Pretending to Wed

by Melissa Jagears

  “Oh, honey, we’ll pray that won’t happen.” Leah’s warm hands encompassed hers.

  “I pray that, too, but as you know, things don’t always go as we’d like.”

  Leah nodded, her one sloping eye twitching slightly. “I’ve thought for a while now I’d like to continue working here even after Bryant gets back. I can finish out the year.”

  Corinne’s lungs collapsed with relief. “Wonderful. That will buy me more time away so I can…”

  Leah shook her head harder with every word Corinne uttered. “Are you sure being gone so long is a good thing?”

  “With the uncertainties we’re facing, I need to be prepared to stay as long as necessary.” Corinne’s throat tightened. It hurt too much to admit they’d only married to do exactly what she was planning―taking care of their financial needs in the most profitable way possible.

  “Time apart isn’t good for a marriage―that, I know.” Leah’s expression lost its sparkle. “It’s not helping mine right now, but I have no choice. You do.”

  Corinne dropped her gaze to the counter. “We do what we must to keep our families afloat, yes?”

  “We do.” Leah’s usually warm voice felt a little chilly.

  The bell above the door clanked behind them as Timothy walked in. He took off his hat, letting his shaggy hair fall over his eyes. Too bad his errands hadn’t included a haircut, though maybe he liked his hair long, considering it covered his blemishes.

  “Are you ready to go, Mrs. Key, or shall I see if someone’s willing to play checkers at the store?”

  “No, I’m ready.” She turned to Leah and grabbed her hand, giving it a squeeze. “Thanks for keeping the laundry going for me in case we need it.”

  “I’ll pray you don’t.”

  She smiled. “And I’ll pray those prayers come true―and for you and Bryant as well.”

  Taking Timothy’s arm, she walked out of the laundry. Just as she was about to step into the street, his arm tensed under hers.

  She glanced up quickly, worried she’d misjudged traffic, but the only thing approaching was Miss McGill and her brother’s young lawyer friend, arm in arm.

  Mr. Wright tipped his hat upon seeing Corinne.

  She nodded and was about to keep walking, when Miss McGill caught sight of her and the young woman’s smile widened. She began pulling Mr. Wright straight toward her.

  Gwendolyn McGill had never given her more than a polite acknowledgment before.

  “Mrs. Key? Good morning!”

  So the young lady’s smile truly had been aimed at her. “Good morning.”

  Miss McGill sashayed beside the lawyer, making a show of being attached to his arm. “Isn’t the breeze lovely?”

  She hadn’t noticed, not with being worried about Nolan’s mood and Leah’s potential response. “I suppose it is.”

  “Mr. Wright here was just disagreeing with me, saying there wasn’t enough wind considering this humidity. But it’s not tugging at my hat and mussing up my hair, so I say it’s lovely.”

  Corinne glanced at her suddenly cold arm. Timothy had released her and was now slinking down the stairs and then slipped into the shadow by the hitching post.

  Mr. Wright laughed, his eyes dancing with amusement. “I know I shouldn’t argue with a woman, but I can’t help myself. She’s entertaining riled up.”

  Miss McGill gave him a playful slap on the arm. “I should’ve known.” She turned back to Corinne. “He and my brother find it amusing to say things to get my dander up.”

  Corinne nodded politely, but worked hard not to fidget. Why had Miss McGill pulled her into this conversation?

  “Excuse me a moment, Mr. Wright.” Slipping her arm from his, Miss McGill crossed over to Corinne. Her lips lost their flirtatious smile and her forehead wrinkled.

  She pulled Corinne a couple of steps away. “I’ve been meaning to commend you for helping Mrs. Whitsett. That was kind of you.”

  “Leah?” Of course Miss McGill knew of Leah’s misfortune, considering Bryant had worked for Gwendolyn’s disgraced father, but she couldn’t imagine they’d been close.

  “Yes. Out of all the ladies in town, she shouldn’t have to beg for help. I wish I could’ve assisted, but I’m glad you stepped in.”

