Mail Order Bride: A Bride's Unexpected Love: A Western Romance Book

by Annabel Alden

  “I like this one, what do you say?” he asked, and she nodded after a few more seconds of hesitation.

  “I like him, too, thanks,” she said. It was clear she was trying to hide the smile that was showing itself at the corners of her mouth, and Chase shook his head as he hid his own smile from her. He walked over and grabbed a saddle, then he handed it to her when he walked back to the horse.

  “Alright then, saddle up, and let’s get going.”

  Chapter 21

  Charity didn’t know what came over her. When Chase had told her that he was going to go for a ride and invited her along, she had immediately felt nervous and shy. It was strange of her to feel that way—she had insisted so many times that she knew how to handle herself around horses, and she knew how to ride, but lately, the way Chase had been looking at her made her feel embarrassed.

  She had always found him attractive—in fact, she thought that he was the most attractive man she had ever met in her life, but the fact that he had money was enough to make her think that he had to be an impossible person to live with. The more he treated her well, the harder it was for her to believe that he was just like the other men she had known back home, but at the same time, she feared that if she were to let her guard down and fall in love with him, then the real man she feared him to be would come out, and she would be proven right.

  It wasn’t that Charity didn’t like the idea of having money—but she worried that she was going to change for it like he was so convinced that she was going to, and she was worried that he was putting on a show to prove her wrong and perhaps even win her affections. What had started out as a wager to get through the weeks ahead was changing for the both of them, and she felt that they both knew it.

  At least, she felt that there was an uncertainty now that wasn’t there before, and that neither one of them knew how to handle what they were feeling. Part of Charity wondered if she was merely worried about being wrong and losing the wager, and another part of her worried that she was falling in love—and at the same time falling blind the way he really was.

  She saddled her horse and climbed on its back, eager to get going. Charity did have to admit that she was excited to go for a ride out on the prairie. There were many times she had wanted to do so since she had come to the estate, but Chase was always so busy with the work that there was to do around the house that he didn’t have the time to take her, and she didn’t want to go alone.

  There were so many dangerous things out in the wild, and though she could stay on the property and still ride for miles, she feared if she got too far from the house she could fall into a dangerous situation, even if she was still on the Cunningham property. But, with Chase, she felt that she was safe. It was a strange thing for her to admit to herself, and she didn’t want to think about it more than she had to for the ride.

  Of course, she could go riding and he would take care of her while she did. That was all she needed to think about, and the rest could just be what it was. Just because she trusted him to take care of her while they were on the prairie didn’t mean that she trusted him not to hurt her in other ways—even if it merely meant that she didn’t want him to break her heart—and she didn’t entirely trust him not to do it.

  The two rode out of the barn and turned their horses the opposite direction than they usually took. Instead of going toward town, they turned and started heading back for the hills—there were trees in the far distance, and mountains that rose up beyond those. Charity felt a shiver of excitement run down the back of her spine when she saw them, but she was careful to maintain her ladylike posture when she was riding with Chase.

  “Do you ever just want to give your horse his head and see where he goes?” she asked as she turned to Chase. He laughed and took his hat off, dragging his hand over his forehead. She wondered why he would do such a thing with the day being as cool as it was, and she knew that he had to be nervous rather than hot. He looked at her and motioned with his hat toward the far end of the pasture.

  “Go ahead, see what happens,” he said. Charity felt her heart skip a beat. She smiled, but she didn’t believe that he meant it. How could she just let the horse run? What if it were to go too far? What if it were to just keep going and going? She wanted to let him go, but at the same time, she feared what would happen if she did. Chase reached over and put his hand on her leg, as though he could sense what was going on inside her mind.

  “Come on, I wouldn’t tell you to do it if it wasn’t going to be something you would enjoy,” he said with another smile. She took a deep breath then let it out again slowly, before reaching forward and letting the reins slip through her fingers.

  “Hang onto his mane with your hand. Like this.” Chase wrapped his hand into the mane of the animal, right next to the saddle. “You are going to want to lean forward and hang onto him with as tight of a grip as you can, just make sure that you don’t pull on his hair.”

  Charity obeyed, then all at once, she kicked him in the flanks as hard as he could. The horse, suddenly sensing that it was free, began at a canter but slowly picked up its speed until it was at a full gallop. The air whipped past Charity’s face so fast it was hard for her to breath. It was yanking at her hair so strongly that her hair came out of the bun she had pulled it neatly in to and fluttered behind her until she felt as wild and free as the horse that was running beneath her.

  Charity wanted to imagine that all of her troubles had just disappeared, as they largely felt like they had as she rode along, and for the moment, it felt as though nothing in the world would be able to touch her. She wanted to push the horse faster and faster, but she knew she didn’t have to as the horse continued to run as fast as it possibly could beneath her. She looked over to the side, and to her surprise, she could see Chase keeping up with her.

