A Bride for Keeps

by Melissa Jagears

  The figure’s swagger was familiar. Ned Parker’s face showed up in a beam of light stabbing through a gap in the roof.

  Her stance eased, but her heart sped up. “What are you doing here, Mr. Parker?”

  He stopped in front of her and held his palms out, away from his body. “You can put that gun down. I’m no thief.” His eyes narrowed.

  She should lower her gun, but though he was a neighbor, her arms wouldn’t cooperate.

  He chuckled. “It’d be easier to stop a criminal or critter iffen you made ready to use that gun for shooting. Not for clobbering.”

  She lowered the shotgun and shoved the barn door wide open. Light, much more light, was required. “Again, Mr. Parker, what are you doing in my barn?” His sneer made her skin prickle. So much like Theodore’s the moment she told him she wouldn’t marry him. She shuffled away and threw a glance toward the path, hoping the pale blue of Everett’s shirt would appear through the leaves. Nothing but green.

  Ned strolled up to her, his thumbs tucked in his leather belt. “It’s Ned, sweetheart.” His lips pushed up his scraggly mustache. “I’m here to borrow Everett’s plow. Mine’s broken.” The left side of his face twitched.

  His eyes wandered from hers to other parts of her body. Cold shivered up her back and pooled in the base of her skull. Could she not get away from these kinds of men? She looked out at the line of trees. Why wasn’t Everett shadowing her like he had the past few days? “I’m afraid I can’t give permission for you to take it.”

  He leaned his body against the doorjamb, his focus returned to her eyes. “That’s all right. Was just getting it ready. I’ll wait for Everett.”

  Did a plow need to get ready? If only she knew more about farm things! How long would Everett be gone? She didn’t want Ned to wait around. “I can go get him for you.”

  “No need. What I’m really needing is something to drink.”

  Julia ignored the way his tongue moved across his lips. “I’ve got . . .” She crimped her eyes shut. She couldn’t invite him in. What if he tried something? But what else could she do if he was here for something the men had already discussed? “I could bring you some tea while you wait. Everett should be along soon.” And if he wasn’t back by the time she’d finished serving Ned, she’d go get him.

  His lips twirked. “You serving sweetened tea?”

  She tipped her head down.

  “Of course you are.” He put his cowboy hat back on. “What other kind of tea would you serve?” He reached for her shotgun. “Let me carry that back for you.”

  She jerked it to her shoulder, cradling its butt in the palm of her hand. “I’ve got it, thank you.” She didn’t want his help for anything.

  He shrugged. “Suit yourself. I could teach you to use that thing properly. Then when a real scoundrel came along, you’ll have him in quite a predicament.” He took a step closer. “Of course, just batting your lashes over them dark brown eyes could get a man in quite a predicament of another sort.”

  The ice crystals residing at the base of her skull shuddered out to her elbows. “This way, Mr. Parker.” She turned and practically ran to the cabin. Where she’d invited him. Dumb, dumb, dumb.

  She faced him as she held open the door with her back. “It’s too hot to go inside. Why don’t you just have a seat on the porch, and I’ll bring you a cup.” He hadn’t sped up to match her pace, but swaggered. She slammed the door behind her, not waiting for a response.

  She leaned the shotgun against the wall and banged through the pots. Light poured into the room as Ned moseyed in and sat himself at the table. She set one pan with water to boil. Another one she gripped, testing its weight. She could swing it hard if she had to. Hit him square in the face.

  What was she thinking? Her nerves popped like the little roiling bubbles in the pan as she kept her face turned from where he sat watching her. He was simply an ill-mannered neighbor, even had his dirty feet on her table.

  If only she hadn’t felt obligated to be neighborly, she could have left him in the barn. She gulped some breaths and stared out the window. If only she hadn’t been so quick to get away from Everett’s pesky questions. She straightened her shirtwaist and then gathered the cups. Overreacting. Ned was unpleasant, yes, but surely he’d try nothing with a married woman.

  “You don’t have to be so anxious for your man to come back. I know you ain’t much to him.” He chuckled low and rumbly. “’Course, wouldn’t suspect no man really matters to you.”

