rose, I’d like to talk to you. Can we go somewhere more private?”

  Rose looked around to see that everyone had gone back into the house except for her and Harlan. And she hadn’t even noticed!

  “More private?” she asked, her voice close to squeaking. “We’re alone out here.”

  “Yes, but…I don’t want Emily, or anyone else, coming out and interrupting what I have to say.”

  She stood and wiped her suddenly damp palms down the folds of her skirt. “Are you sure you only want to talk?” she asked skeptically.

  Her question put a crooked grin on his face. “Yes. Just talk.”

  She wasn’t sure she believed him. The glint in his brown eyes gave her the impression he had everything but talking on his mind. Still, Rose wasn’t about to run from him like a frightened little girl.

  “There’s a bench out front beneath the pines. We could go there,” she suggested.

  He stood. “Fine. Lead the way.”

  They walked slowly to the courtyard gate, then down the drive and away from the house. The night was clear and the moon high enough to shed plenty of light for them to walk without fear of stepping on a sidewinder. Harlan remained close by her side, his hand lightly touching the small of her back.

  “You have a very nice family, Rose. I can see why it’s so important for you to keep this ranch going.”

  “I’d do anything for my family,” she said, then glanced up at his shadowed face. Now that the heat of the sun was just a memory, he’d left his felt hat back in the house. His dark hair curled rakishly across his forehead and down on the collar of the white shirt. Looks to die for. Chloe had certainly described Harlan to a T.

  “Funny that you should say that.”

  “Why?”

  He glanced down at her. “Because I…” He shook his head and motioned his hand toward the bench a few feet away. “Let’s sit down first.”

  Her heart thudding heavily, she joined him on the slatted wooden bench. As soon as she grew still, he reached for her hand. Rose gave it to him and resisted the urge to close her eyes as the warmth of his fingers enveloped hers.

  “I think you realize how fond Emily has grown of you,” he began and Rose got the impression he wasn’t quite sure what he wanted to say next.

  “Yes, I’m fond of Emily, too. But you didn’t need privacy to tell me that.”

  “Give me time, Rose. I’m trying to go into this gently.”

  Gently? The word put her on sudden alert. If he had some sort of unpleasant news to break to her, she didn’t want him to beat around the bush about it. “Just spit it out, Harlan. Dear Lord, after all I’ve been through here lately, I don’t need to be handled with kid gloves.”

  “This isn’t something I want to blurt out.”

  A pent-up breath rushed out of her. “Have you changed your mind about the money Daddy borrowed from you?” Her brows shot up. “You think we should sell the place and pay you off. That’s what you’re trying to tell me, isn’t it?”

  He groaned with frustration. “Rose, you’re jumping to conclusions. And I told you this morning that the money isn’t an issue right now. I’m trying to tell you that I’ve been thinking and—” His fingers lifted from hers and began to make smooth little circles on the back of her hand. “I think there’s a way you and I can help each other.”

  She studied her sandaled feet and tried to get her shaky nerves back under control. “Oh.”

  He didn’t go on and Rose finally lifted her head and their eyes met in the silvery moonlight.

  “How can we help each other?”

  He took a deep breath. “We can get married.”

  Rose’s heart ceased to beat as everything inside her went utterly still. “You…can’t be serious!”

  “I’m very serious.”

  Her mouth fell open, but she didn’t care. He’d completely stunned her. There was no way she could hide it. “But you—you don’t care anything about me. You barely know me!”

  Harlan grimaced. “Love isn’t the only reason people get married, Rose.”

  Humiliation poured through every inch of her, until her face burned with it.

  “I didn’t say anything about love,” she said, her voice low and gritty. “But when two people get married they need to at least know each other and care about the other’s welfare.”

  “We know each other,” he countered.

  An incredulous laugh slipped past her lips. “No—no, you don’t know me at all, Harlan. If you did, you wouldn’t dream of asking me to marry you.”

  He took her face between his hands. “I know all I need to know. Emily is crazy about you. She’d love for you to be her mother. I’d love for you to be her mother.”

  And that was supposed to be enough? Rose wondered wildly.

  “Is that what this is all about, Harlan? That you simply want a mother for Emily? You told me the first night I came to talk to you that there wasn’t a woman on this earth you’d ever want to marry. Now you’re inviting me to be your wife. I’m sorry, but that sounds pretty flaky to me.”

  “Forget I ever said that.”

  “Why should I?”

  He growled with frustration. “Because things are different now.”

