It was as though he’d never seen her in a dress before. She wore one every day. It was just that, this time, it was meant to be pretty rather than practical.
Did he think she looked pretty?
“What’s it look like I’m wearin’?” The look on his face made her want to turn around and forget her whole stupid plan.
Billy pulled off his hat and slapped it against his thigh—he’d worn one of his best pairs of trousers; the black ones with embroidery along each belt loop.
He’d dressed up for Miss DuCastille, but never for Ray.
What am I doin’ here?
“It looks like you’re playing at dress up—and what do you mean you rode sidesaddle? You don’t even own one.”
“I do, too, own a sidesaddle. It just needed a little brushin’ off is all. Playin’ at dress up? Who’s playin’? You forget, Willem Ducharme, I’m as much a lady as any woman in Dry Bayou. Just ’cause I spend more time in work boots than slippers don’t mean I can’t dress nice once in a while.” She forced her chin up and let out a huff.
Billy’s gaze snapped to Ray’s face; his dark eyebrows tipped down and a muscle worked in his jaw.
Ray ran through everything Tilly and Dora had told her: stand up straight, speak softly, speak properly, and be polite…
She cleared her throat and glanced pointedly at Miss DuCastille. “Ain’t—err—aren’t you going to introduce me to your pretty friend?”
No need. I know all about you, Rebecca DuCastille. You’re here to steal Billy from me.
Billy stepped forward. “Miss Rebecca DuCastille, this is Ray MacAdams, the shepherd’s daughter.”
Ray’s breath caught in her chest.
Was that what he really thought of her? Was she just the shepherd’s daughter to him?
“Ray, this is Miss Rebecca DuCastille, she’s…well—”
Rebecca saved him from further explanation and offered her hand. “I’m Billy’s guest. His family has graciously invited me to stay with them for a while. And please, call me Rebecca.”
Ray shook her velvet-gloved hand. “Well, that’s nice of them, isn’t it?” Ray gave her a smile then turned it on Billy. His eyes flashed something she couldn’t read. “They really are the nicest people around. They welcomed my family onto their ranch more than fourteen years ago.”
Rebecca smiled back and Ray had to admit that her adversary was lovely. And seemed sweet.
Don’t fall for it, don’t let her charm you.
“Oh, so you’ve been in Dry Bayou a long time. It seems like such a wonderful town. Mr. Ducharme—I mean, Billy, has been showing me around to all of his favorite places and I can see why it’s so special.” She motioned toward the creek. “I’m very glad he brought me here. And I am glad to meet you, as well.”
Ray swallowed the lump of anger forming in her throat. “Yes, this place is very special.” She forced herself to look at Billy again. “I hope you both have a great evening.”
Suddenly, the exhaustion of the last two days settled over her. She was tired of putting on airs, trying to be something she wasn’t, trying to keep the pain and hurt hidden. She turned to make her way to her horse.
Billy grabbed her from behind and turned her around.
“Why’re you leaving? You just got here.”
Ray refused to answer. She needed to get away before he read the truth on her face.
“I didn’t mean to interrupt your special time together. I should probably get back to the ranch anyway.” She swallowed. “I am the shepherd’s daughter, after all.”
With that, she pulled away and left him standing in the clearing beside the creek, the place where she’d never find peace again.
Chapter Seven
“She seems like an…intriguing woman,” Rebecca said after Ray left. “She certainly has a fire I haven’t seen in a long time. It’s refreshing.” She laughed and Billy didn’t know how to respond.
Ray had departed as quickly as she appeared and he couldn’t make hide nor hair of everything that had occurred in the short time she’d been standing there. In that dress.
Where had she even gotten it? In all the years he’d known Ray, he never once seen her in a skirt any other color than brown or any shirt other than the cream or red ones she must have bought by the crate.
Rebecca softly cleared her throat and smiled at him from under the brim of her bonnet.
Ray hadn’t worn a bonnet. But he was glad of it. He pictured Ray again, her bright hair cascading over her shoulders and down her back. He’d never seen her hair like that, either.
