Farmer's Daughter Romance Collection : Five Historical Romances Homegrown in the American Heartland (9781630586164)

by Peterson, Tracie; Davis, Mary; Hake, Kelly Eileen; Stengl, Jill; Warren, Susan May

  “We both know why the McRaes wanted Daphne and Daniella. Money. I simply reduced your nieces to mere paupers again.” Reece hung her coat on the entry tree stand.

  “You stole their money?” She didn’t care what he did with the money as long as the girls got to come home.

  “Let’s just say I took it out of the McRaes’ reach.”

  “How?”

  “The money was willed to Aaron McRae Junior, not his children. Without a will, his estate is naturally passed on to his wife. With your sister gone, that left Daphne and Daniella to inherit the money. Their guardians would have complete control over it.”

  “That doesn’t explain how you made them paupers.”

  “I found some friends of Aaron and Lynnette’s. He had a letter written from Aaron to Lynnette. I convinced a judge to declare the letter Aaron’s will. The letter implied he wished Lynnette to have everything he could call his own. Of course, the letter was written before the girls were born.”

  “But with Lynnette gone, the money would still go to Davey and Dani.”

  Reece smiled. “Not if she had a will declaring someone else her heir.”

  Marty raised her eyebrows. Her sister had a will? Or had Reece fabricated one? Would he do that?

  Reece went on. “Six months before Lynnette returned to Montana, she moved to Spokane Falls. There she worked as a housekeeper for an attorney and his family. They adored Lynnette and her daughters and were heartsick to find out about her illness. The man persuaded your sister to make out a will to protect her girls. She did, naming none other than big brother Lucas Rawlings as sole heir, knowing he would take care of her most valuable possessions, Daniella and Daphne. Little did she know he would inherit a fortune. The McRaes have no capacity to love a pair of destitute orphans.”

  “Lucas won’t touch that money. It will all be there for Dani and Davey when they grow up.”

  “I don’t doubt that.”

  After a few moments of contemplative silence, Reece caressed Marty’s cheek with his fingers. “Stay,” he whispered.

  “What?”

  “Stay. Here. With me.”

  “I can’t jist stay.”

  His eyes searched hers. “You don’t understand. I love you.” He leaned forward and pressed his lips to hers.

  Marty could hardly breathe. He loved her! She snaked her arms around his neck.

  He pulled her close and kissed her cheek all the way over to her ear. “I want to marry you.”

  Her heart swelled with joy. He actually loved her. She hoped he cared but didn’t think he could feel as she did. But it was no use.

  She pulled away. “I can’t,” was all she could whisper. She turned away, unable to look at him. A strange moisture stung her eyes.

  As he looked at her, he remembered when he first saw her. She came around the back of the wagon and marched up into the house, studying him. At the time he wondered what she was thinking. But now, he knew she was trying to gauge what kind of threat he was to her family. She was always thinking of her family. She would return to them.

  He gently cupped her face and turned it back to him. “Because of your sister?” She nodded. “You are not her. You’re not deserting them. Just the opposite. You have done everything humanly possible.” He paused, seeing tears pool in her loyal eyes. His argument wasn’t swaying her. “They could stay here with us.”

  Marty shook her head. “Lucas would never give them up. He’s like their pa.”

  And yours, too, he thought. He continued with his attempt to persuade her to stay. “We could put them on a stagecoach…” His words trailed off as he saw her shake her head. “They would be safe. I promise. Then you could stay.”

  “Stop it.” She removed his hands from her face. “They are my responsibility. I promised I’d bring them back.”

  “Is there any use asking if you’ll come back?”

  The warring inside her shone on her face. She wanted to stay, but she couldn’t. “I won’t desert my family.”

  He took a deep breath and let it out. “It’s not just the girls, is it? It’s your brothers, and sister-in-law, the animals, the land.”

  “It’s a part of me. It’s who I am.”

  “I can’t come back with you after what I did.”

  “I know.” Marty hung her head. “Lucas is still sheriff.”

