Wild Western Women Spring Into Love: A Western Historical Romance Box Set

by Kirsten Osbourne

Millie stood beside Mary while she said her vows, dashing happy tears from her eyes the whole while. Now that she'd brought Mary and John together, everyone was sure to agree that her ideas were good, and she was an asset to the town. It only took one thing.

  Millie couldn't have been happier for the couple, and she kept looking at Connor who acted as if he were the proud father of the bride, he beamed so much. After the wedding, he invited everyone to the restaurant. "I have several pies that I baked yesterday afternoon just waiting to be eaten."

  They all hurried to the restaurant where Millie put on two pots of coffee and served pie to all the people. Several people told her during the course of the makeshift party that they were "right glad" she'd ended up married to Connor and not her friend. "Looks like you weren't a substitute bride after all."

  Long after everyone had left, she kept those words in mind as she climbed the stairs to their room. Connor had decided to do a bit of paperwork, while she went up to their room to write a letter to Elizabeth Miller. She sat with her back to the head of the bed and put her pencil to paper.

  Dear Elizabeth,

  I'm so glad you helped me to come out here and marry Connor. I feel like I'm where God wants me to be. I've done a lot of good in this small town already, and I know I can do more. My heart is simply overflowing with love for my new husband, and I wanted to thank you once again. Please keep in touch, and never stop the good you're doing.

  Sincerely,

  Millie

  Millie put the letter on the dresser to be mailed the following day. Could life get any better?

  When Connor joined her for bed, he brought up a subject that she'd wanted to discuss for a while, but hadn't wanted to make him feel like anything in her life was lacking. "I just looked at our finances. We have enough saved to buy a house. It'll have to be a small house, but the Grimsley's just moved out of town, and their house is for sale." He watched her face, hoping she'd be happy with the idea of a house. He knew she didn't like living in the hotel.

  Millie stared at him in shock. "Really? Do you mean it?" She didn't complain about their lack of space in the hotel, but every day she dreamed of moving. "I would love that!"

  He smiled. "We'll talk to the estate agent about it tomorrow."

  "Thank you! A house is all I need to make my dream complete." She couldn't believe he was even offering it to her.

  "That's all? You don't want...maybe a child?" He winked at her.

  Millie blushed. "I think that's going to happen soon enough. I'd love to have a child by this time next year." Her hand went to her belly, thinking about how it would feel to have his child kicking inside her.

  Connor smiled, climbing into bed beside her. "I would like that as well." He stroked her cheek with one finger. "I got a letter from home yesterday. My brother has decided to move to Idaho because of all the good things I've said about this place. He wants to help run the restaurant. Would you mind?" He quickly added, "Don't worry, he'll take our room in the hotel. He won't live with us."

  She smiled. "That sounds wonderful. Maybe we can take days off together occasionally if we have someone to help."

  "I promise you, when he gets here, we'll start taking off at least one day every week. We don't need to keep working this way with Sean coming."

  She sighed happily, leaning against him. "Two months ago, I never would have dreamed I could be as happy as I am today." She pressed her lips to his, suddenly thrilled with her life. Her husband loved her. The town loved her. And she had a great many ideas for making everything around them better. Life was going to get interesting very soon.

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  Adelaide

  Prisoners of Love

  By

  Callie Hutton

  Copyright © 2016 by Callie Hutton

  All rights reserved.

  No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any electronic or mechanical means, including information storage and retrieval systems, without written permission from the author, except for the use of brief quotations in a book review.

  Prologue

  "Dodgehttp://www.legendsofamerica.com/ks-dodgecitybeginnings.html is the Deadwood of Kansas; . . . her principal business is polygamy without the sanction of religion; her code of morals is the honor of thieves, and decency she knows not. . . The employment of many citizens is gambling, her virtue is prostitution and her beverage is whisky. She is a merry town, and the only visible means of support of a great number of her citizens is jocularity."

  -- Hays City Sentinel, 1877

  Dodge City, Kansas

  April, 1877

  Adelaide Markham huddled, shivering, in the corner of the Dodge City jail cell. She’d never before seen the inside of a jail house in her entire life and was scared to death. The other women in the cell with her looked just as frightened, except the girl in the scanty saloon outfit who the marshal had just thrown in with them.

  Drawing her legs up, Adelaide rested her chin on her knees. How did she, a young woman of twenty-five, raised in a God-fearing, loving home by two doting parents, end up in jail? She jerked as gunshots went off outside the jail house. She hated Dodge City and wanted more than anything to get away.

  She thought of her snug little house about ten miles outside of the town, where she’d spent the most enjoyable years of her life. Until influenza took her husband, Gerald, and their sweet little girl, Mary. She wiped the tear that escaped the corner of her eye. She’d learned months ago that crying did nothing except give her a headache.

  “Marshal, when you gonna let us the hell out of here?” The saloon girl ran her shoe across the bars of the cell, making enough racket to block out the sounds from outside.

  “Shut up, Cinnamon,” a man’s voice called. “The Marshal left me in charge and I ain’t letting you out until he says so.”

  “Well, where did he go? He can’t just throw me in here and walk off. I demand to have my say.” She leaned against the door, gripping the bars. “And don’t call me Cinnamon.”