  She turned, eyes narrowed, and her short breaths returned. “What?”

  Ned shrugged and leaned farther back. “Same as me—he needed a wife to handle chores.” He tipped his head toward the bedding made neatly in the corner. “Nothing else.”

  She colored. She needed to put that makeshift bed away in the mornings. Her hand tightened around the spare skillet.

  “But as for me, I don’t get why that’s all he wants you for.” He stood and sauntered over to the stove. “Why’d you come running to Kansas to marry up with a no-account farmer?”

  His unwavering gaze pierced hers. She had to take a step back. The tilt of his eyebrows made her heart stab her chest.

  “There’s only so many reasons a lady runs off to marry a stranger.” He tilted his head. “One, she ain’t nothing to look at, but we know that ain’t your reason.”

  “My reasons are none of your business.” Julia stepped to the other side of the stove to grab the tea canister, but knocked it over. “If you don’t mind returning to your seat, I could keep track of what I’m doing.”

  “Or she don’t got no money.” He reached out to finger the lace on her shoulder. “Appears to me Daddy had plenty of money.”

  She stepped back, pulling her shirt from his grasp. “I’ve had enough of your surmising—”

  “So that leaves me to thinking you’re running from what you was.” His gaze never left hers, like he was trying to dig out her past from the depth of her soul.

  She sucked in a breath and closed her eyes. Where could she run? She’d married Everett to protect her from this! Where was he? “You’re wrong, Mr. Parker.”

  “Then tell me why you’re here.” He flicked her chin up toward him, his face dark. “And why you’re trembling like a trapped kitten.”

  She poured the hot water into two tin cups and dumped in the tea. She set his drink down at the narrow end of the table. “Your tea’s ready.” If she let on that his deductions were near correct, he’d use it to his advantage, so she threw back her shoulders and stared him down.

  He let a slow smile creep across his face before he returned to his seat. He lowered himself into the chair and leaned back.

  She sat across from him and pushed away from the table. She could still reach her cup, though she knew she’d have difficulty drinking any of it. Everett’s name played over and over in her head—like her soul was beckoning him to her side. He was twice the size of Ned and better built. Everett would fight for her.

  Ned took a sip and smirked. She knew that look. “Mmm-mmm. Tastes mighty fine.”

  She gave him a tight-lipped smile and put the cup to her mouth, but couldn’t make herself taste it. Every inch of her being told her to run, but where would she go that he couldn’t follow? She needed to keep her distance and convince him to leave on his own.

  Minutes ticked by as Ned’s perusal unnerved her. “Your kind of woman doesn’t belong out here on the prairie as the wife to one man.”

  She focused on keeping her breathing regular. Could he really be able to guess what had made her run? No, he couldn’t have gotten information about her from back east. But then, she’d not assumed a false name or kept her hometown a secret. No, he was only playing some cruel guessing game. Well, she wasn’t going to participate.

  He leaned across the table and waited until she met his eyes. “Just like Everett said, you don’t belong with him. He regrets marrying you. Especially with the games you’re playing.” Again he glanced at the pallet on the floor.
<
br />   Her chest moved with the rapid emptying and filling of her lungs despite her efforts to take slow, deep breaths. “Everett wouldn’t have talked to you about any such thing.”

  He shrugged and sipped his tea, watching her over the brim as he drank.

  She stifled an all-over body shiver. Could it be true? Ned had spent a lot of time with Everett soon after their wedding day with the coyote tanning. Would Everett say such a thing out loud? She fingered the tablecloth, feeling its fine embroidery. The same cloth she’d pulled out from the woman’s trunk stowed under Everett’s bed. He’d never given her any explanation for the items she had pulled out and displayed around the cabin. Then Rachel had told her about her sister, and Kathleen assumed Carl was jealous of Everett. Could he be regretting being tied to one woman—especially a woman who wasn’t giving him any favors?

  She didn’t know Everett at all. He’d shared nothing about himself. But he wasn’t that kind of man. He found her desirable, but the look in his eye was nothing like Ned’s or Theodore’s . . . or was it just different? Unsure of his true character, she had trusted Rachel wouldn’t set her up with an indecent man. But what if her friend had been wrong?

