Mail Order Bride - Westward Fortune: Historical Cowboy Romance (Montana Mail Order Brides Book 5)

by Linda Bridey

  “I’ll take it,” Amos said.

  “You got papers on her?” Joe said.

  Amos nodded. “At home. I can meet you there in an hour.”

  “All right. What’s the address?” Joe asked.

  “Sammi knows it,” Amos said. “I didn’t know you had a cousin, Sammi.”

  “Well, Amos, there’s a lot you don’t know about me. I’ll get him there in an hour,” Sammi said.

  Joe could hear in her voice how much Sammi loathed Amos and his respect for Lacey’s friend grew. They walked away from Amos and Joe took a couple of deep breaths.

  Sammi said, “I know. I want to kick him in the crotch every time I see him.”

  Her statement made Joe laugh. “I don’t think I would want you to kick me like that. I have a hunch that I’d be singin’ soprano for a long time. You’re only a couple inches shorter than me and I can tell that you’re strong.”

  Sammi smiled and said, “Yep. And I don’t take crap from anyone, either. I miss Lacey. How’s she doing?”

  “Is there somewhere private we can talk?” Joe said.

  “My place. It’s right up ahead,” Sammi said, indicating a boarding house a little ways up the street.

  “Perfect.”

  Sammi’s room was not very big, but she kept it neat. Joe sat in one of her two chairs.

  “So tell me what’s going on,” Sammi said.

  Joe told Sammi everything. He felt as one of Lacey’s best friends, she deserved to know. “And so that’s why I came here. I thought maybe doing this would help at least make her see how sorry I am and go towards her giving me a second chance.”

  Sammi hauled off and punched his jaw. If Joe’s chair hadn’t been so close to the wall, he would have gone over backwards. Joe saw stars and grabbed his jaw. He shook his head to clear it. His jaw hurt like hell.

  He looked into Sammi’s stormy eyes and said, “I guess I deserved that. Damn, you hit as hard as any man I’ve been up against. Except Luke, but he’s a lot bigger than me.”

  “That’s for hurting Lacey. I would have done that to Amos a long time ago, but I knew it would have just made things worse for her,” Sammi said. “The thing is, Joe, I like you, in spite of you being an ass to Lacey. I don’t think you meant her any harm, but you certainly didn’t do right by her. Do you really love her? I mean, really love her?”

  Joe looked her dead in the eye and said, “On my Mama’s life, I swear that I love her more than anything or anyone and I would die for her. I will do anything to get her back.”

  Sammi was satisfied. She nodded and said, “Ok. I’m glad. That means that I don’t have to punch you again.”

  Joe rubbed his jaw. It still ached. “Please don’t. You’re something else, Sammi. I like you, too.”

  As they waited to go pick up Polly, Sammi and Joe traded stories about Lacey and Jamie and a friendship was formed in that short time.

  *****

  At the appointed time, they went to the Reagan household. Joe took a good look at the house where Lacey had grown up. It was a fairly nice house, but knowing what a nightmare Lacey had had to live in made it seem ugly to Joe. He wondered what Lacey’s room looked like. A sudden compulsion to see it gripped Joe.

  “Sammi, I want to see Lacey’s room. Keep Amos occupied when I go up to use the facilities, ok?” he said.

  “Sure thing, Joe.”

  Amos answered the door when Joe knocked. The man smiled and stepped back to allow them entrance. Joe walked into the house and his eyes roamed around. He tried to memorize everything. The furnishings were a little worn, but otherwise nice.

  “I got the papers right here,” Amos said and handed them to Joe.

  Joe opened up the packet Amos gave him and looked through them.

  “They’re in order,” Amos said, sounding slightly annoyed.

  Joe gave Amos a brief glance and said, “I’m a professional horse breeder and I always look over the papers before I buy, so don’t take offense, sir.”

  “All right,” Amos said.

  As Amos had said, Polly’s papers were genuine and her lineage clearly stated in black and white. The names of her dam and sire jumped out at Joe, but he didn’t react because if Amos knew that they were very fine horses, he would know that he should be getting a lot more money for Polly. Knowing that he was screwing Amos over gave Joe great satisfaction.