  He was riding strong and tall in the saddle, and she couldn’t help but notice once more how attracted she was to him. She didn’t want herself to think about it as much as she did, as it was going to be a lot harder for her to leave when the time came, but at the same time, she didn’t want to stop any of the thoughts that came into her mind at that moment. She felt so free, she wanted to enjoy every second of it without worrying about what was going to happen next.

  Chase smiled at her as he hung onto his own horse, and she could see that he was enjoying himself as much as she was. The horses continued to gallop until they themselves felt too tired to run any further, then they slowed to a stop. The horses slowed until they dropped to a walk, and they fell into pace with each other as they moved along, and Charity took a deep breath of satisfaction.

  “I have never moved so fast in my life—that was even faster than the train!” She looked over at Chase, who laughed as he rode alongside her.

  “I told you to just let him go. There are times when there is nothing better than to just let them be free and keep going, not worrying about where they are going to go or what they are going to do. There’s times I really wish that I was able to do that, even though I bet I would look pretty ridiculous running through the field like a madman.” Chase shook his head as they rode along, and Charity couldn’t help but laugh at his joke.

  “I don’t think anyone could care too much if you did,” she said with a smile, and he laughed.

  “I would like to think that, but then, when I think about what my parents would say if they heard of me doing such a thing. I doubt they would want to leave me the estate now, would they?” He shook his head and Charity shrugged.

  “They are going to be moving away from here, then you are going to be able to do things as you think is best. I think things are going to be a lot better that way,” she said quietly. Chase looked at her with surprise clearly written on his face, and Charity looked at him with a smile. “You know what you are doing, and I think if they let you make the choices for the estate, you would do a great job.”

  “Do you really think so? There’s times I wonder, but then, I’ve never had to make these kinds of decisions before
, and I doubt myself.” He was looking straight ahead as he spoke, and she nodded, though she knew he wasn’t looking at her.

  “I think that’s just because you haven’t been allowed to do it before. You have always had to ask your father what he thought the best thing was for this estate, then you have always had to do that. You are a grown man, and you would be able to handle this all yourself—in fact, you are going to have to in not too long,” she looked over at him as she spoke, and he nodded, though he still wasn’t looking at her as he did so.

  “You’re right, but I don’t want to think that anything I did ruined what my father spent so long working on.” Charity was surprised to hear him say such a thing. There was something about him that appeared to be raw to her, as though he was being honest with her—and his emotions—for the first time. Chase had always been so guarded around her before, she didn’t want to think about what it meant that he was letting it down now. Perhaps he trusted her now, perhaps he thought of her as more than someone who was just staying with him until she was able to move on herself.

  Whatever the reason, Charity was glad that it was happening, and she hoped that it would never end.

  “I don’t think you have to worry about that. You are smart, and you know how to handle horses. Not only that, but you know business as well. I know you have it in you to do whatever you put your mind to.” She smiled at him for another moment, then she kicked her horse in the flanks and started off again. Charity didn’t want to urge the horse into as fast of a run as it had taken when it took off across the field the first time—she wanted it to cool down properly before putting it back in the stable.

  By the time the two of them reached the house once more, Charity felt that she had spent some quality time with Chase. For the first time, she felt that they had bonded over what he was doing with his estate, and she was able to tell him how she felt about it without it being shadowed by the fact that she was leaving.

  At the same time, she felt that Chase had also enjoyed himself. He seemed to be a lot less stressed than he was before when they had left the house, and she wanted to believe it was because he had spent some time with her—time they didn’t have to spend together, and time that they wanted to spend together.

  They both dismounted and held onto the reins of their animals as they walked them back to the stables, and for a brief moment, Charity wanted to tell Chase that she had very much enjoyed the time she spent at the estate. There were a thousand thoughts that rushed to her mind, and she hoped she would be able to find the words to tell him.

  “Chase?” she asked, and he looked at her.

  “Thanks for inviting me out here,” she said with a smile. It was all that came to her mind to say, though she wanted to say more. He was about to answer her when suddenly a coach pulled up the lane and he blew air out through his teeth in exasperation.

  “And here she comes again,” he said as he looked sidelong at her. Charity smiled, but she said nothing. She didn’t want to say how she felt about it, so she merely smiled and led her horse into the barn.

  “You can leave him tied to the stall and I’ll take care of him, I imagine you don’t want to see our guest,” Chase said as Charity headed into the barn. She was going to argue with him, but she knew he was right—she didn’t want to see Annabelle, and she wasn’t going to act as though she did. She gave him a nod and tied the horse to the stall, then she turned to go back inside.

  Charity saw the coach pull up to the front of the barn, and her heart sank as Annabelle looked out. She had a broad smile on her face as she leaned out the window. She looked past Charity, and Charity didn’t acknowledge her as she pushed past toward the door. She didn’t want to see Annabelle, and she certainly didn’t want to see how she interacted with Chase. Whether he liked it or not, he wasn’t going to be rude to her as Charity wished he would be.

  That was the way of things—they had to be polite to the girl because it was her family’s contract—and until it was fulfilled and Chase had no more need of her, she wasn’t going to go away. No matter how badly Charity wanted her to just disappear, she wasn’t going to, and she had to be okay with that.

