“Three days.”
Ellen folded her arms across her chest. “That’s unreasonable. Two weeks?” She wasn’t going to go lower than a week. Anything less than that was absolutely ridiculous.
“One week,” Wesley suggested. “That gives us all time to get to know one another a little better and to decide whom we want to marry, but it doesn’t make us feel like you’re trying to put off the marriage forever.” Ellen really looked at Wesley for the first time then. He wasn’t dressed quite as properly as Patrick was, and seemed to have a much more laidback nature than his brother. He was handsome, but she didn’t find him nearly as attractive as Patrick.
Ellen leaned over toward Malinda. “Are you okay with one week?” She felt the length of time was reasonable, but she couldn’t agree to anything without her sister’s consent.
Malinda nodded. “I don’t think we’re going to be able to talk them into anything more than that.”
Ellen nodded slowly. “One week.”
Patrick sighed. “A week it is. Not a day more.” He stood up and pulled Ellen to her feet and out a side door that led into a pretty little garden. The garden seemed to go all the way around the corner of the house to the back, and she couldn’t help but wonder what else was back there.
“Why did you bring me out here?” She looked up at him and then, for the first time realized he was much taller than she was. What was she getting herself into?
“We made a bargain. If you were a man, we’d shake hands on it. You’re a lady, so we’ll kiss on it.” His warm brown eyes were suddenly burning as they stared into her own.
She stared up at him with wide eyes. “Kiss on it?” She’d never before kissed a man.
He pulled her toward him by the hand he gripped leaning down to brush a kiss across her lips. He’d meant to keep it light, but as soon as their lips touched, he felt a spark go through his body.
She wrapped her arms around his neck, and let his tongue part her lips. She’d never imagined she could feel something like this by kissing a man. His hands roamed down her back over her green dress and pulled her closer against him. Her breasts were flattened against his hard chest. He shouldn’t be holding me so close!
She tore her lips from his and stared up at him, her chest heaving. “It’s not proper for you to kiss me that way. We’re not married.” She didn’t really know if there was a proper way for a man to kiss a woman before they were married, but his kiss felt improper.
“We will be,” he whispered, brushing a soft sweet kiss across her lips. “I want to marry you.”
She nodded. “I want to marry you as well, but you’re engaged to my sister and I’m engaged to your brother. We need to wait and see how they feel about it.” If they had been the only people involved, she’d have happily gone before a preacher that very moment, but she couldn’t risk other people’s happiness as well.
He took her hand and led her back into the house. By the blush on Malinda’s face, and the slight swelling of her lips, as well as the fact Wesley now sat beside her on the couch, she could tell that he’d kissed her as well. She only hoped she’d find a way to convince her sister she belonged with Wesley. Whatever she thought, there was no way Malinda should marry Patrick.
Patrick sat in an overstuffed chair across from the sofa and Malinda sat in the chair Wesley had vacated. “Okay, one week. We have dinner together every evening?” Patrick asked.
Ellen nodded. “We need to spend as much time together as we can.” She couldn’t take her eyes off of him during the discussion. What would it be like to be married to him? Worse, what would it be like to be married to his brother and know he was married to her sister? She had to convince Malinda to swap fiancés.
“Wesley lives a fifteen minute walk from here. You girls stay here and we’ll stay there. Every evening at six, we’ll come over here and have dinner, and talk. Tomorrow night, I’ll spend time with Ellen and Wesley will spend time with Malinda. The following night, I’ll spend time with Malinda and Wesley with Ellen. Every night we’ll swap, but on the seventh night, you need to be prepared to tell us who will marry whom as soon as we arrive.” Patrick spoke softly in a reasonable tone as if he’d planned for this all along.
Ellen looked across the small coffee table to her sister. “What do you think?”
Malinda nodded. “That’s fair.”
Ellen noticed her sister couldn’t seem to take her eyes off Wesley. To her, Wesley seemed to be too young to marry. She wondered how old Patrick was. Wesley was six years her senior. She looked at Patrick. “How old are you?”
