by Merry Farmer
“Fine by me,” Eden answered with a broad grin.
“I’ll just pick up the flowers Theophilus Gunn has arranged for your bouquet at the hotel, and I’ll meet you at the church,” Josephine said.
“You’re coming to the wedding?” Eden’s smile brightened.
“Honey, I wouldn’t miss this for the world.” Josephine gave Eden a wink.
It occurred to Luke as he and Eden started down the road that he might want to second guess anything his ma said in that tone of voice, but right at that moment, he was too pleased with himself for carrying a heavy trunk and making it look easy, and for taking charge of his almost-wife’s welfare.
“The livery is just down here.” He motioned to the left with his head when they stepped onto the dust of Main Street.
“Lead on,” Eden said with a satisfied grin.
Luke was inclined to go above and beyond to make sure she stayed satisfied in every way. If he’d known getting married would be this sweet, he would have done it a long time ago.
Ahead of them, Cody slowed his steps, waiting for Luke and Eden to catch up. “What’s all this? You suddenly decide work is a good idea?”
The sweat down Luke’s back turned cold, and a frown creased his forehead. He shot a sideways glance to Eden to see what she thought of Cody’s teasing. The only change to her expression was mild curiosity.
“You know me, Cody. I always work hard.” He widened his eyes, tilting his head to Eden, hoping she didn’t notice and that Cody got the point.
He was out of luck. Cody snorted. “I do know you, and hard work isn’t in your dictionary. Well, not unless whiskey or women are involved.” He winked at Eden.
Cody was a friend, but if Luke wasn’t holding a heavy trunk in his arms, he would have knocked a few of his teeth out. He had to settle for a dark scowl.
Eden crossed her arms and rested her weight on one hip. “And who, might I ask, are you?”
Cody puffed up his chest, grinned like a cat, and said, “Cody Montrose, ma’am. You must be new around here, otherwise I would have snatched you up long ago.”
Yep, Luke was definitely going to take Cody out in back of the sheds later and teach him some manners. They reached the yard outside of Waters’ Livery, and Luke deposited Eden’s trunk in Herb’s wagon-for-rent beside the fence, then turned to give Cody a piece of his mind.
Oddly enough, Eden laughed at Cody’s outrageous flirting. “You’ll have to fight your way through my fiancé if you want to make eyes at me like that, Cody Montrose.”
“You’ve got a fiancé?”
“For about ten more minutes.” Eden nodded to Luke. “Come on, sweetie. We’ve got an appointment at the church.”
“Why all the hurry?” Cody asked, spreading his arms.
“No hurry,” Eden was quick to reply. “Come on.” She tugged on Luke’s arm.
Luke shot Cody a self-satisfied smile, then nodded to Herb as the older man sauntered out of the livery’s office. “Hey Herb, mind if I borrow the wagon for the afternoon? I’ve got a trunk to drive back to the ranch.”
“Not a problem,” Herb said. “It isn’t reserved until Thursday. It’ll be fifty cents, provided you get it back before sundown.”
“Sure thing. But I’ve got one errand to run first.”
“Errand?” Herb peeked at Eden.
“Getting married,” Eden answered. “To me. Right now.”
Herb gaped, then burst into laughter. Eden winked at him, then stepped around the wagon and back into the street. Luke flashed a triumphant grin at Herb, then started after her.
“Wait, no! I get it now.” Cody caught up to them. “You’re Eden Gardner? Wasn’t that the name of the bride you sent away for, Luke?”
“Yep,” Eden clipped without stopping. “That’s me.”
“That’s her,” Luke added with a grin as wide as the horizon. Married life just kept getting better and better, and he wasn’t actually married yet. Any woman that could set Cody down when he got impertinent was his kind of woman.
Cody snorted in disbelief and matched his stride to Luke’s. “But she’s not at all like Franklin’s wife.”
“Who, Corva Collier?” Eden asked, still walking at a fast clip.
Luke’s brow shot up. “You know Corva?”
“Of course I do.” Eden grinned and touched his arm. “She had the room across the hall from mine at Hurst Home from last fall up until she came out here in the spring. Corva’s a darling. Sweetest girl you’ll ever meet and a good friend.”
