The Rancher's Temporary Engagement

by Stacy Henrie

  Undercover Fiancée

  The Pinkerton agent that Edward Kent hired is intelligent, capable—and unexpectedly female! Though shocked to learn that Maggy Worthing will be investigating the threats to his Wyoming horse ranch, Edward needs to find the culprit. And if that means a temporary engagement to give Maggy a cover story, he’ll play along with the feisty detective.

  Maggy always gets her man—at least when it comes to solving crimes. The young widow refuses to marry again and land under another husband’s thumb. Unmasking Edward’s enemies will earn her a longed-for promotion...but the heart has its own mysteries. Could working together with the handsome English aristocrat spark a real and loving partnership?

  “You are going to ruin this investigation,” she hissed. “Could you have looked any more appalled at playing the role of my fiancé?”

  “Are you mad?” Edward countered, keeping his voice equally low. “Of course I’m going to be shocked and downright annoyed when you announce such a ridiculous fiction.”

  Maggy crossed her arms and glared at him. “There wasn’t time to ask how you felt about it. Besides, I told you that I was coming up with a role.”

  “Yes. But I didn’t think that would be pretending to be my fiancée. This is madness.” He threw his hands in the air, then spun to face the fireplace. “There is surely some other role for you to play.”

  He sensed her stepping toward him. “This is the best way. You said it yourself, Edward. The only way I can gain access into that club is to pretend to be your wife or fiancée.”

  He had only a moment to realize he liked hearing her say his name before she went on. “Believe me, I wouldn’t choose this role if I didn’t think it absolutely necessary to this mission.”

  Edward wasn’t sure whether to be offended by that remark or not.

  Stacy Henrie has always had a love for history, fiction and chocolate. She earned her BA in public relations before turning her attention to raising a family and writing inspirational historical romances. The wife of an entrepreneur husband and a mother of three, Stacy loves to live out history through her fictional characters. In addition to being an author, she is also a reader, a road-trip enthusiast and a novice interior decorator.

  Books by Stacy Henrie

  Love Inspired Historical

  Lady Outlaw

  The Express Rider’s Lady

  The Outlaw’s Secret

  The Renegade’s Redemption

  The Rancher’s Temporary Engagement

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  STACY HENRIE

  The Rancher’s Temporary Engagement

  But if we hope for that we see not,

  then do we with patience wait for it.

  —Romans 8:25

  To my editor, Elizabeth.

  Thank you for believing in that first story and the ones that came after. I’ll be forever grateful for your outstanding help with this part of my writing adventure.

  Contents

  Chapter One

  Chapter Two

  Chapter Three

  Chapter Four

  Chapter Five

  Chapter Six

  Chapter Seven

  Chapter Eight

  Chapter Nine

  Chapter Ten

  Chapter Eleven

  Chapter Twelve

  Chapter Thirteen

  Chapter Fourteen

  Chapter Fifteen

  Chapter Sixteen

  Chapter Seventeen

  Dear Reader

  Excerpt from Honor-Bound Lawman by Danica Favorite

  Chapter One

  Near Big Horn, Wyoming, April 1898

  Edward Kent studied the gaping hole in the barbed wire fence and the trampled posts. This wasn’t the work of an animal—at least not the four-legged kind. Anger heated his neck more than the weak spring sunshine did as he slapped his cowboy hat against his leg.

  “How many horses wandered off?” he asked his ranch foreman, West McCall.

  “Ten, maybe fifteen. Some of the boys are rounding them up now.”

  Edward dipped his chin in a curt nod. “Good. See that one or two of the others repair the fence.”

  “Yes, boss.”

  “We’ll put as many of the horses in the main barn and the corral as we can at night, for the time being, so we can post guards.”

  “Will do.” McCall mounted his horse and rode off in the direction of the large barn and the wranglers’ quarters.

  After jamming his hat back on his light brown hair, Edward wrestled one of the toppled fence posts until it stood moderately upright. New wire and fresh postholes would fix the fence. But it wasn’t likely to fix the rash of mysterious occurrences hobbling operations around the Running W ranch or end the threatening notes he’d been receiving over the past four weeks.

  Go back to where you came from, Brit, the last one had said. Or else there will be trouble.

  Edward cringed at the memory. His gaze swept the rolling hills and scattered trees where they touched the feet of the Big Horn Mountains. If he squinted, he could almost imagine himself back home in England. Though that wasn’t where he wished to be—not since leaving five years ago. The longstanding stigma of being a castoff, a throwaway, as the third son of an earl, stole over him and gripped his throat in a choke hold.

  Coughing, he climbed onto his horse, Napoleon, and steered the animal toward the ranch house. Even at a distance the white, two-story home with its three-sided porch stood out like a pearl against a velvet-green backdrop. A swell of pride loosened the bitter taste of old memories. He’d come here, armed with only a dream and his inheritance. And now he ran the largest horse ranch in the Sheridan area.

