Unclaimed Bride

by Lauri Robinson

  “Did he tell you that?”

  Constance bit her lip, dredging up enough fortitude to continue. “No, you did. At the par—”

  “I should never have said that,” Lula Mae interrupted, “about Ellis and more children. It wasn’t my place, and I don’t believe it holds any bearing on his love for you.”

  Constance shook her head. “Ellis still loves Christine, not me. I’d hoped…” The words burned too hard for her to continue.

  Lula Mae took her hands. “Ellis may still love Christine, may always love her as we all do those that have passed on, but he’s in love with you. I saw it the day he bought you this tea set, but more so, I saw it at the holiday party. His eyes never left you, and when he had his arms around you, and you were holding on to him while the doctor saw to Angel, I knew for certain. The two of you were right where you should have been. I could feel the love, not just pouring out to Angel, but to each other.”

  Constance pressed a hand to the ache in her chest. The memories were too painful. The loss too great.

  Lula Mae wouldn’t give up. “There’s a certain look a man and woman share when they’re in love. It’s there. I saw it. Ellis loves you. Angel loves you. And you love them.”

  “Even if that were true, I can’t give him more children,” Constance whispered.

  Lula Mae knelt down in front of her. “Link was married before me,” she said. “His first wife died, too. But it’s never made me question his love for me. Actually, it’s made our love stronger, because we both know how precious it is, and how lucky we are to wake up next to each other every morning.” Another protest rose in Constance but Lula Mae continued, “Link and I haven’t had any babies. Can’t say why. Guess it just isn’t meant to be.” Her whisper grew softer. “You and Ellis are lucky, you already have Angel. Don’t befuddle your good fortune by wanting more than you need.”

  Lula Mae’s perspective hit, jarring the splinters inside Constance heart. Could it be true? Ellis had never mentioned more children. Of course he still loved Christine, as did Angel. They had a right to, just as she’d forever love her aunts and brothers and parents. Furthermore, even though he’d known of Ashton’s will, he’d never spoken of her leaving. Not once. Nor had he penned anything about it in their agreement. And when he’d kissed her, he’d made her feel like the only person in the universe. Yes, when he kissed her. Though she’d wanted it, he had always been the one to initiate their kisses, their embraces. If she knew anything about him, it was that he didn’t do anything without careful consideration.

  Constance’s heart, just starting to pull itself back together, bounced off the pit of her stomach and landed on the floor, splintering into a million pieces all over again. After all the kind and wonderful things he’d done for her, she’d betrayed him. Told him she’d pretended he was Byron. “Oh, dear Lord,” she sobbed. “What have I done?”

  Chapter Thirteen

  Ellis paced his office like a caged bear he’d once seen at a circus in Cheyenne. Give her time. Give her time. Repeating it over and over didn’t help. Didn’t make the minutes, hours or days go faster. Didn’t ease the agonizing desire to see her. Didn’t calm the fears she was cold or hungry or scared out at Ashton’s place all alone.

  “Damn it!” He slapped the top of his desk so hard several papers flew off. Ignoring how they fluttered to the floor, he leaned heavily on the wood. It had been a week, seven days, since she’d left. Had that been long enough? His gaze went to the window and the little fenced in area covered with new fallen snow.

  “No, it hasn’t been long enough,” he muttered. It had taken him six years.

  He twisted his neck, flinching as the tension popped along the top of his spinal cord. He’d perish if she needed that long. The gut-wrenching misery he was in would flat-out kill him long before six years were up. Perhaps he could just ride out and see her. Make sure she was all right. Hank would keep an eye on Angel while he was gone. But would seeing her make the waiting easier or harder?

  He picked up the envelope near his foot that had been delivered at the holiday party. The trip would give him a chance to tell her about Eli’s letter. His brother had said the property near Richmond was known as Royalton. A land agent from New York named Byron Carmichael had tried to sell it earlier in the year, but was having a hard time proving who owned it. The letter didn’t mention their names—the elderly women who had been overseeing the property for their young charge in England—but Ellis knew they were her aunts. Had to be. The letter did say that Eli felt he’d uncovered a conspiracy and would send more information as soon as possible.

