“I hope so.” Ivy paused, “I’m pretty sure they will.” She shouted back from the bathroom.
“They didn’t seem too happy when we were over there the other week.” Luther put the two dinner plates on trays and walked one through to the living room. He set it on the table beside the recliner for Ivy.
“That,” Ivy came out of the bathroom, “is because they are stubborn, and overprotective.” Luther helped her sit back down in the recliner and when she was settled he put her tray on her lap.
“I have told you before, it’s a parent’s job to be overprotective.” He reached down and rubbed the top of her belly bump. “Just you wait until our son is born, then you’ll see.” Ivy shook her head.
“I will never be as overprotective as they are. Never!” Luther went back in to the kitchen to fetch his own tray.
“We will see about that.” He came back in and sat down on the sofa. “I guarantee you that there will never be a girl good enough to date our boy.” Ivy laughed, she knew that it was true.
“Well, that’s not being overprotective, that’s just being a parent.” Luther laughed.
“Oh…okay.” He stuck his fork in his potatoes and looked back over to Ivy. “Well, the next time your folks call, why don’t you invite them over? Tell them we’d like to see them and they can help to decorate the nursery…” Ivy shoveled a forkful of mashed potatoes in to her mouth.
“Sure, they won’t come though, you know they won’t. They’re still mad at you because you knocked up their daughter and they’re still mad at me because apparently I lay there and asked you to knock me up.” She rolled her eyes as she took a sip of ginger ale.
When they’d found out about Ivy being pregnant, her parents had both sat in mortified silence for what felt like an eternity. When finally her mother spoke, she asked who the father was and Ivy had told them it was Luther. Her mom, having no idea who Luther was by name alone, asked if she had ever had the pleasure of meeting the “young man.” That was where things started to get a little complicated. When Ivy explained that yes, they had briefly met Luther at the Soda Fountain, her mom turned just about every shade of red in the book. She had been angrier than Ivy had ever seen her before, but she was angry at Luther for taking advantage of her ‘innocent’ daughter. Ivy had spent an hour trying to explain that she was a perfectly willing participant in the activities that had led up to the event, but this had only seemed to make things worse. Since then, Ivy had moved in with Luther permanently and her parents had made it a point to protest everything Luther related.
“Maybe you should ask anyway? You never know, maybe they’ll surprise us?” Ivy nodded.
“Sure. Maybe and maybe pigs will fly.” There was silence again for a few minutes as Luther picked at his food.
“You know what? I think I might go over there tomorrow. Maybe see if there’s anything I can do to help them out around the house or something like that.” Ivy looked over at Luther with a smile. “What?!” She shook her head slowly, a small tear escaping her eye.
“I love you Luther Gains.” He smirked.
“I love you too.”
The Cowboy Abducts A Bride,
A Western Historical Romance
By: Erin Walsh
The Cowboy Abducts a Bride
A Western Historical Romance
© Erin Walsh, 2015 – All rights reserved
Published by Steamy Reads4U
No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form, including electronic or mechanical, without written permission from the publisher, except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles or reviews.
This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, businesses, places, events, and incidents are either the product of the author’s imagination or used in a fictitious manner. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, or actual events are purely coincidental. This book is licensed for your personal enjoyment only.
This book may not be resold or given away to other people. If you would like to share this book with another person, please purchase an additional copy. If you are reading this book and did not purchase it, or it was not purchased for your use only, please return it to the seller and purchase a copy. Thank you for respecting the author’s work
Warning
This book contains graphic content intended for readers 18+ years old.
If you are under 18 years old, or are not comfortable with adult content, please close this book now.
About SteamyReads4U Publishing
SteamyReads4U publishes steamy romance ebooks in the Alien, Mail Order Bride / Western, Biker, Step, Paranormal/Shifter, Urban and Medical genres.
Our current writers include:
Destini Bryant – Urban
Amy Collins - Alien
Emily Cummings - Step
Patricia Heat – Step
Kareisha Houston – Urban
Emily Lovell - Biker
Naughty Nicole - Medical
Victoria Scott – Paranormal/Shifter
Emily Sharpe – Mail Order Bride / Western
Olivia Silver - Biker
Evelyn Stone – Mail Order Bride / Western
Erin Walsh – Mail Order Bride / Western
Emily Wolfe – Mail Order Bride / Western
Chapter One
The Madame clapped her hands together to assemble the women into a line once again. It happened every other day or so, when a new man would come to their little town of Harrington looking for a wife. Emma and Ellen always hated that part of the day where they had to line up and show off their good looks to their possible husband.
Emma hated it because she didn’t have any good looks to show off. She had been too adventurous as a child and slipped off a fall cliff, scaring her face for life. The rest of her was pretty enough though; she was five foot four and had long chocolate locks that always lay braided on each side of her face. Her eyes were a bright pale green with tiny blue flecks, her lips were luscious and pale pink, and her skin was fair with the softest touch of sun. Her chest wasn’t large, but enough for a man to get a handful, and her body was slender with an hourglass shape.
