The Convenient Bride Collection: 9 Romances Grow from Marriage Partnerships Formed Out of Necessity

by Erica Vetsch, Amanda Barratt, Andrea Boeshaar, Mona Hodgson, Melissa Jagears, Maureen Lang, Gabrielle Meyer, Jennifer Uhlarik, Renee Yancy

  “A cougar?”

  “Yes, Faither.” Maisie stretched out her arm, pointing. “It’s dead. Right there.”

  Ian looked in the direction Maisie pointed and saw a cougar lying lifeless in the tall grass, less than twenty feet from the children.

  Angus stepped toward Ian. “Miss Neelie saved us.”

  Ian swallowed his frustration and returned his focus to the woman shooter, who set the sombrero atop her curls. “Thank you. They were so determined to see you shoot, that I thought—”

  “We sure was.” Duff hooked his thumb under the blue bandanna tied around his neck. “That’s why we were following her.”

  Caleb placed his arm around his sister’s shoulders. “I, for one, am glad she had the presence of mind as well as the skill to protect our children.”

  “Of course, I am, too,” Ian said. “Neverthless, I’m not sure a woman shootist is the kind of influence we want for our children in this wagon train.” No one on the trail needed the distraction. Least of all, him.

  That night, Ian lay under a waxing full moon, chiding himself. Caleb and his sister had been reunited less than twenty-four hours before Ian had scolded her for giving a shooting exhibition on a Sunday. What right did he have to decide she didn’t belong with the caravan? So what if she was different than any woman he’d known and his children were enthralled with her larger-than-life persona and skill? He sighed, looking at the myriad stars overhead. If he were being honest, he’d have to admit that Neelie’s differences and his concern for his children weren’t the only reasons he wanted her gone from their midst. She challenged him and intrigued him. And he found the latter especially unsettling.

  Upon his announcement that he didn’t appreciate her influence on the children, Neelie had shrugged out of her brother’s embrace and walked away without speaking a word. The children started after her, but Caleb stopped them. He had held his tongue, but the look of disapproval he sent Ian was just as strong as the one from Angus.

  Ian had gone to Caleb’s camp to apologize to Neelie, but she hadn’t returned. He’d made his apologies to Caleb, but Caleb hadn’t been the one judged and offended. He’d seen Neelie return to camp before dark, but by now she was bedded down. His apology would have to wait until morning.

  Sitting up, Ian pulled his pillow onto his lap and kneaded it like he’d watched Rhoda do with bread dough. He was finally ready to lay back and try to find sleep again when he heard twigs snap not more than thirty feet out from where he lay. What if the cougar Neelie shot wasn’t the only one roaming this area? He reached for the rifle that lay alongside his pallet. Probably just a fox or a coyote minding his own business. He’d just about convinced himself of that when he saw swift movement. Not an animal, but the silhouette of a petite person wearing a sombrero.

  Neelie.

  Standing, Ian blinked hard to focus his vision. She carried a pack. His gut clenched. It wasn’t safe for her to be out here alone. He grabbed his hat from the ground and, rifle in hand, set out after her. His steps intentionally light, he followed Neelie toward the line of elms and cottonwoods. She was headed for the river and would be hard to track in its muddy water. He couldn’t let her get that far. By the time he reached the edge of the trees, he’d lost sight of her in the dim light. An owl hooted in the distance. The river meandered in near silence.

  No footfalls. Had she heard him and hidden?

  “Ma’am, it’s Ian Kamden.”

  Neelie stepped from behind a tree and chuckled. “Of course it’s you. Who else would it be with those clomping steps and a growling burr?”

  “Fair enough.” Ian hooked his thumb on his coat pocket. “I want to apologize. I was wrong about you and your reasons for shooting amid the children. I jumped to conclusions. I was wrong to judge you; wrong to think you didn’t belong. You do belong on the trail with all of us. You do.”

  Neelie lifted a shoulder and let it fall. “I’m not so sure. But it doesn’t matter. I have a job to get to. I was on my way there when I found Caleb.”

  “Your brother didn’t object to you leaving at this hour?”

  “He doesn’t know.”

  “You left your family without saying good-bye?”

  Neelie tucked a curl behind her ear. “It’s for the best.”

