A Bride To Herd

by George H. McVey

  “Then why say if he doesn’t marry me in two months you will?”

  “If he isn’t man enough to see what is right in front of him I am. I’ll marry you knowing if he didn’t return your feelings you would work just as hard to learn to love me as I would you.”

  Viola thought for a minute and then nodded her head. “I accept your proposal Mister Crookshank.”

  “Then we will meet and court as often as is acceptable making sure to put on a good show for Chance Redburn, and let him see the jewel that is in his own house.”

  The two returned to the house just in time to hear Chance tell the women that the Penella brothers would be playing for them tonight. The purpose was to allow their potential suitors to return and dance in the parlor and music room with the brides to match. Violet couldn’t help but smile at the irritated set of Chance’s jaw as Mr. Crookshank took her hand in his and placed a light kiss on the back vowing to return that evening. Maybe the banker was right and Mr. Redburn wasn’t as indifferent to her as he seemed.

  As they got ready for the men’s return Violet was also pleased to hear that Rafe and Myrakle had already changed partners and Joseph Penella was officially courting the young deaf woman. It had been obvious to everyone but Chance that they were perfect for each other. So she was glad to see the young woman happy and excited for tonight and the future of getting to know the rancher who was obviously smitten with her.

  Seven

  C hance was sitting in the office having a cup of coffee and thinking about everything that had happened over the last two weeks since he’d moved into the matchmaker’s house and was sent ten brides to match unexpectedly. While things had been very rough the first few days by the time the dance was over that second night things had somewhat settled down. Each of the brides except one were happy in their matches or at least weren’t complaining. The only hiccup in the whole works was Myrakle Estes who’s dog dumpling had passed away saving her from kidnaping outlaws. The deaf girl took the death of the animal that helped her live an active life very hard and she had refused to get out of bed or even see the man she had insisted on getting matched too.

  For his part Joseph Penella was there everyday trying to get her to come down and see him. As much as Chance hated to admit it because it meant that Violet had been right as had Beans the man seemed to be completely in love with the bride they had finally matched him too. He just didn’t know how he was going to get the woman to leave her bed and live again.

  The other fly in the ointment for Chance was Violet and Jedediah. That match seemed to be going great. While Chance knew it should please him because he’d all but forced the woman to accept it he had to admit he wasn’t pleased. In fact it angered him that Violet and the banker seemed to be so well matched. Every time the man came with their chaperone Mrs. Winslow to pick up Violet, Chance wanted to find a reason to not allow her to go. He’d tried to give her work that would keep them apart but the infuriating man would just have the chaperone sit while he helped her with the task. Once it was done he’d take her for whatever activity they’d planned anyway. They looked to be growing closer with every outing and while that should please Chance, it didn’t. It made him furious. He didn’t understand why.

  However he did have to admit that he loved having Violet’s input into the brides. Several matches were working out because of Violet’s insight and her handling of problems of the more emotional variety that Chance had no clue for how to deal with. He also liked that she had taken to making notes and files on their couples and on the men who had come by asking for his services. Also very helpful was the fact that the widows seemed to love her.

  The widows who ran the ladies auxiliary had taken to Violet like she was one of their young portages. When he needed help convincing the older women that he would honor Viola’s legacy it had been Violet who had soothed their worries and stood up for him. “Ladies, I will admit that Mister Redburn has had a rough start as his aunt’s replacement. I will say that he doesn’t seem to make the same mistake twice, and he is learning this job very well. What he needs is the help of ladies like yourselves. Women who know the town’s secrets and can pass them on to him, so he understands his clients better. If you’re worried, he will ruin Miss Viola’s sterling track record then help him. Chaperone us brides and help him see the hidden things his clients need. Help him keep her perfect record going.”

  With those words there was no way that the older women couldn’t get behind him. Now he had a standing meeting with them once a week. It was hard for him to swallow because he had to sit and listen to them gossip about the single men in the town, but Violet helped him with that as well. She went with him and made notes often writing a question and showing it to him as they chatted with the women so that he could ask them and impress the widows. Honestly, he might pull off becoming the matchmaker and be as good at it as his aunt. If he did, he knew he would owe it all to Violet and her quiet and cheerful help. He just didn’t understand why he couldn’t stop thinking about her.

  Chance kept thinking back to the first day and Newt Jacobson telling him to marry one of the brides. He’d been so quick to discount it and push her into this courtship with Crookshank. What if he’d been wrong and he should have kept her for himself? After all that was what his Aunt Viola wanted, and she was never wrong when it came to matchmaking. Maybe he shouldn’t have been so quick to discount her last matchmaking idea.

