by Rye Hart
There was a thick envelope in the stack of mail from a law firm in Denver that I didn’t recognize. Tyler’s in-house lawyers handled his business affairs. I held it up for him to see.
“You have a letter from Baxter & Chase, Attorneys at Law.” I cut my eyes at him. “You’re not in trouble again, are you?”
He smiled at me and rolled his eyes. “That’s the firm I hired to set up the foundation we talked about.”
I blinked at him. “The foundation?”
“The James J. Jenner Foundation,” he said, taking the envelope and sliding a finger under the flap to tear it open. He handed me a document that was too full of legalese for me to understand. “Those are the articles of incorporation.”
“This is the foundation you set up in memory of your father,” I said, giving him a warm smile. “The one that will donate camping equipment and set up summer outdoor programs for underprivileged kids across the country.”
“That’s it,” he said with a sigh. His eyes went dreamy for a moment. “I wouldn’t be here if it wasn’t for my dad. I wouldn’t have all this and I would have never met you. I wanted to do something in his memory.” He gave me a smile. “You’ve taught me how important family is, Maggie. How important people are. My dad knew that. I think I did a long time ago, but I lost sight of it. It took you to remind me of it.”
“Yes, well, what can I say? I am quite the motivator!”
“Yes, you are.”
I grinned at him and slipped the papers back into the envelope. “This is wonderful, Tyler. Your dad would be so proud.”
He nodded at the laptop sitting open on the bar next to me. “Have you got everything ordered for the hotel kitchen? I’m meeting with the city inspector today for the final inspection on the electrical and plumbing, so we’ll be ready to install the appliances as soon as they arrive.”
“Yes sir, I have coordinated with your buyers in Denver and everything is on its way,” I said with a salute and a smile. “It should arrive next week.”
“Awesome,” he said, draining the cup and setting it in the sink. He wiped the tips of his moustache with his fingers and glanced toward the door. “I’m going to take the boys to the construction site with me again today. They’ve been a huge help, and I think they’re having fun learning how things work.”
“I appreciate you taking them under your wing,” I said with a smile. “They really like you.”
“They’re good boys,” he said. He let his eyes linger on my face for a moment. “How about you? Are you ready to go to work once the hotel restaurant is open?”
“I am,” I said.
I’d been taking online classes from the culinary school in Denver for almost a year and was finally on my way to getting my dream degree.
“I think I’ve put on fifteen pounds being your test dummy,” he said, rubbing his flat stomach.
I smiled for a moment, then made a serious face. “Are you sure your head chef isn’t going to have a problem having the boss’ fiancé working in his kitchen? I mean, this is going to be a five-star restaurant and he is one of the top chefs in the country. Are you sure he’s not a little resentful of having me in his kitchen? This is a very big deal for you and him. I don’t want to do anything to screw it up.”
“Jean Claude is a consummate professional, Mags,” Tyler said with a nod. “He and I had a long talk and he is totally cool with having you in his kitchen. Just don’t expect any favors from him. If anything, he’ll be harder on you than the other chefs, but it’s only because he wants you to learn to be the best, from the best. He knows you are being groomed for running Maggie’s Garden in a few years. It will be perfect.”
“As long as he’s willing to teach me, I’m willing to shut my mouth and learn. It’s important that I’ve worked the trenches and earned the right to run my own restaurant. I couldn’t be more grateful for your help, but as you know, I have to do that part for myself” I said.
Tyler came around the island and I swiveled on the stool to face him. He wedged himself between my knees and I put my arms around his waist and rested my head on his chest.
“I love you,” he said, kissing the top of my head.
“I love you, too,” I said with a sigh.
I listened to his heart beating in my ear.
It was a most wonderful sound.
Who would have thought that Maggie Dean would be the one to tame the Billionaire Mountain Man?
THE END
Thank you for reading Rock Hard Mountain Man. This book contains bonus stories for your enjoyment. Please refer to the Table of Contents to see what to read next.
