Karen Kirst - Bride By Arrangement

Folding his arms across his chest, he delivered a glare that made most townsfolk quiver in their boots. “The trip was a waste, Miss Miller. I am not, nor will I ever be, in the market for a bride.”

* * *

He hadn’t been expecting her. Clearly. Grace Longstreet stared at the walnut gun handle angled on the mantel and swallowed tightly. Fear tasted coppery in her mouth. Guilt oozed through her veins like black sludge. If she didn’t pull off this masquerade...

Her fingers curled into balls, causing her many rings to bite into her skin. Failure didn’t bear thinking about. She must convince this intimidating homesteader of two essential facts—that her name was Constance Miller, and that he had a responsibility to marry her. There wasn’t room for her conscience or pride. Her little girls’ well-being hinged on the success of her subterfuge.

Sunlight streaming through the bare window set his fair hair ablaze and made his flinty gaze appear to radiate blue fire. Noah Burgess was a blond, blue-eyed Norse Viking clothed in cowboy gear. He had nothing in common with the men in her social circle, with their expensive suits, slicked-back hair and soft hands. This man lived and breathed the great outdoors. He was one with nature. Strong and virile. He wore a pale blue button-down shirt, tan vest, canvas trousers and brown leather boots caked with trail grit. A red-and-white bandanna was knotted around his neck. A powerful-looking man, his biceps and wide shoulders strained the fabric, folded as they were over a chiseled chest that narrowed to lean hips and thick, muscular legs.

She tried not to stare at the scars. Raised, uneven webs of pink skin fanned over his lower left jaw, extended under his ear and onto his neck, disappearing beneath his shirt collar. Grace wanted to ask what had hurt him. Mr. Canfield hadn’t given her details, saying only that Mr. Burgess had sustained an injury in battle. But she’d sensed his recoil the first time she’d noticed them, and so she refrained.

Whatever the case, it didn’t distract from his rugged presence. He possessed strong features. His mouth, set in a hard, straight line, looked as if it hadn’t curved into a smile for quite some time.

When she’d discovered her cousin had agreed to come West and marry a complete stranger, Grace had seen only an opportunity to escape the city. She hadn’t given a single thought to whom or what she’d find at the other end of the tracks. It wasn’t until she and the girls were safely on the train, Chicago’s skyline gradually fading into the distance, that she’d paused to consider the possible ramifications of her impulsiveness. Fact was, she didn’t know anything about Constance’s intended groom. Her cousin hadn’t been able to tell her much. With no suitable marriage prospects in her impoverished neighborhood, the younger girl had been anticipating a fresh start, despite the inherent risks in such an undertaking. Grace had gifted her with a satisfactory sum for letting her switch places. Right about now, her cousin was undoubtedly searching for another eager groom in a different territory.

During the long, uncomfortable journey, Grace had contemplated the contents of Will Canfield’s letter—Constance had read it to her enough times for her to have it memorized—and had been comforted by his description of Noah Burgess as an honorable man. She’d prayed a lot, too. With her soul conflicted, she’d begged for God’s understanding and forgiveness. What choice had she had, in the end?

Noah shifted, the silver badge over his heart glinting, catching her eye for the first time.

“You’re the sheriff?” she blurted, hard put to hide her distress. There’d been no mention of it in Mr. Canfield’s letter. Then again, that gentleman had apparently left off more than one piece of pertinent information.

Conning an ordinary homesteader was one thing. But a lawman? Her already upset stomach tightened further into hard knots.

“It’s a recent development.” His lips firmed. She couldn’t tell if he was perturbed with her, his own situation or both. “Our former sheriff, Quincy Davis, was shot and killed several days ago. The town needed a replacement.”

“I’m sorry for your loss.”

Kneading his nape, he heaved a sigh. “Look, Miss Miller, you’ve a right to be upset. My friends meant well. They’ll fix this. Will owns the Cattleman, Cowboy Creek’s premier hotel. You can stay there at his expense while you await the return train to Chicago.”

“But—”

“Don’t worry about the cost of the ticket, either. It’ll be taken care of.”

Grace grasped for the right words. “Have you ever considered your friends may be right?”

His hand slapped to his side. “I don’t take your meaning, ma’am.”

“Perhaps they see a need in your life you haven’t yet acknowledged. Why else would they do something so outrageous as to arrange a marriage for you without your consent?”

She could practically hear his teeth grinding together. “Are you suggesting I don’t know my own mind?”

Grace was accustomed to men’s displeasure. She’d endured Ambrose’s for five years. Ambrose was gone, however. If she had only herself to think about, she’d accept this mistake and walk away. But her daughters’ future was at stake. Her brother-in-law, Frank, would do anything to make her his, including threatening to separate her from Jane and Abigail if she didn’t comply with his wishes. She had to pursue her daughters’ best interests, no matter if she had to get on her knees and beg this man to take her as his bride.

“I’m suggesting you give marriage to me some thought before you send me packing. I’m a proficient housekeeper.” She indicated the cabin’s clean but sparse interior. “I can sew. Cook. Surely you don’t have time to prepare adequate meals with all your other responsibilities.”

His expression frustratingly inscrutable, he raked her with his cool blue gaze. His clear dismissal threatened to deflate her already shaky self-confidence.

Humiliation licking her insides, she lifted her chin. “I may appear incompetent, but I assure you, Mr. Burgess, I know how to make myself useful.”

He studied her a moment longer. “Go back to your pampered life in the city, Miss Miller. I don’t know what sort of glamorous accounts you’ve read about life out here, but they ain’t reality. One week on this homestead, and you’d be begging me to send you back.”

Surely it was her appearance he was judging, not her, the woman. He didn’t know her. Couldn’t see her soul, her heart. “You’re wrong. I can prove you’re wrong.”

A long-suffering sigh pulsed between his lips. “Let me be plain. It doesn’t matter to me whether you’re prairie material or not. I don’t want a wife. I don’t want you or any other woman.” He jerked a thumb to the open doorway. “I’ve just come off a three-day search for a gang of outlaws. I’m tired and hungry, and I need to see to my horse. So if you’ll excuse—”

Behind her, the bedroom door creaked open. “Momma?”

Grace froze. Exhausted from the interminable train ride, the girls had been drooping by the time they’d reached the homestead. She’d put them in the only bed in the house.

The intractable sheriff’s focus shot past her, his eyes going wide. He blinked several times.

“You have a kid?”

“As a matter of fact, I have two.”

Chapter Two

Kids? She had kids? “I thought it was Miss Miller.”

“You assumed.”

The ardor with which she’d spoken moments ago cooled, and Noah witnessed a mother’s protective instincts surface. She beckoned to the little girls hovering in the doorway, a loving smile urging them not to be frightened. They had obviously been sleeping in his bed. Through the opening, he could see that the plain wool blanket atop his straw-stuffed mattress was creased.