The look on his face told her she’d struck a chord. “Dr. Graham already told you that, didn’t he?”
“Yes, that’s what he said.” He closed his eyes. “He said it could take her life too.”
“He’s right.” She swallowed at the lump in her throat. “Your mother knew all that, and that’s why she sent Hannah here. A mother knows her children. Just like I know Rhett and Wyatt, your mother knows you. She knows you’ll do right by Hannah. No matter what sacrifices you have to make, you’ll do right by her.”
CHAPTER EIGHTEEN
For the first time in his life, his muscles weren’t enough. They couldn’t carry the load he’d been given. Because this time, the load was inside him. Fiona was right. Hannah Olsen needed to be taken care of, and whether he wanted it or not, he’d been given the job of seeing it happened. A man wasn’t much of a man if he turned his back on his duties. He’d never done that before and wasn’t about to do it now.
A man didn’t begrudge what he’d been chosen to do either. That was something else he’d never done—begrudged anything he’d had to do. Accepting all that, he still wished there was another way.
“How’s she doing?”
Brett turned away from the window he’d been staring out of, watching his house for no real reason. Doc Graham had left some time ago. Shortly after Martha had sent him back to his blacksmith shop. “Doc says she’ll be fine,” he told Teddy. Nelson wasn’t one to share his patient’s ailments, but Teddy had a way of getting information out of people. Not as cleverly as his sister, but he still could muster up a good story when he wanted to.
“This isn’t a story for your paper, Teddy. I don’t need—”
“Hey,” Teddy said, holding up a hand. “I’m your best friend, remember? I sent the telegram to your mother.”
“I know,” Brett admitted as guilt sliced across his stomach. “I just, aw, hell, I guess I’m second-guessing the whole notion about being married.”
Teddy shook his head. “I don’t believe that, not coming from you, not for a minute. There’s something else brewing here.” Leaning closer he whispered, “And she’s in your house.”
Brett crossed his arms, a sign most men took to mean that he’d had enough.
Teddy wasn’t most men.
“If you’re trying to irritate me, you’re doing a damn good job.”
“I’m not trying to irritate you,” Teddy answered. “I’m trying to get you to admit that you like Fiona.”
“What good would that do anyone? And why do you care?”
Teddy shrugged. “Because I consider you my best friend, and if you do like Fiona Goldberg, I have some information you might like to know about. And because I’m second in line if you don’t want to marry Hannah. You do remember that part of our deal, don’t you?”
Homing in on the one thing that mattered, Brett asked, “What information do you have on Fiona?”
“It’s not specifically about Fiona,” Teddy said.
“What is it?”
Teddy leaned against the workbench. “Josiah spent yesterday visiting folks and asking them to sign a piece of paper stating the town should give him that house we built as part of his salary.”
“Why should the town give him that house? If he wants it, he should buy it, just like anyone else would.”
“That’s what everyone told him, and he’s not happy about it.” Teddy grinned. “I took it upon myself to do a bit of snooping. Josiah didn’t pay for the tickets for Fiona and her sons to come here out of his own pocket. The money came from the Betterment Committee.”
“How do you know that?”
“I can’t reveal my sources, but I don’t doubt it’s one hundred percent true.” With a shrug, Teddy continued, “I’d say Fiona Goldberg can marry any man who donated to the committee, including you, and there’s nothing Josiah can do about it.”
There had been a time that news would have elated him. Now it distressed Brett further. Especially as another thought formed. “Who knows about this?”
“You and me, and my source, who I can’t divulge.”
“Make sure it stays that way,” Brett said. He may have accepted Hannah was his responsibility to take care of, but he hadn’t completely lost hope of marrying Fiona and he sure as hell didn’t need a crowd of others making her offers.
As if the man knew they’d been talking about him, Josiah barreled into the shop. Without a single hello, he spouted out, “What’s this I hear about a woman staying at your place, Mr. Blackwell?”
“Which one?” Teddy asked.
