Kitabı oku: «Montana Groom Of Convenience»

Chapter One

Bella Creek, Montana, 1891

They were dead! His plan had been to deliver his eight-year-old half sister, Jill, to her mother’s cousin and her husband in Bella Creek. The local sheriff’s explanation that the couple had passed away several months ago had brought a stop to that idea.

Twenty-three-year-old Sawyer Gallagher stared at Jill as she devoured her breakfast. He didn’t know the first thing about little girls, nor what they needed. He didn’t even have a home. For years, he had wandered from place to place. Now what was he supposed to do with his little sister? He couldn’t take her with him on a cattle drive or even if he got a job as a ranch hand. That sort of life wasn’t suitable for a young girl.

As he pondered his problem and how to solve it, the words of the conversation at a nearby table reached him.

“He’s going to sell the ranch.”

Sawyer angled his head to study the woman who spoke with such feeling. He couldn’t say if she expressed anger or pain. His position gave him a view of the woman’s profile. She leaned toward her friend, strands of straw blond hair drifting about her face. The rest was in a loose braid hanging down her back. She wore a dark blue print dress.

His gaze went downward and he grinned at the sight of a sturdy pair of cowboy boots peeking out from under her skirts. Both the boots and hem of her dress were caked with mud.

He returned his attention to the pair at the table. Her companion was also blonde though much darker. And much neater.

“No! You can’t reason with him?”

“You do realize we’re talking about my father—the most stubborn Scotsman I’ve ever encountered.”

Her friend chuckled. “I dare say he’s the only one you’ve ever encountered.”

The girl shuddered. “Don’t care to meet another.” She leaned closer to her companion. “Do you know what he told me? That I need a man to run the ranch now that he’s been injured. Doc says his leg won’t mend properly. Says he will never be able to use it like he used to. He can’t ride anymore. Can’t walk behind the plow. Can’t drive Big Harry.” With each item on the list, the gal’s voice grew more sorrowful and her shoulders sank.

“I’m sorry to hear that. But, Carly, he’s never allowed you to work with the Clydesdale.”

She sat up straight. “I could.” Her shoulders sank again. “But he forbids me to do so. Says it takes a man.”

Amusement sparkled from the second woman. “So you’re out to find a man?”

Carly, as her friend called her, jerked forward. Her jaw jutted out. “That’s exactly what I’m going to do. I said I would hire someone but Father says only marriage will ensure stability so I need to find someone to marry.” Her gaze circled the room, momentarily rested on Sawyer, lowered to Jill across from him and returned to her companion.

Sawyer’s breath whooshed out. He had the feeling he’d just escaped disaster.

“You’d marry to save the ranch?”

Sawyer shared the speaker’s astonishment.

“Indeed, I would. Too bad your brothers are already married. You don’t happen to have some male, unmarried cousins I haven’t heard of?”

“I can’t believe you’re asking.”

“It’s not like I’m expecting love and romance. I only want a man to sign a piece of paper and pretend to be my husband.”

“Carly Morrison! Dismiss this notion at once. It’s folly. Better to pray God changes your father’s mind.”

“Might as well ask for the mountains to disappear.” Miss Morrison sank back.

“There’s always Billy Cameron.” The woman laughed.

Carly shuddered. “Please, I’m not that desperate. You can smell the man coming a mile away. I’ve been with Father to visit him. The man never washes his dishes. Just lets his dog lick them clean. Yuck.”

“Glad to hear you aren’t that desperate.” Her companion rose. “I must go. I’m going to ask Hugh to pray for you.”

“So long as you both pray I’ll find a husband.” She scowled. “Father has given me two weeks to do so.”

“That doesn’t even give you time to find a mail-order husband.” The friend pulled on her gloves. “I’m sorry but it doesn’t sound very hopeful, does it?”

“There must be someone.” Miss Morrison brightened. “I just have to find him.”

Her friend left, shaking her head.

Sawyer shifted so he could see the woman still sitting at the table. Youngish, maybe twenty though that was but a guess. He wasn’t able to judge a woman’s age. She was pretty enough from what he could see. He’d been mildly surprised to see her brown eyes...unusual in someone with such fair hair. She was a little on the small size. He supposed, like most places in the west, there were a dozen men to every woman. So why wasn’t she already married? Instead, she was desperately looking for a husband.

