Something Borrowed

by Rebecca Hagan Lee

  He grinned. "Let's go." Lee led his small party down the rest of the aisle and out the front doors of the church. He paused on the top step, turned, managed a slight bow, and smiled at Mary. "Your carriage awaits, milady."

  Mary gasped in surprise. Not at the plain hired hack parked on the street, but at the snow-white thoroughbred stallion tied to the back. She recognized him, of course. There was only one horse like him in the country— Pegasus. He belonged to her cousin Reese, but Lee had ridden him into town. She glanced at Lee once again. It seemed Prince Charming had come to her rescue after all. And he had ridden in on a snow-white stallion, just like in the scenes in all the fairy tales—like the scenes from all of her dreams.

  The wedding party arrived at the Trail T ranch in time for a late—very late—wedding breakfast. Reese Jordan and his wife, Faith, had sent Daniel ahead to warn the women and the ranch hands, who had remained at home preparing the food and making arrangements for the arrival of guests, that there had been a change in grooms. Reese's instructions asked that anything bearing an association with Pelham Cosgrove III be removed from sight and that no mention of Cosgrove reach Mary's or Lee Kincaid's ears.

  Mary and Lee stood side by side in the huge dining room of the main house and waited for the wedding guests to arrive. The dining table, large enough to seat thirty people, had been moved from the center of the room to one wall, draped in white sheets, and loaded with a buffet of fine foods—from thick juicy beefsteaks to delicate seafood brought in by rail from San Francisco. Smaller tables had been set up in the center of the dining room for the bride and groom, their families, and members of the wedding party. It looked to Mary as if every straight-backed chair on the ranch was lined against the dining room walls. She nervously fidgeted with the skirts of her wedding dress and readjusted her veil before the guests arrived. Although she told herself that everything would be fine, Mary wondered how she would manage to endure the looks and comments of her guests. One look at Lee in his dusty suit and canvas duster standing beside her in her pristine white satin wedding gown would serve to remind everyone on the Trail T that she had left the ranch to become Pelham Cosgrove's bride and had become Mrs. Liam G. M. Kincaid instead. It was only a matter of time before one of the wedding guests forgot their manners long enough to mention it.

  Mary shifted her weight from one foot to the other and waited impatiently for the trial by fire to begin. She glanced at Lee, wishing she could appeared as relaxed as he did, wishing she had Judah and Maddy with them. But Maddy was eating breakfast in the kitchen with the other children and Judah. Mary sighed. Nothing about her wedding had gone according to plan. According to her schedule, she and Pelham should have been settling into Reese's luxurious private railroad car for their honeymoon journey to San Francisco by now. But then, no one had planned on having Lee Kincaid ride to the church and make her his bride.

  Pelham. His clothes and personal belongings had already been placed in Reese's private Pullman car for the journey west. "Oh no," she gasped loud enough for Lee to hear.

  "Wait is it?" Lee turned to her.

  "It's nothing," Mary shook her head. She would have to remind someone to unload Pelham's things and send them back to him before she left with Lee.

  "Something must be bothering you," Lee said. "You're as stiff as a board." He smiled at her. "I'm afraid to touch you for fear I'll get splinters."

  Mary looked down at her hands tightly gripping the fabric of her dress. Her fists were clenched, her knuckles white.

  Lee reached out and took one of her hands in his. "I want to help you, Mary. I know we can make whatever it is that's upsetting you better. You can trust me. I'm your husband now." His words surprised, yet pleased him. Until he arrived in Denver two days ago and found himself confronted by Tabby Gray's ultimatum, Lee hadn't expected his way of life to change. Oh, he admitted there were times when he longed for a real home, a wife, and children—maybe even a dog to sleep beside the hearth, but he had never tried to satisfy those longings. The proposal he had made to Tessa Roarke five months ago had been halfhearted at best. Lee hadn't taken it seriously and neither had Tessa. It was, as Lee had tried to explain to Mary, an offer made out of his sense of loyalty and duty to his partner and good friend, Tessa's dead brother. It was a proposal meant to infuriate David Alexander, to spur David into proposing to Tessa himself. And it had worked beautifully. No one had taken it seriously except David, and perhaps Mary. Lee took a deep breath. The scent of Mary's perfume filled his nostrils—a warm, compelling scent of wildflowers and herbs and spice—much like the woman herself. His wife. Lee grinned. He was married, and the knowledge gave him a warm feeling inside. It filled the place in his soul that had been empty for so very long… For the first time in years, Lee believed he might have a future after all.

