by Lara Temple
No matter. It was something he could do over time. He’d lived in worse conditions than a slightly run-down home.
Today he was bound for Cartersville to get his breeding stock. Bringing them home would fulfill the dream of a lifetime.
No, not fulfill, but begin.
* * *
It felt like the sun came out from behind a big black cloud, seeing Johnny walk out of the hotel. What a silly duck she had been to worry.
And truly, this was not the first time she’d been a little restive over his loyalty to her. But on those few occasions, he had handily put her anxiety at ease. From all the way across the street, she felt how much he loved her...saw how he was committed to her by the joyful turn of his smile.
Within an hour, she would be Mrs. Johnny Ruiz. She would be free to show him how much she loved him...in all the ways a woman could show her man.
She hugged him, squeezed her eyes shut tight.
“I thought the night would never pass,” she whispered against his collar.
He must have dabbed on cologne. His neck smelled like a bouquet. What a sweet gesture for their wedding day. He didn’t normally wear cologne.
“I didn’t sleep all night, baby doll.”
Opening her eyes, she spotted a couple of fellows coming out of the hotel. One of them shot her and Johnny an odd glance. Could he really be smirking at them?
No doubt he was jealous over the affection they felt for one another. Clearly the fellow had never been in love and didn’t understand the way it was between nearly married folks.
Uncomfortable under the scrutiny, Laura Lee pushed away from her intended but did not let go of him.
“I love you so much, Johnny!”
He lifted a dark brow. The corner of his mouth ticked up. “I am a dashing fellow. All the ladies say so.”
She gently swatted his arm with the Ladies’ Home Journal and Practical Housekeeper. “And such a tease.”
“I love you, too, Laura Lee.” He kissed her on the mouth, right there in the middle of the street for all to see.
Well, in a few more minutes it would no longer be improper.
“Say—” he leaned in, his whisper tickling the hair near her ear “—let’s go up to your room... We can get a head start on being married.”
“We’ve already kept the minister waiting.”
“Won’t take long, I promise. Then we can come back here and have the whole day and night just the two of us, fine and married.”
“We see the minister first, then we spend the whole day and night just the two of us.”
“Ah, come on, Laura Lee, I’m really aching for you. It’s been two weeks since I came for you in Tanners Ridge and we’ve hardly had a private hour.”
That wasn’t quite true. They had spent several nights under the stars when they traveled between towns. In town, she had naturally wanted her own hotel room.
But what an impetuous fellow he was. His impatience only showed how much he loved her. Ever since they had run off to get married, he’d wanted to take liberties.
Truth to tell, she wouldn’t mind giving him what he wanted, but right was right and wrong was wrong. She would not begin their future on the wrong side of the bed.
“Don’t you love me?” His dark brow lifted. He kissed her again.
“With all my heart. You know that.”
Close by, a window slammed. She heard the young men who came out of the hotel laugh heartily.
“Come on, Hell Dog! Finish kissing your girl goodbye and let’s get outta here.”
Johnny dropped his arms from about her. “Shut your trap, Hoodoo. I’ll be along when I’m ready.”
Laura Lee turned to give the men on the porch a closer look. She could not imagine why Johnny would have even answered the fellow who had spoken.
“Who are they?” She stepped closer to Johnny because the men looked disreputable. Like they had been carousing all night, with their clothes rumpled and their hair in disarray.
They were nothing like her Johnny. He was always dashing and dapper, with his hair neatly groomed and his clothing in order. It was a lucky thing he was completely devoted to her because she could not count the times she’d noticed other women’s gazes lingering upon him.
Three more men came out of the hotel and stood with the carousers.
“Who is Hell Dog?” she murmured. The name could describe anyone of the men on the porch. Still, it did not escape her that the only man doing any kissing was Johnny. “I don’t care for the way those men are looking at us.”
“Don’t pay them any mind. Those are just the Underwood brothers.”
“Why are they talking to you?”
A smile crept across Johnny’s face. His back straightened and his chest puffed out. “Because I’m Hell Dog.”
“That’s not a bit funny!” She slapped his arm with the magazine, not playfully this time. She didn’t like feeling so riled at her intended, but they were late for their appointment with the minister. “Tell them goodbye and let’s be on our way.”
“You going to let that little hen peck at you?” the one named Hoodoo called.
If Hoodoo was an odd name, the man was more so. He was tall, rail thin, with posture as curved as a fishhook. His long nose and his sharp black beard both pointed toward the ground.
Even though the morning was cool, sweat dampened Laura Lee’s neck. Something was very wrong. In a million years, she could not imagine Johnny taking up with the likes of those men.
“What have you been doing all night, Johnny?” While she had been sewing the lace ruffle on the hem of her gown, restless and dreaming of her one true love, what had kept him restless?
“Made me some friends.”
“Of the wrong kind, if you ask me.” All five of them looked like they were about to erupt into misdoing.
“Not that I did ask you.” An expression crossed his face that she’d never seen before. She’d known him for a nearly a year...been in love with him for four and a half months, and she had never seen a hint of bully on that handsome face. He’d always been the soul of congeniality.
For the first time, she doubted her decision to go away with him. It cleaved her heart in half, wondering if she had made a mistake. That he might not be who she knew him to be.
“Don’t look sad.” He took her by the shoulders. “I’m sorry, really sorry. That sounded harsh. And just ignore those fools. They aren’t such a bad sort when you get to know them.”
