by Regina Scott
David’s brows shot up.
“It’s a marriage of convenience,” Brandon hurried to assure him. After all, marrying the woman David had originally intended to wed only a month after he’d decided against it had to look odd to the rancher. “She needs protection from these rumors, and I want to give the triplets a home.”
David glanced around at the room. “More than this one, it seems.”
Brandon felt his face coloring. “Well, we always hoped someone would adopt all three of them.”
“That’s true enough.” David’s look returned to him. “Is that the kind of marriage you want?”
“Certainly. It’s practical.”
David snorted as he bent to pick up his brush again. “There’s nothing practical about marriage. Two people decide to trust each other with their deepest secrets, their most closely held dreams, their lives. It’s all or nothing.”
Brandon shook his head. “Said the man who brought out a mail-order bride.”
“A mail-order bride you tried to talk me out of,” David reminded him, starting up the ladder. “I wasn’t ready to listen then. Now I can tell you the only reason to marry is because your life won’t be right without the woman you love in it.”
A high standard, one he’d once held himself. But he could see no other way to help Elizabeth and the triplets.
He and David worked in silence for a while, then Brandon excused himself to return to the parsonage. The quiet there mocked him. Still, he had work to do. He was a minister. He’d felt the tug of a new sermon series on the Great Commandment and had only a few notes written as yet to support it. Mr. Tyson had brought over the plans for the Harvest Festival, and he needed to review them and provide input.
But no matter what he did, thoughts of Elizabeth intruded. What a poor pastor he would prove to be if he didn’t get his feelings under control!
Of course, his brother noticed when he stopped by the parsonage that afternoon on his way to pick up some supplies from the lumberyard.
“What is it this time?” Bo asked as they walked down the corridor to Brandon’s study. “Is the feud worsening between the Hills and the Colemans? The orphanage not coming along as fast as you wanted? I know that furrowed brow means trouble.”
Brandon forced his face to relax as he took a seat behind his desk. Bo knew the place well enough to sit on the more comfortable chair across from him. Brandon reserved the hardest chairs for those who needed to think about their actions or who might wear out their welcome. Now sunlight slanted through the window, highlighting his brother’s hair with gold. In his rough work shirt and Levi’s, he looked comfortable, capable. Brandon felt a stab of envy.
He shoved it back. Bo had borne the worst of their father’s taunts. He deserved to be happy, fulfilled.
“The Hills and the Colemans appear to be making peace,” Brandon told him, leaning back in his chair. “I suspect Annie’s ultimatum upset everyone. And David hopes to have the children’s home ready before the Harvest Festival.”
“That reminds me.” Bo dug in his pocket and pulled out three rosy red apples to set on Brandon’s desk. “These were on the front stoop.”
Brandon shook his head. “You know those aren’t for me. They’re...”
“For the triplets,” Bo finished. “I thought so too. It seems our Good Samaritan is still watching over them. Too bad we’ve never been able to catch the culprit in the act.”
“And thank the person,” Brandon agreed. “Did you notice anyone about as you came in just now?”
Bo shrugged. “This area of town is always busy, with the school, church, doctor’s office and boardinghouse so close. There must have been a dozen people around—the Tysons, Mrs. Johnson and her brood, Louisa’s sister and brother-in-law among them.”
“Any of them could be our Good Samaritan,” Brandon mused.
“With the exception of Amy and Lawrence. Louisa’s sister and brother-in-law came to town after the first good deeds showed up.” Bo leaned back in his chair as well. “So, what’s bothering you?”
Brandon shifted on the chair, reached out to rearrange the papers on his desk. His brother’s look told him Bo knew he was delaying. He never could hide much from his brother. Might as well get on with it.
“I asked Elizabeth to marry me,” he said.
Bo let out a whistle as he straightened. “Such a sacrifice, marrying a pretty gal who once adored you. I can see why you’d have second thoughts.”