  A knock on the front door had Ellis spinning about. The rap sounded again as he made his way down the hall. He paused near the parlor where Angel was reclining on the sofa, reading a book. Mustering up a grin was tough, but he managed to pull one together. “How you doing, scamp?”

  “I’m fine, Pa. Who’s at the door?” she asked.

  Someone knocked again. “I don’t know,” he admitted, “I’m on my way to answer it.”

  “Well, get going before they knock the door down,” she suggested.

  Her smart mouth lifted his spirits a touch, but apprehension set in when he opened the door to find Link and Lula Mae standing there.

  “Good afternoon, Ellis,” the storekeeper greeted.

  “What’s happened?” His insides said it pertained to Constance.

  Lula Mae reached behind her and tugged someone forward. “We brought Tanna out to visit with Angel for the afternoon. Hope that’s all right.”

  The young girl, one of Angel’s friends who lived in town, waved. “Hi, Mr. Clayton.”

  He sighed, though not totally convinced Constance was fine. “Hi, Tanna.” Stepping aside he gestured everyone over the threshold. “Angel’s in the parlor. She’ll be glad to see you.”

  “Thanks.” The girl buzzed past and as soon as she turned the corner, excited squeals emitted.

  “Thanks,” Ellis said, feeling a bit uneasy. He should have thought about finding company for Angel. For Link to have driven Tanna out was a bit odd. “Who’s minding your store?”

  Lula Mae hooked Ellis’s elbow with hers. “No one is minding the store. We—” her gaze went to Link “—decided it could be closed for one afternoon. Didn’t we?”

  “Yes, we did,” Link agreed. He pushed the door to the kitchen open. “Got a cup of coffee to share, Ellis?”

  Ellis cringed at his lack of manners. “Of course.” With Lula Mae’s elbow still hitched with his, he led the way into the kitchen. The space wasn’t messy, since Beans brought meals in for him and Angel, but it didn’t have the glow it had had while Constance had been home.

  Home. The word hit him like a branch falling off a tree in a storm. Would she ever consider this her home? Why should she? She not only had Ashton’s place, from the sound of Eli’s letter, she also had property in Virginia. He moved toward the stove. “It’ll take a few minutes to get a fire started.” One hadn’t been built in the stove since Constance had left.

  “I’ll do it,” Lula Mae offered. “You sit down with Link. He needs to talk to you.”

  “What about?”

  Link sat down and patted the back of a nearby chair. “Have a seat, Ellis.”

  An eerie sensation traveled along Ellis’s spine. “What’s going on? As long as I’ve known you, I can count on one hand the number of days your store has been closed.”

  Link patted the chair again. Ellis sat, glancing from Lula Mae building a fire and back to Link, who was looking much too thoughtful.

  “Quite a storm we had again, the past couple of days,” Link started, folding his arms across his chest.

  “Yeah,” Ellis agreed, feeling as if another storm was about to hit.

  “It’s done now though,” Link said. “Sun’s shining. The sleigh made it out here with no problems. Traveling ain’t too bad at all.”

  Ellis was ready to snap. “Are you trying to irritate me, Link? I gotta warn you, it won’t take much. I’m no
t in the mood for small talk, so spit out why you came, and don’t try to make me believe it was so Tanna could visit with Angel.”

  Lula Mae answered from her position near the stove, “We aren’t trying to irritate you, Ellis. We have something to talk to you about, and Link was just trying to break the ice.”

  “Consider it broken. What do you want to tell me?” He had no patience left. Between the weather, being cooped up, worrying about Angel and Constance out at Ashton’s—too far away for him to check on—he was at the end of his rope.

  Link laid a hand on the table. “Lula Mae made it out to see Constance.”

  Ellis’s heart cartwheeled.

  “She’s fine,” Link hurried to say. “Jeb was in this morning, they made it through the last storm just fine, too.”

  “Does she have enough to eat out there?” Ellis asked Lula Mae. “Did you give her the basket I packed? Is it warm enough? How’s her wood supply?” His mind then went in another direction. “Are men lining up at her door?”

  Lula Mae set the coffeepot on the stove. “She has everything she needs right now. And I posted a note that said there wouldn’t be any interviews for her hand. Ever.”

