Pretending to Wed

by Melissa Jagears

  But what if nothing could be fixed? Nolan wrote as if this were the end.

  A tear rolled down her cheek, and she smudged it away.

  Oh, to go back to the morning after they’d spent the night together and do everything differently. If only she’d not let her past trauma color her reaction to Nolan betraying her trust, if only she’d said…

  Said what, exactly?

  Her hands shook as she rubbed her hands along the letter that had made her feel both cherished and abandoned. The emotions she’d suppressed these past three months for a man she’d never wanted to have feelings for nearly overwhelmed her. She pressed her fingernails deep into the flesh of her palms. She would not break down in the middle of a train.

  “You look a mite flustered.”

  Well, one good thing about Cousin Matt, he came in handy for drying up tears. “I’m not in the mood to talk. Besides, your father said you were not invited to sit with us.”

  “He’s in the dining car.”

  As if that made disregarding his father’s wishes all right.

  “Why the long face?”

  She made the mistake of looking at him. His smirk was wicked and all too knowing.

  Her anger turned to ice. “I have a feeling you know―considering the way you looked at Nolan before you boarded.”

  She wrapped her hands around her husband’s letter, crinkling it. “You know if we separate before our three-month anniversary you could try to take the ranch, but that won’t happen, no matter what you do.”

  He settled onto Uncle’s bench seat, smoothing his muttonchops as if he’d heard what he’d wanted to hear. “Actually, I know more than that. I know everything is already over because the two of you committed fraud.”

  Her body flashed back to fire.

  He pointed to the letter in her lap, which she immediately flipped over.

  “I suggest you quietly accept Nolan releasing you from your felonious arrangement so as not to cause you both embarrassment.”

  “I don’t accept it.” Her voice had wavered far more than she’d intended.

  What evidence of fraud had Matt conjured up? Evidently enough to cause Nolan serious distress.

  Matt shrugged. “Then you’ll have to deal with the consequences. And though you deserve whatever happens to you since you colluded to steal the ranch from me, it’s best you not fight.”

  He pulled a paper out from under his jacket, and her eyes grew wide at the sight of the agreement Nolan had drawn up before they’d married.

  Once he noted her recognition, he returned the paper to his interior pocket. “I’d only hoped to steal a few of your drawings to sell to the highest bidder, but instead, I won the pot. Evidence that you two married to thwart me from inheriting what’s mine. Lucky for you, I’ve decided to be nice. I’m letting Nolan hand over the ranch quietly and you get to continue to work with my father unhindered.”

  “But since we’ve married, we―” Her cheeks heated at how she’d almost explained to Matt why they were no longer business partners.

  Matt’s knowing gaze made her stiffen. “Oh, I know all about your escapades. Do you realize how poorly my father would look upon you once he finds out you’re a loose woman?”

  She blinked hard. Loose?

  “I’m afraid Lilith didn’t take too kindly to your haughtiness.”

  Her haughtiness?

  “So she was rather willing to use her family’s connections to help me find out who you are exactly.”

  A porter walked the aisle, hand up. “Red Buttes in five minutes.”

  Once he passed, she shook her head. “What do you mean, who I am? What does that―”

  “Lilith found out Nolan isn’t the first man you’ve sunk your claws into. I know about Kurt Stone, but my father doesn’t…” He looked at her as if hoping to watch her squirm.

  Regrettably, she gave him the satisfaction.

  “Let’s just say, you don’t want my father to know about your past unless you wish to give up everything he plans to give you.” He leaned toward her, lowering his voice. “My father wouldn’t back a woman like you if he knew what you were, and any investor already interested will change his mind once my father informs him he’s no longer supporting you.”

  “I’m sure what you’re doing constitutes blackmail.”

  He shrugged. “I’m not buying your silence. If you decide to tell the world what you are, I still get the ranch. But I’m willing to do things quietly if I’m given what I’m due. It’s nice of me, really. Oh, and Lilith found out something else. Seems you burned down your last laundry playing with fire.”

