The Rancher’s Bride Arrangement (Brides 0f Inspiration Book 1)

by Maya Stirling

  “So what he told me is true,” Johanna said. “This whole thing is about saving a part of the ranch.”

  Zane nodded and gazed at Johanna with a steady expression. There was nothing for it, but to admit the truth. “That’s right.”

  Johanna groaned. It was a sound that seemed to come from somewhere deep inside her. She rolled her eyes and then gazed up at the roof of the stable.

  “At least that was how it started out,” Zane said quickly. “But that was decided before I met you, Johanna. Before you even got here.”

  “And here I was thinking it was about how much you thought of me,” she said slowly. “How much you liked me.”

  “It is about that,” Zane pleaded. “Now.”

  Johanna stared at him. “Tell me the truth, Zane. No more holding things back. Please.”

  “I was planning on telling you.”

  “When? After the wedding?”

  Once again, he paused. That word sounded so sweet on her lips.

  Zane frowned. “No. Yesterday.”

  For a moment she seemed surprised at that. She peered at him, almost like she was trying to size him up. “Yesterday?”

  Zane nodded. “I was going to explain it all to you. Give you a chance to make up your mind.” Zane sighed. “But it didn’t come out the way I intended.” He shook his head. “Maybe if Sophie hadn’t come back when she did, I’d have explained things better.”

  Johanna gazed down at the straw-covered floor. She looked lost in thought for a few moments. Then she looked at him. “So what is it?” she asked.

  Zane told her all about how Calhoun stood to take control of parts of the ranch unless those sections were occupied under very strict conditions laid down in the small print of the updated land grant.

  “They can change things like that?” she asked.

  “The government?” Zane asked. “They can do whatever they like. If they want to change the rules, they’re the only ones who can.”

  “That doesn’t sound fair,” Johanna said.

  “It is what it is,” Zane said. “And we have to accept it. Deal with it in the only way we can.”

  “By marrying?” she offered.

  Zane nodded. “That’s the only way we can guarantee Calhoun will never get his hands on each of those parts of the spread.”

  “All four of you?” she asked.

  Zane nodded.

  “How are you going to find all those brides,”Johanna asked.

  “That’s where Sophie Cameron comes in. She’s promised to try and bring brides out here from back east. Although, Reese thinks that might not be necessary.”

  “How come?”

  “He’s already smitten by someone. It was a while ago,” Zane explained. “But Calhoun’s been angling for trouble ever since he found out about the recent changes the government made to the leaseholds. He’s been grumbling about doing something about it.”

  Johanna frowned and then started to pace back and forth. “That explains what Nathan heard.”

  Zane narrowed his eyes. “What?”

  “Nathan was talking to Sophie last night,” Johanna explained. “He said he was thinking of bringing Calhoun into the jailhouse. To ask him some questions. It seems Nathan heard someone talking in the saloon when he was breaking up a fight.”

  “Talking about what?” Zane asked.

  Johanna frowned. “Calhoun seems bent on doing whatever he can to stop any weddings taking place. He’s got plans.”

  “Nathan said that?” Zane asked.

  Johanna nodded. “Apparently. And today was his first move. Trying to scare me off.”

  Zane’s heart felt suddenly heavy. “What did he do?”

  Johanna told him about the encounter in the general store. As he listened, Zane’s jaw tightened and indignation grew inside him.

  When she’d finished telling him, Zane moved closer, but Johanna glared at him. She was clearly still not in a forgiving mood. “You should have told me, Zane.”

  “I tried,” he replied.

  Johanna folded her arms and gazed at him. “Not hard enough. You could have saved me a whole lot of trouble today.”

  Zane drew in a deep breath. “Calhoun has gone too far. He’s going to regret threatening you like that.”

  “What are you planning on doing?”

  Zane gritted his teeth and paced a few moments. “I’ll think of something,” he said grimly.

  Johanna took his arm. Zane glanced down at her hand. “Please don’t do anything dangerous, Zane,” she pleaded.

  Zane liked the feeling of the way she’d touched him. The gentle way she’d rested her hand on his arm.

  He gazed into her eyes and smiled warmly. “You know I’d do anything for you, Johanna.”

  Her face flushed pink and she lowered her eyes. Zane told himself her lashes were dark and pretty. As pretty as the color on her cheeks.