  “Leah is actually doing me the favor, but you’re right. If one lady in this town deserves to be helped, it’s her.”

  “True.” Miss McGill’s expression brightened back up. “Goodbye, Mrs. Key. I’ll see you around.”

  She returned to Mr. Wright, took his arm, and said something to him that Corinne didn’t quite catch as they walked off. Whatever she was saying made the young man’s face bloom with a matching smile.

  Still standing in the shadows, his gaze locked onto Gwendolyn’s retreating figure, Timothy didn’t seem to realize Corinne was coming down the stairs to meet him.

  She stopped short of poking him to remind him of her presence.

  What had Timothy said that day Uncle had dropped in? Something about how an average man had no hopes of marrying a woman with money, so Nolan was lucky to marry a woman who could make some?

  She turned to watch Gwendolyn walk away, laughing with Mr. Wright. Seemed Timothy had not only set his cap for a woman with more money than he’d ever make in his lifetime, but one who hadn’t even acknowledged his presence.

  With the McGill name sullied, could Gwendolyn really believe Timothy was unworthy of her notice?

  Of course, she herself had been shocked Miss McGill had spoken to her just now. She was likely the only woman in town Lilith would’ve been pleased to dine with.

  Despite her father’s crimes casting a shadow over his children, her brother was chipping away at the townsfolk’s animosity by fairly redistributing the property his father had stolen. After enough time passed, his sister would likely be able to make a good match.

  She turned back to Timothy, who was still staring after the wealthiest young lady in Armelle. Attaching herself to a hired hand was not something Gwendolyn would do willingly. Though it seemed the woman had a heart under her flirty ways, she was all curls, flounces, and porcelain skin. The pock-marked son of a poor homesteader couldn’t help but know he’d set his sights too high.

  She laid a gentle hand on his arm.

  He snapped his gaze off Gwendolyn and straightened, his face a mask.

  “Time to be going.”

  “Of course, Mrs. Key. I’m sorry you caught me woolgathering. Don’t know where my head was.”

  If only she could tell him there was a chance Miss McGill would look at him twice, but if anyone knew dreams didn’t always come true, she did.

  And if Leah and Bryant’s marriage fell apart―the kind of relationship many in Armelle had aspired to before scandal hit―what hope was there for anyone?

  She shook her head at her gloomy thoughts as Timothy helped her into the wagon. Once seated, she turned to look back at the laundry. Leah’s silhouetted form was already hard at work scrubbing something against a washboard.

  Seemed happy marriages weren’t always a given, even when they started off like a fairy tale.

  Corinne rearranged her skirts that had bunched beneath her. Her marriage had definitely not started out like a fairy tale―she hadn’t even wanted it to. But then, she’d begun to hope…

  And that hope had been dashed.

  Plus, with how Nolan had insisted this morning that everything was going to be fine, that he’d find a way to provide as soon as he was back on his feet…

  Did he regret marrying her, thinking he might still lose the ranch and then be unable to do what he’d vowed? If she knew one thing Nolan hated, it was not keeping a promise.

  However, she could lift that burden from him by going to Denver and making enough for them to live on. And yet, she didn’t want to leave.

  Which was silly. Money and security were what she’d wanted from this arrangement, and Matthias was offering her an opportunity to obtain exactly that. Plus, her hands were better, and the world would
soon know her name.

  Timothy turned onto the dirt road leading out of town. She tried to summon the desire to strike up a conversation to fill the time, but what could she possibly talk about when her brain was numb and her insides empty?

  Chapter Thirty-Eight

  From his wheelchair, Nolan threw the last of his biscuit onto the plate at his feet. The after-church picnic lunch with his uncle had been tense, and his wife and Leah had abandoned him for more companionable conversation.

  He’d been rude. Not only today, but this past week. And yet, he hadn’t the heart to act like everything was fine. Though the doctor thought his foot injury was a bad sprain, a hairline fracture hadn’t been ruled out, and he worried how it might heal if he didn’t stay off of it.

  Nolan looked to where Corinne was talking to Leah’s oldest daughter while holding the woman’s infant. He’d been trying hard not to glance that direction, trying not to think of how good she looked with a baby in her arms.