  “I don’t play with fire―that was…” Why was she even arguing with him?

  “Investing in a woman inventor is risky enough. And you are not only a moral risk, but a physical risk.” Matt stood as the train slowed to a stop and picked up the satchel she’d not realized he’d brought with him. He stepped into the line of passengers waiting to deboard. “I’ll leave you to think about how it’d behoove you to accept this and move on.”

  “You’re getting off already?” She squinted up at him. “Why were you on this train?”

  “To make sure you knew what you’re up against. Now, be a good girl and make my father proud, heaven knows I can’t. You wouldn’t be able to either if he knew the truth. So consider my silence a gift to you in appreciation for your share of the ranch. It’s a generous gift, considering my father and his friends can get your things on every mercantile shelf west of the Mississippi.”

  She gripped her seat as Matt inched away in the line of disembarking passengers.

  Could he get away with it?

  Considering Nolan’s letter, her husband thought so. His words had hinted to there being nothing to come back to. Would he capitulate to Matt, so she could succeed?

  Matt didn’t look back, just detrained, head high, shoulders erect. Her shoulders, on the other hand, deflated. If Matt told his father about her past…

  Her inventions weren’t earth-shattering enough for Matthias to ignore the truth.

  When had Matt gotten that paper? She rubbed her forehead trying to remember what she’d done with it. She’d shoved it into one of her file boxes, maybe? She should have cast it into the fire!

  Fire… She closed her eyes tight. Hadn’t she chastised herself the day after the fire for leaving her cabin in more of a mess than usual? Well, not that it wasn’t always a mess, but she’d had trouble finding things in her perfectly arranged chaos when she thought she knew where they were. Had he set the fire to go through her things? Had he been trying to steal her ideas to sabotage his father?

  She rubbed her forehead. Was there any way to prove it, if he had?

  If they pried too much into his affairs, would that not spur him to ruin her immediately? If they fought him in court, how would that help? She would have to admit to the truth of his accusations in front of witnesses.

  If they lost both the ranch and Uncle’s favor, they’d be up against the same dismal future they’d married to escape―with shame piled upon them for good measure.

  She couldn’t do that to Nolan.

  Chapter Forty

  Sweat trickled down Nolan’s forehead as he fingered one of the leather scraps Corinne hadn’t cleared off her workbench. He should roll his wheelchair over and open the windows and prop open the door farther, but he hadn’t the desire.

  Corinne had left without uttering one word of “romantic nonsense.” That shouldn’t have hurt as much as it had, but he’d hoped to hear something to assure him she’d return, that no matter what happened while she was away, she’d care…

  He huffed and flicked the leather piece across the table and onto the floor. It was probably best she’d said nothing. Once Matt stripped him of everything he owned, she’d need to stay with Uncle as long as possible.

  Picking up a piece of curled leather that looked like a smile, Nolan ripped it apart. If only he could’ve done that with the smug expression Matt had worn when he’d boarded t
he train to return to his conniving fiancée.

  But instead of chasing after Matt to smack the smile off his face, he’d bowed his head, letting Matt know he’d won. He’d asked Matt earlier to schedule a court date to obtain an official ruling that might make Corinne less curious about why he’d signed over the deed without a fight.

  Surrounding him were all of Corinne’s odds and ends, none important enough to pay to ship to Denver. Should he try to save any of it? Leah might let him store it in the laundry’s back room again. Maybe he ought to see if he could have Corinne’s old upstairs apartment.

  If things were different, he’d be headed to his uncle’s, but how awkward would that be? How would he even begin to explain to either of them how Matt now possessed the ranch? And then to ask his uncle for a separate room―

  “Knock, knock,” Annie’s soft voice interrupted his melancholy as she stepped through the cabin door. “Your men thought you might be out here.”

