by Merry Farmer
“Of course, he’s not.” His father strode in and came to lean over the bed. “Broken bones couldn’t take my boy down, and neither could a little fire. Next time we have a bad lightning storm, I should send him out to harness electricity.”
“Please don’t,” his mother wailed, clutching her chest again.
“Dr. Meyers says you’ll both be right as rain in a few days,” Howard went on, more serious. “Your house is a ruin, though, so you’ll be staying here for a while.”
Franklin nodded. He wasn’t terribly surprised. “As long as we can rebuild, I’ll be happy.”
“We can always rebuild,” Corva said, and judging by the spark in her eyes, she meant far more than just a house. Between the two of them, they could rebuild their lives and make them a thousand times happier.
“All we need to do—” Howard started, but was cut off by a slamming door and a shout from downstairs.
“Haskell!” The voice belonged to Rex Bonneville.
Every bit of good feeling in the room evaporated. Howard marched back to the hall as Franklin pushed himself to sit, in spite of the stabbing pain it caused.
“How dare you invade my house, sir,” Howard bellowed.
It did no good. Footfalls sounded on the stairs, and a moment later, Rex Bonneville was standing toe-to-toe in the hall outside of Franklin’s open door. Only, instead of looking furious, Bonneville looked anxious, almost contrite. He spared one glance for Howard before turning and rushing into Franklin’s room.
“How are you, my dear boy?”
Franklin was so startled by the man’s question that he answered, “Well enough,” before he could think better of it.
With a dramatic gesture, Bonneville sighed. “Thank the Lord in heaven above. We were all so worried about you. My girls have been beside themselves with concern.”
Everyone else in the room fell silent, staring at the big, seemingly relieved, man. Corva backed all the way to the corner of the room, studying Bonneville through narrowed eyes.
Franklin was the first to recover his presence of mind. “What do you want?”
Bonneville gaped at him, as if hurt that his motives could be questioned. “Only to know that you are well. Can I get you anything? Anything at all?”
Franklin glanced to Corva. Her face was a mask of distrust. It was the right reaction.
“It was your men who set fire to my house,” Franklin said, eyes narrowed.
“Yes, yes, I know, and you must forgive me.” Through the appearance of contrition, Bonneville managed to emphasize the word must. “It was the new boys, Carver and Brecker. They were upset over the baseball game, you see. And Brecker is sweet on Vivian. When he heard about the way your good wife insulted her in Kline’s store…”
Bonneville glanced up at Corva, a snake-like snap of hate in his eyes. Corva swallowed and pressed herself further against the wall.
“Get out,” Franklin ordered him without a second thought.
Bonneville flapped his jaws as if mortally offended. “I have only come to wish you a speedy recovery, and to let you know that the perpetrators have been fired and handed over to the authorities. I shall personally testify against them in court. And I assure you, nothing like this will ever happen again.” His glance darted to Corva once more, then back to Franklin, and on to Howard. “Nothing like this will ever happen again, am I right?”
Whether he was talking about the baseball game or whatever Corva had said to Vivian at the mercantile, or whether he was harking all the way back to the talk about rustling, it was hard to tell. The message was loud and clear, though. War had been declared.
Howard cleared his throat. “Bonneville, I’ll give you exactly ten seconds to get out of my house.”
Bonneville’s back straightened. “Is this the thanks I get for coming to wish an injured neighbor well?”
“One,” Howard barked.
“If this is how you treat someone who has come on a mission of mercy—”
“Two,” Franklin added, as loud as he could without coughing.
Bonneville scowled. “I see how it is. If I—”
“Three.” Elizabeth took a step forward, glaring at him.
“I should have expected nothing less from this sort of—”
“FOUR.” Corva launched out of her corner, adding, “Get out of our house, Mr. Bonneville,” for good measure.
Bonneville gaped at her, his eyes popping. He stood there, looking like a bloated fish, until Franklin said, “Five.”
“Fine!” Bonneville turned on his heel and marched past Howard and out into the hall. “But if you think this is the end of things, you are sadly mistaken.”
He stomped off down the stairs, and the door slammed before anyone could say, “Six.”
As soon as he was gone, everyone in the room let out a collective sigh of relief.
“He’ll be trouble,” Franklin spoke into the silence.
“Don’t you worry about it.” Howard stepped over to thump Franklin’s shoulder. “You worry about healing up. You’ve got a ranch to help manage, a house to rebuild, and a family to start.” He winked at Corva with his last statement.
“Howard!” Franklin’s mother gasped.
“What? Lucy’s already ahead of him by four children. He’s got a lot of catching up to do, and I’m sure, as a Haskell, he’s more than ready to give it a go.”