  How could she say that? He’d seen the joy on her face at seeing Caleb alive.

  “I’m not the sister Caleb knew in Tennessee. Time has passed. Things have happened.”

  Ian propped his rifle against the trunk of a tree and took a step toward her. Neelie’s brown eyes glistened in the moonlight. Had she been crying? It was obvious even to him that something dreadful had happened to close her heart. Why else would she wear a man’s clothes and be so secretive? “I don’t know why you think you have to be so tough, and I probably have no right to even mention it, but my guess is that someone hurt you.”

  She looked away.

  “Might have even been your husband. Rest his soul.”

  When Neelie took slow steps toward a couple of fallen trees, Ian followed. She sat on one and set her pack on the ground. He settled on the other, facing her.

  “Your wife, she was a good woman?” Neelie asked.

  “Yes. And she deserved better. I knew my wife leaned toward infirmity.” Feeling the weight of his decisions, he leaned forward and rested his forearms on his thighs. “I was afraid I might lose her when she birthed Maisie. I never should have—”

  “And I should never have boarded that stagecoach west to join Archie in New Mexico Territory.”

  She’d traveled west alone. This was a woman of incredible strength of character and determination.

  “He didn’t die in the war.” She stood, and he did, too. “Someone killed him. Later.”

  “I’m sorry.”

  “I suppose I should be.” Moonlight drew long shadows across her face.

  “He mistreated you?”

  Neelie blinked hard then scooped up her pack. “I shouldn’t have said anything.”

  “Please come back to camp.”

  She glanced upriver.

  Anyone could’ve knocked him over with a hummingbird feather when she started off toward the encampment. Ian followed, his mind spinning with questions he didn’t have the freedom to ask. Not if he had any hope of returning her to her brother.

  Chapter 6

  Clutching the stem of a black-eyed Susan, Neelie set one foot in front of the other, her steps punctuated by the sound of bawling cows, clanging pots and pans, and chattering children. Fabric bunnies and dolls poked out of the pockets on Maisie and her friend Gabi’s pinafores. Giggling about who-knew-what, the little girls followed a throng of boys, Lyall, Duff, and Angus among them. The wagons rolled single file, Otto Goben’s, led by Anna, and then the Kamdens’ wagons. Sixteen-year-old Hattie Pemberton held the lead on the farm wagon, and Blair, Ian’s oldest daughter, directed the lead ox on the Conestoga. Her grandmother perched on the bench, wearing her feathered hat like a crown.

  While the animals’ hooves churned the dry dirt, Neelie’s mind roiled over recent events. Principally, her decision to leave the camp last night then being followed by Ian Kamden. Would Archie have even noticed she’d left?

  “Someone hurt you.”

  No matter how many times she asked herself why she’d disclosed so much to Ian, she couldn’t imagine a suitable answer. She hadn’t even told her brother that her husband had been killed after the war ended. No one but the gang Archie ran with knew how he’d treated her. And not one of them ever cared that he’d hurt her.

  Yet a stranger out on the prairie had noticed.

  Ian Kamden was as different as a buffalo from a prairie dog from the man she’d married and traipsed the west with like a vagabond. Like a common criminal. The Scotsman cared for his family. Despite his frustration with her, he’d given her a ride when she’d lost everything she owned. He didn’t even know her, and he’d seen to her needs.

  Neelie swatted at the swarm of no-see-ums buzzing about. Firs
t thing that morning, Caleb had apologized for being so hardheaded about her being a shootist. He even said he was thankful she had the skill to protect the children.

  “I’m repeating myself, but I’m so glad you’re here.” Anna smiled.

  Neelie looked at her sister-in-law, who didn’t seem the least bit rattled by the clunking of yokes behind them, the buzzing gnats, or the sweat beaded on her forehead. “I am, too.” It wasn’t a lie. She was grateful Ian Kamden had stopped her last night.

  Archie would say she’d gone soft for not organizing a shooting exhibition while she had a captive audience. And maybe he’d be right. But finding Caleb felt more like a second chance at family than a missed opportunity for a fleecing.

  Neelie matched Anna’s steady stride. “I’m assuming you and Caleb were friends in Saint Charles before the wagons rolled out.”

