Page 53 of Seven Brides for Beau McBride (The McBrides of Montana #3)

“Boys, we’ve got a serious problem.” Morgan had called a meeting of his brothers at the trading post. He pulled a bottle of whiskey out from his hiding place on the top shelf behind the ledgers and poured each of them a stiff drink.

He was aware of their unease. None of them liked talking about the problem of Junebug. Morgan sighed. He didn’t either, but things were well out of hand.

“I think we need to admit that she’s out of our control.”

“Was she ever in our control?” Kit sighed, taking his whiskey and downing it in a single shot.

“She’s not going to walk in while we’re talking about her, is she?” Jonah asked nervously.

“No, she’s gone down to Bitterroot with Pip and Ellie.” Beau still got a blurry-happy look when he said his wife’s name.

“We tried our best,” Morgan grumbled. “ I tried my best. But what do four backwoodsmen know about raising a girl like Junebug? And sure, we’ve got our womenfolk now—and I thought early on that a woman’s influence would help.

But I think we left it too late. She’s…” Morgan tried to find the words.

His heart got a bruised feeling when he thought about Junebug.

“Demonic?” Beau suggested.

“Stubborn,” Kit sighed.

“Wild.” Jonah drank his whiskey.

“Wild,” Morgan agreed glumly. “All those things and more. She’s got no sense of right and wrong. Ordering up one wife was bad—two was appalling. But seven ?”

“Nine including Maddy and Pip,” Beau corrected. “Oh no… actually eight. One of them was my doing.”

“She gave no thought to the impact on the actual people involved. She has no empathy, or ability to imagine their experience…”

“She can,” Kit protested, “when she puts her mind to it.”

“But she doesn’t . And she’s getting too old for all her stunts. That time she ran off to Miles City with Pip. The gambling! She ain’t a kid anymore and her stunts ain’t child’s play. She’s going to end up tangling with the wrong people. And she’s…” He cleared his throat. “ Developing. ”

They all winced.

“She ain’t far from adulthood. And what kind of adult is she going to be?

” He hated this, but Morgan felt it was his duty to address it head on.

“Is she going to be gambling with miners, getting herself into positions where they could…” He couldn’t say it, but he could see by their faces that he didn’t need to.

“I’d kill anyone who touched her,” Kit swore.

“We all would. But we cain’t kill every man under the sun—and she keeps throwing herself headlong into these dangerous situations.”

“What are you suggesting, Morgan?”

Morgan felt sick about it. But he reached for the letter and handed it to Kit. “Boarding school,” he admitted.

There was a stinging silence as they passed the letter around.

“She’ll hate it,” Jonah said miserably.

“Maybe. But maybe she won’t.” Morgan knew it was wishful thinking. “You know how she wants to travel. This Upcott place is in Chicago. That might interest her.”

“It’s like sending her to prison.” Beau handed the letter back to Morgan.

“Better prison than assault. Or worse.” Morgan looked down at the letter.

“And she likes books, maybe she’ll take to learning.

She ain’t never had much schooling, she might like it.

Learning arithmetic and French and history and the like.

” He swore at the look on their faces. “Don’t look at me like that.

You know I hate this as much as you do.”

They nodded.

“Can she at least go see her circus on the way?” Beau asked, consumed by guilt that his bet had led her to this.

“She’ll be okay. And maybe she’ll make friends. And you’re right, she might learn to like it,” Kit said, even though he didn’t sound like he believed it.

“Sure. You’re sending her off to a school full of girls. She’ll probably enjoy spending her time trying to turn one of them into another bride,” Jonah joked.

“Well good luck to her, since you’re the last man standing.”

Jonah shook his head. “She’d have better luck with Charlie.”

Kit laughed wryly. “Maybe that’s what we should do with her. Get her to find Charlie a bride. Maybe she could find him while she’s at it.”

“Well, if anyone could, it would be our Junebug.” Morgan topped up their glasses. “Here’s to Junebug. And the last of her brides.”

“Don’t jinx it,” Beau warned. He’d learned enough to know not to bet against his sister.

She was a wild card. Every time.