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Historical Mail Order Bride Romance Collection
Sisters of the South
Books 1-3
Marianna
Chapter One
"Stunning," Amelia breathed. "Kevin will not be able to take his eyes off of you." She reached forward to touch the delicate lace of her sister's dress. "It's so pretty and so romantic," she sighed.
Georgina snorted. "It's just a dress Amelia."
"Yes, but it represents the start of their eternal love," Amelia protested.
"Look, Georgie," Marianna interjected, "I know how you feel about marriage and how it is —"
"Hogwash?" Georgina finished Marianna's sentence for her. "Look, I get that you want to marry and aspire to be the best wife possible, but I don't know why you had to go and pick Kevin Patrick of all people? He is-," she paused as if trying to find the word that would least offend her sister, "boring."
"So?" Amelia burst out. "He's terribly handsome and very rich. Marianna could have dozens of dresses just as pretty as her wedding dress!"
"Those dresses would be worthless if I had to be saddled to the dullest man on earth," Georgina countered.
Marianna chuckled at her two sisters and their dividing opinions. Marianna, with her grace and calm demeanor, was not one to be offended by them. She knew where her sisters were coming from. Georgie had aspirations that involved a literary career, and Amelia wanted a life of aesthetic leisure in order to pursue her artistic inclinations. They both viewed her marriage through the rose-tinted gaze of their own dreams, which made it difficult for them to see that the reason Marianna was marrying Kevin Patrick wasn't for the domestic life or for the wealth.
"Girls," Marianna broke through their bickering. "Have you thought that I might be marrying Kevin because I love him?" she teased lightly.
Georgina and Amelia looked at their elder sister in shock.
Georgina snorted for the second time that morning. "Love? That is just a fairytale," she said boldly.
"Don't be so cynical Georgie," Amelia chastised her. "I would love him too if I could live in that big house, and ride around in that fancy carriage, and have a horde of servants to attend to my every whim."
"That is beside the point!" Georgina let out an exasperated sigh as her frustrations grew with her youngest sister.
"Just another day in the Wellington household," Marianna teased.
Georgina and Amelia both turned toward each other, their eyes flaring with the heat of the argument. Once they saw how red and purple the other's face was, they lost their edge and burst into fits of giggles.
"Your face is all mottled purple," Amelia pointed out to Georgina in between the uncontrollable heaves of laughter.
"Speak for yourself," Georgina teased. "Your nose is as red as as tomato!"
Marianna chuckled along with her sisters before turning her attention back to her reflection in the full-length mirror. "I think I am ready to go,"
"Excuse me?" A young pageboy peeked cautiously around the corner that separated the back fitting room from the front of the store. "I have a message for a Ms. Wellington," he said shyly.
"Yes?" all three Wellington sisters said in perfect unison.
The boy looked confused as his face darted among all three women. "I, um," he stopped and started again. "It's for Mr. Patrick's, um, fiancé."
"That would be me," Marianne descended from the raised platform like an elegant angel. "Thank you," she said, taking the paper from his outstretched hand.
He lingered a little bit longer before Georgina offered him a tip and shooed him away.
Marianna quickly tore the crisp envelope open and pulled out a short note. The moment she read the first line, she paled.
"Are you alright?" Amelia asked cautiously.
Marianna extended the letter with shaky hands. Her eyes appeared haunted by the words delivered on the cream colored paper.
Georgina grabbed the letter from her sister and scanned the contents of the page quickly. She let out an abrupt gasp, covering her mouth in the process. "No," she breathed, her expression twisting in horror.
"Yes," Marianna said in a strained voice. Her eyes had already begun to well up with tears. "He's dead. Kevin is dead," she said as she collapsed into a pile of white lace.
Chapter Two
"So, what is going to happen now?" Amelia asked curiously.
"Hush Amelia, your sister is still in mourning," their mother chastised the youngest Wellington sister for her insensitivity. "We've only just returned home from the funeral."