  A smirk lifted one corner of Anna’s mouth and brightened her blue eyes. “We’d met all right, in a dry goods store. But, at the time, friendship seemed quite impossible. Even during those first weeks on the road.”

  “But you married him. Must have been something, uh, between you.”

  “Antagonism, that’s what there was between us.” Anna giggled. “I’d backed out of marrying Boney Hughes.”

  “The trail hand?”

  “That’s the one. Caleb thought I was fickle and cruel. Didn’t like me in the least, and the feeling was mutual.”

  “Something must have changed, because you two seem well matched. And not in the least antagonistic.”

  Anna blushed. “Your brother is a real good man, though he can be more than a little stubborn, at times.”

  “He was like that even as a boy.” Neelie cocked her head. “To be fair, it runs in the family.”

  “I can see that.” Anna’s grin revealed a dimple in her cheek. “But you’re both in good company. My mother was a drinker and said I have the doggedness of a long winter. I thought I could separate her from the bottle, but in the end, I couldn’t save her. She got hold of some rotgut whiskey and died the other side of Fort Kearney.”

  “I’m sorry.” Regret clutched Neelie’s throat, making her wonder if her own parents were still alive. She’d been too ashamed to send them a letter since she left home two years ago. “It sounds like we’ve all lost a lot. Caleb, his regiment. You, your brother and your mother. Ian, his wife.”

  Anna glanced at the ragtag group of children flanking them. “And now,” she whispered, “those dear children are without a mother.”

  Neelie nodded, a surprising lump forming in her throat. The four youngest ones had not hesitated to befriend her, coming to see her at her brother’s camp, walking with her on the trail, and thanking her for coming to their rescue with the cougar. Blair, being the oldest, had been given responsibilities looking after the Conestoga and her grandmother. They hadn’t done more than cross paths. The children needed a mother, especially on such a long journey and settling in new territory.

  And she needed to keep her heart free of attachments.

  “Good day, ladies.” The greeting came with a Scottish flair to it.

  Neelie looked over her shoulder. Sitting atop his Palamino, Ian Kamden doffed his tam cap. He had referred to her as a lady, something that hadn’t happened since her first weeks in Santa Fe.

  “Mr. Kamden.” Neelie worried a button on her shirt, suddenly wishing she’d taken more time to freshen up that morning.

  “Please, call me Ian.”

  “Ian, then. Good day.”

  Anna pressed her lips together, but that didn’t hide the grin adding shine to her eyes. “You have any scuttlebutt to report?”

  “I might. Boney’s back from scouting with Isaac.” His beard looked more red than brown in the sunlight. “He said we’ll camp upriver from an Arapaho settlement tonight.”

  Good. Maybe she could get a proper washing in the river.

  “He said they have moccasins to trade, if anyone is in need of footwear.” He glanced down at Neelie’s worn boots then over at the gaggle of children. “They minding their p’s and q’s?”

  “And then some. Lyall gave me a shiny rock.” She pulled the stone from her pocket then raised the flower. “Maisie brought me this black-eyed Susan.”

  Ian’s face blanched and his lips pinched together. Had she done something wrong? Was he upset because his children liked her?

  He shifted in the saddle, and his coloring improved. “Maisie used to pick wildflowers for her mother.”

  Neelie’s stomach clenched. Nodding, she focused on the Palomino’s muzzle. “You needn’t worry about them. I’ve been keeping an eye on the children, and they’re fine.”

  “Thank you. It’s kind of you to help out.”

  Was that what she was doing, helping out? Or was she growing attached despite her best intentions?

  Neelie walked alongside the four oxen pulling Caleb and Anna’s covered farm wagon. Her new beaded moccasins peeked out from under her rolled trouser cuffs, making her smile. The Arapaho had gladly accepted a dozen of Anna’s beeswax candles for them, and Anna beamed with delight when she gifted them to Neelie. Today, Neelie insisted Caleb and Anna let her help out so they could spend some time together. Watching them ride off on Caleb’s Tennessee pacer and Anna’s bay, bantering and giggling, made Neelie’s heart ache for something more. Her brother and sister-in-law shared the kind of love she had once thought she had with Archibald. But she and Archie were never that sappy. Or even that kind to each other.

