Mail Order Bride - Westward Heartbeat: A Historical Cowboy Romance Novel (Montana Mail Order Brides Book 15)

by Linda Bridey

  They also tried to talk Raven into riding on a stagecoach, but he would have none of it. He had never ridden in one, he was sure, and he didn’t intend to start now. No, he would ride a horse and that was final, he informed them. His stubbornness actually amused the other three, and they kept telling him that he acted just like his father that way. This made him smile, and he and even more anxious to meet his parents. Though he didn’t remember them, he nevertheless felt a kinship with them.

  By the time they’d been on the road a week, Raven’s knee began to improve and he was able to ride for longer distances. The knee and his ribs were the last parts of his body that needed to heal. His jaw still ached sometimes, but it was nothing he couldn’t manage.

  At first Raven had understood why Zoe wouldn’t bed down with him. She was too afraid she’d hurt him, but now that he was doing much better, he wanted her to join him. Rick and Mike were at a loss as far as what to tell her about this and she was very embarrassed.

  When Raven had asked what the ring on Zoe’s finger meant, they explained that in white culture rings were exchanged when a couple married. Hearing this, he wondered why he didn’t also have a wedding ring. Rick had bought a ring for Raven just in case it was needed, but he didn’t know about having him put it on. Zoe didn’t know what to do about any of it.

  Mike said to her one day, “Zoe, this doesn’t have to be so difficult. Do you still love him?”

  “Yes, but our relationship was over, Mike. How do I just forget that?”

  “You can’t forget it. If you had talked things out, would you have forgiven him?”

  Zoe thought about that a moment before answering. It wasn’t anything she hadn’t already asked herself. “Yes. I would have.”

  “Would you have married him?”

  “Yes,” she said.

  “Would you still marry him now, even though his memory hasn’t come back?” Mike said.

  “Mike, he doesn’t know if he loves me. I can’t marry him if he doesn’t love me. I don’t want him to marry me out of some sense of duty,” she said. “I want him to marry me because he loves me and wants to be my husband.”

  Mike cocked his head to the side and said, “He fell in love with you once. Why wouldn’t he fall in love with you again?”

  Mike made it sound so simple, Zoe thought as they sat off to themselves as they camped that night. “But he doesn’t love me right now. I look at this ring on my finger, and although I’ve wanted to wear one in the past, right now it represents a lie. I’m afraid if he’s wearing one, too, it makes the lie worse.”

  Giving her a sidelong glance, Mike said, “Zoe, just because I’m a genius, it doesn’t take one to see that you’ve been intimate with Raven.”

  She gasped and looked at him. “How did you know?”

  “It’s the way you look at each other, the way you touch each other. It’s a hard thing to hide. I’m sure Raven explained elopement in Lakota culture. Just because you weren’t living together, doesn’t mean you didn’t elope. Not really. So you’ve essentially been married to him for a while now,” Mike said. “Rings don’t make a marriage, Zoe. They’re a symbol for others to see, but it’s what you feel inside that makes you truly married. There are plenty of legally married people who wear rings, but aren’t married in their hearts. Which one would you rather be? Married simply because there’s a ring and piece of paper that says you are or married because you truly love that person and want to spend the rest of your lives together? I’ll give you some time alone to sort that out.” Mike rose and walked away from her.

  She remembered back to the night when Raven had first proposed to her as they sat in the camp. They’d wanted to make love, but he wouldn’t without them at least eloping. She had balked because without a traditional wedding and all of the trappings that went along with it, she was afraid of what others would think if they lived together. He’d given in to her about the wedding, but he hadn’t made love to her that night because it went against his principles. But it wasn’t long before he’d also given in to her about that, and about how they would live. They’d compromised on a cabin for several reasons. As she sat there, she realized that Raven had compromised much more than she had and she suddenly felt shame over that. She sighed and looked at the sunset.

  Raven appeared beside her and sat down slowly. He smiled and handed her a small bunch of wildflowers he’d picked.

