Chase (Prairie Grooms, Book Four)

by Kit Morgan

  “Tragedy or no tragedy,” said Imogene. “You and Mr. Adams are the ones to decide on you are to be married, not the town.”

  Lena let out a heavy sigh. “I'll need to go to town and speak with Mr. Adams.”

  “I want to go!” gushed Apple.

  “And me!” added Fina.

  Lena sighed again. “As much as I love your company, sisters, I would like to go alone.”

  “Alone?” said Imogene, aghast. “What about a chaperone?”

  “What about one?” asked Lena. “I'm sure whoever drives me to town will be chaperone enough. I won't be entirely alone.”

  “I'll go ask Harrison for you,” offered Apple.

  Lena motioned for her to stay in her chair. “No need, I’ll go do it myself.” She got up and left the kitchen in search of Harrison or Colin. She must've sounded more terse than she intended as neither Fina nor Apple followed as was their habit, and had been their entire lives. Now that she was to be married, they'd stuck to her more than ever.

  Lena went out onto the front porch, glanced around the barnyard, and seeing no sign of anyone, decided to go check the barn. When she entered a man she’d not met before was rubbing down a beautiful black horse. “Oh!” she said when she saw him. “I'm terribly sorry, but I'm looking for Harrison or Colin.” She eyed him suspiciously. “Might I inquire who you are, sir?”

  He looked up and smiled. “Well look at you,” he drawled. “Ain’t you the spittin’ image of your cousins? I guess since I'm married to one of them, that makes us related.”

  “You’re married to one of my cousins? Which one?”

  “Constance,” he said with a big smile.

  “Then you must be Ryder.”

  “Sure am! Which one are you? You'll pardon me if I don't remember your names, they're all kinda funny soundin’ to me.”

  Lena laughed at that. “Think nothing of it. They sound quite funny to us as well, which is why we would rather use our nicknames. I'm Lena.”

  “Well I'm plumb glad to meet ya, Lena. This here's Othello,” he said pointing to his horse. “I'm gonna let him stay here with Harrison for a while now that I don't need him to track outlaws.”

  “Oh, so this is the horse Constance has told me so much about?”

  “She's been bragging on Othello? Well I'll be, ya hear that boy? Constance loves ya!”

  Lena smiled. There was a childlike innocence about the man, much the same as Apple. “If you're to leave him here, then how are you getting back to town?”

  “Harrison's gonna drive me there when he gets back. He's been out checking on his stock the last couple of hours.”

  “Have you been here that long?”

  “I came here and went out with him for a while then came back to give Othello a brush up. Gotta make him pretty for the ladies ya know. He’s my stud horse.”

  Lena nodded. She already knew that the only thing of value Constance and Ryder owned was their one, good horse. “Then you won't mind if I accompany you? I have business in town with my intended.”

  “Oh, yeah, I heard you was gonna be marryin’. Chase Adams is a nice fella. I'm glad he found himself a woman. Lord knows he needs one.”

  “I beg your pardon? What ever do you mean?”

  Ryder pushed his hat off his forehead as he smiled and leaned against his horse’s rump. “A man gets mighty lonely around these parts. Those of us lucky enough to have a wife are envied by the ones that don't, Chase included. Ya can see it in a man's eyes, and ma’am, he's had that look a long time.”

  “Look?”

  Ryder went back to brushing his horse. “Loneliness ma'am, pure loneliness.”

  Lena watched as he groomed the animal. She’d never known loneliness, at least not while living with her two sisters, her mother, and while he was still alive, their father. She also managed to keep her mind and heart occupied with her passions. She had her reading, and then her social engagements such as the season, not to mention the musicales, the teas, and all the other happy goings-on that kept her and her sisters busy and in constant contact with other people. How different their lives were about to become. For some reason, she felt as if the long journey here and everything that happened since her arrival was surreal. She’d wake up one day, and it would be over, her life returned to normal. But life in London was over, for both her and her sisters, and there was no going back. Or at least there was no reason to. “I'll keep an eye out for Harrison’s return,” she said. “In the meantime, I best go get ready.”