  He caressed her cheek with the back of his fingers. She looked up at him. The very thing he loved most about her, her loyalty to family, would tear them apart. “Tell me you love me, too.”

  Reece had bought Daphne and Daniella each a horse, so no one would have to ride double. That was the least he could do after all the trouble he had caused them. He accompanied the three on their journey home. He finally knew that Two Tails was Daniella and One Tail was Daphne. He couldn’t go all the way with them, but he would go as far as he could.

  They were in Montana now, stopped at a river to rest and water the horses. Snow fell lightly, adding to the couple of inches already on the ground. He had gone farther than he knew was wise. He couldn’t bring himself to part from her. He needed to know she was safe.

  Daniella squealed. “It’s Pa!” All heads turned to gaze across the river.

  “Uncle Trevor and Uncle Travis, too,” Daphne said.

  Reece looked up at the ominous figures. His heart sank lower than he thought possible. It was over. The one he determined to be Lucas was flanked by two others nearly as big. There was no mistaking they were brothers. Marty’s brothers. She wasn’t kidding when she said her brother was big. Not only was he a substantial man, but he looked as angry as a peeled rattler. Why shouldn’t he be? His nieces had been kidnapped, and his little sister was missing, and Reece had been responsible for tying up the man’s pregnant wife. He was not a man with whom Reece wanted to tangle.

  “The posse is here.” His stomach twisted.

  Marty looked from her brothers to Reece. His time with her had come to an end.

  “Daphne. Daniella,” Reece said to the girls but kept his gaze on Lucas, who was waiting, assessing. “Get on your horses and cross over to your uncles.”

  They eagerly complied. Once on the other side, Lucas greeted them but sent them on without even a hug. They disappeared into the trees beyond the river with the two younger brothers. Lucas waited for Marty. His rifle lay across his lap.

  Reece turned to Marty and looked upon her face. He took off her hat, an old one of his, and combed his fingers through her hair. She would leave now. There was nothing he could say to talk her out of it. He wanted to kiss her good-bye. After glancing over at Lucas’s grim face, Reece didn’t think it was wise. He would have to settle for memorizing her face.

  When Reece first looked into her eyes, she thought he was going to kiss her. That look was slipping away. He had changed his mind about kissing her, and the reason was looming behind her on the other side of the river.

  As he stepped back away from her with good-bye on his lips, she stepped forward and took his face in her hands. She pulled his head down until his mouth met hers.

  He closed his arms around her, holding her tight. She didn’t want him to ever let her go. Marty wrapped her arms around his neck. He kissed her long and hard.

  She pulled away as suddenly as she had kissed him. “Good-bye,” she tried to say but no sound came out. Tears blurred her vision. She struggled to hold them back. She was losing the battle and wanted to leave before she did something silly like cry. She never cried. As she moved to leave, Reece clasped her hands and wouldn’t let her go. She looked up into his face. His eyes were moist and glistening.

  “Please,” he pleaded.

  Her throat constricted. A tear raced down each of her cheeks. She shook her head as she pulled her hands free and mounted Flash. He gave her hat back to her, and she looked down at him. More tears raced down her face. She had to go quickly if she ever was going to leave.

  “I love you,” she mouthed and goaded Flash into motion. She could feel Reece’s gaze on her back, beckoni
ng her to turn around. She kept her teary focus on Lucas’s stern face and stopped at his side.

  “Are you all right?” Concern was carved in his stonelike features.

  Marty nodded.

  She knew he was surprised by her tears. The last time he had seen her cry she was very little. “Did he hurt you or the girls?”

  Marty shook her head.

  “Go on,” he ordered. “I’ll be along in a minute.”

  Marty walked Flash several feet behind Lucas, then stopped and turned around. Reece’s gaze was still fixed on her. She longed to race back across the river and into his arms, never to let go.

  Lucas moved his horse to the water’s edge and stopped. Reece got the message and got on his horse. He looked one long, last time at her. Turning, he rode away. She would likely never again see the man she loved.

