The Bride’s Secret_A Western Romance Story

by Elliee Atkinson

  Rachel frowned. “That’s not good. You should be able to leave the rodeo if you want.”

  “We can’t leave.”

  “You don’t have the money? Because I could…”

  “No,” Emily interrupted her, lifting one hand and waving it with her palm facing Rachel. “I don’t want a loan. I don’t need one. I have money saved up, just enough to be prosperous for a few months. During that time, we would find new jobs and careers and be able to do something we happily want to do.”

  “It seems to me like the rodeo would be a lot of fun. It isn’t?”

  Emily thought about it for a moment. She did like being in the rodeo and being seen by hundreds of people all over the west coast. At one time, she had dreamed that the rodeo would take her all the way over to the East coast. She’d never been there and thought it sounded fascinating.

  On the other hand, she wanted to have a family. She had to, before it was too late.

  “I want to have a family,” she said softly, staring blankly in front of her. “I’m not getting younger. I want to live through the birth and have a healthy baby. I’ll do whatever I have to do to make that happen. But right now, I have to be in the rodeo.”

  “So you say you have the resources to do whatever you want with your life. Why don’t you? What’s stopping you?” When Emily looked at her face, Rachel could tell she was looking to see if Rachel could handle the news she was about to give her. The woman looked mentally stable and strong.

  For her part, Emily took in Rachel’s green eyes and had a sneaking suspicion that the big green eyes of the Irishman might mean they are blood-related. It gave her a weird feeling that she might have stumbled on Sam’s relative out here in the middle of the woods. She looked through the window at the long patch of trees that stretched out in front of her.

  “Well,” she said, still looking out at the birds flying in the blue sky. She wished sometimes she could be a bird and fly away from all her troubles. “My brother has gotten in trouble with the law before and they might be after him right now. And what he’s being accused of is something he didn’t do.”

  “If he didn’t do it, why doesn’t he face the charges?”

  “He won’t be found innocent, that’s why. They have set him up for it.”

  “Who is they?” Rachel asked innocently.

  “The answer to that question is I don’t know. The people searching for him maybe.”

  “It’s not just the sheriff that’s after him?”

  “No. He… we have a boss who is constantly threatening to turn him in and even offer up his own testimony against him. He says that he will make sure all legal people will believe his stories about barbaric crimes my brother committed. Even though he was never there! Max has even had us all sign a contract stating we have to work for him for a certain amount of time. When Ryan and I decided we wanted to sign the contracts, we didn’t think anything of it. It was for 15 to 20 years.”

  Rachel’s eyes opened wide. “You’re under contract with the rodeo for 20 years? What made you sign it? How could you not realize the possibilities of that?”

  Emily looked sad. “We thought we would want to do this for the rest of our lives. We were wrong.”

  CHAPTER THIRTEEN

  IN SEARCH OF EMILY

  IN SEARCH OF EMILY

  The men were just leaving the saloon and mounting their horses when another came galloping down the street, dust kicking up under his feet.

  Adam and Sam looked at each other. The rider of the horse was Ryan Whittaker.

  “It’s a good thing Andrew left when he did,” Adam said in a low voice, aiming his words in Sam’s direction. His face was distorted to look like nothing they had ever seen before. It was hard to tell what he was feeling at that moment. It looked to be a mixture of fear, anger, betrayal, jealousy, every negative feeling they could think of.

  They waited, steadying their restless horses, until he was almost to them. He pulled back on the reins when he was a few feet away from them and threw his leg out to dismount. He came up to Sam’s horse first.

  “I need to talk to you, Sam!” he said in a demanding voice.

  “You can speak right there or you can not speak at all. I’m not caring either way!”