  “How so?”

  A scowl wrinkled his forehead. “I should have known you’d be cool and practical about this.”

  Rose was feel
ing anything but cool and practical. Her heart was beating at such a frantic pace, she was lightheaded. Or was the idea of becoming Mrs. Harlan Hamilton doing that to her?

  “That’s me. Cool, sensible, boring Rose. I told you. You don’t know me.”

  He made an impatient sound in his throat. “Rose, I admit that we haven’t known each other very long. But I think we know enough. And…” He took hold of both her shoulders. “I know we would be good for each other.”

  How could she be good for him? She wasn’t a whole woman. She could never make any man happy. Especially one like Harlan. “What…makes you think so?” she asked huskily.

  “I need a mother for Emily and you need a man to help you keep this ranch going. It’s as simple as that.”

  Her heart was suddenly breaking and she wasn’t sure why. It shouldn’t pain her to hear Harlan say he wanted to marry her for convenience. But in truth, it did more than pain her. What little feminine pride Peter had left her was now squashed by Harlan’s calculated proposal. She was a woman who would never be truly loved by any man. He couldn’t have made it plainer.

  “I see,” she said very slowly. She moistened her parched lips with the tip of her tongue. “So a mother for Emily is what you’re really after.”

  In the past few moments her face had turned to stone and Harlan knew that he’d hurt her in some way, but he wasn’t sure how.

  “Rose,” he said gently, his palms sliding up and down her upper arms. “Please don’t think I’m being a heartless ass. But I…I’m not going to insult you by pretending to have fallen suddenly and madly in love with you. We both know that would be as ridiculous as if you told me you’d fallen in love with me at first sight.”

  Maybe she had, Rose thought. Maybe that’s why she was feeling so raw and broken. Dear God, don’t let it be so, she silently prayed. She couldn’t bear to be hurt by another man. Not now. Not after everything else that had gone on in her life.

  “I guess I should thank you for being so…up front with me.

  She didn’t look any too happy with him and Harlan knew if he was ever going to get her to agree to this marriage, he was going to have to appeal to the sensible side of her. She was that sort of woman.

  “I realize this isn’t how you…uh, expected a marriage proposal to be. I know women are generally romantic and—”

  She stopped his words with eyes like granite. “Contrary to what you think, Harlan, I’ve been proposed to before. And in the conventional way.”

  His jaw dropped. The fact that some man had asked her to marry him didn’t surprise Harlan. But the obvious bitterness on her face did.

  “I wasn’t implying that you hadn’t.” He shook his head with frustration. “Look, Rose, I don’t know what happened with that proposal, but—”

  “You don’t want to know either,” she cut in sharply.

  So now he was getting to the crux of things, Harlan thought. Her daddy wasn’t the one who’d put her off men. It was someone else. Someone whom she’d put her trust in, then had it badly broken. But now wasn’t the time to ask her to delve into her past. He wasn’t even sure he wanted to hear about it. The idea of a man hurting Rose in any way sickened him.

  He clasped both her hands in his and squeezed them tightly. “Look, Rose, you’ve already told me you’re not interested in romance. And after my wife died I…well, I don’t ever want to love someone like that again. For a long time I didn’t care whether I lived or not. And if it hadn’t been for Emily I don’t know that I would have made it.”

  “If that’s the way you feel, I can’t imagine you wanting to get married again.”

  A gentle smile curved his lips and seeing it brought tears to the back of Rose’s eyes. If that smile was only borne out of love, she thought, she could happily give him anything. But it wasn’t. He wasn’t even trying to pretend he loved her.

  “A marriage between us, Rose, would be different. We wouldn’t have all the emotional ties that cause each other pain. We’d be good friends. And Emily would have a family again. So what do you say, Rose? Will you marry me?”

  Chapter Eight

  Harlan wanted her to be his wife! What was she going to do? What did she want to do?

  Slipping her hands from his warm grasp, she left the bench and walked over to a nearby pine tree. The trunk was huge and she leaned against the rough bark, heedless of its sticky resin.

  “Rose?”

  She heard him coming up behind her. Quickly, she sucked in several breaths of cool night air.

  His fingers touched the back of her neck and she wilted inside.

  “I know this is very sudden for you,” he murmured. “But please don’t say no.”

  She swallowed as her throat grew tighter and tighter. “Just what sort of marriage would this be?”

  “What do you mean?”