"It is ok," Marianna whispered as she placed her black hat and veil on the dining room table. "I don't know," she said in answer to her sister’s question.
Amelia's eyes grew big as she realized what her sister was saying. "Will we have to move then?"
"Amelia!" Their mother spoke harshly.
Marianna knew that her mother was just trying to protect her, but what Amelia was saying was the truth. Although it felt like the hardest part of the day was simply surviving her soulmate's funeral, she knew the road ahead wouldn't be easy. It was an unfortunate reality, but the life she had hoped for had been buried along with him.
Marianna turned toward her mother and two sisters. "I understand that our family had depended on Kevin to keep us financially afloat. And now that he is, is —" she stuttered as she tried to hold back the tears, "gone, we will have to do our best to make ends meet until I am able to find a job to support us." Marianna looked at their worried faces and her heart ached to remedy the situation. "Where is father?" she asked with some reservation.
"I don't know," Georgina shook her head. "Probably at one of the many houses he likes to gamble our livelihood away at."
Their mother, pale and ill, looked distraught. "I'm so sorry girls," she wailed.
"It's not your fault," Marianna moved to comfort her mother. They had all been through so much. A few years ago their father suffered a large financial loss when one of his investments had fallen through. They had to downsize their house and dismiss all their servants just to try and make ends meet. The blow had damaged his pride and he sought comfort in the many gambling houses in Boston, just outside their smaller community of Valley Springs. He would be gone for days at a time, and when he returned empty handed, it would be up to the girls to try and gather enough funds to cover the minimum of their monthly expenses. Marianna was forced to take a job as a governess for a wealthy family at an innocent age of sixteen. Although the Cavanaughs had welcomed her in and had given her a wage that was just enough to keep their family afloat for the past two years, it meant that the responsibility rested on Marianna to keep her family fed and clothed. However, when she became engaged, Kevin had offered to support her family if she gave up her job. At first she had worried that she wouldn't find another position, as her father's dalliances left a black mark on the Wellington family in good society, but Kevin quickly quelled those fears. She had been lucky that Kevin had cared for her despite her family’s tainted reputation; he had been a Godsend. But now he was gone and Marianna had to find a new way to make sure that her family did not fall apart.
"I worry that I failed you," their mother wept. Her upper lip trembled slightly as tears filled her eyes.
"Don't say that." Marianna brought her mother in for a hug, cradling her head in a comforting gesture.
Amelia and Georgina joined them in the emotional embrace.
They were interrupted by the sound of a knock at the front door.
Marianna disentangled herself from her family. "Take mother upstairs. I'll handle the guests as they probably just want to extend their condolences." She moved toward the front door, while her sisters ushered their distressed mother to her room to rest. She hesitated a moment before answering; her own weariness from the long day had finally taken its toll. She was exhausted from the pitying looks, the many condolences, and the unspoken white elephant in the room — how would the Wellingtons survive now that Mr. Patrick no longer supported them? Despite everything, Marianna held her head high and kept her resolve strong. She knew things would work out in the end. It had to.
When she opened the door, the friendly faces of Mr. and Mrs. Cavanaugh, the couple that had employed her as a governess for the past few years, greeted her.
"Ms. Marianna," Mrs. Cavanaugh spoke with a regretful tone. "I am so sorry for everything, we can't imagine what you are going through."
"Thank you for your sentiment. I've had better days." Marianna tried to put a faint smile on her face. She knew that the Cavanaughs had good intentions, but sometimes they lacked the self-awareness to know when they were being a bit too much to handle.
"Deepest sympathies," Mr. Cavanaugh said staunchly through his thick moustache.
Marianna nodded her acknowledgement to the gentleman.
"May we come in?" the ever outspoken Mrs. Cavanaugh pressed. She had the innate ability to always get her way, at least where Marianna was concerned, as she found it hard to say no to such a reckoning force.
