Historical Cowboy Romance Two Book Box Set - Mail Order Brides

by Linda Bridey

When Lydia and Charlie brought the kids back a few days later, Lydia could tell that something was going on with the newlyweds. She waited until after Sadie and Jack had a chance to visit with them before asking about it. Charlie had gone out to the barn with Dean and Sadie and Jack had gone upstairs so Lydia took the opportunity to bring it up.

  “Is everything all right?” she asked Tessa.

  Tessa smiled. “Of course. Things are fine.”

  Lydia cocked her head. “I’m your friend, right?”

  “Yes.”

  “Then tell me what’s wrong,” Lydia said kindly.

  Tessa bit her lip, undecided if she should talk to Lydia about it. It was true that they were friends, but she was family to Dean and Tessa wasn’t sure who Lydia would side with.

  Lydia appeared to read her mind. “Tessa, I can’t help you if you don’t talk to me.”

  Tessa said down at the table. Her shoulders slumped in dejection. “He lied to me, Lydia. Dean lied to me.”

  Lydia’s brows drew together and her brown eyes held puzzlement. “About what?” Dean was one of the most honest people she knew and it was hard to believe that he’d been dishonest with Tessa. However, she also knew that Tessa didn’t lie, so she was ready to hear Tessa out.

  “You know that we exchanged quite a few letters,” Tessa began.

  “Yes.”

  “His letters were wonderful. He told me about Montana and your lives here in great detail and it was wonderful. We discussed so many things and I first began having feelings for him based on those letters or I would have never come here,” Tessa said.

  Lydia smiled. “I can understand that.”

  Tessa sent her a sad smile. “I came to find out a few days ago that he didn’t write them. Marcus did.”

  Lydia’s smile faded as Tessa’s words sank in. “He didn’t write them? Marcus wrote them? Why?”

  “He says that Marcus writes and speaks much better about things, that he doesn’t describe things the way Marcus does. So he read my letters, told Marcus a basic way how to answer them, and then just let the rest up to Marcus. Marcus read my letters, Lydia. My privacy was invaded. I said things in those letters that were meant for Dean alone. He never even looked at the letters Marcus wrote back to me. That’s how I found out that he didn’t write them. I was asking him questions about what he’d written and his answers didn’t add up. I confess that I tricked him a little. I’m not proud of it, but at least I know the truth,” Tessa finished and took a steadying breath. She didn’t want to have the children come into the kitchen to find her crying.

  Lydia was stunned. It was something she never would have expected of Dean. She saw both sides of the issue. She knew Dean had trouble talking about his feelings and that neither he nor Seth had Marcus’ head for reading and writing. Lydia could understand why Dean would get Marcus to write the letters, but he could have handled things differently.

  “You think I’m being silly, don’t you?” Tessa asked.

  Lydia laughed. “No, I don’t. It’s understandable that you’re hurt. He should have asked your permission to have Marcus help him. Dean should have explained the situation, but that’s male pride for you, Tessa. I’m sure you’re used to dealing with men who have a lot of education, but out here, it’s different. As you know, we don’t have a school near here, so it was a good thing the boys’ father was fairly well educated. My mother was a teacher, so I was lucky, too. Marcus was a natural born student, much the same as Sadie, but Seth and Dean were not and had to work at it.”

  “I see,” Tessa said. “I sometimes forget that it’s not as settled here, but it’s the principle behind it. He doesn’t understand why I’m so upset about it. I feel as if I was brought here under false pretenses. I wanted to connect with Dean and no one else and I feel as if that didn’t happen. I moved back upstairs. I couldn’t sleep in the same room with him.”

  Lydia put a hand over her mouth. “Oh, my. I would ask that you don’t do anything rash, Tessa. It might take some time, but do you think that there’s a chance of forgiveness?”

  “I don’t know. That might be up to him, Lydia. I’m just so hurt right now,” Tessa said.

  Sadie came back into the room then and the subject was dropped.

  Seth let out a low whistle. “Boy, you really stepped in it, Dean.”

  Dean’s face took on a stubborn scowl. “I told her why and it didn’t seem to matter to her. I wasn’t trying to lie. I just didn’t want her to think I was stupid.”

  “Hmm. Seems like that’s what happened anyway,” Seth said with a smile.

  “This isn’t funny, Seth. She moved back upstairs.”

  Seth said, “Well, I can’t blame her in a way.”

  “Why?”

  Seth shifted in the rocking chair on the small porch of his bunkhouse. “Dean, the only woman you’ve ever been romantically involved with before was Sarah. You two knew each other as youngsters and fell in love early. She was a sweet woman and I loved her very much,” he said. “But take it from someone who’s been, uh, involved with a lot more women. There are things that matter most to women and honesty is number one. Even if they don’t like what you’re saying, if you’re honest, they respect you. You weren’t completely honest with her and she thinks that everything was a lie.”

  Dean sighed. “It wasn’t. Everything Marcus put in those letters was what I told him to write. He just says it better, that’s all.”

  “Yeah, he sure does. He’s like Pa that way. Ma was smart woman, too, don’t forget, just in a different way,” Seth said.

  “I know. Tessa comes from a whole other world, Seth. How was I gonna compete with that?” Dean said.

  “Yep, I get that, too.”

  Dean shot Seth an exasperated look. “You get it, but I’m still wrong somehow. That’s what you’re saying. She wouldn’t even listen to me or try to understand.”

  Seth chuckled. “Well, that’s typical. When anyone’s feelings get hurt, it’s hard to listen to reason. You know what that’s like. Maybe just give her some time and let her temper cool.”

  Dean said nothing. He may not be a man of many words, but he was a man of action. He was danged if he was going to let this go on. Dean wasn’t going to let the woman go on thinking the worst of him.

  Tessa was walking along the road that ran adjacent to their property picking some raspberries that had just ripened. Sadie worked along the other side. If they were able to pick enough, Tessa wanted to make a couple of pies. She heard Sadie singing and smiled. Sadie had a sweet voice and Seth especially was always getting her to sing.

  The sound of carriage wheels came to Tessa’s ears. She looked up to see one in the distance. They didn’t get a whole lot of traffic on the road so she was curious about who might be approaching. It was a large carriage pulled by two horses. Sadie stopped picking berries and came to stand with Tessa as it drew closer.

  The driver pulled the reins and the carriage came to a halt at the entrance of their ranch.

  “Hello, miss. Do you live here? Is this the Samuels place?” he asked.

  “Yes,” Tessa said.

  One of the carriage doors opened and a man alighted. Tessa’s face paled and she gasped as she recognized him.

  Sadie looked from Tessa to the man and asked, “Tessa, who is he?”

  “My father.”

  Chapter Twelve