“I’m not speaking to you, Mr. White,” Josiah said with a glare. “I’m speaking to Mr. Blackwell.”
Unaffected, the smile never left Teddy’s face. “Well, in that case, I’ll let you two have your conversation.” Tipping his flat-brimmed hat, Teddy walked out the door.
“Is there or is there not another woman staying at your place?” Josiah asked. “One who arrived on the noon train?”
“I don’t see how that’s any of your business,” Brett replied. “But I’ll tell you this, I donated a large portion of the lumber that went into the house the town built, and I didn’t do that in order for you to live there for free.” What Teddy had revealed ate away at Brett. If Josiah was mishandling the committee’s money, and lying about it, folks around here wouldn’t stand for it. If Fiona did end up marrying him, where would that leave her and the boys? Out in the cold, that was where, and he wasn’t about to let that happen. Brett pointed a finger at Josiah. “You better get your own business in order before you stick your nose in someone else’s.”
“My business is in order,” Josiah spat. “You’re the one sticking his nose in where it doesn’t belong. Have been ever since Fiona arrived in town.”
“I wouldn’t have had to if you’d treated her fairly.”
“She’s my bride-to-be and I’ll treat her as I see fit!”
Brett took a step forward before he stopped himself, realizing his temper could get the best of him this time. Holding back as much as possible, he bellowed, “Get out! Get out before I throw you out so far it’ll take you two days to walk back to town.”
As Josiah ran for the door, a truth struck Brett like a two-by-four. He couldn’t marry two women. Oak Grove was mostly made up of good people, but Josiah would see that poor little Hannah was eaten alive if he found out she was pregnant and unmarried. Fiona was older and stronger, but he couldn’t stomach the idea of her marrying Josiah. Truth was, he’d strangle the little pipsqueak before letting that happen.
* * *
Brett wasn’t in any better of a mood two days later. Fiona was healing quickly, even up and about a little more each day. He was happy about that. It also made him worry that she’d be gone each time he walked in the house. Martha insisted Fiona still had a lot of healing to do, but he knew how stubborn she was.
She’d barely spoken to him. Granted, he’d kept his distance. Seeing her every day and not having a way for things to work out made him feel as if he’d let her down. Broken a promise. If only he could come up with a way to take care of Hannah while marrying Fiona, but try as he might, he couldn’t. And for the first time since he’d left home, where he’d had cause every now and again to charge his brothers for something they’d done—not him—he’d started to blame others. Namely Josiah. The mayor had been making noise about Hannah and her arrival, partially because his own hornet’s nest was about to explode.
Whoever had been Teddy’s informant had a larger circle than just Teddy. The whispers about Josiah spending the Betterment Committee’s money for his own good had reached far beyond the outskirts of town. Steve Putnam and his wife, Mary—who was indeed identical to her sister, Maggie, including how happy they appeared with their newfound marriages—had ridden up to the blacksmith shop a short time ago.
Steve had hung around the shop while his wife, along with Maggie, went to see Fiona and Hannah.
That seemed to signal other men to mosey on over, and they did. Two at a time in some cases. Brett was glad that Rhett and Wyatt, along with Rollie’s boys, had gone fishing with Joyce Chadwick’s son, Charlie. Otherwise the boys would have been playing in the corral and seen the men heading this way like braves on the warpath.
Brett’s musings faded as the men crowded around.
“Sounds like Josiah’s bit off more than he can chew this time,” Steve said after the rounds of greetings and talk of weather and horseflesh had diminished.
“He sure has,” Otis said. “The town council is considering impeaching him.”
“I didn’t think it was that serious,” Steve said.
“It is,” Rollie Austin said. “We can’t have a mayor misappropriating the town’s money. Now, I’m happy he came up with the Betterment Committee idea and for the first brides that arrived.”
“Of course you are,” Jules said. “You married one of them.”
“And it’s six brides,” Don Carlson said. “Don’t forget about Fiona Goldberg. He paid for her passage with committee funds.”
