Page 9 of A Bride for Brodie

CHAPTER3

Ross walked them through town.

As they rode past The Copper Lady Saloon, Brodie saw Jake Flannery leaning against one post with his arms crossed over his chest.

Brodie tried to ignore him, but lowered his chin and nodded to Jake as they rode by. Brodie’s middle hurt from the punches he took, but that was nothing compared to what he’d endure if he didn’t get Jake Flannery his money in a month.

When they hit the road north, Ross urged his horse into a lope.

The other riders followed.

Brodie and Lottie rode at the rear, and he held them back to let the dust settle. So he had them walk the horses for a bit.

“Tell me about yourself, Lottie. What do you want?”

Her brows lifted and her eyes widened. “I’ve never had anyone ask me what I wanted. It will take me a minute.” She held the reins in her left hand and crossed it with her right arm, resting it on top of the pommel. “As for getting to know me, you need to know about Maisie, too. She married Frank. We’re close, but we are nothing alike. Maisie was married before, but it was not a happy one. Donald Kunkle was a monster. I’ve never been married, though for a while, I wanted to—until I found out about Maisie. I took care of our father until he died, which couldn’t have happened soon enough for me, but that’s another story. I—”

“No. Stop. Tell me about you and your father. That’s where you spent most of your time before the robbery, right?”

“Well, until about a year before the robbery.” Lottie shrugged. “My father wasn’t a kind man. I was thrilled when he died. Does that make me a bad person?”

“No, I don’t believe so. Why was he so horrible?”

“He sold Maisie to the man she married. She had no choice and was married to him for years before he had the decency to die in a robbery attempt. It was the first time Maisie had ever been free. If he could have, Seamus would have sold her again. I’m always surprised he didn’t sell me. He loved money so much. But he left me alone, just threatening me, terrorizing me with his belt.”

Brodie smiled. “I’m sorry. Didn’t you have a lover or fiancé or someone to protect you?”

She blushed crimson. “No, I didn’t. I’ve never been with a man before. I hope that doesn’t disappoint you.”

He grinned. “No, honey, that’s just fine. It’s great, as a matter of fact. I’ll just be extra careful when we make love for the first time.”

She got rosier, which he didn’t think was possible, and looked away.

“Don’t be embarrassed to talk to me. I’m your husband and you can talk to me about anything. Anything and it’ll stay between you and me.”

She focused her blue-green eyes on him. “Really? You won’t tell anyone? Ever?”

He crossed his heart. “Never.”I’ve never had a woman trust me before. I feel like I’m different, like I want to slay dragons for her, like in a book.

She smiled and glanced down at her hands, where they rested on the pommel.

Brodie thought Lottie was the most beautiful woman he’d ever known. Her golden-blonde hair made her seem softer than her sister with her white-blonde hair. Otherwise, they were identical, for all intents and purposes. Blue-green eyes, rosy bow-shaped lips and a voluptuous figure he couldn’t wait to uncover. He hoped he wasn’t too sore to please her. He admitted his middle was sore where Joey had hit him. He looked again at Lottie. She and Maisie might be twins, but Lottie was softer, kinder looking than Maisie.

“Why did you rob the bank?”

She shrugged. “Because Maisie did.”

His brows lifted and his eyes widened. “That’s it. Your reason was because Maisie did?”

She nodded but looked ahead. “I figured if we got caught, we’d be sent to the same prison. And if we got away with it, she and I could start over somewhere, like San Francisco.” She turned toward him. “Do you think that was naïve?”

He shrugged. “Maybe, but I understand doing something just so you can be with your sibling. Speaking of siblings, I think they are far enough ahead we can ride without eating their dust. Follow me.” He kicked Dusty into a lope and rode until they caught up with Ross at the turn onto the ranch from the main road.

The road to the ranch was long with barbed wire fenced pasture on both sides to keep the cattle in.

Brodie and Lottie followed Ross to the barn. He dismounted and opened the two large barn doors.

Nine of them rode inside and Ross left the barn doors open for the light as was their custom.