Sadly no man had ever been able to look past the large scar that ran from the corner of her right eye down to her jaw. That is why Emma’s sister, Ellen, hated being in the line-up with all the other women, not because her own looks, but the hopeless look it created on her sisters face when the men would look at her with disgust, and not bother learning her other skills.
Ellen was what everyone considered the perfect beauty. She was the same height as Emma, had flawlessly tanned skin, dusty blond curls that tangled themselves happily down to her tail bone. Her eyes were a deep Topaz that complimented her pale red lips perfectly. Ellen’s body was also a sight to be seen. It curved in every right place, gifting her with a luscious chest and the perfect figure.
All of the women in the house had more than just their beauty; the whole point of living in the home instead of with their families was to learn the skills a man would desire a wife to have. Emma had learned so many skills, and had also promised to put away her childish and adventurous nature, in order to find a husband.
Ellen, on the other hand, knew she didn’t need any of the skills the house mother taught them, her looks alone guaranteed her any man she desired, but she was the only one that had not given up on Emma finding a husband. Even their parents had lost hope in anyone ever looking past Emma’s scared face and seeing the girl beneath, which is why they condemned her to the women’s house in the first place. It was Ellen’s choice to go against their parents’ wishes and join Emma at the house; because she never wanted her sister to feel abandoned or betrayed by her, they always put each other first. At least that is what Ellen had thought before she watched the unknown man walk into the room where all the women were lined up.
He was six feet tall, wore his light brown hair cut extremely short, almost shaved. His clothes were tightly wrapped around his muscles, showing off his
incredible body, and when he walked passed Ellen she could see the deep emerald color of his eyes.
“Hello there.”
The unknown man greeted Ellen, causing her to blush and hide her face. The stranger only grinned as he continued to walk down along the line of women. He stopped in front of Emma and reached out his hand. Emma was frozen still as his calloused had caressed along her scar, and then along her jaw.
“Hello there.”
“Hello…”
Emma couldn’t believe that the unknown man was talking to her, or touching her scar. She had never even been acknowledged by a man before, the new experience causing her heart to pound hard against her chest.
“I’m Isaac.”
“Emma.”
“Pleasure to meet you Emma.”
Isaac nodded his head towards Emma and continued his walk down to the end of the line of women. When he was finished seeing them all, Isaac spun on his spurred heel and faced the house Madame. He smiled and nodded towards her before making his way back up the line, giving Ellen one more glance before heading out the door into the waiting area. Ellen licked her lips as she watched him go, wanting to follow him and command that he chose her.
Emma watched in shock as Isaac left the room, curious as to why he had caressed her scar with such care, and wondered if there was even the smallest bit of hope that he might chose her despite her face.
Chapter Two
Back in their shared rooms, all of the women gossiped and chatted about Isaac. Emma and Ellen huddled together in their private corner and talked amongst themselves, knowing that none of the women stood a chance if Ellen was interested.
“I hope he chooses soon and goes away.”
“Why do you say that? Don’t you like him Ellen?”
“He seems nice enough, but you are still here.”
“Doesn’t matter, I’m always going to be here. You should be happy.”
“I’m happy just being here with my sister, I don’t need that cowboy.”
Emma and Ellen giggled while they remembered the spurs on his boots, jingling across the floor of the house.
“You should at least talk with him. Perhaps he is your perfect husband Ellen.”
“Perhaps. But it would take a very impressive man to take me away from my sister.”
Ellen didn’t want Emma to feel betrayed, but she had already planned on pursuing Isaac and offering herself to him as his wife. She knew she didn’t have many skills, but he had spoken to her first, and that meant everything when it came to men.
“If only I had been like you when we were younger. Sat with mother and drank tea instead of…”
“Shhh, hush Emma. You are wonderful just the way you are.”
“But I’m not pretty.”
“You don’t have to be, you are the smartest girl I know.”
Emma smiled and hugged her sister. She knew Ellen was just trying to be nice, that everything she was saying wasn’t true. Emma wasn’t very smart; she just picked up useful skills a little quicker than most of the other women, but women were never truly picked for their skills. Emma sighed and squeezed her sister one more time before pulling away and giving her a reassuring smile.
“Tomorrow he meets whatever girls he wants, and then he’ll be gone.”
“Exactly, and then we can carry on with our lives and work on finding a husband for my sister.”
Ellen smiled sweetly and caressed her sister’s face as she spoke, wishing she could undo the tragedy of her scar.
“I don’t think I’m ever going to find a husband. I’ll probably just become an old spinster like the Madame.”
“Don’t talk like that. You’ll find someone, someone very special.”
Ellen smiled at Emma and patted her knee. Ellen rose to her feet and looked around the room at all the gossiping women, hearing their little comments about how sexy and strong Isaac seemed. Ellen agreed with all of them, and knew that she could easily convince him to marry her, even if it meant giving up some of her morality to do it.