  What a time for him to realize that Violet might be the perfect match for him. She was being courted by a man who could give her anything her heart desired. What did Chance have to offer her? A house he inherited that would be filled with other brides often and a husband who made his living helping single men find wives. In other words, next to Jedediah Crookshank he had nothing. Still he couldn’t shake the thought from his head that he should win Violet away from the man. The question was how to go about it without hurting either the business or his friend. He needed advice. He sure wished his Aunt Viola was alive she’d have never let him get into a mess like this to begin with, and if he had she would know how to advise him to get out of it. He started to pace across his office. He needed to talk to someone who would be able to help him figure out what to do about the mess he’d created. It couldn’t be Beans because that old wrangler would just tell him to rope the filly and drag her to the church. Which honestly was what he wanted to do. But he needed to know how to win a woman’s heart not tie her to him with a ring and a legal piece of paper. He did want her as his wife now, but he also wanted her heart. He stopped and realized that Violet herself had shown him who to go to for advice. The widows would have all kinds of advice for him, more than he’d want if he knew those old busy-bodies. With that thought Chance grabbed his hat and opened his office doors to see Violet hugging a weeping Jasmine. He frowned, more emotional messes. He really needed to marry Violet and ensure that she could help him with that part of dealing with brides to match for the rest of his life. Heaven knows he couldn’t do it.

  Violet looked up at him and smiled. He gave a subtle nod. “You’ll explain to me later?”

  She nodded as she continued to stroke the woman hair. “Yes. Are you going out?”

  “For a while. I should be back by supper.”

  Violet nodded. “We’ll talk after then. Jedediah isn’t scheduled to come calling tonight so we should have the time.”

  Chance gritted his teeth at the mention of the man. “Alright after supper then plan to meet in the office. We can look at some of the clients too and start trying to figure out how to get in touch with the matchmakers back east.”

  Then he turned and walked out the front door. Off to see what wisdom the older ladies had for him, but first he needed to stop by the saloon for a touch of courage.

  Chance sat at the bar as the Hair of the Dog’s owner Evan Williams walked over in front of him. “Chance, I haven’t had the opportunity yet to say how sorry I was to hear of Viola’s passin”

  “Thanks Evan. Can I get a Whiskey? Make
it a double.”

  The older bartender looked at him. “That ain’t like you. What’s got you all discombobulated?”

  “How about a house full of Brides to Match.”

  “Yeah I heard you had a few show up unexpected like.”

  “You could say that, there’s ten of ‘em.”

  “Ten you say. Seems like the matchmaking business is in demand here in Bent.”

  “Yeah only, I had more than ten men show up claiming they wanted a bride, and the women aren’t willing to be patient and let me learn the job.”

  “Hard to see you as not able to handle a few females Chance. Can’t be any harder than herding cattle for a living.”

  Chance threw back his drink and indicated for Evan to pour him another. “I’m telling ya Williams, it would be easier to herd a bunch of wildcats than to try and ride herd over those ten ladies.”

  Evan poured him another. “Well if anyone can ride herd on a bunch of brides it would be you buddy.” The saloon owner chuckled. You should change the name from Redburn’s Matchmaking to the Bride Herder.” He left to check on other patrons; laughing at his joke, “The Bride Herder, that’s funny right there.”

  Chance drained his second drink dropped coins on the table and headed down to the church to talk to the widows.

  Violet was tired and very cranky; she had thought that trying to make Chance jealous would be fun. She’d been wrong. She didn’t know if the matchmaker was jealous, but he sure had been cantankerous to work for the last few days. If she was honest, she hadn’t been the sweetest of people either. While she didn’t mind spending time with Jedediah Crookshank she didn’t really enjoy the time they spent away from the house the brides to match lived in and Violet worked at.

  She did what was necessary to try and get Chance, the stubborn fool, to realize that they would be perfect together both in making matches for the men who entered asking for help finding a wife and as husband and wife trying to create their own family as well. But it didn’t seem that Chance Redburn noticed anything about her. No he just ordered her to do things and seemed to be upset that she was following his plan and spending time with Jed.

  The banker said it was because their plan was working and Chance was being ate up with jealousy. She didn’t know what the man thought he saw, but she didn’t see it. What she saw was a man who wanted to get what he was paying for. She was here to work as the matchmaker’s assistant, and he needed to run things differently than his Aunt Viola had. She kept everything in her head, but Chance wanted notes and records kept so that he could evaluate the things they saw and heard about the clients and the brides to match.

  As Violet was sitting in the Parlor thinking about all this the front door opened and Jasmine rushed in with tears running off her face and dripping off her chin. Her dress was dirty and she had streaks of dirt and dust all over her exposed skin. The poor woman had already lost one potential groom the night of the dance and was on her second. “What’s wrong Jasmine? Are you hurt?”

  The girl shook her head. “It’s worse than that Violet. How am I going to tell Mister Redburn?”

  “Tell him what?”

  “Mister Jennings, Cody…” The girl started weeping and Violet wrapped her arms around her.

  “Come on let’s sit down. You just get it all out of your body, and then you can tell me what is going on. I’ll help you with Chance don’t worry about him.”

  She directed Jasmine to the couch and sat holding the woman as she wept. Violet kept holding her and stroking her hair like she did the little girls in her class when they had hysterical fits. As she was holding Jasmine and comforting her the doors to the office opened and in walked Chance, his Stetson was in his hand, but when he saw Violet holding and stroking Jasmine he gave her a look that she knew meant he wanted to know what was going on. She smiled and he gave her a little nod. “You’ll explain to me later?”