“Twenty-nine.”
Ellen nodded. It had been in his letter, but she had passed it on quickly after realizing he was a banker. “I’m twenty.”
The four of them sat talking for a few minutes before Mrs. Smith came into the room. “Dinner’s ready.”
Patrick stood and waited for Ellen to precede him from the room. When they got into the dining room, Ellen was in awe. It was a large room with a huge oak table and chairs. The table was set with beautiful china. “Wow. Do you eat like this every night?”
He laughed. “Only when I have to give dinner parties, which is thankfully, not too often. I hate them.”
“I would, too. I’m not the most social person in the world.” She fumbled to sit down when he held her chair for her. She knew it was considered polite for a man to hold a woman’s chair out, but she’d never had a man actually do it for her. Being a part of his life would have her experiencing a lot of things she’d never thought about before.
She watched as Wesley held out Malinda’s chair and her sister sat down with perfect grace as if she’d not only had her chair held all her life, but she’d expected him to treat her that way. Ellen felt a pang. Malinda had the manners and the temperament to be married to a man of Patrick’s status, but she didn’t. She should marry Wesley and be the dutiful sheriff’s wife, a job she knew she could master quickly.
Their meal was a chicken and vegetable soup, followed by chicken pot pie and a chocolate cake for dessert. Patrick watched Ellen throughout the meal, obviously hoping he’d impressed her with his wealth. She wished she could find a way to tell him she didn’t care one smidgeon about his wealth. It was him she was interested in.
As they had since they were picked up at the train depot in Denver, Patrick spoke to only Ellen and Wesley kept his conversation to Malinda. Neither man was rude to the sister he didn’t favor, but it was very obvious they were each as taken with one of the women as the women were with them.
Once the meal was over, Patrick asked Ellen to go for a walk with him. She wasn’t sure if that was a good idea after the kiss they’d shared in the garden, and in whispered words, she told him so. He laughed. “We’ll be in public. There’s no danger.”
Wesley and Malinda opted to stay in the house, while Patrick and Ellen went for their walk. Ellen was pleased he’d asked her to go. After ten days on a train, she needed to exercise her legs. She couldn’t imagine why Malinda was content to sit still. She’d been on the train just as long as Ellen had.
Once they were outside, Ellen was thrilled she’d decided to go. It was chilly. “I wish I’d thought to bring a shawl. It’s actually cold!”
He laughed. “You’ll find the temperature here a lot different than it is in Massachusetts. I think you’ll be happy here.” His hand reached out and squeezed hers. “I hope you’ll be happy here.”
She nodded shyly. “I think so too.” She turned her head and met his eyes. “When I read your letter, I immediately handed it to Malinda, because I had no desire to be a banker’s wife. Now that I’ve met you, I wish I hadn’t done that.”
He wrapped his arm around her shoulders to warm her. “I wish you hadn’t too. I’d rather marry you tomorrow than a week from now, but I obviously have no choice in the matter.” He sounded slightly sad as he said the words, but was obviously not angry with either her or her sister.
She sighed. “I just hope I can convince Malinda to follow her hea
rt.”
“Are you really worried she’d choose me over Wesley?” Why would any woman choose a man she obviously had no affection for over a man she had feelings for? What would make her do that?
“In some ways. We reacted very differently to the banker coming to remove us from the only home we’d ever known. It made me hate and resent all bankers, but made her vow to never be poor again. She thinks if she marries you, she won’t have any more financial worries, and nothing like that could ever happen to her again. I can understand that, but I don’t want to give up my chance at happiness just because she’s afraid of being poor. I don’t think there’s any way I could be happy with Wesley. I’m just not attracted to him.” She left unspoken how strong her attraction was to Patrick. How could she put that into words?
“And you are to me?”
She blushed, happy it was dark and he wouldn’t be able to see it. “I know I shouldn’t admit it, but yes, I am. As soon as I saw you, I knew I wanted to be your wife. I was very disappointed to find out you weren’t Wesley.”
