A Treasure Brought by Fate: A Historical Western Romance Book

by Lorelei Brogan

  James was fairly certain that any man of shorter stature than himself would have been cowed into submission.

  “Here, sir, you are no better than the next man who crosses my path, no matter how much money you have.” James closed the tiny gap between them even more, starting at the man straight in the eyes, daring him to challenge his stance.

  They stood like that for several minutes until Keith took a step back. He pulled out a handkerchief and wiped the beads of sweat off his brow. “I apologize, but you have to understand she is my fiancé. She comes out west and I receive this letter out of the blue. I need to know what happened. She has no right to terminate our agreement without just cause.”

  It made James take a slight breath of relief to hear the man admitting at least part of what really happened. And he was beginning to see why Lyla had seemed so miserable at the idea of marrying Keith.

  “I’m not going to tell you where she is because if she doesn’t want to see you, and you have no right to see her.”

  Keith opened his mouth to protest but shut it quickly as James continued. “I’ll ask her if she wants to come and meet with you. If she does, we’ll meet in the hotel tomorrow afternoon.”

  “She had better be there. If not, I’m going to find out where she is. She will see me, like it or not. She is my fiancé and I will not be turned down. This is a disgrace!”

  Keith sounded much too threatening for James’ liking. If it were up to him, he would tell this entitled man to take his money and go back to where he came from, because Lyla wasn’t interested. But it wasn’t his place.

  Lyla had the right to know that Keith had traveled all the way out here to get her back. James could only hope that her dislike of him would be strong enough to keep her away.

  He turned to go, but only made it a few steps before Keith’s voice stopped him in his tracks. “Wait! You never told me your name or why you even know where Lyla is.”

  James turned back with a sigh. It was because of people like Keith that he had moved out west in the first place. Businessmen were always so entitled and thought that they had a right to everything.

  James hadn’t planned on telling Keith about his and Lyla’s marriage plans in order to make the whole meeting go over more smoothly, but chivalry and consideration were gone.

  “Actually, I’m the man that she wants to marry because she loves me, not for the money.”

  Keith’s eyes went wide, and his mouth gaped open like a dark cave on a rainy night. “Why that little…” The last word he said was murmured, but James understood what it was, nonetheless.

  He saw red and his fists clenched at his sides. The next thing he knew, he threw a right hook that caught Keith squarely in the jaw and quite off guard. “Don’t you ever let me hear you talk about Lyla that way again.”

  Keith’s eyes glinted steel and a sneer pulled at his lips. “I’ll talk about my fiancé however I wish. There’s nothing you can do about it, sheriff.”

  James closed the gap between them once more, then grabbed Keith by the front of his shirt and shoved him up against the wall. “There is a whole lot about me that you don’t know. One of those things is that I can pretty much do what I like with people I consider to be disturbing the peace.”

  Keith looked shell-shocked but managed to get his voice back. “That would be abusing the law in your favor.”

  James laughed, “Look who knows fancy words. I’ll have you know that I was acting in self-defense, of both myself and of Lyla’s good reputation.”

  He leaned in just a little closer to Keith’s face, until they were practically touching nose to nose. He could feel the other man’s quick, frightened breaths and see the unease in his widening eyes.

  “Lyla is my fiancé now. She didn’t want to marry you in the first place, and why you’ve wasted your time to come all the way out here after being rejected, I have no idea.” James paused a moment to give Keith time to absorb his words. “If you so much as look at her in a way she doesn’t like, you’ll be sitting behind bars—and it will be for a good long time. Do you understand me?”

  Keith gave the briefest of nods.

  “I said, do you understand me?” James yelled his question this time and Keith shook a little under his hand.

  “I-I understand,” Keith stuttered.

  “Good.” Satisfied that he had left a lasting impression, James turned to leave. “Don’t be surprised if she doesn’t show up tomorrow. If I were her, I would never want to lay eyes on your face again.”

  James didn’t turn to see Keith’s reaction, but instead walked calmly from the general store. He had forgotten whatever he’d been planning to buy, but it didn’t matter.

  He wandered over to his wagon, climbed up and clicked to the horses. He didn’t urge them to hurry. He needed some time to think. What if Lyla didn’t have the willpower to stand up to Keith and she went running back? How would he convince her to stay?