  “Yes. Are you going out?”

  “For a little while I’ll be back by supper.”

  They made plans to meet afterwards since Mister Crookshank wasn’t coming by this evening. When Violet informed Chance of that he seemed less than thrilled. If Jed and the Widow Winslow were right wouldn’t he have been happy that she wasn’t being escorted out tonight?

  Maybe she should just come clean to him when they met tonight, he’d find out what was going on with Jasmine and then inform him that she couldn’t continue to court Jedediah because she was already promised another groom. Just then she realized that Jasmine had calmed.

  “Do you think that you can tell me what has you so upset today Jasmine? I’ll need to understand so I can explain it to Mister Redburn.”

  The woman whimpered and then mumbled into Violet’s shoulder. “I’m sorry dear I can’t understand you.”

  The woman sat up and gripped Violet’s hands tightly. “It’s my bad luck and clumsiness again. You know I was going to meet my beau for lunch at the hotel restaurant?”

  “Yes Mrs. Long had informed us that she would meet the two of you there.”

  “Well on the way I saw him coming down the street. He seemed to be hurrying, and I thought maybe I’d misunderstood and was late so I rushed up to him. But my hem caught on my boot heel and I tripped. I knocked into him and caused him to drop the bag I hadn’t noticed he was carrying.”

  “So far this doesn’t sound that bad Jasmine.”

  “Oh, Violet it’s beyond bad. The bag spilled out on the ground and money and gold went everywhere. He started cursing until he saw it was me and then he turned white as a sheet. He started stuffing the money back into the bag when Sheriff Jamerson and his deputies ran up and pulled their guns pointing them at Colt.”

  What?? Why in the world would they do that?”

  Jasmine started to cry again. “He lied to everyone. He didn’t have a new job after Chance’s ranch failed. He was robbing banks. He’d just robbed your Mister Crookshank. He’s been arrested. The sheriff said he’s going to prison for a long time. I need another match.”

  Violet sat back stunned. Chance would be upset for certain. He might even feel responsible for Colt’s life of crime. Poor Chance and poor Jasmine. This was going to take some thinking on to figure out what to do next. “Well don’t worry Jasmine I’m sure Mister Redburn will find you a better match. After all you know Redburn Matchmaking has never failed a client or a bride.”

  “I know, but what if I’m the first?”

  Violet patted the bride to match with the worst luck she’d ever encountered on the hand. “You won’t be. I’ll help, and we’ll get you a beau and then a wedding.”

  The two hugged and just then came the knock they’d half been expecting as Joseph Penella came to try and get his bride to match out of her bed and into the land of the living again.

  Eight

  C hance sat at the supper table listening to all the brides that were there talk about their matches or gossip about the things going on around town, but he couldn’t really concentrate on what was being said. His mind was still full of the meeting with the widows and the advice they had given him.

  “Ladies, I need your advice about a situation that’s developed.”

  The Widow Jefferys looked at him and laughed. “Is this a problem with the business? Or is this the problem that you ignored your aunt’s last wish and tried to give your match away?”

  Chance was stunned by that question. “How did you know that Aunt Viola sent for me a bride?”

  Widow Winslow chuckled. “Chance Redburn do you really not understand what it is we do in this town? We are the way news is shared. We’re better than the newspaper. Your aunt shared Violet’s letters with us as they arrived. Did you wonder why we were so open and welcoming to the young lady? We already knew her through her letters. Viola was so excited that she had found what she considered the perfect wife for you. So tell us why you’ve come to us for help.”

  Chance sighed. “I realized today that I want Violet to be my wife, but I messed up and pushed her into courting
Jedediah, and now I’ve lost her.”

  “Has the banker asked her to marry him yet?” Mrs. Jefferys asked Mrs. Winslow.

  “Not that I know of. I’m not too sure that they are even seriously courting. They hardly ever talk about personal stuff. He mostly talks about the bank and what he’s doing there, and she talks about the other brides to match.”

  “They look like they’re getting closer to me,” Grumbled Chance.

  “Of course they do Chance Redburn because you’re seeing everything they do through the lens of your jealousy.” The older women laughed.

  Chance ground his teeth. “I think that’s enough teasing him ladies. Let’s help the boy out.”

  The old ladies nodded at each other. “Listen Chance you will never win the woman back if she doesn’t know you want her. Does she know that you realize she was brought here to be your match?”

  “She knows, but I told her I couldn’t court her.”

  “Why not?”

  “I didn’t want her to think I was going to court her when I didn’t have a future to promise her.”

  “Oh child haven’t you figured out yet none of us can promise a future. We can only live for today. You plan for tomorrow, but it could not happen just look at Viola. She planned for a slow match between you and Violet and didn’t even get to see you two meet.

  “Do you plan to fight for the right to court Violet, Chance? Or do you plan to stay silent and allow her to be courted by Mr. Crookshank until she has no reason to turn him down when he asks her to marry him.”