Page 16 of Sudden Mail-Order Bride (Frontier Brides #1)

Oh, the dear man! She’d wondered whether she would ever be a bride, doubted that Jeremy had cared enough to marry her. But he positively glowed with purpose and surety. She felt the same surety rising up inside. She pressed her fingers to her lips in amazement, but the word burst out anyway. “Yes!”

Jeremy rose, and so did she, and in his arms, she knew herself accepted, cherished, loved.

“I love you too,”

she murmured, drawing back to peer into his face, which looked absolutely besotted. “I think I fell in love a little more with every letter, and I tipped all the way when I finally met you.”

“And that is simply perfect!”

his mother declared, rising as well. Beaming, she opened her arms and hugged them both.

Caroline closed her eyes and whispered a prayer of thanks, for Jeremy, for his mother, for his whole family. You accepted me, Lord, just as I am, and so do they. That is a blessing!

“It may not have happened at first sight,”

his mother said, drawing back with a watery smile, “but you’ve each found someone who loves you and will stick by you no matter what. And so will we.”

His father came to clap Jeremy on the back, Jane came to hug her, and Jack shook hands all around. She glanced to where her brother stood, shifting from foot to foot as if afraid he’d have to light out.

Caroline motioned to him with her hand. “Well? Come on!”

With a relieved grin, he came to hug her and shake Jeremy’s hand too.

“Now,”

his father said, face turning stern, “we have some planning to do. We will not be letting this Dickerson fellow win.”

“No, sir,”

Ned agreed, and the others nodded.

“We’ll send someone to Puget City to telegraph Sheriff Billings in Olympia,”

Jack said. “Jason is the fastest rider, and Dickerson may not think him a target since he’s younger. The rest of us can circle the herd like we do on cattle drives, watching the edges of the ranch. Nobody gets in or out of the Jumping J without us approving.”

“I don’t know how many others he has with him,”

Ned warned. “I saw two the last time he approached me.”

“He still has two,”

Jack said, with a look to Jeremy. “We found evidence of one in the woods the first time. Maybe he followed Caroline from Cincinnati. Either way, they must have realized she was coming to the area, but I doubt they knew which ranch. They likely split up to find her. The first man who spotted her alerted the others, because the next camp we found showed three had been using it.”

Caroline swallowed. “Three could cause some trouble.”

“Three we can handle,”

Mr. Willets promised.

Mrs. Willets must have made up her mind, for she nodded. “Jack, you see to Jason and the patrolling. I’d like Jeremy to stay in the house with Caroline.”

“I’ll take his place,”

Jane offered. “I can shoot as straight.”

“And ride better,”

Jeremy added with a grin. “Thanks, Jane.”

“I can take a shift too,” Ned said.

Jack shook his head. “Best Dickerson doesn’t have a chance at you.”

Ned’s face fell.

“Don’t worry, Ned,”

Jeremy’s mother said. “I’ll find work for you. Easter is only a few days away. We have much to do to prepare.”

Bless the dear woman, but she kept them busy the rest of the afternoon. With everything that had happened, Caroline had nearly forgotten that that Sunday would be Easter. Jason had brought home a plump goose, which had to be plucked and cleaned. Jenny was planning a special kind of stuffing that needed herbs to be ground and sifted together. Jeremy’s mother wanted the whole house sparkling, which meant window washing, sweeping, and rug beating.

“And then there’s what we’ll wear,”

Joanna confided to Caroline as they stood just off the porch before dinner, smacking a rug with latticed wooden beaters. The rain had stopped, but the clouds still hung low, dark and threatening. Jeremy kept watch at the edge of the porch. His gaze drifted to the forest beyond the fields as if he thought Mr. Dickerson was waiting.

Caroline wrinkled her nose as dust puffed out from the rug. “I have three dresses. I’ll just wear the nicest.”

“I’m sure Jenny would let you borrow something of hers,”

Jeremy’s sister pointed out.

“And everyone would know it was hers,”

Caroline reminded her.

“Well, you can borrow some of my hair ribbons,”

Joanna insisted. “They’ll look different in your black hair than they would in my red curls in any event.”