  “I can’t find Emily. Ma said you came out of the woods where she had gone running in. What did you do to her? What did you do to her?” He reached up and tried to pull Sam out of his saddle. The big man didn’t budge. He looked down at Ryan’s pathetic attempts to dismount him and waited until the smaller man wore himself out. When Ryan finally did, looking exhausted, he rested his head on his hand and breathed hard. He looked up at Sam, who was surprised to see a look of pleading on the man’s face. He didn’t expect to feel sorry for Ryan.

  “I haven’t done anything to her. We were just planning to come out and start looking for her. I just want to make sure she’s safe.”

  “It’s my job to make sure she’s safe. Not yours!”

  Sam gave him a stern look, making him take a step away from the horse. He was afraid Sam might loosen his foot from the stirrup and give him a swift kick. “I am concerned about her. There’s something going on with you people and we want to know what it is.”

  “It’s none of your concern!” Ryan shouted.

  “It is if anyone in our town is in danger. And while Emily is in town, that includes her. We protect anyone who comes into Wickenburg with good intentions.”

  “You can either come with us to find her or we will go on our own. It doesn’t matter to us…” Sam would have continued but a group of horses was headed their way. From the look of it, it was a lot of the rodeo workers and performers. Ryan looked up at Sam with a grin.

  “Now things will go the way they are supposed to.”

  Sam frowned, sliding off his horse to stand in front of Ryan, who looked terrified again. “Ryan,” he said. “You are taking this way too far. I don’t know what’s happened to you in your past but you have to let it go and move on. You have to come clean and face reality. You know what that means? That means getting back your real life, your freedom, you! We don’t have to be enemies, you and I. We can all go looking for her. It’s apparent she didn’t make it to the rodeo today.”

  Ryan scowled, looking angry. “That’s why I’m here. Mother said you know where she went into the woods. Is there anything dangerous in there?”

  “There are always dangerous things in the woods, Ryan. Nevertheless, we’ll find her. I’m sure you know she’s a smart woman. She’s not going to let anything happen to her, not if she can help it.”

  “I’m not worried about the things she can do for herself. I’m worried about whether she gets attacked by some animal, or falls down and gets hurt. Maybe she’ll slip into a stream and drown.”

  “That’s not going to happen. You can’t think that way, friend.”

  By then the men from the rodeo were upon them, dismounting and coming closer to Sam. When they saw the six men, Adam and Mark looked at each other, dismounting immediately to get nearer to Sam if he should need their assistance.

  The men came up behind Ryan. “Is this the man that saw her go into the woods and followed her?” asked one of them.

  “Yeah, Jack, this is him,” Ryan replied, not looking behind him when he answered. He never took his eyes from Sam’s face. Sam held out a hand to Jack. Jack took it and shook it.

  “Sam. Sam O’Connell.”

  “Jack Levine. We went to the edge of the woods and called for her but she didn’t come out. A couple of us went in to look but we can’t go in too far or we won’t find our way out. Will any of you local men help us find her?”

  “They can’t help us!” Ryan said, angrily. “They have their own things to do. They don’t care about rodeo folk.”

  Jack looked at Sam in confusion. “Is this true?”

  Sam sighed, rolling his eyes. “It’s not true. We were just going to look for her. Ryan is welcome to come. We all need to find her before it starts getting dark.�
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  “It’s not going to get dark for hours,” Jack said.

  “Exactly the reason we should get started now. Lots of time to find her.”

  “You can go with them if you want, Jack. All of you can. But I’m gonna find her myself. I’ll find her before any of you do.” He turned and stomped back to his horse, mounting, and turning his horse away from them all, despite the protests of his friends from the rodeo. He took off down Main Street without looking back.

  Jack looked up at Sam. “We’re concerned about Ryan and Em. They haven’t been themselves for a while now.”

  “Coupla years,” said one of the men on horseback.

  Jack glanced back at him, nodding. “He’s right. It’s been a couple of years. They’ve both been acting strange since we got here. I mean, stranger than they have been.” Jack shook his head. “It’s confusing. Anyway, when we heard you had seen her going in the woods, we thought you might take us to the spot where you saw her and lead us into the woods. We’ll be beside ourselves if she is laying in a ditch somewhere. I don’t know if the missus can take that.”