  “Very good, sir. Here’s your money,” Joe said and handed the money over. “Now, do you mind if I use your wash room for a moment?”

  “Uh, sure. Right up the stairs on the right,” Amos said. He was too preoccupied with the money to worry about Joe.

  Joe went up the stairs quickly. Quietly he looked in the rooms. At the end of the hall, he found Lacey’s. It didn’t look like Amos had done anything to it. Her bed was made and her things nice and neat. He made sure no one was coming when he ducked into her room. A jewelry box stood on her dresser and Joe lifted the lid. There were various pieces of jewelry in it.

  He picked up a necklace with a locket and opened it. In it was a picture of a woman who resembled Lacey. Joe assumed it was her mother. He slipped it into his secret pocket along with a few other pieces. In the nightstand drawer, Joe found a small photo album. He tucked it into the back of his waistband and put his suit jacket down over it. Joe knew his time was running out, but did a quick sweep to see if there was anything else that Lacey might want.

  A blue ribbon caught his eye. It hung from a mirror on the wall. He went over and saw that it was a first place buggy racing ribbon. Smiling, he snatched it and stuffed that in his pocket with Lacey’s jewelry. Then he quickly went downstairs.

  “Thank you, sir, for the use of your facilities. My stomach was a little unsettled and I wasn’t sure if I was going to be sick or not,” he said holding his stomach. “It seems to have passed.”

  “Sure thing, Mr. McAllister. Well, Polly’s out back. I left her halter on, but I’m gonna need her harness and such,” Amos said.

  “Oh, I understand,” Joe said as he and Sammi followed Amos to the small shed out back where Polly was housed.

  Joe went in to the mare and talked to her. He untied her lead rope and backed her out.

  “Well, sir, I thank you for doing business,” Joe said.

  “Likewise,” Amos said as Joe and Sammi began walking down the street leading Polly.

  *****

  When they were nearing Sammi’s boarding house, Joe started laughing. Sammi said, “What’s so funny?”

  Joe told her about robbing Lacey’s room and how much money Polly was really worth. Sammi laughed along with him.

  “Sammi, I can’t thank you enough for all of your help. You have no idea how much it means to me,” Joe said.

  “Anything for Lacey. I need to give you something,” Sammi said.

  “What’s that? A fat lip?” Joe teased.

  “No. Money. When you sent that check to Lacey, she made me keep some of the money. I haven’t touched it. It belongs to you,” Sammi said.

  Joe shook his head. “No, ma’am. I won’t take it. You keep it and use it for whatever you need. Like I told Lacey; a friend of hers and Jamie’s is a friend of mine.”

  Sammi gave him a measuring look. “I think you really are a good guy.”

  Joe’s got a little misty and he cleared his throat. “I hope Lacey can see that again.”

  Chapter Twenty-One

  Lacey hadn’t seen Joe in days but she wouldn’t inquire about him around town. Even though she had started going back to visit Jamie and everyone at the Samuels ranch, she didn’t ask about Joe and they didn’t mention him. At first it had hurt her to see all the babies, but then they became a source of comfort for her.

  She assured Tessa and Maddie that it didn’t bother her and she loved holding them and playing with them. Both of Tessa’s twins were walking now and they had to be constantly watched. When Aiyana came along with either Claire or Marcus, it was like a circus. She was such a chatterbox and curious about everything. Seth tease
d Marcus about it and told him that “what comes around goes around” because Marcus had been the same way when he was little.

  A rancher in the area had recently bought a Standardbred colt and had hired Lacey to train him. She became engrossed in conditioning him and teaching him stable manners. He was two years old and rather high strung for a Standardbred. His name was Rex and he was a very handsome dark bay.

  He was skittish around things that moved quickly and Lacey worked hard on getting him used to such things. If he was out on the road and something moved fast, he could bolt and cause a terrible accident. Lacey got creative and tied cloths all around the fence of one of the paddocks and put Rex in it. As the wind blew the clothes around, Rex whinnied in fear and reared. He pawed the ground and made short runs at the fence.