She peered around the rug at her. “Which of my dresses do you think Ned would like best?”

Caroline gave the rug a good smack, sending it swinging toward Joanna. “Any of them. It’s not the dress but the lady inside it that my brother likes. Have you spoken with him?”

Joanna smacked the rug back toward Caroline. “Yes. And we are in agreement that we should not refine on a certain matter. We are friends.”

She peered around the rug and winked at Caroline. “For now.”

Jeremy straightened. “Dinner should be about ready.”

Joanna pulled the rug off the line and followed Caroline inside.

She still couldn’t quite believe that Jeremy had proposed. He held out her dining chair as if she were a great lady.

“Practicing,”

he said before dropping into his chair beside her. “I expect to do that every day for the rest of my life and count myself fortunate each time.”

“And what if I want to pull out my own chair?”

she asked, putting her napkin on her lap.

“Why, I’ll look for other ways to serve you,”

he promised. “I never want you to doubt that you’re loved and appreciated.”

By the way he looked at her, she had no doubts.

Some of the other members of his family and Ned trickled in to take their places. Jacob leaned over next to Caroline.

“I apologize,”

he murmured, eyes contrite behind his spectacles. “You obviously have my brother’s best interests at heart.”

His gaze went beyond her to Jeremy. “And I see he learned his lesson well.”

Jeremy took Caroline’s hand and brought it to his lips for a kiss. “And profited by it, brother.”

With a pleased nod, he headed for his own chair.

“Did Jacob have words with you earlier?”

Jeremy asked, watching his brother but keeping a hold of Caroline’s hand as if to protect her.

“He was protecting you,”

Caroline assured him. “I didn’t know the story about the woman who refused you then, but I think I understand his concerns now. And I know I’ll never be so foolish.”

“And I am eternally grateful,”

he told her with a smile.

Finally, the others came in. Jack, Jane, and Joshua were on duty outside, so the table didn’t look nearly as full as usual.

And Jason’s spot was empty.

Jeremy frowned as his father said the blessing.

“Jason not back yet?”

he asked as soon as Mr. Willets finished and the others began passing the food.

“Something’s wrong,”

Mrs. Willets said, clutching the bowl of carrots as if she’d never let go.

Caroline looked to Jeremy’s father at the opposite end of the table. His face was grim. “We’ll go looking as soon as Jack comes in.”

Caroline reached under the table and gripped Jeremy’s hand, hard.

“It will be all right,”

he murmured.

She wished she could believe that. She would never forgive herself if something happened to one of his family because of her.

A door banged, and boots sounded down the hallway a moment before Joshua burst into the dining room. His face was flushed, and his cowlick stood at attention like a red flag.

“Dickerson’s out near the forest. He caught Jason before he could reach Puget City. He says if we don’t give him his money, he’s going to shoot him.”

Chairs screeched on wood as they all stood.

“No one’s shooting anyone,”

their father said, striding around the table to put a hand on his son’s shoulder, “unless it’s that skunk who calls himself a man. Jenny, fetch my rifle. Jane, you still got your pistols on?”

She patted the brace at her hips. “I’m ready, Pa.”

No, no, no! This wasn’t right! Caroline had been forced to stand by while her father was taken away, tried, and convicted. She’d been forced to wait for Ned alone. She’d waited for Jeremy to decide whether they’d suit.

She wasn’t going to sit by this time. She was going to fight for Jeremy and the family she had come to love.

“It’s the money he wants,”

she said, and they all looked to her as if surprised to hear her speak. She could have told them she was a little surprised too. “We should give it to him.”

“But I told you,”

Ned protested. “I don’t have it.”

“He doesn’t know that,”

Caroline reasoned. “If I stuff my valise and carry it out to him, he’ll expect it to be full of money.”

“But if he looks,”

Mrs. Willets started.

“We won’t give him time to look,”

Caroline said. “Jeremy, if I keep him busy talking, can you and the others surround him and his men?”

“Better,”

he said, jaw hard. “We’ll drive the cattle right over them. But I don’t like you being in danger, Caroline. Let me carry the bag.”