  She smiled back at him and took them from him. “Thank you. They’re very pretty,” she said and smelled them.

  Raven’s English seemed to be coming back to him more and more, but he was able to comprehend more than he could speak. His sentences were still a little jumbled and he sometimes missed words, but they were able to communicate much better.

  “Not pretty as you are.”

  She blushed and said, “You’re still very charming. That hasn’t changed.”

  He nodded. “Good. Tell me something?”

  “All right.”

  “You not like me?”

  His question threw her a little. “Yes, I like you,” she said. “Why?”

  “You act funny … to me,” he said gazing at her intently. “You not love me?”

  She sat very still as she tried to think of what to say. “Raven, you don’t remember me. It’s hard for me since you don’t remember how we met, anything we did, or things that happened between us.”

  “I see. That change love for me?” he asked.

  “Yes and no. I still love you, but now it’s as if I don’t know you either. I don’t know if you are the same man anymore because you don’t even remember yourself,” she said.

  He turned from her and watched the sky for a moment. “I know what mean. I not remember you … but … feel close to you.”

  “Do you love me?” she asked with hope in her voice.

  He looked at her again. “I not remember me, but know I not marry if not love you. I feel it here.”

  Raven took her hand and put it against his chest over his heart, and in her mind, Zoe was transported back to the first time they had kissed when Raven had shown her what it was supposed to feel like when someone kissed you and they liked it. Now, under her palm, she felt his heart beating strong and regular.

  Her eyes misted over and she smiled with the memory and feeling his heartbeat again. She remembered all of the times she had laid against him listening to it and knew that her own heart still beat with love for him.

  Raven watched her closely and knew that she was remembering something important. Her touch brought out a yearning inside him, and he wanted to kiss her. He brought a hand up to stroke her cheek before laying it against her face. His eyes locked on hers and he saw the same desire mirrored in them. Slowly, he leaned closer and touched her lips with his. Need rocketed through his body, and he kissed her more insistently.

  Zoe had missed him so much, had longed for him so often that she let herself get swept away by the familiar, heady sensations he had always evoked in her. She wound her arms around his neck and closed the distance between their bodies. The force of her forward motion sent Raven over on his back, but he didn’t care. She landed on top of him, and he welcomed her weight. He didn’t care about the pain in his midsection, didn’t care that his knee objected, and he wouldn’t have stopped kissing her for all the world.

  His fingers delved into her thick hair and their kissing turned frantic. Zoe refused to let coherent thought invade and ruin what was happening between them. They were connecting on the most basic level and even if he didn’t remember her with his active memory, it seemed that subconsciously, he recalled his love for her. She felt it in his touch, in the way he kissed her, and in the way he responded fiercely to her.

  Over at their campsite, Rick had been about to call them to come eat, but saw their passionate embrace and stopped. He turned around to Mike and whispered, “We need to make ourselves scarce, nephew.”

  Mike stood up and saw Zoe and Raven. He smiled. “I guess they’re getting reacquainted, huh?”
<
br />   Rick chuckled. “I’d say. We should go into town. I’ll buy you a beer.”

  “I don’t drink,” Mike said.

  “You do tonight,” Rick said. “C’mon. Let’s go.”

  Quietly they led their horses away from camp and mounted them a little ways down the road.

  Zoe and Raven never heard them leave. Their world consisted of only the two of them. For Zoe, it was a reawakening of the passion they had shared so many times. For Raven, it was his first time with her and as far as he was concerned, it was a perfect union and a memory he knew would be with him the rest of his life. Under the starry sky, their desire burned bright and true, a blending of two hearts that beat to the same rhythm of love.

  *****

  Rick had had no idea that Mike was an expert at flirting with women. He watched as two young ladies fought over who was going to dance with his nephew first. He sat at a table a little ways from the bar area and enjoyed the show. The place wasn’t as nice as the Watering Hole, and the band was not nearly as good as Joe and the gang, but it would do.