Brandon shook his head. “She never adored me. And I don’t have second thoughts. It was the right thing to do. Louisa told me you’d heard the rumors.”
Bo’s face darkened. “You know I don’t stand for people putting other people down.”
Neither of them did. They’d lived through enough of it to know the pain it could cause. “Elizabeth needs someone to protect her. Marrying me would give her standing in the community.”
“Highly regarded minister that you are,” Bo teased. “I guess congratulations are in order.”
“Not yet. She refused to answer me.”
Bo frowned. “She said no?”
“Not exactly,” Brandon admitted. “She said she would consider the matter.”
A smile tilted his brother’s mouth. “And you’re stewing because she didn’t jump at the offer.”
Put that way, it was a small wonder Elizabeth seemed to find him arrogant. Brandon made himself shrug. “Well, I had hoped for a warmer reception.”
His brother laughed. “Just be glad I’m already married. You wouldn’t want competition. After all, I am the better-looking one.”
He regarded his identical twin. “Taller too.”
“Don’t forget more charming.”
“And witty.”
Bo grinned. “That’s right. Given all that, it’s a wonder she didn’t laugh in your face.”
Brandon sobered. “She did once.”
Bo cocked his head. “So are you finally ready to tell me the details of what happened in Cambridge?”
Brandon studied his papers. “I courted her. I thought I was in love. I thought she loved me. But her family fell on hard times, and we fell apart. Now she says our love was never meant to be.” He could not tell his brother how those words haunted him.
“And yet you asked her to marry you.”
Brandon met his brother’s gaze. “Because she needed my help.”
Bo leaned forward. “That’s how you counter Father’s influence. You help people. There’s no shame in that.”
“Tell that to Elizabeth.”
Bo rose and moved closer to the desk. “Maybe I will, if it comes to that. But I have a feeling she’s going to say yes. Not many in her position would refuse a pastor.”
Brandon grimaced as he rose as well. “I hope she doesn’t agree because I’m the pastor here. As it is, I’m going to have to shield her from the town’s expectations. I saw how the dean’s wife had to turn herself inside out to meet all the demands on her time. I won’t force that on Elizabeth.”
“Not like Father forced things on Mother,” Bo murmured.
Brandon nodded. “Remember how she tiptoed around, trying to make sure everything was exactly the way she thought he would want it?”
“Trying to make sure nothing set him off,” Bo agreed. “But it didn’t matter. She couldn’t please him. No one could. Sometimes I wonder if he didn’t want to be pleased. He was just looking for an excuse to despise us.” His gaze went off across the room as if he was seeing their old home in Cambridge. “I used to fear I’d end up like that, but Louisa proved me wrong.”
Brandon laid a hand on his brother’s shoulder. “You’re nothing like Father, Bo.”
“So you told me,” Bo said, gaze returning to his. “If I recall, your exact words were ‘God is sufficient for our past.’ If that
’s true for me, why not you and Elizabeth?”
Why not indeed? He’d certainly counseled people to trust God to forgive their circumstances. But in his case, he hadn’t really done anything that required forgiveness. So why did he feel guilty?
“I just hope she agrees to my proposal, despite our past,” he told his brother.
“I have a feeling she will,” Bo said. “There’s a strength in her. You can see it when she’s caring for the triplets.”
He’d sensed it as well. Back in Boston, she’d seemed more fragile, like a dainty figurine meant to be admired. She’d been more afraid to try new things then too. Was that old fear the reason she needed time to consider his proposal?
“It can’t be easy coming to Little Horn,” Brandon allowed, “living in a boardinghouse, trying to find the next position in a place where she knows no one.”
“Yet she’s managing,” Bo pointed out. “She’s good with the babies. Louisa even says so.”
Praise indeed from the woman who had first taken the babies in.
Brandon leaned a hip on the desk. “I was hoping Elizabeth and I could petition the Lone Star Cowboy League to adopt the boys.”
