A Bride For Luke

by Cyndi Raye

  “Luke, with a woman like Abigail, we both knew it was a matter of time until you came to your senses. It’s time you settled down and tried to forget about what happened.”

  Adam’s words made sense, except he’d still have to keep the secret from Abigail. The less people knew about their past, the less chance of his Ma ever finding out. “I’ll never forget.”

  “We won’t either but we can’t stop living.”

  “Or not being able to fall in love,” Samuel complained.

  “The less people know the better. You don’t have to tell Abigail what happened.”

  “I don’t plan to tell her right now. Maybe some day, I don’t know for sure. I do know when she was lost it was hard to breathe. I tried to imagine her leaving here when I annulled our marriage. Under no circumstances will I let her become someone else’s mail order bride.”

  Adam grinned. “Now that you made up your stubborn mind, I may as well find myself a mail order bride.”

  “Me, too,” Samuel admitted.

  “All in good time, brothers. You know Ma wants that honor.”

  Chapter 9

  Doc James snapped his black leather bag shut. “You’ll be good as new in a few days. A bump like you have will cause great harm if you don’t rest and give yourself time to heal. No work, no cooking and no marital relations for a week. I think complete bed rest for a few days and then slowly get back to normal. I suppose by next Monday you’ll be good as new but I’ll leave a small bottle of laudanum in case you have trouble sleeping. The headaches can be awful. Use it sparingly.” He handed the bottle to Nora.

  A blush crawled over her skin when the doc spoke about marital relations. Abigail glanced at Nora, who turned away with a grin.

  The door burst open. Luke stood there, his chest heaving. ‘I’m sorry, I was out on the range. What did I miss?”

  Abigail was delighted to see him. She gave him one of her best smiles. “Hello, Luke,” she whispered, her head still a bit tingly from the headaches.

  Luke ignored everyone and went to her side. He took both hands in his own and brought them to his mouth. “I’ve missed you.”

  Oblivious to the doctor and Nora, Abigail almost let a tear splash onto her cheek. This new, caring, loving man was making her tear up at his words and actions. Before the accident he was a decent man but very aloof. Now, he was so attentive and loving. A complete turnaround from before. She almost smiled. He had been gone all but four hours. “I’ve missed you, Luke.”

  The doc coughed.

  Nora took the doctor’s arm and led him out of the room, offering a slice of apple pie at her house so he wouldn’t get hungry on his long trip back to Wichita Falls.

  When they were alone, Luke pulled up a chair and sat there, staring.

  “What? Do I look terrible?” she asked, worried the bump on her forehead made her look less appealing.

  He shook his head. “You are beautiful.”

  Abigail let out a sigh. “A few days ago you were ready to send me on my way as a new mail order bride to a stranger when our time was up in three months. Can you blame me if I find this total turnaround absolutely fascinating albeit somewhat scary. I’m not sure I can trust your word.”

  “Then, let me show you.” His placed a tender kiss on her lips, causing Abigail’s heart to pump so fast she thought it would explode. “Luke, what happened to you?”

  He released her hands and stood up, turning away at first as if it were hard to speak his true feelings. “I’m sorry for the way I behaved when you first got here and up until your accident.” He swung back around, then kneeled down, taking her hands again. His emotions were all over the place but his steady gaze forced Abigail to look deep in his eyes.

  “Luke, let’s take this one step at a time. All I want to know is that you care about me and won’t send me away at the end of the three month period. How can I trust your word?”

  His hand cupped her cheek as he gazed into her eyes. “I won’t ever let you go, Abigail. I was so wrong. To make up for my behavior, I’m going to court you and show you how much you mean to me. Fair enough?”

  She smiled. “Court me? We are married, that may seem a bit odd to the others on the ranch. On the other hand, I do like this new behavior of yours. Fair enough, then. Now go on and let me rest. I have a lot of sleeping to catch up on.”

  He dipped his head and gave her a sweet kiss that made her insides tingle. When he moved away, she reached out her hand to touch his arm.

