A Secretive Mail Order Widow For The Humorous Rancher (The Love of Low Valley Series)

by Elliee Atkinson

  Bee snickered. She was delighted to see that Nan was with child. That meant she had something to hide. There was no way Ben had already been intimate with Nan. He wasn’t that kind of man. Besides, he was her man and not Nan’s. Now Nan’s virtue was called into question. She wasn’t the honest, fresh-as-a-daisy bride she said she was. It was something Bee could use to her advantage. All she had to do was come up with a plan.

  A noise in the lobby made Bee’s eyes dart to the door. She shot to her feet and hurried across the room to put the papers back in the box. She looked around but there was no way out of the room except through the window.

  She moved as quickly as she could across the room to the window and turned the knob as fast as she could to open it. When it was open enough, she slipped through, grunting with the effort.

  She was running as soon as her feet hit the ground, back through the alley and around to the front of the clinic. She stopped running when she came out in the open where everyone else was.

  Her heart was beating hard in her chest and she was gulping for air. She tried not to let anyone see how nervous she was. She’d almost been caught.

  She smoothed out her dress and strolled away from the clinic as if she’d never been there. She was tempted to go straight to the Mason house and tell Carrie everything that was going on, how Nan was lying about who she was and she should be sent away immediately.

  She wondered what excuse Nan had given Carrie to get the woman to take her to the clinic. She probably said she wasn’t feeling well. Bee was sure she wouldn’t tell the truth about her situation. There was no good reason for being a single woman with a child in her belly.

  Bee wanted to talk to Ben, tell him what he was getting himself into. However, would it be wise for her to confront him with the truth? Would that make him want her more than Nan?

  Ben wasn’t the kind of man to easily turn his back on a woman. Yet in this case, Bee knew he just wasn’t thinking straight. He’d made a mistake bringing her here, and he would see it once he realized what kind of woman she really was.

  She went to the café on the corner of the street and sat down at one of the outside tables to think. She crossed her arms over her chest and sat back in the chair, staring at the black iron table in front of her.

  Her eyes made a wide trail down the street one side and up the other. Her eyes stopped on the doors to the saloon. She wondered if Ben was still in there. She’d seen him go in earlier, before Nan came to town. She hadn’t seen him come out, but she wasn’t exactly paying attention to where he was at that moment either. She was more interested in finding out Nan’s private information.

  She snickered. She was determined to find a way to turn Nan’s misfortune to her advantage. If Ben was still willing to be with her when she was so obviously not a lady, that only meant there was something wrong with him and Bee would have to set him straight.

  Eventually, he would be hers. She would make sure of that.

  She stood up and went to the side of the road, looking both ways before crossing to the other side. She stepped up outside the saloon, but couldn’t bring herself to go inside. It wasn’t like at the bunkhouse when she was in her element, in the environment she considered home. The saloon could be a dangerous place. There were men in there that had been drinking and probably a lot.

  Drunk men were dangerous men. Bee knew that from experience.

  She moved to stand just outside the window and looked through the glass to see if Ben was inside. Her heart thumped when she caught sight of him. A chill ran over her arms.

  His back was to her, but there was no mistaking it was him. She watched him as he drank his beer and chatted with Dean and the other man they were with.

  She wished she could be inside with him, sitting at the bar, enjoying a drink and listening to him talk. She would be quiet as a mouse. She would never bother him or ask questions or interrupt him. She would do whatever he told her to do.

  She stared at him until her eyes started to burn. Just as he began to move off the stool, she darted away from the window. It was time to head home.

  CHAPTER 28

  Ben Follows Up

  “So he wasn’t sure?” Carrie asked, doubt in her voice. She gave Nan a skeptical look.

  “Oh, he was mostly sure,” Nan said, quietly, thinking about the child growing in her belly. “I… I don’t know what I’m going to tell Ben. I will have to think about it for a while.”