  He brushed the clingy bits of soft leather off his hands. “I am.”

  She walked over. “You look miserable.”

  He shrugged.

  “You love her, don’t you?”

  The breath he drew wasn’t so he could respond, but to stall. Corinne ought to hear how he felt before anyone else. Not that he planned to tell her any time soon―or maybe at all. He didn’t want her to feel any more unwanted obligation toward him than she already did.

  He sighed. “You know as well as I do, Corinne wants nothing to do with me as a husband. The best thing I can do for her is to let her go.”

  Annie sat on the stool beside him. “Now, why would you think I believed that?”

  He picked up another leather scrap to keep from looking at her. “I overheard.”

  “Overheard what?”

  “The two of you. I know what she told you.” He closed his eyes. Why had he even brought this up? “About the night we spent together.”

  Silence reigned for a moment before Annie spluttered with laughter.

  He glanced over at her. How was that funny?

  Her cheeks were pink, though her eyes kind. Her face reddened as she fretted her lower lip. Then she looked away, sobering. “Goodness, I don’t know what to say considering this isn’t an appropriate topic for you and me to engage in. It’d probably be best to have Jacob speak with you, but then I’d have to tell him…” She suddenly sat up straight and peered down her nose at him like a mother about to lecture a wayward child. “The short of it is, you shouldn’t have eavesdropped.”

  “It’s better that I know―”

  “You’d have known more if you’d listened longer, apparently.”

  He crossed his arms. Not knowing everything was a blessing.

  “You ninny.” She poked his arm. “She told me about how things went with Kurt, and I told her that with time there was hope she could one day enjoy every aspect of her husband’s attentions.”

  He kneaded the back of his neck. “So she doesn’t wish she’d never married me?”

  “No, and let that be a lesson to you about eavesdropping.” She jammed her finger into his arm again. “Corinne was concerned you’d not want to stay married to her if she couldn’t make you happy. Seems that’s why she’d been against marriage all along. She doesn’t want to hurt someone she loves.”

  He couldn’t do much more than blink. Did Annie mean Corinne loved him, or had she meant that hypothetically?

  Annie rested a hand on his shoulder. “Corinne cares deeply for you―more than she’s likely letting herself feel considering how scared she is you might not love her back if she can’t … fulfill your expectations.”

  He blinked against tears, and his body lost half its tension. So Corinne hadn’t found him unpalatable after he’d tried his best to show her how he really felt? “Thank you for telling me.”

  She stood, giving him one last squeeze. “I’ll excuse myself now.”

  “I’m sorry, what did you come for?”

  “I was going to ask you over for dinner so we could tell you about our trip, but we can do that another day.” She waved and was gone.

  As he stared unfocused at the cattle grazing outside the window, his body began to shake at the thought of signing over all these acres of rolling plains to Matt.

  When he’d thought Corinne had no real attachment to him, the loss hadn’t seemed so significant, but if she was coming back…

  Yet, the ranch was nothing compared to her. Dragging her through the mud to keep this place wasn’t worth it. If he had a chance to win her heart, he couldn’t allow Matt to stop him.

  He might not be able to provide much without this place, but he could serve and care for her wherever they found themselves. And though Matthias would certainly help Corinne in order to profit, his uncle didn’t believe in her like he did.

  Why hadn’t he gone with them?

  Shoving away from the table, Nolan scanned the room, trying to judge what Corinne might want saved.

  He’d have to get a job in Denver. He may not know much about Uncle’s business, but he’d proven he could run a place profitably without resorting to shadiness. Surely his uncle could use him in the mailroom or something.

  He wheeled over to grab a sturdy crate and started wrapping her flasks of chemicals with old newspaper.

  Would it be too much to hope Matthias wouldn’t lose respect for him when he showed up without a penny and asking for a separate bedroom? But he needed to be there to support Corinne―not push her for more than she wanted to give.