  "Pelham," Mary blurted. "I was thinking about Pelham— of how we would've been boarding the train for our honeymoon in San Francisco about now."

  He stiffened. Her words affected him like a sword thrust through the pit of his stomach. Lee gritted his teeth in an attempt to halt the flow of bitter feelings surging through him. Pelham. While he had been eagerly planning a future with Mary Alexander, she had been thinking of Pelham Cosgrove III and the future they would have shared if he hadn't come along and ruined things for her with his slick scheme to meet the terms of Tabby's will.

  "I'm sorry about that, Mary," Lee apologized, "I didn't know you planned to honeymoon in San Francisco."

  There was a note of genuine sincerity in his deep baritone voice. Mary looked up at him to see if he really meant his apology.

  "I suppose you were going to stay in a fancy hotel and eat in all the fine restaurants," Lee said. "Maybe go to the opera?"

  "Yes," Mary agreed. "We had planned to do those things. Pelham had never been to San Francisco. He wanted to take in all the sights."

  "What about you, Mary? What did you want to do?" Lee asked softly.

  Mary hesitated a moment before answering. "I suppose I wanted to do those things, too. It's been ages since I've been to San Francisco." She studied Lee's face, the way his blond brows framed his mesmerizing gray eyes, his perfect nose—the one she'd asked her brother to break—the thick blond mustache framing his mouth, and the pout of his bottom lip which seemed to issue invitations for her to kiss it. Mary stared at his mouth. Lee Kincaid was her husband now. Less than an hour ago, he had stood beside her in the church after Pelham walked out and solemnly promised to love, honor, and cherish her. Remembering Lee's kiss, Mary smiled shyly, wondering what it would be like to have him love, honor, and cherish her with his body. She blushed at her thoughts. Although she had planned to have a family with Pelham, she had never given any thought to having Pelham cherish her with his body. She had gone out of her way not to think about sharing her bed with Pelham Everhardt Cosgrove III. But the idea of sharing her bed with Lee Kincaid, of creating children with Lee, excited her and made her look forward to her wedding night. Mary nervously licked her lips, took a deep, calming breath, then said, "About San Francisco… my honeymoon… I mean, I don't suppose you and I…" She bit her bottom lip. It wasn't like her to stutter so.

  Lee stared down at his bride. Mary's face was so guileless and her thoughts so apparent. While she dreamed of the romantic honeymoon in San Francisco she had planned with Cosgrove, Mary was confronted by the possibility of having to share a marriage bed with him. Lee supposed being married to him would take a little getting used to, especially since she had been in the process of marrying someone else—someone she cared about, and maybe even loved.

  He sighed. He wasn't a normally patient man, but he would try for Mary's sake.

  "I'm sorry, Mary, but a San Francisco honeymoon is out of the question." Lee focused his gaze on the tips of his dusty boots, trying to figure out how to say what he needed to say. He cleared his throat and ran his index finger under the collar of his white shirt before he spoke in a low, husky whisper. "In fact, I've been thinking that maybe we should wait a while be
fore we, uh"—he swallowed hard— "actually become husband and wife."

  Mary gasped. "But we're married!"

  "Legally"—he sucked in a breath then slowly released it—"but not actually. I mean, right now, what we have is marriage on paper only. And I'm saying, maybe, we ought to keep it that way for a while."

  "Oh." The rejections Mary had endured on this, her wedding day, were enough to send a weaker woman running to her mother for comfort, but she was made of stronger stuff. Mary straightened to her full height, tilted her chin a bit higher, and ignored the sting of disappointment. Pelham hadn't trusted her enough to marry her and although Lee had married her, he didn't care to share her bed. "I see." Her ironic tone concealed the mixture of emotions she felt and the quavering note in her voice.

  Lee glanced at Mary's profile. Her lovely face was full of strength, shining with a steadfast determination to endure and to make the best of her situation. He admired her strength, her courage. "It doesn't have to be forever," he told her.