  “Understandable.”

  “The Whittaker's have been with us longer than most people. They are good folks; they just have a lot of stress. I live my life without stress if I can. Then, you don’t know what someone else is going through. Gotta give leeway.”

  As he spoke, Jack mounted his horse and waited as Sam did the same.

  “I’d be glad to take you to where it was.”

  “Do you remember well?”

  “I like to tell anyone if they need to find something in those woods over there, I’m the one to find it for them. I know them very well.”

  “That’s helpful.”

  Adam and Mark mounted their horses as soon as they saw that the men from the rodeo were not hostile like Ryan. None of them knew the Whittaker business, apparently, and may not have cared if they did know.

  The men rode out of town, back toward the rodeo site. When they reached the road that went to the right and led them to the woods, Sam took the lead.

  “I’ll show you where she went in. I went in after her and talked to her. I don’t know if you knew that.”

  Jack shook his head. “Mrs. Whittaker told us you knew where she went in. Not where you came out.”

  “It was almost the same,” Sam said. “We did not go far into the woods. But she ran away from me and I didn’t follow. I didn’t think it was my business to follow. I warned her and let her go back there.” He shook his head in dismay. “That was not a smart move on my part.”

  “We all make mistakes, Mr. O’Connell. It’s how we live with them that defines who we are.”

  Sam nodded. “Valid point. Tell me, what do you know about Max?”

  “Max Keaton? The owner?” Sam noticed the sneer that came across Jack’s face. He raised one eyebrow.

  “That’s right. Max Keaton. I saw him go in the trailer when Emily left earlier. I thought there might be some kind of connection to him.”

  Jack shook his head. “If Max did know where Emily was, he wouldn’t tell us. He’s a mean, unpredictable, fearful, angry man and he will never change. It’s important to avoid people like that. You don’t want to be friends with him.”

  “Wouldn’t he want to know where Emily is? She’s supposed to be one of his big stars, isn’t she?”

  Jack smiled. “She is one skilled lady with a gun and she has a beautiful face. I would say she’s a big attraction people come to see.”

  “That’s what I thought. So why isn’t he concerned?”

  “Well, he knows we’re taking care of it. He doesn’t really concern himself with a whole lot that happens with the performers.”

  “Hmm, that hasn’t been my experience,” Sam replied. “He seems to have something against Ryan.”

  “If he does, he hasn’t mentioned it to me. I know he cut their salaries recently. There have been several cuts to their pay. So now that I think of it, yeah, he must have something against them.”

  “How do you know he cut their pay?” Sam asked curiously. It didn’t seem like the type of information a businessman like Max would tell.”

  Jack grinned. “They told me.”

  Sam laughed. “I should have thought of that before I asked a stupid question.”

  “Anyway, I am the second in command, so to speak. I keep the business records and help the performers when they need help. I’ll make them soup if they’re sick. I like taking care of the entertainers. They just want to please the people, you know.”

  Sam thought that was a great way to think of it. He already liked this man. He thought if he liked a few more people from the rodeo, maybe they would all stay and Wickenburg would have its own private rodeo.

  He grinned. The money would dry up quick. Best they stay for their time and then move on so they can entertain more people.

  “The place she went in is right up here.” Sam rode through the field and toward the wooded area where he saw Emily go in. “She went in right there, between those two odd hanging vines. Do you see them?”

  “I do,” Jack nodded. “It almost looks like a doorway.”

  “It does, in a way. She went in there, went about thirty feet, I’d say and stopped. I went in and talked to her for a few minutes. Then she ran off and I came back out. I really should have gone after her.”

  “No need to worry about that now. We just need to find her and make sure she’s safe. I’ll tell you what. You all go to the edge of the woods and wait for me. I’ll go back up to the site and see if she’s already returned. It wouldn’t make sense to go looking for her in there if she’s already back in her trailer.”