  Plus, without the ranch, it might take time to prove he wasn’t like her father, wanting to profit off of her work without doing any of his own.

  The jangle of Mickey’s collar drew Nolan’s attention back out the window. Timothy was walking the fence line, the dog running beside him.

  “Timothy!”

  The young man turned, scratching his head as if he was uncertain he’d heard his name called.

  “In the cabin!”

  Timothy jogged over and poked his head in through the door. “Yes, boss?”

  Mickey ran past him to jump into Nolan’s lap.

  Nolan gave him a brisk, playful petting, jiggling his ears back and forth. “Round up the men to come help me pack. Tell Sal to go into town to rent me another wagon. I’ve got all the furniture in the hou―” He couldn’t let Matt have everything, but what would he do with it all? “Maybe don’t do that yet, but definitely pull my wagon out here. Corinne will want some of this stuff.”

  “Wh―why are we doing this?”

  “I’m afraid the ranch will soon be under Matt’s ownership, and I need to take some of this to Colorado.”

  Timothy didn’t move. “Come again?”

  “I’m leaving.”

  “Why?”

  “We have to do what we must to win over the love of our lives, right? Means I’m going to Denver.”

  Timothy tried to smile, but it was weak. “Well, I don’t know that there’s much one can do if the lady hardly knows you exist.” He sighed then shrugged. “But your woman’s definitely worth running after, especially since she don’t think herself better than others and has more than fluff and feathers upstairs.”

  She certainly wasn’t a woman with a head full of nonsense. Though she was smart enough to think herself better than others, she didn’t put on airs. She was certainly the best woman he’d ever met.

  “I didn’t realize you two had a falling out.”

  “Not exactly, but … sort of. Anyway, go get the others.”

  “Sal ain’t going to like this. I don’t think he’ll stay on if your cousin’s boss.”

  “I don’t like it either, but as hard as it’ll be to let go of this place, it’s not worth destroying lives to keep it.”

  As much as it pained him to admit―his father had been right all along. He’d needed the companionship of a devoted wife―a true helpmeet in every sense of the word―more than he’d ever needed a ranch.

  He’d needed Corinne.

  Cha
pter Forty-One

  Unclasping her largest bag, Corinne forced herself to pull out the clothes she’d left packed away since arriving in Denver. Her maid was growing more adamant each day that Corrine allow her to unpack things, but she’d kept putting her off.

  Not because the guest room Uncle Matthias had given her didn’t satisfy. The furnishings were polished and plush, the ceiling tall, the windows large, but she might as well have been put in the root cellar for all the joy these accommodations gave her.

  Before she finished emptying the bag, she sank onto the bed and stared out the window at the townhouse roofs across the street.

  The clattering of horses and the shouts of drivers below helped drown out the constant barrage of thoughts, but not enough.

  Could she let Nolan give up everything for her?

  But if she didn’t, her disgrace would become his disgrace. He didn’t deserve that―at all.

  A soft knock on the doorframe dragged her attention off the pale sky and to the hallway.

  Uncle stood in the open doorway, his forehead furrowed. “Miss Inglebird is concerned you don’t like your room. Would you like to choose another?”

  “No, the room’s fine.” Considering it was the size of two of the ranch house bedrooms and quadruple that of her laundry apartment, she had no complaint.

  “Are you all right?”

  “Yes.”

  Even she wouldn’t have been convinced by the flat sound of her voice.

  “You certainly don’t sound so.” Matthias walked in and pulled the rocker from the corner of the room to sit. “What can I do to cheer you up? It’s not the maid, is it?”

  She shook her head. She’d never had a maid. Miss Inglebird brought her tea, shushed the house servants so she could have enough silence to “create,” and pulled down the covers of her bed each night. Who wouldn’t have felt blessed to have such things done for them?

  However, blessed was far from what she felt.

  “You miss your husband? You should be proud he believes in you. What other man would allow you to leave your duties behind and come all this way to follow this unusual dream?”