  "Only until death us do part," Mary said softly.

  "I meant the 'paper only' part," Lee said. "The other can wait until we get to know one another better."

  Mary took a deep breath, then met Lee's solemn gray-eyed gaze. "Up until you walked into the church an hour ago, I was planning my life with the man of my choice." Hoping to salvage what she could of her pride, Mary pulled the shreds of her dignity around her and flashed him a look of disdain. "I married you because you offered me a way out of an embarrassing dilemma, but don't think for one second that gives you any rights. As far as I'm concerned, the other can wait forever."

  "I'm your husband," Lee reminded her, as the need to assert his masculine claim on her suddenly resurfaced.

  Mary gave him a look of wide-eyed innocence. "Not in the way it counts," she countered. "Only on paper and only until death us do part." She saw his eyes narrow as her barb found its mark. She wet her dry lips with a tip of her tongue, then slipped her hand into the crook of Lee's elbow, and pasted a wide, adoring smile on her face. "Smile," Mary hissed at her husband, nudging him in the ribs for good measure. "Our wedding guests are here to congratulate us."

  Lee blinked at her quick change.

  "Please?" she added when Lee failed to respond. "I don't want my family embarrassed any more than they already have been. As far as everyone else is concerned"—she thought for a moment—"we met and fell in love last year in Peaceable while I was visiting David." She worried her bottom lip with her teeth. "It shouldn't be too hard to convince them. Most of these people were guests at David and Tessa's wedding. They saw us together."

  "How do you account for my four-month absence?" Lee asked.

  "You left for Chicago on business. I was told you'd been killed in an accident. Later, I met Pelham. Our story is a romantic tale of love lost and found."

  "The official story." Lee smiled then, more impressed than he would like to admit. Her expressions and thoughts weren't quite as transparent as he'd thought. He grinned in admiration. She had depths he hadn't even imagined. And if he didn't watch out, William Pinkerton would be trying to recruit her to work for the Agency. Mary Alexander Kincaid gave as good as she got, and she did it with such style and grace. He nodded his head. All in all, he was quite satisfied with his choice.

  All in all, it had been quite a wedding day. For both of them.

  * * *

  Chapter Seven

  "I'm glad you could make it for the wedding, Liam." Tessa Alexander bit her lip to keep from smiling as she held her hand out to him.

  Lee stared at Tessa's hand but didn't offer to shake it. He raised an eyebrow. "As I turned out to be the groom, I'll just bet you are," he told her. "What would you have done if I hadn't shown up?"

  Tessa looked around and spotted Mary standing across the room with a couple of the wedding guests. "I might have had to stand up and object to the ceremony myself."

  "You had your opportunity," Lee pointed out.

  "I waited for you," Tessa replied. "And although you cut it close, you finally made it. The real question is what would you have done if you had gotten here a few minutes later?"

  "I would have turned around and gone on my merry way without a backward glance."

  "Ha!" Tessa scoffed. "Why didn't you? You had your opportunity."

  "I should have taken it," Lee told her. "Then I wouldn't have to endure your smug attitude."

  Tessa bit her lip even harder. "You couldn't stand by and let Mary marry Pelham Cosgrove or any other man," she told him. "You don't have it in you."

  Lee shook his head. "How did you know I'd come running in response to your telegrams?"

  "It's your nature," Tessa replied matter-of-factly.

  "Ha!" It was Lee's turn to scoff. "I don't risk my neck for anybody."

  "You risk your neck for everybody." She gave up the battle and laughed outright. "You, Liam Kincaid, are a born rescuer. I saw it from the beginning. It's one of the things I've always liked about you."

  "You obviously have me confused with David." He nodded toward Tessa's husband. David Alexander was an attorney known for championing the weak. "You couldn't have seen anything about me from the beginning, Tessa, because you wouldn't let me get within a foot of you for weeks after we met. You may not remember it now, but you haven't always liked me." Lee frowned at the memory of Tessa Roarke taking a swing at him on the stairway of Myra Brennan's Satin Slipper Saloon in Peaceable, Wyoming.

  "That's only because I thought you were after me and Coalie," Tessa explained.

