Abby gasped and grasped his arm. Fletch smiled at Arthur’s new wife. “Congratulations. I hadn’t heard Art had married,” he lied. He’d hoped the rumors he’d heard about Art were wrong.
“It was rather sudden. I’m from the county to the west of here. We’d met years ago in high school.”
“Welcome to Pleasure Valley. I’ll see him in town. We were headed that way.” Fletch put his arm around Abby as they walked to the truck. Once inside, he waved at the woman and took off down the lane. “You can cry now, all you want.”
She sniffled. “My dad said men didn’t like to see a woman cry. He told me they wanted the woman to be strong, not a baby.”
Fletch turned onto the main road to town and pulled to the side. He shut off the engine. “Your dad wasn’t right about all men. It sounds to me like you’ve been stronger than many women I know.” When he opened his arms, a loud cry burst from her. She threw herself into his embrace and cuddled close to his chest. He held her tight. “Cry all you want, honey. You deserve to.”
His heart did a funny skip when her soft body touched him. Her sweet fragrance reminded him of the summer roses growing along the home place fence. He touched her reddish-blonde hair. A sudden urge came over him to take her home, lay her on the thick rug in front of his fireplace, and hold her tight so he’d feel her whole body against his. She jerked back as though his thought had registered in her mind.
“I’m sorry. I never cry like this and”—Abby touched the front of Fletcher’s shirt—“my tears got you all wet.”
He smiled. “I didn’t mind a bit.” Reluctantly, he turned straight in his seat. “Let’s get to town and find out what happened. But first I ought to know your name.”
“It’s Abigail Strahan, but most people call me Abby.”
“Nice to meet you, Abby. I’ll take you to meet Art. The least he can do is refund your money for the cost of the trip.”
“Just let me off at his office. I’ve taken up enough of your time.” Her heart-shaped face turned pink.
“My mother would be angry with me if I deserted you.”
“But you don’t know me. You aren’t responsible for me.”
He cupped her face in his hands. “This isn’t a problem for me or my family. We believe in helping our neighbors.” Fletch started the engine and drove toward town.
“Don’t you have to get back to work?”
“I’m the boss. I can take the time.” He glanced her way. She sat straight and stared ahead, reminding him of a school girl behaving properly for her teacher.
“Oh, what a lovely town.” Abby glanced from side to side as they drove down the main street.
“It’s grown quite a bit since I was a kid. But it still has that small-town presence. The townspeople like it this way.” He turned a corner and parked in front of an office building. The sign read Clements Accounting Services.
Fletch helped her out of the truck and, holding her hand, he led her into the office. An older woman glanced away from her computer.
“Hi, Fletch. What brings you here? I heard your brother married a pretty good accountant for the home place.”
“He did, but I’d like to talk with Art for a few minutes if he’s free.”
She nodded and pressed the intercom button. “Mr. Clements, Fletcher Garrison and a young lady are here to see you if you have time. Your next appointment isn’t until two,” she reminded him. She smiled at them. “He said to come right on in.”
Fletcher put his arm around Abby and walked her across the room. He opened the door, and they entered.
Arthur Clements stood and walked briskly around his desk. He’d put out his hand to greet Fletch when he noticed Abby. His arm fell to his side. “What are you doing here?”
“I found her waiting for you at the airport. It appears you didn’t notify her you’d married someone else. What’s going on?” Fletcher asked before Abby could reply.
“I sent you word I’d married.” Arthur frowned at Abby.
“I never got any message. Why didn’t you call?”
“Let’s sit before this discussion goes any further.” Fletch directed Abby to a chair by the desk and sat in the one next to her.
Art glared at him, and then went around to his chair. “We have nothing to discuss. I sent her a letter explaining I’d met someone from a nearby town who suited me better. I told you not to come.”
“You had her phone number?”
Art frowned at Fletcher. “I threw it away when I met Trudy. I sent a message right away to the company I’d used to set us up. Trudy’s mother was dying, and she wanted to be at our wedding. That’s why we had the ceremony so soon.”