“Then how come she never said anything about you?” Luke asked.
Eden glanced at him as they turned off the road that ran parallel to the railroad tracks and on to a path that stretched across a wide field to a quaint, whitewashed church with stained-glass windows. A flash of suspicion darkened her eyes. “Did you ask her about me?”
A sheepish flush filled Luke’s cheeks. “Well, no, not exactly.”
Eden shrugged, loosening in relief. “I’m sure she would have told you everything you’d wanted to know.” She tossed him a flirty smile, then hurried up the church steps to the door.
Luke watched the bounce of her step, the swish of the mass of chocolate-brown hair that swung free down her back in tempting waves, the curve of her hips in her simple traveling dress. Curves like those were dangerous. Hell, a smile like hers could cause a man to do some dangerous things. So why in creation was she in such a hurry to marry him?
Cody stepped up beside him and slapped a hand on his shoulder. “That settles it. Sweet Corva and spicy Eden. I’m asking Mrs. Piedmont, Mrs. Evans, and Mr. Garrett to get me a wife too.”
“Do what you like.” Luke nudged his friend. “This one’s mine.”
He climbed the church steps two at a time, eager to march down the aisle.
Chapter Three
By the time he was standing at the front of the church, Eden’s arm looped through his, Cody standing in on the spur of the moment as his best man, and Josephine witnessing from Eden’s other side, it dawned on Luke that he didn’t know much about weddings. They’d always been annoyances to him—long, boring ceremonies that no one was interested in except the women. He knew that he was supposed to say “I do” when asked, and that the bride pledged to love, honor, and obey the groom, but the whole bit about forsaking all others? Well, he guessed he could manage that.
“Then by the power invested in me by God and the Territory of Wyoming, I now pronounce you husband and wife,” Rev. Pickering said with a smile. “You may kiss your bride.”
A funny little shiver zipped down Luke’s spine as he pivoted to face Eden. That was it? That’s all it took to get married? He tried to smile at…at his wife, but his lips seemed to have forgotten how to manage it. They wobbled around—just like his heart—restless with the suspicion that he might just have taken on more than he could chew. Things like responsibility and leadership looked a whole lot easier when you didn’t have to worry about them, but now he was a husband. It was his job to protect this firecracker of a woman…a woman who he barely knew. What the hell had he gotten himself into?
To top it all off, Eden looked more relieved than anything else. Her cheeks were positively pink with it. Had she thought he would back down after making her travel half the country to be his bride?
Whatever she thought, she arched a brow. “You planning on kissing me any time soon or are you still thinking about it?”
Her saucy stance shook Luke out of whatever that was holding him back. He brushed those worried thoughts aside and slipped his arms around Eden’s waist, tugging her close. She gasped in surprise, and a surge of heat rushed through him.
“I’m definitely planning on kissing you, Mrs. Chance.”
“Oh!”
Before Eden could finish the quick, excited syllable, or hand off her wedding bouquet to Josephine, Luke swooped down and captured her mouth in a kiss that could give old ladies apoplexy. Kissing his wife was as easy as falling off a log. Eden had lush, full lips and warm s
kin that smelled like brown sugar in the sun. She was no fainting daisy either. She dropped her bouquet and tossed her arms over his shoulders with a low hum, her lips parting to both accept and tease his. She traced her tongue along Luke’s, causing a shudder that landed square in his groin. He lowered a hand to Eden’s backside and nudged her closer before remembering that his ma was standing four feet away, and they were in church.
He broke the kiss with a sharp intake of breath and settled Eden back on her feet. “I think I’m gonna like this whole being married thing,” he said, sounding like a wolf who was ready to devour a sheep.
“I can think of worse things to do with my time,” Eden answered, sliding her hands down his arms. She had fire in her eyes now that the two of them were a done deal, that was for sure.
A tickle at the back of Luke’s mind wondered where such a sweet-faced young woman would gain that kind of experience, but an even bigger part of him didn’t give a lick.
“That’s it.” Cody stepped forward to slap Luke’s back. “Mrs. Evans, I want you to find me a girl like Eden here to marry.”