  Ryder looked up from his work. “You do that ma'am. We’ll be waitin’.”

  She headed back to the house and pondered Ryder's words. Loneliness, pure loneliness. No wonder Chase hesitated when she asked if he would give her two weeks to get to know him. Perhaps Jefferson's suggestion they get married the day of the barn raising was best, but she wouldn't find out until she talked to her future husband. She did notice, however, that her steps to the house felt lighter at the thought, her breathing quicker, and she had a odd feeling in the pit of her stomach she'd not felt before. It wasn't as if she was coming down with something or felt ill, and she discovered she couldn't wait to see Chase again. Perhaps she wouldn't mind getting married at the barn-raising either.

  * * *

  The ride to town gave Lena more time to think about what Ryder said in the barn. She wanted to ask him about it, but he’d stretched out in the back of the wagon, and fell fast asleep the moment they started out. Even now she could hear his soft snoring as the horses plodded along.

  Hmmm, she mused. So Chase Adams wanted to marry out of loneliness, eh? Did that mean after they were husband and wife, his loneliness driven from him, he’d want to remain married to her? What if he decided he didn't like her? What if she decided she didn't like him? What if they both discovered they wouldn't suit at all?

  “What's on your mind, cousin?” asked Colin.

  Lena jumped at his voice. “Nothing!”

  “Come now, you had to be thinking about something. What is it?”

  “Really, it's nothing.”

  Colin glared at her. “Liar.”

  Lena pressed her lips together and looked away. “Don't ask me questions. Just drive the wagon.”

  “Ah ha! Now you have to tell me what you’re thinking,” he laughed.

  “Oh, very well,” she huffed. “But only because it will make you stop pestering me.”

  “Fair enough,” he said.

  Lena turned on the seat and looked at him. “How lonely does a man out here have to be before he becomes desperate?”

  “What? What you mean by, desperate?”

  “You know, desperate… Like a man dying of thirst desperate?”

  Colin eyed her suspiciously. “I say, but are you asking if Mr. Adams is marrying you out of desperation?”

  She grimaced and looked away. After a moment, she turned back to him. “I'm afraid I am.”

  Colin pushed his hat back and let out a low whistle. “Who put that thought in your head?”

  “Our cousin’s husband,” she said as she pointed a thumb over her shoulder. “I met him in the barn, both he and his horse.”

  Colin laughed. “Othello is a mighty fine piece of horse flesh, and I'd say the same thing of your intended if he were a horse too.”

  “I dare say, Colin, but is everything a joke to you?”

  “Not at tall,” he said. “I simply see the humor in everything. But we’re not talking about me, are we? We’re talking about Chase Adams. And the answer is no, he is not marrying you out of desperation. The man truly wants a wife.”

  Lena's cheeks flushed red as she tried to convince herself there was no reason to feel embarrassed by her questions. They were, after all, legitimate ones, weren't they?

  “Are you blushing, cousin?”

  “Not that tall,” she said, her back stiff.

  Colin let out a sigh. “If I were a woman in your position, I think I’d feel the same way you do.”

  “How can you possibly presume to kno
w how I feel? You're not the one marrying a complete stranger.”

  Belle and I only knew each other for a couple weeks before we were married,” he told her. “And if I'd had my way at the time, it would have only been a week.”

  “You would have married her within a week?” asked Lena in shock.

  “Of course,” said Colin. “For me, it was love at first sight. It was only polite to give her a week or two to fall in love with me.”

  Lena laughed at his remark. “I'm glad to hear you were so gentlemanly about it. But this is different and you know it. I, for one, did not fall in love with Chase Adams at first sight.”

  “No,” agreed Colin. “But maybe he did.”

  “Did what?”

  “Fell in love with you at first sight.”

  “Don't be ridiculous,” she scolded. “Besides, he's given no indication of…”

  “How do you know?” Colin interrupted. “He could be madly in love with you at this very moment and you, dear cousin, are completely unawares.”