  Ellis had already said as much on the night of the holiday party, which had had men leaving faster than they had arrived. But he hadn’t known if it had kept them from her door.

  Lula Mae walked to the table. “Ellis, she told me about her first husband, and I’m wondering what you know about him?”

  Ellis didn’t so much as know the man’s name. A tightening happened deep inside him. “Nothing. Other than he’s dead.”

  “His name was Byron Carmichael,” Link said.

  Lightning shot up his backbone. “Byron Carmichael?”

  Lula Mae pulled out a chair. “Normally, I wouldn’t repeat what a friend told me in confidence. I’ve held a lot of secrets over the years, and most I’ll carry to my grave, but this one I just can’t. That man did Constance wrong, Ellis. Real wrong, and I just can’t sit around and not do something about it.”

  The contents of Eli’s letter, so fresh in his mind, had his hands balling into fists. “What did he do?”

  “He shot her for one,” Link said, quite disgustedly.

  Too stunned to react, Ellis repeated, “Shot her?”

  “Back in England,” Lula Mae added. “And then left her for dead in an alley after he stole all her aunts’ money.”

  “The hell you say.” Ellis jumped from his chair. The image of Constance lying hurt in an alley had his heart racing and temples pounding. “Why didn’t she ever tell me any of this?”

  “Well, I suspect it ain’t something she’s too proud of,” Link said.

  Ellis glared. The urge to punch someone had never been stronger.

  “Constance has nothing to be ashamed of,” Lula Mae said, casting a shameful look at Link.

  The man bowed his head in a way Ellis had never seen. “No, she don’t,” Link agreed. “She surely don’t.”

  “Anyway, that’s not the reason we’re here,” Lula Mae said.

  “Then what is? What more do you know?”

  “The man’s not dead,” Lula Mae said.

  Ellis knew the man wasn’t dead, leastwise not from the sound of Eli’s letter. Why would Constance have claimed he was? The coffeepot boiled over, filling the room with sizzling spits and spatters—just like his insides. Was she running from the man? The one who’d shot her? Had she claimed her husband was dead to stop his advances?

  “I don’t think she should be living out there with just Jeb and Miles,” Lula Mae said, lifting the pot off the stove. “Don’t take me wrong. I like them both, but Jeb’s little more than a kid, and Miles is an old man. Neither of them would be much protection if her husband comes looking for her. And I think he will. I don’t believe he’s done hurting her yet.”

  Ellis was already moving toward the back door, to where his coat and hat hung, but Lula Mae intercepted him, blocking his reach. “Where you going?” she asked.

  “To get her,” he stated the obvious. “Husband or not, he’s going to have to go through me to get her.” Ellis turned to Link. “There’s a letter on my desk from my brother Eli. Take it to John Hempel and ask him to hire a Pinkerton man to investigate Carmichael.”

  Link nodded and Lula Mae, as quick as a bee, snatched his hat and coat from the hook. “That’s a good plan, Ellis. But…”

  Ellis struggled for self-control, he wanted to rip the coat and hat from Lula Mae and ride to Ashton’s, yet the way she paused had his nerve endings popping beneath his skin. “But what?”

  “That girl’s been through a lot between England and here—and she did it all alone. She’s experienced a lot of pain and suffering, and needs someone to understand that.”

  Ellis shivered, as if a goose walked over his grave. He’d known her past was grim. Had since that first night in his office. Yet not once in all the weeks he’d known her had she ever appeared weak or powerless. The day Beans had stormed through the door with his iron spoon waving and ranting about the banana bread, the only one who’d remained calm and unalarmed had been Constance.

  Regret fueled his ire like oil on a fire. Why hadn’t he asked her about her past? Talked to her, let her know he’d help in whatever way he could. His body, as if able to answer for him, hummed with memories. That’s why. Most days he’d been too infatuated with her to think clearly. His mind had been jumbled with his own problems, his own issues. His own needs.

  “Ask her to come home, Ellis,” Lula Mae said softly. “Constance needs to be asked, and she needs to be wanted and loved. She hasn’t seen love since her parents sent her to England.” Lula Mae handed him his coat. “She’s forgotten what it is. What it looks like. What it feels like. And how nothing else matters.”

