Riley looked up at him, her gray-green eyes shining and full of love. No question there that she hoped he would take her father’s offer. Brody, too, looked eager for him to make that choice. He swallowed.
“You’ve earned it, Mr. Coulter,” Rawlins said, extending his hand.
Gabe stared at the man’s scarred work hand. Could it really be that simple? He thought back to all that had happened over his life. No...not simple.
“You have a deal, Rawlins.” Gabe shook hands with him and felt a new sense of completeness. He thought back to the last time he’d struck a bargain with this man and remembered hating every second of it. He sure hadn’t expected anything like this to happen—not in any future he’d envisioned.
Chapter Ten
Gabe stood at the graveside of his parents next to Brody. Over the past week he and his son had spent hours here at the ranch, clearing brush and readying the place for the wedding. Riley had insisted on the old homestead for the ceremony, saying it would feel as if his parents were part of the moment. He only hoped it was a good omen. If his marriage came anywhere close to theirs, he would be happy for the duration.
The sheriff had stopped by two days ago and told him that an itinerant peddler confessed to the crime in town after someone noticed him wearing Odom’s handmade neckerchief. He also mentioned that Johnson was working on a spread farther south as a regular ranch hand. Gabe had the feeling that, with the timing of his visit, the sheriff was wrangling for an invitation to the wedding. He didn’t quite know what to make of that but invited him just the same. He told his son that for once it couldn’t hurt to have the law on his side.
He ran a finger under the scratchy collar of his new shirt and tugged it away from his skin. He couldn’t remember the last time he had brand-new clothes. Beside him, Brody mimicked his actions, pulling at his cuffs also. Then they both had to cinch up their bolo ties again.
Hearing the creak of a carriage, he checked the road. Rawlins pulled the horse and rig to a stop in front of the cabin. He’d brought the preacher. Behind him came a wagon carrying the ranch hands and behind them were two more carriages with the nearest neighbors. This was turning into a bigger hullabaloo than Gabe or Riley had wanted.
“Guess it’s time,” he said to his son.
Brody grinned. “You sure about this?”
“Never been so sure about anything in my life.”
Rawlins knocked on the door to the cabin and a moment later, Riley stepped out.
Gabe’s breathing ceased. She looked like an angel. She wore an ivory dress with turquoise trim and a lacy turquoise shawl. Her hair was tied up on top of her head with a crown of tiny yellow and blue flowers from the meadow. Wavy strands of honey-colored hair fell this way and that and were looped up and pinned again loosely.
She saw him and smiled, and then took her father’s arm.
Unaware he’d even moved, he found himself waiting next to the preacher with his son beside him. When Rawlins placed Riley’s hand in his, Gabe realized the man’s eyes were moist.
“I’ll take good care of her, sir,” he promised.
“See that you do.”
And then he was holding on to Riley and she was squeezing his hand as they turned to face the preacher.
He felt a persistent tickle at his wrist and glanced down. Brody wrapped the silver and turquoise cross and chain around his hand and Riley’s, binding them together. His mother’s cross.
Riley laid her other hand on his chest, covering his heart. “I came here hoping for a new start for Brody and myself. Instead, I found you. There has never been anyone else, Gabe. I love you...still. I always will.” As she spoke her vows and slipped a gold band on his finger something inside his chest finally loosened all the way and released. He was where he was supposed to be and with the woman he was supposed to be with. He would never let Riley go again.
He said his vows, conscious only of her before him as he slid a ring on her finger. Then he kissed her and hooked the silver chain around her neck. The special look in her eyes touched him...warmed him. He brushed the smooth skin beneath her ear with his fingertips and was rewarded with a shiver. Already he was learning what she liked.
She looked up at him with those pretty gray-green eyes and smiled a smile only for him. Tonight, it promised...
Then people—mostly ranch hands—surged forward, shaking his hand and congratulating him. Gabe was astonished at the support he felt. Neighbors he had known as a boy welcomed him back to the area. By the time they all climbed into their respective conveyances and headed to Rawlins’s ranch, where Rosaria had cooked up a small celebratory party for everyone, he felt overwhelmed with his good fortune.
Under the large oak at the ranch, a wooden platform had been built for dancing. When he took Riley in his arms and started swaying with the mariachi music, he thought his heart might burst with happiness and pride. A whoop erupted and he and Riley looked up to see Brody grinning broadly from the first branch of the tree.
Gabe pulled Riley close and swept a strand of hair from her face that had loosened in the breeze. The small bouquet of wildflowers she held tickled his neck as he bent down and pressed a kiss on her waiting lips. He held the kiss until he felt her weaken and go limp in his arms.
When he pulled back, her eyes were misty and slightly out of focus, but they held complete trust...and a promise that she was his. It hadn’t been easy to get here, to this place. He felt as though he’d been through a long dark tunnel and was finally stepping into the light of a new dawn. “You wanted a new start...”
She sighed. “And spring is the best time of year to begin...”
He grinned. She was so easy to love. “Ready for forever, Mrs. Coulter?”
“With you? Always...”
And she kissed him.
* * * * *
When a Cowboy
Says I Do
Lauri Robinson
Dedicated to Dallas and Liz
for loaning Dal and Ellie their names.
