A Bride to Heal His Broken Heart

by Melynda Carlyle

  Lorna opened her mouth to decline and then realized they had drawn the interested eyes and ears of several other townsfolk. She did not want to seem rude, and she was trying to come up with a reason to decline when he spoke again.

  “There’s a restaurant right across the street. Please, say you’ll join me?”

  Lorna felt cornered and couldn’t come up with any excuse to avoid dining with him. She slowly nodded her head and then steeled her spine when he gestured for her to go before him as they exited the store.

  She had to pass directly past him, and she made herself as small as possible while doing so, not wanting to touch him in any way. When he offered his arm for her to hold on to as they crossed the street, she made a point of placing her shawl over the arm closest to him.

  Orvis didn’t seem to be deterred by her actions at all. He continued to smile as he led her into the restaurant and requested a table near the back. Lorna followed the waitress and seated herself at the table, relieved when Orvis took the chair directly opposite her and not right next to her.

  “May I get you both something to drink?” the waitress asked.

  “Water, please,” Lorna requested softly.

  Orvis looked at her and then ordered coffee for himself. Once the waitress left, he nodded at the menu. “What would you like to eat?”

  Lorna busied herself with the menu until she finally decided on the meatloaf special. When she closed the menu, she found Orvis watching her once more. He smiled as the waitress returned with their drinks and took their orders.

  “So, you came to Virginia City by train. Was it a long journey?” he asked nonchalantly.

  “Several days,” Lorna replied. She truly didn’t want to answer any of his questions, especially when he continued to ask about her background and life before coming here. She’d been taught to be polite, but the mayor was making that very difficult. Orvis was a very intimidating man. She’d also been taught to stand up for herself, which was also proving very hard to do.

  “That must have been tiring. None of your family came with you?”

  “No, I traveled alone,” she told him.

  “I myself have never enjoyed traveling alone. Were your parents concerned at all?”

  “My mother died when I was young and my father more recently.” Tired of being the focus of his small inquisition, she decided to change the subject and start asking the questions herself.

  “Mayor, I’ve noticed there seems to be quite a problem with outlaws and criminal behavior in Virginia City. I wonder, maybe you could tell me what you’re doing to address that? I’ve heard Sheriff Chisholm might be having some health problems that are preventing him from maintaining law and order properly.”

  Lorna watched as Orvis’s smile faded and his body stiffened. She’d obviously touched a nerve, and she kept her surprise hidden behind a mask of polite inquiry as she waited for his response.

  Orvis took a moment before he began to explain, “I’m not sure exactly what the law was like where you come from, but here we have very limited resources.”

  Lorna nodded and then commented, “It just seems to me that it would be in everyone’s best interest to stop these outlaws before they cause more trouble or kill someone else.”

  “You’re referring to the Wilson boy?” Orvis sighed. “A nasty business, that. This land is wild and untamed. I’ve told some of the ranchers that if they want a more civilized place to live, they should head back East toward the Mississippi. Here in Nevada, things are going to remain wild for years to come.”

  “I think maybe you don’t give the good people of this town enough credit, Mayor. They seem to be hard-working, smart people who have made much out of this desert. I think you might be surprised at how much help you would be given if you simply made your needs known.”

  Lorna kept the smile on her face even as she watched Orvis clench his jaw tight. There was something about this conversation that was irritating him, and that only made Lorna want to continue it a bit longer.

  “I’m not sitting around doing nothing, young lady. I, too, have seen some problems in recent days, and believe me, I’m doing the best I can to see the problem fixed. The fine people of Virginia City elected me to help oversee the health and success of this town, and that’s exactly what I’m doing.”

  Lorna heard the note of anger in his voice and decided to back off. “I didn’t mean to suggest that you weren’t doing your job. I was simply curious because it seems like such a monumental task for one man. I’m sure you’re doing the best you can, Mayor.”

  The waitress chose that moment to return with their lunch. Lorna made certain to keep the conversation light and on mundane topics for the duration of their meal.

  She couldn’t wait until it was over so she could get away from the mayor. He made her skin crawl, and even though he was once again smiling at her, it never quite reached his eyes.

  He continued to watch her, almost as if he were trying to solve some mystery where she was concerned. The last thing she wanted was the mayor’s attention.

  She realized she would much prefer to be dealing with the savage Indians than having to interact with the mayor again. That was a startling conclusion and she hurried to finish her meal, just wanting to be away from the man.

  Chapter 26

  Darren glanced up at the sky and guessed that he still had more than half an hour before Lorna would be finished with her duties at the doctor’s office.

  He’d already been to the feed store and the mercantile to order ranch supplies. He thought about trying to talk some sense into the sheriff once again, but then discarded that idea almost immediately. The sheriff didn’t want to talk to him, and Darren didn’t want to be vexed when he met up with Lorna later.