  First Angel and now Lula Mae. Why hadn’t he figured out to ask her? Well, he would now. Most definitely. Ellis shrugged into his coat, but wondered if he’d need it with the way his heart pumped hot blood through out his body. “I’ll ask her, Lula Mae. And I’ll tell her just how much I love her.”

  Lula Mae’s face softened. “She loves you, too, Ellis. She just didn’t know what to do about it.”

  He grabbed the door handle, but realization hit. “Angel—”

  “Tanna’s mama said Tanna could spend the night with Angel, and I think I’ll hang around and spend the night, too,” Lula Mae said. “If that’s all right with you of course.”

  Ellis was so downright excited he wanted to kiss her, so he did. Flipped around and planted a big kiss right on Lula Mae’s grinning lips.

  “Ellis,” Link said as Ellis pulled open the door. “I got that letter from your office, I’ll head back to town and talk with John Hempel, see what he can do to get that investigation started.”

  At this moment, Ellis took back every frustrated thought he’d ever had about Link. The man was a true friend. The excitement of seeing Constance had him glowing inside. “Thanks, Link, I appreciate it. Tell him to spare no costs, none at all.”

  Link nodded. “I’m on my way.”

  “Go on,” Lula Mae encouraged, pushing him out the door. “You got a long ride ahead.”

  He moved, but spun around before she closed the door. “Tell Angel—”

  “I’ll tell Angel you went to see Constance. She’ll be happy. Now scoot!”

  He nodded and leaped down the steps in one bound.

  “Don’t break your neck before you get there!” Lula Mae shouted in his wake.

  He waved a hand, but never turned around, making his way to the barn at a dead run. He hadn’t run this fast in years and damn if it didn’t feel good. If he didn’t feel good.

  * * *

  Constance lugged the bucket of water along the snowy trail. The weight pulled on her arm, but she trudged forward. Jeb and Miles had hauled so many gallons of water this morning, she wasn’t about to ask them to carry more. She’d waited until they both had ridden away, out to check on the cows, before she’d made her way to the well.r />
  Her hair was still damp from the thorough washing she’d given it, and the brisk wind made a few frozen tendrils snap at her cheeks. She didn’t mind. This was the last bucket, would be more than enough to last her through the rest of the day and night.

  The water the men carried in this morning she’d used to take a long hot bath in preparation for tomorrow’s journey. She’d wanted to go long before now, but the weather hadn’t cooperated. The days of being snowed in had given her time to clean the cabin from top to bottom, hence the reason she needed a bath. The cobwebs had been thick enough to cut with a knife. How she hadn’t noticed them the first few days was beyond her.

  Then again, with the way Jeb and Miles constantly checked in on her, it was amazing she’d got as much done as she did. They were kind men, but acted as if she couldn’t even wipe her own nose. No one had ever coddled her—thankfully—because she really didn’t like it.

  She shifted hands, carrying the heavy bucket on the other side for a while. It wasn’t much further, but with the deep snow, she had to keep the bucket hefted nearly to her waist. If a shovel had been near, she’d have cleared a path, but her quick glance in the barn hadn’t discovered one, and the condition of the barn didn’t show evidence one might be anywhere about.

  Frowning, she gave herself a chiding. Who was she to criticize how Jeb and Miles chose to live? It was truly none of her business. She was just edgy, that’s all. The desire to see Ellis and Angel had her ready to snap at whatever came in her path.

  The thought of Ellis had her heart skipping across her chest. She sincerely couldn’t wait to see him. Or Angel. She hadn’t known she could miss people so profoundly. Lifting her face to the golden sun lighting the earth with a glorious blaze, she grinned. Tomorrow. She’d see them tomorrow no matter what. If Jeb or Miles couldn’t take her, she’d walk all the way to Heaven on Earth.

  Maybe that was part of why she loved Ellis so much, he not only didn’t coddle her, but not once in all the weeks she’d known him had he told her what she could or couldn’t do. He trusted her to make her own decisions. He’d even been willing to learn from her. It had only been a bread recipe, but it made her love him all the more.