  “That’s your name, ain’t it? And there ain’t nothing to say. You hit the mayor over the head with a pitcher of beer.”

  “The old lecher deserved it!”

  “Shut up, girl. And settle down.”

  The girl, whose name was apparently Cinnamon—although she didn’t want to be called that—flounced over to the cot where Adelaide sat and plopped down, crossing her arms, pushing up her breasts dangerously high. She looked over at Adelaide. “What are you in for?”

  “Vagrancy.”

  “What’s that?”

  “Having no job, no home, and no money.”

  “Well, hell, if you ain’t got a job, then there ain’t no way to have a home or money.” She adjusted the straps on her dress and tugged the neckline up. “My name’s Cinnamon O’Brien. But if you know what’s good for you, you’ll call me Cindy. What’s yours?”

  “Adelaide Markham.”

  “You look like what my ma used to call a ‘good, God-fearing woman.’ How’d you end up with nothing?”

  Adelaide cleared her throat, knowing it would hurt just uttering the words. “My husband and little girl died of influenza. Gerald was a gunsmith, and since I didn’t know the first thing about guns, I couldn’t keep his business going.”

  “Family?”

  “I’m an only child and my parents drowned right after Gerald and I were married. Their buggy went over the side of a bridge during a rainstorm.”

  Cindy reached out and touched her hand. “I’m so sorry, girl. You’ve had it hard, haven’t you?”

  Fighting the tears once again, Adelaide merely nodded. “I left my house and came to Dodge City. I got a job as a waitress, but having no experience, I didn’t last lo
ng. When I got fired I started living in an abandoned building. The owner told me I could stay if I um . . . ‘warmed his bed’ as he put it. When I refused, he had the marshal arrest me for trespassing. He said he would drop the charges if I reconsidered.”

  “Damn men.” Cindy looked over at the two other women sitting on the small cot against the opposite wall, watching the exchange. “What are y’all in for?”

  The brunette shrugged. “I worked with Doctor Snodgrass, selling medicine out of his wagon. I thought it was real good stuff. But it turns out it was just water he colored with beet juice. He skipped town and left me here. People filed complaints, so the marshal arrested me. I don’t know why, since I never got any of the money. Dr. Snodgrass took it all.”

  “Damn men. What’s your name?”

  “Becky Davidson.”

  Cindy gestured with her chin to the other woman. “What’s your story?”

  For a full minute the girl just stared at them. Finally, she wrapped her arms around her middle and whispered, “I killed a man.”

  Dodge City Marshal Dane Jones stood next to Nellie Ward, his arm draped casually over her shoulder as the two of them watched Nellie’s brothel burn to the ground.

  With no one available to help put out the fire, Dane had made sure all the girls were out before he took up his position next to Nellie. “Damn shame. You have the cleanest girls and the least watered-down whiskey in town.”

  A young whore wrapped in a silk robe walked up to them. “What are we gonna do now, Nellie? Where will we sleep tonight?”

  “I guess the marshal here will have to put us all up in the jail.”

  “I ain’t going to no jail,” the young girl huffed. “Margie at The Palace is always looking for girls, I’m going there and see if she can take me in.”

  “Me, too.” Two other whores joined the group, and before the last wall of the brothel had fallen in, all six of Nellies girls had left her standing there with the marshal.

  “Well, ain’t that the living end.” Nellie glared at their backs, her hands on her hips.

  Dane tucked a lock of hair behind Nellie’s ear. “Don’t worry. Once you get a new place set up, they’ll come back.”

  “No.” She sighed and shook her head. “I’m too old to start over, Marshal.”

  “Too old? Hell, woman, you’re no more than forty.” Nellie was not only still young looking for her line of work, she was also a handsome woman with a fine figure who didn’t need all the face paint she used.

  “I’ve been in this business since I was fourteen. There are days I feel older than the Widow Charles, and she must be seventy if she’s a day.”

  Dane turned to her and gave her a slow smile, his mind working furiously. She could be the solution to a problem he’d been wrestling with all day. He continued to stare at her, the idea forming in his mind sounding better all the time.

  “Marshal, I don’t know why you’re staring at me like that, but it’s making me mighty nervous.”

  His grin grew wider. “Nellie, how fond of this town are you?”

  She narrowed her eyes. “Don’t make any difference to me where I plant my feet. In fact, Dodge City is getting too wild. Even for me. Why?”

  “I have four young women sitting in my jail right now.”

  “Four young women? In jail? Marshal Jones, are you crazy?”

  He hooked his thumbs in his gun belt and rocked back on his heels. “Probably, but I think I’ve come up with a solution on how to get rid of them, and help you at the same time.”

  “Why do I think I’m not going to like this?” she groused as he took her by the elbow and hustled her in the direction of the jailhouse.

  Chapter 1

  Adelaide Markham’s head jerked up as a loud, rumbling voice shattered the silence in the Dodge City jail cell “All right, ladies. I want your attention.”

  Marshal Dane Jones stood in front of the steel bars that confined Adelaide and the three other female prisoners. He had a woman with him wearing a low cut red satin dress, dangly earrings, and face paint. She was a pretty woman, but obviously not someone from the church who’d come to minister to them.