  Mike simply sat on a bar stool sipping bear while he waited to see who would win the competition. He had his choice between a brunette and a blonde. Then Rick saw Mike lean over so he could see out around the two women. Rick turned his gaze in the direction Mike was looking and saw a young brunette sitting alone at a table in the corner.

  Rick cocked his head as he perused her. She was a pretty thing with an ample bosom and slightly plump figure. Her bright green eyes looked around the place and she seemed nervous. Rick’s eyes moved back to Mike, who slid unnoticed from his stool while the other two women continued to argue. He grinned as he watched Mike walk over to the brunette at the table and talk to her.

  She looked around as if expecting the handsome young man to be talking to someone else. Mike held out a hand to her and motioned with his head towards the dance floor. The young lady blushed and shook her head. Mike smiled and said something that convinced her to dance with him.

  Rick chuckled and said, “Michael Samuels, you dog, you,” under his breath. He doubted Mike’s mother knew how adroit her son was at romancing ladies.

  Mike was also adroit at dancing, Rick saw and he wondered where he’d learned that. Apparently his dancing partner wasn’t experienced with dancing, but Mike quietly instructed her, and soon they were laughing with each other. The two women who’d been arguing over him now stood together at the bar, scowling at Mike and the brunette. Rick laughed softly to himself and said to Curtis, “It makes me wonder what he does with all his spare time when he’s at school. He barely has to study, so he’s got a lot of time for recreation. I’d like to know if girls are a part of his entertainment. Sort of looks that way, huh?”

  Curtis poked his head out of Rick’s pocket and made little noises at Rick. Rick took a piece of jerky from his pocket and gave it to Curtis. The ferret snatched it and disappeared back into his pocket. A woman came over to Rick’s table.

  “Hello,” she said. “Would you like to dance?”

  Rick smiled. “Hello. Well, I don’t think you want to dance with me. I am not a good dancer by any stretch of the imagination, and your feet would wind up being flattened by the time a song is halfway through. Trust me. My wife doesn’t even like to dance with me.”

  The woman laughed. “So you’re married?”

  “Yep. Very happily.”

  “I see. Well, have a good night,” she said.

  “You, too.”

  She was the third woman to approach Rick and, while it was good for his ego, it was also a little annoying. He sat in such a way that his wedding ring was prominently displayed but it didn’t seem to dissuade the females from approaching him. He shook his head a little over it and went back to watching Mike dance.

  When the song ended, Mike led his dance partner over to the bar and ordered her something to drink. Rick’s keen hearing picked up a disturbance to his right and he looked over to see a couple of men at a table near him start arguing. Rick’s first instinct was to break it up, but then he remembered that this wasn’t the Watering Hole, and it wasn’t his job to deal with it.

  The argument escalated and Rick looked around for a bouncer. Apparently there wasn’t one. Rick still had a deputy’s badge since he sometimes was called on to fill that capacity if there was an urgent situation in Dawson. He took it out and put it on.

  Standing up, he went over to the men and asked, “What seems to be the problem, gentlemen?”

  They looked at him and one said, “None of your business.”

  Rick smiled. “See this?” he asked, indicating his badge. “It says that it is my business. Now you need to settle down. Tonight is supposed to be my night off and I really don’t want to have to drag one or both of you down to the jail.”

  “Who are you?” the other one asked. “We didn’t know there was a deputy around here.”

  “Well, I’m new. Now, look, can I buy you both a drink?”

  His offer took them by surprise.

  “Uh, sure,” the first one said a little hesitantly.

  “Ok,” the other one agreed.

  “Good. I’ll be right back and I’m sure we can settle whatever’s going on here, ok?” Rick asked.

  The men nodded and sat back down.

  Rick went over to the bar and stood beside Mike. “Are you going to introduce me to your new friend?” he asked.

  “Georgia, this is my Uncle Rick. Uncle Rick, this is Georgia Chase,” Mike said.

  Rick held out a hand to her. “Georgia, it’s a pleasure to meet you.”

  She shook his hand and said, “Thank you,” in a soft voice.