Bo shook his head, but Brandon could tell it was more in admiration than denial. “So you’ll not only be getting a wife but a family. Those are big changes, brother. Are you sure it’s what you want?”
David had asked him the same question. He hadn’t been sure how to answer then. Now an image swam up of him, Elizabeth and the triplets around the kitchen table, laughing together. Warmth wrapped around his heart.
“It’s what I want,” he told Bo. “Now I just have to hope it’s what Elizabeth wants as well.”
Chapter Thirteen
Elizabeth spent the next two days mulling over Brandon’s proposal. Her whole life, it seemed to her, depended on her answer. She asked advice from Louisa, Caroline and Fannie Tyson, all of whom told her how much they admired Brandon, what a good man she would be marrying.
She had come to the conclusion they were right. Brandon was a fine minister and a caring man capable of providing for her and the triplets. But she still could not convince herself that marrying him was the right path.
She confessed her background with Brandon to Caroline one afternoon when she came to call on Elizabeth and the triplets. Annie was out helping Louisa at the doctor’s office, so Elizabeth and Caroline sat across from each other on the floor while the babies crawled or scooted from one to the other. Caroline was at last out of her sling, though she was still careful with her arm as she helped with the babies.
“So you were in love,” she said, holding up Theo’s hands to help him stand. “If it grew once, it could grow again.”
Elizabeth drew in a breath. “That’s the problem. What if the feelings we had for each other have faded? What if I’m dooming Brandon and me to a loveless marriage? Won’t we grow to hate each other in time?”
Caroline smiled as Theo dropped back down on his behind and Eli took his place. “I think it’s more likely you’ll at least wind up friends. Especially if you’re helping each other raise these three.”
There was that. Brandon sincerely cared for the boys. But would raising the babies provide enough of a bond to make a good marriage?
Having wiggled his way between her and Caroline, Jasper pushed up from the floor and stood teetering. His gaze on Elizabeth, he took a halting step forward. She didn’t dare say a word to break his focus, but pride soared inside her. Across from her Caroline pressed her fingers to her mouth. Oblivious to the reason for her awe, Eli copied her. Even Theo stopped his scooting to watch.
Jasper’s face flushed with triumph as he took a second step. Elizabeth opened her arms, encouraging him. But his next step caught the edge of the braided rug, and down he went. His howl of protest set his brothers to crying as well.
Elizabeth scooped him up even as Caroline set about comforting Eli and Theo.
“There now, young man,” Elizabeth told him, peering into his red face. “What a brave explorer you are! You watch, next time you’ll be halfway across the room.”
He sucked in a breath as if trying to regain his composure, but his trembling lower lip told Elizabeth he wasn’t any too sure of the matter at the moment. As she sat on a chair with him on her lap, he looked around as if wondering what part of the room would rise up against him next.
“You’ll be fine,” Elizabeth assured him, rubbing her cheek against his hair. “Very soon, there won’t be anything you can’t do.”
He turned in her arms, brown eyes gazing up so trustingly. “Mama.”
Caroline gasped.
Elizabeth felt as if her bones had melted as she cuddled the little boy closer. “Oh, Jasper, I so want to be your mama. I want to stay with you and love you forever.”
“There’s your answer, then,” Caroline murmured, and Elizabeth could see tears swimming in her eyes. “Marrying Brandon will allow you to stay with the boys, if that’s what you really want, Elizabeth.”
The need was fierce and strong, and it felt right and just. And she knew what answer she would give Brandon. When Annie returned from the doctor’s office, Elizabeth sent the girl to invite him over that evening.
In the meantime, she tidied the room and swept the floor, to the chagrin of the triplets, who kept trying to catch the broom as she passed. Then she cleaned them up, smoothing down their dark hair and wiping off their soft chins. She was tucking a stray lock of hair back into the bun at the top of her head when she caught the boys watching her in the mirror. Jasper was frowning, Eli looked pensive and Theo was sucking his thumb. She had to remember they sensed her moods.
