Wild Western Women Ride Again: Western Historical Romance Boxed Set Read online

  Susan frowned. "I won't get to spend as much time with you that way, though."

  "We'll still have plenty of time. Bernard has to investigate a potential groom while we're here. A matchmaker's work is never done."

  "I still can't believe you're doing Harriett's job and living in that huge house of hers. It must seem strange after the farm."

  Elizabeth nodded. "You'd be surprised at how quickly I got used to being waited on," she said with a laugh. "And how quickly I fell in love with my butler. Why, I've been in love with him for almost ten years, and he's just now noticing me."

  "Are you sure he hasn't been in love with you for just as long? He was giving you some pretty longing glances over there, Lizard Breath."

  Elizabeth laughed at the childhood nickname the demon horde had given her. "Do you have any idea how long it's been since someone called me 'Lizard Breath?' I can't say I missed it!"

  Susan smiled. "Well, how about you two plan to have lunch and supper with us every day. You can come out after breakfast, and spend the day, and he can do whatever he needs to do. Will that work?" She frowned. "I thought I'd have a full two weeks of sister time, and that time seems to be disappearing from before my eyes."

  Elizabeth hugged Susan with one arm, still clutching the baby in the other. "We're still going to have lots of sister time." Her eyes traveled to where Bernard and David were talking easily as they picked their way through the crowd toward the wagon. "And I'm going to have a lot of honeymoon time, too."

  Susan sighed. "I guess I can't stand in the way of newlywed sex."

  Elizabeth burst out laughing. "Is newlywed sex different than non-newlywed sex?"

  Susan shrugged. "It becomes less frequent, but it's better, because you know each other so well. It becomes more intuitive, I guess." She smiled over Elizabeth's shoulder. "David, they're going to stay in town but come out for lunch and supper every day. Does that work?"

  David nodded. "Why don't you two use the courting buggy while you're here? It's certainly not big enough for our whole family, and Albert and Sarah aren't speaking again."

  "Again?" Susan said, sighing. "What happened this time?"

  "She caught him making eyes at Ruby."

  Susan smiled. "I always liked Ruby better than Sarah anyway. Maybe they'll get married and make me a happy woman."

  "Let the boy marry whomever he wants to marry." David sounded almost angry.

  "I will! He's too young to marry right now anyway. He's only eighteen. No one needs to be married at eighteen."

  David glared at Susan. "I was married at eighteen."

  "And look how that turned out! You were a widower with four boys who acted as bad as the demon horde!"

  Elizabeth looked at Susan in shock. "Didn't his wife die in childbirth?"

  "Well, yes, but—I'm sorry, David. I got carried away. I just don't think that Sarah would make our Albert a good wife." Susan looked miserable as she apologized.

  David nodded. "I understand." He looked at Bernard. "Why don't I drive you two to the hotel to check in, and then we'll go out to the ranch. You can drive yourselves back into town with the courting buggy."

  Bernard nodded, looking back and forth between Susan and her husband. What had he gotten himself into?

  *****

  They spent the day at the ranch, enjoying the family. Elizabeth loved having her nephews and nieces around. Albert didn't seem terribly interested in an aunt that he'd never met before, and Lewis followed his lead. The twins were sweet, though, thrilled with the gifts she brought them.

  Through it all, Bernard leaned against the wall watching Elizabeth. Whenever she caught his eye, it felt like he was ready to protect her from any danger right there in the ranch house. Why would there be danger in her sister's home?

  As they drove back to the hotel that night, she asked him just that. "Why are you so nervous in my sister's house? You act like you're ready for someone to jump out and try to kill me at any moment!"

  Bernard sighed. "I just have a funny feeling is all. It hasn't been long since Deacons Jackson and Belafonte were killed, and we still don't know where Deacon Smith is. I worry that the organization they worked for may have some surprises stuck up their sleeves."

  "Do you really think they're after me?" Elizabeth had a hard time believing her place in the thwarting of the deacons was big enough for her to still be a target.