  But all his hard work would be for naught if he couldn’t figure out who was sabotaging him. He urged Napoleon faster, his stomach grumbling with hunger. McCall had come to the house at the start of breakfast with the news of the damaged fence and runaway horses. Edward had left without eating a bite.

  Outside the small stable near the house, he dismounted and led his horse inside. “Time for your version of tea and crumpets, isn’t it?” he murmured affectionately to the black horse. The gelding whinnied and tossed its head, eliciting a chuckle from Edward. The horse wasn’t as tall as its predecessors, hence Edward’s choice of name. What the animal lacked in overall stature, though, Napoleon made up for in strength and agility.

  Once he’d given the horse its grain and a rub on the nose, Edward headed into the ranch house through the front door.

  “I’ve returned, Mrs. Harvey,” he called to his housekeeper and cook as he removed his hat and hung it on the hall tree. A pile of mail from yesterday’s post still sat undisturbed on the table. He’d been so busy overseeing the breaking-in of a horse yesterday that when he’d finally returned to the house, he hadn’t bothered to do much more than grab a late supper and head to bed.

  He carried the mail to the dining room. On the top of the stack, he found a letter from his mother, no doubt asking when he planned to visit. Edward wished he could convince her to come here instead. He wanted to show that, although he wasn’t an earl and the estate heir as his oldest brother had been these last five years, that he’d worked hard at creating a good, successful life here.

  Though a bit of a lonely one, his conscience prodded.
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br />   Edward ignored the thought. He’d discovered early on that the daughters of Sheridan’s wealthy ranchers weren’t so different from their English counterparts. In both countries, he was the sum of his bank account and supposed good looks, with little thought to his character or integrity—and no consideration at all to their own. He’d never loved the idea of money or appearances being the basis of a marriage. Living alone, in his opinion, was far more tolerable than entering into a marriage that wasn’t founded on mutual affection and respect. It was something his younger sister had helped instill in him.

  “Just remember to be true to who you are, Eddie,” Liza had often reminded. “You are of worth, most especially to me and to God.”

  Though one year his junior, his sister had exemplified wisdom and vision beyond her years. Perhaps that was the reason she’d left this world too soon, at the tender age of fourteen. Edward missed her still and hoped she knew that he’d tried to live true to himself in the fifteen years since her death.

  Taking a seat at the polished mahogany table, he started sifting through the rest of the mail. There was a newspaper and some sort of penny dreadful—or dime novel as he’d heard them called here in America—for Mrs. Harvey.

  As though she knew what “treasure” awaited her, Mrs. Harvey bustled into the dining room, a tray in hand. “Here you are, sir. Nice and warm once more.”

  “Thank you for accommodating my erratic schedule of late, Mrs. Harvey.” Edward scooted aside the mail to make room for his breakfast. The poached egg, crumpets and hot tea made his mouth water. “Looks splendid as usual.”

  The older woman’s round cheeks pinked with pleasure. “Best eat up before it goes cold—again.”

  After laying his napkin across his knees, he extended the dime novel toward her. “I do believe this is yours, madam.”

  Her face went from pink to red as she snatched the thin book from him. “Thank you, sir.”

  “What is this one about?” he asked as he lifted his fork.

  Mrs. Harvey’s brown eyes lit with excitement. “It’s about a detective in disguise—a real Pinkerton agent, no less. I’m hoping it’s as good as one I read by E. Vanderfair about five years ago.”

  “Ah. Sounds intriguing.”

  “I’ll see that you’re hooked on them before too long, sir.” She wagged a finger at him. “Just you wait and see.”

  Edward shook his head with amusement as his housekeeper left him to his meal. The fifty-year-old woman had been the family’s cook for years at their London residence. Edward had always liked her and her food, so when he’d concocted the idea of coming to America, he’d asked if she might be interested in joining him as a housekeeper and cook. Mrs. Harvey, a widow with no children of her own, had readily agreed. She could be doting at times or downright cheeky, but they got on as well here as they always had. She was still the creator of the finest food he’d ever sampled, and she hadn’t lost her propensity for sensationalized stories, either.

  As for himself, he didn’t see the appeal of those overblown bits of nonsense. His reading tastes had changed since leaving England, consisting of mostly equestrian books and the newspaper. Facts, reality, knowledge, those were his forte—not melodrama.

  After offering a blessing over his food, as well as his ranch and staff, Edward began to eat. He decided to read his mother’s letter later, since hers had the potential to spoil his appetite. The address and English postmark on the other letter he found in the stack of mail set his heart beating double time as he opened the envelope. This must be an answer to his inquiry, at last.

  He read the words through carefully. By the time he reached the end, he was grinning. His father’s contact in the British Cavalry had come through after all. They were, indeed, interested in securing a large quantity of horses from his region.

  A rush of satisfaction rose within him as Edward dug heartily into his breakfast once more. All of his hard work would be worth it if he could secure a contract with the British Cavalry. Then his mother and brothers would surely have to acknowledge that, in spite of not being the heir or the spare to his family’s wealth and title, he’d done quite well. Soon the name and ranch of Edward Kent would mean something, far beyond his small corner of the world.

