Indiana Goes West (Mail Order Brides of Pioneer Town, Book 1) Page 6

  “Where are you going?” Misty asked as she came into the room just as Indiana stepped into her second heeled boot.

  “To eavesdrop of course,” the young woman said, and she hurried past her friend before she could stop her.

  Downstairs, the parlor doors were open, though they needn’t have been if one were trying to hear Cade. He was as loud as anyone had ever been in the home.

  “This is quite enough,” the man was saying. “We have a deal, and it is time you follow through on it.”

  “I know we have an arrangement,” Indiana’s mother said. Deborah was a kind woman, but if pushed her voice grew icy. It was practically frozen now. “But my daughter is not a horse to be bartered over. I do not make deals using her as a piece of said deal.”

  Cade seemed taken aback. “I apologize, Madam. A deal is not the right word, but that does not mean what I say is any less true.”

  “You are right,” Deborah said. “We have an arrangement, and that arrangement is that my daughter shall be your bride. And I am working toward that as we speak, but this home is a home without a man, and many difficult problems are coming across my lap each day. I do not feel comfortable settling our particular arrangement until all our previous affairs and promises have been taken care of as well. Besides that, I need my daughters with me. Not only has the house lost its man, but I’ve lost a husband, and the girls have lost a father.”

  “I can understand that, but it is time the girl gain her own husband. I leave for Texas soon. I would have already if you were not dragging your feet through the mud for some reason,” Cade said shortly.

  “I see no mud in my parlor,” Deborah said icily.

  “I do not know what game you are playing at, and why you are stalling, but it is time to end the game and make good on your promises. I leave in four days. I expect your daughter to be at my arm when the train arrives. I would expect her before that, but as a man of honor, and one who extends his courtesy during this hardship for you and your girls, four days will do. It is as far as my courtesy extends, however. Make no mistake of that.”

  “Then in four days, she shall be with you when that train comes in,” Indiana’s mother said, and outside in the hall, unbeknownst to anyone, Indiana’s heart broke.

  Tears came and stung her eyes at once, and the young woman pressed the back of her hand to each eye in turn as she turned and hurried for the stairs. She was only halfway up the stairs when she heard the door open behind her. She turned just in time to see Cade Hollway storming out, and the door slammed shut behind him.

  Misty was still in her room. “What’s wrong?”

  “I leave for Texas in four days,” Indiana choked out, as she shut her door. She kicked off her shoes and then leaned against the wall, sliding down it. Her dress rose in a mountain of fabric around her, and all Misty could see of her friend was her red face as the tears slid down from her eyes, leaving wet trails down her powdered cheeks.

  Misty sat beside Indiana and put her arm around her shoulders. They sat like that for some minutes, interrupted finally by the bedroom door opening and Deborah coming in. She couldn’t see the girls until she stepped around the door. She looked down at them, her lips but a thin line on her face.

  “Misty, a moment with my daughter, please.”

  Misty hurried out. Indiana looked up at her mother.

  “I can see that you overheard Mr. Hollway,” she said.

  “I did,” Indiana said.

  “There is nothing I can do. It is time you marry, and this estate stands to gain enough money to secure our futures. I had hoped for another option, but now, it seems, time is of the essence.”

  “I do not love him,” Indiana said defiantly. “I do not even like him.”

  Deborah laughed softly and shook her head. It wasn’t a mean laugh, but it stung her daughter just the same. “If only we all could marry for love,” the older woman said. “What a nice world that would be.”

  “I can marry for love.”

  “You cannot. I need this marriage, or everything your father worked for will be taken.”

  “Why did he do this to us?”

  “What do you mean?” Deborah asked.

  “Father. He left us with nothing.”

  “He left me with something, and you girls are supposed to marry. He knew that. He simply hadn’t planned on dying before that had come to fruition.”

  Both women were silent for some time. And then Deborah spoke again. “Perhaps not,” she said. “Perhaps something else will make you love him.”

  “I shall never love him! Is that acceptable? Would that be acceptable to you? If I never love the man you force me to marry?”