  Marty watched as he disappeared among the trees. “Good-bye,” she mouthed with a quivering lip.

  Marty and Lucas traveled side by side and remained a good distance behind the others.

  Lucas looked sideways at his baby sister. She had grown into quite a woman. He broke the silence. “Do you love him?”

  “It doesn’t matter.” Her hoarse voice quivered as she struggled to hold back tears.

  He had wondered if he would ever see the day when she fell in love and didn’t realize it would be so painful…for them both. “I’m sure you would have no trouble catching up to him,” Lucas said. “Lynnette was about your age, a little younger, when she married and left.”

  “I think I’m finally beginning to understand how she felt. But I’ll never understand how she could leave.”

  “We all have to make our own decisions. She had to do what was right for her.”

  “At the expense of everyone else?”

  He nodded. “Sometimes.”

  “Lynnette was selfish. I’ll never leave you or the family. I’ll always be there. You can count on me.”

  “I know.” Though proud of her, it saddened him, too. She was a little too much like him. He had sacrificed what he thought was his future happiness for his brothers and sisters so they wouldn’t have to do the same. He would give up everything he had to protect his family. Unfortunately, Marty had learned that lesson all too well. He could do nothing for her now except help her live with her decision.

  “You won’t tell Travis and Trevor I was sniveling like a ninny?” Marty dried her tears on her coat sleeve.

  “I won’t tell them a thing.”

  “Lucas, do you think God likes me?”

  “Of course.”

  His reply came back so fast she felt it hit her, even though she knew that would be his answer. “I mean, do you think He approves…you know…of the way I dress and stuff?”

  After a moment of contemplation, Lucas spoke again, “The Good Book says God does not look on the outward man—or woman—but the heart. Not many people, women or men, would go charging off across the country without a thought of themselves after two desperadoes.”

  Reece wasn’t really a desperado.

  “When God looks at your heart, I think He sees pure gold.”

  “I doubt that.”

  “It may be tarnished in a few places, but your motives are in the right place.”

  She had to wonder about that. Were her motives in the right place in the choice she had made?

  Chapter 24

  Back on the farm in Montana, Marty stood by the window in the royal blue gingham dress Reece had instructed Mrs. Atwater to buy for her. Spring was bursting out all over. Travis eyeballed her, bewildered. He turned to his sister-in-law, who was rocking Lottie, the newest addition to the family. “It ain’t Sunday, is it?”

  “It isn’t Sunday,” Aunt Ginny corrected. Marty turned and watched as Ginny was fitting a shirt on Travis.

  Looking sideways at Aunt Ginny, Travis took a deep breath and huffed it out. “Why is Marty wearing a dress?”

  “Why don’t you ask her yourself?” Cinda said in a whimsical tone.

  He had a stunned look on his face like he hadn’t thought to ask her himself. “Marty, why are you wearing a dress? It isn’t even Sunday.” He looked directly at Aunt Ginny when he said isn’t.

  “Because I want to.” She planted her hands on her hips and narrowed her eyes. “You want to make something of it?”

  Travis held up his hands in surrender. “No. Just askin’.”

  “Hold still unless you favor getting poked,” Aunt Ginny scolded.

  Marty hadn’t meant to snap at him. She turned back to the window.

  “You look very nice, Marty. Royal blue is very becoming on you,” Cinda said.

  Marty already knew this particular shade of blue looked nice on her. She had been told it brought out the color of her eyes.

  “She’s just acting weird ever since she came back last fall. Weird,” Travis said.

  She felt weird. Tears swelled in her eyes. She had to escape before anyone noticed. She rammed on the old hat Reece had given her and made a swift exit.

  “That hat don’t go with her dress,” she heard Travis say as she headed out the door.

  She liked this hat. Reece’s hat. In her opinion, it went with everything.

  Her behavior was strange indeed. She didn’t even flinch when Tommy Jensen teased her on Sunday for wearing a dress to church. She even let her hair grow. Now it touched her shoulders.

