Maybe if her parents were still alive she wouldn’t have this decision bearing down on her so quickly. She thought about that for a minute then decided even if they were alive, she wouldn’t move back home. Her childhood had never been pleasant.
Sally and her mother had never seen eye to eye. Her father had died long ago. Sally really wondered at times if her dad had killed himself. There were times she had considered it just to get away from her mother.
It hadn’t been so bad when she was a younger girl. But once Sally had reached the age of 15 her mother had started on her. Sally knew she was a beautiful girl, her mother would tell her all the time.
“You’re just too beautiful; the men will eat you up. My luck you’ll come home pregnant with one of their babies too.” Her mother had quipped at her more than one time.
Sally had tried to tell her mother she was a good girl, and that she would never let a man touch her before she was married. But her mother would always shake her head and say. “I don’t know, I think you would simply lie to me just to get out of the house.”
Sally had to admit by the time she was 19 that she had lied to her mother on many occasions. She was tired of the constant questions her mother would ask her.
“Did you sneak out today? Have you met any men? Have you slept with anyone?” Her mother had quizzed her many times.
She didn’t know why her mother had asked. Sally knew that even when her mother would tell her she was leaving, she would never be far away. If she had tried to sneak out she would be caught. Her mother would know almost as soon as Sally had stepped outside she was out.
She still wasn’t sure how she had met Tommy. He had somehow got to Sally’s mother first. That’s right; he was the sweet little boy, as her mother had called him the first time they were introduced.
“Sally I want you to meet the sweet little boy from the store. He always carries my bags for me. Now that you are older and can marry, well I thought I would introduce you.” Her mother had said.
Sally had jumped at the opportunity to get out of the house. Tommy was nice enough, but she didn’t love him. Sally knew that the engagement agreement on her side was just so she would be out of the house.
But then the war had come and Tommy had been killed. Sally had been stuck there with her mother once more. When her mother had died 4 months ago, Sally had been happier then sad. She finally felt like she could have a life of her own.
However, that had changed almost overnight for Sally. They had very little money to begin with, and the cost of the funeral had taken almost all of the money that had been left. The only reason she had lasted as long as she did, was Sally knew how to live on very little.
When she had received a response from Owen Cody asking her to come and be his wife in Wyoming, she had been happy. Albeit apprehensive to give her hand to someone she had never seen. He had seemed genuine in the couple of emails she had received from him. She had been a little shocked that he hadn’t suggested the marriage in the first letter. It had been more out of necessity that she had agreed though.
Sally had wanted to find love one day, but for now it seemed she had to take what was offered. She hadn’t received any other responses to her classified at that time either. The day she had left town, Owen had still been the only man who had written to her.
Chapter 3
Owen watched as the coach pulled into the front of the dude ranch. He hoped that today would be the day he would finally meet Sally Jackson, soon to be Sally Cody, at least he had contracted that deal. Even Owen realized that if they didn’t get along with each other, he would let her out of the deal. Heck he was such a nice guy he would pay for her fare back to Louisiana.
He watched as a blonde woman got out the coach, he hoped it was her. But right behind her was a man, he was sure at that point it wasn’t Sally. However, another woman got off right after the man, she was also a blonde.
No one else followed along behind the second blonde, so one of these two could be Sally. They were both about the frame that Sally had described herself to him as. But he was worried about approaching the wrong woman. If the other was with her husband, and he approached them, it could ruin their stay. Not only would that ruin their stay, but also would in the long run lose him money. He was a businessman after all, thus he knew about the right type of behavior to portray.
Owen’s heart pumped as he watched his manager welcome the people to the ranch. He tried to listen to every word that was said, but couldn’t make it out. He watched the manager call over the baggage boy. I bet they are a family, now that he looked closer it could be a mother, daughter and father. It had happened many times in the past. Why he hadn’t thought of that at first he didn’t know. But on a second reflection he knew it was because he was excited about her arrival.
He had become quite tired of a life all alone. Owen hadn’t sought out any solace in another woman’s touch for some time. He felt it made him unclean, and the couple of times he had done it were simply out of necessity.
“Welcome to the Yellowstone Dude Ranch, we hope you enjoy your stay.” He said to the three people who had gotten off the coach.
“We love this place already; the scenery is nothing like we have in New York!” The older blonde stated to him.
“Yes we will surely enjoy the time here.” The man said to him as well.
Owen looked to the girl and she just smiled at him shyly. He felt his body react to her, and didn’t think he liked it. In the past there had been many women hit on him. But with Sally arriving any day, it wouldn’t be good of him to have such lustful thoughts over someone else.
“Hi, it’s nice to meet you.” She held out his hand to him.
He put his hand out slowly. His mind had not been paying much attention as he had been trying to curb his emotions. Usually one of the guests daughters were not this forward. They might approach him later on, when their father’s weren’t around. Most of them were trying to act like good little girls in front of their parents. But here was this one completely different from all the rest. Owen realized he might have missed something about the conversation at this point.
