Bonnie: The Secret Bride (The Brides of Paradise Ranch (Sweet Version) Book 8)

by Merry Farmer

  She shook her head, then slipped back into his arms. “We were both young and incredibly stupid. I ran away from home to marry you and burned all my bridges behind me. It was my own fault that my family wouldn’t help me.”

  “But I shouldn’t have landed you in the situation you landed in.”

  “Like I said, we were young and stupid. How can you expect people who are nineteen and twenty to make solid choices with their lives?”

  “I guess you can’t.” His arms tightened around her. “Good thing we’re solid, sensible people now.”

  He laughed, but she looked up at him and said, “We are, though. After all that mess so long ago, we ended up doing pretty well for ourselves.”

  “With a little help from friends,” he admitted.

  “And it’s a good thing we had them too.” She gave him an extra squeeze. “Otherwise, you wouldn’t be the fine, entrepreneurial builder that you are, the toast of Everland, and on the verge of signing a lucrative deal with Howard Haskell himself.”

  “And you wouldn’t be a clever, enterprising woman who helps the people everyone else kicks to the curb, even if it comes at a steep price.”

  “We’re just a pair of swells, aren’t we?” she laughed.

  “A pair of swells about to lose one business just as another is getting sta—”

  Rupert stopped, his eyes going wide.

  “What?” Bonnie jumped back, heart barely daring to beat. “You just thought of something, didn’t you?”

  Rupert blinked, looking off into space for a moment. “I can’t believe it. The solution has been staring us in the face this whole time.”

  Prickles broke out across her skin. “What’s been staring us in the face? What solution?”

  A moment later, Rupert drew in a breath and focused on her. “We’ve agreed that between the two of us, with your girls willing to take on some clients and my business, both in Haskell and Everland, we have the ability to get the money that you’ve needed to get from Rex up until this point, right?”

  “Yes, yes!” she answered all at once, practically jumping up and down, she was so eager to know what he was thinking.

  “And that the biggest hurdle is the fact that Rex holds the deed to the Place.”

  “Yes, go on.”

  Rupert shrugged, a grin that could almost be described as smug spreading across his face. “So let him have it.”

  Bonnie’s enthusiasm dropped like a rock in a pond. She sank back on her heels and huffed out an irritated breath. “I am not going to let Rex have the Place. He’d kick us all out before you could say boo.”

  “So?” Rupert’s grin twitched. “I’ll build you another Place.”

  Bonnie blinked. Her brow flew up. Then she frowned. She blinked a few more times, then said, “Where? How? You can’t just go building cathouses in any old place.”

  Rupert took a step closer to her, pulling her into his arms with a mischievous spark in his eyes. “First of all, I’m a builder. Yes, I can just build a new one. It’s what I do.”

  The excited tremor returned to her heart. She smiled up at him, grasping his hips, not quite willing to embrace him fully yet.

  “Second, Haskell is a young and growing town. There’s plenty of land around it. I do believe your good friend Howard Haskell owns quite a bit of it. Something tells me that if it meant the difference between you having to marry his arch enemy—and yes, I heard the full story of how those two have been rivals for years from Sam over at the saloon the other day—or thumbing his nose at Rex by selling us land a discreet distance out of town, maybe on the other side of the railroad tracks past the station, then I bet he’d do it.”

  Bonnie opened her mouth to reply, but the swell of emotion running through her closed up her throat. Move out of the Place and open a new Place? She’d never even considered the idea. She’d known she’d never have the money for that kind of an enterprise. Rupert might not have had that kind of money either, but if the whole point of his potential contract with Howard was to build houses and businesses for Haskell, the three of them might just be able to work out a larger deal. Not much had been built on the other side of the tracks so far, but now might be a good time to start. And it would separate her girls from the more upright citizens of Haskell—which was disappointing and self-defeating in one respect, but would make the crankier folks in town happy and protect her girls in the end.

  “You know, I think that just might work,” she said at last.