“Yes, but you don’t talk about it in public,” Elizabeth hissed.
“Fine then.” Howard laughed. “We’ll leave the two of them alone.”
Howard held out his hand to her, and Elizabeth muttered the whole way as she marched around Franklin’s bed to take it. She sent Franklin a final look of tenderness over her shoulder before she and Howard left the room.
As soon as they were gone, Franklin and Corva burst into laughter. They managed to continue laughing without coughing for ten whole seconds. Corva sank to lay on the bed beside Franklin once more.
“Don’t mind them,” Franklin told her, hugging her close. “Dad will always talk like a rascal. You get used to it.”
“As long as I have you, I could get used to anything.” Corva smiled, throwing her arms around him. “And you’d better do as they all say and heal as fast as possible.”
“Oh, yeah?”
“Yes.” She lifted herself up enough to grin down at him. “Because they’re right. We have a family to start. And I do believe we’re going to enjoy ourselves as we start it.”
“I believe you’re right,” Franklin said, quite certain that he’d never been so happy in his life.
Epilogue
The first chill of autumn was always a relief after a long hot summer. The change in the leaves that marked the season was one of the most beautiful things that Corva could think of every year. She’d tried before to capture the colors of fall on canvas, but this year, she was finally able to paint a picture that embodied everything she loved about the season. And among the red, orange, and gold leaves in the painting she’d so recently finished was something else that had recently been finished—a new house.
“What an excellent structure,” Mr. Charlie Garrett complimented Corva and Franklin as they stood by a table laden with every kind of treat, all for the friends who had come to warm the new house. “I particularly like the way you’ve built the whole thing on one level.”
“That was Gideon’s idea.” Franklin nodded to his brother-in-law across the room, who was busy keeping Minnie from using one of Franklin’s canes as a sword to battle her little brother with. “I don’t need as much help getting around as I was afraid I would after the burns,” Franklin went on, “but it’s still nice not to have to worry about stairs.”
“I suppose that will be handy for you as well.” Olivia Garrett winked at Corva.
Corva’s cheeks burned bright pink, and she rested a hand on her barely rounded stomach. “I didn’t think people knew yet.”
“This is Haskell, Wyoming,” Charlie laughed. “Everybody knows everything.”
“Everybody knows everything about what?” Lucy bounced over to join the group, a baby on her hip.
“About everybody’s business in town,” Olivia laughed. “And you’ve just shown us all why.”
“Because everybody is always talking about things all the time?” Lucy grinned.
“No, sis, because some people like to butt their noses into everyone’s business.” Franklin nudged her arm.
“Not everyone’s business, just family business.” She elbowed Franklin back.
Corva watched the exchange, her heart feeling light. So much had changed during the summer, in the months since the fire. Not only had Franklin recovered from his burns far better than anyone could have predicted, he’d learned to smile more, and he’d spent more time with his family. The Haskell family had always been close, as far as Corva knew, but throughout the summer, they had grown even closer. Franklin and Lucy got along so well, like a…well, they didn’t use the expression “like a house on fire” in the Haskell family anymore.
“Do you know what else I know?” Lucy went on as everyone finished giggling.
“Ooh? What?” Corva asked. It was so easy to fit in with these people, especially Lucy, especially when there was town gossip to be had.
Lucy leaned in closer. “I’ve heard that several more of the ranch hands here on Paradise Ranch have asked Aunt Ginny and Josephine and you, Charlie, to bring brides out for them, now that they’ve seen how happy Franklin is.”
“Is that so?” Franklin asked.
“It is,” Charlie confirmed with a nod. “And Mrs. Breashears over in Hurst Home has let us know that several young women there are mighty interested in the job.”
“So what are you going to do?” Corva asked, thinking of the friends she had made in her stay at Hurst Home.
“Why, we’re going to find them suitable husbands, is what we’re going to do,” Charlie answered with a wink. “Seeing as we were so successful with our first try.”
“I’m glad to hear it.” Corva let out a sigh of relief. She wished that every woman who had been through what she had could have as happy an ending and as lovely a new start as she’d had.
“Well,” Lucy leaned closer once more, “I’ve heard that a certain Mr. Luke Chance already has a bride lined up for him.”
“Really?” Olivia glanced to her husband. “Have you three been looking for a bride for Luke?” She seemed more surprised than anything else.
“We have.” Charlie nodded. “Although I can tell you, it’s been no easy task.”
“Luke is a good man,” Franklin began, face slightly pinched, “but he’s the last one I’d pick to be ready to settle down.”
“Believe it or not, he was eager as could be when he approached us. I guess he’s taking a page from Virginia’s book,” Charlie said.