  “Why do you have any questions about it at all, Nan? You know Ben is a good man. He will understand if you just explain to him everything that’s happened to you. I feel sure he will understand.”

  Nan wanted to believe Carrie. However, she was a second-hand woman. He had paid for a second-hand woman. It would infuriate most men. Would he be like most men?

  She wanted to think he wouldn’t be.

  “I just don’t know. I think I should be able to take a few days to think about it first, don’t you think? I can tell Ben that the doctor was unsure and that I will take care of myself for a few days and get lots of rest. And that’s just what I’ll be doing while I’m thinking about all of this.”

  “Your husband would want you to be happy,” Carrie said. “I hope that’s not something that’s bothering you.”

  Nan looked at her friend as the buggy pulled up in front of the house. She shook her head. “No, I am quite sure Johnny would agree with this decision. To come to Low Valley, I mean. He would want me to be happy. He was a very methodical man. He liked to keep things neat and organized. He didn’t like it when I was unhappy with anything and always tried hard to change anything for me. Anything at all. He was a very loving man.”

  Sadness filled her. She didn’t want to talk about Johnny anymore. Sometimes she could talk about him and think about him without any trouble. Other times, her emotions surfaced and she realized just how much she missed him.

  “I’m sure he was, Nan,” Carrie said softly, pulling the brake lever and pressing down on the other side with her foot. She turned sideways so she was facing Nan in the front seat. “And now you have something permanent to remember him with and you’ll never want to let your child go. I encourage you to tell Ben as soon as you can, dear. You don’t want to leave him in the dark for too long. He already knows there’s something wrong with you – that you aren’t feeling well. He mentioned it to me. He’s noticed. You have to tell him something. I suspected you might be pregnant when you were here for dinner.”

  “You didn’t say anything to him about it?” Nan asked, fearfully. She was relieved when Carrie shook her head.

  “No, I can’t talk about something that personal to him. It simply isn’t my place. That’s something the two of you need to talk about.”

  Nan nodded. “Thank you, Carrie. I appreciate that.”

  “Of course. Do you want to come inside for some tea or lemonade? I can take you back to the cottage now if you want to be alone.”

  “I don’t want to be alone right yet,” Nan said. “I’ll come in with you.”

  The women got down from the buggy and went in the house together. Neither one spoke as they walked to the parlor where a small icebox and bar held cold lemonade, tea and cups to drink from. Carrie made them both a glass of tea while Nan looked on, feeling awkward. Her host was being so kind to her. She felt like she needed to give back somehow.

  Carrie turned and handed the cup to Nan. “Here you go. Drink up, you look a bit peaked. We don’t want Ben to see you looking too emotional. He’ll think something is very wrong with you. We don’t want him afraid for you.”

  “He’s already afraid for me,” Nan said softly before taking a drink of her tea. Carrie nodded, looking over the rim of her glass at Nan.

  “You’re right,” she said after she lowered it. She went to a chair next to the window and sat down, gesturing that Nan should take a seat near her. “He is afraid for you. I don’t know if you should wait too long before you tell him the news.”

  “News?”

  The w
omen looked at the door of the parlor. Carrie’s older brother and the owner of the Mason ranch, Logan, was standing there, both hands up on the door jamb, leaning in slightly. He had one eyebrow raised and a boyish grin on his face.

  “Who’s got news?” he said, moving his eyes between the ladies.

  “Oh, it’s not something for you to know, Logan,” Carrie said, teasingly. “This is female business.”

  “Yes, we can give you all the details if you want,” Nan grinned at him. “All the female details. In detail. All of it.”

  Logan had the decency to look terrified before shaking his head and laughing. “No!” he cried. “I take it back! I don’t want to know. Please don’t tell me!”

  Carrie looked at Nan and they both burst out laughing. Logan came in the room and walked to the bar, where he proceeded to make himself a drink just as Carrie had.

  “I know you’ve got my man Ben wrapped around your finger, Nan Simpson,” Logan said in a lighthearted voice. He looked at her over his shoulder as he poured lemonade in a cup. “You better be good with that man. He’s got a heart of gold, he does.”