"We have a proposition for you that you may find comforting in the wake of the, err, untimely turn of events," she said.
Marianna perked up slightly. She hoped that they had come to offer her old governess job, which would be a Godsend considering the lack of financial prospects her family had at the moment.
"Yes, please," she moved out of the way to allow the couple entrance into the small house.
She guided them toward the sitting room and offered them refreshments. "Tea?" she asked politely.
"Oh, no thank you. Charles won't have any either, as we don't have much time," Mrs. Cavanaugh answered abruptly. Mr. Cavanaugh simply grunted his agreement with his wife's words.
"Ok then," Marianna said hesitantly. She sat down nervously, her mind racing with the anticipation of the Cavanaugh’s proposition.
"Well," Mrs. Cavanaugh began excitedly, "as you know, we can't offer you your old governess job back as my niece has taken over. And as you know, one cannot simply fire family."
Marianna's heart sank.
"But," Mrs. Cavanaugh continued with excited glee, "Charles' brother-in-law requires someone with your skills."
Mr. Cavanaugh grunted, clearly uncomfortable.
"Hush Charles," Mrs. Cavanaugh said harshly. "I will get to that part."
Marianna looked at her former employers with wild confusion. She needed the job, she had no choice but to take the offer, but surely it couldn't be as easy as that. "Is it here in town?" she asked hesitantly.
"Well, no," Mrs. Cavanaugh said with a little less pep to her voice. "Larsen owns a ranch in Texas, and ever since his wife — Charles' sister — passed away a few years ago, he has been having a difficult time running the place and taking care of his two little boys at the same time."
"So he needs a governess then?" Marianna asked. "How long would the contract be? I should warn you, I've never governed boys before; I grew up in a house full of sisters." Her heart raced as she considered what taking this job meant. "I'm not sure I can leave my family," she trailed off.
"He will pay handsomely, enough to pay off your father's debts and set your mother and sisters up nicely," Mrs. Cavanaugh interjected.
Marianna sucked in her breath.
This would be the answer to everything, but only if she was willing to make the sacrifice and move away. Yet, it still sounded too good to be true. "How long?" she asked again.
Mrs. Cavanaugh hesitated and sent a worried glance toward her husband. "The thing is, he needs someone who can raise his sons and run his household on a more permanent bases."
Marianna shot her a confused look. "Permanent?"
"What he needs is an educated, intelligent, hard-working wife," Mrs. Cavanaugh concluded.
Marianna felt like she had been punched in the stomach. "A wife?" she stuttered.
"You wouldn't have to marry him right away," Mrs. Cavanaugh said in a rush. "You could go for a trial period, say a month, see how you like the ranch and the family. At any time during that period, if you feel like this isn't right for you, you can leave and Larsen will compensate you for your time. You will be treated with the utmost respect and will be given the space to make your decision." She leaned forward in her seat, her eyes roaming Marianna's expectantly.
Marianna took a long pause, her words failing her at the moment. She had too many emotions racing through her mind to make a rational — or even coherent — decision. "I want to thank you for your offer but," she paused as she weighed what her next move would be, "I will need to think about it." Her heart didn't want to take the offer and leave her family, especially while she was still grieving the loss of her fiancé. She wasn’t ready to turn down the only option for her family’s security either.
"Certainly dear," Mrs. Cavanaugh extended. "We must be on our way, but think about the offer and get back to us on your decision soon," she smiled warmly before she turned away.
Marianna showed the Cavanaughs out the door, a fake smile plastered on her face. The moment the door clicked shut behind them, she burst into tears. As she clutched the handle of the front door, she sobbed heavily. The tears streaming down her face were not only for Kevin and the dreams that had been buried with him that day, but for her family, their situation, and for the difficult decision ahead of her. If she turned down the offer to marry this Larsen fellow, she would doom her family to destitution. If she accepted, it would mean resigning herself to a loveless marriage and a world without her family nearby to support her. It was either her family’s happiness, or hers.