He removed his hat and ran his fingers through his hair, trying to unscramble his brain enough to be good company for Rebecca. “Er, yes, Ray is…something else, that’s for sure.”
Rebecca’s expression became contemplative and her gaze roved over his face. “You’ve been friends a long time. That must mean she’s special to you.”
That was an understatement. She was everything to him. Had been since he first met her; he’d just been too much of a fool to realize it sooner.
“Yes, she is special to me,” so special it hurts to think of her “—but let’s not talk about Ray any more, let’s talk about you. Why did you decide to throw caution to the wind and come all the way out here to get married? Aren’t there eligible men in New York? You’re a pretty woman. I imagine there’s any number of men who’d have you for a wife.”
Rebecca tipped her head thoughtfully. “Sure, there were men enough in New York, but there weren’t many opportunities for the future I’d envisioned when I moved to America. Out here, I can create my own future. With or without being Mrs. Willem Ducharme.” Her smile was one of longing and sorrow, and the sight of it made Billy wonder at what she really meant when she’d mentioned the future she’d envisioned.
“Well, I can’t say much about that, but whether we marry or not, there are still men here to marry—if you know what you’re looking for.” If he could talk his parents out of forcing the match, he wanted Rebecca to have a way out of her contract.
“Oh, I know exactly what I’m looking for,” she remarked. “What I’d like to know, though, is what you’re looking for in a wife.”
Was she trying to get him to confess that he wanted her?
“Well, I’ve never actually thought about it. I hadn’t planned to get married yet so I didn’t sit down and make a list—like my pa did when he sent back east for you.” He laughed, trying to ease the tension between them.
“Just tell me the first things that come to mind.”
Billy took a deep breath and put his hat back on. He stared where Ray had been standing minutes before.
Ray MacAdams…
“I guess what I’m looking for in a wife…” his thoughts remained on Ray. “I think I’d want my wife to be someone who fires my blood. Someone I could talk to about anything. I’d think about her all day while I was away and couldn’t wait to get home to. She’d be strong, smart, kind, and hardworking. We’d be able to laugh and enjoy our children. And I’d love her.”
Rebecca’s gaze never left his face and now that his babbling had come to an end, the awkwardness of the situation hit him.
He was standing in front of his mail order bride, picturing another woman as his wife.
*
Ray practically tore the dress from her body even before she’d made it into the privacy of her bedroom.
Thankfully, her ma was in town, gathering supplies for the Sunday dresses she’d been meaning to make for the last three months. Pa’s sudden death put most everything on hold. Now that there’d been time enough to mourn, her ma was realizing that life couldn’t be put off any longer.
“Oh, Pa, I wish you were here. I need you to tell me that I’m being a fool, that Billy and I will be just fine as friends, that my heart won’t be shattered to pieces if he marries another woman.” She sank onto her bed.
All the way home from the creek, Ray had fought hard to keep the tears at bay.
But she couldn’t
help it. Her insides were in knots.
For the first time since her pa had died, Ray wept.
Chapter Eight
“Goodnight, darling,” Billy’s ma kissed his cheek and headed to the master wing of the ranch house.
He heaved a sigh and made his way to his own room. A room, if his parents had their way, wouldn’t be his for much longer.
Any day now, his pa would likely approach him about building his own homestead somewhere on the property. Close enough to the main house but far enough away to provide the privacy he’d need with a new wife.
Problem was, the only place on the eight-hundred-acre property he could think of, was the clearing by the creek. Where he’d taken Rebecca. The place where Ray had showed up dressed as fine as he’d ever seen her and stole the very breath from his body.
He pulled his bedroom door shut and leaned against it, focused on the one moment by the creek where his whole life had changed.
He remembered how his heart stopped at seeing her again after two long days. All rational thought had stopped.
Ray was wearing a light blue dress, though a little big on her, it hugged her frame just right. Her glorious hair was pulled back from her face the rest left hanging down her back. So very pretty.