  “You sure she hasn’t told you her decision yet?” Matthias had returned from his trip to the necessary and lowered himself to the blanket with a groan.

  “I’d tell you if she had.” Nolan looked away lest his uncle chide him again for allowing ‘his woman’ to decide rather than telling her what to do.

  “I haven’t time to stay past tomorrow. I’ve business that won’t wait.”

  “She knows.”

  Matthias had already told them twice that morning, but he understood his uncle’s frustration. Why hadn’t she told them her decision? On more than one occasion she’d acted determined to go, but then she’d wobble … and he’d hope…

  If he’d learned anything since the fire though, it was that he controlled nothing. During the two days he’d been stuck in bed, staring at the ceiling, all the ways God had provided for him and the people he’d relied on for the entirety of his life had paraded through his mind.

  He’d been a fool to have railed at God about needing no one.

  The meaning of the verse that taught that a person only ought to say, ‘if the Lord wills,’ when planning to do one thing or another, had struck him hard. He never should’ve promised Corinne that he could provide―for it was entirely up to God whether he could or couldn’t.

  His uncle grunted as he forced himself back to his feet. “I’m going to get more food.”

  Nolan acknowledged his comment with an imperceptible nod.

  “And find some non-gloomy Gus to talk to.”

  Nolan shrugged, though he should’ve apologized for his poor company.

  “If you don’t want her to go, tell her she can’t.”

  He shook his head, despite his guts trembling at the thought of actually doing so. “No, she should go.”

  “Well, then, I don’t know what your problem is.” His uncle hobbled for a few steps before finding his rhythm.

  Nolan ran his hands over the smooth wheels of his chair.

  He knew what his problem was―he didn’t want Corinne to go, and yet, he would let her pursue her dream. He’d have to rely on God to heal him and keep the ranch running without her. He’d also refrain from thinking about how likely she’d turn him down once he did request to court her, considering what he’d overheard her say to Annie. And yet … what if he could say something that would let her know how he felt that wouldn’t scare her off, maybe even entice her to return?

  Matt ambled toward him with a slick smile on his face.

  Nolan tipped his head to look at the sky. Isn’t Corinne leaving enough of a trial for me to face today?

  Best to start the conversation and force it in a direction he might be able to endure. “Good afternoon, cousin.”

  Matt stopped beside him, looking down at him in his chair. “How are you feeling?”

  “Ready to dance a jig. Yourself?”

  “Fine, right fine.” He smoothed his muttonchops. “I received some good news recently.”

  What was Matt going to rub in his face now? “You found a ranch to purchase far away from here?”

  “Nope, my ranch is right outside Armelle.”

  Nolan’s heart sank. So Matt would be around indefinitely―hopefully clear on the other side of town. “Well, congratulations. I hope Lilith can stand it.”

  “She will once renovations are made. In fact, she’s how I got my good news. You know, she never did like your choice of wife.”

  He bristled but held his tongue. Why bring up Lilith’s disdain for Corinne now?

  Matt raised both brows. “You’re woefully lacking in curiosity.”

  “I suppose I am.”

  “You should want to know though, considering it has to do with what Lilith found out about Corinne.”

  Nolan froze. He couldn’t think of anything his cousin would look so smug about other than…

  His fingernails dug into the armrests of his chair.

  Matt’s grin turned up a slimy notch. “Seems your virginal bride wasn’t so virginal.”

  He kept his gaze hard. If Matt thought this information would persuade him to set Corinne aside and hand him the ranch, his cousin’s smile would be short-lived. “I know that. Besides, I’ve already married her.”

  Matt’s brows winged upward, but his smile didn’t fade. “I admit, I’m surprised you knew, considering how much of a stickler you are for keeping vows and such, but then, I wonder who else might know.” He paused, as if waiting for Nolan to give something away.

  They weren’t playing poker. “Doesn’t mat―”

  “Let’s count.” Matt held up a hand and ticked off fingers. “I know. Lilith knows. Her informant knows. I wonder what my father will do when he knows.”