  “Of course it will work.” Rupert tugged her further into his arms. She circled her arms around his back, energy building where their bodies pressed together. A particular kind of heat filled her. “I’m beginning to believe anything could work if we came up with it together.”

  He leaned in to kiss her. For the first time in years, she gave herself fully to his kiss, without hidden agendas or secret fears. There was nothing but hope in the interplay of their lips, the surge of desire as they caressed each other. Giddy joy replaced her worry, as if she’d suddenly found herself on the edge of a magnificent canyon that stretched in beauty to the horizon after struggling through a dense jungle for so long.

  “Rex is going to be furious,” she managed to say as they shifted position to clasp each other tighter. She lowered her hands along his back to tug his shirt out of his trousers.

  “Frankly, I don’t care how Rex Bonneville feels. You’re my wife.” He captured her mouth with his as his hands moved to the buttons at the back of her dress.

  It seemed several beats too late and slightly pointless for Bonnie to say, “You know, there’s a bedroom in this house.”

  “You don’t say.” Rupert chuckled, a low, seductive sound that send tremors through Bonnie, igniting her core.

  Nothing else needed to be said or explained or apologized for. There were no more barriers between Bonnie and the man she’d never stopped loving, in spite of the pain and regret. If it made her every bit the trollop people assumed she was, then so be it. She loved her husband, and nothing was going to stop the two of them being together now.

  Chapter 15

  Like the fool that he was, as soon as his and Bonnie’s lovemaking was over, Rupert fell asleep. It was the kind of deep, much-needed sleep that took over a body when it’d endured too much for too long and finally came home. It didn’t matter if it was a cabin on someone else’s ranch, a hotel room, or out in the middle of a field, Haskell or Everland, if Bonnie was there, it was home.

  That reassurance filled him even more deeply when he woke up later to find Bonnie snoozing in his arms. They’d crawled under the covers to snuggle before falling asleep, and now she rested peacefully in his arms, her back to his chest. They fit together perfectly.

  Their lives could fit together perfectly too, with a little work. True, his business and his business partner were in Everland, but the train provided a direct link between the two towns. It wasn’t out of the question to split time between them. His idea to build a new Place on the other side of the tracks from Haskell’s town center was bound to work out, if only because Bonnie was friends with the right people. Rex Bonneville would give her a hard time, but how much could a man who had a ranch to run really do?

  Rupert’s own answer to that question wasn’t what he wanted to hear. He had a bad feeling Bonneville could still do plenty of things to undermine life for Bonnie, her girls, and the rest of Haskell. But if they stuck together, if they relied on their friends when Bonneville made his attack, they might just be able to get through the worst of it. Maybe there was even a way folks from Everland could help. Maybe they could…

  His thoughts scattered as Bonnie drew in a deep breath, then stretched herself away. The sinuous brush of her body against his was almost enough to ignite his blood all over again.

  “Good morning,” she hummed.

  “It’s not morning,” he laughed, wrapping his arms around her and turning her so that they lay pressed together. “It’s well into the afternoon.”

  “Coulda fooled me.�
� She wrapped one leg over his hip and threaded her fingers through his hair. “Everything feels so fresh and new to me.”

  “It most certainly does,” he agreed. He kissed her, long and lingering, their tongues dancing with each other. It truly felt as though the storm of their relationship had finally broken.

  Right up until the point where Bonnie gasped and tensed in his arms.

  “Afternoon?” She wrenched away from him and sat upright, holding the sheet to her chest. Her face flushed, and with her black hair tousled and loose around her shoulders, she looked every bit like a woman who had just spent the morning doing very bad things with a man. Although how bad could those things be when they were married?

  His smug thought was shoved aside as Bonnie leapt out of bed, scrambling to find her underthings and put them on. “What’s the matter?” he asked, climbing out of bed as well. All of his clothes were in the main room of the cabin. He crossed to the door and pulled it open, hoping no one was peeking in at the windows.