He drank her in, not trusting himself to speak. Regrettably, the words that tumbled from him mouth made the next few minutes the hardest in his life.
“What’re you wearing?” As if he couldn’t see it with his own eyes. She was beautiful. He didn’t care if she was wearing a potato sack. Ray was more than he’d ever imagined.
It hadn’t gone well after.
Had he said something wrong?
Blood rushed into his face as he remembered.
“…this is Ray MacAdams, the shepherd’s daughter…” – not his best friend, not the woman he’d ached to see the last two days, not the woman who tore him up inside, just the shepherd’s daughter.
Yeah, he’d hurt her all right.
The fiery-haired little girl he’d met all those years ago had grown up finally. He trusted and cared for her more than any other woman.
“Aw-dingit! I’m such an idiot.” He groaned at his own ignorance and fought down the urge to punch the wall.
Billy didn’t even know how to begin delving into his emotions. Even the physical reaction he had to Ray confused him.
What a fool he’d been for ever considering, even for a moment, marrying Rebecca. Just courting her was unfair. Just because he’d promised his ma—but that had to end.
Ray wasn’t an idiot. She’d known who Rebecca was and why she was there.
He had to find a way to make it right. To make everything right.
He punched the door, welcoming the sharp pain in his knuckles. A reminder of how stupid he’d been.
The one woman who mattered most to him thought he didn’t want her.
Thought he preferred another woman.
The ache in his heart wouldn’t go away.
“Oh, Ray. What am I going to do about you?”
*
“Again, thank you for your kind invitation, Miss Mosier.” Rebecca smiled prettily at Tilly, who sat across from a grumpy but grudgingly charmed Ray.
She really wanted to dislike Rebecca, the woman who’d been picked over her to marry Billy. The woman he was obviously falling in love with. She’d been forced to spend the last few hours with Rebecca because Tilly’s parents had invited Dry Bayou’s newest resident to town for the day.
From France, Rebecca had moved to New York years ago, had worked as an interpreter in one of those fancy office buildings, and, after some sort of unfortunate event, had decided to try a life out west. By a bit of luck, she’d found Mr. Ducharme’s advert in the New York Times. Ray considered it a heaping helping of luck that she’d met all of the man’s requirements as a wife for his son.
Honestly, Ray couldn’t be mad at her for doing what she thought was best for her own future.
But not Ray. Because the prize for Rebecca’s courage was the one person Ray couldn’t give up.
“We’re happy to have you,” Tilly welcomed her graciously. “It’s just too bad Ma, Pa, Gaston, and Dora couldn’t stay longer. The store requires looking after.” Tilly spoke the last words with a pinch of annoyance in her voice.
Tilly’s parents were always after her about making her mark in the family business.
“Oh, I understand perfectly. I am just glad that I can spend some time away from the ranch.” She must’ve caught Ray’s grimace because she continued, “—not that I don’t like it there. I do. I just wanted to meet new people. Billy’s mother is wonderful, but she can be…overwhelming.”
Ray let out a snort, then remembered she was trying to be more ladylike. “I’m sorry, you were saying?”
Rebecca continued. “She’s well meaning, but all she can seem to talk about is the wedding—what day would work best, evening or morning, chicken or trout, ribbons or lace, lanterns or candles. I’m happy that she’s so excited but…well, the wedding isn’t set in stone, yet, and I can’t help but feel that she’s putting the…how do you say…cart before the horse—. She’s planning a wedding for a son who doesn’t seem ready.”
Ray took in every word Rebecca said, sifting through the painful bits about the wedding and latching on to the last part.
Billy isn’t excited about the weddin’?
Rebecca let out a soft sigh. “I’m sorry for unleashing that on you. I just feel, since you’re Billy’s friend, you’d understand. I know we’re not well acquainted, but I hope to be.” Rebecca offered a friendly smile and Ray couldn’t help but smile back.
Ray sat back, suddenly feeling like the world’s biggest heel. While she’d stayed up all night, hating the rock by the creek, hating the tears, thinking up ways to make Rebecca hightail it from Dry Bayou, Rebecca was reaching out to her. Rebecca didn’t know that Ray was secretly longing for the man she planned to marry.