He was desperately seeking a home for Jill.

His mind clicked like a tightly wound watch.

Jill burped loudly and he made up his mind.

“Jill, stay here while I speak to that lady.” Taking her compliance for granted, though compliance and cooperation had been sadly lacking from the beginning of this journey, he pushed his chair back and rose to his feet.

* * *

Carly planted her elbows on the table and buried her face in her palms. Father could be so unreasonable. Two weeks to find a husband! That was impossible. Besides, she didn’t want a husband. But she did want the ranch. She’d been mostly running it for several years now, though Father had steadfastly refused to let her handle Big Harry, insisting the plow horse was too much animal for a bitty thing like her.

The chair across the table scraped on the floor and someone sat down. Carly jerked up, expecting Annie had returned, perhaps having recalled an unmarried cousin. Instead she stared at a stranger.

Wasn’t this the man who had been seated at the next table? She darted a glance out of the corner of her eyes. Yes, the little girl sat alone, watching Carly and the man.

“Excuse me,” Carly said, returning her attention to the stranger. “This is my table.”

He didn’t pay any heed to her hint that he should leave. Didn’t even address her comment. “I couldn’t help but overhear part of your conversation.”

How dare he listen to her painful discussion with Annie? “Didn’t your mother teach you it was rude to eavesdrop?”

He lifted one shoulder dismissively. “She might have if she hadn’t died when I was seven.”

“I spoke out of turn. I’m sorry.” Wasn’t Father always telling her she was far too free with her comments? Given that he wasn’t opposed to speaking his mind, he could hardly expect otherwise.

The man across from her dipped his head in acknowledgment. “It would seem you have a problem.”

She gave no indication that she understood what he meant, her insides burning to think someone had overheard her conversation with Annie.

“I also have a problem.” His gaze went to the little girl.

Carly’s eyes went the same direction.

The untidy little girl scowled at them, then turned away, swiped her plate with her dirty fingers and sucked the bacon fat from them. She gave them a look of pure challenge that brought a fleeting smile to Carly’s mouth. It was a look she herself had honed over the years. For all the good it did her in the end. Father told her he didn’t care how much fire she shot from her eyes, there were certain things he would not let a daughter of his do. Remembering that brought her thoughts back to her quandary.

Carly could see the child might be a problem but didn’t see how it involved her. She didn’t have time to deal with a child. She had to find a husband.

“That’s my little sister, Jill. She’s eight and her parents are dead.”

“Poor little girl.” Carly studied the child more closely. She had light brown hair that hadn’t seen a brush in days. Brown eyes that challenged everyone and everything they encountered. A trail-dusty brown dress. Scuffed shoes that were swinging back and forth. Her heart went to the child. She must feel very alone. At least she had a brother.

How often Carly wished she had a sibling, preferably a brother or two or more.

The man continued, “I thought to turn her over to her second cousin but I just learned the cousin and her husband died last summer.”

“Poor child.” She revised her earlier assumption. It sounded very much like the little girl had no one who cared about her despite the brother sitting across from Carly. Jill, he’d said, shifted her gaze to Carly’s and Carly glimpsed the child’s pain and fear before the little one turned away and began dragging the fork over the tabletop, scratching the worn surface.

Dorie, sister to the owner of Miss Daisy’s Eatery, hustled over and gathered up the used dishes and cutlery, taking the fork and leaving only a glass of water in front of Jill.

Carly realized the man opposite her waited her attention.

“I find myself needing a home for Jill.”

Carly wished him well with his search but she didn’t have time to discuss the matter. Nor anyone she cared to suggest who might offer the child a home. She had to find a man willing to marry her.

Though she had her doubts that she’d meet with any man’s approval. She had the ranch to offer as enticement even though she hated to use it that way. Hadn’t she long ago promised herself that in order for a man to marry her, he’d have to care for her...not the ranch?

Bart Connelly had made her see how important that was. He courted her ardently. She’d admired his interest in everything to do with the ranch operation. Her admiration had cooled considerably after he let her see his real reason for the courtship. He told her he intended to have his own ranch some day and he didn’t mean to wait until he’d saved up enough from his wages. That would take far too long. Nope. There was more than one way to get started.