  “You two seem to be having fun,” Rick said.

  Mike smiled. “Yeah, we are.”

  Georgia nodded and took a sip of beer. “Mike is a very good dancer.”

  “Thanks. You dance well, too.”

  “Not as well as you,” she said.

  Rick laughed. “It looks like you dance well together.” He ordered two beers.

  “Who are those for?” Mike asked.

  “For two guys over there who are ready to start a fight,” Rick said.

  Mike noticed that Rick was now wearing his badge and laughed. “Even away from home you can’t stop working.”

  “Force of habit,” Rick said with an annoyed look. He took the beers and said, “As you were, you two. Have fun.” He winked at Mike and went over to the two men and gave them the beverages.

  Ten minutes later, with the situation resolved, Rick went back to sitting at his own table and watched the place. “Old habits die hard,” he muttered to himself.

  *****

  It was towards morning when Rick and Mike returned to their campsite. Rick found out that Mike was a very loud drunk and almost regretted helping his nephew get in that condition. Almost. He was also very amusing.

  “Do you know, I almost wish I wasn’t so principled,” he told Rick. “If I wasn’t, well, let’s just say I wouldn’t still be a virgin.”

  Rick laughed uproariously at his remark.

  “Georgia was willing and I almost succumbed to her very persuasive feminine wiles, uncle.” Mike switched from Lakota and English in the middle of his sentences. “I told her the truth about my convictions, and she respected me for it, but there are parts of me that are not so respectful, I’m afraid.”

  Rick hadn’t recovered from his first bout of laughter, and he was out of breath as Mike finished this last statement.

  “It almost makes me rethink my decision to not court or marry anyone until finished school is with me. Wait, no, that’s not right. Well, you know what I mean. This is the first time I’ve been drunk. Did you know that?”

  “Yep. This is the third time you’ve told me,” Rick responded.

  “Oh. Well, you’ll have to forgive me because I’m pretty drunk and I can’t remember what I said and what I didn’t,” Mike said and yawned. “How much further. I’m tired.”

  “We’re almost there. Don’t pass out on
me yet,” Rick said.

  Mike took some deep breaths. “That’s a little better. Did you see those girls argue over me? That was funny. They’re not my type, though.”

  “I could see that,” Rick said.

  “Nope. I don’t want a woman who feels like a skeleton. Nope. Not me.”

  Rick said, “We have that in common.”

  “Georgia certainly is my type. Hmm. I wonder if she’s still at the bar. Maybe I’m changing my mind,” Mike said and would have turned his horse around if Rick hadn’t grabbed Duncan’s reins.

  “Whoa, Romeo. I don’t think she’s there and I’m not going to let you go against your principles,” Rick said.

  “Ok. Thanks. You’re a good uncle.” Mike clapped Rick’s shoulder. “I love you.”

  Rick chuckled. “I love you, too, Mikey.”

  Mike narrowed his eyes at Rick. “If I wasn’t drunk, I would take offense to that, but since I am, I’ll let you slip. I mean, I’ll let it slide. I hate it when people call me that, but because you saved me from making a mistake, I’ll forgive you. Lord, I’m tired.”

  “We’re here. Now be quiet. I don’t want to wake up Zoe and Raven.”

  Mike whispered loudly, “I think they’ve compromised on reuniting.”

  “Mike, not another word out of your mouth,” Rick said severely.

  Mike put a hand over his mouth and shook his head. He started signing instead and Rick put his hand over Mike’s hands to stop him. A fire still burned and Rick could see that Raven and Zoe lay together under blankets a ways off from the fire. Raven must have stoked it well before they went to sleep.

  Mike’s dismount was sloppy and he hung on to Duncan’s saddle for a moment while he laughed a little. Rick clapped a hand over his mouth again and guided Mike over to his sleeping roll. He motioned for Mike to lay down and his nephew complied. Rick had barely gotten in his own sleeping roll when he heard Mike begin to snore softly. He smiled and went to sleep.