  But then, she’d shared none of her past with Everett. Maybe he’d done some checking of his own. Would her father inform him about what had happened if Everett asked? Did the whole town of Boston gossip about her as if she were a loose woman?

  Her chair scraped the floor when she shot out of her seat. What she did know was she didn’t want to hear any more from Ned. “I find this to be an inappropriate conversation. I think you ought to head outdoors.”

  Ned took a slow sip from his cup and watched her. “Just thought I’d tell you, figuring it has to do with you. Might help you make decisions. But to tell the truth, I agree with him. You don’t belong on the prairie.” He stood and walked around the table.

  She put the chair between them before he reached her. She gripped the back of the chair with sweaty palms. “Well, I for one don’t need you to tell me where I do or do not belong.”

  “It’s too bad you ended up with Everett. You could have had so much more. A man who wanted you . . . in spite of what you are.” Ned’s eyes flashed.

  “I think you’ve said enough, Mr. Parker.” Her heart thumped erratically in her throat. Would that she had trusted her instincts and not offered him tea! She searched for anything heavy in sight, but nothing but the chair was available to keep him away. Could she make it past him to grab a heavy pot before he blocked her? “Maybe you ought to go check on that plow.” Despite trying to keep her voice steady, it wavered.

  “You could be mistress to a man who knows how to handle you. How to keep a woman of your—” he licked his lips, and his voice dropped—“talents happy.” He leaned forward.

  She stepped back and hit the wall, glaring at him as hard as she could. He stood in the pathway to the door, and even if she could dodge around him, her short legs would be no match for his long ones in a race.

  He took his time perusing her body. “You’re no innocent angel, are you?” His breaths were heavy and slow.

  She glanced toward the pot of boiled water, and Ned moved sideways. He’d catch her if she ran that way as well. God, could you make Everett come home? “I will pretend that I don’t understand what you are insinuating. Leave now and—”

  “You don’t defend yourself.” His smile widened. “I thought so.” He leaned over and clasped onto her jaw. “Before God, can you deny it?”

  Her teeth were clamped so hard her head ached. “Unhand me.” Her breathless words quavered in the space between them. But the sound of tears in the back of her throat couldn’t be masked. Would that God would send Everett to her!

  Ned reached out and grabbed both of her wrists and yanked her forward. The top of the chair between them wedged into his chest. The legs of the chair slipped to each side of her legs. He pushed both her and the chair against the wall. “It’s not right to keep a woman with your gifts for one man who won’t even use you. But I’m”—he leaned over to put his hot breath next to her ear—“going to get what I want. One way or another.”

  The shiver in her body couldn’t escape the confines of her flesh and grew more violent until her whole body shook. Trapped. How could this happen again?

  “No,” she snarled, but her command didn’t change the look in his eyes. His grip tightened.

  Tears threatened to crowd her vision, but she blinked heavily, needing to see. Perchance something would materialize to help her out of this situation. But nothing had nine months ago. Why would this time be any different? Her throat clogged. There was no way out.

  The chair.

  He would need to move the chair before he could grab more of her. This cage was good, but soon he’d remove that obstacle. Unless she did it first.

  Her breathing labored. If she tried to use it as a weapon, she might be throwing away the one thing keeping her safe. Everett could be just around the corner. But if he wasn’t, the chair wouldn’t deter Ned for long.

  Growling, she collected her quivering strength and shoved the chair into his stomach. He stumbled back, but the force wasn’t enough to push him far. She hooked her foot around his ankle and yanked, taking advantage of his poor balance. He fell on his rump and cursed.

  He threw the chair to the side, let out a disturbing laugh, and jerked her foot out from under her before she could run past. She hit the floor.

  “I like feisty women.”

  She screamed and scrambled back against the wall. Would that she were dead.

  Chapter 16

  Pain jolted through Julia’s arm sockets, and then she crashed into a wall. She swiped the hair from her eyes so she could aim a kick at Ned.

  But he wasn’t in front of her.