“If Malinda wasn’t involved, and I asked you to go through with marrying tomorrow, but to marry me, would you do it?”
Ellen nodded slowly. “Absolutely. I hated asking you to wait. I tried to talk her into going through the wedding tomorrow with her marrying Wesley and me marrying you and she wouldn’t do it. She thinks we need to make sure we know what we’re doing first. I think she’s trying to decide if her feelings for Wesley are strong enough for her to ignore the fact he doesn’t make much money.” She wished she could explain how her sister saw things, but she truly didn’t understand it herself. Malinda wasn’t a bad person, but she was one who let her fears rule her life at times.
They had walked the entire length of town by that point. He pointed to a small house. “That’s where Wesley lives, and where he and I will be staying while you two decide what you’ll do.”
“I’m sorry to make you wait.”
He ran his hand up and down her arm. “As long as I know you’ll be marrying me in a week, I can wait.”
She sighed. “You understand I can’t promise that, right?”
“You’d let your sister’s fear of poverty keep you from happiness? Really?” His voice was intense as he watched her with his dark eyes, daring her to admit she would go against her sister’s wishes.
“I hope that’s not put to the test. I really do.”
He took her to a small park on the outskirts of town. There was a large wooden swing hanging from a tree that was big enough for two. They sat together holding hands and talking. “So you want children?” he asked.
“At least a dozen.” She hadn’t been around children much, but she enjoyed them. She could picture herself with children surrounding her and could think of nothing she’d rather do with her life.
He laughed. “There’s an orphanage full of kids here in town.” He watched her carefully to see her reaction.
“Let’s go pick out a couple!”
“I thought maybe you’d want to spend some time there so you can understand a dozen children might be too many.”
She thought about that for a moment. “I’d like that. You wouldn’t mind?”
“You’ll have plenty of time. I’ll have things for you to do from time to time, like plan one of my dinner parties that we’ll both hate going to, but for the most part, you’ll have a lot of free time. Housework is done by the housekeeper, and I have a cook. There’s really no need for you to do a lot of work around the house.” For some reason, he felt that she would be happier if she had more to do. He didn’t want to pressure her into anything, but he didn’t want her to sit around bored all day either.
“What about sewing?”
“I have a tailor I use. If you want something for yourself you can either choose to make it or pay someone to do it for you if you’d prefer.”
She made a face. “Sounds like you’re looking to pamper me, and I’m not so good with that. I do better when I can work and stay busy.”
“I can see that in you. That’s why I brought up the orphanage. There are other things you could become involved with, but I think the orphanage would probably suit you best.”
She rested her head against his shoulder as they talked. “I think you’re probably right. I can’t believe you already know me so well, and we just met this afternoon.”
He stroked a tendril of hair that had escaped her bun away from her face. You’re exactly the type of woman I was looking for when I sent that letter off. I’m so glad I’ve found you.” His mouth dropped to hers again and he gently kissed her, his hands staying on her shoulders.
“You can’t keep kissing me. What if we don’t get married? I’ll miss your kisses forever.” She knew she was revealing too much about her rapidly growing feelings by saying that, but she couldn’t hide her thoughts.
He stroked her cheek with the back of his finger. “We’re getting married. I don’t care what it takes. I’m marrying you, not your sister.” The more he said it, the faster he’d convince her to throw caution to the wind and just marry him whether their siblings approved or not.
She drew away startled. “But I’m going to have to spend time with Wesley and get to know him.”
He nodded. “Don’t let him kiss you. Just me.” His hand cupped the back of her head as he drew her back toward him. “You’re mine now.”
Her eyes drifted closed as he brushed his lips across hers again. His kisses were addictive. She wanted to spend the entire night right there in the park kissing him. What kind of wanton woman was he turning her into? “We need to get back to the house. I feel like I’m doing something wrong sitting in a park kissing my sister’s fiancé.”