“What are you thinking?”
Emma was staring up at her sister when she asked her question.
“Hmm, nothing. Just wondering which girl it shall be this time.”
“You are up to something.”
“How can you tell?”
“You have that naughty Ellen expression on your face. You always bite your lip and grin when you are thinking of doing something bad.”
“I do not!”
“You do too! The last time you did it was right before you convinced Lilly to put itching powder in the Madame’s bloomers.”
Ellen couldn’t stop herself from snickering when she remembered that incident. Lily had been punished for that while Ellen stood back and enjoyed the Madame itching for weeks.
“I had no part in that.”
“You can’t lie to me, I’m your sister. I know everything.”
Emma grinned up at Ellen before rising to her own feet and bumping her shoulder against Ellen’s.
“So what are you thinking?”
“Wondering if I can help the girls out in anyway.”
“You mean turn one into Isaac’s perfect wife?”
“Exactly.”
Emma giggled and rested her head on her sister’s shoulder, sighing as she gazed at the women in different areas of the room.
“I wonder if the other rooms are filled with this much chatter.”
“Let’s find out.”
Ellen laced her fingers within Emma’s and pulled her towards the door to their room. Ellen stuck her head out to ensure their coast was clear before dragging Emma out of their room and rushing down the hall to one of the other rooms. Ellen and Emma stood right by the door inside the room next to theirs, and listened to the women chattering away. It seemed that Isaac was the talk of the house, and every single girl wished to go home with him, despite not knowing anything about him.
“Seems as if everyone woman in the house wants him.”
Emma sighed as she spoke, knowing that she was the only one in the entire house that didn’t stand a chance, not with all the girls competing for his affections.
“Tomorrow we’ll see who’s caught his eye, for now we should get back to our rooms as sleep.
Emma nodded to agree with Ellen. They linked hands back together and glided through the hallway back to their own room. All the women had crawled into their beds, but still whispering to each other about Isaac and the possibilities of tomorrow.
“What will you do when he asks for you?”
“What do you mean Emma?”
“We all know he’ll ask for you, will you refuse or will you go meet with him privately?”
“I will meet him, but only to turn him down.”
Ellen tried to fake a reassuring smile for her sister; she didn’t want Emma to know she was lying until she had succeeded in winning Isaac for herself.
“Get some sleep Emma, man or no man in this house; we still have shores in the morning.”
Emma nodded and curled up with her pillow and blanket, a small tear drop sliding down her cheek as she tried to sleep. She wished from the deepest part of her heart for a chance to beloved and not be seen as only a scared girl, and then fell into a soft sleep.
Chapter Three
The next morning all of the women took turns having hot baths and primping themselves in front of the few mirrors in the house. They were all getting ready just in case Isaac asked to have some private time alone with them. That was how it worked.
Isaac was going to give a list to the Madame, and then meet with all of the girls on that list, one by one until the day was over, and then he would pick a bride. Emma knew she wouldn’t get picked but she prettied herself up as much as she could, just for the fun of it. She enjoyed being allowed to wear her church dress on a non-church day.
Ellen snuck up behind Emma and tickled her sides, causing Emma to jump with terror and excitement.
“Oh my goodness, Ellen you look beautiful!”
> “Don’t I always?”
Emma twirled around, showing off one of her favored dresses, it had been a gift from a man a few months back that tried desperately to change Ellen’s mind about marrying them. Ellen sighed and fanned herself; her face was stuck in a permanent smile.
“If you are going to turn him down, why did you get so dressed up Ellen?”
“Because he deserves to have something beautiful to look at while I’m refusing him.”
Ellen smiled, but Emma suddenly felt a pit of worry in her stomach. Ellen had never tried to be beautiful for a man before, she had always worn her chore clothes when they called upon her for a private interview. Ellen could tell that something was wrong with Emma; her mouth was fading from a sweet smile to a low frown. She reached out and lifted Emma’s chin up to gaze into her eyes.
“Chin up sweet sister, today is a day for fun!”
Ellen winked at Emma and strode off to assist the other girls with their hair, only Ellen knew how to twist any type of hair into the perfect up do. Emma stood back and kept her eyes on Ellen, trying to figure out what her sister was up to, and refusing to tell her. Emma was forced out of her mind and away from her thoughts as the Madame came into the room and clapped her hands to get all the women’s attention.
“Ladies, Ladies. Mr. Dhelhare has given me his list.”
All of the women gathered around the Madame, their bodies fidgeting against each other as the all waited for the Madame to reveal the list of women Isaac was interested in.
“Ellen.”
“Yes Madame?”
“You will be spending the morning with Mr. Dhelhare, go and cook him breakfast.”
Ellen grinned and nodded. She placed her hands on Emma’s shoulders to give her a soft squeeze before leaving the room and heading down to the kitchen. All the other women were jealous, normally the private time lasted only a few minutes, but an entire morning was given to Ellen.
Romance: Luther's Property Page 4