  Deborah thought for a moment. “It’s the way life is sometimes. Even if you don’t love him, if you don’t allow yourself to—even if you don’t, you’ll love your children.”

  “I won’t have children with him.”

  Deborah shook her head and her tone grew ice cold again. “This conversation is unfruitful. I will remind you of your upcoming journey, and you will be packed and ready in three days time. And need I remind you there will be no more trips out with Mr. Chase?”

  “What?”

  “You cannot be seen around town in the company of a man other than the one you are set to marry. It is most unseemly. I had hoped… well, never mind. Mr. Chase has proven to be too tardy.”

  New hot tears stung Indiana’s eyes, and she glared at her mother. Deborah for her part looked somewhat upset, but she turned and left with nothing else said between them. Indiana got up and shut her door, locking it so Misty could not come back in. Sure enough, within minutes of Indiana lying down on her bed, the maid knocked on the door. “Let me in,” she whispered.

  Indiana did not answer her. After several minutes, Misty left, and Indiana was truly alone. She wondered if she would always be alone, because that was exactly how she felt at that moment. She rolled over onto her side, still wearing her dress. The dress crinkled and ruffled audibly each time she moved, and the sound annoyed Indiana so much that she didn’t move any more. She stared at the wall, and the tears still came, sliding down her face sideways, making her pillow damp where they pooled. She didn’t know how her mother could be so unfair. She had always felt closer to her father, and she knew that if he lived, he never would have let her mother give her away.

  Indiana was filled with a mix of emotions, so full of sadness and anger that she was sure she would burst. She cried until she couldn’t weep any longer, and then she finally fell asleep.

  Chapter 14

  Indiana cast a quick glance around the room. It had been a long while since she had been in this establishment. It felt nostalgic. Of course, she came during the dinner hour with her family. It looked very different in the light of day. The floor and wooden tables glistened from fresh polish in the sunlight that streamed in from the windows. She never realized what a delicate pattern was painted on the high walls. It made her wonder how they possibly decorated such a large room.

  The smell of dried flowers and wood polish saturated the air, masking the scent of wax and lamp oil. She could even catch the sharp scent of fresh lemons. A merchant must have brought in a fresh crop recently. She had not realized that they would be in season.

  Indiana was well used to places like this. She often attended events with her family. Her parents were frequently invited to parties and banquets, often to discuss business or donations for various causes. Hardly a week passed that they did not have a social obligation to attend. They did not seem to bring Father much joy. In private, he often said that the people were only interested in his investments. She had never quite understood why he would say that of his hosts, especially with how kind and helpful they were to his own causes.

  Yet now she understood only too clearly. The invitations and smiling faces had dried up promptly with the death of her father. It was almost as if the rest of the family had been forgotten, ghosts that haunted a mansion their benefactor had already vacated.

&
nbsp; So when Morgan invited her to lunch, she was beside herself with delight. She could swear that Misty was even more excited than she was. She had Indiana up practically at dawn to soak, brush, and try on outfits.

  Her mother was an even bigger surprise. Despite her ordering Indiana never to see Morgan again, she had not put up any protest at all when Morgan called at the house and invited Indiana to lunch. Indiana was surprised by her mother’s fickleness, but she was grateful for it all the same.

  “I cannot tell you how honored I am to have you join me for lunch, Miss Indiana.” Morgan smiled in her direction, looking every bit the gentleman.

  “The pleasure is mine, Mr. Morgan,” Indiana replied in shy formality. It was so refreshing to be in good company. It was all she could do to remember her composure, especially when all she wanted to do was fidget and act like a foolish girl over the occasion. She could not fathom what was coming over her.

  Perhaps it was the company. After all, she had been forced to entertain Mr. Hollway as a potential husband ever since he had arrived in town. Indiana fully knew the seriousness of the situation, but she would never marry her children to outsiders through mail order bride newspaper advertisements. This experience taught her that the men who placed them were from someplace women did not see fit to live—or that they were men whom a woman had to be desperate to marry.