Brett’s jaw tightened as others agreed with Don’s statement.
“As I was saying,” Rollie continued, “I’m happy about the brides, but there was a lot more money donated than what it costs to bring in five or six brides. I flat out asked Josiah what he did with the money and he refused to answer me.”
“Me too,” Otis agreed. “As a member of the council, I requested a statement from the bank for both the committee’s account and the town’s account. The town’s account balances, no monies are missing, but the committee’s account has less than fifty dollars in it.” Otis pointed toward Steve. “You donated more than that much yourself, Steve.”
“I did,” Steve said. “And I’d have paid double that. You all remember that when you’re looking at my wife. She’s mine.”
After a round of good-hearted laughter and joking, Wally said, “I heard Josiah gambled it away down in Dodge.”
“I heard that too,” Bill Orson said. “I’ll admit, I’ve lost a dime or two at the gambling tables, but it’s always been my money. Not someone else’s.”
Brett figured he had more reason than some to be angry at Josiah but couldn’t wrap common sense around Josiah being that crooked. It just didn’t fit, but something was askew, he couldn’t deny that.
“Well, gentlemen,” Teddy said, “I believe the question is, what is the town going to do about it? Josiah provided us with half the number of brides he promised. Are we going to hold him to the fire, make him produce the other six?” Looking at Otis, Teddy said, “If you impeach him, that’s not going to happen.”
“It’s not going to happen if Josiah’s gambled away all the money either,” Jules said.
“I happen to believe Josiah has the money to repay the committee,” Teddy said. “The rest of you should too. Don’t you read the paper? Josiah’s a lawyer for the railroad. Every time there’s a notice about a new acquirement of land by the railroad, Josiah processed it, and he gets paid for every transaction. Abigail gets the information for those notices directly from Josiah. I think he doesn’t want to spend his own money, that’s all. He’s like a tree rat, squirreling away his nuts for winter. Well, I say it’s about time it freezes in July.”
The roar of cheers and agreements nearly rattled the rafters.
“Teddy’s right!” someone shouted. “It’s time Josiah answers to us!”
Mumbling among themselves and egging each other on, the men started up the street, making a beeline for Josiah’s office.
“You joining them?” Steve asked.
“No,” Brett answered.
“Don’t agree with them?”
“I agree that Josiah needs to pay the money back. I just don’t need to be part of that,” Brett answered, pointing toward the crowd.
“I’ve always admired that about you,” Steve said. “With your strength and size, you could knock a man out without even trying, yet I’ve never even seen you throw a punch.”
“I learned long ago I don’t like seeing people hurt, so why would I want to hurt anyone?” Brett shrugged. “I’d rather put my efforts to good use, work toward something good than fight against something bad.”
“Some men live their whole lives and never figure that out, Brett.” Steve then tipped his hat. “I have to head over to Jackson’s place and look at a cabinet he’s building me. If you see my wife leave your house, I’d be obliged if you’d tell her where I went.”
“I will,” Brett answered. As Steve left, Brett walked to the edge of the lean-to and watched the men barrel into Josiah’s office.
It was hard to feel sorry for someone who’d brought so much grief onto himself, but having had plenty of his own recently, he felt a touch sorry for Josiah.
He was still standing there, watching, when someone tapped him on the shoulder. Turning about, he couldn’t stop the smile from rising on his face. He’d never forget the first day he’d met this tiny dark-haired woman, or how she’d thrown together a meal for eight hungry men in a matter of minutes. “Hello, Mary. Steve asked me to tell you he went over to Jackson’s.”
“I guessed as much.” Her grin turned a bit sheepish. “I watched him leave. I wanted a chance to talk to you.”
“What for?”
“I’ll never forget what you did for me,” she said. “How you gave me a ride out to the Circle P and stayed, helped me. If not for you, Steve would never have hired me as his cook.”
“Oh, yes, he would have,” Brett assured her.