He shook his head. “I’m not your sister’s fiancé. I’m marrying you. I don’t care what was said in those letters we all sent back and forth. I have no desire to marry your sister. The idea of kissing her leaves me cold. I want to marry you.”
She looked into his eyes as well as she could by the light of the moon. “I want to marry you too.”
He stood up and took her hand helping her to her feet. “I guess knowing that will keep me going tonight as I sleep in the pitiful excuse for a bed that will be my only option at my brother’s house. He has a guest room, but the mattress is lumpy.” He shook his head as if the world would end if he had to spend more than one night in a lumpy bed.
She smiled. “Well, you’ll be okay. I’ll sleep in your bed while you sleep there.”
He groaned. “I’ll never sleep picturing you in my bed while I’m all the way across town.”
She smiled up at him. “I will. I didn’t get more than an hour or two of sleep a night on that train. I’m going to put my head on your pillow and fall straight to sleep.” She found she liked the idea of sleeping in his bed. It would make her feel closer to him during hours they were apart.
He smiled at the picture she drew for him. “Tomorrow evening I’ll take all four of us out to dinner somewhere. I’d like to treat you to a special meal.”
Her eyes widened. “Tonight felt like a special meal to me!” She’d never eaten off of such fine china or in such a fancy dining room. Even her meals at Harriett’s house hadn’t been as perfect.
“The only restaurant in town has an orchestra that plays. We can dance together.”
“I’ve never danced before. I don’t know how!” Would he be disappointed when he realized she had no idea how people acted during formal dinners or dances? Sure, her manners were fine for a farmer’s daughter, but for a bankers wife? She might need to read some books on etiquette.
“I’ll teach you. I love the idea of dancing with you. There’s an outside dancing area, and I want to hold you under the stars. You won’t mind that, will you?”
“Are you always going to be so good to me?”
He laughed. “The good begins after we marry. I can’t wait.”
Chapter Four
Ellen woke the next morning and for a moment wasn’t sure where she was, but then h
ugged the pillow to her. She was sleeping on Patrick’s pillow and just knowing that made her feel loved. She wasn’t sure what she was supposed to do with her day, because the men wouldn’t be there to take them to dinner for several hours, but she’d woken before the sun was up as she always had.
She wandered down the stairs, tiptoeing quietly past Malinda’s door, knowing her sister would still be asleep for a while yet. She walked down to the kitchen and looked inside. The cook, whom she had yet to meet, was standing over the stove. “Good morning.”
The cook, an older woman with silver hair and pretty brown eyes, turned to her. “Good morning! Are you Malinda?”
Ellen shook her head. “No, I’m Ellen. Malinda’s my sister.”
“Oh! So you’re marrying Mr. Wesley?”
Ellen flushed. “That’s still not decided. I’m actually hoping to marry Patrick.” She knew the woman could have no allegiance to her sister, but she still felt guilty as she told her the plans may have changed.
“Oh? I thought Malinda would marry Mr. Patrick and you were to marry the sheriff.”
Ellen wasn’t sure if she should be talking to the cook this way, but decided she was a person just like everyone else. If Patrick didn’t like her being friendly with his staff, then he wasn’t half the man she thought he was. “Well, when we first saw the men, I didn’t even notice Wesley, only Patrick. My sister only noticed Wesley. We were in the buggy to come home before any of us realized our mistake.” She blushed as she recalled the strong feelings she’d had for Patrick on sight. “I can’t imagine being married to Wesley, but Patrick? He’s wonderful. I didn’t expect him to be, because he’s a banker, but I don’t think he’s anything like the banker I knew back home.”
The older woman eyed her skeptically. “You’re not changing your mind because Patrick has money?”
Ellen laughed. She was pleased to see that Patrick’s servants were so loyal to him. It told her a lot about the man she was considering marrying. “Not at all! I’d be more likely to change my mind and not marry him because he has money. I genuinely like Patrick and want to spend the rest of my life with him. I only hope I can convince my sister that marrying a man you could someday love is more important than marrying a man who has money.”
Mail Order Mix Up Page 4