  “The wedding,” Bonnie fretted. She’d managed to put on her chemise and drawers, and snatched up her corset before rushing into the main room behind Rupert. “I’m supposed to be getting married in a couple of hours, maybe less, depending on how long we slept.”

  A shard of fear struck Rupert, and he straightened, pulling his drawers up as he did. “Don’t tell me you’re still going to marry Bonneville.”

  “No!” Bonnie’s eyes went wide. She pursed her lips and stepped close enough to smack his arm before focusing on her corset. “Of course not. But the rest of the town doesn’t know that. More importantly, Rex doesn’t know that.”

  Rupert winced. “You’re right. We should probably hurry back to set them straight.”

  “You’re telling me!”

  They scrambled to get dressed, and Bonnie raked her fingers through her hair to give it some sense of order. The final result was far from the sophistication she usually displayed, but a large part of Rupert liked her rough and rugged look even more. He couldn’t resist sauntering over to her and catching her in his arms.

  “You look as good as sugar candy,” he told her, then planted a kiss square on her lips.

  She laughed when he let her go. “You always were free with the ridiculous compliments.”

  “Silly goose, they’re not ridiculous when they’re true. Besides, a man should compliment his wife ridiculously whenever possible.”

  He kissed her again, but she pulled away before their kiss could deepen. A sudden, guilty flush painted her cheeks. “Rupert, there’s something I haven’t told you.”

  Another anxious hitch formed in his chest. He let her go. “What?”

  Bonnie bit her lip, wringing her hands. “We’re not married anymore.”

  He shook his head, confused. “We’re not?”

  “No.” She lowered her eyes. “I filed that divorce decree.”

  He crossed his arms. “But I didn’t sign it.”

  She licked her lips, then peeked up at him. “Pearl forged your signature.”

  Part of him wanted to be angry. The rest of him was entirely too content, after everything that had gone on in the cabin. He even managed to grin at the thought of Pearl signing his name to the document. “Well, it’s a good thing we’re on our way to a church that’s all set up for a wedding, isn’t it?”

  Her brow shot up. “Really? You’re…you’re not angry with me for deceiving you like that?”

  He reached for her, drawing her back into his arms. “Oh, I’m very angry. I’ll have to find all sorts of ways to show you what a naughty girl you are for doing that.”

  If she had any doubt left in her mind about whether he would fly off the handle the way he would have years ago, he silenced it with a kiss. His heart spoke through that kiss, telling her that they’d been through so much already, so many useless disagreements and so much stubbornness, that there wasn’t room left for any more.

  He could feel Bonnie’s temptation to forget everything and head back to bed. It was only with a huge sigh and a flirtatious smile that she finally pulled away. “We need to get ourselves over to the church as soon as possible, then.”

  She turned and started toward the door.

  “Yeah, there’s one problem with that,” he called after her.

  She reached the door and turned the handle, only to find it still locked. A very unladylike curse slipped out, followed by, “Now how the heck did they expect us to come to our senses and make everything right if they didn’t give us a way to get out of here?”

  He walked up behind her, trying the door himself, even though he knew it was locked. “They must have figured out some way that we’d be able to get out.”

  “Maybe a window that isn’t nailed down?” Bonnie suggested.

  “Or maybe they expect us to shimmy up the chimney?”

  They both giggled. It occurred to Rupert that he would be perfectly happy if they never left the cabin.

  “Maybe they left the key somewhere inside, but out of sight, so that we would only think to look after we sorted things out,” Bonnie suggested.

  “Seems as likely as anything.”

  They set about searching the cabin. Sure enough, after turning out all of the drawers in the kitchen, searching every shelf in the main room, and poking through the wardrobe in the bedroom, they found a single, unassuming key placed just so under the bed.

  Bonnie smirked as Rupert handed it to her. “Of course they would hide it under the bed. Either they expected us to end up in bed and then find it, or to find it, then end up in bed.”

  Rupert laughed. “You know them better than I do.”

  They crossed back through the cabin and unlocked the front door, only to find an empty wagon with the horse hitched and ready to go just outside.