  Liam Kincaid had followed Tessa from Chicago to Wyoming Territory, but not for the reason she feared. He hadn't been interested in returning Tessa's traveling companion, nine-year-old Coalie Donegal, to the brutish man to whom Coalie had been apprenticed—the man from whom Tessa had helped Coalie escape. No, Lee had followed Tessa from Chicago because he had promised her brother he would watch out for her. But Tessa hadn't known that, and nothing Lee could say or do had kept her from despising him on sight.

  "I didn't know you then." Tessa interrupted Lee's musings. "But I know you now. And I know that you and David are cut from a similar bolt of cloth. You could have left the church quietly once you saw Mary at the altar with someone else. You didn't have to make your presence known. And you certainly didn't have to make such a dramatic entrance."

  "What's the matter, Tessa? Aren't you happy with the results of your scheming?" he asked.

  "I'm very happy," she said. "And I think you and Marry will be, too. That's why I asked you to come to Cheyenne for the wedding."

  "You didn't ask me to come to Cheyenne," Lee corrected her, "you ordered me. Dammit all, Tessa, I haven't had a moment's peace since I agreed to try to find Lily Catherine for you. Everytime I return from a trip, I find a telegram from you waiting on my desk." He ran his fingers through his thick blond hair. "I didn't mind it at first because I knew you were anxious for news, but this time there were four telegrams, Tessa. Four. And not one of them mentioned a damned thing about a wedding."

  Tessa's Irish temper ignited. "I sent more because you didn't answer the first one. Besides, you scared me half to death!"

  "I scared you?" Lee repeated. "How did I do that?"

  "You took so long getting here, I thought you were going to be too late to save her," Tessa replied. "I expected you two days ago."

  "I didn't get into Chicago until two days ago," Lee informed her. "And yours weren't the only urgent messages I had waiting. I do have other cases. I had to make a stop in Denver."

  Tessa nodded. "To get the little girl. David told me. And I have to admit when I first saw Madeline, I thought she was Lily Catherine… I thought you had found her." Tessa swallowed the lump of disappointment in her throat. "But David told me about Madeline on the way over here from the church."

  "How much did he tell you?"

  "Everything," Tessa replied.

  "Then you know why I married Mary."

  Tessa smiled slyly, then slowly nodded her head. "Yes, Liam, I
know why you married Mary."

  Lee cleared his throat, uncomfortable with the fact that Tessa knew so much about him. "Yes, well, I'd appreciate it if you and David would keep quiet about the reason. I don't want to hurt or embarrass Mary any."

  "Neither do we," Tessa reminded him.

  Lee glanced over Tessa's shoulder and saw that Mary was heading toward them. "I'll have your promise."

  "Our lips are sealed." Tessa heard the sound of soft footsteps, the swish of satin skirts, caught a whiff of Mary's perfume, and turned to embrace her sister-in-law. "You were a lovely bride, Mary, and David and I are very happy for you." She planted a kiss on Mary's cheek.

  "Thank you, Tessa," Mary said.

  "I was just welcoming Liam into the family," Tessa continued in a rush. "He's so lucky to get you." She smiled at Mary. "I told Liam I think everything has turned out for the best. I was congratulating him on his timing and his success."

  "And," Lee said to Mary, as he shot Tessa a knowing look, "I was just congratulating Tessa on hers."

  "I don't see why we didn't spend the night at the ranch," Mary grumbled to her husband as she shifted on the hard train seat for what seemed like the hundredth time.

  Lee moved closer to the window to give her more room. It was late afternoon and the sun was beginning its descent. They had been married half a day and Mary was already questioning his judgment. He frowned at the thought. Years ago, his first bride had hung onto his arm and onto his every word, but then Mary wasn't anything like Jeannie. And it wouldn't do to compare the two women or the two weddings. Lee sighed. He hadn't told Mary their destination. She thought they were going to Denver. What would she say once they reached Utopia? What would she say when she learned the whole truth? Lee squeezed his eyes shut. He had enough to think about right now. He didn't need to borrow future troubles. "Not a good idea," Lee remarked brusquely.

  "Why not?" Mary asked. "I'm exhausted." She glanced at Madeline sprawled across Lee's lap and Judah, who was nodding off in the seat directly in front of Lee. "Madeline and Judah are exhausted, and you look dead on your feet."