  He strolled down the boardwalk, nodding and sharing lighthearted greetings with those he passed, looking for something to occupy his time while he waited. When his stomach grumbled, he realized he’d only eaten half of his breakfast this morning. He’d been running behind due to the mare and her problems birthing the newest foal last night.

  Darren had sent the other ranch hands off to bed once it appeared the foal would be okay. But he’d stayed around until sunrise to make sure mother and baby were doing fine. As a result, he’d barely had time for a quick rinse in the stream and to shovel some food into his mouth before Lorna had appeared downstairs, ready to go to work.

  He’d refused June’s offer to pack him a snack, telling her he could always grab something in town. He saw the restaurant across the street and headed in that direction. He could kill some time and assuage his hunger simultaneously. It would also give him plenty of time to contemplate Lorna and the kisses they had shared.

  It hadn’t slipped his mind that they hadn’t truly talked about either kiss. But it was that last passionate kiss in particular he had felt the need to discuss.

  That kiss was way beyond anything I’ve experienced before. My feelings for Lorna are…confusing. I don’t know what I’m supposed to do. I have feelings for her, and I think Mark would have wanted me to step in and take care of her. But I have Indian blood running through my veins, and Lorna appears to have an aversion toward the Indians.

  It’s not that she’s verbally announced her dislike for them, but she seems hesitant and wary, almost as if she fears they will attack her. Maybe she’s just being wary because she’s not spent that much time around them. That could explain her reluctance.

  Maybe she just needs to spend more time with the Paiute tribe to see that they aren’t so different from the white men. Of course, it’s possible there’s something in her past that has made her nervous where the Indians are concerned. I don’t know very much about her background, only that she was a nurse during the war.

  Lorna hasn’t really been forthcoming with information about her past, and I haven’t really asked that many questions. I wonder how much of her past she shared with Mark in her letters. The letters are probably still in his bedroom. Pa hasn’t given Aunt June permissi
on to clean it out yet. I wonder if I might find some answers there.

  With so many questions in his mind and few answers to be had, taking care of his immediate need for food seemed to be the right path to take – anything to keep his mind from dwelling on these disturbing and confusing thoughts.

  He stepped up onto the boardwalk and pushed open the door of the restaurant, then stopped short when he saw Lorna sitting with Orvis Harington at a table in the back.

  He frowned and felt anger rise up in him almost immediately. He’d been under the impression that Lorna had to work another half an hour.

  He watched Orvis smiling at her, and instantly, the little devil called jealousy sprang to life. Darren had a strong urge to wrap his hands around the other man’s neck and squeeze the life from him.

  Up to this moment, he’d only hazarded a guess at how he might feel were Lorna to find herself being courted by another man.

  Now he knew.

  Lorna was his, and he was shocked to realize that he was willing to do more than passively fight for her. Now he just needed to figure out how to make sure Lorna knew that she was spoken for.

  * * *

  Lorna was beginning to think this meal would never end when she heard the door to the restaurant open. She looked up, and a wave of relief washed over her when she saw Darren step inside. She immediately waved him over to their table, her eyes watching him eagerly as if he were her savior. He reached their table and seated himself to her left.

  “Darren, you found me,” Lorna said with an overly bright smile.

  “So it seems. Mayor.”

  Orvis spared a glance for Darren and then reached across the table and took Lorna’s hand, pulling it to his lips and kissing the back of her knuckles. Her skin crawled, and not in a good way, but her manners prevented her from pulling her hand away quickly.

  “Until next time. I have some business that needs to be taken care of,” Orvis informed her. He stood up, placed his hat upon his head, and strolled out of the restaurant – but not before stopping and making sure the bill was taken care of.

  Lorna watched him leave, only breathing easy once the man was out of the restaurant and she was alone with Darren. “Hello,” she said, relieved.

  “Imagine my surprise at seeing you here and not at the doctor’s office,” Darren told her before giving the waitress his order for coffee and a menu.

  “Things were very slow, so they gave me the rest of the day off. I wasn’t sure where to find you, so I went to the general store. The mayor found me there and invited me to eat with him.”

  Lorna finished her explanation and then waited while Darren gave the waitress his order. As the waitress walked away, an uncomfortable silence settled between the two of them.

  Lorna had been so relieved to see Darren, and yet it seemed that he was upset about something; and that something appeared to include her.

  Darren sipped his coffee and watched her over the rim of the cup. Lorna felt very uneasy as the silence stretched. When his lunch arrived, he still had not said a word to her.

  Lorna could tell that Darren hadn’t been pleased to find her with Orvis, but she refused to apologize for something she hadn’t really had a choice about. Short of making a scene in the general store, going to lunch with Orvis had been her only option. For Darren to be upset with her over that was just silly.