  Could he handle letting Lyla go, if that was what she wanted? Maybe she really did want to marry Keith and had just lost sight of her goals because of her time isolated from everything she knew.

  When he finally arrived at the ranch, he had worried himself with a pile of different scenarios that could play out, none of which were good for him.

  Reluctant to find Lyla and face the news that he had for her, he took his time brushing the horses down and getting them settled in the barn.

  “What would you do, ol’ boy? Maybe we could just not tell her.” James ran a hand over his horse’s neck. When he had problems, his horses were some of his best listeners, and they didn’t disappoint today.

  “I know, I know. You’re right. She should know. I’m sure she’ll handle it just fine.” James grinned. He knew that if anyone ever heard him talking like this, they’d think he was crazy. But sometimes, it was necessary to say things out loud.

  Once he was sure that the horses were properly cared for and there was absolutely nothing else to keep him occupied in the barn, he headed over to the little cabin that Lyla was staying n.

  He knocked on the door, then stuffed his hands in his pockets to try and calm his nervousness while he waited.

  It didn’t take long for the door to open and a happy-looking Lyla to poke her head out. “James! You’re back!”

  James nodded, “Can I talk to you for a second?”

  “Is something wrong?” Lyla’s face fell and she moved to let James in.

  “Not exactly.” He paused and Lyla’s face became even more worried. “Not between us, anyway.”

  Lyla let out a deep breath and sank into a nearby chair. “You had me worried for a second.”

  James leaned up against the wall, resting one of his feet up against it, his hands still shoved into his pockets and his hat still on his head. “I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to. The thing is, I ran into someone in town today that might cause some problems for us.”

  Lyla’s face twisted in confusion. “What do you mean?”

  “I don’t know how to tell you this, but…Keith is in town.”

  Lyla jumped up, nearly knocking her chair to the floor. “Keith? Are you sure? What does he want?” Lyla seemed very surprised, but she certainly didn’t look pleased in the least. “He followed me here?”

  “I think he thinks he can get you back somehow.” James chewed on his lower lip as he remembered Keith’s smug look.

  “That’s ridiculous! Did you tell him that? Why would he come out here after the telegram I sent to him? I told him I would not marry him.”

  James put his hands up in a questioning motion. “I have no idea. Of course, I told him that you weren’t interested, and I might have mentioned that we are getting married.”

  “What did he say to that? I have no idea what he’s even doing here. I don’t understand why he would think I would change my mind after what I wrote to him.”

  “He was pretty angry, but I think that the fact that I’m the sheriff kept him in check.” James chuckled. “Anyway, he didn’t seem very h
appy with you. I have to say that I have rarely met a person so entitled.”

  Lyla nodded in agreement. “He’s a terrible man to be around. He treats everyone as if they are his paid workers, and he never treated me as if I would be my own person or have the liberty of my own decisions ever again, after we were married.”

  “Am I glad that you decided not to marry him, then, our decisions aside.”

  Lyla looked sad for a moment. “I was so wrong. I never should have tolerated the way he treated me. I see that now. I would have been so miserable if I had followed through and married him. I think, deep down, I knew that, but I was too scared to look for anything else.”

  James came closer and pulled Lyla’s chin up until he could look her in the eyes. “You, Lyla, are so deserving of the best man in the world. I do not deserve you and I certainly know that that man, whoever he thinks he is, doesn’t deserve you at all. He doesn’t deserve anyone.”

  Tears filled Lyla’s eyes and she smiled up at him. “That’s the sweetest thing anyone has ever said to me.”

  James pulled her into an embrace. It was also the truest thing he had ever said.

  Chapter 27

  Lyla paced back and forth. James was going to come and get her any minute now to go meet Keith in town.

  James had made it clear that if she didn’t want to go, he could go alone and get rid of Keith, but she was adamant. She needed to go and talk to him and clear this up, once and for all.

  She couldn’t have him hanging around and threatening the life she was building here with James and Joey.

  Lyla pulled back the curtain of the window and looked outside where Joey was playing with Sam, the hound.

  His giggles filled the air as the two of them romped and played. Lyla giggled as she watched them. She often wondered what it would have been like if she’d accepted Mary’s offer to stay in town.

  Would it have been as painful as she’d thought to see Joey grow up? She had missed out on so much. She wondered what Joey thought of her now. He didn’t know who she really was, and she wondered if she would ever tell him.