  “Does he really?” Nan asked softly. She pictured Ben in her mind and it made her blood race through her veins. She was nervous and excited at the same time. There was so much going on. She was supposed to be married soon. Ben didn’t know she was pregnant. Bee was apparently out to get her.

  There was just so much going on.

  Logan dropped himself onto a long settee, stretching his legs out and crossing his ankles. Nan thought he looked incredibly comfortable. She was nothing short of impressed with all the Masons. They were a good, well-functioning family. Just the kind of family she hoped to have.

  “What are you doing in the house right now, anyway, Logan?” Carrie asked. “Shouldn’t you be out in the field working?”

  Logan ran one hand through his dark hair and sipped from his lemonade before answering his sister. “Nah, it’s too hot. I’m taking a break.”

  “It’s still early in the day,” Carrie continued. “If you think it’s hot out there now, you might want to find an inside job to do today. That way you won’t be out there later when it really does get hot. Or is that not really the reason you came inside.”

  Logan and Nan both gave her curious looks. She grinned.

  “You’re checking on Kay. Don’t tell me you aren’t checking on her. I know you are.”

  Nan lifted her eyebrows and moved her eyes from one to the other. Carrie turned a wide grin to Nan. “Kay’s going to have a baby soon,” she said casually, as if she and Nan hadn’t just been discussing that very thing. “She’s having her and Logan’s second child. He’s very excited about it, aren’t you, Logan?”

  Logan nodded, looking at Nan. “I am. I love my son. I’m hoping this one is a little girl. I need a little girl in my life. And I know Kay would be absolutely thrilled.”

  “Well, she wasn’t at the doctor’s office today. So I don’t know how she’s feeling.”

  Logan shook his head. “I knew she didn’t go in to work today. Becky said she’d cover for her so she could rest. She said her ankles are swelling up and making it hard to walk. I don’t want her miserable. Told her to stay here.”

  “I’m sure you did.”

  Nan listened to the brother and sister chat back and forth. After a few minutes, her eyes drifted to the window and she stared out at the bright blue sky. She was going to have a baby.

  Her heart jumped in her chest.

  Johnny would have been so proud. He would have been a wonderful father.

  She wondered what kind of father Ben would be to a child that wasn’t his. Would he accept the child?

  Nan felt justified in taking a few days to think before she told Ben everything. Taking her time would allow her to think of the right things to say. Along with the best way to say it.

  CHAPTER 29

  The Elephant In The Room

  Ben rode up to the front door of the cottage but didn’t dismount right away. He lingered around the gate in the front yard, scanning the house. It didn’t look like she was back yet. She must have stayed at the main house with Carrie for a while.

  He pulled in a deep sigh, trying to calm his anxious heart. He was concerned for Nan. He was beginning to question if he should have brought her to Low Valley in the first place. If she wasn’t with child, that meant she was sick and she didn’t get sick until she got to Nevada. Maybe it was something in the air.

  Maybe it was something in the house or the food.

  Maybe it was him.

  He shook his head to clear his thoughts. He pulled the horse’s reins to turn him around and head back to the main house. He would see her there. He had to see her. He couldn’t just go back to the bunkhouse or go out to the field to work. He had to talk to her and make sure she was all right.

  He rode slowly, taking his time in case she was making her way to the cottage. Once he got to the main compound, which made a large circle in between the house, the barn, the stables and the bunkhouse, he could see down the road toward the main street leading to Low Valley. Movement in the distance made him focus.

  A chill ran over him when he realized it was Bee, heading up the path on foot. She was still quite far from the main house, but he didn’t want her to even see him. Rather than take a chance at her calling out to him, he turned the horse quickly and rode to the house as fast as he could.

  He dismounted and hopped up the few steps, crossing the porch to the front door.

  He knocked but turned the knob and went in immediately after.

