Issued to the Bride One Marine (Brides of Chance Creek Book 4)

by Cora Seton

  “All alone?” Harley asked.

  “Where’s that Marine?” Ray added sourly.

  “I’m taking a break from the ranch,” Lena told them shortly. “Just looking for some peace and quiet.” Maybe they’d get the message and bug off.

  “Then we shouldn’t bother you. Come on, boys,” their uncle said. He was a tidy man with watchful eyes and a shock of white hair. Lena saw a lifetime of hard living in his weathered features but spotted the intelligence there, too.

  Harley hurried to make the introductions. “Lena Reed, meet Beau Ellis. My uncle.”

  “Mine, too,” Ray added.

  Lena stopped herself from rolling her eyes and shook hands politely. “Nice to meet you, Mr. Ellis.”

  She expected him to ask her to call him Beau, but he didn’t. Lena was all too familiar with men like him—men from a generation who figured women belonged to a lower order.

  Good thing they were dying out.

  Ellis appraised her for a long moment. “The boys say you’re good with horses.”

  Surprised, she looked to Harley and Ray, who were watching their uncle.

  “Yeah, that’s right.” She was good with horses. No lie there.

  “I’m looking for an overseer for our breeding operation.”

  “An overseer?” Wouldn’t the twins fill that function?

  “These boys lack your experience,” Beau told her. “You interested?”

  “In a job?” Lena couldn’t keep up. Beau wanted her to oversee the twins?

  “That’s right. Like I said, I need someone to run the show. Heard you were the best. Thought maybe you should come work for us. The boys seem mighty keen on the idea.”

  The best? Lena wondered who would have told him that. Ray and Harley? Jamie Lassiter was the breeder in these parts, and he had an eye for it. She was more of a dabbler—not a pro. While he waited, Ellis seemed to be assessing her. His invitation hadn’t been warm, despite what he’d said about the twins wanting her to take the job. And the last thing she needed was to spend more time around Ray and Harley.

  “Do you even have a spread?”

  “Not yet. But we will soon.”

  “Say yes, Lena,” Harley coached her. “It’s a good job. Plus, you’d be with us.”

  He wanted more than a coworker, Lena was sure. Harley watched her like a man who wanted to bed her. Whereas Ray—she was beginning to think he’d do anything to thwart his brother. Unease stirred within her again. She didn’t want this job. Not with Beau as her boss—or the twins as coworkers.

  “I think your information is off,” she said truthfully. “I’m no expert at horse-breeding. And I’ve got my own ranch to run. I’m not looking for work.” That ought to end all this.

  “Lena—” Harley tried again.

  “You heard the woman. She’s not looking for work.” Ellis cut him off. “Change your mind, you come find me. But don’t wait too long.” He set off toward the counter to place his order.

  “Think about it,” Harley urged her. “It’d be a blast.”

  Ray hadn’t said a thing.

  “What do you think?” she challenged him.

  “If you’re smart, you’ll say yes.”

  Lena blinked. It wasn’t exactly a threat, but it sure sounded like one.

  “No Marines bossing you around,” Ray added, as if to soften his message. But Lena didn’t think that was what he meant by his first comment.

  “Sorry. I can’t leave my home.” They had to understand that. Maybe they did; some unspoken conversation passed between them with a raised eyebrow and a shake of a head.

  Ray shrugged. Harley frowned, but his brother grabbed his arm. “More than one way to skin a cat,” he told Harley. “Let’s go eat.”

  “See you, Lena,” Harley said, his shoulders slumping as he moved away.

  Lena watched them, relieved they’d moved on, but one thought stayed with her. Ray was right; if she took the job their uncle offered, she’d be the overseer and she wouldn’t have to share the position with a passel of men.

  But no—she’d never leave Two Willows.

  Not for the best job in the world—and certainly not to work for the Ellises.

  Just as Cass had theorized, Lena didn’t come home for dinner, and Logan paced the living room, waiting to show her the hideaway in the attic, until Connor finally roared at him to sit down and watch the fecking movie playing on the Reed’s outdated television.

  It was an action flick that finally drew him in with a twist he hadn’t seen coming, and when it was over, he looked out the kitchen window to see that Lena’s truck was parked near the carriage house.

  He hadn’t seen her come inside.

  “She’s in the maze,” Alice said from her perch on top of the refrigerator, where she’d spent the last few hours, her cat in her lap and a sketch pad in her hand. “Go find her there.”

  Logan didn’t need to be told twice. He grabbed his jacket and headed out at a fast clip.

  He couldn’t wait to show her what he’d made for her. He hoped it would prove to her once and for all that he cared for the same things she did—and that he wasn’t there to ruin her life, but to improve it.

  His steps slowed when his phone buzzed in his pocket, and he drew it out, swearing when he saw Anthony’s name.

  “I’ve only got a minute,” he said into the phone when he accepted the call. He figured Lena had gone into the maze for a reason; giving her some time wouldn’t hurt.

  “A minute’s all I need. Call Mom, all right? It’s killing her that you never get in touch.”