“You owe this lady an apology and the money it cost her to get here.”
“I don’t have to pay her anything. We didn’t marry.” He blustered and pulled at his collar.
Fletcher stood and put out his hand to Abby. “If she doesn’t get a check sent to the home place by tomorrow morning then you will no longer get any business from us or anyone who does business with us.” Fletch put his hand on the curve of Abby’s back and walked toward the door.
“Stop! That’s a bribe, and you know it.” Arthur leaned across his desk.
“I don’t care whatever you want to call it. It’s unforgivable the way you’ve treated this nice lady, Art.”
“And why are you showing such an interest? You don’t even know her.”
“I know her better than I thought I knew you all these years. Does your new wife know about the ad in the paper?”
Art’s face showed a bright red color. He sat and opened a drawer in his desk. “This is my private account. No one is to know about this.”
“No one will. Neither of us wants to hurt your wife. We met her at the ranch when we went to see you. I suspect she’s too good for you.”
“Don’t make him pay. It’s all right. I’ll manage somehow. Please, I’m so embarrassed.”
“Here’s a check for a thousand dollars. It should more than cover any expenses. Keep your mouth shut, or I’ll tell everyone you were willing to marry a man you didn’t know.” Arthur threw the check her way.
Fletch caught the check and tore it up. “I’ll help her, and if you ever threaten her again for any reason, you’ll deal with me.”
“No!” Abby shouted at Fletch.
He put his arm around her and walked her toward the door. “Don’t worry. I’ll take you to my mother’s.” At the door, he faced Clements one more time. “One word out of you about her, and I’ll be at your door. Plus the town will know how you treated her.” When he opened the door, Abby ran all the way outside. Fletch hurried after her and caught Abby at the corner.
“Where do you think you’re going?”
“I’m getting away from you. Who appointed you as my keeper?”
“I did,” he said, as he walked beside her.
“I refuse to be a charity case. I’m sure you mean well, but how could you rip my check to pieces. It was enough to get me back to the city.”
“You’d said you didn’t want his money. And then what happens when you get to the big city? You have nowhere to stay and no job.”
“I’d find one.”
“You’d never have considered being a mail-order bride if you weren’t desperate.”
“How do you know? We only met this morning.”
“I know you, in here.” He touched his chest and shook his head. “I don’t know how, but I do work with lots of people, and you aren’t the type to resort to such a deal unless you were at the end of your rope.” He stopped walking, and she faced him.
“You are an unusual man.”
* * * *
Abby studied the tall, handsome man in front of her. When he smiled, it lit his whole face. Her knees went weak, and her heart fluttered in her throat. She wanted to touch the dark blond hair falling across his forehead. The back brushed the top of his shirt collar. His worn denim jeans clung to lean hips and long legs. With his hat tipped back on his head and
his smile, her whole insides ached to be closer to him.
“Like what you see?” he asked. The smile had become a wicked grin. “I love to see you blush.”
“I don’t like controlling men.”
He took her arm and walked her back toward the truck. “I bet you don’t know men at all, controlling or otherwise.”
“You’d be wrong. My dad controlled my mom and me. Not in a mean way, but I want someone different.”
Fletcher’s face darkened. “I have four other unmarried brothers. Maybe one of them would suit you better.”
“Mr. Garrison, I appreciate all you’ve done, but I’m not looking to embarrass myself again. I was desperate and still am, but perhaps I can find a job in Pleasure Valley and a small room to rent.”
He leaned down face to face with her. “You said you had no money.”
She wanted to stomp his foot. Instead, she pushed him away. “You’re in my space.”
“Fletcher,” a woman’s voice called out from a gray truck going by on the main street. The truck stopped, backed up, and turned down the side street to park by Fletcher. A small woman jumped out before the man driving could help her. Fletch ran and caught her in his arms.
“Mom, we’ve all told you not to do that anymore. You might fall and break a bone.”