  Compared to that, what could be more perfect than a meal with a man like Mr. Morgan Chase? He was polite and cordial. To her amazement, on their way there he had started to talk a little on politics, a subject not many men would seek to talk of with a young lady. When he saw her surprise, he explained that his mother was always speaking politics. She was even planning to vote in the next election. Indiana was unaware that there were other states that allowed women to vote. He had assured her that women’s minds and opinions had quite a lot of bearing in the state of Wyoming. In fact, they’d had voices in the polling booths for many years now, since December of 1869. His mother and grandmother had the year stamped so firmly in his mind, that he was never likely to forget it.

  This amazed Indiana. She knew of several attempts in her lifetime to attain women’s suffrage in California. The ladies sometimes gossiped about groups and publications that had come out on the matter. All attempts had failed or were vetoed, however. To hear that a supposedly less sophisticated place like Wyoming had already been enjoying that luxury for some time was quite a shock. She pondered whether her family would be in this position had they been ranchers in Wyoming instead of investors in San Francisco.

  She busied herself with an imaginary wrinkle in her handkerchief as she tried to think of a clever topic about which to chat. After the revelation on their way there, she found the usual topics a lady would speak about woefully inadequate. Nor did she want to display her blindingly obvious ignorance of such things over lunch.

  “Wyoming sounds so fascinating,” she prompted as he pulled out her chair for her. “What is it like, on your ranch?”

  “I suppose it is much like any other ranch.” His tone was pleasant as he pushed her seat in and moved to sit down. “We’re situated in Pioneer Town which is near a significant rising township. A man who goes by the name Buffalo Bill is trying to develop it. He calls it ‘Cody City’. I don’t see it becoming a city in my lifetime, but we do have better access to more merchants and doctors than some others.”

  Indiana had heard of the man he was talking about, the renowned Buffalo Bill Cody, infamous for hunting buffalo along with other escapades, yet his involvement in the pony express was said to be praiseworthy. His reputation flourished or suffered depending with whom one talked. She tried to imagine what it was like to live in such a rough and wild landscape.

  “Do you have many troubles with cattle thieves?” she asked curiously. She instantly felt foolish for being so nosy. Her mother would certainly have had her head for bringing up the subject of losses and weaknesses. Most businessmen prefer to boast of their accomplishments. They want to look powerful and invincible in the eyes of their listener. She could practically hear her mother telling her to speak only when spoken to.

  Morgan, however, seemed pleased by the question. “Not so much for our family. We keep a large herd of cattle, but our business comes from breeding horses that can make the cattle runs. One good horse will sell for more than five head of cattle. We also grow hay and barley. What doesn’t go to our herds sells well to town and the surrounding ranches.”

  How clever! She’d heard that the cattle runs were a risky business, but his family made money by supplying the risk-takers instead. It wasn’t fair! Why couldn’t people like him advertise for mail order brides? He was completely different from Mr. Hollway. He was articulate, open minded, well mannered... and handsome.

  She tried to push the mental image of the belligerent rancher from Texas from her mind. She listened as Morgan talked about the landscape. Rough but beautiful. A hardworking staff that helped his family keep things running smoothly. Travelers from all over the nation making their way across the trail from time to time. Seeking out gold in California, or to stake out a settlement of their own. Hunters. Researchers. Occasional riff raff. All manner of people followed the trail through Cody City.

  Morgan and Indiana moved from one subject to another as they ate. It was quite some time before she realized that the lunch crowd had long dispersed. When was the last time she had lost track of time in a discussion?

  Morgan seemed as interested in the conversation as she was. He was not merely entertaining her, for he asked about some of her interests. She had told him how her father used to let her try to keep his books for him, always checking her work of course. This seemed to thrill him. A good rancher valued a woman with a good head on her shoulders, he had said. The depth of his praise had been unexpected, given her experience with Mr. Hollway.