  “This here is Miz Nellie Ward. Until about an hour ago, she was the owner of one of the finest brothels in Dodge City.” He smiled at the woman and continued. “The place just burned to the ground and all her girls left to work for another house.”

  Adelaide sucked in a breath. Dear God, the Marshal wasn’t going to suggest the women go to work for this madam? She’d rather starve on the streets before she offered her body for sale. Hadn’t being arrested already proven that?

  “What the hell is this about, Marshal?” Cindy said. “If you think I’m going to work for Nellie you’re crazy.” She nodded at the woman. “No offense, Nellie. It’s just that I ain’t got a hankering for spending my time flat on my back. That just about killed my mama.”

  “None taken,” Nellie said, her lips twitching.

  “Although that’s not why Nellie is here, missy, you might not be so quick to dismiss a job,” the marshal said. “Stuart stopped me on the way over here so I could tell you to turn in your dress, cause you’ve been fired.”

  “Well, hell. Ain’t that just like a man? Takes the mayor’s side in this, without even hearing what really happened.”

  “Forget it, girl. What I have to say to you—” his eyes swept over the other three women behind bars. “All of you—is I have a proposal.”

  Adelaide swallowed nervously. What in heaven’s name did the marshal have in mind for a widow, a saloon girl, a murderer, and a snake oil salesman?

  “Since Nellie’s place just burned down, she has nowhere to go. All of you are a burr under my saddle. I can’t have women in my jail, but none of you have a job or a place to stay.” He took off his hat and ran his fingers through his hair.

  “So this is the deal. There’s a wagon train right now at Fort Dodge from Independence that’s headed to Santa Fe, New Mexico territory. Now I happen to know there are plenty of men down that way looking for wives.”

  Adelaide gasped. “Marshal, surely you’re not suggesting . . .”

  “Yes, ma’am I am suggesting. You gals will either get on that wagon train with Nellie here as your chaperone, or wait until the circuit judge comes around when he sobers up. He’ll be so blasted hung over, he’s liable to send y’all off to the state prison.”

  “That’s outrageous. You can’t force us to marry strangers.” The one who had said she was involved with Dr. Snodgrass clutched the cell bars, her knuckles white.

  “No, ma’am, you’re probably right. I can’t do that. But what I can do is leave you sitting here until old Judge Bailey makes his appearance. Sometimes we don’t see him for six months.”

  “I’m willing.” The murderer said, again her voice barely above a whisper.

  Adelaide stepped back until her legs hit the cot, then she sat. Married? To a stranger?

  What choice do I have? The last time I felt secure was when I was married to Gerald. But marriage means children, and I can’t do that again. I can’t love a child only to lose it. Perhaps one of the men in Santa Fe will be old enough to not want children.

  “When do we have to decide?” Cindy wanted to know.

  “Now.”

  “Well, lordy be, marshal, you sure don’t believe in giving a gal a whole lot of time to decide. And how we will get the money to buy supplies and a wagon?” She waved at the other ladies. “As you just said, we don’t have a penny between us.”

  “I’ll have the town pay for it. I’m behind on collecting the monthly operating fees from the saloons and brothels.” He dismissed his seizure of the town’s funds with a mere wave of his hand.

  “There is no time for y’all to decide on this. The wagon train will be pulling out tomorrow. Nellie has to get a wagon ready to go this afternoon. I can send word to the wagon master to hold up for maybe another day but that’s about it.”

  He fisted his hands on his hips and glared at them. “No
w what will it be?”

  The four women looked at each other. Adelaide shrugged. “I don’t see that we have a whole lot of choice.”

  Adelaide awoke the next morning confused. For the first time in weeks she was in a warm, soft bed. She glanced sideways at the woman snoring softly alongside her. Blinking against the sun streaming through the window, her memory returned with a jolt.

  Gerald and Mary were dead. She had no home, no money, and no job. She’d been arrested, and was now, this very day, headed to Fort Dodge to join up with a wagon train traveling to Santa Fe. There she was expected to marry a stranger. She and three other women prisoners. Added to the ridiculous circumstances, they were being chaperoned by the madam of a burned-down brothel.

  Adelaide eased out of bed and quickly washed and dressed. She had to give herself time to consider what she was doing.

  Last night, exhausted from a lack of sleep and food, she ate a meal paid for by the town, then collapsed into this bed and fell into a deep sleep. A brisk walk in the morning air would clear her head.

  She strode down the empty boardwalk, past businesses just beginning to open, to the end of town, and then crossed over and walked back toward the jail house. A few shopkeepers swept the area in front of their stores. Some nodded to her, but most kept their heads down and focused on their work.

  Her mind made up, she would tell the marshal she’d decided against his plan, and would spend the entire day looking for work. Surely somewhere in this town a body was needed to fill a job. The vision that popped into her mind had her breaking into a sweat.

  No. I won’t do that. I would marry a stranger first.

  “Good morning, Marshal.” She smiled brightly as she entered the jail.

  “Morning, ma’am. Are you packed and ready to go?”