  Zane curled his hand across hers, holding it gently. “Johanna. I tried to come out with the right words yesterday. But I couldn’t. But now that you’re here, maybe I can try again.”

  She lifted her gaze and looked at him. He felt something shift inside him, a feeling that he’d never experienced before. A tender sense of wanting to do the best, needing to say the right words to this beautiful woman.

  “I’m still not happy that you didn’t tell me what’s going on,” she said. “You know that, don’t you.”

  If this was how she looked when she was unhappy with him he could live with it for a long time, Zane told himself. For a brief moment he felt encouraged.

  Zane shifted closer and she gazed softly at him. Now that she knew, it seemed like all of the disappointment had faded. At least for the moment.

  “Johanna,” Zane said. He lifted his hand and gently stroked the side of her head, feeling her soft hair against the back of his fingers. It sure felt delicate, he told himself.

  As he did that, she kept her gaze on him, watching him carefully. His gazed drifted down to her lips, which were soft looking and so very tempting.

  Zane leaned his head forward slightly. His intention must have become suddenly clear to her, because he saw her eyes widen. Her body stiffened and she took a sudden step back. Zane dropped his hand down by his side and narrowed his eyes. “Sorry, Johanna,” he murmured. “That wasn’t right.”

  Her brows furrowed and she was thoughtful for a moment. She paced a few moments and then peered at Zane. “This isn’t as easy as you think, Zane.”

  “What do you mean?”

  She folded her arms again, suddenly on the defensive again. He wondered what thoughts could be racing through her mind. Had he made another mistake in trying to kiss her? It had just seemed natural, he reflected. Inevitable, after all they’d shared.

  “I need to think about this,” she said sharply.

  “About the wedding?”

  Her eyes widened. “What wedding?” she snapped.

  Zane looked from side to side a few times, shook his head and tried, once again, to figure out where he’d gone wrong.

  “I assumed,” he started to say but she cut him off.

  “You assumed too much, I think,” she said abruptly. “Especially about the subject of marriage.”

  “What do you mean?”

  She took a step closer to him. There was that look in her eyes again, he told himself. The one she’d had when she’d jumped off the buckboard seat. “How can I trust a man who holds back so much from me? So much truth.”

  He squinted at Johanna. “You didn’t exactly come clean about your early years on the farm. Doesn’t that make us equal?”

  Johanna shook her head. “No, it doesn’t. I’m being asked to consider living on the ranch. Permanently. That’s a huge decision for me.” Emotion filled her eyes. “We’re talking about my future, Zane. I need to be sure.”

  “Sure about what, Johanna?” Zane said moving closer.

  Johanna’s glaring eyes stopped him in his tracks. She sighed. “You just don’t understand, do you?”
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br />   Zane breathed out heavily. “I’m trying to, Johanna,” he said. “But, you’re not making it easy.”

  Her eyes widened. “I’m not making it easy for you? Who do you think I am?” she asked, her voice rising. “And, for that matter, who do you think you are saying that to me?”

  Zane peered intently at Johanna. “I’m the man who hopes to become your husband,” he said in a steady, firm and soft voice filled with absolute certainty.

  Johanna’s mouth opened in shock upon hearing his words.

  There. He’d said it at last, Zane told himself. He’d uttered the words he’d tried to say yesterday, down at Nathan and Sophie’s house.

  Johanna looked stunned. He saw her eyes moisten. But then her expression changed. Dark confusion flickered into life in her eyes. Her brows furrowed as she peered, incredulously at Zane.

  Then, suddenly, she shook her head and gasped. “No, Zane,” she cried and then turned and ran out of the stable.

  Zane felt the blood drain from his face. He stumbled out of the stable and watched Johanna race across the yard. He went after her, but she was already up on the buckboard as he reached her.

  “Johanna, wait a while,” he pleaded. “We can talk all of this over.”

  Johanna shook her head. “No, Zane.”

  Zane placed a hand on the edge of the buckboard seat. But, Johanna tugged on the reins, turning the horse and in a few moments the buckboard was racing out of the yard leaving behind it a trail of dust.

  CHAPTER TWENTY

  Johanna drew the buckboard to a halt outside the Cameron House. She got down and rushed into the house. Sophie was in the kitchen. Emerging from the kitchen, wiping her hands on her apron, Sophie called out to Johanna.

  “I was wondering when you’d get back,” Sophie said. “Did you see him?”