  “It’s like they want us to get back to town as fast as possible,” he said, helping Bonnie up onto the seat, then climbing up behind her and taking the reins.

  “Makes you wonder what’s waiting for us in town,” she replied, one eyebrow arched.

  Rupert could only imagine. He drove the wagon away from the cluster of buildings making up the center of Paradise Ranch and back toward town. On his way out, George had driven, insisting that would get them out to Howard’s ranch—where he’d been told Howard needed desperately to see him before he returned to Everland. It wasn’t a complicated drive, and the road was well worn, but he was glad he had Bonnie to point out turns and keep him from accidentally riding off into the wilderness anyhow.

  Nothing seemed particularly out of the ordinary until they reached the edge of Haskell. A pair of black-haired children, a boy with spectacles and a girl, waited near a tree just beyond the last house. As soon as they spotted the wagon, they jumped into action, dashing ahead along the road and on toward the center of town—or rather past the central crossroads and on to the church.

  “Uh oh.”

  Rupert glanced sideways at Bonnie. “What? Who are they?”

  “Minnie Faraday and her little brother, Toby.”

  “Faraday?”

  “Lucy and Gideon’s kids. They know we’re coming.”

  “Uh oh.” Rupert gave the reins a snap to urge the horse on as the out of town road turned into Elizabeth Street and continued past the hotel.

  “Oh shoot.” Bonnie shielded her eyes against the setting sun as she glanced up at the large clock on the front of Haskell’s town hall as they passed. “It’s later than I thought. They’ll all be at the church by now.”

  “Well,” Rupert rolled his shoulders as he steered the wagon onto the final approach to the church. Several wagons were parked outside. “Looks like we’re about to make a big deal about our decisions, whether that was the plan or not.”

  He pulled the wagon to a stop alongside the others and jumped down, helping Bonnie with him. He figured the horse would be fine where it was for the time being, and took Bonnie’s hand, rushing up to the church door with her.

  Sure enough, as soon as they burst through to the sa
nctuary, every eye in the jam-packed pews turned to stare at them. George straightened from where he was standing to the side on the chancel, waiting.

  “There you are!” Pearl leapt toward them from the pew at the back of the church where she had evidently been waiting.

  “Oh!” Vivian Bonneville—waiting near the back in a pink bridesmaid’s dress that matched the ones her sisters were wearing—squealed and stomped her foot. “She didn’t fall in a ditch and break her neck after all.”

  Rupert took offense at her complaint, but he didn’t have time to do anything about it. Rex Bonneville stormed up the aisle from where he had been waiting with Rance at the front. He sent Rupert a look that could kill, but he wasn’t the man’s primary aim.

  “Where have you been?” he hissed at Bonnie.

  “Rex, we need to talk.” Bonnie held up her hands, either to hold him back or appease him.

  “I will not allow you to make a fool of me in front of the entire town.” His scowl and his voice darkened. “We’ll have our talk once we’re married, and it will be a long one.”

  Without waiting for a reply, he grabbed Bonnie’s wrist and yanked her forward up the aisle so hard that she stumbled.

  “Hey!” Rupert shouted, marching after them. “Let her go.”

  Rex stopped three quarters of the way up the aisle and pivoted to face him, his grip on Bonnie’s wrist still tight. “Who do you think you are?” he bellowed.

  “I’m the man who loves this woman more than you have ever loved anything in your life,” Rupert shot back. “And if you don’t let go of her right now, I’ll knock every one of your teeth out.”

  Whether it was the shock of his defiant reply or the prospect of being punched in the face, Bonneville dropped Bonnie’s hand. That didn’t stop him from puffing himself up to his full height and moving to stand toe-to-toe with Rupert.

  “I could crush you in ways far more refined than brute force,” he growled. “I could destroy you to the point where you’d beg for mercy.”

  Rupert held his ground, staring straight into Bonneville’s eyes. “I seriously doubt it.”