  "I honestly don't know, but if they are, I'm going to be ready for them. You're the most important thing in my life, and I'm not letting you go." Bernard kept his eyes firmly on the road and his hands on the reins. Without Elizabeth, he wasn't sure he'd have anything left to live for.

  "That's the sweetest thing anyone has ever said to me," she told him, scooting closer to him and gripping his arm. She turned and kissed his shoulder. "Why, that's so sweet, I may just let you make love to me when we get back to the hotel."

  He laughed. "Because you hid under the bed when I wanted to make love to you last night and the night before that?" It hadn't taken him long to discover that his sweet innocent looking wife was as lusty as he was, and he liked her that way.

  "Well, I just thought you'd be pleased to know that I didn't plan to hide from you tonight!"

  "Well, I'm relieved, because all I've thought about all day was what I was going to do to you once we close that hotel room door." He stopped the buggy in front of the hotel. Lowering his voice he whispered, "You should wear that special nightgown for me again. I like that I can see your nipples through it."

  Elizabeth gasped as if she was offended. "Well, I never!"

  He laughed softly. "Oh, yes you did. And I enjoyed it."

  Chapter Eight

  Elizabeth greatly enjoyed her time getting to know Susan's family better. It was strange to see her sister as a mother, but she realized Susan had taken to the role like a duck to water. "I never quite understood how you ended up married to David instead of Jesse to start with," Elizabeth told her one quiet afternoon while she was sitting with her sister while she nursed baby Gustav.

  Susan shook her head. "Jesse was killed while I was en route. David was his older brother and only surviving family other than the children. He was the only one Jesse had discussed the fact I was coming with, so he met me at the train station." She chuckled softly. "At first, he only told me about the twins who were two at the time. When I came out here to meet them, he bribed the two older boys to be good. They were hellions when I first got here."

  "So were they good when you met them the first time?"

  Susan nodded emphatically. "Good enough I agreed to marry David. When I realized he'd bribed them I was so angry. We hadn't been married twenty minutes and the boys were rolling in the street covered in mud fighting. I think it was about a cat or something equally silly."

  "What did you do?"

  "I told David he wasn't getting a wedding night, and then I punished the boys. David doesn't believe in corporal punishment, so the punishments had to get pretty creative." Susan sighed. "Within a few months I had them whipped into shape, though."

  "And David eventually got a wedding night?"

  Susan laughed. "He apologized profusely and got one on our wedding night. I probably should have held out longer, but he's a good kisser."

  Elizabeth laughed. "So is Bernard. Not that I have anyone to compare him to, of course."

  Bernard stepped into the room then. Elizabeth's eyes widened, wondering if he'd heard her talking to her sister. "Where'd you come from?" she asked, blushing a bit.

  He raised an eyebrow at the look on her face. "I was in the stable helping David with a sick foal. Were you doing something you shouldn't have been?"

  "You know I wouldn't." Elizabeth smiled sweetly. "What brings you inside?"

  Bernard shook his head, knowing she was up to something, but not sure what it was. "David wants me to ride out onto the range with him for a bit. We're going to leave the older boys to watch out for you ladies, but I wanted you to know where I was going."

  Su
san raised an eyebrow. "Exactly why do you think we need to be watched over?" She looked back and forth between Elizabeth and Bernard. "What are you keeping from me?"

  "If Elizabeth wants to talk about it, that's up to her." He nodded to Susan and bent over to kiss Elizabeth lightly. He had been brought up that kissing in front of others shouldn't be done, but Elizabeth had ensured him her family wouldn't mind. "I think you should tell her. She needs to know her family may be in danger." The words were whispered in her ear before he turned and left the house.

  Susan glared at Elizabeth. "Exactly what are you not telling me?"

  Elizabeth sighed. "I didn't want you to worry." She shrugged. "For at least the past five years, there has been some unusual activity in Beckham. I was contacted by some other matchmakers from around the country, and I got involved trying to help."

  "What kind of unusual activity? Is the family in danger?"