  “What is it?” he instantly was back at her side, gazing into her eyes.

  “Where’s Trouble?”

  His eyes widened. He had left the pup in the hands of Rusty while he went to the Young ranch to buy the dog. On his return he noticed Rusty heading out to one of the pastures, with no dog in hand but all Luke had cared about was getting back in time to speak with the doctor. He hadn’t given the dog much more thought. “I’ll be back, you get some rest.”

  “Luke! Luke! Why are you looking like that? Where did you leave him?”

  He tried to hurry out the door. “Don’t worry, everything is under control.”

  <><>

  “Darn it, you mangy dog! Where are you?” If he didn’t find the pup, Abigail would be devastated. She had put herself in harm’s way for this pup and now Rusty had gone and lost him. He had searched the barn for the last twenty minutes to no avail.

  Luke made his way to the main house. “Ma, where did Rusty head to?”

  Nora was on the porch saying goodbye to the good doctor, who waved from his buggy. Luke waved back but his eyes were on Nora. He needed to find the pup!

  Her smile turned to a frown when she saw the angry look on his face. “What’s wrong? Is it Abigail? Shall we call the doctor back?”

  “No, nothing like that! Rusty was supposed to watch the pup, now he’s gone. I can’t find him anywhere.”

  Nora leaned back, hands on her hips and began to laugh out loud. “Oh, I’m stunned! Just stunned!”

  “What’s so darned funny?”

  “Come inside, Luke, the pup is fine. Come join me for a slice of apple pie.”

  “The pup is fine?” He crossed his arms over his broad chest.

  Nora nodded. She held out her hand. “Come along, Luke, come inside and you will see I tell you the truth.”

  Luke followed his Ma inside like a little boy who lost his way. Nora kept laughing which made him even more frustrated. She turned to him. “You, young man, have a case of love sickness!”

  “That’s absurd!” Was it so easy to tell? His brothers would never let him live it down if they knew he was so scatterbrained because of a woman!

  Trouble was curled near the warmth of the stove, sleeping away. Relief surged through him.

  “You see,” Nora told him, cutting a slice of pie, “he’s perfectly fine. When will you learn to ask before jumping to conclusions? I guess in your state of mind, well, it’s understandable.”

  Luke sat at the table, propping one elbow on the wooden edge. Even though he was a grown adult, it did feel good to sit here, one on one with the one person who loved him no matter what. She made sure him and his brothers grew up to be strong and capable men. Even though Pa was gone, she always held them together, even when things got tough the first few years. He would do anything for her, just like she’d do for all of them, and he’d keep his father’s secrets from ever being brought out in the open, no matter what. He’d have to keep it from his own wife as well, even though it would be hard.

  He picked up a fork and turned to the pie when his Ma set it in front of him. “Promise me you will not tell Adam or Samuel how stupid I act? They won’t let me live this down. It will be horrible trying to listen to the two of them making fun of me.”

  Nora sat across from her son. “I believe you are being a bit dramatic, son, as usual. I promise not to mention how frantic you were trying to find the pup for the woman you love.”

  He set down his fork and stared at his mother in amazement. “I guess I do love
Abigail.” The realization hit him like a bale of hay flying across they barn yard, landing smack dab in his face.

  Nora gave him her all-knowing smile that Luke knew so well. “You can thank me any time, son.”

  Luke grinned. “Thanks, Ma.”

  “You are certainly welcome. I told you I know what is good for you. Not to mention that your brothers need to follow suit. Tell me, what is the one thing I can entice Adam with in order for him to let me send for a mail order bride for him?”

  Luke thought for a moment. He shook his head. “It’s too late for him, Ma. Any woman will do now that the one he always wanted is married.”

  Nora gave him a sharp look. “Do you mean Melody? They are the best of friends, that’s all.”

  Luke grunted, his mouth full. “Best friends? If she hadn’t been so blinded by that fancy husband of hers who swept her off her feet five years ago, she’d know Adam had always been in love with her.”