She turned to them with a smile. “I’m just a little nervous. Silly, eh?”
Their babbled response was surprisingly encouraging.
A short while later, Annie ushered Brandon into the room. He was dressed in his minister’s coat and trousers, his shirt crisp, his boots polished. Elizabeth’s brown skirts, spotted with applesauce from the boys’ earlier feeding, felt wilted and worn. He didn’t seem to notice as he squatted beside the babies on the rug.
“And how are my boys today?” he asked. Theo crawled up to him, and Brandon lifted him in his arms as he stood. The look on the little boy’s face was almost as adoring as the one on Brandon’s.
“They’re doing fine,” Annie told him when Elizabeth didn’t speak. “Jasper took a step today, and Eli has a new tooth.”
Brandon shook his head in evident awe. “They change every day.”
“Every hour some days,” Elizabeth countered. “And I don’t want to miss a minute of it. So the answer to your proposal is yes, Brandon. I will marry you and be the boys’ mother.”
His smile was slow and soft, and something inside her rushed to meet it.
“Thank you, Elizabeth,” he murmured. Careful of Theo in his arms, he bent his head toward hers.
He was going to kiss her. The same excitement she’d felt in Boston bubbled up inside her, and she closed her eyes in expectation. His lips brushed her cheek before retreating, yet she trembled. She opened her eyes to find him regarding her wide-eyed, as if the touch had awoken something inside him as well.
He took a step back from her. “I’ll need to write to the pastor in Burnet,” he said, all business. “See when he can come perform the ceremony. Do you have a preference?”
“As soon as possible,” Elizabeth told him. Before she lost her nerve.
“I’ll let you know when the day is set.” He handed Theo to Annie. The baby pouted.
Jasper crawled up to Elizabeth and fisted his hands in her skirts to pull himself up. She bent and lifted him, hiding her blushing face behind his head.
“Ladies,” she heard Brandon say, then Annie’s “Good day to you, Pastor,” as she saw him to the door.
Elizabeth knew
that should have been her role, but she couldn’t get her feet to move. She was getting married.
To Brandon.
“Oh, sweetheart,” she whispered to Jasper, “I hope I made the right choice.”
Jasper beamed at her. “Mama.”
Elizabeth sighed. Maybe someday she would tire of hearing that word, but right now it sounded so sweet coming from the little boy.
Annie was beaming as well as she hurried back to her side. “Oh, Elizabeth, I’m so happy for you! Pastor Stillwater is a fine fellow, and you’ll be a good pastor’s wife.”
A pastor’s wife. Mrs. Arundel’s list came to mind. Was that what Little Horn expected of the wife of its pastor, that she spout Bible verses at the least provocation? She’d considered how she felt and how Brandon might feel about their marriage. She hadn’t thought about what it meant to marry a pastor. Elizabeth had known more pastoral students than pastors’ wives!
“Why do you say that?” she asked Annie as the two settled down to play with the babies.
Annie blinked big blue eyes. “Why, you’re smart! And you know how to talk to people. Plus you’re sweet as can be.”
She wasn’t sure how she’d given the girl that impression. She thought she’d been more vinegar than honey since coming to Little Horn.
She pondered the idea that evening as she wrote to the family in San Francisco and declined their offer of employment, then discussed the upcoming wedding with Annie. Elizabeth’s aunt had been involved in a number of such preparations for community members, but Little Horn wasn’t Boston, and Elizabeth and Brandon weren’t marrying for love. It would probably be best to have a quiet, private affair.
The ladies of Little Horn thought otherwise.
They descended upon her the day after she’d agreed to Brandon’s proposal. As Annie and the babies stayed on the bed, six women crowded the room in the boardinghouse and clustered around Elizabeth with determined looks. She wasn’t sure why Mrs. Hickey was among their number, but the gossipy pianist seemed content merely to glower. Still, Elizabeth knew that not even handing around the babies would save her from their attentions this time.