  No matter how hard it was.

  Chapter 22

  Chase tried not to watch as Charity walked back into the house. He knew Annabelle was watching him like a hawk watched a mouse, and he wanted to show her that he didn’t care to entertain her enough to engage her as soon as she pulled up to the house. He had thought that he made it clear to the girl more than once that he didn’t want her to just come barging in whenever she pleased, but it was still something she continued to do.

  He took his own horse to the barn, ready to unsaddle both his and Charity’s mounts before he had to deal with the woman, but it wasn’t long before she poked her head into the barn as well and walked over to him. He noticed that she was dressed in one of her nicer gowns, and he couldn’t help but assume she had done that so he would be impressed by her.

  “Hello, Chase! I’m sorry you missed me this morning, there were a few things that I wanted to discuss with you,” she said as she walked up to him. He could see by the look on her face that she expected him to have a greater reaction to what she was wearing, but when he ignored it, she tried to minimize it herself.

  “Charity told me that you had come by. I thought that I had told you that coming here first thing in the morning was a bad idea. I wouldn’t have missed you if I had been ready for you,” he said. He was doing his best to be condescending, though he could see that she was ignoring his tone.

  “The most successful people in life are those who get up and tackle their day with enthusiasm,” she said with the same condescending tone that he had used, and he also did his best to ignore her. The last thing he wanted from the girl was to hear how she thought he should be living his life, and he wasn’t going to engage in any kind of a heated debate with her over when he should be starting his day or not. It wasn’t her business, and he wasn’t going to do anything to act as though it was.

  “What brings you out this way tonight?” he asked, changing the subject, and she gave him a sweet smile. He wanted to turn away from it, but he knew that he was going to have to give her at least some of his attention, in the hope that she would grow bored and leave sooner rather than later.

  “I came out to discuss what I would have discussed with you this morning. You should feel bad about making me take two trips over one thing.” She pushed out her lower lip in a pout, but Chase refused to take the bait she was putting in front of him.

  “If you had said what you needed to say this morning, then there is little doubt in my mind that you would find some other reason to come out here again tonight. I’ve noticed that you have managed to come out here twice a day, nearly every day since that contract was signed, but it doesn’t seem to me that you have anything really important to say when you do.” Chase spoke in a direct tone, and gave her a look that told her he wasn’t going to fall for her nonsense. At first, it seemed to him that Annabelle was surprised by the way he was treating her, but then, she was quick to recover from the surprise and take on her own air of haughtiness once more.

  “You know that I don’t have the time to be riding back and forth with such senseless nonsense as that. If I have something that I need to do, I am going to come out and do it, and that is the end of that. I am not going to ride out here for the sake of just doing it,” she said as she batted her eyelashes at him. Chase gave her a sardonic smile, still refusing to get drawn into the conversation she so clearly wanted to have with him.

  “Well, you are here at any rate, so why don’t you save us both the time and tell me what it is you so desperately needed to tell me first thing this morning.” He gave her a look that told her he was impatient, but he tried to mask it once more when he could see that he was enjoying herself.

  “I came to ask about the horses you were intending to use for breeding. It does matter greatly to what my own father does with his stock, and what we are going to
do come spring,” she said with a smile. He looked at her for a moment, then he shook his head with an incredulous smile.

  “You rode all the way out here to ask me what horses I am going to be pairing with my own, so you can discuss with your father which ones you are going to be using on your own ranch? We are purchasing these animals from you for a price—I would have to think that if you are going to be using any of them to breed back to your own mares, you are going to have to pay us a fee to do so.” Chase crossed his arms as he looked at her, drawing himself up to his full height. Though he hadn’t had the time to really think about what Charity had said, the few minutes he had had since their conversation was enough to make him realize that he needed to trust himself more.

  “It is stated in the contract that we reserve the rights to the breeding of some of our own mares,” she said flippantly, and he shrugged.

  “But I don’t believe that it says in the contract that you are able to have a stake to any of the foals that are thrown from my mares now, does it?” he asked, and he could see her face change slightly. Annabelle was good at hiding her feelings, but there were times when he could see flickers of emotion in her eyes that she wasn’t able to hide as well. She recovered quickly and gave him another smile.

  “You know what? I’m not sure if that is in there or not, but I am going to check as soon as I can. As you know, we have a copy of the papers the same as you do, signed by your father as well as mine. I would be happy to look it over and clear up anything that you are confused about.” She turned toward the door, and Chase smirked.

  “I would be more than happy to do the same. Why don’t you head home and see what you can learn when you look over the papers, and when you come back here—hopefully with something truly important to tell me next time—you will know for sure where we both stand with the contract.” He finished with his horse and moved on to unsaddling Charity’s. Annabelle hesitated for a moment, as though she had been rendered speechless. He could see in her eyes the moment another idea formed, and she walked back toward him with her hand brushing the doors of the stalls.