“I’m sorry, did you say something else?” He hoped he didn’t look like a complete idiot, but realized he very well might.
“Yes.” She laughed a shy laugh. “You had a look on your face like you weren’t really paying attention. I guess I should have realized that, but I talked anyway.”
“I’m really sorry. It is just that I’m waiting for someone and I was hoping that you were her.” Owen admitted.
“Well I am she.” She laughed heartily.
Owen could feel his face turn red at the moment. “Well in that case, can we start over? You know at the point before you talked and I wasn’t off wondering about you.” Owen laughed as well; he couldn’t do anything but that.
He watched as her face turned red at his comment. She looked down and then back up at him. “Hello, I’m Sally Jackson, I believe you might be Owen Cody, am I right?” She said shyly.
“It is a pleasure to finally meet you Ms. Jackson; I hope that your trip was pleasant.” Owen offered his hand to her. She reached her hand out and took his; he felt a pulse of electricity at her touch.
“It is nice to meet you as well. This is really beautiful out here. Your explanations of it did nothing to describe it fully.” Her eyes were alight as they took in the surroundings.
Owen had to admit that he had picked one of the perfect locations in the area for his ranch. It had been one of the main reasons for his success. “You might say I lucked out when I picked this parcel of land. Really I am so glad that you seem to appreciate the beauty of the location. Of course you are beautiful as well and only add to the attraction of the land.” Owen commented. He hoped it didn’t sound too corny.
As he watched the redness of her embarrassment sweep across her face, he knew he really did find her truly elegant. Owen hoped that she had felt the same attraction as he had, but he had no idea how to be sure of her feeli
ngs. He also knew that he wouldn’t ask her right now either. It would be quite embarrassing for her and him as well.
Chapter 4
Sally had stepped off the coach, the trip had been long. But as she looked around at the area she knew it was well worth it. She had read Owen’s description of the area over and over as she had prepared to leave Louisiana.
It had made her quite excited about the prospect of adventure in her life. For the first time in her life she had felt turned loose. Her mother no longer had that vital hold on Sally. It was one that she was happy to be free of, finally she could be her.
Then she had seen Owen; at least she thought it must be him from the description she had received in one of his letters. He was looking out into the natural beauty of the area. She had to wonder if he had seen her get off the coach.
She had shared the last few hours of the ride with another couple from New York. They had talked her ear off about this dude ranch, and how much they had heard about it. They asked her many questions, mostly to do about her, and why she was coming to this area by herself.
They had also talked to her about her safety and as a single woman that she might want to be very careful. “Unless you’re going to be one of those dancers we’ve heard about. Then I guess you don’t mind the men looking at you.” The wife had said at one point, and the look that had gone across her face was one of disgust.
“Oh no ma’am, I’m not a dancer, never been touched in fact. I’m going out to meet my husband though; I’m a mail-order bride.” Sally had chuckled at the look that crossed the ladies face. She was happy about the fact they weren’t sharing the coach with a dancer though.
Thankfully the talking had gone down for the past half hour of the trip. Sally had gotten a few moments to collect her thoughts and compose herself. She wasn’t really positive about what she would find in Owen, but she hoped he was at least honest.
Now that she saw Owen though, after viewing the beautiful area, she saw that he was indeed how he described his physical features to her. He was tall, he had said 6’ 2”, and Sally figured he had to be at least that. He wasn’t heavy, his thinner frame looked good on him, and she could clearly see the outlines of muscles through his shirt. It was when she had seen the first glimmer of the color of his eyes, she was positive it was Owen.
They were the shocking green he had told her about. “My eyes have often been said to attract many stares.” He had told her in the first letter she had gotten from him.
Sally introduced herself and got a blank stare from him. She had known he wasn’t really paying attention. But she had been shy and afraid that he wouldn’t find her to be what he wanted in a woman.
The fact was that she would love to have some time here to explore this wonderful area. After she had seen his eyes though, she also wanted more time to stare into them. She had wanted to know more about Owen Cody as well.
Sally was happy with her decision to take this jump at this point. When they had restarted the conversation and he had said about her being lovely, and other fantastic things, Sally was hooked.
She didn’t know that someone could fall in love this quickly. But she felt that she had a man who was so much more than he gave off to the world. She had watched the couple and how they had talked about the man who ran this ranch they were all heading too.
“They say that he is one of the kindest men in the area. One of our friends told about a cowboy who had approached their daughter in the saloon. It had been a really bad thing that happened though. I guess the cowboy had been rude to the girl. The parents had gone to Mr. Cody and he had contacted the sheriff and had the cowboy arrested. It was later that the parents learned the man was a close friend of Mr. Cody’s but he couldn’t abide by the behavior.” The woman had told Sally about one story they had heard.
She was shy, but she thought that he might like her too, well even love her. She felt a smile spread across her face at the thought.