Josephine met the comment with a wry laugh. “We’ll see, Cody.” She shook her head and rested a hand on Eden’s shoulder. “You two all set?”
“Yes, ma’am, I believe we are,” Eden answered.
“Good. Because I’ve got a meeting with Olivia Garrett about refurbishing some of the schoolrooms, and I’m already late.”
“You go on, Ma.” Luke stepped toward her and planted a grateful kiss on her cheek. “You’re leaving me in good hands.”
“Oh, I know I am.” Josephine exchanged a mischievous glance with Eden before turning and marching up the aisle and out of the church.
“See you back at the ranch.” Cody gave Luke’s back one last thump, nodded to Eden, then turned and strode up the aisle after Josephine, chuckling all the way.
“I’ve just got a few papers for you to sign that I need to file with Howard and the territory, then you’re good to go,” Rev. Pickering said.
The official business of getting married took about five minutes. After that, Luke escorted his beautiful new bride out of the church and into the sunshine of Haskell in late summer.
“What a beautiful day, don’t you think, Mrs. Chance?” Luke drawled as he strolled down the path toward the road.
“Finest I’ve had in a long time,” Eden answered, then sighed happily. “If I forget to say it later, I really am grateful to you for going through with this.”
Luke flinched to stare at her. “Why wouldn’t I go through with it? I need you.”
Eden’s brow flew up in disbelief, then she laughed. “Well, that’s a first. I can’t say that I’ve ever been needed by a man before.”
“Then you’ve just been around the wrong men.”
“Tell me about it,” she drawled.
Luke narrowed his eyes as he steered her in the opposite direction from the livery, up to the baseball field, and around back of the town so he could show Eden her new hometown. “Maybe you should tell me about them?” he suggested.
Eden snorted, her face pinching into a scowl. “Not much to tell. I have brothers, that’s all.” A dark flush came to her cheeks that could have been embarrassment or anger. Either way, it was fetching.
“I have a brother and two sisters,” Luke shared. “My older sister, Libby, married a man in Oregon and lives up there on a timber operation with him and their two kids. My little brother, Freddy, is a right menace these days now that he thinks he’s grown up, but my sister, Muriel, is a sweetheart.”
“I look forward to meeting them.” Eden nodded.
She glanced around, taking in the sights that Luke walked her past. Her gaze went up to the tops of the buildings, her eyes narrowing in concentration, maybe even calculation. Luke might not have known much about his wife yet, but the way she looked at things told him she was smart as a tack. She didn’t just look, she figured. Right now, she appeared to be figuring how the buildings of Haskell were constructed. Or maybe how they were situated. It was hard to tell.
“Why did they build the bank next to the mercantile?” she asked, nodding to the two buildings as they rounded the corner at the top of Main Street, the opposite side from the railroad tracks.
Luke shrugged. “I suppose Howard figured folks would want to go shopping straight off as soon as they picked up their money from the bank.”
Eden hummed. “Not very smart. One man could rob the bank and another the mercantile at the same time, and if they had their horses waiting between the two, they could get away before anyone had a chance to sound the alarm.” She twisted to study the street further, then said, “Yep, with the jail all the way down the street near the train station, bandits could make off with a wad of cash before the sheriff could catch up to them.” She glanced sideways at Luke. “Haskell does have a sheriff, doesn’t it?”
The hair on the back of Luke’s neck stood up for some reason. Did he say his wife was smart? Diabolical was more like it.
Hell, he was the luckiest man alive.
“Trey Knighton.” He nodded, grinning from ear to ear. “He’s the sheriff. You’re not planning on robbing any banks, are you?”
“No.” She brushed the idea off as though it were ridiculous. “I haven’t robbed a bank in years.”
He laughed, loving his new wife’s sense of humor. Because she was joking, of course. Right?
“Who’s that?” She nodded over to the bank where a tall, distinguished-looking black man in a suit that would make the finest tailors in San Francisco jealous was busy talking to a middle-aged man with snow-shite hair.