Love you both! Mom.
Dear Reader,
I love spring, don’t you? The trees are budding out, new shoots of grass pop up in order to send down roots to draw water during the summer months, the southern birds return and hibernating animals reappear and show off their young ones, and the days grow longer and longer. It’s a time of new beginnings, which makes it the perfect time for weddings!
Several years ago my husband planted fruit trees along our driveway—plum, cherry and crab apple, and I absolutely adore when they are all blossoming. There is a big bush of wild roses there, as well, and the air smells so good, I’ve been known to stop and just smell the roses.
I hope you enjoy reading When a Cowboy Says I Do, and that you like Dal and Ellie’s journey as they venture through a final snowstorm before arriving at their spring wedding!
Lauri Robinson
Contents
Chapter One
Chapter Two
Chapter Three
Chapter Four
Chapter Five
Chapter Six
Chapter Seven
Chapter Eight
Chapter Nine
Chapter Ten
Chapter Eleven
Chapter Twelve
Chapter Thirteen
Chapter Fourteen
Chapter One
Buckley, Kansas
1884
Dal Roberts pinched the bridge of his nose and drew in a deep breath, trying in earnest to control his temper. Being an older brother was hard enough, but at times like this, when he was more of a parent than a sibling, he wished to high heaven their mother and father were still alive. He wished that at other times, of course, just not as reverently or as selfishly as he did right now.
“Clara,” he s
aid slowly.
“Please, Dal?” she interrupted. “With sugar and cherries on top? I won’t have my dress in time if you don’t.”
“You have a hundred dresses upstairs.”
“Not a wedding dress,” she argued. “Ellie is sewing one for me, and she knows exactly what to buy. She’s never gone to Wichita, never been on a train, and she’s so excited to go. And...”
Dal braced himself. There were always several ands when it came to Clara, and the mere mention of Ellie Alexander’s name made his spine stiffen.
“...she can go to the cattlemen’s ball, so you won’t have to attend that alone.”
That tore his final nerve. “I don’t care if I attend the cattlemen’s ball or not. The only reason I accepted the invitation was because I knew I’d be chaperoning you and Ellie. Now that you can’t go, none of us will go.”
That, to be truthful, was a great relief. Dal would rather spend six straight months on a cattle drive than one hour with two giggling girls—not that Ellie Alexander was much of a giggler. She rarely cracked a smile. That wasn’t his fault, but that clearly wasn’t the way she saw things.
“You have to go,” Clara said. “To the meeting and the ball.”
He would regret missing the cattlemen’s meeting—the fact that sick cattle were infecting herds statewide needed to be addressed—but he would not regret missing the ball. That was the cattlemen’s wives’ idea, giving them a reason to tag along with their husbands to the city. He hadn’t enjoyed a single one of their frivolous events over the years, and this one wouldn’t be any better.
“No, I don’t,” he argued. He could send a wire to make sure his points were addressed.
Clara’s big blue eyes filled with something as close to compassion as he’d ever seen. “Yes, you do. You have to go so Caroline will know she didn’t break your heart by marrying Ed Mansel.”
Ten minutes ago he had been concerned that his younger sister’s injury might be life threatening and now he wanted to strangle her! Which was often how things were. He loved her to death, even while she drove him crazy.
“A meaningless ball is the least of my worries. I agreed to go because you wanted to go. And Caroline did not break my heart by marrying Mansel,” he said seriously. “I’m glad she married him.”
He’d had no intention of marrying Caroline or anyone else. Having one woman around the house was a handful—throw in the nosiest housekeeper this side of the Rockies, and he had more than enough women telling him what to do. That wasn’t going to change anytime soon. Especially as Clara wasn’t moving anywhere even after marrying Bill, which was fine by Dal. The Rocking R Ranch was as much hers as it was his.
“And that’s why you have to go,” Clara said. “Everyone from here to Wichita thought you two would marry, and now they think she broke your heart.”
A sigh built in his lungs, mainly because she was right. At least she was right about the part where everyone seemed to believe he was heartbroken. “What other people think is of no concern to me.”
“Yes, it is,” she persisted. “It always has been.” Meeting his gaze, she added, “And you have to go to the meeting. The Texas fever epidemic is getting closer every day.”
No one had to remind him of that. He lived and breathed for the cattle on the Rocking R. But Dal was done arguing, so he crossed his arms and changed the subject. “How does the foot feel?”
Clara shook her head at the way he’d changed the subject but knew better than to push too hard. “It hurts, but Doc says I’ll be fine by my wedding day.” Her bottom lip started to quiver. “If I have a gown, that is.”
Dal clamped his back teeth together and prepared to stand his ground, but he was spared having to say anything more as Doc Fisher returned to the room.
“That’s not exactly what I said, young lady,” the doctor said to Clara before turning to address him. “Dal, this little gal cannot, and I repeat, cannot walk on this leg. Not for six weeks. She broke two bones in her ankle. I set them, but the slightest pressure could shift them and she’d be lame. Of course, I could always try to rebreak them if that happens, but—”
“Rebreak them?”