  Lena rolled her eyes. “You’re impossible.”

  “But not improbable.”

  She slapped him on his arm. “Do control yourself, dear cousin. I wouldn't want you to frighten my intended away.”

  “I wouldn't want to frighten him away either, he's a good man, and I agree with Jefferson. The two of you should marry at the barn-raising.”

  Lena picked at the skirt of her dress. “The thought makes me nervous, that much I will admit.”

  “Of course it does,” said Colin. “You don't know each other yet. But you will, and that, dear one, is what makes it so much fun.”

  “Fun?” she asked. “As in a jolly good time for all, at our expense?”

  “No, no, no. You're not listening. The fun part is getting to know one another, while at the same time, knowing you’re to be married within a week!”

  She turned on the seat and looked at him again. “Why Colin, I had no idea you were such a romantic.”

  “My wife thinks it's grand. As I recall, you're quite the romantic yourself.”

  Lena faced forward again and blushed. She knew Colin referred to when she used to perform as a child in the gardens, at the country house in Kent. “I'll admit, I have my moments.”

  “Then you'll take some advice?” he asked.

  She eyed him. “What advice is that?”

  “That you let Chase Adams see that side if you, the one you unabashedly showed the world as a child, but now keep hidden.”

  “Life is not a romance, cousin,” she said. “One must be realistic if one is to survive. Besides, I cannot allow myself to expect too much.”

  Colin brought the horses to a stop just as they reached the livery stable. Without saying a word he jumped down and came around the wagon to help her out. That done, he spun her around to face the livery stable, then bent down, and whispered in her ear. “Romance him, dear cousin. Romance him and show him the free-spirited girl I once knew as a child. The one who was in love with the world.”

  Lena turned to look up at him but Colin gently pushed her face-forward again. She squared her shoulders, her back stiff. “I don’t know if she still exists.”

  “You'll find her, if you look for her.”

  “But what if I don't?”

  “Then I'll tell Mr. Adams to find her for you,” he said, his voice gentle, and pushed her toward the livery stable.

  Eight

  Lena wanted to dig her heels into the ground, but also didn't want to stumble through the stable’s doors like an idiot, which she would if Colin decided to give her a good shove. She knew well he wouldn't hesitate if it served to get Chase’s attention. Which at the moment, she had in spades. He stood staring at her, his face drenched in sweat, the dampness of his shirt also evidence he'd been working hard. There was a fire in the forge near him and she could feel its heat from where she stood near the stable doors. “Am I interrupting?” she asked.

  He held a huge hammer in his hand, and quickly set it aside. “Not at all,” he said. “Come in.”

  She studied him. He wore a leather apron around his waist and brushed his hands on it as she approached. There was a bay horse tied near him, and he patted its neck as she reached him. “Is he yours?” she asked.

  “This big fella? No, this is the sheriff’s horse. He patted the horse again and looked her up and down. “What brings you to town?”

  “You do, actually. There seems to be some question as to when we are getting married.”

  He laughed and shook his head. “According to some folks, we already are.”

  “So I've heard. However, it has recently been suggested that we marry at the Triple C’s barn-raising. I've come to find out if that would be agreeable with you.”

  She'd stood several feet away, and he quickly closed the distance. He put his hands on her upper arms, and the action startled her. “Is that what you want?”

  He was closer than was proper, and Lena, much to her own dismay and shock, discovered it thrilled her to the core. She stared up at him as her breathing quickened. “I know I asked for two weeks, but if one week will do…”

  He pulled her close and stared down at her, his eyes roaming her face. “It'll do just fine,” he said, his voice low and husky. His hands tightened on her arms a notch, as he closed his eyes. He looked as if he was having some inner battle and she wondered if he was losing the war. He confirmed her suspicions by releasing her suddenly, and took a step back. He then turned to the sheriff's horse, his hands balled into fists. “The barn- raising it is then.”

  “Mr. Adams? Chase… Is everything all right?”

  “If it gets any better, Miss Lena, I'm going to have to kiss you.”