  It sucked having a priest for a brother. Just a certain inflection in his voice and guilt poured into Logan’s heart. Anthony was right; he hadn’t called home in ages. He’d been avoiding the confrontation that always happened when he did.

  “All right. All right, I will,” he said.

  “Logan—” His brother sighed. “Don’t take too long.”

  Lena didn’t know what brought her out into the maze at this time of night. It wasn’t late, exactly, but it was as dark as midnight. Faint starlight shone on the scrim of snow left from the last storm, but it left impenetrable shadows that might have spooked someone less at home in the maze.

  As she stood in front of the stone, it seemed taller than usual. More inscrutable. Alien, almost. But it was still the same monolith she’d stood in front of countless times. Maybe she hadn’t asked it questions since her mother died. That didn’t mean she didn’t come to be in its presence. It was part of this ranch. The heart of it in some ways—as her mother had once been.

  She wasn’t going to ask it a question tonight, either. She didn’t have any questions. She wasn’t going to take some stupid job working for a man who expected to be called mister. That wasn’t a step up, any way you sliced it. And neither was working in close quarters with Harley and Ray. She had a feeling that would be detrimental to her health.

  Still, the idea of starting over—walking away from Two Willows, her history here—the General—and beginning again with a new job and a new home somewhere else—

  Had a certain charm to it.

  She could remake herself based on her work, rather than her sex or her relationship with her father. Know she’d be judged for what she did—rather than for who she wasn’t.

  Would that be freeing?

  Or would it be lonely?

  How would her sisters feel if she left?

  They’d be hurt—she knew that. But what if she went to work for a local ranch?

  She realized she’d been treating her future like there were only two possible outcomes. Marry the man her father sent and live at Two Willows, or refuse to marry him and stay single at Two Willows. She’d never allowed herself to think there was a third option—leave Two Willows altogether. Back when she was a child this same stone had told her she’d always stay, and she’d believed it.

  She wanted to stay. She was clear on that. Was it the right thing to do, though?

  Would a smarter woman
set off for a destiny all her own? Maybe so. Maybe she was simply a coward doing what she’d always done. Maybe fate hadn’t sent Logan here to marry her at all—maybe fate had sent him to wake her up and break her free of the shackles she’d always worn.

  Two Willows was just a ranch. Just a piece of land. She could walk away from it.

  A cold breeze whipped around her, tossing tendrils of her hair around her face. Lena stood rooted to the spot, wondering if that were true. What would happen to her heart if she left her home?

  Would it break?

  She leaned forward and placed a gloved hand on the stone’s flank, then peeled off the glove and placed her palm there. She wished she could stand like it did. Solidly in its place. Knowing itself through and through. Everything she thought she’d understood about herself seemed wrong tonight.

  She’d thought she was supposed to protect this ranch. To love it. To make her stand here side by side with her sisters.

  Now she wasn’t sure.

  The stone was cold as iron under her touch, but she didn’t flinch. Its stillness soothed her.

  The stone never lied about itself.

  Never lied, period.

  A good quality.

  Should I leave Two Willows? The question came unbidden before she could stop it.

  Lena wrenched her hand away. She hadn’t wanted to ask that—because she didn’t want to know the answer.

  What if the stone said yes?

  Horrified by what she’d done, Lena spun around, meaning to make a run for it.

  And found Logan watching her.

  Her heart pounded hard. How long had he been standing there? Had he heard her question? Had she spoken it aloud?

  Lena realized in a flash the Marine was central to her answer. He was part of staying at the ranch. Part of the path to her future—one way or the other. It was as if the night shifted. As if they were the only two people left alive.

  It was time to speak the truth to each other, she knew. Time to stop running and evading questions.

  Time to face what was in her heart. She knew she’d never leave this ranch. She’d asked that question once before and the stone had answered, leaving no room for uncertainty. The question wasn’t whether she’d stay—it was what would staying look like? Would she spend her life alone—at odds with her sisters and their husbands? Or would she marry Logan and join with them sharing this spread?

  Another breath of air caressed her face, this time a gentle touch—still cool, but soothing.

  Logan took a step toward her and Lena saw clearly now what she’d tried so hard not to see before.

  Logan loved her.

  He’d been sent by the General, and he loved her. A Gordian knot she couldn’t untie with logic—

  A conundrum she had to solve with her heart.

  Love and hate sat in the balance, and Lena realized which she chose would dictate the course of the rest of her life. Would she allow her anger at her father to keep her from the man she—

  Lena swallowed hard.

  She loved Logan.

  Damn it, she loved him. Despite everything.

  But she couldn’t… she couldn’t let a man…

  The breeze caressed her cheek. She felt something in the air—a sudden fierce sense of her mother’s love wrapping around her. Lena thought how dearly Amelia had loved the General—

  But that hadn’t saved her in the end, had it?

  An old sadness welled up inside her, and Lena realized something else. Her anger at the General wasn’t for herself. It never had been. It was for her mother. The General hadn’t been there the day she died, and he should have been, because he was supposed to protect them all. That was his job. And maybe—maybe—

  If he’d been doing his job, he could have saved her.