Clara’s gasp sent a shiver up Dal’s spine, just like Doc Fisher’s statement had, but it was the tears in his sister’s eyes that stung his heart. He knelt down beside the sofa she was lying on in the front parlor to say softly, “He won’t have to rebreak them.”
“If she stays off her feet.”
Dal shot a glare toward the doctor, letting the man know they both had heard him the first time. When he turned back to Clara, his stomach hit the floor. He’d never been able to say no to her, and today was no different.
He was going to Wichita.
With Ellie Alexander.
A woman who blamed him for the death of her father, despite the fact that her father had been the one at fault. What had the man expected when he chose to rustle Rocking R cattle?
Chapter Two
The shrill whistle of the number 1917 was still fading when Jamison Linkletter shouted a warning that the train would be departing in five minutes. The volume of the conductor’s announcement wasn’t necessary. She was the only one at the depot.
The excitement that had filled Ellie for the past few days was no longer there. It had disappeared shortly after she’d arrived at the train station. The empty train station. Clara was nowhere to be seen. Neither was her older brother, Dal. He was the reason Ellie had walked to town rather than accepting Clara’s offer to pick her up in their carriage. Clara had seen the Alexander house, but Ellie didn’t want Dal to see it. Not ever. The sod shanty was home, and she was thankful for the protection it offered, but Dal already looked down his arrogant nose at her. He didn’t need any more ammunition.
As steam hissed out of the train’s engine, Ellie surmised that all those hours she’d spent worrying about him seeing her home and about being in his company for four days had been a waste of time. Those worries had eaten at her insides and had been the reason why she’d tried to get out of going, even though saying no to Clara Roberts had been hard. So hard, in fact, that it hadn’t worked. Clara had come up with an answer to every excuse Ellie had provided. Including her lack of funds.
Wrapping the front folds of her coat, which was several sizes too large, tighter around her, Ellie glanced at the short road that led from the depot through the heart of Buckley and then farther west, all the way to the Rocking R Ranch. There was quite a bit of traffic—horses and buggies, people in wagons and those traveling afoot. There was no sight of Clara or her brother.
Ellie couldn’t deny the sense of disappointment rising up inside her. As much as she hadn’t wanted to go to Wichita, she’d secretly relished the idea of seeing the city. She’d looked forward to the shops, the people, staying in a hotel with running water and real beds. She’d been looking forward to the train ride, too. As a person who went everywhere she needed to go on foot, a train ride would have been a thrill she’d never forget. Dal had probably put his foot down and said no, he wouldn’t pay for Clara to take a friend with them. Especially not her.
After giving a final glance up the road, and emptying her lungs into the chilly March air, Ellie bent down and picked up the tattered traveling valise that held the best of her meager clothing. It was just as well she wasn’t going. She wouldn’t have fit in in Wichita any more than in Buckley, or anywhere else other than the sod shanty with no windows and its dirt floor. Her brothers were right when they said that weeds can grow in flower gardens, but sooner or later, they get pulled out and tossed aside. Unwanted.
She might as well dream about changing the moon into the sun instead of becoming someone other than Ellie Alexander—a cattle rustler’s daughter.
“Hold up there, Jamison!”
The shout echoed amid the shrill screech of the whistle, and Ellie snapped upr
ight at the sound of Dal Roberts’s voice. It was a commanding voice, one that was listened to in Buckley.
His horse, a huge palomino, was breathing hard as its hooves slid to a stop next to the platform. “And find someone to take Trigger to the livery for me,” Dal added, swinging a leg over the saddle. Once on the ground, he untied two large leather bags. Spinning toward her with a bag in each hand, he nodded at the train. “We best get aboard, Miss Alexander.”
It took a moment for Ellie to regain her senses, and her brain didn’t actually start to function until he stood right beside her, making her heart thud. “Wh-where’s Clara?”
“She’s unable to accompany us,” he said. “Getting out of the house without her took longer than getting out of the house with her.”
“Why—why isn’t she coming?” Without waiting for an answer, Ellie added, “I can’t go without Clara.”
“I’m afraid we don’t have a choice. Move along, now,” he said urgently, once again gesturing toward the train with his chin. “I’ll explain on the train.”
Ellie opened her mouth to protest, only to hear the train whistle sound again. Dal shifted his bags into one hand, and took her arm, pulling her toward the metal steps. He was a tall man, and strong, but she might have been able to dodge his hold if her mind had been functioning. It wasn’t. The next thing she knew they were in the passenger car, stumbling down the aisle as the train jerked forward.
There were a few others on the train, including a woman with two children, an old man with a big nose and watery eyes, an older couple sitting side by side, and a man with his hat pulled over his eyes and his boots resting on the seat across from him.
Dal propelled her toward the back of the car where there were several open seats. Walking was awkward with the train’s unstable movements and she more or less fell onto one of the wooden benches as soon as he released her arm.
After tossing their bags onto the floor between them, Dal sat down across from her. Set upon averting her gaze in order to get her nerves under control, she pretended to examine the car’s soot-coated windows and mud-covered floor as the train’s jerky movement became smoother. The rumbling and hissing quieted, leaving just the sounds of the car rattling as they rolled along.
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