  A tiny gasp escaped her as her hand flew to her mouth. Her fingers touched her lips, and she wondered what his would feel like upon them. He turned back to her, his eyes riveted on her hand and mouth. Perhaps she would find out…

  He swallowed hard. “I don't know what it is, Miss Lena, but you get prettier every time I see ya. I'd say another week is all I can stand.”

  She looked him up and down, her hand still at her mouth. She quickly lowered it. “Then I'd best not make you wait any longer than that.”

  “I'd appreciate it,” he said. His look intensified and he took a step closer.

  Propriety told her to take a step back, but she didn't move. “Did you plan to call on me before then?”

  Her words must've hit him like a slap. He shook himself as if startled, and gawked at her. “Of course,” he said. “Do you think I’m plumb loco?”

  “Loco? What is this loco?”

  “You know, crazy?”

  “I hardly think calling on your betrothed is considered, as you say, crazy.”

  “Then why did you ask?”

  She stared at him. A cold lump formed in the pit of her stomach. He couldn't possibly be entertaining the idea of not seeing her until the wedding, could he? “It's nothing,” she said. “Of course you would want see me between now and then.” He just told her he would, didn't he? So why was she feeling apprehensive about it?

  “Maybe we could have supper at the hotel,” he suggested. “Mrs. Upton is a right fine cook, and I know she'd love the idea of being able to cook for somebody, even if it’s just the two of us.”

  “Of course she would,” Lena agreed. “Your hotel hasn't any guests.”

  “One day it will, Mr. Van Cleet says so.”

  “It's a fine establishment, to be sure.” She glanced around the stable for a moment before speaking again. “Do… you live here?”

  Chase followed her gaze as she stared at one of the horses in a stall. “No ma'am, I've got me a little place outside of town. The last full-time blacksmith they had lived here though. Slept on a cot right over there,” he said and pointed to a corner. “Berg was his name, big fella. He come from some little country over in Europe called Dalrovia. I don't suppose you've heard of it?”

  She looked at him, a smile on her face. “I have, actually. And y
ou are quite right; Dalrovia is small.” She cocked her head. “I say, but what in heaven's name would bring a Dalrovian all the way to America and then out West?”

  Chase chuckled. “Now that there, is what ya might call a tall-tale, Miss Lena. One that I ain’t fit to tell. But your cousins could.” He stared into the fire. “Would tomorrow evening be too soon to share a meal with me?”

  She gave him a tentative smile and blushed.

  “Chaperoned of course,” he quickly added.

  The cold in her belly began to dissipate. “I shall inquire of my cousin Imogene, if she is up to the task. She is, after all, our self-proclaimed protector.”

  “A woman protecting a woman,” he said with a shake of his head. “She must be a lot like Duncan's wife, Cozette. You know, the new duchess? I have to say, I admire that kind of spunk in a woman, but then it kind of scares me too.” He smiled, and she could tell by the shaking of his shoulders that he was trying not to laugh.

  “I assure you, Mr. Adams, that I am not adept at the handling of pistols, swords, or knives, not even in the kitchen.”

  His smile vanished. “Well now that's a shame,” he said in mock horror. “I guess it wouldn't be so bad except that I'm not any good in the kitchen either.”

  Now it was Lena's turn to laugh. Being a lady, however, she let out a small giggle instead. “We may be eating at the hotel more often than not.”

  “That would be true if’n I could afford it,” he told her as his face sobered.

  She looked at the ground near his feet. She had to remember this was not a rich suitor from London, but a simple blacksmith in a tiny western town. Yet, his status—or lack thereof-- didn't bother her like she thought it would. No, what did was that she didn't know how he felt about her yet. They would be married in a week. How was she to be sure he felt anything for her in such a short amount of time? Suddenly the severity of being a mail-order bride hit her full force. Yes, she wanted to be married, and to a man of good character. But in that moment, what she also realized was that she wanted to marry for love.

  She looked at him again, her smile gone. Could she marry a man without love?

  “Is something wrong, Miss Lena?” he asked.