She’d just barely finished dressing when there was a knock on her door. “Come in.”
Luke and George walked in wearing suits and looking very elegant. She didn’t know what she expected Luke to be wearing, but she’d never seen a more handsome man in her life. Just looking at him made her heart beat faster.
Luke couldn’t take his eyes off her. It was hard for him to believe that this woman was about to become his wife. His chest swelled with pride. He prayed he would be a worthy husband. “You look so beautiful. Are you ready to take on this cowboy?” Luke asked her.
She looked into his eyes. “Oh, yes. And you look very handsome.” She walked over to her uncle and said, “I haven’t thanked you for coming with Luke. I don’t know what I would do without you. When we get married in the church, I hope you will walk me down the aisle.” She kissed him on the cheek.
“It would be my honor.” George found himself tearing up by her request.
There was a knock on the door. “That’s the captain.” Once Luke made the introductions, the captain had everyone take their positions. After he performed the ceremony, he told Luke he could kiss his bride and Luke didn’t hesitate. He took Mary Ann in his arms. “I love you, Mrs. McBride.” And then he kissed her to seal their vows.
They received their congratulations and George poured wine to celebrate the occasion. “Welcome to the family,” he said to Luke.
Before the captain left he asked them to join his table for dinner that night. George left right after the captain and the newlyweds were left alone.
Mary Ann looked nervously at Luke. “What time is dinner?”
“We have several hours yet.” Luke took off his jacket and hung it over the back of a chair. “What do you think we should do?” He moved closer to her.
“Ah . . . well, we could . . .” She didn’t finish when she saw the look in his eyes. She recalled the night she’d watched from her bedroom window as he’d removed his shirt when he was with that saloon gal. He wasn’t hers then, but he was now. Taking a deep breath she reached up and started unbuttoning his shirt.
Luke couldn’t have been more surprised by her bold move. Not that he was disappointed, far from it. While she was unbuttoning his shirt he started kissing her neck, her shoulders, anyplace he could find skin that wasn’t covered. By the time he felt her hand on his bare chest he was surprised he didn’t self-combust. He pulled his shirt off and Mary Ann stared at his chest. He was magnificently formed, his chest and arms bulging with large muscles. She had been jealous when she saw Luke with that saloon woman touching his chest, but now she was actually angry that other women had seen his beautiful body. She ran her hands over his torso feeling his hard muscles. She was so fascinated by the feel of his body that she didn’t even realize he’d unbuttoned her dress, and when he urged her to put her arms down, her dress dropped to a puddle at her feet. She was standing in front of him in the beautiful pink corset and the matching garters holding her stockings. He stepped back and stared at her. No one had ever looked at her the way he was looking at her. He’d told her before that he liked her hair down so she reached up and removed the combs from her hair allowing it to fall loosely around her shoulders.
“I didn’t thank you for all of the lovely things.”
His eyes traveled the length of her. He didn’t know how she could be more beautiful from one moment to the next. “This is all the thanks I want. I want to see you in each piece of clothing, and I want to take them off you.” He picked her up and carried her to bed.
* * *
Mary Ann was lying on Luke’s chest feeling happier than she’d ever thought possible. “Did Sally really tell you she knew you loved me?”
“Yes. She also said she knew I purchased those things in your store to make you jealous.”
She raised her head and frowned at him. “You didn’t see them on her, did you?”
Luke smiled. He liked to hear that hint of jealousy in her question. He felt the same way about her. When he’d thought Stafford might see her in those corsets it drove him crazy. “No. She returned them to me. Did it make you jealous?”
“Would it make you jealous if you thought some other man might see me in the corset you purchased?”
He pulled her on top of him. “You know it would. I’d be insane.” He rolled over with her in his arms so that she was beneath him. He was face-to-face with her when he made her a promise. “You never have to worry, I will never want another woman. You have my heart and my soul.”
His words made her tear up. “Oh Luke, I never knew I could love someone so much.”
“I feel the same way.”
“Did you care for Arina?”
“No. You don’t realize what an evil person she was.” It was something that took him a long time to come to terms with.
“I thought you spent the night with her after the dance,” she admitted to him.
“That was Creed Thomas.”
“I know that now, your brother told me.” She told him the circumstances surrounding Colt revealing the truth, and about meeting L. B. Ditty at the ranch.
Luke laughed when she told him about the women drinking whiskey that night with L. B. “I bet you were surprised to meet L. B.”
“She was very nice. But you won’t be visiting those women at the saloon again, I don’t care how nice they are!”
He stared into her eyes. Colt was right, making love to his wife was a completely different feeling for him. He’d never again visit the gals at the saloon. “I have no reason to.”
She gathered the courage to ask him the question that had been bothering her. “Luke, did you give Father a great deal of money?”
“Honey, you are worth a million times more than I gave your father. Please don’t worry about this.”
She ran her hands over his muscled back. “I just don’t want you to ever be sorry you married me.”
“Nothing in this world would make me sorry that I married you. Nothing.” He was enjoying the way she was touching him. “And if you don’t stop that I’m going to have to show you just how much I love being married to you.”