  Eddie thought she was crazy at first and watched closely. He was ready to intervene and get the colt out of the paddock if necessary. After an hour, Rex began to calm down when he realized that he wasn’t being hurt. He actually went over and started sniffing the rags and bit one and shook it. The others were moving all around him as the breeze ruffled them, but he was no longer afraid of them. Lacey was proud that she was able to help him get over his fear.

  Lacey enjoyed her days, but when nighttime came, she was left alone with her thoughts too much. She wondered if Joe was ever going to come home again and then told herself she didn’t care. Some of her wrath at Joe had abated and she found herself missing him terribly. Then that would make her angry again, but it didn’t last long. She thought about their baby and wondered if it would have been a boy or girl and what they would have looked like. She would never know and that was hard to deal with. Lacey prayed that someday she could move on.

  *****

  Joe rode the whole way home in the train car with Polly as far as the line went. When they disembarked at the last stop, it was just short of the Montana border.

  “Well, Polly girl, we’re gonna see what you’re made of, “Joe told the mare.

  Joe counted the cash he had and found a local place that sold buggies. He bought a second hand light buggy and harness and hitched up Polly. As Joe got in the buggy, Polly whinnied and shook her head.

  Joe laughed. “You’re ready to be off, huh? Me, too,” Joe said, and started her out.

  *****

  It didn’t take long for Joe to be impressed by the fine job Lacey had done in training Polly. She had excellent stable manners and great stamina. Her trotting was smooth and Polly was light on her feet. One morning when they first stated out, Joe gave Polly her head and settled in to see what the little mare had. Polly got down to it and Joe clocked her mile at 2:13, not much off what Lacey had told her was her best time when the horse was a little younger.

  Mentally he went over Romeo’s lineage and thought that Polly and Romeo would make a fine pairing for a foal. He pulled Polly down into a slower pace, but she fought him at first. She was having a good time and didn’t want to slow down. Joe wanted to save her stamina, however, and wouldn’t give in.

  *****

  They arrived in Dawson and Joe drove Polly over to the Samuels ranch to show her to Luke and Jamie. He drove her to the barn and tied her to the hitching post there. After giving her a pat and sugar cube, he walked over to Tessa’s house and knocked on the kitchen door. Jamie opened it and promptly threw herself at him.

  “Joey! Where the hell have you been?” she said as she hugged him.

  “Good to see you, Jamie girl. Where’s your husband?”

  “Over in the one pasture. Why?” Jamie asked.

  “I got someone I want you to meet,” Joe said.

  Jamie’s smile disappeared. “Is it a woman?”

  “You could say that,” Joe said. He took her hand and tugged her. “Come with me.”

  She went with Joe and he pointed to Polly. “Recognize her?”

  Jamie so shocked she couldn’t get any words out for a moment. “That’s Polly!”

  “It sure is,” Joe said with a grin.

  “How? When? I mean, you, oh, wow,” Jamie sputtered. “That’s why you went to Walhalla?”

  “Yep. I bought her from Lacey’s daddy. I hate him and I wanted to shoot him in the worst way, but I didn’t,” Joe told her.

  “She’s going to be thrilled!” Jamie said.

  “I hope so,” Joe said. “I wanted to do something for her that showed her how much I care about her. That I would gladly put her happiness ahead of my own and I mean that.”

  Jamie said, “Well, if that doesn’t do it, I don’t know what will.”

  *****

  Joe was so excited to give Polly to Lacey, but he waited until after dark to sneak the mare onto the estate. He led her over the grass so no hoof beats were heard inside the house. He pulled the barn door open slowly so it didn’t make much noise and led Polly inside. She smelled the new horses and almost whinnied, but Joe distracted her with a piece of carrot. He put her on a crosstie and then snuck up to the house.

  Randall had retired for the night, but as Joe came close to Lacey’s door, he saw that she still had a lamp burning. He took the note he’d written out of his pocket and slipped it noisily under her door. Quickly, he walked down to his room and went inside but didn’t completely close the door.