  A maniacal growl filled the room, sending shivers down her spine.

  Ned’s body thumped against the wall three feet away. Everett’s left hand twisted into Ned’s plaid shirt. As soon as Ned opened his eyes, Everett’s right fist cracked squarely on Ned’s jaw.

  Ned stumbled back, hand cupping his chin. “Wait! I ain’t done nothing,” he growled through clenched teeth.

  “That’s not what I call nothing.” Everett’s fists doubled.

  Ned put out his arms in a blocking position. “She fell.”

  “That’s not what it looked like.” Everett’s face was redder than a tomato.

  “Your woman made me some tea and fell. Knocked me over.” Ned straightened and glared at her. “Tell him.”

  He was expecting her to lie for him! She clenched her hands in the fabric of her skirt. “That’s a lie!”

  Ned spat at her.

  Another of Everett’s jabs found a home in Ned’s stomach.

  She wanted to cry, but she couldn’t tear her eyes away from the angry scuffle. Had prayer actually worked? Had God sent Everett to her?

  Ned swore and scrambled off the floor. He held out his hands and circled to the door, facing Everett as he shuffled. “My word against hers.”

  Everett sent a punch into Ned’s cheek, sending him flying into the stove. “I take her word.” He jerked Ned up by his shirt and threw him against the wall. “And as for your words, I never want you to speak to her again. You leave and don’t ever come back.”

  Ned held out his hands. “Fine,” he snarled.

  “If we meet again,” Everett said as he straightened, “you walk away. If you can’t leave, you go to the furthest corner from my wife and you stay there.”

  “You can’t tell me where I can and can’t be.”

  Everett crossed the room and hoisted him against the splintery wall. “If I ever see you on my property again, it’s a bullet in your gut.”

  Ned winced as spit hit him in the eye.

  “I won’t be letting you run off like I’m doing now. In town, if you so much as look at her too close, I’ll pummel you.” Everett shoved Ned toward the door.

  Ned glanced hatefully at her before slamming the door behind him. The up
per leather hinge gave way.

  Before the door stopped swinging, Everett was on his knees beside her. He grabbed her shoulders. “Are you hurt?”

  She shook her head. The pressure behind her eyes and forehead wanted to burst through her nose. She covered her eyes with both of her hands, shielding the tears from his sight. Hurt? Not on the outside, but the inside felt like one big bruise. Even with Ned gone, she felt like running, running and not stopping. Running with no aim. For where would she go? No place was safe.

  Or was she in the right place? Would Everett be able to protect her every time? Or if she let him into her heart, would he hurt her too?

  She began to shiver, then the emotions she’d restrained for months broke, and a dry heave preceded a deluge of tears. She rocked and tried to stop the rush of tears with the palms of her hands.

  He gently tugged at her wrists. “Shhh. It’s all right.”

  Resisting his pull, she kept her hands where they were. She didn’t want to deal with anything right now. She wanted to stay in the dark.

  Everett continued to shush her. He pushed hair behind her ear. Both of his hands moved to turn her jaw to the side. “The lout. He scratched your face good.”

  Her sobs stopped, and she gritted her teeth. Her face! Who cared about anything else as long as her beauty was intact to exploit, to desire, to take? She shot the evil look she’d given Ned at Everett.

  He sat back and cocked his head.

  “I’m sure my face is just fine. I make sure to keep it protected at all times. Don’t want to have anything happen to my face! Leave me alone.” She scrambled to her feet and pushed through the door. With a quick check to make sure Ned’s wagon was nowhere in sight, she ran into the thicket.

  ———

  “Julia! Julia, stop. Please!”

  When she disappeared into the brush, Everett swallowed hard. His heart cramped in his chest.

  Should he run after her? It seemed she didn’t want him, and all his body wanted to do was collapse. Incredible amounts of energy had kicked in as soon as he’d walked around the Parkers’ wagon and saw Ned and Julia fall to the floor through his open doorway. He’d been a fool to let the man off so easily the last time he was here. Maybe he’d been a fool to let him walk now. He kicked the railing and winced at the pain. Gripping a wooden post, he stared through the distant foliage.