“No,”

Ned said, moving to her side. “This is my fault. I should be the one in his sights.”

“Thank you,”

Caroline said, catching a glimpse of the loving boy she’d raised. “But you’ve already lied to him once. He won’t trust you. He might trust me. And that’s all we need.”

Mrs. Willets lifted her chin. “You heard Caroline. She has a plan, and it’s a good one. Ned, Joanna, and Jenny go help her stuff that valise and get herself ready. Use whatever you need from our room. Joshua, when we’re ready, show her where Mr. Dickerson and his men are. Joe, you walk her part of the way. Jeremy, go tell Jack and the others what you have in mind. Take Jane with you.”

“What can I do, Ma?”

Joy begged.

Her mother put her arm about her shoulders. “You and I have the most important job of all, honey. We’re going to pray.”

***

A short while and an eternity later, Jeremy sat on Quicksilver to the west of the herd. The sky had cleared, leaving behind thin clouds that swept across a nearly full moon and air that was cold and crisp.

Dickerson hadn’t brought a lantern. Jeremy could barely make out a smudge against the trees that was the thief, his two men, and Jason. Jack and Jacob had ranged fairly far back into the woods without finding anyone else before coming to join Jeremy.

Caroline, however, was carrying a lantern. It bobbed as she crossed the field, the light turning her gray coat silver and gilding her dark hair. She kept to the far side of the fence that ran from the yard to the woods to prevent the stock from grazing in the kitchen garden. He’d helped repair that fence just last fall. It was a good piece of work.

Now it looked woefully small and worn to protect her from a stampede. What if it didn’t hold? What if the cattle pushed through it instead of going through the gate, which Jane crouched waiting to open?

What if Dickerson or his men shot Caroline and Jason as they tried to escape?

No! He couldn’t think that way, or he wouldn’t be thinking at all. The stakes for being right had never been higher. He couldn’t fail her.

“Almost there,”

Jack said as if Jeremy hadn’t noticed. His brother’s horse shifted.

“What, nervous?”

Jeremy teased. “That’s not like you, Jack.”

Jack snorted. “I’m not nervous, but I don’t see how you can sit there so calmly. That’s the woman you claim to love, approaching armed, dangerous men. I’d be going mad.”

“Good thing I’m not you,”

Jeremy said. “All I can think about is protecting her.”

“And here I thought I was the wise one,”

Jacob said approvingly.

Caroline’s sweet voice carried across the field. “I have your money.”

She set down the lantern at her feet, illuminating her slender form. “Let Jason go.”

“Toss me the valise, and you can have him,”

Dickerson said.

“Sorry,”

Caroline replied, and Jeremy could imagine her wrinkling her nose the way she did. “It’s far too heavy for me to toss. What if I set it down between us, and you let Jason join me in the middle? You’ll have us both in your sights.”

“Seems you’re smarter than your brother,”

Dickerson sneered, “or your father.”

He must have given Jason a shove, for Jeremy’s brother stumbled forward into the light.

Caroline moved closer. Too close. Jeremy gripped the reins, and Quicksilver shied. By the time he had the horse back under control, Jason and Caroline stood together, a few feet away from the scoundrels. Behind them, another shadow rose—Jane, opening the gate.

Dickerson came into the light, his men at his back. He holstered his gun and bent to work at opening the valise.

“Now!”

Jeremy cried. They spurred their horses, shouting, and the cattle jerked into motion. The Red Rubies ran, bumping each other, hooves thundering across the field. Jack rode to the north, cutting off their retreat on that side, and Jacob took the south. Jeremy urged Quicksilver right down the middle, hollering at the top of his lungs. Dickerson’s men scurried for the protection of the trees.

Dickerson himself was slower to respond. His head snapped up, and the valise fell open, skirts and socks scattering on the grass.

Caroline grabbed Jason’s hand, and the two pelted farther back along the fence.

Dickerson reached for his gun.

And then the cattle surged through the gate and thundered toward him. He gave it up and ran for the trees, but he was quickly engulfed and buffeted on every side.