“Don’t worry, son. I’ll give her a good talking to when we get back to the ranch,” his dad said and came around to stand by his wife.
Ignoring the men, his mom walked around them and came to Abby’s side. “Hello, I’m Merlyn Garrison, but everybody calls me Mom or Mom Garrison. Who are you? I know all the regulars in town.”
Fletcher got his smile from her. That was Abby’s first thought looking at the woman in front of her. Abby and Fletcher’s mom were the same height. For once Abby didn’t have a woman towering over her.
“I’m Abigail Strahan and your son, Fletcher, rescued me from a difficult situation at the airport.”
“I’ve taught my sons not to leave a lady in distress. But you aren’t at the airport now?”
“Mom, it’s a long story. I’ve been trying to convince Abby she can stay with you and Dad until her problems are straightened out.”
“You’d be doing me a favor. I have all those bedrooms empty since my boys have their own homes. The house gets mighty lonely during the day.”
Abby glanced at the two men and the lady in front of her. For a second she went cold, remembering the call she’d made to her aunt after Abby’s parents’ accident. She shivered and blinked the tears from her eyes. A truck rolling down the street backfired, and she jumped.
“You poor dear.” Mrs. Garrison wrapped her arms around Abby. “You need some comforting. I’m just the person to do it. Go home with us until you know what steps to take next.” While she talked, Mrs. Garrison slowly edged Abby toward their truck. “Get in the back seat. Fletcher can follow us home.”
“You don’t know me. I could be a serial killer.”
All three Garrisons bent over laughing. “I don’t believe you’d hurt any living creature,” Mrs. Garrison said. “Now, get in, and we’ll be on our way.” She glanced back at her son. “Fletcher, Cort said they needed more wire for the back forty. You get it and come on back.”
“Will do.”
He sauntered to his truck and swung inside. Waved and drove off.
“He is a handsome devil, isn’t he,” Mrs. Garrison said as her husband helped her into the seat.
“Yes, he is. I bet all the ladies in town are after him.” Abby bit her lip when she realized what she’d said. “Don’t tell him I said so. He has a lot of self-assurance already in that regard.”
“Oh, I do like you.” Mrs. Garrison smiled back at her. “Dinner will be fun. Some of my other sons will be there, and you can meet them.” She turned around, and Abby looked out the window.
Abby hadn’t noticed the environment much on her way to town but the beauty of the late afternoon sun on the mountains and the flowering bushes gave her an odd feeling that she’d come home. She shook her head. Silly, I haven’t had a home in years, and I’ve never lived in the country.
Chapter Two
Mrs. Garrison led Abby to a room on the right, halfway down the hall. “This used to be Fletcher’s room. If you’d prefer, you can choose another room. But most of them are still decorated like my sons left them. I haven’t wanted to change anything. I hope to have lots of grandchildren to stay in their fathers’ rooms when they visit. They’ll get to know their father in a different way when they see what he liked as a teenager and young man.”
“I love the idea.” Abby moved from the doorway and studied the pictures of farmland and horses on the walls. Ender’s Game by Orson Scott Card sat on the bedside table beside a table lamp.
“At one time or another, all my sons read that book. Do you want to see another room?”
“No, I’ll stay in his room, if you promise to not push us together.” Abby grinned at Mrs. Garrison. “I have a feeling you are eager to see your sons married. If they are as handsome as Fletcher, I believe they can manage on their own. I’m not ready to settle down. I want to know I can care for myself first. This experience has taught me a good lesson.”
“Being able to care for yourself is an admirable goal. I will try to not meddle. It wouldn’t be honest of me to make a promise I might have to break.”
“Thank you for allowing me to stay with you and Mr. Garrison until I get a job. I’ll go to town tomorrow and look for a job and room.”
“No hurry.”
“Yes, there is. I must find a way to be responsible for myself.”
“If you are serious, there’s a community college not far from here. It’s about a thirty-mile drive to the north. In the winter one of my boys can drive you.”