  By telling him, she might ruin the perception he had of her sister. Sighing, Lyla let the curtain fall back into place. Her mind wandered back to the problem at hand. Why on earth would Keith follow her out here? She had made it very clear in her telegram that she was no longer interested.

  A knock on the door made her jump. She hurried over and opened the door, wringing her hands nervously all the while.

  “What’s wrong? You look pale.” James gripped her by the shoulders, his eyes full of concern.

  “I don’t know if I can do this. What if he gets really angry? I’m scared of him, James.”

  James squeezed her shoulders. “You have absolutely no reason to be afraid. I will be beside you every step of the way. I am going to help you through this, okay?”

  Lyla nodded. “What if he tries to fight with you or something?”

  James threw his head back and gave a deep, hearty laugh that was contagious. “If he tries anything as silly as that, Merrick and Daniel will have him in a jail cell before you can blink twice.”

  After a moment, James’ face became serious again. “But Lyla, if this isn’t something you want to do, I completely understand. I can make him leave town and never look back without a single word from you, if that makes you more comfortable.”

  “No, no. I think I should face him. Despite being the man that he is, he spent a lot of money on the wedding he was planning and on getting here. He at least deserves an explanation. Anyone would.” Lyla nodded, as if it was the only thing left to say, but she still felt very uncertain.

  All the times that she’d been around Keith while wishing to be somewhere else came to mind. She took a deep breath. She was going to have to be strong and face this problem so she could move on with her life.

  James took her hand as they walked to the wagon. “Come on, you’ll see that it won’t be nearly as bad as you think it will be.”

  Lyla nodded, her lips set in a thin white line, but she wasn’t convinced. She knew Keith better than she would have liked to and was fairly certain that he was not here to listen to what Lyla wanted to do with her life.

  He was used to getting what he wanted—and when he found out that wasn’t going to be happening, he was going to be furious.

  Lyla closed her eyes and forced herself to focus on the steady hoof beats of the horses. She could handle this. She knew she could.

  ---*---

  “Are you okay? You haven’t really said much the entire ride out here.” James was watching her with a concerned expression.

  “I’m just worried, is all. Why would he come all the way out here? I mean, I was so clear in what I wrote to him. It wasn’t a misunderstanding. Keith isn’t the type of man to lose things he wants. I’m worried that he has something up his sleeve.”

  James nodded thoughtfully. “You may be right. I met him and he certainly didn’t give me a good impression. But I want you to be calm. No matter how this goes, we are going to be all right.”

  Lyla chewed on her thumb as she thought. What could Keith possibly want to accomplish by coming to find her? He knew her well enough to know that once she made her mind up about something, she followed through with it.

  After all, if that hadn’t been the case, she never would have come out west in the first place.

  By the time the wagon pulled up in front of the hotel, Lyla was practically shaking from nervousness.

  James helped her down and turned her toward him. “Lyla, you need to be calm and in control. I’ve never seen you like this. You are always so collected.”

  Lyla nodded. James was right. She had never let Keith bother her before. She couldn’t start now. She was going to walk in there, look him in the eye, and send him back where he came from.

  “I need you. Joey needs you. We love you. Just remember that, okay?” James gave her an encouraging smile, and Lyla felt her heart lift just a little.

  With someone like James at her side, what could go wrong? He would protect her and make sure that this all worked out how it was supposed to, wouldn’t he?

  Lyla spotted Keith immediately. He had an impatient scowl on his face and his typical fancy clothing made him look completely out of place.

  He had his elbows on the table and his hands clenched together while he tapped his foot. If Lyla had been simply observing him, she would note that he was very angry about something and that it wasn’t a good time to get within ten feet of him.

  But she didn’t have a choice. She had chosen to come and do this, and now, she was going to follow through.

  She walked across the hotel dining area, keeping her head high and her shoulders straight, comforted by James’ presence behind her.

  It was funny because several weeks ago, this situation wouldn’t have bothered her in the least. She’d had nothing to lose, then, so she hadn’t really been afraid of any situation.

  But now she had a whole lot to lose—and a whole lot to look forward to. Both of these things made her question everything.

  What if after talking with Keith, James decided he didn’t want to marry her anymore? What if Keith told James terrible things about her? What if he called her names in front of the townspeople?