“Jacob and I will take Dickerson and his gang!”

Jack shouted to Jeremy. “See to Caroline and Jason.”

Jeremy didn’t stop to argue. He spurred Quicksilver across the field and through the gate. Vaulting out of the saddle, he ran to Caroline and caught her in his arms, holding her close.

“It’s all right,”

she told him, as if he were the one who needed comforting. “I’m fine, and so is Jason.”

“I’m glad to hear it,”

he said, whispering a prayer of thanks. “But I am never letting you go again.”

She giggled, a sound that pushed the darkness away. “That might make it hard to cook or dress, but you won’t find me complaining.”

Across the field came more shouts. Keeping an arm around Caroline’s shoulders, Jeremy turned with her to watch as Joshua and Ned rode out from the barn to begin to calm and collect the cattle. Jane went to mount up as well. Jack and Jacob rode into the light more slowly, prodding Dickerson and his men in front of them. The other two were scruffy fellows, beards untrimmed and clothes worn and patched. Either the bank clerk had turned to two who were down on their luck and desperate enough to help him, or he’d driven them hard enough across the country to bring them to this pass.

“Dickerson has a story to tell the sheriff,”

Jack said. “As soon as the cows are settled, Jacob and I will take him down to Puget City and telegraph Olympia.”

Dickerson’s hat was gone, his coat ripped in several places. His men kept eyeing the cattle as if expecting the critters to turn and trample them. If they’d lived all their lives in the city, they probably had no idea how to deal with livestock. Small wonder they’d set up their camps so poorly.

“I need a doctor,”

one of them complained, cradling an arm.

“I’m sure Sheriff Billings can locate one,”

Jeremy said. “Though you may have to wait until morning for him to come out from the capitol.”

The two men slumped. So did Dickerson. Jeremy didn’t feel the least bit sorry for him.

Neither did Caroline, it seemed, for she was more concerned about safety. “Shouldn’t we bind them first before transporting them?”

she asked his brother.

“I’m not letting anyone in my family close enough to them to try,”

Jack said. “We’ll put them in the wagon, and Jacob can ride with the shotgun. I think I’d take my chances with the sheriff sooner than Sure-Shot Willets.”

If Jacob was surprised by the sudden nickname, he didn’t show it. Indeed, he scowled so fiercely at the men through his spectacles that they bunched together as if for protection.

Suddenly, Dickerson veered toward Caroline. Jeremy released her, put himself in front of her, and drew his pistol.

Dickerson stopped moving, but he tilted to one side as if trying to see Caroline behind Jeremy. “I could take the blame, Miss Caroline, so your father goes free. All you have to do is put in a good word for me to the sheriff.”

The other two started to protest.

“You tell the truth, Mr. Dickerson,”

Caroline said, voice ringing. “That’s the best way to show the sheriff you’re remorseful for what you’ve done.”

“Traitor,”

one of the men muttered as Jack prodded him back with them. “You brought us all this way for a big payout. Now we could hang.”

The other man spit on Dickerson’s boots.

Jack and Jacob led them all off.

Ned rode up in their stead. Slipping from the saddle, he came to grab Caroline. Jeremy stepped back as her brother twirled her around. “We did it, sis! We’re free!”

She righted herself as he set her down. “Jeremy’s family did it, Ned. They’re the ones you should be thanking.”

He stuck out his hand to Jeremy. “Thank you, brother.”

He grinned. “Funny. I never had a brother before. Now I have five of them!”

“Then I guess I don’t have to worry about you and Joanna,”

Jeremy couldn’t help teasing. “After all, she’s your sister now.”

He almost laughed at the shock on Ned’s face.

“When are you going to explain to him that it doesn’t work that way?”

Caroline asked as Jeremy led her back toward the house. She didn’t need his support, but he couldn’t have let go of her again if he’d tried. “You’ll be his brother-in-law, but the rest of your family isn’t actually related to him.”

“He seems like a smart lad,”

Jeremy said. “He’ll figure it out on his own. After all, it only took me about three weeks to figure out I wanted to marry my mail-order bride.”