  “Hello?” he called out. “Anybody home?”

  “In here, Ben!” He heard Carrie’s voice coming from the parlor. He crossed the foyer and went into the parlor, stopping just inside the door. He knew Nan would be there. However, seeing her made it so much more real to him and he found himself surprised by her beauty. As if he’d never seen her before.

  He smiled. “Here you are,” he said. “I’ve been looking all over creation for you.”

  Nan raised her eyebrows, giving him an innocent look. “You have? Why in heaven’s name would you do that?”

  “I’m teasing,” he replied, suddenly self-conscious. “I haven’t really been looking all over for you. I just went to your cottage.”

  “I am heading back there shortly, if you would like to escort me,” she said, giving him a warm look. He was filled with passion and nodded emphatically.

  “It would be my pleasure.” He walked across the room and sat on the arm rest of the chair she was sitting in. She looked up at him with delight and surprise. “We will talk there about your health? You must at least tell me if you are going to live.”

  Nan laughed. “I’m going to live, rest assured.”

  “Ah, good,” Ben nodded, taking on a serious look. “I had my doubts there for a while. I’m glad you’ll pull through.”

  “Oh dear,” Nan said. “Does that mean I looked close to death’s door yesterday? Oh my, oh my.” She shook her head, despairingly. The play acting lasted only a few more seconds before she giggled and slapped his hand playfully. “You are a tease, Mr. Connelly.”

  “I am, I guess. Allow me to apologize.”

  Ben was delighted that she was easy to play with. He wanted a woman with a sense of humor that would make him smile and laugh at his jokes, too. Nan seemed to be more than the perfect woman for him. He hoped she would be honest with him about her baby, if she was having one.

  He tried not to think about it. Sitting in the Mason ranch with Carrie and her brother Logan was not the time nor the place to discuss such things. He would enjoy the time he had with her until they were alone and then they would have a discussion.

  He heard the front door open and his muscles immediately tensed. His eyes darted to Nan, who gave him a confused look. He was surprised by how strong the urge was to run away. He didn’t want to see Bee. He didn’t want Nan to see Bee.

  He instinctively pressed himself against the back of the chair but it ja
bbed painfully into his spine and he had to sit forward again. The arm rest was becoming uncomfortable anyway. He stood up and held out his hand to Nan.

  “Would you like a refill of your drink, my lady?”

  Her returned smile was charming. He ran his eyes over her face, admiring every curve, the smallness of her ears, the little bump of a nose she had. He wanted to kiss her, but instead he took her glass and returned to the bar to refill it.

  “Get yourself a drink there, buddy,” Logan said. “I know you got to be hot coming in from out there in that damned heat!”

  “I don’t mind it really,” Ben said. “But I will make a cup of tea. I’m parched.”

  “As well you should be,” Logan said absentmindedly, staring down in his near-empty glass. “Out there in that damned heat,” he mumbled.

  Ben was glad Bee didn’t come to the door of the parlor. He poured himself a drink and refilled Nan’s glass. When he returned it to her, he went past her chair and sat in one near her. He leaned forward, clasping the cup in both hands in front of him, his elbows on his knees.

  “When are you going to the K&B ranch for dinner? Is that Saturday or Friday?”

  Ben looked at Nan, who returned his gaze.

  “We were invited for Saturday,” Ben answered Carrie’s question. “Will you be there?”

  Carrie grinned wide. “Oh, I don’t know why we would be. We don’t have to be everywhere our crew goes or be that involved in their lives. Unless you want us to be. We can surely be there if we’re required to be.”

  Ben laughed. “No, I just didn’t know if they invited only us or if there will be a lot of people there.”

  Carrie glanced at her brother, who was lazily resting his head back on the arm rest of the settee, staring up the ceiling. He didn’t appear to be in the least interested in the conversation, but was also not bothered by it.

  “There might be a lot of people there,” Carrie responded to Ben’s query. “But not us. We don’t get invited to every social event.”