  "No, the family is fine, and we think everything is safe now that the deacons are dead." Elizabeth sighed. "But we're not sure if others in the organization they worked for are after me. I helped a lot of girls get away from the deacons."

  "Deacons? There were deacons involved in a slavery ring? In Beckham?"

  "I know it's hard to believe, and not everyone knows about it, but it happened. Bernard is convinced that they're going to come after me. He hasn't let me leave my house alone in years. He goes with me everywhere I go."

  Susan smiled. "He really cares about you. It's fun to watch him watching you. It's as if he's afraid if he takes his eyes off you, you'll disappear!"

  Elizabeth blushed. "I think he's worried that I'll realize I've married my butler and wish it wasn't so. That's not happening, though. He's an amazing man. I just wish I'd had the courage to grab him and kiss him ten years ago instead of waiting until we were on the train."

  "You've had feelings for him for that long? Really?" Susan was a sucker for a good love story and always had been. "Why didn't you act sooner then? I would have."

  Elizabeth laughed. "Well, he was my butler, and he tended to be so serious about everything. I had no idea he had feelings for me as well until he kissed my hand on the train." She realized how silly that sounded. "It wasn't just that he kissed my hand, but how he did it. I know that sounds strange."

  "Well, I'm glad you two finally figured it out. You really do seem to be right for each other." Susan shifted the baby sleeping in her lap. "I keep watching Albert play his little games with Ruby, and hope the two of them will realize what they mean to each other before it's too late. Albert has been courting one of the neighbor's girls, Sarah, and she's a sweet girl, but she's just not right for him. I mean, they usually get along great, and she practically worships him, but she lets him run all over her." She sighed. "Albert needs a woman who will stand up to him and give him a good fight. Ruby will do that."

  "Maybe he doesn't want to fight with his future wife. Bernard and I have never fought." Elizabeth thought Susan was insane. Why would anyone be looking for someone to fight with as a spouse? Didn't you want someone you could get along well with?

  "You will!" Susan replied, a little too happily for Elizabeth's tastes. "There are too many sparks between you not to. I guess that's my problem with Sarah and Albert. You look at them, and they're comfortable together, but there are no real sparks."

  "I don't think we'll fight. We've worked together for ten years and never fought. We've disagreed a few times, but we always ended up seeing eye-to-eye."

  Susan laughed. "If you were to go for a walk right now, with no men watching over you, what do you think he'd do?"

  Elizabeth contemplated that for a moment. "I don't think he'd be happy about it, but I don't think we'd fight." She shrugged. "We never fight."

  "Oh, you probably wouldn't. He'd just lock you up so you couldn't endanger yourself again, and let you out when you're a very old woman. Of course, he'd be the only one who could get in for visits, because he wouldn't be able to stay away from you..."

  "Susan!" Elizabeth did her best to sound scandalized before dissolving into giggles. "You're right about one thing. He wouldn't be able to stay away. That man is too interested in—" She clamped her lips shut, refusing to finish what she was about to say. It wasn't something people talked about, and she'd already shared more than she should with Susan. Her sister would think her a loose woman.

  "I can tell from the way he looks at you!" Susan said with a grin. "I'm glad you've found love, Lizard. So glad!"

  "Well, we haven't exactly talked about love yet. I'm afraid to frighten him by saying it."

  Susan shrugged. "It took us a while too, but I was a mail order bride. It's hard to picture you marrying someone who you weren't sure of."

  "We were both too interested in being together to worry about anything but tying the knot and having our wedding night."

  "Sometimes that's the only thing that matters," Susan responded with a grin. "How long did you two have to wait to marry once you decided to?"

  "A little over twenty-four hours," Elizabeth said with a grin. "We just didn't see a need to wait. I thought about waiting to get to Fort Worth so you could stand up with me, but it just didn't seem like it would be prudent."

  "Maybe not. I wish you would have found a way to wait, though. I would have liked to be there for at least one of my siblings' weddings. The demon horde is growing up and marrying so fast."