The heat of guilt and embarrassment rose up her neck and ears.
Rebecca accepted a tea cup and saucer from Tilly who was acting the hostess now that her ma and sister had gone out.
“Thank you, Tilly.”
“It’s no bother. I hope you’ll think of me as your friend as well. We don’t get many refined ladies who settle down in Dry Bayou. I think the only other real lady is Mrs. Piers—she’s the school teacher.”
Rebecca blushed a lovely pink, took a sip, hummed her appreciation, and then set the tea on the table beside her.
“I would love to be your friend, Tilly,” Rebecca replied, honest to goodness sweetness dripping from each word.
She’s even pretty when she blushes. How can I compete with that?
“Ray, Billy and his mother both tell me that you’ve been friends with him a long time.”
Ray sat up straight. “Best friends.”
Rebecca smiled and tipped her head. “I see. I can understand why you two connected so easily. You seem like a unique woman and Billy, as much pressure as there is on him with the ranch and the new horse operation, needs that sort of strength in his life. He’s a wonderful man.”
Tension rose into Ray’s shoulders and she gripped the arms of the chair harder than she’d intended. “Yeah, so?” Ray didn’t mean for that to come out all ornery like that, but she was tired of wrestling with her emotions. The need to jump from her seat and claim Billy as hers was overwhelming.
“I care for Billy, too. And I am being honest when I say that I only want what’s best for him.”
“You mean marrying you.” Ray already knew what Rebecca and Billy’s parents thought was best. And she couldn’t agree less.
“Well, I don’t know.” Rebecca looked down at her hands.
“What do you mean?” Was Rebecca having second thoughts about marrying Billy?
“After you left the creek last night, Billy and I had a discussion about…well…”
Ray’s patience was wearing thin. “Well, what?”
Rebecca took another slow
sip from her tea before answering. “What he was looking for in a wife.”
All the air left Ray’s body in a single breath. “W-what did he say?”
Rebecca looked Ray square in the face. It seemed as though she wanted to gauge Ray’s reaction to what she would say next.
“He said he wasn’t as picky as his parents, that he’d be happy married to a woman he could talk to about anything, a woman he’d long to come home to after a long day’s work. A woman who could make him laugh, make him think, and make him…well, happy.”
Ray fought the urge to slink under her chair. Rebecca just described herself. Ray remembered how Rebecca and Billy seemed so happy standing there beside the creek. They’d laughed, Billy smiled at her, and then he seemed pretty upset when Ray arrived to ruin their moment.
“Not picky,” Tilly chimed in. “I can’t think of a single woman in the world who meets those requirements.”
Rebecca pinned Ray with her deep brown gaze. “I can.”
Ray swallowed and managed not to choke. “That seems like a pointless conversation to have with him. You’re here, ain’t you?”
Rebecca nodded and offered a dainty smile. “Well, yes, but we’ve agreed to a short courtship before he decides if I am to be Mrs. Willem Ducharme.”
Ray flinched at the other woman’s use of that name. A name she wanted for herself.
“I know about that. Thanks to Billy’s ma, the whole town does. But why did you agree to it? You came all the way out here to get married. If the groom hesitates, why don’t you go back home?”
Please go!
Rebecca looked up at Ray from under her long, thick lashes. “Can I be honest with you, Ray? Tilly?”
Both women nodded. Ray couldn’t possibly begin to wonder what Rebecca was going to say, but she sure as sugar wanted to hear it.
“When I first contacted Mr. Ducharme, he required me to sign a contract.”
Ray blinked, then frowned. “Contract? What sort of contract?”
“It states that if I fail to marry Willem Ducharme by the end of the summer, I will return to New York immediately.” Rebecca’s usually clear voice had turned to a whisper as she spoke the words “return to New York” with a haunted look in her eyes.
The Shepherd's Daughter (Dry Bayou Brides Book 1) Page 5