  Indiana suppressed a sigh as the awful toad of a man haunted her mind like bad gossip. She could not imagine the man valuing a woman who knew more math than the managing of a household. The more she talked to Morgan, the less she wanted to accept the awful Mr. Hollway’s offer to marry her.

  She sighed wistfully. “It sounds like such a wonderful place.” Morgan Chase clearly lived where there was some concept of respect for a woman. He was overseeing a thriving territory with a major town just in reach. She could even see herself rolling up her sleeves to help wherever she could. She was not afraid of work. She’d gladly trade off servants for a well bucket if it meant she could speak her own mind. “I’d love to see it for myself one day.”

  “I’m glad you believe so,” Morgan actually looked relieved.

  To Indiana, there was something about the way he moved and the tone of his voice that made his remark sound more than simply a polite response. Every nerve fired in anticipation as she tried to understand exactly what it was she was hoping to hear next.

  He cleared his throat as he met her expectant stare. “I had a word with your mother. She told me everything.”

  “My mother?” she repeated in confusion, her brow furrowing. ‘Everything’? What did he mean by that?

  * * *

  “You do not have to marry Mr. Hollway,” Morgan said insistently, his hands clasping and unclasping in front of him as Indiana sat numb and silent. The quieter she was, the more he tried to assure her it was a real alternative. “I would be more than happy to take his place. I’m not saying the ranch is an easy life, but I would do my utmost to ensure you want for nothing.”

  Indiana wrung her hands tightly in her lap as she stared at the table in front of her, focusing on maintaining her composure. A good man was showing interest in her, but it was just because he was a good decent man, one who couldn’t stand by and watch a young woman be bartered off by her own mother to someone like Cade Hollway.

  Morgan was clearly committed to the act of saving her from a terrible marriage. If she didn’t marry him, she would have to marry Cade.

  This kind, wonderful man would never have let that rest on his conscienc
e. She was simply a moral obligation. The conversation today was to see how to make the best of the arrangement. It had nothing to do with the love she thought she was feeling for the man in front of her. It was just a business deal with her mother.

  And that was tearing her to pieces inside.

  Indiana reached up to dab at the edge of her eyes as she blinked back tears. Morgan froze in his rapid explanations about the ranch as her tears came into view, paling visibly as he realized something was amiss.

  “Miss Indiana, forgive me. I know I’m throwing a lot at you at once. I realize there is not a lot of time for you to choose, but I would be happy to…”

  “No,” she said in a dull voice as she rose unsteadily to her feet, waving him off as he tried to reach across the table to steady her. “No! I will not become an act of charity.”

  “Charity?” Morgan looked incredulous, a glimmer of something fighting in his eyes as his mouth mouthed wordlessly. He appeared to find the words to say as shock and remorse seemed to war in him simultaneously. “I’m trying to ask you to marry me. You think this is about charity?”

  “What else would it be called? I shall not marry a man to solve my family’s problems!” She felt ashamed of the sharpness of her voice. Yet how pathetic she must seem to a learned, accomplished man like him. “I wanted to think that I loved you. But if you do not feel the same, then I do not want a part of it!”

  That admission seemed to leave him speechless. Before he could recover, she turned on her heel and hurried out as fast as polite society would permit, holding back the tears. She ignored Morgan as he called out to her. She cared nothing for how the scene looked to spectators. She cared not what might reach Cade Hollway’s ears. All she could think of was trying to make it to her room and lock it up tight before the rest of her shattered into a thousand aching pieces.

  Chapter 15

  The opulent bar located on the first floor of the hotel was abuzz with guests and servers alike that morning as Morgan approached. He walked in at full stride, smiling at the other patrons as he headed up to the bar, claiming a stool both for him and his soon-to-arrive guest. Morgan’s mind was less certain about the meeting that he was about to attend than his outward appearance might suggest. He sat with his arms folded across his chest, his shoulders pushed back, and his chest jutting out. Even if he was not entirely confident about his meeting that morning, it was crucial that others did not suspect any signs of weakness in him—especially the man he was meeting: Cade Hollway.