  Because Lena couldn’t. No matter how fierce she’d been when the General wasn’t around. Even though she’d stepped into his shoes, tried to care for the ranch, care for her family—be the son he thought he didn’t have—

  It had never been enough—

  And her mother—

  Her mother had died.

  The sound that tore from her throat was the cry of a wounded animal. She’d tried. God knew she’d tried. But her mother had slipped away from them all, leaving behind so much pain. The only person in the world who’d really seen her through and through—gone forever. Lena missed her so much.

  And the General—he’d discarded them and never looked back—

  Lena remembered those awful years. Their anguish and determination to drive everyone else away.

  Didn’t the General realize they’d chased off overseer after overseer to make room for—

  Him?

  Logan stepped forward to take her into his arms, and she fell against his broad chest with a sob she couldn’t hold back.

  She hadn’t known how much pain she’d been holding in her heart. She’d spent a lifetime feeling like she hadn’t measured up, but it was the General who’d let them all down. She’d been here when her mother died. She’d rushed to her mother’s side and helped make her last moments the best they could be. She’d cared for the ranch and her sisters during those first terrible days when everything had fallen apart. She’d sat beside Alice through the church service at her mother’s funeral, and held Cass’s hand on the walk to her grave. She’d taken Sadie’s elbow when the casket had been lowered into the ground, caught Jo when it seemed she might faint on the way back home and held strong for all of her sisters’ sake until it was time to go.

  She’d driven them home, even though she hadn’t even had a license back then. She’d ushered them into the house. Did her best to heat up food some kind neighbor had dropped by. Stayed dry-eyed and strong while her sisters’ tears flowed.

  She’d been there.

  The General hadn’t.

  “He’s the one who should feel ashamed!” she cried.

  Logan crushed her against his chest. Buried his face against her hair.

  “He does, baby girl. Don’t you see that?” he murmured in her ear. “He’s so ashamed he can’t come home. That’s why he’s sending us.”

  A new pain sliced through Lena, so sharp her grief was as wild as a raven trying to beat its way out of her chest. She fought to hold it in, but it wouldn’t stay caged.

  She wasn’t sure anymore if she was crying for herself, her mother, her sisters or her father, but when her sobs finally slowed, she found she’d broken through the pain to a clarity on the other side. She’d lost her childhood—and it was gone forever. She’d lost her self-respect for so long she’d thought she’d never had it, but now she realized she was wrong. She had respected herself when she was young—until the day her father’s outburst had taught her to be ashamed of herself. And that wasn’t even his fault; that was the world they both lived in. The one afraid of what a woman’s body could do.

  She’d lived too long with that fear and with the feeling she’d never be good enough. Lived too long thinking her mother’s death was somehow her fault, too. Now Logan’s words made her realize her father was very possibly struggling with the same feeling.

  What a world, she thought. What a trap we all struggle in.

  She took a deep breath and promised herself she’d break free of that trap. She was done feeling ashamed. She was a woman. A strong woman. A determined one.

  Her body allowed her to be who she was. Lena Reed. A woman who tried her best. Who loved her family.

  Who loved Logan.

  As her tears faded, the quiet night sounds invaded her consciousness again. The rattle of the breeze in the hedge.

  Her mother was close. She could feel her. And Amelia approved.

  This was Griffith land. Her mother’s land. And of course she belonged here—on her mother’s ranch.

  Her ranch.

  She belonged here with her sisters, their husbands.

  And Logan.

  Whether or not the General had sent him.

  “You okay?” Logan asked when Lena’s
tears ended, reluctantly breaking the spell that had seemed to settle around them. Tonight he could believe the standing stone was magic. There’d been a hush around them, as if the world were waiting for an answer that had finally come.

  An answer he had missed.

  He didn’t know what had just happened, but it was big, his instincts told him. He wondered if Lena would let him in on it.

  “I’m okay.” Her voice was hoarse, and he tightened his embrace. He never wanted Lena to feel pain, and she carried so much of it around in her heart.

  Lena wriggled in his arms, and he let her go with a sigh.

  “Did you ask the stone a question?” he asked warily.

  She nodded.

  He stilled. What had she asked? Would she tell him?

  Lena lifted her gaze to his, and her eyes reflected the starlight. “Now I’m saying yes. To you.”

  His breath caught. “To me?”

  She chuckled a little. “I guess you haven’t even proposed yet, huh?”

  He didn’t need to hear any more. Logan dropped down to one knee. “Lena Reed, I love you. I’m your man, I swear it. Will you marry me?”

  Lena looked up at the sky, glanced at the stone. “I never dreamed it would happen here, but it’s right, isn’t it?”

  “It’s right,” he said, still unable to catch his breath. Lena was going to say yes to him. She was going to be his wife. His. Forever.

  She turned back to him, and he took her hand. Waited.

  “Yes,” she said. “Logan Hughes, I love you, too. I’m your woman and I’ll marry you.”

  He surged to his feet, cupped his hands under her chin and kissed her. She was soft and intoxicating. Desire shot through him like a white-hot bolt of need. They’d made love before, but that was then, when they were two people coming together to satisfy their bodies. Now he needed more. Needed Lena, heart and soul.