  The longer he remained quiet, the more nervous and agitated she became. Darren finished his meal and then finally spoke to her. “Still want to go out to the Paiute camp?”

  Lorna swallowed and nodded once. “I said I would go take a look at their sick.”

  “Then we should probably head that direction.” Darren stood up and waited for her to do the same. He paid for his meal and then escorted her back to the livery, where the stable boy helped her into the wagon. The ranch supplies had been loaded into the back and Darren thanked the men who had just finished loading it.

  “See you next time.” He waved at them and then climbed up into the wagon himself. He slapped the reins and guided the wagon out of town. He still didn’t seem inclined to speak to Lorna, but she didn’t have any more time to worry about that.

  Her focus had shifted from his silence to the fact that she was voluntarily going to help a group of savages. She mentally told herself that there was no way the Wilsons would associate with Indians who were a threat to them, but it did little to help her unease.

  They arrived at the camp some time later and Pamahas greeted Lorna warmly, showing her to the teepees where the sick women and children were being cared for. Lorna examined everyone and it seemed that they were suffering from some sort of stomach upset. She encouraged Pamahas to make sure the sick were given plenty of water that had been boiled to drink. She’d seen soldiers with similar symptoms caused by drinking contaminated water. The field hospital doctor had instructed the men to boil their water if they couldn’t be sure it was clean and free-flowing. Lorna gave those same instructions to Pamahas.

  “They should feel better soon,” Lorna told the Paiute healer when she was ready to leave. She didn’t want to promise the Indian woman a time frame for when that would occur. She did tell her that if anyone should get worse, they should send for Lorna and she would return to the camp.

  Darren was quiet for the most part as they headed back to the ranch. It seemed that whatever was bothering him hadn’t changed. He barely said half a dozen words to her on the ride home. Immediately upon reaching the ranch, Lorna helped herself down from the wagon and headed for the main house. After sharing such a passionate kiss with him, the last thing she had been expecting from Darren was this uncomfortable silence.

  He didn’t seem inclined to discuss anything with her and she wasn’t willing to taint her memory of their kisses by pushing him to speak words he clearly wasn’t ready to say. She would have welcomed a chance to discuss their last kiss, but not under these tension-filled circumstances. That would have to wait for a later date.

  Chapter 27

  Two days had passed since Lorna had found herself having lunch with Orvis, and since Darren had gone silent. Their paths had crossed several times in the last few days, but he’d remained aloof. Now, on day three, she was in the kitchen helping June prepare breakfast, wondering if she had made the right decision in staying on at the Wilson ranch.

  “Can you take these to the table?” June asked, handing her a platter heaped with fresh-baked biscuits.

  “Of course.” Lorna took the platter and carried it into the dining room, greeting the others who had already arrived to eat. June was right behind her and nodded at an empty chair.

  “Sit down and eat.”

  “Are you sure you don’t need any more help?”

  “I’m sure.”

  Lorna sat down and listened to the ranch hands talk amongst themselves. They joked with one another and talked about the cattle and the chores that needed done. None of their conversations directly involved her, and she was left feeling that she didn’t belong even more than before. She knew nothing about ranch life, and it didn’t seem as if she had much of a future here.

  Toward the end of the meal, Brian caught her attention and asked, “Are you heading back over to check on the Paiute camp?”

  Lorna nodded. “I don’t have to work at the doctor’s office today. I was hoping someone could drive me out to the camp this morning.”

  Ethan smiled and offered, “I’d be happy to drive—”

  “I’ll take her. You have chores to tend to,” Darren interjected, his eyes on Ethan’s and not meeting Lorna’s at any time.

  Ethan winked at her and then nodded. “Thanks, I do have quite a few chores today. I just didn’t want to see Miss Lorna having to drive all that way by herself.”

  “I already said I would be driving her.” Darren looked at her then and asked, “Can you be ready to go in an hour or so?”

  Lorna nodded but then frowned when he mumbled a response and left the dining room. Everyone else seemed to take their cues from him, and
soon the dining room was mostly empty.

  Lorna helped June clear the table and wash the breakfast dishes before asking, “What can I help you with?”

  June smiled at her and nodded toward the bowl of bread dough rising on the shelf above the hearth. “Want to help me knead the bread?”

  “Yes.” They worked together and a short time later the dough had been separated into loaves and placed in pans to rise for the last time over the hearth.

  “What else can I help you with?” she asked after washing the excess flour from her hands.

  “You should grab whatever you need and head on out to the yard,” June told her. “Darren’s not known for his patience and he’ll be wanting to get out there and back before supper time.”

  I already knew that. He’s a very impatient man.