“I don’t intend on getting to know them. I intend on marrying you and settling down. Someday getting our own little house and raising lots of babies. You haven’t changed your mind about that, have you?”
“Of course I haven’t!” He squeezed her to him.
All of a sudden, life felt right again. He was her Johnny, not Hell Dog...whoever that might be. No doubt the name came from a misguided night with that bunch.
But in the end, one night did not hurt what she and Johnny were to each other.
“Let’s go get married, Johnny.” She looked up into his deep brown eyes, her excitement over their future restored. She tugged on his sleeve, half dancing her joy.
“Hold up a minute.” He set his boots firmly in the dirt. “I’ve got a wedding present for you.”
“We’re losing time here, Hell Dog.” The speaker was short and round. His head was topped by an unruly bush of black hair, his long beard a wild match.
“You go on, Ivan,” Johnny called while reaching into his pocket. “I’ll be along.”
“What do you mean, you’ll be along?” she said.
“Just you wait and see!” He unfolded the paper he had taken from his pocket, looking as pleased as she’d ever seen him. “Here’s your dream come true, Laura Lee.” He smoothed open the crisp sheet of paper and held it in front of her face to read.
�
��A deed? To a house?” Carefully, as though the dream might crumble under the pressure of her fingertips, she took the document from him.
“Your house, baby doll. I was up all night getting it for you. It’s why I was late.”
“I never dreamed...” Words failed. She wanted a little home of her own more than she wanted anything on this earth. “Three hundred and twenty acres? How, Johnny?”
He looked so proud, preening like a peacock with his feathers splayed. How could she not adore him?
“I met an old man last night. We hit up a friendship and he told me how he was headed east to live out his days with his granddaughter. He sold his place to me but I told him to make the deed out to you. I know how you’ve got your heart set on a house of your own.”
A house of their own, she knew he meant to say. “But how did you pay for it?”
They had planned to work and save and finally make that dream come true. Now here it was, not a flight of fancy, but a reality in her hands. She could scarce believe what she was looking at.
“Well, that’s the thing, Laura Lee.” He cast a glance over his shoulder at the men walking single file down the boardwalk, then turning at the ally running between the hotel and the stream that trickled through town. “I’ve still got to pay it off. There’s a mortgage.”
“We’ve got to pay it off, you mean. The both of us will work hard and get it done.” She hugged him about the middle as tight as she could. Any man who would do this for her must love her more than...air or food or...or anything. She regretted thinking badly of him for knowing those men and for being called Hell Dog.
Johnny Ruiz was a man among men.
“The fortunate thing is—” he loosened himself from her grip of gratitude and shoved a slip of paper in her hand “—I know a way of getting it paid off quick. But I’ve got to go away with the Underwood boys to do it. But that there is directions to where the ranch is.”
“I don’t trust them.” Here she was with her dream in her hand, a deed of ownership in her name and so fresh that the ink smelled damp, and she was turning shrewish again.
“I told you, Laura Lee, they’re not so bad as they seem. Trust me, what we’re doing isn’t illegal.”
“Or dangerous? I couldn’t go on if something happened to you.”
“Don’t you worry.” He held her away from him, took two long steps backward. “You go on home and fix the place up. I’ll be back before you know it.”
“When? You must have some idea of when.”
“Hard to say—not long, though. Before first snow, I reckon.”
“We could get married now, before you head out.”
“I’d like that, you know I would. But the fellows are waiting.”
She held on to his arm. “Thank you. This is more than my dream come true.”
Pounding hooves trembled the dirt. Five animals carrying Underwoods galloped up the road. One horse was being led without a rider.
Johnny peeled her fingers from his arm. He backed away.
“Bug-ock, bug-ock!” clucked one of the Underwoods. This one was short, slim and had blond hair that curled tightly to his scalp.
Johnny turned to glance at him. When he looked back at Laura Lee a smile blazed across his face.
“Goodbye, Johnny!” All of a sudden, she wasn’t sure the house was worth the cost of having him go away. She ought to be a married woman by now. “I love you!”
“Wait for me!” he called, mounting his horse.
“I will! I promise I’ll be waiting!”
Maybe he heard her promise. She couldn’t be sure, though, because galloping off with his friends, he did not glance back.
Copyright © 2018 by Carol Arens
Connect with us for info on our new releases, access to exclusive offers, free online reads and much more!
Sign up to our newsletter
Share your reading experience on:
Mills & Boon Australia site
Facebook
Twitter
Watch our reviews, author interviews and more on Mills & Boon TV
IMPRINT: Historical
ISBN: 9781489265265
TITLE: LORD STANTON’S LAST MISTRESS
First Australian Publication 2018
Copyright © 2018 Ilana Treston
All rights reserved. By payment of the required fees, you have been granted the non-exclusive, non-transferable right to access and read the text of this e-book on-screen. No part of this text may be reproduced, transmitted, down-loaded, decompiled, reverse engineered, or stored in or introduced into any information storage and retrieval system, in any form or by any means, whether electronic or mechanical, now known or hereinafter invented, without the express written permission of publisher, Harlequin Mills & Boon®, Level 13, 201 Elizabeth Street, Sydney, N.S.W., Australia 2000.
This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents are either the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously, and any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, business establishments, events, or locales is entirely coincidental.
This edition published by arrangement with Harlequin Books S.A.
® and ™ are trademarks owned by Harlequin Enterprises Limited or its corporate affiliates and used by others under licence. Trademarks marked with an ® are registered in Australia and in other countries. Contact [email protected] for details.
www.millsandboon.com.au