Stacy Henrie - A Cowboy Of Convenience

A flicker of emotion she couldn’t identify crossed his face as he glanced down. “Yes, I’d have my dude ranch and you’d have a home.” He withdrew his hand from hers, leaving her feeling a bit cold in spite of the sunshine.

“I do find the whole idea rather interesting.” And she did. “Would our combined savings be enough to get a dude ranch going, though?”

West rubbed his chin. “I think so. It wouldn’t be anything fancy to start, but as we got more guests, we could eventually expand.” When he looked at her again, it was with as much undisguised hope as consternation. “You don’t have to agree to any of it, Vienna. It’s one solution to some of your problems and a plan that could benefit us both, but I don’t want you to agree to anything you aren’t comfortable with.”

“I know, and I can’t thank you enough for suggesting it, West.” That he’d dreamed of owning a dude ranch wasn’t news to her, but the fact that he was willing to include her in that dream in order to help her meant a great deal. “Can I have some time to think and pray about it?”

“Absolutely.” He circled the team, then drove the wagon through the archway and back toward the main road. “If you’d like to see firsthand what a dude ranch is really like, we could take the train to the one I spent my summers at in North Dakota.”

The thought of taking a trip filled her with as much excitement as nervousness. She hadn’t left the area since coming here as a girl. It was a sound idea, though. If she was serious about this venture, she needed to fully understand what it would entail. And traveling with West would surely make the whole experience feel less intimidating.

“How much would it cost to travel and stay there?”

“Leave that to me,” he said. “The Eaton brothers are old friends and I’d like to pay for our train tickets and guest fees.”

Vienna twisted the button on the cuff of her sleeve. “How long would we be gone?”

“Six days ought to be enough time.”

Six days? It sounded so long. “Will Edward let you have that much time off?”

West didn’t hesitate to give a decisive nod. “I think so, especially since it’ll be good practice for Thurston. If you and I decide to move forward with the dude ranch, the young man will need to take over anyway.”

“All right,” she said after a long moment, the frenzy in her middle increasing.

He raised his eyebrows as he regarded her. “All right to which part? Taking the trip to North Dakota or considering my plan?”

“Both.” She laughed at his stunned expression.

“That’s the best news I’ve heard in ages.” He grinned at her, and his renewed eagerness succeeded in quieting her concerns and restoring her earlier optimism and calm. “God willing, I think this may be an answer to both of our dreams.”

Chapter Four

“Don’t think that I can’t tell you’re moving slower on my account,” Maggy said, her belly leading the way down the drive of the Running W.

Vienna laughed but maintained her unrushed pace to accommodate Maggy’s. She well remembered how her friend had kindly done the same for Vienna when she’d been pregnant with Hattie.

“I’m going to miss living here.” She linked her arm with Maggy’s.

A flash of sadness appeared in her friend’s blue eyes. “We still have plenty of time before you leave. West only sent off that letter to his friends in North Dakota this morning.”

“Do you think I’m crazy?” Vienna asked her.

The battle of anticipation and anxiety inside her hadn’t stopped since she and West had formulated their plans yesterday. Which emotion was winning largely depended on the hour and the direction of her thoughts. This evening, with her regular duties completed, her nervousness had taken the lead.

“To start a dude ranch or travel to North Dakota?”

Vienna shot her a pleading look. “Both?”

“Then no to both,” Maggy answered with a laugh. “I don’t know that I would’ve pictured you running a dude ranch before now, but with the two of you as a team, I can see how it plays to yours and West’s strengths and interests.” She had said as much last night after Vienna and West had presented their idea to the Kents.

Vienna gave an absent nod. “What about agreeing to a possible marriage of convenience?” A confused sigh dropped from Vienna’s lips. “Am I being foolish about that, Maggy? We both know how unhappy my first marriage was.”

“True.” Maggy’s gaze moved to the ranch’s iron archway as they walked beneath it. “But that doesn’t guarantee a repeat in another marriage. That’s conditional on the person you marry.”

Her friend was right. After all, Maggy had found great happiness in her marriage to Edward. “Besides, it wouldn’t be as if it were a real marriage,” Vienna said in an attempt to reassure herself. “Not like you and Edward have, anyway.”

“Still, you’ll have a friendship to base your relationship on, even if it is in name only.” An impish expression crossed her face and had Vienna bracing herself before Maggy added quietly, “And you never know, a marriage of convenience could turn into something more. After all, West McCall is kind, hardworking, handsome... Mrs. Harvey and I have been trying to find him someone to marry for more than a year now.”

Vienna’s cheeks flamed with heat. She couldn’t disagree with Maggy’s assessment of her potential groom without lying. But what if someone overheard them? She glanced around and felt immense relief that no one—especially West—was walking nearby.

“It wouldn’t be like that. This arrangement isn’t a setup for eventual romance.” She’d felt the fickleness of romantic love, for West in the past and then for Chance. Neither had yielded what she’d secretly hoped it would.

Maggy’s eyes twinkled with mischief. “More unlikely things have happened.”

“Are you sure you don’t mind taking care of Hattie for me,” Vienna asked next, deliberately changing the subject, “while West and I are in North Dakota?”

Maggy shook her head. “Not at all. It’ll give you a chance to focus solely on learning what you can about dude ranching.”

“I appreciate that.” She gave her friend’s arm a gentle squeeze. “I don’t know what Hattie and I would’ve done these past three years without you and Edward and everyone else here.”

Returning Vienna’s squeeze, Maggy said in a slightly strained tone, “I don’t know what we would have done without you . And I’m not just talking about your excellent help in the kitchen, either.”

Her honest appreciation of their friendship made Vienna smile. From the moment she’d met Maggy, she had been in awe of the other young woman’s strength and no-nonsense attitude. But Vienna wasn’t the only one who’d grown since coming to the Running W. Maggy was still as courageous and matter-of-fact as ever, but her marriage to Edward had softened some of her blunter edges. She more readily shared how she felt with those she cared about. And Vienna felt blessed to be counted in that number.

“I’d still like to come visit often, me and Hattie. If that’s all right with you.”

Maggy stopped walking and threw her a narrowed look. “If you don’t, I will be staking out your ranch.” As Vienna laughed, Maggy steered her around and tugged her toward the house. “We’d better head back now. Otherwise Edward will have to collect me in the wagon, and you know how much I would hate that.”

“Oh, I most certainly do,” Vienna said with another laugh.

Things might be rapidly changing around her, but she could draw comfort from the knowledge that she had God and dear friends to see her and her daughter through anything.