Chapter 5
Owen took her arm and led her to their home. It was off to the side of the ranch. It was a modest house. He had built it with his own hands, much like the dude ranch itself. Owen had only moved into it a couple months ago. Up until that time he had stayed in one of the rooms in the ranch house. He had enjoyed the feeling of a full location.
It had been tough the first few nights in the house. Owen had found it hard to sleep at times. He missed waking up in the mornings and hearing the chatter of happy people as they moved past his room. But he knew he had to prepare himself. He knew it would be wrong to ask her to live in the ranch house.
Instead, he had gotten used to the quiet and felt that he wouldn’t keep his new wife up at night. My new wife, he smiled and thought. He liked the sound of that, and he really found this Sally Jackson, was more than he could hope for.
Owen was sure that his new wife would love the fact he was finally sleeping through the nights. He could only imagine how hard it would be for her to get used to his late night habits.
“You really are quite lovely. I wasn’t trying to sound like I was being fresh before.” Owen said to Sally.
He watched her smile at him and turned a little red. “Thank you very much.” She said and looked down at the ground.
Owen grabbed her chin lightly with his hand. He pulled her chin up gently so he could look into her eyes. “I would hope that you are as happy as I am at what we have discovered.” He said and lightly kissed her forehead. If he was honest with himself he had wanted to cover her mouth and kiss her passionately. But he had wanted to show her the utmost respect too. She was a lady and obviously one that he had deeper than normal feelings for as well.
He would have to admit that she had him feeling like a little schoolboy right now. He was fighting hard to control the animal lust that was moving him deep down inside. He had been shocked that she was as beautiful as she turned out to be. When she had described herself in the one letter, she hadn’t said she was amazing. She had played down her looks and made it sound like she might just be a simple and quite plain looking woman.
Owen would have to describe her more like a goddess. She had long blonde hair and she had worn it up, but during the trip, some had fallen to the sides of her head. It made her hair look quite messy. Much like it would look like after a roll in the hay, his animal lust yelled out in his mind.
He tried to focus again on her as a woman. She was to be a special person to him. He did plan to spend the rest of his life with her. Owen hoped she felt the same as he did. He thought for a minute he could talk to her normally, but as soon as he opened his mouth, lustful thoughts would come rushing back into his mind.
Finally, he could focus again on life in the present moment. “I’m sorry there is just something about you that makes me confused. The feelings that collide together I can’t quite explain them. I’ve always been a man who likes to tell the truth as it is. Sometimes that can make me seem direct and to the point. But actually, I think that is what I need to be right now. I don’t want to waste a moment of my life more without you as my wife though. If this is the feelings that you bring up in me, I like them. I would honestly have to admit that I love you Sally and I would be honored if you would be my wife.” Owen had knelt down on his knee at the end. “I’m sorry but I don’t have a ring on me right now. I figured you would want to pick a style that suited you best. So when you got here, I planned on taking a trip with you to Cheyenne, they have the finest store in the area. You should be able to find a ring there.” He stated.
“Won’t you wear one as well?” She questioned him.
He had noticed that she hadn’t said yes though. “I will wear one if you would like me too. I don’t plan on straying from your side our whole marriage. These vows are something that I will take quite seriously. I will always be faithful to you, and protect you with every fiber of my body.” He said, staring intently into her eyes.
Chapter 5
“Of course I will marry you. I’m sorry I was a little shocked at the comments. I
’ve felt an odd feeling towards you from the first as well.” She admitted to him.
Her face turned red and she looked down quickly again. Owen cupped her chin and lifted her face to his again. This time he placed a light kiss on her lips. Sally felt a jolt of electricity shoot through her body. She wasn’t sure why she felt it, but could tell that her lower regions were warming up as well.
Sally had never felt that feeling in her body. Sure she had been engaged, but Tommy had never pushed his limits with her. He had never touched her, never even kissed her on the cheek. He had been so proper, she had wondered if his mother was much like her own.
Sally remembered the preaching of how you kept everything for that one man you would marry. She could often see the look in his eyes, that he had been told to never push a female too far or she would think you thought she was a slut. Oh that word, she had heard her mother say it so many times about young women in the neighborhood. She couldn’t even remember the first time she had heard it.
“I liked that kiss. I’m sorry if I seem scared when you kiss me. It is just something I’ve never done, and I don’t want to disappoint you. But my mother always told me you only share kisses and more with one man. I guess you’re going to be that man. It just is such a shock to me. I find that my mind is going in and out of a fog. That confusion you mentioned. This is what I feel right now; everything in my life has changed so rapidly.” Sally said to him.
“I understand you’ve had a lot of adjustments. I don’t know what Louisiana is like, but I’m sure it doesn’t get as cold there as it will here. You’ve made it just in time, before the first snows will begin actually. I was worried if you didn’t show up soon the snow would come first. If you would have gotten lost along the way and never made it here.” He stopped and looked away. She saw a look of sadness spread over his face. “Well I don’t want to think about that, I’m just happy you made it.” He said.
The Duke's Dilemma: Regency Romance Menage Short Stories Page 38