Didn’t take Carly long to realize she was his shortcut. She might have been agreeable to a partnership but then he started to tell her how to do things. Started telling her to run along and get prettied up for him. She finally told him he should run along and get himself prettied up.

After that, she refused his company. Let him find someone else to marry in order to get his ranch.

Seems most men expected she’d change for them, get prettied up and let them order her about. She soon stopped bothering with them. But now, here she was needing to marry someone. Bart was long gone, which was a mercy. She shuddered at the thought of giving in to his demands.

She pushed her chair back. She didn’t have time to listen to the man’s woes. She had to save the ranch. “I’m sorry about your plight but I don’t know what I can do to help.”

“You can marry me.”

She sat down with a thud and opened her mouth but not a word came out. She stared. Blinked. Blinked again. Closed her eyes and told herself she was in a bad dream but when she opened her eyes, the man still sat there, watching, waiting.

She found her voice, though it sounded a bit rusty. “Marry you? You’re a stranger. I don’t even know your name. I don’t know anything about you.”

“Name’s Sawyer Gallagher. I’m twenty-three. Been on my own since I was fourteen. Been working on ranches or riding herd on a trail ride. That’s about it.”

That was it? Who was he? What sort of life did he plan to live?

She studied him with narrowed eyes. Dirty blond hair. Blue-green eyes. Three days’ growth of dusty beard. A trail-soiled faded blue shirt. A look that shouted don’t mess with me. A man used to being in charge.

She almost shivered. No. She could not see herself married to this man.

Except to save the ranch?

He leaned forward, his eyes challenging and fierce enough to make her want to sit back and put more distance between them. “You need a husband so you can keep your ranch. I need a home for Jill.” He looked down as he continued, not allowing her to read his expression. “I know what it’s like to grow up homeless and drifting. It’s how me and my pa were until he married Judith and they had little Jill.” He paused.

When he resumed speaking, his voice had deepened and his words came slowly as if he found them difficult to say them. “I learned not to care about people or places ’cause I knew they weren’t going to last. It killed something inside me so that I don’t feel things anymore.” He lifted his head and she sat back at the way his eyes blazed. “I don’t want Jill to end up like me.” The fire in his gaze died and she could have been looking into a bottomless pit for all she saw.

She swallowed hard. Not often a man made her feel small and vulnerable but something about this man did. He wasn’t big. Annie’s brothers were far bigger. But his soulless eyes unnerved her.

He went on, not hurrying, yet she felt his intensity. “I want nothing but a permanent home for my sister. No emotional ties. No expectations except for me to do the ranch work and you to teach Jill how to feel safe.”

Their glances went to the child. She picked her nose and wiped it on her already soiled dress. “I don’t suppose learning a few manners would hurt either.”

“No strings attached?” Why was she even considering this? One reason and one only...to keep the ranch. She looked again at the little girl. Maybe two reasons. The second, to give a child a home where she would be safe and secure.

“No strings.” His voice was flat but firm.

“You’d have your own bedroom?” Her cheeks burned at the question but she had to be sure they were clear on this matter. She did not want to be controlled by a man indoors or out.

“Either that or I’ll sleep in the barn.”

“No need for that.” There was a small room next to Father’s that was used mostly for storage. It would be adequate.

Except this wasn’t going to happen. She wasn’t seriously considering his suggestion. No. She wasn’t that desperate.

“I heard you say your father gave you two weeks.”

She stared at the wall behind him. Could she find someone else to marry in two weeks? As Annie said, it didn’t allow time to advertise for a husband, and even if it did, there would not be enough time to get to know and evaluate any man who responded. No one from around here would marry her knowing how she conducted herself. Every man she’d ever met wanted her to go to the house and pretty herself up. The few single men in the area who might be desperate enough to marry her had already been dismissed as old, ugly, mean or simpering. Old Billy Cameron was but a sample of what she had to choose from.

She simply didn’t have the luxury of picking and choosing.

She squirmed in her chair. But to marry a complete stranger!

Jill got down from her chair and kicked at the table legs.

“Jill,” Sawyer said. “Don’t do that.”

The child kicked harder, causing the table to hop away. Then she gave Sawyer a look full of disdain, challenge and—

Despair.

Carly saw it. She felt it and her heart went out to the orphaned child who didn’t know where she belonged. She couldn’t imagine the pain of not having a home, no place to call one’s own.