  She glanced over her shoulder at him. He was such a strong, handsome man. A man made to love a woman. He didn’t need her for a wife. He needed someone who could be not only a companion and friend, but also his lover. If he didn’t realize that, she certainly did.

  “I mean—” Oh, how could she do this? She turned to face him. “Are you expecting us…to have a sexual relationship?”

  The kiss they’d shared in the bathroom had probably given her the idea he expected their marriage to be consummated in every sense of the word. And the notion was certainly a provocative one to Harlan. He figured making love to Rose would be far sweeter than he could possibly imagine. But he also knew she would probably run like a rabbit if he made sex an issue.

  “Rose, I’m not going to stand here and tell you I’m not attracted to you. Hell, any man who didn’t have one foot in the grave would be. But I know you’re not ready for that sort of commitment to me. You might not ever be.”

  Incredulous, she asked, “And you could live with that?”

  His thumb and forefinger gently closed around her chin. “I’ve lived for seven years without a woman in my bed. I can continue. Maybe after we’re married awhile, you’ll know more how you feel about that.”

  He was making it easy for her. Far too easy, she thought. “Where would we live? I have so much work to do here.”

  “I’d like for us to live in my house. As for your work here, we’re already driving back and forth every day. Besides, I intend to take over most of your workload.”

  What would her sisters think? Would they be relieved that she finally wanted a man, or that one wanted her? Or would they think the stress she’d been under lately had finally made her slip off the beam?

  Groaning, she turned away from him and Harlan was suddenly more afraid than he’d ever been in his life. He didn’t know why, but having Rose be his wife had become everything to him.

  “I don’t know, Harlan. This is all so much to take in.”

  He curved his hands over her shoulders but resisted the urge to pull her back against him. “If it makes any difference, once we’re married I’ll dissolve the loan I made to your father.”

  Stunned, she whirled around to him. “Are you—”

  He threw his hands up in a pleading gesture. “Now Rosie, before you start thinking I’m trying to buy you, just simmer down.”

  She closed her mouth and crossed her arms against her breast. She wanted to be furious with him, but just hearing him call her Rosie was like a sweet stroke of his hand. No one had ever called her Rosie before. Those who knew her considered her too staid and reserved for such a playful name.

  “I’m sorry, Harlan, but that’s what it sounds like to me. And I’ll be honest with you, I think you’d be getting the poor end of the deal.”

  He grinned. “You let me be the judge of that. Besides, it would be pretty foolish to demand money from my own wife, wouldn’t it?”

  She thought about this for a moment. “I guess it would be rather strange.”

  “And it would be to my advantage to simply let the money stay invested in the Bar M, don’t you agree?”

  “You mean, if I prosper from it,
then you stand to prosper?” she asked.

  He nodded and his grin deepened. “So now that we’ve got that all reasoned out, are you going to say yes?”

  Her shoulders sagged. She hadn’t begun to reason things out in her mind. But apparently he had. “I…you’ve got to let me think about it, Harlan. I can’t just give you an answer now. This minute.”

  “When can you?”

  How long would it take her to know if she wanted to be this man’s wife? she asked herself. Tomorrow? Next week? Next year? Maybe she already knew the answer but was just afraid to tell him.

  “Tomorrow evening. When I bring Emily back home.” Her eyes widened as another thought struck her. “You haven’t said anything about this to her, have you?”

  “No. And I won’t until I know how you feel about it.”

  Grateful, she nodded, then said, “We’d better go in now.”

  By mutual agreement they started walking back to the house. Along the way Harlan’s arm slipped around her waist. It felt warm and right there and for once that was all that mattered to Rose.

  The next afternoon after several hours of line riding, Rose and Emily returned to the ranch house and found Justine, Chloe and Kitty sitting out on the patio in the courtyard. Charlie and the twins were playing quietly in the shaded area of the sandpile.

  Justine quickly extended her hand to Emily. “You must be Mr. Hamilton’s daughter, Emily. I’ve already heard lots of good things about you.”

  Smiling shyly, Emily stepped forward and took Justine’s hand. “Nice to meet you, ma’am.”

  Justine laughed. “Please don’t call me ma’am. I’m not that old yet. Just call me Justine.”

  Rose glanced fondly over at the busy children. “Looks like Charlie is keeping the twins entertained.”

  Justine laughed and Chloe said, “We’re not sure if it’s Charlie who’s keeping them happy or getting to dig their hands in the sand.”

  Kitty sat up in her lawn chair and quickly poured two glasses of lemonade, then handed them to Emily and Rose.