  “Would she be in anyone else’s trailer?”

  When Sam asked the question, Jack looked at the other five men he’d brought with them. “What do you think? You think she’d go into anyone else’s trailer, even for a visit?”

  The men shook their heads, responding they did not think so.

  “All right, I’ll be right back.”

  He rode his horse back across the field and stopped in front of the Whittaker trailer. They watched him dismount, go up the steps to the door and knock on it. He waited a moment and they could see the door open and Mrs. Whittaker leaned out. She looked around at them, saying a few words to Jack. When she shook her head, they all knew Emily was not in there.

  Suddenly, Sam felt restless. He wanted to turn his horse toward the woods and burst through there, yelling her name.

  “Sam, calm down. I can see how anxious you are. You gotta calm down, friend. Let’s wait for Jack to come back and then we’ll lead them to the clearing. Maybe she’s taking a nap in the tall grass.”

  “Not with snakes in there, she won’t.”

  “You think she’ll know there’s snakes in there?”

  “Probably,” Sam replied. He had no idea if Emily would know about the snakes. She was an intelligent woman though and could figure something like that out surely. Especially because she knew all about the western terrain.

  “Did she take her gun with her?” Jack asked, looking at Sam as he got closer.

  Sam shook his head. “No, I didn’t see it on her.”

  “So she has nothing to defend herself with?”

  “I wouldn’t know. I didn’t see anything. She’s a smart girl. She’ll make it through. She’s got survival skills.”

  Jack smiled at him. “I’m under the impression you live here.”

  Sam snorted but smiled. “Of course I do.”

  “And you know her that well already? After talking to her twice?”

  Sam laughed. “Maybe I don’t know her as well as I’d like to.”

  The men went through the woods carefully, calling out to Emily. They heard nothing but animals and a lot of silence in the distance.

  “Keep your eye out everywhere, even the tall grass. We’ll search every inch of the clearing once we get there, if we have to.”

  CHAPTER FOURTEEN

  THE TRUTH ABOUT RYAN
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br />   THE TRUTH ABOUT RYAN

  Ryan rode fast down the street but he was heading away from where he wanted to go. He turned down a side street and stopped his horse almost immediately. He slowed the horse to a walk and turned back. He crept up to the corner and looked around it to see that the men had all gotten on their horses and were heading back toward the rodeo site.

  He sat for a moment, watching them with angry eyes. He edged his horse forward a little and was about to cut back out onto the main street when he saw something strange. A man came out of the hotel, his eyes on the group of men heading back to the rodeo site. He hurried to his horse, mounted and went after them at a slower pace. He must have known where they were going and didn’t want to catch up.

  Ryan narrowed his eyes and urged his horse forward. He let his horse walk slowly. He didn’t know what to think of that. He didn’t recognize the man from the saloon. He wasn’t sure he’d seen him in the crowd at the rodeo, but Ryan didn’t pay much attention to the customers. He was there to do a job and that was it.

  His horse was restless to move faster so he kicked him gently to go forward. Soon, he was riding at a good pace that wouldn’t catch up to the man.

  He rode all the way back to the rodeo site behind them but didn’t cut off to the right like they did. He stayed on course and went to his trailer. He dismounted quickly, looking around him. Seeing no one was about, he went to the trailer and went in. His mother was seated on the chair next to the window staring out at the woods.

  She looked up when he came in and jumped to her feet, coming to him quickly for a hug.

  “Oh, Ryan! She’s gone out there in the woods. Those men are going to find her. I’m sure of it. They have to. We can’t lose her!” Her voice was taut with emotion. After giving him a tight hug, she went back to her seat and sat straight up in it, her eyes out the window again.

  “You shouldn’t worry, Ma,” Ryan said, his heart thumping against his chest hard. He was worried about her, too. However, there was so much more to it than that.