If Carly didn’t marry and present her father with a man to help run the ranch, she was about to lose the place she called home, the place she considered her own.

“Okay. Let’s do it.” She would marry the man, ensure her own home and give Jill one at the same time.

* * *

Sawyer didn’t move a muscle. Didn’t blink. Didn’t so much as allow his eyelids to flicker, even though the woman’s ready agreement left him feeling like he teetered at the brink of a bottomless ravine. Shouldn’t she have asked a lot of questions about him and his character?

“I’m an honest, honorable man.” The words fell out of his mouth. “I’ll treat you right.”

Carly gave him narrow-eyed study with those dark brown eyes. He had to concentrate not to shift his gaze away. “Mr. Gallagher, you might hit me once, but you’ll never hit me twice. I’ll see to that. I’ll not tolerate a man who rules with his fists.”

He didn’t know if he should laugh at the idea of this little gal getting all feisty or congratulate her on her stand. “Warning duly noted.” He wondered if she heard the humor in his voice, then remembered she wouldn’t. He’d kept his responses cooled for so long that he seldom felt them and even less often did others recognize them. “But completely unnecessary. I’d never hit a woman or child.”

Her lips pursed. “I won’t abide rough treatment of my animals, either.”

He nodded. “You and I see eye to eye on that matter.”

She studied him so hard he felt something inside shudder.

To avoid her gaze, he turned to Jill. “Her parents died right after Christmas.” It was the last time he’d been home and he’d stayed only two days, anxious to be on the move. Mostly from not wanting to feel like an outsider to the happy family of his pa, Judith and Jill, although Judith did everything she could to include him. He’d seen the pain in her eyes and Pa’s when he rode out.

The neighbor said they had taken sick shortly after he left and the fever had claimed their lives. “I was away and when I came home, I found Jill living with an elderly woman who provided nothing but a roof over her head and some meals. From what I could see, Jill took care of herself, which meant she ran wild. She’d been shuffled from home to home. No one wanted to keep her.”

He studied his little sister. Already he saw the evidence of her reaction to losing her parents and having a home where no discipline or affection was given. “She accepts no affection. Rebuffs attempts of people to befriend her.” He gave a sound that was half snort, half amusement. “Course I’m hardly one to judge what a normal reaction is.” He subdued a sigh. “Like I said, I don’t want her to end up like me.”

“I expect she’s just wanting someone who will accept her as she is and be there for her every day.”

Those words ricocheted back and forth inside Sawyer’s heart. Every day? He’d long ago learned there was no such thing as counting on someone every day. He’d discovered the best way to keep from being hurt was to not allow himself to feel anything, not to trust anyone to always be there.

He’d gotten really good at it. So good that women considered him cold and distant. He’d tried to change when he met Gladys Berry. She talked of home and family...things he thought he wanted. He soon learned he couldn’t become what she wanted and she’d stopped letting him call on her. Accused him of having no feelings—something he could not deny. Said he was a loner and would always be so.

He’d been better off than Jill. He’d had his pa. Sort of. Pa was there in body but absent in every other way until he had met and married Judith.

By marrying Carly, Sawyer could hope to give Jill what Pa had found. He wasn’t sure what to call it but figured security best described it.

“How soon you want to get married?” he asked.

“Today suit you?”

Long years of hiding emotions enabled him to sit perfectly still, revealing none of his surprise. “Today is fine by me.” There seemed nothing to be gained by waiting except to allow her time to change her mind. “You know someone who will marry us on such short notice?”

She rumbled her lips. “Now that might pose a problem.”

“How much of a problem?”

“I don’t know if I can find anyone to agree to our plan.”

He should have known this wouldn’t work out. With studied indifference, he got to his feet. “In that case, I’ll be moving along. Nice talking to you.” He grabbed his worn and battered cowboy hat from where it hung on the back of the chair and reached for Jill’s hand. “Come on.” Jill raced ahead and was out the door before he’d made three steps.

Knowing she could get into all kinds of trouble in less time than it took to say her name, he rushed after her.

“Mr. Gallagher, wait just one minute.”

He ignored Carly Morrison’s imperative call and hurried out the door just in time to see Jill dash into the middle of the street, right into the path of an oncoming wagon. He rushed after her, praying he’d get there in time to prevent a tragedy.