She shook her head. “The Steve I know now would have, but that first night, he’d rather have had a rattlesnake in his kitchen.” She laid a hand on his arm. “I owe my happiness to you, Brett Blackwell, and I’ll never forget that. If there is anything I can do for you, and I mean anything, you let me know.”
His cheeks grew a bit warm at her offer. “Thank you, but there isn’t anything I need.”
Curling a finger, she gestured for him to lean down. When he did, she stood on her tiptoes and kissed his cheek. “Your heart must be as big as you are, Brett.”
She might be right about that. The way it dragged along behind him, making him stumble at times, said it had to weigh about as much as he did.
“Opening your house to Fiona and her sons,” she said with a sigh, “and then to poor little Hannah. She is so young to be a widow.”
What started out as a shiver turned into a warm tingle as it shot up his spine and hit his noggin hard enough to ring a bell. He spun about to take a good long look at his house. Why hadn’t he thought of that?
He grabbed Mary by the shoulders, picked her up and planted a quick kiss on her cheek. “Thank you.” Setting her back on the ground, he headed for his house with his heart thudding inside his chest right where it belonged.
CHAPTER NINETEEN
“The seed’s been planted,” Maggie said, holding the curtain aside.
Peering over Maggie’s shoulder, Fiona pressed a hand to her chest, where her heart pounded so hard she wondered if she should sit down. The seed had been planted all right, but she had to wonder if it was a bad seed. “I don’t know about this.”
“Trust me,” Maggie said, her blue eyes twinkling. She and her sister were indeed identical twins, and Fiona had taken an instant liking to Mary as much as she had to Maggie. Perhaps even held a bit of envy for these two black-haired women. They were not only beautiful, she could well believe they’d pulled a fast one over on more than one person over the years.
Nothing harmful, she’d bet, simply fair turnabout when needed to even out the odds. Like what was being suggested now. No one would be harmed, and it was a good solution.
She withheld a si
gh, wishing she had more of Maggie’s gumption.
“And trust Brett,” Maggie whispered.
“I do trust him,” Fiona admitted. “But—”
“If you want to be treated like a queen, you have to act like one,” Maggie said with a wink. “I’ll leave out the front door and tell Martha and Hannah that Brett’s on his way.”
A part of Fiona wanted to grab Maggie’s arm and ask her to stay, the other part of her told her not to. That Maggie was right. If she was ever going to get what she wanted, she had to be bold enough to do something in order for it to happen.
She loved Brett. Loved him with all her heart, and wanted to see him happy. To see his eyes light up when he walked through the doorway. These past couple of days, though he was still as big and strong as ever, a part of him had been missing. A part she dearly loved. It had been what made him whole. She could give that back to him. Had to give that back to him. That was how love worked. Both parts gave and received.
A thud sounded on the back step and for a moment Fiona wondered if she’d just been caught in a Kansas tornado. Some claimed those fierce wind twisters popped up out of nowhere, and that was exactly what it felt like. As if she’d been lifted up, twirled around and set back down again so fast her head was still spinning.
Then she started to panic. Brett would walk through the door in a second. Drawing a deep breath, she braced herself. It was time. Time to let go of the past. Time to do things differently in order to secure a better future for herself and the boys.
She was standing next to the table, holding on to it with one hand, when he opened the door. Her heart took a tumble, a wonderful one, at the sight of him. He was smiling.
Then a frown formed as he glanced around. “Where is everyone?”
She swallowed and had to clear the frog from her throat. “Martha and Hannah went for a walk.”
He nodded, but his frown remained. “Should she be doing that? Hannah,” he clarified. “Shouldn’t she be in bed?”
“No, she’s already doing much better.” Having gotten to know the young woman over the past couple of days, Fiona had already formed a protective feeling for Hannah. The girl had been through so much and was so young. Barely eighteen. “She’s managing to keep food down now and the fresh air will do her good.”
Winning the Mail-order Bride & Pursued for the Viscount's Vengeance & Redeeming the Rogue Knight (9781488021725) Page 21