  She strolled to the apple tree and pulled down a limb to drink in the smell of the blossoms. Nothing was the same anymore. For the first time in her life she wasn’t completely happy on the farm surrounded by her family. Something was missing and always would be.

  “It’s a beautiful day,” Lucas said from behind her.

  It was a lovely spring day; she just couldn’t enjoy it. Maybe if it were raining. “I suppose.” She looked longingly to the west and sighed. “I thought it was the winter blues. You know, cabin fever, being closed in. Spring was supposed to cure me. It hasn’t.”

  “Do you love him?”

  She drew in a shuddering breath and shrugged her shoulders.

  Lucas turned her to face him. “Martha Jane Rawlings, answer my question. Do you love him?”

  Her brother had never used her full name. Marty tried to answer but couldn’t quite form the words. She bit her bottom lip to keep it from quivering. Tears trailed down her cheeks as she nodded.

  Lucas wrapped her in his arms.

  After she regained control, he released her. “He always treated me like a lady, whether or not I acted like one.” She paused and looked up at her big brother. She smiled with a tear-stained face. “Usually not.”

  “You could go to him. I won’t stop you,” Lucas said.

  “I can’t leave.”

  He understood. She could no more leave this place than he could, but it was good of him to give her a choice. “Come with me.” He took her by the hand. “I have something sure to cheer you up. It’s out front by the hitching rail.”

  She gave Lucas a nothing-is-going-to-help look. He pulled her along anyway.

  It was probably some sort of animal if it was tied to the hitching rail. Certainly not a horse. Lucas knew she would never replace Flash.

  When she was eight, she had seen a picture of an elephant at school and pestered Lucas for three months to get her one. When she was eleven, she wanted a hunting dog. Lucas said no, but when one of their horses foaled that spring Lucas said she could raise and care for the colt and saddle-train him. She named him Flash. She hadn’t asked for another animal since. She didn’t know what he could have possibly gotten her. Certainly not an elephant.

  Anticipation churned in her as they rounded the corner of the house. The fact that her big brother was attempting to cheer her up with a surprise made her feel a little better. She determined to be enthusiastic no matter what it was and thank her loving brother.

  Marty stopped in her tracks and stared. She couldn’t believe it. Reece. He was here, leaning against the hitching rail as he had that first day. Her heart ra
ced and she almost forgot to breathe. “Reece!”

  He turned to her and smiled. She hiked up her dress and ran to him. His arms enfolded her, and he kissed her. He held her for several more minutes without saying a word.

  “What are you doing here?” Marty asked, breaking the silence.

  He smiled. “I brought you a present.”

  “You didn’t come all this way just to deliver a package.”

  “Why not?”

  “Because you didn’t. Now why are you here?”

  “First the present.” He walked her over to his horse and removed a big floral, lady’s hatbox. Marty eyed it with suspicion. What would she do with a lady’s hat? She would never be able to muster up enough excitement to convince him she liked it even a little.

  “Open it.” He tipped the box toward her.

  She took a deep breath. Here goes nothing.

  As she reached for the lid, Reece jiggled the box. “Careful, it might bite.”

  Marty looked up at his grinning face and furrowed her eyebrows to show him she did not find it funny. She supposed she was being a little silly. She grabbed the lid and jerked it off. She gasped and stared in the box. The lid slipped from her hands and landed at her feet. She reached into the box and retrieved a new gleaming white Stetson. This was one lady’s hat she would have no problem wearing.

  Reece set down the box. “Put it on.” He plucked his old hat off her.

  Marty raised the hat to her head. It fit perfectly. She smiled. “It’s good enough to wear to church, I’d say.”

  Reece gave an approving nod and gazed at her as he had in Seattle.

  “What are you doing here?”

  “Delivering your new…” His voice trailed off and he shook his head in time with Marty’s. “You don’t believe me?” He clutched his chest. “The maiden doth wound me.”

  “You could have mailed it.” Had Reece come on his own or had Lucas sent for him? No, Lucas wouldn’t have sent for him, but he certainly wasn’t opposed to his being here.