“Which one?” Luke asked. “The dandy is Solomon Templesmith, Haskell’s banker and richest man, other than Howard Haskell and Rex Bonneville.”
“He’s black,” Eden observed.
“You’ve got a good eye,” Luke drawled. “He’s also brilliant, savvy, and ruthless when it comes to money. The man talking to him is Theophilus Gunn, the manager of the Cattleman Hotel. If you ever need anything done, no matter how complex or complicated, ask Gunn. He’s one in a million.”
Eden hummed, and her eyes moved on. “Don’t you have a hairdresser? A dress shop?”
Luke blinked and rubbed the back of his neck. “Why would we need them? Don’t ladies like to sew their own dresses and brush their own hair?”
Eden snorted and shook her head. “This town was founded by men, wasn’t it?”
“What makes you say that?”
Eden raised a hand to point. “Bank, mercantile, saloon, jail, and that.” She ended by pointing straight at Bonnie’s place—where several of the girls had draped themselves on the porch wearing little more than skivvies, and were fanning themselves in the heat.
Luke stopped, lips twitching. “Say, you didn’t, by any chance, used to work at a place like that, did you?”
“No,” Eden giggled, amused instead of offended, thank heavens.
“Oh. Good.” Luke shrugged. “I just thought…because you didn’t mind kissing a man you barely met and all…and because of that thing you said back at the station.”
She dropped his arm and planted a fist on his hips. “So are you saying a woman has to be either a blushing miss or a whore? That she can’t kiss her husband like she means it without having low morals, or appreciate the sight of a finely formed rump?”
“Um…well…I…” Oh Lord, he was in trouble now, and he hadn’t even been married an hour.
Eden burst into a laugh as he squirmed. She punched his arm, then looped her hand through it. “Don’t worry. I know how things go. I have brothers, remember? And no sisters. Plus, Ma died after...” She cleared her throat, but didn’t elaborate.
Luke breathed in relief. “Oh. Okay, I see.” That didn’t mean he didn’t feel like she’d knocked his heart down to his boots and back.
“But women do like those things too, you know,” she added, almost as if she was telling him a secret.
“Of course they do,” Luke said, although his
thoughts ran more along the lines of “They do?”
As they passed in front of Bonnie’s, the woman herself stepped out onto the porch, Rex Bonneville right behind her.
“Girls, what are you doing?” Bonnie said, crossing her arms and tapping one white-leather-booted foot. Bonnie was an imposing woman who held herself with authority and never had a hair out of place. She was surprisingly young too—not even thirty. Why she had established a whorehouse in Haskell instead of marrying was almost as much of a mystery as why she spent time with Rex Bonneville.
The girls on the porch rushed to sit straight, adjusting their scant clothing to be as modest as possible, which was a feat. Eden shifted her weight to one hip and watched the unfolding scene, a smirk tilting her lips. As soon as he was certain she wouldn’t expire with shock and indignation, Luke relaxed and observed as well.
“It’s just that it’s so hot out here, Miss Bonnie,” Pearl sighed, giving herself another fan. “It doesn’t feel like September at all.”
“Yeah,” caramel-skinned Domenica agreed. “Couldn’t we do our entertaining down at the swimming hole until the weather gets more like it’s supposed to this time of year?”
Luke started to chuckle, but his amusement was cut off by the deadly glance Bonneville shot at him. Bonneville took a few solid strides to the end of the porch, tucking his thumbs in the pockets of his vest and pulling himself up to his full, impressive height.
“What are you gloating at, boy?” he growled.
The need to stand up to the likes of Bonneville and show what kind of man he was warred with concern over what Eden would think. Luke glanced sideways at his wife, then stood straighter and answered, “Nothing. Just giving my lady wife a tour of her new hometown.”
Bonneville split into a cold smile. “What woman in her right mind would marry one of Howard Haskell’s flunkies?”
The same, boiling rage that had come over Luke the night of the saloon fight bubbled up again. Who the hell did Bonneville think he was to push people around and talk down to them like he was better than everybody?
“This is Eden,” he said, jaw stiff. “And a finer woman you’ll never meet. So I’d appreciate it if you’d show some manners, sir.”