  Elizabeth shook her head. "I know! Three of them got married last year. And Mary has a baby! That's the hard thing. It was so strange for me to watch my younger sister go through pregnancy before me."

  "Do you wish things were different? That you hadn't accepted Harriett's offer of the business, and you'd married instead?"

  "Not at all. I mean, sometimes, when it seemed like Bernard would never realize I was a woman, I wondered if it would have been better if I'd never met Harriett. But now? I can't imagine my life without him. He's my everything."

  Susan nodded to the children's nurse, Maria. "Will you watch the children while we walk for a while?" she asked.

  "Of course!" Maria walked into the room and sat down as the other two women left.

  Elizabeth happily wandered outside with Susan. "Where are Albert and Lewis? Aren't they supposed to be our bodyguards today?"

  Susan shrugged. "Do you honestly think we're in danger? If we go out without the boys, do you think someone is going to come along and shoot us? Or is Bernard just being overprotective?"

  "Oh, I'm quite certain he's just being overprotective. The man takes worrying about me to a whole new level." Elizabeth shrugged. "I think at home in Beckham it makes sense for me to be extra cautious, but here in Texas, I'm just not worried about it. We'll be back before he realizes that we even left."

  "Then let's walk. If you can bear your husband's wrath, I can bear mine." Susan threaded her arm through her sister's. "Besides, do you know what the best part of fighting with your husband is?"

  Elizabeth looked at Susan with a grin. "No, what?"

  "Making up."

  Elizabeth laughed softly as they started out toward the back pasture. She had always loved being outdoors, and she knew Susan did too. There was just something about being a farm girl and loving nature.

  As they walked, they talked. They'd only had letters for ten years, so it was nice to just be sisters again. "So tell me about the ranch. David trains horses?"

  Susan nodded. "He inherited the ranch, but his love has always been training horses, so he has a foreman he trusts to oversee the daily operation of the ranch, and David does the training. The older boys seem to be following in his footsteps, but the twins want to run the ranch. I'm not sure how that's going to work out for any of them, but I'm glad they're all interested in their heritage."

  "Do you realize every one of our younger siblings has either become a farmer or married a farmer? I don't think they realize there are any other jobs." Elizabeth shook her head. "You'd think at least one of them would want to head out West, but so far, you're the only one who's
moved further from home than five miles."

  As they rounded the stable, Elizabeth caught sight of two men she didn't know. She assumed they were cowboys working for David and just kept walking. They were no further than one hundred yards from the stable, when she realized the men were following them. "Don't look now, but there are two men following us. Did you see them? Are they ranch hands?"

  Susan shook her head. "I saw them as we rounded the corner, but didn't recognize them. They could work for David, and me not know about it, because he's always hiring someone new, but I just don't know. Are you worried?"

  Elizabeth bit her lip. "I don't know. Let's switch directions, and see if we can head back to where the men will be. Where did Bernard say he was going?" She knew her husband would have a gun, and she'd feel safer once she could spot him. Her heartbeat accelerated as they took a slight turn to the right, trying not to make it known they realized someone was following them.

  "He said he and David were going for a ride on the range. I'm nervous now. We shouldn't have done this!" Susan threaded her arm through Elizabeth's trying to look nonchalant, but her hand was shaking.

  "We're going to be fine," Elizabeth said softly. "We're going to walk in a big circle back toward the house. If they get close to us, we're going to start screaming as loudly as we can. This is a working ranch. There are people within earshot." Through everything with the deacons, she'd never been in danger herself. Bernard had kept her away from it all.

  Susan took a deep steadying breath. "That's a good plan. All right. I'm not going to panic." She squeezed Elizabeth's arm. "Maybe David asked them to watch out for us."

  "Maybe." Elizabeth wasn't convinced, but she didn't say anything else about it. "Tell me what it was like to be pregnant. Did you feel an instant connection with the babies once they were born?" She didn't want to talk about pregnancy or babies, but she needed to get her sister's mind off their worries. She kept guiding her off to the right, trying to make a big circle to get them back to the stable where they'd be within eyesight of the men working with the horses.