by Zina Abbott
Their mouths hanging open, both Bessie and Simon stared at the money stacked on the counter. Zeb nodded in Simon’s direction. “Count it up, Mr. Brinks. Tell me if it’s enough to cover all her debts. If not, I’ll throw in more. She’s worth a bonus, if that what it takes for her to feel she’s free to be courted.”
Simon picked up the bills and quickly counted the money. “This should pretty much do it.”
“Pretty much. How much more does she need?”
“This is more than enough to pay her portion of hers and her parents’ debt and then some. What little remains should be the responsibility of her brother and sister.”
Zeb leaned forward, a no-nonsense tone in his voice. “Then I’ll pay what else needs to be paid and you can tell them they need to pay me back. You tell them if they don’t, they are going to find out their new brother-in-law doesn’t like slackers and those who skip out on their obligations, and they won’t like how I let them know if I ever meet up with them. Will you tell them for me?”
Instead of being upset at the rough talk directed towards him, Simon answered with a big smile. “I’m with you one hundred percent. I’ll tell them.”
Dazed, Bessie stared at Zeb. “Brother-in-law? You said you were doing this so I would feel free to be courted. You have us already married. I haven’t even said I would accept your suit, let alone marry you.”
Zeb turned to Bessie, a guilty look on his face. “Sorry, Bessie. I guess I got ahead of myself. See, in my mind, I’ve already decided what I want. But, you’re right. You deserve the time to consider everything before you decide whether your choice agrees with mine.”
Simon cleared his throat. “I’ll leave you two alone while I run upstairs and bring your picnic basket down, Bessie.”
As soon as Simon was gone, a chastened Zeb turned to Bessie. “Will you forgive me for getting ahead of myself, Bessie? Will you still agree to let me court you?”
Bessie lifted her eyes to meet his. As soon as their eyes locked on each other, she smiled. “Yes, Zeb, you may court me.”
Zeb heaved a sigh of relief. “Good. I’d hate to see a perfectly good picnic basket worth of food go to waste.”
“I hope you like what we fixed. And I know you told Uncle Simon you’d pay for it, but I won’t let you. This is my and Aunt Desi’s contribution.”
As soon as Simon returned with the picnic basket, he let them out the back door and locked the store behind them. Zeb helped Bessie up into the seat, then climbed up and picked up the leads.
“We could have taken the wagon, Zeb. You didn’t need to go to the expense of renting a buggy.”
“I wanted to rent a buggy so you can have some shade while we travel. Besides, letting my foreman take the wagon back to the ranch will help put him back in his place.”
Bessie reached over and gently placed her hand on his forearm. “You have some good men working for you, Zeb. They care about you. Try not to be too hard on them.”
Zeb turned and smiled at Bessie as he bit back the words he wanted to say. Try not to be too hard on them? What about all the grief Eddie Joe gave him?
They reached the livery where they swapped out the wagon for the buggy. A less than happy Eddie Joe climbed in the wagon seat with the promise that after he found some dinner himself, he’d find Juanita and wait until she was ready to leave. Zeb helped Bessie in the buggy, and, making sure the picnic basket was secure, they started down the road out of town.
Zeb turned to Bessie. “Aaron told me about a good place to go by the river. I hope I can follow his instructions without getting lost. I want you to enjoy this outing.”
“I’ll be with you, Zeb. I’ll enjoy it.”
They reached a spot with good shade and decent grass for the horse where they could hear the water rushing over rocks. Zeb didn’t know if it was the spot Aaron told him about, but he figured it was a good place to have a private picnic. He helped Bessie down. She took the picnic basket and blanket to prepare their dinner while he took care of watering the horse and hobbling it where it could graze. When he returned, Bessie had the food and plates already set out for the two of them.
Zeb followed her lead as Bessie bowed her head and said a quick blessing on the food. Neither one spoke much as they ate. Afterwards, while Bessie packed everything back in the basket, Zeb shifted the blanket closer to the tree so he could use the trunk as a backrest.
Zeb beckoned Bessie to sit next to him. “Come share my tree trunk, Bessie. Or if you’re worried about getting your gown dirty you can lean against my arm.”
Bessie scooted next to him, but continued to sit upright.
Zeb reached over and placed his hand over hers, grateful she did not pull away from him. “Thank you for letting me court you, Bessie, and for putting up with me. I know I may not be the easiest person to live with. But, I do promise you, should you decide on me, I’ll do everything I can to make you happy.”
Bessie looked up at him with a smile. “A woman can’t ask for too much more than that, except maybe loyalty.” She wanted to add love to the list, but decided it was better any declaration of that nature came freely from his heart, not because she tried to pry it out of him.
Zeb continued. “Loyalty. Yes, that is important, too. I already know from what you’ve told me you are loyal to those you love. And I will be loyal to you, Bessie, I promise.”
Bemused, Bessie looked at him and shook her head. “You seem so certain. We only met a short time ago.”
