Sandra Steffen - McKenna's Bartered Bride

There was no getting around the sharp edge in his voice or the ice in his glare. If Josie were able to see auras, she was sure his would have just changed colors. She slipped out of her shoes and drew her legs up, tucking her feet under her dress. “Rory mentioned a certain stipulation.”

“O’Grady talked to you about this?”

“He mentioned that one of his cowhands happened to hear about it.”

Jake sprang to his feet “Happened to hear it, my-eye. That cowboy might as well have bugged my barn.”

“It’s all right, Jake. Rory swore the other man to silence.”

Jake forced himself to take a calming breath. Rory had found out about that stipulation, and he’d told Josie about it. Jake didn’t know what Rory had up his sleeve, but it was up to Jake to salvage what he could. Since there was no use beating around the bush, he sat back down and laid his cards on the table. Steepling his fingers beneath his chin, he looked at Josie. “Did Rory explain that, in order to keep my land, I must be a married man by July?” He held her gaze for several seconds. When she shook her head he said, “I need a wife, Josie, and I need one soon.”

Josie made herself more comfortable in the corner of her sofa. She thought it was too bad there were so few women in Jasper Gulch. It made things difficult for all the men in the area. It made things especially difficult for a man who’d just admitted that he needed a wife, and soon. Aware of the silence filling the room, she glanced sideways at Jake. He was watching her, waiting in silent expectation.

“I wouldn’t expect to get something for nothing,” he said.

She smiled, closed her eyes, relaxing by degrees. “Of course you wouldn’t, Jake.”

He cleared his throat. “I’m willing to make it worth your while.”

“You’re willing to make it worth my—Are you telling me you want me to marry you?”

He nodded.

“Why me?”

“Who else is there?” Jake’s lips thinned, and he nearly blanched. Damn, he hadn’t intended to let that slip.

She lifted her hair away from her nape, letting the loose tendrils topple down her back once again. There was something about the way. she tipped her head back and closed her eyes, something feminine and appealing and arousing. For a moment he forgot why he was there. “I didn’t mean that the way it sounded,” he said quietly.

“Don’t worry, Jake. Acquired a thick skin a long time ago. I heard through the Jasper Gulch grapevine that you paid a little visit to Crystal Galloway. I’m assuming she turned you down?”

It struck him that Josie wasn’t upset by his businesslike proposal. She didn’t even seem to be angry about the woman who was ahead of her on his list. It rankled. A woman, no matter how plain, should expect a man who was proposing to treat her as if she were the only woman in the world.

“Mama,” a small voice called before Jake had answered Josie’s question. “I’m thirsty.”

Josie rose to her feet instantly. “I’ll be right back.”

It was a relief to put a little distance between her and Jake. There was just something about him that left her feeling unsettled. She didn’t know how he did it, but he rattled her. It was more than that kiss. It was...everything. It was Jake.

She made a quick stop in the bathroom for a glass and some water. Slipping into Kelsey’s tiny room, she said, “Here ya go, sweet pea.”

Kelsey barely took a sip from the glass. “What’s that nice Mr. McKenna doing here, Mama?”

Jake McKenna, nice? “He just stopped in to say hello.” Now, to change to subject. “Did you and Savannah eat owl pills?” she asked around a smile. Kelsey was rarely wide-awake this time of night. “Do you want another drink of water?”

Kelsey was so intent upon asking questions, she seemed to have completely forgotten about her ruse to lure Josie into her room. She didn’t even bother shaking her head. Instead, she pushed the glass away and asked, “Do you like him, Mama?”

“I like most everyone,” Josie said, hedging.

Kelsey rolled her eyes expressively. “Do you like Rory butter?”

Josie considered the question. Rory was easier to be with, laugh with, talk with. But easier to like? “Go to sleep now.”

“But Mama, I hafta know.”

Kelsey’s theatrics were amazing. Josie had a feeling she was going to be in big trouble when her daughter hit puberty. “You have to know tonight?” she whispered.

The imp nodded vehemently.

“I like them both, Kelsey, but...”

“Haley says you’ve gotta be in love before I can get a new daddy. Do you think you could love one of them by the last day of school?”

So that was what this was all about. Josie placed the glass of water on the nightstand and smoothed the baby-fine hair away from her daughter’s face. Kelsey had been four years old when Tom had died. Now, two years later, her memories of her father were vague at best In some ways, Josie thought it was a blessing, because her little girl couldn’t miss somebody she couldn’t remember. But then Haley Carson, an older girl Kelsey met at school, had mentioned the annual family fun day that was held the last day of school each year, and how she and her father had won the three-legged race last year. Kelsey had been adamant about finding a new father ever since.

“Couldn’t you just try to love one of them, please?”

It made Josie feel sad, because she couldn’t give her little girl everything she wanted and needed. She tried to tell herself no parent could. “I love you enough for a hundred people, sweet pea”

“I love you, too, Mama.”

Kelsey’s sigh tugged on Josie’s heart strings and made her yearn to be everything to her child. “I’ll go with you on the last day of school.”

The little girl sighed again and quietly closed her eyes. Josie wondered if all mothers felt so inadequate and so full of love at the same time. If only Tom hadn’t died.

But he had, Josie told herself as she returned the glass to the bathroom. She stifled a yawn. Feeling blue, she assured herself she was just tired. She’d received two marriage proposals in one night from two different men, neither of whom so much as pretended to love her. No wonder she felt done in.

Kelsey was happy, most of the time. As long as it was truly what she needed, there wasn’t anything Josie wouldn’t do for her child. But she couldn’t many a man she didn’t love just so Kelsey had two parents to bring to the fun day at school.

Give the man a chance.

She smiled just as she always did when she heard Tom’s voice. Meeting her own gaze in the mirror, she whispered, “Which man, Tom? Rory or Jake?”

Her mind filled only with the sound of silence.

She pushed her hair away from her forehead and did an about-face, grumbling to herself that men who were angels answered questions about as well as husbands who were still human.

“Did you say something?”

Jake’s voice brought her out of her reverie. Pausing in the doorway, she said, “I guess I was talking to myself.”

“Is she okay?”

Josie almost said, “Who?” Luckily she caught herself before she could embarrass herself further. For heaven’s sake, what was wrong with her?

“Kelsey’s fine. She’s just a little wound up after spending the evening with her friend, Savannah Colter.”

Jake glanced from the woman in the photograph he’d been studying to the woman standing across the room. In the picture, Josie was laughing up at a young man who was laughing in return. It was an action shot, slightly out of focus, and had probably been taken with a cheap camera. The playfulness and happiness came through as clear as day. In comparison the woman across the room looked tired and pale.

“Is this your late husband?”