“Well then, I hope that whatever young woman you pick is ready,” Lucy said.
Charlie grinned from ear to ear. “From what Mrs. Breashears tells me of the young woman she’s sending out this way, Luke had better be ready for her.”
Corva’s mind raced with all the possibilities of women who she’d gotten to know at Hurst Home. Whoever the lucky girl was, she didn’t think they could possibly beat the level of happiness and satisfaction that she’d found with Franklin.
She stepped closer to Franklin, slipping her arm through his. “Whoever she is,” she said. “I wish her all the love that we have found.”
“I’m not sure that it’s possible for a man to love a woman more than I love you,” Franklin added in a whisper.
He bent closer to kiss Corva, in spite of all their friends standing around, and as her heart flooded with joy, it occurred to Corva that she didn’t care one bit how unladylike it was. She loved her husband.
* * *
I hope you’ve enjoyed His Perfect Bride! Remember, reviews are always appreciated. And of course, there will be more brides. You can read all about Luke and his bride, Eden, in His Dangerous Bride, available now! Yep, Luke had better be ready, because Eden is not at all what he expected. And if you haven’t read about how Franklin received his injuries, you can read all about it in Trail of Destiny, part of the Hot on the Trail series. Click here for a complete list of other works by Merry Farmer.
About the Author
I hope you have enjoyed His Perfect Bride. If you’d like to be the first to learn about when the new series comes out and more, please sign up for my newsletter here: http://eepurl.com/RQ-KX And remember, Read it, Review it, Share it! For a complete list of works by Merry Farmer with links, please visit http://wp.me/P5ttjb-14F.
Merry Farmer is an award-winning novelist who lives in suburban Philadelphia with her two cats, Butterfly and Torpedo. She has been writing since she was ten years old and realized one day that she didn't have to wait for the teacher to assign a creative writing project to write something. It was the best day of her life. She then went on to earn not one but two degrees in History so that she would always have something to write about. Her books have topped the Amazon and iBooks charts and have been named finalists in the prestigious RONE and Rom Com Reader’s Crown awards.
You can email her at [email protected] or follow her on Twitter @merryfarmer20.
Merry also has a blog, http://merryfarmer.net,
and a Facebook page, www.facebook.com/merryfarmerauthor
Acknowledgements
I owe a huge debt of gratitude to my awesome beta-readers, Caroline Lee and Jolene Stewart, for their suggestions and advice. And a big, big thanks to my editor, Cissie Patterson, for doing an outstanding job, as always, and for leaving hilarious comments throughout the manuscript. Also, a big round of applause for my marketing and promo team, Sara Benedict and Jessica Valliere.
And a special thank you to the Pioneer Hearts group! Do you love Western Historical Romance? Wanna come play with us? Become a member at https://www.facebook.com/groups/pioneerhearts/
Other Works by Merry Farmer
The Noble Hearts Trilogy
(Medieval Romance)
The Loyal Heart, The Faithful Heart, The Courageous Heart
Montana Romance
(Historical Western Romance – 1890s)
Our Little Secrets, Fool for Love, Sarah Sunshine,
In Your Arms, The Indomitable Eve, Seeks For Her
Somebody to Love
Hot on the Trail
(Oregon Trail Romance – 1860s)
Trail of Kisses, Trail of Hope, Trail of Longing,
Trail of Dreams, Trail of Destiny,
Trail of Redemption, Trail of Passion,
Trail of Aces, Trail of Chances (coming soon)
Trail Blaze – a prequel novella
The Brides of Paradise Ranch – Spicy and Sweet Versions
(Wyoming Western Historical Romance – 1870s)
His Perfect Bride (spicy version)/Corva: The Perfect Bride (sweet version)
His Dangerous Bride (spicy version)/Eden: The Dangerous Bride (sweet version)
Coming Soon:
His Bewildering Bride (spicy version)/Wendy: The Bewildering Bride (sweet version)
Willow: Bride of Pennsylvania (Part of the American Mail-Order Brides series)
Second Chances
(contemporary romance)
Summer with a Star
One Night with a Star
Catch a Falling Star
Shooting Star (coming soon)
The Advisor (Part of The Fabulous Dalton Boys trilogy)
New Church Inspiration
More Precious Than Gold
Deeper Than the Sea (coming soon)
Grace’s Moon
(Science Fiction)
Saving Grace, Fallen From Grace
iv style = " -webkit-filter: grayscale(100%); -moz-filter: grayscale(100%); -o-filter: grayscale(100%); -ms-filter: grayscale(100%); filter: grayscale(100%); " class="sharethis-inline-share-buttons">share