  “Don’t be ridiculous, Luke. Melody is a sweet girl, and the two have been friends since she started coming here with her parents. That’s all, don’t add more to it than it is.”

  “Well, then, I guess since he can’t have Melody, he’d take a parcel of land to build himself a nice cabin like I have to bring home a bride. I doubt you will have to offer either one of my brothers anything. Now that I’m married, they will follow suit.”

  Nora helped herself to a slice of pie. “That’s much more than a pearl-handled gun. Well, then, we best get to it since I want to see the lot of you all married by the end of the year.”

  “No worries here, Ma. I’ll talk to him later today.”

  “Good.”

  “Ma?”

  “What is it, son?”

  “I want to have an outing. I guess you could call it a wedding reception.”

  “Oh?”

  “Yes, Abigail and I got married at the church and that was the end of it. I will be honest, I didn’t plan to stay married to her. In three months, when the contract is up, I had planned to send her back to Miss Addie to find her another husband.”

  Nora sat back, shocked at her son’s words. After a few seconds, she composed herself. “You actually read the contract? Oh, dear! Did you tell Abigail this as well?”

  He nodded. “I told her the day I met her. She wasn’t too pleased.”

  “Seems your initial plans have backfired on you, son.”

  “Pretty well. I can’t live without her now. Let me make it clear, I won’t live without her, she means the world to me. I never thought I would want to feel this way about anyone. My life was perfect, or so I thought.”

  Nora gave the sleeping puppy a nod. “Perhaps Trouble isn’t so much trouble after all.”

  Luke agreed. The pup was the reason his true feelings surfaced. If the pup hadn’t gotten lost, he’d still be contemplating sending her back to Miss Addie. But now, things were different. As long as he kept the secret between his brothers and himself, there would be room for a wife. Why hadn’t Luke seen this sooner than later? “Can you help give my wife a nice wedding reception?”

  “Of course. Now, I don’t want you to worry none. Go take care of your wife and I’ll take care of the reception. How about two weeks from Saturday?”

  Luke looked a bit sheepish. “That’s the day I was going to send her away. The deadline. Now, I’m going to be throwing a big shindig to introduce the world to my wife.”

  Nora laughed out loud. “The world? How about a few neighbors and some members from the church, and Miss Addie herself? That’s about the best we can do.”

  There was a small church they frequented each week about twenty minutes away from the ranch in the small rural town of River’s Edge where they sometimes went to pick up certain supplies. The town was nothing like Wichita Falls or Mill Ridge and a far cry from cities like Dallas but the little town was sequestered against a ridge and running along the banks of a water supply. Hands from neighboring farms and ranches spent their Saturday nights at the saloon and dance hall, then Sunday mornings at the church on the ridge where the pastor was also the local barkeep. Didn’t make much sense to Luke, but it seemed others enjoyed the place.

  His Ma wasn’t real crazy about listening to a barkeep preach the word of God, except for the fact Pastor Daniel did a decent job. So every Sunday morning they gathered together for the twenty minute trip to the church.

  All Luke wanted now was to spend the rest of his life with his new bride, have children to carry on his name and ranch, in that order.

  “Luke? Are you listening?”

  “Yes, I am.” Although he wasn’t.

  “I said we’ll butcher for the meat and I’ll make some side dishes to go with. Plus, you will need a wedding cake. I’ll take care of that. Rusty can gather a few of his musical friends so there’s dancing. I’ll enjoy getting the reception ready for you and Abigail. Everyone works so hard, this will be good for the whole ranch and neighbors.”

  “Ma, thanks for taking care of the details. I trust your judgement.”

  Nora gave him a hug. “I can see your mind is on one thing right now. Here,” she told him, gathering the pup from its nice, cozy spot. “Take the pup and go home. Go on, now. Take a few days off from the ranch and take care of your wife. I’ll keep the boys at bay while you tend to Abigail.”

  “They’ll have the ranch in an uproar if I let them to their own devices.”

  “Now, Luke, there you go being over dramatic again. The others will be fine. The ranch will be fine, good day.”