“I know. But, you’ll find out this trait about me anyway, so I might as well warn you now. When I make a decision about something, I move forward. I don’t hang back and consider all the possibilities, or worry about what might go wrong. I move forward.” Zeb sat up straight and leaned towards Bessie, his face only inches from hers. “I don’t know how much your uncle has told you, but I have a successful ranch. I don’t say it to try to impress you with my wealth other than assure you I can afford to support a wife and children comfortably. But I started with nothing. I believe my tendency to take action once I make a decision is a big factor behind my success.”
“That trait has its value. I tend to try to gather all the available information and consider my options before I make a decision.”
Zeb leaned back against the tree trunk again. “That is why we will make a good couple. I’m sure there are times you will see things I don’t. I’ve done well for myself so far, but I’ve still fought this feeling something is missing. I’ve concluded that something missing is you.”
“You could have taken in a business partner with that trait.”
“I don’t want a business partner. I want someone who will give me a purpose bigger than myself. I didn’t even realize what I was missing until I met you. That day I took you to the River Valley Inn, somewhere between you ordering chicken and dumplings and our finishing our pudding stopped with strawberry preserves, I fell in love with you. I realized there’s a big hollow emptiness in my life. That’s when I made the decision I needed to court you and convince you to marry me.”
Speechless, Bessie stared at Zeb. She was just getting used to the idea of being courted, and she struggled to accept that Zeb not only wanted to marry her, not just because she was available and handy, but because he had fallen in love with her.”
Zeb rolled his head and caught Bessie’s eye. “Do you think you could learn to love a man like me? I know you don’t know a lot about me, but hopefully the good outweighs the bad.”
Bessie teased gently. “I saw how you were with your men. You can be ornery.”
Zeb huffed. “Eddie Joe deserves it. You cannot believe the things that man comes up with to plague me. If he wasn’t such a good foreman, I’d tell him to ride on out and keep going.”
“No you wouldn’t. You know he looks out for you.”
“I don’t always like people looking out for me. I’m ornery that way. Can you handle ornery? I won’t get ornery with you, though. And, if I forget and accidentally get that way, just do what you
did earlier in the mercantile and tell me to stop. I promise I’ll stop.”
“I can probably handle ornery.”
“Good. I know I’m not doing very good at this courting business. I’ve never courted a woman before. Have you ever been courted before?”
Bessie looked at her lap. “Yes. A long time ago. It didn’t work out.”
“I hope I’m not making a total mess of this. I mean, even though I know I need to wait until you’re ready, I’ve already decided what I want. I just hope you don’t take too long to make a decision, especially considering my age. I don’t want to spend years courting you if I don’t have to. After all, I am pushing forty.”
Bessie cocked her head to the side and, eyebrows raised, studied Zeb. “Pushing forty? Exactly how old are you?”
“Thirty-eight last month.”
Bessie laughed and shook her head. “Barely thirty-eight is not pushing forty.”
Zeb closed his eyes and squirmed in an effort to settle his back comfortably against the tree trunk. “I’m glad you think so. I’ll tell Eddie Joe what you said so he’ll stop pestering me about it. Better yet, I’ll let you tell him.” Zeb stopped and opened his eyes to look at Bessie. “Do you think thirty-eight is too old for you?”
Bessie shook her head. “It’s only an eight year difference.”
“Good. I’m glad you don’t think I’m too old. However, I am old enough I was hoping to convince you we should be married before the snow flies.”
“Snow flies? I thought Uncle Simon said the snow doesn’t get that bad here.”
“It doesn’t, but we have our storms where we get snowed in for several weeks at a time. I’d hate to plan a winter wedding and end up missing it because a blizzard blows in the night before. I’m too impatient to wait until snow melt next spring.”
“A wedding before the snow flies sounds smart.”
Zeb grew completely still. He sat forward again and studied Bessie’s face for several seconds. “Did you just say what I think you said? Did you just agree to marry me?”
Bessie smiled at him and nodded. “I think I fell in love with you during the same dinner. And at my age, I want to get married soon enough we can have some children together while I still have enough energy to care for them. Your children, especially, may take a lot of energy to raise.”
Zeb reached over and pulled Bessie onto his lap. He wrapped his arms around her and pulled her tight against his chest. He raised one hand to her head and pressed it next to his lips. “First Sunday in October. Unless we have an early winter, it’s still several weeks before first snow. But I don’t want to wait to marry you any later than the first week in October.”
Her eyes bright with joy, Bessie pressed to lean away from him just enough that she could look him full in the face. “I can manage the first Sunday in October. But, no sooner. I have things I need to do to get ready, so I’ll need the month.”
“Then we’ll take our honeymoon trip to Denver. If you want to go somewhere different, we can go next spring.”
“I may be with child by spring and not feel like traveling. Denver is fine.”
“I usually buy my supplies to get me through winter about that time. Do you mind if we do that as well as enjoy the city?”
Bessie shook her head. “No.” A teasing smile blossomed. “Although, the reason Uncle encouraged me to go to dinner with you that day was because he hoped it might persuade you to do more business with him instead of doing so much in Denver now the railroad comes to Jubilee Springs.”