She laughed, but she didn’t stop caressing him. “I love all of the things you purchased for me, but I didn’t need so many things.”
“Not everything was for you,” he replied.
She furrowed her brows at him. “Are you talking about the cloth? I wondered about that.”
“That’s for Lillian. I thought you might want to take something to her on our way back home. She told me to tell you I saw her in one of her new dresses. It was very pretty.”
“Oh Luke, that is so thoughtful of you!” She started to cry again.
“Honey, I don’t want you to cry.” He rolled off of her and pulled her to his chest.
“They are happy tears,” she said, and hugged him.
His mouth tilted in a grin. “Am I wonderful enough that you’ll let me see that other corset on you? It sure is a pretty color.”
“It’s called heliotrope and I love it.” She ran her fingers through the hair on his chest. “I think you can see it anytime you want.”
Her fingers were driving him crazy. “Well, maybe later.” He lowered his lips to hers.
Chapter Thirty-One
Luke was flanked by his brothers and his nephews while he waited for the ceremony to begin. His brothers were as excited as he was to see him repeat his vows in church. His sisters-in-law were busy fussing over the bride’s dress outside the church door. Luke didn’t mind having another ceremony, he wanted to share this special moment in his life with his brothers.
“You are a very lucky man,” Jake told Luke.
“We are all lucky men,” Colt added.
“Absolutely,” Luke said.
The pastor approached and told them the bride was ready. Victoria and Promise hurried to their husbands and everyone took their seats. Luke stood by the pastor and watched as his beautiful bride walked down the aisle with George. Cade and Cody clapped excitedly when they sa
w Mary Ann.
The pastor completed the ceremony and told Luke he could kiss his bride.
Luke took Mary Ann in his arms, his eyes filled with love, but before he kissed her he said, “ ‘My bounty is as boundless as the sea, My love as deep, the more I give to thee, The more I have, for both are infinite.’” He then kissed his bride, sealing their union for the second time.
Jake leaned over to Colt. “Shakespeare?”
“Yep.”
“Did you tell him that?”
“Nope.”
“Did you lend him one of your books?”
“Nope.”
Victoria and Promise cried at Luke’s romantic words to his bride.
“He’s making us look bad,” Jake said to Colt.
Colt chuckled. “We’ll just have to work harder.”
George invited the group back to the hotel for a celebration dinner. The couple didn’t have a wedding cake on the ship, so George had asked Mrs. Howe to bake one for this wedding. He had planned a special dinner and when they arrived at the hotel, Eb had the wine and the whiskey on the table.
George filled the wineglasses as Colt poured whiskey for the men. He held the bottle toward the women. “Would you ladies prefer whiskey?”
“No!” they said in unison.
Colt made the first toast. “To the beautiful bride and the groom smart enough to cross an ocean to bring her home.”
“I always told you two I was the smart one,” Luke replied.
“Uncle Luke, does this mean you narrowed it down to Aunt Mary Ann?” Cody asked.
Mary Ann gave Luke a quizzical look. “What does that mean?”
Luke laughed. “Yes, Cody, that is what I did.” He leaned over and whispered in Mary Ann’s ear. “I’ll explain later.”
“Are you gonna have boys now?”
“I’m trying.” Luke looked at his wife and chuckled when he saw her cheeks turning a lovely shade of pink.
“When did you start reading Shakespeare, little brother?” Jake asked.
“The captain of the ship seemed to enjoy Shakespeare, so I read some of his volumes on the voyage to England. I figured it couldn’t hurt if Colt liked him so much. I wanted to see what makes him so special.” He smiled at Mary Ann. “I’ve found there are times when his words come in handy.”
“Today was one of them.” Mary Ann had learned there was a very romantic side to her new husband. He’d often quoted Shakespeare to her on the voyage back to America.
“If you’re the smart one, tell me why you had to travel halfway around the world when she was right here in front of you for months?” Jake was pleased with himself for coming up with this question.
“Uncle Luke had to narrow it down,” Cade reminded him.
Everyone turned their attention on the twins who were nodding at each other in agreement.
Luke laughed. “I’m glad you boys understand.”
“I guess we don’t have nobody else to get married,” Cody said.
“What about you two?” Luke teased.
“No way!” they chorused.
“Pa, I don’t understand. Don’t girls have to narrow it down too?” Cody asked.
“I suppose they do,” Colt responded. “I think that’s a question for your ma.” He looked at Victoria. “How many men were in the running before you decided on me?”
Victoria smiled at Colt. “That’s my secret to keep.”
“Come on, Ma, tell us,” the boys chorused.
“I think it was too many to count.” Colt remembered his wife saying she had received over one hundred replies to her advertisement for a husband.
“Then you must be real special, Pa,” Cade said.
“He certainly is,” Victoria agreed.
“How many did you have, Aunt Promise?”
Before Promise responded, Jake said, “She had every man on the cattle drive in line for her.”
“That many!” Cody remembered the many men who brought the cattle to the ranch.
“That’s a lot,” Cade said.
“What about your uncle Jake?” Promise asked sweetly. “Aren’t you going to ask him how many girls wanted to marry him?”
“Yeah, Uncle Jake, how many brides did you narrow it down to?” Cody asked.