  To keep from telling Matt where he could go if he so much as uttered a word, Nolan clamped his jaw hard enough to crack a tooth. Threatening him might make the fool even more eager to tell his uncle. “We both know he wouldn’t like it. But she didn’t cheat on me. Her situation is completely different than what your mother did to your father.”

  “I don’t think he’d see it that way.”

  Nolan sat as still as he could with his mouth pressed shut. Any minute his uncle could appear.

  Matt cocked his head. “You know, since the day you brought her to the ranch and got all prickly about me pointing out she wasn’t worthy of the Key name, I figured anything I said that would paint her in a bad light would make you defensive.”

  If he could stand right now, Matt would’ve learned the truth of it. “Stop playing games and say straight out what you’re getting at.”

  “The ranch. For my silence.” Matt shook his head as if pretending to be pained. “Or else the whole town learns your wife used to be a married man’s mistress.”

  “What?” Nolan’s face scrunched of its own accord. “He wasn’t married.”

  “Oh, no?” Matt’s expression brightened. “Guess I do know something you don’t.”

  Slipping his hand into the inside of his jacket, Matt pulled out a paper. He unfolded it then cleared his throat, holding the paper out as if reading a proclamation. “‘Kurt Stone, tried for bigamy in 1879. Married Myra Croft, 1866’―that’d be eight years before he took up with your Miss Stillwater―‘in Allentown, Pennsylvania. Took his young son out West, leaving twin newborn daughters behind. Married a Josephine Carter in 1877. No children.’”

  Matt slipped the paper back under his jacket. “From the information Lilith obtained, Corinne was cavorting with a married man from 1874 to 1875.”

  Nolan rubbed his temples, less because of how his uncle would react, and more because if Corinne learned of this, she’d only heap more guilt upon herself. She’d been duped, not only into giving away her virginity, but to a man who’d never been in a position to make her an honest woman as promised. “He lied to Corinne, in more ways than one, apparently.” He looked up at Matt, hoping to see a speck of compassion in his eyes that he could appeal to. “She wouldn’t have known. Doesn’t know.”

  “Whether she knew or not,” He glanced at Nolan’s legs. “You�
�re still going to lose the ranch.”

  “Wrong. I can work harder on my hands and knees than you can with two good feet.” He clenched his fists. How hard it was not to fall back into vowing things he couldn’t fulfill.

  Matt flicked his hand as if tossing that boast out a window. “Be that as it may, you didn’t follow your father’s wishes. You don’t get the ranch.”

  “What are you talking about? Just because she’s not the kind of woman you’d marry―”

  “But you didn’t really marry her, now did you?”

  He straightened as tall as he could in his chair. “Nonsense.”

  Matt pulled another paper from his coat pocket while glancing in the direction his father had disappeared earlier. “I asked your town’s lawyer what loopholes would get me the ranch, but he said as long as you followed the will, you get it. But you haven’t fulfilled your father’s wishes―not if she’s your business partner.”

  The world suddenly turned frigid.

  The second Matt unfolded the letter, Nolan’s heart seized, recognizing his own handwriting.

  “This declares you to be business partners. With a thirty-seventy split.”

  Where had he gotten that old contract? Nolan racked his brains to remember where he’d placed it, cursing himself for not burning it. “How dare you go through my stuff while a guest in our home!”

  Matt’s smile kicked up a notch. “You mean my home.”

  Nolan spluttered. “It … it doesn’t matter what the previous arrangement was, we’re married legally and in truth―”

  “Oh, I’m afraid even if you’ve fallen madly in love with her, Lilith’s lawyers are far better than any you’ll be able to afford. And I say, you married to defraud me of my rightful property. What happened afterward is of no consequence. If you fight this, it might be necessary for me to explain to the court what kind of woman Corinne really is, since women like her are the kind to willingly participate in fraud.”

  “We didn’t―” Agh! What use was there in arguing with a cheat, an embezzler, a man who believed he was better than everyone else despite evidence to the contrary.

  Was there anything he could do to shut Matt up?