Zeb raised an eyebrow. “That’s what he told you?” At her nod, he grinned. “From the way he acted, I figured he hoped what did happen between us would happen. Maybe he was hoping for both.”
“Uncle Simon can be sly like a fox sometimes.”
Zeb pursed his lips and looked off to the side as he thought about Bessie’s words. “Yes, he can be. I’ll have to thank him next time I see him. And we’ll compare prices to see if it works out for us to do more business with the Brinks, especially with them being family.”
Zeb turned to capture Bessie’s eyes with his once more. He shifted his arms to once again embrace her so he could pull her closer to him. “I want to kiss you, Bessie.”
Bessie held his gaze as a smile once again spread across her face. “I thought you said once you made a decision, you moved forward and acted on it.”
Zeb needed no more invitation. He pulled Bessie tight against him and his lips found hers. The longer they kissed, the more he became incapable of rational thought as he yielded to the experience of the love he felt for Bessie. One last question skittered through his mind.
How am I going to stand to wait until the first Sunday in October to marry this woman?
~o0o0o~
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Thank you for reading
Bargain Bessie!
Each book in the
Sweethearts of Jubilee Springs
series is a Clean, Sweet Western Historical Romance. You may find all the books in this series as they are published by searching for
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Sweethearts of Jubilee springs books by
sweet americana sweethearts
authors:
1.Perfectly Mismatched by Linda Carroll-Bradd
Shame over her father’s arrest sends socialite Aurelia Northcliffe running for a new home and a new name. After she makes sure her younger sister is secure, she travels west to become a mail-order bride in Jubilee Springs, CO. Not only is she shocked at the size of the tiny mining town, the men she’s matched with make her second guess her decision. One potential groom is much too unsophisticated and the other much too discerning--even if he’s the one who makes her feel safe.
Mine Manager Declan MacNeill prides himself on following rules to the letter. Initially resistant to the upcoming bride event, he remembers his short marriage in Ireland and realizes what he’s been missing. His first sight of his potential bride sets his protective instincts on high alert. Everything about her behavior indicates she’s keeping secrets. And Declan is determined on finding out why.
2.Ellen’s Lesson by Patricia PacJac Carroll
She's a blond, blue-eyed beauty. (Well, not exactly.) He's a handsome, prosperous gentleman from a good family. (Yeah, not so much.) With their letters at odds, what will Tyler and Ellen do when they meet and discover the truth? It's a mail order bride mess.
Ellen Barker feared her life was destined for the lonely outcome of a spinster school teacher. An advertisement in the paper asking for women to go to Colorado as mail order brides caught her attention. A few letters later, she was betrothed to Tyler Fletcher. A handsome upstanding citizen of Jubilee Springs.
Tyler Fletcher needed to be married before he was twenty-eight. That's what his pappy had told him. That the mine owners sent off for some mail order brides for the miners was perfect timing. He got hold of one. The perfect lady for him. Pretty, blond and blue-eyed. A woman of high society.
At least that is what his partner, Nels, told him. Once Tyler had some time, he was going to have to learn to read and write.
From the moment Ellen met Tyler, she knew she'd disappointed him, and it wasn't as if he'd been the prize she was expecting either. He didn't want her. She would be left alone again. Maybe ...
3. Aaron’s Annulment Bride by Zina Abbott
>
Aaron Brinks, son of the Jubilee Springs mercantile owners, has been living in a small room above his parents’ store even though he is employed at the Prosperity Mine. When the mine owners announce they have contacted a mail order bride agency, and will allot company houses to the first ten miners who choose a bride and pay her way, he decides it is time for a house of his own.
Shy Andrea Draper must escape her father’s ranch. Her father has discouraged all potential suitors because he does not want to lose his unpaid housekeeper, laundress, and the cook for him and his men. Then there is the problem of Lloyd McCreary, her father’s foreman.
Learning her friend intends to go to Jubilee Springs as a mail order bride, going with her seems Andrea’s only option for escape. She agrees to marry Aaron even though she knows she is not worthy to be any man’s wife. While trying to convince him to be married in name only until he gains title to his house, at which time they can annul the marriage, Andrea’s father shows up to drag her home against her will.
Learning what he is up against, Aaron must decide if it is just the house he wants, or if he wants Andrea.
4. The Sheriff and the Miner’s Daughter by P. A. Estelle
Jim Hawkins, sheriff of Jubilee Springs, watches as six ladies get off the train, ready to meet and hopefully marry men from the Prosperity Mine. He watches as one of the women leave the group and heads his way.
She is there to find somebody. Sheriff Hawkins is more than happy to help her until he finds out the person is Amos Lehman. He is a crusty old miner who has worked his mine before the town was even a town. His cabin is old and hardly enough room for one, let alone a female.
When Jim suggests she get back on the train and go back where she came from, he gets a small taste of the stubborness in the beautiful young woman standing in front of him. Charlene Lehman had come way to far to do that and didn’t appreciate the sheriff’s interference. Blue eyes scan him from boots to hat before dismissing him and walking away.