  She’d been traveling with the wagon train company for eight days now. Before Caleb’s Bible reading that morning, the captain announced that they had another month or so to travel before reaching Fort Laramie. The caravan was slow going. Could she afford to wait that long before striking out on her own again?

  Duff Kamden scuffled toward her, tugging at the blue kerchief at his neck. Lyall, Angus, and Maisie lagged behind him. “Miss Neelie, we saw the preacher and his missus out riding. Thought maybe you could use some company.”

  “I’d like that. Thank you”

  “There’s more.” Maisie raised up on her tiptoes, staring at Duff.

  “Oh?”

  “Yes, mem.” Duff adjusted the curled rope hanging from his shoulder. “We’ll be stoppin’ soon for a rest, and we want you to eat with us for the midday meal.”

  She looked at his siblings. They smiled, their nods exaggerated. “Have you talked to your father about this?”

  “He likes you now, Miss Neelie.” The freckles over the bridge of Duff’s nose danced when he smiled. “Miss Hattie said we’re having shortbread and ham. I’ll even get the extra stool out for you.”

  Not an easy invitation to refuse.

  Within the hour, the wagons formed a semicircle. Neelie walked to the back of the Kamden’s covered farm wagon. Still questioning her decision to accept the children’s invitation, she viewed the scene in the shadow of the wagon.

  Little Maisie sat on a quilt in the grass, with Miss Hattie bent over her bare feet. Her brother, Lyall, sat beside her, burrs and foxtails covering his trousers and stockings. The eldest sister, Blair, stood at the back of the wagon, peering into the grub box. Duff stood off to one side, swinging a loop of rope. Several three-legged stools dotted the grass topped with various toys. Duff let the rope fly, lassoing Maisie’s cloth flop-eared bunny.

  “Floppy!” Maisie’s screech split the air.

  “Duff Kamden!” Hattie straightened abruptly, rocking the straw hat on her head. “Thanks to your tomfoolery, I like to have pushed this thorn deeper into your sister’s foot.”

  “I’m practicing to be a cowboy.”

  Hattie’s shoulders sagged in a deep sigh. “Practice somewhere else.”

  Duff stuck his tongue out at Maisie. “The stupid bunny is all right.”

  “Floppy’s not stupid.” Maisie pumped her hands, reaching for the doll. “Give her to me!”

  Neelie took a step forward. “Duff, you heard your sister. Hand over the bunny.”

  Hat
tie jerked around. “Ma’am. I didn’t see you there.”

  His eyes wide, Duff took quick steps to his sister and thrust Floppy into her arms. “I’m sorry.” His apology was a bonus Neelie hadn’t thought to request.

  No one could be more surprised by Neelie inserting herself into a family matter than she was. Since when had she taken it upon herself to be the children’s keeper?

  “Miss Neelie!” Maisie looked up, her green eyes glistening with tears. “I’m glad you came to save me.”

  If hearts could melt, hers just had. Something about this little one—these children—seemed to bring out the best in her. They made her wish things were different. For her. And for them. One thing was certain—these children needed a mother. Their mother. Hattie was in over her head and no doubt anxious to spend more time with her own family.

  Neelie walked to the quilt where Hattie held tweezers over Maisie’s angry red foot. “What happened?”

  Hattie peered up at her, a frown framing her mouth. “She decided to follow Lyall into a sticker patch.”

  Blair closed the lid on the grub box and walked toward Neelie, carrying two cloth-wrapped bundles pressed against her plaid pinafore. “Did you need something?”

  “Me and Angus and Maisie invited her to eat with us.” Duff set the coiled rope over his shoulder.

  “Did you ask Faither?”

  The girl’s cocked head and tight lips told Neelie she didn’t belong here. Ian had said so, too, even if he’d later claimed he was wrong and apologized. Clearly, his oldest daughter didn’t want her here. Neelie forced herself to take a deep breath. She’d faced down criminals and shady barkeeps. Was she really going to let a girl not yet ten intimidate her?

  “Where is Angus?” Neelie asked.

  Blair’s deep sigh pierced Neelie’s heart. Maisie might be ready to pick flowers for other women, but her big sister wasn’t feeling so accommodating. Something Neelie understood. She met Blair’s gaze. Blue-green eyes like her father’s.