  He couldn’t wait to tell McCall the good news. Thoughts of his foreman brought the memory of the trampled fence and escaped horses to mind and doused his excitement like water against hot coals. He couldn’t afford any more mishaps, not if he wanted to supply the Cavalry with needed horses.

  No longer hungry, he set aside his fork. He needed to stop whoever wanted him gone. But that meant finding out who was behind the disruptions. Pushing his dishes out of the way, Edward rested his elbows against the tabletop. Who in the area might hold a vendetta against him? He could think of no one. His staff treated him with the same respect he showed them, and the other ranchers he associated with at the Sheridan Inn were uniformly friendly to him.

  He climbed to his feet, fresh frustration chewing at him as hunger had earlier. He stacked his dishes on the tray and carried it into the kitchen. “Here you are, Mrs. Harvey,” he said, setting the tray on the center table. “Thank you again.”

  She glanced up from the dough she was kneading. “Didn’t know you were done, sir, or I would’ve collected the dishes myself.”

  “Not to worry.”

  His gaze fell on the dime novel that lay open before her, giving him a sudden idea. Perhaps this might be an answer to his anxious prayers over the last four weeks. “How efficient are these Pinkerton detectives?” He motioned to the novel. “In real life, I mean.”

  “Quite, sir.” Her expression conveyed her confusion at his question. “They always get their man.”

  Edward clapped his hands. “Excellent. If you need me, Mrs. Harvey, I’ll be in my study.” He had a letter to write.

  “Yes, sir.”

  He exited the kitchen, feeling a return of his good mood. He would employ the Pinkerton’s finest, most reliable man for his case, and soon life would resume to normal at the Running W once more.

  Denver, Colorado, one month later

  Maggy Worthing yanked the maid’s cap off her head, causing her straight auburn hair to tumble around her shoulders. “The counterfeiter is sitting behind bars as we speak,” she announced with triumph as she propped her boots on the edge of her supervisor’s desk.

  “Well done, Maggy.” James McParland, superintendent of the Pinkerton Agency’s Denver office, leaned back in his chair and peered at her through his round spectacles, his chestnut-colored mustache twitching. “You do make a rather convincing maid in that getup, minus the arrogant look.”

  “Ha.” She loosened the top collar button of her borrowed uniform. Once she’d finished talking with James, she could return to her boardinghouse room and change back into her regular, more comfortable clothes—a well-worn button shirt and men’s trousers. “I make a rather convincing detective, maid getup or no.”

  James inclined his head. “Touché. And that is why I have some news for one of my best detectives.”

  A frisson of excitement, similar to what she felt each time she knew she’d nabbed her man, unfurled inside her. “What news is that?” she asked, dropping her boots to the floor.

  “The Pinkerton brothers in Chicago are looking for a woman to head up the training of all their female operatives.” He shot her a knowing smile. “I’ve a mind to recommend you.”

  Maggy blinked, hardly daring to believe his words. This was her dream, one born into existence the moment James had hired her as a Pinkerton operative six years earlier. Now it was so close she could nearly grasp it within her fingers. The twenty-one-year-old widow she’d been then had been as scared as she was determined to make a career out of being a detective. And now, she not only had a solid career for herself but the chance to mold and assist with the careers of other female detectives, too.

 
“Have a mind?” she echoed, erring on the side of caution rather than unbounded hope. “Something I can do to make things more definitive?”

  James separated a short stack of papers from the others on his desk. “Complete this mission in Wyoming. The other operative I sent last month wasn’t able to make any headway on it, which hasn’t made the best impression on the rancher who requested a detective. So far all we’ve managed to do is sour his opinion of the agency. I would’ve put you on the case from the beginning, but you were deep in the counterfeiting mission.”

  “Why does he need an operative?”

  “Someone’s sabotaging his ranch.” He slid the papers toward her. “The man’s initial request is on top, along with the other operative’s report.”

  Picking up the letter first, Maggy carefully read through its contents. Edward Kent, a horse rancher in Wyoming, had experienced a rash of threatening notes and acts of vandalism to his ranch, the Running W.

  It was apparent from his choice of words that the man was well educated and had likely attended school well beyond the completion of the second grade as Maggy had done. The rest of her education she’d garnered on her own—mostly from secretly reading the newspaper and any books she could get her hands on.

  She leafed through the other operative’s notes next. The man, working undercover as a wrangler for Kent, had noted no nefarious behavior or ill feelings among the rancher’s staff—they seemed to be loyal to their employer. He had uncovered no leads as to the identity of the saboteur.

  “Appears to be a straightforward job.” She set the papers back on the desk. “Though I’m not sure which sort of role I ought to play. It sounds like pretending to be a wrangler didn’t exactly help.”

  “See what Kent suggests, but only after you smooth his ruffled feathers. He’s expressed reluctance at hiring someone new from us. But I trust you to convince him that the Pinkertons can still help him and that you’ll crack this case.”