“I only had eyes for your aunt Promise from the start.”
“Good answer.” Promise leaned over and kissed Jake’s cheek.
“Aunt Mary Ann, how many did you have to narrow it down to?” Cade asked.
Mary Ann finally figured out what the boys were asking by everyone’s response. “It was your uncle Luke who had his choice of brides.”
“Me?” Luke said in feigned innocence.
Mary Ann furrowed her brow at him. “Yes, you. And you very well know what I am talking about.”
Luke winked at her. “Don’t let her fool you, boys. When I went to England to go get her you should have seen what I had to go through. I walked into this castle where there was this grand ball in this big room and all of the ladies were wearing these huge, colorful dresses.” He held his arms wide as he described the dresses causing the boys to giggle. “They looked like dancing flowers. And there was your aunt Mary Ann in her yellow gown surrounded by a thousand beaus in their formal attire. When I saw her she looked so beautiful I was sure she was a princess. I thought I was going to have to fight my way out of the ballroom.”
Their eyes widened. “Really, Uncle Luke, what happened?”
“I grabbed her hand and made a run for it through the garden.”
Mary Ann smiled at his tale. No one at that ball was looking at her, they only had eyes for the big handsome cowboy from America. “Don’t let him fool you, boys, all of the ladies in their lovely gowns were staring at your uncle Luke.”
“Did you have to punch that man again, Uncle Luke?” The boys remembered that man who had shoved Cody.
Luke knew they were referring to Stafford. “No, but it was close.” That wasn’t much of an exaggeration, he was close to giving him a thrashing.
Colt and Jake were as curious as the boys about what had transpired in England. Luke hadn’t mentioned his confrontation with Hardwicke and Stafford, but they didn’t think everything went as smoothly as he seemed to indicate.
“Aunt Mary Ann, did you punch other brides?” Cade asked.
If only they knew how much she might have enjoyed punching some of those women Luke had been squiring around town. “Well, I must say if I had to listen to your uncle Luke promise one more thing to the other ladies I was going to give it serious consideration.”
“What kind of promises are you talking about?” Luke asked, failing to look as innocent as he sounded.
Mary Ann gave him an indignant frown. “Why, Luke McBride! You were the one making all sorts of promises to women from the first moment I got off that stagecoach. Every time I turned around you were making a promise to a different woman. Most of the time you were promising to show them a good time!”
Luke grinned at her. He knew exactly what she was talking about.
“I think she had you figured out from the start,” Jake said. “And you’re right, Mary Ann, Luke was real popular with the ladies, a renowned flirt who was always making promises.”
“Shut up, Jake,” Luke said. “You’re not helping.”
“You don’t want me to lie to your wife, do you?”
“What’s a flirt?” Cade asked.
“Luke, why don’t you explain to the boys what a flirt is, you’ve had so much more experience than the rest of us,” Colt said.
Jake was enjoying this exchange. “Yeah, Uncle Luke, explain that.”
If his brothers thought he wasn’t up to the challenge, they didn’t know him as well as they thought. “Well, boys, before you narrow it down to the one woman you want to marry, you need to pay attention to all the ladies until you find the right one. Some people might call that being a flirt, I call it good sense. You sure don’t want to pick the wrong one.”
“So when you went swimming
with that other lady you wanted to see if you narrowed it down to her?” Cody asked.
That comment shocked Luke to his boots. “How did you know about me going swimming?” And what did they see?
The boys glanced at each other and put their hands over their mouths as though they had revealed a secret.
“Whom were you swimming with?” Mary Ann asked Luke. “And when was this?”
“I want to know why you boys were at the river without me,” Colt said.
“We went riding with Cole and we saw Uncle Luke at the lake with that lady,” Cade responded.
“Yeah, and she wasn’t wearing a dress,” Cody said.
“She was wearing those things Ma wears under her dresses,” Cade said. “’Cept she was all wet.”
Colt and Jake both turned to look at Luke and in spite of grinning like fools they did feel some sympathy for him. Unbeknownst to the boys, they’d just given everyone at the table a visual of what happened at that lake.
“It’s not easy to swim in a dress,” Colt said.
Heaven help me, Luke thought, not daring to look at his wife. This was to be his second wedding night, but he had a bad feeling it wasn’t going to go as good as the first one.
Mary Ann remembered on her second day in Wyoming Luke was dining in the hotel with his family and she’d overheard him talking with some women about swimming with Sally Detrick. “That must have been Sally Detrick,” she commented. She wasn’t angry, she was well aware of her husband’s philandering ways before they married.
When Luke didn’t deny he was swimming with Sally, Mary Ann said, “I wonder who swims with Sally now.”
Victoria glared at her husband. “She had set her sights on Colt at one time. Did you swim with her too?”
Colt wasn’t sure if the women were talking about swimming or something else. Either way, the answer to both questions was a definite no. “Not me.” Actually, Sally had invited him to go swimming at the lake several times, but he was always too busy at the ranch. Plus the fact that he was smart enough to know when a woman was trying to rope him into marriage.
“What about you, Jake?” Promise asked. “Did you ever swim with Sally?”
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