“First, I have to know what to study and earn the money to go. But thanks for the idea. I’ve taken all the required general subjects toward graduation. But, I hadn’t decided on my major, and then my parents were killed in a car accident. The only real skill I have is in sewing and I’ve done a few designs for clothes, but no one has seen them. It’s just a hobby of mine”
“Take your time. You’re still young.”
“I’m twenty-nine. I’ve lost a lot of years making ends meet.”
Mrs. Garrison hugged her. “You’ll love Pleasure Valley. I’ve no doubt you’ll find your way.” She waved and strode off to the kitchen.
Abby hung up her clothes and unpacked her cosmetics in the connecting bathroom. She peeked in the adjoining room. It also looked dated, but homey. “I wonder which brother slept here and dreamed of the future.”
After returning to Fletcher’s room, she sat by the window. In the distance, she saw cattle behind fences and cowboys riding amongst them. Had she fallen down a rabbit’s hole and landed in an unfamiliar country? She’d seen movies and such but had never been out West.
I must have been temporarily crazy to have flown out here to marry a stranger in such a different environment. Suddenly after all the surprises of the day, tears ran down her cheeks. She curled into the chair and sobbed against her knees.
What can I do? Where can I go? I can’t take advantage of a family who didn’t know me before this morning. But I must admit I’d like to stay here and rest before charging out into the world again, all alone.
* * * *
“Hi, Mom.” Fletcher walked around the large center island to the sink and kissed his mother on the cheek. “Thanks for helping out. Abby’s lost. She has no money, no family to speak of, and no job.”
“Why did she choose to come to Pleasure Valley? I get the feeling she’s never been out West.”
“I don’t think so either. Mom, I’ll tell you what happened, but don’t mention it to anyone else but Dad. She can tell the others if she wants them to know.”
“I agree, of course. I’ll get you a cup of coffee and me a tall glass of iced tea, then we’ll talk.”
“Where is Abby?”
“Sleeping in the chair in your
bedroom. She’s physically and emotionally exhausted. I saw the dried tears where she’d been crying.”
Once seated, Fletcher told her about his day and why Abby had arrived in town. “I wanted to punch Art, but I knew it would upset her more.”
His mom took her glass to the sink. She wiped the area with a cloth as she often did when thinking. “You should have let her have the check. It was her decision whether to tear it up or not.”
“I know, and I don’t usually make sudden decisions. But I was mad. I didn’t like the way he spoke to her, and I definitely didn’t want her to feel beholden to him.”
“It’s unusual for you to get so involved when helping others. You see what needs to be done. You take care of it, and that’s the end. How is Abby so different?”
“I don’t know. She looks helpless and reminds me a little of you.”
Hands on her hips, his mom faced him. Fletch had to grin. He knew what she’d say.
“I have never been helpless in my life, except when my folks died. I leaned on your father a lot at that time.” She sighed. “But then I’ve always been lucky to have family and friends around. I can’t imagine being so alone in the world as Abigail. I like that name rather than Abby. It’s pretty.” She walked to the door and looked down the hall. “We will gather around her and make her feel welcome.”
“Thanks, Mom.” Fletch walked down the hallway.
“Don’t wake her if she’s still sleeping. She needs the rest. I suspect it’s been a very long time since she’s felt safe.”
Fletch nodded and walked quietly down the hall to his room. He pushed the partly opened door wider. Her head rested on one arm. A cool breeze blew across her hair, stirring the reddish-blonde strands. Her breaths were slow and easy. The urge to take her in his arms and sit in the chair with her had him stepping inside the room. But he stopped. He might wake her. She needed her sleep.
I’m getting too involved too quickly. I’d better get to work. Fletcher strode down the hall and out the side door. The men were moving cattle on the south range. He’d go help and hope it kept his mind off the tiny woman curled in the chair he’d sat in often as a teenager.
The Unclaimed Mail Order Bride [Brides for the Garrison Brothers 3] (Siren Publishing Everlasting Classic) Page 2