  Johanna halted, one foot on the bottom step of the staircase and one hand clutching the edge of the bannister. “Zane? Yes,” Johanna said.

  Sophie smiled. “How is he?”

  “He’s fine,” Johanna said in an even voice. Johanna paused thoughtfully at the foot of the stairs.

  Sophie frowned. “Is something wrong, Johanna?”

  “Nothing,” she replied.

  Sophie advanced toward Johanna. “It’s just that you haven’t been the same since we went to the general store. Did anything happen while we were there?”

  Johanna sighed and tried to smile, but it just wouldn’t come. “No. I told you when we were in the store.”

  Sophie’s eyes narrowed, examining Johanna carefully. “I think you’ve got something you want to tell me, haven’t you?”

  Johanna’s shoulders dropped. She took her foot off the bottom step and turned to face Sophie. “There was a reason I had to see Zane.”

  Sophie’s brows lifted. “Really?”

  Johanna nodded. “I had to know the truth. About the weddings.”

  “Weddings? How many are you talking about?”

  Johanna titled her head. “Four.”

  Johanna saw Sophie’s mouth open. “You’re talking about all the Buchanans?”

  “I sure am. Starting with Zane and me,” Johanna said and nodded. “At least that was the plan, wasn’t it?”

  Sophie’s eyes widened. “Was!” she exclaimed. “You’re not telling me you’ve changed your mind about Zane.”

  “I didn’t know I had even made up my mind about him in the first place,” Johanna replied.

  Sophie slipped off her apron and tossed it in the hall table. “Johanna,” she cried. “You can’t throw someone like Zane over.”

  “I can and I probably will,” Johanna responded. She frowned. “At least that’s the way I feel about it now. After what he told me.”

  “What did he say?”

  “That Brett Calhoun is trying to get his hands on parts of the Buchanan ranch. And that if all the Buchanan brothers don’t get married as soon as possible, they’ll have to give up huge chunks of Buchanan land. Probably to Calhoun.”

  Sophie gasped, raising a hand to the collar of her gown. “That’s not why Zane wants to get married,” she pleaded.

  “Isn’t it?” Johanna replied sharply.

  Sophie shook her head. “I know Zane feels a great deal of affection for you. He told me himself.”

  In spite of herself and the indignation she still felt, Johanna gasped. “He said that?”

  Sophie nodded. “He’s beginning to be quite taken by you. More than that, really.”

  Johanna thought about the way Zane had looked at her earlier, up at the ranch. The way he’d almost kissed her. Why had she raced away from him like that? She didn’t know the answer. All she did know was that fear had gripped her as he’d gazed deeply into her eyes. Maybe Sophie was telling the truth. Perhaps Zane had developed feelings for Johanna.

  Johanna shook her head. “That isn’t the issue. Why did it take Calhoun telling me all of that when I was in the general store?”

  “He spoke to you there?” Sophie asked.

  Johanna nodded. “While I was in the back when you were talking to the owner of the store.”

  “I knew it!” Sophie exclaimed. “I could tell something had been going on when I saw the expression on your face. How much did he tell you?”

  “Enough,” Johanna replied.

  “Did he threaten you, Johanna?”

  Johanna shook her head. “No. But he was quite unpleasant about it all. Made me think that marrying Zane might not be something he’d be happy about.”

  “It’s none of his business,” Sophie ejaculated.

  “It is if he wants his hands on Buchanan land,” Johanna responded. “And it looks like he means to do something to the Buchanans.”

  “Like what?”

  Johanna shook her head. “I don’t know, but Calhoun looks like a man who is dead set on getting what he wants.”

  “What does he think he can do?” Sophie asked.

  “Maybe anything to stop the weddings?” Johanna suggested.

  “He can’t do anything about that. People can’t be stopped from getting married,” Sophie said.

  Johanna thought about herself and Zane. Would it be possible that they could get married? Especially after all of this.

  “That family doesn’t deserve any of this,” Sophie said. “They’re good people.”

  Johanna leaned against the staircase bannister. “I know,” she said. “They’re a fine family. Maybe the finest I’ve ever met.”

  Sophie’s eyes widened hopefully. “Then you’d still consider marrying Zane?”

  Johanna frowned. “I didn’t say that,” she snapped. “It seems like everyone here was determined to hide the truth from me. That makes me feel like I’ve been taken for a fool.”