  His Ma turned her back to him after handing over the pup. Luke stood there for a second, holding Trouble, trying to figure out how he can walk away when the ranch needed attending to.

  “Luke, I meant for you to go now. You don’t have to worry about the ranch, the rest of us know how to run it without you.”

  “Jeez, Ma, that’s harsh.” He gave her a quick kiss on the cheek. “I’m leaving.”

  As he walked outside he heard her next words. “Thank you, God. I never thought he’d go!”

  Luke made his way back to the cabin, the pup in tow. He watched the little fellow sniff around the grass, do his business then stand at Luke’s feet, waiting to be picked up and carried. “I’m afraid you’ll have to walk, little fellow.”

  Trouble gave him one of those sad, pitiful looks. Luke needed to train him to listen. “Come on,” he urged and began to walk away from the pup. Except the pup got wind of the horse barn and began to head towards the noises inside.

  Luke ran after him, shaking his head. Now wasn’t the time to train, he imagined it would take a lot more than a gentle nudge. He scooped the dog up in his arms and went back to the cabin.

  Inside, Abigail was asleep. Trouble began to wag his tail the moment he saw her lying there. “I know how you feel,” he told Trouble, realizing he was discussing his feelings with a dog. His own heart pounded at the sight of his wife. Shaking his head, Luke placed the pup on the bed, where he instantly settled on Abigail’s lap. He watched the two for some time before going to the kitchen to see what he could muster up for supper.

  Two and a half hours later he was still sitting at the table worrying about what to cook. His Ma was adamant about him staying away from ranch work and taking care of Abigail. Luke supposed that meant doing his own cooking. He guessed he could give it a whirl.

  He was also aware it would give the two of them some time together to talk. Knowing he had been a terrible husband at first, Luke was determined to make it up to her. If that was through her stomach, then he’d learn to cook somehow. Except when he looked around the stove and on the shelves for something to cook, he had no idea what to do. About the only thing he knew how to cook were eggs and beans.

  Some time later, after checking on Abigail numerous times to find her sleeping peacefully, a knock to the front door had Luke quickly crossing the room. When he flung open the door, his two brothers stood there, a gimpy grin on each face. Samuel held a covered pot. Adam had a covered plate in his hands.

&nb
sp; “Come on in. What you got there?”

  “Your supper. Ma figured you’d be a total slacker in the kitchen. She sent chicken and dumplings and baked bread so you don’t kill Abigail in the meantime.”

  “Not nice,” Luke warned. “Keep your voices down, she is still asleep.”

  “Sorry,” Adam murmured. “You have to admit, seeing you in this domesticated role is quite hilarious.”

  The two brothers set the food on the table and began to laugh. Samuel even went as far as slapping his hand on his pant leg.

  “It’s not funny one bit. Get out, both of you!”

  “That’s no way to treat your brothers, who, by the way, brought you a delicious meal.”

  “Out!” Luke knew better than to keep them here longer than necessary. He loved his brothers but the gleam in both their eyes spelled trouble.

  “We’re going.” Samuel was the first to head towards the door. He made a face at Adam, who instantly followed behind. Luke didn’t trust them one bit. They were up to something.

  When he looked out a few minutes later, there was no sign of them anywhere. He supposed they weren’t going to pull any shenanigans tonight. Since the sun had already faded, he wasn’t able to see far into the distance. Figuring they went to the barn to play some cards, Luke took the pot of dumplings from the table. It was still warm but he wanted to let Abigail sleep a little bit longer.

  He stirred the fires in the stove, thinking about their evening together. The doc said complete bed rest for a few days until she was sure the headaches were gone. When a flame shot out from the belly of the stove, Luke jumped back, catching himself before tumbling towards the ground. His knee hit the floor but he didn’t fall.

  He heard some rumbling, along with smirking and looked up to see two faces peering in the kitchen window. Sonofagun! His brothers were peeking in the window! Luke shot out the front door like nobody’s business, catching up to the two as they high-tailed it through the yard.