  Lacey heard the rustling under her door and turned in the chair where she sat. A note was pushed under it. She heard what she knew were Joe’s footsteps continue down the hallway. When they’d completely faded away, she went to the door and picked up the note.

  I hate to bother you, but there’s someone out in the barn that needs to see you. It’s important.

  Joe

  Lacey didn’t know what to do. Should she go or not? Her curiosity was stronger than her caution and she put on her jacket and boots. Going out the door, she took a lantern with her and stood on the porch to light it. She could see that the barn doors were open a little but couldn’t see anyone near it.

  When she slipped through the doors and held up the lantern, she didn’t see a person, but she did see a horse. There was a large bow around the horse’s neck. As she got closer to the horse, the mare nickered. Lacey put a hand over her mouth.

  “It can’t be,” she whispered.

  Polly recognized her mistress’ scent and voice and tried to reach Lacey. She whinnied and Lacey recognized her horse’s voice. Lacey was still in shock as she began petting Polly. She hugged her horse as Polly whickered low in her throat. Tears of joy began dripping from her eyes even as she wondered how Polly had gotten there. And then she knew; Joe. Somehow, some way, Joe had brought Polly here.

  As she drew away from she noticed a note hanging from the ribbon around Polly’s neck. She picked it up and read:

  I know how much you love her and how much she makes you happy. Your happiness is all that matters to me. I gave her stall #1.

  Love,

  Joe

  Lacey smiled. That stall was Lance’s old stall and when the barn had been rebuilt, Joe had decreed that it would stay empty in memory of the stallion. That Joe would give it to Polly spoke volumes to her about how much he really did care. She took the ribbon off Polly’s neck and laid it to the side. Lacey unsnapped the crossties and led Polly to the stall and put her in it. She found that Joe had already provided a water bucket and feed for the mare.

  Polly began eating right away. Lacey stayed with Polly for a little while and then left Polly to her meal. As she closed the stall door, something swung from a nail. Lacey took it in her hand and flipped it over. A small cry escaped her lips as she recognized the racing ribbon she’d won with Polly when she was nineteen.

  “How did he get this?” Lacey said.

  Suddenly she had to know. She picked up the lantern and returned to the house. Blowing out the lantern, Lacey sat it down and hurried through the house. She saw the door to her room open and stopped in the doorway. On her bed sat several small boxes. Going in, she saw that the boxes were numbered. Another note sat propped up against one of the boxes. It told her to open t
hem in order.

  The first one held a pair of her earrings that she’d left behind. The next one held three rings, one of which was her mother’s wedding band. Lacey’s fingers trembled as she held a third box. Slowly she opened it to reveal her locket with her mother’s picture in it. A sob escaped her throat as she opened it and looked at her mother’s face. She closed the locket and kissed it before laying it back in the box.

  Before opening the last box, Lacey took a deep breath. It was bigger than the other boxes. She lifted the lid and found a letter laying on top of something wrapped in tissue paper. She unfolded the letter.

  Darlin’,

  I know that I broke your heart the night I so selfishly left on a mission that was unnecessary and foolhardy. I swear to you that I never meant to hurt you. I hate that I broke my promise to you when I said that I’d never let anyone hurt you ever again. I just never dreamed that I would be the one to hurt you. You were right when you said that all I ever thought about was myself. It was true, but you changed me. I’m the same man you met and yet I’m not. I meant it when I said if I’d have known about the baby that I wouldn’t have gone to Texas.

  I never really thought seriously about having children until we got married and even then, it wasn’t something real, something concrete in my mind. When you told me you’d been pregnant and that you’d lost our baby, it tore my heart out. I thought about us creating a beautiful little life and how that life had died and I feel so horrible that I hadn’t been with you through everything. We should have grieved together. You shouldn’t have been alone during such a terrible time.

  Polly and all of these other things are my proof to you that I’ve changed, that I care more about making you happy than I do making myself happy. I really don’t deserve it, but if you give me a second chance, I’ll spend every day making you happy and showing you how much I love you. I’ve never told any other woman that I loved her. I love you more than I ever thought I’d love anyone. I want our marriage to be a real marriage, not just an arrangement. Please just think about it.

  Love,

  Joe